It has began

SHAY

One of the perks of being under Marcus' protection was the excuse not to mingle in large crowds such as parties.

Given that X was yet to be captured, Marcus wanted me to be within his sight at all costs. It resulted in me being by his side all throughout whatever event it was.

Consequently, when Detective Oliver and I had entered the grand hall, which was an exclusive feature inside The Mesial alone, my grip on the detective's arm tightened.

He immediately sensed my discomfort, placing his hand on my bare one, giving me a small thread of reassurance.

The sea of people who were all finely dressed for the occasion would, at intervals, send smiles of acknowledgment when the detective and I passed by them.

I could point out some familiar faces, but they were still strangers in my perspective.

Marcus was the one who mingled with them, not me.

Finally locating where his father was, I found myself face to face with George Oliver, the man who took over Marcus's position.

The resemblance between father and son was almost identical. If not for his old age and graying hair, I would have assumed that he was Detective Oliver's twin instead of being his father.

"Shay Zephanie."

"Mister Oliver."

"Dad." Detective Oliver gently let go of me, greeting his father with a brief embrace who returned the favor just as well. George Oliver then turned to face me, taking my hands in his.

"My son is fortunate to find a great woman like you, Shay. I would have never guessed that I'll be lucky enough to have you as my soon to be daughter-in-law". Neither did I. I thought, mentally sighing.

I bid the impression to go away and flashed a practiced smile towards Mister Oliver.

"I'm the lucky one here. Rafael is an amazing man, and apparently, he also has an amazing family."

"You're singing too much praise for my son, my dear girl. He can be quite a handful sometimes."

"I'm standing right here, dad." George Oliver chuckled, sending a wink in my direction.

"I'm sure I can manage."

"You're already doing a great job. How I wish that my late wife, Meredith, had the chance to meet you. She would have liked you just as much as I do".

I offered a smile of sympathy.

I knew his wife.

Meredith Oliver worked for Alice, and in an unfortunate twist of events, she had to be in the exact place, and in the exact time when X decided to end Alice's life, thus falling victim to X's vengeance.

I remembered thinking how pitiful Meredith Oliver's family was, and now, I was to become a part of that family. Which led me to wonder: if she was seeing this, wherever she may be, would she be mad?

"I would have loved to meet her, as well." George Oliver smiled.

"Indeed, you would have. Well, it's lovely to meet you, Shay." He said, patting my hands before releasing them.

"Against my will, I need to leave you two to attend to the other guests. I do hate my job from time to time. But don't tell anyone I said that." I grinned while George Oliver ambled along, disappearing amongst the crowd.

"That wasn't so bad." Detective Oliver whispered in my ears.

"You think?" I whispered back. He gave me his nod of approval.

Frankly, I genuinely like his family. I suddenly felt envious whilst staring at the detective whose countenance seemed to glow against the grand hall's incandescent light.

Rafael Oliver is lucky. He still has a family to come home to and to fight for.

I could now understand his strong determination to find Marcus and, in the end, capture X too.

An instantaneous shift in music abruptly stole my attention away from the detective.

I then noticed the crowd beginning to disperse to the side, giving the much-needed space at the center of the grand hall to open the dance floor.

One by one, couples started to flock over there, dancing to Lifehouse's You and Me.

It was one of the few things that the apocalypse was not able to destroy completely.

In my opinion, a world without music would definitely be a strange one.

"May I have this dance?" At first, I was too perplexed to realize what was going on as I found myself staring at the detective's outstretched hand.

My heart began to beat rapidly.

"I don't really do dances." I admitted ruefully. Smiling, Detective Oliver grabbed my hand and pulled me in the middle of the dance floor, ignoring what I just said.

"Just follow my lead, and you'll be fine."

He left me with no choice. I did as he had instructed, surprised that I have yet to stumble over my feet or his for that matter.

"That's not so bad, is it?" I gave him a brief nod faintly coming to awareness of how close we were, his left hand was on my hips while his right hand was clasped in mine.

"Thank you for indulging my family, Shay. They can be a little too much sometimes".

"I told you I like them. Besides, it had just been Marcus and me ever since. Have you forgotten about that?"

"Me? I could never forget." I shook my head in disapproval.

"Yes, you do." I briefly showed him my still bare ring finger. He chuckled.

"Crap." I shared a laugh with him, resting my head on his shoulder a moment later.

I was glad that he somehow took my advice to heart. He didn't seem to be bothered by his sudden confession earlier anymore. He was calmer, at ease.

I savored the last few minutes of the song feeling a lot like Cinderella, waiting for the clock to strike twelve before the fairytale moment would be all over.

In my case, though, it wasn't a clock.

"It's time." Detective Oliver whispered in my ears just as the song had come to its end.

On cue, the lights dimmed around us, replaced by a blinding spotlight brandished to put the focus on the two of us in the middle of the dance floor.

"I didn't do it right the first time." The detective's voice echoed around the grand hall, resulting in some chuckles to be heard from our audience.

"So, I'll make sure to get it right this time." There was a unified gasp and ooh's as Detective Oliver went down on one knee, holding the ring still sitting inside its box towards me with his right hand while his left hand took one of mine and held it.

"Shay Reynolds Zephanie, will you spend the rest of your life and your eternities with me, Rafael Williams Oliver?"

I knew that this was all for show. I knew that none of this was real.

Yet, despite the knowledge of all of this being a sham, I can't contain the grin from spreading across my lips and somehow feel exhilarated like any woman who was about to marry the love of her life.

I took a deep breath, ready to voice my resounding yes when a familiar ear-shattering bang broke the moment.

In an instant, a series of screams and panic erupted all around us, replacing the excitement that was going on a while ago.

Detective Oliver got on his feet at once, encircling me in a protective hold, dragging me towards the exit.

"Are you alright, Shay?" His eyes were frantic. I nod.

"You?"

"I'm fine." He said in response, his eyes never meeting mine as he began looking around.

I did the same watching people scrambling to flee from the imposing danger.

And then, amidst the throng of people wanting to get away, Tori pushed her way towards us, her expression grim.

"Rafael!"

"Tori! Are you alright?" She nodded, catching her breath.

"This is bad." She said.

"What is it?" Tori looked to me then to Detective Oliver, uncertain how to go on.

But somehow, before Tori could break the bad news, I realized what it was.

Someone has been shot.