Chapter 11 · Blind Brother Held My Urn

Chapter 11

Oliver took a screenshot of the article and saved it to the folder he still hadn't named.The lights in the stairwell flickered on and off.Another round of applause echoed from the banquet hall.Oliver pushed the door open and headed back inside.As the party was winding down, something happened that nobody saw coming.The greeter at the entrance stopped someone.It wasn't a guest. It was a young man in a faded jacket, carrying a cloth bag.His eyes were a milky gray, unfocused and empty. It was Ethan.He wasn't there to make a scene. Mia had found out Derek was hosting an event at the hotel today, so Ethan came on his own.He stood at the entrance, not stepping inside. He just asked the greeter to hand something over for him.It was a small copper lock.Ethan said, "This belonged to Luna. She used to keep it by her pillow. Her name and Derek's are engraved on it."She told me they hang it on a bridge for luck. She and Derek did it on their first date. She never let it go. I want to return it to Derek."The greeter looked at Ethan, then at the small copper lock in his hand.The lock was small, covered in greenish patina, and the words on it were almost worn away.Etched in shaky letters, he could make out two names, which were Derek and me.The greeter hesitated, peering inside. The party was wrapping up, and guests were busy snapping photos together.The greeter said, "Hold on, let me go ask."He went to find Oliver.After hearing what happened, Oliver walked over to the entrance and glanced at Ethan.Ethan was standing on the steps outside, one hand gripping a pillar. The wind made his jacket billow around him.Oliver walked over and called out, "Ethan."Ethan turned his head and said, "Oliver.""How did you know it was me?" Oliver asked.Ethan replied, "I recognized your footsteps. Last time, when you crouched down to talk to me in the lobby, your shoes had this distinct rhythm on the floor. I remembered that sound."Oliver stood in front of him, his eyes fixed on the small copper lock in Ethan's hand."You don't have to give this back. Keep it," he said."Luna said everything of hers should be returned to Derek. She didn't want to owe anyone anything when she left," Ethan replied.Oliver didn't press the issue. He took the small copper lock from Ethan.He said, "I'll give it to him for you. You should head home now."Ethan nodded. He let go of the pillar, walked a couple of steps along the guide path for the visually impaired, then stopped.He called out, "Oliver.""Yes," Oliver replied."Oliver, did Luna call your company in her last days?" Ethan asked.Oliver's fingers tightened around the small copper lock.He'd already checked the call logs. In the two weeks before I died, I'd called Derek's number twenty-three times. None of them was answered, or they were just cut off.One of those calls went through to the company's main office line.Oliver was the one who picked up that time.I said, "Hello, could you tell Derek I'm out of meds and need to go to the hospital?"Oliver relayed the message, but Derek brushed it off and said, "She's doing this again. Don't bother with her."After that, Oliver didn't follow up.Oliver watched as Ethan slowly walked away under the streetlights, step by step, sometimes pausing to check the direction of the blind path with his foot.Oliver slipped the copper lock into his coat pocket.He didn't step into the banquet hall.He lingered at the doorway for a long time, lost in thought.After that, he returned to his office, turned on his computer, and finally gave that unnamed folder a name.It was my name.He started sorting through everything he'd uncovered.Notebook photos, empty pill bottles, basement snapshots, neighbor statements, hospital records about the cornea donation, changed recipient details, and old news articles about Ryan.He needed more.On Sunday, the day after the party, something happened.Mia called, and her voice sounded strange.She asked, "Ethan, where are you?"Ethan replied, "I'm at my apartment.""Don't go out. Don't go anywhere," Mia said.Ethan asked, "What's going on?"Mia was silent for a couple of seconds.She replied, "Someone went to the basement where Luna passed away this morning."They cleared everything out. The bed, the blankets, the table, the notebook, all gone. Even the nails in the walls are gone."Ethan gripped his phone tightly, saying nothing.Mia continued, "I was too late. I went this morning to help you gather Luna's things, but when I got there, the whole place was empty, not even a scrap of paper left."There was a van parked outside. I asked the driver who sent him. He said a woman surnamed Brown called him."'Brown? Then it must be Vivian,' Ethan thought.Ethan slowly sat down and asked, "Why?"Mia asked, "What?""Why did they take Luna's things?" Ethan asked.Mia let out a heavy sigh on the other end of the line.

Chapter 11