~Red Light / present time~

"Yana… Yana? Yana! Are you listening?"

"Wha…what?"

Yana looked around with a blank stare. Her friend Aki was looking at her. Aki walked over to Yana and looked her into the eyes, tapping her on her forehead.

"Hey what's wrong with you?" said Aki "You've been staring off all day."

"Sorry, I've got some things on my mind." Said Yana

"It doesn't have anything to do with Soti and Kana does it? Said Aki

Yana clenched her fist and looked down at her shoes and started kicking at some leaves that where piled up.

"Don't worry about them, you know how kids are, they spread rumors to hurt others."

"Yes, of course I do." Yana said. "But it doesn't make it any better"

Yana sometimes had a difficult time at school. She had a few classmates that made fun of her because of her darker complexion. They didn't consider her a true Japanese because of her African side. She would usually ignore them and their ignorance but today she just wasn't herself. She had let their comments get to her.

"Come on" said Yana, we are almost to my house, race you the rest of the way." And Yana took off.

Aki was always faster than Yana. But why wouldn't she be? She was the best on their track team. Yana only joined because Aki had asked her to. She was more into books and daydreaming; As to Aki was into sports and boys. Yana slowed down to a halt and Aki stopped five feet in front of her.

"What's the holdup Yana?"

"Keep going, I'll catch up. I have to catch my breath". Said Yana

Aki nodded and jogged on towards Yana's house. Yana started to walk in the direction Aki was jogging in. She hated running, let alone racing. She just wanted Aki to drop the subject. She looked around the woods, observing the different trees that lead up to the base of the Tatsuyama Mountain. She loved how there was moss everywhere. It looked so beautiful.

Yana looked to her right and a red glimmer caught her eye. She stopped and looked at the spot where she thought she had seen it. The red light flashed again. She started walking towards the source and stopped at the tallest black pine tree. Whatever was flashing was wedged inside a small opening in the tree. She put her pack down and looked closer. The sun was just about set and made it almost impossible to see it. Yana stuck her finger in, to see if she could move the object closer to the opening of the tree. She winced, as she pricked her finger on something sharp causing her to pull back.

"Ouch" she whispered. "What was that?"

She put her face closer to the tree and looked into the slit. The glowing object got brighter and brighter, until the tree and Yana were engulfed in a red light.