updating in a timely matter, who's she?
Thursday, 11.13
"This is the last room, right?" Mai asked Monk, looking at the digital thermometer in her hand as she walked aimlessly around an empty dining room.
"23 C," Mai reported to Monk who scribed it onto one of the papers on the clipboard. He flipped through them before confirming, "Yup, seems like the last one, kiddo."
"Woo hoo," Mai said with a laugh and raised her arms in the air. She and Monk high-fived victoriously before making their way back to the base.
"Think we're gonna get another ghost attack today?" she asked the Monk while throwing the thermometer in the air and catching it as it dropped, then threw it in the air again.
"If we do I hope I'm not clean-up crew again like yesterday!" he held his back with a pained look, causing Mai to laugh.
"Hey, don't laugh! One day you'll get back pain just like me!" he pouted.
"Did I tell you why it took so long?" He continued looking down at Mai who shook her head in response.
"John and I couldn't open the closet that had the broom, so we have to use the little dustpan and brush and crawl along the floor! Seriously, who keeps a closet locked," he complained and dramatically motioned in the air with his arms.
"Aww, you poor thing," Mai said sarcastically and patted his back, "you sound like you need a spa day, and maybe get your nails done while you're at it," she jokingly grabbed his hand and examined his cuticles. He snatched his hand away from her and stuck his tongue out at her. Mai smiled. As they were walking, Mai stopped directly in front of the kitchen and sighed. Monk, who was now a few steps ahead of her, turned and asked, "Mai?"
"You head back, I have a feeling a certain narcissist is going to ask for tea," she said with an eye roll.
"OK, just be careful," he warned then turn to go to the base and give Naru their data, figuring it was best not to make him wait. Mai hummed as she put the water on the stove. She felt a bit disappointed that she had no dream last night, and was still no closer to understand whatever Kazuo was trying to tell her. She was lost in thought when a sudden chill hit the back of her neck. She placed her hand over the area and realized it was ice cold, but everywhere else was still warm.
"I'm pretty sure that isn't normal…"
She shook her head and decided it was just her psyche trying to scare her. After all, she was standing in the same place Mrs. Saito was attacked just yesterday. The more she tried to ignore it, the more she ended up scaring herself. The intenseness of the cold grew so much than it sent shivers down her spine. She glanced down at the thermometer next to the stove. The temperature had dropped a considerable amount since she came into the kitchen. She swallowed hard and could feel her heart pounding.
"Oh, God," she mumbled as her body began to turn around to face whatever was behind her. She was a little surprised to find nothing there, that was until she looked over to her right. Just by the camera, a black mist was beginning to swirl and form out of thin air. However, Mai discovered she did not fear the apparition as though she thought she would. She stared at it for a moment, and despite having no visible eyes, it seemed to stare at her back.
"Hi, Reo," Mai said softly with a gentle smile. It seemed as if an unseen force was drawing her closer and closer towards the mist. Leaving her spot by the stove, she took a few steps gingerly to the spirit. Small, incomprehensible whispers seemed to come from all directions around her, but they also seemed to push her closer and closer inwards. She stopped when she stood only a few feet away. The whispers continued to get louder, but she still couldn't make them out. Hesitantly, she reached out her hand, coming so close to touching the mysterious mist. It was then she made out the whispers.
"Liar."
"Liar?" Mai repeated and furrowed her brows. A new voice snapped her from her daze, this one clearly coming from behind her.
"Mai." The young assistance turned around and retracted her arm back to her chest.
"I thought I told you to make more noise when you move!" She huffed.
"What are you doing?" Naru questioned as he went to take the screeching teapot off the stove. This was the first time Mai noticed the noise.
"Oh… I thought you would want tea when I got back to the base so I figured I would just make it now while I was already here," she explained.
"If you are making tea, why are you so far from the stove?" He raised a brow and poured the boiling water into a cup. Mai quickly took a look behind her and realized the mist was now gone.
"I, um, got a little distracted! I saw a spider web and I figured I would get rid of it! You know how Masako hates spiders and all, would have been a big scene if she saw it!" she spoke with a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her neck. It was no longer cold.
"With your bare hands?" He looked over at her.
"With my…" she looked down at her hand and then connected the dots, "Ah, you're so smart! I should have gotten a towel or something! Haha..ha...," she could practically feel the nervous sweat forming. He shot her an 'I know you're lying but I have more important things to do' look, then grabbed his tea and the thermometer on the counter and left. Once the coast was clear, she let out a big sigh of relief. She looked behind her once more in hopes the mist would reappear. However, nothing was there and there was no sign nothing had even been there. She placed her hands over her face and shook her head.
"What is going on?"
Wondering if she got enough sleep or not, and slowly made her way back to the base. As soon as she stood directly in front of the door, she realized she really, really did not want to spend more time under the scrutinizing pressure of Naru. She placed her hand on the door and quickly slid it open. Naru was seated on the sofa, tea in hand, with Gene at his side. Only one looked up to greet Mai.
"Do you like, need my help with anything right at this moment?" Mai asked in a rushed tone, placing a hand on each side of the doorframe and shifting her weight to the front of her feet.
"Not at the moment, but – "Naru began but was cut off.
"Ok, great! I'll be back later! Don't miss me!" Mai said with a big, up to no good, smile.
"Where are you –" Naru was cut off yet again by the quick slamming shut of the door. His grip tightened around the small cup in his hand, he did not like to be cut off. He sighed and moved his eyes over to the wall of monitors, scanning them and watching the movements of his assistant. Gene chuckled beside him.
"Oh, that girl will be the death of you," he laughed as he patted his twins back.
Mai exhaled deeply with a smile on her face, leaning her back against the door to the base. She was sure to her boss was not the happiest with her right now, but she needed nothing more than a literal breath of fresh air. Walking with a spring in her step, she found herself at the door to the back of the house, the same one she saw in her dream. She pushed open the door and was never happier to feel the rays of the natural sun hit her face. It was a surprisingly warm day for the suburbs of Tokyo, so Mai's light sweater was perfectly enough to keep her warm and comfortable. She took a deep breath and walked further into the grass. The sun was hanging low in the sky, she estimated the time to be about five in the afternoon. She stretched her arms up into the air and let out a yawn.
"I guess I didn't get enough sleep after all," she mumbled as she took a seat on the ground. Running her hands grass, she was suddenly reminded of Taki, who she had forgotten to message after their last awkward encounter.
"I'll have to remember to do that later."
Letting out another yawn, she allowed her body to fall backwards into the grass. She sighed inwardly and placed her arm over to eyes to shield them from the bright sun.
And without even realizing it, she fell asleep.
Mai opened her eyes and discovered herself standing directly in front of the closet door near the kitchen.
"Is this the one Monk said was locked?" she tilted her head slightly and gave a quick glance left and right. She was alone. She shrugged and decided it couldn't hurt to try amd open it. She placed her hand on the handle and wasn't exactly surprised when it didn't open. She placed her hands on her hips and bit her bottom lip. She tried once more to open the mysterious door, giving it a bigger pull. Nothing.
"Mai," Kazuo called her attention over to the living room where he sat comfortably on the couch.
"It's locked," she said with a pout and pointed over at the door. Kazuo pushed himself off the couch and walked over to inspect the door. Once he stood behind Mai, he leaned over to inspect the lock. It dawned on Mai how close he was now, and her cheeks turned a slight pink. She could practically smell his cologne. She had smelled this before, it was so familiar... but where?
"I didn't know you could smell in a dream… that's a new one," she thought to herself.
He stood up and held his hand to his chin in a thinking position.
"When characters in cartoons suddenly get an idea, what appears over their head," he questioned as if she was a contestant on a gameshow.
"What does that have to do with anything?" she squinted her eyes at him.
"Mai, just think," he stressed. She thought for a moment before, "Oh! A lightbulb!"
"Ah! Yes, that's it!" He exclaimed, nodding his head over to the lamp on the table by the couch where he was previously sitting. Mai pointed over to it and raised a brow, obviously confused at what was happening. He physically pushed her back and moved her closer to the lamp until it was right in front of her.
"What do you want me to do with it?" She asked, extremely out of the loops of what was happening. Kazuo covered his face with his hands and then pushed them up through his hair.
"No wonder Oliver gets so upset with you sometimes," he mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing, we are running over of time. Just pick it up," he spoke with a hastened tone. Mai took the table lamp in between her two hands. There was a slight clink from inside.
"Ohhhhh!" She exclaimed with a bright smile, "but, how am I supposed to get it out?" she looked up at him.
"How do you think?" he held his hands in a shrugging position. Mai looked once more at the lamp, then threw it against the wall with all her might, creating a loud smash. Kazuo rubbed his temples with a smile and a laugh.
"Just, don't actually do that when the time comes," he patted her head.
"How else was I supposed to get it!" she squatted down and grabbed the key from the broken ceramic pieces on the floor.
"Just take the top off of it next time."
"Oh," she said softly with a small blush, "Well, that's not as fun," she mumbled.
"Alright, but what is so important that I have to see in the closet?" she asked moving over to the door.
"Is this some weird out of body experience so I can just help Monk if he gets stuck on clean up duty again? Or does this mean I'm going to be the one on clean up duty? Aw man, anything but clean up duty," she cried and looked pleadingly up to him.
"Mai, focus," Kazuo urged shaking his head, visibly getting slightly frustrated with her.
"Sorry, sorry," she mumbled. She stuck the key into its hole and twisted. She twisted the door knob and pulled. This time it opened.
"Okay, this is not a closet," she perplexed and backed up a bit. In front of her was a long set of stairs that lead to a black abyss.
"You're going to need this," Kazuo plopped a flash light into Mai's hand. Flicking it on, she could see the bottom of the stairs.
"You're not really going to make me go down there," she pleaded.
"It safe, I'm with you," he smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her forward. She placed one foot on the top stair and it creaked under her weight. She frowned and anxiously laughed before taking another step, and then another. Rushing down the last few, she shone her light around the room. She could see the dust particles floating in the beam of the light.
"It's… a storage room?" she questioned and looked up at her guide.
"Over there," he pointed over to a box in the corner. Mai moved over to it and was surprised to see that, unlike the rest, it was not cover in dust and looked freshly placed.
"Open it," Kazuo whispered. She placed her hands over it, and as soon as she was about to open it, she left herself awaking up.
Mai shot up straight.
"No, no, no!" she muttered to herself and held the sides of her face in her hands.
"Are you alright, Mai? Did you have a nightmare?" Gene turned around from his chair in front of the monitors with a concerned look.
"Oh, uh, yes! A nightmare. Super scary," she said rubbing her arm and avoiding eye contact.
"Didn't I fall asleep outside? How'd I get back to the base?"
She pushed the blankets off her legs and stood to stretch.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Dinner," Gene pointed to one of the monitors in the dining room.
"Are you going?"
"Nah, someone has to stay and watch the monitors," he tapped his pen on the table in front of the screens.
"Oh…"
"But please, go get some food!" Gene said with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll bring you something back!" Mai promised him before heading out to go to her room to freshen up a bit before eating.
"Geez, I feel like I've slept this case away," she touched her bed head.
"What the hell was that dream, anyways? No way there could actually be a basement down there, right?"
Mai stopped in the hall when she noticed something abnormal about it. The door to Reo's room was open. She crept over to it and peering inside. Mr. Saito sat on Reo's bed with his head in his lap.
"Oh, Mr. Saito," Mai said softly. His head shot up with a surprised expression, not suspecting a visitor.
"Hello, Mai," he sniffled.
"Oh, was he crying?"
"Um, I think dinner is ready, I wasn't sure if you knew," Mai guessed.
"Ah, yes. I was just on my way," he whipped his eyes. Mai debated on walking away, but after a moment of silence, she walked into the room and sat on the bed next to Mr. Saito.
"I don't think I've had a chance to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. The Reo I knew was always a lovely person, I can assure you," a sad smile graced her face.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"You know…" she paused for a moment before sighing, "I haven't told many people this, but... my parents passed away when I was very young." Mr. Saito looked at her with wide eyes, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea-" Mai waved her hands in front of her.
"No, it's fine. I just want you to know that I understand the amount of anguish you must be in right now," the sad smile still hung upon her lips.
"My wife, it's just, she hasn't been handling the whole… situation well. She's extremely old-fashioned and refuses to see the truth as it is," he shook his head and held this hands in his lap.
"Old-fashioned? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It will always haunt me… no pun intended," he said with a soft laugh, "I was working in Kyoto before Reo's death. I didn't get to see him much before he passed. I just wished I could have been with him. Maybe if I just paid more attention to him, this all wouldn't have happened. Maybe if-" Mai stopped him.
"You can't blame yourself for this. As tragic as it is, what's happened has. There's nothing you could have done," she looked over at him.
"You're right," he said with a nod then stood up, "Thank you, Mai. I'm heading to dinner now. I hope to see you there," he stated then left the room. She looked around Reo's room for a minute. It was strangely empty. She stood up and walked to the desk and pulled over a drawer.
"Why is there nothing here?" she muttered to herself. She turned around and scanned the room. It smelled a bit like… bleach?
"I need to get out of here," she shook her head and walked to the door.
Once she left, Mr. Saito strange wording truly dawned onto her.
"It sounded as if he thought he could have prevented it… How can you prevent an undetected heart condition?" Nothing was adding up. A sudden flash of the box from her dream popped into her mind.
"I have to go tonight, I just have to make sure…"
Dinner proved to be uneventful. Most of the conversation consisted of Mrs. Saito inquiring Masako about her television show. For claiming to not watch it often, she surely seemed to know much about it.
After dinner, the team was returning to the base. She decided she needed to ask Naru about the door, just to see if he knew anything. Just as she was making her way over to him, Masako latched onto his arm like a leech, showing no signs of letting go. Mai rolled her eyes and decided to just go take a look at it herself. She looked around to make sure the coast was clear before trying to pull it open.
Locked. She sighed.
"Do you need something?" Mrs. Saito asked from out of nowhere. Mai was taken by surprise and jumped at the woman's voice.
"O-Oh, I was just looking for the broom! I was planning on helping you clean up from dinner," she prided herself on how truthful the lie came out. Mrs. Saito did not look pleased.
"I appreciate your attempt but I am perfectly fine cleaning with my husband," she said without a hint of kindness in her voice.
"O-Of course, I didn't mean to impose," Mai spoke nervously.
"I believe the rest of your team has left," she glanced down the hallway.
"Right, I'll be going," Mai bowed slightly, then turned and walked down the hallway with a quickened pace.
"How'd you fall behind?" Ayako asked her.
"Er, bathroom," Mai said with a confident smile.
"Oh honey," Ayako pulled her into a side hug and leaned down to her ear, "we need to teach you how to lie convincingly."
"Now that you are all here," Naru eyed Mai.
"Always me," she huffed to herself.
"Brown will be preforming a exorcism of the house tomorrow in conjunction with Takigawa. I assume this will be enough time to prepare yourselves," he crossed his arms and made direct eye contact with John and Monk. Something twisted in Mai's stomach. An exorcism on Reo just didn't seem right to her. Something in her wanted to object, but she suppressed it, knowing she would have no way to back up her claim.
"You all are dismissed for tonight. I recommend you all get some sleep, tomorrow could be a long day," he spoke in his usual tone. Everyone made their way to the door to head to the rooms.
"Mai, come here," Naru said coolly. Her heartdropped.
"Oooooo, someone is in trouuuuble," Monk whispered to her as he passed her on his way out.
"Zip it," Mai pouted and made her way across the room to the black clad teenager. Everyone had left the room besides Naru and of course Lin who sat with his headphones on, typing who knows what.
"Sit," he motioned to the far couch. He took a seat opposite her and crossed his legs. Mai sat uncomfortably straight, wringing her hands.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked innocently.
"What do you know?" he interrogated.
"What are you talking about?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"You know something, and you are not telling me," he challenged her.
"I'm not sure what you mean…" she decided to play dumb.
"What does he think I know? I mean, what do I even know that I know? Is this about my dreams? I can't tell him about that, no way. That would give away Kazuo's cover. I mean, he never said I couldn't tell anyone about him but – "
"Mai," Naru snapped her out of her thoughts, "Lying will not help you." She gulped.
"I'm sorry, Naru, I really wish I knew what you were talking about…" she looked down at her feet. The boy sighed.
"Go get some rest," he got up from the couch and turned his back to her. She moved over to the door.
"And," he stopped her in her tracks, "when you decide to tell me what you feel so protective of, I will be here." He didn't turn to look at her, and Mai didn't turn to look at him. Without a word, she closed the door to the base behind her.
"Jackass," she muttered.
Mai laid in bed, attempting to read the book Naru had lent her forever ago. However, the moonlight was slowly shifting through the slits in the blinds, becoming too dark to read. Not that she was getting very much reading done. Her eyes read the words on the lines, but it was not absorbed into her mind. Instead, she was preoccupied with her plan to check out the locked door. She concluded the hardest part would be getting past the base, since Naru the nocturnal would definitely still be awake. She picked up her phone to check the time.
"2:37"
She looked over to the girls next to her. She could just make out Masako's small breaths over Ayako's snoring. She decided it was now or never to make her escape. Setting her bare feet on the cold hardwood, she began to tip-toe her way over to the door. But as life would have it, nothing was ever as easy as it seemed. The floor creaked loudly under Mai's foot. She cursed herself for not being able to float along the floor like Masako. And speak of the devil –
"Mai? What are you doing?" A small voice squeaked.
"Sorry, Masako. I'm just going to the bathroom," Mai held her arms up as if she were guilty. Masako mumbled something and rolled over. Even Mai could admit how lovely a sleepy Masako looked in the moonlight.
"Damn it, no wonder Naru likes her so much."
Carefully slipping out the door, she began to make her way down the hallway. The carpet became her friend and muffled the sound of her movement. As she passed the base, she held her breath and tip-toed as carefully as anyone could ever tip-toe. Somehow through the dark hallways, Mai still found herself standing in front of the door, just like her dream. She tried opening the door just one more time, because why not. Still locked.
"Okay… Key," Mai looked over to the lamp and made her way over to it. Instead of throwing it against the wall, she lifted the top as Kazuo said.
"Oh this is so much easier," she mumbled to herself and reached her hand inside.
"What in the hell do you think you are doing?" A not so happy voice hissed out to her in the darkness. Catching her off guard, Mai's arm hit the inside of the lamp, causing it to wobble.
"No, no, it can't break like in my dream!"
Two arms reached around from behind her and grabbed the lamp to steady it. Mai let out a deep side.
"You know I don't ask questions a second time," Naru whispered low in her ear. Mai praised God that he was behind her so he could not see the deep blush on her cheeks.
"Oh, God, er, um, I'm sleepwalking? Yes, sleepwalking! How did I manage to get alllll the way out here?" she laughed awkwardly, hand still in the base of the lamp.
"Mai," he whispered again.
"Oh! The key!" Mai placed her hand and the bottom of the lamp and searched until she found the small piece of metal at the bottom. She pulled it out and looked victoriously at it then replaced the top of the lamp. She turned around to find Naru still inches away from her face. He still hadn't moved his arms. For a moment, they looked into each other's eyes, before both looked away and Naru pulling his arms away, pink on each of their cheeks. Luckily, or unluckily, the darkness had a way of concealing things.
"H-How did you know I was here?" Mai stammered, still a bit flustered.
"Our camera's stream 24/7," he stated. Mai hit herself on the head, cursing for not thinking of such an obvious plot hole in her plan.
"Do you have any idea what would have happened if the clients found you?" he spoke harshly, but still hushed. Mai stayed quiet and looked at the floor. He sighed and softened his tone, which was very strange for the boy to do.
"Why didn't you tell me you were about to do something ridiculous?"
"Because you wouldn't understand!" She whispered forcefully.
"Of course I wouldn't if you don't explain!"
"I'll explain everything, alright, but right now isn't the time and place. Please, just trust me this once," she looked directly at him, pleading not only through her words but through her eyes. He sighed and shook his head.
"I can't believe I'm doing this…" he mumbled, "Just keep quiet." Mai felt relieved, well for the time being.
"I just… I had a feeling this isn't just a closet," she began to walk over to it.
"And you just miraculously knew there was a key in the lamp?"
"Not exactly…" Mai unlocked the door with the key and opened it very slowly so it wouldn't creak. Mai reached into her pocked and took out her phone for the flashlight. As in her dream, a set of stairs led downwards. Mai shot Naru an 'I told you so' look. He rolled his eyes and started making his was down the steps.
"I never said I disagreed with you," he stated.
"Yeah, yeah. Try to take the credit while you can," Mai mumbled and followed close behind, making sure to close the door softly behind them. It was pitch black except for the small flashlight her old phone provided.
"It's over here," Mai led him over to the box which was in the same position as in her dream.
"What is, exactly?" Naru inquired.
"I'm not exactly sure," she said with a nervous laugh. Naru raised a brow at her.
"But! I know it's important," she went on to explain. Mai took the leap of faith and pulled the top off the of box.
"Is this…" Mai gasped as she took one of the copybooks from the box. She opened the first page and found 'Reo Saito' clearly printed on the inside cover.
"All Saito's things…" Naru finished her sentence as he often did with his twin.
"This is why his room was so empty…" Mai connected the dots. But looking around, there was no other boxes without ample amounts of dust on it.
"This can't be everything he had in his room, right?" The dream of Mrs. Saito burning the pictures of Reo seeped back into her mind and dropped her stomach. If she burned the pictures… what else did she burn?
"Mai," Naru called as he grabbed the phone from her hand and shone it over the book he took from the box. She would have objected but the words on the page caught her eye.
"What did you find?"
"His journal," he flipped the page and continued reading.
"Naru! You can't just read a dead person's journal!" Mai went to snatch it from his hands, but he held it up in the air and continued reading. Mai puffed out her cheeks.
"Oh, he's going to play the height game, huh?"
"Just as I suspected," he muttered.
"Well? What does it say?" Mai was beginning to get impatient.
"Seems as if Reo was not as happy as his mother would like to admit. Practially the exact opposite," Naru lowered his hand and gave the journal over to Mai to read. Skimming through the pages, the words 'lonely', 'disappointment', 'depressed', and 'tired' appeared in almost every entry.
"Oh, my God," Mai breathed out, she could feel her eye's welling with tears.
"Sounds like his mother overworked him and gave him no affection in return," Naru spoke as if emotionally unfazed.
"And look," Naru flipped through the pages until the came to the last one with writing.
"This page is ripped out?" Mai looked puzzled.
"But why would it be ripped out?" She gazed over to Naru for an answer.
"We will have to wait until we are back at base to find out," he took the book from her hands and held it under his arm. Suddenly, Mai's flashlight turned off.
"Huh?" she looked at her phone, but it was unresponsive.
"Uh-oh," she whispered, "it's dead." She could practically feel Naru glaring at her.
"First you forget your phone, and now you don't charge it?" Naru rubbed his temples.
"At least I remembered it this time!" she claimed. Just as she finished her sentence, the floor creaked above them.
"Shit," Naru muttered. Mai's breath caught in her throat. She could not hear the door opening slowly. A strobe of light hit the wall across from the steps. Naru grabbed Mai's hand and pulled her through the darkness. She couldn't see an inch in front of her face.
"Where are we go-" A hand was placed over her mouth as they suddenly haulted. Mai got the message and reached up to grab the hand covering her mouth.
"Get down," Naru whispered lowly in her ear. Mai nodded her head and they slid down to the floor together. Naru wrapped an arm around Mai and pulled her close into his chest. If her heart wasn't beating out of her chest before, it sure was now. She could hear the difference of tones as the footsteps moved from the stairs onto the floor.
"This smell… it's so similar to my dream... It can't be... Naru?," she inhaled deeply.
"Mai! What are you thinking! This is clearly not the time," she shook her head and brought herself down to reality. A flashlight scanned the room, and for a moment Mai could now see their hiding spot was between stacks of boxes.
"Oliver, are you down here?"
"Isn't that the same name Kazuo mentioned? Who the hell is Ol-" Beside her, Naru exhaled and stood up.
"Gene," Naru said coming out from the stacks of boxes. Mai pushed herself up and followed him out.
"What the hell are you two doing down here?" he exclaimed moving his light between the two. Naru held up the journal with a smirk.
"You're never going to believe this," he replied.
"Come on, let's just get back to the base before anyone else finds us," Naru led the way up the stairs, with Mai who followed closely behind, and Gene behind her. After leaving the basement, Mai planted the key back in the vase, then the group made their way back to the base.
Once in the base, Naru searched for a pencil and flipped open the journal to the ripped out page.
"Hell Noll, do you have any idea what would have happened if anyone besides me had found you two? What were you thinking? How in God's name did you even get down there? WHY in God's name did you go down there? And how are you even involved in this, Mai?" he sputtered.
"Is anyone going to explain to me what just went on?" Gene asked after none replied to his previous questions. Mai and Naru were too invested in what they were doing to reply. Gene sighed and joined the two.
"The words written on the missing page are physically imprinted on this one. By using this pencil, it will skip over the imprinted parts and leave us with the message in inverted colors," Naru explained as he began to color in the page with pencil, and soon the words from the ripped-out page could be read clearly. Mai covered her mouth as she gasped. She only needed to read so much to understand what was written on that page.
"T-That's a suicide note."
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Sorry I didn't post sooner, I've been having sort of a lack of motivation. This chapter turned out not to be as long as I excepted so I just decided to post the whole thing! Normally when I post a chapter, I already have the next on completed and only needed editing, but this time I actually don't have the next one done, but I am slowly realizing that one might end up even longer than this one, oops. Please don't mind the wait, it wouldn't break my previous record of not updating for like seven months lol.
I hope this chapter was worth the wait! I tried to put sneak a little something secretive in there, but I'm not sure if anyone will pick up on it haha. Minute details! Completely off topic, but Lammas is tomorrow, so blesses to all my fellow wiccans/pagans or anyone else who may celebrate it!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you again for reading, and if you have the time, please leave a review and let me know how I am doing! Thank you all so much to everyone who has reviewed recently, each one sincerely fills my heart with joy and makes me squeal a bit! I hope your summer or winter is going super well and you are receiving all the good things in life you deserve. As always, have an absolutely lovely day/night! -Lex
