Burning Moon (Wattpad Version)

Prologue

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"I'm sorry, I can't."

No matter how long I stared at the scribbled note, the meaning stayed the same. I held it up hoping, praying, that the sunlight would illuminate the other words that had been written in magic invisible ink.

But nothing appeared.

Just those four tiny little words...and yet, they had the power to bring my whole world crashing down around me in an instant. Splintering, shattering and exploding into a million little pieces. Yes, it was that dramatic! 

I finally managed to pry my eyes from the note and found myself staring into the terrified faces of my two best friends. They looked very concerned. Like I was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

And they were right.

I was.

Tick. Tick.

I was teetering on the brink of insanity. I could feel it trying to suck me in like an all-consuming black hole. The tug was almost too hard to fight. 

Did I even want to fight it? 

But what would happen if I let go? I knew I was in shock right now, drenched in a sort of numb, detached feeling. But I could feel the other hostile emotions bubbling their way to the surface and fighting to take control.

I blinked. My eyes were stinging.

I tried to open my mouth and speak.

It was dry and nothing came out.

I looked at my best friend Sue, my rock; the one person I could always rely on for help.... Nothing. Not a word. Just horror.

I shifted my gaze to Val. She was the joker, the fun-loving rebel. She had the ability to turn even the most terrible situation into a laugh. Again...nothing. Just stupefied horror plastered across her now-ashen face.

I looked down at my shaking hands; they were crunching the corners of the note. My heart felt like it was going to break through the safe confines of my rib cage, taking my stomach and lungs with it.

And then I snapped. It overwhelmed me, rising up from the most primitive part of my soul where logic, rules and intellect wielded no power. This was a place of red, raw, uninhibited emotion.

And so I screamed at the top of my lungs until my voice went hoarse and my throat was raspy.

"Get me out of this dress. Get me out of it. Get it off!"

My desperate fingers franticly ripped at my wedding dress; a dress that had taken my two friends ten minutes to get me into, thanks to the intricate crisscross ribbons of the bodice. But I was trapped.

Sue and Val sprang into action, simultaneously grabbing at the stubborn ribbons, but it was taking too long. The air around me became too thick to breathe, and I felt like I was drowning.

"I can't breathe. I can't breathe. It's too tight."

Val made a move for the knife that had arrived earlier with the room service, and, without hesitation, she cut. The sound of the serrated knife eviscerating the ribbons was like fingernails down a blackboard; it made my skin crawl. But I could feel the bodice getting looser and looser, until it finally slipped down my aching body and pooled lifelessly on the floor.

I was finally free.

And then the tears came. Hot, wet, tears streaming down my cheeks and streaking my flushed skin with angry, black mascara lines. The tears turned to sobbing.