Chapter II
First Encounter
She needed to get home— before she ran out of whatever chances she had left.
A small young woman with milky-white hair and lightly-tanned skin was slowly making her way down a semi-lit stone pathway, the moon casting small shadows from the surrounding trees and bushes that covered most of the walkway. She could only see about a meter or two in front of her before the darkness made it difficult to make anything out. As she lumbered exhaustively down the path, she felt a gut-wrenching pulse vibrate her soul, making her wince. She was much to tired to deal with anymore beings, human or otherwise—but fate never seemed to take pity on her.
A faint glow emerged in the gloom before her, growing lighter and lighter, until a humanoid figure was visible through the glare. The glow dimmed, only outlining the figure, and the silery-white haired girl was able to identify another woman; a translucent woman at that. She had sagging shoulders that sported a mud stained baby-blue nightdress, her feet none-existent at the torn hem, unlike the rest of her glassy body. Her long, black stringy hair hung in disarray around her face, and scarlet-colored tear tracks stained her incredibly pale, porcelain skin. Her solid, black eyes were wide as she stared at the small girl, a wickedly evil smile transforming her face from a decently creepy visage to a dangerously psychotic mien. She reached a bony arm towards the girl before she opened her mouth in an 'oh',her face stretching in incredible lengths and her gapping mouth tearing wide before letting out a ear-splitting scream.
Wincing and squeezing her eyes shut, she moved her hands automatically to cup her ears to block the shrieks of the Banshee. Yes, it was a Banshee, of all things. Worst. Timing. Ever. She thought, her brain muddle from fatigue and was now starting to pound zealously. Just prior to her current circumstances, she had encountered another creature—that one was getting her fix of blood in a rather shambolic way. The outcome of the event was not a pretty sight to behold.
Although many myths and legends were true, those concerning Banshee's were hardly accurate. Banshee's are spirits with goddess-like appearances whom are summoned to become the guardians of treasures, with the price of the summoner: years taken from what time is left of their life, or stealing their beauty and leaving them scarred physically and emotionally, forever. They would deceive the hunters and threats with their beauty until they displayed their true features and attacked by screeching to deafening tones, which mostly resulted in the hypnotized humans ears to bleed profusely and for them to cave onto the ground in pain with their own frightened wails, before the malevolent creatures would devour their poor souls.
However, for her, she could see right through the evil spirit's deceptive power to the core of their soul, viewing the true horrid creatures beneath the forgery beauty. But that never made it any better dealing with them first-hand. Why it was even here in the first place , she had no clue. But she dis known one thing for sure; she was a ghost magnet.
As the screeching grew louder, the girl was brought down to her knees, the pain amplified as her eardrums began to throb. The bag she had forgotten she was carrying fell onto the stone path with an audible THUD, which was surprising considering the fact that the Banshee's voice were so intense and loud. In an attempt to hinder the forceful cries, she brought her hands away from her ears and opened her eyes, her teeth grinding together as the pain made her body sway awkwardly, almost making her tip onto her side like a drunkard. She shook her head sharply, her vision blurring, and raised her arms, palms out, pointing straight at the frightful woman that hovered before her. Concentrating on her inner energy as hard as she could, despite her pulsating cranium, she felt her hands spark as light began to glow. She continued to focus on her target before letting out a bullet of light from each hand, both sailing directly into the vitreous woman. The screams were cut off immediately, and the Banshee disappeared not a second later, her body twisting in impossible angles, glitching like a television screen and her face contorting until her expression was similar to the painting The Scream, before becoming a thick mist and then evaporating right into the air.
The white-haired girl simply knelt there for another minute, her ears still aching as it throbbed it felt as though thick drum-sticks were striking her cotton-packed head like cymbals, pounding and ringing vigorously. She could hardly move her body when she made an effort to stand up, and her vision grew hazier and more spotted as she did so. It wasn't long before she fell over onto her side, her face laying in the silky, yet sharp grass. She didn't have enough energy to keep herself upright any more.
As she laid there on the ground, she couldn't help where her mind wondered, her current position reminding herself of the poor, mutilated man she found in the hands of the previous monster she fought. She was able to help him by calling in the authorities anonymously and giving him a special grind of herbs to ease the pain and aid to prepare in healing him so the damage wasn't so permanent; but in her case, she'd be lucky if anyone even found herself on the side of the path in time. Those thoughts invaded her mind, reverberating endlessly as her consciousness dwindled. She could feel her body weaken the longer she stayed on the path. The words demon and abomination repeated over and over again as everything went dark.
It was late evening when Mai found herself on a silent street she seemed to recognized, only slightly. Remembering that she had gone to bed not long ago, she knew she was dreaming one of her special 'psychic' dreams; and considering her location, she assumed it would be for her teams oncoming case.
Mai wondered down the gloomy road until she noticed a small, pale-haired girl strolling down the sidewalk, a duffel bag clutched in her hands. She must be heading home from work, Mai gathered, watching her close the distance between them. As the girl neared, she paused, a frown on her pretty face, her eyes scoping around her before landing on Mai. Vibrant violet orbs of eyed pierced the sodden air as she gazed towards the brunette. Her eyes were focused, but not on Mai, although it was fairly obvious that she knew Mai was there. Or at least that something was.
Mai's eyes widened in complete shock as she stared right back, her mouth gaped. This has never happened before in one of her dreams. Nobody other than Gene— her spirit guide of whom she had not seen in nearly three years— had been able to interact with her unless she was in a first-person scenario. And this certainly was not that kind of dream, yet..
Both girls continued to stare at each other, the fair-haired girl's gaze penetrating seemingly to Mai's soul. It felt very awkward to her, and she shuddered at the thought of what was coming up next. If her dream was already leading her to eye-opening scenes such as this, then she was unnerved of what the main attraction was. As Mai and the other girl stayed completely still, neither twitching their bodies in indication that they were going to move, Mai decided to take into account of the appearance of the girl. But... for some reason, it was all unclear; her face looked blurred out, as well as her body, when she stood near. From a distance, she was more discernible, but that did not seem to be the case now. It was only the girls eyes that were clear to make out, and that startled Mai a little bit.
Time flew by and finally the white-headed girl moved, shaking her head and taking a deep breath, her voice murmuring something inaudible to Mai's ears before she started walking again, right past Mai. As she did so, Mai could have sworn she felt her bare arm brush against the girls sleeve, giving her goose bumps. Turning around, Mai's eyes lingered on the girls back, and she frowned. This is the oddest dream I've had yet, and the most unnerving as well... Her thoughts trailed off as she finally noticed how far ahead the other girl was. Blinking, completely stupefied, she hurried after her, her feet silently pounding down onto the road. Just up ahead was a full-length wire-link fence. Mai saw the girl in front of her pause and stare beyond the fence at something, her eyes roaming the surrounding area as though she was trying to take everything in. Just over the fence was a man who appeared to be in his thirties wearing a security guard uniform, flashing a light towards a dark cave-looking entrance. He seemed to be shouting something into the hole, and Mai frowned slightly. What was he doing?
Another minute later, the guard began descending the steps into the dark hole. Mai pursed her lips, wondering what would happen. The tan-skinned girl stayed in the same position as before, staring directly into the black, vertical pit. Time seemed to tick by with nothing occurring on either side of the fence. Well, that was the case, until Mai heard a loud, male's blood-curdling scream coming from the direction of the underpass. She gasped and went towards the fence, forgetting about the other girl almost instantly. The white-haired girl, on the other hand, was already up and over the fence, sprinting towards the tunnel's opening, far ahead of Mai. The girl stopped just before the entrance, her eyes narrowed into slits as she stared into the darkness. A loud THUD and CRASH echoed from within the cave, and the girl immediately darted into the depths below. Mai approached the mouth of the tunnel and went to follow after the girl, but bumped into a solid, invisible wall just before the first step. Something was stopping her from investigating. Just as Mai gave it another shot to enter the cave, hitting the force field once again, she felt the ominous inkling of a dark, evil presence that lurked deep within the tunnels. Mai backed away from the entrance, suddenly scared of what was beyond that point when the pale-haired girl came back out of the tunnel, looking exhausted—her back and shoulders slumping forward and her head bowed, her uneven bangs covering the majority of her face; not that it was visible before.
Without hesitation, Mai reached her hand out towards the girl in concern, "Hey," she whispered, her voice cracking, "are you all— oh!" she gasped mid-sentence when she noticed the red stains covering some of the girls clothing. Her worry spiked, hands covering her mouth in fear as she tried to gain the girls attention. Mai waved her hands in front of the panting girl and tried touching her, her hand landing on the solid sleeve of the girls sweat-shirt. The pale-haired girl jumped, her bleary-eyes dancing around in search of whatever touched her. Mai gasped and drew away, clutching her hand tightly to her chest. She stared wide-eyed at the other girl, glancing from her hand and back to where she had previously touched her. It was a lot to take in.
Just as she was deciding on what to do next, the worn-out girl turned her back on Mai and dove her hand into her pockets, sliding out a familiar rectangular-shaped purple object with black, swirling lines decorating it. A cell phone. Upon opening the mobile device, she immediately called a number and held it up o her ear, tapping her foot anxiously on the concrete. Mai bit her lip and observed the girl quietly, still holding her hand to her chest. After a moment of hearing the cell ring faintly, someone on the other end seemed to pick up.
"This is Tokyo's police department, what's your situation?"
"Hello?" the girl called quietly to the other end. It sounded like she was deliberately trying to sound off, though Mai didn't know what her voice actually sounded like to compare, "I— I'm near the Otsu prop-property and I saw wo-one of the security guards go down into the tunnel sh-shouting. He screamed a-and hasn't c-come back out yet!" She whimpered to the officer on the line. Wow, Mai gawked, she's pretty good at acting... She didn't appear to have a trace of fear on her face, but her voice said otherwise. Wither it was faked or her real emotions, Mai couldn't tell. All she could do was watch the scene unfold.
"When was this, ma'am?" The officer asked, their voice calm. It wasn't clear to wither it was a male or female, but regardless to Mai's silent question, the girl answered, "J-just a few minutes ago. I was wa-walking down the sidewalk and s-saw it happen. It looked like he was p-pulled down by something," the girl pretended to sob, to indicate how serious the situation was. Even though Mai could tell the show was fake, the look in her crystal-clear eyes said that it was mentally scarring, and for once, Mai was relieved she had not had to witness what happened. But just thinking about what the girl saw, made her shudder with guilt.
The conversation between both individuals on the cell phone lasted another minute before the girl hung up, sighing. She glanced back into the dark cave and slumped her shoulder lower, before shaking her head and walking towards an alleyway nearby the post-crime-scene. She hid behind a garbage can and waited, scouting the area for something. Soon, police cars and an ambulance arrived, and relief flooded the girls eyes. Mai stood beside her, hugging her arms close. The property ahead of them looked like a crime-scene seen in movies and television shows, and Mai tilted her head to the side, wondering how long she'd be watching this until she would wake up.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, everything went dark.
xXx
Mai's eyes opened slowly as she came to, the light streaming through her blinds made her flinch and cover her head with her comforter. She re-opened them and rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up, stretching her arms and back. It was the first time in a very long time that Mai could remember her dream perfectly well and not being frightened after she awoke. She bit her lip and frowned, recounting the events from her dream. How long ago did that happen? She wondered, slipping out of her bed and treading towards her door, her bare feet slapping the wood of her floor. It seemed to be pretty recent, but she couldn't very well tell. All she knew to do, for now, was get ready for work and alert Naru of her dream.
Upon arriving at the SPR building, Mai noticed all the unofficial members of SPR (aside from Osamu Yasuhara) were sitting in the waiting room, chatting with one another. She blinked, confused, but smiled and walked over to greet them.
"Hey guys. What's going on?" Mai asked, placing her bag by her desk before going over to the group. They all turned to look at her, their faces lighting up at the sight of her.
"Jou-chan! I missed you," the second tallest of the group, Takigawa Houshou, exclaimed, standing and hugging the small girl tightly and making her gasp out a laugh. Houshou had been a monk half a decade ago before he quit, and was now in a popular band called Rebel Spirits. Because of his prior occupation and his skills as an exorcist, as well as the fact that he was like an older brother to Mai, she called him Bou-san.
But despite their relationship, Mai was sometimes worried about dying in Bous-sans arms, like she currently was.
Not a moment later, something hard whacked him in the back of the head, making him release Mai from his grip and shrink back, clutching his head.
"Let her go, pedophile! You're suffocating her. It's only been a week since you last saw her," the red-headed priestess stated, glaring at the tall man. She wore a cream colored pencil skirt and blue blouse topped with a cream office jacket. Ayako looks the same as she always does, Mai thought, watching the two oldest members in the room bicker at each other. When Bou-san called Ayako an 'old lady', she nearly blew up, her face turning as red as her hair. Mai sighed and ignored them, hearing another SMACK and Bou-sans whining as she sat down beside an average-sized blonde haired Australian priest who was only a few years Mai's senior.
"Morning, John-kun," Mai smiled, and the boy smile back politely.
"Good morning, Miss Taniyama. How was your night?" He asked her, and Mai sighed, giving him an amused look.
"Haven't I told you to just call me Mai, John-san? After all, we've known each other for years now." She concluded, and he looked at her thoughtfully before nodding in agreement.
"I'm sorry, Miss Tani—Mai-san. Old habits are hard to get rid of, unfortunately," the Australian replied, and Mai shrugged, having gotten used to to John's old formal Japanese.
"I suppose you're right about that. But still, I feel old when you call me 'Miss', and I'm the second youngest here!" She giggled, causing John to chuckle with her.
"Mai is quite right, Brown-san. Calling her 'miss' while she continues to act like a child at her age is certainly not appropriate," a girl said in a bored tone. She sat a few feet away from the two, wearing a blue traditional kimono, her black hair having noticeably grown from her chin to her shoulders over the years. She hid half of her face from view with her sleeve as she looked at them.
John's cheeks reddened and he looked away from the snapping medium. Mai simply rolled her eyes and glared at her.
"Masako, no need to be so rude to little ol' Mai here. Her cuteness balances everything out," a boy grinned nearby, causing the kimono girl to huff and look away. Mai sighed and smiled at the dark-haired boy. Yasuhara was always there to finish disputes— or cause them, sometimes. He had a big sense of humor and no shame in anything he did, but Mai admired that aspect of his.
"Thank you, Yasu," Mai smiled at her colleague, and he gasped, holding his hand over his heart dramatically.
"Mai smiled! Oh my, my heart can't take the adorableness... Everything is floating away. Houshou darling, catch me!"
Then Yasu fell backward into the monk.
The laughter Mai was holding back escaped, and she clutched at her stomach while laughing at the two men on the floor— one hugging the other with a dreamy smile on his face while the other looked terrified and tried to squirm away. The sight was enough to make everyone in the room burst into laughter.
"If you are all done fooling around, I would like to get down to business."
The chatter immediately ceased as the cold voice announced his presence. Her boss, Oliver Davis, or as Mai preferred to call him Naru the Narcissist, regarded everyone with an expressionless face before he went and sat down on his chair. As per usual, he was decked out in black clothing. Everyone watched him as he opened his mouth to speak. Mai knew just what he was going to say.
Don't say it... Don't say it... She pleaded in her head, crossing her fingers in hope.
"Mai," Naru looked at her and a faint smirk appeared on his face, "tea."
Damnit.
I have updated this chapter as well as the previous ones! I hope you will re-read them to see the changes and edits I made, if it's not to much trouble!
Rebecca: Thank you very much! Honestly, I was wondering if I had put to much detail or made it to long, but I kept at it and well.. Ta-da! Your review really made me happy to see, and so soon after posting it only hours earlier. Hope you keep enjoying reading the story as much as I love writing it!