Title: Love Lost, Love Found
Summary: Emily is despaired and unloved now. Victor was to marry beautiful, living Victoria while she was left dead and decaying. All a bride wants is to be loved.
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rated: T for blood, violence and suggestive themes
A/N: This is post Corpse Bride. A comic illustrated by a talented artist who, like me, was dissatisfied with the ending inspired me to write this. Emily couldn't possibly be happy after giving up her new love after suffering in loneliness. This story is to do her justice.
The dainty butterflies fluttered gracefully in the dark, moonlit night. Victor Van Dort and his new, lovely fiancée Victoria Everglot both speculated the magnificent sight with sympathetic hearts and rejuvenated love for one another. The shy little chap kissed his new bride, all the while embracing her. Victoria grinned contentedly back at him although in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but slip a little prayer for sweet, generous Emily.
God, please help that poor creature find someone to love.
Opalescent, flitting butterflies dotted the plain night horizon as the flew deeply into the forest. Circling and swaying past all the gnarled trees and vegetation, the genial insects soon gathered and merged to form the pretty corpse bride herself. She had recreated herself in the middle of a pool of moonlight where the beam seemed like a beacon of hopeful light. So, there she knelt, hunched forward, head bowed like a lamb awaiting the slaughterer's merciful blow and tears streaking down her blue cheeks.
It was her choice, she reminded herself as she guiltily grieved over the loss of Victor's love. Yes, she had seemed satisfied to allow Victoria to have her new love as Emily did not wish Victoria to not have the life of romance and happiness that she was once promised. Still, her heart, despite being lifeless, was pained at having to let him go to his rightful partner. She had to maintain her strong exterior, however. It was required of her to be the bigger person.
In the end, she removed the ring Victor accidentally offered her and returned it to Victoria. As her slender legs led her down the aisle and near the church's open doors, she had turned, smiled lovingly and tossed the bouquet of wilted roses at the new bride, clad in pristine white and ready to be wed.
She stepped into the incandescent moonlight and allowed herself to melt into a glade of pure butterflies before fluttering into…Heaven? Oh, it had all been a façade, really. Emily was never truly happy with her sacrifice. She knew it was necessary for her to do so and she certainly did not wish to deprive Victoria of a life of eternal love like she had been. Yet, a selfish part of her mind reprimanded her. Labeling her a fool for giving up what rightfully was hers in the first place. The bittersweet waterfall of tears continued to trickle down her gaunt, pale cheeks. Despite being alone for years, this was the only time Emily wished she could just disintegrate and never have to feel so loveless and heartbroken.
Her luscious curls, though now slightly grimy and blue, contrasted with the moonlight beautifully as they fell rather messily around her heart-shaped face. Her eyes hurt from her violent weeping yet she couldn't stop them. She was just so miserable, so unloved. No man really had loved her. Victor may have grown fond of her but Emily knew his heart belonged to Victoria Everglot. In all honesty, Emily was unlucky when it boiled down to her love life.
Not because of her ethereal beauty, however. Emily was bruised with lustrous brown curls, lovely eyes of cerulean blue, smooth peach skin, fabulous bone structure and a slim, hourglass figure most women envied. Furthermore, she was the sole daughter of an incredibly wealthy business tycoon whom specialized in the fish industry as well. Emily's tearful eyes narrowed.
It had been her father's immense riches and her naivety that brought upon her untimely demise.
Emily's jaw and fists clenched as she remembered her first love.
Lord Barkis Bittern.
How could she not see through the charming smirk, the graceful mannerisms, the suave and self-absorbed voice and the gentlemanly manners? Bonejangles hadn't exaggerated when he said Emily 'fell hard and fast' for Barkis. She loved him at first sight. The moment she drowned herself into those indigo eyes, she felt her heart palpitate wildly and her soul singing.
Barkis may have been a little older than she was and he didn't possess Victor's boyish charm and sharp, handsome features. Yet, Emily found herself attracted to him. It was as if a secure leash bound her to him and he kept her pulled tightly against him. Emily closed her eyes as she recalled how happy she had been by his side. Drinking in his charismatic presence. Loving his honeyed praises. Relishing his slender hand against her bare skin.
Oh, and the symphonies they played on her father's luxurious piano! Their fingers moving in succinct, rehearsed and fluid motions as they danced over the black and white keys. She would lead or he would, depending on what piece they played. He would even ask her to dance after they finished playing their harmonious pieces and he would twirl and sway her around in tune to the piano's waltzing rhythm. All the while, complimenting on her beauty and grace. Emily, naïve as she was back then, believed they would be together forever, living a life of blissful matrimony.
Emily learnt romance and attraction through her other rich friends whom were always scouting out for potential suitors. Men always seemed to prefer her friends to her, leaving her the only one single in their little clique. Thrice, she had been a lovely bridesmaid at her friends' wedding. All the while, she would walk down the aisle with the best man, she would daydream about it actually being her wedding day where she would be the one tossing the bouquet, not catching it.
Her memory of being a lonely bridesmaid ignited anger in her heart. It reminded her of Barkis' harsh and bitter words when he performed a mock-toast for her.
A toast to Emily. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Tell me, my dear, can one's heart be broken, when it stops beating?
With that cruel statement, he gulped down the scarlet poison he had mistaken for wine and flung the goblet away. Emily found no desire to warn him of it. His words left a lingering impact on her. Her heart, no longer beating, had been trampled on again. By him. Despair pervaded her every nerve. She did nothing to stop the mob of crazy living dead citizens pouncing on him, no doubt roughing him up in the tiny vestibule in the church. All she felt was numb. Why did he keep breaking her heart like this, a heart filled with so much love and hope for him?
Wasn't it bad enough that he had caused her to die?
Emily's father never supported her decision to elope with Barkis. To him, Barkis was just some blatant opportunist wishing to marry a young woman for her fortune. Emily, stupid blockhead, that she was that night, turned a deaf ear to her father's warnings. Drunken with love for Barkis, she willingly defied her father and secretly left to meet Barkis in the forest so that they could leave the town and get married in other part of the world.
That gloomy, dreary night Emily hurriedly packed all the money and jewelry she could get her hands, dressed herself in a gorgeous, white lace wedding gown and dainty veil before sneaking out of her father's mansion. She wrote a note to her father, informing him that she would be married when he found this piece of writing.
She should've wrote that she would be dead when he found it.
Emily, hopeful, naïve little Emily, went off alone to the forest, awaiting Barkis' arrival. She sat herself upon a large boulder as she waited patiently. A few hours dragged by and neither a creature stirred nor a gust of wind blew. The poor girl started to worry. Standing up a little too late to leave, she heard a dark, menacing chuckle.
"Hello, Emily."
"Oh, Barkis, it's you!" She squealed in delight. She ran to embrace him with all the wild abandon of an infatuated woman. He smirked back at her and returned her embrace. Too bad, she never glimpsed the sharp dagger behind the cunning smile.
Emily met her death that night. Barkis had been relentless. He stabbed her in the heart, robbing her of every drop of life. He ignored her dire screams and her pleas for help. He slashed her cheek, leaving an open wound with blood gushing out. A broken arm and leg were also listed under her injuries. After her brutal murder, Barkis simply deposited her body in a ditch and piled dirt onto her. Then, he snatched up her riches and left her, languishing in her deathbed.
Forgotten, unloved and dead.
Unutterable rage coursed through every fiber of her being. Her eyes were narrowed into little slits. She stood up, trembling in all her fiery infuriation. Her teeth bared, she snarled.
Barkis.
Her first love.
Her first fiancée.
The first visitor into her sacred garden.
Emily had never felt such primal need to bring physical harm upon someone before. Yet now, she was out for blood.
It didn't hurt as badly to betrayed on the night she was to married as it did to be killed by the first and only man whom stole away her virginity. The most priceless symbol of purity in a female. Emily recalled that wondrous night. He had been gentle, passionate and devoted to satisfying her. She relished the smooth skin contact and that cataclysmic point of ecstasy when he united with her. Yes, there had been searing pain, there was that point of uncertainty within her as to whether she wanted him to continue and there was the fear that he would leave her after this 'encounter'.
He soothed her pain with his gentle motions. He removed her uncertainty with his smoldering nips and kisses. He settled her fearful mind with three little words she had so stupidly believed.
I love you, Emily Vanderbilt
Bullshit.
Vengeance occupying her every conscious thought, Emily started the long trudge back to the church. She just hoped Victor and Victoria had the ceremony performed and left. She did not want them to witness the gory act she was about to commit.
The cathedral…
Lord Barkis lost track of the time passed as he sat, hunched forward, his head buried in shame in his arms. Finally, that insane mob of corpses had left him after tormenting him with their weapons and arsenal of insults. That ghastly maggot had the gall to even call him a bastard! Which he was, actually.
How could he have been so foolish? To drink that poison and unwittingly die had been his downfall. Now, he was dead just like the rest of that crazy crowd of skeletons and rotting cadavers. All that he had carefully planned was now ruined. Oh, he had been very clever.
He had heard of Victoria Everglot, a pretty little thing whom he idiotically believed was born into a rich family, was about to be married. Married to a sniveling, sorry excuse of a groom, Victor. He waited patiently for said boy, Victor to mess up his vows in his usual awkward, bumbling fashion. As expected he did and Barkis was free to swoop in on unsuspecting Victoria. Then, it all went horribly wrong.
The entire town was swarmed with the living dead in order to watch a ceremony performed for Victor and his ex, Emily. Adding to that, he learnt that Victoria's parents were dirt poor and that he was the one whom was supposed to drag them out of poverty. Despite that, he still went to the cathedral to claim Victoria since he had indeed married her.
He hadn't expected Emily to remember him and announce to everyone his crime of murdering her. He rebuked her, accusing her of scandalizing him for he did not want his criminal reputation to get out. A sword battle ensued between him and Victor and he had been a hair's breadth close to winning had it not been for that meddling woman.
She withdrew the sword impaled in her lifeless body and ordered him to leave immediately. He couldn't help but be snide for one more moment. So, he made a mock-toast to her, ridiculing her for dying a lonely spinster and that her dead heart could no longer be broken.
Satisfyingly, her face took on a despondent, loveless expression and her limbs fell numb. Good.
He gulped down the poison he had mistaken for wine and strutted off, chuckling darkly. Little did he know karma had hit and he had brought upon his own downfall. When his choking subsided, he soon died and that hoard of furious corpses attacked him.
They kicked, slammed, punched, strangled and tortured him until they, at last, got bored and left him, only stopping to spit at his feet. They left a once sly, conniving and intelligent man to decompose into a broken, defeated pitiful mess. If it hadn't been for that woman tampering with his plans, he would've had a chance. He knew partly the reason she stopped him was for revenge. Revenge for betraying and killing her. Never would he though sweet Emily Vanderbilt to court such vengeance.
Emily may not have been his first victim but she was the only one that caused such conflicting emotions within him. Even when she had brandished the sword towards him with all her anger blazing in her lovely blue eyes, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she still was. Even in death, she still affected him so.
No one believed that Barkis loved Emily back. Truthfully, he did. He just never planned on it occurring. It was a strict rule that in the business of gold digging, one must never fall in love with one's victim. It would complicate matters and bring about a conclusion contrary to one's wishes.
Yet, how could he have resisted her in the first place? Emily was not only astoundingly wealthy but radiant as well. In fact, out of all the rich women he courted, Emily was by far the most beautiful of them all. He immediately dismissed the warm, tingling sensations he received whenever she stared at him with those innocent blue eyes as feelings of lust. However, soon, as the days passed and they began meeting each other frequently, Barkis discovered that the newfound emotions ran deeper than just physical desire.
Emily was unlike all the stunning socialites he seduced. She wasn't just looks and no substance. She had a great deal of wit and intelligence. Her innocent, playful manners were charming. She was lively, elegant and open-minded. Her piano-playing skills were unsurpassable. No one could play such melodious pieces than she. Often, he would join her and they would be an interesting duet, their slender fingers moving nimbly over the keys, making beautiful music together. Soon, he would escort her into the ballroom and they would be waltzing gracefully like a real couple in love.
That's when he began worrying. He knew seduction was part of his job but he soon discovered he himself was in trouble of her seduction. Naïve as she was, Emily knew how to flirt. She would bat her long eyelashes, sway her womanly hips a little or flip her luscious curls out whenever he was near. Barkis knew he was treading on dangerous ground the minute she asked him to spend the night with her in his mansion.
A sight to behold was lying on his bed! Her delicious smooth, fair skin was slightly damp, dripping bathwater. Her lustrous mane was shiny and reflected the dark night. Her curvaceous, slender and sylph-like frame was clad in only a French lace negligee that came to mid-thigh. Her flawless face was devoid of makeup and a shy, innocent smile crept slowly across it at the sight of his gaping mouth.
Barkis knew he should have declined. Yes, he had shared the bed of his victims before but Emily…was different. He knew those forbidden feelings were arising quickly, just simmering beneath the surface and consummating them would intensify such feelings. Still, he was a hot-blooded man after all. He had his needs. And dear, sweet Emily was giving herself to him so willingly, so eagerly. Who was he to deny such beauty?
That night had been the most magical night of carnal desire he had ever experienced. Despite being a virgin, Emily knew all of the basic erogenous zones and was a bold lover. She did nibble her lip in pain, however when he wrenched her maidenhood away. He calmed her, reassuring that the pain would leave. He met her ravenous mouth with hungry kisses. He touched and caressed her freely and passionately. He moved nimbly within her, loving the sensations.
When they both reached their ultimate pleasure points, they climaxed against each other and Barkis uttered those three little words he feared and dreaded the most.
I love you, Emily Vanderbilt.
Such a stupid slip of the tongue had scarred him that night. As Emily laid nestled gratefully in his arms, he was kept awake by that niggling doubt. He really did love Emily. He actually loved someone he was trying to swindle. He felt sick in his stomach. No. He could not love! That would ruin his plans to steal away her fortune. Yet, the damage had been done.
He loved Emily.
He either accepted it or repressed it.
Barkis, being the selfish man that he was, chose the latter.
So, he crooned to her charmingly, planning a secret elopement away from her unsupportive, meddling father. Emily readily agreed and with her packed riches, met him in the forest. Barkis intercepted her and murdered her under the moonlight. Burying her dead, bleeding and mutilated body in a ditch, he stole away with her riches.
Oh, he felt victorious with his find. At the same thing, the biggest feeling of dread permeated him. He had killed his one and only love. Barkis stubbornly ignored that emotion of his. He only cared for Emily for her money, nothing else. Lying to himself never healed the wound he had inflicted upon himself. As the years passed, he rebuilt the cold, defensive shield around his heart. A shield Emily successfully melted with her kind heart, her amazing attractiveness and her vibrant charm.
And now, she had not only destroyed that shield again, she had destroyed him as well.
His attention soon snapped back at the door where it was now open and light streamed in. He turned, hoping to God that it wasn't the loony dead people wanting a second helping. What he saw surprised him.
Emily, rage smoldering in her cerulean eyes, her teeth gritted and her right fist clenched around a sharp sword.
Barkis was shocked but plastered a sly smirk over his face. He stood up, dusting himself off and faced her with his hands behind his back.
"Ah, my dear, why are you here? There's no use in killing me. I'm already dead as you can see," He drawled, smirking at her reddened, tearful eyes. Dear God, she still looked utterly ravishing after going through so much Hell. The blue skin and tattered wedding gown actually made her look angelic, not sickening.
Emily narrowed her eyes. Why didn't the tears refuse to stop? She didn't want to appear weak in front of Barkis, not when she was about to get her revenge. She raised the sword and positioned it right above his heart. He may be dead but she needed to see blood. She wanted him to feel what it was like to have his heart stabbed into a bloody pulp.
Wiping the tears away furiously with her free hand, she declared in a low, venomous tone.
"I hate you."
With that, she drove the sword into Barkis' heart with stupendous force. Blood sputtered and leaked instantly out of it, deflating it and staining his clothes as well as her hand. The blood flowed easily and smoothly out and onto the church floor. Emily watched it all in an emotionless state. The tears resumed leaking out of her tired eyes.
Throughout this violent act, all Barkis' did was smile cunningly like he always did. He never faltered, his arms remained behind his back. He was dead, he could not feel pain. Whatever Emily was doing was to ease her infuriation. She wondered if she had meant her earlier words.
Pulling out the sword from his chest, he flung it away carelessly and stared at her. Emily whimpered, his stare had never failed to unnerve her. Oh, she felt no victory. No triumph. Not even a speckle of joy when she stabbed Barkis. All she felt was more despair, more pain and more depression. Revenge really wasn't her solution or what she desired.
When it all boiled down to it, all Emily desperately wanted was to loved.
"What were you trying to prove, Emily?" Barkis snapped her out of her reverie. "Stabbing me with a sword was fruitless, you knew. Yet, why did you do it? Why did you come crawling back here to me? Aren't you happy your beloved Victor has left with that little witch, Victoria?"
Emily clenched her fists tightly, still sad and crying. Why? Why did she still feel so strongly towards him after all these years? She fisted her tears away. This man betrayed and killed her. Yet, that bond between them was still fixed, never to be broken. Emily sighed in defeat. The simple fact was she still loved him dearly. All her afterlife, she still thought of him. Even with Victor, Barkis still lingered in a small corner of her mind. Stabbing him in the chest was a way to prove how much she still loved him. If she felt glee, she knew the curse was broken. But she didn't. She still loved him so much, it hurt.
"Why do you do this to me, Barkis? I loved you and now after all the horrible, treacherous, vile and sinful crimes you committed, I discovered that…" Here, her voice dropped to a strained whisper. "I still love you so very much."
Barkis, of course, was amazed. This time, he could not mask his feelings with a lucid, conniving smirk. He reached forward and took Emily's cold, blue hand in his own.
"Did this help your suffering as it did for me?" He inquired softly, kissing her hand. Emily whimpered again, a solitary tear slipping down her cheek. Oh, how she still loved him! Victor was a passing fancy, an infatuation but Barkis was her first and only true love.
"No." She feebly answered back. Barkis smirked, that was the correct answer. What for did he need money now that he was dead. He could finally live, guiltless, in happiness with his love. Yes, he said love.
Embracing her, Barkis claimed her cold, dead lips as his. Emily sighed at feeling a slimy, frigid tongue enter her mouth as she flung her arms around his neck. His blood stained her wedding gown but she couldn't care less. She felt safe in his embrace and missed having his strong arms around her petite frame. He held her tight with his arms around her slender waist. Oh, she was his again and he will never let her go again. Emily found her love as well as Barkis realized he had been in love.
Finally, two jilted and estranged lovers were reunited.
Their love shall live on despite their untimely deaths.
A/N: Well, there you go. Be nice, this is my very first Corpse Bride story.