Chapter 8: Bipolar Bride

The scream was, in fact, coming from a borderline psychotic jilted bride – Emily Cavanaugh.

George and Clarisse had entered one of the most foreboding rooms in the mansion…the attic. And waiting in the attic was one of the most horrifying, most god-awful creatures that no mortal man should ever have to face:

A whiny, peppy, annoying, spastic, meanie-head bride.

And Emily Cavanaugh was that bride. And she had good reason for screaming: no one had turned on the light in the attic, let alone come in her room, for many decades. And who should be the one to do it but her would-be husband.

Yes, Emily's initial reaction was shock, but it quickly turned to one of rage. As she stood up from her boudoir, Clarisse could see that her heart was illuminated through her dress, glowing red and beating quite loudly; however, it began to beat harder as she approached George.

The two spirits stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity (no pun intended), and finally George gathered the courage to speak.

"Uh…hello, Emily. It's been a while…"

"George Edward Gracey. It has been exactly one hundred and thirteen years, thirteen days, thirteen hours and thirty one seconds since you last spoke to me. Do you realize that?" Emily asked, her eyes blazing. She had a British accent, and the sharpest tone Clarisse had ever heard.

"Uh…" George said, wavering, "I'm really sorry…you see, there's a logical explanation as to why I haven't been up here…"

Emily looked past George and saw Clarisse, who was timidly watching the conversation.

"Oh, I see. You've gone off and married some librarian, haven't you," Emily said huffily, "Honestly, what could she have that I don't?"

"Excuse me?" Clarisse said, raising her eyebrows. She realized that her hair was still in a bun, and removed the scrunchie that was holding it up. Clarisse then shook her head, causing her hair to fall to her shoulders and letting Emily see that she was not some librarian, but actually a vivacious redhead.

"And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm already married. In fact, that's why we came up here."

In an instant, Emily's angry tone suddenly changed to one of delight.

"Oh! You're married? When was your date?"

"Um…six months ago," Clarisse said, taken aback by this sudden change.

"You're a March bride? How marvelous! I was going to be married in the spring too, but alas, that never happened…" Emily said, glaring at George.

"So, uh…anyways, have you seen my husband?" Clarisse asked, trying to get back on topic. She gave the same description as she had to the woman in the ballroom.

"Come to think of it, I may have seen him pass into the graveyard," Emily said thoughtfully, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. She headed over to the window, sat on a loveseat next to it, crossed her legs and casually looked out it.

"He was heading into the graveyard with those three bumbling idiots," Emily said nonchalantly, and Clarisse glanced at George. Victoria had said they were friends of George's, but Emily seemed to think otherwise.

"Why did you let them come live here, anyways? They WERE escaped mental patients, y'know. And I think one of them was trying to spy on me while I was in the bath once."

"Well, Gus is my cousin…I can't just abandon my family – besides, his friends needed a place to stay, and they sort of livened things up," George said, still obviously wanting to get away from Emily and this place. Emily sniffed and turned towards her window.

"Uh…well, we hate to rush, but we really have to go now," George said, and he started to walk towards the door.

"Oh, that's it, isn't it!" Emily said, standing and turning towards George, "You don't visit me for years, and when you finally do it's because you want to spend some alone time with Ms. Card Catalogue over here! George, you haven't changed a bit!" She stormed over to her boudoir, stomping her feet as hard as she could, and when she sat down, she screamed again and began to brush her hair with such a force that Clarisse thought she was going to rip it out.

"Er…sorry about her," George whispered to Clarisse, "She's been bipolar ever since she was a child." Clarisse and George quietly left the pouting Emily to herself. When they were a safe distance from the attic, Clarisse asked the burning question:

"Why in the world were you going to marry her?"

George sighed. "It was all about business. I did love her, but she could be…well…what you just saw…at times. Her father was very rich, and we wouldn't have most of the land that the mansion and grounds are now on if I hadn't agreed to marry her. Unfortunately…or perhaps fortunately…she was killed on the night before our wedding. She was locked in a trunk in the attic somehow, and suffocated."

"That's horrible!"

"Yes…and now, she's forced to haunt here with the rest of us," George said solemnly, and the two stood in silence for a few moments.

"So!" Clarisse said, breaking the ice, "Where to now?"

"Emily may be a little crazy, but she was right," George said with a smile, "Your husband is probably in the graveyard. And that's where we'll go next."

Madame Leota watched all of this with interest, but knew that her powers could not breach the house and see into the graveyard. But she knew someone who could…

"Sweetie?" She called out to the darkness in a serene voice. In seconds, a small girl that looked about the age of six appeared in the séance room. She looked exactly like Madame Leota, except for the fact that she was quite short, probably about three to four feet tall. The girl walked over to the table and stood on her tiptoes to see the top, grasping the table with little hands.

"Yes, mum?"

"I need you to do me a little favor. The Master and his guest are heading into the graveyard, and I need to keep a watch on them. But Mommy's not able to look past the mansion like that. Can you go watch them for me?"

The little girl nodded, and a small smile appeared on her face. "Okay!" Leota smiled.
"Thanks, Little Leota," she said, and watched as her daughter skipped away and vanished to the graveyard. Now that Leota had her daughter following them, she could watch through her eyes and see everything – she needed to make sure that the mortal and spirit stayed apart; if they found each other, all of her plans would be ruined…