"Excuse me." Wakana asks the man beside her, "Is there something in the river?"

The question is wrong. She knows well that the forsaken ones are swimming in the river instead of the fishes. But it doesn't seem like this man would be gazing at the forsaken ones, especially if it's a legendary faceless man. He doesn't seem evil at all but he's a little creepy.

Is it that she can't see his face or he doesn't have any face at all? How could his eyes work though? Light enters through the eyes and forms an image. There's some signal thing. Why is her brain even trying to find logic in this situation? According to science, ghosts shouldn't exist.

For an instant, she feels a cold hard hand on her back. Before she could turn around and look at the faceless man again, there's a hard push. She finds herself falling through the mist. As the surface of the river draws closer, Wakana screams.

"NO!"

There's a loud splash. She is pulled into the water. It's icily cold. Wakana turns her head around, looking at everything with her eyes wide. The water river is nearly as red as blood. Pieces of fleshes are floating around.

She swims upward, fighting the violent flow of the river. The dark howls of the forsaken ones enter her ear. She looks up at the bridge and shouts, "You fucking faceless shit!"

The man shrugs and walks away, toward the other end of the bridge as he always has. The noises have been bothering him but he has found a perfect solution.

Wakana tries to swim toward the shore, flailing her arms and legs around. The river pushes against her. The forsaken ones surround her quickly, starving for her souls.

Something pulls her toward the bottom. Wakana kicks the thing's face as she loses her momentum. The river takes a hold of her. There's a peal of mocking laughter. She finds herself losing to the raging stream as something bits her ankle. Wakana cries loudly. She could feel the forsaken ones' desire for hunger — a desire to engulf everything, finding pieces of their lost souls.

No, she won't lose herself to them.

All of a sudden, she feels a suction. There's a whirlpool in the river. How is that possible? Then again, the river is so wide that she can barely see the shore. The forsaken ones let go of her ankles. They scream, unable to resist the force that is pulling them toward the centre.

What is there? Who is doing this?

All the forsaken ones seem to be falling into the whirlpool. Wakana keeps swimming away, never stopping once even if she can barely reach the shore. The loud and painful wailings fill the air. Something is wrong with the river. Very very wrong.

After what seems like an eternity, she reaches the shore. Wakana lays down on the cold ground, panting for air. She turns her head and stares at the whirlpool again. What the hell is that?

Amidst the loud wailings of the forsaken ones, she hears a whisper.

"Save me."

"Adira."

"Someone…"

It's a mournful cry for help.

Wakana knows that she shouldn't listen to it. She should turn her back to the river and walk away.

"My daughters… please."

She stops. Is it a forsaken one? It doesn't sound like one. A forsaken one only howls madly (as far as she has observed).

She stares at the whirlpool. It seems to be slowing down. After some time, it should stop.

Maybe she should observe this situation a little more.

***

It goes on for a long long time.

It could have been a minute. Wakana has no idea. It feels like an eternity sometimes.

The whirlpool is finally gone. The river is clean. She can't hear any sound from the forsaken ones. In fact, she can't see any faces.

When she looks at the river's surface, she sees her reflection in the reddish water. The water is that clean. It seems like the forsaken ones are gone.

Wakana places her finger on her chin. Did the river clean itself?

The flow is also low. It's not violent. Instead, it's calm and soothing.

"Is this an illusion?"

It could be.

Then, she should go away. Where is she anyway? Is she at the purgatory side or mortal world side?

"Save…"

Her feet halt in their tracks.

"Me."

Now, her feet feel too heavy to move. For whatever reason, Wakana can't ignore the cry for help.

"Damn it!" She takes a deep breath. "I am only going to take a look."

Let's hope that she doesn't regret this.

With many hesitating thoughts, Wakana jumps into the river and swims toward the area where the whirlpool was.

No forsaken one comes to bother her. No hands grip her ankles and pull her toward the bottom. Nothing strange happens.

It feels like she's swimming in any normal river. It doesn't feel like the river of death anymore.

She moves toward the bottom of the river. As she goes down, she feels that the water is turning warmer and darker.

However, there's something shining at the bottom.

It's small and flickering.

Is it a coin or a diamond?

As she gets closer, she realizes that she's wrong. It's not a coin or a diamond for sure. It's a person who is glowing red.

The woman is completely naked. The woman's skin is pale and white as the dead. Her long dark hair reaches her knees. And her lips… they are bluish and bloodless. The woman has her eyes closed but her lips are moving slowly.

Wakana has no idea why this woman is at the bottom of the river but… she certainly can't leave her be.

She grabs her hand… a hand that is so cold that it makes her flinch. Wakana resists the urge to let the woman's hand go, and she drags the woman toward the shore along with her.

After some time, they manage to reach the shore.