The Missing Bride – a mystery by Alysse Aallyn

Quite a trudge – hundreds of steps –

And I was alone. Maybe these

Holiday-makers were all just too old.

But with every step

I felt increasing peace –

Then came a sign:

“SSSSHHH! MEDITATION IN SESSION!”

Tamed my labored breathing –

Climbed the last few steps

Silently. One teacher – a very old man –

In perfect lotus position –

Eyes closed –

Orchestrated six students – 

Their backs to me –

All wearing white.

Like a cult?

I studied them thoughtfully.

No hair like Mirabel’s –

A couple of blondes and one boy  –

Very close-cropped, maybe chemo?

My gaze increasingly

Fixed on him;  felt

I must be hallucinating.

Weren’t those Mirabel’s ears?

The hair just coming in

Was silvery – the tiny ear studs –

Silver, not diamonds.

I inched my way around – one student

Opened her eyes – gave me

The harsh look my inquisitiveness

Warranted. But I persisted – the skinny

Silent student lost in meditation

Was my sister!  No other jewelry, no makeup, 

Just cheap gauze clothing, dirty bony bare feet

And that scarred lip.

Looks like the joke was on Mirabel –

Bald, at her thinnest – that

Magnified her true self so

Hugely no one –

No one who loved her –

Could ever mistake her.

Tears sprang to my eyes. I closed them and

Backed against the stone white-washed wall

Trying to mentally connect with her.

What was she thinking

Right at this minute?

Maybe nothing.

I’d meditated – a couple of times and

Found it annoying. I like my own brain

And don’t want to escape it.

I launched an experiment – she forced me

To come all this way to find her –

Now I will make her

Feel my presence. That project quenched 

My tears as anger always does;

Focused everything I had

 On her. She was strong;

I’ll say that for her

It took a long time to reach her:

Deep in her dream place –

Mouth slightly open – 

One tiny tear sliding down from her eye.

That’s when I touched her!  I could feel it. 

She stirred.

Eyes opened. My sister Mirabel took a

Long, long look into me.

Chapter 19 – Killer Signature

“Mirabel?”

I mouthed her name. She ducked her head,

Bowed deeply forward, then rose

To her feet. A ripple ran through

The group and the leader opened one eye

In displeasure.

My sister grabbed my arm

And began dragging me downstairs.

“My name here is Franny.” 

She whispered.

Franny? That name set up echoes.

Had she stolen a murder victim’s

Identity?

I refused to unleash her;

Knew she was meditating for a

Superpower of

Invisibility;

Miraging at will.

At the base of the lighthouse steps 

We burst out; 

Into the strong sunlight.

 “I thought you were dead,”

I gasped. “You left me with HIM!”

She pulled me into a swing

Beneath a shady awning

Two sisters swinging

Side by side –

Both of them crying.

 “I’m so glad you found me,”

She said, “Did they follow you?”

 “How could you leave me

With HIM,” I raged at her.

 “I knew you could handle him,”

She insisted with equal ferocity,

“You’d never fall

For any of his tricks.

And wasn’t I right?

Look, here you are.”