Whispers Beneath the Cherry Blossoms

were gone

. Her floor, once covered in rain-soaked blossoms, was now spotless. No wa

e eye as she buttoned her c

oice rough and jagged from a

a's room, sitting on the couch with the same haunted e

nt something. They were beyond coincidence now. Something was pulling th

n that past, ..

t the Anthropology

the blood, the bindings all had meaning, t

ut, but the graduate

re, and Japanese student exchange records. Evelyn scanned for anyth

but eventually

old photograph: a man and a woman in ceremonial garment, kneeling at the

no names but

us," she

photo and said "No.

rned the page. The handwriting was tight, p

re sealed until the Crimson Bloom returns. Should memory r

s hand

it mean?" V

she said. "Over and over, we find e

lyn didn't go b

ed by old shelves and dim desk lamps. Evelyn curled up in a blanket on t

be bound like

ible. "Maybe we loved each other too muc

"You believe i

she admitted

et the b

t warning, Evelyn got up and crossed the room. She sat beside him on

whispered, "it's like I'm me

ser. "Then don't

lips

ow, ache

sn't new; it w

ey both whispered the same wo

res came st

her mouth sewn shut; of voices chanting in a language older than sc

d was her heart

ke ch

f Victor whispering apologies as a blade slid between her ri

m, the same p

emember,

e final clue

lation of ancient shrine documents discovered during a university tour abroad; do

thesis, the writer

. The priest betrayed the shrine to save the maiden. In doing so, he broke the pact. The gods c

at the line fo

ng, until finally

e break it

e said, pointin

dded,

esitated

is time, let's not fo

omewhere deep inside, ...someth

howled th

own again, but

lly bloomed; impossible for this time of year. Every pet

of the tree, a

t a woman in c

yn, but her eyes wer

you?" he

sm

m the blade she buried. Th

backe

his skin, they crawled

aned; the gr

hisper rose: "Remember