•File 2: Body In The Ruins, Part 1•
June 13
•~•~Nat~•~•
Friday the 13th. It was no surprise when I shattered a mirror because of a bad dream. It happened twice actually: once at my apartment (given to me by Naru, amazingly) and the other was at SPR. I blew on the one at SPR and it fixed itself just as the phone rang. I flicked my fingers and caught the cordless phone as I summoned a clip board with my other hand.
"Hello, this is Shibuya Physic Research. I'm Natalia Cat, or Nat, how can I help you?" I said brightly. I grabbed a pencil from behind my ear and got ready to write down the information for the call.
"Can I talk to Kazuya Shibuya? I have a case for him." The man said.
"He's busy currently, but I'm his assistant. I'll make sure he gets the message." I said.
"His assistant as well as that girl Mai? You know, she told me the same thing about Mr. Shibuya." The man said. I sighed softly so he wouldn't hear it.
"Ya, that's because Naru won't talk to clients unless he's interested in the case." I wanted to say. Instead I said, "Mr. Shibuya is very busy. Mai and I talk to clients and confirm if it is worth his time, such as whether it's an actually ghost or not. So, could you tell me about your case?" I asked politely.
He didn't say anything for a minute. "Fine, but I promise it's worth his time. My name is Dr. Bones and I'm an American archaeologist. Recently I've been exploring the old ruins of a palace and town in the countryside and while wandering around in the town section later in the evening I saw a ghost." He said.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Very. Because I've seen it every day since then at the same place at the same time. I have even followed it. It walks the same path every time like it's on patrol or something." The man said. I nodded.
"Alright, Mr. Shibuya prefers talking to clients in person in a situation like this, so would it be possible for you to come to SPR?" I asked.
"No. If it was I would have come in person instead of calling. Don't take to long, this ghost won't let us get any farther in our excavation." Dr. Bones ordered.
"Alright. What's your phone number? I'll have Mr. Shibuya call you back as soon as he can." I said, jotting down the information.
•~•~•~•~•
"Here. It's a case I think you'll like." I dropped the paper onto Naru's desk and he looked away from his computer.
"A case?" He asked, picking up the paper. His eyes flicked as he skimmed it. "Alright, this does sound interesting. I'll call this Mr. Bones back and see. Find Mai and Lin and let them know we may have a case." Naru said.
"Yes sir." I answered before walking out. I slipped into Lin's office next door. "Lin, Naru asked me to tell you that we may have a case. Naru seemed interested in it." I said, not leaving the doorframe.
"Alright." Lin answered simply without turning away from his computer. I shrugged and walked out just as Mai walked in the door.
"Oh, perfect timing. We may have a case. Naru's looking it over right now." I told her.
"Oh. It's been a little since our last one." Mai said.
"Not really. We concluded our last case one week, two days, and about four hours ago." I said immediately.
"How did you know that?" Mai asked.
"Know what, the time?" I asked. She nodded. I shrugged. "No idea. I've just been good at telling time all my life." I said.
"Interesting." Mai said quietly.
•~•~•~•~•
"Only four of you?" I jumped and turned around. Standing behind me and Mai was a brown haired man in a dark brown leather trench coat.
"I'm guessing you are Mr. Bones correct?" Naru offered a hand and stepped forward. "Kazuya Shibuya." He added.
"Nice to meet you. But why did you only bring four people?" Mr. Bones asked.
"Four should be enough. If it turns out it's not I have others I can call on. Now, could you show us where this ghost shows up every night?" Naru asked.
"Follow me." The man turned and started off. I hesitated following: the vibe coming off him was kind of dark, I didn't trust him. Mai looked hesitant too but we followed anyway.
The man led us through a small camp of white tents before we entered almost maze-like ruins. "You could get lost in here." I muttered, running my hand on the wall.
"Excuse me, but don't do that." Mr. Bones said. I pulled my hand off the wall, startled. "The oil in your skin ruins the paintings." He explained without ever turning around.
"Sorry." I said. We kept walking, occasionally taking turns. In a very short time I was entirely turned around. "Mai, do you know the way out?" I asked her in a undertone after a little.
She looked around. "No." She said honestly.
"Me either." I said then froze. Down the left turn I was facing I saw the ghost walk by: he was walking stiffly and in old fashioned almost aztec like armor, holding a spear in one hand and a sword resting on his hip. I ran down the short passage between us and turned in the direction he had gone, except he wasn't there.
"Nat, what are you doing?" Mai asked as she ran up behind me.
"I saw the ghost. He walked by here." I huffed. "But now I've lost him."
"Come on, we'll find him again later. We don't want to get left behind." Mai said. I nodded and we hurried back to the other passage to find
Naru, Lin, and Mr. Bones were all missing.
"Oops. My bad, Mai. We've lost our guide." I said apologetically.
"Don't worry, it's fine." Mai said. "We'll stick together and find our way out." She encouraged.
"Right. Actually I've got an idea. I'm going to telekinetically pick you up so you can see the way back, okay?" I said. Mai nodded and I moved my hands to send her up into the air only nothing happened. I tried again with the same result.
"Nat, what's wrong?" Mai asked.
"My telekinesis isn't working." I explained. "Let me try Spirit Walking." I said. I sat down, my back against the wall and closed my eyes. The lighter than air sensation that came with bring a ghost was there, but I didn't leave my body.
"Nat, did you already leave and come back?" Mai asked as I stood.
"No, I never left. Something has to be wrong." I observed.
"Alright, well, let's try finding our way back and then we'll figure it out." Mai suggested. I nodded and we started walking.
•~•~•~•~•
It got dark quickly, however Mai and I were no closer to finding our way out. I sighed and kicked a rock in my path. "Mai, we shouldn't be out here in the dark. How do we get back?" I asked.
"I don't know." Mai answered.
"Wait, idea. Mai, take a nap. You have special dreams right, maybe you'll learn the way out!" I encouraged. Mai looked hesitant. "Come on, have you got anything better?" I asked, stopping in my tracks.
Mai shook her head and laid down. "I'll stay awake and make sure nothing happens to you." I assured her. Mai quickly fell asleep and I looked around at the tops of the buildings. I stepped forward and narrowed my eyes when I thought I saw a shadow moving along the tops, heading towards us.
"What the..." I tensed, ready for a fight if one came. There was silence for a second then I heard a muffled gunshot. Something pushed me to the side and I felt a flash of pain in my left shoulder. I hit the wall behind me and slid to the ground before looking up at the man in front me. My breath caught and my mouth feel open: the man who had saved me was the ghost.
He walked a little off as I stood up, then turned and waved at me and Mai to follow. I pulled my jacket over my shoulder so the wound was hidden and nudged Mai. "Mai, wake up. We've got a guide." I said. Mai woke up slowly and looked at me.
"A guide?" Mai asked as I helped her up.
"Yep. Him, our ghost." I nodded my head at the ghost standing a little down the pathway.
"Really? The ghost is going to take us back?" Mai asked skeptically.
"Well, he's taking us somewhere." I replied. I started after him and Mai followed.
•~•~•~•~•
He led us into what appeared to be an old temple or palace then stopped facing us. There was a path behind him that led to a big door. "Um, excuse me, but why are we here?" I asked. I kept walking forward and the ghost held up a hand telling me stop.
He pointed to a door in the left. Mai and I shared a look and when we didn't move he pointed again more firmly. I nudged Mai towards the door and we stepped inside. The closed door behind us. "Now what?" I asked her. She shrugged and I moved over to one of the two doors inside the room opposite the one we came in.
Inside the entire floor was a pool. It was only an inch deep at first and had steps up to about 4 to 5 feet, I couldn't tell. I brushed my hand in the water. "It's warm. I think he wants us to take a bath." I said as I stood and looked at Mai.
"Why?" Mai asked. I thought about what history I knew.
"Maybe we need to purify ourselves or something before we can enter the inner area or throne room or whatever." I suggested.
"Maybe. Do you think we should?" Mai asked.
"I doubt there are cameras or anything like that so I suppose we might as well do as he asks." I said.
Mai nodded. "Alright." She said.
•~•~•~•~•