I'M SORRY! I'm so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to complete. Life has been hectic and I either didn't have time to work on it or I just couldn't be bothered because I've been too tired. I understand that this is no excuse *cries* but I want you to know that I thought of you all every day…well almost every day. Anyway, who wants to hear some cool news? I recently performed at the Manchester Royal Palace Theatre! Our drama group put on a show there, so I now class myself as a star. I think I want to become a diva…
Me: Hey, you. Fetch me some red vines, fool!
Innocent Bystander: Of course my Excellency! Anything you wish!
Anyway, on with the story…
I woke up with the morning sun shining on my face. I could see the brightness from behind my eyelids. I opened my eyes and used my hand to shield them from the bright sunlight streaming through the window across the room. I pushed the covers off me and got out of the bed. I stood up and listened.
I heard footsteps, but I couldn't see anyone around. I stood still and listened carefully, to try and work out which direction they were coming from.
I walked into the corridor and listened again, realising they were coming from behind me. I turned around and saw the woman called Shiori. An almost exact copy of me.
"Mai." she said sweetly. "I'm so sorry for what that woman has done to you. It's my entire fault that you..." she trailed off as tears silently slid down her transparent cheeks.
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything to me." I reassured her. "Can you tell me more about the woman?"
"Mira. Her name's Mira. We hired her as a cleaner, but...I can't tell you anymore. She'll come after me again, and you!" She was starting to panic slightly.
"But we need to find out what's going on around here! This can't go on any longer. What if someone else gets hurt?"
"You need to find the basement. Kaito and I stored all of our documents and photos down there, as well as letters."
"But there wasn't a basement on the plan of the house."
"I know. We only discovered it three weeks after moving in and never got round to telling someone about it. It was our special place that no-one knew about. The door is behind one of the book cases in the library. There was an earthquake and a lot of the book cases fell over, revealing the door."
"Which book case is it behind?" I asked.
"I can't quite remember, but I think it was the one filled with books on Japanese history."
"Why does she want to kill you?" I asked softly.
"I think you mean why did she kill me and why is currently she trying to kill you."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's okay. You'll find everything you need to know in the basement." she smiled before disappearing. I blinked, and in her place stood Gene.
"Hello Mai." he said gently, before I ran over to him and wrapped him into a bone crushing hug (not that ghosts can break bones...at least I don't think they can).
"Where have you been?" I yelled at him after pulling away from the embrace. "Where were you when I needed you?" I whispered as a single tear dripped down my cheek and resided on my chin.
His face fell and he stared at me, a look of regret on his face.
"I'm so sorry Mai. I tried as hard as I could, but I couldn't get through to you. Something was blocking me. There is a very strong presence here Mai. It isn't safe for you. It isn't safe for anyone."
"Well what do you expect us to do? Leave? We can't do that!" I exclaimed. "We haven't finished the investigation. We have a 100% success rate when it comes to solving cases and we can't just give up now because of yet another dangerous ghost!"
"Okay, but you have to promise me that you're going to be careful."
"I'm always careful; it's just that the ghosts seem to like me more than anyone else. It's probably because I'm prettier that anyone else here" I said.
"Well, be more careful that usual then, and Naru is quite pretty too." This made me laugh.
I could tell that he was trying to be careful with how he worded his sentences; trying not to offend me.
"You need to wake up now. The others will be getting worried." He said. I didn't want to leave Gene, but I knew that he was right.
"Wait, how long have I been asleep?" I exclaimed. It would have to be quite a long time for them to be getting worried.
"See you soon Mai." Gene said happily, waving at me. I smiled back, hoping that I actually would see him soon. I then experienced a falling sensation and the next thing I knew was that I was in a bed. I tried to sit up but there was an incredibly sharp pain in my abdomen. I let out a soft groan before clutching my stomach and swinging my stiff legs over then side of the bed.
I knew what had happened last night. I was attacked by the ghost called Mira, but I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to remember it so I distracted myself with the thought of Naru going all this time without my tea, but then again, somebody else could have made it for him.
I used the hand that wasn't on my stomach to push myself up from the bed. I tried to take a few steps but had to stop for a few seconds because I was starting to feel a bit lightheaded and had to steady myself on the wall.
I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the nauseous sensation in my gut. I opened them again and realised I was in Masako and Ayako's room…which meant I had two flights of stairs to go down to get to the base. The very thought of it made me sigh.
I was almost at the door, when all of a sudden, I heard footsteps coming from the bathroom and the door slowly begin to creak open. I felt all the blood drain from my face and ice seemed to run through my veins. Please not again. I thought to myself.
I heard more slow footsteps and someone breathing heavily. Then I heard a gasp.
"Mai, what are you doing out of bed?" Bou asked loudly. "You are in no condition to be walking about right now."
He came over to me, put his arm around my waist and helped me back over and into the bed.
I studied his face and noticed dark bags under his eyes. His hair was all messy and his clothes were creased.
"Bou, you didn't stay awake all this time…did you?" I asked, not knowing exactly how long 'all this time' actually was.
"Yep. All ten hours. I'm glad you're awake. It means I can finally get some sleep!" He exclaimed, letting out a heavy sigh. I leaned over, grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head.
"Baka! You didn't have to stay up all this time." I said, feeling tears forming behind my eyes. "You should have gotten someone else to come up and then you could take a break and you wouldn't be so tired. You don't need to worry about me all the time. I can take care of myself sometimes. I'm always getting myself into trouble and they everyone else has to –" I was interrupted when Bou sat down beside me on the bed and wrapped me into a secure and warm hug. "I'm sorry." I whispered, before the tears began to fall.
"It's okay Mai. Everyone here loves you. We love you so much more than you could even imagine. We don't care about all these things you put us through because they aren't your fault, and we know you'd do exactly the same for any of us. Nobody's perfect, not even Naru so stop saying stupid things and just be quiet." This made me cry even more. I wrapped my arms around him and clutched onto his shirt. "I think you need some more sleep, and I could do with some too. Naru will probably be up in a bit to check on us anyways. Come on." He said lying down, beckoning me to come and join him.
I lay down and cuddled into him. He put his arms around me and I nestled into his shoulder. The tears were still falling, but I wasn't upset. I was happy. I'd never been happier.
GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOSTHUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT
Naru POV
I was on my way to check on Bou and Mai. Bou had come down every two hours to get coffee and food, but after ten hours I suspect that he was feeling tired, even with all the caffeine he'd drunk.
When I got to the top floor, I knocked softly; as not to wake Mai, and softly called out Bou's name. Not getting a reply, I quietly opened the door and walked in.
Honestly, I was shocked at what I saw, but it wasn't a shocking thing. It was something that warmed my heart to see, not in a weird way or anything. I'm not going soft, but who wouldn't be happy when they saw Mai and Bou asleep in each other's arms? Oh god. I'm starting to sound like a romance novelist.
When I think about it, we are all like a family, especially for Mai. I think she sees us as her family, and by that I mean that she doesn't see us as her replacement family. We're just additions.
I went over to chair next to the window, opposite the bed and sat down. Someone needed to make sure that they weren't attacked. Ayako and Lin are nearly done with making the protective charms for everyone's rooms. We didn't need any more ghost related injuries.
I was beginning to get tired after ten minutes of staring into space so I texted Lin (yes, Naru does have a phone, an iPhone in fact. I'm a bit jealous…) and asked him to bring the book I'd been reading upstairs. I would have gone to get it myself but I didn't want to leave these two on their own.
Lin was up in a matter of minutes with two books and a cup of coffee. He entered through the door and continued to walk over to me.
"What happened to Takigawa? Wasn't he supposed to be watching Mai?" He questioned me. I looked over to the bed. He followed my line of sight and looked over at the bed. He smiled softly at the two of the asleep together.
"Ayako and I will start to put up the charms in all the rooms. We'll start here." He said before leaving to get the charms and Ayako from the base.
GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOSTHUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT GHOST HUNT
Mai POV
All in all, I had been asleep for about twelve hours yesterday. I was currently in the kitchen making hot drinks for everyone, trying to make up for waking them up in the middle of the night the day before.
"How does your stomach feel Mai?" A voice asked from behind me, making me jump and almost knock over the kettle.
"Jeez Ayako! " I said. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't sneak up behind me."
"I'm sure you would appreciate it. Anyway, how does it feel?"
"It's fine. I can't even tell it's there." I smiled at her. A fake smile, but it was still a smile. Honestly, it still hurt like hell but I can't stand having everyone worrying about me. "It must be those painkillers you gave me."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better, but you still need to take it easy. I don't want your wounds to open up again, especially after all that hard work I put in to fixing them." This made me smile. Ayako will always be Ayako.
"Will you help me carry some of these to the base? I can't find a tray anywhere." I grabbed four and Ayako grabbed four, two in each hand, and we made our way back to the base.
When we got there, we handed out the various beverages and sat down with our own. I made myself a cup of hot water and vegetable stock and Ayako had a coffee. I don't understand how people can enjoy coffee. It tastes disgusting.
AN: I mentioned earlier that the temperature monitor was going off (in chapter 6). I have decided that Naru and Lin decided to invest in digital wireless temperature monitors that link up to the base, so they didn't have to go round at the beginning of every case and measure the temperature in every room. I believe that it was a wise investment.