SHAPES UNSPOKEN

-36-

HAPPY READING 🥰

Sean Britto

The reception was loud with laughter, music, and clinking glasses, but my attention kept drifting back to Annabelle.

She moved through the room with effortless grace, greeting guests, smiling at relatives, laughing with her sisters. The soft gold of her dress caught the light each time she turned.

And every time she did, my eyes followed her.

We had just finished dancing when her father cut in, and I stepped aside, watching them sway across the floor. Mr. Inniss said something that made her laugh, that soft laugh that always did something to my chest.

God, I loved that woman.

After the dance ended she slipped away toward the buffet. I assumed she was grabbing food and would be back in a minute.

But ten minutes passed.

Then fifteen.

I checked the table again.

Still no Annabelle.

A small knot formed in my stomach.

Maybe she went to the powder room.

I walked down the hall and checked the women’s lounge. Empty.

The men’s room. Nothing.

My unease sharpened.

I pulled my phone out and called Brian.

“Have you seen Annabelle?”

“No,” he replied immediately. “Why?”

“She’s been gone a while.”

“I’ll check the front lobby.”

I hung up and dialed Aaron.

“Find Anna,” I said. “She’s not in the hall.”

“On it.”

I walked back into the reception hall, scanning the crowd again.

Still nothing.

The knot in my stomach tightened into something darker.

Steph—my younger cousin—ran up to me suddenly, tugging my sleeve.

“Daddy.”

“Yes buddy?”

“I saw Miss Anna.”

My chest tightened. “Where?”

“She was outside on the terrace,” he said. “She had a plate and was eating.”

Relief flickered through me.

“Thanks, champ.”

I ruffled his hair and headed toward the back doors.

The terrace was quiet when I stepped outside. The warm night air brushed against my face.

But Annabelle wasn’t there.

The small plate she had been using sat abandoned on a table.

My stomach dropped.

Then I heard it.

A muffled sound.

Like someone struggling.

I turned toward the far corner of the terrace where a small service door was built into the wall, almost hidden by the architecture.

Another sound.

A voice.

“…please stop…”

My blood went cold.