Summary:Sequel to Inevitability. Six months after the events of Inevitability, Naru takes the SPR to England where a deadly case has stumped the country's best investigators. Now SPR is the last hope. Will a case of bloody pasts and deaths bring Naru and Mai even closer or will one be lost forever?

It is not necessary to read Inevitability before reading this, all you need to know is that Naru and Mai are married and have a son called Yakumo.

Isle of Death

Prologue:

It was just a typical at SPR. Lin was sat in his office, typing as usual. Yasuhara was filing, as per normal. Bou-san and Ayako were being told off by the resident narcissist for making too much noise; this was a daily occurrence.

"How many times must I tell you that this is not a cafe?" he griped and glared at the duo. "Unlike you two, we are busy here."

The pair eyed the scientist carefully. A vein was pulsing in his forehead and he seemed to be more distinctly touchy than usual. Bou-san glanced around the office to find that there was no sign of the only person who could calm Naru down.

"Would you like some tea?" he offered. "Caffeine cravings can really get you down, we've all been there."

"There is no tea here, we ran out," Naru answered reluctantly.

As if on cue his wife burst in, followed a few seconds later by his son. Mai had flushed red cheeks and pale skin as if she had run all the way up the stairs and she was holding out a tin of tea triumphantly.

"Will you revive if I wave it under your nose?" she giggled.

Naru stared at her unamusedly. "Mai, tea," he said, not answering back to the quip.

Everyone exchanged knowing looks. Mai was the only person that could bait Oliver Davis without any adverse effects. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was his wife.

Yakumo ran forward and smiled up at his father who gave him a small smile back and patted his head.

Mai hung up her coat and walked off to the kitchen followed by Naru. Their son stayed behind to play with Ayako and the monk who doted on him the most.

The resident tea maker filled up the kettle with water and set it to boil. A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. She smiled indulgently. Her husband only had occasional bouts of being affectionate with her, but the moments had been increasing lately.

"I'm not tea, Naru. Go sniff a teabag if you want your fix."

He laid his head on her shoulder. "Mai, I did not marry you for the tea. I don't know why everyone seems to think so."

"Even your parents entertained the suspicion," she said as she recalled their second honeymoon in England when his parents witnessed their son sniffing his new wife, saying that she smelled like tea.

"You are the one that spilled it down yourself," Naru said, as if reading her thoughts. "It is not my fault that they seemed to be under the impression that it was my idea of a romantic gesture."

Mai placed the tea leaves in a strainer and poured the boiling water through it with skilful movements. Luella Davis had showed her how to make English tea so she now made Japanese and English tea for Naru.

"Your idea of a romantic gesture is those tortuous English lessons."

"They paid off. You can pronounce L now," he retorted. "In any case, you cannot say that I don't reward you."

"What do I get for "Noll is a narcissist, but I love him?" she quipped as she handed him his cup of tea.

Naru placed the steaming cup on the kitchen worktop and pressed his lips against hers gently. Mai pulled him closer and he brushed his tongue against her lower lip before pushing it into her mouth and touching the roof of her mouth. His wife gasped and he used that as a distraction to push her against the wall.

"Naru..." she murmured breathlessly with a glazed look on her face.

Naru smirked. No matter how many times he did that to her, she always reacted in the same way which made him want to do it even more.

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought him back to reality. He was in SPR, his place of work with many nosy employees. However since the person was not teasing him, he knew it was safe.

"What do you want, Lin?" he asked, without turning his head.

"Your mother is on the phone."

This made him release Mai and walk over to Lin who was holding the cordless phone in one hand. He picked it up and locked himself in his private office. His tea was going to have to wait.

"Hello Mum," he said in English.

"How are you and Mai getting on?" she asked with a laugh.

"We are still married. There is nothing to worry about. What did you really phone for? You call Mai every couple of days to talk to her and get the gossip so it clearly is not what you really phoned for."

There was an intake of breath over the line. "You're still very sharp. I'm calling you to ask if you want to take on a case in England."

"Why me? There are plenty of investigators in Great Britain and I'm all the way in Japan."

There was a pause. "It's a very difficult case, Noll. You are our last resort. The case has claimed several investigators' lives and made others quit their careers."

"Where is it?"

"Martin sent you the case file just now. You can leave Mai in Japan if you see fit; you did tell me that she was a magnet for trouble."

"How many plane tickets did you purchase?" he enquired as he logged into his email account.

"Eight. Narita to Heathrow. In two days time. I didn't get one for your son because I felt that he is too young."

Naru clicked on the email from his father to find an image of a ruin which looked like a castle and the attached case file. He opened it to read.

The location was the island St. Marys in the Isles of Scilly which were a group of small islands just off the south west of England with a rich history. The site of the case, the castle dated back to the 16th century and for the past year flashing lights had been spotted emitting from the structure and all the island residents' pet cats had gone missing and had turned up decapitated in the old moat. Several paranormal investigators had gone to investigate and the unlucky ones had turned up the same way as the cats. Naru frowned. The lucky ones had become uncontrollably paranoid and had completely disappeared.

If he accepted the case it would be their most dangerous yet. He would have to make everyone aware of what accepting the case entailed.

He scrolled to the bottom of the document to read that a few days ago a group of teenagers had sneaked into the ruins on a dare and only one had made it back out. The others had been found in the moat with their heads missing which was presumably why he had been asked to investigate as a last resort to prevent anymore lives being lost.

Naru stood up. He would inform everyone about the case and let them make their mind up. He would also have a talk with Mai. He walked out of his office and entered Lin's.

"Call everyone here."

The employees of SPR read the case file with trepidation. None of them, apart from Lin had ever seen their boss so serious before. A read of the case synopsis explained why. It was a very gruesome case with deadly consequences if anyone made a misstep.

"Who would be willing to come to the island with me?" he queried as he sipped his tea.

There was a short silence as everyone made up their minds.

"If anyone wants to leave at the slightest of danger, they will not be stopped," he added.

"I'm going as I have to accompany you anyway," Lin said and closed his copy of the case file.

"I cannot go. Not because I am scared, but due to filming commitments that I cancelled last month due to the previous case and I cannot put them off for any longer," Masako explained. "If you want to ask me for advice whilst you are there, you may."

"That is fine, Hara-san."

"I will go," Ayako said after a moment of indecision. "As it is a relatively uninhabited island there should be some trees that I can call on."

"If the old lady is going, I'm going too," Bou-san smirked. "She'll just say that it is a land bound spirit; you do need an actual useful person with you, Naru-chan."

"I'm coming, you always need a good researcher and it will probably be vital as this case sounds dangerous," Yasuhara said and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I will come, Davis-san, whatever is killing, it needs to be stopped before more lives are lost," John said.

"That is everyone apart from Hara-san and Mai," Naru summarised before meeting his wife's eyes. "You want to come."

Mai nodded. "My dreams might come in useful and someone needs to keep you in control. I will get Hana to look after Yakumo whilst we are away. She did say that she was missing him."

"That is a wise decision," her husband agreed. "If I tell you that it is too dangerous and to leave, you will leave the island, that is your condition for going. Is that clear?"

"Yes," Mai promised sincerely. "Pinky promise?"

Naru rolled his eyes but he shook fingers with her nevertheless.

"We will be leaving in two days time. Make sure to pack everything that you will need for an exorcism," Naru said. "Mai, English lesson in my office. Now."

Updates will be once a week again.

The Isles of Scilly are a group of islands off the south west of England and "Scilly" is pronounced "silly".

Now to get back to that fascinating presentation on Knitted Structures...