Chapter 76

In less than ten seconds, Melissa saw a short message appear on her chat interface. "Not yet, what's up?" Melissa looked at her phone and chuckled slightly. This was the impression Peter had given her over the years – always there to answer any question; always ready to help. Melissa easily typed on the keyboard "Amy wants to invite us both to her house as a way of expressing her gratitude. When are you available?" When Peter received the message, he shook his head lightly and chuckled. Perhaps girls tend to overthink, he thought, this isn't that big of a deal. Feeling a bit awkward about the idea of visiting a girl's home under the pretext of helping others, he thought it would be better to let Melissa and Amy, the two girls, catch up! "The company is quite busy these days. You guys go ahead." Peter messaged on WeChat. Seeing that Peter didn't have time recently, Melissa knew that Amy would be quite disappointed if she heard this news. She decided to fight for Amy a bit more and typed "Amy has invited us both. If you don't have time this week, I can tell her we'll visit her next week instead." Peter hesitated for a moment. He didn’t want to refuse Melissa, so he sent a five-word message: "Okay, we'll keep in touch!" "Great! Now I can get back to Amy. I can rest easy now. Goodnight!" Melissa happily locked her phone, placed it gently on her bedside table, turned to her side, rested her head on her arms, and closed her eyes. A few hours later, Melissa's eyes started moving rapidly. Her heartbeat and breathing were gradually speeding up. She had a gruesome nightmare. In her dream, Murphy, dressed in black, disguised as a reporter and infiltrated Liam's press conference. In the middle of the press conference, Murphy pulled out a gleaming axe from his backpack, charged onto Liam's podium under the spotlight and camera view... A huge amount of blood splashed onto the backdrop behind the stage, pouring down unstoppably. The flesh at Liam's neck was blurred, and he fell in the center of the stage convulsing until he eventually stopped breathing. Only a pair of vacant, dull eyes remained, constantly staring at Melissa. No matter where she ran, these eyes always followed her. Melissa ran along the deserted highway like this......She forced herself not to stop…… "Mum? Mum, what's wrong with you?" Melissa woke up from the calls of Alvin and Alvina. When she opened her eyes, she found that her back and hair were already soaked. Adjusting her breath, wiping the sweat beads from her forehead, Melissa sat up from the bed. It was already broad daylight. "I'm fine, just had a nightmare" Melissa got out of bed in a daze, put on her slippers and went to the bathroom to start her early morning routine. Looking at herself in the mirror, Melissa's face was pale. She was truly scared by the dream. "Oh, mum is always very brave. What did mum dream about?" Alvina was always interested in these strange dreams. She lifted her little face with curiosity in her eyes. With a strained gentle smile, Melissa shrugged, "Nothing, mum just dreamt about a monster." "Alvin, Alvina, come and brush your teeth and wash your face." Melissa was applying cream while urging the children to wash up quickly. The scene of the dream kept appearing in her mind. She detested Liam and Nancy from the bottom of her heart, but every time she thought of the dream, she still felt scared. "We have finished washing up!" Alvin put on his freshly dressed shirt and overalls, paired with a little leather jacket. He strikes a few handsome poses in front of the mirror satisfactorily, with a naughty smile on his face. Alvina pulled out a purple fleece princess dress from their cabinet. She pushed Alvin aside to stand in front of the mirror, compared the dress on her, then quickly ran to the bathroom door. "Mum, does this look good on me today?" "Of course, our Alvina looks good in everything." Melissa looked at Alvina's small face, and felt her own child was pleasing no matter how she looked. Hearing Mum's words, Alvina pouted "Mum always says that, can't you use your professional aesthetic judgement to look at me?" After taking a bath and completing her morning routines, Melissa changed into a simple grey knit dress, and a pair of nude stockings. She silently plucked a pair of ballet-style pumps from her wardrobe and sat at the edge of her bed to wear them. "Mum, could you help me tie two pigtails?" Alvina struggled with her hair and failed after several attempts. Annoyed, Alvina pouted, her cheeks bulging with frustration. "Sure!" Melissa responded, tying her shoelaces at the same time. She glimpsed at the clock – they had agreed to leave at nine, but they had less than ten minutes now. "Mum, can you style my hair as well? I want it to look cool." Alvin fetched a bottle of hair gel and a hairdryer from the bathroom and sat in front of the vanity mirror. "Okay, just a moment!" Since morning, Melissa felt like she was on a rollercoaster, juggling tasks here and there. She barely had the time for makeup. She had just patted some foundation on her face and swiped on a touch of sandalwood lipstick before hurriedly packing her bag. Since they were planning to spend a night in the ancient city, they needed to pack a few essential items. Melissa had only managed to pack half of the things the night before. This morning, she was still stuffing bits and pieces into her bag. The blame fell on an unsettling nightmare she had, which caused her to sleep through three alarms. She packed whatever she considered necessary into a backpack but could hardly remember if she had missed something. Alvin and Alvina, on the other hand, were quite industrious. They had started packing their own little bags the day before, filling them with snacks and various entertainments for the journey. "Mom, I still need help with my braids." Complained the impatient Alvina, pouting. After pulling together her backpack, Melissa quickly ran over to braid Alvina's hair. Midway through braiding Alvina's hair, Alvin suddenly asked "Mum, did you pack my sleep vest?" "Yes, darling" Melissa answered hurriedly, her brain working double-time. "And my little nightdress?" Alvina perked her head up to ask, her round eyes shimmering with excitement. Melissa wound the hair tie around the end of Melissa's braids, reminiscing. "I did, I did, my dear!" Overwhelmed by a barrage of questions, Melissa was slightly flustered, struggling to cope. There were only three minutes left! "Mom, did you bring menthol oil? I'm afraid there might be mosquitoes in the ancient city" reminded Alvin abruptly. Although it was now mosquitoes intense bites. "I didn't bring that. Some resilient mosquitoes were still a nuisance; with menthol oil is in the second drawer of the bedside table. Alvin, could you help me get it and put it in the front pocket of my backpack?" Melissa instructed. At that moment, she heard the sound of a cane from the entrance. It was a clue that Grandma Julia was on her way.