"Do you, Rikki, take this man, Dylan, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, so long as you both shall live?"
The pastor's tenor voice rang out across the church, followed by a soft echo in the hushed atmosphere. The Bible lay open in his palms, his eyes cast between the couple before him. The groom stood confidently, a charming grin on his face, so in love. The guests all seemed to take a collective breath, holding it in as they waited for that cherished response.
A second passed. Then two. For a long and suffering moment, the church was utterly silent. Except Rikki heard such horrible screaming as too many thoughts rushed through before she had a chance to process them. Dylan's face twisted in concern, like he had a right to worry for their future. He lost that right the second she found him 6.5 inches deep in his high school sweetheart two days ago. Not that he knew she knew. And as petty as it was, she knew how she would repay him for that pain and humiliation.
"...No."
----------------------------------------------------
The chiming of a bell ripped Rikki away from the memory, her vision blurry and unfocused. Rapidly blinking, she searched out the source at the cafe counter. One of the barista’s smiled in her direction and made the universal gesture for ‘come here.’ With a safe assumption that her drink was ready, she stood from the table and made her way up to retrieve it. She was rewarded with the steaming cup, which she accepted gratefully. Her exhaustion had to be plain to see, the dark bags under her eyes only growing as the days passed.
She still had yet to seek out an apartment, but that was hardly the least of her worries. Her parents called every day, their voicemails growing more panicked the longer she ignored them. It wasn’t that she wanted them to worry, but she knew what they were calling for. Mom would want to know why she left Dylan at the altar, and Dad would complain about the money spent and lost on a wedding that never happened. If she told them the truth, they would confront Dylan...his family. It was all just too much.
For once in her life, Rikki needed space to breathe. In the span of a few days, her life had been turned entirely upside down, and so she had run away from it. Maybe it was cowardly. Childish, even. It was irrelevant, really, because she had come to this new city in a different country, with the hopes of escaping the many demons on her trail.
WIth a last look around the cafe, she exited out into the cool night air. A slight breeze ruffled up her hair, reminding her that Fall was just around the corner. Soon, the ground would be blanketed in snow and the season she so hated would be on them. That gave her a few months to enjoy the best time of year, when the world was bright with color, hot chocolate, and sweaters. And this year, she was going to enjoy it on her own.
At this point, she was comfortable enough with the city streets to know where the nearest park resided. At this time, they were usually deserted, making for the perfect place to think. Of course, if she was that in need of quiet, she could always go to the church. That idea gave her a twinge of anxiety, though, reminding her the last time she had successfully made it through the doors, Harrison had been with her. And she hadn’t seen him since.
Shaking that thought away, she easily maneuvered the streets until she came upon the park, surrounding by a line of trees. A glance around revealed that she was very much alone. Satisfied, she made her way to the center and sat down in the grass. Soon after, she laid back, her coffee cup held in her hand on top of her stomach. The stars were muted in the city, barely visible against the street lights. Just as she had when she was small girl, she began to seek out the constellations. Once upon a time, it might have been hard. Now, she knew the night sky like she knew the back of her hand, and the familiarity brought a smile to her lips.
She must laid there for close to half an hour, but it felt like much longer. Silence was all that accompanied her, up until she heard it. A soft ruffling, like leaves of a bush as they were disturbed by an animal. Though, it must have been a large animal for the amount of rustling, and the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood on end. Tensing in fear, she sat up and looked around, eyes wide and searching.
For a moment, all seemed normal, with the silence once again taking over. Just as her muscles loosened, the rustling began again, louder. Swallowing hard against her gut instinct to run, she clamored to her feet. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, loud and insistent.
“Hello..? Is...someone there?” she called out, hoping to hear some apologetic voice for startling her.
She tried again, her voice barely above a whisper “...hello…?” The fear was plain, palpable.
Was she being...watched?
