aesthete :: ashton irwin | au

c u a t ro

"Um....." I stopped to think. Come on Ashton, all you ever do is overreact and draw about it, a voice said in my head. What if something happens and she falls over the bridge? It could be your fault. The other one said. I thought about Lizzie falling off the bridge and me not being able to stop her death from taking place, so I did what I thought was best.

"U-Uh, n-no." I replied, turning away. It was for her good and I hoped that one day she could understand.

"Ashton didn't you hear what I just said? I don't normally ask people to go on missions with me. This could be a life changing opportunity." She said, trying to persuade me. I felt even worse for turning her down, my emotions were confused and I didn't know how to react to a simple question.

"I-I changed my mind, I-I'll come with you." I stuttered, playing with my fingers trying to do something to keep me from feeling awkward. A smile appeared on her face as she ran towards the bridge, pulling my arm with her. We stood on the centre of the bridge and Lizzie opened her backpack, pulling out a brown, leather covered book. Some of the pages were loose and torn out and most pages had pictures glued unto them.

"No peeking." She told me as she walked to the other side of the bridge to look at her book. I tapped my fingers against the railing of the bridge, biting my lip. I was anxious and in deep thought as I looked at the gushing river beneath me. It pulls you in and there's no escaping unless you get help. Lizzie made me wonder really, why do people choose to kill themselves at this specific bridge? There must be some history behind it.

"Ashton," Lizzie snapped her fingers waving a hand in front of me, "do you always zone out like this?"

"Sorry, sorry." I mumbled, shoving my cold hands down into my pockets, "so what do we do now?" I questioned, having no idea what to do at this investigation.

"We could talk to some locals for clues. Look, there's someone right now." She pointed, to the old man who walked towards us, crossing the bridge. He wore a black hat and coat, had a grey beard and looked very suspicious.

"Mr!" Lizzie called out, running after him. The man paused and turned around.

"What kid?" He responded in a low voice, annoyed. His eyes gave off a soul piercing gaze as my fists clenched in fear. I stood behind Lizzie, hoping that she would do all the talking which I couldn't do.

"What do you know about this bridge?" She asked, taking opening her book to a blank page and taking out a black pen that was stuck inside of her pocket, awaiting his response so she could take record of his statement. He huffed, reluctantly answering back, "listen kid, all the people who died here weren't right in their head and what they did ain't none of your business." he responded in a harsh tone. It was my business, I needed to know the truth about what happened fourteen years ago on this bridge, why did I have these visions.

"It's my business." I intruded, "my mom died here thirteen years ago, her name was Adelaide Irwin." He wore a blank expression on his face and then proceeded to yell at us. "You, get away from here you don't belong here!" he yelled, swinging his arm outwards and knocking Lizzie's journal out of her hand, plummeting the book into the waters below us. Lizzie gasped, looking over the railing as her precious memories and compilation of thoughts went down the stream. It was my fault, I knew agreeing to go with her was a bad idea but I still went along and look what happened.

"Look what you did!" I yelled, going into a state of panic. It was my fault the book went into the water and I needed to get it back. If only I told Lizzie no this wouldn't have happened and if only I kept my mouth shut then this man wouldn't have gotten angry with us.

If only life was what we wanted it to be.

The book was heading down stream and the only way to get it was to swim. I took off my hoodie and threw it on the bridge railing, then my shoes and glasses. I stood on top the railing about to jump, "Ashton, what the hell are you doing?" Lizzie screamed.