And Then It Rained (Sequel to Rain Again; Stand Alone Book) (Completed)

Chapter Thirty-one: Silhouettes and The Forest

However, in a moment of weakness, her scrolling thumb took her into a daze and hovered over her old email ID. One touch, and it would switch to her old account.

Had he tried to contact her at all? Her stupid mind wondered.

Ah, hell, of course, he had. 

There must be a short and curt mail sitting like a cobra in her inbox— thanking her for his freedom, wishing her the best for the future. 

"Argh—" She grunted, shoving her phone under the pillow, failing again to get herself to check the mails. Twisting around, she faces the other direction in frustration and gloom. 

No, she didn't want to read such words of departure from him yet. 

Although she had departed from his life already.

--

The toilets next to the parking outside Aokigahara — the suicide forest, were a bit grubby. Dried leaves had found their way in, and some people forgot to flush. Fortunately, Victoria was prepared with several types of sanitizing sprays, wipes, and vice versa. Pedro's suggestions made many things easy for her on her expeditions.

The trees of the forest have natural twists and turns, so much that they look incredibly spooky. Even though it was a sunny day outside, right after entering the forest, it seemed like past sunset. The thick foliage wouldn't let the sunlight in. Thanks to Victoria's collection of lenses for ensuring the apt capture of even darker views.

Her running shoes were a great choice for today as she was having to climb up the stones and twisty roots of the trees endlessly. The ground was uneven, rugged, and rocky, pierced with uncountable caves because of the forest's location at the base of Mount Fuji. 

In her usual shorts and a beige t-shirt with a jacket thrown over her shoulders for the chilliness of the forest, Victoria looked awed as she silently clicked plenty of photos. Visitors went into the forest, did their own little photoshoots, and walked out, passing her by. All stayed on the forest path as it was easy to get lost in the endless forest. Because of the existence of too much magnetic iron, cell phones, compasses, and GPS systems get disrupted. 

Victoria remained unfazed and completely dedicated to taking a part of the suspenseful beauty of the place. As time went by, she trekked a long way down the forest path.

And although it was warned against, at one point, she considered leaving the path. It took her only a few minutes to decide. She left the path and entered into the pathless forest.

The thrill running through her veins was too strong in this forest that it had made her forget a certain life, an impossible future, and a certain someone. Perhaps it was the magnetic iron, or the haunted spirits she did not believe in, or some kind of a curse that was beginning to disrupt her mind as well, along with cellular or tracking devices. 

As she traveled further into the forest and the moss and foliage got denser, she brought out the roll of red thread from her bag. Marking the trees with these threads now would confirm the direction of her getting out. This was something she had learned both from Pedro's stories and through some internet research. To bring out the bodies of people who've committed suicide or to search for missing people, volunteers and police would mark the trees along their way to not get lost themselves. 

Suddenly, between her taking photos when she was knelt on a flat, moss-covered stone, Victoria realized that her head spun a little. She shook her head in an attempt to fix her head and shake off the funny feeling. Nevertheless, her eyes remained blurry, and the trees around her spun ever so slowly. They began to close in on her at that same slow pace after a while.