by Jenn Vakey
“I’m going to run home and change my shirt,” she called out to Detective Wilcome. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes.”
After making a quick stop in the locker room, she ran out the front door.
The street was just as she had seen it, bright and empty. The anticipation inside of her was almost overwhelming. She put all of her strength into looking as relaxed and casual as possible.
When she saw the hardware store in front of her, she had to fight the urge to reach for her gun. This is the worst idea you have ever had, she said to herself. She shifted her gaze down to her shadow stretching out in front of her. When the shadow suddenly split into two, she pushed her eyes closed.
Through the darkness she could just make out a door. She moved her foot forward, but as it touched the ground, it was greeted by searing hot pain. She looked down to see a wooden floor stretching out in front of her. She took another step, but again was met with the same, familiar pain. She looked back down to her feet to find the floor covered in something: broken glass. “No!” she yelled aloud. “Not here, not now! I have somewhere else I need to be. Somewhere important.”
She closed her eyes, and opened them when she heard the sound of bells ringing around her. She was back in the stone room. Now the walls were lined with beautiful flowers is all shades of pink. The floor had also been littered with fresh flower petals. There was someone standing at the end, but she couldn’t quite make out the face. A breeze blew past him, causing his dirty blonde hair to dance around his face. “Ben,” she called out as she started making her way towards him. As she grew closer, however, she saw it was not Ben standing before her; it was Justin.
He was dressed in a crisp tuxedo, with a smile that warmed her from the inside. It was the same smile that would cross Ben’s face.
“Where are we?” she asked him as she stepped slowly closer. He did not move, or give any sign he had heard her. In fact, he was standing almost uncomfortably still, as if he were nothing more than a store mannequin.
“Justin? Can you tell me where we are? Or where your brother is?” she asked. “I’m looking for Ben. He’s in danger and I need to find him. I have to find him.” She pleaded for him to answer her, but he still did not move. She inched closer to him, but as she was about to reach out to grab him arm, a loud crack came from behind her.
She reached for her gun, but it was not in its place on her hip. Its absence did not slow her, though, as she ran towards the door in the corner.
As she pushed her weight against the heavy door, it let out a high-pitched scream that made her want to grab her ears. Still, she pushed harder. As the door slowly opened, something started flowing through it. Suddenly, she was pushed back away from the door by hundreds of balloons that were now rushing through like a sweeping river, each as red as freshly shed blood.
Rilynne’s head was reeling when she opened her eyes again. She appeared to be in the same room she had seen Ben in earlier, though there was now oil burning lanterns placed around it providing light.
“Ben?” she called out, trying to look around. Although there was some light, it was still very dim, and it was taking her eyes a minute to adjust. She tried to stand up, but found both her hands and her feet bound.
“I was beginning to think you were going to be out all night,” she heard from just behind her. “Well, I’m assuming it’s night. It’s so hard to tell in here.”
She pulled herself to a sitting position and looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from. She found him about six feet from her, leaning against the wall in the back corner. Even through the shadows, she could see he had been badly beaten. “I guess you have figured out by now that it’s Nicole?” he asked dryly.
“Yeah, Derek Hartley woke up this morning and told us. Then we found the shrine she had built for your brother in her closet,” she explained.
“And you still let her get the slip on you? I’m a little disappointed. Was she hiding out in your apartment waiting for you?” Rilynne couldn’t help but notice the tone of dread behind his voice.
“No, she snuck up behind me just outside the hardware store on my way home. She must have been really desperate to take me out in the open like that.” Like Ben, her wrists were bound by zip-ties. She struggled for a moment trying to slip her hand through before giving up and focusing on the rope tied around her ankles.
For the first time, Ben made a motion to sit up. “You see why you shouldn’t walk home alone at night? You could have been killed!” he snapped at her.
Rilynne stopped fighting with the rope and turned towards Ben. “Really? You have been tied up and beaten, and you’re looking at having your half of your leg chopped off and that shiny hair of yours shaved, but instead of worrying about that, you are concerned with me walking alone at night?” She made no attempt to hide the astonishment in her voice.
“She won’t hurt me,” he answered, almost confidently.
Rilynne let out a quick little laugh. “Really?” she asked as she scooted herself closer to him. “Well, she isn’t doing a great job of not hurting you.” She raised her hands to move his hair out of his face. He had a pretty deep cut above his eyebrow, which had left the right side of his face covered in blood. She then ran her fingers gently along his swollen cheek. It wouldn’t have surprised her if it were fractured. Ben did not show any sign of pain, though. Instead, he just closed his eyes and let his face rest lightly against her hands.
“And it wasn’t at night,” she explained. “It was only four-thirty.”
“Really? I have been kidnapped by a serial killer, and you decided to take off work early?” Rilynne was glad to here the tone of sarcastic amusement in his voice.
“I had to walk home early when the streets would be clear. It was the only way she would take me,” she said softly.
“You knew she was going to take you?” Ben’s head shot back up abruptly. For the first time, Rilynne saw a flash of anger in his eyes. “How, and why would you go along with it?”
Rilynne took a deep breath before responding. “It was the only way I would find you in time.” She knew it was not the smartest move she could have made. She could have just as easily had backup waiting to grab Nicole when she tried to make her move, but she knew that could end badly. There was no guarantee she would tell them where to find Ben, and after two days, she did not know what kind of condition he would be in. “I’m here to rescue you, haven’t you figured that out yet,” she added coyly.
Ben’s eyes closed tight and he clenched his jaw. He looked like he wanted to start yelling at her, but didn’t. “This is the worst rescue mission ever,” he finally let out on a deep sigh.
Rilynne let a small smile creep across her face. “I’m glad to see she didn’t beat your sense of humor out of you.” With one last look at him, she returned her attention to the ropes around her ankles. After several minutes of silence, Ben whispered, “You shouldn’t have done this.” He then laid his head back against the wall, keeping his eyes closed.
“I have already lost one person I cared about to a monster pretending to be a friend,” she replied. “I wasn’t about to do it again.” Although she could see his eyes on her, she did not return the look. If he had wanted to say anything else, he decided against it. He watched her face for several moments before closing his eyes again.
The silence was broken a few minutes later by the sound of screeching metal.
“Oh good, you are awake,” the too cheerful voice crept in from the dark corner. “Right in time, too. It’s time to start getting ready.” Nicole stepped out of the shadows carrying two garment bags and what appeared to be a cosmetic case. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a big mirror, so you will just have to help each other. I want everything to be perfect!”
Ben looked from Nicole to the bags, and then back again. “What are you talking about? Get ready for what?” He continued to look at Nicole, searching for an answer, but it was Rilynne who gave one.
“Her wedding.”
Chapter Eighteen
Nicole just smiled brighter. “Right you are, and I better hurry and finish getting ready myself. I can’t be late, now can I?” She sat the bags down on the table, and hurried back out of the room.
When the sound of the lock clicked, Ben shifted his eyes from the door to Rilynne. “What the hell is going on here? Has she completely lost it?” He appeared to have many more questions, but Rilynne stopped him there.
“Yes, she has lost it,” she said as she untied the rope that had bound her feet, and crossed the room to the bags. She dug through the cosmetic case and pulled out a pair of small nail clippers and a bottle of water. “She lost someone she loved, and held it in instead of grieving. Now she wants to have the wedding she was supposed to have before your brother died.” She paused as she knelt down in front of him. “And you are to be the best man.”
It took several snips for the clippers to cut through the zip-ties around Ben’s wrists and ankles. She handed him the water, which he finished in one gulp. By the look of his lips, Nicole had not given him anything to drink all day. She had just cut her hands free when he finally found the strength to stand up.
“She doesn’t honestly think we are going to play along with this, does she?” Ben slowly crossed the room to the table where the garment bags sat. “My brother is dead. He is not coming to any wedding, no matter how many guests she kidnaps.”
“I’m sorry, but I think he is.” Rilynne didn’t know how to break it to him, other than just spitting it out. “I believe Nicole stole your brother’s body and intends to marry it tonight.”
Ben tightened his jaw, and threw the chair in front of him across the room, breaking it into pieces. Rilynne did not try to stop him, or even calm him down. He was going to have to come face-to-face with his brother’s body, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
After several minutes, Rilynne broke the silence. “I need you to listen to me,” she said taking his hand. “We have to play along with this. It is the only chance we have of making it out of here alive. Now come sit down so I can get you cleaned up.” She led him to the remaining chair and grabbed another bottled waters out of the bag. There were no rags, so she pulled off her over-shirt and poured the water on it. His jaw tightened as she rubbed the shirt gently over his swollen face, but he did not pull away. “This is going to need stitches,” she said after finally cleaning away the last of the blood. “And I don’t think there is any chance of us getting ice for your eye right now.” She poured what was left in the bottle over the front of his hair, but despite her effort, it still remained stained from the blood. She combed it out, though, getting as much of the dirt out as she could, before finally setting the comb back on the table.
In the first bag was a black tuxedo with purple vest and tie, and a pair of shiny black shoes. The second bag held a matching purple dress, which was strapless and just above knee length, with black heels. “It’s a shame,” Rilynne said, examining the dress. Ben responded with a confused look. She held the dress up for him to see, and answered, “It’s actually a really cute dress.”
He just closed his eyes and shook his head. He grabbed his bag and turned his back to Rilynne as he started to pull his shirt slowly off. Before turning around herself, Rilynne caught a glimpse of the massive bruise that covered nearly half of Ben’s back.
Rilynne was not much of a dress wearer, but as she stepped into it, she had to admit she did like this one.
“Can you help me with this?” she finally asked, after struggling for several moments to reach the zipper. Ben’s gaze swept up and down over her bare back before crossing the room to assist her.
He had only managed to slide the zipper up a couple inches before he abruptly stopped. Rilynne was about to ask him what was wrong, before it hit her and she stopped herself.
She took a deep breath and braced herself, but his questions did not come. Instead, she felt his thumb gently sliding across the inch long marks, not missing a single one. The feel of his warm touch sent goose bumps across her still bare back, but she didn’t pull away. After his thumb brushed over the last one, he guided the zipper the rest of the way up, and walked back to his corner to finish getting dressed in silence.
Rilynne just stood frozen for a few minutes, unsure what to do next. It wasn’t until Ben was nearly dressed, that she returned to the bag on the table and searched for something to put her hair up with.
They were still waiting in silence ten minutes later when the lock on the door clicked again. Rilynne stood up and waited, but the door never opened. After a moment’s hesitation, she walked briskly to the door and pushed. The heavy iron door let out another loud screech, as it slowly swung open. “You have a plan right?” Ben asked as he stepped up behind her.
“Yeah,” she tried to sound confident as she reached out to straighten his tie. “Don’t die.” She moved her eyes slowly across his face one last time, before stepping through the open door.
The ceiling of the room was covered with hundreds of white Christmas lights. There were pink flowers lining the walls, and rose petals in a line down the floor. Rilynne followed the path of the petals with her eyes, and was sickened when she saw what was at the end. Propped up against a podium was a heavily decomposed Justin Davis. She turned quickly back to Ben, and drew his eyes to her face. “Don’t look,” she told him. “Keep your eyes on me, or keep them closed. Just don’t look at him.”
Music started up from the back of the room, causing them both to jump. Rilynne led Ben to the front of the room, leaving him next to his brother before taking her place on the other side of the podium. She was grateful she had to maintain Ben’s gaze, because it kept her from looking around as well.
She heard the rustle of fabric coming from her right, but dared not take her eyes away from Ben’s. It is hard enough to lose someone you loved, but to be forced to stare at his decomposed body was too much for anyone to have to bear. It was a memory that, once made, would never leave you again.
Nicole made her way down the aisle and passed between them to take her place next to Justin. Before turning her attention to the podium, she turned quickly to Rilynne, and with a giggle whispered, “See, I told you y’all were cute together. Look at him, he can’t take his eyes off of you.”
Rilynne wanted to punch her, but the shine of metal coming from Nicole’s right hand stopped her. She could not guarantee she could get the gun out of her hand before she was able to get a shot off, and that was not a chance she was willing to take.
“We are finally here, my love,” Nicole said to Justin. “And don’t worry. I made all the arrangements, and the hospital is expecting us as soon as the service is done. I made sure to pack the prosthetic leg I had custom made for you, so you can start using it right away. By this time tomorrow you will be in recovery, and we will be able to start our life together.”
Through the corner of her eye, Rilynne could see Nicole turning from Justin to empty podium. “We are ready,” she said. It appeared Nicole was now completely engulfed in her delusions.
The deeper she got into the ceremony, the looser the grip on Rilynne’s gun became. When she started reciting her vows, Rilynne motioned for Ben to get ready. She had just reached the end when Rilynne made her move.
It wasn’t until her hand was on the gun that Nicole seemed to snap back to reality. She tightened her grip and threw her elbow up, which connected with Rilynne’s lip, sending a warm stream running down her chin. With her right hand still firmly around the gun, preventing it from being raised, Rilynne pulled a small knife out of the top of her dress and pressed it against Nicole’s throat.
“Drop the gun,” she yelled as Nicole quickly stopped moving. Without hesitation, Nicole released her hold on the gun and took several steps back. “It’s over Nicole. Get down on your knees with your hands on your head.”
Nicole just stared at Rilynne, with a look that absolutely terrified her. There was no resignation in her eyes, only a look of both hatred and pleasure.
“I said get down on your knees,” she repeated again. Nicole just smiled and turned towards Ben. Her demeanor must have had the same effect on him as it had on Rilynne, because he slowly walked over to stand next to her. This only seemed to make Nicole smile more, though. It was only after Rilynne repeated her instructions for the third time, that she finally made a motion towards the ground.
If Rilynne let herself feel relieved, it was only for a second. Nicole had dropped down to one knee, but immediately started to rise again. Rilynne caught sight of the flash of metal as it was pulled out from under the white, flowing dress. Nicole’s eyes moved back to Ben as she raised her arm up towards him.
The crack that rang through the hall was louder than anything Rilynne had ever heard. She looked down to see Ben sitting on the floor next to her, blood splatter covering his shirt. She dropped down beside him, letting her gun hit the floor. Neither of them moved or spoke for what seemed like hours.
Chapter Nineteen
Ben was the first to rise, although he appeared to be in a considerable amount of pain doing to. Rilynne kicked off her heels and joined him. “Do you know where we are?” she asked, looking around for a way out.
“This is where Justin used to bring girls when I was in high school and he wanted some privacy. The exit should be just around that corner,” he pointed just behind her.
Rilynne pulled the door open and helped Ben down the stairs. They came out on the back of the local cemetery. There was some irony there, Rilynne thought to herself.
The cemetery was only a block from the station house, so they decided to walk to it instead of going back in to search for their phones.
The weather had finally seemed to turn, and a cool breeze filled the air. Without a second thought, Ben took off his jacket and placed it around Rilynne. “I hate to break it to you,” she stated, “but I don’t think you will be getting your deposit back on this tux.”
