Once Akane's eyes flutter open, and she is able to focus on her surroundings she lounges on her makeshift bed. When was the last time I felt so at peace? I wish I could remember. It seems like forever since I wasn't on the streets and wandering from place to place. Just trying to stay one step ahead, remaining a phantom, or a shadow that strangers barely noticed.

As always the dark silhouette of her nightmare tried to resurface in her memory. She pushed back the memory in the recesses of her mind as if those corners were equipped with steel bars to keep it from reentering. But she knew eventually that it would resurface and she would have to deal with it at some point. When she did she wanted to be in a place that made her feel completely safe. Have a place she could call home again.

Until that mental nightmare invaded her thoughts again she had felt a sense of peacefulness. She wouldn't label it with any fancy words like serenity or tranquility because sleeping in a trailer on the floor didn't seem to remotely fit that description. But she had felt a soothing calmness that she hadn't in awhile.

Honestly that calmness began to trickle in when she was first rescued by the members of PRI. First with Mai's immediate acceptance of who she was. Then with Atsuko's ability to interpret her emotions. Dr. Davis himself may not have made a solid positive impression as of yet but having the aptitude to identify her abilities brought its own reassurances. Then there was this sense of protectiveness that came from John. She never felt safer in her life then she did in the past few days.

Realizing she has been sitting there daydreaming for a tad too long she finally disentangles herself from her blankets and gets ready for the day. As she is walking into the warehouse she looks around wondering where John is. That immediate thought has her becoming reflective and a bit frightened.

When she would become frightened and has to calm herself in any way her feet began to travel without her awareness of it. So she began mentally cataloging who John is. Why there is nothing about him she needs to worry about. Why she was nearly positive he would never hurt her. The way he had been so willing to let her sleep in his room. The way he gave her a moment to herself to take a shower and went in search of clothing for her. If he was a monster of any kind he had every opportunity to already make her his victim. Besides if needed she could hurt anyone that in turn tried to hurt her. She took a deep breath and looked around her to see where her feet had taken her this time in her attempt to quiet her mind.

Her face falls as she realizes she is in the northeast quadrant. Way to go feet! Look what you got me into!

"HaHaHaHa HaHaHaHa" The laugh seemed to somehow echo all around her and left chills running up her spine and goosebumps prickling her skin. It was the type of sound that only belonged to a deranged lunatic or a killer in a thriller or horror movie.

Pairing the laugh with the sound of metal grinding on metal that she barely was able to register had her backing herself into a corner. Loud thunder echoed in the warehouse and she felt the sensation of fingers grasping around her ankle. She screamed and tried to pull away. Her brain momentarily frazzled as she tried to grasp what was going on. Then she whimpered as there was a pinch of pain. Afterward, there was no more warehouse anymore. There was no more storm. There was only pitch black and silence. Pitch black was where the silhouette waited. Her mind tried to retaliate against the darkness. So it was unable to register how her body fell to the ground and how the pitch black turned into complete unconsciousness and the loss of control over her body.

He cackled once again as he looked down at her lounging on the metal slab. "Her eyes. Her eyes. They are perfect, positively perfect. I promise."

Do you really think so? Did you even get a good look at them?

"Of course I observed her opticals. I did I did. I looked at her lenses. I investigated her irises. I promise I perceived perfection. I promise I did."

Hm, you do realize what will happen if they are less than supreme radiance? If they don't fit in the entire picture.

"I know. I know."

You have tried to get me the eyes once before. What did I tell you would happen if you failed a second time?

"You would be resolute to relinquish me."

Indeed.

"Did you want to gander a gaze...er gaze a gander...er.."

I've told you time and again your alliteration doesn't always have to be perfect. Nor do you always have to use alliteration.

"Louis likes alliteration."

Indeed. Whatever, show me these perfect peepers. Damn it all now you have me doing it!

"HaHaHaHaHaHaHa" Louis doubled over and fell to the floor in a fit of hysteria.

Get up you ignorant buffoon. Or I will replace you regardless.

He took a couple deep breaths before he was able to breathe easier and get back to his feet. He stood over the metal slab again and pinched her eyelids apart. "See, stare, scan, I told you!"

Hm, they are exquisite. Perhaps you did something right this time.

Louis began to jump up and down at the praise.

Get the chair out. Let's proceed to play with her a bit.

"Fantastic! This is forever Louis' favorite part!"

Oh bother, simply proceed already.

The wooden chair Louis pulled over from the corner of the steel room had a wide strap hooking through the slats on the back of it. There were also manacles on the arms and the legs of the chair but Louis didn't mess with the ones of the arms. He liked how the victims tried to claw and attempted to get free. It made the 'game' more enjoyable. Once the chair was in place he pulled the victim's limp body from the metal slab and placed her in the chair. He had to apply his knees to her own to keep her from falling out of the apparatus. He was becoming frighteningly skilled in these steps.

"Wait while the woman wakes up?"

Exactly.

"HaHaHaHaHa"

The scream that reverberated off of the steel walls had the entire team running to meet in the northeast quadrant of the building. "Who screamed?" John asked. He looked around at the others and realized that Ayako and Mai were safe. The scream was female and had to have come from Akane. He felt how his lips turned downward as a wretched feeling settled in his gut.

No one had to voice aloud who it was that was missing. They all frowned and reprimanded themselves for not checking on her earlier. It was a rookie mistake to leave a novice unattended.

John grabbed Mai's hands and turned her to look at him directly. "Do you think you can astral project to where she is? Do you think you can save her that way?"

"I can try but it never has worked the same way twice." She turned to look at Naru. "The last fully successful time was the Urado case when I was able to find Masako."

John turned her to him again. "I don't care. You have to try, Mai. We don't even know where she is! We don't know who took her! We don't know what happened!"

Noll had never felt anger towards the former priest before. But now he pulled John's clenched grip away from Mai and bodily pushed himself between the two.

John visibly gulped as he took in Naru's expression. "I wouldn't have asked if I thought there was another way."

Mai's small hand wrapped around Naru's wrist. "Naru, he's right. I can't think of another way to save her right now either." Her grip released and her hand dropped as her mind caught up with her involuntary reactions to persuade Naru to see their perspective.

Gene went to stand right next to Mai and held out his hand to her. "I'm not sure if this will work or not, but try to use me as an anchor point."

She nodded and took his hand. Shuttering her eyes closed she focused on Akane and the moment when her piercing scream made each of their eardrums rumble. A pain infiltrated in her chest and her body began to crumble against the onslaught. Naru narrowly managed to get behind her and keep her body upright. Unfortunately he wasn't able to save his twin also as Gene fell to the ground.

Lin smirked. "Is this going to be a regular occurrence between the two of them?"

Despite everything Monk chuckled. "God, I hope not."

Mai blinked at her surroundings. She was in a long dark room. The walls were also made of metal like the warehouse only there didn't appear to be any steel beams holding the roof upright. The humidity in the room seemed quite higher here than it did in the warehouse making the air thick, heavy, and hard to breathe.

"Whistle while watching and waiting?" A voice echoed in the room. "Aw, but merely monotonously mentally marking her is merely mundane." The sound of a sigh escaping sent chills up her spine. "Louis always admired alliteration."

I am not sure who he is talking to but perhaps he is preoccupied enough to not be aware of my presence. Mai really hoped this was true. She honestly didn't even see him from where she was currently 'standing.'

Her cinnamon eyes trailed over the shadows of the room. It was difficult to separate one shadow from the next but once her eyes seemed to adjust she was able to make out a tray of what looked like medical tools, a long metal examination table in the center of the room, and pushed up nearby it was a chair. She sighed in relief as she saw Akane's form slumped in it.

Mai ran over to her form and realized that Akane seemed to be unconscious. She had to wake her up but how was she able to do that when her body was merely a projection and not solid in form? Perhaps she had enough substance to be able to touch her shoulder. If so she could shake her awake.

Mai's head hurt with the amount of concentration she was putting into what seemed like a simply task. Her face was frozen in a focused expression but her lips turned down as she watched her fingers fall right through Akane's shoulder.

I don't have much time left. I have to do something.

She went to try the same tactic when Akane's eyes blinked opened. Mai stepped directly in front of Akane and hoped that she would be able to see her. Perhaps she could keep her calm enough not to make enough noise to alert the lunatic of her presence.

"Mai?" Her voice came out raspy but not as whispered as Mai hoped it would.

"Shh." She held her finger to her lips before continuing her explanation. "We have to keep our voices down. I don't know if that lunatic nearby can hear my voice or not but we can't alert him that you are awake quite yet or of my presence."

Akane wanted to ask how said lunatic wasn't aware of Mai's presence being there but instead of forming the question she merely nodded. They could talk out the details of the situation later.

"Do you think you can hurt the lunatic that took you?"

Now that she knew to be quiet she was able to drop her voice a few decibels. "I should be able to. The only reason he caught me is I think he drugged me before dragging me here. Wherever here is."

"He drugged you?"

"I think so. I mean I felt a pinch to my ankle before I passed out. Plus my vision is a little blurry and things seem to be moving in and out of focus."

"Hmm, I certainly hope you can. I am not sure how much longer I can keep this part of my consciousness here. This is certainly longer than I have ever accomplished it before."

"Could you be harming your body by this form of exertion?"

Mai shrugged. "Possibly. I really won't know until I return to my body."

"If so I don't care what Naru says. I will make the attempt to heal you. I'll be determined to do so because you once again are saving my life."

"You'll be saving your own." Suddenly Mai's form evaporated and as Akane gasped in astonishment her abductor approached.

He was covered in filth and when he smiled at her menacingly she noticed how his teeth were rotted and broken to sharp points. She cringed momentarily before remembering what she had to do. When he reached out his hand to touch her face she focused her ability to his arm. She nearly smirked in satisfaction as she heard bones crunch and his scream of agony. Then she focused on his forehead pinpointing the same spot as she had on her previous attacker. The toll the action took on her body had her having to turn her head over the arm of the chair and expunging what little contents remained in her stomach from her most recent meal.

She quickly worked at the fastenings on the contraption keeping her pinned to the chair.

"Mai?" Noll had felt her body begin to stir again and tried to coerce her consciousness back by speaking to her.

Her eyes blinked open slowly a smile attempting to grow upon her face. John was suddenly at her side. "Were you able to find her? Were you able to help her? Did she get away?"

"I couldn't touch her. I woke before I saw if she was able to escape. But I believe she will be fine."

Noll pushed John back away as he looked down at her face. He pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and pressed it to the underneath of her nose. When Mai glanced at it cupped in his hands she noticed the red stain on the fabric. Her fingertips touched the same spot and came back stained with blood. "Huh, look at that." Her eyes rolled back in her head and she once again fell in a heap against Naru's body.

"MAI!!!"