The Last Embrace 18 Harmless Mistake

Jess' stop swimming early and sit comfortably on one of the shades of the tree, watching her friends enjoying the crystal clear waters of the lake. It's entertaining to watch them from afar. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Matthew getting out of the water and slowly approaching her, she sighed. She prefers that he would distance himself from her so that Adam won't feel jealous anymore.

"Hey Jess," Matthew said, he sat beside her.

"Hi Matt," she replied.

"I saw you last night," he got a serious looked on his face.

Jess' eyes widened in horror. Oh my God! Her face drained of color, her mind jumps to a negative conclusion right away. Did he saw her sneaked out from the mansion and did a steamy romp with Adam last night? What she and Adam did is not for everyone to see, it's meant to be a private affair. She felt horrified! She can't look into his eyes directly because of shame.

"What e-exactly did y-you see-?" she stammered. She's expecting the worst already. Her brain was already scanning for hundreds of different alibis that she can think of.

"I saw you sneaked out of the house last night...I followed you," he paused.

She sat frozen in place...she can't even utter a single word...dreading what comes next from his mouth.

Matthew continue his talking. "The next scene took my breath away. It's beautiful beyond imagination, we found ourselves on the seaside, the beach looks majestic, and we walk hand in hand under the starry-starry night. We were so in love in my dreams, I desperately wanted it to come true. It's the only thing I been thinking all day long." He uttered those heartfelt words in a dreamlike trance as if he is suspended in time lost into his own fantasy world.

She exploded in laughter after he finished talking, total relief washed over her. Her worry turns into amazement. "Oh, God...Matt...you're so funny!" she gives him her brightest smile.

He looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "At least you become mine in my dreams," he said softly.

Jess' smile never left her face. She finds his romantic outburst very funny and sweet.

"Don't worry Matt, tomorrow when you go home, you will soon forget about me," she reassures him.

"You are my first crush and my first love. It will be hard to forget you," he said sadly, then shrugged his shoulders.

She rolled her eyes. Then she remembers how jealous obsess Adam is. He might be already watching them right now from afar and she does not want to provoke him again. She stood up quickly. "Let's go back swimming, Matt!"

She walks towards the lake, he follows her and they dived into the water at the same time.

Ivy splashes water on Jess' face, after getting no response from her she finally stops. "I think the lady of the lake is sleeping," she joked.

Jess smiled at her friend. "She only appears at night..."

"R-Really? Did you see her?" Ivy looked at Jess with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension in her eyes.

She laughed at her friends' silly question. "Ivy, the lady of the lake is not true. Your mother invented her as a prank only..."

Ivy's heart still filled with uneasiness. "I honestly think that your house is hunted-Jess. I sometimes feel that there is something out there lurking in the dark. I can't ignore that feeling..."

Jess look at her friend in silence. One more reason why you should not stay longer in my house or else you will discover something frightening, she thought to herself. Then she splashes water on Ivy's face to distract her friend from her darkening thoughts. "Race with me to the other side, Ivy!" She swam away from her and she saw her following her wake.

<<<~~~~~>>>

The dinner feast is consist of stir fry beef with onions, browned butter honey garlic salmon, and creamy asparagus pasta. The kids love it! Nana Aida looked at the children in front of her with maternal love, deep inside, her heart yearns for Adam to be with them, but that is impossible to happen. They talked and joked a bit after eating, then Nana decided it's time for them to prepare for bed.

"Okay children, time to prepare for bed," she finally said.

The boys retreated to their room, while the girls helped Nana in cleaning the dining table and washing with the dishes.

After the chores were done. Jess went upstairs and leave Ivy to chat with her mom. She wants to check Adam on the other side of the hallway, he was being silent the whole day. But she dared not take the risk afraid that Ivy will come upstairs anytime soon and will see her with him. It's something she can't afford to happen. So, she just continues walking towards her room.

She opened her laptop and pushed the power button on, checked her emails and browse the web, looking for something to do.

Then all of a sudden, a terrifying scream broke the stillness of the night. It's Ivy! Alarmed, Jess sprinted out from her room and try to locate the scream in the hallway, she found her friend huddled in the corner of the hallway near Adam's room, body trembling, visibly shaken. Her face looks like that of someone who just saw a ghost. "Ivy- what is it?" she asked urgently.

"Jess, I saw a dark figure hovering outside the window!" Ivy pointed her shaking fingers in the direction of the window.

Then they heard another scream, this time coming from the boys' rooms downstairs.

Damn! What the fuck is going on? Adam really went too far this time, Jess gritted her teeth in anger. She is furious now. She pretended to look outside the window to investigate, she found nothing. "There is no one outside the window, Ivy."

"B-But I saw that black figure! I can't be mistaken!" Ivy insisted with a firmer voice.

She sighed. "Come on Ivy. Let's go downstairs. Let's find out what happened to the boys..."

When they arrived downstairs in the boys' room, Nana Aida was already there talking with the visibly shaken boys.

"What exactly did you see, Nathan?" Ivy asked her brother.

"It's Naruto!" Nathan replied quickly.

"No, it's Vegeta!" Matthew interjected.

Ivy glared at them. "Stop this nonsense now! Tell me what you just saw!"

Nathan cleared the lump on his throat. "H-He is hovering in the air...looks like Batman to me, his wearing d-dark clothes and he also wears a black face mask and a hood covering his head. Can't see his face clearly..."

"....he hovers outside the window but disappears quickly after he realizes that we are staring at him with our mouths open," Matthew added.

Ivy looks satisfied with their answer because they coincide with what she just saw outside the window upstairs. Which means, that black figure is real! "H-He is real! I saw him too!" she exclaimed to the boys' faces.

While Jess and Nana Aida looked at each other in silent comprehension. It's Adam!

"Nana, I will go upstairs first. I need to get something. Please stay with them," she said and left the room in a hurry.

She went straight to Adam's room, she did not bother to knock and was trying to open the door with no success. It's clearly locked from the inside. Where could he be?

She will go to her room to get her smartphone and call him, but when she opened the door...there he is...sitting on the edge of her bed, grinning.

She folded her arms, her eyes sending tiny daggers into his direction. "Explain!" she ordered him in a furious manner.

"It was purely a harmless accident, Jess. I swear! Please hear me out first," Adam said in a serious tone, smile gone. He sighed, he totally fucked up everything this time.

She sighed and loosen her arms.

Adam freed his face from the black mask and the hood and put them on the bed. He glanced back at Jess. "Earlier...I feel so bored in my room, then as the darkness starts spreading around, I went to the woods to pass my time there," he continues.

Jess' eyebrows rose. "What did you do in the woods?"

"I went there to reminiscence about what happened to us last night," he winked and smiled at her in a naughty manner. He looks at his lady love with a passion-filled longing burning brightly in his eyes.

She blushed, she bites her lower lip and meets his gaze. Their hot intimate moments shared together last night flashes before their very eyes. She blushed even more. "Come here sit beside me, Jess." His soft voice broke through her reverie.

She sat beside him and his arms automatically settled on her waist, bringing their bodies closer. The heat emanating from his body is slowly seeping into Jess body, filling her with warmth. She snuggled closer to him and he folded her on his waiting arms.

Adam continued his explanation...

"...After leaving the woods, I come back here and was about to enter my room through the window, that was also the time your friend Ivy glanced at the window and saw me about to enter my room. She caught me off guard with her loud scream, so I ducked down quickly to get away from her line of vision. Unfortunately, when I ducked down, I came into the boys' window which is directly below from my room. So, yeah, they accidentally see me outside the window. Am sorry about all this, it's all my fault, am being careless. Am so sorry, Jess."

She looked into his eyes and only saw sincerity on them. She sighed. "They were horrified Adam, they will be constantly talking and thinking about it. Soon, they will share it with their classmates, friends, social media and so on. Gossips spread faster and might reach those individuals who will pursue it, then our secrets will be revealed. You get what I mean?" she said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry, Jess. I will fix this fucking mess I created myself."

"H-How?"

"I will freeze them and erased their memory of me. I can erase thirty minutes worth of memory from their brain leading to the incident tonight."

"Y-You can do that?" her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "Go back downstairs and witness what am going to do," he kissed her forehead, trying to wipe away the worries from her face.

She was about to stand up but he did not let go of her yet. Instead, he lifted her up and pinned her on the bed, he starts kissing her mouth passionately, she returned the kiss.

"I can't get enough of you, Jess. You are my addiction," he said huskily. He kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, nose, and claimed her mouth once again with a fiery kiss that illicit's a tiny moaned of pleasure from her.

Then hesitantly, she pulled away from him and walk towards the door. "I will go downstairs now so that you can fix up this mess..."

"Wait-you're no longer angry at me?" he asked.

She smiled fondly at him. "Yes. Just fix it, so that they can go back to their hometown tomorrow in peace and we can have back our own peace." She gently closes the door behind her.

Adam donned back his black mask and covered his head with the hood. "Party time!" He disappears from the room.

Jess was back downstairs on the room with the boys, Ivy and Nana Aida were still there...

She looked at Nana and winked.

Then all of a sudden... Nathan and Matthew's body freezes along with Ivy's. The irises in their eyes were frozen as well. They were no longer moving nor talking as if they were suspended in time.

Nana Aida's stared at her children clearly horrified and worry start creeping in her eyes. "W-What happened to my children!?" she screamed.

Adam appears in their midst out from nowhere. Which startled Nana Aida and make her worry even more.

"Nana, don't worry about them, they are perfectly all right. I just freeze them so that I can delete their memory of me. Am so sorry about all this, it's my mistake. Trust me, I will fix my mistake using my power," Adam explained.

"Oh, okay." Nana Aida nodded.

He looked at his ladylove. "Jess, what did Ivy do before she went upstairs?"

"She had a chat with her mother in the kitchen," she replied.

"Good. Nana, come along with me in the kitchen." He lifted Ivy's frozen body and they went into the kitchen. Nana told Adam exactly where they were talking and he positioned the girl's frozen body in front of her mother, Adam instructed Nana to just stood in front of Ivy and continue their conversation like nothing happen.

Then, he touches Ivy's head and closes his eyes, concentrating...he begun erasing her thirty minutes worth of memory.

When everything is ready, he disappears from their sight...gradually...Ivy's frozen body come into life and her animated conversation with her mother continues...

Jess smiled with relief. She's been holding her breath earlier while watching Adam do his thing, afraid it wont work. "Ivy...I'll go upstairs now," she finally said.

Her friend nodded and resumes talking with her mother. Whewww...She gives a long sigh of relief. She went to the boys' room, presses her ears at the door, and heard them laughing and talking inside the room. Adam had already unfrozen them, that was fast! She ascended the stairs but she remains rooted at the top of the stairs, hesitating, then she sat down and waited for Ivy. This time she will make sure, nothing will happen.

Ten minutes later, she can see her friend rounding up the stairs.

Ivy was surprised to see Jessy sitting at the top of the stairs. "are you waiting for me?"

"Yeah. I just realize how pleasant it is to just sit on the top of the stairs and stare at the floor below for ten minutes." She grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Ivy laughed at her friends' silliness. They walk side by side on the hallway and enters Jess' room without any mishap.

Jess' let out a sigh of relief and climbs on the top of her bed, she buries her face on her pillow. Thank God it's over!

Chapter end