Chapter 6- An Undisclosed Breakthrough

Davina:

An interview, as Officer Garcia had carefully worded it, at the local police station proved to be useless, but not as useless as having to go to school. How was I supposed to just go to school as if everything was normal, when it wasn't- between Nate and Vanessa's empty seats in class and Ezra's pale, ghostly figure, even if I wanted to, I couldn't act like nothing had changed.

I needed to do something, but I had to be discreet about it. If anyone caught wind of my plans, they would surely stop for concern that I might disappear too.

So, I was discreet; the only other person I involved was Ezra.

The first thing we did was to go back to their last known whereabouts- last known to us, at least- which was our favourite spot, Lake Tsugunai (償い) which translates to atonement.

Known primarily for its Japanese name, Lake Tsugunai is full of surprises. The number of incidences where people found cherry blossoms in the lake is astounding, despite the fact that our town is approximately 6320 miles away from Japan. And if you think that's crazy, you wouldn't believe all the other stories- four leaved clovers, oyster pearls, transcontinental fish and so on.

To us, the lake was a symbol of our friendship since it was the place we first met. One of the best things about it was that it was enveloped in a blanket of lush greenery and foliage, making the ideal place for nature-lovers like the four of us.

Some believed that the lake was a symbol of luck, but clearly Ezra and I weren't particularly in luck since we didn't find anything useful at the lake except for Vanessa's burgundy sweater which I presumed she had accidently forgotten from when she was sitting on the rocks.

Still, we persisted in an attempt to keep up with our now elusive motivation. Once I made it clear that I wasn't giving up anytime soon, Ezra followed my lead. In fact, he thought of our next step- making a note of anything suspicious and unusual we had noticed about Nate and Vanessa the week that they had disappeared.

After an hour of incessant speculating and contemplating, Ezra leapt up in a spasm of what I could guess was realization. His brief spasm ended with him passing out, leaving me to wonder what it was that he had figured out while I waited for him to regain consciousness.