Sins of loving you

13

Something slammed on my face causing my eyes to flutter open and the first thing I registered was a persistent pain in my back. I found myself on the floor in an awkward position and a groan escaped as I brought a hand to massage my back to alleviate the pain.

Blinking to adjust to the light, I slowly sat up, my surroundings coming into focus. It took me a moment to realize that something was amiss – the room felt quieter, emptier. The memory of the previous day rushed back to me, the heaviness of it settling in my chest once again.

"Ara?" I called out, my voice edged with a hint of worry. I expected to hear her familiar response, a reassurance that everything was okay. But there was no reply, just a hollow echo of my own voice.

I scanned the room, half-expecting to see her there, curled up on the bed but the room was vacant, devoid of her presence. I stood up, my unease deepening.  I took a tentative step forward when my feet hit a small notebook, I saw Ara carrying around on the train the day I met.

I picked it up and went through it. It had some kind of bucket list titled things to do together with everything but one crossed out.

Marry under the waterfall just like Jim and Pam. There was a heart drawn to the side of it.

I flipped through the pages, my eyes scanning the contents that chronicled her experiences over the past year. The entries not only detailed her travels but also provided insights into the food she had tried along the way. What caught my attention were the patterns that emerged – the places she had visited were often associated with religious significance, steeped in history and tradition. Some locations were even mentioned to be quite remote, requiring arduous journeys through thick woodlands and rugged terrains.

Once more, I flipped the page, and the contents I encountered caused the book to slip from my grasp, falling to the ground.

At the end of this journey, after I explore the world on our behalf, I will reunite with you, my beloved. I will lay my life for you then and beneath the waterfall, we shall tie our souls for till the time ends.

It was then I realized that her entire trip was a long suicide note from the very beginning.

"At the end of this tour, I will meet my soulmate," she told me with a dazzling smile making me fall harder for her.

My pace quickened as I navigated through the hallways down the stairs, a sense of urgency propelling me forward.

"The waterfall in the picture looks beautiful, I always wanted to see one" She pointed to the brochure my eyes first landed and I nodded my head mirroring her expression.

 I rounded a corner, my focus solely on the task of locating Ara, when suddenly, I collided with someone, the impact jolting me. Stumbling back, I instinctively reached out to steady myself, and as my vision cleared, I realized I had run into Namjoon.

"Is everything fine sir?"  Namjoon's voice held a mix of curiosity and concern, his brows furrowing as he took in my disheveled appearance.

I took a breath, my words tumbling out in a rush"My girlfriend."

Namjoon's expression shifted, a shadow passing over his features as he absorbed my words " I saw her heading upward towards the waterfall just a few minutes ago, but something was off "he continued, "Usually people go hiking wearing sports attire but she was wearing sort of a white gown that looked like a wedding dress."

"Damn it," I cursed, pushing myself into motion as fast as I could manage. I snatched the pamphlet from the counter of reception with the map of the trail. The path ahead was a nearly three-hour journey on foot. My legs felt unsteady, but I refused to halt, pushing myself forward relentlessly. The seconds turned into minutes, and my determination to reach Ara overpowered the exhaustion creeping into my muscles.