"Get up!"
She woke up with a startle, eyes flared in shock glancing around rapidly as she felt someone tapping on her Shoulders hard, completely pulling her out of her slumber.
Aaliyah looked up to see two familiar faces staring down at her, their faces harder than she recalled. The Nuns watched as she threw herself off the mat, and pulled up to her Full length to meet their judging and cold gazes upon her.
"Sister Rachel. Sister Hilda," She called their names breathlessly, already wondering what she had done wrong this time. Aaliyah was pretty sure the church was sparkling clean, and she had run all the errands before going to sleep.
"Get inside the bathroom, soak in, and scrub every inch of filthiness pouring out of you. You have just ten minutes!"
They wanted her to take her bath? Aaliyah turned to stare at the window to confirm that it wasn't just her eyes and that it was still very dark outside. Confusion etched on her features, and she opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but the Nuns shut her up with a cold glare.
"Your time is already ticking, Child,"
Fear gripped Aaliyah from their words, and she scurried off into the bathroom where a pleasant, or rather, creepy surprise awaited her. The bathtub had been filled to the brim with water, and the shower was actually working for once.
The water in the bathtub was scented heavily, looking like it had been filled with many oils that brought out one thick scent that could clog up her airways.
Aaliyah stared at the setting for a minute, wondering what the hell was going on. Outside, she could hear sister Rachel and Hilda speaking in low and hushed tones. For once, they seemed scared and worried about something.
Swallowing, Aaliyah emptied her clothes and climbed into the warm bath. Nothing had ever felt more relaxing than this, and it felt as if the water was stretching out all her tensed muscles that had accumulated for so many years.
Aaliyah sighed in relief. She didn't know what was going on, but she would at least enjoy the goodness that came with it.
Just as instructed, she used the soap by the side and scrubbed off every corner of her body, not surprised to see how much the water's color changed from the filth that had been stuck to her.
Aaliyah scrubbed her scruffy hair and bathed herself properly till her body was squeaky clean like the huge mirror in the pastor's room.
Quickly, she rinsed everything off in the shower and dried herself with the clean towel she found hanging on the door.
As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, Aaliyah was ushered to sit by the mirror where she found herself being prettied up by about five nuns, with Rachel and Hilda standing by the sides watching everything.
She could hear rushed footsteps moving back and forth outside and was getting more and more nervous as the seconds ticked by. Her hair was being combed all the way down her back, and more oils were applied all over her till her body was glistening.
By the time everyone was done, her mouth was agape. Aaliyah had light makeup on her face, her blonde hair tied up in a bun with a few strands left to fall. Her skin has never looked so pretty before.
"Wear this," Sister Rachel came up from behind and threw a dress at Aaliyah's face, "Take this!" And threw a small bouquet at her too. Aaliyah held both items in each hand and looked up at the Nun.
"Put them on, and go wait at the Altar!"
And Just like that, everyone left the room and the lonely place grew quiet once again.
Aaliyah was beginning to think they were gonna sacrifice her or something, but once she put on the dress and held the flower with her reflection staring back at her...Her eyes widened.
No way...Was she getting married?!
At that moment, she thought about running away for the umpteenth time. Her gaze moved to the window that had been broken for the past five years now and no one had paid attention to it. She could have easily climbed out of it, but her room was too high up the building.
She would die if she took a leap.
"Let's just hope...he's a good man," Aaliyah said to herself, a sad smile curving on her lips. But she knew the chances of that happening were very close to Zero. They were probably marrying her off for their own benefit... but something felt off.
Why were they all so on edge about it? Was he that cruel of a man? Worse than...them?
In the next minute, Aaliyah was climbing down the stairs with the Voluminous dress dragging down the stairs, almost tripping her several times. As usual, she had no shoes on and even though the dress was big enough to cover her toes, every step was still painful and agonizing.
It seems the hushed noises and movements had woken the other kids in the church. They were all peeking out their windows watching her. The little ones clapped excitedly, seeing her all dressed up like an upcoming bride while the older ones looked dreadful.
Nothing good came from this church.
"What is going on, Aaliyah?" Penelope, one of the older children asked.
Aaliyah smiled back, "Let's hope for once it's something good, right?"
"Are you... leaving?" Penelope cracked.
Aaliyah shrugged. She didn't know. She knew nothing. Right now, she felt like a puppet and Pastor Ramus was the puppeteer.
Standing on the Altar, Aaliyah stared at the rows and columns of seats in front of her. Candles hung on the wall and lit up the entire place. The whole place was awfully empty, and her heart ached. Her eyes accessed her surroundings again, but there was still nothing and no one.
Maybe she was really being sacrificed. Maybe the ground would suddenly open up and swallow her anytime from now.
The Crackling sound of the large double doors that led to the outside of the church flew open, and the Moonlight's rays fell into the church. It was still very much quiet, but Aaliyah could see some shadows coming from outside. It felt as if they had opened the door on purpose for her to walk through it.
Like a kitten, Curiosity kicked in and her legs moved. She walked down the Altar, and approached the door, moving through the path between the seats, her fingers tightening around the flowers.
Everything felt reversed this time. Why was she walking out instead of walking in?
"Don't go," A small voice from behind cried.
Aaliyah turned around to see Penelope peeking in from one of the pillars.
"It's not gonna be good." She added, her eyes big with tears, "If you go...I'll be next,"
Now, Aaliyah understood her worry. Aaliyah was twenty-one, while Penelope was eighteen. If truly, this was marriage and Aaliyah would be taken away, then all the hell Aaliyah had gone through would fall on Penelope's head. And it's not like Penelope isn't already going through so much.
She would be maltreated...and abused.
"I'm not going anywhere. Go back to your room," Aaliyah replied.
"Do you Promise?"
Aaliyah nodded with a tight smile, "When morning comes, it'll be like nothing ever happened,"
Penelope did not look convinced. But there was nothing she could do. She was scared of what they would do to her if she tried to interfere.
Aaliyah faced her front again, drawing a deep breath. Everyone was out there, patiently waiting for her arrival.
"It's okay," She said to herself, clutching her heart that was beating very fast, "It's okay. I'll be fine,"
When she turned around again, Penelope was gone. The Fear and emotions of terror crashed into her soul, making her knees buck. Anxiety kicked in hard, and tears gathered in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. The Nuns would be mad at her if she ruined their work with her tears.
Alone and feeling lost, she raised her chin with the little hope still shimmering in her heart and stepped out of the double doors to face her fate.
The First thing she saw was the Glory of the Full Moon up in the sky, casting her light on the people that stood to her right.
The Nuns were standing by the side, their gazes lowered to the ground while shifting uncomfortably on their feet.
Pastor Ramus stood by the other side, looking even more distorted and uneasy than the Nuns with his head lowered. Aaliyah had never seen the pastor so humbled before, and it only made her want to puke.
But when she saw the man standing in front of Pastor Ramus, she immediately understood why everyone was acting that way. The Power of his gaze alone had her wishing she had just jumped out of the window earlier and ended her life.
Truly, Nothing good will ever come from this place.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Aaliyah's legs shook with every step. Her eyes were also lowered but still searching for rescue, hoping she would wake up from this bad dream. The crazy thing was that she had every chance to run.
Finally, she stopped in front of the man without looking up. What she felt was like nothing that had ever hit her before.
The man emitted a powerful Aura, his presence utterly dominating. It was so strong that Aaliyah thought she ought to have fallen to her knees by now and given up in surrender like he was some kind of God. But, he wasn't.
He was...a man.
And apparently, the man she was getting married to.
Marriage. Was she... really getting married? Out of the blue.
Instead of wedding bells, warning bells rang in her head, and she felt like she was being suffocated by the lack of air streaming into her lungs. It didn't take long for her to realize she had held her breath for so long, probably from the moment she saw the man standing across her.
The warmth of the concrete stung her foot, the pain becoming more and more unbearable the longer she stood there.
"We are all gathered here today...," Pastor Ramus began.
Aaliyah flinched like she had been burnt. It wasn't that his voice had scared her, but the natural cringe that came with it whenever he was close. She locked eyes with Ramus, and she could see a reflection of the fear in her eyes in his.
Her throat grew a lump in it, and she quickly looked away before she grew angry.
Looking away caused her to lock eyes with the person in front of her. He was putting on a long black coat that covered him from head to toe, and was so tall she almost took a step back from his looming figure.
The Darkest shade of Black hair she's ever seen fell in heavy strands over his face, blocking his facial features from her sight.
His hair was so long they were almost touching his chest.
As if the level of creepiness wasn't enough, Aaliyah could see two other men standing a few steps behind him with their faces hidden by the darkness.
"We are gathered here today to witness this... blissful wedding of Aaliyah Manchester, and this gentleman,"
Aaliyah was so close to screaming.
"Both of you have promised to be there for each other, through everything that will come,"
Aaliyah could not believe her ears.
"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and Wife. You May do as you wish with your bride,"
This wasn't a wedding. It was a sacrifice. And she was the sacrificial object.
Just as Pastor Ramus finished saying that, it was like everyone knew what to do. They all started to leave, the Nuns were scurrying back into the church along with the pastor, while the strange tall man and his guest strode out of the place like nothing had just happened.
Aaliyah was breathing hard, her mind running all over the place. There was so much fear in her eyes. She's had nightmares before, but it's never been this bad. When was she going to wake up?
"Wait!" She yelled after him.
Her husband stopped in his tracks, and so did the other two. The breeze then came by, dancing with his hair and coat.
Almost immediately, he began walking away again.
Aaliyah gritted her teeth, took a firm hold of her dress to avoid her tripping, and broke into a run to catch up to him. Even though the fear kept increasing, even though the closer she got to him the harder it became to breathe, even though her legs were trembling and her foot stung badly with every step, she caught up to him before he walked out of the gates and blocked his path.
Running with such a heavy dress was draining. But what was even more heavy was her heart, "What is the meaning of this? Are you just going to leave?!" She spat out, glaring at him.
Silence ensured for about two seconds.
"Do I know you?"
Aaliyah had to stand strong if not the depth of his voice would have knocked her down. It was so deep, it was almost enchanting and she did not like the way her body reacted to it.
"I should be asking you that!" She breathed, shaking her head in disdain, "I just got married to a total stranger. Who are you? Why did you marry me?"
"You're so annoying," She heard him murmur, right before he slid past her and continued away.
Aaliyah didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"You're the one who's annoying with your stupid...face!" She whirled around and yelled only to see the three men getting into three different cars parked outside and driving away.
She kept breathing heavily as she watched their cats disappear into the darkness. Her head was pounding, and her lips felt dry. A horrid laughter escaped her lips as she turned back to face the church. There were a few nuns and Pastor Ramus standing just outside the door, with many others peeking out.
"If you hated me that much, why not put a pillow over my face and choke me to death?" She asked, feeling nothing at the moment.
"You will not live here any longer." Pastor Ramus yelled back at her small figure. The fear that had been in his eyes was disappearing, and the proud look he'd always shown to everyone who knew him well was coming back, "Aaliyah, You belong to the Gentleman, now."
"I belong to no one!" She fired back, "And I am not going anywhere!"
.
.
.
Aaliyah should have known mere words would not change a thing. Just as they had threatened, the church had locked her out for two days before finally throwing her out of the compound entirely.
She was left to wander about the streets with her dirty dress, and her aching feet. It didn't help that the night was always cold and she had been a shivering mess for days.
She had no idea where to go and had been forcing herself not to break down in the middle of the street and cry.
No one knew her around here. Even if she told them she was from the church, they would not believe her because everyone in town trusted Pastor Ramus with the idea that he was a good man. She's always been isolated inside her room, and only allowed to come out along with the other kids when the place was empty.
People have been staring awkwardly at her as she walked by. She didn't know where she was headed, all she knew was that this was the direction those cars had driven down through three nights ago.
And no matter what, she was gonna him.
That Strange husband of hers.
He would take responsibility!
Time passed, and Aaliyah had now spent two weeks roaming around the streets. At some point, she had roared in anger and torn off many layers of the dress from her body, now giving her more space to move faster. Her hair was dirty and was disheveled.
A strange thing kept happening though. Whenever she fell asleep and woke up, she would find food lying next to her. She's always felt like someone out there was watching her, and from the constant supply of food to keep her from starving no matter how far she traveled, she confirmed there was someone following her.
And then, it happened. Maybe her hard work had finally paid off as she woke up one faithful morning to find another supply of food and a small note sitting next to her.
' Your destination is the small mansion a little out of town '
Aaliyah stood up and looked around her, but there was nobody there. From the looks of the things, she knew she was almost out of town.
Once she was done eating, Aaliyah wiped her mouth with the back of her palm and started moving again. She had made up her mind to find that mansion and whatever awaited her there.
As expected, she was out of town in less than an hour and found herself surrounded by a deserted area. She kept on walking while looking around, and it took another hour before she sighted what resembled a building from a distance.
The anxiety kicked in once again, but she wasn't backing down after two weeks of wandering and aimless searching. She dragged her feet to the mansion and stepped into the gates that were not locked.
There was a car parked by the side of the compound, and a water fountain sitting in the middle that was dried and covered with dust. In fact, everything from the gate to the floor to the car itself was covered in dust.
It almost looked as if no one lived here.
But the car...was Familiar. A Black BMW. The same one she had watched him climb into and drive away.
Aaliyah took in a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what was to come, unlike Last time she was caught by surprise.
Another good look at the eerie mansion that stood in front of her, and she walked up to the front door and knocked before she started thinking twice.
After a few minutes of total silence, she knocked again.
The third time, with her fist suspended in the air she was about to knock and she heard a click of the door unlocked from the inside. She stiffened for a second, waiting for someone to open the door and step out, but another minute passed...
Taking another deep breath, she slowly pushed the door open and her head poked into the house.
"I'm here to live here!" She announced without a care, "And I will not be kicked out!"
The man stared back with emotionless eyes, "Alright."
Creation is hard, cheer me up! VOTE for me!
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