Partners In Crime

Chapter 26

The morning of the wedding day had arrived with my sisters surrounding our beautiful bride. Mayhap, Sofia's sobs were heard from a mile away, sniffling uncontrollably at the realization of today's event. "Are those happy tears or jealous ones?" Claire questioned Sofia while patting her back to prevent potential choking hazards caused by swallowing an off-putting amount of saliva combined with air, and a salty sprinkle of tears on top. 

Sofia replaced her cries with an insulted gasp, "How dare you think for even a split second that I'm jealous of my younger sister's marriage?! Of course, it's happy tears!" She shook her pointer finger in a scolding manner, diving into my shoulder as her new comfort zone.

"There-there Sofia, cease your crying. People might get the wrong idea, in pertinence to Claire's question." I caressed her back lovingly, amused at her unexpected fancy-free behavior. I had never witnessed her cry in the past, thus the sight before me had startled me quite a bit.

Moments after the long-waited silence following Sofia's weeps, three maids responsible for assisting with the wedding dress -particularly titivating the unreachable details- stepped out of the silky curtain, hanging in the middle of the room for privacy motives, dragging the fabric away to reveal SoSo, brimming with sublime. "What do you think?" She shyly asked, fidgeting with the loose elements of the dress. 

"It's-- BEAUTIFUL!" Sofia's calm demeanor had changed mid-compliment. Once again, she fell to her knees, forcefully inhaling pure oxygen for there were no tears left to shed.

"Cut it out!" Claire hissed at Sofia past her gritted teeth while embracing SoSo. One hug swiftly turned into seven as it was finally my turn.

I pulled her into my hold, softly whispering "Congratulations." into her ear. The anticipated tears began to form around my eyes causing me to inhale harshly through my nose, averting them from falling. She's heard enough sobbing for today.

Her grip tightened subsequently to my felicitation, "Thank you, baby sis." She murmured so gently it was hardly 'hearable'. I let go of her body, wiping a wet streak streaming down her cheek with my thumb. After placing a soft kiss on her forehead, I fancied seeing the groom.

----

Following up with my third knock, Louis had answered the door. Approving the individual in front of him, he let me in.

"Y/N!" Sebastian spread his arms wide open, expecting a hug which I gladly provided.

"Congratulations, Sebastian." I smiled sincerely, heavily enraptured.

"Thank you, sister-in-law." He gently ruffled my hair, aiming to keep my styled locks in a presentable fashion.

"Not yet." I grinned before slapping his hand away.

"How is SoSo? Does she require me to call out for more maids?" Albert questioned, sipping on his wine as he sat at the corner of the room.

"She is as good as ready." I answered, waving my hand in a 'no' gesture. My eyes scanned for William; however, he was nowhere to be found. 

Fred had obviously noticed my intent with gazing through the room, "Sir William is on the first floor. He wanted to ensure that the hired gentlemen would do a fine job at keeping Sebastian and Lady SoSo safe." He notified, starring into my eyes.

"Thank you, Freddy." I gave him a sweet smile after calling him by his nickname created by yours truly. He cutely blushed at my words, bowing down to me before I exited out of the room.

I walked through many hallways and took plenty of stairways prior to meeting my destination. At my arrival, I knocked on the intensely large steel door placed in the middle of what seemed to be like nowhere. A few minutes have passed since my last knock with no answer coming from the other end of the door, in response to which, I silently stepped towards the cold alloy, placing my ear against it in hopes of catching a glimpse of something to prove that someone was in that room. Yet, my hearing had no chance against the hard material of the door.

During the long-lasting quietude, I took the opportunity to observe my surroundings which revealed itself to be of no use due to the lack of lighting. Darkness filled the overly muggy room with the single source of light coming from the entrance at the beginning of the stairs that led me down. My insipid exploration granted me the suspicion of my current location being in the basement of the facility. Judging from the blackness, humidity, limited amount of oxygen to comfortably breathe, and the sound of a water droplet hitting a small puddle underneath it -once in a few seconds- had told the same story which many fictional crime books tell. Frankly, I was unaware of my sudden ground at the basement, especially since my objective was to see William on the first floor; however, the steel door compelled me to stay there for an extra minute.

In the end, I decided to knock one last time to kill my curiosity once and for all. Fully prepared to hear no answer, I was rather shocked the moment a simple "Yes?" escaped the premises of the mysteriously secured room.

"William?" I hesitantly questioned despite the awareness of the dissimilarity between William's voice and the high-pitched articulation of the personage responding to me. 

Then, an obnoxiously screeching sound of steel, scraping against cement, advised that the door was getting plunged open. "Goodness... my sweet Y/N! You know- it truly pains me to see you care for another man greater than you had ever cared for me." I could finally hear the voice in its full glory, as opposed to the thickness of the steel restricting the initial 'Yes?' from being identifiable. Subconsciously, my feet began to step backward and closer to the dimmed streaks of light pushing through the closed door upstairs. As I had imagined, moving towards the small ring of light hardly made a difference; however, at the very least I could see my own two hands. Seconds later, a dark figure approached me at a slow pace, stopping the very moment I could finally distinguish the features of the man.

"Levian?" I questionably exclaimed, unable to recall his invitation to the wedding.

"Why are you so surprised? Are you perhaps saddened to see me?" His scent reeked of alcohol as he stumbled with his words. 

I ignored his strange question, instead, my eyes browsed through his attire. He wore a white dress shirt combined with a pair of brown trousers. While eyeing him from top to bottom, a crimson stain on his stomach area was luridly eye-catching. It was exceptionally more noticeable in view of his pearly white blouse. 

"Are you alright?" Concerned, I asked to make certain that he hadn't hurt himself in the darkness. 

He raised his eyebrow before noticing the area at which my eyes were focused to the full extent, "Oh that... yes, I am fantastic. Although, I don't believe that he is doing all too well." He stepped aside, revealing the opened door along with a few formerly hidden aspects. His finger pointed in the direction of the previously sealed room. Though it was even darker, while squinting my eyes I was capable of noticing an object, laying horizontally on the ground. I took two steps forward to make out additional details that would help me comprehend what I was looking at. 

My body grew stiff as my heartbeat rapidly increased. Through the effort, I realized that the object unveiled to be a lifeless body.