Team: Appleby arrows
Position: beater 1
Round 3
prompts:
The tell-tale heart Edgar Allan Poe
Character- Marius black
Plot point- wedding
Setting- night
Warning: implied murder-suicide. Oh and a little blood trigger for the marriage ceremony.
Also like just a good mood setter, secret by the pierces really works with this. I was listening to it while I wrote lmao...
Marius beamed at his reflection. He could not believe this day had finally come. And the best part was, he could rub it in his family's smug, aristocratic faces. He wished he could change his vows to 'Disowning me, are you?! Well, guess what?! I'm marrying a Greengrass! You could've been allies!"
He laughed to himself as he straightened his bowtie. He had made sure the wedding would be marvellous. The theme was white and red, and he was wearing a blood-red suit with a white bow tie, and white shoes. Most people would not be able to pull this look off, but he was a bloody Black. He could wear a potato sack drenched in actual blood and he would still look good.
Marius did a small twirl in front of his mirror, appreciating his beautiful suit and how it fit and clung to his body in just the right places. Suddenly the flap of his tent opened and there stood his mother in law.
"Alma! My, that dress looks ravishing on you. Say, if I were not marrying your daughter I wouldn't mind taking you as my bride."
Alma blushed and softly slapped him on the arm. "Now, now, Marius! You're part of the family. There is no need for flattery anymore."
"It isn't flattery if it's the truth," he said before he bowed down and kissed the lady's hand, causing her to blush and look away. He smirked at his capability to fluster even the most poised of women. He straightened and gave his mother-in-law to be a genuine smile.
"The Blacks are here…. there's no going back now. Are you sure of this?"
"Yes, I'm sure. They won't cause too much drama… they care for their reputation too much."
Alma pursed her lips and nodded, "If they ruin the wedding I spent six weeks planning, I will have your head!" She waved a finger in his face threateningly, and his smile widened.
"I'll make sure they behave, Alma." She rolled her eyes and held out her hand for him to escort her to the small stage they had set up.
He walked Alma to her seat before walking onto the stage himself, standing next to his bride's brother, Felix.
Felix had worn white and red like the rest of the men, but somehow it looked the best on him. The way the fabric clung to his waist, how the colour complemented his olive skin… he was a beautiful man, lean, with defined muscles you could see through his suit. Tall, with a beautiful face, extremely defined cheekbones with dark green eyes, and curly black hair that framed his jawline, but didn't quite reach his shoulder, Marius could easily see how girls would fall at his feet despite the trail of heartbreak behind him.
He smirked at his brother in law, and Felix returned the smirk with a wink that made Marius's heart flutter. Suddenly, the music picked up, and everyone's attention was turned to the aisle, where Marius' beautiful bride, Felicity, turned the corner, holding her father's arm.
She looked as marvellous as her brother as she made her way down the aisle, beaming at her husband-to-be, as excitement glittered in her eyes. Marius returned her enthusiastic smile as he watched her white dress drag across the dark red carpet. From the corner of his eye, he could see the Black family, stiff and unmoving, staring at him in disbelief as if the reality of the situation had just dawned on them.
Marius had to use all of his willpower not to laugh as he kept smiling, his father in law giving Felicity's hand to him and going to sit next to his wife.
Felicity came onto the stage and stood facing him. The crowd went silent as the couple looked at each other. Marius started with his vows first.
"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows." he reached out and grabbed his wife's left hand with his. "Your cup will never empty," he picked up the wine bottle with his free hand and filled a glass they had set to the side halfway before picking up the glass, "For I will be your wine." He tipped the glass softly into his bride's mouth and watched the crimson liquid slowly disappear.
"With this candle, I will light your way in darkness." Felix handed him a lit match and he set the white candle beside him aflame.
"With this ring," he pulled out a beautiful ring from his pocket. Three medium-sized diamonds carved in the shape of blooming roses on a golden ring with rose vines delicately carved into it. He slipped the ring on the hand he was holding as he said the final lines, "I ask you to be mine."
He never broke eye contact with his wife through his vows and continued to keep her gaze as she repeated the vows to him, even when tiling his head back to let her pour the bitter liquid into his mouth. When she finally slipped the ring on his finger, a simple gold band with the same rose vine patterns. Felix took out his knife as they finally let go of each other's hands. Marius was the first to grab the knife with his right hand. He took his bride's hand as gently as he could and turned it to face her palm upwards. He pressed the knife into the sweet, soft, rosy skin and dragged, watching a gash appear - first hollow, and then, suddenly pooled with blood. He handed the knife to his bride and she did the same to his hand and he could not stop himself from a little hiss escaping as the sharpness glided across his skin. They connected their wounds and held each other's left hand as golden slivers appeared on their skin. Felix leaned over and started to tie the binding ribbon around their conjoined hands.
Every time Felix's delicate fingers brushed against Marius's hand, his heart skipped a beat as his stomach would twist. He had never felt this way when touching another person.
Finally, the ribbon was tight, and Felix stepped away. Marius didn't even wait before pulling his wife in for the kiss. As their lips connected hungrily, he couldn't help but wonder what faces the Black family were pulling.
Marius sat on the edge of the bed, a pillow clutched in his lap, and watched his wife's face, barely visible in the moonlight. She truly was a beauty, even after 20 years and a war. Her appearance had not changed, but the more Marius was with her, the more he realised that he did not love her and that he could not love her.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried. In fact, they had a beautiful son and a daughter, with another on the way. Marius softly stroked his wife's now visible baby bump. He really had tried to love her, but he couldn't; just pretending to love her was tearing him to shreds. He loved his family, but not in the way he was supposed to. The lies were killing him, and ever since Felix had died…. It seemed his brother in law had been the only thing keeping him sane. What they had together… well, it had not been right but it allowed them both to return to their wives and live comfortably. However, since he had died serving Grindelwald, Marius could feel his sanity escaping from his grasp.
Tears he could not control rolled down his face and onto the pillow. He knew what he had to do… he had to do it, to free her from him. She didn't need someone like him in her life. She didn't need something queer ruining the reputation of the Greengrass family. He turned to face his wife, beautiful even in her sleep and raised the pillow off his lap. He leaned forward to get a better angle when a tear fell on her cheek, waking her up. Her eyes slightly opened and her long eyelashes fluttered in the movement.
"Marius….?"
It was now or never.
Dead. They were all dead. So why would they not leave him alone?!
Marius? My love?
Papa…. Papa…
Daddy? Daddy?
Their voices were defining. He couldn't hear anything other than his family calling him, trying to talk to him, getting louder and louder with every passing moment. He couldn't make it stop. He had done what he had to... he had saved them from having to deal with him. He and his strangeness, but yet… they did not seem to care as they continued to beg him for attention.
Their voices were now screaming; he placed his hands over his ears, but that did nothing to lessen the noise. They were in his head. They weren't going to leave him alone.
Why wouldn't they leave him alone?
He had freed them!
MARIUS?! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!
PAPA! PAPA!
DAD! DADDY! PLEASE!
Their voices wouldn't stop.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. This would surely stop it... yes, it was the only thing that would stop it.
He stumbled around the house, gathering what he needed. Placing the rope on the chair, he dragged it towards the chandelier.
He had to end this…
He had to end this…
He had to end this…
He climbed on top of the chair and placed the circle around his neck…. A sense of calm filled him as he watched the sunrise, the rays slowly lighting the house. He was almost giddy as he lifted a foot off the chair to the harmony of screaming voices begging for his attention.