Hello all! Now this is a brand new start for me, with my first one for Corpse Bride. I adore this movie, but I never thought I would actually write my own story for it. Still, after reading some awesome stories by some of my favorite authors, I decided to give it a shot. So with this story, it's my idea of what Victor may have been thinking (though the story is in third person) between after he fled the rehearsal and by the moment he fainted after Emily cornered him.
So enjoy this story, and if response goes well, I'll consider writing some more stories for this fandom.
On the side, I love puns, and I wanted to try and use one for this story. The title of this story is taken from a film of the same name. It suits, don't you think? ;)
Victor was standing on the bridge that was just outside of the village. He was holding the jasmine Victoria had given him in the palm of his left hand. He picked it up and held it in his right hand and stared at it before letting out a discouraged sigh.
Earlier this evening, Victor had spent over three hours trying to memorize the vows during the wedding rehearsal being held for him and his arranged fiancée Victoria. But because he wanted to do it right and perfectly as his parents and Victoria's parents wanted him to, Victor became extremely nervous and was unable to remember the exact vows and all the steps that needed to be done. It didn't help that Pastor Galswells was very intimidating and short of patience, so he added to Victor's nervousness over the whole ordeal. Finally, Gaslwells kicked Victor out, coldly demanding him to learn the vows. Since then, Victor had bolted from the Everglot mansion and to the outskirts of town, desperate to be alone.
Victor had been standing at the bridge for an hour already, thinking back on what recently happened at the rehearsal. He had never felt so ashamed or embarrassed in his life. But was worse to him was that he realized how much he liked Victoria, and he was even more humiliated because he worried that she would think badly of him, just as his parents and impending in-laws would be.
After he sighed, Victor finally let his thoughts be said out loud. "Oh, Victoria. She must think I'm such a fool. This day couldn't get any worse."
Just as Victor tucked the jasmine into his coat pocket, he gasped when he suddenly heard a bell ringing. He looked over to the town and saw it was the town crier. While he continued to ring his bell, the town crier shouted, "Hear ye! Hear ye! Rehearsal in ruins as Van Dort boy causes chaos! Fishy fiancé could be canned! Everglots all fired up as Van Dort disaster ruins rehearsal!"
As the town crier shouted his last sentence, Victor rolled his eyes and turned away while throwing his arms up in annoyance. Great, he thought. Now everyone in the town knows about it. Then he started walking towards the forest.
A short time later, Victor had walked into part of the forest when he finally started talking to himself about his vows. "It really shouldn't be all that difficult. It's just a few simple vows." He brought his right hand up towards him. "With this hand…I will take your wine." Victor groaned softly at his mistake. "No."
About fifteen minutes later, Victor had wandered further into the forest when he decided to try again. As he extended his right hand forward, he said, "With this hand," then he brought both hands towards his chest and added, "I will cup your…" Victor then took a moment to look down and realize where his hands were. Horrified, he exclaimed, "Oh, goodness, no!" before he resumed walking.
Another fifteen minutes went by, and Victor had finally reached the deepest part of the forest. He stopped in his tracks as he started to practice his vows once more. "With…this…with this," he hesitated. "With this candle, I will…" Victor paused, desperately trying to remember the next line of this vow. "I will…" Then he remembered just what he did with the candle earlier tonight, and his face fell as he said it out loud, "I will set your mother on fire."
Victor facepalmed his forehead, then he sat down on a tree stump, feeling exhausted and more depressed then before. "Oh, it's no use," he said sadly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out both his ring and the jasmine. Victor took a moment to sniff the fragrance of the jasmine, then smiled briefly. This reminded him of why he had to do the vows right, for Victoria. Don't do it for yourself, he thought. Do it for Victoria.
Feeling more at ease with himself, Victor stood up, still holding the ring in his hand. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine." While saying the last few words, Victor tossed the ring into the air and caught it just as quickly. He felt much more confident now and did not make a single mistake.
Victor looked at a small tree in front of him. "Ah, Mrs. Everglot." He approached the tree and took a branch in his hand, as if he was holding a woman's hand like a gentleman would do. "You look ravishing this evening." Then he let go of the tree branch and walked towards the stump. "What's that, Mr. Everglot?" Victor pretended to ask, holding his hand to his ear. "Call you 'Dad'?" He patted the stump as he finished, "If you insist, sir."
Victor noticed another small tree and broke off part of one of its branches. "With this candle," he said, then pretended it was a candle to use on another branch while continuing, "I will light your way in darkness." Then Victor produced the ring in his hand again. "With this ring, I ask you to be mine!" While he spoke the last few words, Victor kneeled on the ground and placed the ring on a tree root.
That's it! I finally did it! Victor thought with triumph once he was done. He stared at the root on which the ring had been placed. As he looked at it a little longer, Victor widened his eyes. He thought it actually looked more like a human finger than a tree root. Before he could think further, he felt a sudden, cold gust of wind behind him. Then Victor heard the sound of crows cawing. He looked up at the tree behind him, and saw that there were over two dozen crows. Victor immediately became nervous. He had a strange feeling that the crows were there and cawing because they sensed something ominous was about to happen.
Before he could think about it anymore, Victor gasped as he suddenly felt something grab his wrist and pull his right arm entirely under the ground! He gasped again when he noticed where his arm was. Victor then immediately stood up and grabbed the arm with his other arm. But whatever was latched on would not let go! Victor grunted as he pulled with all his might while whatever was grabbing also continued to pull! Finally, Victor broke free of the grip and tumbled backwards onto the ground, letting out a cry as he did. He sat up with relief, but then he gasped in horror at what he saw was still holding his wrist: it was the skeletal arm and hand of a human! Oh my God! Victor thought. He cried out in repulsion and tried to shake off the arm. When it finally did, he sighed with relief.
But that was not it. Victor then heard what sounded like a rumbling sound coming from below the ground. He looked towards the spot from where the skeletal arm had come and saw cracks forming in the ground, eventually forming a hole. What is going on? Victor remained frozen with fear as he saw what looked like a human hand unearth from the hole and claw its fingers into the ground, followed by the rest of the body. When the entire figure had surfaced, Victor noticed that it was wearing a tattered wedding dress and veil, which made him realize that it was a woman. This woman's face was hidden by her veil, but she soon removed it from her face with her right arm. Once her face was in view, the woman looked at Victor with content. Then she spoke in a whispering tone, though it was loud enough for him to hear, "I do!", and her face immediately lit up.
But Victor, who had still been looking at the woman with fear ever since her entire body rose from the ground, gasped and immediately backed away, even as she reached out to him. He finally got the strength to get up and start running, which he did. While he ran, the dead woman stopped briefly to pick up her skeletal arm, the one that had been grasped to Victor's wrist, and reattach it.
As he ran, Victor looked behind him to see far or close she was to him. He did not pay attention to what was in front of him, so when he came upon a hill, he stumbled, then fell and hit his head on a nearby tombstone. He grabbed his head in pain, but he quickly looked behind him and saw the corpse woman at the top of the hill from where he had fallen. Victor backed up against the tombstone, then the woman reached out to Victor again before he finally got to his feet and started running again.
Again, Victor only looked behind him, not in front of him, and was still keeping an eye out for the woman when he suddenly ran into a tree, hitting his left eye. Ouch! He backed away from the tree, holding his eye in pain. Then he saw out of his right eye, despite his vision being somewhat blurry, the corpse still walking in his direction. He tried to run off again, only to run into the same tree again before he took off in another direction.
But as Victor continued to run, he was slowed down again when he slid onto a frozen pond. For several seconds, he couldn't get his feet to do anything but run in place. When he looked over his right shoulder, the corpse was, once again, walking towards him. She became even closer this time, but Victor finally mustered his strength to get back on to the ground and resumed running before she could catch up entirely. Victor thought that she seemed to be floating, rather than walking, as if she was a ghost.
Victor once more ran into trouble as he kept his eyes on the woman following him and neglected to stop and look in front of him. He got caught in tangled tree branches that made it harder for him to keep going. But Victor was desperate to not let this strange corpse woman catch up with him. Grunting as he struggled, Victor ran through the tangled branches with all of his might. Some of them got caught on his clothes, tearing the right shoulder of his coat and the cuff of his right sleeve.
Free at last, Victor fled out from the forest entirely as he came back to the bridge. Crows were following him and cawing as they swooped over him. Victor ducked, letting them fly. Once they were gone, he stood up again, sighing and trying to catch his breath. Victor continued panting heavily as he looked around him, searching for any signs of this mysterious woman. He looked in all directions, from the forest, to the church, to the outskirts of town.
Nothing. Victor saw nothing now.
I've finally lost her. Victor thought as he heavily sighed in relief. He immediately started to turn around to head back to the village. Right as he did, he gasped as he came face to face with the corpse woman!
Victor became paralyzed with fear once more. The only thing he could think to do was back away, but the side of the bridge eventually stopped him in his tracks. He was finally cornered with no place to run. As Victor backed away, the woman slowly walked towards him, one step at a time, and raised her arms. What is she going to do to me? Victor thought in terror.
The woman raised her arms to put her hands on Victor's shoulders. But Victor could hardly feel her touching him as he kept his eyes on her, too terrified to do anything else. Victor barely even noticed that crows were surrounding him and the woman, and the closer she approached him, the more crows surrounded them, and the louder they cawed.
Still in the midst of all the cawing crows, the woman whispered five words out loud. "You may kiss the bride."
Victor remained terrified at what was going on before him that he hardly noticed the woman close her eyes and kiss his lips with her own. He did briefly feel that this woman's lips were stone cold. But by this time, Victor felt so shocked and terrified that these emotions ultimately overcame him, and he passed out in the corpse woman's arms.
Little did Victor know that when he would regain consciousness, he would find himself in a very unusual place that would take him on the start of an unusual adventure.