ok well here you go! new chap enjoy!

Disclaimer: why would i own ghost hunt? lol and this case is dedicated to my Shinigami Buttercup Meister! also WARNING! there is some intense cursing toward the end reader's discretion is advised lol (i've always wanted to say that XD)

Chapter 9- Ritual

"A hefty price you must pay for my services." The woman flashed fanged teeth in a wicked smile. "What child have you brought for your sacrifice?"

"Mai."

October, Day 6, 7:47 A.M.

"Mai," the young brunette heard Masako call her. She groaned in loathing as she opened her eyes only to shut them again against the blinding sun. She felt a pillow being thrown on her head. "Get up, you can go back to your date with him later, until then, Naru wants to see us at base before breakfast." With that, she left for the hall.

"Yeesh, what did you do to each other?" Kiko commented, gathering her clothes from her suitcase as Mai slowly rolled up and off the bed.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Some days we are pretty close to being friends other days we're mortal enemies."

"Like now," the older girl confirmed as Mai nodded. She walked into the bathroom and called out behind the closed door. "So were you?"

Mai raised a brow. "Was I what?"

"On a date with Naru?" Mai's face turned fifty fades of red.

"Not you too!"

"What were you able to find out last night?" Naru asked, turning to Yasuhara and Kiko who sat on the couch.

"Not much," Yasuhara shook his head, pulling out the small list of notes he wrote down. "Just dates when additions were made to the hotel."

"And pretty much everything we already knew, original owners of the hotel, their families. Only placing names with people we already knew, like the first man in room 534 to 'commit suicide' his same was Fukui Sora. His wife Fukui Natsuki was the sister of Koizumi Itsuko who left her lover, Yoru shortly after she gave birth to Otsune." Kiko explained, then shrugged. "We're still digging, we were only at the library for a couple hours before they closed."

"Do you have information on whether Otsune is still alive?" Naru asked, leaning back against the wall.

"She's about seventy-eight now and lives about a hour outside of Kyoto," Yasuhara smiled triumphantly, handing him a slip of paper. "Here's the address."

"Good, now-" Naru would have finished, but there was yet another interruption at the door.

"Sorry to intrude, but good morning," the blonde haired priest stepped into the room. "How long was I sleep?"

"Well, it's October now, so slept away the rest of September," Ayako teased.

"Hey, isn't that an American song?" Monk asked then started singing very very VERY off key. "Wake me up when Sep-"

THUNK!

"Please, have mercy on my eardrums." the priestess said, annoyed.

Naru completely ignored the discrepancy between the monk and priestess. "Father Brown, will you be able to perform and exorcism today?"

"Of course," John nodded.

"Mai, Lin and myself will pay a visit to Otsune," Naru ordered, turning to his body double. "You and Kiko will go back a do more research." He turned to Ayako. "Matsuzaki-san, I need you to make enough charms to seal the room Yoshiko is in-"

"I already made them-"

"Then make more." His voice rose slightly only to fall back to its normal tone as he turned to Monk. "Monk, I need you to prepare some sort of spell to seal the room on top of Matsuzaki's charms and Lin's shiki. We cannot have this spirit getting away when we exorcise it."

"Gotcha." Monk answered with a nod.

"What about me?" the young medium asked , having not been given orders.

"Hara-san, you will remain at Base and monitor the footage, work with Matsuzaki-san, John and Monk about any areas that have abnormal activity," Naru ordered, standing up. "We should go downstairs for breakfast in order to get a start on today's work. Once we return, I expect almost if not all the preparations for the exorcism to be completed. Dismissed."

"I feel like we're back in school all over again…" Monk mumbled to Ayako who actually had to resist from laughing out loud.

That's weird… Mai wondered as she followed everyone to the dining hall. Normally, Naru wants me at Base and Masako wandering the halls "feeling" spirits or something. Now it's almost reversed. Maybe now I can actually do something productive other than sleep…

The drive to Otsune's home wasn't absolutely horrible…just tedious and drowsing. Mai had to fight off the urge to close her eyes and fall asleep on her boss's shoulder while he read. Last time that happened it took her and hour to get the blush to go away.

Otsune lived in a small modest one story flat with a small yet lovely garden by the front door. Most of the flowers had died off with the changing of seasons, but the orange and red and yellow leaves surrounding the planted roses would have me a perfect picture for a postcard. At least, that's what Mai thought.

Naru knocked on the door several times, waiting in silence as they heard a rhythm of footsteps leading to the door. "Hello? May I help you?" The woman behind the door was very petite, Mai noticed, possibly only 144-145 centimeters if that with a slender fit build. Her hair was a medium brown with roots nearly white, tied in a low bun in the back of her head. She noticed the gloves she was wearing as well. Aside from the graying hair and knowing her actual age, Mai would have thought the woman was only in her early to mid sixties. But her oval face, the slightly larger than average eyes and the high cheek bones…Mai knew she was Otsune.

"Yukimura-san, I am Narumi Kazuo, my partner, Shibuya Kazuya, who is not with me at the moment are doing an investigation in which your name came up. These are our assistants, Taniyama Mai and Kojou Lin, will you let us in?" Naru practically lied and Mai watched in amazement as he showed some respect toward the old woman. Completely un-Naru-like.

"Well, I-I…I suppose you must," she shook her head of any doubts or whatever was in her mind and opened the door for them. "P-please come in, I was just making some tea."

The woman headed for the kitchen and upon instinct, Mai followed. She wasn't used to not being the one to make tea. "Would you like a hand?" Mai asked from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Oh dear!" the woman gasped as the kettle whistled. "I'm sorry, dear, you frightened me a little."

"No, I'm sorry," Mai apologized and immediately started setting up the cups as the woman readied the tea. She found her eyes scanning the kitchen, almost searching for a clue. I wonder if this is how Naru's mind works on a regular basis…scanning everything around him to find some sort of hidden clue.

"Here you are gentlemen," the woman said sweetly as she placed the cups in front of the two men in the room. "And thank you, Taniyama-san for helping me."

"You can call me, Mai." Mai smiled back.

"What was all this about an investigation?" she quickly went straight to the point. "I'd like to know if I'm being accused of something."

"We only need to have an interview with you, Yukimura-san," Naru assured her as Lin opened his laptop ready to type.

"Please, call me Otsune, I've preferred it since my husband died," she requested as she took a sip of her tea.

Naru ignored her. "Yukimura-san, I don't suppose you remember your time spent at the Suiren Yadoya as a child?" he continued, flipping through his notebook.

"Excuse me?" Otsune's eyes widened with shock and dismay, but Mai noticed that there was something missing from her expression. "That hotel by Kyoto? I don't believe I ever stayed there."

Her voice sounds sincere… Mai noted staring hard at the woman's face, knowing something was off. But her eyes…her face…they don't look confused….

"May I ask what sort of investigation you are doing there? I heard of a suicide there about a year ago, but was there another crime committed there or something? I haven't heard anything on the news." She was changing the subject and Mai knew it. Otsune knew exactly what they were talking about and she did not want to go into it.

Naru ignored her again. "According to some research our team has done, you lived at the hotel with your father, your aunt and our aunt's family, are you sure you don't remember this?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." Otsune said confidently. "If you are going to continue you ask me to remember something that I simply cannot, I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Otsune-san, wait!" Mai burst out, realizing something. "Why are you wearing gloves? It's not quite cold enough yet."

The old woman tensed a little. "My blood circulation is not the best, it can be in the heat of summer and my hands will still be freezing," she explained. "Why?"

"The way they are set on your hands," Mai said, thinking out loud. "They weren't all the way on and weren't set straight like someone you took the time or care of a few seconds to put them on. They looked as though you quickly pulled them on just before you let up in and when we were in the kitchen making tea was when you straightened them out. Meaning…" She paused to catch her breath and a quick glance to see if her employer was impressed. "You're trying to hide something from us and you don't want us to find out so you're pretending not to remember your childhood." She didn't see her boss smile slightly at her improvement.

"That's absurd," the woman exhaled with a shake of her head. "I have nothing to hide."

"Would you mind?" Naru coaxed. "If you really have nothing to hide, that is."

The challenged enraged the woman. "Get out." she tried to say calmly. "Get out!"

"You still have them, don't you?" Mai cut in calmly, with understanding eyes. "When you carved those images into your hands as a child they left scars that never healed, am I right?"

The woman was flabbergasted. "H-how-how do you know about them?" Otsune was breathing heavily by now.

"Good work, Mai," Naru commented with a small smirk. "Well, Yukimura-san, you do still not remember your childhood at the hotel?"

Now Otsune just sighed and rubbed her temples. "It's not something I like to remember," she finally said giving a curious look. "Just what are you investigating? Who do you work for?"

"We are from Shibuya Psychic Research and we are investigating the paranormal phenomena occurring at the hotel," Lin explained. "We believe you might be able to help us."

"That explains how you knew about the marks, but I honestly thought the whole psychometry thing was simply a myth, I didn't think there really were psychics or mediums or anything of the sort," Otsune was still trying to make sense of everything.

"But you also met 'L' that's not exactly something most people would believe right of the bat," Mai countered.

"I prayed that, that encounter was only a nightmare," she sighed, removing her gloves. "Prayed that the psychologists were right and that I gained these scars because of my own delusions after my father committed suicide. That 'L' was only made up in my head…"

"Perhaps you should start from the beginning," Naru suggested, pulling out a sheet from his notebook. "From when 'L' first appeared."

The old woman went on to explain just about everything they already knew. Her first encounter with 'L' in the back garden, 'L' convincing her to carve the upside down cross and inverted pentagram on her palms, showing them the scars that remained on her hands. Finally leading up to where Mai's vision of her left off. "It was the night after my father's death that 'L' said we should become 'one.' I didn't know what she meant and I still don't, but I guess you might call it possession?"

"Most possessions are not as violent as yours was, nor as painful as you recall, however this is also a special case, so expecting the unexpected is to be expected," Naru replied, beckoning the woman to continue.

"Expecting the unexpected is to be expected," huh that sounds like a tongue twister. Mai thought as she repeated the quote in her head for fun.

"After that, it were as though my mouth would speak but they weren't my words," Otsune continued. "I wasn't myself anymore and I would ask children of the hotel residents if they wanted to play some sort of game, one that needed a body…"

Just like that dream… Mai concluded to herself.

"Is that everything that happened?" Naru pressed.

"Several months after my personality change and my father's death, Suzu, my aunt, decided I needed a change of scenery. Yet I refused to leave." Otsune continued. "I thrashed out at Aunt Suzu, and it wasn't me." Tears welled up in the woman's eyes at the memory. "It wasn't until about a week after we left the hotel did I return to normal. I apologized so many times and I was sent to visit doctors and psychologists who simply concluded my attitude change to my father's death and the move was a perfect way for me to start fresh."

"And you have no clue why you might have been targeted by 'L?'" Naru asked her, flipping to another page in his notebook.

"Targeted? No, not at all." She looked shocked. "Remember I thought all of this was in my head."

"It was not, I assure you. Someone else was possessed just as you were, and more are being targeted," Naru explained. "And still you do not know why you were targeted?"

She thought for a moment but shook her head and something continued to nag Mai.

Do you believe in God? The demon's face appeared in her mind just as something clicked, when she looked at the silver chain around Otsune's neck.

"Otsune-san? In your kitchen, I noticed that you had a crucifix leaning against the wall on the counter," Mai declared, speaking up. "And that necklace you're wearing, you wouldn't happen to be hiding a cross pendent under your sweater, would you?"

Otsune smiled. "You are very observant, Mai-san," she said, then pulled out the pendent revealing a cross. "It was a memento of my mother, whom I've never met. According to Aunt Suzu, she left when I was still a baby, but left this and after we moved my aunt gave it to me as a good luck charm. My mother had belonged to some sort of Christian religion, I still have no clue what it was but when my friend and I visited a priest many years ago I had seen that crucifix in the room and couldn't take my eye off of it. The kind man actually gave it to me as a gift. It reminded me of who my mother might have been and I've kept it since."

Naru closed his book and stood up. "Thank you for your time, Yukimura-san."

"O-of course," she replied, standing up and showing them to the door. "I'm glad I could help."

Mai waved 'goodbye' to the old woman as Lin sped them away and back towards the hotel. "You're skills have improved in the last eighteen months," a stoic voice broke the silence. Mai quickly snapped her head over at her boss who was looking through his notebook. "You can conclude things without my help."

Mai couldn't help but feel warm and smile. "Thanks, Naru," she said, watching the scenery around the highway go by as they drove.

At least I have one clue to consider once we get back to the hotel.

The petite brunette had been dropped off at the library on the way back to the hotel, because Naru called Yasuhara and found that they needed a hand. Once Mai entered the building she immediately went to the information desk. "Yes, Miss? May we help you?" a middle aged woman with her hair tied in a low bun and glasses asked her.

"Hai, my friends are here doing research on a nearby hotel, they may have requested a private room or a larger space of some sort," Mai explained. "Sorry, they asked me to come and help out but they didn't tell me where exactly in the library they were."

"Was one of your friends a young man wearing a suit and glasses and accompanied by a you woman around your age and height?" the woman smiled and Mai quickly nodded. "They are upstairs probably towards the back, I told them they could use one of the rooms back there if needed."

"Arigato!" Mai quickly headed up the stairs. Now all she had to do was find the room that her friends might've taken up temporary residence.

After a few minutes of weaving around the aisles of books, Mai finally heard an agitated groan coming from the room to her left. Yup, definitely Kiko, she concluded and headed for the open door.

"There is virtually nothing on this place before the hotel!" Kiko groaned, dropping her head into her arms on the table.

"That's why I asked Naru to give us Mai to help out," Yasuhara retorted just as said girl walked in. "And here she is now."

"You asked Naru to give me to you?" Mai raised a brow. "What am I? His property?"

"Apparently so, now come on, give us a hand," Kiko ordered, pointing to a pile of articles.

"What's up with her?" Mai whispered to Yasuhara.

"She's a tad annoyed at our lack of well, any evidence before the hotel was built. It's starting to stress her out," he whispered back.

"I just despise research with a passion," said girl retorted, angrily scanning another article. "Always have, especially when it came to researching papers or any other paper I had to write."

Yasuhara chuckled a little and stood up. "I'm going to go down get some coffee,at their mini food court, anyone want anything?" he inquired.

"I'll just have tea," Mai requested, opening up a folder of articles.

"And you, Kiko? Coffee?" he teased.

"You want to rile me up more?" she teased back. "No, just an iced tea and maybe an apple if they have any or pockey or something."

"All right, I'll be right back."

It was maybe a minute before wither one of the girls spoke after their friend left. "Mai, what did the maid look like?" Kiko asked out of the blue.

"Huh?" Mai jumped a little at the break of silence.

"The maid, the one that you saw before John and I came, what did she look like?" Kiko repeated as her friend thought for a second.

"She was thin, maybe around twenty-two years old, black hair brown eyes, around John's height," Mai listed as she remembered. "Thin nose, oh, and se had a chef's knife in the back of her head."

"Sticking out of the back of her head?"

"Yeah, why?" Mai raised a brow curiously.

"I was confused ever since you mentioned a maid," Kiko explained, sorting through a file. "From the research John and I conducted, we had found nothing about any females dying on the property since the hotel was built." She shrugged. "However, that doesn't mean anything. I thought that maybe another hotel stood here and the maid was from back then, but so far…"

"No girls died in the hotel?" Mai repeated, somewhat shocked.

"That's right, in fact our list of women who have been targeted or attacked by whatever is there is very small." Kiko began counting them out on her fingers. "Otsune, Akahana, you, Yoshiko, and Ayako. That's why I'm concerned, I'm hoping to at least find some history of a woman dying on the property matching your description."

"Have you tried the obituaries?"

"Checking them now, I'm currently on one from about ninety years ago. Hmm…." she paused reading the article.

"What? Who died?" Mai's head snapped over in anticipation.

"Doesn't say, but according to the side article, there were remains of what appeared to be some sort of sacrificial ritual site. Culprits were never found, but an odd pentagram and crescent moons were drawn in the dirt and there was plenty of blood left with no footprints-Mai? Are you okay?"

But Mai wasn't okay, she could only think of her dream the night before.

Do you believe in God?

"Mai?"

She vaguely heard Kiko as her world became black.

It was the very same spot as in her dream. The group of people surrounding the pentagram wearing hooded cloaks. The scene was going to play out until the end. "It's time," Mai heard the same man as before declare as everyone went to their knees and chanted.

"Lilith Lamia, Lilith Lamia, maledicam terrae, maledicam terrae," They chanted again, Mai still couldn't figure out what the language was.

Everyone continued to repeat the chant as the man next to her chanted something else. "Lilith lamia, et maledicam terrae qui ambulant per eam. Exaudiet vocem nostram! Appareant pro nobis et vindicas atque benignissimus!" he exclaimed as a black mist rose up from the center of the pentagram and their chanting became louder and the ground began to quake. Everything was exactly the same,

Another shiver rain down Mai's spine as the mist morphed into a beautiful young woman, naked yet clothed by snakes. An amused chuckle erupted into the air.

"Who has dared to call upon me?" the woman said, shooting a glance directly at Mai, then one at someone on the other side of the pentagram, another one that way and finally landed her eyes on the man who had been running the whole event. "A hefty price you must pay for my services." The woman flashed fanged teeth in a wicked smile. "What child have you brought for your sacrifice?"

"Lilith! Queen of Demons! Hear our cry! Fulfill our quest and avenge our kind!" the man next to Mai exclaimed and bowed, everyone else following suit.

"Come now, child, what troubles you?" the snake covered woman sounded almost sympathetic.

"God…" he growled. "Punish the followers of God!"

Lilith smiled wickedly again. "I can help you, however I need sacrifices."

"Of course," the man said, sitting back up. "Unfortunately, we have no child sacrifices per say, but hopefully these will do."

Automatically, Mai and two other hooded figures stood up, bowed and approached the snake woman. "Lilith Lamia, serviamus tibi," they all chanted in unison as they removed their hoods.

As though they had trained themselves into performing this ritual, Mai wasn't able to see the other volunteers' faces as they had quickly turn around and approached each other backward until they were all back to back to back. The one thing Mai did notice was her own hair. It was longer and jet black.

"Pity, I prefer children over virgins, however, I suppose they'll do. This shall be fun," Lilith chuckled as she snapped her fingers and Mai found she could no longer move of her own free will.

"Do with them what you will, they are here to serve you, Milady," the man bowed again.

"Tell us what you want us to do and it shall be done," Mai and the other volunteers said together.

"Apparently none of you understand the meaning of the word sacrifice!" Lilith cackled, snapping her fingers as Mai felt a burning and ripping sensation coursing through her entire body. The three of them left out blood curdling shrieks. One of the shrieks stood out.

No way, is that… Mai thought to herself but was interrupted as blood began to pool at her feet.

"Manabu! You lied to me you filthy son of bitch!" one of the volunteers shrieked, as the man before Mai simply stared at the ground.

"It had to be done."

"You bastard! You betrayed us just like they all do! You worthless piece of shit!"

Mai felt another slice of pain as the dream faded to blackness and she felt a shake on her shoulder.

October Day 6, 4:23 P.M.

"C'mon! Wake up before you two start screaming or something!" Mai heard Yasuhara's voice coaxing her to wake up. "C'mon, don't make me have to call Naru and explain why two of his researchers are passed out on the table!"

"What?" Mai groaned as she sluggishly sat up. "How long was I out?"

"About as long as me," Kiko commented, sitting up as well. "What time is it?"

"Almost four thirty, you guys were out for over four hours," their friend replied. "A nice way to leave all the paperwork to me."

Kiko ignored him. "Mai, that diagram! It matches the description from the article!" she exclaimed, searching her pile to find said article.

"And the blood it mentioned…" Mai continued. "It must have been from those volunteers!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Yasuhara piped in. "What was the dream? You were both starting to thrash and mumble things, I thought you were both going to start screaming or something!"

"You were a volunteer, too?" Mai asked the other girl in the room.

"Hai," she replied, finding the article. "Here it is, 'Early this morning, October third, strange drawings of a pentagram and other symbols were found right by the farm belonging to Koga Hiroshi. Also, on top of the symbols was a massive amount of blood, enough that would surely have killed at least three or four people, however no bodies were found. When questioned about the odd findings near his property, Koga-san was very confused and knew just about as much as anyone else did. The police have no leads yet and it seems that this case will forever remain a mystery.'"

"So, some sort of sacrificial ritual?" Yasuhara asked, Mai nodded.

"I had a dream of it last night, as well, but Masako woke me up before it finished."

"Now we have a connection to October second! We have to tell Naru!" Kiko exclaimed.

"Wait," Mai stopped her. "Naru wanted to do the exorcism as soon as he returned to the hotel, they could be in the middle of that."

"Would it really take this long?" Yasuhara raised a brow.

"Only one way to find out, he said he only wanted John, Lin and himself in the room with Yoshiko, call Ayako. She should know if they are still trying the exorcism." Kiko suggested.

As Yasuhara did that, something was still nagging Mai. Who was the maid? She wasn't the one to drag her into room 534, and she didn't drag Ayako down the stairs, she was right in front of them. Something needed to click, why was the scream familiar?

"Any luck?" Kiko asked as Yasuhara hung up and shook his head.

"Uh-uh, they're still doing the exorcism, they've been at it since noon and whatever's possessing Yoshiko isn't letting up. No one's come out of the room since the exorcism started," he explained.

"Damn," Kiko cursed under her breath.

"What do we do now?" Mai wondered aloud.

"The only thing we can, take notes and copy whatever information is relevant and get back to the hotel and hope that they finished the exorcism," Yasuhara said, handing Mai a pen and paper.

"Ha! You're going to need to do better then this bullshit, dumbass!" Yoshiko laughed as John continued his prayer. "You're God made this happen to me! I'm returning the favor!" John ignored her, blessing a rosary. "Admit it! You're just a foreign bastard! You can't do a thing!"

He placed the rosary on her girl's chest and help a cross to her forehead. "What are you doing?" she asked with a cackle. "You really are fucking stupid!"

"In principio." John merely said as Yoshiko's eyes dilated and her jaw dropped.

"What the hell, you fucking prick!" she screeched thrashing about , screaming and panting trying to get the holy objects off of her. "How dare you!"

She gave one last shriek before falling limp on the mattress. John wiped sweat off his brow, while the other two men in the room seemed to relax a little. "Well? Father Brown?" Naru asked after a moment of calmness.

"I…I think it worked," he said with a long breath, relaxing his shoulders.

"Aw fuck! That hurt you asshole!" Yoshiko groaned, moving in a way for the holy objects to fall off her body. Then she looked at the young priest's face. "Nah! You're not even worth being called asshole! You look more like a pussy to me!"

Naru gave a nod and John went immediately into chanting another prayer from the Bible in his hands while splashing Holy Water on her.

"Our Father, who art in heaven-"

"Damn! You sure are a persistent little dick aren't you!" Yoshiko yelled with a laugh. "I'm going to have to punish one of your friends now."

"Leave the room and the barrier will be shattered," Lin warned and John effortlessly continued.

"Monk can handle it," Naru commented as the bound girl began growling again.

"They're still performing the exorcism!" Kiko exclaimed exasperatedly, as she sunk down into a chair at Base.

"Yep, it's been about five hours now, maybe more," Ayako confirmed.

"And until they're finished, the door can't be opened, otherwise the spirit could get out and hide somewhere in the hotel and attack someone," Monk added, crossing his arms. "What did you guys find out."

Mai and Kiko explained their dream and what they found out while research. Afterwards Mai explained what she had learned when she, Naru, and Lin went to visit Otsune. "Poor woman, she must've been reliving a nightmare telling you what happened," Masako commented behind her kimono sleeve.

"Yeah, she didn't even want to try to remember, but I knew she did remember. She had to remember something, why else would she want to wear gloves to hide her scars?" Mai explained.

"Very true, once-" Yasuhara began as a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt, but supper is ready if anyone is interested," Akahana offered, looking a little more rested this time.

"Thank you, we'll be down in a moment," Yasuhara accepted and the woman walked out. "Who's hungry?"

Four out of the five remaining people in Base raised their hands.

Dinner it was.

On the way to the dining hall, Mai grabbed Kiko's arm to whisper into her ear. "Akahana was wearing a necklace, I couldn't see what the pendent on it was, did you?" she asked but her friend just shook her head.

"No, I'll keep an eye out during dinner," she complied, then looked at Mai. "You don't think she-"

Mai shrugged. "I don't know, but there has to be a reason," she said sternly. Kiko nodded.

"Some pieces are starting to come into place…"

Time was going by quickly and October second was becoming closer and closer. Time was of the essence, and Naru knew that all too well. If something wasn't done about the possession on their hands, someone would die and he was not about to let that happen. He glanced at his watch and resisted the urge to curse out loud.

8:42 P.M.

If only that annoying tapping sound Yoshiko was making would stop and he could concentrate on a new plan-wait!

Naru's eyes widened a fraction before narrowing as he focused on the rhythm of the tapping. -NA-KI-KO-MA-I- Morse Code!

"John stop her tapping! She's using Morse Code to contact another spirit!" Naru exclaimed shocking the other two in the room.

"Little smartass-bastard!" Yoshiko hissed and growled at Naru then began to cackle. "You're too late! You have two choices, continue trying to get rid of me and risk one of your beloved friends falling by my hand, or try to save them but open the barrier and set me free. It's your choice! Choose wisely you little dickboy!"

"Naru…" Lin warned as John continued the prayers.

Naru was still tense, but did not stir from his spot. The would be more danger if he allowed the spirit to roam free in the hotel, Monk would just have to handle things. He hoped that things wouldn't go too far. He hated not being able to predict something. He also hated not being able to react immediately when something happened on a case.

That was when he heard a scream. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The scream came, startling everyone who had been sitting in Base. They jumped up and raced down the hall, where Kiko had gone to grab something from her room.

"Kiko!" everyone exclaimed as they saw the girl crumpled over in the hallway. Shocking them the most was what was imbedded in the wall above her head. A chef's knife.

"I-I'm okay!" Kiko's voice came shakily, as she lifted her head, noticing the knife that would have hit her. "Eeek! That would not have been good!"

"Are you okay? What happened?" Monk asked her as he and everyone else crowded around her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. J-just a little shaken up," she replied as Monk and Yasuhara helped her to stand, only to fall back down when she put weight on her ankle. "And a twisted ankle on top of it," she winced.

"What happened?" Ayako asked, checking her ankle.

"What on Earth happened?" They heard Akahana ask as she tried running up the stairs.

We can't let her see the knife! Mai's mind reeled as she dashed to the stairwell. "Everything's fine, Akahana-san! But if you could send someone to get some ice? Kiko twisted her ankle!" she covered as Masako added to the distraction.

"I'll go with you, Ishikawa-san," she offered, heading down the stairs.

"Okay, so what happened?" Yasuhara asked her as he and Monk offered themselves as crutches for her.

"I was coming back from our room when I heard this shrieking. 'Devil's to be born! Devil's to be born! Devil child! Devil child!' And a woman dressed in a maid's outfit came running at me. The next thing I know I hear something being thrown at me and something tripped me making me fall, then you guys showed up," she explained. "But something was off…"

"Off about what?" Ayako asked her as she held the door open at Base.

"Mai, you said the maid you saw had a knife in the-" Kiko didn't get a chance to explain.

All hell was about to break loose.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" the possessed girl chuckled as she moved around lazily as the priest continued. He had been at this single exorcism for over eight hours now, he couldn't stop now. "Especially if you wish to protect your sister…"

The spirit was only testing him. She had no power over anyone who was over 6000 miles away. There was just no way. Right?

"God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire-" John continued only to be interrupted.

"'So the wicked perish at the presence of God, blah, blah, blah," Yoshiko mocked as she spit in the young priest's face, but he still continued. "I already told you, your God is nothing, compared to me!" She proceeded to cackle. "You pussies aren't much fun to play with! I better stop playing around so I can really show you what you're dealing with!"

At those words, the room began to shake. Banging hit the walls. The bed shook. The lights flickered. It all nearly knocked them off balance. "Keep going, John!" Naru ordered. "Don't stop!"

"God the Father commands you. God the Son commands you. God the Holy Ghost commands you. The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you," John continued, placing the rosary on the girl again and holding a crucifix to her forehead, as he splashed Holy Water on her.

Yoshiko bucked and screamed. Thrashed and screeched. Gasped and growled. Doing anything she could to relieve herself of the pain she was feeling. One last final scream caused a black mist to emerge from her mouth. A cackle rose in the air.

"In the name of Holy Jesus Christ, I banish you from this world to move on to the next!" John exclaimed splashing Holy Water at the mist.

"Foolish, priest, you never had the chance to be at my level. That water is irritating though," the mist scoffed, racing up to the blond young man and throwing him against the wall behind him. It turned to Naru and Lin. "Now if you boys will excuse me."

"Lin!" Naru commanded and the man immediately whistled.

The white light of Lin's Shiki kept the light in the room as the bulbs flickered. The mist merely grumbled in annoyance. "You're pets? You're going to have them do your dirty work? What kind of omnioji are you?"

Another whistle and the Shiki attacked, but the mist only dissipated and dodged the little entities. "Annoying little cockfuckers," it growled just before it rammed into the door with incredible force.

"Naru, the door!" John exclaimed, as he finally was able to stand up.

"It won't get out," Naru replied, unconcerned. He knew for a fact he had taken enough precautions. There was no way this thing was going to get out as long as that door remained closed. But it didn't stay closed for long.

"Don't underestimate me you little fuck!" it shrieked as the door, the charms, the barrier, and even Lin's Shiki finally gave in and the door was torn off the hinges. "The fun's only just begun!"

At that moment, Yoshiko began coughing and sputtering, trying to gain a sense of what happened and why she was tied up. Tears streamed her face and confusion filled her eyes. John immediately went to her, trying to comfort her as well as remove her bindings. Naru and Lin stormed out in search of their escaped culprit.

"Mai, you said the maid you saw had a knife in the-" Kiko didn't get a chance to explain.

A maid similar to the one Mai had seen on their second day of the case was there, standing just a little ways by the staircase. But the difference was, the knife was imbedded in her neck, not her head! Moments later, another maid morphed into view with a knife in her back. It was only then that Kiko could finish. "The maid I saw had a knife in her back, not her head," she said.

"There are two maids?" Monk shouted in surprise, but Mai shook her head.

"No, there are three, and the third was just released from Yoshiko's body," Mai clarified.

"The child must die! The child must die!" the maids exclaimed together. "Our sister will make sure of it."

"Child?" Ayako repeated, then dashed to the staircase, ignoring the apparitions and galloped down the stairs.

"They're going after Akahana-san," Yasuhara added as Monk raced behind the priestess, Mai not too far behind and Kiko limping along after them with the help of the pretend boss.

They had time, right? They could save her, right? All questions were answered in a single second.

A scream. Thudding down the stairwell. Cries of someone's name.

Akahana's limp body at the foot of the stairs. Her necklace torn off and flung a few feet from her, the silver crucifix gleaming ominously in the light.

you my longest case/chap yet! i hope you enjoyed a lot went on and lots of questions were answered. only one chapter left and i will try TRY my very best to update in June BUT june is my busiest month...I have my recital, my birthday, parties to go to, school, exams, work, and of course my graduation yes i'm graduating :) so things are going to be pretty damn busy but if i dont update next month then it will be July for the next chap

also i finally changed the pole on my profile after like a year XD and take a look at it it's just some places that SPR could investigate and i'd like to see what you guys would think would be cool the next case i already have planned out lol also feel free to give me any ideas for a future case or a moment that you think would be cool to see :D tell me what you think :D

jaa nee! :D