A lone policeman surveyed the borders of the Whispering Forest. It was the third day since three kids disappeared from the island. As far as the man was aware, they haven't yet found any important clues that could push forward their investigation, yet alone find the missing kids.
It had only been three days, but he was starting to get tired of all the searches and investigations they conducted on the island.
He was never supposed to do such a demanding task on Ime. The island had been peaceful—for the most part. If one could overlook the number of disappearances inside the Whispering Forest, then yes, it was a peaceful island. Tranquil, serene and monotonous.
The type of cases they were most familiar with were the missing pets of the residents and the supposed thieving of commodities that sometimes happened down the port. For the most part, it was never hard for him nor his colleagues to close their cases.
He had taken up a policing job only for this reason. Most of his colleagues were also the same. Getting their paycheck after doing close to nothing day after day had been such a great idea then.
For the longest time, he enjoyed being a policeman.
Then came the case of the missing kids. Of which one of whom had gone inside the forest the previous day and came out alive—while not having his memories erased. It had been such big news on the island.
As far as he was aware, it sure had been. The man had lived all his thirty-five years of life in Ime island, and it was the first instance he heard of someone maintaining their luck with that god-awful forest.
He had heard of the myths behind the forest from his parents and grandparents. The tale was a really famous bedtime story for the islanders. Stories of people going inside the forest and disappearing without a trace. Little children would go near the forest close to dusk and dared each other to see who was the bravest among them.
A small smile cracked on the man's face at the memory. Of course, he was among one of those children when he was younger.
He looked around the area he was surveying. A place which held one of his most cherished childhood memories now had been closed off. All thanks to the order he got from the Chief.
'Survey the area and do not let anyone enter the forest,' the Chief had said.
Now he was stuck with this boring guard duty near the forest along with one of his colleagues. He wished they would find the kids soon. It had been the greatest amount of effort the station had given since he started working there.
Not to mention the presence of that detective from the mainland of Dalerin—who was sent on the island to look into this particular case. He and his colleague had thought it was a bit of an overkill to ship a person of such high calibre to this small island, but what does his words matter when it directly involved the Department of Justice?
He was about to light his cigarette when he heard a loud voice coming from his colleague. They had split up previously so they would be able to do their work a bit more effectively.
He hurriedly approached the area where he heard the voice. The closer he was to his colleague, the harsher his voice became.
"I said why are you here?!" The other policeman shouted.
The man quickly turned his gaze toward the person who his colleague had been shouting at.
It was an old man. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were ragged. He was not a resident of the island—the man was sure. He had never once seen the old man before. So who could he be? And was he trying to enter the forest, alone by himself?
The man slowly approached the old man.
"I don't know who you are—" the man said, his voice careful. "But I'd advise you to not go near that forest."
The man could feel the old man smirking underneath his long grey beard. This set off an alarm inside his head. There was a little voice—his instinct perhaps—inside his head telling him to run away from the old man, that he was in danger. He immediately stopped on his tracks.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you putting that geezer in a cuff?"
The man completely ignored his colleague's words. Instead of approaching the old man further, he started backing away from the danger.
Seeing this, the other policeman clicked his tongue and stomped forward. He took a cuff from his back and tried tackling the old man.
The man was about to shout at his colleague to leave the old man alone, but he couldn't. It was because the scene that immediately followed his colleague's bravado had shook him to his core.
The man hadn't even detected the slightest movement from the old man in front of him. Yet his colleague was lying on the ground, with a gaping hole on his forehead. Blood started pouring out of his head.
Words had failed the man. He watched the body—corpse—of his colleague lying in the pool of his own blood. He stumbled to the ground and heaved. Taking quick and deep breaths, he turned his gaze upward, toward the old man.
He was again smirking. The man didn't know what to think of what he just witnessed. So he screamed—a deep, bloodcurdling scream.
He scrambled away from that old man. He couldn't run fast as he somehow tripped and fell on rocks a few distances apart. But the man was still moving forward. There was only one thing echoing inside his head throughout that time.
I need to get away… I need to tell the Chief.
Finally, he arrived at the station. To the man's relief, Chief Lionel was standing just outside. Maybe his luck was high that day, the man wouldn't know.
The moment the Chief saw him, he quickly approached the man.
"The heck's happened?!" The Chief roared.
Seeing one his men covered with sweat and grime, and his expression looking like he had just witnessed the most horrifying thing in his whole life, the Chief immediately knew something had gone horribly wrong near the forest.
"Oi. You need to speak, knucklehead." The Chief smacked the man's face.
The man moved his lips to speak, but they were a trembling mess. After a few more smacks from the Chief, he could finally utter some important keywords for the Chief to hear.
"Old man…forest…danger…dead…"
The Chief was silent for a moment. He needed to process the words he had just heard. Obviously some dangerous person had infiltrated the area. That much was evident from the mess in front of him.
Whatever he was going to do, he needed to do it fast.
He quickly called his men who were present in the station that day. He informed them of the situation in the forest and gave one of them a task—inform the detective and tell him to come to the station immediately.
Since Chief Lionel was not an attribute holder, he knew he was going to need help from someone who does. Especially if the situation was this dire.
***
Adori and Emis had returned to their home. The moment they heard the news of an old man entering the forest, they immediately knew it was the one they had previously encountered in the alleyway.
And that piece of information meant something important to them. Because if Elias were to come across that man, then the whole secret society of Veyrathis could be uncovered by the people of power in Dalerin.
It wouldn't be a pleasant sight to see if they were to take action against the Veyrathis. Because the world had loathed them. Her people. Her blood. Adori clenched her jaw at the thought of it.
Whatever happens, I need to take care of this myself.
She rummaged through her closet in search of a small bottle she kept hidden. After throwing a chunk of her clothes out, she finally found what she had been looking for.
Oculus Restorative.
It was a high grade potion she took with her secretly when she ran away from home. The potion was meant particularly for Seers when they have a vision backlash. It was an expensive potion which was often used by reputable families when training their children.
She had taken three bottles with her when she first left her house. Now she had only this bottle left. Adori had drunk the other one when she used Unity to spy on Elias.
"Are you sure you want to use that now?" Emis asked cautiously.
Adori understood why he was being cautious. After all, if she drank the bottle now, then any type of cure she had on herself would all be gone. Going forward, she would need to be even more careful than before when using Unity to save herself from the backlash.
She might even need to train herself more on The Flow if she wanted to use her powers again. She turned toward Emis with a resolute expression.
"I need to do this," she said.