The Shy Witch

Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Today was the day. 

It had been almost two weeks. Two terrible, unbearable weeks that would only lead up to the worst day of my life. I looked in the mirror at my reflection. I was in the same wedding dress as I was before, but face looked sunken in, and my eyes were puffy from crying so much. Marina placed the veil and tiara on top of my head and smiled at me. 

"It's going to be alright, dear." She said, trying to comfort me. "The ceremony won't take very long."

But it wasn't the ceremony I was most upset about. It was Daniel. Minutes after the ceremony, he would be killed, and it's all my fault. I never should have agreed to that escape plan. 

"Are you ready?" Marina asked, handing me a bouquet of flowers. 

"No."

She sighed. "I know it's hard. But it's what the people want." 

I nodded and took her hand as she led me out of the room. I would be walking down the grand staircase and an aisle to the front of the main hall. And that's where we would be married. 

Marina guided me through the hall, and I took a peek around the corner. Hundreds, no, thousands of people were seated downstairs in the entrance hall. I took a deep breath and figured that I might as well get it over with. 

I stepped out from the corner, and music began to play. Every single face in the room turned to stare at me, and I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Well, more than I already was. I slowly trudged down the staircase, trying to delay the wedding as much as possible. So this was it. No more escape plans, no more deals. I was getting married. Right now. 

I reached the bottom of the staircase and began walking down the aisle. Devin, who was standing in the front of the room, was giving me large grin. The two men next to him, though, weren't Ryder and Logan had the most miserable looks on their faces. And I thought I was upset. 

The audience members surrounding me were smiling brightly at me, but I didn't recognize anyone. Seconds later, I had reached the front of the room and had taken Devin's hand. He lifted my veil to reveal my face, and we walked up to the officiant. 

"Dear friends and family," he began. "we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Devin Mitchell and Annalise Baker in marriage."

I closed my eyes and gulped. I reopened them, but everyone was still there. It wasn't a dream. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Trying not to be too obvious, I moved my head slightly to the right so I could see better. Ryder had his hands crossed over his body like the other groomsmen, but his fingers were moving. One of his hands took another finger down to reveal only 8 left. Another went down. 7.

Oh. 

Was this some sort of countdown? To what? Another finger went down. 6. My breathing quickened. What would he do when he reached zero? What would I do?

5.

I looked around to see if anyone else had noticed Ryder, but everyone was too busy focusing on, well, me. 

4. 

Okay okay okay, relax Annalise. He's probably just nervously doing something with his fingers.

3.

Okay maybe he wasn't.

2. 

Was this really going to happen?

1.

Boom!

There were plenty of screams that had reached my ears, but I didn't care. I ran for it, leaving the alter as quickly as possible. Ryder and I had cast an attack spell at Devin at the exact same time, almost as if we were the same person. He fell over, but we both knew that it wouldn't stop him for very long. I ran next to Ryder, who was leaving the building. I stumbled a few times when my heels caught on my dress, but I didn't care. I just kept running. Eventually, Ryder and I stopped to look back. Big mistake. Devin, the King, and about 20 other guards were running straight towards us. I shot an attack at Devin as Ryder shot one at his father. The king stumbled and fell, but Devin was only delayed for a few seconds. There were more spells flying, and I looked to my left to see both Daniel and Sarah trying to fight off a few guards. I had no idea why Sarah was at the wedding, but this was not the time to wonder. 

Ryder and I started running again, looking back occasionally to throw another attack spell. Unfortunately, Devin got too close and dove forward, grabbing both of our legs. We fell to the ground, but instantly got up again after kicking Devin off. I shot a spell at him, but he easily dodged it and threw another in my direction. I threw my hand to the side, blocking it easily, but he did the same for mine. I threw one more spell at him, and it hit him, knocking him to the ground. He didn't move. 

I turned to Ryder with wide eyes. He ran over to me and hugged me as tightly as he could. But then suddenly he pushed me away with as much force as he could. 

"Annalise look out!"

I turned around and saw a sword in the air flying towards Ryder. Devin had pretended to be unconscious and used magic to throw the sword at me. 

But he missed his target. 

I was out of the way, but the sword hit Ryder's chest and knocked him to the ground. The sword was sticking out, and blood instantly began to bleed through his suit. 

"Ryder, no!" I screamed, running towards him. I pulled the sword out and began to put pressure on the wound.

"I'm fine, Annalise. Just go get Devin." 

I nodded and stood up again, searching for Devin. My eyes locked on his laughing face. He was laughing? How could he laugh after wounding his brother like that.

"Devin?"He turned around. The king was staring at him with disappointed eyes. "How could you?"

Devin smirked and shot an attack spell at his father. The king blocked it and sent some spells his way. 

Ryder was trying to get to his feet, and I helped him up. He attempted to attack Devin, but he was too weak. He was dying. 

Out of nowhere, I instantly had extreme pain. My veins felt like they were about to explode, and I crouched to the ground in pain. 

"Give up yet?" Devin asked. "Are you too tired."

I didn't answer him. I yelled out in pain instead. What was going on? 

And then it happened. 

I threw my fists in the air and slammed them down to the ground. There was a loud bang, and the ground under Devin's feet seemed to explode. He was thrown back about fifty feet, and he landed in pile of large boulders, dead. 

I took deep breaths, looking down at my hands. They were shaking and buzzing with power. 

When I looked back up, it seemed like everyone was gone. No more guards, no more audience members. They must have run away, fearing the fight.

I looked behind me, and what I saw made my heart sink. 

The king crouched over Ryder's body, crying.

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7/10/16

I know, sad chapter :(