Refraction Case Four Part Five
"The Weight of Heavy Things"
Sorry for the delay lovelies. I had bronchitis last week and COVID this week.
As always, reviews are love and ghost hunt isn't mine.
"Being a candle is not easy, in order to give light, one must first burn." - Rumi
Yasu laid his research pages out on the table, side by side, reports and photos forming a rough timeline.
"The Caretaker and Father Higerashi make victims five and six in the last sixty years or so. Like his nephew uncovered, it's always men between 25 and 45. The deaths were spaced out rather erratically, so it may be a matter of opportunity rather than a pattern. Also, all spent significant time in the building."
"How significant?" Naru asked, pulling a photo over to peruse it.
"They all appeared to have spent at least one, if not several nights on the Church grounds." Yasu replied.
"The first death was Father Ozawa. He and his sister, An, lived on the grounds from the time construction was completed until his death eight years later. He was the parish Priest, and she acted as a housekeeper and gardener."
"And it was definitely a suicide?" Bou-san asked.
Yasu nodded. "There was a crowd of parishioners, including his own sister, who saw him jump. We have no way of knowing if he became the spirit, or was simply the Spirit's first victim, though."
"In my dream, his sister said he was acting strangely." Mai said, thinking back over the woman's words.
"He could have been possessed?" Masako offered.
"Your dream also mentioned An saying their Mother had similar symptoms, and had to be sent away." John said, tapping his finger on the table.
Are you thinking he was mentally ill?" Naru asked.
John shrugged. "Violent mood swings and suicide is not uncommon in that community if they don't have access to proper care. Back then, even less was known about mental health."
"Are the violently ill that much more likely to become restless spirits?" Yasu asked.
Bou-san nodded. "Between the strong emotions they're experiencing at the time of death, plus the greater likelihood that they have unfinished business, it can be quite likely."
"It's still just a theory." Naru said, frustration edging his voice. "We'll need to stay over night at the Church tonight. As always, anyone who is worried for their personal safety can leave. Masako, I know you need to head back tonight. Bou-san, would you please drive her?"
Bou-san opened his mouth to reply, but made a strangled "humph!" instead when Mai stomped on his foot under the table.
"Yasu has to go back for a test tomorrow anyway." She said brightly, attempting to project innocence into her next words. "He should take her."
"Yeah..." Bou-san mumbled, watching her warily out of the corner of his eye.
"Uh, sure." Yasu said, pushing up his glasses. He shot Mai a knowing look while at the far end, Masako simply blushed.
"Alright." Naru wasn't the least bit amused by their antics, apparently.
"The rest of us will head over to the Church then."
******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******
Mai sat in the stuffy stillness of the base, trying not to fall asleep. Naru had insisted she stay off her foot by staying in base with Lin, of all people.
She was overwhelmed with enthusiasm.
Her foot didn't even hurt that much anymore, but Naru hadn't been in a mood to hear her argument.
Lin was as silent as ever, but there was a tension to his silence that hadn't been there until recently. It reminded her of years ago, when they had fought over their respective nationalities.
She had thought all that was behind them, however.
Surely he wasn't holding a grudge over her fight with Naru? Lin could definitely hold a grudge but he was also usually pretty professional. If he had reason to believe the spirit was influencing them, surely he wouldn't hold her fight with Naru personally against her….
"Anything at your end?" Naru's voice came over the radio. Mai reached for their radio to reply, but Lin reached over, taking it out of her hand. She gaped at him, feeling her own irritation begin to stir.
"We're seeing some minor temperature fluctuations, upstairs at the moment." Lin said.
"Got it. We'll head up there then." Naru replied as Mai continued to seeth quietly.
Enough was enough.
She reached over, turning down the volume on their radio unit, just in case any of their conversation actually carried over to the others.
This was between them.
"Why are you so angry with me?" She said, turning to face Lin. She made sure her voice was calm-calm-calm. She didn't want to be accused of being overly emotional or unprofessional. But they obviously needed to clear the air.
There was a long silence where she thought he might not even bother to answer her, before he said simply "I'm not."
"Yeah, right." She answered sarcastically. "You obviously have a problem with me. Look at what happened earlier."
"As Naru said, the Spirit was influencing our actions." He said, refusing to face her.
"No." She retorted. "He thinks the Spirit is amplifying emotions we already have. In other words, you were already mad at me."
The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, but Mai refused to back down.
She needed answers.
"You're dangerous to Naru." Lin said, finally turning to face her.
"Huh?" She said, jaw dropping.
"You heard me. You're dangerous to Naru, and a liability to this team." Lin snapped.
"What gives you the right to say that to me?" She said, fury and hurt welling up.
"In the one year we were last in Japan, Naru used his PK three times, ending up in the hospital twice. Do you know what the one common denominator was in each of those situations?" Lin questioned sharply.
A chill began to creep over her.
"Ghosts?" She said weakly, dreading where this conversation seemed to be heading.
"You, Mai. You were there." Lin said, watching for her reaction.
Pain shot through her at his words.
Was that the truth?
"Are you saying he hasn't used his PK once in the last four years?" She asked finally in disbelief. "Ever?"
"Not once. You are the only explanation." Lin said with finality.
She shook her head, wiping away an angry tear. "You told me that last time it WASN'T my fault." She pointed out.
"It may not be your fault, that's true." Lin conceded. "Buts it's naive to ignore the fact that you are obviously as much of a trigger to Naru as you are to the Spirits. You're rash and emotional, you always end up in trouble. Naru-"
"Feels responsible for me?" She finished, heart sinking. "I know I was difficult to work with back then. I didn't understand the job, or my own abilities. But I also didn't have all of the information I needed in order to make good decisions. I didn't know who you really were, or what he was capable of. I didn't seek you guys out. You guys came to me to ask me to help you rebuild the team, because you had lied to everyone so much that no one trusted you anymore. I have spent years honing my ability so that I can be useful, and so I don't get anyone hurt. And I have done nothing but try and maintain a professional relationship with Naru, and you since you returned. I don't deserve this." She bit off the last words, voice tight from struggling not to cry.
"Your professionalism got you and Yasu stranded on a mountain a few weeks ago. And before that, that stunt with the water god. Face it Mai, you're still just a little girl pretending to be a ghost hunter." Lin's words were laced with acid.
Silly little girl….
She looked away, mind swirling with angry and hurt thoughts. If she stayed in that room a moment longer, she'd probably say something she'd regret...
"I'm going to walk around the ground floor." She said, grabbing a camera from the desk before practically running out of the room. She ignored the pain in her ankle. She could hear Lin hot on her heels.
She entered the main room of the Church. She thought John had called it the Sanctuary.
"Mai!" Lin's voice was furious as he caught her by the shoulder, spinning her around to face him. He pulled her, hard, probably harder than he meant to and she nearly dropped the camera as she pinwheeled around.
"You need to let go of me!" She cried, shrugging his arm off.
"This is exactly what I mean. You always let your emotions cloud your judgement. No one is supposed to go anywhere alone but you run off, alone, at night. Do you like having him rescue you? Is that it?" Lin cried.
She reared back in shock.
"How..dare..you." She finally choked up, camera clenched in her shaking hands.
"How can I think otherwise when you constantly make decisions that might force him to use his powers? You're not a child anymore." Lin accused.
She knew that.
Of course, she knew that.
Her powers were based on her ability to sympathize with the spirits, however. She literally wouldn't be who she was if she didn't feel things so deeply.
She did her best to stay out of Naru's way, now, too. She rode with other people, sat by other people at meals. She did everything she could think of to keep things professional between her and Naru.
She didn't want to be someone who had to be rescued over and over again. She'd never forget how terrified she'd been outside that cave years ago.
"You need to start take accountability for your actions!" Lin intoned, and she snapped.
"I know that! What do you think I'm trying to do!-"
The candlestick flew out from nowhere. Silver and obviously heavy, it smashed into a pew hard enough to send splinters of wood flying up.
Mai screamed in surprise as she and Lin ducked, searching the room for more projectiles.
Something else clattered, it sounded like a plate hitting the ground.
The glass in the window panes rattled softly, and she tensed, in case they blew in. She was kneeling between two pews, facing Lin across the aisle. Lin's head was swiveling back and forth, obviously looking for danger, but it was the aggression on his face that alarmed her.
Lin never showed that much emotion…
Somewhere, a door slammed.
She swallowed, half rising from her crouch. A book flew towards her and she ducked.
"Mai, stay down damn it." The words were right but the voice was wrong, and all Mai knew right now was that she didn't want to be alone with Lin right now. Maybe she was overreacting but…
Taking one last look at Lin, she dodged another book and bolted for the door.
"Mai! Stop it already!"
He was behind her, and maybe he was trying to keep her safe, but to her it only felt like being chased…
She collided with a body at the door, Naru's hands grabbing her shoulders to keep her from falling. Behind her she heard Lin skid to a stop.
Naru looked from her to Lin and back quickly, trying to figure out what was happening. She shook her head, forcing her face to go blank.
If this place was messing with them she didn't want to level false accusations against Lin because she was in a panic.
"Mai?" Bou-San pushed forward, and she pulled out of Naru's grasp to go to him, smiling weakly.
"We've been getting quite the show here." She said weakly, edging behind him to hide her hands from Naru. As discreetly as she could, she began to erase the camcorder tape.
That was not a video she wanted anyone to hear. She saw John watching her out of the corner of her eye, but if he knew what she was doing, he remained silent.
"What happened?" Naru demanded. Looking between the two of them, his eyes narrowed. "We tried radioing base, but no one answered. Why did you leave?"
Mai didn't answer, simply looking away. Now that the others were here, she was beginning to calm down.
And doubt herself. Lin had left the safety of the base to follow her….
Her fault again.
"The Spirit seems to react strongly to Mai. I suggest we send her back to the motel." Lin said suddenly, and all the air seemed to rush out of Mai's lungs. Was he really going to turn all of this back on her?
She knew he was acting out of concern for Naru.
But it didn't lessen the sting any.
"I'll sleep in the van." She said, shoving the now empty camcorder at John.
Apparently she was only useful when she was unconscious.
******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******
She walked beside Gene in the late afternoon's fading light. They appeared to once again be on the Church's ground, but she didn't recognize the path they were on.
The reached a small clearing up ahead.
She could hear weeping, sad enough to break a heart. Mai's own body once again felt overwhelmed with sadness.
"Breathe, Mai." Gene said gently, squeezing her hand, and after a moment, she squeezed back.
She forced herself to watch instead of simply getting caught up in the feelings.
The woman was facing away from them. She was several years older than the last dream Mai had had of her, but her gut to her it was the same woman.
An.
She was kneeling, pulling plants out of the ground in a jerking fashion.
She was weeding?
But why here, in the middle of a copse of trees? Who would plant a garden here then come tend it while crying?
She wished she could see her face-
"Mai. Mai..." The hand on her shoulder was gentle, the voice concerned.
"John." She said, sitting up quickly. Vertigo assailed her for a moment.
"Whoa, easy there." John helped steady her.
It was late, not quite morning but she sensed it wasn't far away.
"What happened?" She asked, still sorting her dream from reality.
"You were crying. Should I go get Bou-san? Or….Naru?" He added the last somewhat warily.
She shook her head, deep in thought. Naru was the last person she needed to be around right now.
What she needed to do was her job.
She looked up. "Will you come somewhere with me?"
He frowned.
"I don't think they want you back inside." He said gently.
She shook her head. "I'm not going inside. I want to go to the cemetery. There's something there...I think."
He studied her for a moment before grinning. "Who needs job security?"
She felt a pang of guilt. "John, I don't want you to get in trouble with Naru..."
He arched a brow at her. "The only thing that would get him madder at me than going with you right now is if I let you go by yourself. He's a little..."
"Controlling?" She supplied.
"Concerned. With the whole team, of course. But you've always been a priority of his." John said reluctantly. "And with what happened earlier…" He let the sentence drift off, an obvious offer to talk, but she merely shook her head. The episode between her and Lin earlier was even more confusing than her dreams.
She grabbed the camera John had brought with him, and they headed towards the cemetery, flashlights trained on the path ahead of them. She picked her footing carefully, tried to protect her ankle as best she could. As long as stepped lightly, it didn't hurt.
"Why'd you come out, anyway?" She asked, voice unconsciously hushed in the pre-dawn stillness.
"Naru was worried about you being by yourself. He's inside with Bou-san and Lin." John said in a voice that made her think he'd been happy to take a break.
They reached the cemetery.
"What are we looking for, exactly?" John asked, turning in a slow circle.
"I don't know." She answered honestly, glad she was with John, the one team member at the moment who wouldn't give her grief for that answer.
A stone near the fence caught her eye, and she stepped forward, aiming the beam of her flashlight on the words.
"An Ozawa…" She read.
The first Priest's sister. She'd died less than a decade after her bother.
The woman from Mai's dream.
Looking at the fence, she remembered the path she had thought she had seen from the window.
"This way..." She motioned to John, and they walked out of the gate, following the fence to where the tree line encroached on the cemetery.
"I think there used to be a path here..." She started towards the old path, John trailing behind her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Naru's harsh voice nearly gave her a heart attack.
Mai and John whirled around the way they had come.
Naru, Lin and Bou-San stood at the gates to the cemetery.
Mai sighed, already anticipating another fight.
"Naru. It's okay. She wasn't going alone, and she wasn't back in the Church." John said, a faint thread of anger in his own voice, surprising her.
"It's not safe. You heard Lin earlier. The Spirit is targeting Mai." Bou-san said, gesturing wildly.
Mai frowned. Was it just her imagination or did Bou-san sound strange now too? Or maybe she was just being completely paranoid because SHE was the one being affected…
"He didn't say it was targeting her. He said she "triggered it". John retorted. "But it never happened around you or me. Just Lin and Naru. For all we know, they're the triggers."
"Mai is obviously the trigger. We've seen it before." Lin said coldly.
"Besides, that doesn't mean it's okay to just wander off in the woods with her." Naru accused coldly. "Especially since you're not a Priest anymore."
"What is that supposed to mean?" John asked, stepping forward.
"Exactly what I said. I don't even know why you left the Priesthood. No one does, except for Mai." Naru said, stepping forward also.
"I can protect her just as well as you can. I might not even end up in the hospital." John shouted.
"Unless you can exercise a Spirit without the blessing of the Church behind you, you're obviously not able to protect her." Bou-san exclaimed.
"She shouldn't be wondering off without permission anyway." Naru said.
"She's not your pet!" Bou-san exclaimed angrily. "I don't like how you and Lin have been treating her on this case!"
"What exactly are you going to do about it?" Lin said in low challenge.
"What the hell is going on here?" The voice from behind them had all four men spinning around.
Ayako stood in the moonlight, an angry tigress. Still in her work clothes, she'd obviously come right after her shift at the hospital.
"I got a weird email from Mai a few hours ago, asking me to pick her up. Now she's not answering her phone, and I find you boys arguing out here like little kids!" She threw her arms up in frustration. The four men glared at each other angrily.
"Well? Where is she? What the hell have you jerks done now?" She cried, stepping forward.
"She's right-" John's eyes widened in horror as he and the others looked around quickly.
Mai was gone.
******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******ghosthunt******
Mai followed the ghostly figure through the trees.
Well, she followed the image on the camera, anyway.
The fight had already started to escalate when she had glanced down at the camcorder still in her hand. It was running, and aimed towards the path she and John had been about to go down.
The ghostly figure of the woman had been clearly evident in the camcorder viewfinder, but when she looked up, she could see nothing with her own two eyes.
She had followed instinctively. Something had been leading towards this path all day now, but every time she'd tried to investigate, something or someone had stopped her.
As she moved through the trees, she could hear the echoes of the guys fighting.
She was sure this was somehow going to end up being her fault, but she couldn't bring her self to care.
She didn't know if this was the work of the spirit, or if it was just their own ghosts coming back to haunt them.
"Are we taking the train somewhere?" Naru had asked skeptically, as they walked through the crowds at Shinjuku Station.
"We don't need to." She replied as they came across the box city. Large boxes were lined up neatly in rows, arranged in some order she didn't truly understand. Homeless men sat and laid down here in there, as the crowds bustled by, ignoring them.
"Even cities can be haunted." She said, gesturing towards the small community. "This is where the ghosts of Tokyo gather."
She shook her head. She didn't know why that memory in particular was pushing up right now, but it wasn't the time.
She needed to focus on the ghost in front of her.
She tripped over a tree root in the dark, the pain in her ankle flaring up again in indignation. The trees were pressing closer together. No one had walked this path in a long time.
Still, she knew it couldn't go on much further...
"He lives here?" Naru had asked, for once completely, visibly shocked.
She shook her head. "No, he couldn't. Even with the Church maintaining his work visa, the authorities wouldn't overlook a foreigner actually sleeping here."
"Why does the Church still maintain his Visa if he's left the Priesthood?" Naru asked, surveying the area. "And where does he actually live?"
"I don't know." She replied. "I get the feeling they are still hoping he returns to the fold."
She reached into the bag she was carrying, pulling out several cookies which she began passing out.
"Have you seen Brown-san?" She would ask quietly each time.
"I think he stays in capsule motels or Internet cafes at night. He works at a bakery during the day. In the afternoon he comes here with the Bakery's leftovers." She explained as she finished handing out the cookies.
"Once a week, I pick up some of his clothes and wash them for him. I always meet him here." She finished.
Something behind her caught her eye, and her stomach clenched. She prayed John would actually take Naru up on his offer...
She stared down at the small gravestone. It was unremarkable, without decoration or embellishment.
Only a name and set of dates.
Hiro Ozawa.
He'd been 27.
Plants grew up around the stone, as if strangling it...
"Oh my god, Mai!" Ayako called, running up behind her and throwing her arms around the solemn girl. "I thought we'd lost you..."
"I wasn't lost." Mai replied, still staring at the stone. "I knew exactly where I was."
"Mai, why didn't you wait for us?" Bou-san added, coming up to the two women.
"You were busy." Mai said flatly, stepping out of Ayako's arms.
Bou-san and John had the grace to look abashed, but both Naru and Lin were as unreadable as ever.
"This is what my dreams have been trying to show me." She continued in the same flat tone.
"Her brother was the only family she had left. She watched him turn into a stranger before her very eyes. Then he died and they buried him out here. I don't know why that matters though."
She was tired.
"It's not a consecrated ground, like the cemetery." John supplied gently. "Just like Father Higerashi wasn't given last rights because they ruled it a suicide."
"There you go." Mai said, turning to Ayako. "Can I crash at your place tonight?"
There was a stunned silence from the group. "Sure, Mai. If that's what you really want..."
It was obvious Ayako was surprised by Mai's wanting to leave before the case was fully resolved.
"I am." Mai said resolutely. She felt empty, wore out.
"So you'll leave before we've finished the job?" Naru said coldly.
Ayako's face transformed from concerned to furious in a heartbeat.
The sound of her slap echoed in the tiny clearing.
Beside Mai, Bou-san tensed.
"Don't you dare talk to her about leaving..." Ayako hissed.
"Ayako, go. Take Mai and go." Bou-san was now standing between Ayako and Naru and Lin.
Mai watched with wide eyes.
"Let's go Mai." Ayako said, dragging her out of the clearing.