Julie saw Max's expression changing. He seemed to be somewhat horrified, with his wide-open eyes set on the woman who had just entered.

She was wearing a gown that was so tight that it hugged every curve she possessed, making her look like some runaway model. Her top to bottom black apparel made Julie wonder if she was from the party. Even in the dim setting, her deep-set, clear emerald eyes were visible.

She was the same woman Max collided with a few days ago outside school. A part of him had accepted that the incident didn't even happen; it was just in his mind. After all, how could someone just disappear like that? But now, there she was, right in front of him once again with the same coaxing voice and a malicious smile on her pale face.

"Julie, just as your name suggests, you truly are a vivacious beauty," the woman said as she walked towards them and slid her hands through Julie's open hair.

Max pulled her away from the creep.

"Who the heck is she? And how does she know my name?" Julie whispered.

Max had no answer to her question. He himself wanted to ask the same thing.

"It's useless to ask that from him, for he's as ignorant as you are," she said as she flashed her pearly white teeth. "But fortunately, that's not the case with me. I know exactly who you both are and there's no way I could be wrong. The immense aura seeping out of your bodies assures me of that," Her voice started turning all shaky, and they both felt that her mouth was watering up. The seductive tone in her voice was rising, and with every passing second the headache Max was having because of it was getting even worse.

Julie looked at Max with a bemused look on her face.

"Oh- I didn't even say my name, did I? You can call me Agna," she said.

"How do you know about my parents?" Max stammered. That was all he could think of at the moment. He took a step towards Agna.

Julie was rather dubious about this woman who had just appeared out of nowhere. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"I think we should leave," she said, but Max's only reaction was getting her hands off him as he turned towards Agna. It was clear that Max was very desperate to know about his parents, even if that meant staying with the creepy lady in the desolate park for some more time. Hearing of his parents was something he had lost complete hope in. Uncle Jonathan, the only person who could let him know more about his parents, was also missing for the past seven years.

Julie understood his eagerness to stay. She could comprehend how miserable he must have been all these years, in the possession of just some blurred memories about the people who brought him into this world, not even some real moments he could cherish for the rest of his life. Kevin's selfless love also could not fill the void that had been in his heart.

But Agna wasn't there to provide Max any kind of comfort. She had something else in her mind. And seeing Max's desperation, she was even more tempted to take the next step.

"Alright then, I'll tell you about them, but..." she said, "it would be more fun if we turn this into a game." She turned around and looked towards the sky.

Julie already didn't trust this devilish woman, who was trying to be saintly for some unobvious reason, and now her suspicion was reaching new heights.

"Huh? What game?" Max asked.

'Run stupid people, run! She's going to kill you both and dispose of your bodies somewhere in this park,' yelled Max's inner self. Only if it was loud enough to make him move, things might have been a bit different.

Agna turned back to Max. Her emerald eyes were shining as brightly as any real emerald. Even darkness around failed to hide it.

"Let's say that I'll be giving you a task which if you manage to finish in the stipulated time, I would tell you all that I know about your parents."

Julie once again pulled Max towards her, and with a grave look on her face, shook her head in disapproval.

"Kevin must have figured out by now that you're missing. You wouldn't like him to go nuts searching for you."

Max's vulnerability at the moment hindered his thought process, and he was not the one to be blamed for it. But Julie was completely fine and definitely not ready to let Max fall in Agna's trap or whatever it was. There was no way she could let Max accept an errand from some random, creepy woman.

He realized that she was right. Kevin must have found out about his getaway. But there was a huge possibility that the next person he would have searched for was Julie. Realizing that she was missing too, he must have been bouncing off the walls in excitement, and probably would have stopped his search to let them have their moment.

Still, Max wouldn't like to take chance, and it was quite late too. Another reason that was dragging him away from Agna was Julie. He could see concern and a tinge of fear in her eyes. She was just trying to keep them both away from any unseen danger. If alone, he may have gone for whatever Agna was about to say, but he didn't want to take a chance with Julie by his side. All that was his personal mess, he obviously didn't want to drag her into it. He agreed to leave but had a surety within that even this wasn't his last meeting with Agna.

Agna figured out that Julie had convinced Max to leave, and that was definitely what she wanted.

"But if you don't do it, no one else might," she said loudly from behind as they went past her. Max ignored her, biting his lips and trying to resist that honeyed voice.

"Your brother would be waiting for you Max," she said, but it appeared as if she was mourning over it. It was the last thing Max heard from her and then there was silence. The newly established silence was soothing in no way, but more of an indication of something terrible that was about to come.

What she said kept echoing in his ears. There was a sudden, unknowable trepidation within him that made his feet move even faster. Max sneakily turned around only to find out that she was gone, disappeared into the thin air once again.

Seeing the befuddled look on his face, Julie also turned around to see what had happened. Her mouth dropped open.

"Where did she go?" she said. Her wide-open eyes were searching for Agna without even blinking.

Max shrugged and started moving again. She also didn't wait and followed him out of the park. They walked through the street, towards the Wilson house, but something felt weird. The Avenue Street was strangely silent. The cold, restless wind whistling prominently in their ears in a way that sent chills down their spine. He could feel his heart pounding heavily.

"Stop thinking about that creep, can you?"

Julie broke the prevailing silence.

"As if you could! And it's not that I'm not trying."

Her statement got backfired at her, and what Max said wasn't wrong either. She thought that talking to him could help get the creep out of her head, but she went for the wrong start.

Living in Moonvale, the place which was known for being associated with angels and other mythical creatures in the past, she had now begun to question whether Agna was even a human! She shook her head trying to get those thoughts off her head, convincing herself that it was all in the past and no such creatures now trod on earth.

Just when they stood a few yards away from the Wilson house, Max stopped.

"What happened?" she asked. She noticed the colour of Max's face fading away as he gasped, horror creeping onto his face.

"Oh no-" he said under his breath and then, out of the blue, he started running towards the house.

Julie tried calling him but her yelling at the top of her lungs was to no avail. She ran after him but couldn't even get close to the blistering speed he was running at. He pushed the gates wide open and ran in. But the intensity with which he did that made the gates spring back to their original position after colliding with the side walls. Julie, who was trailing behind, luckily avoided bumping into those heavy metal gates.

She yelled once again from behind but I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas played was so loud at the backyard that she could hardly hear her own voice.

'I gotta feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night
That tonight's gonna be a good good night
I feel it.'

The LED lighting, which was up during the cake cutting, was now replaced by heavy party disco lights. The simple barbeque mentioned on the invitation card turned out to be much more than that. Kevin had indeed succeeded in creating a great best party atmosphere.

'Tonight's the night, let's live it up
I got my money, let's spend it up!'

Unfortunately, Julie couldn't go to check it out at once because instead of going towards the backyard, Max went for the staircase inside the house at a breakneck speed. She sighed for a moment and then rushed up the stairs.

"Max, what's wrong?" she yelled. He didn't respond even though it was much quite inside the house. It was as if he couldn't even hear what she was saying. 'What happened to him?' she wondered.

Julie stopped at the terrace door panting for breath.

"What the heck was that for?"

"H-how did you get here so fast? And why are you even here?" Max stammered.

"Are you now making fun of me? I told you that I'm not used to these heels and you made me..." she started but Max interrupted in between.

"How could you get here before us?" he said. This time he didn't stammer. His voice was loud and clear.

Julie realized that he wasn't even talking to her. She tilted her head to see past Max's silhouette, and what she saw sent chills down her body.

Agna stood there, with the same loathsome grin on her face.