A couple of weeks later
Clouds covered the sky over Iarterre, rain seeped down onto one of the many busy motorways to and from the country's capital, Aides. The arteries of the country. And in one of the many cars, there sat a group of friends, driving to a nearby parking lot for a hiking trail.
Over the sound of the radio, a mere ping signalled that one of the friends received a message. 'Hey, Jesse. How's the trip going? Send me a text when you've arrived xx'. It was Jesse's boyfriend.
Sitting in the back, with her girl-friend to her right, Amanda. She gripped the seat in front of her, the driver's seat, before sitting up to get closer to her other friend, driving. "Hey, Tommy? Do we have much to go?".
"I'd say 10 more minutes, give-take...".
To Tommy's right, there sat Gregory, with a map in his lap, examining the path they were meant to hike through. "We couldn't have chosen a better day for a hike...".
"The forecast said it's meant to stop soon," Amanda replied. "Besides, nothing better than walking through some rain, don't you agree?".
Gregory merely shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose so...". He was prone to getting sick, especially during the transition from summer to autumn. The rain most definitely didn't help his case.
Looking out the window, Amanda saw the familiar sign of a gas station not too far ahead. "Hey, Tommy, do we need any petrol in the tank? Just saw a sign for a petrol station.".
"Yeah, I saw it too," Tommy began. Looking down at the dashboard fuel indicator, he saw that more than half of the tank was full. "I'd say we're fine for fuel. Besides, did you see the jump in petrol prices? Looks like shit is going to hell.".
"I think I might need a pitstop at the station... Need to empty my tank," Gregory said, closing up the map on his lap, before placing it into the glove compartment.
"I also wanna get out. Need to buy some water," Amanda started. "Want me to get you anything, Tommy?".
He shook his head, glancing at Amanda's reflection in the rearview mirror. "Nah, I'm all good.".
"Alright...". Looking over at Jesse, she spoke up again, "What about you, Jesse? Are you feeling hungry?".
Just like Tommy, she shook her head before replying to Amanda. "I'm good... But I might buy myself something small.".
Not long after, Tommy turned into the station, parking right outside the shop connected to the petrol tanks. "Alright, you all go finish what you need to do, I'll stay in the car.".
Gregory was the first one to hop out. "I'll be back as soon as I am done.". He rushed off, almost hopping in the direction of the bathrooms.
"I'll be back in a second," Amanda spoke out next, hopping out of the car. Nearly a second later, Jesse followed her lead.
Tommy nodded his head, pursing his lips ever so slightly as his eyes walked both Jesse and Amanda off until they were inside the shop.
"But don't go anywhere, we've something else coming for you!". The radio caught Tommy's attention. "It is a fact, or it is false... We'll be debunking some of the medical field's most misunderstood diagnoses...". Tommy let his gaze sharpen on the radio display before tuning into another station.
A rock song came on, and Tommy simply moved his head to the beat of the drums and guitar, showing his contentment. His eyes went to his left side-view mirror, looking at the reflection of the display board of the station. 'Fuel For Iarterre,' he read the sign to himself. Then, he crossed his brows. '2.40 for a litre of fuel? Fucking scam, if you ask me...'.
Outside the gas station, with a mere click, Gregory let himself into the bathrooms. Moving into the small, aged hallway, lit up by only one fluorescent light, he looked both left and right before proceeding to the men's restroom.
"Ugh..." he gently let out. The smell was nothing short of foul, but what was he to expect, especially from a gas station bathroom? The lighting was dark, complementing the horrid smell of the toilet. Ahead, he found that all stalls were closed, initially giving him no clue which stall was vacant.
He began pushing the doors. The first one wouldn't budge. Someone was inside. "S-sorry," Gregory merely let out, continuing his examination of vacant toilets. For the rest, he found they were all free. So, deciding to use one of the toilets near the end, he quickly flushed the toilet, washed his hands and swiftly walked back out into the drizzle. Only there, for the first time since he entered the restroom, he let himself take a deep breath, glad that the pinching stench was now only a memory.
Next to the bathroom, inside the shop, it shared a similar aesthetic. Dark and aged. It was clear that renovations were about to start, given that parts of the stop were closed, blocked off from commercial use. "Would that be all?" a youthful voice asked.
Amanda looked down at everything she got: water, some peppermint gum, and two packs of jelly. "Yes..." she said at first, looking behind her a second later to see where Jesse was. She was by the fridge.
"Cash or card?".
"Card, please..." Amanda said, a small smile growing on her lips when her eyes met the young cashier once more.
Soon after, Jesse made her way to the register before paying for her goods. "Thank you," she said, collecting her things—a bottle of water and a small container of cut-up fruits.
"Have a safe journey," the cashier said, going back to looking down at her phone.
Walking in the direction of the main door, just before she could leave, something caught her attention. On the newspaper stand. One heading amongst the sea of others. 'TRAGEDY. A Group of Hikers Found Dead in a Forest in Lailin.'. And right below. 'A group of young hikers was found dead, several meters from a nearby camping site. The cause of death is still unknown.'. She took the paper into her hands.
"Tragic, isn't it?" the young cashier commented, seeing Jesse reading the newspaper.
"What?". Jesse looked at her.
"Tragic, I said... The hikers. I had a chance to gloss over the story earlier this morning. I've always feared camping and going on long hikes like that.".
"Ah...". It took her a moment to find the words. "Camping, you say?".
"Yeah, the bodies were found at a campsite. Presumably, they all went out camping. Only the lord himself knows what's lurking in the woods.".
Jesse swallowed hard, her eyes going back to the article before her. "Tragic indeed...".
Leaving the paper back in the holder, she walked out of the shop before heading toward Tommy's car, seeing that Gregory and Amanda were already back in the vehicle.
A scent filled her nose, a slight pungent smell, that of ozone. It made her hands shiver despite the warmth that day.
She continued walking, but her mind was still stuck on the article. 'Death while camping?'. The sheer thought made a shiver course down her spine. The fear wasn't only from the news itself; it ran much deeper. The fact that she, herself, was going hiking and camping with her friends. It churned a sense of discomfort in the pit of her stomach. 'Everything is going to be fine...' she told herself, over and over again, although her senses went on overload. She swallowed hard, sitting back in the car.
Her changed demeanour didn't go unnoticed.
"Jesse?" Tommy began. He looked at her through the rearview mirror before turning his head around. "Are you alright?".
"I'm fine.". Her words didn't sound convincing.
"You sure?" Tommy asked again. Both Jesse and he were friends ever since they could remember, inseparable when they were children. So, there was very little that Jesse could hide from Tommy.
"Looks like all of your birds have sunk," Amanda commented. "You sure everything is alright?".
"Mhmm..." Jesse hummed, nodding her head. She let her gaze initially fixed on the car's floor, twiddling her thumbs as she let the lump grow in her throat. The feeling that something wasn't right refused to leave the pit of her stomach. What's worse, she was aware that what she felt was simply irrational. But reading about a group of hikers getting killed whilst she, herself, was on her way, with her friends to go hiking? A bit too much of a coincidence, her subconscious told her. "It was just something I saw... That's all. An article on the front of the papers.".
"What?" Gregory began, looking up from his maps. "Was it about another murder?".
His words were initially meant as sarcasm; however, when he didn't hear a response from Jesse, the smile that formed on his face receded. "So another murder?".
"A group of hikers was found dead in the woods. So, I don't know if it's murder exactly..." she elaborated, her eyes moving toward Amanda, who looked at her before his eyes lowered.
"Where was this?..." Amanda asked a moment later.
"In Lailin.".
Tommy looked at them both through the rearview mirror. "At least it's not in Iarterre... We've nothing to worry about.".
"I suppose..." Jesse started. "Just... It just hit me, that's all.".
"Listen..." Gregory began. "I'm sure we'll be fine... Besides, it's not like we're going to no man's land.".
Outside the car, the rain was heard to have increased in intensity, pelting itself against the windshield. Tommy turned up the rain wipers, echoing a screeching sound through the cabin. "So, what are we gonna do now?".
Jesse was quiet, initially. However, that changed a moment later. "We'll go... We'll go because you're right. It's not like it happened here, we'll be fine...".
"Exactly," Amanda replied. "Also, I did hear that the Lailin forests were notorious for grisly bears and other animals like that. Especially the elk and moose. So you can only imagine what may have happened...".
Jesse nodded her head, her friends' words seeming to help soothe her itching nerves.
"Are we ready?" Tommy inquired, looking once more at Jesse's reaction through the rearview mirror.
Jesse looked back at Tommy. A second passed before she gave him an answer. "Yeah... Yeah, let's go.".
"Alright..." his voice trailed off, letting the car push away from the petrol station.
— — —
Their drive continued for a few minutes more, the rain slowly going back into a gentle drizzle. "Here we are..." Tommy's voice trailed, indicating left before turning into a big parking lot only a second later.
It was empty, emptier than expected. Only a few cars littered the broad space.
"Looks like we're in luck... the hiking path won't be packed," Gregory let through.
"Seems like they were smarter than us," Tommy stated, referencing the rain.
"Always healthy to walk in a bit of rain," Amanda said. "Helps clear out the airways. Though not too sure if we'd be camping...".
"There should be a motel where we can stay a night, nearby..." Tommy said.
"Let's get a move on then..." Gregory said, opening the door, and Amanda quickly followed his lead, putting her hood up as soon as she felt the rain touch her face.
Jesse gathered her things from the car. Packing the leftover drink into the backpack at the back and putting it over her shoulder, she turned on her heels. There, something caught her eye. A dead crow, by the side of the road. Feasted upon by other birds and insects alike.
"Are we ready?" Tommy asked.
"I think we are... And, I shall lead the way, having memorised the maps and throughout the ride," Gregory stated, smiling cheekily at Amanda, who raised her brow teasingly.
However, Jesse didn't reply.
The scene caught her off guard, made her stomach turn. Her fear only further intensified, growing beyond anything rational.
She couldn't deny it. This was a sign.
Tommy locked the car, and just as he was about to walk off, Jesse's frozen figure caught his attention. "Jesse?...". Tommy's voice pulled her out of her trance. "You coming?".
At first, silence. It took her a moment to say something. "Y-yes... I'll be there...". Her eyes glanced back, but a second later, she forced herself to look away.
"Wait... wait for me!". At that, she rejoined the group, telling herself never to go astray, to always be with the group.
It took them a few more steps until the four friends began their venture into the thick, coniferous forest. A thin, muddied trail marked the beginning of their trek.
Beside where they passed, a bit too far for the eye to catch. An old, worn sign, dug into the ground and turned around. It had an old name engraved into the wood.
Samantara.