Her return is my ruin

The butterflies in the garden seemed to dance with the same excitement that was in Perry’s heart. Perry was a tall and slender young lady with beautiful blue eyes and a charming smile. She was wearing a blue dress that stopped below her knees, and she was running around the garden, spinning at intervals.

This was the first time she had ever been extremely happy in a long time. Her sister, Darlene, had died five years ago, and that had truly been a big blow to her. But now, Perry had finally found love. Today was her wedding day. Today she would be getting married to her childhood friend, Zach Ceader. He had also been Darlene’s husband while she was alive.

Perry heard a voice call her from behind. “Perry, the makeup artist is here. You have to start your makeup now, or else we will be late to the church. And you know how strict the priest is when it comes to time. You wouldn’t want him to make an example of you.” That was Aunt Clara. She was a short, plump, and very beautiful lady with an equally charming smile.

“Yes, Aunt,” Perry said as she hurried back into the house. She would do her makeup and look extremely beautiful today.

As she sat before the makeup artist, Perry asked her aunt, “Is my mom around now?”

Aunt Clara sighed as she wondered about the proper words to use. “Well, dear, your mother is yet to arrive. But, do not worry. I believe she will meet us in church, if not here at the house.”

Perry lowered her eyes in sadness. What mother would miss her daughter’s wedding? Perry had begged her mother many days before her wedding to at least show up and wish her well on the happiest day of her life. She had hoped her mother would fulfill her request.

Perry had never grown up knowing the love of her mother. She was extremely close to her father, but her mother treated her like a piece of trash. She never gave Perry any kind words or even a kind glance to acknowledge her. Perry’s mother had always favored and pampered Darlene, Perry’s younger sister, who was now deceased.

Aunt Clara could tell what was on Perry’s mind. “I want you to be very happy today, Perry. It is your wedding day. You are getting married to the man you love. You and Zach will make a great pair. I am sure you will be blessed with a very happy marriage.”

A voice cut in from the door, “I hope she will. Of all the men to choose as a husband, she chose the husband of her deceased sister. I still do not approve of this marriage.”

They turned to see Perry’s mother, Juliet, standing there. Juliet was a tall and slim woman who loved to dress up prettily.

Clara tried to smile. “Welcome, elder sister. We have been expecting you all morning.”

Juliet replied, “I had to come. Even though I do not approve of this marriage, Perry still went ahead with it. And this is partly your fault, Clara. You encouraged her. Anyway, Perry is my daughter, so I just came to see how things are going around here.”

Although her mother spoke harsh words, in Perry’s heart, she was just happy that her mother came. She was finally getting her mother’s attention after so many years of being tossed aside.

Perry dressed quickly, and she was on the church premises twenty minutes before the time the wedding ceremony was to commence. She was seated in the car waiting for the moment to step out. She knew guests were already seated in the church.

Her phone buzzed. She checked it. It was a text from Zach, her husband-to-be. It read: “I can’t wait to tell the whole world you are my wife. Is there a way to make the time go faster so that the priest will wed us already?”

Perry laughed as she read the text. He was not the only impatient one. If only he knew how much she wanted to make time go faster too. She wanted to be his wife now and not wait a minute more.

Perry raised her head and looked out the window. She was smiling dreamily until she saw something that made shivers run down her spine. From a distance, Perry could see a woman staring at her. She was wearing a black hood over her head. She also wore a nose mask that covered her nose and mouth, but her eyes were exactly like Perry’s late sister’s eyes. They resembled Darlene’s eyes.

Perry gazed at the person’s figure intently. She was just too familiar. That woman reminded Perry of her sister. Perry felt heat in her chest. She kept asking herself what was going on as she wondered if she was seeing correctly. She knew she needed to find out for herself. Perry was alone in the car and decided to step out. She walked towards where the person stood, but the person hurried away. The person took a turn, and Perry followed. “Wait,” Perry called. “I just need to talk to you.”

The person did not stop. The person kept going. The person took another turn, and Perry followed. Perry wanted to find out the identity of that person and would have continued following if she had not heard a voice behind her. “Perry, the wedding is about to start. What are you up to? I have been looking around for you.” It was Aunt Clara.

Perry turned to her aunt for a moment. “Aunt, come see,” she said.

Her aunt rushed toward her, but when Perry turned to point the hooded character out to her aunt, she discovered the person was gone.

“What do you want to show me?” Aunt Clara asked.

Perry shook her head from side to side, “She was just there.”

“Who?” Aunt Clara asked.

But Perry dared not say the name. How would she say that she had seen someone who looked so much like her late sister on her wedding day? Who would believe her? Would they think she was mad? Would they be thinking she felt guilty because today was the day she was marrying the husband of her late sister? Would people think she had a hand in her late sister’s death and that’s why she was feeling guilty? She knew she was not guilty, so why stir up trouble? All these questions were too much as they ran through her head. The only logical thing to do was to be silent about what she had observed.

She said to Aunt Clara, “Let’s go, Aunt. I was not serious. I got carried away.” Both of them turned to leave.

The hooded character had hidden at the back of the building. The character took off the face mask and the hood. Blonde-haired Darlene balled her fists and almost pounded the wall in front of her in anger. Her sister was going into the church to marry her husband.