The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 4

At the door, the Group was met by a middle-aged man. "Welcome everyone. May I ask which team it is?" The man asked. "We are from the SPR." Naru answered. The boy was getting impatient. "Ah yes, the SPR. My name is Suzuki Hiro, the second owner. My son will be back soon. You see he wen- " It seemed like the man was going to keep talking about things that Naru didn't necessarily want to hear about so he cut in. "Could you show us to our base first?" The man looked at him suddenly remembering what he was there for. "Yes, of course. But before that can you wait in the lobby? We want to gather everyone to have a meeting first." The man said as he opened the door letting the group in.

The lobby was pretty big with a giant stairway in front of the entrance. There was a lobby desk and an entrance to the dining area on the left and a waiting area on the right. As Naru turned his head to the waiting area he noticed....right no one. "So, where are the other researchers?" He asked. "They have not arrived yet." Mr. Suzuki said leading the way to a small section within the waiting area. "You may wait here."

The part of the waiting area they situated in had two big sofas facing each other with a coffee table between them and an armchair on each side. "If the others have not arrived yet may we set up our equipment and come back later?." Naru asked the man. He just wanted to have everything ready and get the job done as quickly as possible. The SPR crew was waiting for the answer.

The man smiled. "I would prefer if you waited. Let's give everyone an equal start." He then proceeded to go upstairs and vanished quickly. Naru sighed as Mai approached him. "Ey Naru, was there a second owner?" The girl asked worried. The man she was talking to on the phone didn't mention anything. "Huh?!" The boy turned around quite shocked. The rest heard what the teenagers were talking about.

Ayako froze. "Wait, you mean he was..." Bou-san smiled awkwardly placing his language beside the sofa. "No way. We would notice." Gene stared at the stairway where the man was just now. "He's playing with us." He said in a very serious tone. Then Mai spoke up again. "If he really was a ghost are we even allowed to be here? We've just let ourselves in." She asked Naru. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, her question was about to be answered as a voice came from upstairs.

"Who is there?!" The voice asked seconds after a figure rushed down the stairs. "We are the SPR." Naru looked at the, now standing at the bottom of the stairs, young man. He seems to be in his 20s. "The door was wide open so we thought we could enter. " He lied naturally. "The SPR?" The man asked. "Were you not supposed to arrive at 1 p.m?" Naru looked at his watch, 11 a.m, then he looked at Mai raising his eyebrow. "I swear I didn't mess up. He said 11 o'clock." She whispered.

"I'm sorry I must have given you the wrong time. So much has been going on lately." The man apologized. "The others should be here in 2 hours and then we will discuss all the details. You can wait here. I'll go and make you tea." He said heading to the dining area. "There he goes." Bou-san said as the group still watched the dining room entrance. Naru then sat in one of the armchairs. "This is ridiculous." He said watching his assistant who sat on the sofa to his right. "At least we've already got to meet the troublemaker." Mai said.

Everyone then followed and had a seat. Masako, John and Yasu sat on the same sofa as Mai and Lin, Madoka, Ayako and Boy-san on the other. Gene was sitting in the other armchair. "Naru, do you maybe think that I could take a nap?" The girl asked her, now reading a book boss, after a good 10 minutes of attempting to do so. He did not look up from his book. "Go ahead." He said which surprised Mai. Sure, he was a lot nicer lately but she didn't think he would allow it.

"Really? You won't scold me later?" Mai asked. "I won't. Now sleep." The boy reassured. Mai leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. Soon enough she was gone.

Mai opened her eyes to see that she was no more in the hotel lobby but...nowhere. Everything was black. Suddenly a wooden floor appeared under her feet. Then the darkness became a room. Just a normal room. A child's room it seemed. Mai then heard a horrible sound. She instinctively covered her ears and closed her eyes. Even with her ears covered Mai could hear the sound repeating over and over. When she finally gathered the courage to open her eyes she saw a woman by the window swinging her hand again and again. In her hand, she was holding what seemed to be a belt. When Mai took a few steps in her direction she noticed one more figure. A boy lying on the ground. All beat up, not making a sound.

A tear rolled down the girl's cheek and landed on a black material. Mai opened her eyes slowly. Her head lifted from the shoulder it was resting on. "A bad dream?" A voice next to her asked. "Not the best." the girl turned to face the person. "Naru. I need a notebook." The boy handed her what she was asking for and watched her face becoming sadder with every word written. The girl then handed him the notebook. "Where is everyone?" She asked looking around noticing the empty seats and the odd silence. "Mr. Suzuki offered them a dessert in the dining room." Naru answered. "Suzuki?" The girl asked confused. Surely not the one who disappeared on the stairs. "Suzuki Reo. The men who offered us tea." The young boss explained.

"The same name." Mai stated. "We should ask him." Naru cut in. "Yeah, once we finally get to do something here." The girl looked around searching for a clock. No clock here. "How long was I asleep?" She asked knowing her boss had one. "About an hour or so." He answered checking the time. Mai smiled at him. "Thank you for staying with me." Surprisingly, maybe not so surprisingly anymore, the boy smiled at her. "No problem."

"So do you think we can maybe join them now? I'm kinda hungry." Mai asked awkwardly which made the boy smile softly. "Sure let's go."