The Good Deed ~COMPLETE~

Chapter 38: Rude Awakenings

It was our wedding day. All of our friends and family were there. My parents looked so proud. Sue was beautiful, as always. We had a traditional ceremony in a church, with the exchanging of vows. Not sure what church it was. It didn't look familiar to me. The whole event was a blur to me. Everything seemed to be happening so fast.

The reception was no different. I can't even remember the ride from the church. It was like we had just transferred from the church to the reception hall in a second. The party continued to fly by. We were somewhere fancy, I couldn't recall the name. The whole place was decorated with white and purple bouquets of flowers. Sue and I danced for what seemed like forever. The gems of her fluffy white gown sparkled in the lights. Come to think of it, everything was sparkling, like a disco ball was spinning. But oddly, there wasn't one. The flashing and spinning lights made me dizzy. My head ached, but I tried to act normal. People kept approaching Sue and I to congratulate us, but I didn't recognize any of them...God my head was literally pounding.

The next thing I remember, I was in the bathroom standing in front of the sink. Again, time seemed to shift. One second I was dancing, the next I was here. Someone was knocking at the door, telling me to 'hurry'. The voice was familiar, but I don't know who. I began to splash water into my face. Each time I looked in the mirror that voice urged, 'Hurry Joe, hurry'. I splashed water onto my cheeks again. It was warm; uncomfortable. I tried to make it cold, but I couldn't....

December 11th, 2005 2:22pm

When I opened my eyes everything was red and fuzzy. My eyes felt crossed. I was laying on the floor. I pressed my palms against the floor to lift myself. Both of my hands were in a puddle. That's when I realized I wasn't in a bathroom, and it wasn't really my wedding day. The dream was still fresh in my mind, it felt so real. It was more like a memory than a dream, only, a memory that hadn't happened yet. That was the moment when I knew that Sue would be the girl I would marry.

I sat up and looked at my hands. They were covered in blood. My shirt and face were just as red as my hands were. Nausea overcame me. Who's blood had I been laying in? Mark's? Albert's? A combination of both?

I used a dry area of my long sleeve to wipe the blood from my face. My brother and Albert were no longer in the room. Only their blood was left behind. The worst part was, I still didn't know which one of them was dead...I only knew that the last thing I heard and saw was a gunshot and Albert's limp hand holding the gun. I could only assume what had happened...it seemed all too obvious.

My head was really sore. With each beat of my heart, the back of my head throbbed in pain. I reached back to find a massive lump. This lead me to my next assumption; Jacob had knocked me out. He probably used his gun; hitting me in the back of the head. Then he somehow moved the bodies of Mark and Albert, and left me laying on the bloody floor.

Although the bodies were gone, my gun was left behind. I picked it up and noticed, almost immediately, there was a definite weight difference.

When I had arrived at the Convention Center, the gun was fully loaded. There had only been one bullet fired from it; the bullet that Marcus had shot. I released the clip to discover there was only a single bullet remaining. I knew that bullet needed to be reserved for Harvey. I had full confidence that I could hit my mark in one try, but I didn't like the idea of having only one shot.

Did I mention my head was pounding? I stood up and felt dizzy. I had to balance myself for a moment before attempting to walk. I used the wall to help me remain standing. I was tired and could hardly keep my eyes open. I dragged my weak body out of the room into the hallway. Bloody footprints followed me.