Chapter Three #2
He walked up to the closed casket, but with each tinier step, the casket increased in size.
It was a dark brown casket, glazed like the laminated papers the teachers passed out, supposedly forever preserving what was inside.
Except there was nothing to preserve. The skin would peel back, pulling away from the bones, and rot into nothing until all that was left were undistinguishable bones.
Was the wood of the casket even real? Did the materials even matter?
His eyes strained, unable to stop counting the lines he saw crisscrossing.
They were tree rings, so the wood had to be real.
But why did he care? He reached and, eye twitching, placed his hand against the top of the closed casket.
Breaths echoing in his ears, Aiden closed his eyes. Ge. I can’t see you. Please let me find you.
Face burned black beyond any hope of recognition. Legs mangled from the impact of the car’s explosion. A neck shriveled away underneath the heat of flames with an indent caused by either the fire eating into the flesh or a sharp object slashing into his throat.
The body left little clues to tell who did the deed.
Wang Xing, the only other eyewitness, died just as horrendously as his brother.
Two large holes gaped on the side of Wang Xing’s head where his ears should’ve been.
The police detected no fingerprints because of how long and powerfully the bodies burned.
They died in the construction land abandoned by the wealthy elite, surrounded amongst half-built buildings and forgotten plans.
But the worst part of his brother’s death was wondering about the pain and how long it took for his brother to finally die.
Bile rose up in his throat. Aiden gagged, swallowing the bitter gunk down. Knees shaking, body shivering from a sudden cold draft, he stumbled to the side and stood by the casket, while the guests paid their respect.
“Xiao Hui, I am sorry about what happened to him.”
Aiden wrenched his eyes open to an unfamiliar face.
“I want to let you know that we are all here today to celebrate him. We won’t forget what he has done for Infinite.”
“Thank you…”
The man’s hand tightened around Aiden’s. “Once you take his place, I will do whatever it takes to help you. Do not forget me.”
His shoulders stiffened. How many more of these people will approach me?
He lost count after only ten minutes.
A woman wept in front of his brother’s casket but became magically dry-eyed when she handed over a consolation gift of chocolates. “What did Hui Ye think of my business? Did he tell you before he tragically passed away?”
An older woman hugged him with arms looped tight around his neck.
“Your brother was wonderful. So wonderful. So kind and understanding. He always lent a helping hand. My grandson is having trouble with the job market right now. He’s a good kid.
Surely, he can be of some help to you in these trying times?
Your brother owned so many businesses, after all. ”
A couple whispered to his stepmother, patted his stepsiblings, who both yawned and rolled their eyes during the whole procession, and tried to push money into his hands. “A little gift. A reminder to the deal we had with him.”
He shoved the cash back into their hands.
How many more? He saw a line that never ended, snaking around the hall, and fearing he would wither to dust if he had to stand here one second longer, Aiden walked away from the casket, shoving into the crowd.
The blurry people grew larger. Chinese words whispered back and forth, exceptionally clear even though only few seconds earlier, the voices burbled like they spoke underwater.
“He must’ve killed someone very important. It has to be revenge,” one person said.
“I wonder if it’s because he consolidated the families together in Infinite. The other mafia groups must’ve felt threatened by his potential.”
“He gained a lot of power in his short tenure as the head of the Hui family. It could be people within Infinite.”
“It could be in his own family.”
“It could be his younger brother. He always outshined his younger brother.”
“Hui Lao was always competitive. It wouldn’t surprise me if he pitted his own sons against each other.”
“Has anyone seen the younger brother cry yet?”
Aiden bit his lips until he drew blood. Glasses of alcohol clinked against each other, lavish gifts towered, and a long line of people waited to speak to the stepmother, whose face was marred with stress lines.
Glancing back at his stepsiblings, Aiden saw He Bao outright grinning, while Zhu Zhu contented herself with drawing.
He stumbled out from the reserved hall and into an open garden, gasping. Sweat lined his forehead, and he ripped the top button of his shirt off to gulp bigger mouthfuls of air.
A great gust of wind sent leaves fluttering from the trees and onto the dirt ground.
The scent of smoky incense tinged the air, and the medicinal aura smoothed Aiden’s heartbeat.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, remembering the Chinese medicine that soothed his coughs and body aches. His shoulders relaxed.
Aiden walked to a stone bench under one of the many trees outside, listening to the bells chiming from the other side.
On the other end of the cemetery, Aiden imagined the traditional Chinese funeral procession occurring.
The body cremated to ashes. The bells signified loss and the passing to the other side.
The incense granted peace to everyone who smelled it.
At the end of the procession, a fire flared, and the loved ones of the deceased would burn the items that the deceased loved.
Their favorite clothes to wear in the other world.
Their favorite food for them to take whenever hungry.
Piles of paper disappearing under the flames as currency for the other side.
Aiden sighed. His back warmed to the sun hitting from behind, and he closed his eyes to concentrate on the smell of smoke from other families burning treasures. “I don’t even know what I’d burn for you,” he whispered. “Paper, I guess. So you could live as comfortably as possible.”
The door slammed open, and he jumped at the distinct clicking of heals approaching. His stepmother walked around the bench and stood before him with her arms crossed. “There you are, Hui Lang. Why are you out here? You are making people gossip inside.”
She blocked the sun.
“The last thing we want to do is have people assume you were somehow capable of killing Hui Ye. That just puts a target on our backs.”
Aiden struggled to lift his head. “I just need a few minutes alone. I’ll go back soon.”
“No, you need to go back inside now.”
She grabbed his wrist. Aiden tried to dig his heels in, but he found himself reluctantly moving to her flow when she started walking.
Suddenly, she stopped. He blinked, watching her sigh, then turn around.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. Brows furrowed, she quietly said, “I know this is hard for you. I know you were close to Hui Ye. But we do not have time to mourn, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
This is the world we were born in. We have to adapt to it. I’m sorry. You understand, don’t you?”
Moved, Aiden nodded.
“Then bear with us today.” She clapped him on the shoulder one more time before latching her fingers tightly around his wrist.
Aiden stared at the ground as she led him back into the funeral hall. A crowd of people hovered near the door, dispersing the second he raised his head and silencing their blatant gossip. “The last Hui,” one person uttered before the silence.
At the sight of such nosy eyes, his stepmother graced the guests with brows furrowed, voice gentle, and an elegant pose of her hand against her chest, bending in agony. The crowd rushed forward. “Please, Lady Yin! Stay strong!”
She is genuinely stressed. The lines on her forehead, wrinkled no matter how much foundation she layered on top, told the one truthful story.
Finally, only one guest remained. The hall emptied to an echoed loneliness.
Zhu Zhu slipped her artbook into her purse and mumbled, “Finally.” Eyes glittering, He Bao yanked the gifts off the table and piled them onto a cart to wheel away.
Aiden approached the casket once more.
Infinite was an atheist group, but even his stepmother was superstitious with her talks of good luck and bad luck months.
Due to his own brother’s influence, however, Aiden was one of the few who wasn’t.
He stared at the casket. More like I don’t want to believe it. The Hui family is cursed at this rate.
Aiden ran his fingers across the polished casket that breathed death. But maybe we are cursed. So, if superstitions are real, then spirits are real. My brother can give me a sign.
His hand remained stubbornly cold.
Shaking his head, he backed away.
In the corner of his eyes, he watched the lingering stranger approach his stepmother. He walked closer. When the man spotted Aiden up close, he noticeably spoke louder. “I managed to keep the press from printing this version, but unfortunately, a copy was still printed. I have saved it.”
He presented a news spread of the death in bright color.
Like every other news report, the photograph of the burning car was emblazoned on the top.
However, a smaller picture in the corner depicted his brother in a suit with a lopsided smile.
Aiden’s eyes widened in surprise. His stepmother snatched the spread.
“When was this picture taken?” she hissed.
“I found the source. It was a paparazzi picture. From when he was together with Andrea.”
“They were never together. She was just a thing for him to have fun with. You have gotten rid of every last source of this photograph?”