She stomped her foot. – Seriously. I'm waiting.
But her brother brushed off his shirt, stretched his legs, and silently started following the doctor. Into the dark.
Louisa stood there, alone on the roadside. She didn't stand there long. With a groan, she kicked a rock and yelled: – Screw it all!
And just like that, the comedy caravan was back on the road.
In spring or summer, this stretch of countryside would be an influencer's dream. A hundred photogenic backdrops for couples—whether first, second, or polyamorous third loves. But not today. Today the once-lush rice fields were glued to the mud by the weight of falling rain. And that rain—erratic, mischievous, and oddly loyal—was a farmer's best friend. A rich harvest doesn't come out of nowhere. It needs... chaos.
Agronomists would've loved it. But Louisa gave approximately zero shits about the crops.
Darkness was settling in. The air had that special kind of wet chill that slaps you in the face when you've just left the comfort of a warm car heater. For a girl from the American South, it may as well have been frozen Greenland.
When does this stupid road end?
She easily kept pace with her brother, who moved at a steady walk. He was following the doctor like a shadow, and the doctor... well, he wasn't walking so much as gliding. Eyes vacant, feet steady, like a zombie with GPS built into his soul.
Louisa stepped up beside Erich and, once they were walking in sync, asked: – How does he even know where he's going?
Erich answered reluctantly, and it was obvious he was wondering the same thing: – He somehow... senses the direction Sanura ran off to.
It all smelled strongly of the supernatural, but Louisa wasn't about to melt her brain over it. She just kept walking and counting the steps, waiting for the moment they'd finally turn around and head back to the car. The day had flipped from -pretty good- to -pure trash- in record time. She couldn't believe she'd thought this place was more fun than her corporate treadmill back home.
Maybe the universe had heard her grumbling, because suddenly the rice field ended and rocky terrain took over. Up ahead loomed the lower slope of a mountain, a winding path curling up like a snake. And yeah… Mount Fuji really was something else. Even Louisa—who never got all breathy over scenic crap—stood there, staring at the giant dome that pierced the clouds and wore mist like royal robes. It was stunning.
I don't think I'll ever get used to this – Erich admitted, pausing beside her. – I used to come here a lot. Just sit. All day. Barely move. Just… take it all in. What changed? – She asked, and her voice sounded different. Not like her at all. Something was shifting inside her too, like she was being pulled into a much bigger Maybe everything—her life, her relationships, her travels—had been leading to this one exact moment: standing in the fall dusk beside a brother she barely knew, staring at this ancient, breathing mountain. And for once… she didn't need anything else.
Then I .. you can't really share loneliness with anyone. Not even with a mountain that's been untouched by the world's chaos. Fuji won't take away the pain that lives inside.
Just like that, the spell broke.
Louisa coughed awkwardly and snapped back into her usual tone. The goosebumps were too real.
Alright, drama boy, snap out of Look, your doctor's found something!
Sure enough, the doc was heading straight toward a structure neither of them had noticed before. They followed quickly. Louisa realized it looked like some kind of shed—planted out here in the middle of nowhere, for god knows what reason. The doctor reached the entrance and walked straight into the gaping dark like it was calling him home.
Louisa shuddered. The whole thing screamed trap. Like, if they followed him inside, that lunatic could just go full slasher and kill them both. This had to be his lair—his creepy little murder barn, complete with bone saws and buckets of bleach.
She shook the thought off. Jesus, what was with the melodrama? Probably the trauma of the day piling up. Cursing herself for going full horror-movie-final-girl, Louisa stepped inside. Erich slipped in after her.
They were swallowed by darkness, eyes straining. Then a tiny flame flared—a match—and they saw Toshi lighting the wick of a kerosene lamp, and then shaking the match out with two fingers.
The dim glow barely let them see their own hands, but the doctor didn't seem to care. He stood up from a crooked, web-covered stool and started circling the room, mumbling to himself:
What is this place? Why am I here? Why was it calling me?
Louisa, not the easily-spooked type, still felt a chill run through her. She blurted out:
Doc, can you please explain where the hell you just dragged us? Without looking at either of them, he let out a deep, tired sigh: I don't I really don't. But this place... it matters. I just don't know to whom, or why.
Erich turned on his phone's flashlight and began to scan the room. Louisa did the same. Now there was enough light to avoid tripping over each other—and to notice... stuff.
So much for being brave. The moment they saw what was actually in there, Louisa's skin tried to leave her body, and Erich's hair looked like it was trying to get out first.
Every single wall was plastered—wall-to-wall—with Xeroxed photos. The same one, over and over: a grinning little boy holding a baseball bat like it was Excalibur.
Louisa recognized the kid instantly. Her baby brother. Young Erich.