Fiona
knocked again. The old door looked like
it couldn't take much more knocking before falling in. She tried the rusty doorknob and found it to
be unlocked. She walked into the musty
room and let her eyes adjust to the darkness.
A shadow moved in the far corner.
A rat? Fiona instinctively
reached for her phone to use as a flashlight but remembered too late that she
was still wearing her bridesmaid's gown.
Without pockets. She didn't have
anything on her at all. Not a light and
certainly not a weapon, should she need one.
She'd give anything to take back the promise she'd made Philip. "I'll search every corner of the woods
while you're searching the village."
Why? Why hadn't she opted to
search the village? And why did Philip
so readily agree to let her wander about alone in a strange area?
Fiona
was angry. She was angry at Brady for
catching Philip. She was angry at Philip
for being caught. She was angry at Brady
for convincing Philip to hold their wedding in this middle-of-nowhere English
village just because she'd read about it in some book. She drew upon her anger to cover her fear and
stepped forward into the semi-darkness.
Whatever was moving in the corner stopped for a moment and then began
moving again but this time slower. It
was rising. Somewhere in Fiona's brain
she registered that the creature was human.
There was a strange human rising and coming toward her., and she
couldn't make herself breath, much less run.
"Oh, God! Help!" She silently prayed the urgent prayer of the
panicked and then stood, waiting for the worst.
The
stranger came closer. He raised his arm
in the air and Fiona clenched her eyes shut.
"Make it quick, Lord, please," she begged silently. She heard a click. She waited.
Nothing. Slowly, she opened her
eyes. It was bright. He'd been reaching for the chain above and
turned the light on. That's all. No danger.
She almost laughed out loud, but caught herself as the light hit a gleam
off the pistol in his left hand.
"Crud," she said.
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