The Rise of Damola

Chapter 12- The Wedding

The wedding was in two days. Most of preparations for the big day were finished. All payments were completed and guests had started arriving and everyone was waiting patiently. Damola had not sat down for the whole day. He was in the middle of choosing the right shoes for the after party when his phone started ringing.

~Incoming call~
Unknown number

Damola looked at his phone and wondered who it was. He hesitated but picked nonetheless.

"Hello. Please who-"

"Stay away from my fiancé. Who the hell do you think you are stealing her from right under my nose," the person barked.

Damola laughed. "I think you mean ex-fiancé. She is my fiancé now so you should watch your tone."

"You think you are so tough right. I think you should look left and right before crossing the road. Wouldn't want something bad happening do we?"

"Is that a threat?"

"You be the judge of that!," he yelled then hung up.

"It was definitely Taiwo," Damola reasoned.

Damola was silly to actually think Taiwo respected Bunmi's decision. He needed to tighten security around him and at the wedding.

Most of his groomsmen had started arriving including Ajala who arrived earlier that week, in style as he promised.Everything was going smoothly until the first weird incident. A lady was wailing, it sounded like it was coming from the reception but when Damola and a few of his friends went to check it out, there was no one there.

"Maybe it's a prank," Steven proposed.

"Yes most likely, let's head back," said Damola.

However, the incidents did not stop. If anything, it became more frequent. From hearing strange noises around the hotel to leaving something somewhere and seeing it in a completely different place.

The guests were freaking out but Damola had told them that it was someone trying to sabotage the wedding.

"If it's like that then we are not going anywhere. The wedding must go on," they all happily said.

One old woman had been observing the whole thing since she got to the hotel. One day, she called Damola to her room.

"Young man, are you sure you did not do anything in the past that is coming to bite you back because a human being is not capable of doing all these things."

"Mama my past is as clean as a slate. I really don't know what is going on but we will get to the bottom of it after the wedding don't worry. Please get some rest tomorrow is the big day," he said before exiting the room.

Thanks to their conversation he could not sleep that night. Instead, he put his detective glasses on. He wanted to see the connection between all the disturbing events. Somehow, he had a feeling that his father's illness was connected as well.

He fell asleep on the chair and was woken up by the doorbell.

He quickly looked up at the clock and saw it was 7 am already. He went to open the door.

It was his groomsmen along with room service. He had invited all his close friends that he made along the line. His colleagues that were involved in the hotel business, real estate even Adam the gateman was present.

They were all dressed and surprised to find the groom in his previous clothes.

"Damola today is your wedding day. Do you want to go late," exclaimed Fabiyi.

"Go and take a shower please hurry up. We will start eating without you," Ajala said as the men dashed for the food.

They were all ready at around 8:45 am and were headed downstairs to greet the guests before proceeding to the church.

"It was a Yoruba wedding, they should have known there was going to be African time," Damola thought seeing as the hotel reception was not full and only a few people were still here. The rest had gone to the church.

They quickly exchanged pleasantries and got into their limousine to go to the church.

At the church, people were anxiously waiting. The bride and her bridesmaids was already waiting outside for the groom and his team. The photographer had suggested they start taking pictures to while away time.

A few minutes later the groom and his men arrived. They had been filled in in the situation and were getting into formation for pictures, when he saw her. His Rachel

"What was she doing here?, how could she be a bridesmaid?, what is the meaning of all this?," he thought.

To make matters worst, she had pretended to not know him which pained him more than anything. Well he had moved on but he still had a soft spot for her even after everything she's done.

The mother of the bride came with eyes blazing and interrupted them from their photo session.

"We all came for a wedding not a photo shoot! People are waiting please," she cried out.

They all filed into the church to go and take their respective places excluding the bride. People had come from far and wide dressed in expensive regalia. The church was decorated with real flowers. It all looked like it came out of a movie.

Damola was at the alter with the priest and his groomsmen and her bridesmaids were seated.

Everyone stood up once the pianist started playing and in came the bride.

She looked stunning in her white wedding dress with midnight blue sequins. It had see through sleeves and the lace material hugged her in the bust then cascaded majestically leaving a trail behind. Her veil also had intricate details with sprinkles of blue sequin with the front being shorter than the back.

Damola had tears in his eyes seeing her walk down the aisle. She would be his finally.

"You look beautiful," he mouthed.

"Thank you babe," she replied.

The ceremony was quick. They exchanged vows  as well as rings and he was instructed to kiss his bride.

He did so and everyone came up to congratulate them. That was when all hell broke loose. Taiwo was there with a gun pointed at Bunmi.

"Ewo! He has a gun!," someone shouted.

People were screaming and running into each other. A few men including the bouncers had charged for him trying to stop him.

"Useless set of fools," Damola thought as he dashed straight for Taiwo.

Just as Damola was about to grab the gun merely a few centimetres away from it, the bitter ex-fiancé spoke.

"If I can't have her then no one can," he shouted followed by a loud bang.

It happened in slow motion for Damola. Taiwo had pulled the trigger and there was no doubt, the gun had hit its victim. Cries echoed within the church and just like that, in a matter of seconds, the fairytale wedding of the century turned into something else; A NIGHTMARE!