TWICE GIVEN, TWICE LOVED

The clock made a reverberating sound as I sweated it out for both its hands to strike twelve. Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-……. The time wore on painfully and leisurely. The elapsing seconds clanged in my ear, almost making me deaf. Hands covered my mouth as my breathing labored in fear, excitement and apprehension. Two more hours and it’s over. All over. The rustling of leaves, chirping of crickets in the backyard, the knocking of wind on my windows, the rats running on the attic roof and every other sound amplified in my brain. How did I never noticed that my surroundings were always this chaotic even if it appeared to be completely calm and silent? Now that I noticed, everything had a mask on its face and was never as it looked. Ha, what a fool I was to conjecture that everything was under the sway of my fingers. It never was. Suddenly, the ponderous rain kicked off. The water splashed on the casement glasses. The hauling gales banged my dormers with ferocity. Ugh… Just why was the weather being so dramatic? Or was it me? The photo frame nestling flamboyantly on my nightstand mocked me, smirking tauntingly at my disconsolate ambience. Everything happened because of my greed. Greed for money, revenge and… love? Maybe. I flinched as my French window glass broke into a thousand pieces just like my hopes. The sound was too head-splitting for my ears. My eyes teared up as a sob escaped my mouth. My expensive window!!! I had disbursed some few thousand dollars for its quality, and now I would have to spend my money on it again. Rushed footsteps downstairs, breaking of things, banging of doors was all I could hear. Why was nobody in my neighborhood calling the police? Now that I remembered I didn’t even have a single freaking neighbor. All my fault for moulding a house in a sequestered place. I just didn’t want someone to come disturb me only to borrow sugar or salt or whatever. Regret was swallowing me mercilessly. I sobbed in grief as my expensive vases left me alone in this world. Those were my favorites. Well, I didn’t know which one broke, but all were worth a king’s ransom and that’s why all were my favorite. Footsteps approached upstairs with hurtling movements. I took a deep breath as my room door opened. A man stood there, his hands clenched tightly with blood dripping from them. He looked dangerous. Sinfully menacing and vicious. His eyes darkened as he saw me perched on my bed while a cruel smirk came on his face. “Tsk, Tsk, Tsk… My dear wife, finally I found you. Quite a game you played with your cards and pawns. I am impressed. But, seems like you forgot something. Life is a game of chess, but no matter what, I will always be the King and you will be my Queen, Amour.” His dark poisonous voice sent shivers down my spine. Yes, the man in front of me was my one and only husband and, being the peace-loving person I was, I did the only thing I knew to do in this situation. I screamed. Screamed on top of my lungs as he marched towards me in rage. “Aaahhh” While screaming, the one and only thought that rang in my head was how the freaking hell I came to this. Well, I actually knew how it started and so, that’s how the history began-