hey! sorry this was so late :( i got a little stuck and then there's school...and yeah...but the good news is my research paper is due this wednesday and after that i should have more time for writing XD and i also feel the need to tell you that when i signed in today the security code thing was DORY XD i just started singing "just keep swimming just keep swimming" lol anyway here's next chap :)

Chapter 2- Blood

It was dark.

That was it.

It was just dark.

Not the comfortable purple glowing darkness.

Just pitch-black fog.

Images flashed before her. Like nothing she had ever seen. But she couldn't quite register them.

If anyone asked her to describe them or draw them, they would only be given a blank paper. They just wouldn't stick to her memory. They moved through too fast.

Where was Naru? He normally would have appeared by now. She was so cold, yet her arms were burning.

More images flashed across her eyes. She wasn't sure what exactly they were, but she new one thing. They weren't good.

The images were moving too fast. It was giving her a migraine. She felt something cool on her forehead. She had to wake up. Something bad was going to happen if she stayed there in the darkness.

Last time she had this sort of feeling…well, she didn't want to think of what had happened that day.

"Mai."

September Day 1, 9:57 P.M.

"Mai."

Mai opened her eyes at the sound of her employer's and friends' voices. She felt something cool and wet on her forehead. Assuming it was a damp cloth, she reached up to grab it, only to see several bandages on her hand and wrist.

The was when she noticed her friends surrounding her. "Where am I?" she asked, though she knew the answer to that question.

She was at Base, lying down on the couch. Monk and Ayako were leaning on the back of it, Masako was sitting in a chair across from her, Yasuhara sat in a chair leaning over the arm of the couch, Lin was at his usual spot typing away, and Naru was sitting on the couch, right by her side.

"Better question," she corrected. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," Ayako replied, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, while we were all out doing what Naru asked us to, he apparently found you passed out in the hallway," Monk explained.

"Just how hot did you make Naru's tea?" Yasuhara questioned, causing the girl to raise a brow.

"Huh?"

"When I found you, the tea was spilled on the floor and your hands were covered in burns," Naru evaluated.

She looked at her hands again. That explained a lot.

"I don't know, as hot as I normally make it?"

"That doesn't explain the second degree burns," Masako commented.

"Do you remember anything from before you passed out?" Yasuhara pressed as Ayako replaced the damp cloth with another.

Mai closed her eyes as she thought about when she was heading for Base. "I was almost here, just a couple turns to go, when the air got cold, I could see my breath and the teacup in my hands seemed to get hotter. The next thing I knew, I was here."

"Did you have any dreams?" Naru inquired, still sitting next to her.

Mai shook her head. "No," she lied. Even if she told them about what she saw, she couldn't tell them much.

Knock. Knock.

Yasuhara stood up to answer the door. "Akahana-san, kon ban wa," he greeted.

"Kon ban wa, Shibuya-san," Akahana replied, bowing her head slightly. "How is Mai doing?"

"She just woke up, would you like to see her?"

"Sure." Yasuhara let the woman in. She smiled at the girl. "You gave us a bit of a scare."

"Sorry about that," Mai smiled back sheepishly.

"I'd stay longer, but it's pretty late, I just thought I'd bring up some food in case you were hungry." Akahana placed a tray on the coffee table. "Feel better and get some rest."

"Arigato." With that, the soon-to-be mother left.

"Out of curiosity, anyone else think that Akahana-san may have had something to do with Mai's little incident?" our favorite priestess suggested.

"Only if she has PK powers," Mai countered. "Masako, did you sense anything when you and Ayako were walking?"

She pulled her kimono sleeve to her mouth, a gesture she had picked up even before she joined the team. "I sense many spirits, they're hiding from something. Most of them seem to be fairly harmless."

"Well, that doesn't help us much," Ayako huffed, standing up.

"Say, Mai, earlier you mentioned something about hearing a voice in your head," Monk pointed out.

"Are you trying to say we should put her in a mental hospital?" Ayako countered.

"Where the hell did you get that from?"

"You said-"

"No, I didn't! If anything you're the one we sho-"

THUNK!

"Damn it!"

"Anyway!" Mai shouted over the two bickering adults.

The two silenced themselves. "Voice in your head?" Naru repeated, causing heads to turn to him. Since when did he repeat things?

"Yeah, I was trying to find the kitchen and ended up on the fifth floor, right by that room where that man killed himself," Mai explained, trying to sit up with Naru pushing her back down gently when she winced. Stating something about her needing more rest or something. "Then the air went cold and I couldn't move. I heard something ask for help, but I didn't hear it with my ears."

"Lin, was there any audio by room 534?" Naru probed the man who sat by the wall of monitors.

"I'm listening to it right now," he replied after a few clicks of the mouse. He shook his head. "No, nothing. I hear Mai walk by, but after that you just hear her running."

Naru stood up and walked over to his assistant. "Boost the background audio and cancel out Mai's voice," he ordered, then placed the headphones on his head.

…

"That's odd…" he said after a moment. "You're sure you heard a voice?"

This time, she was able to sit up without being forced to lie back down. "Or it was my imagination, but seeing my history with spirits, which do you think is more plausible."

Assuming his thinking pose, Naru remained silent for a moment.

"So, what now?" Yasuhara questioned, taking his seat again next to Mai.

"I don't know, you're technically the boss." Ayako raised a brow.

"Oh right. I forgot!"

"This is going to be a long case…" Monk grumbled.

"Mai, can you walk?" Naru interrupted after a moment.

She nodded with a roll of her eyes. "My hands are injured not my legs."

He stood up and headed toward the door. "I need a word with Ryouta-san, Mai, you should eat something, then Hara-san and Matsuzaki-san will escort you to your room and we'll continue in the morning."

And he just left.

"You know, for wanting Yasuhara to be his stand-in, he's still taking a lot of charge." Monk crossed his arms.

"That's Naru for you," Masako commented softly.

Normally, pain was supposed to wear you out. Especially a headache. However, after the painkillers Ayako had given her, and her headache had subsided, she was still lying awake. Maybe it was because of her three hour nap.

No matter how much she tossed and turned, she could not get comfortable enough to fall asleep. She glanced to the bed next to her where both the priestess and medium were sound asleep.

Not wanting to accidentally harm Mai's hands in her sleep, Ayako practically forced Masako to let Mai have the bed to herself. The medium was not pleased, but once Ayako mentioned what Naru might have said about this argument, she stopped.

Envy burned inside her as she could not manage to close her eyes for more than a few seconds. She tried just about everything.

Deep breathing. Only made her more agitated.

Counting sheep. Only made her hate math even more.

Playing a song in her head. Only made her aggravated when she forgot the words.

Replaying her day. Only made her blush when she relived the conversation with Akahana.

Clenching muscles and releasing them to relieve tension. Only made her realize that her hands were still bandaged up.

In the end, nothing worked.

She quietly got up and made her way toward the door. Perhaps a little walk would calm her down. Random thoughts about the hotel swarmed her mind, until she came across a door she simply had to open.

"Is there a reason why you're up so late?" The ominously cold voice pierced the silence as she realized where she was.

"I could ask you the same question," she retorted with a glare.

"Glaring at me won't give you your answer."

She let out a huff as she crossed her arms. "Well, let's see, I was asleep for over three hours, practically just woke up, and despite how tired I am, I can't sleep." Mai walked over to the wall of monitors where her boss was working. "How about you?"

"I'm being productive, unlike some of my employees."

Mai bit her lip to keep her outburst at bay. She exhaled and put on a sly smile. "You're right, Naru, currently, I'm not being productive. For me to be of any use to you I would need to be asleep!" she commented harshly.

Out of nowhere, Naru swiveled around in his chair, holding a cup. "You're exhausted. Drink this," he ordered, but not in his usual menacing way. He was calmer and gentler.

Surprised, Mai took the cup and slowly drank the still warm tea. After a breath, the tea seemed to have calmed her down.

"Lie down on the couch and try to rest." With that the black clad boy went back to work.

Shocked once again, Mai could only obey. Why did she let him have this power over her? And yet, she was somewhat thankful, she was starting to feel tired and could possibly fall asleep again. So many contradictions, it was far too late to go into depth with each and every one of them.

She simply flopped onto the couch and fell, not into sleep, but a rest that she could almost sense everything going on.

It was silent. Mai's eyes were closed but she could still sense everything around her, but it was all disappearing slowly. She had been to lazy and forgetful to grab a blanket, but she wasn't able to get up. Despite the chill she slowly felt herself drifting to sleep.

At one point she felt herself engulfed in something soft and grew warm. The light that had been her only reminder that she was somewhat awake, had gone out and her body grew heavy. With a deep breath, she was asleep.

September Day 2, 8:09 A.M.

Her sleep had been dreamless. Or at least, that was what she believed. If she had a real dream, of either little or major importance, she had no recollection of it. The blanket was so warm, much like the day before, she wanted to roll over and sleep a little longer. She had almost achieved her goal when-

BAM!

"Naru! Mai's missing! We woke up and she was gone!" The shriek would have awoken any of the guests that had decided to stay. Mai buried his face under the blanket.

"Matsuzaki-san, lower your voice, there are those who are still sleeping," a callous order came from the wall of monitors. "Such as Mai."

"I told you she would be alright," Masako scoffed, behind her kimono sleeve.

The priestess's eyes narrowed as she muttered, "As I recall, you were saying that with her gone-"

"I believe Naru asked you to keep it down," Masako interrupted smugly.

"Why you-" Ayako was held back by strong arms.

"Ayako, you're being worse than Mai!" Monk scolded, holding back the thrashing woman.

"What do you mean by worse than me?" All heads turned to the girl who sat up on the couch.

"Look who's up," Yasuhara commented, standing behind the couch looking down at her.

"Were you watching me while I slept?"

"No, I was watching Ayako freak out while you slept," he grinned cheekily.

Shaking her head she looked to the struggling monk. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight," the college student behind her answered. "Couldn't sleep last night?"

She shook her head. "Uh-uh, I was tired but I just couldn't sleep."

Knock. Knock.

Yasuhara straightened himself and quickly opened the door. "Ryouta-san? Is everything all right?" he asked, seeing the man in the hall.

"Hai, everything is fine," Ryouta assured him. "Your assistant, Kazuo-san, explained to me last night that you wished to do the interviews with the staff today. I came to ask if it would be alright if the interviews were after breakfast."

"Yes, that will be fine, we'll be down for breakfast in just a few minutes," the college student replied respectfully.

"Thank you, Shibuya-san." The man left.

"Okay, all in favor of going down to get breakfast…"

"Aye!" The usual group responded with arms high.

"Let's go!" Yasuhara exclaimed opening the door again.

"Wait!" Mai opposed standing up, and gesturing to herself. "I'm still in my PJ's."

"Right," the college student put on a thinking pose, similar to that of Naru's. "You go get changed and we'll meet you down there."

"All right." She headed for the door, like everyone else. Only to hear a order come from Naru whom was still at the monitors.

"Matsuzaki-san, go with her." He gained yet another glare from his petite assistant.

"Naru, I'll be fine." she argued calmly.

"The bandages on your hands say otherwise."

"Why not just keep me in here in a straitjacket? Under your supervision 24/7?" Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "That way, you know for sure that I can't possibly get hurt, because you never do!"

"Mai-"

"Oh wait, that's right, you have gotten hurt before! And when you did you were in worse condition than I have ever been in since I took this job! Maybe you should worry more about yourself!" She was breathing heavily now. What just came over her?

Naru hid his clenched fist as he turned back to the monitors. "Matsuzaki-san, escort Mai to your room then go down for breakfast."

The room was silent for a moment. Mai was about to retort only to have an arm rest on her shoulder and hear a feminine voice reply, "Hai." Everyone left in silence.

The door to the girls' room had just closed when Ayako spun around with wide eyes. "What was that just now!" she exclaimed as Mai just shrugged.

"I-I don't know…" she replied, unable to make much sense of it. "Him saying I needed an escort, I don't know, made me feel helpless…" She gathers some clothes and headed for the bathroom. "I guess something in me snapped, I don't think I slept very well…"

"Well, that was one hell of a performance. I think you even got to Naru this time," Ayako commented, leaning against the wall next to the bathroom. "Though, I think you went a little overboard, bringing up the time he had to go to the hospital."

"I couldn't control it, it just slipped out."

"Well, if this tension keeps building…this is going to be a very long case." Mai came out dressed in jeans and a red sweater. "Cute top."

"Thanks, my friend gave it to me for my birthday." The two headed into the hallway, Mai felt like her heart had fallen to the pit of her stomach.

They walked in silence until she couldn't take it anymore. "Maybe I should apologize…"

Ayako stopped short and raised a brow. "Couldn't you have said that when we were right by Base?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Instead of right by the dining hall?"

Mai just sighed. "It just popped into my head."

The priestess shook her head. "You decide what you want, just do it after breakfast, he might be in a much better mood if you bring him tea."

Once again Mai held the steaming cup in her hand, much like the night before, making her way toward Base. It was odd, she noticed, there wasn't that anxious feeling she had when she walked down the hall before. The air didn't grow cold. She didn't stop. She felt…

Peaceful.

Within seconds she was right by the door which possibly lead to her impending doom. With a breath she opened the door to find her antisocial employer going through his black notebook. Just what on Earth did he always write in there?

Mai cautiously walked over to him. He didn't acknowledge her. Great. He really is angry with me… she thought as she approached.

She placed the clay cup on the table next to her boss. "Naru?" She waited for some sort of response…he didn't even touch the tea!

"Naru, listen." she began, taking his silence as a signal to continue. "I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier. I really don't know what came over me." He was still silent. Was he even breathing? She looked at his chest and noticed the rhythmic rising and falling. Yeah, he's alive. "And, I'm sorry for bringing up the Yoshimi case, and how you were hospitalized. It was wrong of me to do so…." She gave a low bow hoping for him to speak. Say something. Order her to get back to work. Anything!

Nothing.

"Naru?" She stood back up and looked at him. "Naru, are you oka-"

The chair swiveled around with inhuman speed and she realized that whom she was talking to, wore the body of her boss. But did not wear his face.

Her eyes widened at the sight and she sucked in a breath and stepped back. The gruesome face of a demon was plaster in her employer's head, decaying pale and peeling flesh as blood leaked out of its eyes. The glowing red orbs bore into her very sole as a twisted smile grew on its decaying features.

"Do you believe in God, Missy?" it asked her, its voice cracking with low deep tones and high pitchy ones.

She couldn't answer. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up as it cackled in her face.

"I'd give up whatever faith you have, little girl, this is what you're 'God' will do to you!" Its face morphed as it's skull caved into itself and its eyes melted into bloody white goo that dripped down its twistedly smirking face.

A scream was rising in her throat but died in there. She couldn't break it free. She wanted to run, but couldn't move. All she could do was stand there in shock.

"Mai."

Mai blinked and there in the place of the demonic face was that of her very own, narcissist of an employer. Silently she breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at her quizzically.

"Gomen ne," she scratched her head sheepishly as she apologized. "What did you say just now?"

"I said 'I accept you're apology, though there was no need for you to do so.' Then you just stared at me. I was wondering when a fly would rush into your mouth." He raised a brow. "Just what were you staring at?"

Mai just shook her head. "It was nothing," she lied. "I-I was just thinking of a scary movie I watched recently and one of the scarier parts popped into my head."

"Mai."

"Hai?"

"…"

"…"

Naru simply sighed, understanding that he was not going to get anymore out of her at this point in time. "Tell, Yasuhara-san to return here and ask Ryouta to gather the employees and any remaining guest whom have had experiences on the property."

"Aye-aye!" She marched off happy that he didn't pry any further.

Seeing as she hadn't been given another order for tea, Mai figured it was the perfect time to explore the hotel. It been almost abandoned by guests, although if any of them had seen the same images she had seen, she understood why.

She may have not been a medium like Masako, but she could tell one thing…there was something sinister living in the rooms of this hotel. However something entirely different was on her mind.

"Naru, forgave me…" she noted aloud. Who could blame her? She had been working with this narcissist for over a year and there was only maybe two times where he apologized to her, and even less where he accepted an apology, She couldn't explain him if she tried.

"Tasukete!" A cry came from around the corner of the fifth floor.

"Nani-" Mai barely had any time to react as a maid came running at her.

"Onegai! Please! You have to help me!" she exclaimed grabbing the brunette's shoulders and arms.

"Miss, what's wrong?" Mai tried to stay calm, looking into the terrified woman's eyes.

"Help me!" she exclaimed, as Mai only just noticed the blood dripping down the woman's cheek. "You have to save me!"

Her head turned, looking side to side at breakneck speed. Mai nearly screamed.

A chef's knife had been sticking out of the back of the woman's skull.

Mai looked down to see that the woman no longer had any legs and there was just a pool of blood beneath her. The ghostly woman just shrieked, pointing to the door next to them.

The brunette turned her head and saw what she hoped she wouldn't…

534...

Something grabbed her leg as the door opened and Mai was finally able to let out her scream…

Me: cliffy! i love them XD

Yasuhara: but it drives your fans crazy...

Me: i have fans?

Monk: kiki...have you been hitting the cactus juice again?

Me: *looks down and away* no...

Ayako: anyway Kiki would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chap it has the most reviews so far in this story

John: special thanks to, Damaged Forest Spirit, Ariana Taniyama, melodyann75, Jade Starlight, cobalt eyes, diaaan, and Shinigami Buttercup Meister for reviewing the last chapter

Me: i would also like to apologize for the random fight i put in with Naru and Mai, i think there is a spirit in my house that possessed me when i wrote it XD

Mai: it made things pretty awkward, kiki.

Yasuhara: i think i know where our next case is gonna be!

Me: no! i like the spirits in my house! lol

Masako: thank you everyone who is keeping up with this story Kiki very much appreciates it

Lin: if things go according to kiki's plan the next chap should be up next weekend or the weekend afterwards

Naru: review...

Jaa nee! XD