Third time, the charm!

- CHAPTER 13 -

The forest is pitch black at night.

It is nothing akin to the picturesque images on the brochure, selling promising vantages of constellations lighting up the dark canvas. The lush leaves on the trees bloom like heavy green clouds; so dense and thick it's almost opaque and barely a sliver of moonlight passes through the mist, from the waning crescent hanging in the sky.

Like two sides of a coin, the jungle is vastly different during day and night.

In the night, the jungle loses what little allure of protection it offered. The smallest sounds made by critters multiply by folds, glowing eyes blink in the dark and the never ending shadows stretch everywhere all at once.

Yua holds her phone to her chest, like it's her lifeline. The flashlight from her phone is only big enough to illuminate a small patch of grass, a few centimetres ahead of her. The brightness barely extends to a small radius, so Yua does not see the stray twig until it's too late.

Her body falls down as she succumbs to gravity. The impact knocks out the wind from her chest, her phone flies away and simultaneously, a sharp pain jolts through her right knee. Yua inhales a gasp when she touches her leg, her hand comes up feeling wet.

She grunts, slowly crawling her body over to where her phone fell, trying not to put too much pressure on the side where her leg hurts. When her phone is turnt around, her fingers slide across multiple cracks on the screen. To add insult to injury, the flash from her phone starts to flicker on and off strangely for a few seconds before it stops and dies down.

When it rains, it pours.

The only thing that stops her from screaming her head off into oblivion is the reminder from the park ranger earlier that morning. She could agitate the animals and bring attention to herself. In her current state, she is as good as a sitting duck.

Yua closes her eyes and focuses on taking deep breaths to calm herself down. When she is confident she has reached her zen state, she opens her eyes and assesses her current predicament.

Her right knee is out of commission.

Ok, I might have to walk slow.

Her flashlight is also out of commission.

Maybe slower.

Yua inspects her phone again. The fall might have broken the flash, but the device is still working. She turns up the brightness on her phone screen and brings it closer to her knee. The fabric of her pants is ripped at her right knee and there is a dark wet colour, steadily spreading around the area of her injury.

Trepidation builds through her body. There is a sinking feeling that Yua already knows what it is, but still she has to make sure. She touches her knee, wincing in pain and smells the unmistakable tang of metal in the air.

Just where did she go wrong?!

More than half an hour ago, Yua walked into the jungle, following the guided path of lamp posts. The staff who led her there only left her with a cryptic hint of a gentleman and a surprise.

It could only be P'Ren. Who else would be annoying enough to masquerade as a gentleman in the middle of nowhere?

Which was why, it was no longer funny when Yua realised she had probably walked in further too deep inside the jungle than intended, the twinkling lights from the lamp posts already a rather distant memory.

Yua stared at the message she had sent ages ago; could've sent sooner if she'd just swallowed her pride and worried more for her current safety than fret about the possible future where he might taunt her again for needing his help.