「SO OUTSIDE OF MY MISERY, I THINK I'LL FIND」
「A WAY OF ENVISIONING A BETTER LIFE」
「FOR THE REST OF US, THE REST OF US」
「THERE'S HOPE FOR THE REST OF US, THE REST OF US」
•THIS IS BOOK II
• THE FIRST BOOK IS CALLED "Revenge"
•ART CREDITS ARE UNKNOWN:...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓
Chapter One: The Amazon Jungle
┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛
NATHAN stared at the time shown on his phone. The sun had set long ago, and the temperature had dropped significantly from the time he'd been standing there. He pulled his jacket closer, replaced his phone in his pockets along with his hands, and nuzzled into the comfort of his scarf. He closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of cars driving by slowly, their tires crunching through the blankets of snow forming.
"Why are you standing outside?"
Nathan lifted his head, his eyes opening, gaze falling on the man across from him. Unlike the other people outside, this man only wore a thin, summer jacket. He quirked a brow at the boy, dark eyes searching across his face.
"Oh, uh, I was hoping to catch Aki out here," He muttered. "Why are you here?"
"To do the same," Rey crossed his arms across his chest. "You haven't heard from her?"
Nathan shook his head. "Neither has Satoru. We're all starting to get a little worried."
"She's probably out hunting," Rey replied, shrugging his shoulders. "She did go...what...almost a whole year without talking to you over a hunt?"
"She let me know she was going to be gone the last time," He said. "Given, she never told me how long, so I hired a bunch of guys to go look for her, but..."
"Something feels different?" Rey tested, leaning against the wall beside him.
"It's been almost two weeks," Nathan frowned. "She never told anyone she was leaving. She was just...gone. We haven't heard a single thing from her or about her. Her phone goes straight to voicemail."
"The Amazon jungle tends not to have very good service, you know,"
Nathan snapped his head to the side, and Rey leaned around him. Their gazes fell on the figure striding towards them. Aki's hair was pulled back from her face, exposing the bruising over her eyebrow and along her jaw, and the cut over her bottom lip. Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her unzipped jacket, her boots crunching through the snow as she walked. She had a bag slung over her shoulder, and Nathan saw the tag from the airport hanging over the edge.
"Before you start bitching at me," She said, lifting her hands in defense. "Father Brayth reached out to me. He said it was urgent, and I shouldn't tell anyone where I was going to avoid any kind of setback."
"You were in the Amazon?" Rey questioned, quirking a brow at her.
"Yeah, and I'll never fucking go back," She replied, turning to the door, a shudder running down her spine. "The demons that are in that fucking forest can make anyone piss their pants—including me."
