1 Lost

Within a dense forest of trees located in the center of a large mountain, an almost out of place person wandered around, breathlessly carrying a large backpack over their shoulders. Their eyes glancing around curiously as they avoided bumping into anything that could cause them to fall over.

A pair of wireless headphones could be seen resting on top of their head as it blasted a trendy pop song through their eardrums, fully drowning out the eerie silence that seemed to echo throughout the mountain.

With an occasional nod of their head that corresponded to the beat of the music, they continued on with their journey, ignoring the intensifying feeling that gnawed at their senses, telling them that something wasn't right.

As the last bit of the catchy song played itself out, an unintentionally loud "Ah" could be heard, as the same person quickly maneuvered themselves towards an empty pathway, composed mainly of dirt and rock.

A small sigh of relief escaped from their lips when they stepped onto the dirt path, allowing a comforting feeling to take over for a moment.

"This should lead me back." They said out loud.

The person then tightly clasped the straps on their backpack and took in a deep breath.

"The campsite should be near the top of this mountain." They thought, glancing up at where the highest point of the mountain should be.

Looks like it'd take a while to get there.

".. I guess I better get going before the sun comes down." With that in mind, the person started their hike towards the top, following the dirt path as it led them deeper into the mountain.

×××

Meanwhile near the foot of the mountain, a small group of people were setting up what looked to be a campsite that had multiple tents formed in a circle, with a large campfire in the center.

Near the campfire, two people stood side by side, one being a pretty woman who had a slight frown on her face as she stared at the clipboard in her hand, and the other being a muscular man who focused his attention solely on the campfire.

As the fire grew larger in shape and intensity, the woman loosened the tension between her brows before turning over to the muscular man next to her and saying, "It seems like one of our students are missing."

Without looking over at the woman the muscular man let out a small sigh before briskly replying back with, "Which one of these little punks is it?"

"A third year from class 3A, Sae Maigoni." She answered, her eyes wandering over to a bustling group of students not far away. "Some of the other students were with her after they got off of the school bus, they say they saw her walking behind them when they were heading to the campsite. Halfway here they noticed that she disappeared, worried that she might've gotten lost, they tried looking around nearby areas but had no luck in finding any traces of her."

Listening to woman, the man remained quiet for a moment, his eyes staring intensely at the campfire.

"Sae Maigoni? Was she the one wearing the boys school uniform?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"I see. And have any of the other students seen her? Other then the ones who reported her missing?"

"No, no one else has seen her. Her tent isn't here either, along with her backpack and her camping supplies."

Hearing what the woman had to say, the man couldn't help but feel a little worried over the missing student. As he glanced away from the campfire to examine the tall dark trees nearby that surrounded their campsite and the sky that was darkening by the minute, the thought of a young teenage girl wandering around all alone, lost within those trees popped up in his head.

Clearing his throat the man quickly took out his phone from his pocket. Dialing in a number, he ushered the woman closer, saying, "I'll call for some help, this mountain is too big we won't be able to find her with the small amount of adults here."

"Okay. Should I gather up the other teachers and school staff?" The woman asked, still holding the clipboard in her hands.

"No need, you can leave that to me. Instead do you mind gathering up the rest of the kids?"

"Sure."

"Great. We can't have any of the other kids getting lost too."

"Alright. I'll get to it."

Seeing the woman walk away, the man let out another sigh. Mumbling to himself, he wondered which bloke suggested a month long class camping trip in the mountains. Hearing someone greeting him through his phone he forgot the thought and quickly explained his problem.

Distracted by the call, the man didn't notice the small but discernible flash of light that shone brightly in the forest of trees, higher up in the mountain, lighting up it's surrounding for a short amount of time before quickly fading. By the time the man looked over, the light had already disappeared, along with one of their students.