Investigation: Day 1 – 11:30 A.M
Mai listened attentively as Midori and Kazuko described the theatre. It was a very nice theatre, elaborately designed. The front entrance was nice and homey, with three white couches, a large mahogany desk and a grand set of stairs leading up to the second floor. Four doors on either side of the main entrance led to four hallways, which in turn led to all the fifty some dressing rooms. The team was using four of them, and the actors for Suzume had the rest. It was ridiculous.
On the second floor was the actual theatre, with a grand stage with massive velvet curtains, as well as hundreds of plush red seats for the audience. Mai could tell that even Lin and Naru were impressed with the grandeur of it all, Yasu's jaw was practically trailing on the ground. Monk stood behind Mai, making small comments here and there. He was called in, because Naru wasn't entirely sure if they needed an exorcism or not, and since he could do exorcisms and technical work, he was a candidate for the investigation. He gladly complied.
"It wasn't always this big and nice, my family constantly upgraded it over the years," Kazuko explained. Kazuko was a handsome young man in his early thirties, with black hair with streaks of grey and kind brown eyes. He was tall and intimidating, yet had a kind smile, something he and his wife had in common. They were being incredibly helpful so far, just wanting the spirit out so the play could go on.
"I actually have the original blueprints, I wasn't sure if you needed them or not. My husband has detailed records of all the additions, and an updated blueprint. We like to keep the theatre well managed, it promotes a good business image," Midori piped up, handing Lin a thick file. Lin nodded his thanks and tucked the file in the small box of equipment he was carrying. It held a camera and recorder, so he could make notes of various areas.
"I have to say, your theatre is exceptionally well run," Naru admitted, letting slip one of his extremely rare compliments. Kazuko laughed, his eyes sparkling.
"Ah yes, my grandfather threatened me often when I was young. He would exclaim that if the theatre wasn't up to his standards, he'd come back and haunt me! I always tried to keep it going, and I have to say, it exceeded even my expectations," he explained. Midori beamed proudly and pecked her husband's cheek. Mai noticed Naru's brows furrow and she realized he was probably thinking the same as she was. They already had a potential candidate for the haunting, Kazuko's late grandfather.
"Well, it used to be very nice, but now things are being destroyed. Here, I'd like to show you something. It only happened this morning, at five a.m. or so," Midori said, her smile disappearing.
Midori-san turned them around and led them to the dressing rooms off to the far right of the lobby and down to the last door.
"This door leads to the basement," she explained. Mai could see nothing wrong, but she felt strange. The area felt empty, and it scared her. She could see Naru and Lin were uncomfortable too. Midori slowly pulled open the door, and even Lin's eyes widened slightly at what he saw. Mai thought she saw Naru slightly gravitate towards her, almost as if he wanted to get her away from there, but he stayed in place. Mai shook her head and flushed slightly, she was imagining things again.
"I was down in the basement when I felt an angry presence. It was so unnerving that I promptly abandoned my stuff and fled. As you can see, all my equipment still down there," Midori said ruefully. Mai and the others took a small step forwards and craned their necks to peer into the inky darkness. She could faintly see some boxes laying down there with what looked like fabric spilling out of one on it's side.
"I'm assuming this storage area was built when the original theatre was first constructed," Naru remarked as he surveyed the cracked concrete floors and crumbling stone walls. The basement was old and clearly in dire need of some repairs, but no one dared to go down into the pit of horror, as Midori so kindly described it. He could almost see why, it had a dark aura that affected even him slightly, although he pretended to be immune.
"Gosh, I don't know how to say this, but whatever's down there certainly doesn't like being down there," Mai commented quietly. Midori nodded and pulled the door open the rest of the way. Long scratch marks ran down the length of the door, creating deep jagged lines and splintering the wood in some places. Mai could almost feel the claw marks on her, and she unconsciously moved away from the door, Kazuko moving as well.
"As I was leaving, the door slammed closed and the lights flickered off," Midori continued after every one had seen the basement area and she had closed the door again.
"There are lights down there?" Mai blurted, blushing bright red as Naru and Lin turned to stare at her. Secretly, Lin was wondering the same thing, and was slightly relieved that Mai had asked before him. At least Naru would let her go easily, if Lin had said something like that he'd probably have Naru's disapproving glare turned on him all night for saying something obvious and slightly stupid.
"Yes, but the switch is at the bottom of the stairs and I don't feel up to going down there, sorry. As, I was saying, the door slammed closed right in front of me! I watched as something clawed all the way down the door. It was so dark, I couldn't see what it was, but I was terribly frightened. Luckily one of our senior actors was nearby and pulled it open for me, letting me out. I refuse to go back down there!" Midori exclaimed, growing restless as she spoke. Kazuko murmured sympathetic remarks and rubbed his wife's back as the group exchanged thoughtful looks.
"We'll definitely be setting up cameras and such down there. No exorcisms until we're sure there's something there that needs to be removed," Naru instructed Monk and Lin. Lin nodded and Monk just shrugged.
"Say Mai-chan, you aren't planning on going down there yourself, are you? Because if you do, I'll look like an idiot if I don't volunteer to help," Yasu whispered in Mai's ear. Mai smirked slightly. She really liked Yasu, he was a great guy, but sometimes he could be a chicken.
"Why don't we both go down together? Don't worry, I'll protect you," she teased lightly. Yasu blushed and straightened up. He wasn't really enjoying the idea of descending into the darkness. By then the others were moving on. Midori and her husband graciously showed them around, making small comments here and there about the original theatre and various incidents. Mai was having trouble writing everything down, so she passed the pen and paper to Monk, and was watching him have trouble writing everything down.
"Ah, here is the original office. We never go in it to keep it preserved from when it was first built, but my wife and I agreed that for the sake of our business and a successful production, we are giving you access to every room so you can locate whatever's causing everything and remove it," Kazuko said importantly, gesturing to an old wooden door, hanging limply in its hinges.
Naru politely thanked him, although Mai could tell he struggled slightly. Mai could see why Naru and Lin didn't really like Kazuko, he was acting rather important and haughty about his theatre, but Mai could see no wrong in him. As far as she was concerned, he seemed like a decent guy who was just proud of his success, so she left her comments to herself.
"I'll show you inside, and then I'll show you the various other storage areas where we store props that keep falling over and hurting our guests and performers, and that'll just about wrap things up," he continued. Midori suddenly gasped and swatted her husband's arm.
"Oh dear, I'd best go and tidy up their rooms! Why don't you show them to their space once you're done, I'll be down in the office. Another sandbag fell today during rehearsal, and I'm sure Yuri will be there in ten minutes once rehearsal is over to complain," Midori suggested. Kazuko nodded and smile gently at his wife as she waddled off.
"Well, alright then," Kazuko finally said as the group turned back to face him. He pried open the incredibly creaky door, hesitating slightly as the hinges rattled loosely, but pulled it the rest of the way open. Lin and Monk hesitantly slid past first and into the musty, dark room. Naru was next, followed by Mai, who turned to watch as Yasu awkwardly danced over the door frame, trying to avoid touching anything.
Inside it was neatly furnished, with ornate wallpaper, more creaky wood flooring and a large oak desk. A tattered green chair with a high back sat behind it, and bookshelves lined the opposite walls. Other than that it was empty, no artwork or plants, no books or papers, nothing.
"I was in here not too long ago with my cousin, when one of the bookshelves fell on him. Now he refuses to come to my theatre, and neither will the rest of the family. If you couldn't tell, the situation is quite dire for us," Kazuko relayed sadly. Mai and Yasu exchanged looks as Monk let out a cry of impatience as his pen finally ran out of ink. Lin plucked a fresh one out of his pocket, and Monk resumed writing.
"If I may ask, why did you wait so long?" Naru asked coolly. Kazuko sighed and ran a hand through his hair, fluffing it up slightly.
"I was so sure it was nothing, even though my wife insisted something was wrong. I should've listened; woman's intuition is a scary thing." Mai smirked smugly at that statement. Naru refused to believe that women actually had some sort of danger radar, and Mai often challenged him about it.
"Anyhow, once I started getting pushed around by the spirit, I started bringing in mediums and such, but their exorcisms failed. There was one that ended up in the hospital, claiming the spirits refused to be moved," he went on. Yasu could tell he was disturbed by the fact that so many people had been injured here.
"What do you think Mai, what are we dealing with? Any spirit senses?" Monk teased quietly. Mai shrugged, glancing around trying to gauge the place.
"I don't actually think anything's in here, although it looks creepy. If you ask me, the floor feels kind of slanted towards the desk, so it makes sense the shelf fell over," Mai admitted. Naru watched her out of the corner of his eye, taking into account what she was saying. As much as he hated to admit it, she had a point. Although she wasn't too terribly smart, at least she had developed some common sense.
"Well, enough stories, I'll let you look around the prop rooms and then I'll show you your rooms." Kazuko led them out of the room and finished the tour. As Mai walked she could finally sense the faintest presence, and she didn't like it one bit.