Ghost Hunt:Volume 5 Chapter 4

Ghost Hunt Volume 5 Chapter 4: Coming from direction of the clapping sound

1

“Mai!”

Ayako’s made a sharp sound and clapped my face.

“Mai!”

It was Ayako’s voice. I opened my eyes at once. Ayako’s face jumped into my field of vision, which had been flooded by tears.

At that time, I was screaming. I was screaming from the depths of my body. Although my throat was hoarse and I couldn’t properly make a sound, I actually wanted to scream – until I had expelled all the horror within my body.

“Mai! Pull yourself together! Mai!”

My body was twitching, convulsing. I only desperately hugged Ayako tightly. Ayako’s warm hands desperately soothed my back.

“Pull youself together. It’s only a dream, it’s all right.”

Urging me, come, I lifted my head. Someone held a glass in front of me.

“Do you want a drink?”

It was Masako’s extremely concerned face. I finally calmed down and accepted the cup. My hands were still trembling immensely; almost enough to spill all the contents of the cup.

“… yeah. Thank you.”

My voice was also shaking. Tears dropped pitter patter down.

“What in the world happened?”

“I had a frightening dream.”

Really, it was terrifying…

“The dream you had was…”

Just as Ayako was asking, someone pounded heavily on the door.

“Did someone scream here just now?”

It was Bou-san and co who had rushed over from their room.

“… I’m sorry. I had a nightmare.”

“… You said you had a nightmare… you…”

Green in the face, Bou-san knelt by the bed. Yasuhara and John also heaved a sigh of relief.

Bou-san buried his head in the blankets.

“… Don’t scare us anymore.”

“I’m sorry.”

Yasuhara forced a stiff smile.

“And we thought something had happened to someone… thank god.”

John also smiled vacantly.

“That’s great.”

Bou-san suddenly lifted his head.

“You said you had a nightmare; could it be those dreams?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“How was it?”

I didn’t want to remember. Even just thinking of recalling it brought a fresh scent of blood.

“You’re a woman with a sixth sense right?”

“—I was killed in the dream.”

Everyone stared at my face.

“You said you were killed, that is…”

Ayako, who was seated next to me, looked at my face.

“There were 2 men who came. They dragged me into a strange, tiled room. There, there was a surgical bed like bed; the room was flooded with blood. They slit my throat there.”

I still clearly remembered the sensation of blood spurting out.

“I think there are also many others who died there. It was an execution ground – that place.”

When I related that, tears flooded my eyes once more.

I thought I would really die there. Really, it was terrifying.

Ayako patted my back. I couldn’t stop my tears from gushed forth.

After a bout of crying like an idiot, when I lifted my head I saw Lin-san standing at the open door. Naru wasn’t there.

Why wasn’t he there?

Why wasn’t he there at that time?

Regardless of the time, Naru would always appear in my dreams; he’d tell me all sorts of things, and would give me help. Regardless, he would smile gently at me. It should clearly have been like this; why?

… Because he’s very cold. Because he really is a cold person.

Without knowing, my imagination ran wild, and once more my tears started falling down. I hurriedly hung my head, and desperately covered my face. Now isn’t the time to cry. Everyone is worried about me.

Someone – I don’t know who – knocked my head (I think it should be Bou-san who would do something like that). Anyway I nodded first. I’m all right. I’ve already calmed down.

Suddenly the scent of red tea wafted in. Hearing the sound of cutlery clattering, I lifted my head. Someone held a teacup in front of me. I was stunned.

“You’re all right?”

A voice without inflexion. Lifting my head, Naru was holding the cup out to me. He was wearing a pair of thin, grey, pajamas. I felt it was a rare sight, and I unconsciously calmed down.

I gently accepted the cup. Yeah, I’m all right. My hands, too, had apparently stopped shaking.

“I’m sorry, everyone. Thanks.”

I took the cup and hung my head. Ayako gently patted my back.

Naru just stood by the side; then gently let out a breath. And then

“What happened?”

He asked.

After I quietly finished my piece, Yasuhara spoke in a low tone.

“Suzuki-san or Atsugi-san… perhaps they are already dead.”

“Hey hey, young man. Don’t say that so lightly.”

Bou-san glared.

“Because, hasn’t Taniyama-kun seen it? Perhaps it’s something that happened somewhere.”

Ai?

“You’re also saying… Mai and someone’s spirit synchronized; that is, she’s received a telepathic communication?”

“The professional stuff I don’t know too well. The one being killed in reality was Suzuki-san or Atsugi-san; Taniyama-kun has sensed the events that happened to Atsugi-san as though experiencing it herself; there should be this sort of possibility too. Despite saying all this, I’m not sure whether such a thing exists.”

Bou-san looked at Naru, who was seated next to Ayako on the bed, appealingly. Naru said meaningfully,

“This type of communication from spirits is not unprecedented. But does Mai have this degree of power?”

… Wu. What does that count as ~, this theory~.

“Compared to this, that room is a greater concern to me.”

Naru said while his black eyes glanced at the sky.

“I think there isn’t a room that matches the execution room. I don’t recall seeing a room with both a furnace and a closet. The existence of the so called hedgerows is also unclear. If such a room really exists; under those circumstances, the execution room has probably been completely renovated already.”

Mentioning that, I was wearing a kimono at that time…

“Regardless of how we speculate, the empty space in the floor plan is very worrisome.”

“Isn’t hacking through the walls the only way?”

I couldn’t stop myself from saying that. Bou-san let out a huge sigh.

“What are you thinking of, you madam. Who do you propose do the work of hacking through the wall?”

… Of course that’d be Lin-san and Bou-san and John and Yasuhara…

Yeah, in normal circumstances it’d probably be annoying~

Without talking about whether Ohashi-san would allow it, we do not have sufficient manpower either. If we hired people to work here, it’d be intolerable if somebody disappears again.

That’s what I thought.

“That thought isn’t bad.”

Weary, Naru said that line.

“Hey, don’t joke anymore. Are you going to have all those walls demolished?”

Accompanying Bou-san’s shout, an unsettling smile appeared on Naru’s face.

“If we can’t find the hidden entrance, this might be unavoidable. Anyway we shall begin after the night is over.”

“And the search for the missing persons?”

“They aren’t within the range of what our eyes can see. If it’s like this, they are definitely in a place where our eyes are unable to see. If the hidden room is found then the problem is naturally solved – such a possibility also exists.”

He’s right too.

Bou-san glared at me with a gimlet stare.

I’m so sorry. But, it’s because we are doing good works. Try your best.

It was 2 am when I had screamed. After that I dozed a little, and rose with the dawn. After washing up I went for breakfast. Despite saying that, I couldn’t work up an appetite even this morning. Then we gathered at the base. Lin-san was checking the equipment. Speaking of which, last night, the equipment registered no disturbance at all.

Anyway we resumed the accurate measuring of the 2 floors left over from yesterday.

“If this still doesn’t work then find out about whether we can knock holes in the walls.”

With Naru’s cruel words, we started work.

2

“Hey~, Mai.”

“Yeah?”

I positioned the fluid level on the ground, while turning to look at Bou-san.

“You met 2 men in your dream; do you know who they are?”

“Ah, that. Although I desperately looked at their faces, I didn’t make the least impression of their appearances. It somehow feels like it’s something that I’ve forgotten immediately after seeing it. When I looked, I knew, but I’m not clear about how they actually looked like.”

Bou-san squatted down beside me.

“Hey, I’m only saying this here.”

“Yeah.”

Because the volume of our conversation had diminished, Yasuhara and John came nearer.

“That… do you think that those 2 men are amongst the staff here?”

“Ai?!”

Bou-san placed his finger on his lips with a ‘Shh’.

“I thought, could it possibly be that the fellows here have sone something.”

Ai ai ai…

Yasuhara, who was also squatting down, leaned forward.

“Ah, isn’t this scene like those in a movie?”

“Is it?”

“They clearly know there are hidden rooms and hidden passageways but they don’t tell us; there’s this possibility too.”

“Exactly. It’s those fellows who hid the 2 people who have disappeared. If it’s like this…”

Bou-san put his hand on his head.

Yasuhara couldn’t stop nodding.

“If it’s like this then we’re all sacrifices. They told us that it’d be troubling to let the media know, and they closed us in here, then one by one they make us vanish. In the end there’s not one of us left…”

“The one called Ohashi is actually a homicidal maniac or something.”

“Perhaps this place is a secret temple for satanic worship.”

John, who was also squatting, held his head.

“Those fellows – didn’t they say that they had not encountered anything strange? They were here preparing for a very long time, right? They say nothing had happened; is it even possible?”

“Exactly. None of the staff here have disappeared before. Thinking carefully about it, none of the people directly associated with this house have vanished. But psychics, the punk who broke into this place, and the fire brigade volunteer who came forth to investigate…”

“Isn’t that so?”

I couldn’t help looking at their 2 faces.

“Hey, are you two really speaking seriously?”

“Ai?”

“No… that…”

“I think that lazing off here and talking about these pointless things won’t solve any problems.”

Bou-san’s and Yasuhara’s faces turned aside.

“Furthermore, Naru will not accept this sort of thing either. In any case we have no choice but to place fluid levels on all the floors. In the end we will have to knock down the wall, right?”

“Mai.”

“Wh~at?”

“You are really not the least bit cute.”

“That’s redundant.”

Hn.

Just at that time,

“Wait a moment.”

John wore a severe expression and gently raised his hand.

“What’s up?”

“What Yasuhara-kun said just now: none of the people associated with this family had disappeared; this line.”

“Wait, John. That was only a joke. You can’t be serious.”

John’s blue eyes gazed at me.

“But, this is a fact, isn’t it?”

“The fact you’re talking about is…”

“Mr Kaneyuki, who lived here, was fine. Mr Hiroyuki, who frequently stopped at this place, was also fine. Even the various staff members, up till today, have lived safely here.”

“Hey hey, John.”

Bou-san responded in a shocked tone. In contrast, John looked completely serious.

“The ones who vanished are all outsiders. Is this really meaningless?”

“You… could you possibly be thinking that the people here are the criminals…?”

John shook his head.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m just thinking whether there could be a connection.”

Connection…

“Atsugi-san disappeared in a very strange fashion. If it is the same as what was recorded he couldn’t have disappeared. Is this, as expected, the actions of spirits?”

“… Perhaps.”

“If that’s the case, then don’t the spirits here have the hobby of picking out sacrifices? The spirits here will not hurt anyone with an association to the Miyama family or something.”

Bou-san sank into deep thought.

“However, the staff here are, at most, servants; they don’t have any blood relation.”

“If that’s the case, perhaps the spirits here like young people.”

… Ai?

“Aren’t all the staff here older people? In contrast, aren’t all those who have vanished young persons around 20 years old?”

“… you are right.”

Bou-san nodded.

I stood up.

“I’m going to tell Naru.”

“Wait.”

Bou-san called me.

“All the members of our team are under 30. If John’s hypothesis is right, then aren’t all of us in grave danger?”

… really?

“Naru-chan is right. It’s better if one is definitely not alone.”

3

WIP

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