Chapter One

My alarm blared its music at seven o’clock, jerking me out of my dream. Groaning, I lifted my arm and let it fall on the shut-off button. Beside me, the love of my life stirred. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, trying to wake up. Andrew wrapped an arm around my waist and I looked at him. He stared at me with the same green eyes that always held such love and tenderness and warmth.
“Morning, baby.” He said groggily as he leaned in for a kiss. He moaned and gave me a couple of quick pecks then he threw off the covers. “Come on. We need to get going. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
I groaned again, my exhaustion from the previous night seemingly undented by the twelve hours of sleep. “Alright, sleepyhead. Time to get a move on.” Andrew said, coming over to me and holding out his hands. When I refused to take them, he grabbed me gently by my waist and lifted me out of bed and proceeded to carry me to our hotel’s huge bathroom. He set me down the marble counter and placed one hand on either side of my hips. “You continue to amaze me. I thought for sure you would have jumped out of bed when you realized how important today is. I’m actually hurt!” he feigned a wounded expression, placing a hand over his heart. “I can’t believe you would forget today is…” I didn’t let him finish. I had been staring at his lips the whole time and finally gave in to the temptation. I pulled him close and kissed him. My kiss left both of us breathing hard and Andrew had to actually back away from me. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and both of us tried to steady our racing breath and hearts. When I could speak again, I said “How can I not be happy about today? I am the happiest woman in the world because of you.” I paused so I could approach him. I wiggled my way into his arms and onto his lap. “ I love you and I can never be happier than I am tight now.”
Andrew chuckled and replied “I know, Luc. I was joking. I know you’re not a morning person, especially with all that went on last night, and I know how happy you are because I am just as happy. I love you and that will never change. Come what may.”
Instead of replying, I buried myself in Andrew’s chest and let myself enjoy the security of his arms while I could. I wouldn’t see him for almost seven hours and, after being near him for twenty-four hours per day in the last month, I was going to miss him. But Jasmine wanted to keep at least part of the tradition untouched so we’d have to part.
I don’t know how long we cuddled, but, eventually, he kissed me again then set me on my feet.
“We need to get ready or we’ll be late. We can’t be late for the biggest day of our lives.” He said. I nodded and left the bathroom so he could shower to occupy my time, I laid out today’s outfit for the both of us, from the shirts and undershirt to socks and shoes, then brushed out my midnight black hair and read a book until I heard the water shut off. Then, I scurried into the closet, as Andrew and I had planned, and waited for him to dress and leave. Once I heard the door close, I came out of my hideout and stepped into the shower.

When I came out, my hair was thoroughly washed twice and squeaked when I rubbed a handful together in my palm. I put on a dress that matched my cobalt blue eyes to perfection, brushed my hair and tied a cobalt blue ribbon to bind my hair into a ponytail, put on my cobalt blue slippers, grabbed my make-up case and my mother-of-pearl white slippers and purse then headed out the door.

Chapter Two

“Luci, stop moving.” Whined my hairdresser, four hours after I had stepped out of the hotel. I tried to stay still as my friend did my hair, my other best friend did my make-up and her sister adjusted my dress and, when my hair was finished, put on my tiara, which had a white veil around it to cover my face, and backed away to look at me. Then, as a final touch, she tied my cobalt blue ribbon onto my arm decoratively.
After that, my family came in, hugged me and congratulated me for the millionth time then left. My brother handed me my bouquet of genetically-altered blue roses. He had just left when I heard the pastor call everyone to order and ask them to sit down. I waited a few moments, then left the little room and made my way to the line. I stood at the very back and wished the doors would open and the music would begin.
A few minutes later, my wish was granted. The ladies and men in front of me began to move but I hung back when the pair in front of me turned the corner. It was not my turn to be seen yet.
And then, my music began and I finally rounded the corner, then paused. When I opened my eyes, my sight went straight down the aisle and came to rest on Andrew. Everything surrounding him was stripped away. The church’s walls, the aisle, the crowd of on-lookers, everything.
Andrew was all I could see.
On the next downbeat, I lifted my foot and set it down, fighting the urge to kick my white slippers to the ceiling, drop the roses and sprint headlong down the red carpet and jump into Andrew’s arms.
What seemed like years later, I finally made it to Andrew’s side. I handed the roses to my maid of honor and let Andrew take my hand, then we stepped up a few steps. When the piano fell silent, the pastor raised his hands and all whispered conversation ceased.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bond this man and this woman in holy matrimony.” He began and I zoned out. I stared at Andrew’s eyes, green as a pine forest on fire with all of the love one could ask for. I snapped out of my daze when Andrew was addressed.
“Andrew Martin Shadoworth, do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.” He answered without hesitation.
“Lucitanya Marie Hudgens, do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.”
When I answered, Andrew’s eyes lit up like Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve with love, pride and victory.
“Then I pronounce you husband and wife. Andrew, you may kiss the bride.”
Andrew kissed me with all of the love I had merely glimpsed in his eyes and I responded with all of my love plus his own.
Beyond our sense, the audience had stopped clapping and there was throat-clearing, catcalling and whistling.
Suddenly aware of our on-lookers, I pulled away from Andrew, reluctantly, and he led me back down the aisle to greet our audience as a married couple.
After and uncountable amount of hugs, Andrew pulled me aside for the customary first dance. He tugged me to the middle of the dance floor and pulled me into his arms. Without breaking locked gaze, he positioned my hands then his took his own stance before the music started.
We slow danced alone for the entire song, during which time I rested my head on my husband’s chest.
When the song ended, we stepped off the dance floor and claimed a table. We sat for several songs staring at each other lovingly with our hands locked and hidden under the tablecloth.
Then the time came to begin the early dinner. Andrew’s best man and my maid of honor stepped up to the pedestal and gave their speeches, blessing Andrew or myself respectively and wishing us the best in our marriage and lives, then the buffet was opened and Andrew tugged me along. “The bride and groom get first pick,” He said and the crowd parted to let us by.
We got our food and drink, then headed back to our reserved table to eat. We ate one-handed, one hand holding the others hand and the other hand holding the utensil or glass. It was interesting to try to eat, but I was happy. Andrew and I are together once again, married and completely in love all of the way down to our souls.

Chapter Three

When the dinner was over, dessert was eaten and the last song ended, Andrew and I thanked everyone for supporting us and coming to help us celebrate before we began the tricky walk back to the hotel. After dark, all of the pits and gulleys scattered through out the next three miles filled with water when it was released from the dam closeby. The sun was touching the distant mountains and I clung to my husband my sixth sense telling me we would be separated. Together, we jumped the first muddy ditch, which is five feet across and ten feet deep with sharp slopes. Our extra-grip spiked cleats, exchanged for our dress shoes after the vows were said, helped us climb. These gulleys symbolized troubles Andrew and I would face and are meant to measure our determination.
We scaled the first seven, had just landed, when everything went wrong. The water was released and the force behind it made the ground tremble. I, still in the water’s path, saw the wall of foam and dark liquid come rushing toward me.
“Luc!” Andrew shouted in terror and he bent down to grip me by my waist. He had just started to pull me up when the water hit me. I dug my cleats into the dirt and gripped Andrew in a death grip. Together, we made it to safe ground but the adventure was far from over. We still had two and a half miles more to cross and now it would be even more treacherous. The water, rushing through the ditches at a high speed, would strip away mud and dirt and thus make crossing them even more difficult. Hand-in-hand, Andrew and I barely crossed more water-filled gulleys, but when we got to a working water fountain, we jumped and I slipped. The water had just reached that area and it still had a tremendous amount of force. The mud under me was ripped away, and I with it.
“No! Luc!!” Andrew yelled, chasing me along the canal but I couldn’t hear him. I was tumbling under the water with no air in my lungs. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see and I couldn’t get to Andrew. I fought to get my head to the surface but I couldn’t tell which way was up or down. Then, I had a flashback. When I was a kid, I loved to swim. I made a game of jumping in, curled into a ball, and letting myself float to the top. That’s what I did now.
I let myself go completely limp and I immediately felt myself moving. I didn’t fight until I felt my back break the surface. I turned and sucked in as much air as I could hold.
“Lucy! Swim to me.” Andrew yelled but I was coughing too hard to respond. “I’ll help you!” He continued.
When my breathing was stable enough, I swam at an angle toward Andrew, knowing it would be easier to get there at an angle rather than a straight line. It only took a few strokes and I was clinging to the earth with my cleats buried deep and my nails sunk into the mud. Because the water threatened to rip me away again, I didn’t dare move until Andrew showed up. He slid to the patch above me and held out his arms, fully stretched, but I was still out of his reach.
“Luc, I need you to reach to me. It’s the only way I can get you out.”
Nodding, I moved my foot higher up the slope and dug the toe in as far as I could, then I did the same with the other foot. Finally, I could reach for Andrew. I held out my hand, dug in my feet and remaining hand, bent my knees and lunged forward.
I shot pasted his hands and clamped myself onto his shoulders. He hands gripped my underarms and he hauled me up.
“Climb over me we’ll both go in.” He said and I tried to clamper over him. I managed to get a foothold by using Andrew’s neck and pulling myself up further by walking up the slope and using his pant as anchors.
At last, I was out of the gulley and Andrew was picking me up and carrying me far away from the water. There, he dropped to his knees and hugged me close.
“Luc. Oh, darling. I was so scared.” He whispered, his arms completely covering me as he used my presence to calm himself.
“I’m here, Andrew. I’m not going anywhere.” I tried to console him. “Safe and sound.” He whispered as he buried his face in my hair
“That’s right. I’m right here, baby.”
Andrew started shaking and he held me even closer.
“Shh. It’s okay.” I whispered, stroking his hair.

A long time passed before Andrew stopped shaking. We stood and faced the hotel, its neon lights now visible. We were almost there!
I tugged on Andrew’s hand and we started running, wishing to put this fear-drenched night behind us.
We cleared the next gulley and the next, but the third gave way under Andrew’s feet. Feeling the dirt give way, Andrew didn’t hesitate in throwing me out of harm’s way. I landed harmlessly and when I turned back, Andrew was gone.
“Andrew!” I shrieked, fear making my sprint along the canal in a desperate search for him. “Andrew!”
I searched the water but it was close to impossible. The water was dark and offered no hints as to Andrew’s whereabouts. It wasn’t what Andrew’s falling symbolized that scared me. It was the real danger. With the water moving so fast, he could drown. It’s happened before.
The thought of Andrew’s death made my heart turn cold and I stumbled.
“Andrew

!” I shouted, manipulating my voice so it could pierce through the water’s roar. When only silence greeted me, I got up and sprinted headlong, following the river to the hotel, shouting for Andrew the whole time.
At last, after what felt like centuries, I head Andrew sputtering and gasping for air behind me.
“Andrew!” I called and froze in my tracks.
“Luc?” Andrew replied.
“Hold on, darling, I’m coming.” I replied and started to back track.
“No! Luc, stay away.”
“What? Are you crazy?!”
“Get to the hotel. I’ll meet you there.”
“No! I won’t leave you.”
“You have to. If you try to help me, you’ll get pulled in too.”
“I don’t care!”
“Luc, just do ask I say and wait for me at the hotel.”
“No!”
“Lucitanya, I’m not debating this with you! What for me at the hotel.”
“No!”
“Dammit, Luc. I am your husband now and I am ordering you to wait for e at the hotel.”
“Shit.” I whispered under my breath. I had no choice now. If I disobey, he had the power to punish me. I’m sure he wouldn’t but I’ve always been afraid of reprimands.
“Luc?”
“I don’t like leaving you but you leave me no choice. You’d better come back or I swear to God I will kill you!.” I responded then took off at full-speed for the hotel. I jumped each gulley alone so it was a slow run back. But I finally made it. After three miles of dirt, water and mud, the hotel looked like heaven. I took a step onto the concrete but immediately stopped. I saw a very strange form lying in front of the hotel doors. I took a step closer, to see what it was, and the strange lifeform opened its eyes, which glowed a demonly red in the neon lighting. It hopped out of the shadows and I stared at it. What was a fish doing out of water? It looked like a fish, more like a piranha with glowing eyes. Then it opened its jaws and cackled.
What the fuck is that? That’s not natural!

I thought, backing away a step.
“No, I’m not natural. I’m a genetically-modified superfish” it spoke, baring its razor-sharp teeth to the fullest. “I have lungs and enough intelligence to speak. I detest the water and am a kind of guard-dog for this facility.” It continued its advance on me. I backed away and my feet sank down the muddy slope. With the piranha advancing, I bolted to the right and climbed up on a rock. If I could get him onto the rock, I could take the elevator to my room. I’d be safe, but how would I be able to warn Andrew? I’d have to kill it so Andrew could be safe when he came back.
The piranha was making slow progress toward me, so I took the time to search for anything I could use as a weapon. I saw a baseball bat, so I could hit it back into the water, but that would put Andrew in danger and I doubt I could beat it to death without it chopping off my leg. I also saw a bunch of trees in pots so I could drop a pot on its head, but, again, I’d lose my leg in the process. I also saw a fire going but I couldn’t use it. I turned back to the monster and I was horrified to see it was about to clamp onto my ankle. I jerked my foot out of danger and jumped off the rock and bolted for the bat. Then, I had another flashback.
My grandfather and I used to fish and, when he paid for our catch, Grandpa hit it with a club. Just like that, my plan was formulated. In a spurt of bravery, I charged at the mutant fish, bat raised high like I was about to hit a home-run. When I got close to it, I swung with all my might, which sent him flying. He was dazed but still conscious. He had landed on his side and he stayed down for a moment. I took this chance to run up to it again, intent on hitting him until I saw his brains splatter on the concrete. He came to before I reached him and tried to hop away but I reached him just then and I hit him again. This time, he flew and landed close to the hotel. I didn’t hesitate on rushing forward and bringing the bat straight down many more times until I was sure he was at least unconscious.
After a while, I hit him like a golfer would a golf ball and he landed by the fire. Perfect! I rushed forward, picked him up by his tail and I threw him in. He was silent as he burned and I didn’t stay to watch. I turned tail, dropped the bar, and ran into the hotel. I saw the clerk at her desk and I came to a sliding halt.
“Has Andrew Shadoworth come back yet?”
“No, he hasn’t.” She said.
I felt my heart drop but I nodded anyway and went back outside. I sat down on a lawn chair and stared at the river, trying to hold back tears as my adrenaline ebbed and I began to go into shock.
Finally, after what felt like eons, a hand rose from the river and clamped onto the back.
“Andrew!” I shouted and rushed forward. Andrew was here. Everything was going to be alright.

Impressum

Texte: I OWN EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK!!!!
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.04.2012

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