The Venue

by T J Payne

  The two had sabotaged their own happiness in favor of mediocrity.

  Would they see it?

  Would they understand?

  Caleb waited.

  But the looks they cast back down upon him made his hopes fade. They were still confused. Their eyes narrowed as their puny, caveman-like brains tried to put the puzzle together.

  “You killed my mom because I went camping?”

  They didn’t get it. They might never get it.

  “Because you rejected me and in doing so, you rejected decent humanity.”

  “That trip had nothing to do with you.”

  “I loved you. I could have provided for you. Protected you. Treated you like a queen. But you judged me. Not on what was inside. Not on my mind or heart. You rejected me because I wasn’t attractive. Because I wasn’t athletic. Because I wasn’t rich. Because I wasn’t cool. Because I—”

  “— because I wanted to be alone in a tent with Eva Parker, Ryan’s sister!”

  That name sounded familiar to Caleb. He had vague memories that Ryan had an older sister. She was on the basketball team, right? If she was the same girl Caleb was thinking about, then, yes, she was hot. Was that just another popular girl that Amy had tried to become friends with—?

  “I’m gay!” Amy said. “I’ve always been gay!”

  The words took a moment to penetrate Caleb’s brain. Instead, they rattled around on the outside. It was like a penny dropping into one of those big funnels, slowly spinning its way down to the center. His mind raced, trying to fit the pieces together.

  The grand speech he had been preparing for years, the one where he would really rip into Amy for her betrayal of their friendship, suddenly evaporated from his thoughts.

  “No,” Caleb said. It was all he could think to say.

  “Yeah.”

  “No. No, really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even back in high school?”

  “Yes!”

  “Wait, does that mean… Is Mariko your…?” He felt his face flush.

  Had he really missed all the signs? It seemed so obvious now. Who brings just a “friend” to a destination wedding?

  Was it true? This whole time?

  Did Lilith know? Surely, she had figured it out upon first seeing Amy and Mariko together. Lilith was far more perceptive than Caleb with things like that.

  But, suddenly, it all made sense.

  It wasn’t about him at all. It was about her. He just never had a chance. Even when she abandoned him to hang out with the “cool” girls, it wasn’t because of anything he had control over. She probably just wanted to fuck Liza Schwartz and Brandi Halderman, as they were the most attractive girls in their grade.

  Oh, Amy. Such a little slut.

  She didn’t love him not because he wasn’t particularly attractive… or personable… or athletic.

  It was because she just didn’t like boys.

  Did he really waste four seats at his wedding for this?

  Had he brought her and her family here because of a misunderstanding?

  How many other misunderstandings had there been?

  How many other little narratives had Caleb formed off of only one-sided information? How much anger and resentment had he allowed to calcify over minor perceived slights?

  He mentally ran through his guest list.

  A strange sensation burned through his roiling stomach.

  Doubt.

  He pushed it down.

  These guests had bullied him. They had rejected him. They had laughed at him and mocked him. They hated him just as much as he hated them. None of them deserved to live.

  Except maybe Amy.

  He looked back up at her. Her face was still hidden by shadow, but he imagined that she was smiling down at him.

  “High school must’ve been a hard time for you,” he said.

  “It’s hard for everyone. Everyone’s dealing with their own shit.”

  “Are you happy?” he asked. “With Mariko?”

  “Yes.”

  He believed her.

  “That’s great, Ames. That’s really great. I’m happy for you. She seems cool. If it’s okay with you, maybe we can meet up for drinks sometime. After this is all over. A double date.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Hey, so…” Caleb began, but he didn’t quite know how to express what he was thinking. “I want you to know that I am totally okay with you being gay. In fact, I’m a little upset that you didn’t feel comfortable coming out to me until now. We’re best friends, Ames. You could have told me anything. You should have told me. That kind of mistrust is hurtful. Did you think that I wouldn’t understand? That I wouldn’t be cool with it? What did I ever do to have you doubt me?”

  He didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he couldn’t help it. What kind of trust was that? Keeping such a deep secret from her best friend all this time. It was a betrayal; that’s what it was.

  “I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Amy said. Her voice didn’t sound particularly sorry. “I should have trusted you. And I’m so… uh… so thankful for your approval.”

  “Of course, I approve. We’re friends.”

  “Yes, we are. We always have been.”

  He felt her grasping his hand. Her skin was warm and soft.

  “As your friend, I’m begging you,” she said. “Please. End this. Let us go. Let all of us go.”

  He looked up and for the first time, he saw her face. She was leaning forward slightly so that the moonlight caught her features. It was the face of his friend. The girl he used to go biking with. The girl who built pillow forts in her living room for their epic Nerf Gun wars. The girl who didn’t like following directions for her Legos.

  The girl he loved.

  Loved as a friend.

  Only as a friend.

  Then he turned to look at Roger.

  “For what it’s worth, I always really liked you,” Roger said, smiling down on him. “Always thought you were a great kid. Whip smart. Loyal. Tough. A man. Any father would be proud to have you as a son.”

  Caleb nodded.

  These were good people. Maybe he misunderstood them.

  “You know what,” Caleb began. “I think that perhaps we can—”

  Something splattered on Caleb’s face.

  When he looked back up, an arrowhead stuck out from Roger’s Adam’s apple.

  “Dad!”

  Roger staggered backwards a bit. His arms flailed around, seemingly unable to decide if they wanted to clutch his bleeding neck or catch his falling body before he collapsed.

  Caleb watched Roger stumble. The shadows from the moonlight made his eye sockets look like gaping holes. Soulless holes.

  Roger tried to speak, but the air bubble only made the blood gurgle around his neck hole. At some point, Amy had come to his side and was holding him up. Or maybe she was trying to pull him down to safety, but his muscles had become too rigid to bend. Caleb couldn’t tell.

  Another arrow thudded into Roger’s shoulder, spinning him around slightly so that Caleb could finally see his eyes. It was a look of surprise on his face. Confusion.

  A new arrow struck him in the chest. The force sent him backwards. He crashed down, knocking over an unlit candelabra which struck the stone floor and sent soundwaves echoing around the chamber.

  Amy scurried behind the altar, out of Caleb’s view.

  He angled his head toward the door, toward the source of the arrows.

  Lilith stepped into the moonlight that flooded the aisle, a fresh arrow held nocked and ready on her bow. Even in the darkness, he could see that something was wrong with her. Well, not wrong but different. At first he thought that maybe the shadows had shrouded half of her face in blackness, but as she stepped forward he realized that half of her face was actually black. Burned. Her flesh had peeled away leaving exposed and charred tendons from her left ear to her nose.

  But she didn’t move like she had been injured. Her steps and her post
ure was as focused and forceful as ever.

  All of the complex thoughts Caleb had been feeling toward Amy and her father vanished at the sight of Lilith, advancing up the aisle with her bowstring pulled taut.

  Lilith was his life partner. Not Amy.

  And Lilith was beautiful. And powerful. And good. And right.

  He loved her.

  And everyone else could burn in Hell.

  ***

  Amy crouched behind the altar. There were no exits on this side of the chapel. The only way out was the way they came in — down the aisle and through the main doors. The only obstacle in her way was the crazed bitch in the wedding dress who was surely readying another arrow into her bow.

  Just to be sure, Amy leaned to the side to peek around the altar.

  An arrow whizzed out of the dark and brushed by her face before clanking off the stone wall behind her. Amy ducked back.

  “I’ve so looked forward to meeting you,” Lilith called out in a sing-song voice. “Amy Holgate. Every teenage boy’s wet dream.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt Caleb,” Amy shouted to the darkness. “It was all a misunderstanding. He was always a good friend, but it would never have worked between us.”

  “I’m sorry, but are you hitting on my husband?”

  “No. It’s just—”

  “Because it sure sounds like you’re saying that you could have had him if only you’d wanted him. Am I getting your cast-offs? Your sloppy seconds? Do you have any other reject boyfriends you think I might like?”

  “That’s not what I meant.” Amy looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. The altar was too big to move. The candelabra might be useful as a club, but it had fallen toward the pews and Amy couldn’t reach it without getting shot.

  “Oh, I’m sorry I’m too dumb to figure out what you meant,” Lilith said. Her voice sounded closer. She must be slowly advancing down the aisle. “Please educate me. Explain it to me as though I were a love-struck teenage boy. Or a Labrador.”

  “Lilith, please. I’m gay!” The gay card had never done much for Amy in her life, but it seemed to have almost moved the needle with Caleb just moments earlier. She had been on the verge of convincing Caleb that she stopped talking to him in high school not because he creeped out the other kids, not because he was weird, not because he was a judgmental asshole, but because she just didn’t like guys. Classic “it’s not you, it’s me” strategy.

  Her father had gone along with the act so smoothly. They had been so close to being set free.

  Her father…

  Her dad now lay dead on the other side of this altar. Her mom too. Probably Mariko as well.

  And for what?

  Because some fucking neighborhood boy had spent the past twenty years building up this twisted narrative in his mind? Because she went camping with another guy? Because her friend from childhood quietly seethed that his life didn’t play out like some romantic comedy? Or maybe even a porno?

  That was it?

  Amy’s face hardened. Her limbs, which had felt so weak and empty, filled with a new strength. She crouched on the balls of her feet, like a cat whose entire body was wound tight in preparation to fight or flee, whichever opportunity presented itself first.

  Amy wasn’t going to die for Caleb’s bullshit.

  “Oh, sweetie. Of course, you’re gay,” Lilith said from the darkness. “And, of course, you found the perfect match. Of course, you found love. Because girls like you always get everything they want. There were girls like you at my high school. I even considered some to be my friends at the time. Or rather, I wanted them to be my friends. I wanted them to like me. They were so pretty. So confident. So perfect. Just like you.”

  “You don’t know me.”

  “Oh, I think I do. All Amys are the same. I’ve met different versions of you throughout my life. And each time, I’ve had the overwhelming urge to stare into your blue eyes as I carved your perfect nose from your perfect face. To watch as you realize that a knife blade isn’t captivated by your flirty smile. A knife knows no lust. It feels no crushes. It won’t turn its head when you bat your pretty eyes and flip your pretty hair. It will gut anyone and anything that it touches.”

  Amy crouched behind the altar, searching for a weapon. All she could see were the crystal bowls that held the candles. Maybe she could throw them. If she got lucky, she might hit Lilith in the face… if Lilith didn’t shoot her the moment she stood.

  Lilith’s shoes clicked against the stone floor, one cautious step at a time. She was getting closer.

  Closer to Amy.

  Amy heard the dull thud of Lilith’s foot kicking into something. A body. Amy’s dad. Lilith gave him three firm, solid kicks. The bow twanged out and Amy heard a fresh arrow thud into his corpse. But her dad gave no yell or scream.

  Seemingly satisfied with the lack of a reaction, Lilith proceeded up to the altar again. She hummed a few bars of the Bridal Chorus. And then, she began singing it out loud:

  “Here comes the bride, all fat and wide.

  See how she wobbles, from side to side.

  She stepped on a turtle, and the turtle cried.”

  Amy took a deep breath. She had seconds, perhaps, before she’d have to fight Lilith, one way or another. Maybe if Amy rushed her, she could close the distance before Lilith fired. The bow and arrow would be useless. It would be a hand-to-hand fight. Lilith surely carried some sort of bladed weapon on her. If Amy could get her hands on that, along with the element of surprise, maybe she could win.

  Maybe.

  She had just seen Lilith slaughter grown men, some of whom had military training. Amy wasn’t as tough as them. She wasn’t as confident. If they didn’t stand a chance, how could she?

  Her muscles tightened. Her whole body wanted to pull itself into a shell for protection.

  Lilith was faster than her.

  Lilith was stronger than her.

  Lilith was more psychologically ready to kill than her.

  How could Amy hope to overpower someone who had spent her entire adult life training for this wedding? This perfect, dream wedding.

  Lilith stepped closer.

  Amy grabbed a crystal candle bowl. It was the only plan that came to mind — she pulled off her earring and tapped it against the glass.

  The sharp clink-clink-clink rang out through the chapel.

  Lilith stopped moving.

  “Um, what the fuck are you doing?” Lilith said.

  Amy struck the glass with her earring even more furiously. “When people clink their glasses, the bride and groom have to kiss,” Amy said.

  “Are you shitting me?”

  “It’s tradition!” she shouted, striking the glass even faster. “You have to!”

  “This is your plan?” Lilith said. “You think I’m going to let you run away because I’m too busy kissing?”

  “It’s bad luck if you don’t. This is your magic day. Don’t fuck it up!”

  All Amy could hear was the clinking. The metal-on-crystal drowned out the other noise. She couldn’t even hear if Lilith had continued advancing, tip-toeing around the side of the altar.

  Her chest tightened. Any moment, an arrow might plunge through her. Would it hurt? Would it happen in slow motion? Would she feel the arrow progress through her body, going in one side and then out the other?

  Maybe Lilith was already behind her.

  Maybe Amy’s hair was a moment away from getting grabbed, her head forced back, and a serrated steak knife blade was about to start sawing through her neck, tearing out small chunks of her skin in each of its hundred teeth.

  But still, she rang on.

  Her eyes clamped shut as she listened for any sign, any hint, that she was about to die.

  “I like her. She gets us,” Lilith finally said.

  “Kiss me, sweetie,” Caleb said.

  Amy faintly heard Lilith’s feet step up toward the altar.

  “You’re beautiful,” Caleb said.

  Were the
y actually kissing? Was this a trap?

  Over the clinking, she thought she heard the gentle wet sound of lips meeting, but she wasn’t sure if it was just her ears telling her what she wanted to hear.

  But she had no choice.

  Amy burst up from her crouching position, her legs propelling her forward like tightly coiled springs finally being allowed to snap open. Through the sides of her eyes, she thought she saw Lilith’s singed, white dress crouched over Caleb. She didn’t linger to assess the situation.

  Instead, she ran.

  As fast as she could.

  Her eyes focused on the door, identifiable only by the thin slit of light peeking through the frame. She stared at that door and only that door.

  The chapel aisle had grown long, much longer than she remembered. Phantom pains spasmed through her back and legs, as though her body was preparing for the sensation of arrows slicing into her.

  Perhaps arrows already had cut into her and it was only her adrenaline that kept her muscles constantly churning, hurling one leg in front of the other. She was sure she felt flying arrows whisper past her head.

  But she kept running.

  The door seemed to stay at a distance from her, as though it was also running away from Lilith and her arrows. Until, all of a sudden, the door raced up toward Amy and grew large in her vision. She threw her weight against it.

  An explosion of light seared Amy’s eyes. For a moment, she thought that this must be “the light” they spoke of seeing when one died. Perhaps she actually lay in the center of the aisle, riddled with arrows, as her heart pumped her final ounces of blood out onto the floor.

  But her eyes began to adjust.

  This wasn’t Heaven. It was the well-lit area that connected the chapel to the ballroom. The foyer.

  Amy threw herself out of view of the door and out of range of the arrows that she was sure were sailing toward her. She landed on the hard, tile floor. Her hands reached toward her back, her legs, her butt. Searching for arrows. Searching for blood. Searching for wounds.

  Nothing.

  She spun her head around and peered back through the chapel door. In the faint moonlight streaming through the stained glass, she could see Lilith in her white dress, up on the altar and straddling Caleb. She wasn’t nocking a new arrow or even paying attention to her escaped prey.