In the crisp air of the peak of winter, she entered the forest in search of someone. Her right hand felt numb against the heaviness of the baggage she carried and that caused her to momentarily pause. Donned in an all-black overall, she blended like an ominous entity in the darkness that surrounded her. Her mind was filled with haze. But somehow, a part of her managed to get to the surface. It begged and screamed at her to reconsider.

That was perhaps her conscience. It sent shock waves of reason into her dulled senses. Soon, every fiber of her being begged for her to turn the other cheek. To take a step back and see beyond her illusion. However, Jane prodded forward. Even when her hair and clothes were tugged at by the branches of brave ancient trees, ankles rubbed shoulders with the nettles, she cared not. Her feet strode towards the earth like a horse's hooves in the middle of a race. There were no breaks to her stride, no justification for her ignored awareness of the danger that laid await.

When she reached the deepest crevice of the forest she finally took to a halt. Her eyes lingered on her surroundings for a few seconds and there, just below the verdant canopy of trees, she saw them seated on a tuft of grass. The damp green blades that protruded from the earth shimmered under the moonlight. She envied them. The grass. She coveted their simplicity of existence. They have undeniable value and even with the constant throttling of living things to them, they continue to strive to survive. They bore no ill will. No paralyzing need for revenge. They exist, and they may, or may not suffer. They die and then live again. They were unlike humans such as her that are plagued with intricately woven, skewed reasoning and twisted emotions that often went beyond acceptable.

As she took a step forward, she wished she could have lived a mundane life like the verdant blades on the ground. Majestic, yet contrasting simple.

How she found herself inside that forest, at that very moment was catapulted by the collision of faith that she never saw coming. Michael, her boyfriend was the center of all that. He was the love of her life. She met him during middle school. He wasn't the jock that everyone wanted to be with. He was the opposite. He was a shy, self-loathing, poor, and unpopular kid. How he got her attention—the girl known as the school's queen—was a mystery to many. But not to her. Their love affair was quick, strong, and crazy.

It all started on a rainy day. She was asked by their English teacher to assist with the recording of the quiz they just had. She hadn't expected it to run as long as it did. But it did. When she got out of the faculty room it was already dark outside. Since she believed she had time to get a ride home. She had asked her teacher to go on ahead, earlier. It turned out to be a stupid thing to have done.

So there she was, alone and on the brink of tearing her hair off. That's when her weird and silent classmate, Michael, appeared. He offered her a ride home and she accepted. He was perhaps odd but Jane had always seen something in him that others never did. Kindness.

Michael rarely said a word to her when she rode with him on his bike. He would answer when she asked a conversational question. Just to break the silence. But then, he would fall silent again. He never initiated a conversation. Somehow, Jane liked that. She was always surrounded by people whenever she was at school. Even at home, she was the center of everything. It was taxing.

After that ride, Michael came to school the following day with the same aura as he always did. But Jane, she felt different. The silence and peace she had with him in those brief minutes had her craving more of it. She had spent her life surrounded by people and she thought that if they left, she'd feel like a limb had been lopped from her body. But that wasn't the case with Michael. The silence she experienced with him, and the absence of ever-present praises made her realize that silence was something she needed to have. So she approached Michael after school. He stared at her like she has grown two heads. It was understandable. Never had she approached him for reasons other than stuff about their classroom. Their worlds were too far apart, despite being classmates since the first grade.

She wanted to ask him if he'd be willing to spend a few hours with her, but she failed to do so when her friends made an appearance. Michael instantly scrambled away from her... from them.

The day after, a Thursday, she once again approached him after school. But once again, she failed to communicate what she wanted. Day after day she tried to get him alone, but the people that surrounded her made that impossible. It wasn't until a month later that she gained what she wanted. How though, was a weird story. She was on her way to a convenience store to buy some chips. It was late in the evening. Rarely was there a vehicle on the road. She was under a street light, gazing at flies that circled the light bulb when someone bumped into her. Whoever it was, their body felt like it was made of metal. Cold and hard. The impact was strong and she stumbled to the ground. The person who collided with her fell on top of her body. "Get off," she yelled. But the body that almost drowned her petite frame didn't move. She yelled again, and again and again. But there came no movement from the other party. She was almost hysterical and thought that she was about to get raped. Thousands of things rushed through her head. Scenarios that she had seen in movies danced before her eyes. For a brief moment, panic made her rigid, but when fear finally kicked at her senses, she used all her strength to push the person of her. The body rolled to at least a meter away from its initial spot due to the force that came from adrenaline-filled arms. She was about to make a run for it when a whimper and the words, "What did you want to tell me," resonated from the person on the ground.

It took her for the words to fully sink in and make sense. When it did, "Michael," she yelled.

He chuckled and slowly got to his feet. He stepped towards her and when he was at arm's length, he asked again, "What were you trying to tell me?"

Adrenaline was still present in Jane's body. So a mute reply was all she gave Michael. A full minute passed by. Michael just kept his eyes on her, seemingly awaiting her reply. She on the other hand had constructed various sentences in her head. But they would crumble in fragmented words whenever she tried to open her mouth. Another minute passed by and just when she thought Michael lost his patience, he took her arm and said, "You seemed certain of what you wanted to say when you kept hounding me. What's wrong?"

What's wrong? Exactly. What was wrong? She couldn't find the sentences she came up with weeks ago.

Michael smiled when she remained mute. "Would you like to join me for a walk?" He asked as he tugged at her arm. It was weird. But Jane followed him without a word said.

He led her to the town's park. She thought he'd have her walk around the cement path that circled the inside of the park, but no. He led her towards the farthest left of the place. The part where the ground lay bare, free of grass or plants. There was only dry earth there and a small trail that led to the forest adjacent to the park.

She never protested when he continued to guide her out of the park and into the forest. Soon, they were deep in and surrounded by large overgrown trees. Michael glanced around and then pointed at a spot under a tree, where the land was covered in verdant blades of grass. "Take a seat. I often come here whenever I feel lost or alone. Here is where I gather my thoughts. This place is a soothing escape from the world." He said to her as they both plopped themselves on the ground.

That night, Jane told Micahel everything. She confessed that having him around and his silence was something she wanted to experience daily. He accepted it when she asked if he could spend two hours with her every night. They both agreed to spend those two hours inside the forest.

As the months went by, Jane learned a lot of things about Michael. He was a lonely soul. An orphan who was under the care of his aunt who loved turning his arm into an ashtray. He often told her how his life felt empty and how he wished he could escape from himself. He was as she suspected him to be. Kind and considerate, but broken in more ways than one. However, she found those broken pieces of him soothing. They were perhaps shards that had the potential to harm her, but he always made her feel safe.

Every night they met. Every night they threw a few sentences to each other allowing bits of information that made one understand the other in profound ways. Silence claimed the majority of their time together. That was great. That was what Jane wanted. But as her nightly routine with Michael continued, her fascination turned into a deep friendship and soon developed into love. Their silent hours tossed her into a sea of stormy emotions that she welcomed without protest. The storm wasn't similar to the ones she experienced with her overly doting family or an overbearing crowd of classmates that adored how perfect she was. Her hours with Michael made more sense and gave her life more meaning as opposed to the hours she spent with everyone else.

They kept their routine for one whole year before Jane finally broke up and confessed her feelings to Michael. It was impossible not to do so. He had turned into an ever-present face wherever she went. He was the knob on their front door. The zipper to her bag and umbrella when it rained. He became a presence that she couldn't be without. He was like a fog that cradled him in a tight embrace, everywhere and anywhere.

He accepted her love because he too had fallen for her.

Their relationship went deeper as the days progressed. Then, he was gone.

"The air here is fresh," the woman beside the man squealed.

Jane frowned and bit the bottom of her lip. That woman took the love of her life and she can never forgive her for it.

"This place is amazing, answered the woman's companion.

Jane tightened her hold on the knife. Then slowly, she crept up behind them. It was too late for the man to do anything. His last view was that of his girlfriend's head rolling on the ground as his own flew across the lot they were in, bouncing between two tree trunks before resting near a puddle of murky water.

Jane smiled and picked up their heads. She then strode out of the Park passing by people with agape mouths and wide eyes at the things she had hanging from her hands.

Bright lights red and blue soon met her and with a single shot to the head, she fell limp on the ground.

The first person to kneel beside her corpse was a middle-aged woman who protected her lifeless body from any harm. She smiled and wiped the tear that pooled at the side of Jane's eyes. Then she stood and picked up the decapitated head belonging ng to the woman, glared at it, and whispered, "Bittersweet, isn't it? She loves him and you never should have taken him from her." Then she violently threw the bloody head toward one of the cops that were approaching her. She smirked at the man and said, "You won't be seeing me in the precinct again." She pointed at the head that rolled to a stop near the officer's foot and added, "She's not laughing now and neither will any of you. This is all your doing. The lot of you should have done us right!"

***

Coroner Marvel arrived just in time to see two heads and one full corpse inside his operating room. His assistant looked at him and then said, "Remember that sensational murder a few months back? About the guy who got stabbed inside the park?"

"The one involving the son of the governor and his girlfriend?" Coroner Marvel answered.

"Yup, that one. The victim's girlfriend finally got even."