As soon as her mother goes missing and the only clue pointing to her whereabouts is her search history, Elise Newman has packed her bag and boarded the first flight to Japan. Having both lost somebody, Elise fears for her mother's safety and for her...
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"I DO NOT think you came all this way to help us reunite families with their dead."
It was the first time either of them had spoken upon entering the forest. Time seemed to move differently here; with the thickness of the trees and foliage, sunlight barely filtered through to light the way. It was nearly impossible to use it to know the time of day. She was informed the thickness of the trees also explained the eerie silence; it acted as a shield against any wind, plus there weren't many animals running about. It was a place of death and sadness.
It was like a mythical kingdom. A twisted version of a fairy tale her mother used to read her.
A twig snapped underfoot, sounding off like a gunshot in the otherwise stillness. Somewhere nearby a bird erupted from a tree with a squack of complaint. Elise couldn't think of a way to really answer Kaito's accusation, so she deflected it instead. "I think I could say the same about you."
Kaito's lips curved upward in a hint of a smile, this time a seemingly bitter one. His eyes wandered from the path in front of him to the wall of trees on either side; he strung along his rope as he scanned the trees, looking for something, and then Elise remembered why they were there--to find bodies. She coughed and focused back on her feet, not sure if she had the courage to look herself.
"My son is...here."
The words hung in the air, demanding to be answered, but Elise couldn't speak around the lump that had risen in her throat.
Kaito sighed softly, stopping and placing a hand on his hip as Elise looked down and played with the ends of her jacket. "He is gone, I know, but he is also here. I have come to take him home."
Elise finally looked up at him then, brimming with a thousand things that she wanted to say. That she was sorry, but she knew being sorry wouldn't bring his son back. That she knew how it felt to lose someone she loved, and that she was half sure it had happened again.
That she would help him, that they would find his son, that she wouldn't be a coward any longer.
Before she could choose what to voice, Kaito said, "Your turn, American girl. What really has brought you here?"
Elise's mouth went dry. She raised her eyes past him, knowing if she saw another look of pity directed at her as she told her story that she would lose it, and caught a glimpse of color through the grey-green swath of forest.
"What's that?"
Kaito followed where her finger hovered, pointing, and his mouth turned down. "A tent. Stay," he commanded, passing her the rope, and tromped off the path.
As she clutched the rope and watched his figure disappear behind a thick trunk, she wanted to feel relieved to have that moment to herself. Apprehension was rising, however, choking her, making her hands unsteady and threatening to topple her over. They weren't supposed to leave the path. What if Kaito left her there? And what was in that tent--did she want to know?
