SPR: Is This Normal - CH 8

14AmyChan: okay, I know it's not Friday or Tuesday, but I thought I might as well post this now. *^_^*

Mai: You're just saying that cause you finally made up your mind...

14AmyChan: okay, yeah. In this story, this won't be the only case! So it'll make it a little easier for me to run with multiple storylines. You'll see later on. *^_^*

Naru: I want my shirt back.

14AmyChan: aw, but why? XDD

Naru: *has shirt fly to him, then puts it on*

Mai: Naru, you're gonna-!

14AmyChan: I don't own Ghost Hunt, enjoy~! *^_^* btw, bold means they're talking in English, while normal means just plain ol' Japanese. *^_^*

Mai walked around the house, very conscious of the fact that her boss was brooding behind her. She turned right, not completely sure of where she was in the house, but knowing they were somewhere on the property. If anything else, they should be able to call for help on Naru's radio.

Then again, she was not entirely sure she would want to talk to him about the fact that she may have very well gotten them lost. Ever since their little conversation almost an hour ago, he had stopped talking and was searching ever facet of his mind for—well, something. And Mai was not about to interrupt him now.

"You haven't seen him?" Naru asked, his eyes slanted. Mai gulped nervously, perhaps it was not a good idea to let him know so soon that she was without a spirit guide? However, the damage was done and all she could do was shake her head no. She remained silent, wondering what was going through that head of his.

Evidently, anything and everything hit the boy's mental status at once, seeing as the boy began to strike a thinking pose. When he remained unmoving for more than half three minutes, Mai began to fidget nervously. Naru had obviously trusted Gene's knowledge rather than her instinct and—while that hurt in its own right—she knew that he would want to return to base even more quickly now and probably not bother with the mystery door.

So, without much thought, she began to walk. She was a little surprised to find Naru subconsciously following her, still wrapped in his own thoughts. She only hoped she would have enough sense of direction to get them back to the base.

It was now obvious that she did not have enough sense of direction to get them back to the base. Mai turned another corner, hoping to find their destination, or hear the steady clicking of keys to a keyboard, only to have her hopes fall short.

She was standing in the middle of a hallway, confused as to where she was. She turned a complete one-eighty, determined to find out exactly where she and Naru were. A flash of dejá vu and a strange calmness washed over her. She turned left as if she had walked this path several times before.

As Mai began to walk with purpose, Naru was still lost in thought and—as I get to tell you—conversation. His session of intense analytical thinking had brought him only a few answers to his many questions, and he was not happy with having questions of any sort.

First, if what Mai had said was true, that she had not seen Gene, then she should not have been able to Astral-Project, sleeping or otherwise, with her level of psychic power. Unless she had another spirit guide. However, if that were the case, she would have said something before this. Which led him to another point.

Mai had been in the astral plane with no spirit guide. No way to filter the information she was to receive. Some of it could be relevant to the case, and some of it could not. He would have to revert to classifying Mai's dreams and visions to "gut feeling", something he did not want to do, even if those feelings had an extraordinary accuracy rate. However, he knew fully well that if she were to visit the Astral-Plane unprotected, without a guide of any kind, then any ghost, spirit, or entity could get at her. Anything could try to win her trust—which was easily achieved, he should know—and try to do as they pleased.

These thoughts had turned Naru's mood sour, and he had mentally called out for his brother, unsure if his twin had moved on or not. If he had moved on, why had he left Mai unprotected? Gene loved her, did he not?

"Almost, I'm like her older brother," Gene's voice cut through Naru's thoughts, and the boy fought to keep his stoic façade. If she were looking, Mai would definitely have been able to see the flash of surprise go through Naru's eyes before they narrowed substantially.

"Cut the crap, Gene. What's going on with Mai?" Naru's telepathic link was strong, yet his brother's was fading. Naru was not, after all, a medium of any sort, so the dead twin could not hold such a flimsy connection for long without some sort of physical connector—such as a mirror—no matter how much he wished he could.

"You should realize that, genius," Gene chided playfully as he, unbeknownst to the living, floated peacefully above their heads. He had missed talking with and teasing his over-analytical brother. Gene cast a worried look towards Mai, who was still walking, not having noticed his presence. "I was going to move on, but I had to keep an eye on the both of you. I've tried to contact Mai, but she's been blocking me herself."

"What do you mean 'blocking me herself'? Her powers are animal instincts at best," Naru could feel his connection with his brother slipping, and fought to keep listening. He would not admit it to anyone, especially Gene, but he had missed talking with him and hearing his random rants about anything and everything, even if it had been annoying. However, the link was already beginning to feel like static to him.

"They were…at best. Noll, you…her…evolving," Gene's voice cut through the static, only barely. Before Naru could send another word, he heard Gene's last warning. "Watch out…idiot scientist…don't know how…cares for you."

With that, the link severed, and Naru was more confused than ever. Blocking Gene herself? How could Mai do that? Why would Mai do that? Did she not know that if she had no trustworthy guide, she could easily become lost to the world of the living?

That thought alone put Naru in an even more sour mood as he felt an icy chill run through his blood.

So much so that he had actually bumped into Mai, who had stopped unexpectedly. Naru pulled himself from his thoughts to see Mai staring at a blank expanse of wall, her eyes clouded. She reached out a hand and pushed against the wall, and Naru was surprised when it moved to her touch. It was as if a door had opened inward, and the scientific male was watching the proceeding events closely.

"Mai," his warning tone seemed to go unheeded as she walked into the room. He quickly followed, not liking the hypothesis that his mind was conjuring. As soon as he was inside, he realized they were in one of the rooms that had gained attention for supernatural phenomena. It had no windows or any vents to speak of. He now knew, however, that it had a secret door, which could eventually debunk some of the supernatural theories.

Suddenly, Mai's knees seemed to buckle and give away beneath her. Naru, without any inclination as to why, darted to her side and kept her from collapsing to the floor. The entire room got about four degrees chillier. The boy looked around the room, searching for the source of this strange phenomenon. At that moment, he was glad there was a camera and thermometer in the room.

"Mmnnn," Mai's pained groan seemed to be the only sound in the room, and Naru immediately turned his attention to her, cameras and sensors forgotten. Her eyes flickered open, and she seemed to be sleepily studying him for a moment. Naru noted that her eyes were her usual clear cinnamon color, only hazed with sleep. She was no longer possessed. He felt relief at that, yet anger at himself for not noticing she had become possessed when she started to actually make sense with her direction.

"Naru, what happened?" Mai asked, still trying to make sense of the situation. The last thing she remembered was turning a one-eighty in a hallway, and now she was in a strange bedroom with Naru. Her face would have flushed crimson if she had the energy. For some reason or another, her body felt so tired, like she had run a marathon. Minus the sweat, of course.

"You were possessed, and—" Naru's explanation was cut short by a drastic drop in temperature. Mai attempted to get out of Naru's steady arms and stand only to collapse once more. Once again, Naru caught her, and this time, he held her protectively close to him as a few items began to shake. Mai worried as to what could happen next.

Then, something flew through the air and hit Naru square in the face.

Naru: If I had the energy to do something productive, you would be sorry

14AmyChan: Why? Cause something it your face? XD

Mai: what was it?

14AmyChan: that's a secret until the next chapter!

Mai: Awww.. D:

14AmyChan: hey, if it weren't for me, Naru wouldn't be lying on your lap from the exhaustion caused by the PK he used at the beginning of the chapter!

Naru: you were the one who held onto my shirt tightly so I had to use more

14AmyChan: ingenious how that works, innit?

Naru: Why you—

14AmyChan: please read and review~! *^_^*