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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SHE DIDNT END up responding to Jack, couldn't. Away the phone went in her pocket again, just as Kaito appeared around the bend.
"Ready, American girl?"
"Ready," she agreed firmly, setting her shoulders back. Kaito chuckled, and they made their way back to the trail head. The supplies were passed out, groups divided, and Kaito and Elise branched off on a different path than the one from the day prior.
That day was already promising all dark things when, in the first fifteen minutes of their hike, Elise stumbled over a stuffed toy lying face-down in the dirt. Her foot sent it rolling a few feet away until its blank marble eyes were staring up at her.
Kaito's hand wrapped around her wrist, fingers overlapping, and gently tugged her onward. It took several moments to catch her breath, and when she did, Elise spoke again.
"It's my mother. She's here, too."
Like your son, she almost added. But that was where they differed. Where Kaito was certain his son was gone, Elise knew her mother had to be alive, she had to be, even if there was that sick feeling telling her she was wrong. Elise felt it in her bones, felt it in the forest itself, felt it in the small sensation of something connected to her very core and leading her forward when all she wanted was to fall.
"That's why I'm here. I'm going to find her."
Kaito said nothing, just nodded, his eyes trained on the obstacles of roots and stones before him. It was then that she noticed he'd produced a faded picture from his pocket of a young boy that had his same goofy smile, and he rubbed his thumb over the boy's face in circles.
"We'll find him, too," Elise added, and tugged on Kaito's hand until he reluctantly met her determined gaze. "I promise, we will find your son."
Kaito released a sigh and nodded again, pocketing the photo. His eyes still seemed darker than normal, even in the ray of light managing to filter through a parting in the trees.
In the next few hours, they walked past more evidence of human visitors to the forest: another stuffed toy, a locket, and to Elise's horror, one empty shoe. At one point in their journey they passed a tree with a ribbon tied around its trunk. Elise pointed it out to Kaito with curiosity.
He barely gave it a glance. "They mark their way in case they change their mind."
Elise looked all around, but the forest was devoid of other life. Whoever had tied that ribbon was long gone, and she could only hope they had made it out alive.
A glance at her phone informed her it was several hours past noon when she began feeling nervous. She would have done anything to call Jack, to hear a familiar voice even though it would undoubtedly be twisted in anger, but there was no signal. Elise could swear she heard something whisper in her ear, raising the hair on her neck, and she told herself it was only the wind. The trees around her were still, as they always were, but she wasn't about to let her useless paranoia get a hold of her.
