A Danger That Lurks In The Darkness | A TPQ AU |

XXX | "I'm Sorry, Aru."

AIDEN

He'd been waiting outside for two minutes, now. Aiden nervously checked his watch, glancing at the end of the hallway, where, no doubt, Mini's speech was about to start. When he'd left, there was a quiet buzz of conversation. He'd been prepared to drag Rudy into a conversation with one of their aunts, but couldn't find him.

That led him to the washroom, where he found his cousin hunched over a sink, an agonised expression on his face.

Aiden didn't need to be a genius to figure out what was bothering him. It only became more obvious after he asked him: "How did you know you were in love with Aru?"

He just didn't know why being in love with Mini (at least, that's what he was presuming, with what Aru had told him) bothered him so much. He'd hoped Rudy would open up and tell him, but...

"Rudy?" he called out, his hand on the door. He pushed it open, his eyes drawn to the drops of blood on the floor.

His heartbeat stuttered; he looked up to see Mark Daniels, his eyes alight with a mad fire, a metal pole in his hand, the tip soaked with blood— his stomach turned when he remembered that it was his cousin's blood.

"Wh— what are you going to do?" Aiden tried to keep his voice as brave as possible.

He didn't answer, but merely raised his gun, the click of the safety going off echoing in the silence of the washroom.

Aiden couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear it over the sound of his racing heart, which was crowding his ears.

"Kill you." Mark said, tilting his head.

"Fine. Do that. Just let my cousin go. Don't hurt anybody else." He forced the words out, his mind flashing to Aru, sitting in the reception hall, laughing about the story of how they met (he'd loved to recount it, in the early years of their relationship, loved to see her face flush in embarrassment, and now, with a jolt, he realised that he would never see it again).

I'm sorry.

She wouldn't be able to hear it. He hoped that she would know how grateful he'd been to have her in his life.

He took a deep, controlled breath, some dregs of hope returning, warming his chest, as he saw Rudy's fingers twitch slightly, his chest rise and fall— his eyelids fluttering.

Barely conscious. His eyes flicked to his cousin's cracked phone screen, and, with a jolt, he realised— he'd been recording.

In the moments before he'd left, Rudy had begun a recording, but... he'd put his phone inside his jacket, without turning it off.

If they'd left the phone here... if Aru finds it...

"Where are you taking me?" Aiden's voice was forcefully loud, unnatural even to himself.

"Nowhere. Because you, Aiden Acharya, will be doing the work for me."

Not Acharya.

He had planned on taking Aru's last name.

But that didn't matter now, because he was going to die.

————

MINI
She let out a deep breath, shuffling the cue-cards in her hand, and took a perfunctory glance at her watch.

Deep breaths, you're gonna do great.

She wished she could believe herself, and ignore the churning in her stomach.

Shoving the cards into her bag, she glanced up, her eyes searching for Rudy.

She ignored the bitter aftertaste that was left behind in her mouth, and the slight twinge in her heart when they didn't find him.

Why isn't he here?

She'd been hoping he'd watch her— actually, no, it would be better if he wasn't there, to watch her fuck up.

But it would've been nice for him to be there, for moral support.

She huffed, barely hearing Nikita's next words.

"And now, for a few words from the maid of honour herself, Yamini Kapoor-Mercado—"

The next few words were lost, as somebody bumped into her— not somebody, Aiden.

He dropped something into her hands— a phone, with its screen cracked, and strode forward to the stage.

"What are you doin—"

She glanced at Aru, confused, wondering whether this was a prank. Aru, herself, looked confused, as Aiden grabbed the mic, his hands shaking.

"Everybody, stay silent, and nobody leaves this room. Otherwise, he dies."

A confused murmur ran throughout the room, as Aiden unbuttoned his coat— revealing a bomb.

The murmurs turned to screams.

————