Chapter 7

• Ruby
• "Tsk. Tsk. Ruby," someone whispered my name, looking around, I found no one.
• "Ruby..." that voice again spoke out of nowhere. Where was it coming from? There were tables and chairs everywhere. I started sauntering around them, trying to find the person.
• "Here."
• "Where?"
• "Stop." I stopped in my tracks hearing the voice. "Now look down."
• I leaned down, removing the chair and peeking under the tablecloth.
• "Rubster!" Max squealed as he squashed me.
• "What the fudge?" I managed to say. There were four people hiding under the table, including Max. It was Kendrik, Pearl, and my mom.
• Oh thank you, Lord, they’re safe.
• "Come on out, guys," I said as I motioned for them to come out. Neither one of them moved an inch, as I stood with my hands on my hips and waited for them to move.
• "Are they gone?" mom asked.
• "Who? The attackers?" I asked and she nodded. "I don't know, I didn't see them. Just the man in black who tried to shoot me but Vexon saved me from that," I blurted out and shrugged it off. Kendrik's eyes, however, popped out of their sockets at my words.
• "Vexon saved you?" he asked with a raised brow and I nodded.
• "Well, come on out now," I said again.
• Hesitantly they crawled out from under the table and stood up. What I found weird was that Pearl wasn’t in tears and neither was my mother. They both seemed like they knew something was bound to happen, that people would attack during the wedding, and were acting as nothing happened. Like this wasn’t strange at all.
• If it were my wedding, I would have wanted the culprits dead and would hunt them down myself just to let them know.
• "Okay, here's the thing. I have prepared a safe room in advance, for just such an emergency. So it looks like it'll come in handy. So, where are the others?" I asked Max, as he looked at me with a smug smile.
• Max clapped his hands together once, waited a second then did it twice more. The moment he stopped, people started peeling away from hidden nooks and crannies in the walls and from beneath other tables in the room.
• I stared at their sudden appearance in surprise, before looking at Max expectantly. "When you were not here, I made everyone hide here and there. Clapping was our code for the coast is clear," Max explained as he patted my back.
• "Nice work, dude!" I praised him.
• "Ruby!" A crying Mel rushed towards me with Tiffany close behind her. They both were so damn emotional, while I was always known as the 'Stone Hearted’ one.
• "Guys, you're choking me," I choked out and soon they released me as Darwin slowly approached.
• "You okay, buddy?" I asked tentatively and he nodded. He was a rather introverted person, but somehow he had mustered enough courage to propose to Mel, and now, they were a thing.
• "Okay, guys. The safe room is on the second floor, first door on the left. Mel and Tiffany, take care of all the young girls and boys. Darwin, take all the men with you. Max, take all the old and pregnant ladies with you," I explained to them and they nodded except Max.
• "What the hell? Why are you doing this to me, Rubster!" Max exclaimed.
• I glared at him. "The attackers are still out there and we don't know why. We are in a crisis. They will kill anyone they see. No one has been killed yet because the Bevines’ guards are handling it," I continued, "All we have to do is keep the guests safe. Everyone, grab something for self-defense and go."
• Everyone started roaming here and there to grab something.
• "Pearly, Kendrik and Mom, you guys are coming with me. We don't know what they want, but I’m guessing it’s something to do with you. That's why I need to keep you safe. Come with me," I gave them the orders and they followed me.
• We were hiding behind a pillar, waiting for the last message, when my phone vibrated.
• Max:
• We’ve reached the safe room.
• I smiled at the message, glad that they had all gotten there in one piece. We had decided to go one group at a time to the safe room as it would be less conspicuous and now it was our turn. "They’ve reached the safe room, Mom. It’s our time to move," I said, moving from the door to behind the closest pillar.
• Kendrik guided Pearl, holding her hand tight and never letting go. And just as we stepped out from behind the pillar…
• Bang!
• I jumped and mistakenly pushed someone beside me. Thank the Lord, the bullet missed its target.
• "Wow!" a bald man said in surprise, standing in our path, wearing a blue suit. His brown eyes gave me the chills. "Look, they are trying to escape!" he shouted and began to approach Pearl but I stepped in front of her, protectively.
• "Protective much, huh?" he questioned and pointed his gun at me. He ran the muzzle of the gun around my neck, smirking. My breath hitched, was he in the mafia?
• I tried to control my breathing.
• "You're beautiful," he muttered, a dangerous grin on his lips.
• I had to be bold, I told myself, even though I was petrified, I had to protect my family.
• "Tell me what you want. Why did you come here, Baldy?" I asked, mustering up some bravado.
• Dear Lord!
• I bit my lip after realizing my mistake. Why do I always have to open my smart mouth at the wrong time? Well, he was bald, so I had to name him 'Baldy.' After all, I didn't know his actual name.
• "I want to kill you now, but I'll give you a chance. Tell me where Kendrik is and I'll release you," he spat and I looked behind me at mom and Pearl.
• Wait, where did Kendrik go?
• "I don't know," I blurted out the truth, stunned at Kendrik’s sudden disappearance.
• Where did he vanish to? He was here just before this bald man appeared.
• "Don't lie to me, gorgeous!" he snapped, tightened his grip on his gun. It was evident that he was trying to control his temper.
• "He... ran away," I mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
• "What?!" Pearl exclaimed and mom furrowed her brows in confusion.
• At Pearl’s exclamation, an idea popped in my head, as I pushed the bald man’s hand away and hugged Pearl dramatically with a slight cry. “Oh Pearly!” I cried, “You’re in shock still, aren’t you honey? Don’t be, you will be alright, everything will be fine, okay.”
• "What the hell are you saying, woman?" Baldy questioned.
• "You won't understand, Baldy. You see, Kendrik ran away before the wedding even started, leaving my poor Pearly alone forever. We were about to cancel the wedding and just then, you made your baldy appearance," I explained as he stared back with a blank expression.
• I finally noticed that we were surrounded by his men, all dressed in tuxedos and holding guns in their hands. All waiting and watching patiently.
• "What—" Pearl started but stopped when I stomped my foot on hers. She screamed and burst into tears, "Oh, my Kendrik! How dare he leave me? No, he can’t! Kendrik, baby!”
• Mom decided it was time to let her presence be known, as she placed her arm around Pearl, "Oh, my poor baby! Don't cry. We'll find you a new man and he will be even better than that stupid, worthless Kendrik," she said, wiping at her fake tears.
• "I'll protect you all forever. Don't cry!" I said, as I was utterly incapable of crying on command, I just made a sad face and hugged both of them before turning back to the bald man. "See, Baldy?”
• He put his hand in his pocket and took out his phone, face still expressionless. "Kendrik Bevine ran away," he spoke into it before he turned and he walked away, his men following behind him.
• "Any more left?" I heard Vexon's voice.
• "No Boss. Shockingly, they all left including him," Mane's voice, suddenly came to my ears.
• Hats off, Ruby! You recognize their voices!
• Slowly bodies filled the hallway, and I was welcomed with Vexon’s glare once again.
• "Why the heck are you still here? Why aren't you in the safe room? You are so stupid! You—" he snapped, running his hand through his hair. Maybe this was his way of controlling himself.
• "Ma'am Pearl, Mrs. Gerund, are you both okay?" Mane asked them and they nodded.
• "Oh hello! Mane, it's Ruby. I guess you're forgetting about me," I said, making my presence known.
• Mane chuckled, "Boss is there to deal with you, Boss Lady."
• What?
• I looked around and saw Vanera with Orson, Kace, and Cason.
• Maybe he called Vanera 'Boss Lady.' That's a cute and sassy title and I wish someone would call me that, but nevermind.
• "He really left," Kace informed Vexon.
• "Are you okay?" Vanera asked us with concern and we nodded.
• "Where's Kendrik, by the way?" I asked them all, realizing that he was still missing.
• "Thanks for pushing me, Ruby!" Kendrik’s voice came from somewhere behind us all. Looking in that direction, we found Kendrik hidden beside a water drum we had filled with water. In hopes of having splashed him with it later.
• Fortunately for Kendrik, when he had fallen, he had gotten stuck between the drum and the wall with the curtain which had covered the drum now covering him, hiding him from those men who had been searching for him.
• "How’d you land up there?" Cason asked as some of them went to help Kendrik free himself.
• With Kendrik finally on his feet and everyone back together and safe, I smiled at my mom and Pearl.
• "I'm proud of you," Vanera said, patting me on the back.
• "Seriously, Mom? She nearly killed me," Kendrik said, glaring at me while I laughed as I told them what had happened with Baldy and his men.
• "She saved you!" Pearl defended.
• "Thank the Lord, no one got hurt," Vanera sighed.
• I frowned at the strange burning sensation I felt inside before I turned to look at Vexon.
• "Ruby, I need to change into my reception dress, so can you get my phone from mom and bring it," Pearl said as she looked around before heading to where she was going to change. Everyone slowly dispersed in their own directions as we wanted to get the reception on the way again after the whole debacle with the sudden attack.
• Making sure that mom was okay, I took Pearl’s phone from her and made my way to the room where I knew Pearl would be changing. I stopped, however, when I heard someone hiss in pain, I peeked through the closest door.
• "Boss, the bullet just grazed your arm. How did this happen?" Mane questioned.
• I watched as Vexon smiled back at him. Why did you make him so handsome, Lord?
• "I was saving a gem," he replied, which made my cheeks flush red before I ran towards the dressing room where Pearl would be.
• Was he talking about me?
• ###