Chapter 17
I don't dare fall back a sleep. I stifle a yawn and lean back into Naru, smoothing Kenji's hair away from his face.
"Go sleep Mai." He mummers softly holding back my hair.
"I'm too scared…" It's nearly five AM and the dark skies are turning a lighter shade of blue.
"I'll be right here Mai. Kenji is already asleep."
"But what if…" He tightens his hold on me and pulls me reassuringly closer to him.
"Nothing will happen, I'll be right here Mai. Have some rest, or you'll be too worn out."
"Do you want to know something…?" I mummer, my eyes getting heavier and heavier.
"What?"
"When I found out about Kenji, I never thought I'd ever come across something as frightening as that. But now I know I'm wrong. The fear… of losing your child… is so much worse…" I falter and slump back against Naru, everything going pitch black.
---
"The fear… of losing your child… is so much worse…" Mai's words ring in my head. I had so much more to fear, I had you and Kenji to lose. She feels limp in my arms; she must have finally dropped off to sleep. I gently let her down to rest on my lap so she doesn't wake up with a nasty crick in her neck.
I brush her hair back from her forehead and pull the blanket over her tucking the blanket more securely around Kenji at the same time. I lean back on the headboard on the bed closing my eyes. A soft knocking comes from the door and it slowly swings open.
"Have they come yet?" I ask Lin who had come in, referring to the rest of the group.
"They're waiting in the living room with your mother." He replies quietly watching Mai and Kenji. "They finally fell a sleep?" I nod my head in exhaustion.
"Mai just dropped off to sleep, Kenji fell a sleep at about 3…" I let out a sigh, "both of them were too terrified to sleep, until they couldn't keep awake any longer."
"Did you notice anything different after we pulled them out?" Lin asks me.
"Mm. The blackness just dissipated."
"Do you want to sleep? I could look after them for you." Lin offers me; I shake my head declining his offer.
"I'll be fine. Get my mother to set everyone up in rooms. We won't be meeting today. Everyone needs rest." Lin nods his head and leaves without another word. I close my eyes lethargically. Everything is taking its toll on me now.
---
"Hello, Naru? I'm not coming into work today. I feel sick."
"You might have thought to call me – oh I don't know perhaps three hours ago?" I ask her icily over the phone.
"I really am sick Naru. I just got out of bed." She answers me feebly.
"Did you see that doctor?" I ask her a little more severely than I had intended.
"Yeah, she said I just needed rest." I know she's lying. He voice always cracks when she's lying.
"What did she really say Mai? I know you're lying."
"She really just said I needed rest!" She protests a little too loudly.
"How long?" I ask her ignoring her out burst.
"Maybe a week? Or longer…" She trails off trying to get me to agree to letting her stay off work for more than a week.
"You better be back at work in a seven days from today."
"Thank you Naru…" It's almost like what she'd normally say but there's something different this time. Something that doesn't sit right with me, but she won't tell me, so what's the point in pushing her further? I'll get my explanation soon enough.
"Good bye then… I'll… bye Naru." She hangs up the phone before I could say anything else. I hang up the phone long after she has.
I'm itching to just go over to her place to find out what she's hiding from me but it's not rational! There is just no reason why I should go to her house to find out what is wrong with her. I shut my eyes and let my mind drift and wander for a moment to relax.
Peach… I can smell a soft scent of peaches…
I snap my eyes open. Where did that come from? Peaches… That's Mai's scent, why am I remembering it now? Something is nagging me at the back of my head but I can't pull it out of the deep recesses of my mind. Stuff that, I've got more important things to think about. I push that thought roughly out of my mind, turning all my attention to a stack of papers.
Soft and warm… My eyes open to the darkness of my bedroom. I keep getting recurring flashes of dreams and I keep waking up instantly. I groan and roll over to check the alarm clock. 3 AM. Great.
Soft, silky skin… so warm and gentle… What's happening? Something isn't right. I frown and throw off the blankets shivering at the cool air. I walk down into the kitchen to get a drink of water and I notice for the first time that the Panadol is put out of place. Normally I'd leave it on top of the fridge but it's balanced on the edge of the fridge. As if someone short had tried to put it back without getting up on a chair. I frown and push the Panadol back before it tips over and drops.
I pour myself a cup of water, leaning on the counter thinking about all those dreams. I have a vague impression that it's someone I know but I just can't put the face to the dreams. I sigh and shake my head. There's no point thinking so much about it if I can't do anything about it. I rinse the cup and set it aside to dry, heading back up to sleep.
This time I fall into a dreamless sleep.
At six I wake up automatically. No alarms or bells. I just wake up at six on the dot. The moment I got up I know something bad has happened. I quickly change and wash up without bothering with breakfast.
SPR is as usual empty with no one there, not even Lin has arrived this early but even as everything seems to be as per usual something big has changed and I know I won't like it. I unlock the door to the office and the unusual stillness has me on an edge. Everything is as it should be, I open my office door and I see a letter held down with my paperweight left right in the middle of my desk.
Mai.
Her keys to the office lay next to the paperweight. Moving like in a dream I pick up the unsealed envelope and pull out the letter. A soft scent of peaches comes out with the letter.
Naru,
For unforeseeable circumstances I cannot work at SPR any longer. I have turned in my keys and I hope you do not try to find me; I have my reasons for leaving and I hope you'll let me leave it as that. I have nothing against working with you or other members of SPR, and I am truly sorry that I have to leave. I would love to have stayed on for longer but it would be in everyone's best interests if I left.
Take care, Mai.
Left… Mai… I re-read the letter again and again but nothing is sinking in. I am still reading the letter when Lin comes in for the morning.
"Naru,"
"I'm going to see Mai." I say coldly. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I thrust the letter into his hands; walk past him and out of the office.
---
I feel some movement around me; slowly I open my eyes still tired but better than before. When my eyes focus I see Mai trying to get out of bed without waking either Kenji or I. She doesn't notice that I've woken so I stay as still as possible until her body leans nearer towards me. I quickly reach out and pull her back.
She lets out a loud gasp of surprise, stifling only half of it. I cover her mouth with my hand to stop her from waking Kenji; she pries off my hand and hisses at me,
"What did you think you were doing?"
"Are you sure you've got enough rest?" I ask her quietly.
"Yes, I'm sure. You haven't answered me."
"Stopping you from leaving me like you did that morning."
"What morning?" She asks me confused as hell and just as adorable. I pull her closer and inhale in the sweet scent of peaches I'll never forget and whisper in her ear,
"The morning I woke up with an angel in my bed." I feel her stiffen before relaxing into me.
"I thought you didn't remember anything…"
"I do. Do you want to hear something?" I feel her nod her head slightly.
"I dreamt of the time when you called in sick. Just before you left. The last time I heard your voice. I remember I didn't believe your letter. I went all the way to your apartment but you were already gone. I bet you were long gone before you sent me the letter. I remember how much I didn't want to believe it but there was no other way."
"I'm sorry." She tells me, her legs curling up under her so she can sit more comfortably.
"I didn't listen to you though. I looked for you. I tried so hard, but there was nothing. No one knew where you went. And I don't know how I went back to normalcy – just one day I found myself working on a case rather than working to find you. But I know I had always been looking. I seem to spend a great deal of my life looking for people I've loved and lost." I say thinking about how much time I've devoted to looking for Gene's body, then all the time I spent looking for Mai.
"Your brother…" She starts hesitantly.
"Gene?"
"Mm… I… he's helped me on cases before. Long ago, when I first started to work at SPR…" I tighten my arms around her and burry my face in the hollow between her shoulder blades and neck.
"He should have moved on…"
"But if he didn't, I wouldn't be here now. He's saved me so many times, not just this once. In our cases where I've found myself trapped or in a dangerous situation he has always helped me through them."
"I suppose so… that I have to be thankful to him. He's saved the first person I've ever loved as much as I had for him." Her breath hitches. I realise what I said, but it is the truth in its entirety. She burries her face in my shoulder and curls up against me.
"I love you Mai. I love you and Kenji. I never thought I'd never love anyone this much or this fierce but I do."
"I love you too Naru. I've always had and always will."
"How did you get us out?" She asks quietly.
"You'll have to thank Gene for that. I just did what he told me to. He blocked off the demon and suppressed it for a little while, when it was suppressed the barrier weakened and I could pull you can Kenji out."
"Is it… still…" She trails off not willing to finish her query.
"It's still alive but I have a fair idea where it originated from." I tighten my arms around Mai and give her a reassuring hug. "I'll have to brief everyone on it first, you're welcome to sit in but I am forbidding you to come with us."
---
"Jack the Ripper?!" Ayako asks expressing her surprise. It's the next morning and I've gathered everyone in the living room to tell them what Gene and I came up with.
"Someone who emulated him. Not the actual 'Jack the Ripper'." I correct her, flipping through the case file to find what I needed to show them.
"But it doesn't explain all the paranormal happenings." Bou san argues.
"The person is no longer human." I find the photographs I needed and passed them to Bou san.
"Do you notice anything different in each photo?" I ask him, leaning against the bar counter in the living room.
"Apart from the fact that the victims are different?" I nod my head. "Nope. Nothing at all." I retrieve the photographs from him.
"The first one was done by a living human. The second by paranormal activity. The first one had been documented where the corner report said that knives and other sharp objects made the cuts. In the second corner report – even though it was very similar to the first murder failed to find any evidence that a murder weapon was used. The corner could not find anything conclusive. From the first photograph you can also see the blood splatters across the walls and floors, in the second photograph the blood is only spread across a very selective area. Mainly around the body, there is no evidence of any struggle taking place between the victim and the murderer."
"I still don't understand…" John san says with a puzzled look on his face, studying the photographs.
"Between this photograph and the second one, I can be safe to say that something happened to the person and somehow they managed to continue the killings even while not alive – however, the person is not dead either. It is in a state of being dead in the human sense but alive in the paranormal sense."
"But how would that happen?" John san asks, his forehead contracting into masses of lines.
"Sometimes spirits don't want to move on or they are just filled with too much sin that they simply cannot move on. When this happens, they are usually anchored; for lack of better word, to Earth. Unless they are resolved of their sins or they find some closure through a medium they will never move on. When they don't move on after sometime they become demons. I believe that these killings are necessary for the this demon to keep 'alive'." Masako san explains, filling in all the gaps that had everyone confused over.
"You've figured it out." I acknowledge her, in response she merely nods her head.
"But there are some specific requirements for its victims. For one, the victim must have substantial amounts of power, it doesn't seem to be killing for the fun of it, the pattern is more like being able to sustain on the energy and power of the victim it killed. The recent killing was of a middle aged man who was well known for being able to heal people, but his powers compared to the one that happened fifty years go in Japan was not very much. Hence why it's on a killing spree now. it's looking for another source of power to feed off."
"How do we kill something like that?" Ayako complains taking a bite out of her toast.
"We either; get it's sins resolved or exorcise it." I give them the two options but I know one option wouldn't be viable. I watch Masako as she shakes her head sadly.
"I cannot resolve so many sins. Its just not doable, no medium no matter how good cannot resolve it's sins."
"Looks like it's going to have to be exorcised." Bou san grins, rubbing his hands together, "I have a score to settle with that thing over Mai."
"Wait." I say blandly, everyone stops and looks expectantly at me.
"We can't exorcise it. It's not a spirit, it's a demon. A monster." A silence fills the room.
"What can we do then?" Ayako asks, a little unsure now.
"We just deprive it of its energy sources. It will die eventually with no energy."
"And how exactly do we do that?" Bou san challenges me. I look up into his eyes and say unflinchingly.
"We seal it up."
"And how do we do that?" Bou san asks me, staring back at me.
"Lin. We'll have to use that favour owed." I don't stop looking at Bou san as I issue instructions to Lin. "Anyone wishing to doubt me – you're most welcome to your opinions but I'll do things My Way." I break the stare and leave the living room.
Upstairs I gently open the door to my room where Mai and Kenji are resting and I find them being served breakfast by a maid. I push the door open and all three of them look up, the maid bows to me in greeting and quickly leaves the room after she finishes serving their breakfast. I close the door after she leaves and walk towards the bed.
"How are you two feeling?"
"Much better." Mai admits while passing Kenji a cup of water. I sit on her side of the bed and push some of her hair back. For a while neither of us says anything; Mai too busy feeding her son and me just caught in my own thoughts of her and Kenji.
"How is the case going?" She asks, not looking at me still feeding Kenji.
"It's going somewhere. But it shouldn't concern you, you should rest."
"I am entitled to know Naru. Tell me, how is the case going?" She's not eating anything.
"You're not hungry?" I ask her, ignoring her question.
"How is the case going Naru." She ignores my obvious attempt to push the conversation away from the case.
"I'll have to see an acquaintance of mine. There's something she has that I need." She'll have to be happy with that; I'm not going to tell her anything else. She takes a bite out of her sandwich, washing it down with a mouthful of water.
"You're not going to say anything else are you?" She asks me before taking another bite out of her sandwich. I don't answer her.
"Why is it that, every time I get you to open up a little bit you snap close like a clam shell almost instantly?" I feel startled.
"What do you mean Mai?"
"Forget it Naru." She shakes her head and continues eating, occasionally turning to Kenji to make sure he's eating. Time passes in silence accompanied only by the clanking and clicking of the utensils against the plates. Finishing the last of her breakfast, Mai announces to me,
"I'm going to take Kenji out for a little bit later, he's getting very restless here and I think some fresh air will do us good." I want to tell her no but I know that she has a point.
"Be back before night fall, and don't go outside the manor grounds. If you think I'm being unreasonable it's because Lin, Bou san and Ayako have set up barriers around the perimeters of the manor grounds. If you are outside of them they won't be able to protect you or Kenji." Still looking down at her empty plate she nods her head. I pick up her hand and hold on to it tightly, drawing her attention to me.
"I'm sorry Mai." She gives me an empty smile.
"If everyone felt sorry about every single thing that went wrong they'd never see the good that came out of the mistake." She turns to Kenji and asks him quietly, "Are you done?"
"Yep." Comes his cheerful reply, Mai lifts the tray up and sets it on the bedside table before pushing the bed sheets down. She slowly climbs out of bed and picks Kenji up bringing him into the bathroom that conjoined my room.
"Go get washed up, we'll go out for a little bit today. It's a nice day out isn't it Kenji?" He nods his head dutifully and retrieves his clothes from his mother before shutting the bathroom door behind him. Water running can be heard not a moment later.
"Are you sure he's OK on his own?" I ask her, concerned about Kenji.
"Yes, he's showered on his own before. But I always stay near just in case he needs me. I make sure he never locks the door either." She sinks into a lazy chair near the bathroom and looks at me tiredly.
"Naru, I feel so much older than I really am. Sometimes I wonder what people my age are doing; maybe they're in universities, or maybe they're working full time like I am, or perhaps they're doing something like an apprenticeship. But I'm sure most of them are doing something they have been planning to do for a very long time. Then I think about myself. I love Kenji and I love taking care of him but I just wonder sometimes what my life would be like without him. Don't you ever wonder about that too Naru? About how your life would be different if something you didn't expect to happen didn't happen?"
I do. I wonder what my life would be like if I had never met you. How different my life would be if I never took that case in your school.
"I do Mai. Everyone would have at one point wondered what would have happened if they took a different path at a cross road." She sighs and pushes herself up from the lazy chair.
"I'm going to get changed. If Kenji calls for me let me know." I watch her walk into the walk-in wardrobe, shutting the door behind her.
---
The air is cool and crisp, the last of winter slowly fading into spring.
"Look there's so many flowers Kenji." I say gently pointing the gardens out to him.
"Let's go this way mum!" He tugs on my arm, pulling me to a pathway amidst the flowerbeds.
"All right, but not too far OK? We can't stay out too long honey." He nods his head and leads me down the path. The flowers were just blooming and I can see many small buds of flowers appearing among the greenery. The path winds and twists in between the flowers, giving an impression of being lost in a forest of flowers. Somewhere along the way we come across a patio, I'm guessing we've walked all the way around the house.
"Do you want to go back in Kenji?" I ask him looking at the patio door; he shakes his head and pulls me away from the open patio. Just round the bend though there was a large glass window looking into one of the many rooms of the manor. My eyes glance up into the room and I see Naru and everyone else around him, listening intently. On an impulse I bend down and pick Kenji up so that he can see into the room from afar.
"Kenji do you want to know who your dad is?" He tilts his head to the side and gives me an inquisitive look.
"Who?" I point into the room – pointing at Naru.
"Do you see that man there?" I turn to him to see him nod his head, "The one wearing a black shirt?" He nods his head again, "That's your dad." I have to tell him anyway, I might as well do it now…
"He's my dad?" Kenji asks again slightly confused.
"Mmm…" I look up into the room and Naru is looking out at us. I give him a faint smile and turn back to Kenji, "Let's go back now OK? We'll come out again later."
"OK… but promise me we'll come here again." He asks me pouting in an adorably cute way. I pinch his nose lightly,
"I promise, but we'll have to go back in now." I set Kenji down and pick up his hand leading us out of the forest of flowers.
A/N: hi all! It's been a little while since I updated but… I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I made a little allusion to xxxHolic; did anyone catch that? ;) I think I might do a little xxxHolic cross over . I'm really pleased at the plot development now!! The case is almost at its end!! Lol I think I can hear collective sighs of relief everywhere XD if it's OOC please forgive me! This was a hard chapter in terms of getting them in character for me to write… anyways, hope you've enjoyed this chapter!!