One more night prologue

ONE
MORE
NIGHT 🌃
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🎄🎋A Night Before Christmas 🎋🎄
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Owned and written by:- Racheal Dennis.

Prologue 🎄

❌ Do not copy or repost ❌

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Authoress Racheal’s pov ☃️🎄

December 24th, 2001!

An eight years old Jayden sat at the backseat of his parents car, he folded his arms on his chest and glared grumpily at the back of his father’s head.

He ignored the winds blowing past his ears harshly, he looked extremely angry, as though his parents has taken his favorite candy away.

His mother turned, she glanced at him and laughed.

“Come on, Jay, you can’t continue staying mad at us…”

Jayden interrupted her with a rude scoff, he turned away from his mother and looked out the window.

There are no fun activities or beautiful houses to stare at, nothing interesting at all, it’s all tall trees and overgrown bushes,,, that seemed like little forests.

But presently it’s fun to him, he’d rather watch the bushes and trees, than stare at his parents.

He was simply watching how their car drove past the trees in great speed, the trees were also swaying to the tone of the wind.

“Is Jay still mad about us moving back to America?” His father asked.

Jayden still didn’t say a word to his father, his attention was wholly on the trees.

“Trust me, you’re gonna love it here” his father said.

This caught his attention, he tore his gaze from the trees and glared at his father.

“I’m never gonna love it here, my friends aren’t here with me!” he snapped.

“I know, but you’re gonna make new friends here… ”

“No! I want Dae-Seong back!” he cut off his father.

His parents exchanged looks and sighed.

His father slowed down as they approached a rocky road, it looked like a foot road, but still wide enough for two cars.

Jayden’s mother turned completely to face him, she wore a big smile on her face.

“Jay, look! They got beautiful sceneries here, how about we come here for picnic sometimes?” she asked in suggesting tone.

“No! Let’s go back to Korea, I don’t like it here!” Jayden whined stubbornly.

His father turned towards him a bit, though his attention was still on the road.

“Don’t break your mum’s now, Jay. We all love Korea, but it’s not our home,,, it’s high time we came back home” he explained.

But young Jayden doesn’t seemed to understand, or maybe he doesn’t wanna understand.

“There’s no place like home, we should… ”

Jayden squinted his eyes when he pointed something ahead of them, he studied it closer and his eyes grew wide in fear.

A four years old little girl was standing in the middle of the road, a few meters away from their fast approaching car.

He pointed his finger quickly, but couldn’t open his mouth to speak, he was gulping like a fish under water.

“What’s wrong, Jay?” His mother asked him, when she noticed his expression.

“A.. a.. a.. child” he managed to stutter out.

His parents turned their heads at once, they gasped when they realized how fast their car was approaching the little girl.

Jayden’s father tried to turn, he tried to avoid hitting the little girl, but it was too late,,, the car was already too close to her.

Having no other choice, Jayden’s father took a quick turn and immediately lost control of the car, it headed for a big rock ahead.

“Dad, there’s a rock!” Jayden panicked from the backseat.

“Honey, stop the car” his mother said.

“I’m trying but it’s not working, nothing’s working”

Frightened Jayden unfastened his seatbelt and leaned forward, he tilted his head and stared at his father’s hands,,, even though he doesn’t know what his father was doing.

“Are we gonna crash into the rock?” he asked.

His mother turned to him, it’s obvious she’s scared, but she still managed to put on a bright smile.

She reached for her handkerchief, she wiped off the beads of sweat on Jayden’s forehead,,,she pulled his head forward and placed a k-ss on his forehead.

“Jay, sit back, your dad’s not gonna let us crash” she said.

“But… ”

“Don’t worry, Jayden, daddy got this” his father assured him confidently.

Feeling a boost of reassurance, he sat back on his seat. He leaned back on his seat and looked out the window, he saw the little girl crying and rubbing her eyes.

She was running after their car, but since his father was battling to get control of the car, he couldn’t tell him.

He continued staring at the little girl, until he heard his father released a very loud curse.

“Shit!!”

Turning his gaze towards his father, he realized their car didn’t manage to hit the rock, but was heading somewhere in a lightening speed.

His father’s hands weren’t even on the steering wheel anymore, his mother was clutching onto her seatbelt.

They were exchanging worried looks, their worried expression planted fear in his heart, which was growing quickly.

“Mom, dad…” he called in a shaken and broken voice.

His parents ignored him, they seemed to be conversing telepathically.

“What about Jayden?” His mother asked his father.

“He’s gonna be fine” his father assured her.

His father quickly unfastened his seatbelt, he turned towards Jayden.

His mother’s shoulders were shaking, she couldn’t bear to turn back and face her son, because she knew what her husband was about to do,,,,she just fixed her gaze ahead of her and cried.

“Daddy loves you, alright?”

Jayden nodded. His father tilted his head and stared at his mother, he also tilted his head too to see.

“Aren’t you gonna say something to him?” His father asked.

His mother took a glance at him with her red, teary eyes, she folded her l-ips in her mouth and continued crying.

She closed her eyes, mouthed “I love you, Jayden” then quickly turned away.

His father turned back to him, squeezed his shoulders reassuringly,,,,or comfortingly.

“Daddy loves you and mummy loves you more, take good care of yourself, alright?”

Jayden didn’t read any meaning into his words, his mind was too young for that,,,he simply nodded his head and his father smiled.

“Open your door” his father told him.

Jayden innocently nodded and opened it, his father leaned forward and k-ssed his forehead, shoved something in his (Jayden) p-nts,,, before pushing him out of the car.

He fell off, scraping his knees and elbows on the ground, but he didn’t mind that and got up almost immediately.

His forehead folded in a deep frown, when he saw his parents’ car leaving him behind,,,,he chased after them immediately.

“Mom! Dad! Wait for me!” he called.

But they didn’t stop the car, he continued chasing after them, crying and calling onto his parents to stop.

“Dad! Wait, I’m outside!” he cried.

He came to an abrupt stop, when he saw his parents car falling off a cliff, his mouth stayed opened as if he wanted to scre-m, but no sound came out.

Jayden’s body started shaking, great shock swallowed him and he couldn’t react,,,,or he didn’t know how to react.

He fell on his knees, reached out his tiny hands as if he could catch them, but it’s obvious he couldn’t, he’s just a kid and they were also too far from him.

“Dad! M-mom…” He whispered.

Silent tears flowed down his cheeks, he looked around trying to see if he could get any grown up to help him,,,but there’s none in sight.

He continued staring at the cliff, he wanted to go closer to take a look, but he was scared he’d fall off too.

Young Jayden’s breath fastened, it’s like he’s not getting enough oxygen.

Soo, he collapsed and passed out!

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December 24th, 2011

“Jayden, you’re the world’s most talented artist!” Stephen, Jayden’s best friend exclaimed mockingly.

Jayden raised his sketch-board, he stared at the crow he just drew and smiled proudly.

“Mock me all you want, but I know it’s still far better than your butterfly” Jayden retorted.

Stephen threw his head back and laughed loudly at his words, Jayden looked behind him cautiously, then threw Stephen a playful glare.

“Stop laughing, we’re in the woods,,,,who knows what your voice might invite”

Stephen waved Jayden off as though Jayden’s boring him with his words.

He turned his sketch-board towards Jayden, but Jayden pushed it away gently, not wanting to see Stephen’s work.

“You can’t compare this with your dead crow….”

Stephen paused, he studied Jayden’s crow with a concentrated frown, twisted his l-ips and scoffed.

“Let me get this straight,,,,you wanted to draw a hawk flying happily in the sky, but ended up drawing this crow… ”

He walked closer to Jayden’s sketch-board, he touched it, shook his head and sighed in great disappointment.

“… it looked like a crow suffering from a heart disease, it’s….”

Jayden cut him off by elbowing his ribs, he gro-ned quietly and laughed.

“Say one more word against my crow, I swear, I’ll make that united state of America’s flag you call a butterfly suffer!” Jayden gritted out in a scaring tone.

“Uh-hooo! I’m so scared” Stephen said, pretending as if he’s truly trembling in fear.

“Bad child” Jayden insulted him.

His phone suddenly started beeping, he reached for it and rolled his eyeballs.

“It’s 6pm already, we should head back,,,,I have pile of paperwork to do” he said.

“Oh, but I’m not done with my butterfly yet”

“Ok,,,,you can continue, you know your way back and just a kind reminder, I’m taking the car,,, you’ll have to come back in a cab”

Stephen’s smile faded, his shoulders slumped down in disappointment and he dragged his feet back to bag to pack up.

“You’re so boring sometimes” he grumbled.

“Yeah, you’re free to break up with me any time” Jayden said.

He started packing up his stuffs, he ignored Stephen who was throwing him a glare.

•••••••

After a few minutes, they’re done packing up and they’ve also put their bags in the car.
They got in the car and drove off, Stephen drove.

“Actually, I wanted to bring you here to have some relaxation, but apparently, your work is more important than your health” Stephen said.

Jayden folded his arms on his chest, he leaned back, rested his head on the window and closed his eyes.

“You should give yourself some rest, you deserve it,,, or you might collapse”

“Steve, I’m taking over my dad’s company soon, I need to familiarize myself with how things are being run in the company” Jayden said.

“Yeah, but are you forgetting you’re just 18years old?”

Jayden didn’t reply, he simply stayed silent but seemed to have a lot running through his mind.

“You’re merely an adult, just leave everything for your uncle first,,, you’ll be an adult when it’s time”

“I know, Steve, but…. ”

Jayden cut himself off, frown lines appeared on his forehead as he fixed his gaze on something ahead.

“There’s an accident!” He told Stephen as he pointed towards it.

Stephen followed his gaze and his eyes landed on a badly smashed car, a big truck was parked in front of it.

It seemed as though the truck had hit the car, and caused the damage.

The car was hanging off a cliff, a small push would make it go down the cliff.

“F**k! That accident is fatal, I bet no one’s gonna survive it” Stephen said, he drove off the road and parked the car.

Seeing this scene, Jayden’s mind flashed back to how he lost his parents in this kind of accident.

“N-no..” he muttered lowly.

“No what?” Stephen asked.

He ignored Stephen and pushed the door open, but Stephen grabbed his hand before he could stepped out.

“What are you doing?”

“Someone might still be alive, let’s help them”

“How? What can we do at this point? What if the police comes? They would accuse us for causing the accident”

Jayden snatched his hand from Stephen’s, he jumped off the car.

“I don’t care about the police, there might be someone breathing in that car!” He said and ran towards the car.

He made it to the car in a few seconds, his eyes searched in,side the car frantically trying to find a survivor.

He balled his fist when he saw a couple sitting in the front seat, with blood gushing off their foreheads,,, they’ve got deep cuts on their faces.

Unfortunately they’re dead, he closed his eyes as they reminded him of his parents.

“I came too late, I came too late!” He scolded himself.

He could feel his eyes watering up, he blinked and s-cked in a very large amount of air.

Just when he’s about to go back to his car, he heard a small, weak voice whimpering.

He halted and turned back, he saw a little girl of about 14years old struggling at the backseat.

Her face was blackened from the smoke in,side the car, the part she was sitting seemed to be compressed and she’s lacking oxygen.

“Mum…dad…mum..” she cried quietly.

Jayden rushed towards her, he didn’t touch the car for fear of pushing it down the cliff.

“Hey there, can you hear me?” He asked in a soft voice.

The girl didn’t stop crying, in fact, she increased her volume and cried louder.

“I.. I.. can’t breathe..” she stuttered amidst tears.

“Oh, ok, let me try if I can get you out,, alright?”

“Y-yeah…”

Jayden didn’t know what to do, he grabbed the door handle and pulled it as gently as he could,,, but it didn’t open.

He looked at the girl, she was already losing consciousness. He punched the glass and reached in,side to pull her out, but his luck suddenly ran out and the car headed off the cliff.

Part of his body was already in,side the car, he couldn’t pull off even when he wanted to.

“JAYDEN!” He heard Stephen called him from a distance.

He closed his eyes as they were falling off the cliff, the memory of his parents falling off was flashing in his mind.

“F**K HELL!” He exclaimed as they landed on the ground.

He squeezed his eyes tighter as he felt something pierced very deeply in his chest, he felt his heart hurting him,,, but he didn’t care much about it.

His mind was on the little girl, he managed to reach for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly,,, he laughed but winced when he felt a sharp pain on his heart.

He coughed out some blood.

“Mister, are you ok?” the little girl asked.

“Y-yeah”

“Then what about my parents? Are they ok?” she asked again.

Jayden’s eyes moved to her parents, they’re dead and long gone, but he can’t tell her that,,, she’d be so scattered.

“They’re fine” he assured her.

He closed his eyes as the pain in his chest increased, he began coughing out more blood and his vision started blurring,,, until he passed out.

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December 24th, 2016

“Boss, it’s Christmas eve today”

“Hmm” Jayden hummed absentmindedly, his eyes stayed fixed on his laptop as he went through emails.

“We should take a less busy road, so we can make it home in time”

“Ok” he replied, still not moving his eyes from his laptop.

His driver nodded and took a detour at once.

A beeping sound stopped him, he stared at his chest and sighed. He shut his laptop down and put it aside, he leaned back on the seat and rubbed his head.

“Hurry up, my battery is running out!” he said.

“Yes, sir” the driver responded and stepped on the gas.

••••••••••

Jayden opened his eyes as he felt the car jerk forward and stopped, he looked out the window and the road was clear.

He tilted his head.

“Kelvin, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“Sir, a girl just jumped off the bridge” Kelvin ( the driver) reported.

Jayden looked out the window, he saw a few people standing by the bridge,,, he frowned when he realized no one’s making any efforts to rescue her.

He quickly opened the car and got off.

“Quick, come with me!” He told Kelvin.

“Yes, sir” Kelvin replied and rushed out.

They took long str-de towards the scene, Jayden looked down and saw the girl drowning. He gripped Kelvin’s shoulder.

“Get in and save her!”

Without asking questions, Kelvin kicked off his shoes and dived into the water,,, in a very short time, he’s out with the drowning girl.

“Lay her here!” Jayden ordered him.

Kelvin laid her in front of Jayden, he went on his knees and was gently pressing her chest to get the water off her mouth.

After a few minutes, she wasn’t showing any sign of waking up, her l-ips were turning purple every second.

He could hear people murmuring around him, they’re all saying she’s dead,,, she’s took in too much water.

Not knowing what next to do, in desperation to save her, Jayden decided to give her a CPR,,, mouth to mouth.

He leaned forward and pressed his mouth on hers, passing some air to her.
He repeated it a few more times and she coughed, he lifted himself and sighed in relief.

Just then a girl and a boy, they’re of the same age as her,,, rushed towards her.

“Oh my God! What happened?!” The girl exclaimed.

“She,,,,,”

Jayden didn’t have time to explain as he was pulled up by his collar, he turned to the culprit with a frown,,, only to find out it’s his wife.

“Matilda” he smiled.

But his wife didn’t smile, she glared at the girl laying on the ground, before facing him with an even harsher glare.

“What are you doing here, honey?” He asked her.

“You k-ssed her?” she gritted out, ignoring his question.

“Let’s not do this here, honey” he told her in a pleading tone.

He knew what’s gonna happen next and he’s trying to avoid it, he knew his wife’s temper better than anyone else.

“Let’s not do what here? Why did you k-ssed her?” she asked.

“I didn’t k-ss her, I was just trying to save her,,,,”

“Save her by k-ssing her?”

Jayden averted his gaze to their 3years old daughter standing beside his wife, he pinched her nose softly and smiled at her.

“Isabella, you came out for a night walk with mummy?” He asked her in a very soft voice.

Little Isabella smiled and nodded, she handed a single rose to him, he rewarded her with a k-ss on her cheek.

He’s doing all these to prevent Matilda from making a scene here, which was impossible but he still wanted to give it a shut.

“You can avoid my question all you want, cause after today I’m not gonna be asking you any questions”

Jayden stood upright, he stared at Matilda in the eyes.

“Honey, let’s go home and you can scre-m at me all you can there”

“No, I’m not going back to that home with you,,, it’s over between us!”

Jayden frowned.

“It’s over between us?”

“Yes! I can’t continue living with a man that has no hope for the future, I can’t live with a dead man!”

People around started whispering among themselves, except the drowned girl and her friends.

“It hasn’t come to this, honey, let’s go home and settle our issue,,,,,”

“We have no issue to settle! You’re gonna die soon and I need to find somewhere else for myself and my daughter,,,, somewhere that my daughter’s future would guaranteed!”

Jayden’s eyes moved to their daughter, she’s just standing there, watching them innocently, with no clue of what they’re arguing about.

He faced his wife.

“Honey, you shouldn’t say these words in front of Isabella”

“What shouldn’t I say in front of her? That her dad is gonna die soon?”

Jayden shut his eyes, he balled his fist and took in deep breaths to calm himself down.

“I’m not gonna die soon, the doctors are working on it”

Matilda scoffed loudly, she opened her handbag and pulled out an envelope.

“I can’t hang onto hopeless assurance, I’m tired,,,, ”

She shoved the envelope in his hand, grabbed Isabella’s hand and smirked.

“,,,, until your life is assured, we’re getting divorced”

“What? Why divorce?”

“Ask your weak heart! Don’t try to contact or I’ll have a restraining order against you!”

“But honey,,,,, ”

Matilda didn’t wait for him to complete his words, she stormed towards the car waiting for her, she got in and drove off almost immediately.

Jayden stared at the envelope in his hands, he took deep breaths and tried to stop himself from getting too emotional,,, but he failed woefully.

His eyes turned red, the veins in his temple became very visible and he sobbed quietly,,,, not minding the people around.

He didn’t think about how he’s embarrassing himself in public, Matilda already did that few seconds ago.

The beeping sound came again, this time louder than before.

“Sir, let’s head home now, you’re running out of battery” Kelvin whispered in his ear, to prevent others from hearing.

The beeping sound kept increasing, Jayden stared at the watch on his wrist,,,, it’s showing 1%.

“Hurry, bring me back to the car” he whispered, but Kelvin heard him.

“Excuse me, Mr,,,,”

The girl didn’t complete her words, before Jayden collapsed!

To be continued.

Is this called fate or what?