The Invisible Mystery

Chapter 30: The Answer

“Did you really find the one that could solve our problem?” Evo asked me, clearly excited about the thing that I had told him.

I could see in his eyes the genuine excitement and relief that he was feeling as of that moment, as though he knew that finally… finally, they would be able to cross the afterlife—just like what they always wanted after all this time.

Just like what they have hoped for the past five years of their lives… just like what they always wanted to fulfill after all this time that they were still in this world, even though it was not supposed to happen any longer—even though they were not supposed to exist in this world anymore.

“I am still not quite sure about it,” I told him, honestly, and I saw how his smile dropped as though he did not expect to hear that from me, that was also the reason why I decided to continue what I was saying to him. “But I really think that this could be the answer that we have been looking for all this time.”

Evo had thought about it for a moment, before he finally nodded his head at me as though he knew that we had no other choice but to give it a try—we had no other choice but to think that it was one of the possibilities, so that all of them would be able to cross the afterlife.

“We had to try everything that we could think of, after all,” he even said to me, as though he knew that was the only choice that we had as of that moment. “We had to do everything that we could for our own sake.”

I looked into his eyes as I tried to observe every single emotion that I could see. It was as though I suddenly felt what I had thought of earlier—that sudden wave of sadness inside my heart.

I still think that I was torn between everything that had happened ever since I found out the truth. I still think of the fear that I would feel once I was alone once again—once everything would fall back into its place.

Once they had finally managed to cross the afterlife, just like how it should have happened a very long time ago.

I really did not know why I was feeling this way. I did not know why it felt like I was afraid to let them go, even though I knew that I still had my family after all that had happened—even though I knew that I would never really feel all alone, because I still had my sister and my father.

Maybe it was because this was the very first time that I knew someone was genuine about what they felt about me. Maybe, this was the very first time that I managed to have friends that were genuinely happy because of the thought that I was one of them.

Or maybe, there was something else about this, because I could not seem to point out what I had been feeling as of that moment. I could not seem to understand my own emotions. I could not seem to understand anything at all as I was constantly going on with the flow, even though I did not know that it was hurting me so badly.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt that someone suddenly put their hands on my cheek as they squished them, as though they wanted to make sure that I was still with them, and that I would snap out of my thoughts.

They really managed to do that, and I was about to ask who it was, but I was immediately taken aback when I saw that it was Evo, who somehow managed to get closer to me—to the point that all I could see was his face and nothing else.

“What are you doing?” I asked, as I could not hide my astonishment because of what he had done.

I even subconsciously took a step back to him, because I really did not know what he was doing. I did not know why he had suddenly done something like that—just like what he had done before when I tried to confront him about the truth in the section that I thought were normal people.

“I really think that you are not alright,” he told me, which made me raise one of my eyebrows at him as though I did not know what he was talking about—as though I was really confused about what he was doing all this time.

I was about to ask him what he meant by that, but I was once again taken aback when I heard him sigh as worry suddenly crept onto his face as though he did not know what to do about our situation at that moment.

“You were spacing out a lot,” he observed as he even tapped his fingers on his chin as though he was deeply assessing the situation. “And you have been staring at nothing in particular for a long moment, which is really odd because you have never done that before.”

I stared at him for a long moment, because I really did not know what to say about what he had seen to me. I did not know how I should react to his worries about me, because it was not really that serious.

I even jumped when he suddenly snapped his fingers as though he had figured out something, but I guessed that it was something that would make me let out a sigh because, really, he was just making a fuss about my sudden silence.

“I think that you should take a rest first,” he even said to me as he came to the conclusion that I was really unwell and that I needed to take a rest, even though it was not really the case. “I think that we should just talk later, or maybe, tomorrow about what you had thought about so that you could take a rest first.”

My eyes widened as I panicked because of what he had said. I hastily tried to stop him before he could even drag me towards my cabin, which I think was his plan as I saw him going in that direction.

“I really am alright!” I argued as I held his wrist so that he would stop moving in that direction.

It made him stop as he looked at me with his eyebrows furrowed as though he could not figure out what I was trying to say—as though he was deeply convinced that I was just lying just so I could still go and do whatever I wanted.

“But you were spacing out a lot!”

I could see, clearly, that Evo was really worried about me, but all I could do was to let out a sigh, as I did not know how I would explain to him why I was acting like that. I did not know what to do anymore other than to convince him that I was indeed alright and there was nothing to worry about.

After all, I also knew that I could not tell him what had been bothering me. I could not possibly worry about him more than this. I could not possibly tell him the truth, when I knew that all it would do to him was to make him feel guilty—and worse, he might even say that I should not do something that was bound to hurt me in the end.

I did not want that. I never wanted that to happen, and I never wanted to experience something like that. Above all, I did not want to cause any more problems for him, or for anyone, as I already knew that they needed to focus on crossing the afterlife.

I did not want to be the cause of their delays. I did not want to be the reason why they had to back out. I did not want to be a problem to them, because I knew that they did everything that they could just so they could reach the goal that they always wanted to have ever since that incident some years ago.

I let out a sigh as I tried to remove those thoughts from my mind, because I knew that if I would not stop from thinking about it, he was bound to know what I was really thinking—he was bound to know why I was suddenly acting like this way, even though I never did something like this before.

“I’m fine, and I’m not sick or anything, Evo,” I told him with finality in my voice, as though I wanted to end this conversation at that moment. “Anyway, I think that we should focus on what I was saying earlier rather than making a fuss about me,” I even added.

I turned my back to him as I removed my hold on his wrist, so that I could get away from his worried gaze as fast as I could, so that I would be able to dodge his questions that I knew he was about to tell me.

“Liana! Wait up!” I heard him say, but I did not bother to look at him as I already knew that he was just bound to make a fuss even though he did not have to do that. “We have to make sure that you are indeed alright!”

I quickened my pace even more when I heard him say that, because I knew that he would not stop even though I already did everything that I could to make him do that—even though I tried all my best to convince him to think otherwise, because I was really fine and nothing was wrong with me.

Though it was not really a hundred percent true, I could still say that I was not sick, unlike what he had deduced earlier—but he did not have to know that any longer, because I knew that nothing good would really happen if ever we still tried to make that conversation longer than it should have.

I really thought that I had finally succeeded in running away from him, and making him believe that I was just alright, but it seemed like I was wrong. I was terribly wrong because as soon as I took a turn on one of the paths, I felt that he was the one who held my wrist at that time.

That was only the moment that I finally faced him once again, and I frowned when I saw that he was breathing heavily as though he was a normal human and it terribly exhausted him to follow me around.

“I did not know that a ghost like you could feel exhaustion.”

That was a genuine thought, because I thought that they were just like those ghosts in the movies that I saw. But maybe, there was something different about them, because really, how could I explain what was happening at that moment?

How could I explain every single thing that had been happening ever since I finally accepted the fact that what they were saying was indeed the truth, and the truth alone?

“I thought that you would feel bad if I acted like I was exhausted because of you,” he said to me, which made me frown even more, as I did not know where and when he had thought of that, though I must say that I should not focus on that fact anymore.

I should not bother thinking about something like that, because I could see in his eyes that he was still not a hundred percent convinced that I was alright. He was still convinced that something was wrong with me, and I did not know what to say to him any longer, just to convince him otherwise.

“I think that we should really make it clear that you were alright, don’t you think so?” he asked me, which made me let out a loud sigh as I thought that that was already my breaking point—because I could not think about how I should really explain everything to him.

“I already told you for who knows how many times!” I told him, and I did not know why, but I think that even though I felt a slight irritation at him, I still think that I could say those things to him because I knew that we were both comfortable enough with each other to be honest with what we wanted to say to one another.

That was the first time that I had thought about it, though I think that I should just think about it for some other time because I knew that I had to focus on what he was saying first, before I completely lost my mind because of what he was saying to me.

“I am feeling well, and you do not have to worry about me,” I told him as though I wanted him to think about it thoroughly, but I immediately gave up when I saw how he shook his head as though nothing would really make him feel convinced about what I was saying. “Why don’t we focus on what I had thought of earlier, huh?”

He stopped for a moment. It was almost as though he was trying to weigh everything that I said to him and what he had on his mind, but I think that I should not have my hopes up anymore because I knew that he was only bound to be firm about what he thought was happening that moment.

I was about to fully give up and let him think whatever he wanted to. I was about to tell him that he should think that way, and I would just do whatever I wanted to do, but then again, it seemed as though luck was on my side that day, because I saw that Winter and Cloud were walking towards us.

I saw that they were as though wondering what Evo and I were doing, but I could not be bothered about that anymore as I immediately waved my free hand at them as a huge grin suddenly crept up onto my face.

Before they could even ask what we were doing there, and why the heck Evo was holding my wrist so tight, I immediately explained the situation to them, though I must say that it was only half the truth of what was happening at that moment.

“Evo and I were just talking about the solution that I had thought of earlier,” I told them, and I could not stop the triumphant smile on my face when I saw how they halted and looked at me with their eyes wide open. “The one that I think would be the answer to our problems yesterday.”