GRAVE MISTAKE

6. NIGHT OF CELEBRATION

During night time…

The people stood around a huge fire which was burning bright in the middle. The sky was dark and the moon had come out in its fullness.

In unison, they sang hymns. After singing for more than twenty minutes, the real celebration began.

Music was played by instrumentalists and people danced around and conversed with each other.

Food was distributed and children ate the most, especially the sweets. It was fun.

Clara and Jecinta held hands as they danced and laughed loudly together.

It was a joyous moment to celebrate. Even the priests celebrated.

Jecinta was breathless and she decided to take a break from all the jumping and dancing.

       "I don't feel like stopping Jecinta, but you can go rest."

Clara screamed to her friend amidst the loud jubilation of people cheering while dancing.

Jecinta nodded with a smile as she left Clara's side.

The moment she left her friend, a man went to accompany her in the dance and Clara was too excited to reject him.

        "Lady Jecinta, would you like to have some ginger bread?"

Her neighbor, who was a little boy, ran up to her with a basket of assorted kinds of biscuits.

        "How very kind of you little fella." She grinned down at him.

When she was about to take one, he signaled her to lean forward so he could tell her something.

The smile was still there but she had a slight frown, nevertheless, she leaned forward and angled her left ear for him to say what he wanted but instead, he surprised her by giving her a light peck at her cheek.

Her eyes widened and she froze, a light hue of pink colored her cheeks.

       "You're very pretty milady, it's a shame men don't see it," the little boy of about eleven years old said to her and it shocked her further.

She slowly straightened herself and her heart warmed at his words.

        "Th…That's very sweet Philip."

"Do you still want the ginger bread?" He grinned widely at her and she smiled.

         "Of course dear," she took two pieces of ginger bread and he took off like nothing had happened.

His words lingered in her mind and she subconsciously tucked a strand of her hair behind her left ear.

Her eyes moved round and that was when she sighted him.

He wore a black long hood which covered his body and head, the only part of him she could see was his face.

He stood still and his eyes lingered for too long on her which still disturbed her.

He was the only man who looked at her with such intensity and it felt very strange. Her heart began to pound wildly when he began to walk in her direction.

Everything around her faded and to her, he was the only thing that mattered even though he was a stranger.

She just had this strong feeling to be with him and that they were meant to be.

He walked with grace like a king and people made way for him without him having to tell them to excuse him.

Her lips parted in awe and wonder and it was like she fell into a trance until he finally stood tall before her.

His bright golden eyes glimmered and a sigh of satisfaction left her lips.

His eyes held hers deeply and none of them was ready to break eye contact. She was brought back to her senses when his hand touched her but he instantly withdrew his hand and shut his eyes for a brief moment to regain himself.

Her scent clouded his mind and he was trying so hard not to pull her to his embrace.

       "Follow me."

He went past her after saying those words and Jecinta stood in disbelief.

       Did he just speak to her?

The more she stood the more he walked farther away from her and she came back to her senses and hurriedly followed him but he was too fast and in less than a minute, she lost him.

        "Where did he go?" She asked no one in particular.

As her eyes darted about, searching people's faces, she finally spotted him at a distance.

        Was he leaving the town?

She ran after him and before she knew it, she had wandered far away from the town where the celebration was being held.

He didn't pause for her to reach him neither did he run but walked, however, it felt like he was running because of how far he had gone to the end of the town.

Jecinta continued to follow him until after a while before she realized she had gone far from town and was now close to the woods.

        "Jecinta! Where are you going?"

Someone called out to her and when she turned around, she found Clara who was very far behind, running to meet her.

        "I saw him Clara, he went in there," Jecinta shouted in response to Clara before running into the dark woods.

        "Jecinta wait!"

Clara called after her but Jecinta ran into the woods when she saw a black hooded figure walking deep into the woods.

She was panting hard, by then her hood cap had already come off her head, revealing her orange full and curly hair.

Her brown eyes searched the woods for him but she couldn't find him anymore. It was like he vanished into thin air.

        "Hello?"

She went further into the woods and hoped to see him but she didn't see any sign of him.

        "But he didn't go too far," she said to herself in disappointment.

When she couldn't find him, she decided to go back but she couldn't find her way out of the woods.

She was totally lost and didn't know which direction to take. The place was dark and eerie but thanks to the full moon, she could see some things.

An owl hooted and the sound echoed round the woods and inflicted great fear in her. Her heart raced and her eyes widened when a fearful thought came to her mind.

        Had she walked right into a trap?