Chapter 3

The Startling Revelation

When Mai suddenly woke up, the first thing she realized was the throbbing in her head. Suddenly the head ache vanished. But after a minute it relapsed. The last thing she remembered was running behind Rachel up the stairs and her throwing open door. The sight that greeted her eyes made her blanch and then black out.

She found herself in a dark place. 'Oh so I am here again.' she wondered. She was on the astral plane. She immediately started searching for the look-alike of her boss, her dream guide. 'Surely he must be here or he would have informed me if he was going home.' she thought.

Then suddenly, "Mai….". she swiftly turned around. "Gene…. " it almost came out in a whisper. Mai was really glad and content to see the pleasant face of her only best friend. She ran towards him and hugged him tight. This was her first time meeting Gene after Naru had returned from England.

She was pleased beyond words. For one thing she still did not know her way around in this dark place, and the other thing was, she was actually frantic to meet him.

If it had been a few months back, her heart would have fluttered and her blood would have boiled. But now she knew the object of her affection was hers an hers only Naru, and Gene would always be her best friend.

"Mai…..you must wake up. They are waiting." Gene spoke softly making his voice came out like a soothing lullaby.

"Gene. Do you have any insight on this case? Tell me gene." Mai asked ignoring his words.

"Not yet Mai. When I find something I will definitely call you. But there is something bothering me here. Hara-san will be able to find out. Now wake up Mai. Find out what is happening yonder." gene's voice lulled her to sleep, and with a gentle smile he faded away into the darkness. And Mai woke up to the light in 'yonder', as Gene had called it.

She woke up in a hurry to know what happened to Rawl after she fainted. Mai realized she was lying on the sofa. She saw Naru, Lin and Sakamoto-san seated around her. Naru was sitting just above her head. When he saw her stir he was immediately over her asking her what she saw. By this time he had grown to know when Mai was having, 'one of those dreams'. Mai, too worried to know what happened to Rawl, ignored his question.

"Naru, where is Rawl? What happened? Is he okay?" Mai asked frantically shaking Naru's arms with tears almost welling up in her eyes.

Flashback:

Rachel and Kurasu sprinted up the stairs with the SPR team at their heels. They could hear child's scream as they ran. They came to a sudden halt in the fist landing, which made Mai bump her nose into Naru's back. While Mai was rubbing her nose out of reflex reaction, Rachel opened the first room on their left.

They were startled to find the room empty. There was a single cot, pushed to the far end of the wall, a chest of draws, a study unit with a computer, a door leading to the bathroom, and an open window next to the head of the bed. But no sight of a child. The next thing they heard put Mai's nerves on edge.

There was feeble yet distinct cry coming from outside the window.

Mai simply passed out. Abruptly Naru caught hold of her before she hit the floor. Rachel was leaned over the window to find her son hanging from the window, his tender little fingers clutching the ledge. Kurasu was immediately by her side. He caught hold of Rawl's arms and pulled him upwards, only to find that his shirt button was stuck to the building. Kurasu could feel cold air envelope his heart as his son was wailed uncontrollably.

Before Rawl could realize what was happening to him, he found himself flying. He looked up to see a large man with black bangs and hard eyes (cough-Lin-cough) who had picked him up by the collar. The long arms of the large person, easily undid the button and with perfect ease brought him inside the room.

Lin studied the boy. He was a dark toddler, with a mop of lustrous black hair with a prominent nose and a cute mouth, which were quivering. He looked just like his mom. He had large innocent and attractive brown eyes which were conspicuous yet tender. This only made the boy shy away from Lin's scrutiny.

While Mai was carried piggy-back by Naru, Rawl was in his mother's arm, seeking comfort in her warm hug. Kurasu meanwhile closed the window and bolted the latch on top so that Rawl cant reach it. After a few moments the infant's sobs turned to sniffles and finally to sleep. The whole procession moved into the living room. Rachel excused herself to put Rawl to bed in her room. "I am terribly sorry but Rawl will be able to relate what just happened only tomorrow." she apologized and left. Though there had been such an excitement over her son, her face was as calm as a rock. She surprisingly didn't look anxious.

Naru laid Mai down gently on the sofa and sat down close to where her head was. For a brief moment, he placed his hands on her head, but removed it immediately. Averting his worried thoughts about Mai, he turned his attention to his client who was sitting in the opposite couch. The client looked deathly pale.

"Please, you have got to help me. Get rid of it." Kurasu begged with desperate eyes and a hard face.

"That's our job Sakamoto-san. But I am quite impatient to hear the details." his impatience was heard in his voice. He caught Lin's eye, who immediately had his notebook ready. Naru just hoped he was not interrupted again. That's when a startled Mai woke up.

End of Flashback.

At Mai's outburst, Naru immediately placed his hands on her shoulder and tried to calm her down. "Mai, calm down. Rawl is just fine, in fact he is asleep right now. Now if I may have your permission to continue with the interrogation Mai, I would certainly be glad." there was sarcasm and annoyance in every letter of his words.

Mai blushed with embarrassment at his words and tightly controlled her flying tongue. Naru indicated his client to continue, who was staring at them with countenance akin to amusement.

"all these things began when Rachel was bearing our child. She would be asleep most of the time. I just imagined it to be due to exhaustion. But I noticed that the kitchen would always be in a mess. Like there has been somebody trying to make something. I questioned Rachel about it and she simply refused to have used the kitchen. So I called in exorcists because I verified the possibility of thieves. Their exorcism were a failure. A year after Rawl was born other unexplainable things began to happen. Like what you just saw, Rawl would be in a position where he cant help himself." That statement received him three pair of confused eyes. "What I mean is, he was in life threatening situations where he couldn't get out of it himself. Once he was found on top of his wardrobe, unable to get down, and it was impossible for him to climb up there. Another time we found him inside the closet which was locked on the outside. There were more times too, but in all these cases it was impossible for him to reach that state. All those cases were okay, but today it became serious. I failed to find the factors that caused these happenings, but I have reasons to believe them to be paranormal." Mai looked at Naru with an expression of apprehension on her face. She could feel the atmosphere was becoming strained with tension.

To be continued………….

(A/N: Sorry for the late update. I caught a cold towards writing the end of this chapter, so I am not sure I ended it satisfactorily. Anyways R&R.)