A/N: Memories of Old, chapter 4 coming at you. Yes well this is chapter 4 and I cannot believe how many people have told me I need to keep it going. It makes it so much easier to write when I know someone is reading it. Thank you to everyone who already has and is going to review. You are what keep me going.
Disclaimer: I don't own ghost hunt. Do you think I would be writing fanfics if I did?
In her dream, Mai felt her hand rise up to touch her throat before she realized that she was now seeing the dream in first person. She felt her fingers clasp around a small locket in the shape of a heart before sighing happily. She could feel the emotions of joy and happiness coursing through her as she turned and sat at a desk. She scrawled some words onto a sheet of what appeared to be parchment before sealing the envelope and placing it on the desk.
She then grasped a glass of wine that was being held out to her. She smiled and downed the drink in one gulp. Mai could feel the bitter taste as though it were real and she gasped as her knees suddenly became weak and numb. She slumped to the floor and turned her head to the balcony.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as the life left her body. A person began walking out of the shadows but before Mai could see his face she was pulled away.
Mai was startled awake by a knock on the door. She slowly sat up and wrapped her dressing gown tighter around her body. She then climbed from the bed and opened the door to reveal Lin standing there with a tray of food.
"Can I help you Lin?" she asked as she stepped back to allow him entry. She noted that he seemed to be nervous about something.
'Uh let me refresh your memory. HE WALKED IN ON YOU WHILE YOU WERE HALF NAKED!' her head screamed.
'Oh, yeah,' It was then she realized that Lin was speaking to her.
"I brought you some dinner to apologize for earlier on. I really didn't mean for that to happen. We were just both concerned about you," he nervously apologised. Mai simply smiled at his unease. The stotic Chinese man was actually nervous about something.
When he finally finished, Lin looked up to see Mai fighting back a laugh. He also couldn't help but let a smile dance across his own features. Looking back on the situation now, it did seem rather humorous.
"It's okay Lin. I really should have answered you when you knocked. No hard feelings?" she said after calming down a bit. Lin nodded and made a move to leave. Mai caught his arm before he could effectively do that though.
"Can you tell everyone else that I forgive them and if anyone brings this up again I will personally send them to hell?" she said sweetly. Lin's eyes widened slightly before he nodded and left the room.
When the tall man returned to the base, John and Takigawa practically pounced on him.
"What did she say?" came from the monk.
"Did she say she hates us?" came from the priest. Lin was finding it extremely hard to breathe as the full weight of the two men bared down on him.
"I suggest that if you want those answers you will get off my assistant," Naru commented from the couch. The two guys complied and when Lin could finally breathe again he explained.
"She said that she forgives us all but if anyone brings this up again, she will personally send us to hell," he said. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and agreed never to bring it up again. Well, all except Naru. He just sat idly by and read over his notes. A few hours of going over the history of the house, resulted in everyone saying goodnight, and heading to bed.
Around midnight, Mai stealthily slipped from her bed. She dodged the sleeping forms of Masako and Ayako before opening the door and squeezing out. It was easy for her to find her destination once she descended the stairs. The kitchen!
Mai searched high and low until she found a glass and quickly poured herself some water. As she sipped the water, she thought about their new client. He sure was a little strange. The way he kept on staring at her was beginning to creep Mai out. When her cup was empty, she washed it out and placed it on the sink. Mai turned around to come face to face with the ghost ball.
As she stared at it, she began remembering parts of her previous dream. The woman in red, the letter and the poisoned wine.
"Do you know what's going on here?" she asked with a shaky voice. In response, the ball shivered a bit and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
'Well that answers that question,' she thought ruefully as she trudged out of the kitchen and up that stairs. As Mai rounded the last corner, she was surprised to see Paolo standing outside the base.
'Almost as if he wanted to get in,' she mused silently.
"Paolo?" she beckoned as she approached, but he seemed not to notice her until she came to stand right beside him.
"Oh Mai, what are you doing up so late?" he asked once he had snapped out of his daze. Mai eyed him suspiciously as she answered.
"Getting a drink. Did you want to get something from the base? Or maybe speak to Naru?" Mai replied. Paolo looked around, with confusion written all over his face.
"Um no. That's funny. I don't even remember leaving my room," he said, shaking his head, "I must have been sleepwalking." He offered her a smile before bidding Mai goodnight and walking away. Mai watched him go before turning back to the base door.
It seemed unharmed but if her suspicions were correct, Paolo had been possessed. Meaning that this ghost, spirit, demon or whatever knew they were here. And it wanted to know what they were up to.
'But then why didn't it just go through the wall?' she thought as she headed back into the girls room. 'I have to tell Naru about this tomorrow.' With that she climbed back into bed and fell asleep.
(The Next Day)
When Mai woke up, she found the girls room empty. Obviously Ayako and Masako had already gotten up considering they weren't still lying on the floor. Mai spied the clothes Paolo had brought her, and once she thought it over, she decided that everyone could wait until she was finished modifying them. She had, after all, been rudely interrupted before. So she set to her work.
(In the base)
Naru unconsciously paced as he awaited the arrival of his assistant. She should have been awake by now, and the fact that she had forgiven them meant that there was no reason to avoid anyone, any more. Still he couldn't figure out why he was worried about her.
Lin simply shook his head as he watched his friend wear a hole in the carpet.
Of course if anyone asked, Naru was simply thinking over the case. That was one secret Naru never could, or would, let slip. That he was actually worried about someone, let alone Mai. He hadn't actually slept well since Paolo first walked into his (cough 'their' cough) office. The way he had looked at Mai made Naru sick to his stomach. The "staring after her when she went into the bathroom" didn't help either.
30 minutes later, the said assistant entered the base and Naru finally felt himself relax. At least until he saw who was trying to enter behind her.
Mai closed the door before Paolo could enter, which cause a slight smile to reach Naru.
She was wearing one of the gowns that Paolo had given her, but she had cut off the sleeves, and trimmed the skirt until it reached to just above her knees. It was a deep purple colour that in no way washed out her slightly tanned complexion. You'd think with all the time she spent in the SPR office, she would be as pale as Naru.
Naru replaced his smile with an emotionless look as she neared him.
"You're late," he said.
"I didn't realize I had to be up at a certain time. Besides, no-one came and woke me up," she retorted with anger dancing in her eyes and her face slightly turning red. Naru ignored her and turned to look at Lin.
"Could you take Mai and help her set up the cameras?" he asked his assistant.
"I can do it myself!" Mai interrupted. Naru just looked at her before turning back in the direction of the Chinese man.
"There are plenty of stairs in this place and I don't want any of my cameras broken if you fall," he said, masking his actual concern for her being alone.
Lin nodded once before grasping some of the cameras and motioning for her to follow. Mai grumbled under her breath as she grabbed some of the stands and followed Lin from the base, completely forgetting to tell her boss about last nights events.
"How is this?" Lin asked into the microphone as he shifted the last cameras position.
"Fine," Naru's voice came through. Mai was sure she could hear Takigawa and Ayako fighting in the background as he spoke though.
"Mai stop daydreaming and finish taking down the temperatures," Naru barked through the microphone. Mai looked shocked for a moment as she wondered how he could see her.
"There is a camera practically staring you in the face," Naru replied obviously to her unanswered question. Mai resorted back to her grumbling as she recorded the temperature of the room.
"Everything seems to be normal," she mentioned to Lin as he awaited her completion of the task. A beeping noise caught the pair's attention as Mai looked at the temperature once more.
"Lin it's registering a 2 degree drop," she said with a worried look, "It's still going down." Mai began to shiver as they made their way to the door. They had left the door to the study open but as they reached it, the wood slammed shut.
Despite Lin's efforts, the door wouldn't budge and it was getting colder.
"Lin, Mai. Are you two okay?" Naru asked through the microphone before it was tossed at a wall and smashed. The camera they had just placed was also piked up and thrown at the door. Lin grabbed Mai out of the way as the camera also smashed.
It just kept getting colder and colder and, despite Mai's best efforts, she was beginning to shiver. Lin looked around cautiously for any sign of whatever was the cause of their current situation. Suddenly everything in the study began to shake.
"Something…..is……angry," Mai muttered before passing out. Lin caught the girls limp form before she could hit the ground.
Mai looked around her as she realized she had passed out.
'Naru is right. I really am hopeless,' she thought, 'I pass out all the time.' Suddenly Mai felt as though she were being choked. But there were no hands around her throat or anything. She was being choked by someone, or something's, anger and rage.
"She doesn't deserve you," Mai heard someone whisper. She then saw a woman with fiery red hair standing in what looked to be the study Mai had just been in.
"I already told you Minari, I love Isabella. And we are going to get married. I'm sorry I can't return your feelings," a man with long brown hair replied. The redhead woman burst out in to tears and started screaming at him.
"You will never be together! I won't allow it!" she then turned and made a move to exit the study. She looked at him one last time as tears slipped from her eyes.
"Mark my words Paolo. You will regret this," she said dangerously low. She then left and the scene faded.
"Paolo," Mai whispered.
'Come to think of it, Paolo did look a lot like that guy I just saw,' she mused. She felt someone grab her hand and she turned to see Naru standing beside her.
"Naru, you're here" she said with a smile.
"It's time to go back now Mai," he coaxed. For once she didn't argue, and closed her eyes.
When Mai reopened her chocolate eyes, she found Ayako looking down on her.
"Hey guys, she's awake," the miko yelled out to the other occupants of the room. Mai slowly tried to sit up but John's hand on her shoulder prevented it.
"It's okay. I'm alright," she tried to reassure everyone. John reluctantly removed his hand and Mai finally sat up. She placed a hand on her head and looked around the study. Everything had been tipped over or smashed.
"What happened after I passed out?" she asked Lin.
"Whatever it was started destroying everything. When you passed out, I tried to call on my Shiki to stop it, but even they couldn't do anything. I was actually surprised that it didn't attempt to actually harm us in any way," he replied. Mai looked at him confused. She thought the fact that everything was broken to be a sure sign of a homicidal spirit.
"But then why would it destroy the equipment?" she asked herself. Mai felt as though her dream had something to do with it, but she just couldn't figure out why.
"What did you mean when you said 'something is angry' Mai?" Lin asked, kneeling beside her.
"I don't know. I just felt all this anger and rage. It was like it was crushing me," she explained. Naru's eyes stayed trained on his assistant's face as she spoke.
When the microphone and camera had been destroyed, Naru knew something was going on. He had panicked. Running straight out the door and towards the study his assistants were last in. When Naru arrived to find the door locked and sealed, his heart had almost beat out of his chest. After many attempts at breaking down the door, it opened of its own accord. He had rushed in, flanked by Ayako, Takigawa, John and Masako.
Seeing Mai passed out on the floor had threatened o stop his erratic heart. Until Lin explained that she was unhurt and just passed out.
"What did you see?" Takigawa asked the brunette. She sent him a look asking how he knew.
"It's just that usually when you pass out, you are having a vision," he explained.
"I saw the study. It looked different though. There was a man and a woman. They were fighting," Mai recounted.
"Can you remember exactly what they said?" Naru joined the conversation. Mai nodded.
"She said something like 'She doesn't deserve you,' and he replied, 'I already told you I love someone else'. Then she got really, and I mean really, angry. She said they'd never be together and he would regret it," she said. Naru looked at her thoughtfully before nodding and exiting the room. Mai watched him go before climbing to her feet. Everyone exited the room but as Mai went to, Ayako caught her arm.
"Was that everything?" she asked. Mai just forced a smile and nodded. Ayako released her and left the room also. Mai breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she should have told them about the guy looking like Paolo but first she wanted to see what he knew.
A/N: That is chapter 4 done. Sorry for not updating on time. I had some work I had to do. But I hope this will help you forgive me. Read and review people. Read and review.