A marriage to die for

CHAPTER 1; BLOOD.

Changi beach. 7. pm. January 1st, 2007.

Kate couldn't stop thinking about the previous night for so many reasons. One is the mind-blowing lovemaking they had after years of pent-up tension. It might sound tacky but something in her kept whispering that she was definitely pregnant. Oh, what a joy she would have if she'd finally conceived a boy. The unholy shouts of profanity that echoed around their little house made her chocolate face turn crimson red. She didn't know she could blush that hard.

The second is, Xavier's words "We're not safe here anymore" panic gripped her more efficiently than when her father died.

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning to look him in the eye "what do you mean we're not safe here anymore, is there something wrong?"

"Of course, there's something wrong," Xavier said.

Then he explained how the Pandora's had secretly poached their neighborhood months ago and were threatening and evicting them. The house agents didn't relay the message at first because they wanted to keep collecting rent money while they delayed. But no matter how they tried to hide it, people started to notice, they saw signs and posters everywhere. Not to mention, the threat calls and messages they received from unknown numbers.

But instead of leaving their homes, they choose to fight back. But Xavier and Kate knew better than to stand in the way of the Pandorans. They were gonna move as soon as possible.

Something within her kept screaming she should get a hold of her daughter fast.

She handed over Genesis to her friend, she wouldn't be in any trouble as long as she could enter the water. She checked her face once more in the bathroom mirror before stepping out to meet nurse Carie, her childhood friend.

She'd met nurse Carie early that morning to let her know what she suspected and how crazy it would sound since it was just last night. Carie encouraged her to wait a week or more before she came in for a test to avoid disappointment but she insisted on going on with it. Later that evening, the hospital called and said that they had the results ready. Kate couldn't receive it alone, but she also didn't want to raise false hopes for Xavier so she called Carie to come with her.

"Took you long enough" Carie complained as soon as Kate came out of the restroom.

"Okay" Kate jerked "let's get this over with"

Carie took out the envelope and led Kate to a bench.

"Remember, this doesn't change anything" she warned.

"Okay," Kate replied.

Carie took out the paper and they both read the results.

"OH, MY GOD!" Carie exclaimed.

"I'M FUCKING PREGNANT!!!"

"Shut up!" Carie clamored.

Then something caught Kate's eye, she grabbed the report, there was something unusual about the report, it was like she was seeing things.

"Wait wait wait!" Kate tapped profusely on Carie.

"What?!"

"It says here, I'm already 10 weeks pregnant"

Carie snatched back the report. "Now that is messed up," she laughed. "How could you not know?"

"I don't know," Kate laughed back. She was so delighted she couldn't stop laughing. "I can't wait, Carie, I need to let Xavier know"

"Of course" Carie pulled her friend up, "Go back home and tell him the good news"

"YES!" Kate yelled as she ran out to get a taxi.

****

At 8 pm on the dot, while it was raining heavily, and the sea roared at the beach with ferocity, black heavy vans parked with a swish among the changi dwellers that were having a bash by the beach. Although they could hardly see anything, and no one had guts big enough to surf or swim in the water, they still wore their trunks and bikini as they without a doubt got themselves wet, well in every sense of the word.

No one noticed the unusual strangers hopping out of their vans with loaded armories until the first man went down, the MC of the party. Everyone looked around not fathoming why he would suddenly fall down, that's because the guns the hit men carried were equipped with silencers, then they saw the pool of blood on the sand as well as the deep dark hole in his forehead and everyone became chaotic.

"Blood!!!!!" a man shrieked "he's been shot"

Screams erupted everywhere.

But then the DJ fell too, and that's when people started to suspect the men in black with guns in their hands were the culprits. Obvious enough!

The next victim was a middle-aged woman, the bullet went straight through her forehead.

Nobody needed to be told the party was over. A woman who retrieved her phone admits running for shelter to call 995 and the cops but she was instantly killed by a bullet to her heart before the first syllable could come out of her mouth.

A mother desperately searched for her daughter amidst the chaos and murder.

" Kelly, Kelly where are you?" a man in black turned hearing her close cry, and shot her.

"Don't forget, no survivors!" Lee Chu cried out shooting a couple of people himself.

The most heartbreaking part was when a little girl tripped and fell on the feet of one of the hit men, hearing the reminder, he raised his gun to her head.

"Please mister, I did nothing wrong," she said amidst tears "...please don't kill me! Please I n..." the bullet went straight through her head and her body fell limply to the ground.

The cries of the not-so-many people of Changi went up like smoke.

Of course, I know you must be thinking, what absurdity, how can a whole village be slaughtered and no one could reach the cops or call for help? Well, that's because father Raven was smart enough to cut off calls from the area for the night, so even those that tried, could not get through.

At that moment, Genesis was out in the water swimming through the hard current. It was a dare among the kids, if she made it out alive, she'd win all the cookies her mum's friend made. She wasn't the only one that jumped into the water though. Bertha, her best friend, was also with her, and she was gaining on her. The torrents were harsh, they kept submerging Genesis into the water, and she was scared she'd drown. But fortunately, the storm went down as the rain reduced, Bertha swam out quickly while Genesis was lagging behind.

When Genesis got out, she noticed Bertha wasn't there, and neither were the rest of the kids. She immediately thought Bertha had gone to claim the price so she ran back to the village. Little did she know she would run into some very evil people.

*****

Kate had barely found Xavier and told him of the good news when someone rammed into their door knocking profusely.

"That's not Genesis, is it?" Kate asked.

"I wouldn't put it past her" Xavier complained as he proceeded with caressing his wife with kisses.

"Xavier!!! Kate!!! There's trouble, open up!" They recognized the shout of Bertha's mom and hurried to open the door.

Why the hell was Bertha's mom screaming like it was the end of the world and where was Genesis?