Chapter 6...wow, this thing is going fast. I have nothing to say...wait a minute, yeah I do. REVIEW! I'm going to challenge all my readers. I want at least eighty reviews before I update again. Remember this is a challenge. If you all keep up your end, I may update with two chapters next time. Love and Peace!
Chapter 6- The Witch and the Werewolf
"How?" Madoka was the first one that got her voice to work. Jonathon turned to look at her and gave a smile before he went to the couch and sat down cross legged. Mai saw out of the corner of her eye that Kim wasn't fairing any better than the rest of them and Mai recalled that Kim had told her that her uncle's name was 'Jake'. Apparently it had been an alias.
"Very simple. I'm a werewolf and because of that…well…I'm immortal. And so is Rena…she shouldn't have been so snoopy!" Jonathon said and Mai took a deep breath and calmed her heartbeat before meeting his eyes.
"Mr. Lunar, why do you say that? Are you saying that Rena…isn't your original wife?" Mai asked and Jonathon's attention was immediately on her and Mai felt her heart began to beat fast again when she met his red eyes, she wondered if he had red eyes because he was a werewolf.
"No, my original wife died of old age almost a hundred years ago. I met Rena and married her. Life has to move on. Especially when time has been frozen for a person. You have to keep living and I have. And the reason I cannot die is because of that witch, Madeline." Jonathon said and Mai felt her hackles rise but before she could throw herself at the man Naru had stepped in front of her path.
"Well, we have a different story from Madeline herself." Naru said and Jonathon gave a small laugh.
"And who are you going to trust? A witch?" Jonathon came back with and Mai could have sworn she heard a soft chuckle from Naru.
"And you are suggesting that we trust a werewolf? Your niece's friend was almost eaten by your wife. I don't think we'll trust you anymore than we trust Madeline." Naru said and Mai looked at him surprised. She thought Naru trusted Madeline. Most of their successive investigations in finding the passageways were thanks to Madeline.
"I suppose neither are very trustworthy, Dr. Davis. But then again…I'm not a ghost with an ulterior motive." Jonathon said and Naru narrowed his eyes slightly. He had immediately disliked the man when he walked in and he had no desire to let Mai talk to the man anymore.
"Well, this is an ongoing investigation. I would appreciate it if you didn't stay here, Mr. Lunar." Madoka intervened. "We can contact you if the need be." Jonathon smiled at Madoka before he got up and left and Kim sat down hard and Mai went over to her and wrapped her arms around her friend.
"I had no idea." Kim whispered and Mai sighed before looking up at Naru who shook his head and sat down in the chair beside the couch. (AN: I just realized that they seem to like that couch a lot)
"Ms. Lunar…how did you come to live with Jonathon and his wife?" Naru asked and Mai felt Kim's shoulders shaking underneath the arm that she had wrapped around them. Mai knew that Kim was upset by what she had learned. Mai would be to if she found out the uncle that she had been living with was over a hundred years old.
"I…my parents died when I was little and I can't remember living anywhere else except this house. Aunt Rena always told me that my parents had died in a car crash. Do you think she knew what Jonathon was?" Kim looked at Naru and the man shook his head before looking at the file that he held in his hands.
"No, I doubt she knew. That's probably not something you tell the woman that you're going to marry." Naru pointed out and Kim nodded. Mai could feel a headache beginning to form at the back of her neck. This was becoming all too much and that sickening dizzy feeling was coming back. She stood up and said she was going to go to her room. By the time she reached the bed the whole room was spinning and she flopped down on the bed.
Mai's vision was black. She couldn't see anything in front of her. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. She could feel the dark pressing down on her and she was beginning to fear that she was going to suffocate from the lack of light. She was relieved when the darkness was broken by the light coming from an open door and then she found herself standing in the hallway. She could also feel his presence beside her.
She turned and saw that he was staring at the open door with an unreadable expression in his eyes. He turned to look at her after staring at the door for nearly ten minutes and Mai felt her heart accelerate slightly at the angry look in his eyes. She had never seen the Naru in her dreams look so…well, Naru-like!
"I don't understand. It has changed drastically." he said and Mai could hear the aggravation in his voice and was taken back by it. She watched him with worried eyes and finally he smiled at her before going to her and placing his hand on her head.
"And I shouldn't take it out on you. It isn't your fault that Jonathon and Madeline's accounts of what happened are drastically different." he said before they both jumped slightly as the front door closed with a sharp snap. She looked at him slightly scared and he shook his head.
"Don't worry…the ghosts won't hurt you right now. They're waiting…for something. I just don't know what." Naru told her and Mai frowned.
"Ghosts? Are you saying there's more than one ghost?" Mai cried and Naru nodded before he seemed to sigh.
"Mai, I can't help you in this case…things…they're becoming complicated and…I can't explain right now." Mai felt her breathing catch as everything disappeared into the same suffocating darkness before she had met Naru in the house. The last thing that she remembered was the darkness.
Naru was walking past Mai's room when heard the sobbing. He frowned before knocking on the door but he got no response except the same sobbing. Even though he knew that he was the last person he wanted to see he entered the room and found her sitting on the bed curled up crying.
"Mai, what's wrong?" he asked and the girl looked up startled and he saw confusion in her eyes before she slid as far away from she could from him and the door and he knew instantly that she was possessed, again, and not by Madeline.
"You're that Dr. Davis guy. Mai cares for you a lot." the new ghost said through Mai as she stayed curled up. Naru was about to strangle the next ghost that mentioned something like that to him about Mai and him being together.
"Yes, and who are you?" he asked and the girl giggled before she uncurled her legs and stood on the bed and he blinked as she began to jump. He looked away when he realized that Mai was wearing one of her skirts.
"My name is Kelly. I'm one of the orphans that disappeared. Though I suppose drowning isn't really considered 'disappearing' is it?" the girl jumped off the bed and Naru looked back at her with a frown. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders at the look on the man's face.
"What do you mean?" Naru asked and the girl sighed before rolling her eyes at the question. Naru estimated her to be about ten years old during her death. Normally he would have not felt upset about it but he felt his heart give a small twinge at the sound of the ghost in Mai's body saying so easily how she died.
"When we were running away through the secret passageways, I tripped…and fell into the water and hit my head. I don't even remember drowning and I suppose that's a good thing. I've heard stories about drowning and I'm glad that I was unconscious." she whispered and Naru saw the girl wipe at her eyes. He frowned in worry and resisted the urge to take Mai in his arms and holding her. He stopped by telling himself that Mai was possessed by a child ghost.
"And why are you possessing Mai?" he asked and the girl looked at him curiously before she frowned.
"I don't know it's not like I tried to possess her. All I know that is one minute I'm not solid and the next thing I know I'm sitting on this bed crying. Do you know how long it's been since I was able to shed real tears?" Mai asked and Naru felt slightly taken back before he raised an eyebrow and Mai giggled.
"A hundred years, if you were wondering. The last time I cried was because my parents died. I don't know what's going on in this house…but there are some evil ghosts here that cannot be stopped and will do all they can to make sure nothing changes." Mai said and Naru frowned.
"Do you know any of the ghosts?" he asked and Mai shook her head before her head dropped and she began to fall. Naru rushed forward and caught the girl and found his face extremely close to hers. His eyes trailed to her lips that were slightly parted with her breathing. Naru felt his face heat up as his breathing accelerated.
His lips brushed against hers. He pulled back immediately. He looked at her sleeping face before hauling Mai up and placing her on the bed. He made sure her head was on a pillow and that she would be comfortable when she woke up. He immediately left the room as he wanted to be nowhere near Mai when she woke up. It would be hard enough to explain why he was in her room let alone looming over her while she was asleep.
'What the?' he thought once he got back into his room. What had he been thinking back there? Simple. He hadn't been thinking. That much was easy to tell. If he had been thinking he would have not kissed Mai. Though as he sat on his bed he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to have Mai, the real Mai, respond to his kiss. He shook the thought off as soon as it entered his mind. He could not think of Mai like that, they worked together. They could not have a relationship when they worked together.
'And what law says that?' a voice asked in his mind and Naru growled at himself and ignored the voice. He wasn't going to start talking to himself. Gene had always told him that they were going to have a problem with voices in their heads from talking to each other telepathically. Naru hadn't believed Gene then but now he was beginning to. Especially since Mai had come into his life.
"We could just flip a coin on who to trust." Madoka suggested after they had spent nearly three hours discussing the pros and cons of trusting each of the people and Mai tried not to laugh. She had to put her hand over her mouth the muffle the sound and she didn't see how Naru looked at her and watched her before he turned back to the computer and refused to voice his opinion on who to trust.
"I believe that we should divide into pairs and investigate the house more. We would undoubtedly find something that could swing our decision one way or another." Lin suggested and the women looked at each other and Mai shrugged. It was the best plan that anyone had suggested so far and it sounded good to her at least.
"That is a reasonable suggestion." Naru spoke up and Mai looked at him surprised. It had been the first time that he had said anything at all since they had regrouped in the library after eating the lunch that Kim had brought the, Mai also realized that she hadn't met Kim's great-aunt and when she asked why Kim had told her that the woman had left on a trip. Mai didn't believe it as Kim hadn't been able to look her in the eye.
"Good!" Mai suddenly didn't like the look that was in Madoka's eyes. She knew the woman was planning something. "Lin and I will finish exploring the secret passageway here in the library and Noll and Mai can finish with the gargoyle secret passageway."
"Madoka…" Naru was cut off as the woman pushed him and Mai out of the room and left them standing outside the door blinking at the closed library door. Naru frowned and tried to reopen the door but Madoka had locked the door.
"What is she trying to do?" Mai asked as Naru turned towards the stairs and they began to climb them before stopping at the gargoyle and he turned it each way.
"If I knew we wouldn't be locked out of the library right now, would we?" he asked and Mai sighed. He was in a bad mood and she didn't know why. He had been acting angry the whole evening and had refused to talk to her all day and if she hadn't known better she would have sworn that he was avoiding looking at her as well. She hadn't done anything that she knew of.
"Which one do you think we should trust, Naru?" Mai asked and she waited as she didn't get an answer. She hadn't expected one. Naru never answered her questions, even more so when he was angry with her for a reason that she didn't know. She was getting used to walking in the dark until his voice cut through the darkness as they reached the door.
"When we get all of the facts I'll know, until then as far as I'm concerned we can trust neither." he replied and as he reached out for the door handle Mai grabbed his wrist as fear swept through.
"Can we go back?" she whispered and Naru noted the change in her voice and he looked down at her sharply while expecting her to be possessed again. He was surprised when she drew closer to him and when he saw the tears in her eyes he knew that she wasn't possessed, just a very scared Mai.
"Mai?" he asked and Mai shook her head as she clutched at Naru's arm even tighter, not really sure why she was so scared of Naru opening the gargoyle door. She could feel the fear suffocating her and she had to force herself to answer.
"There's something…behind that door…" she couldn't put her fear into words and she felt her body shaking as the tears spilled. "It'll hurt us!" she whimpered. She was beginning to feel like Masako! And she couldn't explain why she was so scared of that stupid door!
"Mai…" Mai looked up, surprised, when Naru's hand cupped her face and even through the dim light of the flashlight she held she could see his deep blue eyes. She was surprised when he gently wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. "I won't let anything hurt you, Mai. Haven't I proven that?"
She just nodded and let him go. She should have known that Naru wouldn't let anything happen to her. It didn't make the fear that she had in the pit of her stomach go away though. She tried to control her breathing as Naru opened the door and she locked her knees as the door swung open. There was nothing there. Mai fell to the ground in relief, tears rolling down her cheeks. She shook her head as she felt Naru looking down at her. What was wrong with her?
"Mai…you can go back." Naru finally said and Mai stood up and shook her head and she looked at him with determined eyes.
"No…you said that you'd protect me. Well…I have to protect you then." she stated and Naru was glad for the cover of darkness. He didn't want her to see the smile that he was sporting. He just turned and walked through the door with Mai behind him. He was slightly surprised when Mai took his hand and held it. He felt her move closer and knew that she was trying to hide her fear and failing. With a shake of his head he gently wrapped his fingers around her hand that was clinging so tightly to his.
They reached another door and Mai felt her lungs constrict. Something was wrong and she knew it had something to do with what was behind that door. She let go of Naru's hand reached out to touch the closed door. A shock went through her body when her fingers made contact with the cool stone and she slumped back onto Naru as everything began to spin.
"Mai?" he asked as he held her. 'Not again.' he wondered briefly if Mai had a sign on her forehead that said 'Possess me so I can drive my boss insane before he's twenty'. He wouldn't be surprised if she did. She stirred slightly in his arms and he was surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Make everything quit spinning!" she begged and he almost sighed in relief when he realized that she hadn't been possessed again. As far as he was concerned he'd be happy to never have to speak to Madeline again, at least not through Mai. Madeline had that nasty habit of kissing him when in Mai's body.
"Close your eyes and focus on your breathing." he instructed and after a few moments he heard her breathing slow. He felt her shoulders stop shaking and soon she had pulled away from him though he instantly missed the warmth of her body. He growled softly at himself. She was his assistant. Nothing else! Nothing! He shook his head before he studied the door.
"There's a pattern. We'll need to get more information to find out how to open it." he said and Mai frowned as a memory flitted through her mind before disappearing out of her grasp. She knew that it had something to do with the door but for all that she was worth she couldn't remember what it was.
"Hai." she just agreed softly and they turned around and left the passageway. Mai had never been so glad to get out of the dark than she was at that moment. She watched as the door closed and she turned the flashlight off.
"I wonder if Lin-san and Madoka found anything- Naru?" Mai asked when she saw that the boy was slumped against the wall with his hand on his head. She watched him worriedly before he dropped his hand and she saw that his face was pale, paler than the normal white.
"Naru, what's wrong?" she cried and he shook his head before pulling himself up and Mai had never thought that she would be so glad to see his narcissistic expression slip onto his face.
"Nothing. I'm fine." he replied before they started down the steps to find Jonathon waiting at the front door with Kim. He gave them a small smile before walking to them.
"Good day, I came to pick a few of my things up so I can stay at the hotel." he said and Mai gulped as he picked her hand up and kissed the back of it. She felt her heart racing as the man reached out and felt her pulse point in her neck. She saw the hungry look in his eyes and his fangs, and wondered briefly if werewolves could bite when they weren't transformed. And weren't vampires the ones that liked blood?
"You have a very strong pulse." he commented and Mai fear shoot up her spine before she was being pulled away from the man rather roughly. She looked at the hands holding her arms and saw they were Naru's. She glared up at Naru as she could feel her skin already bruising beneath his hands.
"Gather your things and leave, Mr. Lunar." Naru snapped before he dragged Mai into the library and both Madoka and Lin looked up, startled at the angry entrance of the normally reserved man. Madoka opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but she was cut off by the obviously angry, and now verbal for some odd reason, Naru.
"He tried to bite her! That damned werewolf tried to bite her!" he snapped and the two adults looked surprised before looking at Mai who suddenly realized that Jonathon had been trying to bite her. She recalled the ravenous look that had been in his eyes and she shivered.
"Mai?" Madoka asked and all Mai could do was nod. She felt faint at the thought that she had almost been bitten by a hundred year old werewolf.
"I want him out of this house until this case is closed." Naru said in a dangerously cold voice that they all knew not to argue with. Lin stood and led Mai out of the room so that she could go to her bedroom and not be attacked. Lin also had orders to tell Kim to make sure her uncle made no more visits until they were done.
"Well, Noll…you're really proving your whole 'I-really-don't-care-about-Mai' theory away." Madoka said and Naru sent her a look that clearly told her to shut up about the current topic. "Alright, alright! Quit giving me the death glare, I get the point. But to the next real question…have you decided who we should trust? We can't go into this thing blind!"
"As much as I hate depending on other people or trusting them for that matter, I know that I won't trust someone who decides that my assistant," Madoka coughed loudly. "Alright, Mai would make a good afternoon snack. I suppose that in conclusion we need to depend on Madeline. Whenever she decides to reappear."
"I guess you can't wait for that, huh? You'll get to kiss Mai again!" Madoka leaped off the couch and ran for everything she was worth before Naru could kill her.
