The Enchanted Night

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With his eyebrows deeply knitted, Rufus heaved a heavy sigh and resigned himself to contacting the manager as soon as he could.

The manager was having a good night's rest. Abruptly awakened by the sound of his phone ringing, he got a bit furious. Without taking a second to check who was calling, he answered his phone.

Just as he was about to utter profanities to whoever it was who thought it would be a good idea to call him at this time of the night, he heard a cold voice talking from the other side of the line, "Give me the key to Room 403 on the second floor."

Since the manager was still a little groggy after being waken up, he couldn't understand what Rufus was trying to say. "Excuse me?" he said, feeling a bit disoriented.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Rufus asked him one more time, "I need to get the spare key to Room 403 right now."

It was then that the manager finally realized who it was that he had been talking to. He felt somewhat relieved that he didn't say anything that could have displeased the man. 'If I offended this rich man, I might lose a prized guest, ' he thought.

Having that in mind, he sprung up from his bed and searched for the spare key for Rufus without wasting any time.

It was sometime around three in the morning when he came and handed the key over to Rufus.

Upon opening the door to Jarrod's room, Rufus held onto Cassandra's hand and proceeded to walk in. There were no lights on. Apart from the light coming from the hallway, it was completely pitch-black inside. He moved carefully, trying to find the switch to turn the lights on. Then, Cassandra screamed in horror the second she saw the unconscious young man.

"Jarrod! Are you all right? Can you hear me?" Cassandra could tell that her heart was about to jump right off of her chest as she saw Jarrod's face which seemed to have completely lost its color. They found him sitting motionless on the ground and leaning against the couch.

On the other hand, Rufus was able to remain calm in comparison. With a grim look on his face, he brought out his phone and called an ambulance. Then, he requested for the manager who was

“Let's go and register our marriage on your birthday!”

Marrying Daniel should have been her best birthday gift, but everything was ruined the moment when she caught him sleeping with another woman on the day before her birthday.

“He’s going to marry that woman! She... was my best friend!"

other person has just left this world. I've been in this position an awful lot of times. People come and go. They live and die. It's bound to happen at some point. That's just how it is. We shouldn't dwell too much in someone's death, ' he sighed.

Cassandra didn't have the strength to enter the emergency room. Rufus rested his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them to try and comfort her.

"Rufus, we should go back to the hotel. This can't be happening. Maybe, just maybe, this is all just part of another bad dream," Cassandra said in a shaky voice as she looked up at Rufus with her eyes wide open in a state of shock.

Rufus stared back straight into her eyes and told her, "Cassandra, all of this is real. Jarrod is already gone. There's nothing we can do about it. But if you don't take this chance to see him one last time, you won't be able to see his face ever again."

Cassandra's heart ached so much. Truth be told, Rufus was also taking Jarrod's death quite hard. The young boy had always been so feeble and sickly even from the moment they met. And whenever he smiled, one could sense a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"Don't be scared, Cassandra. I'm here with you," Rufus whispered in her ear as he leaned in closer.

If it were at all possible, both he himself and Cassandra would be praying that this was only just a dream. And when they woke up in the morning, Jarrod would still be with them.