Side by Side

"Wearing white to a wedding. That's scandalous."

I stood behind the bride as she trembled through her written vows to her husband-to-be. The silk gown rippled over my skin like the surface of the beach behind us as I stood there, shoes planted on her long train she ignored. 

Of course I had to go for the veil too. The lace edges were immaculately crafted and far too ornate to leave gathering dust in a cupboard. 

All eyes were on me. I revelled in the attention, soaking it in alongside the warm sun and cool, salty air.

Flowers were everywhere. A large arch of white and yellow roses hung behind us, twisted amongst deep green leaves that were also bundled at the sides of each wooden seat facing the wedding party.

The little flower girls; the brides's two cousins, had dusted the sand with a bed of petals leading to the makeshift wooden alter.

Another laid off to the right for the grand piano that had chimed out the traditional wedding song for the bride to walk down the aisle with her father to.

He had shed tears giving her away. I felt my own glisten at the touching sight of how deeply he cared for his daughter. 

Everything was meticulously coordinated to make sure it was as perfect as possible.

Each of the five bridesmaids had yellow rose bouquets and apricot dresses. All of their long hair had been curled and gathered at the back in a tangle of sparkling pins that glinted in the sunlight. The bride had gone for the same look, but was speckled with smaller sprays of flowers rather than pins. 

The four best-men had white roses in the buttonholes of their white tuxedos by their breast. Easier to groom than the women, their hair had been puffed up and slicked around to form a curl at the front. 

And then there was Heath. 

He broke the rules about conforming to the light and bright colour scheme. Going for a black tuxedo pinned with a deep red rose, he stood out from the best men over the grooms shoulder. He even let his hair fall down over a brow like he was some sort of degenerate. 

He flashed me a smile. Familiarity helped ease the gaze of the strangers slightly.

If the family weren't judging behind forced smiles, they were casting glares to the photographer prancing down the sandy aisle to get the best shots. Being an 'unplugged' wedding, jealousy brewed in those who didn't have permission to get their own bragging rights over the best photo. 

I saw confused stares of distant family who were still trying to figure out the diluted relation that was being wed before them. 

Children fussed in their seats, complaining and grumbling about being forced to sit still through something they saw as tedious. Even the flower girls were bored now that they had done their jobs. The young ring-bearer played with the soft pillow, tugging at the strings that was used to hold the rings. 

"You know, she's going on and on, but he didn't even write anything" Heath leant over to whisper loudly to me.

I gasped, trying not to let my smile fall. 

The bride was pouring her heart to a man more interested in looking over her shoulder at the bridesmaid who smiled and averted her eyes. The bastard stole glanced while this woman sobbed through how devoted she was to him.

"A wreck" Heath sighed, running his finger along the groom's shoulder to flick off some sand. 

I stood there, leaning over to steal a glance at the bride still reading off her handwritten paper through smiles. 

"Why are you even here?"

"The same reason you are" he stated promptly, acting ignorant "for the wedding."

Scowling, I swept my gaze to the family gathered before us.

Each member had their own plus-one hovering nearby. Since all the seats were taken, they were forced to stand and observe on the sand. 

There was one seat that was empty. The elderly husband sat beside it, occasionally glancing back up at the concrete wall nearby.

It served as a divider between the beach and the upper area of the town. Right at the edge was a carpark where all of the guests cars were lined as close as they could be to the ceremony. Vacant spots became available by others who were going about their lives, only to be frantically snatched up by a circling car. 

"Forgot the rings" Heath filled me in below his breath "had a bit too much to drink last night. They had to borrow the parents'."

Jerking a thumb subtly to the first best-man, I saw how guilty he looked. He was also glancing at the barrier that had its own crowd of people spectating in awe. 

So, they were hoping for a miracle the rings would arrive in time.

"Aunty Betty went to grab them."

I faked familiarity and nodded like a fool. Out of the whole family gathered together, Heath was the only one I knew. Like me, we shared no relation to the bride or groom. We were just the unwilling plus-ones. 

I had no idea who this saviour was supposed to be. 

We stood there on opposite sides as the ceremony kept going.

When it came to the groom to produce his own vows after repeating the ones fed to him, he conveniently didn't have them.

"My love for you is too strong too put into words" he grinned back, buttering it up "I could go on forever about how much you complete me, my Little Flower."

Heath gagged at the pet name. I stifled a giggle. 

The groom was just winging it. He wasn't committed at all. He was just going through the paces. 

There was another glance to the carpark. The time was upon us. 

The officiant produced the borrowed rings. It was the brides turn first to follow along the ritual of marriage.

"Oh, will you look at that" Heath's voice rose a little in surprise.

I peered across to see the nervous groom's throat starting to burn bright red. The mass spread out, peppering his skin. 

I checked on my oblivious bride trying to guide the ring through her tears. She kept her head lowered as she focused on getting it right the first time.

"Looks like I'm not needed here anymore. He's going to do the job himself."

Heath mimed tossing back pills. I grimaced back at the bride.

"But, she...?"

Heath motioned behind me with the flick of his finger. Turning, I saw each sobbing bridesmaid had gained a plus-one. They placed a hand on each shoulder to claim their place in the party.

The groom still remained with the buckshot mark blooming. It started to move around like a virus, spreading to beneath his jaw.

Heath leant across to witness it. Thoroughly interested, he checked the top of the groom's head to find another marking there. 

"What are you going to decide? Pills or gunshot?"

It kept changing. It kept moving between the two while it was the grooms turn to push the ring onto his brides finger as he recited the lines fed to him.

They were both oblivious. He stared straight through me. She didn't notice his undecided affliction.

Then, it disappeared. Heath and I blinked back at each other.

"Sly bastard" he muttered as he vanished on the spot. 

I turned to check the bridesmaids. The one clutching onto the woman the groom had been eyeing also disappeared. 

My heart clenched at what that meant. 

The woman with her newborn, the elderly man trembling in his wheelchair, the children shoving each other playfully; they were all shadowed by the strangers, waiting.

I slid my eyes to the empty chair. The husband was turned, smiling up at the carpark. 

I followed his relief, finding a blue car racing down the hill. 

The face of an elderly woman grew more refined as she advanced. Beside her, she had a passenger sitting calmly, smiling.

The driver had to be Aunty Betty.

She had missed the ceremony in the frantic race. It clouded her judgement and made her act on impulse as she veered into the carpark to desperately hunt for a spot. 

Cheers tore me from the park. The bride and groom linked hands and stepped off the alter into the petalled sand. They sank down, laughing. Pausing, they began to peel off their shoes.

The rest of the party smiled and giggled at them. They all cheered again when the shoes came off, held up high like some sort of trophy. 

I stepped down to follow the bride. Nervously locking onto the carpark, I saw another car reverse out of the spot directly opposite the aisle. 

Aunty Betty was rounding the other side, racing for it as she saw the opening.

The bride and groom began to dance their way down between the celebrating family and their companions. She even saw the Aunt pulling in, waving enthusiastically. 

Her whole face lit up as I moved to her side. The procession followed onwards in their dance; the favoured bridesmaid with the best man who had forgotten the rings leading them. Their shadowing partners gave me little nods as they too passed by. 

The newly weds moved onwards. Aunty Betty lined up her park proudly, grinning from ear to ear at the ceremony below her.

Then, she mistook the brake for the accelerator. 

Flying off the elevated lot, the bride was frozen in terror. Her devoted groom, rather than jumping to her defense and shoving her out of the way, threw himself into the bridesmaid behind him to snatch up her hand and sprint. 

He wouldn't die from pills or a gunshot. He'd keep living for her. Heath would have to claim him another day. 

The bride wailed at his betrayal, looking right through me, before her body was mangled and battered over the bonnet. 

Blood aggressively sprayed across my white silk. It splattered my veil to weigh it down like a heavy blanket threatening to snap my own neck. 

The car ploughed through the family sitting closest to aisle. I passed right through it. Every companion also just stood there as their chosen victims were mowed down in a slaughter of burst guts, shattered bones and spewing blood. 

Some disappeared as different choices were made. Others appeared as people blindly threw themselves in the path, trying to escape.

Wooden chairs were speared into legs, leaving the people to be crushed. The leaves woven around the chairs were plastered to those closest to the flowering arch scrambling for freedom.

The car hauled up and over the alter. It mangled the beautiful archway and threw the delicate roses over the car and through the trail of blood and guts painted across the top.

The car skidded as it tried to brake. The bleeding sand and shredded petals offered no traction and sent the vehicle swinging around, crushing and killing more people. 

Aunt Betty's passenger was gone. Stopping short of the beach, her fate wasn't to die slowly as she drowned inside her car. She had been spared, made to live with what she had done until her own appointed death came to claim her. 

My bride had been marked the moment she tearfully devoted herself to that man who selfishly lived. The second Aunty Betty enthusiastically volunteered to fetch the rings under the belief she was already saving their marriage, it set into motion a chain of events that still had the same outcome. 

I never left. If the groom had pushed his bride out of the way, I wouldn't be picking my way through mangled corpses to find her torso that had been cleaved in half from the force.

She should have been saved. She didn't deserve such a gruesome death. 

Reaching my hand down towards the glistening soul of the bride, she hesitated to take it.

My dress, more red than white, clung to me from the gore. The veil pressed against my face to look like the draping skin of a death depicted in textbooks. 

"Who are you?" she whimpered, pulling herself through the muddy sand away from me.

She pulled her hands up at the slush. It slopped to the ground, making her aware of the mess of innards being dragged behind her. 

"A friend" I smiled as I lowered myself down to block her wide eyes from her missing lower half "I'm your Death. I'm here to take you somewhere better."

She refused to process the thought. The shock of it all was sucking at her hands slowly reaching up to touch her ruined face.

"Death?"

Her face lowered. She gave a little snort at it all. 

"Until death do we part" she whispered, holding her head as it shook "how ironic."

Ironic indeed. I was here to claim this soul and push it past its demise. Then, I would find myself tethered to the next unknowing person about to meet their fate. 

But, for now, I was going to play my part in this celebration of life and death, until i was called yet again.