Path Through the Forest
Chapter two
The two walked in silence, Julie, not ready to speak about the horror of waking up alone in a dark shed in the middle of a forest; and Shun, not really knowing what to say. About another hour past while they were walking. Shun had gone down this path about a thousand times, so he knew exactly where they were.
"We're almost there, Julie, just a little further. Do you think you can manage?" Shun said to her. He saw her give the slightest nod and gave her a small smile of his own. He could still see the terror in her eyes; he could still feel Julie shaking.
Within fifteen minutes, Shun could see his backyard; within another five, he could see his house. He looked at Julie and told her that they were there, but she only looked down.
"Still not ready to talk," Shun thought sadly. Julie was really worrying him. The way she acted, it just… wasn't Julie. Even if it was bad, she would still, at least, have some bit of happiness in her eyes; but now, nothing but fear and horror... sadness and dread. There wasn't any trace of joy left in her greyish- indigo-like orbs… nothing to show that she's a perky young girl… full of life. Her joy was gone, perkiness, dissipated… liveliness… dead.
Julie was now a nervous little child. She was so scared, frightened, terrified. She was a timid girl right now, silent. This 'Julie' wasn't Julie at all. And Shun knew that… he wondered what he could do to bring back the Julie he once knew. But his thoughts would have to wait.
He led Julie to the back door, hoping that his grandfather wouldn't be on the other side. He had been gone for over four hours; he knew that much. Shun opened the sliding back door of his dojo. To his luck, his grandfather was nowhere to be seen or heard.
He led Julie inside his Japanese-style home and down the hallway, to the second living room. Julie was holding on to his arm the whole time; Shun felt her hair moving gently from side to side. He turned his head a little, to see her. She was turning her head slightly from side to side, looking around. He smiled inwardly at this action. At least she was showing her curious side, even if it wasn't her usual, in her state, it was the best he'd get.
Shun escorted Julie to the other end of the second living room, where another hallway was located. He led her down the hallway and stopped in front of one of those Japanese sliding doors. Shun opened the door enough so that he could fit through; but Julie could see enough to realize that it was Shun's bedroom.
Shun moved his left arm, but felt a tug on it. He turned to face Julie.
"Julie, do you mind waiting out here while I get you something… warmer to wear?" he asked her sincerely. She responded by letting go of his arm and took two steps back. Shun went inside his room and slid the door closed.
Julie waited, and backed up against the wall on the opposite side of the door; she looked at the ground. She kept staring at the ground until she heard footsteps; her heart started beating faster, out of fear, and her eyes widened a bit. Julie kept staring at the ground, and saw the shadow pass her. She released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
Julie held it again when she saw the figure step back and stop in front of her.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here; little Miss Ju-… why are you… never mind, come; follow me I'll find you something… else to wear." Julie looked up and saw Shun's grandfather. She wanted to tell him that Shun told her to wait there, but she could find the words. She, instead, shook her head.
"Well, why not?" Shun's grandfather asked. Julie just shook her head again. Grandpa Kazami looked at her questioningly. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "Did my grandson do some-"
"Grandpa!" the sliding door opened to reveal Shun, looking annoyed, holding a small pile of clothes. He looked at Julie, and then to his grandfather. The teen gave the elder a look that said 'I'll tell you later'; his grandpa nodded.
"I'll be in the kitchen," Grandpa Kazami said as he turned and walked away. Shun sighed.
"I'm sorry about him, he can be crazy sometimes… you okay?" Shun asked. Julie nodded slightly. "Well, I have some clothes here for you; come on, you can change in the bathroom," Shun said. He started walking and noticed that Julie wasn't walking with him. He looked at her questioningly.
"You coming?" Julie nodded in reply. She walked up to him and hugged his arm. Shun looked down at her, he could still see the fear and dismay in her eyes. "She must have been through a lot," Shun thought. "She's been with me for at least two hours and she's still so scared, I don't even have a good word for how much fright I can see in her eyes. I just hope I'll be able to snap her out of it. I want to know who did this to her."
Shun took Julie to the bathroom, and she went inside to get changed. He, then, went into the kitchen where he found his grandfather sipping tea.
"What happened, Shun? Please explain. I'm at a loss as to why Miss Makimoto was standing in our hallway in nothing but your jacket. Did you two…"
"Ugh, grandpa, no! … I'm only seventeen, not nearly ready to do… that! *sigh* I-… okay here's what happened…"
~J.T.J.T.J.T.J.T.J.T.~
Julie came out of the bathroom in the clothing Shun gave her. She was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and a purple t-shirt. She wore white socks on her feet, and held the jacket in her left hand. Her hair was still a mess but she was able to take the leaves and sticks out of it. Julie's eyes still showed fear, but not as much as when Shun found her. In fact, her eyes showed more blankness than fear now.
Julie looked around the hallway for any signs of Shun. When she didn't find any, Julie thought of his grandfather, but she didn't know where the kitchen was, so she pressed her back against the wall and sat down, holding her knees to her chest.
~J.T.J.T.J.T.J.T.J.T.~
"Well… that's um… what- why would she-"
"I don't know anything else, grandpa. I only know as much as you do now. I told you everything."
"Yes, I believe you, Shun… I don't understand why the ones, who brought her here, brought her here."
"What do you mean, grandpa?"
"What I mean is, why would someone deliberately place her in our forest-"
"Grandpa! Why would someone deliberately place her in ANY forest? "
"Shun-"
"Julie is a good person, Grandpa. She doesn't deserve to be found in a forest… and without any clothes on? Why? Why would someone do this, grandpa? I don't understand!"
"I know, Shun… I don't understand either; the human mind is a very confusing thing." Grandpa Kazami could see the anger and hatred and worry in his grandson's eyes; he sighed. "I want to find who did this too, Shun." Said grandson nodded in response.
"Please forgive me for my sudden... outburst," Shun said respectfully.
"There is no need," the elderly man said. "I would have done the same thing. I can see you are frustrated; this is a frustrating situation."
The old man really was at a loss; he didn't know what do about this whole situation. He sighed for a second time. "You better go check on the girl, Shun, she's been gone a while."
"Yeah, okay." Shun said quietly. He got up and walked away. His grandfather sighed once more; the third time that day.
~J.T.J.T.J.T.J.T.J.T.~
Shun turned down a hallway and sighed; he didn't know what to do; about Julie, about everything. He thought about the young girl's eyes; they showed so much fear, so much confusion, and so much distress. The eyes that Julie showed weren't the eyes that Shun knew. These eyes weren't filled with perkiness; they weren't filled with delight… he didn't even see any life in them. Shun saw dread; he saw fright in Julie's grey-like orbs. And he didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit.
Shun turned down another hallway and looked up. He saw Julie sitting on the ground, staring at the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. Her head was resting on her knees. Shun noticed something… off; about her arms. They were covered in bruises, big ones. And her face had a few marks as well. It shocked him; that meant that, those who did this; they abused the girl as well. It infuriated him… to his core. But he brushed those feeling of anger aside for the moment; he would ask Julie about the whole situation later, when she wasn't so… shaken; when she was ready to talk about it. Now was not the time.
Shun was a little surprised to see Julie just sitting there; but then again, she didn't really know his house, and it was quite big… when he thought about it, Shun figured it was better that she stayed where she was instead of getting lost.
"Julie?" he said. Said teenager didn't react. Shun walked up to the young girl in his hallway. Her eyes flickered to his for a moment, but continued to stare at the polished wooden floor. Shun knelt down and tilted his head, to get a better look at her face.
"Julie, can you look at me?" he said gently. Julie moved her head a little, to look at the boy beside her. "What are you doing sitting here all alone?" The once energetic girl shook her head in response. "What is it, Julie? You can talk to me. Don't you know that you can talk to me…? I won't laugh at you, or do anything to hurt you; you know that, right?"
Julie looked at Shun for a moment and nodded her head in reply. Shun gave Julie a small smile and sat down next to her. Julie stared at the floor; Shun stared at Julie, waiting for her to say something.
"Julie?" the sixteen year-old looked at the male next to her, waiting for him to continue. "Why were you out here all alone?" he asked her, for a second time. She just shook her head.
"I guess she still doesn't want to talk about anything. " Shun's thoughts were interrupted when he heard stuttering. He looked at Julie. Her lips were quivering, and he could hear the feeblest voice coming from them. "Julie?"
"I-I-I-I-" She couldn't find him… the simplest statement and she could not get it out. Julie felt tears develop in her eyes. Shun placed a hand on her shoulder; she looked at him, the droplets threatening to fall.
Julie could see the worry in her friend's eyes; she felt guilty that she made him worry about her. That only made Julie more frustrated… with herself, with everything. Finally, the tears trickled down her cheeks. She buried her face in Shun's shoulder and just cried. Shun put his arm around Julie's shoulders, pulling her close.
"Shh, it's okay, Julie. You're safe now; grandpa and I will make sure of it; I promise." The young damsel continued to cry.
Author's Note: HELLO! well, here's chapter 2... I told y'all i had it all typed out. i really hope you like it... okay... first things first.
I would like thank my first reviewer: an anonymous reviewer named jewels3 (did I get that rite? i think so... rite? anyway...)
I only needed one review saying that it was good and/or that they wanted me to continue; mostly because i know what it is like to have this story that you... just fall in love with and then the author just decides to...to just stop and discontinue it; let's just say, that action makes me mad...lol. but yeah; as long as i know that even one person is reading this... and liking it, then i will continue... so thank you anonymous reviewer "jewels3" for reviewing and letting me know that you liked it and want me to continue.
second off...
i want to let Y'all know that i have decided that i will not update until the chapter after the chapter i need to update is done. (i.e. y'all are waiting for chap 4 than i won't update until chap 5 is complete) I honestly don't know why exactly but that will be how i'll be doing it. so... now you have read chap 2 yes? Yes; i have chap 3 typed out already. but need to finish chap 4. i gues because... if i have wirters block or something than i have a backup.
if i do not have the chap after the chap you are waiting for done in... let's say about a month, give or take a few days, then i have a back-up: the chap y'all are waiting for is already done. i guess it doesn't make much sense but... oh well rite. so now y'all know that... anyway.
i believe that is all i wanted to say...
I OWN NOTHING!
THANKS FOR READING! :)
LUV Y'ALL 3
GOD BLESS!
J.T.
p.s i hope y'all like that little 'shulie' fluff i put in there ( if you saw it) ;)
also YAY I ACTUALLY GOT THE CHAPTER ON HERE! *people clap in congrats*