Two weeks. That's how long it took us to admit the truth: we weren't done.
The forest—whatever it was—had left its fingerprints on all of us. No matter how normal life tried to appear, there was a thin layer of unreality clinging to everything. Bobby called it "residual resonance." I called it haunting.
After our café meeting, we agreed to regroup and make arrangements for a longer return. A month. That's what we settled on. One full month to understand the forest. Then we'd walk away—if we could.
But before we boarded trains or packed our bags, there was something more important to do: tie up the loose ends of the lives we were temporarily leaving behind.
---
[Jacob]
I met Jacob at a gym café the next evening. He was sipping a protein shake like it was whiskey, gaze distant, eyebrows tense.
"You sure you're in?" I asked.
He nodded, but it felt hesitant. "Yeah. Just… wrapping my head around it."
"How's Laura taking it?"
He chuckled dryly. "I told her I needed some 'me time'. She thinks I'm having a mid-life crisis." Then he leaned closer. "I haven't told her about the time dilation. How do you even explain that without sounding like a lunatic?"
"She wouldn't believe it?"
"She'd believe it. That's the problem. She'd worry. Or try to stop me."
He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I've got responsibilities, man. But part of me… part of me needs to know what's on the other side. That siren—Alex, I still hear it in my sleep."
I nodded. "You're not alone."
---
[Ambrose]
Ambrose invited me over to his place. The apartment was a mess—half-filled sketchbooks, tangled cables, and the unmistakable aroma of fried something.
"I'm packing light," he said, gesturing at an open suitcase with two hoodies, a torch, and a deck of UNO cards.
"You're taking UNO into a time-warped dimension?"
"Hey, if we're gonna die weird, we might as well keep it fun."
But beneath the jokes, I saw it—the quiet anxiety.
He sat down and pulled out a sketch. It was of the hut we'd found in the forest.
"Been trying to draw it exactly the way it felt. But every time I finish, it looks wrong. Like the forest changes when you stop looking."
I didn't know how to respond.
He smirked. "Anyway, I told Ma I'm going on a 'soul retreat'. She packed me tiffin boxes and told me to find a nice girl."
I laughed. "Only you could get away with that."
"Yeah, well…" He looked at the sketch again. "Maybe I'm hoping the forest gives me more than just answers."
---
[Bobby]
Bobby, of course, had a full dossier ready. He called me to his apartment and sat me down like I was being interviewed for a mission to Mars.
"There's a theory I've been developing," he said, sliding over a sheet of diagrams. "The forest operates like a temporal node. It's not just a place—it's a convergence point. Dimensions meet, time bends, and perception fractures."
"Sounds like a headache."
He smiled. "It is. But it's also the most exciting thing I've ever touched."
His eyes were different now—brighter, obsessed.
"My boss thinks I'm going to Europe for a sabbatical. I requested unpaid leave. Told them I'm researching ancient trail systems."
"Not completely a lie," I offered.
He shook his head. "Alex, this isn't just a curiosity anymore. I've been comparing data points from other forests around the world—Bhutan, Romania, Patagonia. There's a pattern."
Then he paused, lowering his voice.
"But there's something else."
I looked up. "What?"
"I've been getting emails."
"From who?"
"I don't know. No name, just coordinates. Some of them match the resonance spots I found."
"You think someone else is watching this place?"
"I think," he said, "we're not the only ones it called."
---
[Alex]
The night before we left, I had dinner with Anita.
She knew something was up. "You're pulling away again," she said softly.
"I'm just tired," I lied.
"You said that last time. Right before disappearing into a fog-covered horror movie."
I looked down. "It's just something I need to finish."
"Then promise me," she said. "Whatever you find—come back to me."
I nodded. But in my gut, I wasn't sure if that promise would hold.
Not because I didn't want to. But because I wasn't sure the forest would let me go this time.
---
[Departure]
We met at the train station the next morning, backpacks slung over our shoulders, that same uneasy blend of dread and thrill in the air.
Ambrose was the first to joke. "This feels like the start of a season finale."
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Let's hope it's not the series finale."
Bobby was reading a printed article titled "Dimensional Fault Lines and Magnetic Lensing."
"You guys ever think," I asked, "maybe we were supposed to leave it alone?"
There was silence.
Then Bobby spoke. "It's too late for that."
---
On the Train
We didn't talk much. Each of us stared out at the shifting landscape as the train carried us back to that place—the hill station where reality had already bent once.
I watched the trees blur past and thought about how weird it was… that the strangest place I'd ever seen also felt a little like home now.
I was scared.
But I was also ready.