The violent jolt of the car's sudden stop startled Sophie awake. Had she not been wearing her seatbelt, her forehead would probably have slammed into the dashboard hard enough to leave an ugly bruise.
The journey had taken much longer than she'd expected. Warm mountain air drifted through the half-open window, carrying a soothing breeze that made everyone drowsy. It wasn't just Sophie. The two men in the back seat had also fallen asleep, leaning against one another. Knowing she tended to toss and turn even while napping, Sophie had fastened her seatbelt before dozing off.
It had just saved her head.
"We're here."
The yellow-toothed driver pulled the car over before instinctively reaching for his cigarette pack. He still had to drive the two backpackers to their destination. Without something to keep him awake, the return trip would be difficult.
"See that gap over there? The guardrail's completely smashed. Pretty scary, huh? Down below is nothing but forest. There's no road leading there, so you might as well just look from up here."
The driver had already categorized Sophie as one of those eccentric foreign tourists—too much money, too much curiosity, and far too willing to wander into strange places.
"When you've seen enough, you can try flagging down a passing car. If nobody stops, give me a call. I'll be driving back this way later and can pick you up."
Still half asleep, Sophie stared blankly ahead, her thoughts sluggish and unfocused.
The driver had explained quite a bit, but her sleepy mind distilled it into one simple conclusion.
The bus had crashed somewhere beyond the road itself.
Cars couldn't reach the actual site.
The driver could only bring her to the nearest overlook, and this stretch of road was so isolated that she'd have to wait for another passing vehicle afterward.
Sophie wasn't willing to gamble on the chance of someone driving by.
Besides...
She had enough money now.
Why not simply hire the driver to return?
"We agreed on fifty euros."
Sophie opened her wallet.
Instead of taking out a fifty-euro note, she handed the driver a one-hundred-euro bill.
The two men in the back seat immediately looked at her differently.
Together, they'd only paid sixty euros.
Split between them, that was thirty euros each.
Who would have guessed that beneath Sophie's youthful appearance lay such unexpectedly deep pockets?
Sophie couldn't be bothered explaining.
This money was an unexpected windfall from Irene.
If she didn't spend it because of Irene...
Her conscience wouldn't rest easy.
"No change."
She smiled faintly.
"The extra is your fare for coming back to pick me up. Just return to the same place where you dropped me off."
The driver glanced at the thick wallet bulging in Sophie's hand.
Cash.
A bank card.
Enough money that discounts clearly meant nothing to her.
His smile broadened as he cheerfully pocketed the bill.
The green banknotes and the card, with its PIN scribbled inside the wallet, were displayed so openly that it almost felt as though the young woman were deliberately testing the character of everyone sharing the ride.
The two men in the back seat had also noticed just how full her wallet was.
For a fleeting moment, envy surfaced in both their hearts.
Just as quickly, it disappeared.
They couldn't help thinking that the girl looked painfully inexperienced.
Displaying that much money so openly was dangerous anywhere in the world.
Especially for a young woman traveling alone.
If someone truly harbored ill intentions, they could snatch her bag, throw her over the cliff, and leave her where no one would ever hear her cries for help.
Fortunately...
The people she'd met today were decent.
Neither of them had any desire to become highway robbers.
Besides, if she really came from a wealthy family with influential connections, the consequences afterward would be endless.
The car disappeared around the mountain bend, leaving only a cloud of dust drifting through the air.
The bouquet Sophie had purchased earlier had inevitably begun to wilt.
The once-smooth petals had curled into fine wrinkles that resembled the lines appearing on an aging face.
Just as the yellow-toothed driver had described, the broken guardrail was impossible to miss.
The damaged section had yet to be repaired.
For now, nothing more than strips of black-and-yellow warning tape stretched across the opening.
No one else was around.
Holding the bouquet tightly against her chest, Sophie stepped over the purely symbolic barrier.
Dangerous behavior. Do not imitate.
Carefully, she edged toward the cliff.
Small stones shifted beneath her shoes.
Some had broken away from the shattered concrete.
Others had likely rolled down from the higher slopes above.
Kneeling carefully, Sophie placed the bouquet she had carried all this way into a shallow depression beside the broken roadway.
The harmless flowers would neither interfere with passing traffic nor obstruct future repairs.
They were simply...
Too light.
Once the sun set and the mountain winds strengthened with the changing temperature, nothing would anchor the bouquet in place.
Long before anyone arrived to remove it, the flowers would tumble away on their own.
Eventually...
They would settle somewhere among the trees.
Buried beneath the soil.
Consumed by microorganisms.
Returning at last to dust.
Back into the embrace of the forest.
Just as Irene's life had already returned to nature.
Just as Sophie herself eventually would.
After standing silently in mourning for a few moments, Sophie stepped back behind the warning tape.
From the overlook, she gazed down upon the crash site.
The impact area, along with the surrounding grassland, had been scorched black, making it painfully obvious how fiercely the fire had burned.
The remains of the tour bus shown in the news photographs had already been removed.
Only white lines drawn with lime remained, marking where the wreckage had once lain.
The distance was simply too great.
Human eyesight couldn't reveal any more than that.
Sophie once again felt as though all her efforts had been in vain.
Only after arriving did she truly understand how difficult uncovering the truth would be.
It almost seemed as though some unseen force was trying to stop her from digging any deeper.
Even...
Her own heart had begun urging her to give up.
"Let Irene rest. Don't disturb the dead anymore."
The desire to abandon everything rose uncontrollably within her, churning through her mind until it felt as though someone had reached into her thoughts, pulled out every tiny hesitation hidden in the corners of her heart, and magnified them beyond reason.
Of course, Sophie understood.
Now that Irene is gone...
The bond that had once existed between them would inevitably fade away.
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