The Story Continued (Ghost Hunt)

Chapter 25

Mai opened her eyes. She was in a place of darkness. Again. "Mai." She heard as she noticed two figures approaching her. "Mom, dad. It's you again!" The girl then ran up to them and hugged them both. "I'm sorry we couldn't talk last time. My friend needed me."

"About that, Mai." Her mother started as the smile on her face dropped. "We don't like your friends. The both of us think you should stay with us."

"What do you mean, stay with you? But that means I would have to..." Mai questioned.

Her father nodded. "But then at least the three of us could be together. You'll be safe here."

Mai was already one foot in the trap without even knowing it. "I can't go yet. I have people here who..."

"Need you? Miss you? Love you? Be honest Mai, none of them think that way about you." The comment her mother made, made Mai take a step back. "That's not true." She denied it as a tear formed in the corner of her eye. Or was it? "Yes, it is. I know it hurts." The woman came closer hugging Mai. "That's why, come with us." The tears started to roll down Mai's cheek. She hugged her mother back. She suddenly remembered the dream she had in the car on the way to the Fujiwara's. She didn't know why she remembered it, she just did. She remembered her parents telling her how happy they were. Happy that she found a new family. At that moment she realized her parents would never want her dead. "Who are you?" Mai yelled as she pushed that thing away with all her might. "You're lying. Who are you? My parents would never say that." Suddenly the image of her parents disappeared and became this massive shapeless shadow. "Girl, you have a strong will. But I'll take your life energy by force if needed." It said in a deep voice.

"Mai, you need to wake up!" A voice called. Mai looked to the side to see Yoru. "Mai quickly, I'm too weak. I can't protect you yet." The girl panicked. "How do I wake up?"

"Wait here." The cat said as he disappeared. Mai was face to face with the demonic being. Wondering when it would make its move. She then suddenly felt a pain in her chest. Her vision became blurry. "I don't need to attack right now. I had enough food. Now, I'm powerful. Go and fear knowing that you are not safe no matter what." That was the last thing Mai heard it say before she realized she was back in her body. She also discovered that the cause of the pain in her chest was no other than Yoru jumping up and down to wake her up. "Yoru?" Mai sighed thinking about clearly hearing the cat talk in her dream. "Thank you."

"Mai, are you awake?" She heard the medium ask.

"Yeah, you too?"

"I can feel it again." Masako admitted.

Mai grabbed her phone and the girl by the hand. "Let's follow it. We are going to find it." She said as she forced her friend out of the room. Depending just on Masako's feeling and Mais's flashlight the two girls arrived at the door of Akane's room. "Do we go in?" Mai asked. She wanted to get this over with but she could tell it was inappropriate. "Do you want to get scolded by Naru?" Masako asked making Mai sigh. "Of course not." The girl then got an idea. "Let's wake him up. I want to see his pissed face. We have a believable excuse too." She chuckled already thinking about her boss's reaction. Mai grabbed Masako by the hand, again, and started heading in the direction of their rooms. "Could it be that you do want to be scolded by him?" Masako asked trying to keep up with the girl. The girls arrived at the door to the boy's room. Mai paused. "Do I knock on this door or?" She wondered. The same problem as Naru. She too, was not acquainted with this type of building. "Just go in. You're about to wake him up anyway." Masako laughed. Well, Mai followed her friend's advice. She opened the door to reveal a small light still on. "And here I thought who is making so much noise outside of the room." Her boss asked looking up from his laptop. "You're still awake?" Mai asked. "No, I'm fully asleep. I'm pretty sure you're hallucinating." He answered looking her straight in the eyes. He just wanted to see a reaction. "Funny." Mai said not amused. "Naru, listen. We figured out that the demon is in Akane's room." She added. "And where exactly?" Naru asked.

"Well, we didn't go in. That's why we came. What do we do?"

"Go to sleep. It probably already hid again." He wanted to comment on how Mai would not enter Akane's room to save the girl but barged into his room just like that. "Anything else to report?" He asked ignoring the urge. Mai shook her head. "Then you should go to sleep now. You looked half-dead the whole day."

In the morning Mai explained to Naru what happened in her dream. It was quite a surprise when the team realized that Mai was being targeted. The girl still looked worn out and sleepy but was giving her best as the team headed to Akane's room for a search. "I'm sorry for disturbing Akane, Ryoko-san." Mai bowed to the woman and her daughter who were both in Akane's room. "It's fine. As long as it helps her get better."

Mai smiled at the woman and then turned around to have a look at the room. "Ah, the shrine." Mai commented. Ryouko noticed her interest in it. "Supposedly a spirit lives there. Our ancestors asked it to protect our family." Mai listened in disbelief. Could it...? But that's so stupid... and obvious. Did her husband never tell her about the story in the diary? "Umm, Naru." She called. "I might have something you want to check out." Her boss came over. "What is it?" Mai pointed at the wooden shrine. "Could it hide in there?" She asked watching as her boss picked it up. "Where did it come from? It's definitely suspicious." Naru stated as Mai informed him of what Ryoko had told her.