by Rose Pressey
He opened the door. “What is wrong with you?”
“Why did you pop up like that?” I asked.
“It’s my catlike tendencies,” he said.
“Nicolas is gone.”
His jaw dropped. “What do you mean? Like he went to the store to pick up something for the reception?”
“No, he gave me an ultimatum to stop being the leader of the Underworld or he wouldn’t marry me.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Thomas said.
“There’s nothing you can say. What’s done is done, I suppose,” I said as I wiped away a tear. “I don’t know if I can go out there and confront everyone. I should do it. I should be brave, and the leader. I need to be in control.”
“But this is a lot to take on,” he said. “No one would blame you if you didn’t go out there. I’ll go tell everyone.”
Just then I noticed Liam was walking down the aisle headed toward the kitchen. What I would tell him? Could I just slip out of the manor and never return?
“Here comes Liam,” I said. “I don’t want to tell him about this either. Liam and Nicolas fight enough as it is.”
“He’ll find out eventually. You might as well tell him now and get it over with. What exactly did Nicolas say? I knew I should have followed you all and eavesdropped.”
“Nicolas wasn’t happy with Liam. He thinks it’s partly Liam’s fault—that Liam pushed me into being the leader. But it wasn’t as if I had a choice. Though Nicolas thinks I have a choice now. He wants me to just hand over the book.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” Thomas said, shaking his head.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It doesn’t surprise me that Nicolas would say any of that.” Thomas waved his hand.
I frowned. “What do you mean it doesn’t surprise you?”
Thomas placed his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “How do I say this? Nicolas just seems controlling.”
“Why didn’t you say something before?”
He shrugged. “It’s none of my business.”
“You make everything your business, Thomas,” I said.
He placed his hands on his hips. “I do not. Okay, maybe a little. Oh no, here comes Liam.”
“I don’t know if I want to talk to him right now either.”
“Do you want me to lock the door and not let him in?” he asked.
“He’ll just come around to the front. He’ll find a way in. Locking the door would make him too suspicious anyway. I suppose now I have to come clean.”
A few seconds later the door opened and Liam stepped inside. His eyes focused on me right away. I suspected he knew what was going on in here. Probably everyone out there knew what was going on in here. How embarrassing. They all knew I had been dumped.
“Nicolas is gone,” I said matter-of-factly.
Liam didn’t say a word as he walked over to me and put his arms around me. I was surprised by that, but I hugged him back. Liam smelled of spice and soap. The comfort of his embrace warmed me more than I’d anticipated. I didn’t even cry because I was pretty sure I was numb at this point. The tears would probably come later.
“Do you want me to tell everyone?” Liam asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I do.”
“What will you tell everyone?” Thomas asked.
“I don’t know what to tell everyone, especially what to tell my mother,” I said.
“We may need an ambulance for that,” Thomas said.
Just then the door opened and Annabelle appeared. Her hair was still a bit tousled from the fireworks incident.
“What’s going on? Did someone die?” she asked.
“Someone by the name Nicolas might be injured soon,” Thomas said under his breath.
“Nicolas is gone,” I said.
How many times would I have to say that?
“Someone is going to die,” she said in a stern voice. “Where did he go?”
Annabelle tossed her bouquet onto the floor. She flipped the pumps off her feet. I stopped her from moving toward the kitchen door. It was too late to go after Nicolas.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But the wedding’s off.”
“What was his excuse?” Annabelle asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“He doesn’t want her to be a leader of the Underworld,” Thomas said.
“Oh,” Annabelle said through pursed lips. “I thought we’d moved on from that.”
“Me too,” I said. “Regardless, we can discuss this later. Right now, we have to tell all the guests. And then the most important thing… we have to tell you know who.”
The door rattled as if it might come off the hinges.
“Too late,” I said.
Annabelle, Liam, and Thomas hurried over and stepped behind me.
My mother stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes were as big as saucers. Her face was red with rage. “What is going on? Why are you not married yet?”
I pushed my shoulders back, held my head up high, and said, “Nicolas is gone. The wedding is off.”
She raised her one real eyebrow. I had expected her to faint or break down in tears. Her reaction was a bit unsettling. I didn’t know what to do. I’d expected an erupting volcano and all I got was a broken foundation sputtering a few sprinkles of water.
“Whose idea was it to break off the wedding?” my mother asked in a calm voice.
“It was Nicolas’,” I said.
“Where is he?” my mother asked.
She was too calm.
“I’m scared,” Thomas whispered.
“I don’t know where Nicolas is,” I said.
“Which way did he go? Did he go that way?” She pointed.
“Yes,” I said with a bit of worry in my voice.
My mother took off across the kitchen.
“Mom, where are you going?” I yelled as I chased after her.
My dress’s train swooshed across the tile floor. Annabelle scrambled to try and pick it up as I ran.
My mother raced through the house toward the front door. “Where is he? I’ll kill him.”
“You’re not killing anyone,” I said.
“I’ll go tell the guests that everything is off due to potential homicide,” Thomas called out.
My mother spun around. It looked like she had flames in her eyes. “You will tell them no such thing. Liam, go get your brother and drag him back out there. There’s going to be a wedding.”
“Mother.” I grabbed her arms. “Get a hold of yourself. There’s no wedding. He’s gone. I don’t know where he went.”
My mother swayed back and forth. Now came the volcano.
“Oh, oh… she’s going to go,” Thomas said.
And just like that my mother fell to the floor.
“Now that is the reaction I had expected.”
Annabelle and I rushed to my mother’s side. Annabelle fanned my mother while I checked for a pulse.
“She’s not dead,” I said.
“Oh, thank heavens,” Thomas said.
Liam knelt next to me. “I’ll call 911.”
Liam pulled out his phone as I called out to my mother. “Are you all right? Wake up, Mom,” I said. “I have smelling salts in the kitchen, Annabelle. Will you get them?”
“Why do you have them in the kitchen?” she asked.
“This is my mother we’re dealing with. I knew she would faint at some point.”
“Good thinking,” Annabelle said as she jumped up and raced toward the kitchen.
“The ambulance will be here soon,” Liam said as he ended the call.
“Is she still breathing? How’s her heart rate?”
“She’s stable, I suppose,” I said. “I can’t believe I’ve almost killed my mother. I’ve given her a heart attack.”
“This isn’t your fault, Hallie,” Liam said.
Annabelle rushed back to my mother’s side. Before she had a chance to shove the salts under my mother’s nose, my mother opened her eyes.
/> “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake,” I said. “Talk to me, mom. What year is it? What’s your name?”
She stared at me for moment, and then said, “I had the weirdest dream. I dreamed that the wedding was called off and that Nicolas left.” She cackled. “I know I’m so silly to worry about things like that. Is it time for the ceremony?”
“Oh, dear. She’s delusional,” Thomas said.
My mother started to sit up, but I kept her down. When she realized this was no dream she would just probably pass out again, so I might as well keep her on the floor.
“Don’t try to get up, Mom,” I said. “An ambulance is on the way.”
“I don’t need an ambulance. I’m fine. I was just taking a nap.”
“She really has lost it,” Thomas said.
“I don’t blame her,” Annabelle said.
“Mom, it wasn’t a dream. The wedding is off.”
“My chest,” she said as she clutched it.
“This is why the ambulance is coming now. Don’t move. I’ve killed my mother,” I said.
“Oh, she’s not dead yet,” Thomas said. “At least not yet. If you keep at it though I can’t guarantee it won’t happen.”
“I might as well be,” my mother said as she put her hand to her forehead in a dramatic fashion.
“Everyone just remain calm,” Liam said, trying to take control of the situation. “No one is dying. No one killed anyone.”
His request for everyone to remain calm was pointless. It would take a long time for my mother to get over this. Longer than me, probably. And I was the one in love and left at the altar. She’d been planning for this day since before I’d been born. She cut out my face from photos and glued them to the models’ bodies in bridal magazines. She put different veils on my head while I slept and snapped photos so that she could determine which one looked best. I still wasn’t sure why the wedding was so important to her. Nevertheless, she wanted me to have the fairytale wedding. This wedding had been all nightmare and no fairytale ending.
Chapter 4
I probably had a whole lot of confused guests out there. “Thomas, how about you tell the guests that they can all go to the reception and enjoy the food and have fun?”
“I don’t think anybody’s going to want to do that,” Thomas said.
“Well, otherwise, who’s going to eat the food?” I asked.
The sirens sounded in the distance as my mother insisted she didn’t need any help. But better to be on the safe side. Soon the medical workers came into the house and took over looking after my mother.
Liam, Annabelle, Thomas, and I watched as they checked my mother’s vital stats. After a few minutes they helped her to her feet.
“She doesn’t want to go to the hospital, but everything seems to check out all right,” the tall man said.
“Are you sure you’re all right, mom?” I asked.
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. “No trip to the hospital. I have wedding activities to see to.”
“Oh dear, she’s in a state of shock,” Thomas said.
I didn’t know when my mother would snap out of it. Maybe she would never snap out of it. Maybe I needed to get her out of the manor and away from everything wedding.
“You should come and sit down,” I said leading her over to the chair.
I received strange looks from the medical technicians. They probably wondered why I wore a wedding dress. But then they looked at Liam in the tuxedo and probably thought he was the groom. I felt like saying, “No, the groom isn’t here. He took off. Cold feet or whatever you wanna call it.” Maybe I could say he never loved me at all.
“Call if you need us again,” the other dark-haired man said.
“Thank you,” I said as I walked them to the foyer.
Thomas sat beside my mother. I hoped he was trying to comfort here and not making matters worse. For all I knew they were plotting revenge against Nicolas. My mother had always taught me right from wrong and I assumed she would remember those lessons now. though in her altered state I wasn’t sure she would heed her own advice. Pluto sat at my mother’s feet staring up at her as if he was listening to the conversation. Maybe he was taking it all in.
Liam pulled me to the side. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I’m just worried about my mother.”
“I think she’ll be fine once she gets over the shock of it all,” Liam said.
“You’re right,” I said. “I hate that she has to go through this.”
“Don’t forget to take care of yourself.” Annabelle said from over my shoulder.
I had no idea that she had been listening.
“Right now, I want to get out of this dress. I don’t ever want to see it again.”
Annabelle looped her arm through mine and guided me across the room.
“Are you helping me get out of this?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” she said.
Annabelle and I moved into the library. I’d used it as a changing area for the wedding. Normally, it served as my office—the spot where I ran the Underworld. The late afternoon sunshine streamed through the windows. This used to be my favorite time of the day—not anymore. The scent of old books lingered in the air. On the exterior wall was floor-to-ceiling bookcases that contained my great-aunt’s old hardbacks. The large mahogany desk sat in front of floor-to-ceiling windows. On the far interior wall was the enormous ornate stone fireplace with intricately carved mantel that depicted matching lion heads. Two ruby red velvet-upholstered chairs set nearby to enjoy the warmth of the fireplace. Wood moldings covered the room’s walls.
Annabelle closed the doors behind us. She flicked the switch turning on the large crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Even though it was still daylight outside the room still seemed dark. I pulled out the navy-blue sweatpants and white T-shirt that I’d been wearing before putting on the dress. She turned around and stared at me.
“What?” I said.
“You seem so detached. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Do you expect me to cry?” I asked.
“Yes, I suppose.”
“I don’t know why, but I’m just not ready to cry. I feel numb.”
“This is probably not good,” she said.
“Meaning I’ll have a breakdown at some point?” I motioned for her to unbutton the back of my dress.
“Well, yes, that’s what I was thinking.” She unfastened the tiny pearl buttons on the back of my gown.
“You’re probably right. It’ll probably be ugly and scary.” I slipped out of the reminder of my failed love.
“And the fact that we don’t know when it will happen is even more terrifying.” Annabelle shivered.
“I suppose we’ll just have to brace ourselves.” I pulled the t-shirt over my head.
She picked up the dress from the floor and placed it on the hanger. “It can’t be any worse than your mother’s reaction.”
“She needed medical attention,” I said with a frown.
“Maybe part of me doesn’t believe that this is real yet.”
“Well, don’t worry, Hallie. We’ll get through this. You know I’m always here for you,” Annabelle said.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I said.
“You don’t have to find out,” she said with a wink.
“Is it wrong that I feel bad for Liam? I mean, you know he’s going to blame himself for this.”
“Exactly what did Nicolas say?” Annabelle asked.
As I slipped into my sweats and sneakers I explained what Nicolas had said. Annabelle sighed. “You’re right. Liam will blame himself for that.”
“But it’s not his fault. They were arguing when they arrived at the manor. They’ve always had issues,” I said.
“Yes, but I suppose with you that only amplified their issues.”
“Don’t remind me,” I said, moving over to the window. “
Do you think the guests are clearing out now?”
“Probably so. At least I hope so. What are you going to do about the honeymoon?” Annabelle asked.
“There are still a lot of cars out there.” I turned away from the window so that I wouldn’t have to think about what the guests might be saying.
“I could go out there and hurry them up. You didn’t answer my question about the honeymoon.”
I plopped down in the big velvet chair by the bookshelves. “I don’t know. I should just go myself.”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
I waved my hand. “We have insurance. I’ll just try to get a refund.”
“If you say so, but I think that you should go.”
“I don’t want to go by myself. That would be sad. Plus, there’s so much to do around here.”
“What if someone could go with you?” Annabelle crossed the room and looked out the window.
“But who could I get to go with me? And don’t even say Liam.” I warned with a point of my index finger.
She turned around and looked at me. “Duh. Who could you get to go with you?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You would go?”
“Well, isn’t that what best friends are for?”
“I just thought that you have so much going on and then all of your pets. Who would take care of them?”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll take care of everything. We just need a vacation. A girls’ vacation.”
“Well, I suppose we have a few hours to decide.”
“I’ve already made my decision. I just need you to say yes,” she said.
“Let’s go check on my mother,” I said, jumping up from the chair.
“You’re avoiding giving me an answer,” Annabelle said, following along behind me. “I’ll take that as a no.”
As we stepped into the parlor e we spotted my mother still sitting in the chair by the fireplace. Just as I’d suspected, she was feeling much better now.
“Did you tell everyone, Thomas?” I asked.
“Everyone’s leaving now,” he said.
“I guess this is final,” I said, holding back tears.