2,526Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Obvs.
Chapter 45 – A Shocking End
-0O0-
When Mai opened her eyes, she knew immediately something was off. She had fallen asleep in SPR's base, so why was she now in Lady Jude's private bedroom? She recognized the great bed and the mural on the far wall from when she'd set up the cameras.
The sounds of water sloshing came from the attached bathroom – was Lady Jude taking a bath?! She was supposed to be evacuating! Mai knew she had to get out of here – it would embarrass them both if Lady Jude found her here right now. It felt weird enough to call the current Lady Selfridge by her first name (Lady Jude had insisted after hearing 'Lady Selfridge' referred to as dead too many times). Mai turned to tiptoe towards the camera, intent on picking up the tape that must have been her reason for coming here. It wouldn't be the first time she randomly fell asleep on a case. She turned to the corner of the room... but the camera wasn't there.
Suddenly, a maid bustled into the room, carrying a towel and expensive-looking nightwear. Her uniform was completely different from any of the other maids Mai had met. Confused, Mai opened her mouth to explain her presence in the room as the fancy maid headed directly for her...
...and felt a chill as the maid walked right through her.
Mai slapped a hand to her forehead at her own stupidity. Of course she was in a vision! Hadn't she been sure she'd fallen asleep? But then again... Mai had already seen the murder, and they'd found the body. Very strange to get a vision now. Maybe this was just a regular nightmare?
She looked down at her glowing spirit-hands and considered. She did occasionally have regular nightmares that felt like visions – awful things that revisited her in her sleep. But those were merely replays of already-seen monsters like Vlad; Mai still saw bloody tiles and heard horrible screams in her nastiest nightmares.
But this must be the former Lady Selfridge's room – which Mai had never seen. She was sure she couldn't make up little details like the unfamiliar fashion magazine on the dressing table, featuring a very thin blonde woman with shorter hair than Mai's own. Who would name themselves Twiggy? she wondered idly. And the brocade hangings on the four-poster bed – they didn't seem like something that Lady Jude would like. A vision, Mai decided.
As if to confirm Mai's belief, the murdered Lady Selfridge walked out of the bathroom, the maid now following in her wake. The woman moved with the grace of a gazelle and the surety of a lioness. She was in sleepwear and her thinning hair was tied into a simple bun, but Mai recognized her face easily.
Mai moved out of the way instinctively – even in nightwear, Lady Selfridge exuded a grace and authority that Mai could never hope to achieve. She kinda reminds me of Naru, Mai thought ruefully.
Until she took in Lady Selfridge's expression. It was empty, her mouth pressed into a white line. Her nightdress was white, too, and her hair was a light blonde, completing the look of a dispassionate ice-queen.
Mai glanced at the maid – eyes down, following the Lady like a puppy. Couldn't be Violet, the money-seeking mistress. Couldn't be a young Angela, either; Mai got the impression that Gemma's grandmother had always been spunky. Some random lady's maid, then. Just as Mai was about to move on, the nameless maid gasped.
Mai followed the direction of her shocked gaze and found another woman standing in the doorway. This maid wore the same uniform as the first – but in a very different manner. It looked more like a 'sexy maid' costume you'd find in Akihabara. The top two buttons of the uniform were open, revealing the curve of an ample bosom. The sleeves were unbuttoned, showing creamy skin up to the elbow; the black skirt was puffed out by something white and lacy that just barely showed beneath the hem, and the dress itself was tighter across the torso. This maid also wore gold earrings and a matching necklace. Her hair was unbound, unlike the demure braid that the first maid wore; it flowed in dark blonde waves around her pretty face. This is Violet, Mai deduced, not liking her hungry look.
Lady Selfridge's icy eyes heated immediately, and she stopped dead in her tracks. "You dare to approach me?" she asked in an angry-but-superior tone.
The new maid giggled. "How can you still act so superior when you know he prefers me?"
The maid gasped again. "Violet, what are you...?"
Lady Selfridge held up an imperial hand. Her attendant quieted immediately.
"Leave us, Mione," the Lady commanded softly.
Mione's mouth dropped open in shock, but she recovered herself and hurried from the room. Violet refused to make way for her, so Mione was forced to edge around her as she fled.
Lady Selfridge fixed Violet with a penetrating look. "My husband may be... confused by your obvious attentions for the moment," she said slowly. "But you aren't the first and you shan't be the last. While I comprehend your low-born desire to 'enjoy the moment,' as it were, you will remember your place and never speak to me or enter into my presence again." Her words were final.
Violet merely raised an amused eyebrow. "You should be the one 'enjoying the moment,'" she replied insolently. "Anson loves me and he'll be packing you off any day now – as soon as he can figure out how."
"Hmm," Lady Selfridge huffed, a cold smile edging its way across her pale features. "That would be a trick, given that I am nobility and any divorce proceedings would undoubtedly become a public scandal. You are fooling yourself if you think that Anson would voluntarily divorce me to take up with a maid."
"But he could tell everybody about your indiscretions," Violet shot back. "He could tell them about your man in the city."
Lady Selfridge actually looked shocked. "What man?" she asked.
Violet rolled her eyes. "Your man that you go to London for on the weekends."
Lady Selfridge narrowed her eyes. "I go to London to escape the pai... the embarrassment of watching my husband run around with the help," she hissed icily. "I stay in our townhouse and go to the opera. I do not have a man. Unlike my husband, I do not break the bonds of holy matrimony."
Her sure voice and the genuineness in her expression seemed to confuse Violet for a moment. "Anson says you have a man," she argued, sounding unsure for the first time.
"He is either lying to himself to assuage his guilty conscience or lying to you to assuage yours," Lady Selfridge declared. "Which at least suggests that at least one of you has a conscience. Now get out."
Her words were visually reinforced by the appearance of a rather burly-looking groomsman in the doorway behind Violet. Maybe Mione had sent him, Mai thought idly.
Violet took in the large man behind her and stepped back toward the door. She threw a last, thoughtful look at Lady Selfridge and flounced into the darkened hallway. Her lovely hair fanned out behind her and her earrings glittered.
Mai looked up at Lady Selfridge. She was staring after the mistress with a mix of hate and despair. Reflexively, she touched her own blonde hair, pulled back into its limp bun. In a burst of emotion, Lady Selfridge picked up a nearby fancy pitcher filled with amber liquid and hurled it at the wall. It shattered, glass flying everywhere and dark liquid oozing down the wall.
All of a sudden, the whole scene seemed to spin, and Mai threw her hands over her face. After a moment, she uncovered her eyes and briefly saw the familiar lights of the realm of lingering spirits before her vision twisted again. Mai squeezed her eyes shut until her danger-senses suddenly prickled.
Mai was watching Violet breeze from the room again - but from a different angle.
And Mai felt an intense hate and... inferiority?... well up within herself. Suddenly, Mai picked up a crystal decanter and threw it at the wall. She stared at the shards fly outward and watched the brandy slide down the painted wall, breathing heavily and trying to control the overwhelming emotions crashing inside her like overlapping waves in a storm. She stormed from the room, staring after the husband-thieving maid. In the dim light of the hall, Violet's hair almost glowed. It swayed tauntingly around her shoulders and down her back, highlighting the maid's immodest attire and... physical assets. Mai's teeth clenched and she glared daggers into the low, insolent, so-much-more-beautiful maid...
She's not that much prettier, Mai's own thought rang in her head. As her own personality reasserted itself, Mai realized that she was now in a first-person vision of the same scene, now 'playing' Lady Selfridge. The Lady's emotions were so powerful and violent that Mai was having trouble separating herself from them.
Then the scene shifted again. Now Mai/Lady Selfridge was following Violet down another dimly-lit hallway. Much more closely. Violet turned around, eyes wide and frightened – but seemed to see nothing. But Mai/Lady Selfridge was definitely right behind her! Violet faced front again and quickened her pace. Mai felt an awful sort of glee rise within her as she watched Violet panic. As the scared mistress fled into the dining room, Mai felt a cold smile spread across her own face.
"I'm leaving!" Mai heard Violet's hysterical voice cry. "Something's haunting me, I swear! I can feel it!"
"You are being ridiculous," a man's voice scoffed. Mai did not like this voice, and neither did Lady Selfridge. She could feel anger and fear swirling around her, only some of which belonged to Mai herself.
"I'm not!" Violet cried. "I'm telling you, she's haunting me! I've already packed, I'm going tonight!"
"You are acting a fool tonight," the man's voice said firmly. Mai finally recognized the voice – it was Lord Selfridge. He sounded more collected in this vision – of course, he also wasn't murdering anyone this time. "Thinking of wasting all I've given you. If you're that nervous, go and stay in the townhouse for a while. I will not have you leaving me after all that I've done for us."
Mai felt a horrible swoop of hot anger burning through her. Not hers. The accompanying sick feeling was hers, though – Lord Selfridge considered murdering his wife to be something he did for love?
The scene shifted once more. Mai was following Violet down another corridor, near a staircase. Wait... was it Violet? It was and it wasn't – the uniform was more demure, the hair was dark brown and in a ponytail. But the swinging hair became blonde, the little earrings winked in the light, and Mai realized that Lady Selfridge was seeing Violet in a different maid.
And Mai could do nothing as Lady Selfridge's ghost reached her/Mai's arms out and pushed the maid down the stairs. Mai mentally recoiled in horror as the girl tumbled down, trying to catch the banister and only succeeding in dislocating her shoulder. The woman landed on the already-hurt arm and screamed in pain before she smacked her head against the shining wood of the landing. She collapsed into unconsciousness and Mai gasped as she recognized the girl's face. It was Gemma!
Mai felt sick at the pleasure that swept through her/Lady Selfridge as they surveyed what she'd done.
The staircase faded into another dark hallway. They were following Violet again. Mai recognized this hallway – it was the wing that SPR and the servants were staying in. Lady Selfridge followed Violet silently, glaring for a moment at a black camera in the corner of the hall. As she refocused on Violet, the spirit's hands grew more defined; Mai had not realized that they'd only been sort of hazy until now. She felt a wicked grin that Mai remembered from her run-in with the ghost curve across her/Mai's face. And Violet whimpered in terror, turning around and looking everywhere for the source of her fear. Only it wasn't really Violet. It was another maid, one who SPR had interviewed.
But she hadn't be attacked, Mai remembered, as the maid held a suitcase in front of herself like a shield.
A suitcase, because the house was being evacuated... this was happening now!
Wake up wake up wake up! Mai screamed at herself. The maid tried to run. Wake up wake up wake up!
Calming for a moment, Mai concentrated on her own spirit and then forcibly removed herself from Lady Selfridge. Her spirit-body was now standing in the hall, watching Lady Selfridge prepare to attack. Mai ran down the hall in the other direction, toward the SPR base. She had to get back to her body!
She raced into the base, illogically screaming to Naru. "Naru, help! That girl is going to be hurt!" He couldn't hear her; he kept arguing with Madoka.
Then suddenly, Naru's whole body froze and he whipped around. "Mai?" he asked, eyes searching the room as if he'd actually heard her.
Could he sense her as a spirit?!
Looking around frantically, Mai spotted herself lying on the couch. She dove into her body, enjoying the warmth of 'home' for a split second before trying to wake up. "She's going to attack again!" Mai tried to cry. She felt life flowing back into her limbs – not fast enough! She focused on her lips, forcing them into motion. "She's going to attack again!"
She heard footsteps coming towards her. She felt Naru's blazing spirit approach her and take hold of her hand, and Mai followed Naru's warm aura back to consciousness.
-0O0-
Lin spied a cold form on the thermal monitors and raced out the door, Madoka in tow.
Naru saw them leave out of the corner of his eye. He, John and Yasuhara stayed with Mai, who was panting and gripping his hand like a lifeline.
"Mai! Who is attacking?"
The weary psychic pulled her lids apart and Naru's concerned face came into focus.
"Who is attacking?" Naru asked again.
His steady tone soothing Mai's shredded nerves. "Lady Selfridge," Mai slurred out, holding her head to stop its spinning. "She's going to attack a maid down the hall."
Naru sighed in frustration. He couldn't understand her mumbling.
"Try to say it more clearly, Mai," John suggested gently.
Mai moaned from the visual overload, her real sight and her othersense overlapping all around her. She could see Naru's actual hand holding hers and could also see the thick golden bands swirling around their hands. She could feel their psychic connection thrumming and understood that she was able to wake up so fast because she had instinctively used their connection to yank herself back to wakefulness.
She smiled as she regarded the twisting golden beams. She caressed Naru's pointer finger with her thumb and felt shivers of heat move through her.
Her secret psychic partner exhaled sharply. Mai looked up to see Naru boring holes into her with dark eyes. His breathing quickened noticeably. Could Naru feel it, too?
Mai was snapped out of her musings when Naru shook himself, as if breaking from a trance.
"Mai," Oliver repeated more forcefully (ruthlessly quashing the surge of relief he felt at her bouncing back from whatever vision she'd had). "Why is the spirit attacking?"
Stupid Naru and his stupid hand. That was still holding hers.
"Any day now, Mai," Naru drawled.
"Okay. Lady Selfridge hurts the maids because they remind her of Violet, the woman her husband killed her for. She has a... a complex about Violet – that she's prettier, or sexier, or something. And she hates her. And she sees Violet in some of the maids – I was the ghost for a while, and she followed the real Violet and then people she thought were Violet. When Lady Selfridge attacked Gemma, it was like I could see Gemma's real appearance, but then also Violet at the same time. Like they were one person – no, like one person on top of another..."
"Lady Selfridge sees the woman who she thinks ruined her life superimposed on present-day maids," John clarified helpfully. "There is still one clue missing, though – why is the violence happening even more often?"
"Huh?" Mai asked stupidly.
"The object of the current Lord Selfridge's affection, Carolina, is gone," Naru said condescendingly, glaring at Mai as if he could stare the information into her head. "So then why is the spirit increasing in activity?"
"Well," Mai hazarded, "Maybe it's not about the affair... it's just about the maids."
John lit up with an idea. "These current maids likely resemble Violet more closely than previous ones. Lady Jude doesn't care if her maids wear jewelry and do their hair nicely. Maybe that makes it easier for ghost-Lady Selfridge to connect them to the real object of her haunting."
The room fell silent as Naru and Yasuhara considered this option.
"Good thinking, Father Brown," Naru said.
Mai huffed, gloved arms crossed and eyes glaring - she was the one who pointed out Lady Selfridge's maid complex!
Oliver Davis almost broke his own jaw trying not to smile stupidly at Mai.
Yasuhara's glasses flashed. "So the ghost just hates Violet more than she hates the man who actually killed her," he summed up.
Mai and Naru turned to face him in shock – as if they'd forgotten he was there. Again. Maybe Yasu would eventually get to watch them make out undetected.
"As a guy who occasionally becomes involved with attached women," he explained, ignoring Mai's eye roll, "The injured party usually goes harder on me than their cheating partner. Like, they're angry with their girlfriend, but they also care about them. There's nothing but pure rage for the 'other man' in the situation."
Naru nodded, accepting this logic. "Yasuhara," he barked. "Go and retrieve Lin. He should be done sweeping the house for the spirit by now. And then you can assist the departing staff; the sooner they vacate the premises the better."
Yasuhara nodded and swiftly left the room.
Mai sighed. Yasuhara was never that quiet and biddable unless he was scheming something. Help the departing staff... Mai groaned in annoyance – this did not bode well.
Thinking that her pain had returned, Naru regarded her solicitously. "Are you alright?"
Mai shook her head. "Yasuhara is going to 'help' the fleeing staff."
Oliver Davis raised an eyebrow. "Slow this evening, are you? That is what I asked him to do."
Mai waved a clenched fist at Naru. "Jerk! I meant that this gives Yasu the chance to hit it off with whoever is left." She groaned again.
Naru felt Mai was being overdramatic. It was unlikely that Yasuhara would end up debauching two women in one trip, no matter how 'smooth' he thought himself to be.
He had gathered from Gregory that Yasuhara had already done something unprofessional with Daphne, the maid he'd first met outside the mansion. Apparently Gregory had been locked out of the room he and Yasuhara shared for a few hours on their second night. Madoka, of course, had found the whole matter inappropriately hilarious and refused to reprimand the Japanese transfer student.
If Naru were running this case, Yasuhara would have been on midnight base duty for the remainder of the trip.
Oliver Davis regarded Mai for a moment, taking in her slightly matured figure and her innocent face. She and Yasuhara spent a great deal of time together – had he ever tried to seduce Mai?
An awful feeling swept through him at the thought. He tried to reject this line of consideration and bring himself back under control before his disquiet became visible.
"Naru?" Mai touched his arm, looking concerned. "Are you alright? You look... weird."
Oliver Davis turned away and stared determinedly out the window. "I am fine, Mai. I am thinking about the case."
Mai remained skeptical – Naru's aura had suddenly felt extremely negative. It was practically screaming at her, which was odd. Naru's aura was usually clearer to Mai than anyone else's, but this was like they were still physically touching. Had Mai accidentally made the connection stronger by actively using it?
Meanwhile, Naru was still radiating tension. What had they been talking about? Oh right, Yasu. "Naru, don't worry about Yasuhara," Mai reassured him.
He whipped back to face her, eyes shocked. Could she read his mind now?
"He's a moron about girls, but he'd never actually let his horniness affect a case. He'll help get people out of here."
Headdesk, Madoka would say. Naru rolled his eyes. "Of course he will. However, I do not wish for SPR's reputation to be sullied by our clients being upset about a profligate investigator."
"Yasuhara usually manages to talk himself out of trouble, no matter how lofty the client," John noted with amusement.
"But I can go threaten him?" Mai offered. "I've always been immune to his charm."
Naru stared at Mai intently, and Mai wondered what he was thinking. Then he just walked away, sitting down in front of the camera feeds. "Anyway," she said, slightly irritated at his sudden inattention, "I need some lunch. I'll bring back some tea for you guys."
Oliver listened to her receding footsteps. Only when she was far enough down the hall did he allow himself to smile slightly. Mai had managed to misunderstand his emotional moment (thank goodness), but still gave him the answer he needed. If Mai was immune to Yasuhara's persuasiveness, then surely they had never... and now he was thinking these completely useless and foolish thoughts again!
Beyond annoyed with himself, Naru concentrated hard on the monitors. As he watched Lin and Madoka interview the almost-attacked maid on Screen 17, he ruthlessly quashed the niggling feeling of relief in the back of his mind.
John pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. The two of them were so obvious - except to one another. What was it going to take for them to realize their feelings matched?
-0O0-
An hour later, everyone but Yasuhara and John were back in the base. Both men were assisting staff with evacuating the estate.
Two hours later, Lin suddenly choked on his tea.
Everyone in base turned to him immediately in concern. He coughed a bit, then stared, horrified, at one of the second-floor monitors. Madoka and Naru rushed over, thinking that there had been some activity...
...and Madoka burst out laughing. She actually fell over onto the floor. Lin put his head in his hands, while Naru shook his head in disgust.
Something clicked in Mai's head. She marched over to the monitors and searched the screens until she found the source of the drama. Sure enough, there was Yasu, locked in a sloppy embrace with Daphne. She had her hands in his shirt and Mai could only see one of Yasu's hands. They were making their way, painfully slowly, toward the nearest bedroom.
Mai groaned. "'I'm a great multitasker, Mai-chan,'" she muttered - something Yasu often said on cases. She started huffily for the door.
"Where are you going?" Gregory asked.
"They're around the corner, right? I'll go bust them - unless one of you wants that privilege."
Silence (except for Madoka's wheezing on the floor).
"Right then, I'll be back." Mai turned on her heel and strode down the hallway. She didn't know whether to be glad that the carpeting covered most of the noise her angry footsteps would have made. Seeing it on camera was gross enough and maybe her angry stomping would break them up before she got there.
Still, Mai thought as she rounded the corner and almost ran right into the illicit couple, gotta love the element of surprise. It wasn't often that she surprised Yasuhara.
"Oi!" Mai yelped.
The two sprang apart instantly. Daphne wiped her mouth and smoothed her dress before looking down guiltily. Yasuhara ran a hand through his tousled hair and pasted on a winning smile that gleamed in the light.
Mai glared at her research assistant before addressing both wayward employees. "Not that I'm against affection, but Yasu is on duty, and there are cameras all over the mansion right now. We have you sucking face all over three of them."
Daphne groaned in embarrassment, and Mai felt terrible all of a sudden. Throwing a nasty look at Yasuhara so that he'd know he was still in trouble, Mai placed a comforting hand on Daphne's shoulder and summoned her nicest voice. "Listen, seriously, you can kiss whoever you want. But you should probably get out of the haunted house, and you should definitely not risk an attack for this guy. He's not exactly the most, er, faithful person you could meet."
"Well, neither am I," Daphne noted brightly. Mai's mouth dropped open. "But you're right, I should be on my way." Daphne dipped a curtsy, winked once at a snickering Yasuhara, and ran off.
Mai immediately turned to her grinning friend-slash-coworker. "Yasu," she growled. "Could you possibly manage to keep it in your pants for another day?! We're about to try and exorcise a violent spirit!"
Yasuhara's highly amused expression became slightly sheepish. "I suppose that does take precedence," he replied, a little too flippantly for Mai's tastes.
"Idiot."
"You should be careful, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said with mock-seriousness. "You're starting to sound like Naru."
Mai growled under her breath.
Yasuhara grinned again and started back to base. "And she came on to me both times, just so you know."
"She seemed pretty scared when we met her," Mai reminded him. "She probably threw herself at the first ghost hunter she saw!"
Yasuhara turned back to face Mai, grinning evilly. "Then aren't you glad she found me and not Big Boss?"
"Ugh, shut up! He can probably hear you!" Mai hissed, face burning as she shuffled into base.
Everyone was staring curiously at Mai and Yasuhara. They had expected an angry, ranting Mai and a slightly cowed Yasuhara. Instead, the womanizer was smiling brilliantly and Mai was red-faced and had her head in her hands.
Feeling the group's gaze, Mai was terrified that Naru had heard the confession-via-Yasu. She chickened out immediately and raced back towards the door. "Um, yeah, I need some tea."
As she ran for it, Yasuhara's renewed sniggering brought back some of her spine. She spun at the door and gave her mocking friend a withering look. "Yasu, go put the library back in order – and try not to screw anyone while you're in there, 'kay?"
Mai had the satisfaction of seeing everyone's - including Naru's - eyes pop wide open as she ducked into the hall.
-0O0-
SPR had not come to a conclusion about an exorcism strategy by nightfall, so Madoka excused all but Oliver and Gregory to go and sleep on a solution.
It didn't bother Naru; he was at his best while awake and silent. Overnight base duty was a blessing in disguise.
Gregory was too afraid of him to make much noise, which made base duty even better.
Naru considered the problem as his eyes drifted across the camera feeds. Lady Selfridge's ghost was active, angry, violent – and Mai hadn't been able to actually communicate with her.
She'd had visions, seen the murder, seen the motivation... but usually, Mai somehow managed to ally herself, or even endear herself, to the spirit on a case. It was both impressive and dangerous, and almost always key to a peaceful exorcism.
But the closest Mai had come to Lady Selfridge's ghost were spiritual ride-alongs to the murder and attacks. The only time she'd interacted with the spirit in waking life, the ghost tried to attack her.
A hitogata didn't seem logical; the ghost of Lady Selfridge had already successfully driven out her competition. Giving her 'Violet' probably wouldn't end the haunting.
Jourei wouldn't work, either, since Mai had no relationship with the spirit.
Naru supposed John was their best bet; he could perform an exorcism in the morning, if they could successfully goad the ghost into attacking a dolled-up Madoka as she 'embraced' Yasuhara in a warded corner somewhere...
Two thermometer alarms suddenly beeped, and all of the cameras in the Lady's bedroom went blank simultaneously.
Morning wouldn't be soon enough.
"Gregory, with me. Call Lin's mobile as we go," Naru ordered, already halfway out of base.
As they dashed down the hall and up the stairs into the main house, Naru could see a mirror rattle as the wall behind it seemed to start swaying. Gregory cursed behind him.
"Keep moving," Naru hissed. He ignored the sounds of glass shattering and a woman screaming as the two men bounded into the Lady's bedroom. Oliver turned to tell Gregory to stand in the doorway and hold the door open – just as Gregory fully crossed the threshold. The bedroom door slammed shut, trapping them in the room.
"I'm sorry!" Gregory gasped. He immediately went to work on the door, pulling an army knife from his pocket and thrusting it into the doorjamb.
Naru scanned the room, trying to take in as much as possible. Glass shards on the floor but no windows broken, the mirror was intact, the walls were wiggling, the jewelry case was open and broken on the floor... the sound of glass shattering echoed through the room again.
Oliver looked up at the mirror just in time to see the now-red eyes of the murdered Lady Selfridge staring at him. An unnatural grin slid across her face, and the mirror wobbled on the wall before she disappeared.
The mirrors, Naru realized. There were mirrors all over the house; if the spirit was attached to the mirrors, she could see all the maids coming and going, could see the current Lord Selfridge attempting to repeat his grandfather's mistakes.
There was a mirror in the hallway that Mai had passed before the ghost appeared to her.
There was a mirror in the room where Mai and Madoka, the only remaining women in the house, currently slept.
There was a mirror in the hall outside this room, where the rest of SPR would undoubtedly gather to try and break open the door. The ghost could appear right behind them while they were distracted.
Lady Selfridge's red eyes and cruel grin entered the bedroom mirror again, and Naru made a decision.
He grabbed an iron poker from the fireplace below the mirror. Metal screeched on metal as he drew it across the empty grate. The ghost froze in the mirror.
"We found your body," Naru said conversationally, as if talking to an acquaintance rather than a violent spirit. "If you can wait another day, we can give you a proper burial."
Lady Selfridge's eyes were fixed on the poker. As long as she was in this mirror, she likely wouldn't be able to attack anyone else. Oliver Davis swung the poker up in a slow arc, putting it between himself and the spirit in the mirror.
The spirit's grin spread just as slowly. "Poor little boy," she simpered. Naru heard her voice echo all around the room. "Trying to save his pretty little girlfriends."
Naru gritted his teeth. "They aren't Violet," he replied. "There's no reason to hurt them."
"Pretty little girls luring stupid little boys into their webs," Lady Selfridge hissed. "And little boys trying to hurt me again. That iron can't hurt me now."
"Can't it?" Naru wondered. Loud thumps and yells from the other side of the door - the rest of SPR had arrived. "I can break the mirror with it."
A ripple of fear went across Lady Selfridge's face. The air around Naru got noticeably colder.
A ghostly hand emerged from the mirror.
Naru swung the poker back to strike – but it was too late.
Lady Selfridge's misty form appeared in front of him, leaching out of the mirror like fog creeping across a meadow.
"You won't," the spirit denied. "I won't let you."
Her threat was immediately realized, as Naru's whole body seemed to lock up - frozen in place like Mai had been that first night on the case.
The mirror was shaking wildly on the wall now, and Oliver's sharp eyes caught the edge of a glittering jewel. Naru suddenly realized where the missing diamond necklace Mai had spoken of must be.
That's what the ghost was tied to. That was what had to be destroyed.
And Oliver Davis, extremely powerful psychic with gobs of PK-ST at his literal fingertips, was capable of destroying it.
Surviving the aftermath was the problem.
Sure in her upper hand, the murdered Lady Selfridge smiled as she mockingly pushed an arm back into the mirror. The scene in the mirror changed; the reflection now showed Lin, Mai, Madoka, John and Yasuhara all desperately trying to break the bedroom door down. As he watched, a ghostly hand reached directly for Mai.
"You won't touch them," Naru said venomously.
The certainty in Dr. Davis' voice gave Gregory pause. Weren't his powers supposed to be unusable? Everyone knew that Oliver couldn't effectively use his incredible PK without his twin's help.
The spirit seemed to agree. "Oh, no?" she asked, her tone honey-sweet. "And how do you plan to stop me?"
Naru didn't hesitate. "I'm going to electrocute the necklace you stole from Violet and destroy you," he said calmly.
Gregory sucked in a breath. He remembered the state Mai had been in after overusing her PK-MT. Gregory been there when she collapsed into Oliver's arms at the lab, and he'd stared at Mai's shaking, woozy form until Oliver snatched the Powerade from his hands.
And from what Gregory understood, Mai's PK was nowhere near the level of Oliver's. If Oliver overused his PK...
"Stole?" The spirit echoed. "It was mine." She spat the last word like it was poison, and the room seemed to darken around them.
"Like your husband was yours?" Naru asked, subtly moving closer.
Now he was goading the spirit?! Gregory closed his eyes and stupidly hoped this was part of an overarching strategy that did not involve PK.
The spirit just hissed again in response. Her eyes glowed brighter, and the mirror on the wall shook so hard that the diamond necklace hidden behind it fell to the floor.
"It's not even like Violet was the one who killed you," Naru continued. "That was your husband."
The room became darker still. Gregory couldn't even hear anyone kicking at the door anymore.
"Are you defending that slut?" Lady Selfridge screamed. "That woman who took my –"
"Took your what?" Naru asked mercilessly. "Your dress? Your necklace? Your place in your husband's bed? I hardly think such matters trump your murder."
WHAT WAS HE DOING? The room was now so dark that Gregory could barely see anything around them – except, of course, for the mirror on the floor, glowing and rippling.
And Oliver Davis, who seemed to be faintly glowing himself now. A blue glow that seemed to light him from within grew slowly brighter. "Dr. Davis –" Gregory started.
"I wonder if Violet noticed that the necklace disappeared with you?" Naru yelled over the commotion. "She probably did... but I'm sure Lord Selfridge just bought her an even prettier one to replace it."
With an enraged scream, the spirit lunged forward and the mirror behind her exploded. Gregory barely had time to be terrified before Lady Selfridge's red-nailed hands grabbed for Oliver's throat.
Expecting Naru to flee, Gregory fled further out of the way... but Oliver suddenly darted to the left. The ghost screamed again as he hit the floor and grabbed a sparkling necklace. Gregory screamed, but it was too late – Lady Selfridge's hands seized Oliver's as if grab the jewelry back...
Lightning exploded into visibility at the point of contact. Waves of electricity poured down Oliver's arms and into the necklace, and the ghost screamed in pain before clawing a hand down the ghost hunter's face. But Naru merely stared into Lady Selfridge's red eyes with his own glowing blue ones.
PK exploded around the two of them, and Gregory's ears were filled with screaming. The spirit was still shrieking... and suddenly the necklace shattered apart into a shower of sparks.
Lady Selfridge was cut off mid-scream as her spirit seemed to suddenly implode. Gregory's ears rang with that last cry as the darkness around them evaporated and the bedroom door swung open.
Quick, heavy footsteps sounded behind Gregory as everyone raced into the room. "What happened?" Lin asked tersely. "My shiki report that she's gone." Gregory was dimly surprised by the panic in his tone.
"We just exorcised the spirit," Naru answered just as tersely. "Now we need to –"
Gregory was somehow surprised to see Naru abruptly fall lifelessly onto the floor.
-0O0-
AN: I know, I didn't want to end it there! But it had to be done:S
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