BRIDAL MISHAP

"You still have time to change your mind," I whispered, and stared at our reflection in the mirror. Mabel's armless wedding gown glared back at me and she resumed applying her makeup. I sighed and placed my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "How long will you ignore me? How much longer can you hide from the truth?" Mabel sighed and her facial features tightened. "We've talked about this," She dismissed softly and applied more makeup to her bruised cheek. I scoffed in frustration. How was she not seeing or not even trying to see things from my point of view? I felt like I was suffocating and it wasn't because of the leather brown corset that was wrapped around my stomach, making me feel like I was being squeezed by a snake. I swallowed and let go of her shoulder. "Last night it was just a bruise, tomorrow... Tomorrow could be your funeral-" I began and wrapped my hands around myself. "You are being unrealistic," Mabel spoke and stood up. I paused and stared at her in pure bewilderment. "Unrealistic? Me?" I could not breathe at that point. Mabel had always been hard-headed and I was the impulsive one. I was the one who made decisions without thinking, not her. Her only defect was that she trusted our mother too much. I paused and deflated as a thought came to mind. "It's mother, right?" I spoke in a low tone and pushed back my discomfort. "She's the one forcing you to get married, isn't she?" Mabel stared at me as if I had grown two heads and rolled her eyes. "You need to stop blaming Mom for everything, Melody!" Mabel raised her voice at me. "And you need to stop trusting her so much." I retorted and walked towards the open window. I heard footsteps behind me and noted that Mabel was on my tail. I could see the grand decorations below. Flowers that were all over the aisle, the noisy guests, and Mother's loud authoritative tone, tossing the workers here and there, it all... Repulsed me. Our entire garden was decorated for this wedding. The guests were waiting, dressed in their best regalia, and my brother seemed to be sucked into ensuring the flowers were perfect. I could see the Monarch of the Monroy family sitting in the front, her leg perfectly crossed on the other and her pose straight and authoritative. My mother and I could never get along after my father's death. He had died in a car accident and I was driving the car. He had insisted that he drove but I had refused because I wanted to test out my driving skills. My driving license had arrived a week before the incident. I didn't see the truck coming and we slammed right into it. He didn't make it. Died on the spot and I could never forgive myself for it. Neither could William or Mother. "This is a circus." I spat as I stared at the crowd. "What did you say?" Mabel asked. I turned and locked eyes with her defiant blue orbs, and her blonde shoulder-length hair stood as she sucked in sharp breaths. "I don't appreciate your insult." "The truth is never truly appreciated. You know this." I informed her and she ran her hands through her hair. I bit my lip and took two steps toward her. Our eyes locked and a tear rolled down my cheek. "Don't marry him, Belle, please don't. Please don't do this, don't make the same mistakes father did." Her breath caught. I watched the gears in her head move as she absorbed my words and she was about to speak when I finished "Do not marry an abusive spouse." "Leave Mello. Get out. This wedding is going to happen, whether you like it or not. I won't make the same mistake you did. I won't let go of the only man I love. Not even for you." Her words stung me hard. I shut my eyes to allow the tears that had clouded them to roll down my cheek. My voice caught in my throat and I swallowed a sob, it took her a bit too long to register her words though. Her facial features collapsed and her eyes stung with tears. A whimper escaped my lips. She knew it. She knew how I had struggled to let go of Jared and then spent the last few months struggling to live without him. "Melody, I-" "Don't," I begged. "Don't come close. Please." I added and took quick steps out of her room. I felt the metallic taste of blood explore my mouth and I slid down the empty hallway. I wrapped my hands around myself. The memories I shared with Jared choked me. I shook slightly. I knew no one would come into the hallway. The wedding was in the garden after all. It wasn't my fault, I knew it wasn't my fault that I broke off my engagement with Jared. Another woman was pregnant with her child. He could not let his child go through the same thing James had struggled with for many years. The rejection. The pain and loneliness of not growing up with your parents. I was so engrossed in my problems that I didn't register the sound of swift footsteps heading toward me. The sound suddenly stopped and then became louder and closer. I raised my head and locked eyes with him. The feelings of pain and guilt that had swallowed me up, released me and I tightened my fist in anger. "What do you want?" I spat in a tone I had only reserved for him. He stared at me with a facial expression that was always so hard to read. As stupid as it may sound, I wished he had looked at my sister with as much emotion as he looked at me. But his eyes were always hardened at her. "Didn't you hear me? Why are you here, Sebastian?" I stood up and glared at him through my long eyelashes. His perfect jawline moved downwards, his amber-green eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before the door slammed open and Mabel came between us. "Seb, you are here, come in." Mabel avoided eye contact with me as she spoke. "I have something important to tell you," His gaze hardened and all the emotion I saw vanished as he spoke to her. I could see Mabel flinch at his indifference. I let out a soft breath and pulled myself together. It was now up to her to decide. "I'll be in the garden, don't look for me," I informed Mabel and stormed down the hall, towards the stairs. I took a swift turn and collided with someone. "If you keep this up, you'll never be able to manage the company." A familiar voice spoke and I rolled my eyes. "Oh Willy," I grinned when his face contorted in disgust at the name, "It's old news that I am much better at navigating this house than you are at navigating your life, this is evidence," I spoke in a sarcastic tone and he chuckled dryly. "Ah, all that anger.." He tsked and rubbed his jaw in a taunting manner, "Let me guess," He began and I was already over it. "You lost to Mom again and you weren't able to convince Mabel to ruin her life as you did yours." He spat in my face. "You've always been terrible at guessing. But, believe me, brother, I have zero interest in becoming Leticia, stuck with a man who thinks with the thing between his legs rather than his mind", I quipped at him and smiled as his facial features lit up in anger. "Melody-" He growled but Mother's voice rang through. "Enough! That's enough from both of you." She spat from the bottom of the spiral stairs. It took her two solid minutes to reach us. "Why are you allowing this girl to provoke you? I expected better from you William," Mother chastised softly. She turned to look at me and her eyes darkened, her lips pursed into a straight line and her eyes narrowed at me. "And you..." Her voice was laced with the disappointment I had gotten used to over the years. "I thought I had asked you politely not to do anything to ruin this wedding. So, why are you creating a scene?" She demanded and glared at me. She was used to this, always making it seem as if I was the one trying my absolute best to ruin her entire family. When it was reality, it was the opposite. "Oh don't you worry," I said sharply and glanced around "This circus is about to end anyway", I added, as Sebastian stormed past us. He seemed upset. "Sebas- Sebastian!" Mother called after him and proceeded to leave. She paused and eyed me down in her golden regalia with the cape and all that. "Don't do anything else to ruin this wedding, or someone else will pay for it" She threatened and my eyes widened. This had become a habit for her over the past year since James graduated from college. She always found ways to taunt and humiliate him and one of her favorite combos was threatening to hurt him if he refused to do as she pleased. I didn't grace her with any response, instead, I stormed down the stairs into the garden where I was met with a beautiful sight. "I was almost sure you would never come down" James' dimples popped as he beamed at me. "I would not miss this circus for anything," I added with a grin. He looked handsome in the blue suit Mabel had gotten him yesterday. His brown hair was an absolute mess, which made me wonder if he had been tugging on it again. "I see you are gardening again," I tried to continue the conversation. James stopped watering the plant he was caring for and glanced up at me with his brown orbs. I could sense his distress and his eyes gradually watered. James always had issues regulating his emotions; it was something I had read in his medical file and boy was there a lot. "Don't do that," I chided softly and stopped him from biting his fingers. I broke the distance between us and raised his jaw with two fingers "What's wrong JJ?" I questioned. "S-She, she said she was going to send me away again. Is that true?" His voice was barely above a whisper. "That's not going to happen," I assured him. "Or he'll hit me with the belt, she asked me to choose-" "Nothing will happen, okay? Wipe those tears, don't let them exploit your weakness," James slowly nodded and I wrapped my arms around him. Mother had not kept her end of the deal, so why should I? I let James go and sucked in a deep breath. "I'll be right back, I have a promise to break," I informed James. His face contorted in confusion, but I didn't wait or try to explain. I stormed back into the house and headed up the stairs. I was going to tell Mabel the entire truth and then let her decide if she wanted to marry a murderer or not. I tightened my fists and increased my pace as I stormed down the hall. Mabel would be devastated, but on the bright side, this wedding wasn't going to happen. "Mabel-" I began as I opened the door. I froze immediately and took in the state of the room. The dressing mirror was broken, the pillow and bedsheets were thrown on the ground. The vase her mother had gifted Mabel on her twentieth birthday, the one she treasured the most had its broken parts sprinkled across the room. My heartbeat spiked up a bit and I took another step into the room, all the makeup and things that had been sitting on the dressing table had been discarded on the ground and it seemed like a storm had taken place but Mabel was nowhere to be found. I swallowed. "Mabel?" I called out softly. "Belle?" I called out and I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me. "Ma-'' I took my fourth step and stumbled over something. I grunted in pain as I collided with the hard carpet and my knee grazed. "Ouch! Oh, Mabel, look what you made me-" I lost my voice immediately. My chest tightened like someone had smacked all the breath out of me before another asthmatic attack did. I had come all the way there to give Mabel the shock of her life; but instead, I was the one who had just gotten the shock of my life; Mabel wlaid there; beside me - unmoving and lifeless.