So I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful reviews! You guys are absolutely amazing! I was going to make an announcement but I changed my mind. According to the fanfiction rules and guidelines, I'm not supposed to do this but I have no other way to respond to anon reviewers. If you didn't review as an anon, feel free to skip the rest of this and enjoy the story! If you did, just find the name you used and then feel free to skip down to the story after you read yours.

Guest: I'm happy to hear that you are enjoying this so far! As for this being a MaiXNaru pairing; I suck at writing romance but I am going to try.

Flickering Ember: Don't worry about it. I actually wasn't expecting this story to be that big of a hit anyway. Never the less, I'm pleased that everyone is enjoying it. And yes, you would think that her friends would have known about the deaths, but there is a reason for that. Don't count it off as a plot hole yet; I just haven't gotten to that part. But it will be coming up in the near future. As for the songs, please keep in mind that it is really only going to be those two that I mentioned. It gets hard to find whole songs that have the lyrics actually fit the story.

nobody inc.: I did take that fear into consideration as well as another before I came up with the one that I am going to use. For now it is just going to have to be secret that will be revealed in due time.

"Watching, waiting,

Falling, shaking,

Will the storm pass over us today?

Or is the future looking grey?"

-Storm To Pass by Atreyu

Despite common misconceptions, Mai was hardly ever late. The only times that she was late was when she had forgotten something at school and had to run back and get it. Which is what had happened yesterday. She had forgotten one of her books in her locker and had to go back for it.

Today however, Mai had gotten to the office on time like she was supposed to. She also knew that Naru had been pleased about that; even if his facial expression has never changed from its usual stoic facade.

That had been almost nine hours ago. As of now, they had already reached the town of Toyosato and Mai knew that they were just a few minutes away from Kanakuro Manor. In her opinion, it was kind of cliché. The thing that made this so cliché is the fact that it was one of those old abandoned house on the hill types.

And even now, her opinion didn't change as they pulled up to the manor. From first glance she had been able to tell that the manor was two stories tall and could hold at least five rooms on each side of the front door. As for how far back it went, she wouldn't be able to tell until they got inside and walked the length of the manor.

Once they had come to a full stop and exited the vehicle, Mai examined the front side of the manor; she could tell that the manor was quiet old, maybe at least a century, the foundation and the first floor were done in red brick while the second floor was done in weathered white painted wood that was starting to peel from age and lack of maintenance. The twelve or so steps that lead up to the front door were shaped from concrete and the path that lead up to the steps, as well as the driveway, was gravel. The front door itself was made of solid oak with no windows and was also weathered from age.

Intertwined ivy had crawled up in some places on the face of the house. It had also covered some of the windows, making it impossible to see into them from the outside. The windows of the manor also had the classic wooden shutter that had been painted black, and much like the white wooden siding of the second floor, it was also peeling from age and lack of care.

All in all, the manor reminded Mai of the many haunted houses that she had seen in movies. The only difference between this one and the ones from the movies was that this one was actually haunted. Not to mention the almost suffocating vibe that she was getting just from looking at it.

She quickly turned away from the manor and made her way to the back of the SPR van. Both Naru and Lin were standing there and she knew that they were waiting for two things; the first thing was the arrival of the rest of the team. The second was a call from Mayor Norikawa concerning the manors electricity. Since it had been abandoned for the last 50 years or so, according to one of the team's researchers, there had been no reason to turn the power on until now.

Once they received word from the mayor that the power had been turned on, they were on their own. And she knew that it wasn't because the mayor was too busy to come either; it was because the man knew that this place was haunted and just didn't want to admit it. Somehow, Mai knew that the man was afraid that he would end up like the other victims' if he came here.

The three of them stood in silence for the next few minutes until the sound of gravel crunching under the weight of something heavy reached their ears. And almost as if it had been planned, Naru's cell phone began to ring. Mai only hear bits and pieces of his short conversation with the mayor since she was more focused on Takigawa's car. She watched as he came to a stop not too far behind the van. Within a minute, everyone had gathered at the back of the van.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mai caught the short nod that Naru had given Lin. Without a word, the tall Chinese man unlocked the vans back doors but left them closed. The action was quite curious to her, but then she remembered that they didn't have a base room yet and that there was no one to lead them to one like there had been on previous cases. This time they had to find their own base along with rooms to sleep in.

Naru turned his sharp gaze on the chattering, newly arrived team members. Almost immediately, the group went silent, "Unfortunately, Mayor Norikawa was much too busy to come out and greet us. This means that we are on our own. Before we unpack the equipment, we shall have to find our own base and rooms to stay in."

At the mention of how the mayor was too busy to come to Kanakuro Manor, looks of doubt passed through each member's eyes. They knew just as well as she did that Shouta Norikawa was afraid to enter the manor. Not that she really blamed him.

With a long suffering sigh, Mai turned back to face the manor that could very well spell doom for them all. She wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the houses appearance took on an almost hazy quality. The sharp lines that defined the wood siding, window shutters, front door, and the brick work had become blurred. It reminded her of a person who wears glasses or contacts, how everything loses focus if they are removed.

Slowly, in a dazed manner, she followed behind the rest of the group. Upon reaching the door, the others entered the manor. No one had yet to notice that Mai had fallen behind. Once she herself reached the door, she came to a halt; standing just outside of the entrance. The rest of the team was nowhere to be found and the inside of the manor held the same hazy and blurred quality that the outside did.

And then everything began to change. Flames sprouted out of the floor and walls, engulfing the entire foyer. As nerve racking as it should have been to have a wall of fire in front of her, it wasn't. The reason; she couldn't feel anything from them. No heat, no cold, nothing. Almost as if the only way that they would become real was if she were to cross the manors threshold.

As unreal as the flames were, the voice however, was real. It was quiet at first; so quiet that Mai could not make out what it was saying. And then it became louder. She still couldn't understand it. Still it became louder, until the voice was shrill in pitch as it scream the same words over and over again.

"It's here! Finally I will have what I desire! So much of it, so much that I won't be able to be stopped! None shall get in my way!"

And then she was falling. Everything around her becoming darker. No sound, no feelings. Just a never ending void absent of all light.

"Dragged you down below,

Down to the Devil's show,

To be his guest forever"

-Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold

So I probably should have pointed this out before but I never did. For the most part I try to find songs that flow with the story/chapter but I can't always find something that does. So I choose a small part from a song that describes what is going on even though the rest of the song doesn't at all. For example; Storm To Pass does not follow this chapter but that verse from the chorus does. So over all you are free to listen to them while you read the chapters (because really they are amazing songs) but they won't always make sense with what is going on.

~Trust~