After a while my friends came to my room to take me downstairs.

Coming downstairs, everyone seemed to have been waiting for me because they all stood up very happily after seeing me.

"Wow. The decorations were made to my eyes satisfaction. This is really my dream come true. I always dreamt of an amazing wedding like this." I thought as I looked around the house, up and down. Our house looked different, I then thought I would be leaving this place for my in-laws house. This sounded so bad in my mind but I had nothing to do. It's what every girl goes through, in fact it's natural. For a moment I saw silent tears running down my cheeks but thank the Almighty I was hiding my face under the veil.

No one saw my tears.

"Are you okay my dear?" A voice asked me after I had wiped down my tears. I then guessed it's my friend Bat. Maybe he has come to attend my wedding too. I wished I could see him for the last time before getting married but then I remembered what he told me in my dreams. Meeting him would complicate things. Maybe he was tricking me but why would he do that? I was getting more confused so I tried to fix my mind on my wedding.

My husband soon to be was sitting at the wedding altar.

Walking down the aisle I felt some fear. I felt like I was going to marry the wrong person. According to our culture, the bride and groom were not supposed to see each other before the ceremony and for this case grooms always wore sehras (headdresses) that covered their faces. This made it difficult to see my husband on the face. I then thought that maybe the bat is controlling me to refuse the wedding.

But before thinking a lot I was already at the altar. But as I sat down, the Holly fire went out. This scared everyone when the priest said that it was a bad omen.

"Oh my goodness! This can't be happening. My son won't marry this woman here."Bron's mother said. Bron was my fiance's name.

"Don't say this Mrs Linda. Mr Lewis please explain this to your wife. Our daughter has no misfortune."

"I also can't get my son married to your daughter." Mr Lewis said.

"No please. You can't do this for a single mistake that my daughter has done." Dad said.

The situation was getting serious I felt I could say something but I was a bride and brides couldn't speak before the ceremony but something inside me was forcing me to.

"Father, mother please don't beg these people for anything. It's not my fault that the Holly fire has went out. It has because my gown has blown it out and how is this my fault. If they really want me to marry their son, they should show you some respect because you are my parents and I can't just stand there and watch someone insulting any one of you." I was getting mad at Bron's parents. Yes they were going to be my in-laws but they shouldn't have misbehaved with my family or maybe something was forcing me to get mad at them over a small issue.

"Wow. I must say your daughter is even shameless. I have never seen a bride talking before her ceremony is over but here your daughter is teaching us manners on her wedding day."said Bron's mother.

"Let's go home my son." Mr Lewis said while grabbing his son's arm and getting him from the wedding altar.

The man I loved was leaving me at the altar but I wasn't bothered at all. Something was really wrong. Everyone was blaming me for putting the Holly fire out though I didn't do it intentionally. I also don't know how it happened.

Bron and his family left. For a moment I was already in the pool of tears. I was crying maybe because I loved Bron and wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. Or maybe I was crying because he has left me at the altar. My friends and family came to comfort me but it made no sense as they were crying too.

"No more crying. Wipe down your tears ma'am. Your daughter is not at fault." A young man comforted mother. My mom had started crying when she saw guests starting to leave.

"How can I calm down when my daughter's wedding has been called off. Everyone is going to question our upbringing. I agree she shouldn't have spoken to them in such a way. I am a terrible mother. I forgot to install good values in my daughter and today she has insulted her groom's parents. Who else would marry her now?" My mom was cursing herself and this was hurting me.

"I will marry her and right now." The gentleman broke the silence.

This sounded like a joke at first but the guy was very serious about it. Hearing this, the guests who were still outside the house came back inside for the wedding.

Since I had seen my mother breaking down and wondering who would marry me,I immediately accepted to marry him. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen all my life. I tried to compare him to my friend Bat from the dreams but still the guy remained the first.

As we sat down at the wedding altar, the weather outside changed, storms came and darkness covered the place. It started to rain cats and dogs.

Power went off and it become so dark inside.

" Something is not right."I thought. As I was trying to support myself to stand, my groom grabbed my hand.

"Don't leave me at the altar Princess." His voice sweetened the atmosphere. For a moment I felt like I had lost my memory, so I sat down willingly and the priest start the rituals.

We exchanged rings but when the guy put Vermillion on my forehead, it turned dark immediately. The priest again said it was a bad omen.

"I have never seen this before." The priest said shocked after the Vermillion had turned dark. But the guy wasn't shocked.

"Why isn't he shocked? Everyone seems to be but why not him? Is he the devil's son? It can't be but if not, where are his parents?" I got so many questions in my mind but before I could think of what to do,I saw a couple coming to celebrate us they were so happy for us.

"Congratulations on your wedding my son."they both said. The couple wasn't new to me.

"Thank God he is not the devil's son." I breathed.

"From now on you are husband and wife." The priest announced. This didn't make me happy at all since I had already lost everything. I had lost the love of my life, Bron. He was all I needed but it seems fate wasn't fair to the two of us. " How could he just accept to follow his parents and leave me at the altar. How could he hurt me like that?" I only felt hatred for him at a moment.

It's Bron's fault that I have married this stranger, I thought. How would I learn to love him and when? But does he love me anyway? Has he married me because he loves me or because he feels sympathy for us?

Standing up to leave the altar, he grabbed my hand again and I fell in his arms. Placing my one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest as he wrapped me in his arms and pulled me closer. Brushing my hair away from my neck, he placed his soft lips on mine and kissed me. It was a perfect, gentle and soft kiss in my real life. This reminded me of my friend Bat's kiss from my dreams. Thinking of comparing the two kisses, he let go of my back and I felt like falling down but he held me up again before I could reach the floor and all my thoughts got erased. But why did he let go of my back? Did he read my mind?

Confused, I pushed him away but he didn't let himself get pushed away instead he held me so tightly. "What are you doing? Our parents are watching us please." I begged him to stop but he ignored me.

" Let them watch, you are mine. You belong to me from now on, you are my sweet wife and I guess I have no limits when it comes to you wife."his words always intoxicated my mind and I gave in to him but this time I refused to give in. I was a shy type and kissing before my parents wasn't my meal.

"I need to use the bathroom."I excused myself but before I could go upstairs,the other woman who addressed him as her son blocked my way." Where are you going dear. It's not right for a bride to look back after her wedding ceremony. In fact let's go home right away." She said.

For a moment my heart skipped a beat, my eyes got flooded with tears as I imagined how life without my parents would be like.

I knew life wasn't going to be the same.

I would miss them so much. Moreover I didn't know if these people would ever let me go and see them again.

" Thanks for everything Mr Smith and your family. We shall take your leave." She said these words as we walked to the car.

My husband opened the door for me, before I could get in the car I got a strange feeling.

I turned back to look at my parents for the last time but that didn't seem enough for me. I ran to them and hugged them both."I will miss you so much,"I cried when they responded back "we will miss you too darling."

I walked slowly towards the car and got in. I kept my eyes on my parents till when I wasn't able to see anything because of darkness.

Wait! Where were these strangers taking me? Were they nice people or ? I felt my heart pounding at a thought of that. I was still crying. I couldn't bring myself to stop. I was like a goat that had been bought from the market and now the new owner was taking it to the new home.

" Wipe down your tears wife, they don't look good on you."he said.

I fought the feeling that wanted to ask for his name but was surprised when he answered my thoughts.

"Well I thought you would like to know my name. Anu is my name." He smiled.

Wait! Did he read my thoughts? How come he answered my silent question?

As we continued with the journey,I realized that we were the only ones left in the car, just the two of us but we never stopped for others to get out of it. How is this possible? I couldn't believe my eyes so I had to break the silence and ask.

"Where did your parents go?"I asked folding my dress as I wasn't sure of his reaction towards me.

"What do you mean?" My parents have no time for all this." He replied.

"They have no time for their son's wedding? Why? But I have been seeing them around and they have been with us in the car but I don't know how they just disappeared and to where?" I asked.

Laughed," what are you saying? Are you out of your mind wife? My parents would never do something like that maybe if you had tried to doubt me." He said biting his lip.

"And where are you taking me?" I was scared but I tried to hide my worries from him.

"Scared? Don't be because I would never hurt you as you are my dear wife from now on, right?"

Was he asking me or himself?

"I need to go back home." I started to cry when I noticed that something was wrong about him. How could he read my thoughts, how could his parents and the driver just disappear?

" Those were not my parents please and for your information I was the one who has been driving. We had no driver in here." He said while laughing like how cheaters do.

"I have heard enough of your nosense. I want to go back home." I insisted.

He stopped the car, grabbed my hand and threw me out of the car." Find your way home." He said and just disappeared with his car.

"Oh God, let me find this as a dream." I prayed but it wasn't. Things were really happening. My eyes couldn't penetrate through the darkness. I started imagining things like "a lion saw me and ran after me. It wanted to feed on me" all these imaginations got me very scared. To my shock, my imagination came true when it started to rain and with the help of light by the lightening, I was able to see the lion leaning on the tree alongside the road.

"Heavens know what's going to happen to me! I hope this isn't my last day."

I started to panic. For a moment my heart stopped beating, all my saliva dried out when my lips fell open.

The only thing I wished at the moment was for it not to see me but little did I know that it had seen me already!

When it saw me,it started to run towards me as I ran backwards. I screamed Anu's name when it increased on the speed and fortunately Anu rushed to my rescue in time and saved me. Did you plan all this. I hope it wasn't part of your plans to scare me off. How could you stoop so low." I screamed at home but he didn't say anything.

His silence brought sense to my mind. "Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe he didn't do anything. Am I accusing him?"I tried to rethink. I wondered how he managed to kill the lion with one arm since the other one was holding me.

"Thanks." I appreciated.

"It's okay. You can continue with your journey. I will go now."he said.

"No!" I screamed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You can't just leave me here." I said.

I was so frightened. If fear was a person!

I couldn't let him leave me what what happened. I couldn't risk my precious life again due to my stubbornness.

What mattered by then was that I was his wife and he had to protect me from any sort of danger.

And when it came to obeying his words and rules,I could gladly do so just to stay alive.