The Whitechapel Case

Fox-Trot-9

PG-13

Horror/Suspense/Mystery (How-Catch-'Em)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or Death Note.

Part 2: The Connections
Chapter 12

Day 2—Mai followed Noll up the stairs in silence, Luella and Martin following close behind. She could not stop thinking of Martin's words that repeated over and over like a chant in her mind. Almost everything she thought she knew about Noll now stood on its ear. Noll had feelings not unlike her own, though he kept them just below the surface of a cool and calm demeanor; he had mortal thoughts and worries and vulnerabilities, the very foibles that make a person a human being, though he kept those under lock and key behind an inscrutable poker face. She never thought she would see her narcissistic Naru the way she saw him now: a weary soul with many burdens bearing down on him. She wished she was strong enough to bear those burdens with him and not be a burden herself.

She wished it, but she wasn't in the position to do it; she had a lot of catching up to do. She'd have to help herself before she could help Noll. And helping herself meant assimilating herself to the case, which was a tall order.

And to top it off, she had that dream to figure out. It happened during the plane ride, in which she got precious little sleep. And unlike most of her other weird dreams, she didn't see Gene there to guide her through it, nor was it even clear enough to make sense of it, much like a fragment of a dream sequence. She didn't see much, just a deep black void. But she distinctly remembered hearing a heart beating in the distance, barely audible above a whisper at first; but then it grew faster, pulsing heavier beats as the rhythm sped up; and it kept getting heavier and faster, heavier and faster, like the shifting gears of a steaming locomotive as it goes up a steepening incline. At one point, the heart beats got so heavy that her eardrums began to hurt, then the sides of her temples, and then pain resting on top of her eyeballs, much like the headaches people get after skimping on a few meals.

"You'll be sleeping in my room." It was Noll.

She snapped out of it, barely believing her ears. Did he just say 'my room'? Her luggage was next to the door leading to his room, but she couldn't believe her eyes, either. It was his room. Where he sleeps in his pajamas and God knows what else. She simpered at such a rousing thought. If only Masako were here to fume over it, she'd be in heaven right now.

"Now no funny business between the two of you in there," said Luella. "If I so much as hear a single rustle in there, I'll drag you two out by the ear."

"Luella, there's no need to talk that way," said Martin. "Neither of them would do that, I assure you."

"You said that same thing yourself at Mary Anne's Hollow, but that didn't stop you from trying."

He sighed, blushing again. "Please stop mentioning that; it's too embarrassing."

"That's your problem, not mine."

Mai stood there thinking, What are they talking about? Do I even want to know? "Ah... Is this ah bahd time foh me to—?"

"No, no; it's all right," said Luella. "Martin just has some male issues he hasn't resolved yet." (Mai watched her husband go to the bedroom with his tail between his legs.) "It's not what your thinking. It's just"—she leaned in to whisper in her ear—"he can't kiss to save his own life; he's terrible at it. By the way, have you—?"

"No! I...have not." Oh man, why all these questions again?

"That's all right. Just give it some time, you'll see. Noll is a bit of a cold fish, after all."

He's more than just a cold fish; he's a narcissistic fish. "Thahnk you," and with that, she slipped into room, thankful she could get away from Luella's prying. But no sooner had she done that when she got an unexpected eye-full of—

She was out of there in a second flat, leaning herself against the door, sweating and panting hard, her hand against her pounding heart.

"Mai, what's wrong? Did Noll just—?"

"No, he didn't. He just—" She stopped.

"He just what?" said Luella. "I hope it wasn't something inappropriate."

"No, nothing like thaht."

Luella eyed her. "Are you sure, for you look shocked. And you are blushing. Did you just see—?"

"No, I didn't; I sah nothing." Except Naru in his underwear. Oh my God! "Nothing. Honest."

"O-kay. I guess I shouldn't keep you waiting then," and she went to her bedroom, where Martin was fast asleep. "See you tomorrow; and don't stay up too late."

"I won't," and as soon as Luella shut the door, Mai breathed a sigh of relief for the second time tonight, still leaning against the door.

Then the door moved behind her, and she grabbed at anything to stop her fall. Which just happened to be her favorite narcissist.

"Mai, try not to make this into a habit."

And for a second time, she pushed off of him like a rocket; she thanked her lucky stars he was in his pajamas right now. "You... Arrrgh, it's all your fault!"

"You opened the door first, remember?"

"You could of at least warned me!"

Noll gave her that enigmatic all-knowing smirk.

It took a few seconds for it to sink in; she could barely believe she was having this conversation with her employer, her boss and her narcissistic tea-drinking, would-be boyfriend. And in his own bedroom with the door closed no less, let alone in his house where he spent ten years of his life, and all the while thinking inappropriate thoughts. "You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

He took a step closer. "And what if I did?" He took another step. "How would you react?" Then another step. "Judging from the blush on your face, you'd like it, wouldn't you?" And another step; now he was just a foot away from Mai who had her back against the door. "And on top of that, do you know yourself enough not to fall for it?"

Her knees trembled, her mouth agape in sheer disbelief. And her heart was beating so hard and so fast, beating to the same rhythm as in her dream on the plane. "You wouldn't."

Then he placed both hands on the door, enclosing Mai between his arms and staring into her glassy brown eyes. "How do you know you might not like it?"

She wanted to kick him but thought better of it. So she ducked under his arms and sprinted to the bed farther from the door, making sure to keep it between herself and Noll, and she threw a pillow at him, but he caught it. She threw another one, and he caught that too. Then she took off one of her shoes and poised herself for a throw in a warning gesture. "Don't come any closer; I swear I'll throw this if you do!"

"How do you know what my intentions are?" He took a step closer.

"I'm warning you, Naru! Why are you acting so—?"

"I'm asking the questions, not you," and he placed both pillows on the bed, folded his arms around his chest and said, "Did you dream of anything strange before coming here?"

"Uh... I don't know. Maybe."

"What was it about?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't really see anything; but I did hear a beating heart. It was beating so loud. Naru, what's all this—?"

"I said I'm asking the questions. Did Gene accompany you in that dream?"

Mai lowered her arm, dropping the shoe onto the floor. "No. I never saw him."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"I think it was three weeks after the Yoshimi case on that island, the one where all the family members were possessed."

"The one where I got possessed by a fox spirit?"

She nodded yes. "I saw him in a clearing in the middle of a forest."

"What did he say?"

Now it was time for her to spill the beans, and she knew it. She had always believed she would have to tell Noll about it sooner or later, but not like this. "He said he had to leave for a while. I asked him why, and he told me he was gonna help someone out. I was gonna tell him who, but he left before I had a chance to ask him."

"Interesting. It all makes sense now." Noll then looked into one of the bookshelves and found the tape with his brother's name on it on the top shelf. The cassette had accumulated eight months of dust, but otherwise it was exactly as he left it. Then he looked for his camera bag and took out the camera.

"Naru, what are you doing? What's going on?"

"I've got one more thing to do, and I'm done for the night. I think you should know about this, but don't tell my parents about it," and he went out the door before Mai asked why.

Mai followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen where the refrigerator and the letter magnets were. It was almost pitch black, but Noll knew his way around well enough from living here for ten years, guiding Mai through the darkness. He put the tape in the camera, turned it on and switched it to night vision, then placed it on the kitchen countertop in front of the refrigerator. Then he said, "Gene, if you are here, try moving those letters again. Why are you here?"

"Wait a minute, Naru, is Gene actually here?"

"Shhh! Just wait and see what happens."

And they waited. One minute... Two minutes... Three minutes. No movement.

"I know you can hear me, Gene. Did you move those letters last night?"

Three more minutes. No movement.

Noll thought of his next question. "Did you have anything to do with Mai coming here?"

Another three minutes. At first, nothing. Then a gentle chill collected on the floor, spreading out and over till half the kitchen was blanketed in a cool gentle blast of air, and both knew it was Gene. Then those letters, two of them, slid out from the column of letters to form an answer. It spelled:

NO.

Mai froze on the spot, but not out of fear; she was amazed, even shocked, but not frightened. She knew Noll was there to protect her. And she had nothing to fear from a friendly ghost like Gene.

Noll said, "I found a sheet of paper torn from what I assume was Mr. Meiler's diary on the table back in the library. Did you put it there?"

The two letter slid back to the column of letters, and three others took their place, spelling out:

YES.

"I'm assuming you left Mai to assist me in this case?"

Then those letters circled round a few times and rejoined to form the same answer, which spelled out:

YES.

Noll then thought for a moment; he knew it was gonna be long shot, but it was worth a try. "Do you know who the other two murderers are?"

And immediately, the three letters went back into the column, and two letters took their place. They spelled out:

NO.

Well, at least he tried. But he pressed on, knowing full well that something was better than nothing. He said, "I had a nightmare during your trip to Japan, in which you were killed in a hit-and-run by a woman driving a car. Can you describe in any way what that woman looked like? And if so, tell me."

And they waited for an answer. And waited. And waited. One minute... Two minutes... Three minutes. Nothing. But just as Noll was about to speak, those letters moved again to the column, as other letters swirled around to form a word or two. The first word said:

BRUNET.

"Brunette?" said Noll. "You're talking about a brunette?"

But the letters did not form into a yes or a no. The letters kept swirling, some letters returning to the column while others stayed in position. The second word had a space in it for some reason:

LIBRA Y.

"Libray? Is that a name or a nickname? Or is that a place?"

This time, just the R letter moved, switching back and forth between B and A, and A and Y repeatedly as if to make Noll see.

"You mean a library?" said Mai.

Then those letters moved again, exchanging with the ones in the column to form another answer:

YES, MAI.

Mai could not believe it, even when she saw it on the refrigerator door. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, as she was finally acknowledged by Gene, her so-called Dream-Naru. She looked at Noll with a cool pride that said, Did you see that, Naru? Did you see what I did?

Well, of course he saw it; he had to admit that. "I'm impressed. How did that come out of you?"

"Haven't you heard of Scrabble? That's how I learned half of my English."

Noll smirked. "That's very good. It's about time you exercised that brain of yours."

"Geez, will it kill you not to be such a jerk all the time?"

"Shhh!" and before Mai said anything else, he said, "Gene, do you plan on attending your own funeral?" Again, Noll shushed her, for she thought it was rude as Hell to ask a ghost that.

Then three of those letters went back to their places on the column, leaving the three that spelled:

YES.

"Good. I'll see you there to see what else you can show me." Then the cool air lifted, and all was silent; you could literally hear a pin drop. Then Noll took the camera in hand up the stairs, as Mai followed close behind, then placed the camera on the bookshelf and got ready to go to bed. He knew he needed it.

"Not so fast," said Mai; Noll looked at her in surprise. "I have to change, and there's no way I'm trusting you not to look."

"And how do you know I won't look?"

She sighed an exasperated sigh. "Naru, please, please no more questions. I've already had enough from your mother to last me over a month. Please, just go."

So he went and waited at the door like a security guard. One minute... Two minutes... Three minutes... Five minutes... Ten minutes... Fifteen freaking minutes! What was she doing in there? Clipping her fingernails and toenails? Getting a manicure? Putting on makeup? His imagination ran wild, from the mundane to the perverted. His felt his cheeks burn when those thoughts intruded into his head. And who could blame him? He was a guy, after all; a narcissistic over-calculating one, and at times the jerk of jerks, but a guy nonetheless.

He knocked. "Mai, it took me less than five minutes to change. What's taking you so long?" He heard her swearing while trying to fiddle around with something.

After a time, he opened the door to reveal a pissed off Mai in hot pink pajamas glaring Hellfire at him.

"For your information, my bra strap snapped when I was undressing; I had a hard time reattaching it behind my back, so there, you jerk!" And she stormed into the room and buried herself under the covers of one of the beds.

Believe it or not, Noll didn't take offense to this at all. He smiled, though for different reasons than what you might think. In a case like this, he'd rather have an angry Mai instead of a scared Mai. "Do you know whose bed you're sleeping in right now?"

The thick covers of the bed moved just enough to reveal Mai's eyes. "Is it yours?"

"It was Gene's."

Mai sat up staring at him with wide watery eyes. Tingles of guilt tugged at her heart, the very tingles she hadn't felt since her mother died. "Oh my God, Naru, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to act the way I did."

"That's all right."

"No, it's not. I... I just...didn't realize you and Gene were so close... My mom and I were really close, too, and..." Tears ran down her cheeks; and even when she dried them, more tears welled up. "I'm sorry; I'm just a bit...you know."

"It's okay. There's a time for everything, including tears. But when you dry your tears, I need you to promise me something."

Mai dried her tears with her shirt the best she could and said, "What is it?"

"I need you to be strong for me; not only for me, but for Lin and Madoka and my parents. For everyone, but especially for me. And you probably know why. Please understand why I treat you the way I do; it's not because I hate you: it's because I care about you, and I'll do everything in my power not to lose those I care about. Promise me this."

"I will," and both laid down to their beds to go to sleep; she went to sleep thinking, Naru, I'll be as strong as you want me to be. Just wait, and I will amaze you.

Now all was silent. Not a single rustle, not even a bed bug. Except for one thing, which was lying on the shelf; for the life of him, Noll had forgotten to turn off the camera, which had recorded the remarkable scene and everything before it for unwitting eyes to see.

(To be continued...)

A/N: Hey there... Here's the next installment of the Whitechapel Case. But this is also the last installmnet of The Connections part of the story... The next part of this installment will be called The Usual Suspects... Keep reading... It'll get better...