Mai sighed. Floating in the pool water with her eyes closed. She could not recall the last time she had gone swimming. It had been far too long if what she thought was true, but it had been before she had joined SPR. It had been somebody's birthday and they had gone to the beach to celebrate. She remembered that she had dropped a melted ice cream onto her bathing suit and had to soak it off in the ocean while someone cracked jokes about it the entire time.
She wiggled her toes and wondered when Monk and Ayako would arrive. It had to be five o'clock at least which left them two hours before nightfall. She could probably get Masako to go swimming with her. Or at least sit in the hot tub. Did Masako even own a bathing suit though? It was a good question and she made a note to ask.
She twisted in the water and opened her eyes and swam for the edge of the pool. She rested her arms on the ledge and dropped her chin on top of them. The pool room was really large, as it should have been, but the high windows let in so much light that danced across the water and sent shimmering reflections dancing across the walls and ceiling and made it seem so much bigger. The walls were dark wood, as the majority of the house was, but the floor was a light blue tile, cracked from age in some places, and colored glass lanterns hung from the ceiling. Live plants spilled over from their pots and wall sconces and hid the hot tub from view. It was nestled into an alcove and surrounded by gossamer drapes of pale ivory. All the furniture was wrought iron and wood.
It had such a magical feel to it . . .
"Mai."
She opened her eyes which had fallen shut and took in the pair of black dress shoes in front of her nose in confusion before lifting her eyes to meet the cold blue of her employer.
"Naru!" she exclaimed and immediately blushed. She was in a bathing suit!
Naru quirked a brow.
"What is it?" Mai grumbled, knowing he was thinking something rude about her intelligence, and sank deeper into the water. She grasped the edge with her fingers and lowered her mouth below the surface, hoping to hide her blush.
"Why are you alone?" he questioned.
Mai glanced around the pool room and realized that it was indeed true, even the couple from earlier had left. She shrugged. "Monk said he was going to find Ayako but that was over an hour ago," she said through the water and watched as Naru sighed and crouched down at the pool edge in front of her.
"Listen to me, Mai, I don't want you to go anywhere alone. You are highly prone to accidents as it is let alone while we are on a dangerous case," he muttered darkly.
Mai scowled and opened her mouth to make a retort but Naru silenced her with a simple look.
"That's not why I came looking for you," he continued. "I need you to do something for me," he stated calmly.
"What?" Mai asked wearily and once again lowered her face into the water. Naru was acting suspicious and any time he acted suspicious towards her it normally meant he had some kind of plan but did not deem her worthy of sharing.
"Stay still and look into my eyes," he said and she didn't even have time to object before his hands were on either side of her face and his eyes were drilling holes into her own.
Her heart pounded in her ears and her face turned as red as a tomato, she was acutely aware of how alone they were and what it would look like if someone were to suddenly walk in on them. But his eyes were so calm, with a determined glint in them, that she found herself being drawn into them.
Neither was aware of the ghostly figure of Gene as he stood behind his brother, mixed thoughts churning in his mind, before he smirked knowingly and moved forwards through the corporeal form of his brother, and crouched in front of Mai. He leaned forward and planted a kiss upon her forehead before leaning back and flicking her in the same spot.
Mai jolted out of the trance and lifted a hand to her forehead before tears fell from her eyes and she grunted.
Naru leaned back on his haunches, certain that it had worked, before standing. "Are you done here?" he asked casually.
Mai jumped, startled into reality, and nodded. "Yes," she answered in a strangely relieved tone and climbed up out of the pool. She hurried over to claim the towel she had brought with her and wrapped it around herself, making sure to cover her shoulders, before hurrying back over to Naru.
Naru slid a hand into his pocket while he waited and nodded when she had returned to his side. The two left the pool, Mai walking slightly behind him and to his left. She wondered what it was that had just transpired between the two of them but she somehow felt whole again. She could not explain it but it was as if someone had been missing from their group the entire time since Naru had returned and that person had just slid back into place. She felt shaky but relieved and it was only after they had left the pool and climbed up the stairs, about to turn down the main hall that would take them to base, when she paused.
Naru continued on for a handful of steps before turning back to her curiously.
"That was Gene," she mumbled while staring wide eyed at Naru.
Mai had assumed that when they had pulled Gene's body out of the lake that day and he had spoken with her one last time in the woods that he had moved on. Naru had taken Gene's body home, closed the office, and that chapter of her life had ended. She had realized, and even accepted it, when she had helped Ayako with a case a few months later and was not visited by him in her dreams and she had had to stumble around the astral plain on her own and piece together what she could. She had been depressed for a while after that and Ayako had noticed but had not commented, assuming that it was just the lack of Naru that was getting her down.
It was as if she had finally gotten everyone back and another tear slid down her cheek.
Naru had given her Gene back and she suddenly had everyone back in her life.
She gazed up at the man who had walked into her life a little over two years ago and found there to be a small, if not sad, smile gracing his lips and she reached out for him without thought. She wrapped her arms around him, heedless of her wet bathing suit, and cried.
Naru stared wide eyed at the wall over the top of Mai's head, for once in his life unsure of how to react in a situation. He clenched and unclenched his hands, not sure if he should return the embrace or not, unsure if it was towards him her emotions were directed at or if she was just glad to have Gene's presence back in her life. She had never answered him that day so long ago in the forest, given that he did not leave her with enough time to, but found himself suddenly wishing he had. Regardless of all that it was he that she had latched onto in the heat of the moment and so he finally decided on lifting a hand and placing it on the back of her head.
He let out a sigh and that was how Lin found them, striding down the hall no doubt in search of Naru himself, and came to an abrupt halt.
Naru turned his eyes onto the man, a curious collection of emotions so rarely seen on his face flickering by before he reclaimed his usual stoic expression, and allowed his hand to fall. He pushed Mai away, as gently as he was able, and rested a hand on her shoulder. The presence of Lin did not distract him as he looked into her face, satisfied that she would be alright judging by the smile that tugged at her lips even as she was wiping away her tears, before gently leading her towards Lin.
"Tonight we'll have dinner in base before we send out the first team to investigate," Naru said as he led Mai along passed his assistant.
Lin only nodded and followed behind the two, noting the wet stains that had spread on Naru's shirt with a smirk, and let out a sigh.
Mai said nothing on the subject of what they had just shared as they returned to the base and if she were to be honest with herself she was utterly mortified that Lin had seen. But she figured that if anyone had seen them then Lin was the best person as he was not the kind to gossip. The thought of a gossiping Lin was enough to lift the embarrassment and she giggled.
The base was filled with every member of SPR when they returned. Yasuhara and Madoka were in the process of organizing the information they had gathered, transferring written notes onto Yasuhara's laptop, and someone had taken the time to make tea for everyone. Mai's eyes scanned the room and she noticed that Luella was seated with John, Ayako, and Masako on the couches chatting. Monk was passed out in a comfortable looking armchair and Mai scowled at the sleeping man. He had fallen asleep and left her to Naru's plotting.
Martin stood at one of the windows with his hands clasped behind his back deep in thought. When Lin shut the door behind them he turned to look and lifted a brow, "I was wondering where you had disappeared to without Lin . . ."
"I went to retrieve Mai," Naru answered coolly without pause and breezed into the room. "We'll order room service and eat dinner here, after which I want Monk and Masako to patrol until midnight, you'll return and then Ayako and John will patrol until six. Do not leave each other's sight in any circumstance." Naru instructed as he reclaimed his seat at the table he had held interview yesterday and pulled his black notebook in front of him before scribbling some notes down.
"Great," Ayako muttered and crossed her arms. The thought of a sleepless night weighed heavy on her shoulders and she looked over at John who only smiled kindly and shrugged. He was too compliant for his own good.
"I thought so," Naru answered curtly and snapped his notebook shut.
"Alright, room service," Yasuhara spoke up from Lin's table. "Let's order one of everything and see how much of a bill we can rack up."
"Yasu," Mai admonished.
No one commented on her state of dress, even Yasuhara seemed to be purposefully avoiding eye contact with her, and Mai took the chance to slip into the girl's room and change into a clean t-shirt and jeans before padding back out in her bare feet. She sat between John and Ayako while she worked a brush through her wet hair.
"Did you go swimming?" Ayako asked curiously.
"Yes," she answered with a laugh, "Monk was supposed to come get you to join us but I guess he didn't quite make it."
Ayako rolled her eyes and snorted but turned back to her curiously, "How is the hot tub?"
"I didn't go in it," she admitted, "But it looked nice. Maybe we can go tomorrow," she whispered the last part conspiringly and glanced over at Naru who was caught in a conversation with his father.
"So Naru came to get you?" Ayako whispered back.
Mai blushed but nodded, choosing not to tell her of the things that transpired, and set her brush down before tying her hair up in a bun. "He lectured me about being alone and then dragged me back, we met Lin in the hall," she continued with a shrug.
Ayako snorted and sent a glare in the man's direction.
It was Madoka who took control and wrote down everyone's orders that night. She flitted about the room with a pad of paper and a hello kitty pen borrowed from Mai before retreating to the only phone in the room to place their orders. They all shared light conversations while they waited but it was Naru who brought them back on track.
"I want to get an opinion from everyone after today's investigations," his voice wrung out across the room and Lin obediently opened another word document to continue his notes. He sat with fingers posed while everyone thought over the events of the day.
"Well," Yasuhara began, "Since Madoka and I spent the day digging up everything we could find I guess we should go first." He stood and cleared his throat while he shuffled through his hand written notes. "The couple that lived in this home were quite extravagant. They wasted no expenses and were quite successful socialites. William, the husband, dealt with exotic trade and often traveled abroad while Prudence stayed home, his wife was into fashion."
Mai hunched her shoulders and dropped her eyes to her hands, fiddling with the hairbrush in her lap, while the other listened closely, but the memories of that mornings events sprung into her mind. Though she could not recall Prudence's memories with as much clarity the horrors that she had suffered still rang clear in her mind. She calmed herself with the thought of the park and its gentle aura that inspired families to play beneath its trees.
"While on the surface they seemed like good enough people we found some things quite suspicious about William's trade," he paused while his glasses flashed in the low lighting the antique lamps provided, "It was rather obvious that he was smuggling drugs, we suspect opium but we could be wrong."
"Drug trafficking?" John stated in disbelief.
"Yes, and he had several people brought into the states as well," Madoka added. She had taken a seat next to Lin after placing their orders. She was still fiddling with Mai's pen.
"During their residency on this property several people were reported missing, though they were admittedly caught within the shadier businesses of town, so we can assume that they may have stepped on a few toes," Yasuhara continued. "The last recorded incident before he murdered his wife states that he brought a noblewoman from Japan overseas and had integrated her within the household. Records state that she been caught within an arranged marriage and that the two had plotted her escape together. Kikio, as she was named, went missing after that."
"They were in love," Masako stated quietly.
The others fell silent.
"So he killed his wife to get her out of the way?" Monk questioned from his chair. He had been woken up by Madoka earlier so that he could order food and had remained silent ever since.
"Presumably," Yasuhara agreed with a curt nod.
The others mulled over the situation while Mai chewed at her lip in thought. "That doesn't seem right," she voiced hesitantly, unsure of her exact reasoning and knowing that if she were to say it as a statement Naru would question her.
He lifted his eyes to hers anyways, and intense gleam evident, and turned to Yasuhara, "Is that all the information you found?"
Yasuhara nodded again and set his notes down on the table carefully.
"Then we will remain unbiased until further notice. For now we know that he killed his wife but we do not know what caused if or where this Kikio fits into the story," Naru stated.
Next to him Martin turned his eyes onto Mai, who had fallen into deep though, before glancing back at his son who had studiously returned to writing notes in his notebook. It seemed Noll was intentionally ignoring him and the only reason the man could come up with was that he was hiding something from him and Mai played an important part of that. In fact, he was certain she knew what it was, because Noll trusted her whole heartedly if her uncertain statement was enough to sway his opinion.
Their food arrived shortly after and while everyone ate they shared theories and opinions, bouncing ideas back and forth, but always looking to Mai for approval.
They had fallen into a lull of such when a piercing scream pierced the quiet calm of the hotel and in seconds everyone was on their feet.
The scream had come from Grace, the first maid Mai had interviewed, who had been pushing her cart of cleaning supplies along, passing the main stairwell, when she spotted the figure of someone lying at the foot of the stairs. At first she had thought it may have been one of their guests stumbling upstairs after an evening of partying but upon closer inspection she noticed that his leg was at a wrong angle and a pool of blood had formed under his head where it laid against the banister.
When SPR arrived on the seen Lin had immediately grabbed the woman by her arm and instructed her to call for an ambulance. Grace had nodded curtly, pale faced and tight lipped, but did as instructed without hesitation.
Ayako had rushed forward and demanded that the man not be moved while she pushed through the crowd of employees and guests that had gathered.
While everyone rushed down to help the man Mai and Masako had remained at the top of the stairs so as not to be in the way but also because they felt and overwhelming sense of dread welling up from the bottom of their feet to the top of the heads. They shared a knowing look. Whatever it was that was haunting the building had finally taken notice of their presence and was acting out. Far more violently than they would have thought too.
Naru stood ahead of them on the stairs, one hand resting on the banister as he watched the events below him, before turning to look back at the two woman. He noted their reaction before his grip on the banister tightened.
Things had gotten dangerous.
Once the man had been taken away in an ambulance and the crowd slowly dispersed, whispering amongst each other, SPR returned to their base of operations in solemn silence. Luella wore a very grim and worried expression as they gathered back in the room.
Naru ordered Masako and Monk to begin their patrol and everyone to rest while they could. He joined Lin at the monitors after that and the searched for the footage that the camera would have recorded. Luella, Martin, and Madoka left for their own hotel, while Ayako, John, and Yasuhara retreated to their rooms.
Mai stood behind Naru and Lin, a hand on the back of each of their chairs, as the monitors displayed the footage from the main foyer. Lin stopped rewinding not twenty minutes before they had heard the scream and narrowed his eye at the grainy display while Naru lifted his hand to his mouth.
All seemed normal for a Wednesday night, there weren't to many guests about, but they did spot the man as he climbed the stairs. He did not seem to be intoxicated, at least not to the scale that they could see, but he was looking at his phone as he strolled up the steps. Suddenly he looked up, staring at something at the top of the stairs.
"Can I help you?" his voice crackled over the video.
There was no answer. The man was suddenly pushed back and he tumbled down the steps, flailing and crying out as he went, but fell silent when his head smack against a marble step. This was quickly followed by the snapping of his leg before he came to an ungraceful heap at the bottom of the steps.
Mai covered her mouth with her hands and stared in horror at the screen as events continued on.
"We've angered it," Lin stated darkly.
"The patterns have changed," Naru muttered into his hand. "Whatever it is is attacking men as well now," he sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. "This makes things difficult," he added with a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
They fell silent and it wasn't until Mai placed her hand on Naru's shoulder that he opened his eyes and cocked his head in her direction to look at her.
"Naru," she mumbled through her fear, realization written across her face, "He saw it."
Naru's eyes widened and he turned back to the screen, "Lin!" he barked and the man was already rewinding the footage again. They watched as the man paused on the steps, cocked his head, and in a friendly tone asked if he could help.
"Whatever he saw did not frighten him," Naru observed and stood, bracing his hands on the table while he examined the paused image critically. "I can't see anything on the footage though," he growled. "There isn't even any interference, it's perfect clarity and yet there's nothing."
"But he saw it," Mai reminded, "And he'll remember when he wakes up."
Naru straightened and looked down at the frightened woman, he sighed through his nose and closed his eyes, "If he wakes up, Mai."
Mai's eyes widened again and she crossed her arms in front of her and gripped her elbows as if to steady herself.
"Lin," Naru looked over at the man, "I want charms made for everybody. Before Ayako leaves help her to make some up for our team and tomorrow we'll work on making enough for the staff and guests."
Lin nodded curtly and stood.
"Mai," Naru called and when he had garnered her attention he asked gently "Will you wake Ayako?"
Mai nodded and turned on the spot, hurrying into their room, and gently shook the woman awake from her light slumber. Ayako threw a fit at being woken when she had just fallen asleep but after hearing Mai's explanation she sighed and shuffled back out into the base in her sweatpants and tank top.
Mai watched the woman go before turning to her own bed and pulling the comforter from it and followed. She was not sleeping in that room alone. She wrapped the comforter around her before collapsing on one of the couches. She settled into the warmth and turned her attention to the two older members of their team as they sat at a table together with stacks of paper and ink between them. They muttered quietly to each other as they worked and the quiet shuffling of paper and voices lulled her into a trance. Naru sat in front of the bank of monitors with his arms crossed, his eyes straining for any activity while the others worked.
Mai sighed and rolled over onto her side, facing the back of the couch, and closed her eyes.
"Mai."
Mai opened her eyes upon hearing her name and found herself once more on the astral plain. A moment of panic cut through her chest but she immediately calmed and turned, for she had heard a familiar voice, and she had to admit that in all the drama of the past hour she had forgotten the most important thing.
"Gene!" she exclaimed with a smile bright enough to light the whole astral plain on its own.
Gene smiled back in return and opened his arms for the hug he knew was coming. Mai latched onto him joyfully and she laughed. "I'm so glad to see you, where have you been?" she rambled and was glad to hear her laughter returned.
"Apparently you slipped out of my wave length when Naru left," Gene explained kindly and ruffled her hair before taking a step back. "We only figured it out today when you dreamt without me."
"We?" Mai questioned curiously.
"Naru and I," he clarified and smirked at the perplexed expression on her face. "It's the mirrors, I can communicate with him through the mirrors," he continued.
"That's great!" Mai exclaimed. She could only imagine how relieved Naru was to be able to contact his late brother, especially after the months she had had to get to know him while Naru frantically searched for his body thinking he would have already passed on. She could only imagine how horrible it was to lose a sibling, let alone a twin, but to have finally regained contact with the one person who always had his back must have been so relieving. Even if he didn't want to admit it.
Gene nodded and took her hand, pulling her through the plain as they talked, and continued. "Now that that's out of the way. I've been doing some digging of my own and I found something that I think might help you." He came to a stop and Mai looked ahead of them, watching as the scenery rushed by until a well-lit room blurred into existence.
Mai and Gene stood at the top of the main staircase looking down at what most have been a party from the past. Men and woman were talking and laughing, all in grand and sparkling dresses and sharp suites, but Mai was no longer Mai and she knew that Gene was no longer Gene.
Mai was Prudence once more and she only realized this when Gene turned to her with a dark look on his face, "I'm sorry Prudence, I never thought he would sink this low." He lifted her hand in his and rubbed the back of hers with his thumb.
But Mai was looking out across the room where, in an alcove just between the ballroom and the main entrance, William stood with the exotic beauty he had brought back with him from Japan. She was dressed in an ornate and extravagant kimono and her hair was done up with pins, though stray locks fell to frame her face, while she held his hands and stared into his face lovingly.
Something within Mai snapped and a despicable heat welled up within her chest. It clenched at her heart and ran through her arms down to the tips of her fingers like the strongest of spirits. She watched as William whispered sweet nothings into her ear before Prudence turned away and looked up at Gene wearing a cheerful expression.
"Let him have his fun, I'm sure he's tired of being cooped up with me all these years," her eyes fell to the floor momentarily and she ran a hand across her stomach in despair.
"You should have married me when you had the chance Prudence. I was never interested in starting a family," he muttered sadly and the woman could only nod in agreement as tears slid down her face. It was all her fault. She had been broken long before they got married and she should have told William from the beginning. She had known after the years of prostitution that pregnancy would never come to her.
Gene wrapped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly and whispered into her ear, "He'll get what's coming to him, you'll see . . ." he trailed off and before Prudence could respond he added. "After all, it's in the blood. His father certainly got what was coming to him as well." He took on a darkly whimsical expression as he looked down at the two lovers, hidden away from all the prying eyes but theirs, and the expression was oddly terrifying but exhilarating on his features.
"Alexander!" Prudence gasped and shot him an appalled look despite the slight blush on her cheeks.
"I'm not going to kill him," Alexander said. "I'm just saying, the man doesn't know what's right from wrong and sooner or later it's going to come back and bite him in the ass." His deadly expression morphed in a grimace as he girt his teeth in anger.
Prudence dropped her eyes to the hidden pair once more before turning away with a shaky breath, "I'm retiring for the night, Alex, good night." She hurried down the halls, fighting the tears the defiantly fell, and wished she had never been born.
Mai woke with a start. All but one of the lights in the base had been turned off and she could just barely make out the figure of John leaning over her, but his blond hair reflected the light and she let out a relieved breath.
"Sorry," John whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you but you were crying."
Mai blinked at him blearily before wiping at her face and found that she had indeed been crying. "It's alright, I think the dream was over anyways," she mumbled and sat up. "What time is is?" she wondered aloud.
"Just after midnight, Ayako and I are about to go out on patrol," John answered quietly.
"Stay safe," she mumbled and John nodded with a smile before moving out of her line of sight. She glanced about and found Lin and Naru both sitting in front of the monitors and found Ayako just as she was leaving the room behind John.
Mai pushed herself out of the blanket and off of the couch before shuffling over to the portable stove top to make herself a cup of tea. She noted that someone must have gotten more as she had completely forgotten to find more earlier. She was glad to find a packet of green tea and set about boiling some water for herself and hoped that the hot beverage, lacking in caffeine, would help to soothe her. The dream that had given her another sliver of Prudence's life. It had not been as impressionable as her last one had been, whereas she had fully experienced the memories she recalled while riding along her stream of consciousness, Gene had acted as a buffer and allowed her only to experience what the woman was feeling in that specific moment. It was an interesting concept and while she would have been able to chase the thought round and round during the day the exhaustion she felt in mind and body caused her to drop the idea until later. While she steeped her tea and added a bit of sugar she lifted her eyes to the window and sighed.
The moon was big and yellow and hung over the water of the bay heavily. She could make out a few stars but the lights of both St. Petersburg and, just across the bay, Tampa city were far too powerful to allow for the human eye to really enjoy the view. She dropped her eyes to the park grounds below and lifted the cup of tea to her nose while she took in the dark wood at night. She had heard that several deer roamed the grounds and they often came out into the fields at night to graze.
eh? She leaned forward, nearly pressing her nose to the glass, to recapture the image she had seen in passing. And froze. There! She mentally exclaimed excitedly. Surely it had to be some kind of bird, it had looked so graceful, and she had seen some of the herons on their drive over from the airport and those birds had stood nearly five feet tall with their long graceful necks. And their feathers had been luminously white and flowing.
But it was not a bird her eyes landed on. No, what she found wondering through the trees was a lady in white and the realization caused her to drop the cup of tea and lunge forward, throwing the window open, and lean out over the two story drop to get a better look.
Is it her? She wondered. Was Prudence the one wandering the grounds? She felt no malice from the figure as it disappeared among the trees and Mai wondered if the woman was acting as a guardian over the property. Was she patrolling the grounds at night just as John and Ayako were at that very moment?
The sound of her tea cup shattering against the ground and Mai throwing the window open must have grabbed Lin and Naru's attention because the two were at her side in a moment. No words were spoken as they looked to wear Mai's gaze was directed just in time to see the last few inches of that beautiful white gown disappear behind a large tree just at the edge of the clearing.
Mai let out a shaky breath she had not knowingly held and leaned back into the window, her hands clenching the windowsill for all they were worth. "Somethings just not right here," she muttered and sat at the cushioned bench just in front of the window, simultaneously turning to face the two men. "It doesn't make sense to me and I can't figure out why," she continued thoughtlessly and looked back out the window over her shoulder.
"What's not making sense Mai?" Naru asked, though his eyes never left the spot where he had last seen the slip of white fabric.
"Prudence doesn't make sense," she muttered and lifted a hand to her mouth in thought. "The story doesn't make sense. Why would she have married him if she knew what kind of a man he was? He wasn't the only person who loved her, Alexander did, and I'm sure he had just as much money so it couldn't be for that. Why did she stay?" Mai trailed off in thought and bit her lip.
Naru dropped his eyes to her, taking in the profile of her face thoughtfully, before leaning away from the window and straightening his stance. "Did you dream this?" He asked quietly and crossed his arms, lifting a curled finger to his mouth in thought, before glancing over to see what Lin thought of the whole situation.
"Yeah," Mai mumbled a response.
Naru fell silent for a moment before asking, "Was Gene with you?" Lin's head whipped towards Naru but he ignored his assistant's reaction and watched as Mai blinked, coming out of her thoughts, and looked up at him.
"Yes, he was," she answered quietly, "Why hasn't he moved on Naru?" Her eyes took on a questioning light and Naru let out a sigh before crossing his arms.
"He doesn't know why, only that he can't, something is keeping him here," he explained, frustrated, and dropped his eyes to Mai. He looked at her as if she were the answer to everything if only he could figure it out and that implication both angered and saddened her. There was a strained moment of silence between the three paranormal investigators before Naru dropped his arms and spoke. "Why don't you get some rest, Mai," he muttered, but before she could get angry with him he lifted a placating hand and added, "Some normal rest."
Mai let out the breath of air she had taken in purely for the sake of arguing and stood. She heard the crunching of the broken porcelain cup beneath her feet and winced. She would have probably cut herself in the time it took her to realize she was standing over the broken cup had it not been for the sound. She lifted her foot with a sigh and crouched down to gather the pieces into her hands. Naru leaned over and pulled the small trashcan, placed just at the end of a table near the window, over so that Mai could dispose of the shards while Lin moved to find a towel to clean up the tea.
Once the mess had been cleaned up Mai gathered her comforter from the couch and sidled into the girl's room where she could just make out the figure of Masako already asleep beneath the covers of her own bed. She threw herself onto her own bed, the middle of the three, and rolled over to stare out the window, the moon still visible, and let out a sigh. Something about this case just felt horribly wrong to her. It made her feel nauseous and shaky to think about Prudence and the horrors she had suffered. And it felt somehow unfair that this was the first case they got upon finally reuniting as a team.
She closed her eyes and rolled away from the window, pulling the comforter over her head, and wished for the first time in a long while that she could speak with her mother. Or even her father.
After Mai had woken up and showered that morning she had shuffled out into the base wearing a pair of black leggings and a large green sweater that fell to her thighs. She had slipped on her favorite pair of brown boots to give herself a little boost of confidence that she felt she needed for the day. So much had happened last night that she was a little weary of getting out of bed that day but the clear blue sky beckoned her and so she found herself standing her doorway taking in the scene before her.
Someone had bought coffee and doughnuts it would seem as one of the tables was filled with them, and everyone was scattered about the room talking and nibbling on their treats, though John and Ayako had yet to join them. Mai brushed her fingers through her hair as she moved over towards the table and looked over the selection curiously.
"Luella brought them," Monk said in way of explanation as he too scanned their options. There were three boxes of said doughnuts and most of the really good ones had already been picked through, but there were still a few chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla iced doughnuts.
"She's so nice," Mai said with a smile and reached for a chocolate doughnut while Monk scooped the last strawberry.
"I think she's really worried about Naru taking this case and all," Monk replied with a shrug. He took a bite of his doughnut and Mai briefly wondered how many the black hole of a Buddhist monk had already eaten.
"A lot happened yesterday, I'm sure everyone is worried," Mai mumbled in response, stared off into space for a moment, before taking a thoughtful bite out of her doughnut. She scanned the room until her eyes landed on the famous medium who was seated at her preferred table nursing a cup of tea. Mai knew she had felt whatever it was she had last night at the top of the stairs. She paused in thought before walking across the room and joining Masako at the table.
"Good morning," Masako greeted politely and gave a half smile.
Mai smiled back and pulled her chair up to the table and sighed, "How did you sleep?" Mai asked curiously.
Masako blinked before lifting her eyes up in thought, "Fitfully, though Monk and I found nothing during our patrol, I'm certain now there is a dark spirit here."
Mai nodded in agreement and propped her head in a hand, elbow on the table, and turned her eyes to each member of the team worriedly. "Me too, something is really weird here, but I can't explain it," she said quietly. "I'm just worried," she added, returning her eyes to medium who was watching her considerately.
"I am as well," Masako admitted hesitantly and lifted a sleeve to her mouth to hide the frown that marred her delicate features.
"Do you know anything about the spirit that is haunting the place yet?" Mai wondered in a hushed tone, leaning forward and unintentionally causing Masako to as well in order to hear her question.
Masako leaned back and shook her head, "It's very faint during the day and I can feel an immense hatred coming from it at night, but I can't make out any details." She dropped her eyes to the top of the table in frustration and Mai slumped back in her chair.
Naru and Lin had spent the night watching the monitors and had seen no other activity after midnight. Sadly, neither of the two cameras that had been set up outside caught the woman in a white dress and that had put Naru in a foul mood. He stood in front of the glowing screens in his classic thinking pose, weight shifted to one leg, while Lin checked the microphones for any sound. Martin had been there earlier to check in with them but he had left shortly after under the pretense that he had some of his own research to do. Naru knew that his father already had suspiciouns, as he did as well, but Martin's way of sneaking about to get his research done irritated him. Some might say he was getting a taste of his own medicine but Martin had asked him to investigate the case yet he seemed to be doing it on his own.
Naru had watched him go with narrowed eyes and shared a knowing glance with Lin before turning his head to look at the figure of his mother standing by the window, watching as her husband left the property, and sighed in despair.
"While Ayako and John are resting I want Mai, Monk, and Yasuhara to interview the locals who frequent the park and museum downstairs. We may be able to get more information out of them. Masako, if you wouldn't mind helping Madoka setting up the charms Ayako and Lin made last night," Naru instructed when everyone had quieted and found themselves a seat to occupy. "After reviewing last night's footage of the man's fall down the stairs we have concluded it to be a paranormal event. Not only was he pushed by some force he also stopped to speak with someone at the top of the stairs that we could not see on camera," Naru explained briskly and turned away from them to rewind the footage, again, so everyone could see.
While the others watched the video, growing paler and paler with each crunch that echoed out through the speakers, Mai turned her face away.
"Furthermore, while the rest of you were in bed or on patrol, Lin, Mai, and myself happened to spot a white figure walking amongst the trees last night," Naru added while he leaned back against the table and grasped the edge of the table with his hands. "It's safe to say that I am ruling out the possibility of a living human as a culprit of these events," he muttered darkly and the others shivered, feeling the temperature in the room drop.
Lin looked over at his charge curiously before turning back to his work.
Mai looked down at her unfinished doughnut and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Martin stared down at his laptop, screen dim in the sunlight that streamed in through the car window, and squinted at the information as he scrolled through it. He was not as adept at Japanese as his wife was but he was able to discern much of the information if he struggled, and while the picture of Mai Taniyama stared innocently up at him from the corner of the page, the information it held was much too sad for the grin she wore. He had recalled her story from the day before but seeing it in fine print rammed home just how much she had suffered.
"I know Naru must keep her information somewhere on file," he muttered into the phone he held to his ear with his other hand.
"I'm sure he does, the boy is meticulous, but you know how hard it is to hack into his computer of all people's," a male voice answered from the other side of the line.
"I know, but I know you can do it, you've done it before," Martin answered back with a sigh and let go of the laptop to rub at his face. "She could be dangerous, to herself, but others as well if what I am thinking is correct."
"I'll see what I can do, but whose to say he doesn't just have it all written down in that black notebook of his?" the man muttered.
"You think he would keep only one copy?" Martin asked with a laugh.
"Well . . .no, you're right."
"Thank you, Anderson, let me know what you find," Martin mumbled and ended the call absently.
"I understand the thought process behind it, but do we really need to interview the locals? I mean, they probably know just as much as we do, if not less," Monk grouched as they stepped outside. Their shoes crunched on the gravel that made up the driveway as they moved away from the mansion.
"How about we let Mai do all the interviews while you and I slip away, Bou-san," Yasuhara sidled up to the much taller man and wrapped his hands around his arm suggestively.
"Maybe we should," Monk mumbled thoughtfully which caused Yasuhara to blink in confusion.
Mai laughed at their antics and skipped ahead, glad to be outside of the building that she had been stuck in for the past two days. The sun was shining and she could hear several voices laughing in the distance. The park was filled with people and along the sea wall and she could see several boats anchored while people swam and listened to music. Some of the passengers climbed the wall and pulled themselves up onto the park grounds triumphantly. It was cold out, she realized after a moment of admiration, these people were crazy.
The interviews were at first rather awkward because the three were unsure how to approach the guests of the park without seeming, for lack of a better word, creepy. But as soon as they explained who they were people tended to cooperate with them and asked their own questions about their investigation out of curiosity.
Mai herself was actually enjoying the task thanks to the chilly breeze and warm sun. The weather was perfect to be out and about and the locals were all very friendly if not a bit nosy, but that was to be expected, and she found she was a little disappointed when one of the interviews actually gave them a bit of information.
They were speaking with a mother and her young daughter who claimed they came to the park every Friday. The mother did not have much information to give other than the folklore that had been brewing over the years and passed through the generations. But it was as Yasuhara was thanking the woman that she happened to look down at the little girl standing at her mom's side. She was looking in the direction of the mansion and when Mai followed her line of sight she found it to lead to one of the windows on the third floor.
Mai crouched down in front of the girl, hands to her knees, and smiled while her mother continued to speak with Yasuhara and Monk about the stories she had heard of the property.
"What are you looking at?" Mai asked kindly. She watched as the girl seemed to blink and come back down to reality before she turned her head to look at the older girl nervously. Her hair was a dark brown and tied into pigtails while her large innocent eyes were a deep green. She was just too adorable and Mai found herself internally squealing as the little girl bit her lip.
"There was a lady up there, but she disappeared . . ." she mumbled and dropped her eyes onto her little white sneakers and tightened her grip on her mother's jean.
"Hmm," Mai cocked her head and smiled at the girl. "There's lot's of ladies in there so there is nothing you need to worry about," she assured gently.
The girl nodded once but she looked unconvinced as Mai pushed herself into a standing position and straightened her green sweater so that it covered her bottom once more. She was only wearing leggings underneath after all.
"Well that was a waste," Monk grumbled and rubbed at his head with a sigh.
"Not quite," Mai corrected knowingly and shook her finger at Monk with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Oh! Mai's channeling Naru again," Monk exclaimed with a laugh and winced when Mai smacked him on the shoulder.
With arms crossed and a scowl on her face Mai pointed to the exact window, "Third from the left on the top floor, the little girl was looking at it, let's investigate," she grit out through her teeth before stomping off.
Yasuhara laughed pleasantly and followed after the angry assistant leaving Monk to fall behind and roll his eyes.
The third floor of the mansion was mostly unoccupied, as it was this floor where the crying was normally heard, and so the three were relatively free to roam as they saw fit. But Mai knew where she was going and so she led the two men with a determined gleam in her eye and set to her shoulders. She counted the doors as they passed, studiously ignoring the strangely stuffy and quiet air about the hall, and came to a stop at the third door from the end of the hall.
"It's this one," she whispered over her shoulder to the two.
"Why are you whispering?" Monk questioned loudly with a scowl.
"Shhhhhh!" Mai hissed out angrily with a finger to her lips.
"Sorry," Monk whispered back and lifted his eyes to the ceiling for guidance.
She returned her attention to the door and lifted her hand and placed it on the knob. It was warm to the touch, as if someone had just entered, and the thought struck her as odd. She shook off her worries and turned the knob before slowly pushing the door open. The room was mostly used as storage, she could tell, thanks to the boxes that were stacked around the old furniture that used to make up the bedroom.
The three paranormal investigators shuffled into the room and snooped about, looking for any clues as to whose room it used to be. Monk opened a door that led into a large closet and sitting room of sorts, again, it was filled with boxes upon boxes. He sniffled against the dust the the door had disturbed and squeezed passed several boxes to explore while outside of the room Mai had shuffled over to a vanity that displayed very old makeup and hairbrushes. Bottles of perfume were aligned by size flush against the mirror of the vanity. She pulled a drawer open curiously and peered inside while Yasuhara perused the shelves filled with books and pictures.
"Wait a minute," Yasuhara spoke up after a few minutes of snooping. "I think I know whose room this was," he added and pulled a picture from a bookshelf directly in front of him.
Mai set her hand on the vanity and turned to look over her shoulder at Yasuhara with wide and curious eyes, "Really? Whose?"
Yasuhara lifted the picture to his face before another caught his eye and he snatched that one up as well, "This is weird," he muttered. "I though it may have been Prudence's room but then why would there be a picture of Kioko in here," he lifted the black and white photo covered in a thick layer of dust and waved it for Mai to see. Indeed there was a beautiful and young Japanese girl dressed in a heavy kimono staring back at her.
"Maybe it's William's room?" Mai guessed with scrunched brows.
"I don't think so, unless he keeps pictures of himself," he responded and held up another picture.
That didn't make sense at all, nothing about this case made sense, as Mai was beginning to realize. It was obvious that there was some kind of mixed up love triangle, well, square if you counted Alexander, but the only death they knew of was Prudence's. William was carted off to jail and Kikio was never heard from again . . . Mai paused on that thought and gasped lightly. Could it be that Kikio was also murdered? But then, her body had never been found. Her eyes drifted to the window, out to the park bellow, and she wondered if the woman had been buried beneath one of the many tree's she had thought to hold the bittersweet memories of the past not so long ago. Something dark and poisonous was hidden just out of sight here, Mai thought, and she dropped her eyes to her feet as a shiver wracked her body.
Mai stared at her shoes in thought while Yasuhara fell silent. She tapped her finger on the vanity and looked into the mirror absently before she froze. The reflection was all wrong, she quickly noticed, and stared at the image of a woman with golden hair stared back at her. Her eyes were blank and emotionless. The sound of glass cracking ripped through the silence of the room as abruptly as a lightning strike. Mai watched as the cracks worked their way across the surface of the mirror and the image of the woman reflected in her place, lifting her eyes to follow, and stopped when she met Yasuhara's in the reflection.
"Mai," he stated in a dark and serious warning tone, something she had never heard from him, and reached out a hand towards her. "Get away from the mirror," he instructed lowly.
Mai focused back on the cracks which had settle, but the glass was still creaking, and took a hesitant step back. Her reflection had returned to normal as soon as she had taken her eyes away but the splintered glass still loomed all the more threatening. It seeped so much malice into the air, radiating a cold miasma that it left her frozen.
"I said move, Mai!" Yasuhara shouted and jumped forward, pushing her out of the way, just as the mirror exploded outwards and glass shards flew everywhere.
Mai hit the ground and immediately covered her head and shoved her face into the carpet as the glass sliced through the air and rained down across the floor. She heard Monk, knocking over boxes in a hurry to get back into the other room, and looked up at the man as he practically fell into the room with his hands clutching the doorway and eyes wide.
"Yasuhara!" He shouted and leapt over the boxes to crouch down next to the fallen college student.
Mai could not see Yasuahra now that Monk had crouched down in front of him, but she could see his legs. His jeans were torn to scrap and a shard of glass stuck out of his thigh. Blood had started to stain the carpet while Mai stared wide eyed at what had just happened. She pushed herself onto her knees and crawled across the floor, heedless of the broken glass beneath her hands and knees, and hurried over to Yasuhara's other side. Tears began streaming down her cheeks at the sight of the hundreds of scrapes that littered his body and the trails of blood that trickled down his face and arms before reaching the carpet below him. There was a shard of broken mirror jutting out from his shoulder and without thought Mai reached for it.
"Don't pull it out!" Monk snapped and pushed her hand away.
"Sorry," she mumbled and leaned back on her legs and watched as Monk pushed Yasuhara into a sitting position before sliding his arm beneath his legs and lifting him up. The man only grunted in pain and squeezed his eyes shut.
Monk and Mai hurried out of the door and out into the hall quick as a flash and raced back to base, Monk practically kicked the door down, before he rushed over to a couch and set Yasuhara down as gently as he could. One of his legs fell from the couch and thudded against the ground as he cried out in pain.
"What happened?" Naru demanded urgently while he examined Yasuhara.
"We were looking around in a room upstairs when the mirror just exploded," Monk hurriedly explained.
"Lin! Call and ambulance," Naru ordered and lifted his gaze to the girl's bedroom door upon hearing a gasp. Thankfully it was Ayako who rushed over and shooed the men away, demanding they give him space, and ordered Monk to bring her whatever towels he could find in their bathroom. Across the room Lin was on the phone and speaking into the microphone as calm and cool as he always was in urgent situations.
Mai turned her eyes onto Naru and found him to be staring at her with his own narrowed eyes. "What room?" he asked darkly.
"Third from the end of the hall," she answered dully and stared up at him with wide eyes as he moved towards her and grabbed at her hands. She flinched, expecting some kind of angry retort, but Naru was looking down at her bloody palms which she had only just noticed. Glass was embedded within her palms and there was a particular shard that had dug itself an inch into her hand, just between the bones of her thumb and forefinger that disturbed her. If she turned her hand over she could just make out the tip of the shard pushing through her flesh on the other side.
Naru moved bother her hands to one of his, his fingers clasped around both her wrists easily, and reached for one of the towels Monk had brought back and set on the coffee table. All the while he kept on eye on her paling face.
"Stop looking at it," he instructed calmly, afraid that she may faint, and was pleased when she obediently did so. With a pair of tweezers provided to him by Lin he pulled the shards free, cursed silently when Mai cried out, and quickly through the pieces into the trash before instructing her to clench the towel in her hands. Hopefully the pressure would help to slow the bleeding. Her knees, upon closer inspection, were just as bad. "Mai," he called for her attention, glad to see that she was not in too much shock, and continued, "You'll go with Yasuhara to the hospital."
Mai nodded curtly and brought her hands, still clasping the towel, to her chest just as the door was opened and several paramedics rushed in to collect Yasuhara.
"If there is any news please call me," Naru added quietly and placed a hand on her shoulder, leading her towards a paramedic who immediately took notice of the pallid girl.