A/N: Hey, all! This chapter is one I've had planned ever since I started this story, so I think you'll like it. Thank you for all the lovely reviews I've been getting – each one just makes my day!

In response to the little contest I had last chapter, the two songs I used were "How Long Must This Go On?" from the Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast and, of course, "Something There." Most of you got "Something There," but only one person knew "How Long Must This Go On?" I can understand why; it's not a very well known song – but it's amazing that so many of you guessed! Thanks all!

Disclaimer: I – DON'T – OWN. The end.

Chapter 12: Story Time

Mai awoke to a bright Sunday morning, snow still layering the grounds outside. Sunrise bled into the ground, leaving her world orange. The smile she had worn so proudly yesterday was still visible on her face as she leapt out of bed. In sheer excitement, Mai twirled around and raced to get ready for today.

Only one word could have ever come close to explaining the day before: perfection. Sweet and simple bliss. She couldn't recall the events without a smile coming to her face. Everything she did passed in a haze. Through her shower, Mai could only reminisce and giggle – and, of course, wonder what they were going to do today.

Gliding back out of her room with a hairbrush, she saw another set of clothes on her bed. She heard Masako speak up as soon as she gathered the clothes in her arms.

"Naru won't be out for a couple more hours. You may explore the castle, if you like, until he is finished," she said coolly. Mai nodded absently, spinning around in her daydream once more. Masako huffed softly.

"Okay," Mai said, off in her own little world.

So that meant today she could finally figure out what was in the West Wing. She knew Naru said it was off limits. And in all honesty, she had forgotten about it until Naru had so obviously avoided it when coming back into the manor the day before. And now Mai was even more curious about the only forbidden room in the house.

Well, now was the time to find out.

Mai pulled on her clothes and shoes, slipped from her room, and headed up to the third floor. Adrenaline pumped through her system, but she tried to calm herself down. Even if Naru found her trying to get into the room, what could he possibly do to her?

She jumped the final three steps in a single bound and saw the tall doors at the end of the hallway. They were practically calling out to her. 'Come open us, Mai! See the secrets we have to hold! You know you want to!' Mai shifted her weight from foot to foot, hopping awkwardly back and forth.

And without warning she sprinted forward, watching the doors grow larger. Finally. Finally, she would learn why. Her hand touched the gold knob and she yanked the huge doors open. After some useless tugging, she realized she had to push the door, not pull it. Mai rolled her eyes, and shoved her whole weight against the door.

As she entered, it was pitch black. Stale air met her nose. Different from what she remembered from several weeks ago, the windows were closed and the curtains were shut. No light made it into the room. Mai peeked around the door and saw that the windows traveled nearly all away around the room. If she could just get to the nearest window, then she could open the curtains to let some light in.

She jumped toward the windows, carefully making her way there. Mai nearly slipped; something wet was on the ground, but she kept her balance and grasped the curtains. Her fists clenched around the soft fabric as she found the edges. Mai bit down hard on her lip, wondering if this was what she really wanted. Whether or not she could've just gone and asked Naru why this was forbidden. Whether she would pay dire consequences if she was caught…

"Mai!" a barking voice came from outside, seconds before she could tug the blinds open. She froze in her tracks, knowing she had jinxed herself. From the tone in Naru's voice, she was royally screwed.

"Na-naru!" she gasped. She wanted so desperately to fling open the blinds and see why this room was off-limits to her. Her mind screamed, "Go, go, go!" while her heart screamed, "No, no, no!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!"

"I… I was…" Mai searched her mind frantically for an excuse that made sense. If this was just her first week here, then the 'lost' excuse would have worked. But no, after the days upon days of traveling up and down stairs, wandering through halls, cleaning every single room in the house, there was no way he was going to buy that excuse.

He answered the question for her, gliding into the room, keeping his flashing eyes on her the whole time. Oddly, he had kept the door nearly closed. "You were being stupid."

"I-I was just curious…" Mai pleaded, stepping away from the curtains.

"Curiosity is stupidity."

"How… how can you say something like that?" she whispered meekly. She didn't dare move.

"From previous experience," Naru snarled. He grabbed her by the shoulder and began to drag her from the room. "Consider your debts repaid. You are to leave in the next two hours and never return here again. Do not speak to anyone what you have done or seen here because I will know if you have and there will be consequences."

He nearly shoved her down the stairs. Mai stumbled, and caught herself before she went down face-first. She looked back up at him, shoulders shaking with tears welling in her eyes. She brushed them away before they could fall, but the tears merely built up again. An awful truth collided with her head-on. Naru wasn't going to change his mind.

"Go! I never want to see you again!" he shouted at her, finalizing everything. And just an hour ago she had been dancing around her room, laughing, smiling, hoping today was going to be just as good as the day before. Somehow now, that all seemed unreal and impossible. Mai spun on her heel and sprinted away.

Naru watched her run out of sight, heard her sobs fade down the hall, and heard her door slam shut. He simply shook his head.

"I finally trusted you. I was… going to tell you everything. I thought you could help us." Naru looked thoughtful for a moment, and an odd sensation swept over him. He refused to acknowledge the feelings that were there, but he knew what they were:

Longing and regret.

Naru shook himself out of his thoughts and turned back around to go back to his office, where he would no doubt spend the rest of his life.

"I guess I was wrong."

Mai sunk to the floor, leaning against her door, as soon as she got inside her room. Before she knew it, Masako and Yasuhara were asking questions by the handful.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"What did Naru do to you?"

"Mai, please, talk to us!"

Mai looked up, swallowing the lump in her throat. There was no other way to say it. "I'm apparently supposed to leave. Forever. I went into the West Wing," she answered bluntly. They fell silent almost immediately.

"Did you see anything?" Yasuhara asked quietly. Mai shook her head no.

"He threw me out of the room before I could open the blinds to see anything. And then he shoved me down the stairs and yelled at me to get out. I thought he was supposed to be in his office for the next few hours! That's why I went in there now…" Mai groaned, standing. "Thanks a lot, Masako," she snapped.

"Are you blaming me for your stupidity?" Masako shot back. Mai tugged the carpetbag out from under her bed and began refilling it with everything she had brought here. She would take nothing back – nothing that would remind her of this place.

"I was curious!" Mai punched her mother's quilt into the bag, stuffing clothes on top.

Masako sniffed. "It's the same thing to me."

Mai flung her carpetbag over her shoulder, tossed her head back, and said, "That's exactly what Naru told me."

The sharpness in her tone seemed to shut Masako up. With that, Mai was gone. Worried about running into anyone else, Mai took shortcuts all around the mansion. She had nearly made it out the door, before a familiar, desperate voice called her name.

"Mai-san!"

Mai turned around instantly at Ayako's voice. She watched as the feather duster approached her, staring up at her with wide, almost… frightened eyes. The reminder of that image over the inanimate object sent chills down her spine once more. She guessed she would never figure out who they were and why they were that way.

"Mai… please don't leave. You don't know what you're doing!"

"I don't know what I'm doing? I'm pretty sure I'm leaving this place for good, Ayako," Mai replied, trying to keep most of the sarcasm from entering her tone. Now really wasn't the time.

"No, you—I don't think—I'm sure you don't understand what this means," Ayako pressed, her eyes flashing, her face set in despair. Mai faltered.

"There's not really anything to understand." Mai ran a hand through her hair nervously. Just what was going on?

"Just… none of us want you to leave, Mai. Please. Defy Naru for once. Stay."

Mai cringed at the helpless tone in Ayako's voice. But she couldn't break, wouldn't break. If Naru wanted her gone, then so be it. "Go tell your master that," she spat. More tears fell. "It's not like I want to leave. I have to. And that's an order. I can't defy it… it'll just make him angrier."

Ayako looked like she wanted to say something else, something more persuasive to get the young girl to stay. But Mai didn't have the time or the heart. She backed from the door without breaking their gaze. She was completely torn in two – she had just surrendered her last chance to return. There was only one question left for her now – where would she go?

Mai marched away from the manor with her head held high. There was no way she was going to turn around. Her dramatic exit wasn't going to be ruined. She found herself at the forest's edge again a short time later. Mai stopped, wondering to herself. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could find a shortcut if she went another way.

But luck certainly was not with her today. She found herself at a river's edge just to the side of the manor. The forest was close by, but she could see the road a little ways from the opposite riverbank – cutting at least forty-five minutes off her trek home.

Unfortunately, the river was not going to let her cross so easily. Mai was worried about the little factor of melting ice, thanks to the sun beating down rather harshly. She took in a deep breath, and tested her foot on the ice. No movement. Thank the Gods.

Mai brushed more tears from her face, trying to keep not only Naru's voice, but everyone's voice from her mind. All she could think of was how scared Ayako sounded, how sweet Naru was to her yesterday, how friendly John was, how motherly Madoka acted, how Masako was always there to talk, how Yasuhara seemed to know everything, how Takigawa could always make her laugh, and, although Lin seemed so quiet, he really did care.

All of that made her cry even harder.

Suddenly, there was a heart-wrenching noise from underneath her. Mai's eyes widened. She was in the middle of the river, spanning twenty meters across. Mai looked down to see what she had been dreading all along.

The ice cracked sharply inches away from where she stood. Mai stayed where she was, shivering and crying, on the breaking and melting ice. If she only took one step, the ice would snap under her weight. If she merely stood there, the ice directly beneath her would eventually crack too.

Lovely.

That arrogant jerk. He probably set me free just so I could drown out here. This is my consequence. He would have known that the river was melting. He's probably watching from one of the millions of windows I've had to clean, laughing. No, he was smirking.

She had never seen him laugh.

Out of blind anger, Mai stomped her foot onto the snowy ice. In the next split second, she paid dearly for her idiotic mistake. The ice broke in two. She screamed.

Mai clawed at the ice to the sides of her, but they fell away as soon as she got a good hold on them. She dropped her carpetbag after serious deliberation, more tears falling from her cheeks. Her last tie with her mother – gone. But now – it was truly bittersweet – she'd get to see both her mother and father again.

It was so cold, everything around her. The layers of clothes she was wearing were weighing her down in the water, but her hands could barely move to take the layers off. She let out a pathetic moan as she slowly slipped under water.

The waters froze her to the bone. Mai blinked, trying to find a way out of this mess that had attacked her before she could do anything about it. Was it worth it to fight the river?

Yes. Yes, it was. After everything that had happened, she deserved a last chance. Using up the last of her energy, Mai lunged for the thick, frozen ice barely a meter away from her. Her body barely moved forward, flopping from side to side like a half-alive fish fighting for its life. Again she tried the same maneuver, and again it failed miserably.

Something pinched her shoulder and slowly moved down her arm, keeping a tight hold. Mai tried to shake away, but that just wasted the energy that could have been used for keeping her body heat above freezing. Everything was becoming so slow… so hazy… Nothing seemed to be going anywhere, in fact…

Three minutes of freedom for this…

And that was when her head broke the surface.

She was dragged out of the water and fell against her rescuer coughing. The man holding her checked her pulse, wrapped a blanket around her freezing body, and balanced her in his arms. He stood and turned on his heel with the young girl clutched to his chest.

Naru himself carried her back up to the mansion.

Mai woke up to a blazing fire and a warm wool blanket tucked around her. Squinting, she suddenly felt steam reach the tip of her nose. She blinked, once, twice, three times to clear her vision and saw what she thought wasn't possible.

"Take it."

She looked up into the ice blue eyes of Naru. Startled, she could only stare back between the cup of tea and the boy handing it to her. She was either dreaming or had drowned in the river and died. There was no way this could happen… Naru would never do something like this!

"Have you lost the ability to move as well as think?" he snapped, shoving the hot tea under her nose again.

Nope.

Never mind.

This was definitely Naru.

Mai felt a prickly heat of anger and embarrassment crawl up her cheeks, but she slowly pulled out her arms from underneath the blanket. She couldn't bring herself to unlock their gaze. A silent, heated battle was going on and if she broke her stare, she would just be admitting defeat.

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden to you," Mai shot back after grasping the saucer from his hands. Naru swiftly turned away and faced the fire..

"I had forgotten the ice was melting."

Mai growled under her breath. "And you suppose those words will make up for almost killing me?"

"It's not like it was my fault, Mai. I wasn't the one who made you stupidly stomp on the ice and fall through."

"You were watching me?" Mai didn't know whether to be pleased or slightly disturbed.

"I saved your life because of it. Don't sound so horrified."

Mai scowled. A new voice suddenly spoke from the doorway. "It was because of me he saw you fall."

Mai's head peeked around the sides of the chair, only just realizing Naru had placed her in his own chair that Naru was always perched in behind his desk. He'd moved it near the fireplace… for her. A flush of giddy excitement stained her face again, but she still couldn't see who had been talking.

"Matsuzaki-san, show yourself."

The feather duster came into view. Naru sighed heavily and again said, "Matsuzaki-san, please show yourself."

Ayako paused. "You don't mean—?"

"It's exactly what I mean. Now…" Naru bowed his head slightly, showing her to follow his orders. Mai looked between the two in confusion. What was going on? In the next few seconds, Mai realized exactly what Naru had meant when he said 'show yourself.' But she didn't get how or why at all…-

The small feather duster promptly fell over and Mai blinked, slightly taken aback. But above the duster, a shape was beginning to form. It was almost as if water vapor was forming to make… a person, if she saw it right. Vaguely transparent, Mai made out the materializing image of a woman in her twenties with long, dark hair, a tall, slender figure, and piercing, somewhat annoyed eyes. It was the same face of the woman she had seen in front of the duster on the first day she arrived here.

Mai gasped. The teacup fell to the ground and shattered.

This was a ghost.

"You—you can't be… are you…?" Mai couldn't complete the sentence.

"Dead? Yes, I am."

She had said it so confidently, so eager to get it out. The smile on her face was victorious. Mai stared at the spirit and Naru with incredulity before Ayako continued. "Along with the many other servants in this house," she spat at Naru, who ignored her gaze, "because of him."

These words made Mai sit upright, ignoring the cough swelling in her throat, and throw the blanket off of her. "What?"

Naru glared at Ayako with such intensity, Mai thought she was going to sink back into the duster she had been… possessing. Ayako merely sniffed, sticking her nose up into the air, and turned away.

"That wasn't exactly how I wanted to tell you, Mai… but it's true."

"Huh? What's true?" Mai sputtered, still perplexed.

Ayako gave a short breath of scathing laughter. "Can I?" she asked Naru a little too willingly, who waved his hand dismissively.

"Do as you please, because I'm not going to. I can't. Not now."

Ayako walked calmly up to where Mai was sitting and looked down at her. In that moment, her eyes softened and she leaned down to Mai's level. She took in a deep breath, pulled her hair from her eyes, and laid a translucent hand over Mai's. Suddenly, it felt as if her hand had been dunked in ice water. Mai swallowed and looked at the ghost, silently begging for an explanation.

"We're all dead, Mai."

Her heart stopped in her throat.

"Every last one of us. Takigawa-san, Masako, John, Yasuhara-san, Mori-san, even Lin-san. We were all murdered… by the master. Up in the West Wing." Her voice held disgust as she glanced back at Naru. It seemed like he wasn't listening – or, at least, didn't want to listen. In a small voice, Ayako added, "Our bodies are still even in this very castle."

Mai's jaw hung slack, her heart racing faster than ever before. "No… I don't… I don't believe it."

"How can you possibly not believe this, Mai? A ghost is standing in front of you. I can show you the bloody knife that I killed them with. I can even show you that murder scene that's been lying in my manor for nearly four years!" Naru yelled, and then drew back, running a hand through his hair. He turned around and silently walked back to the windows. Mai watched him go with a confused, rejected expression.

"That's not what I meant. I don't believe you would kill your friends, Naru." Mai just barely caught the smile that flashed across Ayako's face. Naru didn't turn around. "I don't understand. How could this happen?" Mai demanded, her voice cracking.

"Matsuzaki-san…"

"Yes, I know, I know. I can tell you the whole story." Ayako sighed deeply. Mai was still in shock by the form she had so suddenly taken. "A long time ago, we were actually all happy here. We lived here together. We weren't servants - we were friends… family," she whispered dazedly, remembering what once was.

"Naru really hasn't changed much, though. He's still the selfish brat he always was. He's just more of a recluse now. His parents had entrusted him with running this place… and he just loved that power. With all the money he had, he bought artifacts galore."

Ayako motioned around the walls, where many odd trinkets stood out at them, their dark colors blending into the walls.

"I don't know if you realized it, but Naru is a bit of a supernatural freak," Ayako stated, choosing her words harshly. Mai giggled. She would have been blind if she hadn't noticed. "And one artifact he bought was this supposed cursed knife, encrusted with diamonds on the handle. He didn't believe the curse."

"What was the curse supposed to do?" Mai asked.

"It was said the knife enhanced a person's emotions… and could control them with those wild emotions."

Mai could only imagine what had happened after that, especially after being on the receiving end of Naru's unbridled anger.

"Even today, after nearly four years, I don't remember why he was so angry. But that night in the West Wing, while we were having a party, he killed us all. It was terrifying. That dagger he used… that knife… it still lies in that very room, still covered in our blood." Ayako shuddered.

"Our bodies remain preserved because of the curse, like we had just been killed only minutes ago. We remain as ghosts until a total of fifteen hundred days are up. When either that day comes or the last drop of blood is cleaned from the dagger, our deaths are permanent. We leave this mansion forever. But to break the curse, to bring us back to life… well, that's Naru's job."

Mai barely heard Ayako's last few words. A sick feeling had turned her world upside down after this horror story. Oh, God. The nightmares… oh, the nightmares had been…

"I saw you all die," Mai whispered, collapsing back into the chair again. The air was gone from her lungs and the world looked grey. Naru and Ayako looked on, their eyes widening simultaneously.

"What?" Ayako snapped.

"Well, three of you. I… I think. I had nightmares for three days last week, but then I stayed up 'cause they were scary as hell. But then, just now, I realized… they were the deaths that happened in here. In this mansion. It sounds like it, at least…"

"What did you see? What happened?" Ayako questioned immediately.

"I… I was stabbed through the heart, pretty much bludgeoned to death, and my throat was slit."

Ayako looked horror-struck, a hand against her chest, utterly speechless. It was clear that if she had not been dead already, she would have fainted on the spot. Naru explained.

"You witnessed Matsuzaki-san's, Takigawa-san's, and Hara-san's deaths, Mai. Well, experienced them as if they were your own. If you had continued on with the nightmares, I'm positive of the fact you would have seen John's, Yasuhara-san's, Madoka's, and Lin's. In that order."

Sense crashed into her like a boulder. Of course. This was why the nightmares had been gone after seven nights. On the eighth night, when she had finally fallen asleep again, there was nothing left to see. No more secrets to be revealed.

Now the pieces were falling into place, showing her the picture she wasn't able to see before. It was how these unexplainable things kept happening at this manor. How her clothes made it onto her bed every morning - that had been Masako abandoning the dresser. Why Yasuhara seemed so quiet every morning – he had been abandoning the bookshelf. The man that looked like a ghost – the one Naru had denied ever existed…

"So when I saw the man… who was that?" Mai gasped, eyes widening.

"That was actually Lin. You had seen him when he was a human. He was being careless and had abandoned the form he was supposed to keep with you in the manor. I guess he just got tired of being smaller than Masako," she said with a renewed grin.

"All right, story time is over. Mai, you will go back to your room and rest. Ayako… stay here," Naru decided. Ayako raised an eyebrow.

"I… I can stay?!" Mai yelped.

"I can't have the rest of the world knowing I'm a killer. A murderer. Of course you will stay. You will still work to pay off your debt, though."

The brusque words dampened her attitude, but at least she would continue on her life here. A murderer… Naru… could it really be? As she looked up at him, searching him slowly, she saw him in a different light. This young boy, barely older than she… already with the blood of seven people on his hands. How worried he must have been about being found out.

"I will see you tomorrow, Mai. Goodbye."

Mai stood and walked from the room. A mixture of shock, anxiety, and elation swelled in the pit of her stomach. After all of the mess that had happened, she was still alive, still here, still kicking. Wow. Mai halted outside the door, wondering what Naru needed to talk to Ayako about. Easing herself backwards, Mai listened hard for anything of significance.

If there was one thing she learned today, it was that rules were meant to be broken.

"You can go tell everyone that they do not have to keep their ghost forms hidden anymore. Tell them also that Mai knows what happened," Naru ordered. Ayako scoffed at his bossy tone.

"Yeah, sure, sure. Whatever you wish, master. But, Naru… you didn't tell her the most important part!" Ayako insisted. Mai's eyebrows drew together. What could be more important than that story?

Evidently, Naru felt the same way she did. "Oh, I didn't? And what would that be - besides the fact that you are all dead?"

Ayako groaned loudly, and Mai was sure that she heard a foot stomp on the rug. "You know perfectly well! You don't have a lot of time left. Naru, you must get her to—!"

Naru cut her off with a choppy tone. "I know. I'm not going to force it on her. Now… get out."

"You're such a bastard," were Ayako's parting words. Mai jumped away from the door, and leapt for the nearest curtain as Ayako exited, leaving the door wide open.

"Thank you," Naru muttered. "And you're a bitch, Ayako. But you don't see me complaining..." Mai smiled to herself at the cynicism in his voice. At least he wasn't denying the facts.

After checking if the coast was clear, she drew away from her hiding spot and started back on the way toward her room. Mai knew now what the seventy-seven days was that had been haunting her dreams. She had seventy-seven days to save their lives.

But how?

A/N: Yes, yes… how?

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Thank you for reading!