Chapter 73: Chapter 73

MYSTIC HOLLOW

Homicide

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BY NAOMI INNOCENT

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CHAPTER 73

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"It took us three weeks to build the time machine. Then he told me he was under pressure and wants us to elope that day we finished the time machine. I asked him why the hurry, he said he would explain to me when we have succeeded in eloping. And like a fool, I was ready to elope with him, leaving my family behind. I went to the cottage alone that night and it was raining heavily. I waited and waited but never saw a glimpse of him. I was hoping to break the good news to him when he comes because I tried telling him but he said I should wait till we get to the cottage. I slept alone in the cottage. And it was the first time I slept over there. My dad was so worried and when I returned home, my mom almost killed me"

FLASHBACK

"Where have you been since yesterday? We were worried sick!" Her mom barked at her.

She kept mute, not knowing what to say.

"Mom... I"

"Go on, I am listening"

"I... Was... At Frederick's place," she lied.

"Are you sure you were there? Because I went there to look for you but could not find you"

"Oh... Uh mm... I" she bowed her head when she noticed there was no way out.

"You are such a terrible liar young lady! Take a look at this! Why didn't you tell us that you both broke up already?" her mom asked handing a wedding card to me.

"What is this?" She asked without looking at it.

"You should take a look at it first, Emily asked sent someone here, to give it to you. She said you should be her guest of honor. The wedding is by 10 AM, you should check the venue, it is right there"

Ruth could not believe her eyes when she saw who was getting married. She ran to her room and slumped on the bed, then she started pacing around the room.

"This is not happening to me. Frederick and Emily can not do this to me" her legs could no longer carry her as she sat on the bed, taking her phone from where she kept it, she dialed Frederick's number.

It started ringing as she waited but the voicemail answered.

*Hey! Leave a message, I will get back to you when I see it*

"Frederick. I am so disturbed right now and I do not know what to do, I saw this invitation card which I do not want to believe is real, please call me when you get this."

She dropped the phone and held her stomach as she cried. She started dialing Emily's number.

*Hi! Leave a message at the beep. I am very busy and can not reply to you now* her voicemail replied.

"Hey Emily, I do not understand what is going on between you and Frederick and would want some explanation, please. Call me when you get this"

She bit her thumb and started dialing Frederick's line again, but this time, the voice mail did not respond, it was switched off.

She took the wedding card and read through it as tears started rolling down her eyes while she read what was on the invitation card. This story is written by Naomi Innocent.

"Emily and Frederick getting married?" She sniffed.

"No..no. I don't believe this" she cried.

She ran out of her room like a helpless sheep, her mom felt pity for her, seeing how worn out she was. She had cried out her eyes.

"Are you not going to put on something nice at least?" Her mom barked but she didn't listen.

"Ruth! Come on! Where are you going, you should have your bath and eat at least. I do not understand what is wrong with you"

Ruth walked out of the house and walked down to Federick's mansion. The guards standing outside the building looked at her as a homeless beggar.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked.

"I am Ruth, Ruth Gilbert" she sniffed and wiped the tears off her eyes.

"I am looking for Frederick. Please tell him I want to speak to him"

"He is not here. He left the house"

Ruth looked around and frowned.

"But, his... His car is here. Why--"

"Young lady, you have to leave!" The guard started hoisting her away till she left, cursing under her breath.

She hailed the first cab she saw and gave the cabman the direction of Emily's house and he took her there.

She walked to the building and knocked at the door severally, when the door opened, it was Emily's mother that came out.

"Good day, Miss Brohms" she greeted.

"Oh, hi Ruth, how are you? Are you okay? You look worn out" she observed.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Nothing is wrong" she lied.

"Are you sure you should not see the doctor?"

"No, not at all, I am fine" she looked elsewhere then stared straight into her eyes.

"Is Emily at home? I have been calling her cellphone but it is referring me to her voicemail"

"Oh, dear! Emily is not at home. She is at the Mayors. Were you given the invitation card? My young Emily is getting married to the Mayor's son" she smiled.

"She is at the Mayor's" she mumbled and started staggering away.

"Ruth! Are you alright?" Ruth did not respond to her as she kept walking.

"I think you should really see the doctor. You look sick!"

"Get well soon, you have to attend Emily's wedding" Ruth could not take it anymore as the tears ran down from her eyes freely.

When she got home, she went to her room and cried till the next day that was the wedding.

She was preparing to go to the wedding ground when her mom walked to her room to meet her.

"Ruth, are you alright?"

She did not reply as she kept applying light makeup to her face.

"What is wrong with you? You have been acting strange since yesterday"

She burst out crying as her mom went to hug her.

"I did not break up with Frederick, we did not end the relationship. We were supposed to meet yesterday, I am not surprised that he is getting married today. And to my best friend's mom, he is getting married to Emily! What is going on?" She cried as her mom patted her back?

"Why would the both of them do this to you?"

"I do not know mom. I think I might fall into depression if they do not explain things to me. I am very frustrated right now. I do not know what to do" her mother hugged her tightly.

"I never knew this was the case. I would not have accepted that wedding invitations card"

"No no, no, it is okay" They disengaged hug as she dabbed her face with a face towel and sniffed.

"It is a good thing you took it. At least I would be able to go to the wedding ground and see if this is real. I will go there right now"

"No Ruth, you should not go there. You should know had wanted to mock you"

"Mother, I have to go" she started walking away as her mother watched her, not knowing how to help her.

She got to the wedding and saw for herself as she cried.

"So it is actually true?" She muttered under her breath.

The guards did not let her inside the church, she showed them her invitation card but they kept telling her she looked haggard.

"Frederick!" Ruth called out to him as he saw her but looked elsewhere immediately.

Emily turned her back as their gaze locked, she quickly beckoned on a guard standing nearby who walked up to her.

She whispered something to his ears as he nodded and left the church to where Ruth was arguing with other guards. He whispered something to the guard who nodded as he walked back to Ruth and started hurling her away.

"Hey! Stop that" she struggled with them as they finally threw her out.

She went back home crying like a baby and by that time, her dad was back from the station already.

"What is going on here?" He asked when he saw the state Ruth was in.

Her mom told her dad what happened and Gilbert was furious.

"Is that what she is crying like a baby? If the guy does not like you, you should leave him alone. Stop acting like a baby and pull yourself together" he said.

"You do not understand dad. I am carrying his child. I am pregnant" She said as her mother's shock knew no bounds.

"What?!" Both parents said in shock.

"Well, this is outrageous. He can not get you pregnant and go on to wed another lady. It simply is not done" her dad said.

"Does he know you are pregnant?" Her mother asked.

"No, he does not. I was supposed to break the news to him yesterday" she explained.

"Well, somebody has to explain to his parents what their son has done. I am going to pay the Bellos' a visit" with that, he started walking to his room to dress up.

As he left the house, he never came back till it was nightfall. The news came back to Ruth and her mom that her dad was dead, new had it that he got drunk and drowned at the pool.

Ruth and her mother could not contest the fact that he was drunk because they knew he was an addict.

And according to Mr. Brohms, when he got to the wedding reception, he could not help himself when he saw free liquors, so he drank himself to stupor and drowned in a pool.

"Are you satisfied? I hope you are happy now?" Her mom lashed at her as she cried.

"Your father is dead! Because of you and your stupid teenage love. You should be happy!" She cried as Ruth could not believe the news they just got.

"I hate you! I regret bringing you to this world. You brought disgrace, shame, and sorrow to this family. When you were getting involved with the Mayor's son, I warned you. But you would never listen. You said you were in love." She sniffed.

"Well, congratulations! You have been disowned by me. I cease to be your mother from this day!"

Ruth and ran straight to her room. She lay on her bed and cried out her eyes, when she was satisfied, she walked up to her mirror and stared at her face.

She held her stomach and winced.

"I will not get rid of this baby. I will give birth to it and raise it with love and affection. I will not allow the bitterness its father caused me to get to it. When I am done, I have a lot of work to do" with that, she cleaned the tears forming around her eyelid.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Hmmm, this is beginning to make sense to me," Alex said looking at the ground.

"I think my parents have their part of the story to tell too. Ruth said from her point to view" Sarah said looking at Elena.

"What a sad love story. This is so hilarious" Laura said as she knee hugged herself.

Elena walked to Frederick and pointed the gun at his head.

"Young lady, just because you have a gun does not mean you have to decide who lives and who dies, do not forget, I am still the Mayor of this town," Frederick told her sternly.

"Look who is talking. Why don't you try me and see huh?"

"It was obvious you were hiding something from Ruth, dad, you have to tell us your part too," Sarah said as she frowned at her dad.

"You heard her Mr. Peacock, now start spilling!" Elena ordered him as he kept mute.

She shot the gun close to his feet as he flinched.

"Fine! I will talk! Just get that thing out of my face' He said as he glared at them.

"My mom liked Ruth but my dad thinks marriage was some kind of business. Before I told Ruth we should build the time machine, I happened to eavesdrop on a conversation between my dad and Mr. Brohms but I never told Ruth about it."

FLASHBACK

"How would you see it if my Emily gets married to your Frederick?" Mr. Brohms asked Mr. Bellos one night he visited as they drank liquor close to the pool and enjoyed the cool breeze the night brought, with the full moon, illuminating the place and the light reflecting on the pool.

"Ehhh, I don't know. It is left for the kids to decide. We can not force them to marry. Marriage is a long and life term business" Mr. Bellos said.

"Hmm, what if the problem is just Frederick, what If my Emily loves him?" Mr. Brohms asked as Bellos breathed down.

"I do not know, my friend. Frederick would have to be consulted too"

Mr. Brohms drank from his glass of liquor and winced. He stared at the glass cup and looked up at Mr. Bellos.

"What I am saying is that my daughter, Emily, is interested in your son."

"What about my son? won't he have a say in it? Come on, you know it is not fair. We can not arrange a wedding for them without getting consent from the two parties involved" Bellos said as Mr. Brohms frowned, he dropped his glass on the table, sat upright, and faced Mr. Bellos who regarded him closely.

"Think of all the things my dad has done for your family. You should know this, I would have been the Mayor. That was if my dad had loved power because he was influential" Mr. Brohms said.

"I do not understand where this conversation is leading to"

"Well, you should. You do not expect me to come out clean in everything I said" Mr. Bellos was mute for a while as he stared into space.

"Ok, give me three weeks to think about it. I need to talk to my son" Mr. Bellos said as Mr. Brohms stood up.

"You should be fast about it, please. My Emily is giving me trouble. And see it as a favor your family is trying to return to mine" Brohms said as he shook hands with Bellos who stood up too.

"Sure," Bellos said smiling.

END OF FLASHBACK

"That night I had a tongue-lash with my dad. And worse of it all, my mom supported him. I was ready for my family to lose the mantle, but my parents were adamant and they threatened Ruth and her family. The next day, I told her we should build a big-time machine without telling her why and we built it for three weeks. The day we were supposed to elope, something happened. Emily visited me.

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TBC