At Night

Chapter 2: The Wake Up Call to Reality

Disclaimer: Um… yeah. If I owned the Phantom of the Opera I wouldn't be writing stories, I would make the phantom my sex slave… Well you know the rest. So, in other words, no I don't own it. And I don't own The Twilight Zone or Night Gallery.

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"I really don't care what time it is," she moaned as she turned off her annoying alarm clock. Unfortunately it was another day of shopping so the act of "getting out of bed" was must, but why should she care? It's not as if she really wanted to go through with any stupid wedding. So, she cuddled up with her pillows and covers and started to doze off again. However, the real wake up call came in to make sure she wasn't just up, but had a big smile on her face as well.

"Another glorious day to be engaged and to such a beautiful woman!" chorused her fiancé, or more like her "forced" fiancé.

'I hate morning people like him,' she thought with disgust. They had only been engaged for 3 months and she was already thinking of divorce. Sadly, Mommy and Daddy thought it was a perfect match and whatever Mommy and Daddy want, they gets, even if it means putting their own daughter through pure hell.

"Are you ready to try on some more beautiful gowns, made to make you look just as beautiful as ever for our beautiful wedding, my beautiful?" he rambled on.

'Say beautiful one more time, and I'll have to kill you,' she could just imagine her hands around his neck as he died slowly. "Whatever you say, my sweet," she had to say with an enforced smile. Every muscle in her body ached after that dim-witted smile. 'I can't wait for the day I get to kill you and get away with it,' she gave another smile, but this time it was sincere especially since she was thinking of the day she would be rid of him. She could have such an evil smile when she wanted to. Thankfully he didn't notice how she was looking at him, with an evil glint in her eyes.

"So what shall my wonderful fiancé wear today that will make her shine brighter than the sun itself?" he asked as he rummaged through her closet.

'Your blood on my hands,' she thought matter-of-factly to herself. "How about you let me decide what to put on and just wait for me in the car? I'll only be a minute, dear," she suggested.

He turned to look at her with a puzzled expression on his face. He had always chosen her clothes for her every morning. However, he just shrugged and said, "Whatever makes you happy, my hummingbird." He kissed her on the cheek and left the room with the door closing behind him.

She rubbed her cheek so she could rid herself of the touch of his lips on her skin. As the door closed, she stuck out her tongue in his general direction. 'Hmm, hummingbird,' she thought, 'That's a new one. And just one more reason for me to hate him and then blow his brains out.'

She threw her covers off, and slowly moved her weary body to the closet. Of course all her clothes had been hand-picked by her fiancé. There was lacey underwear, lacey socks, frilly pink and yellow blouses, and flowery skirts to match. He had to make sure that she blended in with spring time picture. She was beginning to wonder if he was gay, but too stupid to notice.

She decided to pick her favorite t-shirt that wouldn't make the man waiting in the car at all. It was a black tank-top that had the logo of The Twilight Zone across the chest. Her fiancé didn't know it, but she had the all the seasons of the show, even the '70s version called Night Gallery. She loved watching the irony and mystical encounters that those unfortunate people had to go through. She also enjoyed trying to figure out all the philosophical aspects of the show and how it applied to her world today. She was a thinker, and not much of a dreamer.

However, that was just one reason she adored that shirt. The other reason was for bitter revenge on her fiancé. He hated anything that had dark colors in it. It didn't look happy enough. Once again the thought of him being gay came into her mind. She only hoped he was gay so he would finally leave her and stop controlling her life.

Once the rest of her outfit was picked (a.k.a ripped shorts and tennis shoes. Not exactly the cute look.) she went out to the car and the repulsive man in it. As she opened the car door, he turned his head towards her with a huge dorky smile on his face. However, the smile faded as he glanced at her up and down, eyeing her suspiciously with a look on his face as if he was asking why on earth would you wear something that appalling. Instead he replied, "What an interesting outfit you've picked today. It looks very cute on you."

Her fiancé wasn't a dummy when it came to winning people over. How else did he convince her parents to join them two together in marriage? He knew all the tricks to getting people to like him. That's how his family survived all these years with their riches. However, there were always two people whom he never fooled: himself and his fiancé. Yet, his fiancé was no fool at getting people to believe whatever they want…

As he drove to the first store on his long list of expensive wedding stores, she stared at the people they passed by and began to think again. She thought of a life that she could live as her own. She thought of the lives that these people that they passed are living right now. 'They probably live in a better world than I do,' she glumly thought. She had thought of running away to some remote part of the country, but her parents had their way of finding her. She knew she was trapped. She was trapped in a small clear box, where she could see everyone's happy and simple life as she stayed in her confined and terrifying little box. Maybe she was a bit of a dreamer, since the thinker part of her wasn't going to put a happy place in her mind like her dreams.

Her sad expression caught the attention of the other human in the car. "Don't be worried about the shopping, my dear. All the gowns will look beautiful on you. You don't have to worry about a thing, my sweet," that was the only response he could think of to raise her spirits.

'You'll never understand all the worrying that I do everyday. How could you? You're money keeps you happy.' Pictures of her sitting in a corner with all the wealth in the world with a sad and depressing aura around her flashed through her mind. She wasn't looking forward to her future life.

"Well here we are, darling. Oh, look. Your parents are already here. Come on, let's go say hi," he said. They both got out of the car at the same time. Thankfully, the notion of opening the door for her and giving her his hand to help her out hadn't gone through his mind yet. If he ever did that, she would cut off his hand and stick it in his mouth.

Her mother noticed them right away and shouted, "Oh look honey! The dream couple has arrived! Oh, don't you two look so cute together! I can't wait until next week when these two will be walking down the aisle together. That moment will be like a picture from heaven."

'More like from hell, since I'll rip off his head before he says "I do",' she thought with an expressionless look on her face.

"Oh dear, show them what just came in today. We found it on our door step today. Aren't they just the cutest?" her mother kept rambling on as she took out a white teddy bear. She was only half listening to what everyone was saying until she saw what it said on the teddy bear: Raoul and Christine Forever.

Well that chapter took a while. Most of it was written at work on courtesy popcorn bags. That just has to be lame. Well if I'm incredibly bored at work on Friday, I'll write up the next chapter and then type it on my computer on Saturday. So it might be up on Monday or Tuesday. Just keep watching for updates my minions--I mean readers.