After abruptly leaving Lina's place Jake ran around in the streets in a daze. His mind had gone completely blank he couldn't think straight so he just ran away from Lina. He did not want to talk to anyone at the moment let alone Lina. He was not thinking straight and was not sure what to do but he still wanted to do something. So, he did the only thing possible at the moment, He ran. As the only thing left to do he ran around the neighborhood at full speed. He kept running until he either exhausted himself completely or he calmed down enough to think clearly.

That night some of the people that were still out and about in the streets complained of sudden gusts of wind that were blowing irregularly out of nowhere. Most of the people were scared as they did not know why on a calm night like this one there were sudden bursts of wind that would blow for a moment and then go away. Some people later claimed that instead of monsters, that usually are responsible for these types of things, a demon was responsible for this incident. They claimed that a demon had made this town its habitat and these were demonic winds. Formed by the demon's wings as he was flying around in the streets at night.

As Jake was sprinting through the streets that night no one actually saw him or his running figure. It was the middle of the night so not many people were out in the first place and even those that were did not see anything. All that they had felt were the demonic gusts of wind that were generated whenever Jake ran past them.

After running continuously for an hour or so Jake finally slowed down near the tuck shop he had seen before. Without any sense of direction or purpose, he kept walking. He walked wherever his heavy, dragging feet took him. While dragging his feet behind him, as he sank into himself more and more, He came upon the same playground that he had passed by before. The playground where they used to visit a lot as a family.

He dragged himself into the playground and sat down on one of the empty swings. The playground was completely empty at the moment as it should be, it was the middle of the night. The place had an eerie silence to it as it was enveloped in darkness. He was sitting on the swing and just looking around the empty place.

He saw the playground where his daughter used to run around with other little kids as he and Sylvia would sit on the side and watch them play. She would be running around the ground with her favorite doll in her hand without a care in the world. Once he thought about that one memory he started remembering other things.

One peculiar thing about Ellen that baffled Jake's mind was her preference in the park. She absolutely loved to play on the swings. So much so that if not stopped she would keep swinging the whole day. It really was trouble to convince her that she had enough for the day. She had fought many children in the playground over who would get to swing first. As much as she loved the swings she hated the slide just as much if not more. She used to say this to her father every time he asked her about it.

"What's so fun about the slides? It is boring to slide on it. You go from one place to the other more slowly than you would walk. Swings are different because you can reach higher than you can jump and you can do it fast or slow. It makes you feel like you are flying in the sky like a little bird. I like birds that can fly high."

Jake used to think if she really was his daughter because he could never say things like that when he was ten years old. She must have gotten that part of her from her mother because he was a dumb kid growing up. She was really smart for her age yet still quite stupid sometimes which reminded him that yes, she was still a kid.

Jake looked towards a particular place on the ground where she had gotten quite hurt before. Once while swinging she had jumped off like she always did but this time it did not go as planned and she had fallen headfirst onto the ground. There was also a toy lying around on the ground and she had hit it with her face.

Jake had ran to her and picked her up quickly. Her face was full of scratches, dirt and was bleeding from a few bruised places. That was a really worrisome day for Sylvia as they were both crying on the way to the doctor. One of them was crying quite loudly. She was not seriously injured. She had some light scratches and cuts and her front tooth was loose which needed to be removed.

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On the way back home they bought a lot of snacks and ice cream. She ate a lot of ice cream but could not eat any snacks because of the swelling so they were stored away for another day. She pouted really hard at first but was soon quite excited when Sylvia told her about the tooth fairy. She kept the broken tooth under the pillow and left a few snacks for the tooth fairy. She thought that the tooth fairy will be tired by the time she reaches their house so she could use a snack.

That night when Jake went to her room to exchange the broken tooth for cash. He found out that Ellen was sleeping under the bed with a flashlight in her hand in an attempt to see the tooth fairy.

Jake was remembering these small antics and memories of his daughter when he looked at the playground. Then he saw the large park beside the playground and remembered his wife. He remembered taking long walks in the park with his wife from time to time. Actually, it was Sylvia who liked taking walks like these and Jake would make time to go with her.

He liked taking these walks with his wife as they talked along the way about various things. How were things at work, how were things at home, was Ellen getting along fine, should they take a vacation, can they afford a vacation, what things they needed to buy, and how much savings they had left for buying those things? These are small things that a husband and wife would talk about. His favorite types of walks were when sometimes they would walk along the rows of trees completely silent. They would just hold hands and walk in silence and at the end just sit together at a bench, arm in arm, knowing that they were both there for each other. This was one of his biggest regrets and guilt towards Sylvia.

Sylvia had been through thick and thin with him. He had known this woman for almost fifteen years and he still loved and adored her like the day they first met. She was not just his wife in name but a life partner in every sense. She had been his pillar of support from the day he had met her. They had shared all the joys and hardships of life together.

He always felt guilty because after his accident she had to do a lot of work to make up for his part of duties. She had cared for him when he was bedridden and had been with him the whole way when he was going through the excruciating physical therapy. Well now, now he had left her all alone on her own. Now she must be doing both her and his part in raising Ellen.

Reminiscing about the past and remembering all the good in his life had helped him calm down. Crying out loud and pouring every emotion out with his tears had helped him a lot. Now he was feeling light and fresh as he shed all that mental baggage. It was like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Now he was thinking clearly and had a newfound hope. Now his mindset was not that they may be alive rather that they are alive.

"I will not give up this time. I will not give up until I have exhausted every other option. Not until I have searched the whole world, our continents, and the Lost Ground. Until I see a dead body or a grave I will not give up hope!"

He had waited for so long and had come so far, now was not the time to give up. All he heard was an unconfirmed rumor about two people who might not even be his wife and child and had given up? Pathetic! He felt ashamed for even thinking that. He did not cross worlds to be discouraged now. Now was the time to have a cool head and get to work.

Having calmed down now he thought about what the next step in this search should be. He could not go back to Lina's house at this time of the night. Not after the way he had acted and left. Even if he did go back there all she would be able to do is confirm or deny whether the deceased people were his family or not. It might have mattered before but now it didn't. If he had to go then he will go the next day.

First, he had another place he needed to visit. After checking this place if he did not find any clue then he would really be lost. Then he could come back to Lina later. That place was his friend Andy's house.

Andy was a childhood friend of Jake's. They had grown up playing together and were still very fast friends till this day or they were at least five years ago. They had studied together through school and college. Their respective families were also quite close.

Jake and Andy had met Sylvia when they were attending high school together and had become friends. Jake and Sylvia started going out sometime later and became a couple. Andy met his wife and their friend Akari later on in college. They had known each other in college before marrying each other and because of that, they were all good friends. Andy and Akari also had a daughter which had been a playmate to Ellen. Which made them grow closer to each other.

When he was struggling in the other world and would be worried about his family. He always had this little comfort in his mind that Andy and Akari would have helped and comforted Sylvia in his place. He hoped that Andy would have taken care of Sylvia and Ellen because that is what he would have done for him. The only way to find that out would be to go to his home and that was when another obstacle presented itself.

'Where the fuck was Andy's house again? How am I supposed to find his house now?'

Jake was thinking about how to find Andy's house when he was interrupted. He heard the footsteps of people moving towards him. Moments later a group entered the empty playground.