Okay! The rest of this case has been written and is currently being edited! After this, there are three more chapters! I hope everyone is ready for what's to come! Enjoy!

Chapter 8-Nightmare

February Day 4, 4:04 P.M.

"Hey, the gang's back together!" Yasuhara said as he, Ayako, and John walked into Base. He saw the whiteboard. "Ooh, looks like Mai's been busy."

"How did you know that Mai wrote that?" Ayako raised a brow.

"Because I've seen Lin' s handwriting, and this is not it."

"And what about Naru's?" Monk asked.

Yasuhara shrugged. "It's possible that it's his, but it looks like Mai's."

Ignoring the commentary, John read the timeline. "All of the attacks and suicides are within a week of each other?"

"So it appears," Lin said from his laptop, he had gone back to examining audio.

"That would mean the suicides were caused by the spirit directly, as opposed to just from the first incident," Ayako said, knitting her brows. "That would also mean we may have some time before it attacks again, right?"

"It would fit the pattern, but from what we gathered last night," Masako said, with her sleeve to her mouth, "I believe he could be drawing energy from us faster in order to attack sooner."

"That's just great," Monk said, rolling his eyes. "The longer we stay here, the more powerful Nakajima is going to get. And there's no way we will solve this case before the storm, meaning we'll have to stay here for the weekend."

"Well, once we exorcise Nakajima, it won't be too bad staying here until the roads are plowed out," Kiko said with a small smile.

"You're going to exorcise him?"

"Sorry, when you guys exorcise him."

"I'm kidding," Monk laughed an walked to the monitors. A frown appeared on his face. "What the hell does he think he's doing?"

"Who?" Yasuhara asked as Lin stood up and walked to the wall of monitors.

"Naru. Look at him, what is he thinking?"

Lin cursed and ran out the door. Monk looked at him confused until he looked at the monitor again. And Naru wasn't making out with Mai against the door anymore. The door was closing as he watched.

"Goddamn it!"

Mai heard the click of the lock and knew she was done for when she was thrown onto the undressed mattress. Struggle as she may, there was no escape as Naru climbed on top of her. No! This can't be happening! Her mind shrieked, yet her voice could not.

He began kissing her neck, snickering as he did so. She squirmed beneath him, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact it seemed to entertain him. Tears welled in her eyes as he began to work on the buttons of her flannel shirt. Mai, your luck's run out.

"Admit it, you want this."

Mai managed a whimper in response.

The thing wearing Naru's body frowned at the sight of her camisole. He made a tsk sound and looked into her eyes. "By the time I'm through with you, you'll be sewing your clothes to your skin." Another wicked grin flashed across his face and Mai lost her composure.

Her tears fell. She tried to thrash but he was too strong. She wasn't going to get out of this one. She wasn't going to escape the same fate twice. She shouldn't have come.

"Just finishing what he started, and what this one didn't have the balls to do." He began to unbutton her jeans and Mai finally stopped fighting. She had accepted her fate.

It wasn't until his full weight had fallen on top of her, did she realize that her friends had arrived. They seemed to be calling her name, but it was too muffled for her to hear. Lin must have knocked Naru out.

"Mai!" Ayako was the first to reach Mai's side. "Mai! Are you okay!"

She could only nod numbly, as Lin pulled Naru's limp body off of her. "Damn," Lin cursed, wrapping one of Naru's arms over his shoulder to support him. "Matsuzaki-san, get Mai up to your room."

"Of course," she said, fixing Mai's appearance.

"I'll go with you," Kiko offered.

"Takigawa, help me get him back to base. Hara-san, is he still possessed?" Lin turned to the medium, who shook her head.

"I don't sense his presence anymore."

Monk had grabbed onto Naru's other arm and supported that side. "Father Brown, would you perform a blessing on him?" The priest nodded. "Let's go."

The boys and Masako had left the room. Mai watched from her catatonic state on the bed. She heard everything and yet it had been so muffled. The scene had played out so quickly yet she felt that she was stuck in slow motion. "Mai? C'mon, let's go upstairs," Ayako said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

Once again, Mai nodded numbly and started to move into a sitting position. She was stiff and shaky and her tears hadn't stopped. But she never sobbed. She was silently grateful that Ayako had taken the liberty to redress her and walked with both girls.

His head was pounding as it swam through the fog of semi consciousness. His neck was sore, as were his arms and legs, as though he had been tense. "God. What happened?" he groaned as he opened his eyes.

He found himself on the couch in Base with several members of his team staring at him. He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position with his back against the arm of the couch and his legs still stretched out across it. Lin approached him with two tablets and a glass of water.

"You don't remember?" Monk asked, staring intently at the young manager who shook his head only to grasp it. "What do you remember?"

"I was leaving Base to go to the restroom, after that, nothing. What happened?"

"There was another attack," Yasuhara said, sitting next to Monk.

"You were possessed," Lin said, deciding he should be the one to break the news. He saw the boy tense up before he continued, "You attacked Mai."

"Shit," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I was hoping that was just another nightmare."

"Another? Naru, what's going on?" Monk leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms.

Naru seemed to ignore him and look directly at Lin. "Is she okay?"

"She's upstairs," Ayako said as she walked into the Base. She closed the door behind her.

Monk stood up. "You came down alone?"

Ayako ignored him for a second to take the seat in front of the monitors on the other side of Yasuhara. She leaned back and crossed her legs. "I was fine, Houshou," she said as she closed her eyes.

"How is she?" Lin asked, more so for Naru's benefit.

"Physically, she is fine, luckily we made it in time," she said with a sigh. "She's resting now. As far as her mental state, she's about as okay as can be expected. I would suggest not keeping her on Base duty for at least the rest of the day."

Naru had moved positions, turning himself around to have his feet on the ground and his elbows resting on his knees. He rubbed his temples through his throbbing migraine.

"You never answered my question, Naru," Monk said. "What did you mean another dream?"

Naru continued to rub his head, leaving Lin to be the one to answer. "For the last three weeks Naru's had a recurring nightmare of Mai being attacked," he said, turning to Ayako. "When you called on Sunday and said you wouldn't be attending the case with her, we assumed that she would be safe."

"Jeez," Ayako groaned as she frowned and shook her head. "Had you told me that earlier I might have tried harder to keep her home!"

"It was a double edged sword," Yasuhara shrugged.

"A lose-lose situation," Monk continued, reluctantly shrugging himself. "Bring her here, she was in danger of being attacked-"

"Leave her in Tokyo, she could have suffered the same fate as she did in your dream," Yasuhara finished. He earned a nod from the tall assistant.

"Precisely how precognitive visions work," Lin explained. "Naru isn't one to have these visions, so we weren't sure what to make of it. You brought Mai here and he continued to have the same dream, we knew we had to take precautions to prevent it."

"Which is why I kept her here in Base and made sure the cameras were set up in a way to make sure she made it to the lounge safely if she wanted tea," Naru admitted. "She was rarely alone which was the plan."

"What wasn't the plan was you getting possessed," Ayako said, looking up. "How did you become possessed? I gave you charms."

Lin held up a folded up charm. "It seems to have fallen out of your pocket."

"That's it, I'm sewing mine to my chest," Monk groaned as he sat back down.

"Keep it in your shoe," Yasuhara suggested, earning several odd looks. "It's sounds gross, but the likelihood it will fall out is slimmer since we don't have to take off our shoes here."

"Not a bad idea, but I still say keep several on you," Ayako agreed pulling out a small stack of charms from the pocket of her jacket. "I seem to be making these constantly."

"Okay, I'll take twelve," Monk teased, earning a look. He sobered. "So what's our plan, now? Mai's theory is no longer relevant, seems like Masako was right. The spirit here is drawing energy from us faster in order to attack sooner. We know who the culprit is, but we don't know how to stop it."

"We also don't know why the haunting just started up over the last few months," Naru said. "We haven't dealt with a haunting that didn't have a trigger."

"So what caused the spirit of a serial killer to start reeking havoc twenty-five years after he killed himself?" Ayako asked.

"And how do we exorcise it?" Monk asked. "The campus is too big to just go and randomly exorcise the thing. And with the storm starting soon going from building to building will be virtually impossible."

"And why can't we find any newspapers for current events in this town?" Yasuhara reminded them. "We're looking at something bigger here than just the spirit of a serial killer."

"Regardless, from here on out no one is to be alone, at all," Naru said, pinching the bridge of his nose again. That migraine just wouldn't go away. "Stay in groups of three, Matsuzaki, I want you to stay with Mai and John. If she's up for doing any work, take her to do temperature readings in the Academic Building."

"Alright."

"Yasuhara, you'll stay here and help monitor Base." Naru turned to Monk. "Monk, I want you, Hara-san, and Kiko to speak with as many professors who are still around and see if maybe there were any other incidents that went unreported to us. Make it known that we need to know everything in order to solve the issue."

"Got it."

Mai could still feel the thudding of her heart in her chest. It was so awkward sitting on her bed with Masako and Kiko making small talk right across from her. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about what happened. It was practically a replay of what happened Sunday. Only he didn't hit me…

Why did I have to be so stubborn? She silently argued. If I hadn't begged Ayako to take me on this case, I'd probably-

And then the truth of her own words hit her. Hard.

I'd probably be in Ayako's apartment, waiting for her to get home from work. Shouta would probably have found me and I might not have gotten as lucky as I did.

She sometimes hated her rational side. It made her choose between one of two evils. The question was, did she choose the lesser of the two? She would never know for sure.

Mai, if you had been a cat, you'd be on your last life. She shook her head.

The door had opened and Ayako walked in. She looked to Masako and Kiko. "You two are going to go with Monk, I'll stay here with Mai, okay?"

"Sure." The two stood up and left. Mai curled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them, staring out the window.

Ayako walked over and took a seat next to her on the bed. She removed her shoes and curled her legs to a crisscross style with her back against the wall. She leaned her head back, looking up, and closed her eyes. She let out an exhausted breath. She could use a nap.

"I'm sorry, Mai," she said. "I'm so sorry."

Mai kept her head looking out the window. She still wasn't up for talking, but she knew she had to answer. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about. I'm okay. Nakajima targeted me because he knew it would have the most effect on the team." She had wrapped her arms around her legs. "He knew what happened to me and said he was going to finish the job. He wanted to make this personal for all of us." She lifted her head and looked at the priestess. "And he's going to focus his attack on us. I'm almost positive."

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about any of the guys getting possessed again." Ayako lifted her head as well and looked at the tear stained teenager. Mai gave her a confused look. "Somehow, the charm that Naru had, fell out of his pocket which was how he became possessed. Now, I'm pretty sure all the guys have close to ten charms on them."

"And if they fall out of their pockets?" Mai half teased.

"They're stuffed in their shoes."

Mai almost laughed. Almost.

"You're serious."

"Yasuhara's idea."

She really hated this place. It smelled of fire and brimstone and burnt flesh. She couldn't move and most of the time she couldn't speak. She wondered how different this time would be as she finally opened her eyes.

Same cave-like walls. Same flames. Same heat. Same demon grinning at her. The only difference this time was the fact that she was sitting. So was he. They each had a throne of stone facing each other. She didn't like this. She didn't like that it was getting hard to breathe.

Still, he grinned with such amusement at her discomfort. "I was right, this is fun." He stood up and glided over to her. He stroked her cheek with a talon. "Do tell, how did it feel to be violated by someone you trust?"

"It wasn't him." She said with more confidence than she felt. "I'm surprised you didn't ask me that a few days ago. It would have hurt more. Guess you don't want to break me that badly."

But the demon only laughed at her defiance. He used his talon to trace the bruise around her eye. It burned as it touched, but Mai did not flinch. "I admire your strength. For one so small, you're spirit is strong." He licked his lips. "Breaking you will be deliciously satisfying."

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm not broken yet." There was a hard look in her eyes.

"Sorry to disappoint you, child, but you're already broken. I'm just not satisfied yet." He leaned down and licked her cheek like he had done in a previous dream. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "I won't be until I've shattered you. Body and soul."

Day 4, 5:21 P.M.

How Mai didn't wake up jumping out of her bed screaming profanities was still a mystery to her. She did, however, spring into a sitting position as she gasped for breath. Cold sweat dripped from her brow and her heart pounded like a drum in her chest.

Fresh tears ran down her cheeks as she realized just how terrifying her predicament was. Was Nakajima influencing the demon her mind created? It sure as hell seemed that way.

She took a deep breath and tried to grasp reality. She looked to the clock and shivered. Why is it so cold? She wondered, but realized it was just her, because her breath wasn't visible. Goosebumps appeared up her arms, but she knew it wasn't from an external source. She was cold from the inside out.

She remembered she had convinced Ayako to let her take a nap and then she would get back to work. It seemed she had only slept for a little more than half an hour. Ayako was outside discussing the case with John, probably talking about her.

Scratch that. Ayako was definitely talking about her.

Mai stood up and was about to walk out the door to get beck to work, when she noticed the mirror. She mentally smacked herself. There was no way she could go out with half of her makeup job melted off in tears. And honestly, even though she knew it wasn't Naru, she still felt just as dirty as when Shouta attacked her. A hot shower would also warm the chill that had taken over her body.

She gathered her things and opened the door. Ayako and John went with her to the showers. The priestess went first to make sure there were no girls showering or changing, then John went in and made sure no possessed men were in there waiting for them. Then they waited outside as Mai scrubbed off her makeup and the same gross feeling she had felt on Sunday.

Now, it could have been a number of things that made her feel the way she did as she cleansed herself. It could have been that the shower room wasn't very warm. It could also have been that the hot water didn't seem as hot as it did the night before. She could still have been in shock of what she had dealt with throughout the week. Or it could have been paranormal.

Actually, it was most likely paranormal. What else would explain the fact that she felt colder to the core than when she had been sitting in Base on the first day of investigating? What else would explain that she felt more drained than refreshed after taking a nap? What else would explain the gut feeling that when she was finished and went back to work, she wasn't going to like what she would find?

She finished her shower and dried herself off. She quickly changed and ran a brush through her longer than normal hair. That's when she saw it.

A little white envelope that blended in perfectly with the white countertop of the sinks. The only thing that made Mai notice it was the tiny scrawl of characters written on it.

Ghost Hunters…

"I understand you are getting ready to close for the storm, it you would please just…No, believe me, if this wasn't important I wouldn't be-"

Yasuhara had been trying to contact the local library and see if the library could help him put a few pieces together. They were giving him a hard time as usual.

Naru and Lin had busied themselves at the monitors. Lin seemed to be working on analyzing audio, while Naru paid very close attention to where every member of his team was. The damn bastard had used him to attack Mai, he wasn't going to let him use someone else to attack one of the others.

"Stop blaming yourself," Lin said quietly, so that Yasuhara could not hear. "The vision didn't come true in its entirety. Because you told me about it, we were able to stop it before Mai suffered further."

Naru pretended not to hear him. Though he knew he was a lousy liar when it came to Lin. They had known each other so long it was hard to keep secrets from each other. Lin didn't seem to mind that he was being willfully ignored.

"None of your dreams had you as the culprit, so you thought that having her stay in Base under your eye was enough protection." He watched as the young manager seemed to tense up. "You're not to blame, we both underestimated this spirit."

"I should have put her and Matsuzaki in a hotel for the remainder of the case," Naru finally said. His head was still throbbing, the medicine never worked. "I should never had allowed them to stay with this psychotic spirit prowling around."

"We didn't have the choice, would you have rather it been Kiko? And the possessed one be Yasuhara-san?" Luckily Yasuhara was still arguing with the library lady. "Or maybe Hara-san? Or another student? You can't change what's already been done, Noll. Just be grateful we were able to stop it."

Naru kept his eyes on the monitors, doing yet another headcount. He knew Lin was right. He knew he was being irrational. But while he managed to allow himself to become possessed and attack Mai, the spirit wanted to torture him as well. Whether he would ever admit it out loud, he remembered the attack. Remembered every detail. Every vile word that passed his lips.

He had thought it was a dream. Though he yelled and screamed and fought with everything his unconscious self had, he couldn't stop what he had thought was another vision. He knew now it was real. He knew now that whatever was left of the fragile relationship he had with his assistant was possibly gone. He silently hoped that she wouldn't actually do what he had feared she was ready to on their last case.

Perhaps I should put cameras on the roof…

Mai was waiting for the thermometer to settle with the temperature of the classroom she was in. Ayako and John were behind her making idle small talk, but she didn't feel like speaking. She probably would have been better off sitting in Base where there were no discussions, but she wasn't sure who it would be more awkward for. Her or Naru?

"So how's Hoshiko doing? Does she still go to the church to visit you?" Ayako asked the priest who smiled.

"She still stops by when she doesn't have rehearsal or shows," John answered. "She actually was approached by a talent scout who wants her to go to a few auditions over the next couple weeks."

The priestess gave him a look. "And she's going to go to them?"

"She's looking into the guy who gave her the information to see if he's really who he said he was and also looking into the auditioning sites." John had rested himself against the wall and seemed to look out the window as the first flakes started to fall. "She's young but luckily not too naïve. She also has had Fuyumi helping her look into this guy."

"Well, that's good…" Mai drifted out of listening to the conversation and jotted down the temperature of the room.

She thought back to what happened. What Chinatsu had said after she had been attacked. What had been said by victims during the interviews. What they had discovered about the history of the place, though they only had the word of a former police chief. Their unanswered questions. Naru's yellow eyes.

The thought made her shiver. But for the first time since she arrived she understood what those victims meant. Her chest ached, as she understood why they were defending their attackers. She understood what it felt like to be attacked by someone close and not only think that it couldn't have been them. But know that it wasn't them. It was a completely different situation than she had been in earlier that week. Or was it?

She stared at the thermometer as the realization hit her. Hit her like a bullet. Or perhaps a train. No, more like a brick to the back. Was it possible that Shouta was being influenced by a spirit? And if that were the case, should she try to help him and stay with him? Or continue on with her life and hope he leaves her alone?

But, Mai, she told herself. There's no way he was being influenced by a spirit since November! You saw the similarities between him and what Kiko told you about what happened to her. Do you really think that things can go back to normal when you get back? You tried to break up with him and he hit you. This isn't some sappy fanfiction where you two can settle your differences and pretend like this never happened. You can't afford to be that stupid again!

She let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding and picked up the thermometer. She headed out to the next room with her friends, knowing there was a little envelope burning a hole in her jeans pocket.

"Our luck is just amazing with this case," Monk said, walking through the halls of the Tech building. "A dangerously violent spirit, seems to be no written history of this town, at least nothing close to explain hat we're dealing with, an energy vampire, a personal aspect, and none of the professors seem to want to talk to us."

"Uh oh, someone's sarcasm is showing," Kiko teased.

"Actually, he's sounding more and more like Ayako the longer we're on this case," Masako said, behind her sleeve.

"Very funny." Monk rolled his eyes. "Should we get back to Base? We're not going to get any information from the professors, we've been at it for almost two hours."

"That's probably our best bet," Masako replied. "Maybe Yasuhara-san found out something from the library before they closed for the storm."

"Maybe."

"Well, what do we have here?" Monk said as he walked into Base. "Naru, did you drop a flash drive?"

Everyone turned to see the monk holding up a shiny dark blue flash drive. Naru shook his head. "That's not ours."

"Ooh, another mystery," Yasuhara said as Monk brought the drive over to Lin. "Someone must have dropped it going to their dorm."

"Only if they kicked it under the door without realizing," Monk replied. "The door was closed and I found it in the room."

"Well, why don't we see what's in it?" Kiko asked.

Lin plugged the drive into his laptop. "There's only a video on here. It doesn't look like it's for schoolwork either," he said as the group gathered around behind him. He hit 'play' and the screen was black as it loaded.

Ayako and John had taken over checking the temperature for the rest of the rooms as Mai sort of just tagged along behind. She had other things on her mind anyway. The priest and priestess were talking with each other and sometimes were joined by a student hanging in the lounge of the third floor. Mai had no interest in their conversation; she kept her attention to keeping tabs on who was in the room.

Finally, she saw the one person she wanted to speak with. So it was with a smile on her face, the fakest one she had given on that case, that she approached the student. "Chinatsu, how are you?"

"M-Mai-san! I didn't expect to see you here." The frazzled student brushed her a lock of hair behind her ear.

"We're just doing a little temperature check." Mai moved to a couple of plush chairs a ways away from the other students. "Do you have class? I thought we could talk for a bit."

"No I-"

"Sit with me." The request was simple and harmless enough. They both sat down. Mai wasn't too sure what had possessed her, forgive the pun, to say what she did next. "When were you going to tell me what really happened to you?"

The video wasn't the clearest. It was a little grainy and unfocused, but that was mainly because the room it had been taken in was dark, practically no light was present. There were several girls kneeling on the floor of what could have been a basement. "The camera's on," one girl had said. "It's now or never."

The camera's focus became clearer and the girls were kneeling in front of a piece of paper. "Okay, put a finger on the coin, everyone has to," another girl said as they all complied.

From the camera's angle sitting on the floor, it was impossible to see what was written on the paper, but the team knew what it was. They had dealt with something similar before. "I'll go first." The camera didn't seem to be in a good spot to see anyone's face. "Is there someone here with us?"

A minute passed and the girls' hands stayed still. "Why did I listen to you guys? There's no ghost here. You're uncle just told you that to freak you out."

"Not true! It was a case that he was a part of before we were born. He didn't say there was a ghost here, he just said that the guy died down here. It was worth a-"

She didn't have a chance to finish. The flashlight they were using flickered. When it had settled, the positions of the girls' arms were different. "Oh my god."

"So there is someone here." The girls seemed to look at each other.

"Are the rumors true? About Chi?"

"'Yes you slut,'" one girl read. "Come on, that's not funny."

"That's not me."

"Hey! That's my boob!" One girl thrashed away from the circle, knocking the camera away from the scene.

"No one's trying to grab your boob. Now get back in the circle, you're not supposed to take your hand off of the coin!"

"Something's touching me!" Though she was not in frame, you could hear her stand up, trying to get away from the unseen hands. "Gah! What's going on!"

"Hey! Turn the light back on!" The flashlight had gone out.

"Let's get out of here!"

"Ah! Something's tugging at my skirt! Guys! Guys! Help!"

And the audio stopped.

"Still so sure Ouija Boards don't summon spirits?" Monk asked, looking at the young manager.

He ignored the question. "Looks like we found our trigger." He assumed his thinking pose.

"So, some girls were able to contact him with a Ouija Board and her decided to start attacking after twenty-five years?" Yasuhara repeated. "Still seems like a hell of a coincidence."

"He could have started to gain power by touching that one girl," Masako suggested, tilting her head.

"God, that's still freaky!" Kiko shivered. "Do we know when this video was made?"

"It's not finished," Lin said, shutting the group up as they turned their focus back to his laptop.

There was someone sitting in a dark room with a hoodie on. They couldn't see the person's face and when they finally spoke, their voice was disguised by some computer software.

"The video was made four months ago," the person answered. "And then the attacks started…"

"Mai-san, I don't know what you're talking about!" The nervous laugh the girl had given only told Mai that her suspicion was correct. "I told you everything that happened a couple nights ago. You got there before anything…you know…could happen."

"I'm not talking about Wednesday, Chinatsu-san," Mai said with a light shake of her head. She held her hand over her pocket where the note was. "How many others went through what you went through?"

"What do you mean?"

Mai finally pulled out the envelope. With a soft smile and sad eyes, she said, "How long have you been sleeping with the Headmaster?"

Thank you all for your reviews on the last chapter! I have never received so many in the first day of a post! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I hope you're all relieved that Mai didn't get raped, did you really think I'd let that happen? Things are going to be a little rocky for her and Naru, but things are going to get better. I promise!

Also thank you to those who have checked out The Haunt Continues! I'm very happy to see the reviews on it and I hope to update that one again soon. If anyone has any ideas for scenes for it, feel free to let me know and I'll try to accommodate it.

Thank you all for your support and please leave a review! :D