Evident

2.

Present...

A loud thunder, rumbles harshly across the dark skies, the lightning flickers in that same space within my perspective.

I swallowed down multiple gasps as excessive separate droplets of heavy showers fell upon my soaked frame, various rain drops fell from my eyelashes down to my nose as I inhale the freshness of the night air that the rain brings, it calms my pulsating heartbeat as another crack of thunder, rumbles across the skies above the large body of the amazon forest.

I lick my lips, sucking in a deep breath as I laid flat on my stomach, deep within the softness of the mud as it wraps around me.

Blurriness formed across my eyes from the rain, while it pelts down on my back, I helplessly tilt my chin up, scoffing out loudly over the heavy rain as the mud slushies a bit while I tried to move.

I scan my eyes across the dark area, filled with predominant dark towering forest trees. I tried to adapt my gaze to the darkness as the flash light, situated in my mouth, brightens across the wet muddy grass ground.

My teeth grinded on the aluminum surface of the flash light as various unpleasant complex of sensations, ripped up from my now left swollen bruised knee from the fall I've gotten a few days ago.

I grip my hands around the GPS unit in my hands, fluttering my eyes to blink away the excessive water now pouring over my eyelids as I tried to make out the location that I have been using since I've started the journey of the jungle.

"Shit, shit, fucking shit!" I cursed, ripping away the flashlight out of my mouth as I slap the side of my hand on the device, it only mocks my struggles as water soaks within the surface, seeping a cloudy formation as it blocks the latitude, longitude, and altitude of the direction that I should go, where Aureliano Aveni jet crashed twenty years ago.

"No..." I muttered as I shook the device for it to work, the continuous down pouring of the rain on the technological unit, malfunction in its used and I slap it into the mud, glaring so hard as dripples of small mud slips unto my face from my frustration.

I turn my neck to the side, shifting my eyes left and right through the dark night as I yelled. "Ria!"

My voice was strained, yet in spite of the hoarseness, I didn't let it conquer me as I dig both of my elbows into the mud, my eyes still searching the forest for my friend who I have been looking for, for thirty minutes now.

I lost her somewhere in our night travel and from my bruised knee, I was helpless. To make matters worst, with the rain falling, the trace of her footsteps would be non existing if the rain decides to stop in a few hours and I shook the thoughts away which wondered if I had lost her for good.

"Ria!" I tried to scream over the rain, I knew it would be hard for her to hear me but I was determine.

I heard nothing except for the heaviness and beating of the rain on my back.

In annoyance, I yanked off the beige bucket hat from my head, my wet braids shuffles around my face immediately into a curtain while the curly ends sways into the mud.

I dragged myself across the muddy area, my teeth finding courage into my bottom lip as I crawled over to the thick tree trunk couple feet before me.

And as much as I tried to not apply pressure to my knee, I had to suck it up. Narrowing my eyes as shots of pain shot through my system, I held unto the GPS unit and wrap a hand around the wet trunk to stop myself from falling down face front into the mud.

The leaves on the trees above did nothing to shelter me from the rain but I was grateful in terms of having a surface to rest my back on.

A gasp flew past my lips as I flatten my leg and tried to bring my left leg up into a bend, I tilt my head back on the tree, eyes screwing shut as my lips parted, I grinded my teeth from the pain that it almost knock me on my side.

My fingers trembled as I began to shrugged off the black leather jacket from my shoulders, I toss it to the side for a moment and yank the black wet shirt over my head, rain pelts down on my already soaked black bra as I began to rip the shirt apart, trying to make a makeshift bandage for my swollen bruised knee.

"Ria!" I tried again, my hands working while I skim my eyes through the forest for any movement, I listen for a short minute and yet again, no answer from her.

My heart clenched as the thought of her dying with me on this mission, tease my eyes in tears. It has been two months and a week since Ria and I started this journey together, Ria was an experience explorer and also has been by my side since my adventure journey.

We both travelled more than forty nine countries together, discovering places that were too rare that sometimes it stuns me, which I have to ask myself if this was the same earth I have been living on.

Ria and I met during our first year of medical school, we both were studying to become a neurosurgeon but when the pandemic hit, it halted our studies for a few months and eventually as the years went on, during our final year, we both took a trip for the first time overseas where we fell in love with exploring places that were in unfamiliar regions to the human eyes.

That was until, a major life change shook me for the worst, it was so drastic that it twirls my whole out look on life, ripped apart my love for investigating scientific and geographical places, which led me right into the dark life of an assassin.

I promised myself that I would never do this...life again, yet here I am, with a bruised knee and a missing friend.

Nevertheless, I was doing this for the sake of Achille Aveni, he was like a father to me, he trained me into an assassin and help me conquer the drastic change of my past, so the least I could do for him was finding his one and only thirty-nine year old son.

Lifting the pants foot up to uncover my knee, I quickly tied the pieces of the black t-shirt around my bruised knee, harshly swallowing down a gasp as another round of lightning and thunder drifted across the skies above.

Obviously this rain was not stopping soon and I was no where near close in discovering Achille's son, so in determination, I told myself that I would look for Ria first then pick up from there.

Bringing down the pants leg to cover my knee, I wince as the pressure from the rain hit against the bruise, I tried the flash lights, it flutters softly that I almost thought it wouldn't work but after my third try, it flickers in a steady beam.

I bit my bottom lip, easing up from the ground by using the tree trunk, I wrap a hand around it to steady myself and as the rain continues to fall down on me, the light from the flash light became my source of company as I hop on my leg, navigating through the forest as I yelled.

"Ria!"

And just when I thought this mission would not get any better, a loud strike of lightning hit one of the tree branch above me, my eyes widen as it stimulates a bright light behind my stare.

I knew what would happen if that fell on me so I tried to run on my pulsating leg to escape the branch as it began to descend.

Swallowing down a gap, I tripped over my foot, automatically closing my eyes as my body snapped down into the mud once again, my chin hits on the wet ground as a huge flush of mud covers my face and as I tried to lift my body up to move, my breath ripped away from my lungs then as the branch snaps into my back, holding me down to the ground like I'm its prisoner.

The heaviness of the rain continues to muffle my scream as I cried out in the night, helplessly.

"Please..." I murmured as my eyes lowered into a close while I succumb to the darkness of my subconsciousness.