"A Million feelings,
A thousand thoughts,
A hundred memories,
One person."
*------------------*
It was way past midnight when the sound of Samara's ringtone echoed in her room. She turned her head to the other side, ignoring the annoying music. But, the phone kept on ringing. Annoyed, she, at last, picked up the call.
Hello? Is this Samara Helenson?" the person on the other end inquired her.
"Ye....yes. May I know who this is?" she asked seeking for an answer.
"Ma'am we are calling you from Tokyo police station. I'm Konci Lee, the sub-inspector. A few days back, we filed a missing case on your sister, Grace Helenson. Can you please come over here?"
There are some formalities that need to be taken care of."
She couldn't believe her ears. Her eyes were wide awake, and her mind was rushing. What does he mean? What was happening? She felt numb.
A few seconds later, the inspector cleared his throat, "Hmm... Hello? Ma'am ? Are you there?"
Stunned Samara, tried to ignore it as a grave mistake but she just couldn't. Her mind had frozen. Nothing was making any sense.
As the realization dawned on her, Samara mumbled,
"How can you say that?"
"Ma'am, we need to speak with you personally. Can you please come over?"
She hung up the call. She was too shocked to reply. She couldn't believe it. No matter what, it was her sister. How could she have gone missing?
"This must be a lie. There must have been a mistake," she mumbled to herself, as a strange feeling clouded her thoughts.
**************
She looked at the trees, the houses, the people, rushing past the window of the moving train. The day was bright, it was beautiful. She sat calmly, not talking to anymore nor sparing anyone a glance. No one could have known what a storm was blowing through her life, destroying the tiny pieces of hope in her.
She looked down at her watch when the train stopped at another station. Nine thirty. Only a few more minutes before she would get her answers. A few more minutes before the police would tell her that it was all a false alarm and that everything was fine, and her sister was safe.
For now, she just had to wait.
Tokyo. It wasn't a new place for her. In fact, Japan isn't a new place for her. She grew up there, worked there, she had memories there. Grace had been living in Tokyo for about three and a half years. She worked as a high school teacher and lived in a rented room all by herself; whereas Samara lived in Hiroshima and worked as a manager in a bank. Even, her grandparents lived in Hiroshima before they moved out to the USA. Her grandpa in her later years had suddenly developed a brain tumour and the hospital management from the USA came forward to help them. After they moved away, Samara became lonely. Grace ignored her and Samara ignored her grandparents. Their parents had been dead way past when the sisters were just seven years old. They were a long lost memory.
Samara and Grace shared a special bond. No matter how far they go from each other, there will always be some things that will bring them back to one another. They were twins, identical and with that, there was a gift. They both had these mild sensational feelings for each other, that is, if any one of them was hurt, the other one would know.
Just a fortnight earlier, Samara had a vision that her sister was in trouble. But, she just brushed it aside, not even bothering to contact her sister. To warn her. It was one of those nights when their outward anger and ego would rise high above, and crush their love for each other. As the stations passed by Samara looked at the image of her face on the window, reminiscing the reminiscences spent with her sister.
After a long journey, finally, she reached Tokyo.
"Tokyo's a big proposition and I kept hustling around it pretty lively!"
Samara heard Grace's voice in her mind. She always loved Tokyo. And maybe, that was the reason why she worked over there.
Samara quickly headed over to a taxi and destined him to the police station. She had no time to waste.
Tokyo seemed like a magical land for Samara. She hardly ever came there. It was full of colours and upliftment. All the buildings seemed to touch the sky. Everything was fine and happy except for Samara's heart. This magical land wasn't able to take away her pain. Her heart was heavy with the burden of the grief that she had to carry. She wanted to believe to believe that her sister was fine, but somewhere she knew that it would be a lie. She prayed to God for her. After all the belief that she had in God, she couldn't help but wonder, why He was so cruel to Grace and her? Why He kept on testing them?
After an hour or so of all the mind numbing thoughts, she, at last, saw the Tokyo police station come in view. As soon as the taxi came to a halt, she paid the driver and rushed into the station, asking the assistant police officer about the sub-inspector.
The tall, lean and pale faced assistant police stared at her for a while.
"Are you that girl, Grace?" he asked his mind out.
"No. Can you please take me to the sub-inspector, please? It's urgent." she pleaded with him.
"Come along."
The assistant mumbled leading her to the sub-inspector.
When the inspector saw her, he scrunched up his nose, the look of confusion clear on his face.
"You are..?" he questioned.
"Samara. Samara Helenson. Last night you called me about my sister, Grace. Don't you remember?" she replied hastily. Wasn't it clear enough?
"You both...Umm...you both look the same, so we got a bit out of the track," he muttered shaking his head.
"Yes, sir. We are identical twins. By the way, what happened to my sister?" She enquired.
"Um...yes miss. Your sister's reported missing."
"Ya. You said that to me. But...but are you sure? You are not making a mistake right?" she babbled, trying to keep alive the tiny ray of hope.
"No, ma'am. There has been no mistake. She is missing, we are sure of that." The sub-inspector said in such a manner as if it was a normal thing.
"Then, what the hell are you doing here? Go find her!! It's your duty!!!" She yelled, angry at the nonchalant way the inspector was handling the case.
"Uhuh! Miss! She's reported missing in Aokigahara forest." he answered not so much as even flinching at her tone.
"So? What's the matter?"
"Ma'am, I think you have no idea about that forest. It's known as the 'Suicide Forest'. Once you enter that place, you can never escape."
"What rubbish? How can a police department step back like that? I mean...How the hell in the world can you believe in such fables? You people are supposed to help us." Samara exclaimed, not sure as to what was going on. What are they talking about?
"Excuse me, Miss. People go there for suicide!!! Stop yelling at me and please kindly let us know what the heck made her commit suicide." he screamed at her.
Samara became silent after encountering such anguish. She stared at the inspector for a moment and sat slowly down on a chair, her hand rubbing her forehead. As the teardrops became evident in her eyes, she wiped them away.
The inspector handed her a glass of water and let her relax. After a while, she calmed down and cleared her throat. She looked at the inspector helplessly, "We just had a little fight."
"Is that the reason why she killed herself?" He asked.
"No...no...you can't say that she's dead! She's alive! She won't just kill herself. She won't leave me! I can feel her heart. She needs help. Go, and find her!" she yelled at him again, trying desperately to make them understand her.
The inspector stared at her in amazement. He just couldn't figure out why she was behaving like that when she heard that her sister went missing in Aokigahara forest.
Wasn't it evident on her sister's behaviour that she was going to do something on that sort?
"We've published a missing complaint in the daily newspaper for now..."
She sat silently, trying to calm herself down.
"Well... about the procedures, you have to sign this warrant." The inspector pushed a file towards her. She appeared to be in a trance, as she picked up the pen that lay on top and signed the warrant.
"Thanks..." he mumbled taking away the file. "Don't worry, we can surely do something. You should go and rest now, and meet us tomorrow. If we can gather any other information on her by then, we will let you know." he continued assuringly.
Samara spared him a glance, and without a word proceeded to leave the room.
'This woman's crazy....' he thought, looking at her retracing figure.