CONTACT
My Rude Awakening

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ghost Hunt. I wouldn't be writing this if I did.

WARNING: May contain spoilers from the manga and novels, including Akumu no Sumu Ie.

*This chapter is dedicated to Kars, my 100th follower, and to AlphA-nl, the 50th user to favorite this story.*

Thank you very much for supporting Contact~!

CHAPTER 6
Le Chatelier's Principle
Published: 09.20.2014, Edited: 09.25.2015

Her heart was pounding hard against her chest. Her breathing was ragged and her vision was hazy. An old revolver in her hands was currently pointed at Naru. Her thumb pulled the hammer back, preparing the gun for a shot. She exhaled loudly to release the tension within her and blinked to clear her vision as she steadied her arms and aimed for his heart. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger as a vicious smirk formed on her lips.

"Good bye, Naru," she said quietly in a sickeningly sweet voice that was dripping with venom.

The scent of burning gunpowder accompanied by the deafening sound of a shot fired overwhelmed her senses, and before she knew it, her boss had fallen on the ground, bleeding profusely from the bullet wound she herself had inflicted. When her gaze locked with his, there was no anger in his eyes, only undisguised pain and genuine worry.

Naru continued staring at her despite the pain in his chest and she simply watched as he struggled with the excruciating pain. She waited patiently, unmoving and the revolver still in her hands, until finally, he stilled before her, not breathing, eyes closed, arms limp at his sides – he was dead.

A shrill, otherworldly laugh escaped her lips upon realizing that Oliver Davis was no more.

Suddenly, the entire landscape was sucked into a vortex, hurtling Mai into a spiral of colors and lines. Everything continued to spin at a dizzying rate until she was violently thrown out of the vortex as another scene was formed.

She was in the middle of a vast ballroom. Several chandeliers with sparkling crystals hung magnificently over her head. The tiled floor had colorful complex patterns that linked elegantly with each other. She was garbed in an exquisite royal blue dress that barely reached her knees. Looking around her, she realized that she was the only one in the room. Something heavy was weighing down her right hand. When she lifted it to eye-level, she saw the same battered revolver from the previous vision.

Her thumb once again pulled the hammer back, this time against her will. She felt her hand moving on its own to position the barrel of the gun against her temple. She fought the involuntary motions with all her might, but her finger on the trigger started moving. Mai heard a click, then a bullet was launched with a bang, heading straight towards her head. She tried to scream, but the blinding pain reached her before her mouth could even make a sound. It all happened in an instant, yet each action played out in slow motion and every sensation was heightened, prolonging and intensifying the pain that she was experiencing.

She attempted to scream once more. Her body began to jerk violently in all directions due to the pain and the seizures did not stop until a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her protectively. The entire scene began to evaporate into thin air, along with the unbearable throbbing in her head. Her surroundings was now enveloped in darkness, but bright orbs of light started to drift towards her and her savior. When she looked up, she saw the younger version of Naru with a troubled expression on his face. A loud gasp escaped her lips as she realized that she had been dreaming and she was currently in the astral realm with Gene.

"Mai, are you alright?" the older twin asked with sheer concern in his voice.

She shook her head sideways in response and he tightened his hold around her. Mai buried her face in his chest as she began sobbing uncontrollably in his arms.

"Do you know what's happening?" he inquired quietly, and was answered with another shake of her head to signify that she had no idea what was going on. He rubbed her back soothingly, making her body relax a little.

He lowered his head to whisper to her gently, "You have to wake up soon and tell Noll everything you saw in your dream. He can and will help you. Do you understand, Mai?"

She nodded slightly in confirmation. After a moment, Gene's form started to fade as her eyes slowly closed on their own.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in her body that was lying on her futon in her apartment. She then scrambled to find her phone. In her haste, she misdialed Naru's number several times until she finally got it right and the call connected.

"Naru? Naru!" she sobbed into the receiver when the ringing tone halted, then continued quickly, "I need you." Her voice had a hysterical edge to it, but she did not care at the moment. She wanted him beside her right now and it was all that mattered to her. The hand holding the phone was shaking uncontrollably, but she kept her grip as firm as she could.

"Mai, where are you?" Naru asked urgently in a calm and steady tone.

"My apartment," she replied with difficulty in between sobs.

"Stay where you are," he commanded gently and after a short pause, added reassuringly, "I will be there as soon as I can."

Mai nodded vigorously at the receiver, only to realize that he could not see her. She spoke up weakly instead. "OK."

"Can I trust you to compose yourself until then? I can make it there in thirty – no, fifteen minutes." He said this so comfortingly that she felt herself calm down a bit. From the other end of the line, she heard him huffing slightly. He was probably running out of his apartment building as they spoke.

"Yes," she answered weakly, resisting the urge to continue sobbing.

"Alright," he responded and with that, the call was terminated, leaving her in the midst of the deafening silence of her room.

This was not how Eugene imagined his meeting with Mai would turn out.

He was horrified by the sight of the girl convulsing in pain in the astral realm and he just hoped his brother would do a decent job of comforting her.

Gene wanted to be the one beside her, but he knew that the only way to make her pain stop was to let her go so she could wake up in her own body. The conversation he was planning to have with her would have to be postponed for another time.

Right now, he could only watch from inside the wall mirror as Noll wrapped his arms around the stuttering, shivering Mai.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am really sorry for the late update. The past few weeks had been crazy since I moved to the other side of the world for graduate school. To top it all off, my luggage (with practically all my stuff in it) was lost in transit after my first connecting flight (I had two) and was only returned to me after 11 days. It was really stressful, but I'm quite fine now. I hope you liked this new chapter and forgive me for the slight cliffhanger. I might not be able to update as regularly as I have done so in the past, but I will try my best to update when I can (if my classes will allow me, that is). I'm taking up Quantum Mechanics this term and I don't think I will be sleeping much for the next 4 months! =))

PS. Let's play a game: If you have (or maybe not) noticed, most of the chapter titles are related to the events in the story. Can anyone guess the relevance of this chapter's title? I will dedicate the next chapter to the person who can guess correctly! :3

EDIT: I fixed some minor grammatical errors pointed out by my editor (my sister). All preceding chapters were also edited, but no changes were done on the story details. Editing ends on this chapter / 09.25.2015