Wedding Gone Wrong

This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Alessa and her fiance had been planning this for a whole year, just so that it would be flawless. Today was the day they would finally get married. They had the violet dresses and the royal purple suits. The beach as their venue. They had the food and the drinks. Wine and champagne for the adults, soda and juice for the kids and water and lemonade for both. They had the decoration; white and purple flowers, the carpet that had been ordered so that Alessa wouldn't trip over the sand in her heels, everything. In just one hour, Alessa would walk down the aisle, with her mother’s smile plastered on her face. But nothing could have prepared her for how wrong everything would go. She was in the large, white, 2-story house that her and her fiance had bought together, just a few blocks from her parents, getting ready with her best friend Ryan. He helped her with her makeup since he was a beauty guru, he helped pick out her dress, and he helped influence who to invite to the wedding. Alessa had trusted him with sending out the invitations, since he was the best card designer she knew. She thought he would invite the correct people that would make the big day so special. But she was oh so wrong. One hour later, she was standing at the beginning of the aisle, her father standing next to her. Everyone in their seats, watching, with happy smiles on their faces. But she saw one face that didn’t belong. One face that she knew she hadn’t invited. And that one face saw Alessa. The second they made eye contact, she stood up and pulled something out from under her seat. Everyone snapped their heads in the opposite direction as they heard a gunshot. The ballgown dress with pearls lining her waistband and ruffles from the waist down that Alessa wore was now splattered in blood. But not her own. Her father, Vincent, was now on the ground, blood pouring out of his stomach. He let out a painful moan and clutched at his wound. Everyone started in a frenzy to either call 911 or get the heck out of there. Alessa’s fiance, Jordan, was rushing down the aisle to help. The grey carpet that they had laid down for Alessa to walk on was now soaked in Vincent’s blood. She screamed as she saw her father in so much pain, and knelt down to try and help. Since Jordan had gone to medical school for 2 years, he knew what to do but didn’t have the things to do it. He ripped off his purple jacket and wrapped the gunshot wound as fast as he could to try and stop the bleeding. But by now, Vincent was unconscious, his breathing shallow. Jordan struggled to find a pulse, but after a few stressful moments, found one. It was weak, as if it might go away as soon as he lifted his fingers. Through blurred vision, Alessa saw someone walk away gracefully. She knew exactly who it was. She didn’t want to leave her father in what might have been his last moments but she had no choice. She kicked off her heels, kissed her fathers forehead, squeezed his hand, told him how much she loved him, and started off to chase the woman. Although the woman was fast, Alessa was faster. She caught up in almost a second and, without thinking, tackled her. She rolled the woman over and she couldn’t believe who it was. Sure, she recognized her earlier, but hadn’t fully processed who it was until now. Alessa just stared, wide-eyed. Her fiance’s ex-girlfriend, Maggie, stared back. Maggie smiled, and used Alessa’s moment of weakness as an advantage. She forcefully shoved Alessa off of her, and attempted to shoot her in the leg but missed. She tried once again but was out of bullets. Maggie hadn’t prepared for this. She just stood there for what seemed like an eternity but was actually just a few seconds. That was just enough time for the police to see her with a gun in her hand, and attack. They jumped on her, making her snap out of her daze and come back to reality. Maggie just closed her eyes, and thought about everything. Her past, her present, and her near future. When she opened them, she was in handcuffs and was involuntarily walking with the two policemen who were telling her her rights. Alessa smiled at the thought of Maggie going away for a very very long time, never having to deal with her again. But then a thought set into her mind. Her father. She quickly turned around and ran faster than she ever had before. Sand was now covering the whole back of her dress but she didn’t care. She accidentally crushed childrens sand castles. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it might just explode. Her ankle hurt, she probably sprained it or possibly slightly fractured it when she had tackled Maggie but the adrenaline numbed it. The only thing she could focus on was Vincent. Her vail had flown off her head ages ago, and she had no idea where it went. Probably into the ocean, lost for all eternity. What used to be Alessa’s elegant, blonde curls were now frizzy, knotted pieces of hair. What used to be a beautiful smokey eye eyeshadow look was now smudged with mascara and eyeliner dripping down her face from tears. She hadn’t noticed it before, but she had blood mixed with sand and dirt dripping down her elbow from when Maggie shoved her. Now, Alessa was so close to her father and fiance that she could see. She ran, getting faster each second, hoping that what she saw wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. She tripped and fell to the ground at her fathers feet. They smelt like coconuts, which wasn’t surprising since he used the coconut lotion that she had given him for his 40th birthday. She quickly crawled to her father, and gave him a hug. She told him that she loved him and that everything would be okay, that he would be okay. That he had to be. But by then, it was too late. He was gone.