MAN AND WIFE

I watched in horror as Brian fell on the floor and began struggling to breathe. Tears fell relentlessly from my eyes and I stared at Daniel with so much anger.

"Who are you and what do you want from us" I screamed.

He ignored my question and just kept staring at me. One of his men walked towards Brian who was writhing in pain. He stood by Brian who had now covered his face in fear despite the pain he was experiencing.

I became so angry and suddenly lost control of my emotions. I looked around and noticed an iron pole that was used to support the altar.

Without thinking twice, I picked it up and struck Daniel on the head with all my might. Any other guy would have fallen from the impact but not him. He didn't even try to stop me when I picked up the iron pole.

He still stared at me without flinching and wore an annoying smile on his face. I suddenly became afraid as my hair stood on end. Was this a dream? Because if it was, someone needed to wake me up from this nightmare before I went crazy.

Daniel stopped frowning and turned to look at the priest. "You can proceed with the ceremony father."

The priest opened his eyes and stared at Daniel in surprise. Daniel repeated himself, "I haven't got all day father, I need to take my bride home so just skip to the part where I get to say my vows and yes I want to go first."

I didn't understand what was going on. Did he do all this because he wanted to get married in this church? He could have just said so and we would have waited by the side until he was done. Why did he have to be so violent?

I wondered who the bride was though because when I looked around, I did not see anyone dressed like a bride. Or was he gay? Did he plan to get married to one of the men who came with him?

I was still struggling to understand what Daniel was trying to do when he repeated after the priest, "I Daniel Straw do take Emily Simpsons as my wife in the presence of God, in good and bad times till death do us part."

I stared at him in shock as it finally dawned on me that he was here to marry me. But why? I knew I was beautiful but there were thousands of girls who were more beautiful than I was. Why would he force me to marry him when we didn't even know each other and it was obvious to everyone that I was in love with Brian?

I began to wonder if he had a mental problem. I kept looking at him in surprise as he took the ring from Sally who was shaking and forcefully wore it on my forefinger.

He smiled and beckoned on the priest to go on. The priest began to speak but I kept mute and continued staring at Daniel angrily.

He cupped my chin jovially and said, "we haven't got all day darling, you be a good girl now and repeat after the priest."

I flung his hand from my face and replied while heaving angrily, "Daniel or whatever your name is, I don't know who you are but I hate you so much. I would rather die than get married to you."

He smiled at me and said, "wrong answer" after which he took out a gun from his trouser, turned, and shot Brian in one of his legs.

I screamed at the top of my voice and tried to run to Brian who was crying out in pain but he held me back. Some of Brian's family members in the church were also crying loudly while covering their faces."

"Silence" Daniel screamed, shutting everyone's mouths at the same time. The smile had disappeared from his face and now I could see anger in his eyes.

He pointed the gun at me as he warned, "do not test me otherwise the next bullet would go into your fiance's brain. So what's it gonna be darling?"

I stared at him as my body shivered in fear. I looked at Brian who was bleeding but trying not to make a sound. I knew he wouldn't make it if he didn't get medical attention on time.

Left with no other choice, I decided to get it over with to save Brian. The priest had already closed his eyes again so Daniel had to order him to open them.

This time, without any form of delay, I repeated after the priest. "I Emily Simpsons take you Daniel Straw as my husband in the presence of God, in good and bad times, till death do us part."

He took out a ring from his finger and handed it to me, after which he placed his hand on mine. I quickly wore him the ring while crying. He smiled happily and looked at his men who in turn clapped and cheered for him.

The priest concluded by saying, "I pronounce you 'man and wife', what God has joined together let no man put asunder. Immediately after that, he cupped my cheeks and kissed me.

As much as I wanted, to push him away, I bore through it because I didn't want Brian to bear the brunt. He kissed me thoroughly and completely wiped off the lipstick I had worn.

Some of it was smeared on some part of his lips and if it wasn't because my heart was in so much pain, I would have afforded to laugh.

"Congratulations darling," he said to me. "It's time to go home." After speaking, he bent and carried me on his shoulder. I could feel his hand on my butt as he took me out of the church.

I became hysterical at this point since I had no idea where he was taking me. I began to hit my hands on his back and screamed, "please help me, mum, don't let him take me."

My mum stood up as I was being taken away. She wanted to run after us but she suddenly clutched her chest in pain and fell to the floor. I screamed and kept calling out to her as a few people gathered around her to revive her.

Brian also seemed to have lost consciousness as he now lay lifelessly on the floor. I continued screaming until Daniel took me out of the church, opened the door of his car, and put me inside.

Before locking the door, he said, "if I were you, I would preserve my energy because the activities of our wedding night would be quite intense."