Dangerous Souls

Secrets

Chapter 4- Smile

September Day 3, 10:46 A.M.

Masako had just been loaded into an ambulance, John hopping in the back to keep her company. She had fallen down the stairs a little while before, of course that's what was on our favorite brown eyed girl's mind right now.

Mai sat in base thinking about what happened in the sixteen year old's bedroom after they heard Masako scream. It was burned into her memory...

A high pitched scream filled the air, jolting the two girls. "Masako!" Mai exclaimed as Jinru stood and ran for the door. "Wait! You don't know what-"

She never finished.

When Mai reached out to stop Jinru, she grabbed onto the girl's left arm. Jinru winced upon the contact. Mai looked down at her own arm and realized something.

There was a reason why her dream had harmed her... "Jinru..."

The girl recoiled, snapping her arm out of Mai's grasp. Her eyes wide. She shook her head, "F-forget it." She raced out of there with Mai following her.

She never had the chance to talk to the girl after that. Everything happened too fast. She vaguely heard her boss order everyone to do some sort of task after they had watched the video of the camera upstairs. It went dead just before Masako tumbled down the stairs, and the camera at the bottom of the steps only showed her fall to the floor as it was faced toward another room. They had no leads.

"Mai..." her name was being called, she barely heard it. She knew something she probably shouldn't, then again, that happened all the time, and she needed to tell Naru but something told her she had to leave the house. "Mai!"

"Huh!" Mai jumped as her employer snapped her out of her reverie.

"Tea."

That does it. She couldn't keep it down any longer, she had to say something! Screw the tea! Something had to be done! Why was she suddenly feeling bold?

"Naru," she said quietly, standing at his side.

"I told you to get tea..." He did not once look away from his black book. Mai boldly placed her hand in the middle of the page and pushed the book down. "Mai," he warned, obviously annoyed until he saw the look in her eyes.

"I need to speak with you," she said, hearing footsteps from all around them. "Outside."

Naru looked at her, but obeyed anyway. For all he knew, she could be possessed, or the spirit of Tsuyoshi was swaying her decisions. Once they were outside the house, Mai continued to lead him out by the van, looking back at the house constantly. Finally she stopped.

"What is it, Mai?" Naru asked, crossing his arms.

Mai took a deep breath and leaned up against the van's door. "There's a reason why I got these bruises last night," she began, subconsciously grabbing her arm.

"I understand that much," Naru remarked coldly, causing the girl to shoot a glare at him. "Do you know why you received these wounds?"

This was a change. Naru was pressing her for answers. Normally it was the other way around, but this time she wanted answers as well, and she was not going to let him in on her theory until she filed in the blanks. Hey, after working for this guy for over a year, it's time for a little payback. "Naru, I got sick last night."

She knew she wasn't making much sense but she had to admit that it was fun watching him try to figure things out with such vague phrases. Was she doing this on purpose? "I remember, Mai, you ran to the restroom."