Contents
Aoife — Chapter 21
Overview
Late at night, Aoife hears a chilling keening and investigates the dark grounds. She discovers the best man slumped by the outbuildings, drunk, high, and weeping, then ushers him back inside. The island’s menace and the ushers’ pack behavior heighten tension, hinting at buried fears and looming trouble.
Summary
After the guests finally retire, Aoife and Freddy hear an eerie keening outside. Fresh from witnessing the ushers’ rowdy chanting, Aoife worries about their pack mentality and the island’s capacity to strip away restraint. Despite Freddy’s concern, she goes out with a poker to investigate.
In the darkness, Aoife notes the kitchen’s glow and the couple’s lit window, remembering the bed’s rhythmic thuds. She listens past the surf and marquee’s rustle, locating the sobbing and glimpsing movement by the outbuildings, stirring old island ghost stories and a surge of fear.
Calling out halts the sobbing. Aoife’s torch reveals a figure with wild hair and gleaming eyes, like a folkloric omen, but it is the best man. Slumped against a wall, he is slurred, tear-streaked, and reeking of drink and weed. Aoife warns of the outbuildings’ dangers and keeps her distance, poker in hand.
The best man forces a crooked grin and admits he has overindulged, saying the mix makes him feel “off” and like he was seeing things. Aoife watches him lurch back toward the Folly, unconvinced by his bravado; he looks miserable and terrified, like a man who has seen a ghost.
Who Appears
- AoifeWedding planner; investigates eerie nighttime sobbing, confronts fear and folklore, finds the best man distressed, and sends him safely inside.
- Johnno (best man)Found outside by the outbuildings, drunk and high, tearful and shaken, behaving as if he has seen a ghost.
- FreddyAoife’s husband; urges caution and offers to accompany her when she goes to investigate the keening.