Authors Note: Yay, up to chapter 4. I thought this would be short chapters, but I decided to make it as long as I can. So please comment, vote, share, and most importantly Enjoy!:)
CHAPTER 4: Mai's Dreams:
Mai didn't move as the little girl began to stroke her hair. Her smile so large, her eyes so red, her body so cold. Mai watched Showen as well. He didn't move. He stood there with his eyes as scared as Mai.
"No matter how old you are," Mai thought. "You will always be afraid of things..." She moved her hand up to start her own exorcism that Hosho and Ayako taught her.
"Don't be stupid." the little girl whispered in her ear. She pulled Mai's hand to her side. "You aren't strong enough to hold spirits back. Not me or the others. You're weak."
Mai struggled again, but the little girl was stronger. She didn't get it anymore. Who was this girl? Why had she been doing this? Why didn't Showen ever tell his sister? She shut her eyes, she wasn't ready to die yet. It was the opposite. She wanted to live!
"Why do you even bother forming a team with the others?" She asked. She twirled Mai's hair. "You can't do much. All you can do is make tea. Or coffee. You're just a dog to them." She laughed. "But, they trained you so well. Don' t you think? Keeping you on their leashes!"
"How dare she say such things about my friends!" Mai thought. She became angry.
"..." The little girl grinned wider leaning closer into Mai. "I can feel the anger. Your body is shaking from it. What would you like to do to me? Yell at me? Kill me? Please tell me." She removed her hand from Mai.
"I don't care what you do with me." Mai said. "But, don't you dare speak about my friends this way. It's nothing you can do. They will find you, both of you, and you will be forbidden from this house. You will be vanished!"
She rolled her eyes. Mai moved out of the way grabbing a hold of Showen's hand. She saw the other spirit had taken a hold of him. She grit her teeth and began to yank sending them both flying out of the room.
"Come on!" Mai screamed. She grabbed his collar and ran with him half dragging, half running. She turned to the living room falling to the ground on her knees. "Naru!" She screamed.
"What happened?" Masako asked. She lifted her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you saw a spirit."
"Well, that's funny because..." Mai took a breath. "I think I just saw one." She pointed behind her. "Some where back there."
Naru stood up putting his notebook on the table. "Masako, do you sense anything?"
Masako shook her head. "I don't sense any of the spirits. Mai needs some sleep."
"Would you jus-" Mai felt cold hands wrap around her waist. Multiple hands began to reach for her grabbing her by the hands and arms. "This is how Naru was!" She thought.
"Mai!" Naru yelled. He reached for her hand taking a hold of it and started to pull back.
"AH!" Mai screamed. She held onto him for dear life. "Don't let go!"
Ayako, John, Lin, and Hosho began to exorcise all murmuring their chants. When nothing seemed to be working, they did it again and again as quick as they could, but they began to stumble over their words. After nothing began to work, they helped Naru into pulling Mai back. The hands were too strong.
Mai's pulse beat. She lifted her head and found everything beginning to spin. It made her nauseous.
...
...
...
Mai woke up. Her breath was seen in the air. This has never happened before. But she remembered something.
"Naru!" She screamed. She began to walk around the small portion of area she was given. "I'm not even supposed to be here. He specifically told me not to come again." she thought. She lifted her head to the house. She saw everyone was pulling, all had desperate faces. Naru was yelling. Not just him, but all of them. "But, that black glob has vanished. Where did they take Naru?"
"Are you...?"
Mai heard a soft voice from behind her. She slowly turned her head. "Huh-uh..." She gasped by how close the girl was. Falling back, Mai noticed the girl was very young. "Wh-who are you?" She asked.
The little girl raised her head. She pointed through the house. In the house stood the other little girl. Mai took a mental note that they were the same height, but Mai couldn't see this girl. She was in black. Just like the women who had attacked Showen and Hoka.
"All I want," the girl said. "Is to be found. All I want, is my mother to stay safe and move on with me. But we can't. Not until you find the rest of the truth."
Mai straightened her back. "You hurt my friends. You hurt me as well. I'm even here stuck with you by force, not will. How can I possibly trust you to help you?"
She looked at the ground. "It wasn't me who had hurt you or your friends...." She looked away from her. "It is not me keeping you here."
"Then who is it? Where did Naru go? What am I being sucked into?!" Mai asked. She felt her pulse quicken. "I need to get out of here. It's cold. And Naru told me not to come. Which means, I won't be able to sleep for quite a while."
"I would tell you my name." She said. "But, I don't remember it. I don't remember my death nor do I remember why I look like that little girl. I don't even remember the person who is doing those things to you and your group."
"..." Mai glanced at the girl in the house. "Wait...you don't know if that's you?" She shook her head. "Can certain types of ghosts possess...other types of ghosts? Is this even possible. But then, who is this little girl? Where does she belong?" Mai turned to the girl. "I'll find out what is going on. But, if it is you, I won't hesitate to come back and exorcise you myself."
The little girl smiled letting out a laugh of pure happiness. Mai found that a bit odd at first but realized maybe this little girl didn't really have any idea of what she had been doing.
The little girl slid next to her. "Are you afraid?"
"A little bit." Mai said. "What do I do to get out of the blob?"
"You have to go through it. The more they pull, the more they try to take you out, they will end up sucking themselves in as well. " She said. She turned to Mai. "You're the only one who can see it and know about it. So you must do it yourself, or they will die." The girl then disappeared. "Good luck."
Mai swallowed. "Now it's time to wake up, and stay up." Mai thought closing her eyes.
...
...
...
Mai lifted her head back up. She saw everyone jump from her sudden awakening. They kept pulling and tugging hoping to get Mai out safe and sound.
"What happened Mai?" Ayako asked. "You just passed out all of a sudden?! Now you're up?"
Mai looked at the glob reaching for her mouth. She turned her head and made it grab a hold of her hair. She screamed but forced herself to calm down. Only because she watched her friends get scared.
"John I need you to start your chant. Lin, Ayako, and Mosho, go in different corners and chant as well. Masako, stay here with me and help me pull her out. Mai, we are looking for an opening so that when it does open, we can pull you out without injuring you." Naru said.
Once Naru was done explaining, everyone began to chant again. "Naru...Masako..." Mai thought. She watched their feet slide a little bit as Mai was being dragged back. "She was right. You cannot save me. I must save myself. I have to go through this alone. No one is going to be here to help me, but I'm sure I can make it. All I have to do is persuade you to let me go."
"Mai, do you feel it opening?" Naru asked. Mai stared at him. "Mai...?"
"Let go." Mai said bluntly. She twisted her head away from the both of them.
"Are you insane?!" Masako asked. She reached for her elbow pulling her back. "We can't just stop. We have to at least try!"
"LET GO OF ME NOW!!" Mai screamed. "Trust me!"
Masako stared for a second but gave a firm nod. She let go of her hand and watched her sink in faster. "I expect you to be back."
"Naru..." Mai said. "I will be back. I'm sure of it."
Naru hesitated for a minute. "You better be back Mai!" He yelled. "I'm counting on it!!" He let go of her watching her sink in all the way in a split second.
Mai closed her eyes. She couldn't open her eyes from the fear of seeing something that she wouldn't be able to unsee.
"I can't do this..." Mai thought. She hugged her knees to her chest floating in the odd substance. "I can't save the others. I'm such a wuss."
"Don't be afraid."
"...!" Mai forced her eyes to open from the sudden voice. A man with the hair of blue with dark blue eyes stared at her. He wore all black. His signature clothing. "Naru!" Mai said with a smile. "I thought...I thought you were completely gone!"
He gave a small half smile. "I need you to be strong for this. Try not to get into the this whole mess."
Mai didn't quiet understand what he meant. "What is this place...?" She thought looking around. "It looks like the mansion." She said aloud getting Naru's attention. "But, everything's placed differently. Everything seems darker. It feels off as well. Even cold, not the regular warm temperature. What's going on?"
Naru rubbed his chin which was something she had never seen him do before. She began to laugh. He turned to her with a sudden glare. "This is not the time to be messing around This is serious." He said.
She wiped the tears away. "I'm...I'm sorry." She said hesitating whether to laugh or not. "Anyway, how can I get out of here? It doesn't seem like it's going to be easy, but I made promises to my friends' and I'm willing to do it for them. So where do I get started?"
Naru sighed. "I already started walking around here." He said. "I tried to walk through, but it seems that it won't be possible. There must be a hidden passage of some sort."
"Mmm-mmm." Mai began to look around feeling all the doors and opening them, closing them, and pressing on the walls. She couldn't find anything. "I don't see anything as well." He said. "What about you?"
Naru shrugged as well. "Me either. Wait, did anything in the house strike you as odd?"
"Well, now that you say that, it was the moment where that women spirit showed as well as the little girl. It was in the hall." She went through the living room and past the kitchen. The place she stood had the same dark hallway. Although, since there were no lights on, on both sides, it was darker and harder to see. "This is the place."
Naru grabbed a candle off of the table from the living room and walked forward. Mai came behind glad she had some kind of company with her. She stood near the hallway once again completely frozen, both were shocked to go any farther.
"...!" Mai closed her mouth with her hand.
The hall had blood all over the floor like a person had been dragged. Bloody hand prints were placed everywhere throughout the wall until it looked as if the person had finally collapsed with the large smear and pool of blood they were standing on.
"Let's go." Naru said. Mai didn't move. Her whole legs wobbled refusing to take a step. He held his hand out to her. "Come on. Your friends are waiting for you."
She took his hand. They switched to were she held onto his elbow from behind. The smell of blood filled her nose. "What happened here? Why is there blood everywhere? Mai questioned.
She stood off to the side while Naru would check the rooms. She saw a shadow move down the hall a little farther from her. Something behind the figure was dragging something.
"H-Hello?" She asked. She began to follow it. The door slammed in her face, but it didn't stop Mai from opening it. "Hello?" She peeked through almost vomiting. "Huh-uh..." She stepped backward.
A women held a blade in her hand cleaning it with a white napkin. She had a large smile as blood was smeared all over her face including her clothing. She stared at the knife with pleasure. Her hair was a black mess, and her eyes were dark red just like the little girl before.
"She didn't see it coming." the women said. "That poor girl." She lied back in the bed. After a short while, she got up and began to drag a women from behind the bed and out of the door where Mai stood!
The crazed women didn't seem to notice Mai, but that didn't mean Mai was willing to turn her back on a women with a knife. Naru even walked past her looking at the knife she held and the body she dragged. The women's hair looked red, but some parts where brown. Which meant her hair was most likely in a pool of red blood. Mai covered her mouth feeling nauseous.
"What's going on?" Mai asked. She leaned on the wall. "Why didn't she react when she saw us?"
"I'm going to have to guess, but I think the women is someone who used to be alive. And this whole thing is something, almost like," He titled his head. "A memory of someone else. They can't see us, but we can. All we have to do is watch."
Mai nodded following the women. She dragged the women near the steps until she saw a little girl. "It almost looks..." Mai gasped. "This must be the little girl who she saw. The one who told me about her not remembering anything!"
The crazed women dropped the women. "Oh? You're up already? Did you hear all the ruckus your mother was making. I told her to be quiet, but it didn't seem to go well. I had to quiet her down some how." She said lifting the knife. She saw the knife that still dripped with blood. "Oops, forgot to put this away."
The little girl began to hyperventilate, she stumbled up the stairs, but the women didn't seem to make any move. She stared at her. "Mea!" She called out in almost a chanting tone. "Don't go up there. You won't be safe."
"Mea...Mea...Mea..." Mai thought. She felt a choking feeling. The room became colder, her pulse beat from the sudden chill. "It's Hoka Kori's daughter. These people...they must have wanted there wealth. Or something to that degree."
Mea reached the top of the stairs but immediately stopped as a women stared down at her. Her eyes were red with black hair. She looked like a twin to the women Mai and Naru stood by downstairs. The only difference was that her hair was formed in a different way. She held up the knife to Mea.
"Hello, Mea." She said.
"..." Mai closed her eyes in Naru's chest. He had his eyes closed as well holding Mai.
Mai still saw the horror. Mea had tried to run past the women, but she grabbed a hold of her hair, pulling her back, and then stabbing her in the chest. The women was laughing crazily as Mea began to fall down the stairs holding onto her chest.
"This is horrible." She thought. Tears dripped down to her chin. "Is Mea...is she trying to make me understand what happened to her? Was this the part she had wanted me to see all along? Or is there more to it?"
"Mai," Naru said. "Wake up..." He saw her puzzled look. "If this is some kind of memory, memories are like dreams, then you can wake up by yourself. You can return."
She nodded looking up at him. "Alright." She stepped away from him closing her eyes. "I'm going to help you Mea. Whatever happened to you, I will make sure...you can pass through...with happiness!!"