章 8: The Suicide Bridge

They both exchanged glances and blushed, like a newly happy lovey-dovey couple but there was someone who was staring daggers at them.

And, it was none other than Nick. Of course! Who else could it be if not him? Nick was gnashing his teeth in fury right now.

'You will regret it brat! You will surely regret it,' he snarled as he kept looking at them thinking of ways on how to degrade Felix's image in Celia's eyes.

On the other hand, Felix and Celia being ignorant of Nick's expression kept staring at each other, "Thank you for your compliment! However, I don't think I'm that handsome Miss Celia," Felix scratched his cheek embarrassedly as he stole a glance at her.

"Miss Celia again? Please call me by my name Felix."

"Ah! Alright! I'll keep that in my mind now."

'This is not right. I don't want him to address me like that. I don't want him to treat me like an elder person. I want him to call me by my name as if we are on equal terms. It's because of my behavior. I need to change this. Why do I keep fidgeting whenever I try to look at him? I must act like usual otherwise he won't treat me as his close friend,' Contemplating on how to behave, Celia took a deep breath and looked at Felix again before saying,

"About your previous remark, I don't agree with you, Felix. I still think you are very handsome. You don't have to be so modest you know. So, whenever someone praises you for something. Just thank them. Never understate your qualities. Okay?" she advised him.

"Okay! I'll keep that in my mind," he answered as well.

As Alex was seated behind them, she saw how their conversation went on and she was left bewildered when she saw how Celia managed to hide her shyness and didn't fumbled at all.

'Hoo~ Interesting! Interesting. She managed to confess that without getting shy at all. As far as I know, Celia is a kind of demure person, there's no way she can say something like that forthright. There must be something going on in her head. But what is it!?' Even after pondering for quite a while, she still couldn't grasp what Celia had in her mind.

Contrarily, Veronica who was beside Alex was entirely unaware of the things going on around her. She flipped a page as she kept reading a novel. Her beautiful brown eyes moving from left to right as she perused her book when suddenly the bus came to a halt interrupting her reading.

"Guys! The food store is here, just choose whatever you want to have for your night stay because our bus will only stop after reaching the destination. Moreover, there aren't any better stores afterward," Mike instructed all of them.

Hearing him everyone came out of the bus and went inside the store to choose their food for the night stay.

Felix too kept thinking about what to pack as he walked from counter to counter. Seeing him being confused, Veronica who stood not very far from him came to his side surreptitiously, "Confused?" she asked.

Hearing a sudden voice, he turned and looked at the source of the voice only to find that it was Veronica. Now that he was looking at her, he couldn't help but admire her beauty in his mind. She was truly a royal beauty. There was no doubt about it. But, what made him curious was why a lady like her was here in such a team? Moreover, in such a field? This left him befuddled.

He didn't even realize that he was staring at her intently until he saw Veronica waving her hand thus, dragging him out of his trance. Her ineffable beauty left him speechless. He again glanced at her and saw that she was smiling.

"I asked you something, Felix. Are you confused?" She saw how Felix kept looking at her however, she didn't mind it at all. The reason was~ his eyes. His eyes didn't have any malicious intentions. The way he looked at her just showed that he was mesmerized by her beauty which made her jubilant.

After all, which girl in this world won't like to know that they are beautiful? Even though Felix didn't say it directly to her, she knew that he must be thinking about her beauty. She did have that much confidence in her beauty after all.

"I... I was just thinking about the food..." He stammered a bit when he saw how close she was standing beside him. As they were close, her body fragrance hit his nose. Even though it was very faint, he still managed to catch a whiff of her perfume.

'LAVENDER', he mumbled after smelling her fragrance.

"Hmm? You said something?" she asked while tilting her head seemingly confused.

"Ah! No! Nothing..."

"Then why are you thinking for so long? There are so many options to choose right?"

"No! I'm a vegetarian Miss Veronica. So, I was just searching for the right food."

"What? You are a vegetarian?" she asked in an astonished voice.

'So that was the reason why he kept looking here and there. No doubt he seemed so puzzled hehe~' She chuckled in her mind as she found his situation very amusing.

"Yes! Well! In India, more than half of the population eats only vegetarian foods. And, I belong to that category haha," he explained.

"I see! Then, how about veg sandwiches? They will fill your stomach well and they are very light too. That will be perfect for your night stay," she suggested in her natural dulcet tone, waiting for his answer.

"Ah right! I can have those I suppose. Thank you, Miss Veronica."

"No need to thank me. I just gave a suggestion. If possible, then do drop that 'Miss' while calling me," revealing her enchanting smile behind, she left.

Felix stood there for few seconds as he looked at her departing figure. Then, he went to a counter and gave his order to the lady. The moment he got his package he came out of the store and went inside the bus.

Soon, when everyone was done with their food, they continued with their journey.

Celia subsequently saw how Felix just remained taciturn therefore, she asked in a concerned tone, "You are okay right?" Since he was quiet for quite some time, she couldn't help but ask.

"Yes! I'm alright!", he smiled softly after saying.

"Good! How about if we talk about our investigation? You know about the site right?"

"Yes! You mean the place where we're heading now right?"

"Of course!"

"Yeah! Earlier, the leader told me about it. It's Colorado Street Bridge right?"

"Hmm! But, that's just its formal name. It's more infamous going by the name of ~The suicide Bridge. The bridge has its history."

"Hmm! Then what are you waiting for? Fill me in," he grinned.

Celia locked her gaze onto him and smiled back as she could feel that they just made one step of progress in their relationship.

Taking a deep breath she began, "It's a historic Bridge, and structure-wise it's slightly curved, located in Pasadena, California. You know, if we would have taken the route directly from the airport, it would have taken around 30 minutes for us to reach."

"Ohh! So, that means Miss Mira's mansion is in the opposite direction from the airport right?" he surmised.

"Exactly! That is why it's taking a little longer for us."

"Then? what else is famous about that bridge?"

"Although it was built in 1912 they opened it a year later."

"And, by 'they' you mean?"

"Waddell and Harrington, an American engineering company that used to design bridges. Since the bridge carried 'Colorado Boulevard' which was an east-west street, they named it Colorado Street Bridge."

"Straight to the point naming eh!?" he chuckled.

Acknowledging his engagement in the topic she smiled back but then frowned and continued, "The Bridge had no issues at all until that one incident... which was followed by other tragic incidents."

"What happened!?" this time he asked in a serious tone.

"One of the construction workers fell during the construction and landed into the wet cement under the bridge. Remember, this happened when it was getting constructed. You can imagine the bad reputation of the bridge at that time because of this incident. After this tragic casualty, even more, deaths were recorded. People started using the bridge as their means for suicide. Then..."

"Then!?"

"Then the haunting began, several people reported that they used to hear voices and see apparitions. Although this was still minimal, then another popular story took place."

"Which one!?"

"The story about a woman and her child. According to rumors, it was said that the woman wanted to end her life along with her child. She was truly fed up. I don't know whether it was depression or something else but she took her child and herself to the bridge. Then, she threw her baby first and then jumped, plummeting to her death."

"That's very tragic. So, they both died!?"

"No! Surprisingly, the baby survived. Because of the trees, the child landed on it and managed to escape death. Unfortunately, she wasn't as lucky as her child."

"What happened after that?"

"Haunting increased. This time people claimed that they used to see a young lady standing on the periphery of the bridge. Some even claimed they used to hear a weeping cry of a woman late at night."

Felix just gazed at her, as he nodded.

She continued, "And, after those demises, haunting is believed to be continued. Seeing apparitions and figures of persons, hearing disembodied voices and sometimes even woman's crying sounds. These all are the claims that people stated. Now, It's our time to investigate it."

"Hmm!"

"So? are you ready? Felix?"

"Of course!" he smiled.

Celia smiled back as she saw how Felix was fine and wasn't a bit nervous at all.

"I like your spirit Felix boi!" Alex who kept listening to their conversation since the beginning ruffled his hair from behind, causing him to turn back.

"Sister Alex! You were listening to us the entire time?" he inquired.

"Of course! fufu~" she said enthusiastically in an exuberant manner.

As they were chatting Mike's deep voice resounded, "We're here!"

This made everyone turn their heads to the window to finally witness the so-called ~ Suicide Bridge.