The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 46

Lin arrived just in time to see Naru throw the board onto the floor with great strength, breaking it further. "A human can't just disappear!" He shouted. Masako, John and Takigawa exchanged looks with each other, scared to make a sound. "What happened?" Lin asked as he didn't witness the occurrence. "What do you think happened?" Naru answered, still raising his voice. Lin quickly figured out what happened after hearing Naru just now and the fact that Mai wasn't in the room she should have been in.

"You need to calm down first." He stated.

The boy clenched his fists. "Get them out of here. NOW....I need to think." He pointed at the door.

Bou-san and John escorted the group out and to the base. Once they made it out the door Masako approached Naru. "If there is one place she could be in it's probably there." She suggested looking at the lockers. "I still remember how scared I was during the Urado case. We have to break that wall, Naru." There was however no need to convince the boy. "I would break it even if the possibility is less than 1%" Naru already made up his mind.

"You stay here in case you can hear her through the wall." He said to Masako before pulling out his walkie-talkie. "Madoka, Ayako."

"Yes?" Madoka answered.

"I want you to watch those kids. No one is to leave."

"Got it. I have a few things to tell them anyway. And I'm sure Ayako has too."

"Tell the rest to get down here." With this, he put the walkie-talkie away. "I'll go look for some tools. Tell someone to join me. The rest can start moving the lockers out of the way." He then left Masako in the storage. The girl leaned against the doorway. "Please be ok, Mai." she whispered.

Meanwhile, Mai felt herself lying on something hard and cold. She wanted to get up, open her eyes or speak but she felt herself to be too weak to do any of this. She also felt an unbelievable hunger. It made her feel empty inside. "I don't want to die." She heard. A helpless cry. "Please." Mai forced her eyes open and what she saw was a girl lying on the ground beneath her. Mai wasn't lying anymore but floating in the air. "I'll not bother anyone. I'll leave. Please, I don't want to die." She heard the girl begging. Mai understood that what she just felt were the feelings of that girl. "Ichika..." Mai whispered.

Right after she said that she found herself on the cold ground again. Just the blink of an eye. This time she could move her body normally. "Where..." She looked around the unfamiliar room. It was empty. Nothing inside. There was nothing on the floor, no tiles, no carpet, just concrete. The walls weren't better. Old paint was falling off of it. She spotted a door frame, but with no door in it. Instead a wall of bricks. On the opposite side was a window. Just a foot by foot with bars on the outside. No handle to even open it. Even if there was one, the window was right under the ceiling. There was no way Mai could reach it.

"Now, who's gonna kill me first, the ghost or Naru?" She kinda guessed where she was taken. And she hoped her friends did too. "I'm glad it's not Masako this time." She muttered as she placed herself by the doorframe again. If help is going to come it's going to come from there. Even if Mai found herself in a similar situation Ichika was in all these years ago she knew she could never feel exactly how the girl felt. Because Mai had people in her life she could count on. She felt that help was coming.

Some time passed after Mai managed to make herself a little bit comfortable on the floor when she heard faint noises on the other side of the wall. After that, she heard voices. She couldn't make out what they were saying but it didn't matter. They were there. "Help! Help me!" Mai started yelling. "Did you hear?" Masako asked. Takigawa shook his head. The noise the lockers made was too loud. "I heard Mai. Keep moving." She rushed them. Was it really possible for Masako to hear the girl?

"You did?" Naru appeared in the doorway, Yasu behind him. "I think so. Very faintly." The medium explained. "We have two hammers. If you move it a little more we can start." Naru informed, handing one of them to Lin. "Ok, come on. One last time, Gene." The both of them shoved the hindrance out of the way with one last push. Behind them, however, no trace of a door as there should be. "Where do we start?" Lin asked.

"Whereever." Naru then smashed the hammer into the wall. Lin followed. It took them about half an hour to break through three layers of bricks when they came across the lost doorway. "Guys?" They heard clearly. "Mai!" Everyone yelled.

"She's there." Ayako sighed in relief as she watched through the monitor as everyone's faces lit up.

"Mai are you ok?" Naru asked trying to communicate with the girl. "I'm fine." She answered loudly so her answer would reach the team. Naru nodded. "Move away from the wall. We're going to break it down."

"Ok!" The girl yelled as she moved back a few steps. "You're not going anywhere." She heard a whisper right behind her. Surprised, Mai turned around but saw nothing. "You're not getting out." The voice filled the room. A crack followed. Mai looked up. "Not again." She said in disbelief as her eyes winded. More and more cracks appeared on the ceiling. Mai instantly moved near the wall just as Naru managed to form a small opening. "Mai?" He was happy to see the girl safe. "I'm not fine anymore, Naru." She informed, looking up. "I'm so sorry. I messed up again."

"It's ok, don't worry. What exactly is going on?" Naru asked as he knelt down and reached his hand towards Mai through the opening. Lin kept carefully removing more bricks as Mai was now pressed against the wall. "The ceiling-" She started as she crouched to take Naru's hand but was cut off. A part near the window just collapsed causing a whole shelf to fall into the room breaking into pieces. Naru could feel Mai shaking. "Naru."

"What is it?" The boy tried to remain calm as she could already feel the whole group behind him panic. "If...you'll manage to get me out of this."

"Again" he interrupted.

Mai smiled. "Yes, again. These falling ceilings, you know." She paused. "I swear I'll listen to you every time. I'll not act on impulse and I'll not cause any more trouble. Just please get me out of here." Lin managed to make the hole big enough just for Mai to barely fit through. "I didn't believe you for a second but it seems like you will be getting out." Naru smiled.

Mai was happy to leave the room behind when a loud bang caused her to look up one more time. It was falling. She was not going to make it. Hospital it is...that was one of many thoughts that went through her mind in that split second. She closed her eyes ready for the impact. Without thinking, Naru wrapped his hand around the girl's waist as he saw Mai look up and pulled her through the opening. It resulted in him falling back and Mai landing on top of him with what seemed just a few scratches and bruises just as the hole got covered with a layer of concrete and furniture. The team watched as dust floated into the air from the sudden impact.

"Got you." Naru whispered. No response. "Mai?" The girl didn't move. Naru sat up using his hand for support so that he could have a better view of Mai's face. He was holding his breath. He scanned the girl's face. She was awake and smiling but clearly in shock. Naru noticed a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "Say something if you are alive. I don't know how I would explain to my mother the reason we are one member down."

"Is that your only concern?" Mai asked. "Is there anything else I should be concerned about?" The boy stood up trying to help the girl up as well but she wasn't moving. "Jerk."

"I just saved your life." He reminded.

"Nothing knew." She smiled as she finally came to fully. "Guys, you can breathe now. I'm ok!"

Masako hugged the girl tightly. "I'm glad you are. I was scared Naru would hurt somebody if you weren't. Now...let's get you to the base." The medium then tried to help the girl onto her feet but Mai quickly fell to the ground again. She tried to laugh it off. "I guess I'm still in shock." Naru knelt down and told the girl to hold on before he picked her up. "Wait, no, I can walk." She protested but Naru was having none of it. "You said you would listen to me."

"And you said you didn't believe me."

Naru ignored her comment and ordered everyone back to the base. They had to inform their client, the principal, about the damage and wait for his instructions. Mai gave up fighting with Naru pretty soon. Instead, she managed to relax in what seemed a long time. "Thank you." She whispered.

"It's given, stupid." She heard in response.