:amazed:

Episode #2: "Tumble"
 

Julie Mathis sat in the main lobby of the Candlewick, where a complementary breakfast was being served. She sat alone at a table; it was still early in the morning, and everyone else must have still been asleep. Didi suddenly entered the room and immediately noticed the blond woman sitting alone.

"Good morning, ma'am," Didi said politely, walking over to Julie and smiling at her.

Julie looked up at Didi and grinned slightly. "You can call me Julie, Didi."

"Of course, Julie. How was your night? You're up early."

Julie sighed. "Yeah... I wasn't able to get much sleep last night. Just thinking about this whole wedding."

Didi suddenly pulled up a chair and sat down beside Julie, looking concerned. "You're not having second thoughts...?"

"Oh, no no," said Julie quickly. "No, I love Graham and I absolutely want to marry him. But our families and friends... well, they all clash. My family's not so crazy about Graham, and his friends don't seem to like me much either."

Didi reached out and placed her hand on Julie's. "Honey, you can't let what other people think get you down. You love Graham, and that's all that matters. As for everyone else... well, pardon my french, but screw 'em! If they really didn't want to see this wedding happen, do you really think they all would've bothered to take time off work and come all the way out here just for you two?"

Julie paused, then nodded. She looked up at Didi and smiled. "You're right, Didi. Thanks."

Didi smiled at Julie, who then leaned in to hug Didi.



Amanda Mathis lay in her bed, staring across the room at her roommate for the week, Maria Dominguez, a million thoughts rushing through her mind. Maria was another woman Julie had chosen as a bridesmaid over her; it made her feel even more resentful of her sister. Why had Amanda been so neglected? Despite being the oldest Mathis daughter, Gail had practically tossed her aside and focused all her attention on Julie as soon as she was born. She hated her family. She didn't even know why she was here.

Maria suddenly shuffled in her bed, then opened her eyes and looked over at Amanda. She grinned. "Good morning."

Amanda grinned back at her, but anger and contempt surged through her bloodstream. 'I need to stick it out,' Amanda thought to herself. She figured that leaving the island would only make things worse between her and her family. Why not endure this week and enjoy it as much as she could?

Plus, there were a lot of attractive guys here. Plenty of opportunities to hook up.

"So you have fun last night?" said Maria in her thick Latina accent, breaking the seemingly endless silence between them.

Amanda said nothing, but simply nodded.

"I noticed that one guy, Andrew I think his name is? The best man? He was really hitting on you, girl," said Maria.

For the first time since she arrived on the island, a genuine smile spread across Amanda's lips, and she lifted her head off her pillow. "Really?" she asked, intrigued.

Maybe things would start to improve after all for Amanda Mathis.




Yulissa White unlocked the large, heavy door of the Cannery and flipped over the "CLOSED" sign so that it read "OPEN" from the outside. She snatched a white rag from a nearby bucket, wrung it out, and began to wipe down the old mahogany bar.

After only a couple minutes, she was startled by a sudden rapping on the door. Setting the rag down, Yulissa walked to the door and yanked it open to find a tall, African American man standing at the threshold, smiling at her. As soon as she saw the man's face she returned the smile.

"Hi Dad," she said in a welcoming tone.

Vance White was a long-time local of Harper's Island. He was around during both sets of murders that plagued the place, but managed to survive with both his life and his sanity intact, while several other locals had not been so lucky. He had his family; he had his daughter. That was all that mattered to him.

It was also Vance White that would be marrying Graham Deeley, his godson, to the lovely Julie Mathis.

"What's up?" asked Yulissa after a few seconds of no response from her father.

"Does something need to be 'up' for a father to come visit his daughter?" he asked, still smiling. "I hardly ever get to see you anymore, Yulie."

"Well, Dad, I've been busy with the bar..."

"I know, I know. I just want to check up and make sure you're okay..."

Yulissa cut him off. "Dad, really? Why wouldn't I be okay? I'm a grown woman."

Vance sighed. "I know, Yulie. Forget I even came here." There was a long pause as Vance frowned. "So, uh... I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the wedding rehearsal then?"

Yulissa nodded, and Vance turned and began to walk away. He loved his daughter more than anything in the world, but more often than not he felt as though that love was unrequited. He began to look over his shoulder, hoping to see his daughter still standing there, feeling guilty about giving him attitude. But before he could even look back, he heard the door slam shut.

Upon returning to the bar to continue her cleaning, Yulissa caught a glimpse of the two framed pictures propped up on one of the shelves behind the bar. She examined the first: it was a photo of herself at the age of about 5 or 6, with her closest childhood friends, Graham Deeley and Andrew McCaffrey, on either side of her. Yulissa smiled, then turned her attention to the picture standing directly beside it. It was another childhood photo of herself, but this time she was accompanied by a different young boy, grinning ear-to-ear. It was the boy that would one day grow up to become the infamous Harper's Island killer. It was her other best friend growing up on the island: Henry Dunn.




Several of the wedding guests took a small day trip to the Harper's Island cemetery, which had once been a rather empty site. But ten years ago, the number of tombstones in the small field almost doubled. A section of the cemetery had been reserved for the gravestones of the 30 or so people that had lost their lives to the savage John Wakefield and Henry Dunn.

Shea Allen was among the guests that had gone to the cemetery. She could not hold back the tears; they poured down her face as she stood among the tombstones bearing the names of her loved ones. This was essentially the prime reason she had decided to come back to the island: she needed to pay respects to her family, her friends, and all the other innocent lives that were lost because of the senseless murders.

It was literally silent as a tomb in the open clearing of the forest. Shea stood in front of the largest tombstone of them all, which was almost pure white in color. It was the grave of her sister, Trish Wellington, the woman who had come here to marry the man of her dreams, only to watch her loved ones die one by one, and then get murdered herself, at the very hands of the man she loved. Shea sobbed uncontrollably; she was eventually brought to her knees and buried her face in her hands, the tears flowing into her palms as she knelt at her sister's grave.

Rachael Bingham came up behind her and sympathetically placed a hand on Shea's shoulder. The two had grown close in just the past couple of days, and Rachael almost saw Shea as the best friend she never had. Various wedding guests started leaving the cemetery, until Rachael and Shea were two of the only ones remaining. Behind the two women stood Rachael's two children, Luke and Bri, both of whom looked bored and uninterested. Bri twirled her long dirty blond hair around her finger, while Luke stood stiffly with his arms folded across his chest. He then let out a heavy sigh and glanced at his watch.

"So... are we done here?" he grumbled impatiently.

Rachael looked over her shoulder and shot Luke an angry look. "Luke. Have some god damn respect," she snapped angrily, and she returned her attention to Shea.

Luke looked over at his sister, who looked back at him and rolled her eyes.



In a more secluded area of the cemetery - one that was crowded with trees and, as a result, was much darker - Ryan MacPherson stared at the only two graves in the area: the graves of the two people responsible for all the deaths that occurred on this island. The larger tombstone belonged to John Wakefield, while the smaller one next to it represented his son, Henry Dunn. Ryan's boyfriend, Dale, stood a few feet behind him, his hands in his pockets, staring at the back of Ryan's head.

"It's so fascinating, isn't it?" Ryan asked suddenly, breaking the intense silence in the small, enclosed area.

"What is?" asked Dale, as if snapping out of a trance.

"The fact that these two guys killed almost three dozen people on this island. Probably even more. It just blows me mind that anyone could be so sick and twisted to kill that many people, for practically no reason." Ryan shook his head in disgust, and yet his eyes remained glued on the two graves.

Dale slowly approached his boyfriend and placed his hands on Ryan's shoulders. He began to massage them.

"Try not to think about it too much, babe. They're both dead; they're done killing people," he said soothingly. Ryan whirled around suddenly and began to passionately kiss Dale. In the heat of the moment, Dale began to take Ryan's shirt off, and Ryan himself began to undo his belt.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Santogold - "Shove It"]

The two men began to further undress themselves and each other as they went to the ground, continuing to kiss and embrace each other.

And all the while, the gravestones of John Wakefield and Henry Dunn eerily loomed over them, casting their shadows upon the couple.



"You better call me back, Howard. I'm expecting to hear back from you," snapped Laurie Northcott before suddenly clicking her cell phone off.

The beautiful country singer began to pace back and forth across her room, as her stepdaughter, the equally beautiful, redheaded Andrea Northcott, sat on her king-sized bed and watched her.

"Well? What did he say?" asked Andrea after a few seconds of silence.

"Just... take my advice, doll: don't get a lawyer. They're totally worthless," said Laurie before she angrily threw her cell phone onto her own bed.

The Northcott family had been going through some major legal issues in recent months. Laurie's husband (and Andrea's biological father), Matthew Northcott, had recently been sentenced to two months in prison for forgery, but Laurie had every reason to believe that Matthew was innocent. She had plenty more evidence of her husband's innocence than her incompetent lawyer had, anyway.

Matthew Northcott was also the brother of Gail Mathis, who was once known as Gail Northcott. However, she changed her name at the age of 19 when she got into some legal issues of her own with her parents, and deciding afterward that she wanted nothing more to do with them. Matthew loved his sister and kept in touch with her, although Gail hardly ever contacted Matthew unless it was for financial reasons.

Laurie Northcott was convinced that Gail Mathis was responsible for Matthew being in prison.

"She wrote a bad check, it bounced, she panicked, and then she blamed your father for forging her name..." Laurie began to ramble, but Andrea cut her off.

"Laurie, Laurie.... I know," she said, holding up a hand. "You need to stop convincing yourself that that's the truth. You don't know for sure that Aunt Gail did this to Dad..."

"Andrea, think about it! Why would your father forge a check? You know he would never do a thing like that! And who's the one who pressed charges? Your bitchy, sneaky, manipulative Aunt Gail," said Laurie, her face turning red with anger.

Andrea sighed and rubbed her hand through her long silky hair. "So what are you gonna do, then?"

"Well, Howard's obviously no help," said Laurie, shooting an evil glare at the phone she had thrown onto the bed. "The next best thing I can think of is to get Gail to confess that she framed him and is falsely accusing your father. There's no reason why he should be in prison right now. He should be here for his niece's wedding, dammit!"

Laurie stomped her foot in frustration. Andrea got out of her chair and approached her stepmother.

"Listen, Laurie. We'll get Dad out of this. We will get our revenge on Gail." She grinned at Laurie, who looked into her bright eyes and smiled back.



Bronson Deeley sat in his large room alone, a hot, damp washcloth laid across his wrinkly forehead. The father of the groom was not that old; in 2009, 63 was still considered young. But the years had taken quite a toll on him both physically and mentally, and lately he had been having terrible headaches that were often brought on by stress.

The fact that his only son was about to marry into an incredibly materialistic, snobbish, and egotistical family worried him. He had nothing but love for both of his children, but with all of the strife that Rachael had been going through in recent years, the added stress of this upcoming wedding was the last thing he needed.

Bronson was startled by a knock on his door. When he answered it, Andrew McCaffrey stood in the doorway. Frankly, it was one of the last people Bronson was expecting to see.

"Andrew? What can I do for you?" he stuttered.

"Do you mind if I come in?"

"No, certainly not. Come in," said Bronson, stepping aside welcomingly, allowing Andrew to enter.

The two men sat down on two of the plush chairs in the bedroom. Andrew took a piece of paper out of his pocket and set it down on the coffee table located between the two chairs.

"What's this?" Bronson asked, looking at the paper, the picture of a young Gail Mathis immediately catching his eye.

"I didn't want to show this to Graham because I knew he'd just get pissed, and I don't want to upset him days before his wedding. But I found this online, and I'll admit, it got me worried."

Bronson picked up the article and began to read it, as Andrew sat there silently to let the man soak it all in. After finishing the article, Bronson slowly lowered the paper away from his face, an awestruck look plastered on his face.

"This proves that there's some shady business going on in the Mathis family. Maybe Julie is nothing like her mom, and I hope for Graham's sake that she's not. But man... to think that my best friend is gonna have this psycho as a mother-in-law..." said Andrew, shaking his head.

"You're absolutely right, Andrew. Thanks for bringing this to my attention," said Bronson after a brief pause. "Do you mind if I keep this?"

"Not at all. Do what you want with it... just, if you bring it up to Graham, don't mention I gave it to you, okay? I know he'll take it a lot worse if he knew I'm the one that found it..."

Bronson held up a hand to stop him. "No need to worry, son. I've got this under control."

Andrew took that as a sign that he was no longer needed, so he simply nodded, got up, and left the room without another word. Bronson set the article back down on the coffee table, sighed, and put the washcloth back on his forehead.



Shea Allen walked alone down the dim corridors of the Candlewick, chills once again running up and down her spine. She had been having the chills ever since she laid eyes on this godforsaken island again, and she was desperate to do anything she could to feel at peace again.

She reached the large doors of the ballroom. After quickly checking her watch, she knocked on the doors. A faint voice from inside called, "Come in," and Shea pushed open one of the giant doors. The ballroom was large and extravagant, and admittedly slightly creepy now that the sun had gone down. The only light source filling the room was a circle of four candles set on a table in the middle of the massive dancefloor. Standing beside the table was Didi Phelps, a smile on her face as she saw Shea walk in.

"Hello there, Ms. Allen," she said politely. Shea didn't respond or return the smile, but instead folded her arms as if to keep herself warm. The chills still ran through her body.

"Is this going to take long?" Shea asked impatiently and somewhat rudely.

Didi's smile faded a bit and she hesitated. "It... it all depends on how well the spirits respond. I can assure you, though, Ms. Allen, this will be worth your while. I've done many seances before and they've all had positive results."

Shea took a deep breath and walked closer to the table with the candles. Didi, who stood on the other side, reached out her arms.

"Let's get right into it then. Grab my hands, and close your eyes," she said sweetly.

Shea followed the instructions, though she felt completely stupid doing it. She didn't believe in ghosts, she didn't believe in seances, she didn't believe in any of this nonsense... but she was running out of ideas on how to make these horrible thoughts and feelings go away.

"Spirits from the Harper's Island massacre... spirits of the Wellington family, of the Allen family, of all those who were senselessly murdered on this island years ago... if you hear our calls, if you hear our pleas... give us a response!" said Didi in a slow, deep voice.

Shea's eyes remained closed, but she still managed to roll them. If only her father could see her now, holding hands with a self-proclaimed "medium", trying to contact his spirit... he would be so ashamed and embarrassed. Several seconds went by, and suddenly, Shea was startled by a cold feeling centralized on her shoulder. More seconds passed, and that cold feeling materialized into what felt like a hand. Her heart began to race. Shea opened her eyes and looked to her shoulder; she could do nothing but scream when she saw the misty, opaque figure of Thomas Wellington standing by her side.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Within Temptation - "Angels"]

"...Daddy?" she gasped.

"Stay focused, Ms. Allen," came Didi's voice, but Shea's eyes remained glued on what appeared to be the ghost of her father. She blinked several times: surely this had to be a dream or a hallucination.

But before she knew it, another cold hand touched her, this time on her other shoulder. Standing on the other side of her was Trish Wellington, her sister.

"Oh my god..." she breathed, hardly able to formulate the words.

"Shea....."

The voices of both Thomas and Trish echoed inside of Shea's head.

"Shea..... Get out of here......."

The spirits of Thomas and Trish suddenly materialized in front of her so that she could see them both at once. And, within seconds, their faces began to contort in a horrific way: their mouths opened abnormally wide, their eyeballs suddenly disappeared, their heads morphed into what resembled skulls, and they both emitted horrible, painful screams that pierced Shea's brain.

Shea shut her eyes, and a scream escaped her own lips. She pulled her sweaty hands away from Didi's, an action that was so fast that the breeze extinguished all four candles on the table.

"Ms. Allen! What is it?!" Didi asked fearfully, but before she could get a response, Shea ran out of the room, screaming and covering her ears. The giant door of the ballroom slammed behind her and she began to run down the corridor. She was stopped suddenly by someone standing in her way. It was Rachael.

"Shea! Shea! Oh my god, what happened?!" she asked, grabbing Shea by the shoulders to calm her down.

"I need to go. I need to go home, right now," Shea sobbed.

Back in the ballroom, Didi held her hands to her head, completely perplexed and terrified at what had just happened. How could this have gone wrong? She had performed dozens of seances for people who had lost loved ones in tragedies, and every single one of her clients had left feeling satisfied, comforted, and totally at peace. Why did this one have different results? It made no sense...

Didi's deep thought process completely distracted her from everything else around her, so she didn't even hear the sound of the doors creaking open again, followed by the sound of the doors closing and locking. Footsteps quietly clicked on the shiny marble floor of the ballroom, slowly approaching the dumbfounded Didi.

By the time Didi finally noticed someone had entered the room, it was too late.

A sharpened spear was thrust deep into her throat; so deep, in fact, that the bloody spearhead emerged from the back of her neck, dripping blood down her back. Didi tried to scream, but the only noise that escaped her lips was a faint gagging sound.

She was dead within seconds, and her killer slowly lowered her limp body to the ground before pulling the spear out of her corpse.



The younger guests decided to go out to the Cannery for a second night in a row, as the previous night had been such a huge success. The bridesmaids all sat a table enjoying their drinks, though Julie seemed a bit distracted by something.

"Guys, are you sure none of you have heard from Stacy? I've called her cell, like, twenty times today, and there's no answer. Caleb hasn't been answering either," she said to the other girls at the table.

Haley scoffed and took a sip of her drink. "Jules, don't worry too much. You know how Caleb and Stace are. They pull pranks left and right. For all we know, this could all be part of some sick prank of theirs."

"But I can't help but feel a little worried that..." began Julie, until she was cut off by Maria.

"Julie, chica, relax. I know people were killed on this island and all, but the two guys that did are the killing are dead. Nobody's been killed here since then. You think that just 'cause there's another wedding going on here that all of a sudden one of us will turn into some deranged maniac and kill everyone?"

The other bridesmaids laughed at this comment, though Julie could do nothing but show a faint hint of a grin. Maria reached out and placed her hand on Julie's arm.

"I want you to relax, okay? Enjoy yourself. It's your wedding week for God's sake! This is the best week of your life!" she said cheerily, trying to lift Julie's spirits. It seemed to have worked, as Julie looked at Maria and smiled widely this time. "There's a smile! That's my Jules!"

Amanda stood at the bar nearby, holding her drink and staring loathingly at the bridesmaid table. She then moved her gaze to the groomsman table, where Graham, Andrew, Mikey, and Ryan, who was joined by Dale, all sat and chatted. Amanda focused on Andrew, the man who, according to her roommate Maria, had the hots for her. And yet, he hadn't given her the slightest shred of attention. She scoffed and downed the rest of her drink, slamming it on the bar and asking Yulissa for another.

"Seriously, it was the craziest night of my life!" Graham was saying, just finishing a funny story, at which everyone except Andrew was laughing. Graham noticed his best man looking gloomy and immediately stopped laughing. "Yo, Andrew. What's up, dude?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I'm just not feeling so hot, that's it," he said after some hesitation. This information about Gail was eating him up inside, but he knew he couldn't tell Graham himself. As much as he hated the idea of Graham marrying into the Mathis family, he also wanted nothing less than to upset his best friend before his wedding to the woman he truly loved.

Towards the end of the night and as closing hour drew near, Yulissa put a slow song on the jukebox, which invited all couples to step onto the dancefloor and enjoy a romantic dance. Graham and Julie stood at the center, as Haley and Josh, Ryan and Dale, and even Maria and Mikey - who started to passionately make out in the middle of the dance - circled around them.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Chantal Kreviazuk - "All I Can Do"]

Amanda, meanwhile, still stood alone at the bar, continually eying Andrew. By now, she felt drunk enough to garner up enough courage to just ask him to dance and make a move herself, but by the time she had made this decision, Andrew had gotten up and left the bar.


Hours passed and eventually all the wedding guests had made their way back to the Candlewick for a good night's sleep. Mikey had taken Maria back to his room, which he shared with Andrew, but since he wasn't in the room at the time, they shared a passionate moment together. Sure, Maria was seven years Mikey's senior, but this is what she had been longing for. She had been longing for a man in her life. And Mikey was certainly an attractive enough and nice enough man for her to be satisfied with.

Maria grabbed her cell phone, which she had set on the nightstand, to check the time. "Oh god, it's getting late. I need to go. I've got laundry to do."

"Tomorrow night? Same time, same place?" Mikey asked, smiling up at her, his shirt still off. She giggled and leaned in to kiss him before getting up, whispering goodnight to him, and leaving the room.

Still feeling drunk from earlier that night, Maria stumbled rather clumsily down the corridor to her bedroom, stubbing her toe on the way and shouting out an obscenity, certainly loud enough for all the guests to hear. She clasped a hand over her mouth as if that would reverse the noise she had just made. As quietly as possible, she entered her dark room where her roommate Amanda lay sleeping in her bed. Maria walked over to her desk, grabbed the iPod resting on top of it, put the headphones in her ears, and exited the room carrying her heavy laundry basket.

Maria made her way to the basement of the Candlewick, which was admittedly rather creepy, especially under the influence. But soon enough she reached the laundry room of the Candlewick, the walls lined with super-sized washers and dryers. She set her laundry basket down, bobbing her head to the rhythm of the song blasting on her iPod.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Las Ketchup - "Asereje"]

As she opened one of the power washers and began to empty her clothes into it, the door of the laundry room slowly opened behind her, completely unbeknownst to Maria.

Suddenly, Maria felt an excruciating pain in her skull as something was forcefully smashed over her head. A figure holding a baseball bat stood behind her as she collapsed to the floor, dazed and disoriented but still conscious. The intruder opened the door of one of the giant tumble dryers, picked up the light, 110-pound Maria, and stuffed her inside the dryer. She suddenly snapped back to reality and realized what was happening, but by that point it was too late. The door of the dryer had closed and the person outside had activated the switch to turn it on.

The interior of the dryer slowly began to spin, and Maria spun around with it. She could feel heat encasing her from all sides. As Maria began to spin around in the dryer faster and faster, the person standing outside simply stood there and watched the show taking place before them.

Maria banged on the circular glass pane of the dryer door, trying as hard as she could to get out, but the dryer continued to spin faster and grow hotter. Soon, Maria was being spun so forcefully inside the cramped interior of the dryer that her body began to contort and some of her bones began to snap. The pain was excruciating, and she screamed, desperately hoping someone would hear her, hoping someone would save her.

Faster and hotter the dryer got. Maria's bones cracked and her skin began to burn from the heat. She continued to scream in pain for a few more minutes, until finally her neck snapped, and she died instantly.

And although the damage was done and another victim had been added to the list, the mysterious killer continued to stand there and watched the pretty Latina's battered corpse spin and burn inside the dryer.

MUSIC FROM EPISODE 1:
Immediate Music - "Dark Side of Power" [Harper's Island 2 theme]
Santogold - "Shove It" [played as Ryan and Dale have sex in the cemetery]
Within Temptation - "Angels" [played during the seance with Didi and Shea]
Chantal Kreviazuk - "All I Can Do" [played during the couples dance in the Cannery]
Las Ketchup - "Asereje" [song playing on Maria's iPod]



EPISODE 2 QUESTIONNAIRE:

Please fill out this quick survey along with additional comments about the episode:

1. Who is/are the killer(s)?
2. Who will die in Episode 3?
3. Who will survive and escape from Harper's Island (if anyone)?

also, pmsl Claudia.

**** i need to catch up.

Sorry amanda havent even read 1, ill read 1 and 2 soon, making dinner at mo!

Sorry :(

fuuuck, Amanda, that final death was nasty. But brilliant, it's beginning to all piece together and I'm starting to notice how the characters connect now :)


1. Who is/are the killer(s)? I've really got no idea. Maybe Shea's like...turned psycho.
2. Who will die in Episode 3? Rodolfo will die, just depends when, i know it :p
3. Who will survive and escape from Harper's Island (if anyone)? oh...hopefully a few. the flowergirl would be the most obvious but killing her would be brilliant, lmao. I'd like Amanda and Andrew to survive though.

oh good story manda! :)

1. Who is/are the killer(s)? - Dale and Amanda
2. Who will die in Episode 3? - The grooms father
3. Who will survive and escape from Harper's Island (if anyone)? Amanda and shea

1. Who is/are the killer(s)? Amanda seems to be the obvious choice, but too obvious really. I think it could be Ryan.
2. Who will die in Episode 3? The proffessor
3. Who will survive and escape from Harper's Island (if anyone)? Bri I think.

Brilliant episode Amanda.

Thank you to everyone =)

:love: I loved it Amanda.

I knew Maria was doomed when she went into the laundry room, great grizzly death.


1. Who is/are the killer(s)? Andrea, has been added to my suspects list.

2. Who will die in Episode 3? I think Vance will be a goner.

3. Who will survive and escape from Harper's Island (if anyone)? I'm still rooting for Brianna Bingham and Haley Mathis.

Also, I've written Episode 3, so it'll also be up before the end of the week =) x

bit of a niggling request but could you like edit the first picture to put the dead people in black & white / or just write "dead" over them LOL

just for...keeping up i guess.

My photoshop is being a bit of a slag lately but I'll do my best =)

Alright, so since my photoshop freaked the feck out on me i had to use picnik.com. So I could only write dead overtop of the dead people lolz.

haha, it's better than nothing, thanks :p

:D Ilike it.

You're welcome Shaun =D

And ty Claudia =)

Nice work Amanda! :D

That death was thought out really well!

Any news on episode three yet?

Episode 3 will hopefully be released late tomorrow night/early tomorrow morning :)

Cool, something to look forward to :)

HARPER'S ISLAND 2

EPISODE FOUR: "THUD"

[THEME SONG: Immediate Music - "Dark Side of Power"]



Bronson Deeley woke up that morning with a splitting headache, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him, but last night was particularly stressful for him. Today was the day his son was supposed to marry Julie Mathis, the daughter of the wicked Gail Mathis. Bronson had just learned about one of Gail's previous high crimes in which she stole over a million dollars from her employers. Of course, Julie herself hadn't committed any crimes that he knew of, but this didn't make Bronson feel any less concerned about his son, Graham, marrying into such a suspicious family.

He reached over to the bucket filled with hot water and grabbed a washcloth, wringing it out and once again placing it on his forehead. It helped eased his stress, but today was worse than ever. There was only a few hours left until his son would be a married man. There wasn't much time.

Bronson needed to let his son know the truth.




Bronson wasn't the only one who had had a stressful night.

Gail Mathis lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, thoughts of the previous night continuously flooding through her mind. She had been so attracted to Dr. Rodolfo DiLorenzo, and had been having an affair with him for over two years. But last night, she had turned him away, for the first time.

As she thought of Rodolfo, she also kept thinking of her sister-in-law Laurie Northcott, whom, admittedly, she loathed. But what Laurie had said to her the day before had really struck a nerve in Gail. She had framed her brother; he was in jail solely because of her. And she actually felt remorseful about it.

Remorse was certainly not a common feeling for Gail Mathis to have. In her 58 years of living, she had never once felt guilty about anything. And she had long since lost count of the number of terrible things she had done in her life.

Before she knew it, Gail became overwhelmed with emotion. She began to cry. And then she began to sob. Tears poured from her eyes, trickling down her wrinkly cheeks like little rivers, and stained her pillowcase. She lay there on her bed for a good ten minutes, crying uncontrollably. The weight of all the bad things she had done throughout her life had suddenly come crashing down on her.



Today was the big day. Today was the day Julie Mathis would finally marry Graham Deeley.

But it had been a sleepless night for her as well. Images of Didi Phelps' bedroom kept flashing through her mind. And that horrible note.

"IT'S ONLY JUST BEGUN."

Who could have written that? And what did it mean? Julie had been having terrible thoughts all week about this wedding going wrong. And between the bloody cloth, the sudden disappearances of several wedding guests, and that awful note, Julie could only suspect the worst.

But she kept reminding herself, over and over again... the killings were in the past. Not a single violent crime had been committed on Harper's Island since Henry Dunn and John Wakefield were killed. Why, then, would the arrival of her and her wedding party spark more killings? It just didn't make sense. She may have come from a dysfunctional family, but she knew none of them were killers. And she trusted Graham's friends and family enough to know they wouldn't do anything to hurt him or his loved ones.

So what, then, did that note mean? Was it someone just pulling some kind of sick prank? She knew Stacy Stone and her boyfriend, Caleb, well enough to know that they were capable of pulling a stunt like this. If that was the case, then Julie certainly would get her revenge on them.

As she sat on her bed, deep in thought, she was startled by the bathroom door opening. She whirled around to see Graham standing in the doorway, wrapped in a towel. Julie let out a high-pitched shriek.

"Oh my God! Close the door! You're not supposed to see me! It's our wedding day!" she yelped, leaping up from the bed.

"Oh ****! I'm sorry!" he replied, slamming the door as Julie sprinted out of the bedroom, even though it was already too late; Graham had already laid eyes on his future bride.

Julie knew it was bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other on their wedding day. She wasn't a superstitious woman... but she knew that couldn't be a good sign for what was to come.




Andrew McCaffrey sat in silence in his hotel room, while his younger brother, Mikey McCaffrey, stood in the bathroom brushing his teeth, preparing for the day.

"Yo, Mikey," Andrew called suddenly, the first words he had spoken in quite a while.

"What's up, bro?" replied Mikey in a muffled voice, his mouth full of toothpaste.

"C'mere when you're done." A few seconds passed, and Mikey entered the bedroom. "I've been thinking more about what we saw yesterday..."

"You mean that note?" said Mikey.

Andrew nodded. "I mean, you know as well as I do, this island has been totally crime-free for the last ten years. But now all of a sudden a convicted criminal, Gail Mathis, comes here and all this weird **** starts happening. People disappearing, that bloody cloth..."

"You think Gail Mathis is behind all that?"

Andrew sighed and shrugged. "I don't want to think so. But I can't think of any other explanation."

There was a long silence between the two brothers, until finally Mikey broke it. "You don't think she's a murderer... do you?"

"Oh God, don't even say that. If murders started happening on this island for a third time... then damn, this place just might as well be blown up to bits."

The McCaffrey family had lived on the island during both Harper's Island massacres, and had temporarily relocated in both cases before the island was considered safe again. It had taken an emotional toll on the McCaffrey brothers; not only due to the fact that people they had known had been brutally murdered, but also because their own home, the island on which they had grown up, had twice been the scene of several murders.

Mikey had forgotten about it after the second massacre was over. John Wakefield had been the mastermind behind both bloodbaths, and now he was dead, as were all of his known relatives. As far as Mikey was concerned, the island was murder-free.

Andrew, however, didn't feel quite as optimistic. Suddenly he began having the same feelings Julie Mathis had been having all week long.

He felt a horrible, sinking feeling that terrible things were once again about to plague the island.




"Luke, I need to talk to you about something." Bri Bingham sat cross-legged on her bed as her brother Luke got himself dressed.

"What is it, Bri?" he asked, in an almost annoyed tone.

Bri looked around, almost as if someone was hiding in the room, listening to them. "Are Mom and Dad around?"

"Mom went out for a walk, Dad's in his room doing paperwork. What's up?"

Bri sighed heavily. "I've been getting these weird feelings about this place. Like bad things are gonna happen here. To us."

Luke shot his sister an unconvinced expression. "What the **** are you talking about? You're a psychic now?"

"Well, some of the magick of the Wicca religion does let me kind of contact the spirits here on the island..."

Luke belted out a laugh. "You've got to be ****ing kidding me, sis. You're into magic and ghosts now?! God, I thought you would've outgrown that **** by now...."

Bri groaned. "God, Luke, I thought you of all people would at least understand me. I tried telling this to Mom and Dad but they had the same reaction."

"Look, Bri. You know I'm your big brother and you can talk to me about anything... as long as it makes sense. Magic? Ghosts? Sorry, sis, but I don't believe in any of that bullshit, so if you wanna talk to me about it you'd just be wasting your time."

Bri angrily stood up. "Ugh. You can be such an asshole sometimes." And with that, Bri stormed out of the room, and Luke continued to chuckle.



Bri Bingham needed to talk to someone, and she felt as though she had no other choice but to talk to the one woman who had gone through all this before. The woman who had seen the spirits of the island herself, someone who would actually believe what Bri had to say.

Shea Allen heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find the young Bri Bingham standing there; it was one of the last people Shea had been expecting to see.

"Oh. Hi Bri. I thought you were Abby," breathed Shea.

"Who's Abby?" asked Bri as she welcomed herself into the room and sat down on Shea's bed.

"Just an old friend of mine. She said she would be coming here, as moral support, I guess you could say." Shea tried her best to smile.

Bri's expression suddenly became very serious. "Moral support, you mean about the ghosts you saw the other day?" A look of fear appeared on Shea's face, but she didn't answer. Bri continued. "I just want you to know, Ms. Allen... you're not the only one that knows there are spirits here. I can feel them. I might not know any of them... but I can definitely feel them. They're upset. They don't want us here. They know something bad's going to happen."

Shea's expression suddenly morphed from fear to complete horror. "Wh...what did you say?"

Bri remained stoic. "Don't freak out. There's still time. The wedding's today... but I think afterwards, it would be smart for all of us to get off this island. Like, as fast as possible."

"What are you saying, Bri? Are you saying... are you saying that there's a killer out there?"

Bri shrugged. "I don't know exactly. It might not be as serious as that. All I know is that the spirits aren't happy we're here. Bad things are gonna happen. Whether or not that means people are gonna die... I have no clue. But I don't think it's smart for us to risk it. We need to get outta here, Shea."





[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Carolina Liar - "I'm Not Over"]

Yulissa White had spent hours that morning decorating the church, preparing it for the big wedding coming up. And all the while, she felt a huge hole in her stomach.

Yulissa had known Julie Mathis since college, and the two had become close friends. Yulissa had also grown up with Graham, become best friends with him, even developed a deep affection for him. And then came that fateful day when Yulissa had invited Julie to attend a get-together with Graham; little had she known then that Julie and Graham would become close, fall in love, and become engaged to be married. It was Yulissa's worst nightmare. She did her best to hide her feelings by bragging about introducing Julie and Graham and being the one responsible for this wedding happening, but deep down, she truly wished it hadn't happened.

Distracted by her thoughts and the decorating, Yulissa didn't even notice the large group of people that had just entered the church.

"Yulissa?" came a voice, startling Yulissa and causing her to nearly fall off the ladder from which she was hanging wreaths.

Yulissa looked over her shoulder to see Amanda Mathis, Haley Mathis, Josh Weeks, Ryan MacPherson, and Dale Mooney standing in the aisle of the church. She had nearly forgotten that yesterday she had promised the five of them that she would give a brief sightseeing tour of Harper's Island before the wedding took place. She figured it would be a good idea to ease everyone's nerves about the wedding, as well as distract her own mind from her feelings for Graham.

"Oh my God! Sorry guys! I totally forgot. I'll be with you in a second; I'm almost done." Yulissa finished placing the wreath on the wall, then steadily descended the ladder and put it back into the closet where it belonged. "So, how's it look?" She looked around the church, marveling at her accomplishments.

"It looks amazing, Yulie," said Haley, sounding impressed. "This is gonna be such a beautiful wedding."

After making a few last minute adjustments to finalize the decorations of the church, Yulissa led the group out of the church and began showing them around the island. She showed them the Harper's Globe office, the doctor's office, the police station, all the major landmarks of Harper's Island. She would mention any connections that the places had to John Wakefield or the killings of years past; everytime she brought this up, Ryan's interest peaked quite a bit and he would suddenly start asking lots of questions.

Near the end of the tour, the group walked along a long dirt path surrounded by trees, and an eerie change in the weather occurred; a cool breeze picked up.

"And in there is what we call the 'Tree of Woe'; it's where the original seven victims of John Wakefield were strung up after he killed them. Pretty terrible stuff," said Yulissa, pointing in an arbitrary direction.

"Can we see it?" asked Ryan after a pause.

"Nah, it's probably not a good idea to go there," retorted Yulissa rather quickly. "Lots of bad history. Nobody really ever goes see that tree anymore. It should probably be cut down, if you ask me."

Ryan glanced over at Dale; both seemed rather suspicious of Yulissa's objection to see the tree, but they continued on nonetheless.





Bronson Deeley paced back and forth through the corridor of the Candlewick, the article about Gail Mathis' embezzlement clutched in his hand. His heart pounded against his chest; he needed to tell his son. He wasn't sure why, but something inside him kept eating away at him, telling him that this needed to be done before his son finalized his wedding vows and officially became a part of the Mathis family.

Bronson finally stopped in front of his son's bedroom door. He inhaled deeply, his heart still pounding, and knocked gently on the door. Seconds later, Graham opened the door and smiled when he saw his father.

"Hey Dad. What's up?"

Bronson peered into the room, looking around. "Is Julie in there?"

"Nah, she's into that superstition of not seeing the groom. C'mon in." Graham stepped aside, letting his father enter, and shut the door.

"Son, there's something I need to talk to you about," Bronson said, sighing heavily.

Graham's happy expression suddenly faded from his face. "Is something wrong, Dad?" But Graham didn't need a response to know the answer to that question; it was quite clear that something was bothering his father. Graham's eyes went to the piece of paper sitting in Bronson's hand. "What's that?"

Bronson sighed once again as he, too, looked down at the paper he was holding. "I guess you're better off just reading this first, before I say anything." He handed his son the article, and the two men stood in silence for the next several seconds as Graham read the words on the paper. Bronson watched as Graham's expression gradually changed from confusion to annoyance.

Finally, Graham lowered the paper and looked up at his dad, his forehead scrunched in an irritated expression. "Why... why exactly did you feel the need to show me this?"

"I would have shown you earlier, but I just recently found this myself..." said Bronson.

"That's not what I'm asking. Why did you need to show me this, at all?" Graham was starting to raise his voice.

"Don't take this the wrong way, son... but I just wanted to know the kind of family you were marrying into..."

In an unexpected fit of anger, Graham crumpled up the paper in the his hands and violently threw it at the wall. "Well, just for the record, Dad, I'm marrying Julie Mathis... not her mother! I don't give a damn what kind of stuff Gail's done God knows how many years ago, but that's for her to deal with! I've known Julie for years, Dad, and if you're trying to insinuate that she'll pull a stupid stunt like this..."

"No, no, that's not what I'm saying at all..." Bronson stuttered, trying to get a word in edgewise, but his son kept angrily interrupting.

"No, Dad, that's exactly what you're implying! Why else would you feel the need to, on my wedding day, show me an article about some stupid crime Gail Mathis committed twenty-plus years ago? No other explanation would make sense, Dad."

Bronson attempted to reply, but Graham held up a hand, preventing him from speaking.

"Just go, Dad. Please leave. I'll see you later at the wedding... that is, if you still want to see your son marry the daughter of a criminal." Graham forcefully pointed at the door. Bronson wiped his sweaty brow and sighed again; it was clear that his son would hear no more from him. He instantly regretted listening to his instincts; he wished he could turn back the clock and not shown his son that article.

Bronson slowly walked to the door, hoping that for each extra second he stayed in the room, Graham would start to reconsider and apologize to his father. But it never happened. Bronson opened the door and exited the room, and Graham immediately slammed it behind him.

The sound of the door slam cut through Bronson's heart like a knife.




Andrew and Mikey McCaffrey began preparing for the big wedding, which was now only a few hours away. As Andrew put on his tux, Mikey noticed a large ketchup-like stain on his white collared shirt.

"Oh ****! Where'd this huge stain come from?!" said Mikey.

Andrew chuckled as he buttoned up his own shirt, which was perfectly clean. "Spilled something on it one of those nights you got drunk at the Cannery and came stumbling back here?"

"Damn. You're probably right." Mikey glanced at his watch. "Well, I guess I got a few minutes to wash this thing, huh?"

As Andrew continued to dress him, Mikey snatched the white shirt and hurriedly walked through the hallway and down the stairs to the dark, dim basement. He walked through the dank hallways until he reached the door labeled "Laundry". He could hear faint music playing from inside; confused, he knocked on the door and put his ear up against it.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" he asked. When there was no response, Mikey opened the door and entered the brightly lit laundry room. He immediately looked for the source of the music and noticed a small pink iPod resting on one of the tables, attached to a small speaker, from which the music was emanating.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: HIM - "Join Me In Death"]

And then suddenly, another thing in the room caught his eye. Resting on top of one of the large, heavy-duty dryers was a figure that almost resembled a body. Mikey looked both bewildered and disgusted, but nonetheless he approached the figure. It definitely looked like a body, but it was oddly contorted; the arms and legs were twisted in unnatural ways, and even the back was severely arched. When Mikey reached the dryer on which the figure rested, he turned the body over and immediately recognized the face of Maria Dominguez, with whom he had hooked up just a couple of nights ago.

She was dead.

Mikey felt as though he were punched in the stomach and felt as though he was about to vomit. Maria's face had been badly beaten and bruised; she was almost unrecognizable. And suddenly he felt a feeling of absolute horror; how could this have happened? Her body was so misshapen; someone had to have done this to her.

Before Mikey even had enough time to process the sight before him, an incredible, splitting pain went shooting through his back. A sharp ax had been bludgeoned into his spine by someone. He didn't even have time to turn around to see the face of the killer. Within a fraction of a second, the intense pain went straight to his brain; he felt as if his head were about to explode. Instead, his vision went blurry, the sound of the music began to fade out, and within just a few seconds, it all went black.

As Mikey collapsed to the floor, the killer pulled the bloody ax out of their victim. The killer then lifted Mikey's surprisingly light body and placed it on top of the same dryer, right next to Maria. The two of them had had such chemistry when they were alive; the killer felt it was only fair for them to be together in death.

The killer smirked at the sight of the two bodies laying on top of the dryer, looking as if they were almost cuddling each other in death. With the ax, the killer then smashed apart the iPod, which, ironically enough, was playing a song called "Join Me In Death". So poetic that Maria would happen to have that song on her iPod. The killer then walked to the laundry room door, locked it from the inside, left the room, closed the door, and sliced the doorknob off with the ax, making it impossible for anyone else to get inside.

Mikey and Maria would be in there alone. Together forever.



Bronson couldn't think straight; his mind wasn't even focused on his son's wedding that was rapidly approaching. All he could think about was his confrontation with Graham and how upset he had made his son. And a sudden rage and hatred towards Gail Mathis began to surge through his body.

After several minutes of being alone in his room, Bronson finally made his way to Gail's room and knocked on her door.

"Oh! Hello, Bronson. Come on in, please," she said in her fake polite voice.

Bronson did not return her smile; instead, he stormed into the room, his wrinkly face red with anger.

"I just want you to know, Gail Mathis, that I know about your criminal past," he sputtered, his voice grainy and shaky. "And if you even dare to try and corrupt my only son, so help me God...." He began to threateningly point at Gail.

"Bronson, please..." said Gail as calmly as possible. "I don't know exactly what you're talking about..."

"You damn well know what I'm talking about, you cold-hearted bitch! I know exactly what you did; granted, it may have been several years ago... but stealing over a million dollars?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Oh, that... Listen, Bronson. Please calm down. I want you to rest assured that my mistakes have not carried over to my daughter. She and I both love your son very much and I will certainly not try to 'corrupt' him...."

"Don't you tell me anything about loving my son! You don't love him. You don't give a **** about him. You're a selfish, greedy bitch. You don't love anyone; the only thing you love is your money. And you would do just about anything to get more of it."

Bronson's tone had become threateningly calm and quiet; Gail looked at him with real fear in her eyes.

"Bronson... please. I don't know what more you want me to say. Your son and my daughter are about to get married. There is nothing we can do to stop that..."

"There's nothing we can do to stop it. But there's plenty I can do to make sure you never see my son as long as he's married to your daughter. Do you understand me?"

Gail hesitated, but then nodded, feeling it was pointless to try and argue with Bronson. The elderly man suddenly cleared his throat, adjusted his collar, and without another word, he left the room. Gail closed the door behind him, and suddenly a tear formed in her eye and trickled down her cheek. The guilt of all of her past actions were suddenly coming crashing down on her. It was simply too much for Gail Mathis to handle.



Amanda Mathis had agreed to let her sister, Haley Mathis, and Andrea Northcott to get dressed in her bedroom, with Laurie Northcott there to assist them. Amanda still felt an insane amount of jealousy for the two women for being selected as bridesmaids, especially now; after the sudden disappearance of Stacy Stone and Maria Dominguez, two bridesmaids, Amanda's own sister Julie had still not asked her to take either of the places in the wedding. Amanda felt rather insulted... but she could still dream of having her spot in Julie's wedding party as she stared longingly at Haley and Andrea putting on their beautiful green dresses in front of her.

"It's so weird, isn't it? That me and you are gonna be the only bridesmaids?" Haley asked Andrea as they strapped on their dresses. Amanda sighed; it was like Haley was pouring salt into her wounds.

Andrea shot Haley a look, Amanda's bitterness coming to mind, but the damage had already been done.

"Oh... sorry Mandy. Stacy and Maria were both so short anyway; you wouldn't have fit into their dresses," said Haley, as if that would make Amanda feel any better.

"No, no... it's okay," replied Amanda in a fakely positive tone.

"If it makes you feel any better, I think Andrew's really into you," said Andrea with a wink. "He's a cutie. You should go for that."

"I totally agree, Amanda," Laurie chimed in, though she could barely open her mouth as she held three pins between her lips, helping Andrea with her dress. "You know what they say about weddings. Love and sex is always in the air, especially at the receptions."

"Eww, Mom! I don't need to hear you talking about sex!" said Andrea, to which Haley laughed.

Amanda was deep in thought, thinking of Andrew. She definitely had her eyes set on him; he was an attractive guy and seemed really nice. The only problem was that he had barely given her the time of day since she arrived on the island, which certainly didn't make her feel very confident about her chances with him.

She felt determined, however, to finally find a man. She had been single for far too long... she was willing to do almost anything to change that.




Ryan MacPherson and Dale Mooney were preparing for the wedding as well; Dale was helping his boyfriend Ryan get into his tux. When he was all buttoned up, Ryan turned around to show Dale.

"Well? How do I look?" asked Ryan with a smile.

"You look hot, babe," said Dale. "The hottest groomsman I've ever had the pleasure of dating."

Ryan laughed as he leaned in to kiss Dale. He then went into the bathroom to fix up his hair, and Dale sat by the window, gazing longingly out at the scenery, a million thoughts swimming through his head. He had had his doubts about coming to this wedding, not knowing a single soul other than Ryan. But he had gone out of his way to get to know these people and had actually made a few friends. He felt comfortable now in his surroundings.

There was still something, however, that was a bit unnerving to him. Dale had known from news broadcasts about the terrible Harper's Island murders from ten years ago, and he had been feeling a bit uneasy about coming here to this island. Ryan, though, seemed to feel the exact opposite; he seemed almost obsessed with John Wakefield, with Henry Dunn, with practically anything relating to the horrible massacres that happened here. Dale knew that Ryan had an interest in the minds of psychopaths and murderers, but he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about Ryan's near-obsession with the criminal history of Harper's Island.

This was probably the worst time for Dale to start having these uneasy feelings, as he had planned to propose to Ryan during this romantic weeklong vacation. He was strongly hoping these feelings would subside and that he would gather up enough courage to ask for Ryan's hand in marriage, but these thoughts seemed to be consuming him at the moment, and he didn't like it.

It almost was at the point where whenever Ryan brought up Wakefield or Dunn, Dale felt scared. And he didn't like having that feeling.





The wedding was less than three hours away now, but Bronson Deeley still felt terribly distracted from all the events that had took place today. He finally cast those thoughts aside and focused on preparing for the wedding; he didn't have much time.

Bronson walked into the bathroom and stripped out of his clothes, turning the dial on the shower, his body naked, exposed, vulnerable. He stepped inside, under the hot refreshing water, trying his best to clear his mind of his falling out with his son and his argument with Gail. The hot shower was certainly helping to relax him, which is exactly what he needed before this big event.

The radio sitting on the sink next to the shower played a soft, relaxing tune which also helped to calm Bronson down; it had been a long, long time since he had felt this relaxed.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Johann Sebastian Bach - "Arioso"]

He was completely oblivious to the intruder that had entered his room.

Slowly and quietly, the person walked around the bedroom, and when they heard the water and the music coming from the bathroom, they knew that the person they were looking for was behind the bathroom door.

Slowly and quietly, the intruder opened the bathroom door, seeing the distorted image of the naked Bronson Deeley behind the frosted glass of the shower. The intruder smirked; just the person they were looking for.

Slowly and quietly, the person walked towards the shower. All the while, Bronson stood there, naked, exposed, vulnerable, completely unaware of what was happening just inches away from him.

The intruder gripped the baseball bat tightly in their hands. And then, in a sudden, quick movement, the person slid open the glass shower door, and before Bronson could comprehend anything, the intruder swung the baseball bat down over the old man's head, knocking him unconscious immediately. Bronson's body crumpled down onto the shower; his already bleeding head smashed against the ceramic wall of the shower, doing even more damage to his brittle skull.

It just took a few more smashes of the baseball bat to ensure the killer that Bronson Deeley was dead.

The killer turned the knobs of the shower, shutting the water off, and, zipping open the large bag they were holding, stuffed Bronson's wrinkly body inside.

The killer needed to get to the church, and fast. There wasn't much time left.



Shea Allen felt very apprehensive. Everything Bri had told her earlier that day was replaying in her head. She took what Bri said very seriously, and truly believed that, once the wedding was over, that she needed to get away. The fact that Abby had still not contacted her worried her even more.

But then, as if on cue, Shea's phone began to jingle, letting her know she had an incoming text. Shea snatched her phone and clicked it open, relieved to see the text was from Abby.

"Meet me at the Tree of Woe right away. It's important."

Shea's feeling of relief turned to confusion. Abby knew the wedding was today; why would she have Shea trek all the way out to the Tree of Woe? Perhaps there was something there she needed to show Shea? Perhaps that was the only place she knew they would have complete privacy? Shea decided not to question it. Instead, she grabbed her overcoat, threw it over her red dress, and hurried out of the Candlewick, her heels clicking as she briskly walked along the pavement.

The walk to the tree seemed to take forever. Shea was so anxious to finally see a familiar face, someone who had gone what she had gone through, someone she could talk to. She was so excited to see Abby, and more importantly, to find out what was so urgent.

As Shea entered the forest, she struggled to walk over the uneven ground and tried her best not to dirty up her dress, but there was really only one thing on her mind right now. She needed to get to that tree.

She finally made it to the large open clearing where the Tree of Woe stood, the same tree where poor Abby had seen her dead mother hanging seventeen years ago.

And as soon as Shea laid her eyes on the tree, a loud scream escaped from her lips and she collapsed to her knees.

There, dangling by her neck from the branches of the Tree of Woe, was the corpse of Abby Mills.





The wedding guests began to assemble inside the church, excited for the big event. Vance White, the reverend, met with Graham in one of the back rooms of the church, joined by Andrew and Ryan.

"Andrew, where the hell is Mikey?" snapped Graham, seeming very tense.

"He had some laundry to do. He left me a text saying he should be here any second."

"Well, the bride will be here any minute. I think we might need to start without him," said Vance, looking at his watch. "Are you okay with that, Graham?"

"Yeah... I mean, I guess," said Graham, wiping sweat from his brow.

Ryan patted Graham on the back. "Relax, buddy. You're getting married. Be excited!"

Outside in the church, the guests lined the pews. Gail Mathis sat in the front row on the bride's side, and continuously glanced over to the groom's side, noticing the front row was suspiciously empty. She had hoped that the confrontation she had had earlier with Bronson hadn't kept him from showing up to his own son's wedding.

"God, where's Dad? I'm surprised he's late..." Rachael whispered to Franklin; she, too, kept looking at the church's doors, waiting for her father to show up.

"He'll make it," whispered Franklin.

Several minutes passed, however, and neither Mikey nor Bronson showed up. After walking out into the church, the first thing Graham noticed was the absence of his father, and he felt a large pit in his stomach, which represented both disappointment and anger.

But the wedding continued on as planned. Music emanated from the church's sound system as the only two bridesmaids slowly walked down the aisle, holding their bouquets. Bri then walked down the aisle, looking rather miserable, but still doing her duties and tossing flower petals onto the floor, joining Andrea and Haley in the front of the church. The music then shifted to the bridal chorus, and Julie appeared, wearing her beautiful white wedding dress. Graham smiled at her from the front of the church as she slowly made her way toward him.

[MUSIC FROM THE EPISODE: Richard Wagner - "Bridal Chorus"]

Finally, she reached the front of the church, and Vance commenced the ceremony. All the while, Yulissa stared at Graham from the pews, an invisible dagger stabbing at her heart. The man of her dreams was now marrying someone else, and it killed her inside.

The ceremony progressed smoothly, and finally Julie and Graham began to recite their vows and exchanged their rings.

"If there is anyone here who objects to the marriage between these two fine young people, speak now or forever hold your peace," boomed Vance, his voice echoing throughout the church.

Everyone sat in silence, though Yulissa secretly imagined herself standing up, stopping the wedding, taking Graham from Julie and living with him happily ever after. Instead, however, she simply closed her eyes and lowered her head.

After a few seconds, Vance glanced over at Luke and nodded slightly at him. That was Luke's cue to do his one duty in the ceremony: to ring the church bell. Luke got up from his seat and walked over to the rope hanging on the side of the church.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you, Graham Deeley, and you, Julie Mathis, man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Immediately after Vance said these words, Luke pulled viciously on the rope, the sounds of the bell ringing throughout the church.

And suddenly, before the newly wedded Julie and Graham had the chance to kiss each other, a loud tumbling sound was heard coming from the bell tower just overhead.

A few seconds later, from the opening in the ceiling leading to the bell tower above, something fell, landing directly in the middle of the aisle, just behind Julie and Graham.

It was the naked, battered, bloody corpse of Bronson Deeley, on display for everyone in the church to see.