Chapter #5

Hello, everyone! First I just want to say how sorry I am for being gone for so long! It was never my intention to take a leave of absence, but life got a little crazy. I just finished getting my bachelor's in English and with CRONA-19 happening my last semester of classes got pushed to online halfway through the semester. This caused a little bit of trouble with working my schedule around the new way of teaching, work, and I recently moved as well. So, again I want to apologize for leaving the way I did, I hope you guys can forgive me.

Second, I want to say how much you guys are rock stars! Even while I was gone for so long without updating you guys still left favorited, followed, and reviewed this story (Which makes me super happy! Always something that makes my day brighter!). I'm happy that you all are enjoying this story, I know I really enjoy writing it. So without further ado, I will stop nagging you guys and let you get to what you came here to do. Read the new installment of Healing Connections! I hope you guys like it!

We all stare at the monitor in shock once the doll head stopped in front of the camera, staring into the dark eyes of Minnie I feel a chill run down my back when her dark childlike voice washes over me.

"You will pay for your meddling, this is my home, Ayumi is mine. And I will get rid of anyone who gets in my way!" Taking a step back, I gasp as a dark wave of energy pushes down on me. Gripping the back of Naru's chair to keep myself upright, I take deep breaths to try and force the energy back. But it is just like with Kuroda, the energy just continued to force itself down on me. I vaguely hear Monk leave the room to check Ayumi's room and something about the camera being turned off. Minnie's laughter fills the room as the force of the energy becomes painful, letting out a painful gasp I go to my knees. I hear Naru turning in his chair and asking me what's wrong, but I can't find the strength to respond. Then just as soon as Minnie's voice was there, as well as the dark energy, it was gone. Feeling like a weight had been lifted from on top of me, I brace my hands on the floor panting. The next time Naru asks me what's wrong I can respond.

"Minnie… She is not happy with us getting in her way." I look up at him with a frown.

"You need to call John; this is becoming more than just a spirit being upset with strangers in their resting area. This is full-on hate; Minnie doesn't want anyone's help. She just wants to hurt people and get them out of her way." He offers me a hand and pulls me up to my feet, before pushing me to take the seat he had been occupying.

"Lin, call John and Masako. See if they can get here by tomorrow night." Naru tells Lin-san, without looking away from me. Lin nods, taking out his phone to make the call. Naru motions for me to follow him, standing slowly, the shaking in my legs cause me to wobble a little. Once I have my balance back, I follow Naru out of the room. He leads me to the kitchen before he can do anything I begin searching through the cabinets. Quickly finding a pot to boil water, I place it on the stovetop on high. Pulling out two mugs, I start looking for the other things I will need to make earl gray tea. I sigh happily when I find utensils to make it straight from the leaves. Once the water starts to boil I create two cups, handing one to Naru I take a seat next to him at the small table.

He takes the cup gently from my hands, the shaking had receded slightly. I was able to hold and pass over the cup without tea spilling over the side of the rim. He takes a deep breath of the stream, letting out a breath his body relaxes. Copying his actions, I do the same, the familiar smell helping my nerves calm a little more. We sit in silence for a few minutes, me trying to shake off the lingering feelings Minnie's dark energy still heavy on me. Naru looks straight ahead, probably thinking about the case. What he knows now, what could be a possibility, and what he can throw out given recent events.

"What happened?" His voice is calm, quiet. Looking over I notice his gaze is intent on me, waiting on my reaction.

"It was like she was pushing down on me, or at least her energy was. The darkness that it was seeped in seemed to crawl over me, pushing down on me until I yielded. The force becoming painful the longer it was there. It was as though I could feel every evil intent she had rushes over me, through me, but just as quickly it was there, it was gone." I shiver as the memory flashed through my head. His eyes never leave mine, emotions swirl through them. Mostly with intrigue, but there's also understanding there.

"You don't feel anything now?" I shake my head, breaking eye contact with him to take a sip of my drink.

"No, as soon as the video came back on as it was before Minnie moved, the feeling and pressure disappeared with it." I hesitate before asking.

"Is that normal?" Even with how long I have actually had my abilities, there are still some things that I don't know. Things that I was supposed to learn when I got older and they grew, but then things changed. I catch his eyes; I see a small bit of surprise in them.

"It depends, on what the extent of your abilities are, how much was caused by Minnie. The list can be endless without more information." I nod in understanding, even though a small weight of disappointment weighs down on me. He doesn't say anything else, we finish our drinks in silence. Naru takes both of our cups and rinses them out in the sink before walking me back to base. We are almost to the door when he speaks.

"If you wish to try and learn more, I can give you a few books to read that may help you find connections to what you feel. Once you find some we can look into other options to fully understand what you can do." Opening the door to base, he walks inside before I can say anything. I stare after him in shock for a moment, before following him inside. He goes back to his seat by the monitors and I go to the couch. I stay up with them for another hour before Naru tells me to go to bed. Wishing them both goodnight, since Monk had already turned in for the night, I headed to the room Ayako and I share. I don't remember changing into bedclothes or even getting into bed, all I remember is shutting my eyes and feeling the comforting feeling of being dragged into my dreamscape.

The following morning Naru asked me to check on Ayumi, to see if Minnie was releasing the same evil energy, or if she was talking to her at all. Climbing the last of the stairs, I pause in front of Ayumi's door. Leaning my palm against it as I listen closely to any sounds that may come through the wood.

"This house is teeming with evil witches, she and that bad wolf are controlling the others in the house." The eerie dark tint that encases Minnie's voice causes shivers to run down my spine. Well, I guess we're back to letting me hear what she is saying again.

"Even aunt Nori?"

"Yes, she's one of the witch's minions. But don't worry I will take her out for you." Refusing to listen anymore, I push the door open and walk-in. Ayumi is sitting on a stool with Minnie sitting up on the foot of the bed in front of her. Shutting the door behind me, I pause a few feet into the room. There are a few weak spirits lingering in the room, a pulse of energy emits from Minnie, causing them to pass by me and vanish.

"Ayumi, was that Minnie you were talking too?" I ask, turning my attention fully onto her. She nods.

"Some other kids were here too; I guess they left." She tells me after a moment. My senses tingle as the door that I closed opens on its own.

"So Ayumi, how long would you say these friends of yours's have been coming over?"

"I don't know." Ayumi holds her hands closer to her chest, I can tell she doesn't want to talk to me in fear of what Minnie will do. Treading lightly, I ask.

"Would you say that Minnie plays with these kids too?" The light in her eyes seems to fade out, the dark tint that falls over them makes me swallow thickly. Minnie may not be possessing Ayumi, but she is effecting her the longer we allow her to be around her.

"Minnie's the one that brought them here." Knowing that my being here was only making Minnie angrier and angrier, with us and with Ayumi. I tell Ayumi to have fun playing and to come find anyone of us if she needs anything, then I leave the room. Making a beeline for the base, I have only one thought on my mind. We have got to get whatever spirit is possessing Minnie out of her and out of this house before Ayumi gets hurt. Slamming the door to base open, causing all eyes in the room to fall on me. I go straight up to Naru, he barely has time to look up at me before I start talking.

"No more waiting, we need to deal with Minnie now." Raising an eyebrow, a me he gestures for me to explain. Quickly running through everything that happened moments before, leaving out the part of Minnie talking, I wait for his response. Monk and Ayako both lean forward from their spots on the couch, even Lin-san turns to look at Naru.

"Monk, do you want to try getting rid of the ghost that inhabits Minnie?" Monk smirks.

"I would like nothing more than taking down that doll."

Once Monk was ready to perform on Minnie, Ayako took over watching Ayumi while she took a nap. It was still pretty early in the evening; so Masako and John hadn't arrived just yet. I was standing behind Naru watching the screen that showed us Ayumi's room, it was where Naru thought would be the best place to try and get rid of Minnie. The room was silent; the only sound was Monk's quiet chanting. Halfway through the performance, we hear Noriko scream out, rushing out of the room we find her on the floor in one of the hallways. When Monk and I got there she was laying on the ground clutching her leg. Kneeling beside her Monk asks what's wrong.

"My leg, it felt like someone really strong was pulling me by my leg." Looking over her leg Monk deduced that it had been dislocated, I swallow back the bile sitting in the back of my throat at the sight of the small handprint shaped bruise on Noriko's leg.

After leaving Noriko in Ayako's hands, Naru told me we were going to go and talk to Ayumi. I sit next to Ayumi on the bed, while Naru decides to stay standing in front of us.

"Where's Minnie!" Ayumi demands, for the third time since we had been in the room.

"Minnie's with me for a while. Now I need you to tell me about your new friends ok?" Naru asks her, Ayumi shakes her head at him. Demanding again where Minnie was and to give her back, I could see Naru getting irritated with her. Holding up a hand for him to be quiet I get Ayumi to turn toward me.

"Ayumi listen, I know you want Minnie back. But she hurt your aunt Noriko and we can't help her or you if you don't talk to us ok? Minnie told you not to speak with us, didn't she? She said if you did you would be punished right?" She looks up at me with tears in her eyes, she nods.

"We can help Ayumi, but only if you tell us what all Minnie told you and about the other kids in the house ok?" It was as though a switch had been flipped, she started crying as she explained the threats Minnie had told her if she disobeyed. She quickly tells Naru and I everything Minnie had told her, she also told us that the friends Minnie brings over are her 'servants'. Thanking Ayumi, we lead her back to her aunt before going back to base to tell the others what Ayumi told us. Minnie was settled in a chair when we got there.

"She definitely did this, makes me wonder if a previous owner died of an illness and then possessed the doll." Monk says, looking over at the doll. Ayako shivers turning away from Minnie.

"This is exactly why I've always hated dolls, even when I was little." Naru shakes his head.

"Minnie is not the one responsible." Monk looks at him as though he is crazy.

"How can you say that?"

"Because the doll is being used as a vessel. There's a restless spirit possessing this house until we can find a way to discover its true identity Ayumi is in grave danger." I look at Naru in concern. Why is Ayumi the one that Minnie is targeting though? It just doesn't make any sense, it would make sense if the ghost here targeted Ayako, or Monk, or anyone else who poses a threat; so why did it chose Ayumi? I hear Noriko call out for me from the hall, walking out the door with the others close behind I see Noriko and Kana staring at something on the wall. Looking over at it I feel like a bucket full of ice water has just been dumped on me. Written on the wall in red is the words Bad girls will be punished Is this Minnie's warning to Ayumi? I think, fear clenching at my heart at the thought of Ayumi in danger.

"Ayumi just confessed to me something she was to never speak of. Minnie believes she has been betrayed by her. Mai, I want you to be with Ayumi at all times." With a quick nod, I follow Noriko to go and take Ayumi outside while the others clean up the wall. Once outside I catch the first glimpse of what Ayumi must have been like before meeting Minnie. Before I came outside Naru told me that while Ayako was cleaning the wall, Monk was going to burn Minnie to get the spirit out of her.

"I want to think you again for all your help." Noriko tells me, I smile at her.

"It's no problem, I know how hard this has been on you. Especially since Kana left." Kana had left a note on the table that Noriko found right before we brought Ayumi outside, Kana must have left when we were busy with everything going on.

"I really appreciate it." Noriko says again as Ayumi walks over to us.

"Auntie, how's your foot doing?"

"Much better." Noriko says swinging it slightly. "Actually once you started being friends with me again the pain went away." She continues. Ayumi smiles brightly at her.

"That's great, I'm going to pick some flowers for you. Do you want to come with me?" That last part is pointed toward me, smiling at her I nod.

"Sounds like fun." Following her to the flower patch, I ask her.

"What kinds should we get?" She giggles lightly.

"The prettiest ones." She tells me like it's obvious, I smile at her response.

"Like that one." She points to a big white one before leaning down to pull it out of the dirt. She suddenly freezes beside me, leaning closer to her I ask.

"Ayumi what's wrong?"

"My hands are stuck!" She yells, close to tears. I quickly start digging out the flowers surrounding her hands before grabbing her wrists and pulling her free. We both fall back on our butts, I look back at the patch of dirt and freeze when I don't see anything. There's nothing there! Ayumi stands up and starts running, calling out into the open.

"Minnie I'm sorry, please forgive me!" Noriko stands up and yells at me.

"Mai! Go after her, she's heading straight for the pond!" I gasp and take off after Ayumi, catching sight of her standing in front of the pond. She backs away asking Minnie to forgive her when she slips on some rocks and falls back into the pond.

"Ayumi!" I yell jumping in after her. I search for her on top for a moment before going under, she's sinking quickly right below me. Swimming toward her I grab her and swim back to the top with a gasp. Spotting Noriko, I call out to her.

"Here! Take Ayumi." I pass her Ayumi, but before I can climb out myself something attaches to my leg and pulls me down. The last thing I hear before going under is Noriko calling my name. I try kicking at whatever is holding me but with no luck. Looking down I gasp at the decomposing hand clinging to my ankle. I begin to choke on the water that filled my mouth when I gasped, kicking harder then I was before I manage to get the hand to release me. I try to swim back to the top, but it's as though my limbs have lost all strength. I feel my body getting heavy as black spots fill my vision, I kick one more time before my legs refuse to listen to me. Before I give in to the darkness completely I feel a warm hand grip my wrist tightly and yank on it, then my world goes dark.

~Line Break~

The sound of multiple voices talking loudly above me is what wakes me.

"She's been asleep for over two hours, are you sure we shouldn't take her to a hospital?"

"I checked her vitals, she's ok. If she doesn't wake up in the next thirty minutes then we will, but not until then." Forcing my eyes open I spot Monk and Ayako standing next to John and Masako at the end of the couch. They must have got here while I was asleep. Actually, when did I go to sleep. It's then that I remember what happened. Minnie, the pond, Ayumi, wait Ayumi! Shooting up I gasp in pain as my head immediately starts to pound.

"Easy kiddo, you've been out for quite a while." Monk says, coming to kneel beside the couch.

"Ayumi, where's Ayumi, is she ok?!" I demand.

"She's fine, you were the one that was hurt." I look over at Naru. He walks over to stand beside Monk. He has on a different set of clothes then what he did when I went outside.

"Did you change your clothes?" For some reason this makes Monk and Ayako smirk, tilting my head at them in confusion I ask.

"What? Why are you two looking like that?"

"I had to change clothes because mine got soaked when I pulled you out of the pond." Naru states, I look at him in surprise.

"Pull me out? What happened? I remember passing Ayumi to Noriko, but not much else." Naru sighs, sitting next to me on the couch.

"Minnie pulled you under in the pond, Noriko was screaming for help when I got there. She said you went under and hadn't come back up." I look at him in shock. Ayako decided now was a good time to add-in.

"And gave you mouth to mouth." I feel my mouth drop in shock at her words, swinging my eyes to Naru. He turns his head to the side not looking at me, a light hint of pink looks to be dusting his cheeks, but it's gone before I can be sure. Looking back over to the others I see Masako glaring daggers at me, Monk and Ayako trying to hide their giggles behind their hands, and John rubbing the back of his head as he stares embarrassedly at anyone other than me. My cheeks blaze red as I realize that they are telling the truth, ducking my head down as I cover my cheeks with my hands. I chance another glace at Naru, my eyes connect with his. Even though his arms are crossed and he looks anything but amused, there's also a hint of softness in his eyes as he looks over at me. Just as quickly as it was there it's gone, he turns back to the others and clears his throat.

"If you are all done being childish, shall we continue on with the case?" His voice had turned to ice in the few minutes that had passed since I woke up. Placing my hands in my lap I am confused when I feel a type of fabric under my fingertips. Looking down I finally notice a black jacket that must have been draped over me while I was asleep, lifting one of the corners a strong smell of tea and spice hits my nose. This is Naru's Looking over at him again as he glares down at the rest of SPR a small smile comes to my face. He must have placed it over me after changing. A pool of warmth fills my stomach at the thought of someone taking care of me. It's been a long time since anyone has done anything to care for me. Folding the jacket neatly, I place it on the arm of the couch before standing up and walking up to Naru.

"So what happened while I was asleep, did you find anything else out?" I ask, leaning forward to see the monitors better. He doesn't turn away from his spot seated in front of the monitor, instead, he passes me a file without a word. Taking it with a small 'thanks' I read through the file, taking a seat in the chair opposite of him. Twenty minutes later I sit the file down with an overwhelming sense of sadness settled over me.

"So many children, I can't image the loss those parents must have felt." Naru looks over to me, but I am to immersed in my thoughts to address him. I continue to stare at the wall of monitors as I process everything I read. Something doesn't seem right, why is it the children that are dying? Minnie seems to be bringing all these kinds here because she is lonely, but if Minnie herself is a child why wouldn't she try and bring an adult to the house. Someone that could take care of her and be with her. Why go after other kids? Unless the spirit possessing Minnie isn't a child. I flinch sideways when a book connects with the top of my head with a soft 'Thunk'. Swinging my eyes to Naru I glare at him.

"Hey, what was that for!" I yell at him, rubbing at the sore spot on my head. He just smirks down at me.

"You looked as though you were getting lost in thought, I thought it best to not allow yourself to take up valuable room in your brain with pointless daydreams." He tells me, my jaw slackens in shock at his words. Before anger flares up inside of me.

"You Ass! How do you know I wasn't thinking about something to do with the case!?" He just stares at me with a raised eyebrow, before ignoring me in favor of turning back to the monitors. I scowl at him. That jerk, why does he only hit me when distracted. What about the others, they goof off all the time. I think with a grumble, looking at everyone else in the room I notice for the first time that Masako is gone and John has changed into his Priest clothes.

"Hey, where did Masako go?" Ayako is the one that answers me.

"She said she still wasn't feeling good. As soon as she came into the house she said she sensed an overwhelming amount of spirits that belonged to children." I nod in understanding, not at all surprised that Masako sensed so many. I figured there was a lot of spirits in this house, I just can't sense them as directly as Masako can. I hope she'll be alright. Shaking off my thoughts I turn to John next.

"Are you going to do an exorcism?" He smiles at me, before lightly shaking his head.

"Not exactly Mate, I am going to purify Ayumi so that it is safer for her and Noriko-san to leave."

"Their leaving? When did Noriko decide this?" I ask, looking at everyone in shock.

"Noriko-san made the decision after what happened at the pond. She thought it would be best to leave with Ayumi." Naru speaks up, his voice calm. I jerk my head to him.

"But what if Minnie follows them! She could still hurt Ayumi outside of the property." Naru glares at me.

"I am well aware of that Mai, I told Noriko-san as much. That is why John is going to purify Ayumi and we are going to give them wards to keep with them in case Minnie tries to follow them." He deadpans. With that, Naru, John, and I go to Noriko's room. Naru and I stand at the end of the bed while John begins reciting his prayer. He places his rosary around Ayumi's neck as she sleeps, before finishing. Turning to Noriko he speaks.

"I have said a prayer over her, she should be safe for the next couple of hours." Noriko bows to him and thanks him, her hands clenched together tightly in front of her.

"Now then Kazuya, I would very much like to see this doll." Before anything else is said Bou-san bursts into the room.

"Naru, I can't find Minnie anywhere. It's like she completely disappeared!" While John and I look surprised, Naru doesn't show any emotion at all. He just looks at Bou-san blank-faced, his eyes, however, reflect his unsurprised.

"So she's runaway has she? Don't worry, she'll turn up soon." Naru's words are completely sure, his eyes reflected his calmness. With that Naru wished Noriko goodnight and ushered the rest of us out of the room, Ayako came in as we were leaving to keep an eye on Ayumi. Once we reach the base I took a seat in front of the monitors beside Lin-san, while Naru stood behind my chair with Bou-san and John beside him.

It was nearing two in the morning when we got any sort of response from the paranormal. As the clock strikes two, the moans of many children begin to crackle loudly through the audio feed. Lin-san patches it through at Naru's order so everyone could hear, if possible the moaning grows louder. Clanking against walls and children crying takes over the entire room, growing louder with each passing second. John and Bou-san look around them in horror.

"Sounds like children, dear God there's so many of them." John says a quiet prayer under his breath, but the cries are unaffected.

"Are they after Ayumi?" Per Minnie's order. I continue in my thoughts.

"John's prayer is having some effect, maybe a kakai barrier would help as well." Bou-san thinks aloud.

"That's a type of ward right? Though I don't remember exactly what it's for." Bou-san nods.

"It's to ward off any spirits in a certain area, like the base for instance." As sudden as the cries started, they stopped. Looking around us in confusion I state.

"They stopped all of a sudden." Before anyone could say anything, Ayako comes in the room call for Naru with a white bulge of cloth in her hands.

"Naru, I found Minnie. Look!" She shouts, handing the cloth to him. Naru unwraps it to reveal Minnie underneath.

"I noticed a budge under the covers of Ayumi's bed by her feet and sure enough the doll had found its way in there." Ayako explains. I only partially hear her, my eyes locked on Minnie's. The aura surrounding Minnie grows darker in color the longer I look at her, even though her face doesn't change I feel as though she is mocking us.

"Is Ayumi alright?" John, ever the calm one, asks Ayako. Ayako assures him and the rest of us that she is fine. Naru turns away slightly with Minnie still in his grasp, I follow her with my eyes. Those children stopped moaning as soon as Ayako found Minnie.

~Break~

Since Minnie has been found, John wanted to perform an exorcism on her immediately. Once Naru had her settled on a small table in the middle of the base, I turned off the lights as John began his exorcism.

"Thou Father thou art in Heaven" Finishing his prayer, John places a metal cross on Minnie's forehead. As soon as the cross touches her Minnie's eyes fly open. The energy that weaves around her thickens quickly, the heaviness of it pressing into me like a thousand little needles. I suck in a quick breath as John begins spraying holy water over Minnie.

"You will pay; you will all pay. You cannot get rid of me, I am more powerful then you can imagine!" A grunt escapes my lips as I turn away from her, trying to force air into my lungs even as the weight of energy crushes my windpipe. With a final shriek from Minnie, the doll stills and the energy lightens again. I release a heavy breath, leaning against one of the chairs placed in front of the monitors. A hand landing on my shoulder startles me slightly, turning I calm when I see it's just Naru. His eyes check over me as he gives me a questioning look.

"It's nothing, Minnie is just not very happy about being sent out of her favorite vessel." I wave him off, he continues to stare me down as though expecting me to say more. When I stay silent, he looks over me one final time before turning his attention to John and Monk. Looking around them to the table, I notice that the cross has left burn marks on the place it touched on Minnie's head.

"I think it would be best to burn the doll; so that it may never be used as evil again." John tells us. This time when we take Minnie outside to burn her, she turns to ash without a problem. We all head back into base once the ashes have been dealt with.

"I think the spirit that possessed the doll is the entity that haunts this house. You think it could be one of the children that died here?" John asks the two men across from him. Monk, John, and Naru are standing in a small circle around each other, while I opted to take a seat on the couch a few feet away.

"There's a good chance, the spirits were probably lonely by themselves. They try to bring over the kids in the house and befriend them, then those children become site bound spirits as well." Monk answers, Naru looks down bringing his hand to rest on his chin.

"Why is it just the children?" He asks I look up from the table to pay closer attention. I wish there was a way to tell Naru everything I know without outing myself and my abilities. It would make this case get solved faster, if Naru had all the pieces he could probably figure it out with that big brain of his. Frustration grows inside of me at my inability to say everything I want, but I can't risk people finding out too much about me or my past. It's not safe for them, I won't let anyone else fall victim to evil forces because of me. Not again.

"If they were lonely then why not chose someone like Noriko or Mai? Someone who could act as a substitute mother, however, for some reason Minnie was attempting to eliminate them. Why do that?" The door creaks open quietly behind us, causing us to turn our attention there. Ayako walks in slowly.

"Miss Matsuzaki, how is Miss Hara?" Ayako shakes her head lightly.

"She's still not feeling well." Ayako walks over to the couch and picks up her bag, before turning and walking back out of the room. I'm assuming to go sit with Masako again.

"I see. Monk I'd like you to try cleansing the house again." Monk Raises an eyebrow at his request (if it was a request, you can never tell with Naru).

"You sure?" Naru doesn't answer at first, instead typing something on his laptop.

"The first to die was Yuki Tachibana, here's her info and Buddhist name. She was with the Jodo sec." He continues, we look at him in shock.

"How did you find that out? Those records are over seventy years old." Monk questions him.

"It was rather easy." He doesn't say anything else as he stands and walks over to Lin-san, asking him something I can't quite hear. I watch him for a few more minutes before looking away. You sure are sure of yourself Naru, I just hope your right, for everyone's sake.

~Break~

"I thought you said the ghost can follow us? Would it really be safe for us to stay in a hotel?" Noriko asks Naru, her hands clasped tightly over her chest. Worry lines are edged into the corner of her eyes and around her mouth. Understandably, she's been through a lot these last few days. Her and Ayumi both. Everyone is gathered in the foyer sending Noriko and Ayumi off, Naru thinks its best if Ayumi isn't in the house when we try to exercise Minnie again. Naru hands over a ward to Noriko.

"This charm will protect you. Just to be safe I am also sending Father Brown and Miss Matsuzaki to stay with you." Noriko takes the charm with a small bow and a 'thank you'. Ayumi tugs lightly on the end of my shirt, bending down so I am closer to her level she asks me.

"Mai, are you gonna come with us?" I smile apologetically at her.

"I can't, I'm sorry." She pouts a little but quickly gains her chipperness back. Skipping to the car waiting for them with her aunt she waves happily back to us as they drive off. Once they are out of sight Naru looks down at Masako.

"Is it working Miss Hara?" Masako looks around her silently for a moment, bringing her kimono-clad hand to cover her mouth for a moment before answering.

"They spirits have yet to notice. It seems the charm is working well."

"Alright, well let's get back to work." Monk states, with nods of agreement we all head inside. Monk goes to Ayumi's room and settles himself in the middle of her floor. Naru, Lin-san, and I surround the monitors. Masako settled herself on one of the couches behind us.

"Monk, are you ready?" Naru asks over the radio.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Monks voices crackers over the radio in response. Without another word, Monk began chanting.

"The temperature surrounding Ayumi's bed is dropping considerably. It's already dropped two degrees in the last minute." Lin-san informs us.

"And the audio?" Naru questions.

"I'm not getting anything yet, although I don't hear the usual static." After a moment Lin-san tenses as he holds the headphones closer to his ear.

"I'm picking something else up now, knocking sounds." My eyes roam over the different monitors, I freeze when I land on the camera in the living room.

"Naru!" I yell, he leans in close to the screen. His eyes creasing in confusion at what he sees.

"Lin, give me the temp in the living room!"

"It's currently at negative two degrees." Naru gives him a look.

"It's dropping?" He reaches over and grabs the radio mic.

"Monk we've got you in the wrong room. All of the activity is coming from the living room." Monk looks at the camera in shock.

"What?!" Before he could question us more, I bring Naru and Lin-san's attention back to the monitors. The fog that has been steadily growing in the living room is changing to a darker color as screaming faces begin to form within it. The many different screams of children begin to fill the room once more. A hand flies to my mouth as I try and swallow back the bile rising up in my throat. The pain and sadness encased in every scream silently tearing at my heart. How could someone do this to so many children? I stare at the screen in horror as the screams continue to grow louder in sound.

"Woah, what tha!? I've got multiple aspirations in here!" Monk calls to us, once he makes it to the living room. He takes a moment to gather himself before he begins his chant once more. The more he chants the more pain-filled the children's screams become, tears burn behind my eyes as I watch them through the monitor.

"You Will Pay!" I gasp as Minnie's presence appears in the living room, her power thickening the air in the base once again. Leaning over Naru's shoulder I lock eyes on the shadowy figure that comes through the pack of spirits.

"You Will Not Keep Me From My Tomiko! My Child!" Minnie's power starts to weigh down on me as I continue to stare her spirit down. My anger at her for all the harm she has done to these children a higher focus then the pain her energy causes. Her Solid white eyes flash open as she meets my glare head-on. Her hatred for me just as strong as mine for her.

"Tomiko." She mumbles again. I release my glare a little at her repeat of that name. Tomiko? Who's Tomiko? And what does she have to do with you trapping all these children? What does she have to do with any of this? My thoughts run in a circle as I continue to watch Minnie's spirit, her angry gaze becoming more and more unbearable as her energy increases. Neither of us willing to back down, not until we got our answers. The question is, what answers is Minnie looking for?

~End~

And that is that, for now anyway. I will have a new chapter up for you guys by next Sunday (Hopefully even earlier than that). Thank you guys so so much for all of your support and kind words. I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy with CRONO-19 going on, stay safe, and continue being amazing!