The Mass

"Please be seated." said Father Shio, causing everyone to sit down in unison. The hall fell silent as everyone's eyes were on the Father. Mai stood in the back of the hall, watching as the mass continued on. She was trying to think of a way to stop it, but every idea that came to mind either seemed stupid, or wouldn't work. She had thought of screaming bloody murder without a body, she had thought about pretending to faint but she would have to go to the hospital and get yelled at by Naru. She even thought about hitting someone in the head and blaming it on the ghost, but she knew no one would believe that.

Mai watched as Father Shiro continued on with the sermon, feeling useless. There was nothing she could do and if she told Naru or the others about this, she would have to explain that Naru in her dreams told her and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"How are you feeling?" asked a voice. Mai turned around to find Detective Masahiko standing behind her. She turned to face the front of the room and said. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem it." He said to her back. Mai ignored him, trying to think of something.

"How do you stop a sermon without causing panic?" Mai asked herself out loud, turning her head to the side, thinking. Mai immediately regretted what she said when she heard a small chuckle behind her.

"Why do you want to stop the sermon?" The Detective asked.

"I was just thinking….aloud I guess." Mai said trying to think of an answer. She didn't want to get Detective Masahiko involved in this. She had heard from Bou-san that he had gotten an ear full from Naru about her talking to him earlier. She didn't want him to be in trouble because of her.

"Is that so?" Detective Masahiko said. "Well tell me your train of thought than."

"I would rather not." Mai said.

"Suit yourself." He said, placing his hands in his pockets. He stood behind her quietly, watching Father Shiro bless the wine. "Though if you wish to stop it, I would hurry up. They are almost done."

Mai began to panic now. She didn't have a lot of time to think.

Drip

The sound echoed around the church hall. Mai looked around, not sure where it had come from.

Drip

Mai noticed that no one else in the church seem to notice the sound that was now ringing through her ears.

Drip

Mai looked up at the alter and saw blood slowly dripping down the wall. Mai felt her heart stopped. She looked around at everyone around her, but none of them seemed to have noticed.

"What is going on?" Mai asked herself has she felt her heart pound against her chest. She brought her hand up to her chest as she felt a small ache in it. "I don't understand."

You need to stop the mass tonight. You need to stop the mass and you need to get out.

The voice echoed around in Mai's mind has she struggled to find a solution. How do I stop this? What do I do? Mai looked around the room to find nothing that would help her.

Drip

The sound grew louder and louder as the seconds past by. Suddenly Mai felt that she could not move. Her whole body tensed and her breath caught as she was forced to look ahead of her. Behind the Father, Mai noticed a little girl. Having no choice but to look closer, Mai saw that she was one of the girls from the album. Mai closed her eyes, not wanting to remember the gruesome picture. Mai took a deep breath, knowing that this was all an illusion and once she opens her eyes, she will see the Father standing on the alter, by himself.

Mai opened her eyes, but she did not see the Father by himself, instead she saw him surrounded by more girls. Mai tried to step back, but some invisible force pushed her forward. Mai stumbled to her feet as she watched in horror as the girl surrounded the Father. He, of course, did not notice as he blessed the wine in the cup. Mai wanted nothing more than to scream out and tell them to stop, but her voice would not work. One of the girls reached up and tried to touch the Father, but her hand went right through him. She pulled her hand back and looked at it, unsure of what had happened.

A girl standing next to her moved closer and whispered something that Mai did not hear. The girl nodded before reached back up and sticking her hand into the Father's chest.

No! Mai screamed inside, knowing exactly what she was going to do. The girl was going to try to rip his heart out. No! No! No! NO!

"NO!" Everyone turned to find Mai standing there, her hand on her chest as tears filled her eyes. She looked around at everyone, not understanding why they were looking at her. It wasn't until she looked back up at the Father to see that the girls were gone that she knew what had happened. She had just screamed no in a church for something only she could see.

"Ex-excuse me." Mai said talking a step back. Everyone watched as she slowly backed away. Behind her, something reached out and grabbed her shoulder, making her spin around quickly. She looked up to find the Detective looking at her worriedly. Not giving him a chance to speak, Mai ran out of the church.

Frighten and alone, Mai ran down the street not paying attention to where she was going. The cold wind brushed her skin as her legs grew tired. Her lungs began to catch fire as she breathed in the freezing air around her. She wanted to stop running. She wanted to go back to the church. She wanted Naru.

Slowing to a stop, Mai looked around. She did not recognize anything around her. To her left was a small empty forest and to her right was a road that had no cars on it. Looking around cautiously, Mai started to wonder what way she had come. The more she thought about it, the more she started to become confused. She could not remember which way she had come and she could not think of which way to go.

What if I get lost? What if I get kidnapped? What if Naru doesn't get his tea and gets made at everyone! Grabbing her head and shaking it, she screamed in her mind. Why did I run out like that!

Taking a deep breath to calm down she began to look around again. Freaking out like that won't get me anywhere, Mai thought to herself. She decided to follow the road and see if it took her anywhere. It wasn't until after ten minutes of walking and not finding the church that she realized that she might have gone the wrong way.

"Hello?" Mai called in hopes of finding someone walking by. There was no response. "Hello!" Mai called again, looking around her. She didn't know where she was or how she had gotten here. Hoping she had something useful on her, Mai began to dig through her pockets for something. "Damn." Mai said when she found her pockets where empty. "Maybe there is a store near by that can give me directions" Mai said to herself.

"I can give you directions if you like." said a voice. Mai turned to find a tall man standing there. He seemed to find something funny. "The church is back that way." He pointed behind and up the road. Mai took a step back, putting her hand to her chest. The man looked at her confused. "What's wrong? You wanted to know where the church was, right? It's just back that way." He pointed again, but Mai back up a step further.

"How…" Mai let her sentence trailed off as she took another step back. The only sound that she could hear was the pounding from her own heart. "How did you know I was looking for the church?"

HEY! I'm back after...a number of weeks! Sorry it is taking me so long. I just have to much to do. Though I was going to update yesterday though I got caught up watching Romeo x Juliet. If you have seen it (the anime/manga version) you know why I forgot to update. If you don't agree with me than, that is your opinion.

I have a few announcements about things that half of you most likely won't care about...:

a) my keyboard is being stupid because it is only typing some of the words I ask it to type.

b) To Tbonechick2011. Sorry i did not answer your question earlier, but YES! OH MY GOD YES I DID! Not only was I one of the first people in the entire convention to get his autograph, I ran into him all the time! I had so much fun and he gave me like 6 hugs! I was soo happy and I can't not wait until June when i get to go to another one with him! And if you are lost, we are talking bout me going to the Ichiboncon and me meeting Vic.

c) My orchestra teacher is going to MURDER ME! (figuratively of course.) I have NOT practiced the music for Districts. Oh did i forget to tell you? I MADE IT TO DISTRICTS! I got 8th chair out of 16 which makes me want to explode! (good and bad way) so yea I have to go explain myself tomorrow, so if i don't update again soon...I'm most likely dead.

d) I GOT AN EDITOR! I am soo happy! (I am going to kill this keyboard in like 3 seconds if it doesn't stop). For those of you who don't know, which is most likely all of you, for the past few weeks, I have been finishing my editing for a story that i wrote. No, not story, novel! It feels good to say that: Novel. Anyway, I wanted to get it published and well, I found (sorry my mother) found an editor who will (hopefully) look at my novel and help me get another step closer to becoming the author I've always wanted to be! I AM SO HAPPY!

Those of you that stuck through those announcement, thank you. I know how hard it is to read things you don't care about. (They are called book reports). Anyway its getting late (for me) so I'm gonna hit the sack. Wish me luck on Sunday when I have my first meeting with my (tryout, though hopefully new) editor!

P.S. Sorry I still have not made contact with my editor for this story. I am trying so there might be mistakes, just ignore them or something.