Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt. If I did, there would already be mini-Naru's around. :D
Author's Note – Thanks for the reviews! I enjoyed them very much! I suppose it is more like a darker story, but it isn't always going to be like that. And, when I reread the prologue, I knew it was confusing but only because they were sneak peaks and the plot isn't fully developed there. I take a long time to write chapters. It's because I like writing longer chapters for my more interesting stories. I'm sorry if I take a too long of a time, I only write when I have a chance.
Dream State.
Present State.
Mai sat on her bed, huddled in her blanket and trying to stay awake. She hated going to sleep, even if she was really tired. She hated having those dreams, nightmares, whatever you wanted to call them. She only wanted to have one peaceful night. It had been two years since she joined SPR, she was now eighteen, and in her senior year in high school. They had solved many cases, with or without her help. Sometimes, Mai felt the only thing she was good for was making tea for the clients and her narcissist boss. It had been a while since she had those nightmares, but every night when she tried to go to sleep, those nightmares would come. But, they were far more realistic than what she remembered, and sometimes, things were way different than what should've happened. It didn't even make sense to her at times, but she would always keep in her mind, that they were only nightmares. They were not real. But, it seemed so real. It was like having your worst fears come to life, and you would be watching it unable to do anything. That's what it was like to her. Except, those worst fears had already happened, and were only applied to her fears now. She tried caffeine patches, coffee, watching a scary movie, anything that would keep her awake, but she was slowly slipping out of consciousness. Finally, after a two hours of trying to stay awake, she was sleeping, hoping she would have a pleasant dream.
-0-
A ten-year-old Mai was soundly asleep, hugging her pale pink blanket and smiling. 'Usually, I'm by myself and in somewhere completely dark. Why am I here now?' the older Mai wondered. She wondered what day it was, hoping and praying to every God she knew that it wasn't that day. Ever since that day had happened, she had tried forgetting about it; in fact the memory was pretty hazy now. She didn't really know what had happened, but she knew her worst fears had come to life that day. She couldn't stand remembering something as dark as that. Even if she pretended to be the bubbly, cheerful girl she was now, she knew that it wasn't always like that. She knew that she acted the total opposite of what she really was. She wasn't clumsy; in fact she was actually very poised. She wasn't always happy, cheerful, and bubbly. Sometimes, she was sad, depressed, and wanted to cry, but she always smiled or laughed it off. People had always said that she always wore her emotions on her sleeve, but she wore it on a jacket sleeve. She could always take the jacket off and reveal her true emotions, but she never did. She didn't want anyone else's sympathy or anyone to worry about her. It was enough that they knew she didn't have any parents. It didn't mean that she was never happy though; it didn't mean that she was totally fake. She was bubbly and cheerful most of the time, except sometimes she just wanted to cry it all out, but there was no one to cry to.
A crash of a vase, and a man shouting "SHIT!" had interrupted her thoughts. She watched as the younger Mai groggily rubbed her eyes and had slowly sat up in her bed. "Mom? Dad?" her young voice asked in a raspy voice. The young Mai walked out of her room, her little feet pittering-pattering against the wood floors. She crept around the hallways inching forward, ever so slowly, thinking it was a surprise for Christmas morning. And being the curious girl she was, she wanted to see what her parents were planning. She tried to suppress her giggles, for she knew that they thought she was sleeping. She reached the family room (room with the TV), and saw her parents were indeed there but with a strange man. "What do you want? I thought I paid you enough last time. And, why are you sneaking into my house at this hour? I have a family," her father had hissed. "Tch, that's where you're wrong, Keisuke. You gave us the right amount, but that doesn't explain the incident of hacking into the website. You found something out, and it's something that Boss doesn't want you to know. He doesn't want money anymore, he wants your head," the man said, laughing. "Wh-What's going on?" her mother, Mariko, had asked. Mai froze in fear, she was surprised all right, but not the surprise she wanted. The older Mai cursed silently to herself, 'No, I don't want to remember. I don't want to see this again.' "Shut the hell up, bitch! I'm talking to him, not you. Maybe I should shut you up for a while now," the man said, kicking Mariko in the stomach. "Stop it, I'll go. If I go peacefully, you'll leave my family alone, right?" Keisuke said, in a low tone. "Going? Going where? Now that your wife has seen me, I can't just let her be. You have a kid too, right? It'd be unfair to leave the kid out from the fun and games. It's not like anyone will know who killed off the prestigious Yamada family. The older Mai watched in horror as the man, took a gun out of his dark jacket. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he aimed carefully at her father and pulled the trigger. Her father fell backwards and a loud 'thump' was heard. The maids were still sleeping, and had not awoken despite that a gun had been fired. The man walked over to her mother, and placed the muzzle of the gun on the middle of her forehead. Her mother was still unconscious due to the strong kick in the stomach. The gun was fired as another person died. The look of fear was visible on the younger Mai's face, her brown eyes wide and tears streaming down her face. "You have to get out of here! You have to hide!" the older Mai whispered, hoping the younger one could hear. The younger Mai had gotten up and started running towards her room, she would go to her favorite hiding spot. The man turned around, "Huh…? So, the kid was watching, hn. This should be fun." He slowly walked towards the young girl's room and found that the door was locked. He only smiled as he kicked open, the white door. He looked around to try and find the kid hiding in a corner or something similar to that. He looked under the bed and fired the gun towards the ceiling twice, listening carefully for a kid crying, screaming anything. 'Damn kid, I'm sure she ran in here,' he thought. His boss was going to kill him if he didn't complete the job. He turned around and was about to check somewhere else, when he noticed he hadn't checked the closet.
Mai sat shivering in her hiding place. She remembered the day when they were still building the house. "Mai, look. If there is any danger, and Mommy and Daddy aren't around, all you have to do is hide in your closet. There's a special door here and only you can open it, there's a button inside, and it will automatically notify for the police to come to the house. Make sure you remember this, okay?" her mother had told her. Mai had only nodded and giggled, not taking it too seriously. The only problem with this place was that it was very small and cramped; it had been three years since the house was built, and she had grown quite a bit. It was dark, and cold. She heard the man looking around and winced as he shot the gun twice. The older Mai was with her in the hiding spot, although there was barely enough space for her. She remembered this feeling, being all alone with no one there to comfort you. She cried together with her past self. Suddenly a bright light emitted as Mai merged with her younger self. She looked to find that she was now in her past self's body but with her present-self personality. She was about to re-adjust her position when she heard the man opening the closet door. She froze as he rummaged through her clothes and looked through the shelves. The man grunted as he exited the room. She heard the door click and the echoing of footstep along the long hallway. Mai sighed in relief as she slowly crept out of her hiding space, peering through her window to see if the police were here yet. Mai froze as she felt a presence over her. 'Help…' she thought.
Footsteps. The man froze, he couldn't be found out yet. The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and he cursed silently. The door was still open, and he quickly hid behind it. He watched as a butler peered in, looking thoroughly, but not entering. The butler appeared to be very worried and scared. 'He couldn't have found the bodies yet,' the man thought. 'Ah, well, I'll just sneak out through the window then, this is still the first floor,' he thought while planning his escape. The butler clicked the door shut and started walking down the hallway. The killer listened as the butler's footsteps faded away. He was about to move, when he heard the closet door open and saw a young girl running out, looking through the window. 'Lucky me,' he thought as he reached into his jacket to get the gun out, when he realized that it wasn't there. 'Shit, I must've dropped the gun when I was about to hide here. Oh well, I have something else up my sleeve,' he thought as he walked towards the girl. "Hello," he said in a low voice. The girl jumped and turned around swiftly. She was about to scream when he covered her mouth. "Don't say a word," he took his pocket knife out of his pocket (eheh, lame weapon I know) and flicked it, as the blade popped out, he pressed it lightly against her pale neck. The moon shone on Mai's scared face and her eyes were watering. 'I don't remember this happening,' she thought. Mai closed her eyes, as she quickly tried to think of what to do. She opened her eyes, and spotted the gun next to her bed. Mai's plan was formed. She took a deep breath, as she bit the man's hand and ran towards the gun, grabbing it. She aimed the gun at his head with her shaky hands. The man only laughed as he walked towards the girl, "You're funny little girl. I'm pretty sure you can't aim for your life, and you probably couldn't shoot me. Second of all, you're going to die pretty soon, girl, look at your neck. It doesn't matter what you do, death comes either way." "I can," Mai said darkly. She kept forgetting that in reality, she was eighteen, not ten. Why and how the hell did she merge anyways? Everything was different, this never happened. What the hell was going on? Her parents weren't killed this way, were they? As hard as she tried to remember what exactly happened that day, she couldn't. She only brought up hazy dreams and more questions. She couldn't remember what happened that day exactly, and she couldn't even remember what happened afterwards. Mai's arms were shaking, she couldn't bring herself to shoot the man, but how else was she going to get out of this alive? If she died now, would she die in real life? She had completely forgotten that this was all a dream, or was it? The man only walked closer, laughing, and waving the pocketknife. Mai shut her eyes tightly and squeezed the trigger and screamed, "Mom! Dad!" She slowly opened her eyes as she saw the man, obviously looking surprised. She had shot him in the middle of his stomach. "Y-you shot me," he sputtered. (No shit, Sherlock. Hah, I felt like adding this here but I knew Mai couldn't say it.) Mai only dropped the gun as her eyes widened. She didn't actually kill him, did she? Even if she was eighteen, even if she wasn't the bubbly girl everyone thought she was, she still couldn't kill a person. Even in self-defense. Mai felt something running down her chest, as she felt her neck. She was cut, probably from struggling when he held her a knifepoint. She was cut deeply, and she started to feel dizzy. The man struggled to reach for the gun, "Damn it, a kid ended up killing me," he said. Mai staggered forward reaching towards the wall near the window, missing and falling out of the window only to land in the bushes. Darkness consumed her, and the last thing she thought was, 'It's cold…'
Mai slowly awoke, but to find she was still dreaming, and still in her ten-year-old body. 'What the hell is going on?' she asked herself. When she was younger, she would always try and remember what happened on that day. And she had remembered that a strange man killed her parents that day. She had remembered hiding, darkness. She didn't remember killing someone, or falling out of a window. "Did you enjoy your past?" a voice asked her. Mai looked around, trying to find out who was speaking. She felt her neck, trying to find out if her wound was still there. "Do not worry, I completely healed you. I am your friend and am only trying to help you," the voice said, in a kind voice. "What the hell just happened there? It's not what I remember, it's nothing like what happened that day," Mai said, trying to figure everything out. She saw a shadow coming towards her, coming closer and closer.
Naru woke up, and frowned. He checked his bedside table and looked at the square, black clock, only to find that it was 7:30 AM. The green flashing letters annoyed him, as he looked outside, the sun was shining brightly. He hated these kinds of days the most. They only reminded him that the rest of the world moved on everyday. The sun shone, and set every single day, the world moved on. But he still hadn't. He could never let go of his brother, the only one who ever tried to understand him. Until she came along. He never expected her to be useful, and to be honest, she really wasn't. Sure, she had those dreams that helped a case a bit, but they had never actually solved anything. But he couldn't exactly imagine SPR without her. It'd be a little less cheerful, a little less interesting, and a little less…of what it should be. He sighed, as he got out of bed. He was up already; he would just get ready early and get some extra work done. A special client was going to come in that day; really, he wasn't too interested in the case. It was a bit normal when he thought about it. Of course, in the real world, it wasn't normal, but to psychic researchers such as himself, it was too plain and too boring. He was about to decline the case until the client had hoarsely whispered at the end of the call, "Your worst fears will come alive. You cannot escape them." That interested him. He wasn't scared of anything; he had gotten rid of all emotions, including fear. He wanted to see this "haunting" spirit himself. Little did he know that the spirit was already there, already watching, and ready for a thrill.
The person came closer, and Mai shut her eyes, not wanting to know whom it was. She flinched in fear as she felt a hand placed on her head. 'That's funny, the hand is warm…' Mai thought to herself. Mai slowly opened her eyes and saw a beautiful figure before her. The figure had flowing, light brown hair and the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. She had a thin figure and wore a flowing pale pink dress and it was so pale, it looked white. She wore a pink rose as a corsage and a daisy crown on her head. She had pale skin, but a kind smile. Mai looked closely into the girl's eyes and despite it being full of kindness, she saw something was amiss. The girl smiled and cocked her head to the side. "I bet you were scared of me, am I correct? There is no need to be afraid. My name is Lucille (pronounced Lu-Sheel in Japanese but Lu-Seal in English) and I do not intend to hurt you, I only wish to help you," she said. 'What is with this girl? She speaks so formally, and yet she couldn't be much older than me!' Mai thought. "Ah…I'm Mai Taniyama and I am eighteen years old…" Mai began; she really didn't know what to say to someone so…beautiful. Lucille smiled, "You have a very pretty name, Mai. I have no age for I am not what you call human. But I can assure you, that I do not want to hurt you in any way. I decided to show you your past in order for you to understand some things. I want you to see what really happened that day. After the police had found you, they found that you had a small case of amnesia. You had remembered the major parts, but you didn't remember anything else, which I am sure that you never thought of before anyways. They had placed you in foster care, hoping you would find another family and I'm sure you know what happened after that." 'Am I really supposed to believe this? I may be a ditz when it comes to memories, but I can assure myself that I did not murder anyone. I didn't fall out of a window, and the police did find me, and our last name was Taniyama, not Yamada. Oh well, I might as well go along with it, this is a dream after all,' Mai thought. 'She seems to be doubting me…' Lucille thought. Lucille liked this girl, this girl who was able to move on after traumatic experiences in her life. Sure, she forgot most of it, but she was always bubbly and keeping in her emotions in check. Unlike some other brats she had met before who were moody all the time, and had the need to kill. (coughcough Cookies to anyone who guesses who that is.) "I know this may seem hard to believe, but you must believe me before it is too late. You have to believe and accept the truth, and move on. You cannot try and push this away anymore. He will come after you very soon, so be careful. Do not mention what you have seen today to anyone, do you understand? I am not supposed to be here, yet I helped you anyways…maybe it was my conscience. I beg of you, stay safe. I am not responsible for what may come to you in the future," Lucille said, and started to disappear. "Wait!" Mai shouted, "Are you supposed to help me or are you against me?" Mai was unsure, after all there was something wrong with that girl. Lucille looked down before answering, "Perhaps we will leave this unanswered for now, you will learn soon enough." 'That helps,' Mai thought. Suddenly, there was darkness again. She had remembered feeling the chilly breeze before, was it from that girl? No, it was still there, only it wasn't as strong as it was before. 'That girl is dangerous news, I don't think she is out to help me…but then why would she tell me all this? God, this is all so confusing! I think I'll try and get out of this dream world for now. I wonder where Nar-Gene was.' She was so used to calling him Naru, so used to thinking that it was Naru, that it was hard to break the habit. Mai closed her brown eyes, and concentrated, she needed to get out of here, and most of all, she had to remember what happened that day.
-0-
Onimaru laughed, "She seems to be doing fine, a bit distressed, but fine. My, she is going to be such a delicious soul." "Don't get too excited, Onimaru-sama. It will soon be time to capture her, but she needs to be completely pure before we get her. She still needs to remember what happened, and she needs to know why she is at Shibuya Psychic Research. Then, we can capture her, and you may take her soul so that you may—" a woman in a long white coat, and pale blonde hair, so pale that it looked white said. "Don't fret Michaela, (mee-kay-la) everything will go as planned. Nothing will go wrong, I just need Lucille to come back so I can ask her a few questions," Onimaru grinned. He had dark hair, but the most dashing hazel eyes that always glinted with a small bit of mischievousness. Michaela was a fallen angel from Heaven with light blonde hair, and pale lavender eyes, and pale skin. She was very sickly, and needed pure souls to support her life. Hell wasn't a good place for an angel; it was very hard for angels to survive in such an evil place, even if they turned their back on Heaven itself. Onimaru was Lucifer's son himself, and Lucille was his twin sister. Although, at times, Michaela wondered if what she had done was truly for what she believed in. Sometimes, she wished that she were back in Heaven, resting peacefully or delivering messages, like she was supposed to. But, she had quit all that, all the peacefulness, her friends, and her healthy life, to live in this trashy place. Sure, she had money; she could buy anything she wanted. She made, plenty of new "friends", but they only wanted to use you. 'Typical for Hell, I guess…' she thought. The dark door to the big throne room burst open as Lucille rushed in. "About time…" Onimaru muttered. Lucille glanced at Michaela with a glare; the devil's daughter never really liked Michaela for being an angel. Although they had to work together for a lot of things, it didn't help matters that they had a mutual feeling of hate for each other. "So, how'd it go? What's she like? Is she the soul we were looking for?" Onimaru asked, excited. "I swear you are like a little child. You especially have the manners as one and you should speak more formally. It went well, she fell for it hook, line, and sinker. She is very gullible you could say. She is very sweet, and hard working, I suppose. And yes, she is the soul we are looking for, very…pure indeed," Lucille answered, twirling her hair. Lucille liked Mai, she really didn't want to hurt her, and that small warning that she had given Mai was a taboo. Lucille was only supposed to show her the dream and pretend to be nice. 'It's sad, what happened to her. Most humans would go crazy, or commit suicide. But she moved on, I wish more humans were like that. It would've made my job as an angel much easier…except now that I'm a demon, it doesn't really matter,' Michaela thought. Lucille easily read Michaela's mind and could only agree. 'I can't go against Onimaru though, if only I could…' she thought.
It was around 10:00 AM, everyone was in the small SPR office. Mai looked a bit dazed and tired, but otherwise perfectly normal. Naru looked around before clearing his throat, "We have a new case today. It is pretty usual, claims of ghosts, missing things, and a few injuries." "Really? That seems boring. Exorcism and shit, ehhh?" Houshou mumbled. "That is not all, it seems that our worst fears will come to life, or the client claims. Also, it turns out that there have been a few deaths, relating to the case, we aren't sure but Lin is looking into it," Naru continued, glaring at Houshou. "There are a few minor details that the client has given us, more research will be done at the house. Although I am very sure that the house is actually haunted, by what I don't know," Lin said. "Right, we are researching the Yamada Mansion, where Keisuke Yamada and Mariko Yamada were murdered on Christmas Eve eight years ago. Their daughter, Mai Yamada, went missing that day and her body has never been found but it is assumed that she is dead," Naru explained. "That's so sad, having your family die on Christmas Eve," Ayako said. Meanwhile, Mai was fighting with her conscience. 'There is no possible way that this case and the dream are related. If that's true, then that means that I'm that little girl, but I swear, that's now how my parents died. That's now how—' Incredible pain surged through her body, and she tried her best not to show it.
Michaela could only feel the sorry for Mai as the symptoms began to come. The closer they get to solve the case, the closer she will be from death. Day by day, minute-by-minute, she will slowly fade away. Her pure soul would be fed to Onimaru so that he could resurrect the one who could save their place from fading away.
The Yamada Mansion was clean; clean of the blood and fear that had draped that house so many years ago. It's haunted spirits only longed for Mai to return. They wanted their princess home. So many people wanted the girl's pure soul. And only one would get it.
The haunting spirits of her past
The demon lord, the demon princess, and the fallen angel who only wished to save their kingdom and their lives.
The group of friends who loved her with all of their heart and would do anything to protect her.
Author Note Numero Dos: School, and other things kept me from editing this story; sorry it took me so long! I am not a very active person. Meh, yes I KNOW this story isn't the best. And I TRIED to be unique I DID try! Reviews, please? Ideas? Suggestions? Criticism? Kthxbai!