Aokigahara

Shane's POV

Aokigahara Forest — more commonly known as Suicide Forest, like every other place I've visited, is not haunted. Ghosts quite obviously aren't real so there's no way that they could be lurking throughout the thick layers of trees. Ryan, on the other hand, would disagree with me.

One thing that we can agree on; however, is that this was by far the scariest place we'd ever been.

Whether or not you believe in ghosts, or demons, or any of the weird supernatural beings that Ryan claims exist, that's not nearly the most unsettling part about this place. What really creeped me out wasn't even the absurd amount of people who've hung themselves from this forest's trees. It was how many of them were still there.

The forest is full of ribbons and ropes tied along the narrow path. If you follow a trail of ribbon, you'll eventually find yourself in the campsite of someone who has contemplated suicide. Sometimes the camper has gone home, with the conclusion that their life was worth living a little while longer. On rare occasions you'll find a person who hasn't yet left, still trying to make a decision. Most likely though, you'll find the body of a person hanging in a tree somewhere nearby.

Beep... beep... beeeeeeeep...

I groaned loudly and rolled over in my bed. There's nothing worse than the sound of my alarm in the morning, especially after yet another restless night of tossing and turning, which unfortunately seemed to be most nights lately.

Reaching to hit the snooze button, I smacked my hand on something beside me.

"What the fuck?" I wondered aloud, peeling my eyes open.

After blinking away the grogginess, I realized that what I'd accidentally hit was a lamp sitting on the bedside table. I also realized that I wasn't in my own room. It was a hotel room.

"Japan. I almost forgot," I muttered, looking around the room.

We were doing an international season of Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural and Suicide Forest was one of the first places on our list. The idea of wandering around in the forest made me pretty uncomfortable, but Ryan was pretty intent on going and I couldn't say no to him.

After giving myself another minute to rest my eyes, I threw the covers off myself and sat up, groaning from my stiff muscles. Once out of bed, I headed for the bathroom. I regularly had trouble sleeping and it took a few splashes of water on my face to wake myself up in the mornings.

Just as I was filling up a cup of water to take my medication, someone knocked on the door to my room.

"Good morning! Breakfast?" A cheery, smiling Ryan greeted me when I opened the door.

I yawned, looking down at the plate of food in his hand. I never really had much of an appetite in the morning, or any time of day to be honest, but I knew that I needed to eat so I picked up a piece of toast and stepped back into my room.

"Big day today! You excited?" Ryan asked, following me into the room and placing the plate down on a table.

"Yeah, definitely," I replied nonchalantly, fishing some clothes out of my suitcase.

As I pulled my shirt over my head, Ryan flopped down in a rolling chair near the desk and began to spin in circles. The sight of him goofing off like that made me smile.

Quickly, in an attempt to hide the blush that spread across my face, I grabbed the rest of my clothing and started for the bathroom.

"Just give me a few minutes," I called, "and I'll be ready to go."