Ghost Hunt: My Continuation

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Ghost Hunt… I know, it's depressing to hear isn't it?

File 2: Until Death Do Us Part, Part 4

Previously:

Naru stared at Mai, making her feel a bit uncomfortable as his eyes bore into hers. "I plan on using you as bait." He answered coldly.

Mai's eyes widened. "What!" she yelped.

Naru just stared straight ahead of him.

"But, what am I supposed to… how do you expect me to… but why?" she asked him in a rush.

Naru raised an eyebrow at her. "You really are slow; I just explained it all to you."

Mai's face flushed. Naru always knew how to make a fool out of her and although she hated that aspect about him she couldn't help but trust him. With an unhappy sigh she tried again, "What I meant was, why are you using this method when there are others to choose from?" She made sure that her words were chosen carefully and she tried to sound as intelligent as she could in front of Naru. He was always quick to tear down her attempts at being the problem solver.

He let out a slight sigh as if her were explaining something simple to a child. "Can you think of any other method that would be as effective as this one? If we continue any longer with this investigation more people will get hurt and nothing will be solved." He told her as calmly as always; his confident demeanor forbidding her from questioning his resolve any further.

Mai bit her lip as she thought the idea over. True, more people would be put in danger if they overstayed their welcome, but was it truly the best idea? For some reason this all seemed a bit rushed to Mai. Why was Naru being so insistent on using solely this method without any signs of a backup plan? She weighed her own thoughts versus her trust in Naru's reasoning and eventually her never-ending faith in his intellect won.

With a resigned nod she agreed, "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

XXXXX

Day 4

It was early in the morning and Mai found herself sitting Indian style in the middle of the grassy field in front of the house, a rope tied around her waist. She thought back on the conversation she and Bou-san had had as he'd secured the tether around her.

Mai looked down at the rope as Bou-san tightened the knot. "What's this for?" she tugged at the binding out of a mix of discomfort and curiosity.

Bou-san gently returned her hands to her sides. "It's just in case you happen to…" he trailed off, it seemed like he couldn't force himself to say 'in case you happen to fall off the cliff again.'

She was brought back to reality when Ayako placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you sure you want to do this?" Her eyes were filled to the brim with concern and it pained Mai to see someone whom she thought of as an older sister (well actually, more like an aunt, but Ayako would have killed her for saying so...) looking at her with such a worried expression.

She forced herself to flash a confident grin before laughing, "Its fine! If everything goes as Naru planned, I'll be perfectly safe!" Or so she hoped. In truth Mai was desperately hiding the subtle tremors that were spreading throughout various parts of her body.

Ayako seemed to catch on to Mai's determination and quickly joined the others as Naru started phase one of the plan, that is, isolating Mai. He had John draw a circle big enough for everyone except Mai into the dirt and then had him sprinkle salt in the grooves of the circle. Mai had heard Naru explain earlier that these circles were often used as barriers against various supernatural beings. She didn't know for certain if the effects would work on a ghost, but according to Lin, it kept his Shiki trapped well enough.

With that done there was nothing more for them to do but wait.

For a long moment Mai sat alone shivering slightly as she tried to grab hold of her senses. Naru wouldn't let anything happen to her, right? There was nothing to fear, but once the circle had been completed Mai felt utterly alone. She could still see her friends standing a short distance away, but she couldn't feel the comfort of their presence.

Mai wanted to call out to them, beg them to help her, but she k new that such an idea was pointless. She had to stay put until the malevolent spirit showed up, and when it did she would have to figure out who it was and tell Bou-san before it got the chance to dispose of her.

A finality and sense of necessity had just begun to calm her trembling limbs when an icy wind whipped her hair, and random bits of dirt into her eyes. For a second, she was blinded. As she attempted to erase the mess from her vision a cold laugh echoed all around her.

"Think you've found yourself a husband? Guess you didn't see the ring around his finger!" the callous tone sent renewed shivers down her back and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The next few minutes ticked by slowly and besides the continuous drop in temperature, nothing happened. Then, with sudden force and ferocity the voice rang out once more, "DIE YOU LITTLE WHORE! GO SCREW SOMEONE ELSE'S HUSBAND!"

"!" Mai's scream pierced the night air as she felt an invisible entity push her from her spot on the grass to some area ten meters away. She rolled on her side and tried to push herself up, but suddenly felt herself get lifted off the ground by her hair. As she struggled, kicking her legs in the open air, and clawing at whatever was trying to scalp her; she opened her eyes, fighting against the pain erupting in her head.

In front of her she saw what looked like white mist. She tried to look closer but her vision became foggy and soon Mai found herself unconscious, surrounded by empty blackness, and floating orbs.

She looked around, confused, and searching subconsciously for Naru. As there was no sight of him she sighed and looked around. It seemed like the normal setting for when Naru would arrive, but he wasn't there. Mai contemplated returning to the real world when a bright light began to shine in front of her. She looked at it, squinting against the bright rays. It felt like someone was telling her to go into it and before she knew it, Mai was inside another dream.

Everything was exactly as she'd just seen it. All of the members of SPR were gathered together in a protective circle and there she was hanging in the air about ten meters from the rest. Except, there was something different this time, there was someone hovering in front of her pained form. A woman with long golden hair hung limply in the air before her.

She was muttering something and Mai was about to draw closer when the women lifted her head up. The murderous aura she began to emit, and the bloodthirsty glare that she was giving Mai's unconscious body was shaking the very ground she stood on. "Why?" the spirit asked. "Why Masahiro-san? What could that bitch ever give you that I couldn't?" Her previously questioning and heartbroken tone quickly changed to the malicious one from earlier, but it had a slightly sugarcoated tone to it this time, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to drag the dirty bitch to HELL with me!" She then let loose a cackle and Mai was forced backward.

The vision was over and Mai could vaguely hear the spirits whispered words. She looked over to her companions and shouted out, "It's the wife! She doesn't know that the lover died that day and she must know that it was the lover that stabbed her…" Mai was overwhelmed by the ghost's emotions and she couldn't help but feel some empathetic connection.

Bou-san quickly left the circle, his action forcing the spirit to recognize both of them. Bou-san brought his hands up in the position meant for higher level and much more dangerous spirits and began chanting.

It worked well enough. Mai was let down, not very lightly mind, but she met the ground gladly. She allowed herself to stay there, exhaustion washing over her like waves. The confusion of everyone trying to take control of the situation made her look up.

Lin-san had called on his shiki and they seemed to be holding the spirit in a proverbial corner while Bou-san attempted to finish her off and get her to pass on.

She didn't seem to be too keen on their idea. A great force seemed to erupt, the strong wind being too much for Mai to resist. Yet again she felt a strange sense of weightlessness as she saw the cliff's edge appear in her line of sight. She was falling, down towards the waves, like that woman had many hears before. She was falling, and there was no one there to catch her. Mai closed her eyes, too tired to be afraid of death.

Suddenly, the sensation of falling was gone and Mai opened one of her eyes to a squint to see what was going on. The situation she was in was similar to floating in mid-air. A thin tug around her middle made her remember the rope Bou-san had fastened around her earlier. She looked up to see everyone, even Naru looking over the cliff, yelling to her, and pulling at the rope.

She let her head fall back for a moment as the swell of relief permeated her being. Soon she had reached the top and Mai couldn't hold back the tears the blurred her vision. "Thank you." She murmured, not knowing what else to say to people that she owed her life to time and time again.

Mai still couldn't see well but everyone around her seemed to back away a little bit as a figure clad in black kneeled down before her. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders as Naru told her, "Good work."

With that the arm retreated and Ayako came into focus. She wiped the tears that had stained Mai's cheeks and pulled her in for a hug. "What happened to the spirit?" she asked, not sure on the details since she'd been a little out of it.

"Bou-san dealt the finishing blow just as she knocked you off the cliff. Hopefully she's resting peacefully now." Ayako explained softly. Mai sighed, relieved by the finishing of the case and of the relaxed vibe that was filling her up from head to toe.

XXXXX

Later that day the SPR team was packing up their van and saying goodbye to the owner of the house. She had found a photo album that had a picture of Masahiro-san as well as the other ladies.

Apparently the girl that started all the trouble was a psychic medium, although many from her village believed her to be a fake and she had had some vision regarding Masahiro-san and had come to check it out. Anyway, she'd ended up falling in love with Masahiro-san and that was how the whole mess got started.

When Mai saw the picture of the young psychic girl she felt a strange pull in her gut. The girl she was looking at looked remarkably like Mai. They had the same hair and I color, obviously with differences in length and style, but their facial structure was almost exactly identical.

"Strange isn't it?" Maria-san asked upon seeing Mai's perplexed expression.

She nodded dumbly and then held the picture up for Naru to see. "Ne, ne! Naru, have you seen this? She looks just like me! This must be why the spirit was so fixated on me!" Mai waved the picture under his nose as she said all this, but Naru pretended that she wasn't there and swatted the photo away like it was a fly.

"It's about time we left." He remarked coolly. Upon those words everyone piled into the two separate vehicles and said their goodbyes to Maria-san.

On their way back to Tokyo, Lin asked the moody Naru, "You already knew about their resemblance didn't you?"

Naru said nothing and just stared out the window.

Lin smirked, "I thought so."

A/N: Phew! Wow, okay, that file took forever to write! If you have any questions about what happened don't be afraid to ask! It was a confusing chapter! Also IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR A CASE, PLEASE SHARE! I'm in desperate need for ideas, and if no one responds to this I will resort to immense research until I find something interesting to write about!

Anyway, I thank you for sticking with me till this point and I'm excited to hear your opinions, questions, and concerns!

Please R&R!

Ja ne!

~Akinaxx