Fabled (28 page)

“When will the wedding be?” I asked. One would have thought I’d know that by now, but no one had told me.

“At dusk, of course, silly,” Lauren laughed. I looked at her confused. “All royal weddings occur at dusk, but you couldn’t have known that. Right.” It was as if she was reminding herself that I wasn’t from here.

Isabelle didn’t say a word throughout breakfast, but she said a lot with the way she looked at me. I could tell she was infuriated at the idea of adding yet another woman to their marriage. I can’t say I blamed her.
 

After tea and more pointless chatter, she finally spoke. “Shall we take a walk, Rowena? You know, get acquainted with one another?” she asked. I was shocked and didn’t even try to answer. I simply stood up and walked out with her. She clasped her arm around mine. An outsider would have thought we were the best of friends.
 

We strolled down the garden’s meandering path for a few minutes before she spoke again.

“How was your night, dear?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“Did you enjoy your time with your gentleman friend?” She turned to look me in the eyes.

My stomach jumped into my throat so quickly I almost gagged. “I…”

“Shh. You don’t have to say anything. I understand the idea of having one last fling with an old flame before the chains of marriage confine you,” she said and smiled, which seemed odd to me. “You see, I’m in charge of the wives on this side of the family, and it never hurts to have a little leverage on them, just in case I were ever to need it. I don’t foresee that being an issue, but to be clear, Dekel is a very jealous man. If he ever thought you were interested in someone else, he’d stop at nothing to end your lover’s life, as he knows it anyway. Oh, and yours too.” She laughed, took my arm again, and continued to walk.
 

I was stunned.
I guess the yellow wings weren’t a dream. She was in my room watching us. How many other times had she watched me?
 

“Me next!” Lauren said as we approached the garden home. She and I took yet another walk and talked about blooming magnolias, no less. The pointless conversation did nothing to distract me from what Isabelle said or what Chester said last night. The time was drawing closer to when I’d truly give myself to someone else, and I couldn’t help but wonder —
Will it be worth it?

Chapter 31

Dashielle

“Hello?” I answered the phone.

“Hey, babe. How’s your day been?” Lil asked in her usual upbeat tone.

“Fine. You know, work, school, and stuff. Same old thing. What’s up with you?”

“Oh, there’s
big
news. Or at least, Mom thinks so. Someone supposedly found a piece of fabric in the woods out behind the old Victorian. Did you know that was Tim’s grandmother’s house? No wonder he had
exclusive
access to Blakely’s scariest home. Anyway, s
upposedly
it was part of Rowena’s skirt. Who knows, really? I swear they are never going to move on. It’s almost been a year, you know?” she said.

“Tim — as in the guy I work with and the one who got me the job?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s his grandmother’s. She’s in a nursing home over in Randolph County. If she could only see her beloved home now. I’m sure she’d be appalled.”

“He never mentioned that. Who found the piece of dress?” I asked.

“Oh, God. Not you too! Please tell me you don’t buy into this whole new evidence bit. If it was Rowena’s, they would have found it ages ago. It probably tore off someone’s clothes as they were out there getting frisky. You know that’s a popular make-out spot.”
 

“Where did they find it?”

“Somewhere near some sink hole or something. That’s the other part. Detectives are theorizing she might have fallen in and starved, dehydrated, or something. What a terrible way to die, huh? Anyway, they’re planning to investigate the hole tomorrow to see if they can find her remains,” she continued.

“God,” I said flatly. The idea of them finding Rowena’s body was both sad and relieving. I dreaded the finality of it, but I yearned for it at the same time. “How are your parents holding up?”

“They’re a wreck, as usual. This is the first new lead we’ve had in a while, and I think they believe it. I still think it seems odd they haven’t found all this before. They’ve searched the area dozens of times. It doesn’t make sense.”

I haven’t been out there since the morning after she went missing. The cops organized a large search party, but no one found anything. There was a part of me that feared finding her. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. I’ve seen enough investigation shows to know that a dead body is something I never wanted to see, especially that of my girlfriend. All this time, I wanted to believe the police’s theory — that she’d run away. Even though I knew, I mean really knew, that wasn’t true. Something happened to her, and the thought of finding out the details frightened me.

“I need to get out of this house and get my mind off all this. How about you pick me up at five? We can catch a movie or something,” she asked.

“Or something. See you at five.”

While driving home, I couldn’t help but condemn myself for never having been out there since that morning. I owed it to her.
What kind of ass doesn’t go and look for his missing girlfriend more than once?
I felt disgusted with myself.
 

I picked Lil up at a quarter till five. She wasn’t ready, so I waited in the living room.
 

“Hi, Dashielle. Did Lil tell you about what the investigators said?” Mrs. Snow asked. She stood with her arms clasped around her thinning body. She had become only a fraction of her former self.

“She did.” I nodded.

“Do you think they’ll find her down there?” She slumped into the couch and stared at the wall behind me.

“I don’t know.”

Lil danced down the stairs wearing a mini skirt and a green V-cut top. “I’m ready,” she announced.
 

She insisted we have dinner at her favorite restaurant.

“What movie are we going to?” she asked.

“We’re not going to a movie.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” I said.
 

We hopped in the beater and made our way to the old Victorian on Alice Street.
 

“You have got to be kidding me,” she mumbled, as I placed the car in park.

“Nope. We’ve got to look, Lil. It’s the right thing to do.”

“No, it’s not. It’s creepy. I don’t
want
to find my dead sister!”

I felt the urge to agree and drive away, but something inside of me had to know if she was there. I
needed
to know. I coerced her out of the car, promising it would only take a minute. We walked to the back of the house and out into the woods. It wasn’t long before we saw the yellow police tape wrapped around a series of trees that surrounded the sinkhole.
 

“I can’t do this,” she whispered and refused to go any further. I continued forward and stepped under the tape. I slowly approached the hole, trying to keep a steady footing. It probably wasn’t safe to advance on foot, so I scurried on my stomach and peeked in. Darkness was the only apparent entity below.
 

“You got a light?” I yelled to her.
 

“Here. Use my phone,” she said bringing up the flashlight app. She tossed the iPhone to me. I rolled my eyes at the thought of it falling down the gaping hole, but caught it.

I held the phone and the light into the darkness. At first, I didn’t see much other than dirt. Then I saw something else − claw marks. Like someone had tried to climb out. My heart raced. Chicken skin covered my body, and I suddenly felt the urge to get the hell out of there. I took Lil’s arm, and we ran back to the car.

“What happened? What’d you see?” she asked panicked.

“Nothing. It was just creepy,” was all I’d say. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that something happened there. I could feel Rowena. I could almost even smell her.

I walked Lil to her door, but she wasn’t as ready as I was for the night to end. She sat on the porch swing and insisted I swing with her. I could tell her nerves were a little rattled too, but she always got over things quickly. She placed her head on my chest and pulled my arms around her.
 

“Everything is perfect in your arms,” she whispered. But I barely acknowledged her at all. My mind was trapped in the depths of darkness with Rowena.

Chapter 32

Nurse brought me the dress, and Larelle let me borrow her room to prepare for the wedding. Lauren dressed early so that she could help me, which I was thankful for. She was the only seemingly nice person in the family, and I was glad to have her on my side.
 

Nurse twirled my hair and pinned it in beautiful swirls and braids.
 

“Fairy tale hair,” I laughed nervously.
 

Lauren placed the crown on my head. It was daintier than I would have imagined. “You’re one of us.” She smiled.
 

“You’ll wear this to all public events from now on, and you’ll wear the smaller headband Dekel gave you for family functions,” Nurse said while giving my hair one last poof.
 

“It’s not how I imagined it would be,” I said out loud but to myself.

Lauren’s expression saddened. “I wish your family could be here too. I can’t imagine not having mine at my wedding,” she said.

“It’s not just that. There are other things. Traditions. Like, it’s our custom to wear something borrowed, blue, and new.” I laughed again, but I wasn’t really laughing. I had the jitters from hell, and I didn’t know how to process everything. “And a bridesmaid. I always thought my sister would be my maid of honor.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Lauren said while taking my hand gently.

“Would you be my maid of honor?” I asked, squeezing her hand. I didn’t know her well, but I felt close to her somehow, at least close enough to call her a friend. Mostly I just didn’t want to stand up there alone. Fear crippled me.

“Sure!” She perked up. “Only I don’t know what one is.”

“You’re already acting like one. Bridesmaids help plan the wedding and help the bride. The only other thing you’ll need to do is stand next to me at the wedding.” I forced a smile for her, which she returned.
 

Nurse pulled the gown out from closet and struggled to hold it.

“It’s a heavy thing,” she said. “Lauren, you get this side. It’ll take two of us to get it on her.” They both carefully maneuvered the fabric to prevent it from ruining my hair and make-up. Once on, I realized this was
really
happening. It took them several minutes to fasten all the buttons and clasp everything.
 

It was stunning. It had a silk corset bodice with periodic sequins that caught the light perfectly. Layers of toile formed an occasional rose at the bottom, and the train seemed to never end. There was a wide peach colored satin sash that wrapped around the base of my hips. There were two lace ruffles around the sweetheart top, and the straps were simply several ribbons that slouched off my shoulders. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken my breath away.