Aokigahara

Into The Woods

 Her school-girl uniform had made her feel bland and tired. School was not her favorite. She remembered walking to that bus stop through rain and sunshine, cloudiness and clear. "There is one two blocks down and a little up on a corner. It's in front of a small convenience store." says Asama. Hikaru and Asama walk to the bus stop. Asama looks around and notices that most of her childhood stores were either closed, abandoned, or boarded up. Only one remained and that was the convenience store. "What happened to the stores?" asks Asama sadly. "Maybe people heard of the Aokigahara disappearance." says Hikaru. "Probably, this is a small town. Word spreads." she responds. As they stand there on the corner waiting, the Aokigahara mountains loomed in the distance. Clouds were around the highest peaks. The sight gave her chills.

A half an hour later, the bus came and they got on. "We will stop at the next bus stop that should be at town." says Asama. Hikaru nods. When they get fully onto the bus, there's something strange. No one else is on the bus. "Sir. Are we on the correct bus?" asks Hikaru, noticing the abounded seats. The bus driver stares ahead as if in a trance and says nothing. "Hello?" asks Hikaru again. The bus driver says nothing and closes the door. Asama and Hikaru sit in a seat in the back and look at each other confused. "This seems sketchy." whispers Asama, "It has changed from what I remember.." Hikaru nods and stares at the driver. The driver seemed strange. It was like he heard nothing that Asama said.

Asama stares out the window of the bus and tries to calm her nerves. Old, abandoned businesses are all that she sees along with closely closed houses. Only a few stores and shops remained. In one of the house's windows, she swore that she saw the yūrei. The woman in her kimono, her hair and mouthless face staring at her. Staring into her confused and scared soul. But she shook the feeling off because they were at their destination. The driver opened the door in silence and Hikaru and Asama walked off. Before they could thank the driver, he sped away. They were dropped off at the edge of a forest.

"Well, at least they dropped us off at the right place... I think?" says Hikaru. "We're gonna have to work with what we have. I have no idea what the nearest bus stop is or phone." says Asama. Hikaru nods and puts on his hiking bag, Asama does the same. They walk along the edge of the forest looking for a path. Finally, they find a small a worn down gravel path. "Better than no path, right?" says Hikaru. Asama nods quietly. So far this visit has been pretty bad. There's a yūrei around town and a few people went into Aokigahara and was never seen again. A strange, anxious and scared feeling was now in Asama's chest as they walked deeper into the woods. The trees were eerie. They were twisted and distorted. Large ivy bushes that lined almost the entire path. Things were becoming overgrown and there were many overhangs and caves. The whole forest seemed to be looming in on them.

Asama looked behind her shoulder and the street was gone. Forest was all that was behind them. They treaded on for awhile, just following that path until they find a clearing to put down their tents. Hikaru looked up at the sky, putting a hand near his eyes. "According to the sun, it's the afternoon. Since when we got off of the plane, it was 9:00." says Hikaru. They slow down to a stop, their legs were killing them. "Wait, I think I brought a watch.." says Asama. She looks through her backpack and takes out a hand watch. She and Hikaru look at the watch and try to tell the time. It takes them half a minute to realize that both of the hands had stopped completely. "Crap.." says Asama, putting the broken watch back in her backpack.

"We should just try to find a clearing so we can set up a tent or something." says Hikaru, starting to walk on. Asama puts her bag back on and continues to walk behind Hikaru. They walk more and more before a wind gets to pick up. The leaves start to rustle, it sounded like the yūrei. Hikaru and Asama stopped and Asama said, "I need to rest for a minute. This backpack is heavy.." They put their backpacks down and sit on a nearby log. Asama catches her breath and they both sit there in silence for awhile. The wind continued to rustle the leaves. "Reminds me of the yūrei.." says Hikaru, "We haven't seen her yet.." Asama nods, "It's strange that we haven't seen one sign yet leading to the campsite. Do you think the bus led us to the wrong forest and that's why the bus was empty?" suggests Asama.

Hikaru is silent as he thinks about this possibility. It was strange that they hadn't seen one sign yet of where they were. "It's a possibility.. But what forest?" he asks. Asama's stomach dropped, "The Aokigahara..." she responds. "Oh my god..." says Hikaru, "That's got to be it." he says. "What are we gonna do?" asks Asama. "We need to go back, take the path back." says Hikaru. When they get up, both of their bags are gone. "What happened to them?!" says Asama, freaking out. "We put them right here..." says Hikaru, going to the place in the dirt where the imprints of the backpacks were.

"Who would've taken them?" asks Asama. "The yūrei?" Hikaru jokes. Asama pushes him a little bit, "What?" he asks. "Don't joke about the yūrei. She listens, always listens." Asama says. "Whatever you say.." says Hikaru. We walked down the path were we came, our footprints were even there from before. The wind was picking up again, the leaves started to rustle. A chill went down Asama's spine. The forest became more and more eerie by the second. They both had heard a twig crack behind them and both Hikaru and Asama stopped. "What was that?" said Asama, starting to cling onto Hikaru's arm. They heard another crack and what Hikaru and Asama saw made both of their stomachs drop.

The yūrei was standing between the shadows of the trees. She was right near the side of the dirt path. Both Hikaru and Asama couldn't utter a word or even a scream as they stood there, they were both frozen in fear. The yūrei stood there, silent and unmoving. Her head hadn't even turned towards the frightened couple. "Hikaru.." says Asama. "Asama.." responds Hikaru in an almost whisper. The couple slowly starts to back up deeper into the woods. They didn't get too far, only a few inches, when the yūrei slowly turned her head towards them. Her black, soulless eyes had stared into both of their souls. The yūrei's hair moved slightly across her face in the wind. Her white kimono added to her creepiness as well.

Asama and Hikaru continued to back up slowly, nearer to the thick woods. The yūrei stood there, watching them. She then moved to the middle of the path, blocking their way. "What is she doing?" whispers Asama, holding tightly onto Hikaru's hand. Hikaru shakes his head, "I have no idea." he whispers back. The yūrei continues to stand there, motionless. The couple stops backing up and Hikaru unlatches from Asama's hand. "Hikaru?" says Asama, staying in place. "Just trust me." he says, taking a step forward. The yūrei eyes him curiously. Hikaru takes a few more steps forward, inching closer and closer to the creepy spirit.

He then tried to bolt past the ghost, but she had teleported in front of him. Hikaru stopped in his tracks and started to back up. The yūrei was now inching towards him, her mouthless face still emotionless. Hikaru now backed up quickly, almost running. When he got back to Asama, the yūrei had stopped in the same place she was stopped at before. She clearly didn't want Asama and Hikaru to leave the forest. "We have to go deeper in." says Asama. "But-" "No Hikaru, it's too risky right now." she says, cutting him off. Hikaru takes one more glance at the yūrei before leading Asama deeper into the forest. When Asama looked over her shoulder, the yūrei was still standing there. It was watching them walk deeper and deeper in the forest. Her eyes made Asama shiver in fear. The eyes stared straight into her soul.