The Blood Soaked Gown

Prologue:

I am but a woman, I am nothing special. I longed to be a performer, but my foolish dreams were never realized. The record companies said that I was cute and fresh with plenty of talent, but they were looking for performers who had a different edge. No one wanted a punk pop, metal, post grunge artist. When I was eighteen, I gave up on my musical dreams and enrolled in teacher's college. When I was twenty-three, my boyfriend Nick and I married. Two years later, I had gotten one year into my teaching career. Then, I found out I was pregnant. I was terrified, but my half-sister Liz assured me it was gonna be fine. After all, she had two of her own and another on the way. On April 27th, 1985, my little girl was born. We named her Arabelle Kairi, after video game characters in Beautiful Eagle and Final Fantasy. Nick and I were thrilled. Our lives went on. Four years later, on October 4th, 1989, another little girl came along. We named her Castle Rachel Alexa, but we opted to call her Cassie. I thought my life couldn't be any more perfect. Then, four years later, a miracle happened. A record company talent scout had seen me singing at our church and they wanted to sign a deal with me! I was to have a meeting with a producer at a glamorous party. I left that night, supposed to be back before midnight. But I never made it. My life ended that night, so this is what happened...

Chapter 1: Watching

"How do I look?" Marianna asked Nick as she twirled in her new dress. It was an A-line, floor length, ivory silk gown. Nick stood up from the couch and walked to his wife. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her forward. "You look beautiful." Nick said. Marianna beamed and wrapped her arms around his neck to raise herself to his face. They passionately kissed, but that was soon interrupted by an uproar of "EWW!!" from across the room. Nick and Marianna looked over and laughed. Their two daughters, Arabelle and Castle, sat across the room at their play table. Arabelle had one hand slapped over Cassie's eyes, {in which Cassie appeared to be either prying off her hand or pressing it on}, and the other over her own. "Eww, Mom, Dad! Don't do that in front of us!!" Arabelle squealed, removing her hands from their eyes. Marianna and Nick kept laughing. Marianna walked across the room and knelt down. "What? You don't like Mommy kissing Daddy?" Marianna took Arabelle's face and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Arabelle groaned. Marianna turned to Cassie and gave her a kiss on the forehead, too. "Alright, girls. Say goodbye to Mommy!" Nick cooed, picking up Cassie. "Bye, Mommy!" The girls called in unison. "Bye! I love you!" Marianna called, as she left the house.

Marianna drove her car through the streets of Aspen. Unfortunately for her, December, 31, 1993 was the day one of the worst storm in the history of Colorado struck. Even her brand new snow tires had difficulty gripping the road. She wasn't worried though. She was focused on getting to that party. As she left the city, the storm grew fiercer. Soon, Marianna could barely see ten feet in front or behind her. This made it easy for someone to follow her.

Suddenly, Marianna heard a loud thump and the car jolted. "Aw, damn!" she yelled, smacking the steering wheel. She pulled over to the side of the road and got out. She walked around to the front and opened the hood. She was hit with a burst of hot smoke. Marianna coughed and waved away the smoke. She groaned and walked back to the driver's side door. She reached in and dug her cell phone out of her purse. She flipped it open, scrolled down the directory, and clicked on her producer's number. She waited, waited, and finally, it rang. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then, a brawny arm wrapped around her neck and lifted her off the ground. Marianna screamed and dropped the phone. She kicked her attacker and tried with all her might to pry his arm off. But her attacker simply smacked her over the head with an empty wine bottle and she was out cold. He dragged her into the woods to fulfill his horrific deed.

Just as these events took place, Marianna's daughter Arabelle could feel, hear, see, smell, and taste everything happening to her mom. She was sitting on the living room floor with her sister and dad when all of a sudden, Arabelle howled out in pain. She clutched her head and started screaming "MOM!!! MOM!!!" over and over. She rolled on the floor in pain. Nick furiously tried to calm her down and figure out what was wrong. It felt like forever. Arabelle let out the most awful sounding, blood curdling screams anyone had ever heard. He scooped up Arabelle and Cassie and drove them to the hospital. He rushed into the ER with Arabelle in his arms. Cassie ran in, the four-year old still very confused as to what was happening to her eight-year old sister. Nick asked a nurse to watch Cassie as he, a doctor, and three other nurse rushed Arabelle away.

Chapter 2: Gabriel

I opened my eyes and I saw black and blue. I was moving very fast. I was being thrashed around. It was so cold and it was wet all around me. I couldn't breathe. My muscles were having spasms from the stabbing cold water. Then, everything started to slow. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I thought a small goodbye to my family. Then, just as I tried to die, a man dove through the waters. He passed through whatever was covering me and grabbed me. He put one arm under my legs and the other under my neck. He lifted me up and out of the water and into the sky. We moved faster and faster until everything was still and silent.

"What's wrong with her?!" Nick screamed at the doctor as his screaming daughter lay on a gurney, being wheeled into radiology. "We don't know. A CAT scan may tell us." The doctors pulled the gurney into a room with a huge machine in it. They wheeled Arabelle next the machine and transferred her to the machine bed. "Hold still, Arabelle!" Nick cried as they pulled the bed inside. A few minutes passed, Arabelle managed to stay still, but kept screaming until the scan was done. The bed pulled out. She stopped mid scream and shuddered. She inhaled, held it, and then let it out. Arabelle then fell into a state of unconscious. Arabelle lay in a room on an IV and a respirator and her father franticly tried to call his wife and Cassie sat at the foot of the bed and stared at her sister.

Marianna stood in a room. It was bright white everywhere and the only furniture there was a bright white chair and table. Her gown was gone. In its place was a plain, bright white button down shirt and a matching skirt. She wore simple bright white ballet flats in place of her once sparkly five-inch heels. "Hello? Where am I!?" Marianna called out. "This is where you are to stay." A male voice spoke from behind her. Marianna whirled around. A man stood in the back corner of the room. Marianna instantly recognized him. "The angel Gabriel..." Marianna gasped. Gabriel smiled. "You converted to Catholicism at the age of 13, against your mother Alexa's wishes." Gabriel walked forward to her. "How did you..." Marianna began, but Gabriel raised his hand. "I know everything about you."

"Your birth name is Marianna Hayley Senshi Yin. You were born October 29, 1961. Your father was Zi Jian "Andy" Yin and your mother was Alexa Norman. Your father was first married to Sarah Tener and had your half-sister Elizabeth, your mother was first married to Geoffrey Larson and had your half-brother John. They ran into each other after their divorces, your father helped your mother in her time of need, they married seven months later, and had you when Elizabeth was eight and John was four and a half. Your two other siblings, Kimberlee and Nolan, were born four and seven years after you. You and your siblings were raised Jehovah's Witnesses, but you became a Catholic. You married your high school sweetheart Nickolas Jonas, who is a Russian immigrant and is one year your senior, and you have two daughters, Arabelle Kairi and Castle Rachel Alexa." I blinked. "Do you wish to hear more?" Gabriel inquired. "No thank you."

Chapter 3: Look

There was knocking at the door. Nick sat up in the chair. It was a police officer. "Mr. Jonas?" the officer asked. "Yes." Nick said meekly. He'd been crying all that night. "I'm Detective Jacob Hackler; this is my partner Sophia Numer." Detective Hackler gestured to a small woman behind him. "Is this about Arabelle's... um... incident?" Nick asked, standing up. "No, please sit." Detective Hackler grabbed the other chair and sat down in front of Nick. Detective Numer perched on the edge of the bed."Mr. Jonas, do you know who John Ballack is?" "Yes, he's going to produce my wife's record." Nick felt sick. "Well... um..." Detective Hackler tried to find the best words. "Mr. Ballack received a call from your wife at approximately 6:10 PM last night. He heard a scream, then a crash then dragging, and then the phone call ended." Detective Numer said for Detective Hackler. Nick could have fainted. "We investigated and found you're wife's car broken down on the side of the rural road. The car door open, hood up, keys in the ignition, cell phone on the ground, broken glass, and a little blood on the ground." That time, Nick fell to the ground; no more of explanation was needed. His wife was gone, and he may lose his little girl, too.

"Gabriel," I asked, after a moment of silence. "Yes, Marianna?" "What happened to me?" I looked to Gabriel's face for answers. He was perturbed by her question, but willing to answer. "You were attacked outside your car along the road it had broken down on. A man knocked you out, dragged you to the woods for shelter, and committed many a sin. I wish not to explain further." Marianna understood and shuddered. Flashes of death prior moved in front of her eyes. "How long until I'm found?" Marianna asked. Gabriel was, again, perturbed but willing. "Until the 3rd of April, you will remain frozen in lake water." I sadly nodded. I went and sat at the table and bowed my head in prayer. It would feel like less than a day for the time to fly by. Gabriel came and went as he pleased. How I longed for that. Then, Gabriel came in, holding another woman in his arms. She was blue and bloody. I stood in horror. She was Asian, like me. Her black hair was wet and frost covered. Her skin was blue from hypothermia.

The blood and her clothes were frozen stiff. He set her down on the floor. It took moments for her to thaw and change. She opened her eyes and stood. She looked upon me, and then Gabriel. Gabriel waited for her to ask of him. "What in the Lord's name am I doing here?" She cried! "I have to get home to my children!" She ran for the door, but Gabriel seemed to just slip in front of her. "You are dead. I am sorry." He bowed his head and then raised it. The woman looked distraught. She began to cry. She collapsed and I caught her. We tumbled to the floor and she held me tightly. Gabriel began the same speech as he had done with me; explain what was happening and such and such. Ria could not have heard through those tears she cried. Yet she seemed to. I sat with my arms around her, stroking her hair.

I had known her for no less than a minute, yet I could feel her beautiful presence in my soul. God had given me a companion, in a way. When Gabriel finished, he squatted down, took her hand in his, but for a moment, then stood and left. It took her a while, but Ria stopped crying. We sat on the floor in the room and looked at each other. After a while, I spoke. "Marianna." "Ria." she answered me back. And we just laughed and smiled, for the first time since my arrival, I had smiled.