They gathered around the lake swimming to their heart's content, this time the lake seems peaceful. The brother and sister duo were busy splashing water unto each other, while Matthew bombarded them with a water gun.

Jessy stopped swimming early and sat 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 look on his face.

Jess' eyes widened in horror. Oh my God! Her face drained of color, her mind jumped 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 was 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 continued 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 was suspended in time lost in 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 gave him her brightest smile.

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

Jess' smile never leave her face. She found his romantic outburst very funny and sweet.

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

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

She rolled her eyes. Then she remembered how jealousy obsessed Adam was. He might be already watching them right now from afar and she doesn't want to provoke him again. She rose to her feet quickly. "Let's go back swimming, Matt!"

She strolled towards the lake, he followed 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 stopped. "I think the lady of the lake is sleeping," she joked.

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

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

Jessy laughed at her friend 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..."

Jessy stared at her friend in silence.

'One more reason why you should not stay longer in my house or else you will discover something frightening,' Jessy talked to herself. Then she splashes water on Ivy's face to distract her friend from dwelling in 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 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 was impossible to happen. They were talking and joking a bit after eating, then Nana Aida decided it's time for them to prepare themselves 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. Jessy went upstairs and left 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 she 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 browsed 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, Jessy sprinted out of her room and tried 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.

"Jessy, 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 f*ck is going on?

Adam really went too far this time, Jessy gritted her teeth in anger. She was furious now. She pretended to look outside the window to investigate, she found nothing. "There's 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 have seen!"

Nathan cleared the lump on his throat. "H-He was 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 was real! "H-He is real! I saw him too!" she exclaimed to the boys' faces.

While Jessy and Nana Aida glanced 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 didn't 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 went 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 Jessy. "Earlier...I feel so bored in my room, then as the darkness starts spreading around, I went to the woods to spend 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 was looking at his lady love with a passion-filled longing burning brightly in his eyes.

She blushed, she bit her lower lip and met 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 hand automatically settled on her waist, bringing their bodies closer. The heat emanating from his body was slowly seeping into Jess' body, filling her with warmth. She snuggled closer towards him and he enveloped her on his waiting arms.

Adam continued his explanation...

"...After leaving the woods, I came 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 was 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 was looking into his eyes and saw sincerity in 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, Jessy. I will fix this f*cking 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 and doubts from her face.

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

"I can't get enough of you, Jessy. 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 moan of pleasure from her.

Then hesitantly, she pulled away from him and walked 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 disappeared from the room.

Jessy was back downstairs in 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 being frozen, she was clearly horrified and terrible worry was creeping in her eyes. "W-What happened to my children!?" she screamed.

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

"Nana, don't worry about them, they're 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. "Jessy, what did Ivy do before she went upstairs?"

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

"Good. Nana Aida, 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 Aida to just stand 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 was ready, he disappeared from their sight...gradually...Ivy's frozen body came into life and her animated conversation with her mother continues...

Jessy 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 resumed talking with her mother.

Whewww...!

Jessy released 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 climbed the stairs but she remained 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. "A-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 walked side by side on the hallway and entered Jess' room without any mishap.

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