All Fun and Games Until...
With everything that happened, day one ended and day two began.
Luckily, I have survived the night. I used PK more than I usually did in a long while, which is barely anything. I had an unnecessary fear for something that I would come out okay for. I can't believe I forgot. Imagine. Here lies Oliver Davis for doing a magic trick and using a minute amount of his supernatural powers unintentionally throughout a period of twenty four hours. Idiotic, isn't it?
After our night escapade, everyone else decided to go back to bed. Lin also needed to switch out because he would be going without sleep if he continued. Madoka took his place at the monitors while I was left reading over some material since I didn't want to fall back to sleep.
By seven, everyone else is dragging their feet and groaning. The miko, for that matter, is being more verbal about it when I sent them to various areas in the house to take some readings. When Lin woke up at eight, Madoka decided to head to town for more information after I handed her John's notes. At that hour, the glass was cleaned up and the light bulbs were replaced. As a result, the maids gave us dirty looks. Idiotic people. Their blame was misplaced because there is a haunting. How could they forget about this fact?
I left Masako with the task of looking through pictures of various townspeople for anyone vaguely familiar from yesterday. There was one picture of the previous land owner. It had Ryuu walking with his hands deep in his coat, unaware that someone is taking it. He was around his late twenties to early thirties. It was not that great, but his hazel eyes appeared to look gold from the trick of the light. Masako wasn't really sure because she told me that the ghost was purposely hiding his appearance from her.
9:38 AM.
My eyes are practically dry. I probably have more prominent dark circles underneath them.
Too much sugar... I flip through another page and take another sip from the cup anyways. I don't really care at this point. Madoka brought a box of Earl Grey with her, which of course, makes me almost feel like hugging her with an overflowing amount of happiness...Not going to happen. I take another sip.
I went through hell and back because of my emotional dilemma. Such a terrible and wonderful thing... The drama that emotions come with. This is why I am such a troubled person as I plainly put it for Mai when we talked about my dismissing view on death.
Though I had tea, it only helped some, my mind is still whirling around my dream.
First, there is Gene for one. A chill went up my spine at the thought. Seeing his death yet again left a bitter taste in my mouth. Why now? I thought I'm over this. 'No, you're not.' My conscious replies, but I immediately stomp it down. Then, there was Mai. Always Mai...
There is something that I can't put my finger on. Again, it ties back to Mai. I have a bad feeling, hovering around me. I have the urge to see her and demand what is wrong. Her sadness made me uneasy. Maybe if I see her, it will erase these feelings churning in my head. The feeling of foreboding.
"Hey, Noll." I see Lin turned to me from his chair. "You've been on the same page for a while."
How does he even know without turning around? Every. Time. I scowl. "I've been thinking, Lin." I say it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Why can't I focus on the case? I have been distracted from working this whole time.
He grunts, but he is still watching me. Lin still wants to know.
I settle for talking about the case. That's easier... "Three people." I walk over to the dry erase board that Lin bought recently to compile everything together so everyone has a slight clue what's going on. There were various arrows, scribbles, post-its, articles and the blueprint of the house. "There is a possibility that Imamura-san is one of the ghosts. Then, there is also the recent one, Reina, who is about six. There were no other deaths at the time of the fire since nearly all the workers were sent on vacation. There is another unaccounted for..."
Masako looks up from skimming through photographs on the couch. "She's not that young...The ghost..." She doesn't say anything more. She flips through the paper with a little more force than necessary.
I sigh before adding a question mark next to 'female ghost.' Again, there are other things that I need to know. If we take too long to figure this out, someone might get hurt or worse.
Glaring at the empty cup of tea, I mumble some curses under my breath. It runs out too fast. I'll have to make it myself. I make my way to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Tea." I answer before closing the door.
I round the corner as I hear someone exclaim. "It's not true. Could it?"
Two maids whisper among themselves. "Kaito-sama was arguing with Emiko-sama last time. He is such an inconsiderate man for leaving her and Natsu like this. They might even be divorcing soon." They notice me and then both of them concentrate on their task. I want to tell them to not run their mouth and keep working, but it's not my place to. The clients' personal business is not my business.
I go down the stairs. Then, I make the rest of the way to the kitchen. The room is big with the countertops shining as if it is never used. As much as I want someone else to make my tea, the maids or other members either put too much sugar, put not enough milk or don't let the tea seep enough. Mai is the only one who got it right or maybe it was by coincidence her preference is the way I also like it.
I open the pantry to search for the familiar container. Thankfully, everything is organized since the tea containers are all together. In plain sight, the box isn't here. I frown. Did we use it all up?
I move the boxes around. Chamomile. Oolong. Ceylon... Earl Grey. I look at the container in wonder. It hasn't been used and it had a note taped to the side of it. "M.T.?" I say out loud. It is the only thing written there.
I put a finger underneath my chin as I turn the box over and over in my hand. It is my favorite brand too. Come to think of it... I take out the note and look at it again. It looks like a certain idiotic assistant's handwriting... I read it one more time. Actually, it is her handwriting. It's also her initials. I close the pantry.
Did any of the members have it lying around? They don't like Earl Grey though and most likely they won't provide one for me just because. Did Lin brought it with him from the office? Maybe he forgot to tell me. Confusion and something else I can't put my finger on wells up in me. It's not like Mai dropped by from wherever she is and placed the box in the pantry. Absurd. She doesn't know how to sneak into places anyway.
I want to laugh at how ridiculous my thoughts are becoming. It's probably Lin or Madoka. I shrug it off and look through the cupboards for a tea-pot and kettle.
After I turn the stove on, I pour water into the kettle. Something catches my eye from the window. I place the kettle on the stove and head towards the back door.
A person is sitting on the porch, looking out towards the lake and forest.
Curiosity gets the better of me. Cautiously, I open the door.
The boy turns to me with a glare. Or he tried to... I didn't return it. "Go away."
I give Natsu a good look before sighing. "I can't. I have something to do." I reply.
It weakens and it changes to pitiful look on his face. This kid... I can't believe I'm doing this. Closing the door, I sit next to him on the steps.
"What are you doing?!" He shuffles away in confusion.
"Thinking." I say nonchalantly. "Sit down, don't stop on my account."
He gives me a skeptical expression. He did what I said, but he keeps staring at me like I'm a venomous snake. And this is why this is something that Gene would do... If I at least think about doing this, people think that I'm plotting something. Natsu doesn't tell me to go away though.
"What do you think about the haunting?" I continue to watch the reflection of the sky on the unnaturally flat lake with not a sign of disturbance or ripple.
He doesn't say anything at first. "It's the ghost's fault that Reina died." He tells me bluntly. I didn't have to do it some round about way. I can tell that he knows what I am going to ask him. However, his sentence doesn't really match up with what Megumi told us.
"How? From what your aunt told us, it's an accident."
Natsu bites his lip. "She wasn't there." He debates something in his head once again. "My parents didn't believe me..."
"I may or may not believe you. It might help if I knew what happened that day. It might be related to the case."
Natsu grumbles. Then, he starts again. "That day Reina wanted to go outside and play hide and seek. Kenji also went with us, but Misa didn't. She kept insisting that there are bears in the woods..."
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Natsu groaned when he saw that the two younger kids beat him. Why did he choose rock?
"Ani, looks like you have to find us." Reina stuck her tongue out at him. Natsu snickered. It's really easy to find her because she was wearing a bright red dress, which stuck out like a sore thumb in all the green and browns of the forest.
"Remember, don't go too far or else I'll never hear the end of it." He warned and gave a look especially at Kenji, who scratched the back of his head innocently. "If you start to see a whole bunch of rocks, you're at the borderline and you're getting too far. Head back, got it?" Kenji again nodded briskly.
"Yes." Reina chirped.
The boy turned around towards a tree and covered his eyes. "One..." He heard their feet pounding against the grass. "Two. Three. Four. Five..." Their footsteps faded away. By the time he counted to twenty, no one was there.
Natsu found Kenji easily, because the boy decided that sitting behind a tree while covering his eyes was a good idea and he's ten years old. "You suck!" Natsu clipped, not amused.
Said boy just shrugged with a smile. "And take away her glory?"
What Natsu didn't expect was that his sister hid herself really well.
"Reina!" Kenji called. Ten minutes passed and they didn't find her. Both of them were getting worried.
They searched behind every place that could hide a six-year-old wearing a bright outfit. "Did she just went too far after I just told you guys to not go too far?"
The kettle decided that it was time to let out a long whistle. "Wait a second." I say as I quickly head to the stove and turn it off. Then, I hastely head back out. The tea can wait.
Natsu is standing up now. "Do you mind taking me there? You can tell me the rest of the story as we walk."
There is a grim line on his face. He doesn't seem scared, depressed or anything else. His face is expressionless. "Fine, if it will help get rid of this ghost..."
They searched for five more minutes until large rocks started to dot the area. The ground was slightly inclined. In a distance away the hill became really steep. Natsu knew this though he couldn't see it, because it was the area that the butler warned his uncle when he was walking around the place. If you placed your foot the wrong way, you could slip and roll down the slope. There was a dark, daunting crack in the earth. He doesn't how deep it was.
"I can't believe this is happening!" Natsu said frantically. He spotted red running towards the area with the sudden drop. "Reina!" Then, she squatted with her back resting against one of the rocks. Fear etched her face. She didn't hear them yet.
"Reina!" The boys were running towards her. They were still a distance away. Natsu could tell that there was something wrong. There was a man.
"Kenji." He grabbed the other boys attention. "Quick! Get our parents. Now!"
"Wha-"
"Now! Hurry up!" The other boy spun around abruptly and ran to the other direction.
Natsu was getting closer, but Reina was unaware of the other person next to her. "Get away!" She stood up seeing Natsu approaching her. "Ani! There was someone here!" The man limped as he tried to get closer to her. Bloody bandages covered his face. His clothes were tattered with slash marks covering almost every inch of him.
"Behind you! Get away! Run!"
Scared by the tone of his voice, she started to run. Reina refused to look behind her. However, the person reached out to grab her shoulder, causing her to scream. The man grunted. His mouth moved, causing blood to drip from his mouth which contained teeth that appeared jagged and sharp. He muttered inaudibly.
Reina wrenches free from his grip after squirming and fighting aginst him, but the sudden force caused her to stumble. The girl screamed as she fell down the slope just as Natsu was close enough to grab her. He grabbed thin air. He's too late. The image of her falling haunted him. The slippery leaves, rocks and dirt left her tumbling down... down... down...
We stare down from the top of the hill. Natsu stands next to me as still as a statue."Are you okay?" His face got pale. I place a hand on his arm.
The thirteen year old ignores my question. "You know. Okaa-san said, "At least she hit her head on one of the rocks or else she would have suffered on the way down."" He takes a shaky breath.
"When I look back, he was still there. However, he vanished just as soon as I set my eyes on him. However, I still heard him whispering something. It sounded like a name, but I can't remember exactly."
The ghost was the same as Misa described in her dreams. Bandages on his face... Sharp teeth...
"It's my fault." He said suddenly. "Everything is my fault. Not only I aided in killing my sister, but I also made my parents fight because of it." This boy has such a martyr complex. I feel bad for him.
"Afterwards, Okaa-san doesn't really talk to me. Otou-san accused me of being a murderer. He didn't believe me when I said there was a ghost of a man. I was irrespo-"
"Yes, you were, but you didn't kill her. Did you push her down?" I ask, interrupting his thoughts.
"No."
"Did you tell her to run towards this place?"
He hesitates and shakes his head.
"Did you ask the ghost to grab her?"
"No."
I narrow my eyes. "Did you make your parents fight?"
"Well-"
"Don't you dare say yes." I interrupt again before he says another word. "Your parents could have handled it without disagreements. Your father could have not blamed you. This is their own decision and not yours."
Natsu wipes his eyes and whispers. "No."
"Then, it wasn't technically your fault."
"But-"
I think of my words carefully."Yes, she wandered off on her own, but sometimes things are out of your control." I should listen to my own advice. I really suck at this. If only Gene is here...
He is silent and glances down at the rocky drop in thought. "I feel a little bit better."
There is a large rock about half my size to our right. "This is the exact area?"
The boy shakes his head in agreement. I touch the rock with the tips of my fingers. Images flash in my head. Since this happened a month ago, it is somewhat fresh. A girl in the red dress pants in front of the rock from running in fear. Natsu is yelling a distance away. There is the man looming over her. They struggle. Then, she falls.
The boy stands next to the edge. He can't speak. Fearfully, he turns to the ghost. "Akari." His voice sounds like he hadn't had water in days and his bad pronunciation resulted from missing some teeth. I understand why Natsu doesn't even know what he's saying at that moment. The boy was also going into shock. "Akari."
"Shibuya-san." I was brought back to the present from the sound of his voice.
"Let's head back."
She can't feel it.
"I'm fading?" Mai touches the air around her absent shoulder. "No. I'm not." There was nothing solid underneath the tips of her fingers. She can see it closing, but not at a fast enough pace. It is odd, sickening and scary at the same time. It looked like someone took a large eraser and smudged off part of her.
Mai watches the mirror. The girl is having a growing amount of injuries. She feels incomplete. Her heart is telling her that there is something wrong. Something changed.
Because of this she has a sense that she is waiting for something and that something is not a good thing.
"I can't believe I just provoked him. I'm an idiot."
As much as Ryuu wants her to do the dirty work to get rid of the SPR, she won't be selfish and save herself. They need to solve the case and get rid of this adversary. There is the possibility that she may disappear. "That's okay!" She tells herself, though it's completely opposite of how she feels. Mai tries to keep her tears at bay. Her hands are trembling.
She has time though since Ryuu is off hunting for either the spirit responsible for putting 'monster' on the wall or maybe someone else she didn't know about. He won't be telling her his whereabouts and thoughts obviously, considering that he sees her as a menace who needed to be slashed through a few times like a paper doll.
When Bou-san arrived earlier, she heard the familiar chant that she uses. However, her chest felt heavy. It vibrated every particle in her, causing her instincts cry out in fear. Ryuu got the hint immediately and ran off. So, she followed suit.
Mai has to be more cautious when she is near them. They can accidentally do more damage to her and they wouldn't even know it.
She erases the tears that are trying to escape with her thumb. 'I should push them in the right direction.' She thought, raising a fist with determination. 'I need to see Masako and tell her I'm... dead.' She forces herself to think about the word, yet her stubborn mind refuses to accept it. She's in front of the mirror, isn't she? She cannot find her body. There is still a possibility. She is still thinking, feeling, hurting... "I can't lose my life if I'm dead." Nope, it's still painful coming out of her mouth.
Mai heads towards the door that she usually saw the members enter and exit out of. It's their base. The door is closed. She wraps her hand around the knob, but it passes through like thin air. Mai swallows again to calm herself down. Then, she places her foot in front of her like there is no door in the first place. She steps into the room.
There is also one important detail that she didn't think about. Masako is there, sitting on the couch searching through some pictures. Her faint image is there and so is Lin...and his shiki drifting through the air like sharks. It didn't take long for them to notice her. One of the white foxes bare its teeth. She covers her mouth with her hand to keep herself from screaming.
Just as Masako notices her presence, Mai quickly retraces a step back out of the room just as she hears it growl and roar. Then, she starts running before they chase her off. 'She didn't even really get a good look at me.'
That approach is out, until Masako is not within reach of those shiki.
"They look more like ghosts than I do." She says as she sees the barely-there image of a butler. Mai wanders through the hallways for someone else. She sees a more clearly defined person. "Bou-san!" Mai exclaims as she matches his pace. She forgets about being wary when she's close to him. Though she was fuming the last time she saw him, she is still glad to see her father/brother-like figure. He ignores her.
"Bou-san. Bou-san. Bou-san?" Her voice lowers down a few volumes, feeling less confident as she continues to call his nickname. Mai puts a hand on her chest, which is hurting in a different way.
Mai keeps following him. She and monk had an argument about her solving cases on her own just weeks ago. Look where it got her. "I'm sorry." She starts. "If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have been so angry. I should have left with a happy memory." She sniffs, trying to hold back her tears again. "I'm crying so much today. I'm becoming such a wreck." Mai laughs humorlessly. "I just don't know what to do. Usually you would help me out..."
Suddenly, the monk abruptly turns right, which is the side where she is standing. It feels like warm water flowing through her as he passed through her. He stops in mid-stride, shuddering from what feels like a cold draft blowing through him.
"Sorry." Mai squeezes out in apology, before rushing off looking for someone else she knows. What she didn't see is Takigawa scanning around him in confusion. 'Ayako, John or maybe Naru? Maybe it will work.' She thought in a panic. 'Please. I need someone to know I exist.'
"What is this?" There is a large stone lion standing on a large slab of what looked like marble in the middle of the forest. Ivy surrounds its paws. The plants surrounding it is wild and overgrown. I'm guessing this place used to be a garden. We are close to the lake. However, we didn't pass this place going here.
"It was here for a while. It's just its too far away from the house. Also, the trees are blocking it, so my uncle didn't feel the need to maintain it. He told me it was just for decoration." He points to the house behind the trees.
"Thanks." I say out of the blue as we make it back to the mansion. The boy stares at me a peculiarly.
I immediately head towards the direction of the base, leaving him in the kitchen. "I should be saying that. Leaving when you see fit..." He huffs before I am out of earshot.
I pat my pocket only to find it empty. I didn't bring my phone. Hopefully, I didn't miss anything and I really don't want to face Lin if that's the case.
The area is slight cooler than the hall I came from. The foyer meets me with all of its mirrors on the wall opposite me. The owners of this house have a weird fascination with those reflective surfaces.
My footsteps echo as I make my way across the room. I approach the mirror that is in level with my face. I stare back at myself. Can I still contact Gene? Only he could establish that connection first. There is a faint scent in the air. It smells like smoke and burnt hair and something else.
Movement catches my eye from behind my reflection. It was from the hallway that I came from. I didn't move. My skin is crawling in anticipation. Then, something moves again. I spin around to look at it. There is nothing there.
I narrow my eyes.
My eyes go back to my reflection again, only to see someone standing right behind me.
My muscles tense. I keep my gaze at the man's reflection, peeking over my shoulder. I cannot see his eyes since gauze, which is completely soaked through with brown and red stains, is completely wrapped around his head. Despite this, I can still sense him watching me. His cracked leathery lips are covered in dark-looking blood. Goosebumps form on the back of my neck from his breath skimming across my skin.
I stand stock still. He raises a bony hand with blackened and cracked fingernails. Then, the spirit's hand darts for me. Before he could do anything, there is that familiar jolt that jumped from my skin. He howls in pain. The visible sparks causes the man teleport about ten feet behind me in the blink of an eye.
I finally look behind me and direct a glare at him. The spirit is still there. It gets colder and colder. He shouts incoherently in anger, showering spittle and blood from his mouth. His volume rises. The mirrors on the wall rattle dangerously. If worse comes to worse, I'll have to do something about it.
Someone whistles. Then, a white light flies across my line of vision and hits the spirit in the chest. The man yells again before disappearing like smoke. It won't be the last we'll see of him.
The room immediately feels lighter.
"Noll, are you okay?!" Lin yells from the top of the stairs.
"Yes." I calmly go up the steps to meet up with him.
"You didn't use it, did you?"
"No." I clip. I did use a little unintentionally again. It is a good mistake that will require some caffeine to get the edge off.
If I don't use PK, I'll probably get hurt or worse. If I do, I'll likely die from heart failure. What great odds... Waiting it out was a much better option at that moment.
"Why did you go off without a phone? What kind of tea takes nearly an hour to make? Did you know..." I choose to stop listening at this point. It annoys me greatly that he treats me like a child. Despite that fact, I'm glad he appeared when he did.
He didn't know that I actually didn't even get a drop of tea.
We head towards the base and Lin is still actively telling me about whatever he is telling me about. Did the ghost appear to warn me? To tell me something?
The ghosts may get even more malicious soon.
I nod by the time we make to the door and he finishes his one-sided argument. "Lin, I think I need some tea." I smirk.
I didn't wait to see his reaction. It's probably a face palm. "I'll just get a maid to send it up for you."
The rest of the SPR are already gathered. Great. This saves the trouble of telling them individually. I clear my throat. "Tomorrow, we will start exorcising the ghosts." I announce. "For now, we'll keep doing what we're doing."
'Finally.' She can't believe she found him.
After trying and failing to contact her friends, Mai resumed her search for Yasuhara. Naru wasn't in the house and the rest of them didn't flinch when she attempted to get their attention. With no one knowing that she's even there, frustration keeps piling up on her.
However, Mai forgot one more place to look—the place she died in. If Mai was alive, then she would have puked her guts out.
It would be inhuman of her for this whole thing to not affect her. Feeling disorientated with everything happening, it is slowly wearing her down. One side is telling her that she is just having a really bad dream that she'll eventually wake up out of. It keeps whispering that she is still alive and breathing. The other is telling her that she will never go back because she died. She didn't just lose her life. Mai lost her family, the SPR. She lost Naru before she could even argue with him that she loves him. They didn't even know it yet or ever.
Though Mai is having a battle within herself, she must keep everyone safe before Ryuu realizes that she didn't even try to push them away.
Yasuhara blankly stares at the ceiling from the cot he is laying down on. He didn't have his glasses at all. The man looks worse for wear with his unruly hair and stubble on his face. Apple cores and plastic bottles litter the floor.
"I'm glad that you're still fine, Yasu." She sits cross-legged on the floor with her white dress billowing around her. It doesn't matter if it gets dirty.
He doesn't reply back or shift at all. Yasuhara only blinks. He is deep in thought, since there is really nothing much to do in a cell.
"You can't see or hear me like everyone else. So much of a best friend..." She chuckles. Then it falls flat. "I did get to touch Naru twice though, but I never really talked to him." She wraps her hands around the metal bars. The metal was solid until they pass through like it's not there. "He said that I'll meet Gene someday. Is this what he meant?" Mai decides to play with her hands.
"I'm sorry I got you into this mess." A tear drips down from the corner from her eye. She didn't make a move to get rid of it. "Bou-san was right. I can't do cases on my own. I can't do it without everyone else. After all the free passes, I finally get killed." Mai's tears fall more frequently until she starts sobbing. "If you can h-hear me, you'll s-somehow joke about how I can't do depressing thoughts. You might say leave t-that to Naru..."
"Isn't this touching?"
Startled Mai jumps. Her cheeks are still wet. Ryuu is sitting on the ground with his back against the wall. His yellow eyes sneer at her. "Two days and you're already like this?" He shakes his head. "Pathetic."
Her hazel eyes meet his demonic eyes.
"Didn't you promise me you'll do me a favor?" She didn't make any promise. Mai stands up abruptly. "Relax I won't do anything to your friend." He pauses. "He, on the other hand, will forcibly remove his spleen with his own hands." Mai freezes, seeing everything in her mind—her hand grabbing the nearest object to puncture her stomach with then..."He'll probably miss a few times and get other organs along the way, fully aware of everything throughout the process...That is if you don't comply." She screams in terror after he says this. "Your choice."
Mai starts to dry heave at the image he gave her. Her hands shake uncontrollably as she cover her eyes, which are screwed shut.
He notices her shoulder and starts to laugh sinisterly. "Sadly, I can't torture you normally since you're incorporeal. It didn't seem to give you a sufficient enough message."
"Why... why me?" She speaks weakly. The images still haunt her even if she tries to blink them away.
"You know too much." The man stands up. His voice drops lower. "I hate repeating myself. You have until tomorrow. Maybe killing one of them will do the trick."
Mai shakes her head in refusal.
"Fine, get creative." He says indignantly. "Remember what I said." Then, the man smirks with his eyes. "Later, Mai." He disappears. She breathes uneasily. Again, her heart is hurting and telling her that bad things will happen. She just doesn't know what.
AN: It's a train wreck in the making...There are somethings that I didn't expect to write. I didn't predict that it would be downright emotional. Sorry! Trust me, it'll get better later. I'm not that evil. If you get easily queasy in a certain part, again sorry. I feel proud of myself for the amount I wrote. Yay(Applauds for herself and then realizes she's the only person in the room). Ehh-hem...Again, thanks for reading! Hopefully, I'll update ASAP.