The longer it took to find Ken, the more worried Leo became. He hadn't found a trace of him yet and ghostly appearances were becoming more frequent. Leo was running out of film as well, and he had no idea where to get more. The Camera Obscura was his only defense, without it...he would have no hope or escape. The more ghosts he came across, the stronger they were. The first ghost he exorcised perished within two snaps, but now...it was requiring more than that, which didn't help his film problem. He tried to think of what he could do if he ran out of film. Running would be the only option, but it wouldn't really do much good considering the fact that the ghosts could just reappear wherever he was. He was running out of options and out of time..

The fog began to brew up again, leaving Leo feeling uneasy. He looked around carefully to make sure nothing was around. He called out Ken's name repetitively, becoming desperate to find the boy. It was then when he saw someone walking ahead of him. A dark silhouette of person. Was it Ken? Leo decided to run after the figure. The fog was thinning out as he rushed ahead. Leo could now see the back of the person clearly. It was Ken.

"Ken!!" Leo shouted, but the boy ignored him and continued to wander aimlessly forward. Leo was close to him when he stopped as something caught his attention. In front of Ken, he saw woman in a blood-stained kimono. The woman had long black hair that covered her face. Her cold, dead eyes locked on Ken. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared. Leo was frozen. He felt a strange presence from the woman. Ultimately, Ken stopped walking and stood right where the woman had been standing. Leo snapped out of it and ran straight ahead to Ken. 

Ken's back was still turned, so Leo slowly approached him from the side and bent down a little to look at his face. "Ken?" he called softly. Ken slowly rose his head and looked straight at Leo.

"It's...Ayame," he said. Leo took a deep breath out of relief and put his hands on Ken's shoulders.

"Ken are you okay??" he asked.

"She...she's killing...she's killing everyone.." said Ken trembling.

"Ken calm down, what are you talking about??"

"Ayame was calling to me...telling me to come to the lakehouse.."

"Lakehouse?" Leo thought about the words one of the ghosts whispered. He said the lakehouse. Ken nodded and hugged Leo tightly

"Please don't leave me...don't let her get me..." Ken mumbled into Leo's chest. Leo wrapped his arms around the frightened boy and hugged him back tight.

"Don't worry, it's gonna be alright. We're gonna stick together from now on okay? No more running away. I was worried about you. I kept looking for you," said Leo, softly rubbing Ken's back.

"Y-you were worried about me? I thought you didn't like me?"

"There are times you drive me crazy but I'd never abandon you in here," said Leo. "Now tell me, what do you know about Ayame?"

"Well..I had a vision..she was drawing people in through various different methods. First is the music box, then possession, and I think all of this is somehow connected to the white lotus we keep seeing," said Ken.

"Now that you mention it, I found another note from Hongbin and he mentioned the sightings of white lotuses and hw each time he saw one a..."

"Petal would be missing?"

"...Yeah...how'd you know?"

"That's what I saw. Ayame ripped off each petal one by one.."

"But...why? Does it have to do with her death?" Ken shrugged.

"I don't know, but I'm not sure I wanna find out.  I really wanna get out of here Leo..."

"Don't worry, we will. But I think we'll need to see this to the end. Besides, if we turn back now, we won't be able to get out of the lotus woods. I have a feeling we're trapped here..."

"So...does that explain why people went missing? They could never find their way out because Ayame traps them in with her lotus?"

"Well..I think it has more to do with more than the lotus. Um..Ken...do you think you could tell me what Ayame looks like? How she looked in your vision?"

"Yeah, she had long black hair and wore a white kimono," Ken replied. Leo's eyes widened. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I think...I think I saw her...she was standing right in front of you before you came back to your senses. That was no little girl...she was a woman about in her mid 20s,"

"But what about the notes? It sounded like a little girl, even the handwriting looked like that of a child's too!"

"There's still so much we don't know....hmm okay I know this might sound crazy...but...you said something about a lakehouse right?"

"Leo...please don't...forget what I said..."

"If we go there...I have a feeling we'll find answers and Hongbin as well."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that...Leo what if something else happens? What if Ayame calls me to her again? I was apparently close if you said you saw her! I don't wanna do this anymore..." Ken broke down. Leo squeezed the boy tightly in another hug.

"It's okay, I won't let anything else happen to you, okay?"

"..Okay" Ken sniffled.

"Come on, let's find the lakehouse. We have to be close," Leo said grabbing Ken's hand and pulling him forward. They began walking ahead, both relieved to be back in eachother's company. It was silent for the most part, then Leo broke the silence. "Um hey...what were you gonna say back there? You know, before you ran off," he asked.

"Huh?" said Ken.

"You said you wished that I talked to you more and I asked why. Before you answered, you out. So tell me now, what were you gonna say?" Ken blushed and lowered his head feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Um I was gonna say that I...I really like you...and I always have." Leo stopped and turned around to look at Ken.

"Really? I-I would've never guessed.."

"Yeah..that's why I always do things to irritate you...it's the only way you'll react to me..I'm pathetic I know."

"No no it's okay..um.."

"You don't have to answer or say anything. I know you don't feel the same way so it's all good." Ken said fast. Leo was about to say something else when he noticed another white lotus. This lotus was missing two petals. Only six remained...