The Late Wives Club

         She felt ashamed she realized the party she had been dragged to unvolunitarily was a black-tie affair. Normally she would've brushed it off and tried to go with the flow, but when you're standing in the middle of a room full of tuxedoed men in nothing but a sheer teddy and thong underwear it was like living the bad dream of showing up to class naked. But this was much worse, she couldn't do anything about it because what she was wearing now was what she had on when she died.
         Across the room was Gregory, chatting with his buddies from college, looking gorgeous in his tuxedo. His black hair slicked back looking like he belonged in a black-and-white movie as the dashing bachelor. He's sipping a scotch and smoking a cigar. She felt a lecture bubbling in her chest rattling off the dangers of drinking and smoking, after all she was a high school health teacher...or had been.
         "It's funny, the things you learn about a man when he kills you." She turns to find herself face-to-face with a red head, who stood at least three or four inches taller than she. "Trust me, I know the feeling."
         "So do I," another woman appeared. A brunette, younger than the first, dressed in a pair of khaki capris and a tank top showing her ripped body.
         "I'm Ella and this is Veronica," says the redhead. "What's your name, Babydoll?"
         "Bonnie," she says. She looks around, wondering if there will be more who understand what she is feeling but only Ella and Veronica remain.
         A waiter passes by with a tray full of drinks, Ella reaches for one but being dead her hand slides through. "Damn, I could've really used that."
         Bonnie took a moment to glance Ella over, she was older but no more than thirty she assumed, her red hair fell to her shoulders not a single strand out of place. She wore a burgundy skirt and matching blazer over a cream button-down shirt. Bonnie guessed she had been a business woman of some sort.
         "Close," Ella said, reading Bonnie's mind. "I was just going in for an interview. I landed the job at an ad agency. Came home and was greeted by the hitman my husband paid two grand to do me in." Her blue eyes shifted across the room and drilled holes into a blond man talking to Gregory. "Made it look like a home invasion, collected on the life insurance policy a few days later to 'cover the funeral expenses.'" With a deep sigh she turned to Veronica. "What's your story, Bad Ass?"
         Veronica reflected back on the memory and giving a slight smile. "He always knew that I couldn't resist rock-climbing. My brother had just gotten back from Iraq and we were going to make a day out of it," her expression changed as the darker memories flooded in. "Someone had tampered with my equipment. The look on my brother's face as the rope snapped and he watched me fall. The impact wasn't as bad as I would've expected."
         Bonnie frowned. "Not bad? You died. How was that not bad?"
         Veronica shrugged. "I don't know, I expected to suffer...but it was quick and didn't hurt at all."
         "So which one of these bastards cashed in on you?" Ella asked.
         "The Don Juan over there schmoozing with Barely Legal." Veronica gestured to a Latino male as he tucked a strand hair behind the ear of a waitress that was carrying a tray of cheese and crackers. She turned to Bonnie. "How about you? From the looks of what you're wearing it must've been interesting."
         Bonnie looked down at her feet and shook her head. "It wasn't like that," she said. "Gregory told me he had a surprise for our second anniversary and I was so excited. I had just found out we were expecting a baby..."
{indent]"Shit," Ella mumbled. Veronica nodded in agreement.
         "...I had been planning on telling him when we got to wherever we were going. It turned out to be the cabin in the mountains he proposed to me in. I went into the bedroom and found the box with," she looked down and ran her hands over her belly, "this inside. I put it on and he came in. Blindfolded me, put a gag in my mouth and tied my wrists. I thought..." She wasn't sure if she could blush but if she could she imagined her face was the color of a beet. "Well, you know. I had never done anything like that before so I was nervous. But then came the cold, he had taken me outside. I started to panic but he was stronger. He tied me up to a tree, it was November but the chill was too much."
         "How has he gotten away with it?" Veronica asked. "There must have been DNA around."
         Bonnie lifted her head to meet the gaze of the brunette. "Look around, Veronica." She held out her arms and gestured in a wide circle. "There are cops here, lawyers, forensic specialists. They are all friends here, they would cover for each other, dispose of evidence and plant others if need be." She placed her hand over her mouth to prevent a sob from escaping, she vanished and reappeared beside Gregory and started swinging her fists, each time going through him. "You stupid bastard! Did our fucking wedding vows mean nothing to you, you piece of shit. Why did you do this to me? To our baby? What did he ever do to you? Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!" With a final swing she fell to her knees, back in the middle of the room beside Ella and Veronica. In a way she felt better, but no matter what she was still dead. Her baby never got the chance to see the outside world. It was probably for the best. If the baby had been a boy he would've joined this...cult...full of men who didn't hesitate to murder their wives and collect on the life insurance they had taken out in secret. If the baby had been a girl...no, she wouldn't think of that any further, she didn't want to think of how one of these bastards would have killed her baby girl.
         "I wonder how many more of us there are," Veronica said, taking a look at each man in the room, calculating one woman for each man bringing it to a minimum of 50 women.
         "They have their own club, well so do we," Ella said. "Welcome ladies, to the Late Wives Club."