Forlot - Books 10-12

Chapter Thirty-Four

Libby closed her laptop and told me and Margaret that she would definitely see us later and keep in touch with the doctors. Then she walked over to a couple of men and whispered something to them.

The two men nodded, understanding what they were supposed to do, and strolled up to the table. Holding the ends of the bowl, they picked up the punch off the table and took it far away. To where? I was not sure.

Margaret gave me a slap on my arm. I let out a cry and rubbed the area where she had slapped me.

"Ow! What was that for, Margaret? I did not do anything wrong to you."

"Yes, you did. That was for almost feeding me poison."

I was stunned. Was she actually blaming me for something that I had no control of? It is not like that I knew that there was poison in the punch.

Or...maybe she thought that I knew about the poison.

"I did not put the poison in there, Margaret. Just like you and everyone else here, I assumed that the punch was fine."

"Relax, Margie. I know that you did not put any poison in the punch."

"Okay, good."

She grasped the arms of the chair and stood back up. Her legs were wobbling, and I grew concern for her.

"Are you sure that you should be standing up? Your legs—" She cut me off.

"Like I said, I know that you had nothing to do with the poison in the punch bowl. However, that does not mean that you did not know about it."

I was shocked at what she said to me. I told her that she could trust me. I gave her my word! And this was how she thanked me? By accusing me of such evil?

I took a quick step back, preparing for her to attack me if she ever did. "Margaret," I said. "I swear with the heart that I have that I never knew of the poison in the punch bowl. Not until Libby warned us."

I could tell that she was both frustrated and upset by the look on her face.

"I...I cannot be wrong!" she exclaimed. "Y-you asked me for punch. You should have known!"

"Shh. You need to keep your voice down. You do not want to be kicked out of the wedding, do you?"

That was when she reached her breaking point and broke down in tears.

"Oh, Margaret." I grabbed ahold of her and looked to see if anyone was staring at her.

It was worse than I thought. It was not just certain people staring at her. It was everybody, and I suddenly felt bad for her. She must have been embarrassed.

"Hehe. Nothing to see here," I said. "Go back to what you were doing."

"Is she alright?" a woman asked.

"Oh, yeah. She will be fine. She always cries at weddings."

I forced her out of the room and watched her, waiting for her to calm herself down. It seemed like that it took forever, but she finally managed to relax and stop sobbing.

Margaret took one good look at me - and hugged me tightly. I was taken by surprise because I did not expect her to do that, especially after she was certain that I knew about the poison.

"I am sorry, Margie. Really. I am so sorry. Please. Please forgive me."

I gently pushed her away and said, "I forgive you."

Tears were in the corners of her eyes. "Really? You mean it?"

"I do, Margaret. And I can easily put up with you because of your past."

"G-good. It feels nice to not get yelled at."

I ran fingers down one of my braids. "I do have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Why did you accuse me of the poison?"

"I...I do not know." She wiped away the tears. "I guess...I guess that when I remembered you offering me punch...I...I..."

"Oh. I understand now."

"That is...good. People usually would not understand something like that."

"Maybe they would if they knew the truth about what happened to you."

"You...you are right, Margie. And you know what?"

"What, Margaret?"

"I am going to go back in that room and announce the truth right now!"

"Yay! Good for you. Trust me. You will feel so much better when you let it out."

But before we could even make a move, a man entered the room.

"Listen up, people!" the man ordered. "The wedding is about to begin. Family members and friends of Katrina will go first, and then the rest will follow."

"Ooh! Did you hear that, Margaret?" I said. "This will be exciting!"

"Y-yeah."

As we watched Katrina's family and friends exit the room, I could see that Margaret was staring straight at something. It was as if she were hypnotized.

She started following the group, when I stopped her.

"Not yet," I informed her. "We and the rest of the guests are going right after them."

Soon, the man announced that it was our turn, and we and everybody else followed.

We reached the small room, and because it was so small, only Katrina's family and friends were allowed in the room. The rest of us had to stand outside with the door open.

The entire time, Margaret was hypnotized, and I wondered why.

"Margaret?"

She did not answer me.

The wedding began. Katrina and Benny were in their regular clothes and already in the room. They were standing in front of a desk, and a man was sitting behind that very desk.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the man began. "We are here to witness these two souls draw a heart that will symbolize their love. One will draw a half of the heart, and the other will draw the other half."

"Stop!" Margaret screamed at the top of her lungs. "That is my baby! My dead baby!"