“I’m going to go find your mother.” My dad ran his hand over my shoulder and took off into the congregational area. All of our family and friends were running around, freaking out, trying to get out of the church. I could hear this weird growling/snarling sound, coupled with the screaming. I still couldn’t see where the sounds were coming from. I grabbed Claire by the shoulders and shook her.
“Claire, what the fuck is going on?” She could do nothing but look at me with tears streaming down her face, taking her mascara with them. I started shaking her more. “Snap out of it, Claire!” She took a couple of staggered breaths. Meanwhile, the church was clearing out and I was holding Claire by the shoulders, standing still. I felt like time had stopped for us, but everyone else was moving in fast forward.
“The pastor…the pastor, he…” And then Henry came running up, not looking half as panicked as everyone else. In fact, he looked to be rather in control. It was quite odd but, for the most part, he seemed to be in check of his emotions.
“Henry, what the fuck is going on?” I sounded like a broken record. I looked back and forth between the two of them. “Damn it! Will one of you say something?” I was beyond pissed. They must have forgotten that I rate a zero on the patience scale. Then I noticed they both had red splatters all over them. “What is that?” I reached out to touch the wet, red speckles on Henry’s face. He turned his head away so I couldn’t.
“Elaina, we need to get you out of here. Go to the limo. Once you get there, lock the doors and stay put, no matter what. Do not leave the limo under any circumstances. Do you understand me?”
Bossy, bossy, I thought. He knew I didn’t take kindly to commands, except when we were in bed together. “Why?” I crossed my arms. Cue four-year-old Elaina. “I refuse to go anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is happening!” There. I could be bossy, as well. I almost felt like sticking my tongue out at him, too. My maturity spoke volumes about me.
Henry’s face twisted into an angry snarl. He grabbed me by the wrist and started dragging me out the door. That was unusual behavior for him. I looked back and saw Claire just standing there, still looking stunned.
“Will you let go of me?” I broke his grip and ran back to Claire. Well, I didn’t really run with those stupid shoes on, but I hustled my butt back to her the best that I could in four-inch heels.
“Damn it, Elaina! Come on! There’s no time!” Henry chased after me. I grabbed Claire by the wrist and Henry grabbed my arm. “Let’s go, you two. Now!” He dragged us through the crowd of screaming, panicking family and friends.
“Wait!” I screamed and stopped in my tracks. Henry stopped just short of pulling me over and making me face-plant onto the steps of the church.
“No, we need to go! You don’t understand! There’s no time!” What was with his behavior? He was acting like that mental uncle that we all have. Actually, in my case, that would be my Aunt Lisa. She takes cuckoo to a whole new level.
“I need to get these fucking shoes off if you want me to run!” At that point, I couldn’t even hear myself think because the noise level was so high from the pandemonium all around us. People were pushing and shoving, trying to escape the surreal scene. It was like a herd of elephants trying to push through a mouse-sized door.
I kicked my stupid shoes off, hoisted up my dress, and started to run, as instructed, to the limo, making sure Claire was keeping up. Luckily, she was an expert in heels. She could run a marathon in them. We got to the limo and Henry opened the door.
“Now, please, I need you to listen to me. Do not open these doors for anyone. I need you to stay here. I will be back in a few and we can get out of here. I will explain everything later.”
“But I can’t open the door for you?” I batted my eyelashes at him. My cuteness wasn’t desirable at the moment. Henry threw his arms up in the air. “But you just said…” He cut me off. I hated it when he did that!
“No time for your smart ass comments right now. Open the fucking door for me and me only! Okay?!” Henry was officially pissed. He was shouting at me, and he looked as if he was ready to punch something. It alarmed me a little. That wasn’t the Henry that I knew and was about to marry.
We barely made it through the door, me in that god-awful wedding dress and Claire in her Maid of Honor dress, before he slammed it shut. After his resounding “Okay?!” he made a mad dash back to the church.
I maneuvered my way around the limo, locking all the doors as instructed. I started to wonder why the driver wasn’t there. Oh, well. Under Henry’s command, I wouldn’t be opening the door for the driver, either. So I just shrugged my shoulders and sat down. Claire moved closer to me and she started to sob in her hands.