Fatal Vows
Chapter 1
It was my ex-girlfriend’s wedding day, and yeah, I crashed it.
Everyone was gathered around while they were cutting the cake.
I strolled over, leaned in close to her ear, and whispered one sentence.
She spun around like she’d been shot.
The cake knife in her hand went straight for the groom.
One stab, two stabs, three… she went at him like a woman possessed, eighteen times total.
Guests screamed and scattered.
The whole damn thing was a bloodbath.
The media went wild, everyone wanted to know what the hell had happened.
But Sarah and I, we both clammed up.
The cops investigated every angle, but they couldn’t find any motive, or any proof I’d told her to do it.
They ended up slapping a “temporarily insane” label on her.
She was shipped off to a mental hospital for five years.
The day Sarah got out was her parents’ seventieth birthday.
And guess who showed up, uninvited as hell?
I walked right up to her, after she was supposedly cured, and whispered the same damn sentence in her ear…
1
“Dude, Sarah hasn’t talked to you in three years. Why are you still hung up? Trying to steal the bride or something?”
I showed up in all black.
Totally inappropriate for my ex-girlfriend, Sarah’s, big day.
Sarah gave me a look that could freeze hell over.
Like I was some bug she’d just scraped off her shoe.
Her eyes flickered over me, then she turned back to her new husband, all lovey-dovey.
The guests started whispering.
Their eyes darted back and forth between Sarah and me.
Her parents stormed over, faces like thunder.
“We didn’t send you an invitation, did we? Get lost before you make a scene!”
But her fiancé, this guy Chad, Mr. Nice Guy, stepped up.
“Hey, we all know each other. I’m sure Ben just wants to wish us well.”
Her parents looked relieved he wasn’t gonna make a fuss.
They stuck me way in the back, last row.
The whole thing blew over pretty quick, and the party went on.
Laughing, toasts, the works.
Then it was cake time.
Everyone crowded around the happy couple.
I got pushed through the crowd.
Next thing I knew, I was right next to Sarah.
She was leaning on Chad, beaming.
I leaned in and whispered in her ear.
Her smile froze.
Her eyes went from sweet to wild.
Like she’d seen a ghost.
She grabbed that cake knife and drove it straight into Chad’s chest.
Screams ripped through the air.
His suit was soaked in blood.
People were screaming and running for the exits.
Flowers, tablecloths, even the sky seemed stained red.
I just stood there, watching her, not trying to stop it, not moving a muscle.
Then the sirens started wailing.
2
They put Sarah and me in separate rooms.
Interrogation time.
“What the hell did you say to her?”
Detective Miller was right in my face, his voice tight with anger.
“Why did she suddenly snap and kill her fiancé?”
I looked up at him, cool as ice.
Like witnessing a murder was no big deal.
“I don’t know.”
Miller slammed his fist on the table.
“Don’t give me that crap! One sentence, that’s all it took to ruin an innocent man’s life!”
“We checked them out. Sarah and Chad were head over heels. Never fought, never a bad word.”
“You show up, and she turns into a killer?”
I smirked.
“Detective, you think my words are magic? You really believe she killed her husband just because of something I said?”
He didn’t have an answer.
He probably knew that Sarah and I hadn’t seen each other in three years.
No calls, no texts, nothing.
Sarah was smart, kind, the girl who volunteered at the animal shelter.
Never showed a violent streak.
They couldn’t figure out what made her flip, so they were pinning it on me and that damn sentence.
“So, what did you say? Just tell us that!”
I stared him down.
“Prove that what I said had anything to do with it, and I’ll tell you.”
“Otherwise, I’ll just tell you what I saw. And, you already have the tapes, right?”
“You…”
Miller’s face was turning purple.
He bit back whatever he was gonna say, shot me a dirty look, and walked out.
Meanwhile, down the hall, Sarah was a mess.
She sat there like a zombie, her eyes blank.
No matter what they asked, she didn’t say a word.
3
I walked out of the police station, and Sarah and Chad’s parents pounced.
Like a flock of vultures.
“Ben, what did you say to her?”
Sarah’s mom shrieked and slapped me across the face.
“I knew you were bad news. Not good enough for my daughter.”
“Now you’re ruining her life?”
I hadn’t killed anyone, but they were blaming me for everything.
Chad’s mom started crying.
She grabbed my shirt, her voice breaking.
“Chad was a good man. He never did anything to you. Why did you make Sarah kill him?”
Chad’s dad stood there, fists clenched.
“Sarah broke up with you! My son had nothing to do with it. Why take it out on her?”
They screamed and cursed.
I stood there, blank-faced, like a statue.
After that, the reporters were all over me.
Hounding me for answers.
Some rich guys even offered me money just to tell them the magic words that could make someone kill.
But I didn’t say a damn thing.
Six months went by, and the cops still had nothing.
No motive, no proof of me telling her to do it.
They finally went with “temporary insanity.”
Sarah’s parents hired the best lawyers, pulled every string they could find.
They finally got her released for medical care.
They gave up everything, moved into a dump near the hospital, and took care of her day and night.
They wouldn’t let me visit.
The only contact I had with Sarah was that one sentence at the wedding.
After five years of hard work, Sarah was released.
And it just so happened that it was her parents’ seventieth birthday.
So, the family threw a big party.
4
I wore the same black suit.
Crashed the party like a ghost.
Everyone froze.
The noise died down.
Sarah’s mom’s smile disappeared.
She charged at me, trying to drag me out.
“You bring bad luck! Why are you still after us?”
“Leave now, or I’m calling the cops!”
Sarah’s parents wanted her to start over.
That’s why they threw the party.
They wanted everyone to see that she was okay.
But all that went to hell the second I showed up.
“Calm down, I just came to celebrate with you all.”
I smiled and held out a gift.
She knocked it to the ground.
“We don’t want your crap! Who knows what you’re planning!”
“Get out of here!”
Some reporters showed up.
“Ma’am, what are you so scared of? Is Sarah not doing so well?”
“Are you afraid she’s gonna start stabbing people again?”
Her face tightened, then she forced a smile.
“The doctors said she’s fine! No more violent tendencies.”
“But this guy is trouble. He says something, who knows what she’ll do!”
A reporter laughed.
“If a few words can make her kill, then she should be in jail, not out here!”
That hit her hard.
I picked up the gift, dusted it off, and gave it to her again.
She took it, her voice shaking.
She thanked me.
5
She put me way in the back again, kept a close eye on Sarah.
The toasting started, everyone swarmed the head table.
Her parents were surrounded by friends, laughing.
They relaxed, didn’t notice me walking up to Sarah with a glass.
When it was my turn, I leaned in and whispered that same sentence from three years ago.
Sarah’s face changed again.
She grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed her mom’s stomach.
Blood poured out.
Her mom stared at her daughter in disbelief.
“She’s killing people again!”
The room erupted.
Tables and chairs crashed to the floor.
Nobody dared to step in.
Her dad tried to stop her.
Sarah went crazy, stabbing him everywhere.
“Honey, it’s your father!”
Sarah slit his throat.
Blood covered the floor.
After killing her dad, Sarah went back to her mom and stabbed her eighteen times, just like she did to Chad.
The cops showed up and took her away.
She didn’t resist.
But Sarah’s family pointed at me.
“Why aren’t you arresting him!?”
“He said something to her. That’s why she did it!”
“Yeah, five years ago, too! He said something, and she killed her husband!”
“He’s the real killer!”
Detective Miller recognized me and yelled.
“What did you say to her!?”
Like before, I didn’t say a thing.
“Three dead people! You still won’t tell us?”
Then a kid ran in with a camera, grinning.
“I recorded what the man said!”
6
“You sure about that, kid? You really got it all on tape?”
Detective Miller sounded desperate, staring at the kid.
The kid looked confused, clueless about what had just happened.
He held up the camera.
“Yeah, I was pointing right at him.”
“You can watch it!”
Everyone pushed closer.
Miller grabbed the camera and watched the clip.
He watched it three times.
Then he looked up at me, shocked.
“That’s all you said?”
“And she killed for it?”
I smiled.
“You saw it.”
Miller grabbed my shirt, his face red.
“No, that can’t be it! There’s gotta be more to it!”
His fingers were shaking.
“Tell me what it really means! What were you telling her?”
I sighed and gave up.
“It’s just the words. You can figure it out.”
Sarah’s family was confused.
“What did he say to her?”
Miller let go of me and turned to the crowd.
“He only said five words—”
