The Path of Forgotten

Chapter 3: The path of Forgotten

Annie lived, but she wasn’t sure she could call it living.

The town had returned to normal, her name restored in the bookstore records, and people greeted her as if nothing had ever happened. But something had happened. Something the world had erased.

Sakura was gone.

She told herself it was the price of love, but she never stopped feeling his absence, like a missing piece of herself. Every night, she visited the cherry blossom tree where they had first met, whispering his name into the wind. And sometimes, just sometimes, she swore she could hear something whispering back.

Then the dreams started.

At first, they were fleeting, just flickers of movement in the darkness of her mind. But they grew stronger, more vivid. In every dream, she saw him—standing in the mist, his eyes darker than she remembered. He never spoke. He only watched.

One night, she woke with a start, her breath ragged. A scent filled the air—soft, sweet, familiar.

Cherry blossoms.

Her eyes darted around the room. The windows were locked. No flowers were in sight.

Then she saw them.

A handful of delicate pink petals lay scattered across her bedsheets.

Her heart pounded. It was impossible. The tree was far from town. No wind could have carried them here.

Her fingers trembled as she picked up a petal. It dissolved into nothing at her touch.

Sakura wasn’t gone.

Not completely.

He was still here. Somewhere.

And she had to find him.

Annie spent days searching for answers, but nothing in the town’s history books mentioned the curse. The townspeople spoke only in hushed whispers, and those who knew anything refused to say more.

So, she turned to the only place that might hold the truth—the abandoned shrine in the forest.

It was a place of silence, untouched for years. The shrine had belonged to Sakura’s family, but it had been left to decay, as if the town had tried to forget it existed.

The deeper she walked into the forest, the colder the air became. Shadows stretched unnaturally, and the wind carried whispers that didn’t belong to the living.

Then, through the mist, she saw him.

Sakura stood beyond the torii gate, his form pale, almost translucent.

Her breath caught. "Sakura?"

He turned slowly, his dark eyes meeting hers. But there was no warmth in them, only sorrow.

"You shouldn't be here." His voice was distant, like a memory fading.

Annie took a step closer. "I had to find you. You’re still here—I knew it."

His form flickered, the edges of his body shifting like mist. "You have to leave, Annie. The curse is still watching."

She clenched her fists. "I don’t care. I’ll find a way to bring you back."

Sakura shook his head, pain flickering in his eyes. "There is no way."

But Annie refused to believe that.

Before she could say more, his body faded, dissolving into the cold night air.

And the wind whispered her name.