The Day They Killed Him (standard:Suspense, 3533 words)
Author: shadowsinflames	Added: Dec 11 2003	Views/Reads: 3561/2437	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Rorey witnesses the murder of her older brother when she was 7, and is determined to track down his killers. Though it's not as easy as it sounds, 15 years later, when she falls madly in love with a stranger who has a secret he shares with her siblings.

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'Come on, let's go,' she bounced up and down, barely able to contain her
thrill over the entire thing. I allowed myself to be drug out since I 
was on my way out the door. It was amazing to me that there could be so 
many people involved in the wedding, and still so many guests. There 
were dozens of people filing in, filling the pews and their chatter 
echoing among the church rafters. 

'A lot of people like Shauna,' Candy noted and I had to laugh, that was
the way it looked. Of course, they also liked her fiance, Brad, but 
somehow I had the feeling most of them were here for Shauna. That had 
always been the way, she was the most populer. That was when I locked 
upon a tall, broad shouldered man, something about him calling 
attention to his thick form. 

Then he turned my direction and I felt the dizzying feeling of deja vu.
I had seen him somewhere, his face was gnawlingly familiar, but I 
couldn't place him. It was just at the tip of my mind, the more I tried 
to grasp it the more it sank into the murky waters. I couldn't take my 
eyes off of him, he had my sole attention. Then I heard the 
enthusisatic cry, 'places everyone, it's about to begin.' 

lost sight of the handsome man, not that it mattered, because
immediately we were ushered into our places in the line. It was a blur 
of beautiful white melody as we scurried to our spots, I tried not to 
look around, tried to concentrate on making it to my place in this 
billowing bridesmaid dress that threatened to turn in to a parachute 
and drag me away. Finally I made it without tripping over my feet or 
being swallowed by the pale blue beast they called a dress. 

Then Shauna came down the aisle, holding onto our father's arm and I was
shocked by how beautiful she was. Even without our beastly bridesmaid 
dresses, no one would have been looking at us and not her. She was 
radiant, a goddess in a flowing white dress, a smile teasing her lips 
and a tear at the corner of her eye. My dad was trying his best not to 
cry, his face stern but the corners of his lips quivering with his 
heartbreak. . . he was giving away his eldest child to another man. 
Shauna and I had never been close due to the eleven year age 
difference, but in that moment, I understood what he felt. Now I was 
fighting tears over the range of emotions that were smoldering in me, 
pride, grief, jealousy, and my father's heartache. If only Joey were 
here to see this, he would have teased Shauna, told her that he always 
knew she would marry a rich stud like Brad. 

The ceremony was quick and beautiful, the ways that were best. We didn't
have to stand long till we all were dying to escape, though by the end, 
Jeanie and Candice were elbowing each other in boredom. I could hardly 
wait to see the pictures, they'd have glares and being mouthing names 
at each other, but it would make for a cute memory. When they kissed, I 
felt such longing, I wanted someone to kiss me like I was the answer to 
all of their prayers. So far, I'd had no luck nor found anyone I even 
desired to kiss me in such a way. 

Then it was reception and picture time. All I wanted to do was slip away
though, it wasn't that I didn't love Shauna or that it wasn't 
beautiful, I just wanted to go have some alone time. Of course, it 
wasn't going to happen. Then I saw my deja vu man, handsome in a rugged 
way, being lead in my direction on Mark's arm. I felt the urge to bolt, 
I didn't want to meet anyone through the family, there was always 
something wrong with them. Always. 

'Rorey, this is Vince, he's one of Shauna's pals,' he grinned good
naturedly as if that should have mattered for some odd reason. I smiled 
sweetly, only being friendly, but I couldn't deny the instant 
attraction. His eyes were a dark blue that seemed to shine with 
interest and something else. Almost pain, but it was such a remote 
reflection that I couldn't figure it out, and this attracted me even 
more. Somehow, I knew that I should walk away, find a polite way to 
escape, but on the same note, something in me rooted me to the spot. 

'Pleasure to meet you,' I offered my hand and like a true gentlemen, his
lips brushed the back of my hand. Shivers zipped through my body 
causing goosebumps to rise along my arms and back, instintively I 
crossed my arms over my chest with a nervous smile. Mark seemed 
satisfied with the introduction and left, leaving Vince and I to stare 
silently at each other, trying to figure the other out. 

Then he spoke, his voice rich and full of emotion, 'I saw you before the
wedding, just thought I should say hi.' I didn't know what to say, I'd 
never been in this position before. He was very handsome, a couple 
years my senior, and I would have been a fool to not notice the way his 
lips curved or the way the suit hung so nicely upon his body. Yet 
something about this whole situation was just bothering me, if only I 
could figure it out. 

He wet his lips, nervous, and I understood, for we were at the awkward
speaking stage. I was almost at the point of making up some excuse for 
leaving when he suddenly popped out, 'I know that we don't know each 
other, um, at all, but I'd like to have dinner with you sometime.' Was 
he serious? He wanted dinner with me? I was too flattered to refuse, 
and like every woman trapped by big blue eyes, I accepted and exchanged 
numbers. Just then there was a squeal from the cake table and we 
hurried over to take part in the commotion. 

Looking dejected and near tears, Jeanie sat on the ground covered in
wedding cake. My mom had Candice firmly in her grip, her face bearing 
grim reprimanding, and I had an idea what happened. Candice can be kind 
of ownry and pushy, being the baby of the family, and my guess was that 
she pushed her neice playfully into the cake, not really thinking about 
what happens. Shauna made it through the growing crowd to see the mess 
that was her wedding cake. I thought for sure that the sight would 
break her down into tears. 

Instead, she burst out laughing, and asked, 'What's a little wedding
without a little chaos?' Then she helped her daughter up and began to 
swipe playfully at the frosting on Jeanie's face. We all began to laugh 
and the crowd began to saunter away as Shauna smeared more frosting on 
her youngest child. Then Brad walked up behind her and scooped some off 
the ground. He saw me watching and gestured to me to hold my silence. 
With a sudden pounce, he shoved the frosting into his bride's face 
making her squeal in protest. It escalated to Brad having to pin her 
hands over her head to keep her from burying him in wedding cake. 

When I turned to talk to Vince, or maybe just to look at him, he was
gone. I felt both relief and sadness at his unnoticed departure. I 
couldn't place where I knew him, though I was sure that I did. Maybe 
I'd met him through Shauna at some point or another, but I knew that 
wasn't true. For a moment, I thought of Joey, but this was supposed to 
be a happy day, no room for pain, and I pushed him out of my thoughts, 
if only for the moment. 

By the time the reception was over, and Shauna and her husband had
escaped, my interest had waned completely. I'm the first to admit, I'm 
a slight anti-social brat, and situations like this made me irritable 
and grouchy. The moment they left, I slipped away also to go home 
alone, as usual. I liked my routine, I didn't ever had to worry about 
the complications of a relationship or stress what death may follow in 
the wake of romance. 

When I got home, I practically tore the damn bridesmaid dress off. I
couldn't stand it for any reason and had no further interest in being 
tortured in. But it looked so dejected laying on the floor, like a 
child thrown carelessly from the mother's arms. Tenderly, I picked it 
up and hung it in my closet. Then I hastily shut it, least it chose to 
leap back onto my body, possessed with the want to be worn. 

I sat on the couch, curled up to watch t.v. with a cup of milk in my
hand. My mind wandered to Vince, the blue eyed mystery man who 
attracted me so much yet set off alarms. With all of his vague 
familiarness, he was still a complete stranger. I had no illusions that 
we once been chums or anything like that. Though, nevertheless, I knew 
him, I had seen him, I only had to figure out where. 

I fell asleep, loosing my grip on my milk, not that I noticed. I wished
that I had stayed awake, because with sleep comes a dream that haunts 
me periodically. We're at our house as kids, Joey's there, so's Eve and 
Shauna. We're all in the backyard, but they don't see me. Shauna's 
snickers, it sounds so evil and passes something to Joey. His face kind 
of pales and he looks around to make sure no one saw it, then hides it 
quickly. He says something, I can see his mouth move but I can't hear 
the words, he's not happy. Eve laughs, but I don't like her laugh, then 
punches Joey's knee playfully. Suddenly a shadow falls over all of 
them, and they all look absolutely terrified. I can't see the source of 
the shadow, but I know it's what kills Joey. Shauna and Eve step aside, 
waving their hands in protest, letting the shadow loom over my older 
brother. 

Then I woke up, sweat soaking my body, the vision of my brother so
fearful, imprinted in my mind. I've had this dream many times, 
sometimes I feel it is a memory while other times, I feel it is a 
twisted version that is attempting to put something into my view that 
has evaded my sight. But either way, I wake up feeling grief stricken, 
confused, and lost. Tonight was no different, and as usual, I went 
almost directly back to sleep. 

Two days passed before I heard from Vince, maybe he was waiting for me
to call, or maybe that was the code of man. I can see them now, 
pounding their chests and insisting that the only way to be a man and 
catch the girl was to wait exactly two days before revealing they're 
still interested. Though it was a good thing he called cause I wasn't 
going to. It wasn't that I was not attracted to him, because I 
unfortunately am and become more so everytime I think back upon the 
wedding. I'm just not the type to call or try to attain what I want. If 
it doesn't come to me, I'm not interested. So needless to say, I was 
pleased when the phone rang and I answered to be greeted by his sexy 
voice. 

I could pretend that it was most enlightening conversation I've ever
had, that it rocked my world. But truth be told, it was more like a 
talk with a friend, an awkward friend at that. It started out with the 
simple hellos and how are yous, then silence...and more silence, and 
more, until I was sure I could hear the tick of a clock, in his house. 
Then we both started laughing because we were acting like foolish 
teenagers, and the laughter was instant relief. We began teasing and 
bantering among ourselves, and by the end of it, I had a date for 
Saturday. 

The last time I had a date, it had been with a coworker who had the hots
for me but I had been too naive to catch on. I saw the date as friends 
going on, while he saw it as a chance to get in my pants. He was 
bitterly disappointed that night while I was emotionally scarred by the 
horror of it all. 

Now, I had something big to look forward to. This wasn't just a date, it
was a date with Vince, a mystery man who still tingled the hairs of 
memory somewhere back in my mind. Not that it really mattered cause if 
I thought about it, it would never make itself clear, and if I ignored 
it, well, it wasn't anything that mattered. 

When I went to work, I have to admit, my mind was on anything but
professional thoughts. Sometimes I just thought of talking to the man, 
other times, well, let's just say we weren't talking. I was dying for 
Saturday to be the current day, I didn't want to wait another three 
days. It seemed like an eternity and I had only met the man, and I was 
this eager to see him. 

Shauna called me, out of the blue, and surprised me when the first words
out of her mouth were, 'You're not really thinking of going on a date 
with Vince?' Her tone slapped me in the face and I riled with insult. 
How dare she be so rude, so blunt? What the hell did it matter to her 
if I went on a date with Vince or not? It wasn't like he was as ancient 
as she was. 

But I'd always been one to bite back on my tongue, keep from venting my
outrage upon others, 'Shauna, I am thinking about it and I will, but 
why do you feel I shouldn't?' The calmness in my voice was something 
that shrinks encouraged others to do but when they actually encountered 
it in a patient, they are horrifed and sure that something is out of 
balance. 

'Rorey, he's just not a person that I'd want you dating. I mean, he's
nice and all, but he's just not exactly what I would pick for you,' the 
way she made these comments wasn't offensive. All the bite had gone out 
of her tone and I felt that she was really concerned. But what she 
would pick for me and what I would pick for me were two completely 
different things. Obviously. 

'Shauna, I know you wouldn't pick him for me but allow me to make my own
decisions,' and that was the end of her objections. It wasn't like she 
could argue forever when her reasoning wasn't very complete, or 
reasonable. Yet there was something about her concern that bothered me. 
There was a reason, something she wasn't revealing, which was why she 
didn't want me going on a date with Vince. I wanted to push the issue, 
see where my sister's motherly concern was oozing from, but I didn't. 
Not yet, maybe later, when I had thougt about what I wanted to say more 
clearly. Only after we said our farewells did I think of asking her if 
Vince had been friends with say, Joey. 

Maybe the relationship between Vince and Joey was what was making her
opposed to any dating between us. Perhaps she was concerned that the 
closeness between them would only hurt me and cause a rift that would 
eventually destroy my sanity. Or perhaps, I was merely grasping at 
straws and Vince and Joey didn't know each other, and Shauna was only 
being an older sister. I had so many questions to ask, but until 
Saturday, I wasn't willing to voice them. 


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