So Close, yet So Far
Ayako comforted Misa and her mother after the lights went back on. Kenji then decided to do karate poses as if he can fend off any creature that he encounters until his father chuckled nervously and told him to get down from the table.
I shake my head at the boy's antics, yet it gives me a vague reminder of Gene. "Don't worry, mom! I'll save you from the ghosts!" Mostly for me, when he says something that starts with "Noll, watch this," that's my cue that I would soon have to save his hide. Why do I feel nostalgic all of a sudden?
"It came from this ink bottle." John interrupts my thoughts as he raises the glass. It was probably the object that fell on the floor when the lights were off. Damn, we should have set up the cameras earlier. However, the owner insisted that we needed to eat first. I take the glass bottle.
I inspect the still wet ink on the wall. The hand that this work of "art" belongs to is probably a man's because the hand prints left behind seems too big to be a woman's.
My hand tightens around the glass. I drone out everyone else around me. In my mind's eye, images flutter underneath my eyelids too fast to make sense of them. A chilling sensation settles over me. This person is definitely a spirit. However, this feeling of panic is bubbling beneath my chest. One image stands out. My head turns to see the vague shape of a woman in the dark. I feel saddened about it. However, I keep doing my task. I feel my blackened hand swiping the wall, scraping my finger nails against the plaster painfully. I didn't care. It's here. It will get me again.
I feel my body being tugged in another direction and forcibly separated from his thoughts. I snap back into my own body. I exhale.
I open my eyes. My heart thunders in my chest as if I ran a couple laps around the house. All of this happened for the span of a few seconds. No one noticed.
There is one male spirit accounted for. For now...
"John, you go with Hara-san to take a sweep across the place. Masako." This catches her attention, since I never called her by her first name. "Go back to the base if you feel too sick to continue." Both of them nod in agreement. This case may get dangerous if the ghost already gave us a warning in the first two hours of coming here.
"Monk, Miko, you two will go and set up the cameras." Said monk does a mock salute. "Don't fool around. It'll be nightfall soon."
"Like we will." Ayako grumbles in response.
"Lin, the usual." He merely grunts. He lets go of Madoka's waist reluctantly. She smiles up at him and gives him a peck on the cheek. I gag mentally. They all scatter and I am left with my mentor.
"What job do I have?"
"We'll interview the family and then we'll research accordingly." I would have paired her off with Yasuhara since they are efficient at research, however, he's not here. "Did you call Yasuhara-san again?" Knowing her, she probably called him seven times today. Sometimes, I wonder how Lin keeps up with her.
Madoka sighs. "I'm afraid he still isn't answering. I'm tempted to have the police check up on him."
"He might have just changed his number."
"Well, I'd rather have him than my grumpy student." She pouts. "Plus, you sent my cute husband away from me."
I roll my eyes. "A woman your age shouldn't pout." She sticks out her tongue.
"We need to get this done at a reasonable hour." It's already seven, so depending on how long each story is, it may take about two hours or more. It's not including the butler, a few maids, the gardener, the chef and a few others who work here, which we'll probably have to do tomorrow.
"Paranormal guy." A boy's voice calls. We turn to see Natsu, standing in front of us with his arms crossed. "The ghost will kill all of you." Madoka turns at me with a surprised look on her face.
"Natsu!" Megumi scolds from across the room.
The thirteen year old leers at us. "Understand me?! You'll just end up like Reina and the other people. Scared, alone and maybe even dead." I see his fists shaking in his sides.
"Natsu!"
"Crystal clear." I smirk, letting my tone tell him how annoyed I am. "Why do you say that?" I study his features. He winces, but then turns away from my gaze.
"You just might! You should stay away from here if I were you." His mother doesn't say anything, but places a hand on his shoulder. The boy regards her for a few seconds before shrugging it off angrily. "You know as well as I do, mother." Some gasp at his attitude. Then, like a storm, he stomps off.
We moved to the living room after that happened. Jiro went after Natsu to make sure he's okay while Emiko stayed in the living room with us without a word. She didn't even went after her son.
The rest of the children were led back to their rooms by a maid after Ayako handed her charms to place around their rooms.
"Natsu wasn't normally this rude. He was very shy and reserved actually. Now, he's angry at everything. It's just that his sister, Reina, died a month ago. Afterwards, the family isn't the same. They drifted apart." Megumi watches her sister in a distance. Emiko sits next to the window with a blank look on her face. She doesn't even shift or even move for that matter. "Her husband is barely home. I can't believe he leaves her without any contacting her. He didn't come back for about two weeks."
Megumi wipes a tear from the corner of her eye. "Poor Reina fell down in a ravine in the forest when she went outside to play. Natsu saw it happen right in front of him. It was too late by the time we got there. He blamed himself ever since."
Madoka scribbles on her notepad. "Did the occurrences happen after that?"
"No, it happened before, but it got worse and worse after that."
"Did anybody live here before you?"
"Not that I know of. We bought this plot of land from a real estate company. We actually had this house especially built for us." Either the land is haunted or something else brought about the haunting.
"Is there anything more than what you described in the email?"
"Some of our maids quit because they kept seeing someone in the hallways. They also say that the furniture falls over in succession without an explanation. We heard men yelling outside twice. However, when Ren looked outside. There was no one there, though we could still hear it. We started to hear woman scream and run through the halls after the ghost hunters left. We would also hear someone banging the doors. Then, yesterday I thought I saw a puddle of blood appearing out of no where in our bedroom. As soon as I ran off and came back after finding my husband, it disappeared without a trace."
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I signal Madoka to continue and stand up and walk out of the room.
"Noll." Lin breathes. "Hara-san fainted. John's taking her back to the base."
"I'll be there."
"Are you sure you can come back by yourself?"
Annoyance seeps into my voice. "Do you always forget that I'm not that vulnerable?"
"Fine." Lin always put the guard in front of guardian. Gosh. "Be careful." Click.
I open the door and gesture towards the doorway. She doesn't look up from writing in her notepad, but she shoos me away with her hand.
After seeing those auras, she wonders what spirits see when they see her. Was she some beacon in the darkness, who attracts danger to her like flies?
Things are still blurry, but her vision cleared some. She stomps down the foreboding feeling in her stomach. The pain in her neck is never relenting, but somehow she is learning to ignore it.
She can't help but follow him in a distance as he gaits through the halls. The glowing blue aura flickers now and then to reveal a transparent image of him. Energy swirls around him like a flame. She didn't know why it happened, but it was probably because she touched him earlier. She hides behind every pillar and corner until she curses at her stupidity. "Given the situation you're in, this is beyond ridiculous!" She exclaims as she steps away from her latest hiding place.
In his presence she felt safe, yet it pains her that he doesn't even know she's there. Still, hope trickles her heart.
She is thankful she sees him after some time even though she sees him intermittently like a flickering light. His attire didn't even change much (or any at all). His black hair brushes against his haughty yet observant indigo eyes, which look through people as well as everything around him as always. She didn't know that its possible for Naru to get even more good-looking. She'll never say that to his face though.
She didn't know why she never tried saying something.
She needs to talk to him. He has to hear her.
"Can you hear me?" No response. "Naru!" He keeps walking. Her smile falters. "Please..." Fear and pain clench her chest. Tears prick her eyes."Naru, you jerk!" She wants to yell for everyone to hear, however, there are people she didn't want to even see. She reaches out again to pull on his jacket. Again, static jumps from his body to her hand. She recoils this time. It was more painful that she cannot even hold her hand there like before. Instead of warmth, it burned. It electrocuted her. "Jerk." She cries, cradling her hand to her chest. Mai stands there in the middle of the hallway, watching him walk away.
It is really annoying me that there is a lack of information we can go by. If Mai is here, then her dreams would guide us somewhat in the right direction. This thought is making me want to bang my head on the wall.
No, we don't need her. I can do this without feeling these stupid emotions in my stupid heart every time my stupid head thinks about her. I solved cases in England without her. I can do it again with the rest of the SPR. What makes this case any different? It's only the beginning, so why the hell am I feeling like this?
Windows line up at my left side while the other side holds a lot paintings and different doors, which all look the same. The sun is no longer in the sky so there is nothing really illuminating the halls. A camera blinks all the way at the end of it. The miko and the monk made it here already. However, no one is in the hallway. It is so quiet that my thoughts sound really loud. My skin tingles in anticipation. I feel like I'm being watched. Is there a ghost here?
Rather than being bottled into my body like it should, I can feel it leak out. It's happens at the weirdest times like now of all places. Should I ask Lin about it? Is it because I never really used my PK since Gene died? Or is it something else?
"Jerk." Her voice floats in my mind. I nearly stumble, but I speed up. Why does Mai always have to haunt my thoughts? Does my mind want to torture me because it wants to fill in the silence?
I make it to base and see Masako, sitting up from the couch, with Ayako checking up on her. John sits in the arm chair, looking at her with worry. Takigawa paces around the room. Lin stares at the screens solemnly. No one looks up to greet me.
"What happened?"
Masako stares up at me with a haunted expression. "We were in the west wing of the house. Everything is fuzzy that it look like there is smoke in the air. Then I saw a man. I cannot make out his features or figure out what he is saying. However, I remember the smell of burning flesh emanating from him. I blacked out after because of that horrible smell." She appears to want to throw up from the memory, yet she did not make a move to place her sleeve in front of her face.
Was there a fire that happened here? "Do you feel anything else here?
"Yes, but they are very faint. Something seems to be messing with my senses so it is hard to detect them."
"I see." I rub my chin. What or who is powerful enough to confuse a medium? Could it be the ghost she saw? Is that ghost the same one who tried to scare us in the dining room? I just need more information.
"Lin." I sigh, looking at the man. I want to talk about whatever happened in the hallway. However, the group is here. It's not something that they should listen to. "You can help Madoka interview the rest of the family."
He scrutinizes me for a second. Lin never takes breaks and only an hour passed since he started watching the monitors. Also, I don't do "nice" and he knows it. Then, he removes his earphones and gets up. At least, he didn't ask about it.
I grab the cardboard box from the floor and open the top. It is from the local town library about the history of this place as well as the families who live here. I take a stack of books for me before sitting in Lin's chair. It doesn't mean I'll go soft though. "To those of you not busy, start looking into this box and write down anything interesting." They groan before taking some books out of the box as well.
Does Lin ever appreciate the motion sensors that alerts us when something is there? I place the earphones in my head then I flip to the first page of the book. Next thing I know, I close the book shut then I flip through the next book and the next and the next. Occasionally, I have to look up when someone passes through in front of a camera. Then, I would go back to work.
Most of the books and newspaper clippings don't have much to note in the past few decades. The books have everything that happened in this area. Things happening in the town are not relevant to this place, which is miles away. There were legends, like the one about a storm cloud monster (which is utterly ridiculous), reports of a few missing children, a story about a police officer who disappeared, random articles about flu outbreak or the price of wood going down, or talks about low crime rates in the area. Of all that, what caught my attention was a brief excerpt about a millionaire who lived here before his house was burnt down. That is one thing that can be related to the scent of burning flesh as Masako described, but is it connected to the ghost?
Someone taps my shoulder. I turn to see Lin. I take off the headphones. Behind him, Ayako is passed out on the table, Takigawa is cursing and ruffling his hair in frustration, John is scribbling on his piece of paper furiously, and Masako flips a page in her book without any thought. I looked at the clock on the wall. It's 12:10 AM. I stand up and give Lin back his chair.
Lin hands me a stack of printed notes before he sits down. "We went ahead and interviewed the butler and some maids also. I had to compile them with what Madoka got from them."
"This will be enough for today." I tell the SPR before some of them pass out on me or maybe throw a chair at a wall.
Takigawa stretches lazily before poking Ayako's head. "Wake up."
She glares at him after a couple of pokes. John stops writing and wipes his brow. Everyone starts leaving the room except Madoka and Lin. I look at the notes that they left on the table. I scan through John's notes. Again, the millionaire is mentioned.
He found it from a newspaper article from about fifty years ago. His name is Ryuu Imamura. His house was burned down in the same spot as this house actually. No one knew about it until someone visited two days after since he lived in a very isolated place. They ruled that it was an accident since the source came from a candle holder in the first floor. Some people were skeptical. They suspect that someone burned down the house since the police couldn't find his body. There was also the possibility that he escaped.
"Well, I'm going to bed!" Madoka says cheerfully, not looking tired at all. "Nighty night, boys!" She kisses Lin in the lips then walks out of the room. She is awfully upbeat for someone going to bed...
"What were you going to say earlier?" Lin asks all of a sudden. Sometimes, I wonder if anything escapes the man.
Should I tell him? I might as well. "Some of my PK is leaking out." It still is...
Lin turns around in shock. "Are you okay?"
Am I really okay? I don't really feel tired. "Should you even ask?"
His shock fades away as if he knew why. This is not what I expected. He should have been panicking. He should have start coming up with some ideas on how to keep it at bay. Then he would yell at me and start speed dialing my parents. "How did you feel when that happened?"
All over the place. "Fine as always..." I say.
"Right, Noll. You feel fine." Sarcasm dripping out of his voice. When Lin is sarcastic, he has something that I don't. I scowl at him. "What do you think is going on?"
"My powers grew."
"Yes, that's true since four years ago." He smirks. He is debating on whether he wants to tell me or not. He needs to tell me.
I want to pry that smug look off his face. "Out with it Lin!" Sparks jumps out of me once I yelled. Did that just happened? No, I was always in control of this.
He notices and his mouth goes in a fine line. "You are more stressed than usual. You aren't usually this snappy unless..."
I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming in. "It's my emotions." They are going haywire and I'm not even aware of it. I can't believe I didn't realize it before and I'm a professor.
"Is it because a certain assistant?" Yes.
"No."
"You are lying." He must have telepathy. He opens his mouth but closes it. "Could you possibly think that you miss her? Or fell in love with her?" Lin says this really slowly like he is explaining this to a child. Why the hell did I even talk to him about this?
I fell for that idiotic, infuriating, reckless, kind, beautiful girl? I'm in love with her? In the back of my mind, I believe that its true. However, she doesn't really love me back, does she?
"How did we go from talking about what is happening to my PK to talking about loving my assistant?" I change the subject because this is really too much to even handle...Wait... did I just say what I think I said? Someone put me out of my misery.
Lin grins, but then clears his throat after I glare at him. I won't say anything more. I can't even trust my own damn mouth. "I'm starting to think its okay to release some of your energy. However, the problem is you can't use it effectively since..."
"I know." It's nothing new. It's hard to forget that I can die if I use its full potential. "Gene's not here to help me."
"After this case, we will look into it. Bear with it. For right now, try not to stress out over it. She'll be there when you get back. Get some sleep." This thing called "love" is the most idiotic thing I've every heard of. It's not that uplifting, heavenly attraction someone feels for someone else that people describe. It's worry about the other until your nerves are shot, think about the other though you feel like crap and feel for them until you hurt. If that's what it is, it's definitely idiotic.
I don't need it.
I stand up. After I go to bed and wake up, everything will be back to normal. I can focus on the case and get it done as quickly as possible. Then, I can possibly see Mai and demand where she disappeared off to. She'll probably yell at me. Then, I keep acting as if I never had her in my mind like a broken record. Yeah, that can possibly work.
I walk out of the room without another word. I didn't stay to argue anymore with Lin, who is again muttering "stubborn child" at me. I don't need him telling me about this. I don't need Mai in my thoughts.
I head towards the room. When I am right in front of the door, ready to turn the knob, I hear a little girl crying. Before I even start to look around, someone tackled my waist. I look down to see Misa, who is already soaking my shirt with her tears. I place her an arm lengths away and bend down to her level. "What's wrong?"
She wipes her tears with her sleeve and keeps her arm there so I couldn't see her eyes in embarrassment. "I had a nightmare, S-shibuya-san..." Misa continues to sob at the memory.
I sigh. I would ask her what the nightmare is about, but she needs to calm down first. How am I going to stop her from crying? Think! Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. I'm definitely going to regret this. I search my coat pocket for a coin. However, instead I find a certain metal key. I can't believe that I forgot about the key in my coat. Oh, well, its perfect for what I'm going to do.
"See this?" I show the girl the key, who peeks from her arm curiously. "This is a magic key."
"There is no such t-thing as magic." She sniffs. This girl... She is in a haunted house, but doesn't believe in magic? What's wrong with this kid?
"Are you sure about that?" She shakes her head. It disappears from my fingers and into my sleeve. "You hurt its feelings."
"Hey!" She says to the key, but then she clears her throat and turns away stubbornly. Her sobs are nearly forgotten. "Isn't it in your sleeve?" Her eyes are discreetly trying to look for it on my arm.
I smirk, ignoring what she says. I take my right hand and show her my sleeve. "It's over here." It peeks out from the inside of my blazer. It shakes a little. Her eyes widen hysterically, which reminds me of Mai when I showed her my trick.
"H-how?"
It goes back into my jacket. "I think you're a little too loud. You scared it away."
She gasps and looks into my jacket, but I know it's not there. I chuckle. Then, I poke her ear and I show her the key is back in the palm of my hand. Though, her eyes are a little red rimmed and puffy, she completely stopped crying. "Wow. Can I keep it?"
"Nope, this from a friend of mine." I place it back in my pocket. Hopefully, I'm not going to faint right there in the hallway. I strangely feel fine.
I stand back up. "Come on. I need to take you back to your room." She nods shyly and points at the end of the hall.
I start walking. "Now, Misa. Can you tell me what your nightmare is?"
Thankfully, she doesn't start crying again. "I was in the forest, you see. I dreamed about a man. I think he's a man, but he looks more like a monster. His face was wrapped up with bandages, so he looked like a mummy. I couldn't see his eyes at all. He had blood dripping down his neck. His mouth had sharp teeth and claws for nails." She feels the need to act it out with her hands. Misa spoke really fast so I had to really pay attention. "He kept reaching out to me. I can't even hear what he's saying because his voice is too croaky." Croaky? "So I ran away from him."
"And?"
"I don't know. I remember falling back into my bed, so I started running out of my room and I saw you."
We reach the front of the door. "Do you think you can go back to sleep?"
"I think so. It's just a bad dream. It's not scary when I talk about it." She smiles up at me. "You look mean, when I met you, Shibuya-san, but you are actually soooo nice like Mai-chan." This surprises me.
"Who's Mai-chan?"
"Oh, someone who Mommy and Daddy invited. There is also this other person, but I forgot his name. Anyways, she's my friend. I didn't see her lately." She pouts. "She left without saying goodbye."
I shake my head. She is not talking about the same Mai. She yawns. "Goodnight, Shibuya-san." "Goodnight." The door closes.
"I'm so confused." I take out the key from my coat pocket as I go back to the room. It seems to stare at me from underneath the lights.
"Everywhere I go, I always hear your name." I say as if she is right there in front of me. "You have to leave me alone."
I shove it back in my pocket.
AN: Sorry, I took a while guys (its only a week). There are things I need to address. One, I decided to change the tenses of the third POV, sooo yeah... Two, Naru has suddenly contracted lovesickness. Oh boy. To seiyuurabu, yeah I know. Hold that thought because there is a reason for it. To 2takuya, yup, I suck at keeping it hush-hush, but I like the suspense.
(Sentimental moment "on")
Anyways, thank you for the comments, story alerts, favorites and for reading. I would give you all hugs, but that would be very awkward if someone sees me hugging my computer screen.
(moment "off")
Muhaha, now what will happen next to Naru?