Chapter 23

At the park, Juana waited with Colin. She bought some food and they ate in silence just to get him less curious. He kept giggling as he was in high spirits. Meanwhile, she was looking around waiting for the stranger. She already knew how he looked like. He had sent some pictures of himself to her the previous day. She waited twenty minutes but there was no sign of him, so she texted: "Hello where are you?" He said.

"Walk towards the road leading away from the park" he texted back. "Wait for me there. I'm shy, so I can't mingle with you in the presence of a crowd" Juana was glad that Colin came with her. She was laughing inside because it appeared that Colin didn't know her hidden agenda, he was just enjoying his drink and having fun. Juana was not scared because he was there.

After two minutes, she pulled his hands up.

"Get up, let's go"

"No I'm not leaving yet. It's just started, C'mon. I still wanna have one more drink" he laughed

"Get up, Colin"

"Pretty please, let's order one more set of drinks" he refused to get up.

"Nooo"

"I'll pay I promise"

"Colin, there's... I mean we have to leave now. I promise to bring you back here" Juana said and forced him to stand on his feet

"This date was just starting to get interesting" he kept whining

"We are coming back" Juana said dragging his hands along. Colin was sometimes too much to handle.

"I don't know if another opportunity like this will ever come again. My boss won't let it happen again you know" he said moving fast under her firm grasp

"Do we really have to go now? It's just 5.30 and I have no leftover work to do tonight"

"Let's get out of here first, I'll tell you why we are leaving" Juana kept dragging him until they got to the road that led away from the park towards what looked like a farmhouse. Juana stopped and folded her arms under her breasts, waiting for the stranger.

"Now what?" Colin looked bewildered

"Why are we waiting here? I'm starting to think you're someone else" he said rubbing his forehead

"Look Colin. I want to tell you something but you will have to listen to me with rapt attention and quit whining" Juana sounded apprehensive. Colin could tell

"Is anything the matter? Tell me, I'm listening" he said calmly. His eyes widened now.

He looked around for a while before glancing back at her

"Are we being chased?" He whispered

"No, obviously not. The thing is, Dad will be here by 7pm and I want you and I to keep close watch on him. This is the best moment to find out about his infidelity without him knowing. You wanted joining me in this, remember?" She said with an unsmiling face.

"Are you serious? How do you know he'll be here?"

"I heard him saying that to someone on phone last night" she said sheepishly

"Is that why we are here? Why you pulled me to this park?"

"Yes"

"So it's no date after all" he scratched his head and sighed

"I told you it wasn't" Juana rolled her eyes. "Deal or not?" She asked

"It'll be a deal on one condition" he replied. He looked disappointed;Juana was going to have to apologize to him later.

"What condition?" Just then, Juana's phone beeped. She checked to read a message from Jason, the stranger

"Let's go back in there and have some drinks. 7pm is still one hour twenty minutes away. We can hide before he arrives"

Juana read the message from the stranger "I'm sorry I'll be five minutes late. Can you wait?she texted back quickly: " Yes I will be waiting"

"Juana, did you hear what I said?" Colin asked but she kept texting

"Who are you texting?" He tried to snatch the phone but she dodged it in time

"What were you saying?" She asked

"I wanna know why we are not there drinking the hour one, twenty minutes away, and why we are here standing instead" he said tired of arguing

"I'm waiting for someone" she said quietly

"Wow who's that?"

"I won't tell you but it's a guy" she said looking away

"Okay I'll go get us some drinks while we wait" And before she could say anything, he took off running back to the tea shop beside the park where they had been earlier.

Juana suddenly felt apprehensive again but she did some deep breathing. Two minutes later, she saw him. He was standing on a hill behind one of the farmhouses. He didn't smile. He didn't move either. He only motioned for her to come over. Juana looked back; Colin was not returning yet. She waited a bit and then began to walk towards the hill to meet the stranger. While she moved closer, he began to smile a big smile at her.

"Hello" she said shaking hands with him

"Hi Juan" his voice was masculine enough. "I'm Jason, 25 and a rapper" he laughed

"That's not necessary to know. Nice meeting you Jason" she said. He acted so gentlemanly but Juana couldn't help thinking he was a bad guy. He was slightly tattooed, he wore a hoodie that covered most of his face, only his lips and some parts of his face showed, his hair covered his eyes but she could see that he was good looking, in a harmless kind of way. He was slightly huge too, like Colin but when she shook his hands, she noticed a deep fresh cut on his wrist that had just started healing. It troubled her but she didn't ask about it. He was quiet but cool to be with, and she noticed that while they walked and someone passed them, he'd adjust his hoodie so it'd cover his face more. She wondered why he did that. They walked for five minutes around the farmhouses and he barely talked. Except for the slight stoop on his back, his deep brown hair, the cut on his wrist and his quiet but deep voice, he could have passed for Colin's twin for they had the same build.

Several people passed and Jason turned his head away from their gazes, sometimes he held her and pulled her away to a corner to let some men pass.

It got so weird and uncomfortable that she asked him "Why do you do that?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just a bit shy" Just then, Juana's phone rang.

"Hello Colin. Wait at the park, I'll join you there I promise, in fifteen minutes, or let me say thirty? Till then, have fun" then she hung up. She looked up at Jason who was taller than she was. He looked like he was uncomfortable

"What is wrong?" She asked. He coughed

"I have Social Anxiety. Forgive me"

"It's okay. Where's the haunted place?" She asked.

"Over there" he pointed to a house which was at least seven minutes away but could be seen from afar because it stood alone. It was on a rock and there were no houses around it. It looked really creepy

"It has been there eight years. You can go have a look." He said

"Won't you follow me?"

"I am afraid not. You will be fine without me, the house has occupants" he said.

"Oh"

"Yeah they're good people I guess. They'll tell you the story of the house because I can't" he said and turned to walk away, adjusting his hoodie again

"Wait Jason" she called

"What?"

"Please go with me" she begged. Then she moved closer to him to assess his face.

"I can't, Juana. I assure you the house is safe, I mean there are people living in it now. It's probably no longer haunted" he said, swallowing and breathing hard. Juana wondered why. He kept touching his wrists and wincing in pain

"Are you hurting?" She asked

"No I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I have to go now, it's nice meeting you" he said turning away but she was scared of the unfamiliar environment. She subconsciously grabbed his hand which was in his pocket and that movement made the covering pull away from his face but he quickly adjusted it before she could see.

"What is it Juan?"

"Follow me please, I don't know my way around here. I can't walk back on my own"

"I'll be waiting there for you" he said pointing at a farmhouse. He waited for her to speak or go, but she stood rooted to the ground

"What else?" He asked. He was so gentlemanly

"Show me your face. All the pictures you sent to me hid your face. I really want to see your fa e" she said boldly

He laughed. Juana never expected it

He moved closer to her ear and whispered "Can you keep secrets?"

"Yes sure" she replied

"I'm not wanted here. I might get killed if I reveal my identity" he whispered back

"I only came here because of you. I can't trust anyone with my face"

"You can trust me Jason"

"Maybe you should prove it. Trust is a word I don't know anymore" he said and walked away. He stopped at an hidden place behind a farmhouse and waved to let her know he was still there. He lifted up four fingers to say that he was only going to wait for her four minutes.

Juana quietly but swiftly walked to the house on the rock. It looked dilapidated but yeah, it was occupied. There was a creepy tone to this house. The air moving around the house moved in circles. She felt it around her body and when she moved closer to the front door, she heard voices. So someone was in. She knocked quietly but there was no response. That was when she noticed something on the swing outside the house. It was a small bag and when she looked closely and checked the content, she realized that it was Ella's bag!

Her heart began to beat loudly in her chest. She knocked again but there was no response still. She still heard the voices from inside but no one was answering the door

The air still moved in circles around her head and her head started to spin.

"At least, let me take some shots" she said and took out her phone. She looked at Jason far behind her. He was raising up two fingers now. Juana took out her phone and clicked the camera but something happened that she had never experienced in her life. Her phone rolled away from her hands, rolled in the air for split seconds and then smashed itself on the hard floor.

The air was cool, not windy. So it was shocking. Juana's eyes widened. She turned away immediately and began to run, forgetting to pick her ruined phone. She was panting when she got to the back of the farmhouse where Jason was waiting. She looked frightened and he took her hands and rubbed it.

"What did you see?" He asked but she was too shocked to speak.

Jason walked her to the spot where she had met him first, and then waved goodbye. As soon as he turned the other direction, Juana ran all the way to Sydney park in fright