Prologue.
August 4, 2016. St James Cathedral, Lagos.
The sun filtered in through the open window onto the coloured glass image of the Lord, Jesus. Standing in front of the picturesque backdrop was the priest giving his speech about the holiness of matrimony and the roles of the husband and wife in a marriage.
The starry eyed groom unable to contain his excitement, took his bride by the hand, pulled her to him and stole a kiss. To the amusement of the guests present– who found the whole scene romantic– but earned the disapproval of the priest.
"Ahem!" he cleared his throat, "save that for after the vows will you?" he gave them both a pointed look, making sure they'd both behave before turning his gaze back to his bible.
The priest droned on and on and the couple, lost in their own romantic bubble tuned him out. The groom, despite the warning from the priest found several ways to sneak a kiss or two, a touch here and there and whispered words of eternal devotion to his bride.
"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to hold till death do you part?" asked the priest.
"Yes, I do," answered the groom.
"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to hold till death do you part?" the priest asked again, this time directing his question to the bride. She grinned broadly, incapable of containing her obvious affections for her spouse and answered in the positive.
"By the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wi-" he didn't get to finish his sentence. The bride grabbed her groom by the collar and locked lips with him in a passionate kiss. The priest gave up and threw his hands up in frustration, the crowd cheered and stood up in applause, cameras clicked away at the beautiful scene it all created.
The couple broke apart and the groom gave a bow as if he just gave a performance on stage. He grabbed his newly wedded wife and they danced their way out of the church accompanied by the bridal party and the groomsmen who showered them with flowers.
A commotion broke out outside the church as they neared the entrance but the couple, too consumed with their moment of happiness paid it no heed.
Something whizzed past the groom just as they made it to the car, with the words newly wed written boldly at the back. A gasp was heard and the crowd grew quite, the groom turned back to see what caused the sudden drop in the mood and his eyes widened, his face paled. For there, in front of him stood his bride, her impeccably white dress now stained crimson.
She blinked rapidly as tears fell down her perfectly made up face, she stared down at her chest where the stain of blood was spreading gradually by the second.
"No," shouted the groom as she fell backwards and grabbed her midfall. He laid her on the pavement and she grabbed unto his arms struggling to breathe, her eyes a mirror of pain. She tried to form words but all that came out was the sputtering sound she made as hot blood oozed out of her mouth and trickled down her cheek.
The once happy atmosphere became one of speculation and grieve, the crowd murmured and whispered amongst themselves, everyone shocked by the turn of events. An ear piercing scream was heard as the bride's mother struggled through the crowd to get to her dying daughter, the groom stared at his bride in shock; her hold on him slackened, her eyes grew blank just as a single rose petal landed on her cheek.
The priest's words from earlier, till death do you part echoed in his mind, now he truly understood the meaning.
