Flame Inside ✿ Damien and Matthew

Chapter 20

Days passed by peacefully, final details for the wedding becoming their only focus. Emma was nervous about it and, soon, the day of the wedding had snuck up on her and she was in her room, staring at herself in her wedding dress with Thalia right beside her. Both of their dresses were similar yet so different. Emma's dress had a delicate lace bodice that had a sweetheart neckline and off the shoulder straps. Her skirt fell in tulle ruffles with floral lacing spread out over it. Meanwhile, Thalia's had a floral laced bodice with a plunging neckline and long mesh sleeves that had a floral pattern. Her skirt was made up of tulle ruffles as well, however it was much more plain in design.

As she took in her figure in the mirror, Emma could hardly believe it. She was getting married. Her mother, Thalia's parents, and the other guests were all at the church, waiting for them to march in, but she was so nervous she hadn't left the mansion yet. It was only a three minute drive away so it wasn't like she was in a terrible rush. She felt Thalia grab her hand, "We're getting married!" She squeals and Emma giggles at her reaction.

Then Emma heard her phone ring and she answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, Emma! We have a little bit of a problem." says Mika. Her mind quickly froze. A problem? What could possibly be wrong? Thalia takes the phone from Emma's hand and presses it to her ear. She listens for a moment before asking, "Huh? The rings? What about the rings?"

Emma facepalmed, Don't tell me Matthew forgot the rings.

Thalia sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Oh, okay, that's fine. Where did he put them?" Thalia giggles after a moment, "Really?" She asks with an amused tone. "Alright, we'll bring them over. Meet us at the front of the church and I'll hand them over before the wedding starts." Thalia hung up and just shook her head while laughing.

"What is it?" Emma asked.

"Matthew forgot the rings because he hid them from Simon." Emma laughs with Thalia, "They're in his dresser drawer."

Emma walked over to the dresser and opened the drawer, "What the...?" The rings weren't there. She then heard a mischievous laugh, "Simon..." She whined.

Thalia giggled before saying, "I think I heard Simon's laugh come from the bathroom, let's go." They both lift up the ends of their skirts and walk toward the bathroom.

They step into the bathroom, looking around and hoping to find the furball somewhere with the ring box. Alas, he didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. "What the hell...?" Emma mumbled and turned to leave. However, her eyes locked onto the bathroom mirror, seeing something that made her heart freeze up. Around her neck was a large tattoo-like mark resembling a blue chain. It was almost glowing over her skin and the nightmare suddenly rose into her thoughts, reminding her of the fear she had felt. Staring at it, her body began to tremble as the mark seemed to snake around her neck like a moving shadow.

"Emma?" Thalia asked but Emma didn't respond as she was nearly entranced by the mark. She brought her hands to her throat, trying to cover it. She didn't want to see it. It had to be an illusion right? She had to be imagining it. "Emma?!" She snapped out of her daze at Thalia's raised voice. She removed her hands from her neck and sighed in relief to no longer see the chain mark. Jeez... I'm getting worked up over– However, as she looked back up at the mirror, around her neck was a blue collar. She reached to her neck and gasped as she physically felt the collar around her neck.

Emma began to panic and started pulling at the collar, trying to rip it apart and get it off. Thalia rushes over and starts pulling at it as well, but it barely moves. She ran her hands around the collar trying to find a latch, but she couldn't find anything. Emma began to panic more. How could there not be a latch?! She needed to get it off of her! Thalia was practically choking her trying to pull it off but it only stretched a little. Emma nearly screamed as she clawed at the collar, Why was it on my neck?! Why wouldn't it come off?!