RENE’S P.O.V
Blood!
It was everywhere. It was all I could see.
The stench of rusted dry metal invaded my senses. The smell was so powerful, overwhelming, that I felt my bowels threaten to forcefully expel the bit of cereal I’d ingested earlier in the morning. I could already feel the acid in the back of my throat and the involuntary watering in my mouth propelled by disgust.
My hands shook of their own will, like they had a mind of their own. My lips quivered in unison. I tried to run; to escape this horror, but my legs would not budge. In fact, asides from my hands and lips, the rest of my body was stuck, frozen. It was like I was in a time warp. I would have referred to it as an out of body experience if I didn’t feel the pressure in my throat. If I didn’t hear the wind roaring in my ears. If I didn’t taste the bile in my throat.
The source of the never ending flow of blood lay on the floor. The familiar face stared up at me, lips parted into a frozen ‘O’ and face morphed in shock.
Lifeless. The celebrant of today’s ceremony was lifeless while his co-celebrant sat at his side, her hands clinging, desperately, on the lapels of his ceremonial tuxedo as though she wanted to violently shake him back into consciousness; into life.
“Rene…” the unearthly wailing of my name was the first thing to jerk me out of my state of shock and back to the ghastliness of that moment.
I looked at the origin of the sound. Vanessa.
Her pale hands still held unto the lapels of his suit jacket. Her blonde hair fell from her head in wisps, framing her face with their tendrils dampened with sweat. Her sky blue eyes stared up at me, helplessly; destitute. I could not help the racing of my heart as I stared at her. Even then, with her clothes bloodied, and her skin glowing with the sweat and tears of her pain, she looked beautiful; every bit of the princess I had thought she was on our first meeting.
“Rene…Oh, Rene” another diabolical wail escaped her lips as she stared at me. She managed to pull me out of my thoughts once again.
“Nessa…” I croaked, my voice cracking.
“What am I going to do? What am I going to do now?” she asked, staring at me with those desolate blue eyes.
What were we going to do? In fact, what had we done?
I blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.
What had we done?
Vanessa sat at his side. She had released his jacket. Now she was staring at her hands; bloodied like the beautifully exquisite white dress she was wearing.
‘The perfect dress for the perfect bride’ the designer’s assistant had said when Vanessa crooned over it’s image on the store’s tablet.
The perfect dress, the perfect venue, the perfect bride, and the perfect groom. That’s all anyone would preach in the days leading up to ‘the perfect wedding’. Now, all of that was for naught.
The day was supposed to be one of joy for both the Heaton family and the Cheng family. After all, they were both going to watch their children get joined by a preacher in holy matrimony. It had taken four years to reach that point. Four years of on and off dating between the two. Four years of heartbreak and distress. Of course, I’d been there when it all started and I was there through it all; playing peacemaker and settling quarrels more times than I could remember. It would seem all of my efforts had been in vain.
I stared down at my hands which still shook violently. The crimson liquid coated my hands, embedding itself deep into my neatly manicured nails. I could not, for the life of me, recall how it had gotten there. It must have been a while though; the warm liquid had started to dry up.
“Oh, God!” Vanessa wailed, burying her face in her palms. Her blood soaked palms. “What am I going to do? What is going to happen to me now? I never meant for this to happen. I never meant to hurt him, I swear.”
“Today’s our wedding. It’s finally our wedding day.” she rambled. “I loved him…I love him. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was a honest-to-God mistake.”
I felt the need to go over to her and console her; to tell her none of it was her fault, that everything would be okay. But I couldn’t bring myself to move. My body was still frozen to the spot. I stared down at Jason Cheng’s lifeless form on the floor. His almond shaped brown orbs still stared up at the dressing room’s ceiling, masked with the shock that must have coursed through his veins before breathing his last.
The fog in my mind started to lift and the wheels started to spin aggressively; desperately. I needed a solution, and I needed it now. Before someone would walk into the gruesome scene. Vanessa could not be helpful. No sooner had the thought passed through my mind than a sudden knock rapped on the door.
Startled, Vanessa raised her head up from her palm. The imprints her bloody fingers had made on her face made her look like a branded criminal. It was not a good look. I quickly raised my finger to my lips, signaling for Vanessa not to make any sound.
“Vanessa! Are you in there?” the gruff voice of Mr Heaton called.
Oh, no! A voice screamed in my head.
“What do I do? What do I do, Rene? Oh God! Daddy can’t find out. He can’t!” she whispered, her voice trembling with panic.
“Vanessa, baby!” he called again.
My heart started to race with panic. What would we do? What was going to happen now?
“Don’t worry, I’ll get her.” I heard Mr Heaton say to someone before the door knob started to turn.
Blood rushed to my ears, my heart pounding with panic. I faintly heard Vanessa cry my name distressingly but I was once more stuck in a time warp, stuck in my own body.
“Vanessa? What happened here?” I heard Mr Heaton ask as her took in the scene before him. I turned to face him just as he hurriedly shut the door and bolted it, standing in front of it like a guard.
“Daddy!” Vanessa cried, standing up from the floor and sprinting across the room to her father in one swift motion.
“What is all this, Van? Why are you covered in blood? And is that Jason on the floor?” I watched as the realization of the situation finally dawned on him. His normally stoic features morphed into shock and rage, among many other emotions.
"The Chengs will fucking ruin us!" He said, his voice between a yell and a whisper.
"Jason is their only son, for goodness fucking sake! Why is he even here?!"
“Daddy, oh daddy! You have to help me. Please, please help me daddy. I swear, I didn’t mean to. You have to help me. I’m your only child too” Vanessa wept.
I watched as her father took her in his arms, not minding her bloody state.
“Oh, daddy. It was a mistake. I swear, I was…” Vanessa trailed as her father cut her off.
“Not the one that did it!” he declared.
I looked up to see the set determination in his eyes. A determination that spelt doom for anyone that got in his way.
“Daddy, what…”Once more, Vanessa didn’t get to finish her sentence as her dad cut her off again.
“You didn’t do it!” he maintained.
Silence! The room was still for a few suffocating minutes as Vanessa and I stared at her father, and he… Was he staring at me? I felt my heart sink. His gaze spoke volumes.
“Sir…” I started, but it seemed Mr Heaton had a habit of cutting people off.
“Vanessa is your best friend. She treated you well from the moment you and your mother stepped foot into our home. Against her mother and I’s will, she befriended you. You know she’s delicate. Surely you don’t want to see her getting dragged away in her wedding dress, do you? After all that she’s been through already?”
I turned to Vanessa, and her eyes were wide with surprise, but she said nothing.
I looked at Jason’s body on the floor. Vanessa had just lost the man she loved. Coupled with her fear and anxiety, I was sure she couldn’t bear a minute in prison. She wasn’t made for the pain. Someone was knocking on the door now. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Mr Heaton, leveling him with my own gaze.
“My Vanessa didn’t kill him, did she?” he asked.
I blinked, tears running down my cheeks. I met Vanessa’s eyes, letting the thought of her kindness sift through my mind. And I decided it would be worth it. It would be fine.
I nodded slowly, my heart breaking for myself and for Vanessa.
" I did it, sir. I killed Jason Cheng."
