Ghost Hunt Fan Fiction ❯ The Debacle of Harmony ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I laid in bed with my eyes shut tight against the swirling darkness.
She had appeared again. The dark spirit.
My arms wound tightly around my body pillow as I listened to footsteps on the hardwood floor slowly coming closer.
I felt the room growing colder.
I felt the dip in the bed and an icy breeze wash over me.
I shot up out of bed, screaming.
A wave of blackness rippled around me and an unseen hand grabbed at my hair and face. I screamed and ran out of my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. The blackness passed through the door and I felt a grip on my arm. Shaking it off vigorously, I grabbed my bag and stuffed handfuls of clothing in and threw on my jacket and shoes. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a form of a woman in the blackness, inches from my back. With a scream, I tore through the living room and yanked open the front door. I felt my hair being tugged from behind, fingers latching into my curls. I yanked my head forwards and slammed the door behind me.
I watched in horror as the knob started to turn from the inside.
I grabbed the doorknob tightly and thrust the key in. The doorknob rattled violently, but after a struggle, I was able to lock it. I hesitated, leaning back against the pillar behind me and watching the doorknob as I caught my breath.
It was still.
I let out a breath of relief and hefted my bag onto my back. I began walking as fast as I could away from the house. I would take the train into the city. I needed to be around living people.

I sat at the corner of the bar at a 24 hour diner nursing a cup of coffee as the rain poured. It was 5 am and I was unsure what my next move would be. The neon lights of the diner had drawn me in as a suitable place to escape the rain. The waitress, a middle-aged lady with a kind, light pink aura, took pity on my bedraggled appearance and gave me a huge bowl of miso soup with rice. I thanked her graciously but gave no explanation as to why my appearance was so rough and my manner so jumpy. I was the only customer at the moment, so she turned on the small tv above the bar to help give some background noise to the silence. I basked for a while in the warmth and enjoyed the soup.
The door to the diner opened and the waitress and I looked up at the young blonde-haired man that entered. He smiled shyly at us and sat a couple stools down from me at the bar. The waitress perked up a bit and poured him a coffee right away. Her aura was a very light pink outline, but his upstaged hers by a mile. It was bright blue and seemed to radiate all around him in a soft neon glow.
"Good morning, Father Brown. You're here early today," said the waitress. I looked again and took note of his black shirt and clerical collar.
"G'day," he said. "I've just returned from helping another church across town with a problem they've been having." He set a book in front of him and I peeked at the title. Demonic possession. I caught a chill and shivered. The priest noticed and turned his gaze on me. "Are you alright, miss?" I placed his accent. Australian. Hot.
"The subject matter of your book seems rather...dark," I said. I took a long sip of coffee.
"It is. Makes for spooky reading material. Fortunately I only have dealt with spirit possessions. Though, some of them are very dark." He said. I looked at his white collar again and sighed. "Something wrong?" His blue eyes held a touch of concern.
"Well...it's my house. I can hardly stay there anymore. This dark spirit is getting more aggressive." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. My curls were sticking straight out from my head. "I'm sorry. I probably look and sound like a crazy person. Stupid hair."
"You look and sound fine to me, miss," said the priest reassuringly. After a beat, his eyes widened and he blushed so deeply that it contrasted with his aura. Did I just see the color squiggle? I couldn't help but let a giggle out.
"You're too kind. My name is Layelle Yamad - uh - Layelle Shaw. Nice to meet you." I smiled and hoped my little slip-up went unnoticed.
"John Brown." We shook hands and I watched an orange flash ripple through our auras from our joined hands. It disappeared when we let go and it was my turn to blush. Orange? With him, a priest? A young, super cute priest? Wow, Layelle. Classy. Your dry spell may have run on for too long.
John peered curiously at me. "Miss Shaw, may I ask what you're sensing? I noticed you looking all around me." My face grew hotter. I couldn't say 'well, Father Brown, I'm sensing animal attraction between us. Rawr.'
"At the risk of sounding completely bonkers, I can see people's auras." I paused for his reaction. He looked surprised with his mouth open slightly.
"That's so interesting. What does mine look like?" His big blue eyes were fixed on me in wonder. Normally people would have been weirded out by now. This is a nice change.
"Yours is bright blue. Like, really bright. That means you are a good person. And it expands out rather than just outlining you, which suggests that you are a very spiritual person." John smiled at my explanation.
"Wow. So you can read people from looking at their auras, too?" He asked.
"Pretty much. All the moods and emotions have different effects and they flicker through your aura as you feel them. I haven't memorized all of them, but I recognize the common ones."
"And what have you been experiencing at your house? Can you see spirit auras?" asked John.
"Benign spirits are the color of the aura they had when living and it glows around them. The ones at my house...Their auras are so black and they've started...hurting me." I closed my eyes and tried to block out the horrifying memories of this morning.
"Hurting you? How?" I opened my eyes and looked at him. He looked apprehensive.
"Grabbing at my hair, my face, pinning me against the wall, chasing me, scratching me." I showed him a long scratch on my forearm. His brow furrowed.
"I think I know how to get you help. I work with Shibuya Psychic Research. We investigate the paranormal for clients and help cleanse spirits if needed."
"That's a thing?" I said, sounding surprised. John chuckled and nodded.
"We get a lot more clients than what you'd expect," he said. "Japan is really haunted."
"Hmm...How soon would you guys be able to help me?" I asked.
"If you want, I can walk with you to the office after I get some breakfast in me," offered John. More quality time with this cutie? Yes, please!
"If it's not any trouble," I said. I picked my spoon up and faced the back towards me. My hair looked horrible. With the combined efforts of malevolent spirits and the rain, I looked like a zombie.
"No trouble at all. I need to stop by the office anyway." John waved the waitress over and ordered eggs and toast. He glanced at me and then did a double take. "Are...are you checking your reflection in the spoon?" I plunked the spoon back into the soup bowl and tried not to look too guilty. Waves of amusement were rolling through John's aura and he had a facial expression to match.
"Nooo...but if you'd excuse me, I'll be fixing my crazy hairdo in the ladies' room!" I hopped off my barstool and headed to the restroom, my face red. I could hear John's quiet laughter behind me.

I emerged from the restroom about twenty minutes later feeling refreshed. I managed to tame my dark brown curls and was confident that I no longer resembled Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter. Thankfully I had managed to grab enough clothes without getting killed, so I was donning regular clothes and had changed out of my oh so fashionable pajamas. I made my way back to my stool. John was lost in his breakfast, so I let him eat and settled in to watch the TV above the bar.
"A family in Tokyo was devastated when they received the news late yesterday evening that the body of their daughter, Neta Yamada, was found off the shores of the Tokyo Bay." A picture of Neta Yamada was shown, and suddenly I felt ice cold. "Cause of death has not been released. Yamada had been missing a week prior and time of death coincides with this."
"WHAT?!" I yelled. John jumped and looked up at me, startled.
"What's wrong?!" he asked, wide-eyed. His aura pulsed nervously.
"T-that was my sister-in-law," I said. Neta has been dead this whole time? This is crazy! I bent down and rested my face in my hands. "I think I'm in shock. She was so young! How can this be?"
"Neta...your sister-in-law?" asked John. I looked up and caught him looking at my bare left hand and the tell-tale ring finger tan line. His aura slightly dulled in brightness but his face was blank. I wondered what he thought.
"Former sister-in-law. I had been separated from Nobu Yamada for about six months as of January last year and then we filed for divorce. It was finalized about a week or two ago. I just revert back to my maiden name unofficially. We married about two months after we graduated high school. We...well...long story short, he and his family washed their hands of me." I sighed. "I feel like I've been talking about me ever since we met this morning. I apologize."
"Don't. It's alright. You've been through a lot," said John softly. "Neta and her family will be in my prayers."
"Thank you, Father," I said, smiling sadly.
"No need for that. Call me John." He smiled. "Are you ready to head to the office, Miss Shaw? It looks like it's still raining, but I've got an umbrella."
"Please, John, call me Layelle," I said, grinning cheekily. I watched poor John blush once more. We paid for our breakfasts and said goodbye to the waitress. John opened the door and held the umbrella up.
"Ladies first."