Rush

   Hao Hao’s early mornings with the flowers resumed with the removal of the alarms. The garden had really started to take off in the last week; several of their flowers were in bloom. Roses and Cosmos and Peonies, as well as Daffodil’s and Chrysanthemum, and even the daisies. With its flash of color and life came the definitive proof that this club was a complete success. Hao Hao was so happy she could share that with everyone else.

That morning, she saw Joy as she headed out for a jog. Normal for her. She went every single day, even on the weekends. Hao Hao waved as she ran out of the campus. Towards the forest.

She found herself looking over the garden’s history as she tended them. It all started with Alice; it was her idea, but it was Mae joining that really got the ball rolling. That’s when Jim took them to Shadow Town and they got the seeds from Oleander. Then the garden was properly underway. Cleo and Sumi joined, followed by Kirai and Taeyang. Emily was the hardest to convince, but she came around shortly before the party for the pixies.

That had been a surprisingly fun event despite the ominous message she had received from Sally. A message that was basically repeated yesterday with Daichi. He had asked her if she understood what being here meant. She tried to wrap her head around it, but she couldn’t. What does it mean to be anywhere? There wasn’t much meaning to it to Hao Hao. She was here, at this school with her friends, where she felt safe and at home. That’s what being here meant to her, at least.

Still in the early hours of the morning, she got a couple of visitors. Daichi and Emily. How unusual; Hao Hao was usually the only one up at this hour.

“Hao Hao. Good morning.” Daichi said.

“Good morning.” Hao Hao said. She was sitting on the edge of a fence, checking the leaves of a peony for wilting or damage. It looked healthy as Spring.

“Good morning. Can we speak with you?” Emily asked.

“Of course.”

“Good. Good,” Daichi said. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and set it on the chair before he sat down.

Emily sat down as well. She said, “We were wondering… if you think it would be a good idea if Daichi joined the gardening club?”

“Oh? Um, yeah. If you want to,” and she realized she should sounds more enthusiastic, so she added, “New members are always welcome.”

“I was worried because Joy hasn’t joined. I wouldn’t want to make her feel left out.” Daichi said.

“Ah…”

Hao Hao hadn’t thought of that. In that case, it might already be weird for the two students outside of the club, but she could see Daichi’s point about it. As long as there were two students that hadn’t joined, then Joy wasn’t alone.

“But I really want him to join.” Emily said.

“I see…”

“Has Joy ever wanted to join?”

When Alice and her were first trying to get members, Joy was the first person Alice asked, but she said she was too busy. Hao Hao said, “I don’t think so.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Daichi said.

It was. Emily said, “I wish I could ask her, but we don’t talk all that much. Who does Joy talk to, anyway? She has to be friends with someone.”

“Taeyang maybe. That boy would be friends with a rock if it could talk.” Daichi said.

Emily shook her head. She explained, “I asked him first. He doesn’t talk to her much.” She turned to Hao Hao and asked, “Any ideas?”

“I… I could try to talk to her.” Hao Hao said.

“Would you? I wouldn’t want to force you of course, but I’ve heard from the others that you are very good at this sort of thing.”

Hao Hao nodded. It can’t hurt to try to talk to her. She was the only person in her class she hadn’t at least tried to talk to yet, so she was a little curious what Joy and her spirit were like. She’d seen them both in class. Joy was friendly enough but kept to herself if no one else was talking. Her spirit was much the same.

“Thank you.” Emily said.

“It is much appreciated.” Daichi conferred.

And she thought she’d try it before class, but there was a problem. Joy wasn’t there. Her seat remained empty the entire morning, and she wasn’t at lunch either. Hao Hao blinked into soul sight just to confirm. Nor her or her spirit were around.

Hao Hao, Alice, and Sumi sat together at lunch. Alice asked, “Where do you think Joy is?”

“I don’t know. She’s usually back from her jog by now.”

“I’m worried about her.”

Everyone else was too. When lunch ended and she still wasn’t back, the nine students grouped together to talk about it. The classroom desks had been preemptively moved against the wall by Daichi and Emily, placing the chairs in a circular fashion in the center of the room. There was no real ‘back of the room’ this way, but Hao Hao chose a seat closest to the exit door.

“Let’s get started,” Emily said. She looked around the room and asked, “Just to confirm, we do not know Joy is? Anyone?”

Everyone shook their heads. Daichi said, “Our next step is to determine the last person that saw her. Has anyone seen her today?”

Hao Hao raised her hand, “I, um, saw her this morning. She went out to jog. I didn’t talk to her.”

“Can you tell us which way she went?” Mae asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then we need to go after her!”

“Now, wait just a minute.” Alice said, “Should we really go out there? Jim put up a curfew because he said it might be more dangerous lately.”

“A curfew I’m really starting to think I should have kept enforcing.” Daichi said.

“That’s besides the point.” Emily said, “I agree with Alice. What if there are monsters? We shouldn’t go alone.”

“But, then, who?” Sumi asked. “Jim isn’t here. The pixies aren’t really up for conversations most of the time…”

To everyone’s shock, Kirai spoke up. He said, “If it is dangerous, we need to go. Joy could be in trouble.”

“He makes a good point.” Daichi said, “Should we hold a vote?” And without waiting for anyone to respond, he said, “Everyone that wants to go, put a hand up.”

Kirai and Mae were the first ones up. Followed by Sumi, Taeyang, and Cleo. Alice kept her hand down, as well Hao Hao, Daichi and Emily.

“That’s six versus four.”

“So we go.” Kirai said.

‘Wait just a moment. I think we need a plan.” Emily said.

‘Seconded.” Daichi said, and no one argued. He said, “If we do find something dangerous, what do we do? I want everyone who’s going in agreement on this.”

“You’re going?” Kirai asked with disbelief.

“I would never forgive myself if something happened to you all and I wasn’t there. Yes, I’m coming.”

“Me too.” Emily said. “Alice, Hao Hao. You’re still hoping to stay, right?”

“Yeah.” Alice said. Hao Hao nodded. The whole topic had made her nervous about how serious it was, and she was worried about Joy too. In soul sight, the spirits were all quiet. Hao Hao’s palms were sweaty from holding each other tightly. Alice held a hand out to her, and she took it. The physical touch helped with grounding her.

“Good. I like the idea that someone is here. If Jim comes back, you can tell him what has happened.”

The two girls nodded. Happy to feel like they were contributing even though they weren’t heading out. The others continued to discuss the details. A plan was devised that they’d all go together. No splitting up. At the first sign of danger, they were to leave. No one was to play hero even if they saw Joy, and they had to be back before dark. A lot of the rules were instated by Daichi as requirements for the operation.

“I don’t want to see anyone else hurt.” He explained.

“Of course.” Mae said, and everyone else nodded in complete agreement. Even Kirai, who had seemed the most insistent about saving here. It appeared that the upmost precautions were being taken. Hao Hao would try not the worry too much.

As all of them started to leave through the door of the classroom, Taeyang came to Hao Hao. With everyone else gone from the room, he asked her, “Have you seen her spirit? Do you know anything more?”

“It isn’t here.”

“Dang.”

The nine of them came to the main gate. Seven of them departing into the woods. Daichi leading the charge, Sumi and Emily in the back. Cleo brought her nose to the air, seeming to try to smell for Joy. Mae and Taeyang held flashlights. All of them had a backpack hung over their shoulders. Eventually they were all nothing but shadows in the woods, and even those were gone soon enough.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Hao Hao asked.

“Yeah.” Alice said, her light voice trying to sound confident, but falling flat. She walked away from the gate. Hao Hao continued to watch. Hopeful that, somehow, they’d find Joy immediately and be right back. They weren’t.

Shui floated by. It said, “Try soul sight.”

“What’s there?”

“You won’t believe me if I say it. Just look.”

Hao Hao thinks she would believe her spirit, after all they’ve been through, but there was little reason to argue. She blinked into soul sight. The darkness of the forest grew somehow much darker, leaving nothing but a black abyss. Everything was left to the imagination but the blue lights of the school and the street. They flickered. Shui beside her grounded her sense of surroundings, as well as another spirit just between the gate and the forest.

“Is that… who I think it is?” Hao Hao asked.

“Yes.”

It was much like the others. Fuzzy texture. A rain doll-like appearance. Hao Hao approached it and asked, “Hello? Who are you?”

“I’m Rush.” She spoke with a feminine voice.

“Are you Joy’s spirit?”

“I am.”

“Do you know where Joy is?”

She nodded.

“Can you take me to her?”

“She left me here,” Rush said. A frown dawned on her face as she explained, “She’s trying to leave. She forced me away. Anything to get out.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Hao Hao suspected that the spirit meant that in more a symbolic way than a literal. At least, she didn’t think Joy could also talk to spirits. She asked, “So you don’t know where she is?”

“Not exactly, but I can feel here. I could probably find her.”

The spirit pointed out the way she was with its tail end. It was away from where Daichi and the others had left. Hao Hao resolved herself. “Ah! Then we should go.”

“Hao Hao? What are you still doing out here?” Alice asked. She came out next to her, and she further asked, “Are you talking to yourself? For a moment I thought someone must have returned.”

For a split second, she thought about telling her everything, but she realized she might want to move quickly. The story of her talking to spirits would take too long. She said, “Alice, I need to go.”

“What? Out there?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I have a way to find Joy.”

“Wait, really? How?”

Hao Hao shook her head. “There isn’t time. I need you to trust me.”

Alice looked between the school and Hao Hao with uncertainty. She explained, “I trust you, but… I can’t decide if I should join you or stay here.”

“Stay. If the others come back, let them now I’ll be back soon.”

Hao Hao turned away. Alice asked her to wait, to stop and think, but she didn’t. She needed to go, and quickly, just in case Joy really was in danger.