Chapter 6 - The Setup
"Mom!" Sarah screamed, pushing herself off the cold stone wall.
She didn't wait for Mark as she sprinted blindly toward the main staircase.
The heavy layers of her wedding dress weighed her down, but adrenaline fueled her legs.
Mark chased right behind her, begging her to slow down and be careful.
They burst through the wooden basement doors and stumbled into the main hallway of the church.
The beautiful floral arrangements were knocked over, and glass shattered across the marble floor.
Sarah ran toward the heavy double doors of the main sanctuary.
She pushed them open and froze in her tracks.
The massive room was completely empty of wedding guests.
The wooden pews were deserted, and the stained glass windows cast an eerie light across the silent room.
"Where is everyone?" Sarah whispered, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"My father must have told the guests there was an emergency and cleared the building," Mark said.
Sarah walked slowly down the long aisle, her ruined dress dragging across the white carpet.
There was a fresh trail of crimson blood leading straight up to the altar.
She followed the horrifying red drops with wide, terrified eyes.
Behind the ornate wooden altar, she found David lying face down on the floor.
He was bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his leg.
"He shot me," David groaned, clutching his bleeding thigh in agony.
Mark rushed forward and kicked David's gun away from his reach.
"Who shot you?" Mark demanded angrily.
"Your crazy old man," David hissed through clenched teeth.
"He took the woman up to the bell tower."
Sarah looked up toward the vaulted ceiling where the narrow stairs led to the belfry.
She knew she had to face the man who destroyed her family.
"Wait," David choked out, coughing up a small amount of blood.
He looked directly at Sarah with a twisted, malicious smile on his pale face.
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"Mark isn't here to save you, princess," David laughed weakly.
"Mark is the one who designed the security system for your mother's cell."
