Pools of Blood

Chapter 58

The journey to the cremation ground was long and tiring. Jasmine hired a cab and left in the afternoon the next day without informing Mr.Topaz. Why she wanted to visit Michael’s urns, she herself didn’t know. Maybe all the stories of the book pointed to the death at the end. Maybe the mention of the cemetery repeatedly in each story struck an idea in her mind. Whatever the reason was, she left without informing anyone. For she was sure Mr. Topaz would definitely send someone after her to stalk.

It was already twilight when she reached the ruins. Darkness drenched the graveyard, the only light visible was from the time-worn church. Jasmine could hear the faint groaning organs and the angelic voices of the choir. Stained–glass shadows fell on the grass below, painting it marigold, cerise, and periwinkle. Everything was carved so delicately but slowly eroding. The faces of the ancient monstrous gargoyles were not visible and the wings of the angels were chipped. The cremation ground was on the southern corner of the graveyard. Those who practiced during the dead bodies carried it to the cremation ground, and up in a huge pyre, the bosses were lit. now only the worn-out half-burnt logs of woods were lying scattered everywhere. A foul odor permeated the night sky and the meager lights coming from the candles lighted in honor of the dead made the ambiance more scary and ruthless.

 Gingerly she stepped through the grounds, dodging the forgotten graves and almost tripping over the logs of wood. Dying flowers bloomed in this graveyard. Many people had paced notes, toys, and other handmade articles for their dead loved ones, which were destroyed by the ravages of time and only an emulsion of colors remained.

She reached the glass cabinet at the one end of the cemetery. A ginormous glass-encased cupboard with shelves almost uncountable containing urns and containers to store the urns of the cremated people. Finding the ones that belonged to the Ting family would be almost as impossible work as finding a pin in a stack of hay. Jasmine looked up at the sky. The night sky looked magical with the slither of moon curtained by the amorous grey clouds as if they were making love together. Countless stars witnessed the hide and seek of the moon among the grey freckles of a cloud.

"It is beautiful! ", Jasmine said silently.

-" Yes it is! ", said a voice from behind. Jasmine spun around and her eyes locked with an old man twice her age and doubled with a hump on his back. He looked just like the ones on TV, the scary humpback old people who threw curses. His teeth were blackened and his voice had a whizz in it. He was bald and he walked with a strain. His walking stick was a thought log of woodcut straight from a tree, not polished or decorated. He was barefoot.

" Who are you?", Jasmine asked. Her heart was beating fast with fear.

-" I am Jin Su, the caretaker of the cremation ground. What are you doing here? "

Jasmine sighed in relief.

"I am Jasmine. I came here to pay my regards to the Ting family".

-"There are many Ting families. Which one do you intend to?"

-"The Tings of Damyang forest reserve."

-"Oho. Do you mean to say The Tings of Damyang? Come with me."

Saying this, he started to hobble along the glass case looking at different shelves and name tags placed upon it. " How are you related with the Tings?"

Jasmine had no idea how to answer that question. If she said that she was a friend, the man might get suspicious. After all only family members were allowed to visit the urns and no one else.

"Umm. I am a..well, I am their daughter."

The man looked intently at her in the faded low light of the candles. Then he gave a short nod.

He took her to the end of the shelves and there at the very last shelf stood a whole section dedicated to the Tings. So many urns, golden, silver, bronze, and all kinds of metals. Flowers, photos, and small souvenirs decorated the shelves. They were rich. And they could afford all those luxurious after-death decorations.

She searched the ones she was searching for. The name of Michael’s grandfather was known far and wide. His ashes and his wife were placed above the urns that belonged to his two children. Michael's father and mother and his aunt's urns made by silver and gems stood glittering under the moonlit sky.

-" I want to pray. Can I?"

The man nodded and limped away slowly.

Jasmine touched the urns especially his aunt. She had read a story the previous night where the son put the diamond cuttings into the urn of his mother for safekeeping. The book held many more stories with a deep inner meaning. She thought that the story might hold a clue. Michael’s grandfather might have hidden the will into the urn of his daughter, Michael's aunt, who had died before he was born. Mr. Topaz had said that the old man loved his daughter very much and her death almost killed him. He was heartbroken. So Jasmine calculated the probability of the will’s location into the urn of the aunty. She looked around. Then quietly slid open the glass case and stepped in. Damp air hit her nostrils and she almost tumbled back. Slowly and slowly she lifted the lid of the urn and took off the container from the shelf. She put her hand inside and felt her hand inside the soft ashes. She started to grope her fingers and all of a sudden her hand touched a cold object.

She lifted it out of the case and quickly put the container back to where it belonged. Jasmine felt apologetic for violating the privacy of the dead and muttered a quick sorry. She whispered that she was a friend of their heir and whatever she was doing it was for him. She prayed for their forgiving and slid the glass shut.

"Are you done", the man had returned. How stealthily he walked! Jasmine had no idea when he came back. She nodded and stepped out of the cremation grounds.

Back to her car in the safety zone, she switched on the lights. There under the dim lights of the car, she saw what she was clutching for a while. Her hand was smudged with white ashes and on her palm there rested a key.