The Devil's Bride (Book 1)

Chapter 37- Make No Mistakes

THIRD PERSON

She stands in the shroud of darkness, clutching tightly to the dark-coloured umbrella as the rain tumbles from the sky. She sighs, staring down at the bare ground beneath her feet. "I don't care anymore," she whispers, clutching the umbrella even more tightly as he walks towards her, flashing the torchlight in her direction.

"Come inside, Reyna," Grant mumbles sympathetically, flashing the torch towards the ground as she covers her eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? For everything." The rain drenched his dark brown hair and his clothes but it doesn't bother him. He only extends his hand for his niece.

Reyna sighs once more, moving closer towards him. "It's not your fault, uncle. It isn't your fault that Faith is missing. It isn't your fault that Peter disappeared, but now he's back. You shouldn't apologise to me." She inches closer to him, now in arms distance from his body. "I only thought to think out here, forgetting about the rain. I'm sorry."

Grant wraps his arms around her as she steps closer to him, the umbrella now safely protecting them from the rainstorm. "Life isn't easy, Reyna. We don't grace ourselves with greatness every day because most days do eventually suck," he blurts out, holding his niece close. She nestles her head on his shoulder. "Faith hurt you but you're the bigger person." He clutches his hand firmly on the umbrella, lifting the silver metal from her fingers.

A figure, a silhouette in the pitch black darkness, stumbles towards the two of them. Her hands are steadily gripped around the bassinet's handles. Reyna and Grant freeze in their huddled position staring, as Faith welcomes the torchlight. She pauses, cooing innocently at the baby girl and forgetting about the two in front of her for a single moment.

"Faith...what the hell are you doing here? And with...with that child?" Reyna stutters, pointing at the stroller. "Your boyfriend has been worried sick." Faith sighs. Her pale complexion lacks energy or passion and as she stands awkwardly in front of them, her shoulders are hunger slightly and her hands are crossed behind her back.

She slumps forward, as if beginning to walk, but stops instead, raising her left hand to her cheek. "He wouldn't have been worried," she argues, her voice void of actual anger. She isn't arguing whether he cared or not, she's arguing that her disappearance was a simple phase. She wandered off and now she is returning.

In the distance, he sits in the silence of the black night. Waiting and staring without any intention to move or to speak. He follows the scene as it begins; closely following the movements as the scene unfolds in front of him. The silver gun is poised in his hand, aimed cautiously at one.

"Faith," Reyna starts, pausing for a moment, "What the hell happened to you? As a child, nothing seemed wrong. You changed too much as you aged, and I hate that," she steps backwards, turning on her heels slightly. Grant moves towards the front door, opening it and waiting for his niece to follow. Faith only freezes in fear and possible regret, but she shakes it off and immediately turns away from her former best friend. The silence envelops the atmosphere around them.

"Goodbye for good, Reyna," Faith mumbles as she clutches her hands around the silver bars of the bassinet. Reyna steps back towards Grant and disappears inside, ignoring the idea that Faith said goodbye. She'll be back, Reyna continues to think to herself as she snuggles beside Nathan in front of the fire. Ignoring the thought to even discuss her. Outside, Faith staggers down towards the curb of the road, rolling the bassinet towards the pitch black road. The man raises the silver gun, aiming towards the silhouette in the darkness. Without hesitation, he fires and the dart shoots through the empty air, striking her in the crook of her neck. She doesn't scream or wail. She collapses to the floor, noticing the man rushing towards her. A look of sympathetic depression is looming in his eyes, but deep beneath it can be seen. The darkness. The evil that helped him fire his gun only moments ago.