Premonition

Naru, also known as Oliver or Noll Davis, woke up, sweating and shaking. He had never had a nightmare featuring Mai before. She plead for him to save her at first, but then terror had taken over. Her screams echoed in his mind. His heart was beating erratically as emotions held the fear close to his heart. He could still see her empty eyes staring at him from the alley she was laying in. He told himself it was a dream and laid back down. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her again. Sighing, he got up to make a cup of tea.

- x X x -

Naru woke up, the bedding around his body soaked. Groaning, he rolled over. 3:09 AM. Again. He dealt with the paranormal too long for this to be a coincidence. He threw off the covers and got out of bed. He stumbled to his desk. Grabbing his cell phone, he checked the time difference. It would be early evening for her. He selected her number and listened as it dialed the number, only to give him an "unable to connect" message. Putting the phone down, he went to take a shower. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

For the past five mornings, he had woken at the exact same time. Each time, the nightmare ended with Mai sprawled out on the ground, her dead eyes staring at him. Her death became more horrific each night. He wasn't sure he wanted to see tonight's version . . . and he knew he would have the nightmare again.

Naru staggered into the BSPR offices. He headed straight for Lin's office. He was early . . . well earlier than normal and he usually was first in the office. He pulled the chair up to Lin's desk and put his head down to close his eyes for just a moment.

Lin walked in, precisely five minutes before the start of the work day. Noll didn't normally hang out in his office . . . and to be waiting for him was a mystery he determined to solve quickly. He had heard from others in the office that Noll was acting oddly. Lin sat down and cleared his throat. Noll looked up slowly, trying to figure out where he was. As he woke, Lin watched his face move to its normal cold glare. Dark shadows were forming under Naru's eyes, Lin noted. His lips were thin in irritation.

"Noll, why are you sleeping in my office?" Lin asked quietly.

"What does 309 mean to you?" Naru asked.

"It's a number."

"But it has to have some significance. I've woken up at precisely 3:09 AM for the last five mornings after having the same nightmare."

"What happened in the nightmare?" Lin continued looking at the younger man, trying to figure out if he was acting this way merely because of a nightmare. He set up his laptop on his desk and began arranging everything for the start of his day.

"She died. Again." Noll muttered, shaking his head and leaning back in the wooden chair. He closed his eyes as the scene went through his mind. Lin sat down and mentally ticked down the list of "hers" that it could be. Noll didn't get close to many people, so that took down the number of possibilities tremendously.

"Mai," Lin began as Naru sat up sharply and glared at him. "Mai's apartment number is 309. Is the she one who dies?" Naru nodded.

"It's worse every night. I can't stop it, I can only watch as dark smoke or mist covers her. She starts screaming in pain. I can still hear her screaming when I wake up."

"Did you call her home? She . . ."

"The number isn't working." Naru hung his head between is knees, losing control of his cool exterior. He was exhausted. Every time he closed his eyes last night, memories of the nightmare flooded into his brain. The feeling of fear and hopelessness had only come to him once before . . . when Gene died. Now, it seemed to consume him.

"Yasuhara could check on her. He emails me weekly with updates on how everyone is doing," Lin admitted. "Now that you mention it, he hasn't said anything about Mai in a couple weeks. She was going to be extremely busy now that she graduated high school and was getting ready for university."

"Which one?" Naru asked. Lin shrugged. He hadn't cared enough to find out. "Fine, can you check?" Lin nodded as his laptop synced up with the office server and sent a quick email.

"We won't get an answer back for a while. Why don't you go take a nap in your office?" Lin asked. Naru nodded and pulled himself up and shuffled out of the office. Perhaps this will help you realize what you feel for her, Lin thought as he went to work.

- x X x -

Yasuhara Omasu picked his head up from his desk as his laptop signaled he had email. He groaned as he realized he'd fallen asleep at his desk again. He adjusted his glasses and looked at the email, intending to ignore the person until he saw who it was . . . Koujo Lin. Something was up. He opened the email immediately.

Yasuhara-san,

Please check on Mai. Naru is concerned.

– Lin

Yasu scratched his head. Naru and concerned were two words that shouldn't be in a sentence together. He picked up his phone and hit his contact for her. He frowned when he couldn't connect with her. Yasu looked at the email again. He quickly typed a reply and shut off his laptop, getting ready for bed.

Lin-san,

Thank you for waking me up. The desk is not comfortable.

I'll check on Mai first thing in the morning and get back to you.

– Yasu

- x X x -

Lin looked up as Naru walked into his office with a cup of tea in his hand. Naru hadn't slept. The circles under his eyes were darker.

"Has Yasu replied yet?"

"Noll, it's early in Japan. I'm sure he's not there yet. Just give it some time."

Naru nodded and walked started to walk out of the office, "Just call me if you find out anything, Lin."

"Of course."

- x X x -

Yasu started walking up to Mai's building, seeing a familiar figure waiting at the front door for him.

"Monk-san, I'm hoping this is nothing . . ." Yasu began.

"Ayako saw her Saturday morning. She was supposed to have lunch with me Monday and didn't show." Monk shook his head. "Let's go." The light-haired monk pushed himself off the wall and opened the glass door, gesturing for Yasu to proceed him.

"I could have picked up the key." Yasu said. Monk shook his head.

"Since you called, I've been getting a bad feeling and it's just getting worse."

They climbed two flights of stairs to the third floor. Monk slid his copy of Mai's key into the lock and opened the door. It was dark . . . and silent. He felt around for the light switch and blinked when it came on, momentarily blinding him. Yasu pushed past him and started walking into the apartment when he stopped and crouched down. Monk moved next to him to see what Yasu was looking at. Mai's cell phone lay on the floor. The two men looked at each other and started looking around her apartment.

"Her backpack and some of her clothes are missing," Monk said, coming out of Mai's bedroom. Yasu held up an empty picture frame.

"Three of them are missing their photos."

"That rules out kidnapping or burglary," Monk said scratching his head. "Perhaps Ayako knows where she went." He pulled out his own cell phone and waited for the yelling that was sure to start when he woke her. She was on the night shift this week, so she'd be sleeping.

"Monk, this had better be good," Monk frowned at his phone. Either this was going to be a short conversation or a very long morning.

"Did Mai tell you where she was going?"

"Mai? She should be at home at this hour."

"She's not and it looks like she packed up some things and left."

"She wouldn't do that without telling us first."

"Her cell phone is on the floor of her apartment."

"Wait. You're there?"

"Yes, with Yasuhara. Lin emailed him in the middle of the night to tell him Naru was concerned about Mai."

"I'll call Masako and John to see if they've heard from her. You've got her phone, so call her friends. She numbered them in her contacts under how old she was when she met them so they all appear first."

"Her phone's dead, Ayako."

"Hang on . . ." Monk heard things falling and colorful words coming out of Ayako's mouth. "Yes, she left her cord here when she spent Friday night."

"We'll be right there," Monk said, gesturing to Yasu as he disconnected the call.

- x X x -

Monk finished his call with the last of Mai's close friends. No one had seen her. Ayako came in, still talking to John. Monk shook his head at Yasu, who turned toward Ayako who also shook her head before hanging up.

"Neither of them have heard from Mai."

"Her school friends don't know either."

"Is there anything we missed?" Yasu asked. Ayako tapped a red nail against her pale cheek. Monk watched her, noting that even without make-up she looked good. Suddenly she snapped her fingers.

"Mai spent the night Friday because she was creeped out. She said she'd been feeling like someone was watching her. We went around her apartment building Saturday to see if anyone suspicious was hanging around, but no one was there. She said she still felt it. We thought it might be a spirit, so I gave her some charms to keep with her."

"We didn't find any charms," Yasu said. "Do you think she was spooked enough to run?"

"She would have run to one of us," Monk said. "We need to assume it happened sometime between Saturday when Ayako dropped her off and Monday when she was supposed to have lunch with me."

"That's more than 48 hours," Ayako stated flatly. "Do you have any idea the number of things that could have happened to her in that time?"

"Let's not think about that," Monk said. "We can start with interviewing people in her building to help narrow down the time she vanished." The other two nodded at him.

"I have to make a call before we go," Yasu said. "I told Lin I'd call him as soon as I found anything out. I just wish it was good news."

- x X x -

Lin's cell phone rang. He felt a chill go through him. Everything in him screamed not to pick it up. Naru came into the office quickly and closed the door behind him. Was he waiting outside the door the entire time? Lin picked up the phone and put it on speaker.

"Good morning, Yasuhara-san," Lin said.

"Is Mai okay?" Naru interruped.

"We don't know," Yasu admitted. Naru growled, looking angry and frustrated at the same time.

"What do you know?" Lin asked, gesturing to Naru to sit down.

"Good morning, Lin," Ayako's voice came over the phone. "Mai spent Friday night at my house. She was creeped out by the feeling that someone was watching her. Saturday morning, we did a sweep around her building to make sure no one suspicious was around. That was the last time I saw her."

"We were supposed to have lunch Monday and then go shopping for school supplies, but she didn't show up," Monk's voice came over the phone. "She's been putting in a lot of hours on her two jobs to make sure she could pay her university fees. I thought she'd just forgot to call me. It's happened before, so I didn't think anything about it."

"We have already called John and Masako," Yasu interrupted Monk. "Neither they nor any of her school friends have seen her. Nor has she been to work."

"What are you doing next?" Naru asked, gripping the arms of the wooden chair tightly. She had called him, begging him for help and he waited five days before he did anything. If they'd contacted Yasu immediately, would she be okay? They had responded quickly and thoroughly . . . just as he expected them to do. One call and she'd be safe. Yasu's voice interrupted Naru's self-incrimination.

"Monk and I are going back to her building and talk to her neighbors. Perhaps they saw her or someone who looked suspicious."

"I'll check the hospitals and medical clinics in Shibuya just in case," Ayako added. Naru nodded.

"I'll be on the first flight I can get to Japan," he informed his team.

"We," Lin interrupted. Naru looked up at Lin, surprise on his face. "We will be on the first flight to Japan."