Chapter 5-"L"
A foreboding feeling washed over her again as she stood in what appeared to be Ryouta's office. Only it appeared to be outdated. The furniture in there was most certainly not the plush couches and chair she had sat in when they arrived. The desk was large and bulky with a lamp on top she was sure she had seen in a thrift store by her apartment. The chairs looked like western antiques and she saw two men in the room with her.
One was hiding behind a bookshelf in a corner of the room while the other appeared to be jerking around at every little movement. He finally noticed the man in the corner and appeared hurt.
The man who had been hiding was yelling at him, but Mai could not hear a word of it. She wondered why as the vision faded away just as the two physically began to fight.
Images once again plagued her eyes, much clearer this time. She could see images of both the men she had just witnessed dead. One stabbed in the chest, the other hanging from a noose. One thing similar in both.
October second.
More images blurred past her, she still couldn't make them out. It was bugging her. A lot. If you think of a dancer who can't get a specific move quite right, or a singer who just can't reach that high note they desire, that's how she felt. Where was the Naru in her dreams? He would normally help her. Wait, wasn't he just part of her imagination?
Mai found herself in that blackness she was all too used to being in. This was normally where she would find him. Perhaps if she kept walking he might appear and give her a hand. This case was becoming confusing and with John on the way, she was sure it was about to get much more dangerous.
She kept walking, her fears tagging along, as she spotted a glimmer of light. Naru? She thought as she continued for it. The light gradually grew and she was soon entering a brightly lit doorway...
"Naru?"
***
September Day 4, 8:30 A.M.
"Yeesh, you're dreaming about him now?" Mai heard the priestess say, as she was shaken awake.
Fighting to hide her blush, she rolled over. "I recall several times where you were calling out for Monk in your sleep," she retorted, sleepily. "Something about wanting more?"
This time it was the priestess fighting to keep her blush at bay. "I-I don't know what you're going on about, but get dressed. We're getting breakfast and then Naru wants to discuss the findings of the E.V-whatever we did yesterday."
Mai quickly dressed herself and headed for breakfast. After the silent meal she shared with an embarrassed and pissed Matsuzaki, they headed to Base to discuss their evidence.
They day before, Naru had asked Lin to have Mai listen to anything he heard, but he came back before the Chinese man could ask for her assistance and was therefore unneeded for that moment. Today, it appeared everyone was to listen to the audio.
"I'm going to play the audio we caught yesterday, if you hear anything out of sort, make a mental note of it for later," Naru explained, everyone nodded and Lin hit the "play" button.
"In room 217, Narumi..." Naru's voice was clear as day despite the slight amount of static.
"Mai."
"Lin."
"Masako."
"Ayako."
"Takigawa."
"Kazuya," At Yasuhara's alias everyone prepared to listen for the answers to questions, but to Mai, something did not feel quite right. She looked over to the medium to find she was not the only one.
"Is there anything here with us?" Came Naru's question.
A muffle only Mai, Masako, and Yasuhara heard as they looked to each other, reading their eyes.
"Can you give us all a sign of your presence? A knock perhaps?" You could hear Masako ask just before-
Knock.
"What is your name?" Another muffle followed the priestess's question.
"Were you one of the men who died in 534?" Again another muffle, however this time only Mai and Monk heard it.
"Are you afraid of something here? Knock on the wall twice for yes, once for no."
It was silent or a bit, no muffling or anything as they awaited for the response. "Perhaps he lef-" You could hear Ayako whisper and something else.
"Help..." Did Mai really just hear that? She looked at those around her whom she knew had heard muffling earlier, but none of them seemed to acknowledge it.
Knock...
Knock...
"What are you afraid of?"
"Why is Akahana-san being targeted?" Again more muffling could be heard, this time by Ayako as well.
"Were you the one in here yesterday? The one who spoke into our recording?" Mai's voice cut in. "You were saying Akahana's name, were you also trying to say mine as well?"
"End of E.V.P. session."
"Naru, could you go back in the tape and give me a set of headphones?" Mai asked as soon as the recording was finished.
Nodding, the boy handed her the headset and started it from the beginning. So that's why something seemed off... she wondered to herself. There was shuffling going on.
"Is there any way you can boost the background audio?" she asked him, who looked to Lin for an answer.
She found that the static was a little louder but she managed to make out the shuffling and muffling she heard originally. "Help..." she heard a breathy voice plead.
"Someone's saying 'help' as we're introducing ourselves," she explained, Naru nodded as Lin typed away on his keyboard.
"Let me hear," Ayako ordered, but Mai held up her finger to her lips.
"Is there anything here with us?"
"Help..."
There was the plea. It repeated itself like one of Monk's mantras as the questions continued to be asked. Until finally-
"Were you one of the men who died in 534?"
"Yes..." the voice dragged in its breath.
"Are you afraid of something here? Knock on the wall twice for yes, once for no."
"Please...yes...help..." the voice pleaded sounding more haggard with each response.
"What are you afraid of?"
"Devil...demon...help..." Mai could only guess what her face looked like.
"Why is Akahana-san being targeted?"
"Demons..."
"Were you the one in here yesterday? The one who spoke into our recording?" Mai heard her own voice, signaling the ending of the recording. "You were saying Akahana's name, were you also trying to say mine as well?"
"Yes..." the voice answered, but continued. "Get out...save yourselves...I'm do-UHAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Mai barely felt the tears leave her eyes as she screamed, falling out of the chair at the sound of the spirit's agony. She could hear her friends try to calm her down but she was plagued by the sound and the images from her dreams becoming more clear at that moment.
She saw the men who had supposedly committed suicide, the two men from her dream the night before, the maid from two days earlier, and others facing gruesome deaths. She eventually saw her worst fears realized. All of her friends. Dead. Far more gruesome than the vision of them dying at the Kimura case. Everyone was drowning in their own pools of blood, in the middle of it all was John, the youthful priest hanging on a cross similar to the crucifixes he had shown the brunette long ago.
The images continued to flash across her eyes as she felt the itching burning sensation on her hands, she had no idea if we was crying or if she was still screaming. Perhaps Ayako had attempted to slap her awake like the Urado case, if she had, it didn't seem to work. Another image seemed to flash across her eyes...
A little girl.
She appeared to be about five years old. She wore an old fashioned pink dress with white lace and ruffles. She looked like a normal little girl, if it weren't for her fire engine red eyes. The most alarming part about her was her sinister grin and she had her palms out toward Mai.
In one, an upside down cross had been carved into it. In the other was an inverted pentagram. She may not have been a Christian, but Mai felt her stomach lurch knowing it meant something truly horrible. "Want to play a game?" the girl grinned wickedly, staring into Mai's soul. "L thinks it will be fun, we just need a body..."
"Mai! Mai!" finally she could hear her name being call out.
C'mon, legs! Move! she mentally ordered herself. If she could just move toward the voices and away from the visions she would be home free!
She was making some sort of progress. She knew she was awake, just out of her mind. No pun intended. She felt someone shaking her and heard someone's shrill shrieking. Her own? Most likely. Just a little further.
"Mai! You need to snap out of it!" She heard someone shout at her. Who could it be? The voice was definitely not Monk's or Lin's or Ayako or Masako. Maybe Naru? Nah, couldn't be.
"C'mon, Mai!" That sounded more like Ayako.
She could finally feel the tears running down her face, her screams becoming hoarse, the burning on her hands, her employer shaking her like when she had that nightmare on the case before. Her eyes had been open for probably the whole time, she blinked and her screaming had finally ceased.
She felt drained. As though she could close her eyes and possibly be either in the same vision she had been in or asleep for a whole day, or even both. Her eyelids fluttered, threatening to allow sleep to take over. "Mai, listen to me, don't fall asleep," she heard her boss order, she just wasn't sure she would be able to comply. He helped her sit up and she still struggled to stay awake.
"Sorry, Naru," she apologized sheepishly, her head bobbing in and out of consciousness.
"Takigawa, Mr. Shibuya, can you give me a hand?" she heard a slight urgentness in his voice.
Why doesn't he want me to fall asleep? she wondered and she felt herself being half lifted, half forced to walk to keep her consciousness. He called Yasuhara, Mr. Shibuya, are the Ishikawa's in here too? I must have caused quite a scare...
She fought to keep her eyes open, as she was put in a sitting position on the couch. "Mai, please stay with us," she could hear a frightened voice plead. Akahana.
What was going on? Why was she not supposed to succumb to sleep? Had something happened to her while she was having that vision? Her eyelids fluttered again, she could see Akahana and Ryouta in the far end of the room and someone with dark hair looking over her hands. Just what happened?
"Mai, stay with us, don't fall asleep," she heard Naru order, what was going on? "Miss Matsuzaki, Takigawa." Apparently a secret order had been given.
"Sorry, Naru," Mai managed to whisper as sleep finally overcame her.
***
September Day 4, 3:41 P.M.
Her sleep had been dreamless and much needed. The only thing that was really annoying her was that constant beeping right by her ear. It just kept going. Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Finally she couldn't ignore it anymore. She was waking up, much to her disappointment. She felt stiff and she opened her eyes to find herself blinded by bright lights. She whimpered and clenched them shut, turning her head and opening them at a certain priestess's voice. "You gave us a bit of a scare."
"Ayako?" Mai asked, her throat sore and voice hoarse. Carefully, Ayako grabbed a cup of water and lifted the girl's head enough so she wouldn't choke as she drank it.
"Small sips, Mai, you've been out for awhile," she ordered and the girl complied. She noticed exactly where she was. A hospital room. What one earth happened to her?
"What happened?" Mai finally asked as the priestess pressed a button to alert the medical staff of her awakening.
"I was kind of hoping you could tell me," the priestess replied, scooting her chair closer to the girl's bedside. "You listened to the audio and then you just began screaming, we tried to calm you down and I noticed your hands were heating up," she explained, pointing to the girl's hand. "Before we knew it your wrists began to bleed, we were worried about bloodloss when you were going in and out of consciousness. Then we took you here."
Mai looked at her hands, more bandages covered them and there was the pulse monitor attached to her finger. Something didn't seem right. "Where is everyone else?" she asked.
"They are-"
"Miss Taniyama, I'm glad to see that you're awake," the doctor came in with a smile. "I am Dr. Suzuki."
The man continued to check her vitals and looked at the two women with a smile. "You seem fine, think it was really just exhaustion and you didn't lose much blood from the cuts on your wrists, but I wouldn't recommend resorting to cutting yourself in the future," he reassured her. Mai gave a quizzical look to the woman next to her, who gave a guilty smile in return. "I would like you to stay overnight, so we can keep an eye on your mental state, if that is-"
"That won't be necessary, Dr. Suzuki," Mai interrupted, sounding too much like her employer to her liking. "My mental state is fine, the cuts on my wrists were just an accident." She gave the man a genuine smile with bug eyes. "I'm just very clumsy, but if it would make you feel better I can come back tomorrow for an evaluation."
Dr. Suzuki looked shocked, but shook his head. "If you are that sure of your well-being I will have a therapist come in and evaluate you, if he decides you are mentally stable you will be free to go." Slightly annoyed the doctor left leaving Ayako to chuckle.
"Maybe it's not such a bad thing that Naru's rubbing off on you," she laughed, causing the brunette to glare at her.
"Ayako, why did you tell them I cut myself?" she asked as she pressed a button to elevate her bed into a sitting position.
"Mai, in our line of work, I'm sure you've noticed how many skeptics there are in the world," she explained, crossing her legs. "If we just said that you had basically been attacked by an unseen force, we would all be taken to the loony bin." She gave the girl a soft look. "And your negotiating skills have improved tremendously, we were sure that Naru would have to bail you out or you would be spending at least a night here."
"Where is everyone?" Mai asked, remembering her unanswered question.
"They're at the hotel, I drove you with Naru in the back seat with and Lin followed behind. When Dr. Suzumi said you were in no immediate danger, Lin and Naru left and told me to call when you woke up," she explained.
"Then go call them," Mai insisted. "I'm supposed to have an evaluation anyway."
"I will call them, when that therapist guy gets here, besides, John's supposed to arrive soon," Ayako replied, leaning back.
"Soon?" Mai repeated, snapping her head back to the priestess. "How soon? What time is it? How long was I out?"
"Whoa, one question at a time," Ayako chided with a laugh, as the therapist walked. "John should be arriving within a couple of hours, it's not even four o'clock yet and you were out for more than six hours," she explained looking up at the elderly gentleman. "She's all yours, I need to make a call and I'll be back in a few."
She left and the therapist began his spew about what he was going to do. He asked questions that Mai answered correctly or truthfully. The session took about an hour and by the time he was finished asking questions, Mai was in need of some ibuprofen or something. The tedious process gave her a headache and she couldn't wait to get back to the hotel. "You seem very sane, Taniyama-san," the man said, putting down the clipboard. "So sane, that I'm curious as to why you went and cut yourself."
Mai sighed. "To be honest, sir," she began, shaking her head slightly. "If I explained to you exactly how I obtained these cuts on my wrists and the blisters on my hands and the exhaustion I faced, you wouldn't believe me a it and would send me to an insane asylum to 'protect' me or something."
The man raised a brow, but lowered it and gave a knowing smirk. "Try me."
Smirking as well, Mai answered him. There was something about this man she liked, she couldn't think of it at the time, but she liked his attitude. "Do you believe in the paranormal? Such as ghosts and demons and possessions?" she asked him, the man looked taken aback. "That's what I thought," she chuckled shaking her head again. "That's the reaction I usually get when I tell people my part-time job is to hunt such beings."
"I see, so this is a work related injury," the man concluded, scribbling something on the clipboard, ripping the paper and handing it to her.
"What is this?" she asked.
"It's your copy of your release," he answered, standing up, ready to leave. "I understand how you would tell such a tale about your injuries considering the people out there and your profession, just try to be more careful next time. My grandson is in a similar profession and faces the same type of criticism I'm sure you have faced a time or two, I wish you the best of luck."
With that, the man left leaving the girl shocked as the priestess walked in. "What? Did you flunk the evaluation?" she asked, sitting down next to her. "What did he ask?"
Shaking her head again, Mai explained the random questions she had expected to face and her answers to them. "Then, he said that I seemed too sane for wanting to cut my wrists and I explained to him that I hunt ghosts and he understood perfectly."
Ayako was shocked and had to blink a couple times before she could respond. "Mai, you shouldn't have told him that," she chided as the nurse came in to release Mai from the medical equipment.
"And why is that?" she returned, not caring about the nurse in the room.
Ayako huffed, and crossed her arms, standing up and tapping her foot. "Because, some people don't exactly approve of our profession," she explained. "Isn't Yasuhara's school enough of an example? Remember Sakauchi? You're lucky that he understood and didn't force you into an asylum."
The nurse then cut in. "Miss Taniyama, you're free to go," she explained with a smile, turning to Ayako. "We just need the both of you to sign a form at the front desk."
"Sure, thank you," Ayako said, waving the girl away. "Seriously, Mai, what were you thinking?"
She helped the teenager up out of the bed, who hadn't been changed into a hospital gown for some odd reason, and they walked out of the room. "Well, I trusted him," she said bluntly as they reached the front desk and signed the papers.
"How can you give your trust so easily?" the priestess shook her head as she finished her signature.
Mai shrugged. "I don't know, there was just something about him. Something told me that I could trust him."
Ayako sighed as they hopped into Yasuhara's car that said priestess had driven there. "Mai, you're abilities amaze me as much as they can irritate me."
Mai rolled her eyes as they hit the road on their way back to the hotel to find out if anything else was going on, since their departure.
***
"Well, if it isn't our little Mai-chan!" Yasuhara called out once the two girls made it into the lobby. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel better now, Mr. Shibuya," she lied, she would never admit it out loud, but she didn't really want to come back to the hotel. The atmosphere was different and she felt unwanted, kind of how Akahana must have felt.
"Good," he smiled then his face became serious as well as his tone. "I know you don't really want to go into the matter, but I think it would be best if you come with me to Base and explain just what made you go into that attack."
He was right. She didn't want to talk about it. But it would also be best if everyone knew what they were dealing with. "Sure," she agreed, suddenly hearing footsteps.
"Mai! Thank goodness you're all right!" Akahana exclaimed as she raced up to her.
"Yeah, sorry for the scare," Mai apologized sheepishly.
"Don't be, I should be the one sorry for this thing targeting you," she replied, then noticing Yasuhara. "Oh! Forgive me, Mr. Shibuya! You must want to ask her what happened, and I'm interrupting!"
"It's quite alright," he answered with a smile and the group parted ways.
***
"Mai, start from when you were listening to the audio," Naru ordered, as Lin was ready with his laptop to take notes.
Mai took a breath, getting comfortable in the corner of the couch where she sat. "The same voice that I heard on the recording from yesterday was pleading for help, and answering the questions, but I'm sure you already listened to them. It wasn't until the end when it began the agonizing cry did I lose it..." she continued to explain the vision she encountered in her little episode.
"Upside down cross. Inverted pentagram..." Naru repeated with his hand on his chin, like always.
"Are you sure it was carved into her palms? Not drawn on?" Monk inquired from his spot across from the girl.
Mai nodded. "I'm sure, I could see blood dripping from them."
"Naru, I'm not like liking this," Masako said sternly, turning to him. "And for once I agree with Mai, as much as John may be needed for this case, I don't think asking him to come was a good idea."
"I suppose you have a better idea then, Miss Hara?" he remarked coldly, forcing the girl to turn her eyes away and shake her head with shame.
"What does she have to do with this?" Yasuhara asked out of nowhere. Everyone turned to him. "I mean the girl in Mai's vision, everything before was actually somewhat expected given what we know about this case. But the girl?" he paused, his eyes grazing the room and his friends. "She's not expected at all, is she the cause of what's going on here?"
Mai shook her head. "I...I don't think so," she said shaking her head. "She wanted to play a game, saying that 'L' thought it would be fun. Call me crazy, but I think 'L' is the culprit."
"That makes sense," Ayako added, crossing her arms next to the brunette.
"That's because Mai is finally using her brain," Naru added coldly from his stance.
"Glad to see your faith in my mental capability," Mai grumbled under her breath.
"No need for sarcasm."
"Idiot scientist..."
Knock. Knock.
"Come in!" Yasuhara called out and a maid came in.
"Forgive me for the intrusion, however Mrs. Ishikawa requested that I summon you for dinner," she said giving a bow.
"Thank you," Yasuhara said looking at his friends. "I think we could all use some food, agreed?"
"Agreed."
They all made their way down to the dining hall, eating their meals in silence. The case was on everyone's mind. Upon first glance everything seems pretty simple. The two men at the beginning of Mai's dream earlier that day could be the ones causing the suicides and other activity unwillingly. However, that doesn't explain the little girl with the carvings in her hands. Or the ties this case seems to have with John. Or why Mai's uneasy feeling seemed to grow as she ate her dinner slowly, picking at her plate.
Her question had just been answered.
"Mr. Shibuya!" the maid from earlier cried out, racing into the hall, causing both Naru and Yasuhara to stand up.
"Miss, has something happened?" Yasuhara asked, as the young woman nearly ran into him.
"It-it's Yoshiko!" she panted, trying to calm down. "She attacked Akahana again, in Ryouta's office and...and...I just came as fast as I could!"
Instantly every member of SPR sprinted down the hall, racing for the clients' office. Each pleading that they weren't too late. They found Akahana outside standing with a maid. "Akahana!" Mai exclaimed, at her side in an instant.
"I'm fine, Ryouta and Susumu are in there trying to calm her down," she explained, pointing toward the closed door. "Go and help him."
They raced in seeing the two men struggling to keep their hold on the woman. "Nau maku san manda bazara dan kan!" Monk chanted as Lin quickly hit the pressure point on the back of the woman's neck.
"She was repossessed?" Ayako asked, as the woman was securely restrained and tied.
Masako simply shook her head. "No, I believe she had been possessed all this time, but the spirit had stayed dormant until now."
"What happened?" Yasuhara asked Ryouta who was trying to calm himself down.
"Just...just exactly what happened two nights ago, when Yoshiko attacked Akahana," he managed to spit out, still shocked.
"Hey, Kazuya, what time is it?" Monk asked Yasuhara, who looked to his watch.
"Just after six thirty," he responded and the monk crossed his arms.
"So John should be here soon, until then, what do we do?" Monk looked to the man pretending to be his employer who simply looked to the real employer.
"Any ideas, Naru?" he asked and Naru gave a sigh.
"We should lock Yoshiko in a room where she can't harm herself or anyone else if she somehow frees herself of those bonds," he said, crossing his arms as well.
"Just what I was thinking, none of us can perform a safe exorcism compared to John. We're just going to have to wait for him."
"I suppose she had the same glowing red eyes she had earlier and as the doorman had when he attacked Akahana?" Ayako questioned Susumu as Ryouta led the men to a room that would keep Yoshiko safe and brought her there.
"Yes," he replied, scratching his head. "Poor thing, she'd been complaining about not feeling well, I should have urged her to stay home or lie down."
"Had you done that we might not have been able to get to her in time," Masako commented.
"Well, now that the excitement is over, please, feel free to go back to your meals," Akahana urged, trying to be a good hostess.
It went without saying, but Mai had lost her appetite. And looking at the girls next to her, she was not the only one. "If you don't mind, Akahana, I think we'd better head to the lobby and wait for out friend," Mai declined politely.
"Suit yourself, just be careful," she replied, exhaustion evident in her voice. The three remaining girls left.
"This isn't good for her," the priestess declared out of the blue.
"You mean the stress of the situation, right?" Mai asked as the reached the lobby.
"Yes, it's starting to take a toll on her," the priestess concluded.
"And with her reaching her due date in a couple of weeks, it can't be good for the baby," Masako added, the priestess nodded.
"Exactly."
"She's about as stubborn as Naru, but far nicer about it," Mai included, as they reached the front desk and were about to head for the staircase. "She won't leave this place even if she's in danger."
"And that's the problem," Ayako sighed, shaking her head. "Because she stays here the spirit will continue to target her and it won't end well."
"Ayako, remember, we aren't sure if this spirit can travel," the medium chided behind her sleeve. "It's quite possible that it could attach itself to her and target her no matter where she is. It will be easier to figure this case out once John arrives."
"You won't have to wait long, here he comes," Mai said, nodding her head in the direction of the front doors.
There John bobbed his way over, a large pile of folders in his arms. Another figure, smaller than the Australian boy, bobbed its way through the doors as well. "And he's brought a friend," Ayako added with a cock of her head.
"Good to see you all again," John greeted as his companion followed, Mai's eyes widened and her jaw nearly dropped.
She could barely find the words. "It's-"