The organist starts to play a wedding march that echoes through the chapel. The assorted guests, men and women, friends and family of both bride and groom, all hush and turn their heads, waiting for the first glimpse of the ethereal figure clad in white that they know will come down the aisle soon. The children in the pews sit there, bored and wondering why they have to put up with this. They are silent, mostly because their mothers will yell at them if they aren't, but they aren't happy to be there.
Then, finally, the door at the back of the chapel opens, and in steps the bride and her father. She is radiant, enveloped in a silky, airy white dress. Her face is just barely visible beneath the veil, and it's obvious that she is terrified. She looks delicate and fragile, like she is about to break or blow away with the slightest breeze. Quietly, her father urges her forward, and she begins to move down the aisle.
Her father is beaming. He looks more pleased to be there than she is. He smiles broadly, catching the eyes of the groom at the front of the chapel. They nod at each other, and the father continues down the aisle, leading his shaking daughter along with him.
A young boy sitting at the edge of a pew, next to his crying mother, is, surprisingly enough, watching the bride intently. He stares at the trembling figure in white with wide eyes. He shudders suddenly as the bride stumbles slightly on the too-long hem of her dress as she is passing by his pew. He reaches out to help her catch her balance, and then pulls back his hand suddenly, as if shocked.
For a moment the bride's eyes lock with the boy's. Then images and words fill the boy's head, crowding out his own thoughts and feelings. He shrinks back from the edge of the pew, pressing up against his mother and shuddering again. He starts to curl up slightly, and his mother looks at him with a concerned look.
--"My god, why I am I doing this? I said no! I threw his ring back in his face! I refused, so why am I here today? I don't want this..."
An image of the groom, smiling charmingly and holding out a ring. A feeling of weakness as the light glints off of his perfect teeth and the gigantic diamond in the ring. A feeling of nausea as he leans forward to steal a kiss even as she tries to stammer out a hasty refusal.--
"Stop fidgeting and watch the ceremony," the boy's mother tells him quietly. He stares up at her with frightened, confused eyes and tugs at her sleeve.
"Mom..." he says, his voice small.
"Hush," she replies, quickly giving him a stern glare before turning back to watching the bride, sniffling.
The bride reaches the front of the chapel, where the beaming groom waits for her. She stands in front of the altar, looking like she wants to run away, barely aware of what is going on in front of her. She doesn't seem to actually be aware of what the minister is saying, until he reaches the vows.
"I do," the groom says. The minister turns to her and asks her the same question.
"I do," she says, her voice shaky, but quite clear.
--"Oh my god, what did I just say?!?
"I don't!! I didn't want to say that! That wasn't me who said that! I don't want to do this!
"Won't you people just go away? This isn't funny. I don't want to do this. He's a stuck up bastard. A disgusting pervert... I want out!"
The sting of her hand impacting, leaving a bright red mark on his perfect face. A momentary twinge of guilt for ruining his beautiful perfection, but then overwhelmed by a wave of disgust. The pain of his grip as he grabs her arm and tries to force the ring on her finger. The addition of a bright red welt on his other cheek where the ring impacts as she grabs it from him and throws it at him.--
"You may kiss the bride."
The groom lifts up the sheer veil covering her face and pushes it back over her head. There are tears running down her face, but only he and the minister can see them. He wipes them off gently, a smug smile briefly crossing his face. He places his hand on her cheek, and the smug smile turns to one of pure joy.
"Don't," she whispers, so softly that not even the minister can hear her.
His smile widens, and he leans forward to kiss her deeply.
--"Get away from me! Ugh, you are so disgusting! Stop it!
"Why in the world am I here? Why can't I move? Why did I say yes? Why won't you stop kissing me?!?"
Her father's face, red with anger, yelling at her. The pain as he beats her for refusing the ring. The groom's still smiling face watching in glee. Then, a cup of foul smelling liquid being forced down her throat, and the brief feeling of a ring being forced upon her finger just before everything goes black.--
The kiss ends, and the couple exits the chapel. The boy's mother sniffs, wiping one last tear away from her face. She looks down to find the boy still huddled up on the pew next to her. As the newlyweds pass through the chapel doors she tries to get up, but he grasps her dress and pulls down on it.
"What is with you today?"
"Mom, why was she so scared?" the boy asks.
"She was just nervous, hon," she replies easily. "All brides are nervous on the big day."
The boy isn't convinced, but he doesn't say any more. He doesn't think he will get a better answer from his mother, and he knows that he has already annoyed her. Instead, he just stares at the chapel doors, his eyes wide.
Outside, the groom has swept the bride off her feet and is carrying her to the waiting limousine. As he places her inside and shuts the door behind them, the boy feels a wave of depression, so strong that it causes the boy to faint. There, in the middle of the aisle where he is being half dragged out of the chapel by his mother, the boy collapses.
That night, the boy dreams. The dream is dark. There are no images, just feelings of hurt and disgust. The feelings grow stronger as the dream continues, and it climaxes with an intense flash of pain, followed by a cold blackness.
He doesn't wake up.
The next morning the papers run with two stories of death. The first is about a young woman, found dead in the bathroom of her new home on her wedding night, her wrists slit. The other tells of a young boy found dead in his bed. Cause of death: unknown.