The Last Embrace

Ivy, Nana"s daughter came into the room.

"Mom, can I have a word with Jess for a minute?"

"You go ahead, Jess. I can do this alone," Nana replied.

Jess dropped the clothes she is holding, and exited the door with Ivy. They went straight into Ivy"s room.

"Jess, my boyfriend"s best friend is going to celebrate his birthday tonight. There"s a newly opened dis...o...b..r in town, the celebration will be held there. We are invited! You should come with me to meet new people!" Ivy said excitedly.

Jess shrugged her shoulders. "I don"t think your mother will allow me to go with you," she said, uninterested.

Ivy can"t understand why her mother is very strict when it comes to Jess.

"Hmmm, let"s find a way...okay? When mom finally falls sleep we will sneak out of the house and attend the party. You can"t say no!" Ivy gives Jess a hard look.

"I dunno Ivy, am not a party person so it"s not a good idea for me to attend the party," she politely declines her invitation.

Ivy"s brows knitted, she is in deep thoughts. Her face shows a disappointing look. "Come on, we will not stay there for long, just three hours and we will be home by eleven o"clock. Pleaseeeee," she begged.

"I"ll think about it," Jess finally said, getting tired of her friend"s constant babble.

Ivy"s face lightened up. "I"ll take that as a yes!" she hugged Jessy.

Afterwards, she was already busy rummaging her wardrobe for her party outfit for tonight.

There are several dresses strewn across on Ivy"s bed, they were of a different shade of colors, cut and style.

"How about this?" she showed Jess a s.e.xy purple colored dress, it"s above the knee c.o.c.ktail dress, it is a bit too short.

"Too s.e.xy..." Jess shook her head in disapproval.

She is getting a little bit irritated and amused at the same time with her friend"s constant chatter. She thinks her head will spin. She can"t understand why some girls make so much fuss when it comes to dresses.

Then Ivy tries on a black sleeveless c.o.c.ktail dress, the length is below the knee. It is a simple dress and not so indecent to look at.

"You look pretty on that dress, Ivy. That suits you better," she said.

Ivy smiled at her appearance in front of the mirror, she liked what she saw. "I agree, this one looks perfect for tonight," she then looks at her. "You can borrow one of my dresses. Pick one, Jess."

Out of boredom, she picks up a color blue c.o.c.ktail dress on random and tried it on. It fits her curve perfectly. The dress looks cute and not showing plenty of skin. She will be comfortable wearing it.

"Wow, you look so beautiful in that dress, Jess! It fits you perfectly, awesome!" Ivy exclaimed.

Jess smiled at herself in the mirror. She has never worn a dress before. She"s more of a "t-shirt and jeans" kind of girl.

"Now stop admiring yourself, dear. We got to try some accessories, we have to look our best tonight." Ivy shoved some earrings, bracelets, and trinkets on Jess" hands.

Jess smiled wryly at her friend"s excessive mood disorder. She is just excited, she scolds herself.

"I will do your makeup tonight..." Ivy giggles in excitement.

Jess just nodded and she"s starting to get amused by it all. Her friend"s jubilant mood starting to get contagious. Surprisingly, she no longer felt bored.

"We already have the dress and the accessories, perfect!" Ivy exclaimed in glee."I will try to get mom"s permission later, if she won"t allow us then we still have Plan B, okay?" she looks at Jess with a conniving glance.

"I highly doubt if your mother will allow us." Jess reply.

"She will..." Ivy said with determination etched firmly on her face.

Ivy spent the whole afternoon convincing her mom about the party. Nanny Aida finally relented, on one condition, Nathan will accompany them on the party, he is Ivy"s older brother. Ivy agreed to it, thinking that it"s much better than her Plan B.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess is brushing her hair in front of a mirror inside Nana Aida"s room. Then her smartphone ring, she smiled upon seeing the caller"s ID.

"Adam..."

"Hi, Jess...Are you enjoying your time there?"

"Not much happening here, Adam. Hmmm, by the way, we are going to attend a birthday party tonight, it will be held in a newly opened dis...o...b..r in town," she said.

"Huh? Are you going with whom-?" he sounded alarmed.

"Ivy, Nathan and I, will be attending the party," she explained.

"D-Did Nana consent to it? How come she allowed you to attend the party?" Adam"s voice hardened.

"Don"t worry...Nathan will be our escort tonight and Ivy"s boyfriend will also be there in the party," she explained further.

"I"m just worried of you, Jess. You"ve never been in a dis...o...b..r before. And you will be surrounded with strangers. Just don"t talk to strangers, okay? And be careful with the spike on drinks, don"t accept drinks given by strangers. Don"t trust anyone there..."

"....and?"

"Am just uncomfortable with the whole thing," he finally said.

"We will only stay for a total of three hours in the party and then we will go home, safe and sound. The party starts at eight o"clock tonight, we will be home at eleven by then," she said.

"Good, just don"t stay late, okay? I will only feel relieved if you are already back home safe," he added.

"I will call you when we"re back home at eleven," she rea.s.sures him.

"Call me when you already arrive in the venue. You have to call me every thirty minutes when you are already inside the bar. I just want to be sure you are safe every minute. I won"t be sleeping tonight until I know you are already home safe. Please call me, okay?"

"Yes, I will call you," she promised.

"I miss you, Jess!"

"I miss you more, Adam." She replied sweetly. "Talk to you later..."

"Wait-don"t forget to call me every thirty minutes, okay?" he reminded her again.

Jess smiled, touched by his over-protectiveness. "Isn"t that too much-?" she protested.

"When it comes to your safety, nothing is too much, Jess," he replied.

"Okay, thanks for the concern. I love you," she smiled, feeling his love enveloping her in a tight embrace.

"I love you too, Jess."

"Bye Adam..."

"Bye Jess..."

Jess put back her smartphone on the table and continue brushing her hair. Later, she will take a shower and prepare herself for the party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adam is watching a science fiction movie on his laptop. It"s already thirty minutes past ten o"clock. The last time she received a call from Jess was thirty minutes ago. He is waiting for her call to come anytime soon...they were not able to talk much earlier because of the loud music inside the venue.

The clock hanging on the wall of his bedroom shows eleven o"clock. Still, she did not call...

He keeps pressing call on his smartphone, it keeps ringing but n.o.body answers the phone. Where is Jess? Why she"s not answering her phone!?

He started worrying...

He keeps pacing back and forth in his bedroom...

Answer the d.a.m.ned fone, Jess!

This waiting is absolutely killing him...

The movie keeps playing on his laptop but he is no longer interested on it. He feels very anxious!

When the clock strikes at eleven thirty and Jess still did not answer her fone, he already prepares himself for the worst.

Something is seriously going wrong with her!

He went to his wardrobe and s.n.a.t.c.hed his black face mask, black gloves and black hoodie sweatshirt from the bottom drawer and put them on his body in a hasty manner. Next, he put his black cloak on.

When his smartphone suddenly rings, his heart skip a beat, hoping it is Jess calling. He feels a huge disappointment upon seeing that it"s not her.

"Adam! Jessy is missing! We can"t find her!" Nana Aida"s frantic loud voice almost shatters his eardrum. His worst suspicion earlier is now finally confirmed.

"Please calm down, Nana! I will find her, she will be fine. Please don"t call the police yet. Wait for my call first, okay?" He tries to comfort the hysterical woman. He tried to stay calm but deep inside, his heart is breaking apart. His heart is beating fast, it"s getting harder to breathe with every seconds that pa.s.ses by. He is very worried about Jess and no amount of words can explain what he feels right now.

He already got himself fully covered and wasted no time, he opened the window of his bedroom and leap into the darkness of the night.

I will find you, Jess! I will search the whole d.a.m.n town and tore it upside down just to find you. I swear!

He leaped between trees, buildings, and vacant s.p.a.ces...camouflaged with the darkness, providing him total immunity against human"s watchful eyes.

He is racing against time...