Chapter Eleven: Some Effort

"Will you help us?" Saiyuuri contemplated the request that the spirits she knew little about had made. "Will you take us to them?" They were spirits of those who had long since past, in a fit of rage and emotion, much like most of the spirits that were trapped in this plane, much less this place. She knew that Mio and Mayu had dealt with these spirits before, as well as knowing that they weren't strangers to these oddities. They weren't normal after all, but shouldn't the ghosts know that, too. They were spiritual beings, shouldn't they know Mayu and Mio wouldn't be able to help them at all. Shouldn't the spirits also know that they couldn't save Mayu and Mio either?

"Child, do you know about them? Our counterparts?" Yae whispered.

"Yes." Saiyuuri looked away. "I had questioned my parents' decision to send me here for this very reason…. But I understand their reasoning now." Yae and Sae looked to her questioningly. "It is my duty to help spirits pass on as a Seishou Kaihou Exorcist, but even more as a person. Each of us is more suited to certain prospects than others." And apparently, the divine forces beyond this world either have great things planned for me, or have a bad since of humor. I don't wanna' specialize in malicious spirits! I was perfectly fine with the kind ones I grew up with! She looked at them and pointed to herself. "But why me?"

"…." They looked at her very blandly. "You just answered yourself," they said together.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I got better things to do. Like anyone's gonna' believe a story about ghosts. I gotta' start looking around here for stuff to write about….Damn!" The two spirits looked quite irritated as she spoke to herself.

"We can hear you, you know." Saiyuuri kept talking to herself. "Of all the people in the world, we're stuck with some useless brat for help," Yae said.

"Divine punishment?" Sae asked cheerfully.

"You smiling and acting happy doesn't work…it's more creepy than comforting…" Sae stuck her tongue out.

"Gee, how kind you are. Thanks." She crossed her arms and looked away. "How are we going to persuade this mongrel to get us closer to Mio and Mayu," Sae pointed at Saiyuuri.

"Saiyuuri! Saiyuuri! Saiyuuri, where are you?" Mayu yelled trying to find her.

"Don't yell!" Mio scolded her. "Who knows what'll hear you!"

"Saiyuuri!"

"Mayu, I just said not to yell!" Mio looked at Mayu, who was frozen, pointing behind Mio, and stammering.

"B-b-b-b-b-behind…y-y-y-y-yoooouuu…..eh eh eh….KYAAAA!" Mayu started to panic. Hesitating, Mio began to slowly turn around, feeling something grab her chest.

"Huh?" Mio swung around and punched the ghost, sending flying away into a wall. "Ghosts aren't supposed to be fresh!...Hold on…Did I just hit it?" Mayu grabbed on to Mio.

"We're safe!"

"See, I told you not to yell!" Mio shined a flashlight around the area. It was the middle of the night, therefore very dark. They left the room and entered a long hallway, decorated with new looking drapery hanging from the walls. There was a red carpet going down the hall, lined with candles on tall, golden ornamental holders. There was a newspaper clipping lying on the floor. It read:

July 12, 1913

Deep in the Kiso Moutain range, a couple was murdered. 32 year old Neiji Katagawa and 30 year old Yadori Katagawa were murdered in their very home. At this moment, there are no suspects, and it is unclear how the perpetrator entered the home. There are speculations as to how the murder took place and when it happened. The only witness is their 10 year old son, who is in a recovery ward at this moment. Police will question him at a later time.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Mio said skeptically.

"Well, what did they ever have to do with anything before?" Mayu raised her brow.

"Oh, riiiight." Mio followed the trail, Mayu clinging closely too her. As they walked, the scenery seemed to change a bit. The walls become a lighter almond color, and the waxy coating restored itself. They saw a man walking down the hall as if to look for something. As he looked, a little boy came running from one of rooms and ran towards them. Mio went to grab him, but he went straight through her arm. What? The boy caught the man's eye and he followed in pursuit.

"Koeiji, come back here!" The man yelled angrily in hot pursuit, and everything faded back to its original dingy appearance.

"What in the world just happened!" Mayu shook her head in disbelief. There was a fancy looking door on the left side of the hall, a few yards in front of them. They cautiously walked toward the door and observed it. There were two notches, one on each side of the fancy double door. One notch was grooved for an oval shape to fit in it, while the other was an odd shape. It looked like a bow tie with spikes coming from the bottom. Above the door was an inscription.

"When an insect meets religion?" Mayu read aloud.

"Hm?" Mio looked at her. "What was that?" Mayu pointed about the door. "Oh… well, greeeaaat…Another puzzle." She exaggerated. "That's perfect. More stuff to find in this place."

"Mmmm, no. I don't think so."

"Hm?"

"Well…look at this." Mayu took the butterfly hair comb out her pocket. "Let's try this." She placed the comb in the odd shaped notch, and they heard a click. She tried to pry it out, but it wouldn't budge. "Okay, that's obviously the right piece." She looked at Mio. "Can I see your necklace?"

"Huh? Oh, this?" Mio took the necklace she was wearing off, and gave it to Mayu, who examined it. A cross was a religious symbol, right? She placed the locket in the notch, cross facing the inside, and again, there was another click, and the doors seemed to come slightly ajar. Mio started to push the doors open, a loud creak filling the air as it opened. As the door opened more and more, they were hit with the constantly ever stronger growing smell of mold, mildew, and rotted wood.