"Is this really your house?" I asked Jace who was beside me on the counter
"Still doubting?" he asked taking a sip of the apple juice he had poured for us
"Who wouldn't?" I said quietly but I was sure he heard me even if he didn't say anything
"Are you a fraud?" I suddenly asked making him stop
He turned to me
"What?" he asked with a laugh
"Tell me the truth, Jace. Is it what you were hiding? I promised you I would leave. Remember?" I tried to coax him holding his hand
His face turned guilty
"Actually.." he started while I patiently and anxiously waited for him to talk, my mind already going through various things
What are we going to do? How do I get him out of this? Should I persuade him to turn himself in? How is these connected to the murder? What part of it his fault? Would the guys help us? Can we trust them? Or should we just do everything ourselves?
"For goodness sake, Mel" he said removing his hand from mine and swiped his hand on my face horizontally
"Hey!" I yelled
"How could you think that I'm a fraud?" he asked
"Then how did you buy this house?"
"I told you," he edged closer and whispered, "I'm a Greek god"
I looked at him with a 'are you kidding me' look before I shoved him away but, he didn't fall, he just chuckled
"Let's go to the living room" he said
He sat on the long couch while I sat beside him. He placed his hands on his lap, folded. He demeanor was now serious, that made me quite worried, let silence dominate before he took over again
"Well, I guess you could say it's my fortune since the past twelve years?" he said with a slight smile looking at me, his hands still rested on his lap. I didn't say anything
"We loved painting. That was the only thing we had similar with each other apart from our age and we loved the passion. We were friends since birth but, we were different in everything apart from our passion for painting. We went to the same school from birth till we stopped going to school; we were inseparable. Not even a girl or complications that came with them could separate us, even when we would fight, the longest it lasted was for a day although that was very rare. John. John Cresswell. That was his name. We were so close. We knew things about each other that nobody else, not even us, knew about ourselves. Our hobbies, our hiding place, what we were truly feeling and when, we even knew. Ever since we were 18, we moved out from our parents house and started living together" he said with a sad smile, no longer looking at me
"When we were twenty, we decided to go along with our passion to paint, at that time I said we were very fortunate but, right now.." he just laughed
"Right from the beginning, we were making it. Many people loved out painting so we made a lot of money. After six months, we were already famous, people knew us all around. We managed to continue college but, at the next year, we stopped going, deciding to just be full time painters. We got many awards, and became very rich; the least money one of our paintings made was three million"
"Wow" I said making him smile
"Do you believe now when I say that I'm a Greek god?" he asked me but didn't wait for me to reply, not that I was going to reply anyway
"After the second year, we also got the award for the best national and one of the top second best international painter of the year. After that we were about to go for a vacation but, ..." he stopped and stiffened
I gently placed my hands on his
"It's okay" I told him
"We never made it. He died. He was murdered"
A tear fell from his eyes while I just continued to give him a comforting touch
"He was murdered, because of me. If only I went to get the touch myself. If only I stitched our roles. If only I was faster. If only I.."
He stopped again. It was as if talking would make everything final. Without hesitating, I hugged him
"It's okay, it's okay" I kept chanting it over and over again
After a while, he broke away and looked towards the fire place
"Jade was right. What has been happening happened ten years ago, to us. To Jace. We were about to prepare for our vacation when, as what comes first, there was a blackout"
I looked at him at the last statement
"I told him to bring the flash light from the kitchen while I check the junction box. I was about to go meet him when I heard a window shattering. Due to that, my phone fell and shattered so, I had to find my way through the darkness. I called him name but what I got in reply was a blood curdling scream. Panicked, I increased my pace to find it but, do you know what I saw? Blood. That was the first thing I noticed from the moonlight. John was trapped underneath his murderer being stabbed without mercy or pity but, I couldn't do anything. I didn't have a clue on what to do then John looked at me. His eyes" he turned to look at me
"That is what still torments me till today. His eyes. Helpless and lifeless but, were also pleading. Begging me to go, to leave him. I should have stayed and done something but, I left. I panicked when the stranger looked at me so I panicked and left. I forgot John, I forgot the fact that he has set a time for explosives and placed them on the walls, I forgot everything, I just ran. Then I got out but, he didn't. Immediately I got how, the house exploded and do you know what I did? I signed. I heaved a sign of relief. I left John then and heaved a sign of relief" he grabbed his hair
"I hate myself. I hate myself so much, Mel. I should have been the one to do. Not him, me. How could I have forgotten him and run? How could I run? How could I leave him? I hate my self so much. I should have been the one to do. He did nothing. John did nothing. I .."
I hugged him, tight. He wasn't crying but he was breaking down. I immediately take back what I said on making sure he doesn't have the opportunity to smile ever again
"It's not your fault, Jace" I told him desperately. If that is what he had been thinking, he need to get out of that thought right now
"It's not your fault" I repeated
"Jace, listen to me" I started still hugging him
"I know you think and believe it's your fault but, believe me, it isn't. There was nothing you could do" he wanted to break us apart but, I wasn't letting him go, at least not now
"Listen to me," I told him, "there was nothing you could do. He wanted you to go"
"And I shouldn't have listen to him. I should have stayed"
This time I let him go when he wanted to
"And how would you have captured the murderer? If you had died, how will you capture that psycho. Even if you turn out not to be the one who captured him, how will you feel dying without seeing him captured. John told you to go because he didn't want you to die. And maybe because he also wanted you to live and capture that psycho maniac. So please, don't blame yourself. For John. For yourself. For me. Please" I told him
He looked at me for a while before pulling me in for a hug
"You really surprise me, Mel" he said
I shrugged
"I may not be a Greek god or goddess but, I'm Melanie O'Roarke"
He laughed. His laughed his bright normal laugh which might have annoyed me but right now, I sure was so glad to hear it
We pulled apart and I smiled at him. He tucked my hair behind my ear
"Thank you, Mel" he said
"For what?" I asked him and got a look. I laughed
"For not leaving"
"I promised you and I'm still promising. I'm not leaving" I said with a smile
"Do you still paint?" I asked him
"At first, I stopped but, I started again"
"Where these painting before or after you stopped painting?"
"Before. The paintings that were burnt during the explosion but, they weren't nothing compared to the actual number"
"Where you only painting here are in the other place?" I asked referring to his 'official house'
"Only here"
"Why did you continue painting?"
He leaned into the couch and crossed his legs. I also leaned but didn't cross my legs
"Well, let's just say, I saw a pretty chihuahua on a bus stop and then you can fill the rest of the sentence you however you want"
"You painted me?" I asked
"I never said that"
"Where is it?"
"It was ugly so I just tossed it away"
I hit him, hard
"Ouch. That hurts"
I hit him again
"I guess since you are a Greek god, ugly thing irritate you so, I had better go"
I took my bag and was about to go but, he dragged me back and my heart started to beat. We were so close. Nose brushing close
"I kept it in the most special place to me"
"Where?" I asked
He took my hand and placed it where the heart is located
"My heart" he said
Is he serious or is he joking?
"Are you teasing me?" I asked normally but, I actually wanted him to answer the question
"I'll answer later. Let me show you the physical copy" he said taking my hand
We went up the stairs then he led me to a room.
"These is where I keep paintings of people special to me"
I looked around the room. It was filled with pictures. I walked over to the nearest one. I twas a painting of a younger Jace and someone
"Is this John?" I asked
"Yeah"
"How old were you guys here?" I asked
He walked over and pointed to a spot on the canvas
"I wanted to write the year but, it would be stressful to calculate so, thankfully, I just wrote the age. This was after we had our first award. We were twenty one here" he said
I went from picture to picture saying the age that was on the canvas
"Sixteen"
They were in their school uniforms and had their had over each other shoulders
"Eighteen"
They were in front of a house and were shaking their hands
"I guess this is when you moved out?"
"Yeah" I moved on
"Ten"
They were at the beach wearing only a pair of shorts running around
"Five"
In these ones, two women were at their side and they were all smiling
"Your mothers?" I guess
"Uh"
"What of your dads?" I asked
"Let's just say they aren't worth being painted by me or anyone" he replied and I decided to stop there
"One"
The women at the previous pictures were holding them, icing were on their faces
I smiled
"A month"
They were wrapped into baby shawls and were also held by the women
"I must admit, you guys were cute"
"I wouldn't say cute, handsome since birth would do"
I looked at him and shook my head
In the next painting, only the two women were there
"Your mothers were friends"
"Right"
I passed by at the other pictures of the two women when I stopped. I saw myself. It was the first time we met, on the bus. I guessed so since I was wearing the same clothes. There were ones which was full length and some which only showed my face
"There are only three people that are special and mean the world to me" Jace said coming to stand by my side and looked at me as I did the same
"John, my mother, and you" he said