Refraction Case 5-Flickering Fears
As always lovely duckies, not my sandbox, just my sandcastle.
Mai stared at the young girl in front of her in consternation.
Where did she know her from?
She was achingly familiar…
Her eyes widened.
"Ayame?"
With a huge grin, the girl threw herself into Mai's arms.
"Mai! I've missed you!".
Ghost*Hunt*
Mai sat the cup of cocoa in front of the girl before settling in her own seat. Several of the other SPR members, including Naru & Lin, ranged around them in the sitting area.
"Ayame, your house was quite far away if I remember correctly. How did you get here by yourself?"
It was John's gentle question but Mai found herself nodding along. The trip was far too long for a kid of Ayame's age to take by themselves.
Thinking about Ayame's home was enough to have Mai repressing a shudder. Being pulled into that well had been one of the most frightening things that had ever happened to her, at that point in her life anyway.
She glanced up to see Naru watching her. Quirking a one-sided grin she half-shrugged before turning her attention back to Ayame.
"Don't worry, my new home isn't very far away." The younger girl said blithely, unaware of Mai's inner musings.
They listened as Ayame explained why she had taken it upon herself to visit them.
Ayame's stepmother had never returned. Likewise, her father had continued to work overseas. Ayame's Aunt had unofficially adopted the girl, more or less. A little less than a year after their investigation, she had married. Her new husband treated Ayame like his own, and Ayame had been thrilled when her Aunt had given birth to a little girl.
Now four, the little girl was like a sister to Ayame.
"And I'm really glad I found you guys, because Yuki's school is totally haunted." The girl announced, almost cheerfully.
The SPR team exchanged glances. True, Ayame obviously had more experience than most kids her age when it came to the supernatural, but still, what were the odds….
"Why do you say that?" Naru wasn't exactly using his 'charm' voice, but he'd nevertheless injected a degree of warmth into his voice he didn't usually bother with.
Ayame just shook her head, eyes wide. "The fires. Well, the imaginary fires…..well, maybe they're imaginary, and they just smell real…."
"Fires?" Mai asked in alarm.
The girl sighed. "I got ahead of myself. Aunt says I'm bad about that. She doesn't know I'm here, by the way. She hates talking about ghost stuff….."
Slowly they got the story out of her, in bits and pieces. Yuki had started school this spring. At first, she had loved it. But then Ayame had started finding pictures in the room they shared, pictures that looked wrong to her.
Pictures of things on fire. She began to ask Yuki's friends and some of the older kids in the grade school.
Lots of them told the same story- the smell of smoke lingering where it shouldn't, fire alarms going off for no reason, even small fires actually starting in the wastebaskets.
"This is in an elementary school, and no one's done anything about it?" Ayako shook her head in disapproval.
"My Aunt has rallied some of the parents together to insist on them checking the electricity and stuff." Ayame agreed.
"But she's afraid people will "gossip" if she mentions ghosts" Ayame actually did air quotations when she repeated the word gossip, forcing Mai to stifle a smile.
Then she sighed. "Your Aunt isn't wholly wrong to be concerned. The school grapevine is brutal, especially on the moms."
She glanced at her teammates, catching Naru's eye for a moment. Ever so slightly, he shook his head and she nodded her understanding.
"The problem is, we can't really investigate until we've been requested." Mai said it as gently as she could. It sounded to her like supernatural phenomena should at least be ruled out, but that still didn't mean they could interject themselves where they weren't wanted.
"I know. But today someone got burned. It's escalating!" She said escalating with the surety that only a child parroting a trusted adult they had overheard could have.
"Who got hurt?" Ayako questioned immediately.
"The Teacher's aid, Sakura-Sensei dropped water on herself in art class. It was only tap water, but an ambulance had to come because she had big burns all over herself and all the kids got sent home early."
Mai sat back in her seat, sharing troubled looks with her teammates.
"I suppose…I could make some calls." Naru didn't sound unsure, exactly. More like…doubtful.
She wondered if he doubted whether it was an actual case or doubtful he could persuade the school to let them investigate.
"No. Let me. Whatever is wrong at Yuki's school, a child is going to get hurt if it isn't stopped." Ayako was using her doctor's voice.
Naru was gracious enough (or simply wise enough) to simply nod in acquiesce.
Ghost*Hunt*
Three days later, Mai and Masako found themselves curiously poking around an empty classroom.
"So, we have tonight through Tuesday night, since the kids are on a mini-break." Mai finished explaining.
Masako frowned. "That's only four days. We barely managed to close the festival case in that amount of time, and we don't have Bou-San with us this time."
It was true, it was a tight deadline even if they had the full team. But Bou-san had concerts this week a few cities away.
On the bright side, not only did they have a fully sanctified Father John Brown back with them, they had Ayako.
It just sucked that they could never seem to have Ayako and Bs at the SAME time.
"I've investigated several high schools, and even a few middle schools. But I have to admit, this is my first elementary school investigation. It's a little…disconcerting…" Masako's voice echoed in the empty classroom.
"Right? Like all the tiny desks and chairs should be cute, but instead, it's just creepier somehow." Mai realized she was whispering too.
"By the way," She added. "Naru wanted to know if you were up to doing an exorcism tonight. He hasn't said, but I think he's worried about the tight deadline too."
"A seance already?" Masako mused. "I don't see why not, but I'll admit, it's a little disconcerting for me to go in blind like this."
"I have no problem telling him no." Mai offered. "I know Yasu wants to help but he has several exams this week. It's really just us, Lin, Naru, Ayako & John."
Masako shook her head. "The time constraint isn't really anything he has any control over. Do we have any background at all on this building?"
Mai nodded as they began to walk down the darkened hallway. "It's been a school for about 30 years now. Before that, it was store fronts. But if there were any deaths, we haven't identified them yet."
"So it could be a spirit, or a residual haunting, or even a hex of some sort?" Masako frowned as she listed the various possibilities.
"Or nothing at all. Bad wiring?" Mai said, though to be honest, she didn't really believe it. Something about the building just seemed...off.
It was nothing she could put her finger on exactly. It was even possible she was just overly creeped out by how eerie the empty classrooms were.
It was a cheery enough building during the day, she'd guess. But as the sun began to set, the cheery yellow walls began to take on a sickly hue. The walls were decorated with the children's artwork, but somehow, they felt more like props in a horror movie than the work of real, healthy ALIVE children.
"It's the juxtaposition that's making it feel so creepy." Ayako said as she joined them.
"Juxtaposition?" Mai said, gargling the syllables of the English word in her mouth.
"Hmm." Ayako agreed. "I feel the same way in the children's ward at the hospital, especially at night. The walls are decorated with art, bright colors, toys, and yet, it's often empty. Places where it looks like there should be laughter but instead there's only silence."
Her voice was tinged with introspection and Mai had to look away, swallowing hard.
She really hoped this case wasn't too hard on her honorary big sister.
"Do you sense anything in particular?" Ayako asked Masako, voice returning to her normal, brisk & business-like tone.
Masako frowned. "...Maybe?" She sounded unsure.
Mai hated the part of her that was secretly relieved. She also wasn't sure, and she hated the thought that it was her inability to utilize her powers that might be the problem.
But she also hated the idea of being pleased with her friend's failure. What kind of insecure jerk felt better when someone else failed?
The three were walking towards the cafeteria, where Naru and the others were setting up for Masako's seance when Mai suddenly paused, frowning.
"Was that a...hot spot?" She questioned, feeling off-center.
Cold spots, sure. But had she ever encountered a ghost who caused hot spots? Was that even possible? Poltergeist activity could make things feel warm...
Ayako frowned. "I didn't feel any heat, exactly. But I think I smell smoke?"
And now that she said that, Mai thought she could smell smoke as well, just the faintest whiff. But it was also possible she was only imagining it, because of what Ayako had said.
"You guys go ahead. I'm going to go back that way for a few minutes." Mai gestured back the way they had come.
Ayako frowned, "Are you sure?"
Mai shrugged. "I think I'd like to try and get a better feel for the place. Besides, it's not like Naru has escalated protocols already. This building is full of kids every day. This spirit or whatever it is can't be too aggressive."
Masako frowned. "If we're being honest, spirits don't really respond to you the way they do to everyone else..." It was obvious she was trying to be as gentle as possible as she made her point.
Mai stuck her tongue out at her anyway. "If we're being honest, that's my life everyday. Investigations aren't necessarily that different. Look what happened at the festival."
"That's true. Let her go, Masako. She's lived with her abilities for years now." Ayako smiled warmly at Mai, before making a stern face. "Just don't take any unnecessary risks."
Mai mock saluted. "Not planning too. I won't be long, I just want to...soak it in a little."
She wasn't planning on going deeper or anything like that. She just couldn't be sure if what she was sensing was some kind of spirit, or if she was just reacting to the 'juxtaposition' as Ayako had suggested.
She wandered back down the hallway as the shadows lengthened around her. She had a flashlight stuck in her back pocket, but it wasn't truly dark yet, so she didn't bother to switch it on.
Up ahead, she saw a room marked "Art Room".
Remembering what Ayame had said about Yuki's artwork, she tried the door handle. It wasn't locked, and it opened silently on well oiled hinges.
No Hollywood-esque creaks or squeals here.
Slowly she entered the room, looking around curiously. Windows lined the far wall, making it brighter than the hall behind her, though even that light was beginning to fade fast.
Artwork and supplies lined every wall and surface. The room was very well equipped, and Mai wondered if this was ordinarily quite a nice school.
She wandered further into the room, spying a row of paintings on the far wall. Slowly, she looked them over one by one. Her frown deepened.
Mai wondered if the art teacher had noticed. It appeared Yuki wasn't the only student with a fascination with fire. The scenes were fairly normal stock for an elementary school, until you realized that more and more of the scenes contained fire.
Fireplaces, fire pits, elaborate candelabras.
"Fire." Mai whispered, touching one picture gently.
"It could have been a theme of some sort."
Naru's voice behind her had her spinning around, hand clutched to her chest.
"Give a girl some warning." She said, glaring at him.
It felt like her heart was going to fly out of her chest.
"Tell a guy when you're going to wander around in the middle of an investigation." He returned drolly, coming to stand beside her.
She sighed, turning back to face the pictures. "I told Masako and Ayako what I was doing..." She murmured, studying the images closer. "What did you mean, a theme?"
"Perhaps they were supposed to draw something which featured fire?"
"In elementary school?" She wondered out loud. "More than anything, it looks like pictures of their daily lives. The fire is the only thing that doesn't fit."
"Have you sensed anything?" He asked.
She shook her head. She supposed it was progress that he was asking her, but she didn't know what to tell him.
"This place is a little weird, not sure why though." She said finally.
"Probably just the juxtaposition of the children's materials and the absence of actual children…" He said.
She shot him a dirty look. Fancy words, yeah, yeah…..
"Let's head back and see if Masako's ready." He replied, grasping her elbow to usher her ahead of him.
She stalled for one last minute, looking searchingly at the pictures on the wall.
So much fire.
Ghost*Hunt*
Mai watched her friend, trying her best to maintain a sense of calm. Masako had once mentioned that it could be more difficult to hold a seance if the other people around her were overly emotional.
So Mai closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself like a blank canvas. She focused on Masako's voice instead of the words.
The seance's were always some variation of the basic one Masako preferred, and this one was no different since they had no idea what they were dealing with.
So Mai focused on Masako's voice.
Naru had once referred to Masako as an "imperfect medium", since she always spoke in Japanese, even if the spirit she was channeling would normally speak in another language.
Naru felt that meant Masako was, however unwittingly, translating the spirit's words.
And one thing every language major knew was that translations were seldom perfect.
But one thing Mai thought Masako did get right was the voice, however.
That is to say, the inflection and intonation. The pauses and pitch that made each person's voice different.
It was a little disconcerting to watch another voice come out of her friend's mouth, however, so Mai often closed her eyes to better focus on the words and voice.
"Is there anyone here who would like to speak with us?" John was asking the question first.
Different spirits responded to different triggers. Many spirits took to John, though older ones sometimes wouldn't if they perceived him as a foreigner. But kids often did well with him.
If John was unable to elicit a response, they would take turns trying.
Silence.
"I'd really like to talk to you?" John kept his voice friendly and inviting.
Next Lin tried.
"We are here to speak to the restless spirits trapped here." He intoned seriously.
Mai was glad her eyes were closed so no one could see her roll them, though she probably made a face anyway.
The only kid who had probably ever responded to that tone was Naru.
"I summon the spirits haunting this building. Come forth, and tell us your name."
Mai found it curious that Ayako was using her priestess voice. For some reason, she had expected her to use her Doctor voice.
"Mai."
Naru was immediately to her right.
She exhaled slowly.
"Hello."
Her eyes opened in surprise. She hasn't exactly planned to say something so simple, if only because it made her feel so bumbling and inept compared to the others. But sometimes her instincts just took over.
Like now.
"Hello."
Mai's eyes flew to Masako's face.
It was Masako-but-not. Her face was serene but also watchful at the same time. Mai would almost call it cagey.
Naru squeezed her hand gently, a reminder to resume the conversation, but Mai hesitated.
She felt like it was the spirit of a child….
"How old are you?" She asked, careful to keep her voice steady.
"How old are you?" The answer came quickly, the barest hint of defiance ringing the words.
Mai switched tactics.
"Do you like going to school here?"
It was just a guess.
Not-Masako made a face.
"This school isn't very nice."
"How come?" Mai had closed her eyes again, trying to focus on Masako's intonation.
Instead of answering, Masako began humming. After a moment, she softly began singing.
"Ring around the rosies…"
Mai felt chills dance down her spine. The hair on her arms was beginning to stand at attention. Beside her, Naru squeezed her hand again, perhaps in warning as he felt the change in the air.
Not-Masako was still singing, but now, Mai could definitely smell smoke. She wanted to open her eyes, to look around to make sure nothing near them was actually smoldering, but her instincts warned her not to.
"My name is Mai." She offered, wincing as Naru squeezed her hand again, this time in obvious disapproval.
Some spirits were better able to possess a person once they had been given that person's name.
"Stop. I don't have a choice." In her irritation, she opened her eyes to shoot a glare at her boss.
He was scowling back at her.
Across from them, Masako was still singing, getting louder with each verse.
The smell of smoke was much stronger now, and she could see the others looking around in trepidation as well.
"Ashes, ashes…"
Something was wrong. She shot a worried look at Naru, but he was watching Not-Masako too intently to notice.
"WE ALL FALL DOWN!" Masako was yelling the last part, her voice echoing in the room and Mai could taste the smoke in her mouth even though she still couldn't see it. The taste of soot and cinder made her want to gag. The scent of smoke was so strong now that she found herself looking around the room wildly to make sure no fires hadn't actually started while they weren't paying attention.
She could feel the tension running through Naru through their clasped hands, but his face remained stoic as always as he kept his eyes locked on Masako.
Suddenly Masako wrenched her hands free from John and Ayako, pushing back from the table violently. She bent forward, coughing, almost gagging.
"Masako?" Ayako crouched in front of the girl quickly, but Masako put her hands up, warding her off. She was still coughing, now so hard that tears were tracking down her cheeks as she attempted to get a good breath in.
'Easy...easy. Put your arms above your head, it will help open up your airways." Ayako soothed, shooting a worried look over her shoulder to where Mai and Naru were standing.
"I'm okay...she's gone now. Just...coughing."
She certainly didn't sound okay, however. Her voice was a breathy wreck, and she winced as she spoke, as if talking hurt her.
"Someone get my bag." Ayako said, all business.
Mai started to comply, suddenly realizing she and Naru were still holding hands. Startled, she opened her hand, but it took a second before Naru also released her- by then John was already back at Ayako's side with her medical bag.
Rummaging through it with a quick, professional air, she pulled out what Mai would refer to as a pen light, though she supposed Ayako probably had some terribly technical medical name for it.
"Open your mouth and let me see." The words were brusque but her tone was gentle as she shone the light in Masako's mouth. She frowned suddenly, looking puzzled.
"What's wrong with her? Do we need an ambulance?" Naru asked.
Ayako opened her mouth to reply, then bit her lip, looking a little flummoxed.
"How do you feel? How bad does your throat hurt?" She asked Masako, the uncertain look not leaving her face.
Beside Mai, Naru opened his mouth, probably to demand an explanation, but Mai placed a hand on his arm without thinking.
"Give her a minute." She chided gently.
Flicking his unhappy eyes at her, he grudgingly shut his mouth to wait not-so-patiently.
"Not bad. Except.."
"When you try to talk?" Ayako finished for her, and Masako nodded gratefully, rubbing her throat in bewilderment.
"Let me listen to your chest really quick, and then I'll tell you what I'm seeing." Ayako said, glancing at the others.
They waited expectantly as she listened to Masako breath deeply several times, moving the stethoscope from the girl's chest to her back.
"Enough. If it warrants this level of attention let's take her to the hospital." Nothing shortened Naru's temper faster than frustration.
Ayako sighed, pulling her stethoscope out of her ears as she looked at them. "That would be an interesting conversation. One I'm not actually sure how to explain."
"Start by explaining to me." Naru demanded, clearly losing patience completely.
"Well, the best explanation I can come up with is that it appears to be smoke inhalation damage, except...it's old."
Mai made a confused face. "I don't understand."
"I almost don't." Ayako admitted. "Masako, nothing was wrong with your throat before, correct? Absolutely nothing?"
Masako opened her mouth to respond, before thinking better of it. Frowning, she shook her head in strong negation. She even put her arms up in an "x" shape in front of her for emphasis.
"Well, you do now. The best diagnosis would be healing smoke inhalation. Your chest sounds clear as a whistle however, or you would need a hospital. Does your chest hurt, feel tight, or are you short of breath?"
Again, Masako shook her head before tapping her neck.
"Just her throat? Is it likely to get worse? Does she require observation?" Lin asked this time, probably to attempt to defuse their boss who had an actual nerve twitching under his eye from Ayako's meandering explanation.
"Well, if it was fresh, I'd say yes. But the weird thing is, it looks several days old, perhaps as much as a week. Her throat hurts when she uses it but not much otherwise. If she were a normal patient I'd say she had probably been pulled out of a fire about a week ago."
"Even though we just saw it happen?" Mai asked, trying to follow Ayako's logic.
The woman nodded solemnly. "I can't identify any reason why she'd be at any additional risk, especially with me here. The ER would almost certainly assume this was an older injury and send her home to finish healing.
Naru looked down, processing everything Ayako had just said. Then he looked up at Masako.
"What do you want to do?"
Mai was almost proud of him for asking.
Masako bit her lip for a moment, before pointing slowly at the ground.
Stay on the case.
"Are you certain?" Naru pressed, and she shook her head in agreement.
He sighed. "Let's pack up for the night. I don't think it's wise to sleep here tonight."
Mai frowned. They were on too tight of a schedule to call it quits for the night already. Plus, they now knew definitively that there was at least one ghost present on the school's property.
"What if John and I stayed to finish setting up equipment?" She offered, trying to compromise. They could focus extra cameras around the art room perhaps….
"No." Naru said shortly. "We'll do it in the morning. We've ascertained there is definitely something paranormal happening. The equipment at this point really only offers a validation of the investigation.