Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt

Chapter 13: Power Struggle

"Gene!" Masako cried out, bolting from my side towards our boss' twin brother.

I spun around, taking in the sight before me. Gene lay slumped on the ground. Masako and Naru crouched beside him. Masako held her trembling hands over her mouth, not even daring to breathe. She reached out a cautious hand to touch his hand, but jerked it back like a snake had bitten her, letting out a shriek of fear.

I rushed to her side. "Masako, what happened?" I asked pulling her away from Gene as Naru and Yasu lifted him into a sitting position.

Masako buried her face in my shoulder, breathing deep shuddering breathes. "H-he possessed Gene," she whispered, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she shook with fear, "S-so evil. There's something wrong with him. Not right. Not the same…" Her words diminished into unintelligible phrases. She continued to shudder like a wounded dog.

I looked up at Naru with wide-eyes. He was watching me intently. "She said that… that Gene was possessed and that the ghost was evil and not right and not the same. I don't know what she means-" My words trailed off as I remembered my dreams. There had been something off about all of those guys. It was like they had been the same person, but then again not. What could cause something like that in a person?

My mind reeled as I attempted to come up with an answer that would make sense. Nothing did.

If my eyes could have gotten any wider, they would have. "J-John. We have to find John right now." I struggled to my feet, still supporting Masako. Yasu took her. Everyone gave me a questioning look. "You said you think that there are three ghosts. John was possessed and now Gene is possessed. If we find John and he still is than that supports the three ghosts theory," I explained with a stutter, nearly vibrating with the need to put together a new piece of the puzzle.

"Why would it be anything other than three ghosts?" Jessica asked in broken Japanese, looking from one person to another.

"Because Masako said that was ghost was not right that he was not the same. That means that we could be missing something really important. There may be something wrong with the ghost that followed him into the afterlife," Mai tried to explain, ringing the hem of her shirt between her fists and staring at the ground.

"Yes, that's possible, but there's also another problem," Monk interjected with a deep frown, "Why did the ghost choose Gene? Every brunette that we spoke to said that the black haired males were reserved and seemed to hate everybody. That sounds more like Naru than Gene! Why would the ghost go for Gene when he's the complete opposite of Naru?"

I immediately opened my mouth to reply, but then shut it just as quickly. I didn't have an answer for him. It didn't make sense. As far as she could tell Gene didn't like anybody in their group and hadn't been at the school long enough to fall in love with some random girl. I bit my lip in concentration, my eyes going unfocussed.

The conversation Masako and I had been having only minutes ago floated through my mind. "Naru isn't the one I'm talking about. There are others in this room that have strong feelings for you. Also, something about these entities tells me that they wouldn't be averse to taking over someone different from their usual possession to get to you or someone who interests them," she had told me.

I completely disregarded the first part of what she'd told me and focused on the second part. "Exceptions. He's making and exception," I whispered in realization, shock freezing my in place. My hands stilled and my breath caught.

Damien's eyes darted from Jessica to me with worry etched into his eyes. It was two different types of worry, but it was still present, just like it was in everyone else's expressions.

My shock would have consumed me if it weren't for Naru's voice. I inhaled sharply as he began talking. "We'll contact Ayako and bring her in. If both John and Gene are possessed, we need them exorcised as soon as possible," Naru said, looking to Lin who nodded in understanding. He started walking out the door when Monk spoke up.

"No!" he cried, a wild look coming into his eyes. Negative emotions ranging from anger to worry swirled around him. "We can't bring her in!"

"Why?" Naru asked coldly, leveling a glare at Monk.

"B-because…" He trailed off. He didn't have one excuse, at least not a suitable excuse.

Naru looked to Lin again and Lin nodded. He left the room before Monk could come up with an argument to stop him. The room went silent.

Without Naru's voice to ground me, my shock started sucking me in again. I struggled to breathe as my mind whirred at ten times the speed it usually did. Black encroached on my peripheral vision. My mind swam sluggishly. It was almost impossible to stand upright.

The blackness wasn't natural. It wasn't the blackness that overtook me when I didn't get enough oxygen. It writhed and pulsed with its own life. It was the blackness that accompanied my dream world, but it didn't overtake me in one swift motion as it usually did. Something was very wrong.

A hand landed on my shoulder. "Mai, what's wrong?" Damien asked, his voice sounding far off, "Shibuya-san, she's stopped breathing! Mai, snap out of it!" Damien shook me.

Before I passed out, I tried to give them the information I knew, but all that escaped my lips was a whispered "exception" before I was gone.

…..

The medium's body was open and excepting, the easiest he'd ever used. He was sucked in without any rejection, settling into the medium's body easily. He was met with resistance only when he'd fully settled into this new body.

The will of its only pushed and shoved at him, unwilling to give up its position. They locked in a furious tug-of-war, both refusing to give an inch to the other. His will was just as strong, probably stronger, than this medium's will. He knew it. He'd win no matter what. He wasn't a looser and he wouldn't be so easily conquered by this body's will power.

Something else shoved at him though, stronger than this body's will. It pulsed with power, pure and white hot. It pulled him in, wanting to consume him just as much as he wished to consume it. Power was a rare find in a school, especially of this amount. Even when he'd been alive he'd craved the taste of power. He'd craved the feeling of knowing that he was better than others, that he had control. He'd never had control, not once in his life and that's why he'd craved, and still craved, those things like a starving animal craves the sustenance of food.

And this could finally give him that.

He reached for it, trying to curl his claws around it. It slipped from his grasp, but he got a taste of what it could do. It jolted through him like an electric current. He breathed in deeply, savoring the taste of it on his tongue. Through the body's mind, he could see the small brunette. He saw what the medium could do and tried to copy him.

He didn't have enough of the power to do it outright, but he felt it working if only slightly.

The power recoiled in revulsion, pulling against what he was doing. The medium, who seemed to have more control than he would have thought, pulled against him towards the medium himself. The medium didn't want the female anywhere near him and that only excited him more. What was so special about this small female that made the medium wish to protect her so vehemently?

In his excitement, the medium succeeded in pulling the control of little power he had from him. He was forced into a corner of the medium behind a closed and locked door. It wouldn't stop him from getting what he wished to possess. Nothing ever did.

There you go. I'm really sorry for the really late update. I've had major writer's block, but still had this strange urge to write and then I realized that I haven't even thought of how I am going to end either of my stories XD Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter and review please :D