So last night, there was a power outage at like midnight so I couldn't go on my laptop (no power...no internet... unfortunately). And then this morning the cable was dead, the phone lines were dead and the internet still wasn't up =( It sucked but eventually all of it returned to normal... like at around 5pm ... sigh....Mann I've got start writing a new chapter for my other fanfic... anyway...
Chapter 7 The Forest
It was a beautiful Valentine's day. The birds were chirping and the air was filled with love. Love however pure and simple always left a mark on the hearts of those involved with it. At Angel's Cafe love birds sat across from each other in the little cafe tables. The girls blushed nervously as the gave their crushes the chocolates they made by hand. Kari and her coworkers worked feverously as customers lined up to get in.
"Here you are," Kari passed a pair of filled coffee mugs to a couple in the last table to the left.
"Miss!" Called a woman in the next table.
"Yes, coming!" she called in a pleasant manner.
Day turned into night, when it seemed as though the customers would never end, they slowly died down. When there were only a couple left, Kari took a break.
"Here you go," Her boss passed her a cup of coffee.
"Thanks," she said, having a sip. It was delicious, Angel's Cafe was famous for their coffee. "I really needed that." She smiled.
Her boss leaned over, "So, did you give anyone some chocolate today?"
Kari was a little startled, "Well, I did give some to my brother and my friends..."
"You know what I mean..." Her boss gave her a little wink.
Kari turned a little pink, "...no..."
"Awww... no one that catches your eye?"
"No..." Kari sighed, "I haven't thought about a boy that way since my..." Her mind flashed back to TK
Her boss realized she pushed the subject a bit. "Anyway..." he pulled something from under the cash register. It was a bag of milk chocolate pieces, "I know it's supposed to be girls giving guys the presents. My wife always makes a lot to give to the workers. "
"Thank you," She accepted the chocolate gratefully.
The door opened. "You still opened?" called a voice from the entry.
"Yes," Kari turned around and saw a familiar person with blonde hair, "Oh, hi Topi."
"Hey," he took a seat by the nearest table. "Can I get a cup of coffee, black."
She took the order and handed him a fresh brewed cup. "I thought tonight of all nights, you would be out with a girl who has fallen for your charm." She sat down on the other chair. Her boss at this point was kind enough to let her hang with her friends for a little bit.
"Oh, there were wayy too many girls wanting me tonight, I felt bad if I took one out and not the other." He gave her the smile she always liked. "Besides, I'd rather hang out with you."
"You should have come earlier then, you know that the shop's closing in ten minutes."
"You know what I mean," He gave her a wink.
"Topi, I've told you already I can't..."
"Can't? Or won't?"
She sighed, "can't... won't... I don't know... both..."
"Hey hey now..." he lifted up her chin, "I won't force you." He placed some change on the table and sighed, "I guess for tonight I will be going home." He stood and headed out, "Well I'll be seeing you Kari."
"What a shame... that boy must really like you," her boss said absent-mindedly.
"I only wish he didn't," Kari sighed.
"Yo man what's been bothering you?" Tai asked his best friend who was scanning through some headlines on his laptop.
Matt looked up, "Well, it's these missing persons reports... there have been a steady amount of people disappearing lately around not only Odaiba, but the rest of Tokyo as well. And there have also been a lot of hikers who have gotten lost in the forest, and never returned."
"I've actually noticed that lately too," Izzy said. The boys were all laying in the couches at Matt's apartment, while Sora went shopping with Kari and Yolei.
"Pass the chips," Davis said, ignoring their talks and focusing on Matt's newest combat video game.
"There like two feet away from you," Cody groaned as he killed one of the aliens, "Besides if you start eating, they'll kill you."
"ARGGHHH DAMN YOU IMDABOMB01 FROM FREAKING AMERICA" Davis shouted at the screen as his character died, causing his entire group to lose.
"See what I told you..." Cody sighed, passing the controller over to Ken. He turned his attention to what the older guys were conversing about.
"Do you mean that haunted forest by the highway?" Cody asked them after being caught up.
"Yeah..." Matt answered.
"Well I believe, when they say haunted, you should probably leave it alone," Joe informed them.
"Well, come on are you really afraid of some ghooossts?" Tai said in a rather creepy voice from behind Joe which made the latter jump from his seat.
"I'd say this will need some thorough investigating." Izzy told them.
"So you're in with the whole hunting by the forest thing?" Matt said, determined.
Davis heard what they said, "Oooh! We're doing some ghost hunting eh? Count me in."
Ken had died in the game so he joined in as well. "Sounds interesting, I'd like to do it too."
"Yeah, besides I don't really believe in those kind of ghosts."
"Well that's six against one!" Tai smirked, "Care to reconsider?"
"How about I be command central? You guys can call me if you need any help." They all agreed and piled into Davis' family minivan which he had borrowed for that day.
"Mann, this is awesome!" Davis said as they parked the van at an abandoned road. Joe stayed in the van and was handed one walkie-talkie, The other one, Ken was opted to carry around. It was late afternoon, but there was an ominous chill in the air. They headed deeper and deeper into the forest, and began hearing various animal noises which frankly freaked half of them out.
"Maybe... we should turn back," Cody suggested.
"Why? You scared?" Davis teased. Tai accidentally stepped on a twig which made a loud noise, resulting in Davis jumping. The guys snickered.
"I think maybe you're the one that's afraid..." Tai teased.
Then they all heard rustling and froze in place.
"Who's there?" called a voice. They all turned around and met a blonde.
"Oh," the blonde recognized Matt, "You guys shouldn't be out here."
"Who're you?" Cody was a bit startled and thought he saw TK.
"Topi... Anyway, you guys should probably get out of here while you can... it's getting dark and there have been quite a few people disappearing here. It's not safe."
"At least we're in a group," Davis began to defend them, "What about you? You're all alone, you're an easy target."
"I'm not alone, my brothers and sisters are around..." He fidgeted a bit and pushed them in the direction they came from. "Now get going. It really isn't safe, and I won't be responsible for you lot getting hurt."
Matt frowned, "Alright, alright we get it..." He motioned the others to follow him and they did.
When they got back in the van they headed back into town.
"Why'd you guys leave?" Joe asked them.
"Some guy forced us to..." Davis mumbled.
"Speaking of which..." He turned to Matt, "He looked exactly like him didn't he?"
"I noticed that too, but I didn't want to say anything..." Ken was reserved.
"Yeah, like he could be his twin," Cody commented.
Matt sighed, "Yeah... I've met him a couple of times already, at the gym. But he isn't TK."
"How sure are you?" Izzy asked him.
"Very... he acts and speaks nothing like TK he's definitely different." It sounded as though Matt was trying to convince himself more than trying to convince the rest of the guys.
"Oh hey Topi," Kari greeted him as he entered.
"Hey," He went to his usual table, "I'll just have some apple pie today.
"Alright," Kari said and brought him some pie. There were no other customers at the shop, so Kari sat down and relaxed a bit. "So what's up?"
"Nothing much..." Topi replied as he took a big bite, "Except... well do you know Matt Ishida?"
"Matt? Yeah, he's a good friend of mine. Why?" Kari was surprised to hear his name coming from Topi's mouth.
"Well the other day, I met him and a bunch of his friend in the forest... you know the 'haunted' one..."
"Oh yeah... wait what were they doing there... and you too?"
"I think they were looking for something, or maybe a cheap thrill. Bunch of people like poking around in the forest, to see if they can actually find ghosts or something..." He ignored the latter of her question, "The point is, I told them to turn back that it wasn't safe there."
Kari gasped a little.
"Yeah well, Kari I need you to promise me something..."
"Yeah?"
"Whatever you do don't go in the forest."
"Bu-"
"Please," His eyes begged her, "I don't want you -" he couldn't finish.
"Okay..." Kari wasn't planning on going to the forest anyway.
Topi smiled, "Thanks."
What's so bad about the big bad forest? I dunno guess you'll have to find out later... =) Please review
