Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own. Neither Ghost Hunt, nor the premise for Nightmare on Elmstreet. Please don't sue.

A Nightmare In Shibuya

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"Chihiro!" Mai gasped as tears blurred her vision. She sat bolt up-right on the couch, startling the occupants of the room. Without a second thought to the people who were staring at her wide-eyed, she had sprung from the couch and slammed open the front door to the office that she wouldn't have been surprised if the glass shattered. But that wasn't important now.

Vaguely she heard her name being called out by several people behind her, but she ignored them as the blood roared in her ears. Her feet thundered down the near empty streets, dodging traffic and pedestrians as they hurried back to their homes for the night. She disregarded the annoyed shouts as she cut off people in the crowds and weaved her way recklessly through sea of vehicles on the roads. Her mind was focused solely on the image of her childhood friend and –

'NO!' she screamed in her mind, and dove through a group of teenagers as they took up the sidewalk. They yelled profanity at her back, but she didn't hear them, her breath burning her lungs distracting her from her wild behaviour. She refused to think about the images that she had seen in her dream, the sheer amount of blood and the cruel laughter that had echoed behind her...

The pain that had once radiated from her chest, was now merely phantom throb that beat in time with her rapidly pulsing heart.

Fear and dread clawed at her very soul as her slippered feet pounded the unforgiving pavement. The apprehension and sheer terror that she felt were fuelled by the remnants of the dream. She honestly didn't know if what she had seen was actually happening (Dear God, please don't let it be real! she pleaded in her mind), or it was all just a horrifying dream caused by being over-worked and stressed out, with little to no sleep in the last week. She knew that Naru would be beyond pissed off for taking off like she did, but she had to be sure that what she had seem was just a dream. God, let it be a nightmare.

Something, though, was telling her that it was the former and she felt her heart break a little.

Anxiety coursed through her veins as she finally entered the residential side of the city, and it was then that she heard the sirens as they pierced through the fog that lay heavily in her mind. Stumbling to a halt, she breathed hard, eyes darting about as her sweat turned cold and the anxiety turned to sick apprehension. Nausea churned in her stomach and she shot off like a rocket, pushing herself harder, barrelling recklessly down the suburban alleyways. She quickly approached the source of the commotion.

Time seemed to suddenly slow down around her as she rounded the final corner to her original destination. Sound was abruptly snatched away, leaving her ears ringing with the echoes of her harsh gasps for breath and the surge of blood pounding away in her veins.

A large crowd of people blocked her way, but she was beyond the point of caring for etiquette. She elbowed her way violently through the front of the crowd and then some, slipping passed the police officers who were making a human barricade to keep the nosey neighbours out. Bile rose in her throat as she stared at the house in front of her.

It was a typical suburban Japanese styled house; a high white-wash fence left only the second floor visible to the people on the street. She knew that the walls were panelled in a cheery canary yellow colour, but as the orange streetlamps shone on the walls, they now looked sickly and gave off a foreboding aura. There were dark green shutters on each window that protected the glass from seasonal storms, but they now stood as silent sentinels to the dark voids that Mai knew were once cheery and familiar rooms behind them.

She stood in front of two police cars and an ambulance that were somehow crammed into the small lane. Her heart thundered in her throat. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there would be no need for the ambulance, but she vehemently denied that fact as her eyes swiftly spotted several figures as they streamed out of the gate in front of her.

Two police officers were having a difficult time trying to subdue a young man as they exited the house. He was shirtless and covered in gore, dark eyes wild with terror and shock. He tried to buck his body out of the officers firm grip, screaming words that Mai couldn't hear, yet understood perfectly.

'I didn't do it! Something murdered her! IT WASN'T ME!'

The world around Mai started to spin violently at the man's words, her body as confusing as her emotions. Thoughts escaped her grasp and she knew that she was teetering on the brink of oblivion. Her eyes locked onto the next two people to emerge from the gate, wheeling with them a gurney that she had only ever seen in horror movies.

The two grim-faced paramedics lifted the gurney above the door frame of the gate, so as not to jar the body that lay beneath the bloody sheet. But as they set it down on her side of the lane, a pale hand slithered from underneath the confines of the white sheet that had been stained a red so deep it was almost black in the streetlamps.

Brown eyes focused on the hand, ignorant of the police officers behind her who had finally noticed her standing beyond the crowd.

On the middle finger of the pale, dead hand, was a thin silver ring. Mai didn't have to take a closer look to know that there was writing on the outside of the ring. She didn't need to examine the piece of jewellery to know that it was a cheap trinket, but held so much meaning to the girl.

To both of them.

She couldn't deny the facts any longer, and with that acknowledgement, regular sound exploded in her ears – the police officers shouting at her, the gore-covered man yelling his innocent claims, the noise of hysterical sobbing – and at that same instant, time seemed to return to normal.

With a start, she realised that the hysterical sobbing was coming from her and before she could stop it, a keening wail was ripped from her throat as she threw herself at the gurney, only to be restrained by the police officers until the ambulance was quickly loaded up and disappeared down the road.

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"Where the HELL have you been?"

Mai shut the door slowly and rested her forehead against the cool glass. She could hear them all screaming at her, but she couldn't pay any attention to them. She felt numb, a cold having settled heavily in her stomach. Tears still left salty trails down her eyes, but she made no move to wipe them away.

She slowly turned around and moved with an agonising slowness into the main room where she was bombarded with angry faces and worried looks.

"- running around the damn city for three hours looking for you!" Monk yelled harshly, too far gone in his justified rage to notice the state that she was in. Beside him stood Ayako, fury clouding her eyes and making a vein pulse at her temple as they competed against one-another to be heard.

"- and not to mention my missed hair appointment. And," Ayako growled, blinking in confusion when Mai turned away from them and shuffled off to the kitchenette. "Get back here and apologise right now!" she screamed, stomping after the younger woman.

Monk stared after them, a sense of dread settling into his stomach.

The front door slammed open, and Lin, Naru and Yasuharu burst in, anger clearly evident in their eyes. "Where is she?" Naru growled, not even bothering to take his shoes off as he stormed into the main room, blue eyes hard chips of ice.

Monk was about to tell him where the girl had retreated to, when the sound of shattering ceramic resounded from the small kitchenette. Four pairs of feet ate up the small space to get to the small room, four set of different coloured eyes widening and anger being forgotten at the sight that greeted them.

Mai was standing in front of the sink, her usual warm brown eyes a hollow hazel that was devoid of any and all emotion. Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, landing on the cracked pieces of what was once her favourite tea mug. Ayako stood to the side, a lost look on her face as she stared at first Mai, then to the men crowding the entryway. The shrine-maiden took a hesitant step forwards, a hand outstretched, when Mai gave a sudden sob.

The noise that had escaped her throat sounded wretched and filled with unspeakable sorrow. The young woman took a shuddering breath, only to choke on another sob. Before anyone had realised it, she had collapsed onto the floor, heedless of the sharp little cuts that she was getting from the tiny shards of the shattered mug on her long, exposed legs.

"Mai!" Ayako, and several other voices exclaimed, rushing to her side as the woman seemed to splinter at the seams.

Ayako gathered Mai into her arms, her face pale with worry and fear. She had no idea what had caused Mai's sudden departure earlier in the evening, but she knew that it had something to do with how the young woman seemed to be falling apart in her arms. "Mai, what happened?" she whispered, rocking the hysterical girl in her hold.

The question seemed to make it worse. Before she had been quiet, albeit sobbing noisily, now there were words tumbling out from her mouth that made no sense. "Ohgodohgodohgodohgod!" she moaned, "She's gone! It's all my fault! My fault!" she keened, hugging herself. She thrashed her head from side to side, viciously trying to shake the images that she had seen out from her head.

"Do something!" Yasuhara yelled above Mai's screaming, his once-cool face, crumbling into one of anxiousness. He had never seen Mai in such a condition, not even when she had awoken from that dream during the Urado case several years previously. This was much more than that, something much more prolific than a simple dream.

Lin disappeared into his office and retrieved a fleecy red blanket. He bent down next to Ayako and quickly wrapped the fabric around Mai who continued to thrash and cry out, her eyes staring at something unseeingly. "Noooooo!" she wailed, struggling against Lin and Ayako.

"Damnit," Ayako cursed, having a hard time holding onto the petite girl, "Monk, I've got my kit in the car!" she yelped when Mai's head connected with her chin. She went cross-eyed for several seconds before grounding out another curse.

Monk, meanwhile, nodded and was off like a flash, leaving Naru and Yasuhara standing in the entryway of the kitchen.

Stoically, as if the scene he was watching didn't disturb him in the slightest, Naru took a step forward and knelt down next to Lin. He narrowed his eyes and reached out with both hands, grasping the sides of her face and holding her still.

"Mai," he said, loud enough to gain her attention slightly, "calm down." He ordered, watching as her eyes dilated faintly. Her struggling slowed down, her keening wails of anguish (for that was what it was; he knew those sounds very well, as did everyone on the team) quieted down until she was giving loud hiccupping sobs. Her tears were still overflowing from red, puffy eyes, but she still wasn't herself, her grief still too raw to be subdued. "Good," he muttered, feeling his heart constrict at the sight of the woman before him.

Mai looked pitiable, a contorted caricature of the woman that he desperately wanted gone. He knew the second that he had stepped foot into the kitchenette and saw her, that she was most definitely not possessed by a rogue spirit. This was all the doing of the event that had passed in the last few hours, and he wanted answers...

But he knew that he wouldn't get them any time soon.

He turned to Lin as the man stood up. "Mai will not be left alone tonight. Set up the spare room and I'll be with you shortly. Yasuhara, go with him. Once your done, you can go home." He stated to Lin and the younger man, watching in mild satisfaction as his long-time friend obeyed and hurried out of the office. Yasuhara nodded stiffly, looking slightly green, before following after Lin.

Naru turned to Ayako and shuffled forwards, reaching for Mai and easily picking up the petite woman. He stood up, glancing down at her tear-streaked face for several second, before moving out into the sitting area. Ayako followed behind him, a frown marring her pale face. She said nothing as she watched Naru sit down on the couch with Mai curled up in his lap, knowing that now was most definitely not the time for inappropriate comments.

The girl was almost swallowed by the blanket, her head the only thing visible, and even then, it was buried in Naru's dark shirt. It didn't seem to bother their narcissistic boss, but the frown that lined his handsome features most certainly was a new development.

For the third time that night (or early morning, but Ayako couldn't be bothered with semantics right then and there) and Monk ran through the door, carrying a black leather bag that had seen better days. He took one look at Mai and walked quickly to Ayako, handing her the bag and going to kneel on the floor next to Mai and Naru. He said nothing, but watched as the resident doctor opened the bag and sorted through the contents, before pulling out a new syringe and a small vial of clear liquid.

Ayako was quiet as she worked, sliding the needle into the vial and withdrawing a certain amount of the fluid before taking the needle out and placing the glass back into the bag. She turned and moved over to Naru and Mai, indicating to Monk to move with her free hand. "I'm going to give you a mild sedative to help you sleep, is that okay Mai?" she asked, already pulling on the blanket to reveal a shoulder covered by Mai's dark blue tee-shirt. Getting no response from the girl, Ayako rolled up the sleeve and quickly jabbed the girl with the needle, injecting her with a dose of sedative that would give the girl a deep and dreamless sleep.

No doubt that what Mai had seen would forever haunt the girl, and the little relief she could get from a dreamless slumber would be greatly appreciated.

A minute or so later, Naru saw Mai out cold in his arms. He looked to the two who hovered over him, nodding his head slightly. No words were needed to be exchanged between the three remaining ghost hunters. Ayako quickly gathered her things and left with Monk following closely behind her.

Before shutting the door completely behind him, Monk turned back around and looked to Mai as she slept fitfully in Naru's arms. "Call us, if anything happens." He said, and saw his boss nodded resolutely. He gave a small, sad sigh and shut the door completely.

Naru closed his eyes when he was finally alone and gave a sharp sigh. He opened them again and glanced down at Mai's sleeping face, worry clearly evident in his gaze. He untangled one hand from under her knees and reached for a strand of hair that had gotten loose. He twirled his finger around it before tucking it behind her ear.

Even in her sleep, Mai cried, a frown creasing the area between her eyebrows. "What happened to you Mai?" Naru asked quietly, watching as a quiet sob parted her lips. "What did you see?"

But by the time that he would find out, it would be already too late.

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Mai frowned as she found herself floating in darkness. It was absolute and unrelenting, but she felt warm and safe. She knew that nothing could get her here; in this space she was secure and protected.

She was tired, her body achy and fatigued, and she smiled. Nothing could get her here; she had nothing to worry about, she had no pain.

Curling up into a ball, she started to slip off into a dream, when the sound of laughter rang around her. She was too far gone to feel fear, but she did feel the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end.

"One, two, Akumu's coming for you," she mumbled under breath and succumbed to a dreamless slumber.

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I'm not 100-per-cent sure I wanna continue this or leave it as a mysterious one-shot. Your thoughts matter! Review and I might continue!