54I own nothing! Read at your own boredom. By the way, early warning. A scene in here (no not perverted)will soon be showing and I advise that if you are easily frightened no to read that part. Have fun!
Day 4
7:30 am
Mai looked at the floor finding it more interesting than the teasing faces of her friends. They're stares were getting a bit uncomfortable. She coughed. "Well what is it you wanted to tell us John?" asked Mai trying to break the silence.
Mai's face was still a bit flushed from earlier but it was beginning to fade back to normal. She tried her very best to ignore the snickering of Houshou and Yasuhara. John turned Mai and smiled at her shirt. It seemed to be the sort of thing she would wear. "I just wanted to tell the lot of you what I experiences in Yasuharu's master bedroom."
Naru looked up and closed the book he was reading. "Proceed in telling us what you experienced, Brown-san."
John nodded, "I began to recite the beginning of my exorcism when not to long after a vase was thrown at me. Only this time I bled from a cut on my cheek."
Ayako stood and made way toward John and opened the red box only to pull out a bandage and some ointment. "I'm sorry. I didn't even see the cut." apologized Ayako as she squeezed a bit of the ointment onto her finger.
"No, it's fine. You see that's not the only thing. As soon as I opened my bottle of holy water I knew either it was a weak spirit or it was a strong highly sensitive entity."
"Why would you assume that it's the latter?" asked Mai confused.
"Allow me to explain so that we are all on equal ground." replied Naru indifferently making Mai huff. "The spirit may be highly sensitive to be able to feel the affect of the holy water so fast that or extremely weak. The ghost also responded rather furiously to John's exorcism. Why would that be? Also, the spirit was able to bring physical harm to a person and distort wall. Do you think a weak spirit is capable of that, Mai?"
"Well, now that you put it like that, no." whispered Mai while a small blush spread on her face from being corrected again.
Naru nodded toward John. "Just as I began to continue another vase was thrown at me and I saw kicked in the shin. Multiple times." added John a bit annoyed. He shook his head and smiled, "Well after that it managed to give me a deep cut on the palm of my hand. It wasn't until I left the room that the noise began to die down."
"What do you suppose that means?" asked Masako as she eyed John's holy water still thinking about the first incident he encountered.
"There's no telling as of now but we shall not perform any exorcisms until we have enough information for this case. Yasuhara tomorrow you and Masako will go to the library and look for any relevant information. Bou-san and Mai you two will ask around the neighborhood and see if they knew anything about the people who previously owned this house. Ayako continue to treat Brown-san's wounds and do not let him do anything without your approval. Understood?"
"Actually I have a question." asked Mai.
"What is it?"
"Is it okay if I go to the library later on tomorrow?"
"After you and Bou-san finish your interviews." answered Naru curtly before standing up. Everyone's eyes followed. "Now get some rest. All of you. You too Lin."
Lin nodded and removed the headset before carefully setting it down. The insurance company didn't want anymore headache again. He stood and walked off to the room not bothering to say a single good night to anyone. Mai frowned. Was it really that hard to wish someone a pleasant night? Mai shrugged. Oh well. Lin was Lin. Everyone turned to their rooms and some dragged their feet there. As by some, more preferably Mai. She yawned as a smile graced her lips. Hello sweet, sweet bed. "Mai." called out Naru's voice.
Mai grumbled. "Yes?"
"Stay." was Naru's short demand. Mai narrowed her eyes dangerously. No one got in between her and sleep. No one. Especially not Naru. He hasn't stopped her before so why stop her now?
Masako passed her by with The Look, as Mai had dubbed it. She looked away with a huff and closed the door to their room. That Masako could be such a pain in the- "Mai, sit."
Mai shook her head to bring her back to reality. "Hai!"
She cautiously walked toward the loveseat Naru was sitting on. She sat at the farthest end away from Naru. He sighed at her immaturity. Was he really that scary? "Mai how did you receive those marks on your neck."
"Well I..." Mai suddenly found her hand more interesting than Naru's face (that was a lie) and gulped. She heard Naru get up and leave the room for a few minutes before coming right back. The room smelled a bit like peaches at the moment. Naru sat down across from her and set something down before handing her the peach scented tea she bought before the case. She smiled in gratitude. "Thank you."
Naru waited until she finished half of her tea before repeating his question. "How did you get those marks on your neck, Mai?"
Mai pinched her lips into a thin line. "Well you see... eeto... I had a dream."
Mai could feel Naru stiffen. "Was my aniki..." Mai nodded. Naru looked away. She had a dream with his brother. Something he couldn't do. Something he deserved to do. Hadn't he spent years looking for his dead brothers body? "That is all."
Mai watched as Naru stood up and began to make way to his room. "Wait!"
Naru stopped. "What is it? Can't you see people are trying to sleep?"
"This mansion was owned by a governor, his wife and two children. It was built six-hundred years ago."
Naru turned toward her surprise slightly etched in his features. "The wife, she seemed to be possessed. Her eyes were a beautiful blue but when she attacked me after my vision her eyes were brown. I-"
"She attacked you?" asked Naru.
"Yes."
"And what of... what of Gene? Didn't he..."
"No, I don't know why but he was nowhere in sight." responded Mai softly.
"He wasn't there to protect you." mumbled out Naru, anger lacing every word.
"Yeah but I think he was forced out by the wife. He seemed pretty worried when he came running toward me." stuttered Mai in an attempt to stand up for Gene.
"Is there anything else?" replied Naru. Mai thought for a bit. Was there something more she should tell him? Mai nodded. "Well what is it?"
Mai set her tea down and motioned for Naru to walk toward her. He looked hesitant but complied. Just as he was a foot away from her Mai raised her fist and playfully hit. "Idiot scientist."
Naru rubbed at his chest in an attempt to perhaps smother out the pain. For a girl she hit pretty hard. His eyes narrowed as he glared at her smiling face. "And what pray tell was that for? If you have a logical reason for this you best tell me now before I fire you."
Mai puffed out her cheeks. "Gene told me to tell you that. So if you want to fire someone, fire him."
Naru stared bewildered as Mai walked away toward her room. She seemed to be drained from everything that happened. Naru couldn't blame her. He looked down onto the place where Mai had hit him. Gene didn't forget about him. He still wanted to talk to him. Naru let a small smiled fall onto his lips. It was so microscopic that it took a telescope to be able to see it but it was a smile either way. Of course I wanted to talk to you. You're my outouto. Naru wondered slightly if he was tired and his brain was going against him but he brushed it of. If he could not have a real conversation with his brother then it wouldn't hurt to fake one. And so Naru fell asleep after a long, fake mental conversation with his brother. Or what he assumed to be a fake conversation.
Mai stretched and yawned. What a night. She hadn't had a single dream involved in this case instead she dreamed of flying unfinished homework, purple dyed unicorns and a wonderland of sweets. Normally, she would want to puke from the very idea of even dreaming something so sweet and sparkly but that wasn't the case today. She was glad that it was something happy. To much gloom could affect even the most cheerful of people. Mai got up and made her bed before grabbing a change of clothes and heading toward the bathroom just across the hall. She quietly opened the door and spotted Naru sitting on the couch asleep. She smiled and walked inside the room. As silently as she could, she grabbed the blanket on the floor and draped it over him. Content that the blanket covered most of him -spare for a foot here and a hand there- she continued her voyage to the bathroom.
The door creaked loudly as she slid it open. The house sure was old. She eyed the bathroom curiously. It looked like the kind of bathroom you would see in a laboratory. Like some kind of experiment room. She chided herself. Yasuhara made her watch that Nazi movie way too many times. Mai closed the door and turned on the knob for a lukewarm shower before undressing. Old houses always took a while before the water could heat up. Wrapped in a towel, Mai stretched out her hand to test the temperature and was happy to find it to her liking.
Mai stepped in- removing her towel mind you- and did what people normally did in the shower. Sing. She sang her favorite new song Promise by Kohmi Hirose. She washed her hair and applied some conditioner. After shaving (a habit she preferred over the troublesome pattern when not using a shower), Mai reached behind her for the soap and was happy that it didn't slip out of her hand like it usually did. Most of the time, when she had a good hold of it, the soap would slip out of her hand like an eel. She closed her eyes and continued to sing as she soaped her skin. She frowned. Why was the soap so rough? Normally it would feel a bit slimy. She still sang not noticing the change in lyrics and her voice going from alto to soprano. sHE Smiled happily... until she realized what she was singing. She wasn't singing her song anymore.
She was singing that song.
Mai quickly opened her eyes and looked down at the soap. She stared. Then screamed. It wasn't soap. She threw it opposite to her. It was a severed hand. Mai looked at herself. The water from the shower was washing away the fresh blood. Mai heard a thud and looked up only to watch in horror as blood dripped down the walls. She screamed again. Louder. The water was beginning to get colder and Mai screeched. She turned toward the sliding door of the shower and pulled only not to have it budge at all. Mai banged against the glass screaming. The cold water a reminder of just how much danger she was in. Hadn't she gotten enough trauma from yesterday? She screamed louder hoping that someone would save her. She looked at the glass door and banged harder. A long crack now ruining the modern glass. She heard another bang and looked at the glass door in horror before jumping back. A body had slammed its bloody hands against the door in anger. She could see its vacuum like mouth widen as if screaming but no sound escaped its void of a mouth. Mai cried and crouched in the middle of the shower. Someone had to save her. Someone just had to.
There was a loud bang. Mai didn't bother looking up. She didn't want to see that thing. There was another loud bang and what seemed to be wood splintering. A faded growl was coming from outside of the shower. It was growling. That thing was growling. She then heard the door break down. "Mai! Mai where are you? Mai!" came the anxious voice of Houshou. Was he the one whoe caused the banging. relief swept over Mai. She was going to be saved and yet for some reason she still couldn't be happy enough to move. A hanging naked body suddenly flashed into her mind. That body was hers.
Mai whimpered. Naru had just walked in and noticed the shower and a girl hunched in the middle of it. He briskly strode over to the shower making sure to grab the towel on the floor. "Mai. Mai it's Oliver." spoke out Naru in English knowing she would understand better than the rest. Surpirisingly, he found out that she understood English. He should have known better. Japan teaches every student English at some point in their head looked up. "Mai open the door." She shook her head. "Why?"
"I can't." was her soft reply.
"Why is that?"
"If I open this door something bad will happen. I just know it Naru. Please." she began to sob. "Please don't make me see it again."
Naru frowned. "Ayako come here and open the door for Mai."
Ayako nodded. "She's in the shower?"
"Yes." He handed her the towel. "Cover her so she doesn't feel anymore vulnerable than she does now." he whispered so that Mai couldn't here. No use making her feel worse than she already does.
She nodded and softly opened the door. Quickly, she wrapped Mai in the towel and removed her sleeping robe to cover her with too. She rubbed her arms. Clad in only a T-shirt and short, Ayako just noticed how cold it was. Ayako steadily help Mai out of the shower and turned to get a good grip on her elbow. Only to get a good look at the bloody severed hand. She gasped . How did that get there? She rushed Mai away from the shower and into Houshou's comforting arms. Ayako stepped away and motioned for Naru to look. He complied and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the hand. This was in there while she was showering? He looked toward Ayako whose mouth was pushed into a line in grim.
"I'll have Yasuharu-san notified about this. In the meantime, everyone go to back to base. Take her clothes Masako and Ayako help her...dress. I will be in the kitchen." Naru left the room just as Yasuhara walked in rubbing his eyes and John not to far behind.
"What's going on?" asked Yasuhara huskily.
Everyone was quiet. "Mai was attacked again." was Houshou's response.
Yasuhara stiffened and John frowned, "Are you alright Mai-san? Will you need any assistance sleeping after you change? I have just the prayer for you."
Mai shook her head and let Ayako lead her to the room with Masako carrying Mai's clothing. This was one heck of a wake up call. A few minutes later, everyone had calmed down and Mai was snuggling into the couch with a velvet smooth blanket covering her. The door slid open and Naru walked in closing the door behind him. Slowly, almost uncertainly, he approached Mai and set himself beside her. He was a bit closer to her than he was comfortable with but Mai slightly smiled. He was trying to comfort her the only way he could. He gently handed her a cup of tea set on a small plate. You could take Naru out of England but you can never take England out of Naru. "Thank you again." spoke Mai softly as she drank her tea and snuggled deeper into her blanket. She felt a bit better.
Hello all! I know what you're thinking. Holy shit why would she use a hand for soap? You may call it insanity but I call it imagination. These sort of stories need surprise! You can't deny that. Besides, you loved the thrill and gore (not really considered gore but what the hell. Why not?). If this was mentally traumatizing for any of you (and I give you my sincere apologies) then please tell me so the guilt won't let me sleep at night. DIVINE PUNISHMENT! Well I hope you all like the story! For those of you who are also reading my Green Sharingan SasuSaku fanfiction then you're going to have to wait a bit longer 'cause I got things that are due and people to piss off! Until next time!
XxBlackBlossomxX