Chapter 16

"Alex" she looked around to find the person who's been calling her name for a while now.

"Alex" she heard it again. "Alex" this time it came from her back, she suddenly turned around and found Ryuu, kneeling in front of her, "I know we were both young, but Mai, when the right time comes, will you marry me?" he asked smiling.

Her tears can't stop from flowing, she's happy, very, very, very happy, and she reached out her left hand "Of course, Ryuu! I will!" He gently placed the ring on her ring finger, and kissed it, he stood up and cupped her face with his hand, "Even if I'm gone, thru this ring, I can still protect you, remember that" and he kissed her forehead. She's confused on his words "What do you mean?" she noticed that he's starting to fade.

"Alex" she heard someone's calling her again, "Alex, wake up!" wake up? She thought but I'm awake.

She felt an electricity ran thru her body which made her jolted awake, she slowly open her eyes and saw Rurik's worried expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" he worriedly asked

Mai still confused from what happen "Yeah... What happen?"

"You've been crying on your sleep, and I'm trying to wake you up but you won't budged so I apply some PK on you" he explained, "You've been sleeping for two days!"

She immediately rose from her bed "WHAT?!" she heard her stomach growled, both of them laugh "Right! I'm hungry"

"We'll be waiting for you downstairs"

She nodded at her assistant, but before he can leave the room she asked "Ru... Is it possible that the psychic energy or abilities can be transferred to an object?"

She saw him softly smiled "That's... one of Ryuu's major research. But, he didn't get any conclusion, he's still on the hypothesis and experimental stage when he... when he passed away, so I can't say it possible or impossible" he said.

"I see... I don't know he's making that kind of experiment. Thanks for telling me"

"Oh and one more thing, the object that Ryuu's been using on his experiment, was the ring that he gave when proposed to you" he added and left the room.

Both teams are setting up the equipment on the trailer van when two cars arrived, it was Gene and the others who went for training. They looked so tired, especially Bou-san and John.

"Great! Everyone is here." they all stopped from chattering when they saw Mai on the front door. They all greeted her, Ayako and the others are worried when they know that she's been sleeping for two days. Gene ran towards her and hugged her "I miss you! They said that you've been sleeping for two days, what happen?"

She smiled "Nothing much... I'm just tired these last few weeks" she looked at Gene and the others who went out to trained, she giggled "How was your training? Did you experience hell?" she teased.

"Hell is an understatement! We thought we're gonna die!" Bou-san and Gene whined

Lin closed the trailer van, the equipment are now set, and they should be going. Mai noticed that her team will be driving their own cars, "Hey! You're driving your own car? Then me too –"

"No Alex" Sashura stopped her "Go with the SPR, they might get lost"

"But we should discussed the information –"

"We already discussed it" Rurik said "We already discussed it yesterday. That's why you should go with them, so that Oliver can discuss it to you"

Mai sighed "Fine. But make sure to stay close with us, okay?"

"Yes, we will"

Lin drive the van, his brother ride with them and now sitting on the passenger seat, they are talking in their native language, so maybe they don't want the others to know what they are talking about.

"Mai" Naru called, she's sitting beside him. She heard someone giggled and obviously it was the people sitting on the back seat "What?"

"These are the information we gathered" he handed him the folders which contains the information; she quickly read it "The village which the house was built, existed for more than 900 years. The real estate company said that, there's a volcanic eruption happened before which caused the original village to disappear –" Naru was interrupted by ringing of Mai's cellphone

"Yes?"

"Alex"

"Sashura, what's up?"

"I will catch up on you later"

"Something happened?" she worried

"No. It's just that, I told the publishing company earlier that I already finished my new novel"

"And?"

"And they told me to bring it to them immediately now"

"Mine too, Alex. The company is eager to have my articles" Vlad inserted, it was a call conference for the three of them.

Mai sighed, she can't do anything about that, Sashura is one of the most demand novelist not only in Russia, and Vlad is one of the trusted journalist "Fine. See you later" she hanged up the phone

"Continue Naru" she ordered the young man who's been staring at her while she's on the phone. Naru wanted to asked what was that about but controlled his self, he opened his mouth but another ring was heard, he inwardly scowled.

"Yes?" Mai answered in somewhat irritated voice, she heard a lot of voice in the background.

"Alex, please go on to the location first. I will first handle these annoying reporters and sudden interviews from the media"

Mai blinked "And how did you encountered the reporters?"

Rurik nervously chuckled "I planned to stop on the office to get some notes, but I was shocked seeing them on the lobby, and I can't run now. Call you later!"

And Mai heard the dial tone "What was that?" she asked herself

"So Mai, can I continue now?" Naru asked

She nodded.

"As I've said earlier, a volcanic eruption happened before which caused the original village to disappear, and later on, the village that we're going now was built" he finished

"That's odd. Why they didn't tell us about this information when we went to asked them before?" Mai bewildered

"They wanted to keep it a secret to the Russians" Madoka answered her. Mai silently disagreed to that.

"Lin, turn left" Mai instructed to Lin.

He turned left just like what Mai said. The village was silent when they entered. There are many houses, but there are no people walking around, or kids playing. Lin stopped the van in front of a huge Spanish style home. The members came out from the van, they looked around and found some of their neighbors peeking from their windows.

"This place is sure a creepy one" Madoka commented and clung to Lin's arm.

Naru knocked the door, and their client welcomed them with his fifteen years old sister – who blushed seeing him.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Davis. I've prepared the room for your base"

Naru told them to bring the equipment and set up the base. He asked the landlord to come with them to the base for an interview.

"Oh my god! Are you Xandra Irina?" his sister surprisingly asked Mai

She smiled and nodded "Yes. I am"

"Can I have your autograph, please?"

"Sure. But after the interview"

She happily nodded.

Four cars stopped in front of a huge Spanish style house. Four men descended from their own cars and looked around the village. "The village was lively as ever, the same from before" Kir commented

Sashura nodded "Yeah. It looks like nothing happened. Even the house was the same"

"I haven't seen the van anywhere" Vlad said as he tried to look for the IPR trailer van

"That's odd. They should've arrived by now"

A woman approached the group "Oh, I thought you were familiar but aren't you the young men from before?" she asked

The men looked at each other "Before?" Rurik asked

The woman nodded "Yes. From four years ago... I think? When you were investigating that house" she pointed the house of their client

"Ah! You're that woman who warned us not to enter the house, right?" Alexander exclaimed as he remember where she met the woman

She smiled "Yes" her eyes saddened "I heard you lost an important friend from that case before. I'm sorry" she softly said

They smiled at her "It's not your fault"

"So are you investigating here again?" she asked

They nodded "I see... Be careful" she sincerely said, and walked away.

Rurik knocked on the front and they greeted their client but instead "I thought you will never come" he said

"What do you mean by that? Oliver Davis and Alex should've been here already" Vlad said

"But no one came"

"What?!" the men exclaimed together. Rurik hastily took his phone, and dialed her number.

At the base, Naru was reviewing his notes from the interview earlier.

"It's odd" Yasuhara said, they looked at him waiting for him to continue "I mean, they bought the house three years ago, so why they experience these kind of things now?" he asked emphasizing the 'now'

Naru and Mai are both thinking "You're right. That makes sense" the two of them said together.

"Do you feel something Gene and Hara-san?" Naru asked the two

Masako and Gene concentrate their senses "I feel some, but they are hiding" Masako said

"And you?" Naru asked his brother

"They love to play hide and seek" he answered him with a smile

Mai's cellphone ring, she answered it and heard Rurik's panicked voice "Alex, where are you?!"

"Where, you asked? Of course on the client's house"

"We are also here"

"Then come to the base"

"What do you mean come to the base? The landlord told us that you never came"

Mai immediately stood up, the others looked at her with a confused look, and she put her phone on a speaker mode "What do you mean by that?"

"Excatly what I mean, Alex. Vlad and the others are talking to the landlord"

"Hey, Oliver just finished his interview to the house owner" the person on the line was silent, so as Mai.

"Jou-chan, what's happening?" Bou-san worriedly asked

"Vlad and the others came, but the landlord told them that he's been waiting for us, but we never came"

"What?!"

"Ru... come to the base" she ordered "It's the same place that we used as the base before"

"Okay" after a moment "I'm here, and it's empty"

"Impossible! We are here!" Ayako exclaimed

"That's not funny man!" Bou-san raised his voice

"I'm not joking!"

Mai and Naru are looking at each other, both mentally asking what's going on.

"Hey Alex, if you're on the base, did you see a portrait of the house hanged on the wall?"

"Yes. Ayako and Bou-san are looking at it now"

She heard him gasped "Me too"

They heard a static on the other line "Alex... get... out... -rous" and the line was cut.

Mai was in her thoughts when someone knocked at their door, Yasu opened it and saw the landlord's sister

"What do you want young lady?"

"I want to have an autograph to Xandra" she said sweetly, she ran towards Mai, she reached her notebook to her "Please sign here"

Mai smiled "Okay" she opened the notebook and gasped, she dropped it when she saw what was written in there with a human blood 'You are back, with the people who killed your parents'

"Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Djin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!" Ayako and Gene do the kuji to the girl.

The house echoed her high pitched scream from the pain and vanished after giving Mai a deathly glare.

Rurik and the others are still in the house, thinking on what's going on. They are on the house, so as the others but they didn't see or feel them. They ran to the place where Mai said their base was set up when they heard a painful scream.

"Do you feel anything?" Rurik asked the others

All of them shook their heads. Vlad found a notebook on the floor and cursed under his breath when he read what was written in human blood. Sashura and others gasped from horror.

"Xander, check if you can find a fingerprint from this. Sashura, I want you to look deeper on this notebook" Rurik ordered them

"Roger!"

What the hell is going on? They all thought