The Invisible Mystery

Chapter 24: Willow's Wish

I frowned as I gazed at Evo with a clear confusion on my face. It was as though I could not seem to comprehend anything at all - as though I could not seem to understand what he just said, because I could clearly remembered that I have seen Willow with them the night before.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked him as I did not bother to hide the confusion on my voice any longer. After all, our situation as of this moment was really that confusing that it almost made me want to bash my head to the wall because it felt like we were encountering problems after problems. “I could clearly remember that Willow was there when were celebrating.”

That was right. I could still remember that she was dancing around the bonfire when I had decided that I should leave because I suddenly felt so tired - though I must say that it must be because of my constant sleepless night that was why I felt so tired, even though I would normally stay until the end of that kind of celebration.

They never said anything when I said that I would take my leave because I already felt so tired. To be prank, I could remember that they all nodded their heads as they said that they would wrap up soon because they still wanted to dance around for a little while. I could remember that they were still laughing around until I have left, so I thought everything would just be alright.

I thought that it would just be alright for me to leave that early, because I thought that nothing wrong would happen, but then again, I guessed that I was wrong because suddenly, I had heard something like this towards them.

I suddenly got a news that Willow was gone, and they all have this serious expression on their faces as though they all had done everything that they could, but then, they could still not find her. It was as though they had already tried everything that they could think of, but stil, Willow was nowhere to be found.

I was not believing that was really the case though. I could not believe that she would just be gone just like that without any explanation as to why something like that had suddenly happened. I could not believe that there was no reason why she was suddenly lost, even though I could remember how happy she was.

My heart suddenly beats so fast as I realized something. “Did you try to find her?” I asked them, though I had already figured out that that might be what they had done the moment that they realized that Willow was nowhere to be found. “I mean, is it not that odd that she was suddenly gone like this way?”

I looked at all of them, and the expression on their faces was still the same and still have not changed, which made me feel nervous for Willow even more. It made me think that she might be in a serious situation as of this moment, and I could not seem to shake off that thought even though I have tried everything that I could to do so.

“We already checked every place on the Lost Soul’s Forest where we think she had gone off to, but still, we could not find her anywhere,” Winter said to me with a sad look on her face, which almost made me feel bad because I knew how close she was to her.

I knew that they were like siblings who were inseparable. They were almost like sisters that would lean onto each other whenever they needed someone to talk to. They were like a family, and I could prove that because whenever the three of us were together, I could feel their closeness as though they were long lost sisters.

“And yes, it is really odd that she was suddenly nowhere to be found, even though she was enjoying our celebration the night before,” Winter had said to me once again, as though she was really worried about Willow but she could not do anything because she did not know where she went to.

My heart had pounded even more than before because of that thought. My thoughts were swirling onto my mind as I thought that this might be more serious than I thought. I think that this situation that we were currently in was so serious to the point that it made me worry for her safety.

Speculations after speculations, my mind started to think of the thoughts that were not so impossible to happen. I started to think of the things that could possibly happen to Willow the moment that they had decided to finish that party.

I let out a shaky breath as I looked down at the table that was in front of me, as I whispered, “What... what if she was kidn*pped?” I panicked with that thought as my eyes widen because I knew that it was not that possible.

After all, we were in an area that was really far from the civilization. We were literally in the middle of the mountain somewhere outside of the city where the Pristine University was, and I knew that it was not that impossible for someone to come here and kidnap someone for a reason that I did not want to think anymore.

I knew that it was not that impossible that someone had kidn*pped Willow while we were preoccupied by something else, and that made me want to shudder as I did not want to think of the things that they could do to her anymore.

I did not want to speculate, but I could not help it as I knew that it was really impossible that Willow was suddenly gone without any trace. I knew that it was too impossible that she had suddenly left without even saying any single words to any of us - specifically WInter, whom I knew she was so close with.

I was thinking of that way, when I suddenly felt that someone had flicked my forehead, which made me look up and glare at Cloud - the person whom I knew would do something like that just because he wants to.

I was about to say to him that this was not the time to tease each other. I was about to lecture him because it was really rude that he had done something like that in this kind of situation, but then again, I woke up as soon as I heard what he had said next to Evo.

“I thought she already knew the truth about us?” he asked Evo as he did not bother to hide the annoyed tone on his voice any longer, then he looked at me with an irritated look on his face as the next question that he asked was meant for me. “I thought that you were intelligent? Why the h*ck would you speculate such thing when you already knew about the truth? Can’t you think deeper than that?”

I almost flinched because this was the very first time that I ever heard a tone like that from him, even though we were clearly annoying each other for almost every single time that we were meeting each other. It made me look down on my hands as I played with my finger, with a guilty expression on my face.

“It is true that I already knew the truth,” I told him, almost as a whisper as though I did not want any of them to hear it, but then again, I guessed that I was only acting like that just because I did not know what to do any longer. “But still, it was too shocking that I could not help but to have a hard time on believing any of it.”

I needed some time. I needed to think about it, thoroughly, and I thought that I would be able to do that because I thought that we would not face any problem any longer, but then again, I did not expect that something like this would happen.

I did not expect that some kind of incident would happen while I was on the process of thinking about it. I did not expect that we would face this kind of problem, when I have already thought that I had a chance to clear everything out. I did not expect that we would be like this way, when I thought that I would have a chance to ask any of them about the truth that I still could not believe at all.

Cloud was about to say something else other than what he had just said to me, but then again, before he could even do that, Evo had already cut him off. “Enough with that, Cloud,” he said in a serious tone on his voice, which made me look up at him and saw that he was staring straight at Cloud. “Didn’t I already told you that we should give her a time? I already told you over and over again that it was really hard to believe about the truth, but then, you would act like this way towards her.”

There was an anger on his voice that was enough to silence everyone inside of that room, and that includes me. It made me keep my mouth shut as I did not want to anger him even more, and I thought that would also be the case for the other four that were inside the room, but then again, I guessed that I was also wrong with that.

“But this is connected with that!” Cloud suddenly shouted, which made me look up at him and saw frustration on his eyes. I could see the way he was irritated because of the situation we were currently in. “That would be the only explanation why Willow was suddenly gone without any trace!”

I was so confused after I had heard that from him. I was so confused to the point that all I could do was to look at Evo as though I was asking what has been happening. I was looking at him as though I was expecting an answer from him because it seems like the people inside of this room was still not calm because of what had happened.

Evo let out a sigh as he started to say to me, “We think that Willow was gone because she had already managed to cross the afterlife.”

I looked at him with a belwildered gaze because I could not seem to comprehend anything at all. I could not seem to process what he just said to me, which made me feel even more confused than before.

“What... what do you mean by that?” I asked him as I looked around at all of them as though I wanted to get an answer from them, because I really think that I could not process anything at all. I could not think of anything at all.

At first, I thought that them being a ghost was already the most confusing thing and the most unbelievable thing that I could hear from them, but then again, I would hear something like this the night after Evo had confirmed that everything that I found out that day was the truth - and only the truth.

“That was the most happiest day of her life,” Storm suddenly said, which made me look at him as I continued to listen to whatever he was about to say. “I went and said to her that I was glad she was able to be happy, because she was not like that when we were still alive.”

Thunder, his twin, had nodded his head as soon as Storm had said those words as he even added to what his twin had said, “She was always focused on her study that she had almost forgotten how to be happy.”

I stopped as I heard that from her, because I never thought that she was like that kind of person. It had never crossed on my mind that she was a serious type of person, because the first time that I have met her, she was so carefree as though she did not care about anything that was happening on this world.

“She changed after we returned on this world,” Storm said, which made me snap out of my thoughts as I looked at him once again. “She became so carefree and she did not stop herself from smiling anymore, and we figured that it was because she thinks that she did not have to worry about anything because you know...”

He smiled a little, though I could tell that there was sadness beneath those smile. I could tell that there was sorrow on his eyes as he continued, “Though I could tell that she was not that completely happy. She was still stopping herself from being happy, to be exact.” He let out a sigh as he looked up as though he had remembered something, as I heard him whispered, “But it was not the same last night.”

The whole room was silent as though they were waiting for him to continue what he was about to say. It was as though they were waiting for the thing that he was about to say, though I must say that I already knew what he was about to tell us.

“She looks so happy, genuinely happy, to be exact,” he told me as he let out a smile once again as though he was also happy when he had remembered the expression that he had seen on Willow the night before. “I could tell that she was really happy about that night. She was so carefree, and I guessed that was her final wish.”

I frowned once again when I had heard the last words that he had said, but then again, before I could even ask about that, Evo had already intervened as he started to explain what Storm meant when he had said those words to us, to me.

“What Storm had meant to say was that we figured that Willow might be gone because she had already fulfilled her wishes on this place,” he said, which made me feel baffled as I could not seem to understand anything at all. “It seems like she had already figured out the wish that she always wanted to have - the wish that had stopped her from crossing the other life.”

“Wait up. Wait up.” I stopped Evo from talking as I shook my head with a confused look on my face. They had turned their heads on me at the same time, and so I did not hesitate to ask, “Did you mean that she was gone because she had already fulfilled her wishes on this world?”

Does that mean she had already crossed the afterlife? But then again, how would I be able to believe any of that when I was still confused over so many things about them? How would I be able to believe that what had happened to Willow when in the first place, I still could not believe that I was literally with people who were supposed to be dead because of what had happened on that day five years ago?

How would I be able to believe any of this, when I was still on that pace that I had to process everything that I found out that day?

They all nodded their head as it was Storm who had answered what I just asked them, “We believed that was the case because we also could not think of a proper explanation as to why she was suddenly gone.”

I thought that Cloud would not say anything at all to me, but then again, I heard him say, “We figured that might also be the case for us that was why we are still here.” I looked at him, with a frown that was still evident on my face. “We figured that we were still on this world because we still have a wish that we needed to fulfill.”