Chapter 9

Was it important for me to return to Wynnie's side? In the past, I might care about her enough to do that, but now, I would never return to her side. I just looked away impassively. "That's no longer important, Wynnie." I heard the soft sound of a seatbelt getting unbuckled from the driver's seat. The next thing I knew, Wynnie leaned over and turned my head around so that she could force me to look at her. She gritted out in a low tone, "Since you think our relationship isn't important at all, then why did you always wear that expression, Sebastian?" "That's because I like seeing you make a fool out of yourself. Whenever I look jealous, you'll always come back to me." Wynnie released my head forcefully. In doing so, she ended up raking her sharp nails across my face, leaving a few bloody scratches behind. My head was tilted to the side because of the force she had used. Soon, Wynnie coldly ordered, "Get out, Sebastian." I didn't hesitate to open the door and get out of the car. The fact that the slow drizzle had turned into a heavy downpour didn't matter at all. As I watched Wynnie's car cruising away without hesitation, I thought about our relationship. The truth was that Wynnie was never in love with me from the start. She was just reluctant to let me off the hook. She was unwilling to accept the fact that I had abandoned her so readily back then. The downpour grew heavier. I did my best to protect the items in my arms, but they still got drenched in the end. By the time Ryan found me, I happened to be standing under a tree dazedly. He took me back to his home. The first thing I did upon reaching Ryan's home was open the box to check on Eve's belongings. Everything else seemed fine save for her drawings, which were completely ruined. All of Eve's drawings were completely drenched by the rain. I couldn't make out what she had drawn. All I could see were patches of colors spreading across the wet papers. I wrapped myself up in a towel snugly while sitting in Ryan's apartment. There, I spent my time looking out the window in a daze. Gradually, the downpour stopped. Rays of sunlight streamed through the clouds and hit the mountains skirting outside the suburbs. In a way, the scenery looked holistic. From here, I could see the mountains. There was a spiritual chapel located on top of a particular mountain. It was said to offer top-notch accurate fortune-telling services. When I was still a student, I tended to travel to the chapel just to get my fortune read before my exams. Ryan noticed what I was looking at, and he was able to make an educated guess. He asked me, "Do you want to visit the spiritual chapel?" I said yes. Also, I needed to take Eve's urn there. Eve did mention that she wanted to return to the mountains. But I didn't expect Ryan to keep me company. He used his hostile relationship with Wynnie as an excuse to not go to work after what happened in the bar. In his words, he claimed that he was taking impromptu leave. Then again, I knew he was secretly afraid that something might happen to me. As always, the fortune-telling services offered by the spiritual church were extremely accurate. Right after I tossed another stick that depicted my extremely bad luck into the canister for the third time, the priest, who had refused to read my fortune for me, finally clicked his tongue. He dumped out all the sticks from the canister and pushed the pile toward me. "Pick one of the sticks that shows good luck so that I can read your fortune for you." After that, the priest asked Ryan, "What about you? Do you want to get your fortune read?" Ryan managed to snap out of his shell-shocked state before shaking his head. I couldn't help but chuckle silently while covering my mouth at the sight. Just like that, the depression I felt ever since I lost Eve receded slightly. The priest told me that I had officially hit rock bottom in life. My luck would gradually return to me as time passed. I didn't really care about that. The person I wanted to protect the most was already gone. Could my luck get any worse at this point? Well, reality slapped me in the face right after that. Once I got out of the spiritual chapel, I cradled Eve's urn in my arms as I got onto the wooden bridge connected to another mountain with Ryan in tow. The bridge was constructed between the mountains, seeing as there was a deep ravine between them. It had been a century since it was last built, yet it remained strong and unwavering. Because of that, the spiritual chapel specifically hosted an activity in which the visitors could attach padlocks together and chain them to the railings. Beneath the padlocks were tiny wooden tubes. Whenever the wind blew across the bridge, the tubes would clatter together, forming a symphony that was pleasant to the ear. If I were to scatter Eve's ashes here, she'd get to see the most breathtaking sights and listen to the melodious sounds every day. Eve didn't get to eat much when she was still alive. When she was dead, all that was left of her was her ashes. People used to say that one's ashes, combined with an urn, would weigh two pounds. But now that I was hugging Eve's urn, I felt that it wasn't even that heavy. After I was done scattering Eve's ashes, I turned around to see Wynnie and Richard. By then, they had just finished clasping their padlocks together to a bridge railing. I didn't want to acknowledge them at all, so I turned to leave. Alas, Richard refused to let me go. His voice wasn't that loud, but I was still able to hear every word he said. "Wynnie, look! This padlock seems to belong to a kid. They wrote your and Sebastian's names here." I paused in my tracks. A distant memory slowly resurfaced from the dredges of my dusty mind. Eve was the one who had left a written note in the padlock's tube. It happened in the second year Wynnie and I adopted her. Back then, Eve said she wanted to visit the place Wynnie and I had been to, so we brought her to the spiritual chapel. When she found out about the meaning behind the padlocks on the bridge, she began clapping while smiling. "I want Mommy and Daddy to be together forever," she had said. I snapped out of my memories the moment I heard the sounds of a padlock being unlocked. Once I looked over to Richard, I noticed a hairpin and a small padlock in his hands. It seemed that he had unlocked Eve's padlock. Richard said, "A kid's wish doesn't count." When I realized that Richard was about to toss Eve's padlock into the ravine, my body reacted before my mind could realize what just happened. I hollered at Richard to stop. Richard turned to look at me in astonishment. Clearly, he didn't expect me to be there as well. I extended my hand to him. I needed to get my hands on Eve's padlock. Wynnie stared at my outstretched hand for a moment. Suddenly, she snatched the padlock from Richard and tossed it off the bridge without hesitation. Eve's note was stuffed into the tube that hung from the padlock. But since the padlock had been chained to the railing for a very long time, the rope that connected the tube to the padlock had gotten loose due to the extensive exposure to the harsh weather for so long. Although the padlock was thrown down the ravine, the tube was still miraculously attached to the railing. I quickly approached the railing and grabbed the tube carefully so that I could protect the note. Thank goodness Eve's note wasn't thrown overboard as well. Wynnie's expression darkened even more as she watched my every move. It was at that moment I finally realized what was going on. Did Wynnie seriously think I was going for the padlock? I just shook my head slightly before walking away from Richard and Wynnie. Then, I returned to the spiritual chapel with Ryan by my side. My health was getting worse by the day. I had only taken a few steps when I began to pant heavily. The priest was worried that I might collapse all of a sudden, so he quickly served me a glass of water. Having noticed the empty urn in my hands, he suggested, "Why don't you leave the urn here? We have a small crypt here that's meant for the deceased. That way, you can visit the urn whenever you miss your loved one." I contemplated for a few moments before shaking my head. Wynnie and Richard would visit this place from time to time. I wanted Eve to rest in peace without getting bothered by those two. After that, I turned to look out the chapel. Numerous visitors came and went, either wearing joyful or saddened looks. As though I was entranced by the sight, I called out to Ryan numbly. "Ryan, I want you to scatter my ashes here after I die, just like how I scattered Eve's." I did promise Eve that I'd spend quality time with her. In the end, I didn't even get to see her one last time. If I couldn't fulfill that promise when she was still alive, I might as well fulfill it after I died.