The Hand I'll Hold // AI

Chapter 14: Bamboo Boy

A/N Hehe you may love/hate me after this c: Just Saying

"So where exactly is this temple?" I ask looking curiously out the car window as many small shops flashed by.

"Well, it's in the Sagano Forest but it's hidden. A while back a friend took me to it and apparently the family that owns it has tried their hardest to keep it hidden. Long story short, my friend ended up being a cousin and now I can come see the temple as often as I'd like as long as I keep its location a secret."

"You have some interesting friends. Do you know why they'd want to keep such a place hidden?"

"No clue, but they were very strict on me keeping it a secret, so I have to ask you to just stick to pictures of the forest and not the temple please." He parked the car and I had to walk a good distance before making it to the entrance of the forest. If there was one thing I still didn't like to do was... walk, but the scenery was too breathtaking to not explore.

There wasn't too much to the forest and it would have probably been more interesting at night due to the string of lights they placed on the walkways. The wind picked up some and made such a melodic sounds when it pushed through the hollow bamboo shoots. With the people on the walk tours remaining quiet, the sound was so loud and almost hypnotic. I was taken away from the surrounding daze when Ashton tugged on my hand to follow him.

"There's a small path through this bunch of bamboo that'll lead us there." He whispered, checking around before stepping between the shoots. Quickly, I followed him making sure to stay close.

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"How much farther is it?" I asked, grasping to the bottom of his shirt. It had started to get dark and the path seemed to never end.

"It shouldn't be much farther." He didn't sound too confident in his words.

"It's okay to say that we're lost, I think I can remember the way back and we can try again tomorrow." A loud snapping noise made me stop in my tracks, "Really hoping that's a panda."

"For your sake, it is." He tugged on my hand again this time not letting go, "Let's just find this place it's getting really dark."

Another snap filled my ears. Don't mistake this type of snap to like the sound of a twig breaking, these are bamboo shoots that are being broken so it's a lot louder. I gripped Ashton's hand tighter and he picked up the pace.

"Come on, Ash, we're lost. This place is really giving me bad vibes." He let out a small laugh.

"Bad vibes?"

"Seriously, Ash."

"Okay, okay. If I don't find it in the next 5 to 10 minutes, we can turn right around and I'll take you to that desert vending machine and get you what ever you want."

"Deal."

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"I think that's it!" Ashton started off in a sprint towards something I couldn't quite see.

"Is there a light or something?" I questioned, but in a few more steps I saw a small temple come into view. The place was a little ran down and there was only two small lanterns that lit up the doorway, casting shadows on the rest of the structure.

Coming closer and closer to it, I began to feel uneasy and that tingly nervous sensation. I kept telling myself it was just because of the way it looked, but mama didn't raise no fool. Ashton walked up to the door and knocked a few times before just letting himself in.

"Hello? It's me, Ashton."

"Ashton, what are you doing? You can't just barge in, this isn't my apartment!" I whisper yelled at him. He disappeared from my view, leaving me outside alone, "Ugh... If I go to jail, I swear..."

As I walked in I noticed there wasn't any lighting expect for that supplied by the bright moon which shone down through a large opening in the ceiling. There was a square open area that held a small fountain surrounded by dull green grass and some strange flowers I've never seen before. Seeming how it was kept polished, I stayed on the wooden walkway to not ruin anything. 

Continuing my little look around I saw Ashton's shoes placed by another walkway that lead to a large room that, of course, was lacking in lighting. Since in Japan it's the respectable thing to do, I placed my shoes beside Ashton's and walked down the path and into the room. The buzz of Twitter updates on my phone reminded me of its flashlight. I switched the flashlight on and found the room to be a little dojo area.

"Ashton? Hello?" I kept walking until a strike of lightening froze me in place. The pattering of the rain added to my uneasiness. Another flash of lightening briefly showed a dark silhouette at the sliding paper doors on the other side of the room. I shined your phone's light at that end of the room walking backwards, but the silhouette was gone. At that instant I sprinted back to the area  previously was in.

The battery on my phone was dying so I quickly plugged it in to the portable charger, turning on the little light on it as well. The moonlight was no longer supporting my sight so I nervously shone the little light I had on the pathways surrounding the fountain.

"I swear if you're messing with me, I will kill you Ashton!" The sound of the sliding doors in the area I was in made me rethink that this may not be him.

I quickly turned off my light and ran into the nearest room like a complete noob. Checking that the window was unlocked and ready to be busted through, I listened for any footsteps.

"Zaria?" I let out a small yelp and fell back onto the wall, "Hey, it's okay, it's Ash." He was talking very low that I almost couldn't hear him.

"Is this some joke? Because I really want out of this place."

"Sh sh. It's the owners, they're trying to... um..."

"Trying to what, Ashton?"

"Well, I know now why they always wanted to keep this place hidden from the public." I felt him sit beside me and throw a warm arm over my shoulders.

"What? Are they some kind of cult?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yeah."

A/N Ohhhhhhhhhhh! What?! Bet you didn't see that coming!!! I watched Annabelle again and it made me want to add a cult in this, and also I've been reading The Hotel which is a Michael Clifford horror fanfic so I wanted to make this chapter spoopy.

Also, Sagano Forest is a real place in Kyoto, although, the temple mentioned is not. Well, as far as I know it's not real, but I'm pretty sure there's actual shrines there and other cool things but I didn't feel like falling down the rabbit hole to get all the details.

Anywhoo! Thank you so much for waiting and thank you for all the love and support! <3

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!