Author's Note:

Hello everyone! It has been a little while since I last updated, during that time I have; gone to France, gone to Hungary and had end of year exams. But it's all over now and it's summer!

So yeah, I'm a happy bunny.

Anyway, enough of me, on to the chapter~!

-Chapter 5-

The Journey

The car ride was long, grueling and boring. They had to stop by BSPR, to collect the equipment they would need. Lin got into the black van filled to the brim with; twenty-five cameras, twenty-five microphones, twenty infrared cameras and thirty thermometers, then followed the minibus.

For two hours they drove, going through towns, cities and postcard worthy villages. The conversation moved from fashion (a topic that Kathy wasn't as keen on as much as they first thought) to the landmarks of England, which Kathy was all too happy to tell them about. Places like the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Stonehenge.

Suddenly, just as they passed another small village, a massive forest loomed ahead.

"We have now entered the grounds!" Markus called over his shoulder.

"Yay! We're in!" Kathy bounced in her seat, as they drove through the towering trees on a small dirt road, "Leave it to Markus to make us late."

"Hey! Don't question my driving skills! I've always been the expert."

"'The expert'!" Kathy rolled her eyes.

"I got my license before you did," Markus smiled smugly.

"Because you are older than me!"

"At least I passed my test first time," Markus's smirk widened, as he added, "With flying colors."

Kathy launched herself from the back of the van, to behind the urban haired man, grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him violently.

"Just because I forgot to look in the wing mirror, doesn't mean that you get to gloat about it for over a year!"

"Hey, hey, hey, easy there!" The van swerved suddenly, "You're going to make us crash! Keep your hair on!"

The trees towered over head, their massive branches creating a tunnel of green, sunlight filtering through the leaves, like something out of a fairy tale, almost unreal, unaware of what was going beneath the metal roof of the vehicle. Their branches and leaves swayed and rustled, even though no wind blew. This went by, unnoticed.

"Wait!" Mai called out, stopping the siblings, "Are you telling me that in this humongous… jungle is your home?"

"Yeah, the whole forest is owned by the Clarkton family." Kathy said, sitting carefully back down, Markus straightened his shirt.

All the members of SPR had looks of astonishment on their faces, a few of them had their mouths open, except Naru who didn't seem to be listening as he was reading a book.

The feisty girl muttered a sorry to Markus, he just waved her off.

"So… How long until we reach the house?" Ayako rubbed her arms, looking out the window into the near darkness of the forest, "It's creepy in here."

Markus yawned, as though he hadn't had his insides scrambled, and replied, "Oh, not for another two hours at least."

"WHAT?!"

"Sorry…" Kathy shrank into her seat slightly, "It goes faster than you think."

"Ah great…" Monk whined, "I know! Let's play Truth or Dare-"

"NO! We will not play Truth or Dare, especially with you and Yasu taking part!" Ayako screeched.

"Why not? What does he do?" Kathy peered at the four-eyed boy.

"Yasuhara's dares are… interesting." John smiled nervously.

"They are downright terrifying and defiantly disgusting." Masako corrected.

"I just have a very creative imagination," Yasu flashed a grin at the brunet, he liked this girl already.

"Oh…" Kathy smiled, and Mai could have sworn that there was a very, very faint blush on her cheeks.

A silence covered the minivan. It wasn't awkward as such, but not comfortable either.

"So…" Mai said thoughtfully, "Has anything else happened since we last met, at your home, I mean."

This seemed to grab Naru's attention as he opened his mysterious black notebook, pen poised to write.

"Well, not really," Kathy shot a glance at Markus, who turned slightly in his seat, "Molly has had another nightmare, oh, there have been knocking sounds on the walls and the doors suddenly kept opening and closing."

"Typical poltergeist activity," Monk speculated.

"But how can you explain those marks on Victoria's back and, who was it… Molly's nightmares?" Mai said swiftly.

"Maybe it's an angry poltergeist." Yasu chipped in.

"Or it could be a specter. Maybe even a revengeful ghost." John lent back in his seat, "But one thing is for certain, this might be difficult."

"It is strange..." Ayako rummaged uneasily in her handbag, "Victoria must be been in a lot of pain. Those were no ordinary marks, I've seen similar scars in the clinic, when somebody attacked the patient with a sharp object, the bleeding doesn't stop for ages..."

That's when it hit her. That sickening smell, that sickening feeling… Mai gagged, clasping her hand to her mouth. Is it... Is it blood? No... Not just blood... There's something more...

"Mai... Mai... MAI!"

Someone was calling her name. She felt cold... Fear seeped through her, into her blood, into her very soul. Something bad was near, something very, very bad...

Mai forced open her eyes, only to feel a wave of nausea wash over her. The van had stopped, Naru was looking over her; she seemed to be lying down. Everyone else seemed to be hovering between her and Masako, who looked how she felt. Shaky, sweaty and white, Masako's eyes were wide, unusually wide, John was holding her steady.

"Mai! Are you alright?" Ayako elbowed Naru out of the way.

"W-What happened?" Mai stuttered, sitting up slowly.

"You, you just fainted..." Ayako said wearily, placing a hand on Mai's forehead. "You just collapsed, then Masako turned white and seemed to faint too..."

"There's a cloud..." Masako whispered, seemingly out of her daze, "A black cloud... Coming from the middle of the forest..."

Mai looked out of the front window of the van, it was like dark mist, just visible over the menacing trees.

Lin poked his head through the back door, his month in a thin frown, "Is something wrong?"

"There has been some supernatural phoneme detected." Naru mutters quietly.

Ignoring them, shaky, Mai stood, walked carefully over to Masako, sat next to her, and said, "I see it too."

Author's Note:

Ooooooh! Suspense! Yes, this did take a while to write, and doesn't have a main event inside it, but it connects the previous chapter, to the next. Call it a bridge chapter! I think it is a little short, but is couldn't think of anything else to write without ruining it… Sorry for that…

And I just realized that Naru hasn't said much this entire time… Opps…

Reviews make the world go round!

Why are Markus and Kathy so nervous? What is that cloud all about? Will I write something longer? Find out in the next chapter!

CrazyAnimeFan1228