It was good. It was really good. I was taking it in, when a bride off to the side and down an alley caught my attention. He had a lit cigarette, the veil splitting his smoke like a sieve. His shirt a light pink, he almost blended in.

Endgame. He and I locked eyes. He looked left, then right before curling his index finger at me.

In the swamps of brides, I lost track of my people. Endgame seemed urgent.

I walked closer to him. “What do you need?”

I couldn’t place where Austin was as I scanned the sea of white.

“Just forgot to do some stuff. And I have a few of Austin’s things. Could you take them to him? I just don’t want to hurt him anymore.”

He was on something. Or drunk. “We walked here, so I can’t really carry anything big.”

“It’s his grandmother’s necklace. I took it by accident. Can you carry that?”

He was slurring slightly. He dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. “It’s just back here, but no pressure if you don’t wanna get it for him.”

I stepped into the skinny alley behind Endgame. He walked with a bit of a tipsy gait.

When we came out the other side, he motioned me over to a white van. All of a sudden I felt very far away from my friends. Very far away from Austin.

“It’s right in here.”

I stayed at least a car length away from him. He could get the necklace and bring it to me. His half-assed veil tumbled off his head as he rooted around in the van and landed in a dirty puddle by his feet.

Run.

There was a voice in my head that knew stuff. It was the way my body verbalized gut feelings and everything about this was off. I turned to do just that and slammed right into a man’s chest. My phone clattered to the ground. I watched as the man stepped on it.

While I was trying to apologize, I realized there were three people behind me now. The wall of a guy, Roberta’s boyfriend, and Roberta.

Shit.

I started to fight, but they had me in the back of the van in no time. Before I could scream, Roberta slapped duct tape over my mouth. I felt my wrists getting bound in a tight tie.

I was shaking, and I couldn’t stop it. This was bad. Super horrible.

It had tipped over the edge. I should've figured something was amiss when I found her lanyard in Austin’s apartment. I should've gotten the restraining order. Endgame was here with me, slumped over in the back of the van. Possibly no help at all.

Roberta snapped a few pictures of me. “Your boyfriend? He’s got lots of money, right? He can pay what you owe me. Plus interest.”