The Holes in Our Hearts

Chapter 10: We're Hunting a WHAT?!

The four hunters sat together in room that despite Yuki's best efforts still reeked of must and lack of use. With the others out setting up cameras under Naru's orders the only ones remaining were those who knew the truth about what they were facing. It was clear that tensions were already high. Naru was aggravated by Grim's presence and of course the opposite was also true. That left Lin, a man whose head was still reeling with all the things that had been told to him earlier that day in the van, and Mai who was still teetering from the stress of getting her memories, her oldest friend, and her worst enemy back in one day.

Grimlock was the one who broke the silence. After all, he was a trained hunter from the Order and with Mai's sight out of commission until her brain finished processing all of her memories again it was Grim's responsibility to take control of the situation and keep everyone safe and alive. "Alright guys, we don't have much time so we have to act fast. The thing we are dealing with is well beyond the scope of abilities of the SPR team. That priest, monk, and priestess would be lucky to survive an encounter, forget fight this thing effectively. We must get them out of this house and as far away as possible. We have until sunset before the worst of it begins."

Naru, still refusing to completely let Grimlock take control of his team interrupted with, "Of course we know that once the sun sets we are going to start having spikes in supernatural phenomenon. Do you think we started this business last week? We have years of experience and some of the best research to date backing or practice."

At this Grimlock stood up out of his chair, green eyes blazing and posture erect. "Really. No kidding smart one," he said with a distinct hint of enraged sarcasm. "The sun isn't even close to setting yet and already I can feel it. In fact I can do more than feel it. In addition to the real danger that is present in this house, I can make out at least three vengeful spirits that will not leave until their remains are destroyed. They would be enough to cause your team plenty of problems if we forget about the other really big threat that we should be worried about it. Even Mai can feel it! How blind are you that you didn't notice!"

At this Naru's rage stopped and he took a good minute to look at his assistant. Sure she had seemed a little on edge since coming into the property but that was pretty normal for any case. However, upon closer inspection Naru noted that her breathing rate had increased, she was shivering, and her face was the palest shade of white. How could he have been so oblivious!

Grim, seeing understanding finally dawn in the eyes of the leech in front of him said, "Finally you understand that even without her sight Mai can still feel the presence of something truly terrifying in this house. You should take a lesson from this and learn to be more observant of the things around you. I know that you have had no formal training but these are not the small fry cases that you are used to. In a situation this extreme any small mistake could result in someone's death. This is the big leagues now and if you aren't prepared for it you need to get out now."

Mai and Lin watched quietly as the two teenagers worked to get their anger out of their system. After this last comment though, Mai could no longer sit in silence. "Grim, please there is no point in fighting amongst ourselves. Your brother is coming and we have a large enough enemy in him without making enemies out of each other. Naru is a brilliant man and will learn fast enough. You need to keep your attitude in check."

All the guys in the room looked up, slightly surprised at such a vocal outburst from the normally quite girl. Naru was pleased to hear her reprimand Grimlock, but at the same time he was also slightly annoyed that even Mai thought he was seriously out of his depth. It was at this point that Lin, who had previously done nothing but observe in silence entered into the conversation. "So all that aside, Grimlock, you keep mentioning the true evil in this house but have yet to place a name to it. Like it or not, the sun is setting and as you said once it's dark we need to be ready. We need a plan and wasting time is only going to be signing our own death warrants. First, what are we fighting? Second, how do we fight it?"

Everyone else, slightly embarrassed that they had gotten so caught up in the moment turned to look at him before silently agreeing to put the squabbling away until there was a more appropriate time. Naru spoke first with a warning, "The others have just finished setting up the cameras. We need an excuse to get them out of the house now. They will be back here in a few minutes at best, and if whatever is here is really that bad I want them out of here and safe."

Mai, having completely developed her skills at persuading people that they really wanted to do something else than what they had originally intended was the first to come up with an idea. "Masako is in the hospital with pneumonia. We can tell the others that Grim recognizes this type of case from his studies over in London and knows that it won't be a problem. In fact, it may even be the case that having less people in the house will help us. Since the case isn't as serious as we had originally thought the others can leave and go see her while we wrap up here tonight. That not only gets them out of the house but far away in case anything unexpected should happen."

To put it bluntly, everyone in the room was surprised that Mai had come up with such an effective lie so quickly. However, with the others just around the corner they had no other choice than to do it. When the others returned with the initial data readings Lin, Grim, Naru, and Mai all plastered concerned expressions (at least as much as you can if you are a narcissist or a hunter) on their faces. John, being the kind and caring person that he was noticed it as soon as the foursome had some into view.

"What has you all looking so glum? We've all been in situations worse than this before." He asked, concern wafting off his Australian accent.

Again, it was Mai who jumped in and did what she had learned how to do quite well. "It's simply awful John. We just got a call from the hospital that Masako is staying in and she has taken a turn for the worst. They say she is so lonely that it is hampering her recovery. If only we could go see her! But we can't leave poor Yuki on her own either. I simply don't know what to do." Mai flashed the others a look that was so choked full of sadness that even those who were in on the act were slightly rattled.

It was then that Grim jumped in to finish off the act and ensure the safety of their friends. "Mai, hold on. Don't get upset. I was just thinking and I remember a case like this we had over in London. On the surface it looked incredibly scary and like it could be problematic. In the end it turned out that there was just a spirit that hated people. This girl whose spirit was trapped had been around people all her life and been betrayed by every person she had ever cared about. The more people we sent into the house, the worse it got. However, when we sent in a team of four they had just the right number to deal with the situation. If the four of us stay here and you three go see Masako it will be perfect."

Now it was the Monk's turn to look concerned. He really didn't like the idea of leaving Mai at the mercy of the supernatural on nothing more than the word of this new-comer. "I think we should stay here. What if you're wrong and this turns out to be more than you can handle? Besides we don't even know what your abilities are. I personally don't feel that inclined to trust your judgment." The others nodded in agreement and those who knew of the real dangers knew that if they didn't do something soon they would be stuck with their friends in the house forever.

Surprising everyone, it was Naru who came to the rescue. "Everyone please calm down. We will be fine. I of course had the same suspicions that you did so I called my father in England. He says Grimlock is one of his best and that we can trust his judgment. Since I trust my father, I'm asking that you all also trust me. Please go tend to Masako and leave this to us."

With those words spoken just as confidently as Naru could out, the group in question slowly acquiesced. "Alright," Ayako said. "But if anything happens, you have to promise us you will get out. We can always come back tomorrow night if things get out of hand. Keep your wits about you and stay alive. We can help, but even we can't fix it if you die."

With promises to be careful made, goodbyes said, and bags packed the trio got in the van with Ayako behind the wheel – she claimed she didn't want to spend the night going the wrong direction on the highway – and drove off into the night.

Those who remained in the house went back to the base. "Good job Mai!" Grim said with pride in his voice. "It's good to see that even after all this time you can still persuade people when given the right background. Of course the leech also deserves some thanks. It was his interjection that saved us valuable time in convincing them." Mai said nothing, content to sit and feel slightly guilty about having to lie to some of the members of her family.

Lin interrupted once again. "Alright we took care of the others now we are really running low on time. Grimlock, will you please tell us what we are dealing with?"

After getting a confirmation nod from the others, Grimlock began his briefing. "Alright as you both know from Mai there are many more things that go bump in the night than you could imagine. In modern horror stories you hear about them all the time. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, pixies, warlocks, witches, demons, all of them are real and some very, very dangerous. Keeping these Others, that's the name we have given them, under control, is the reason the Order of Hunters was established. We protect humans and the existence of our world. Occasionally something slips through and that's where stories like Dracula are born. Judging from what Yuki told us when we got here; I'm guessing that we are dealing with a werewolf."

"Wait, are you saying we are hunting a legitimate werewolf? As in the kind that is allergic to silver and wolf bane, changes from human to wolf on the nights of a full moon, and are incredibly strong?" Lin demanded. He may not have believed these creatures existed before now but that didn't stop Lin from enjoying a good horror story every once in a while. The man knew his stuff.

At Lin's question Grimlock simply laughed. "So that's what the normal world thinks about werewolves is it? Wow. Mai, please fill him in on what wolves really are."

Mai, who had previously been zoning off was jerked back to reality and realized that Grim was testing her. She was rusty and they both knew it. It was time to find out just how rusty she was. Slightly self conscious at first, Mai began. "Werewolves in our world don't just change at the full moon. They were either born or bitten. However a werewolf is created one of the barriers in their mind between the human and more animalistic side of them is torn down. This makes them savage, hungry, and one angry moment away from turning into a beast. However, they still retain their consciousness when they change. Some werewolves are actually allied with the order and help us with the rogues. However, others have a taste for human flesh. The only way to kill one is to take out its heart. As in take it out of the body completely. They heal extremely fast so any damage you inflict won't last long. That about covers it."

"Well done Mai. Looks like you remember a good chuck of it. My guess is that Yuki's daughter wandered into wolf territory and was eaten. When Yuki went after her, she also stepped into wolf territory. Ever since then, the wolf has been trying to destroy the threat. Why she's lasted so long is beyond me. Anyway, you can be sure the wolf knows we are here. Mai, do you think you can still fight?"

After a moment of contemplation, Mai answered, "I think so. I might not be on top of my game but I can defend myself. For now that will have to do. The good news is that a werewolf is close to our normal world in terms of appearance so I will be able to see it. My problem is that I don't have my blades."

"Don't worry about that," Grim said. "I kept them for you all this time." With that he reached in front of him and after a moment appeared to pull to curved swords out of thin air.

Naru and Lin both jumped. "What the heck did you just do?" Naru demanded.

Grim simply laughed as he handed the blades to Mai. "All hunters learn to manipulate space so they can store weapons. We can't walk around unarmed, but we also can't walk into a grocery store sporting a pair of these can we?"

It was true that the blade were beautiful, curved and identical, designed to be used with one blade in each hand they were a pair that could not be broken. The handles were well worn with practice but still bore ancient carvings in the rowan wood designed to defend against many of the Others.

"Alright," Lin said as the sun finally set below the horizon. "Mai has swords. You have Lord only knows what. Naru has psychic powers, and I have shiki. Let's go hunt us a bloody werewolf."

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of the characters. This story is for my amusement and if I'm lucky the amusement of others.

I know it's been a long time and I'm very sorry. My computer ate itself and it took me a while to remember what I had written. Then of course there was this thing called life that happened. Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you like the plot. I have some fun surprises in store! Hope to see a review coming from you! More reviews mean a faster update. Thanks again.