Chapter 3: 'Plans and Misfortunes'
Barkis Bittern walked through the more shady part of the land of the dead. The part of the afterlife normally reserved for murderers and people who had committed heinous crimes in their life. He thought back to Emily's last words to him and chuckled. She had been right, perhaps far to right. They'd be seeing each other, that's for sure and the surprises he'd have in store for her, would be never-ending. However to even complete this mastermind plan of his, he needed access. The kind of access that would grant him a way to move between the two dimensions. To per say 'live' again. He chuckled at that thought. Death would not stop him from gaining the money and title that was his, however he'd have to exact his revenge of little "Victor Van Dork" and his pompous Corpse Bride but all things would fall into place, in due time.
He paused outside of his destination. With everyone down at the Ball & Socket pub, living up the marriage of Victor to his Corpse Bride, his presence would go unmissed. All he needed to do was find the book that held his spell cast it and he would be well onto his path of 'redemption'. With a gleeful chuckle and a rather spastic dance, Barkis entered Elder Gutknecht haven and slowly made his way to the bookshelf. He knew roughly what he was looking for, but had no idea how the old skeleton had referenced his books. Could it be by author's or perhaps alphabetically. After hours of frantic followed by a few moments not so frantic searching, Barkis laid his greedy little eyes upon the very spell that would do exactly what he hoped to accomplish. Slowly pulling the book off of the shelf, he walked over to the desk and set it down. Opening it up Barkis started at the weathered pages as if the cryptic writings held the meaning of life. Shakily he reached out a hand and with a large rip, tore the page from the book. Snapping the book shut he threw it on the floor and kicked it under the desk. It continued to slide across the floor and finally came to rest a few feet away from him. Ignoring the book, Barkis again stared down at the page in front of him and began to chant the words in front of him.
Pure is impure, impure is Pure.
Hear these words, hear my cry
Spirits from the other side
Come to me; I summon the
Cross-now the great divide
The room flashed with a brilliant ruby light and Barkis jumped back from the desk. Thunder roared overhead and a strange wind blew through out the cave. Barkis gasped and looked around widely. A voice unseen by Barkis spoke in ancient tongue, but to Barkis seemed like normal English. What thou wish shall become. By sunrise it shall happen, the spirits shall cross the divide and chaos will reign…As suddenly as the voice came, it disappeared and the room was silent again. Barkis looked around and slowly made his way to the exit. Even in death, he was ever the coward and knew that what he experienced would forever change him. Just how much, he had no idea.
Emily stretched and rolled over onto her side, her hand connecting with Victor's and sent a warm feeling throughout her entire body. The post-wedding party had been a blast. Bonejangles and his bone band had outdone themselves and made the night something that both Victor and she would remember for eternity. It had been so long since she'd actually had a good time at a party and had enjoyed herself. With a smile she breathed in deeply and stopped something didn't seem right. Satin sheets and a roof over her head? They certainly weren't in the alleyway behind the pub. Now that she thought of it, for the first time since her death, she actually felt warm. Crawling out of the bed she was in, she groped her way around in the darkness until she found what she assumed was the bathroom. Leaving the door open slightly she leaned against the vanity and gazed down at her hands. The seemed different to her, yet she couldn't put her finger on it. Suddenly it dawned on her, they weren't blue. In fact nothing seemed the same as it normally did. Flipping the light on she took a deep breath and gazed into the mirror in front of her. She stared intently at the mirror and raised a hand on her face. With a ear-shattering scream she turned away from the mirror and exited the bathroom in a bundle of nerves. Victor was at her side by an instant; wanting to know what good reason he had been woken up for. All the irritation he had, left him as he continued to stare at Emily. At least that's who he thought it was, thought it certainly wasn't the same Emily he had retired with the previous night. In fact their surroundings didn't even look the same.
Hesitantly he reached out a hand and brushed away the brunette locks that had replaced the blue locks of the Emily he knew. Resting his hand on her shoulder he spoke softly.
"Emily?" He said still not quite believing what he saw. The sound of her name, however caused Emily to look up and Victor knew then that this was indeed his corpse bride, though she seemed a little ahead of the race this time. Her beauty however took him aback and he knew that Bonejangles had not been exaggerating when he had told him, that she had been a beauty known for miles around. He continued to stare at her, trying to find words to say but her beauty again came to stun him. How could anyone so angelic looking as her, end up being dealt with as brutally as she had been? Yet the answer came quickly to him. Barkis had been the reason, and even known he harbored a hatred for her. Emily however found the strength to break the silence between them.
"You're alive Victor… how, how is this possible?" she asked softly as Victor shook his head. He had no answers for her. He really was new to being dead and well, though he missed being alive, he really didn't want this.
"I don't know Emily… but I have a feeling we're not the only ones who suddenly have realized that they've switched ends on the food chain." He said as he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Quickly he was up and pulled Emily to her feet. Apprehensively they watched as the silver knob on the door turn and slowly open to reveal the rather large frame of Victor's mother.
Mrs. Van Dort walked into the room as if it was a very hard thing to do. She walked across the floor humming a familiar melody that Victor loved to play on the piano so often. The thought of Victor brought great pain to her and cried silently to herself. Tears of grief and regret slid down her cheeks and She desperately tried to stop. She had promised herself the day of Victor's funeral that she wouldn't cry for her boy. He had always had a dream and it was only because of herself and her stupid ideas that he was no longer here to complete them. Even if they had listened to Victoria and perhaps had tried to reason with him, things wouldn't have ended like they did. With her bottom lip trembling Mrs. Van Dort pulled back the curtains and turned to the bed only to gasp. She had been certain that the bed had been made last night. She walked over to it, and laid her hand upon the spot where Victor had been lying only moments before. She soon crumpled to the bed her resolved crumbling and tears streaking down her face.
" Oh Victor! Only if you could hear us. The things we'd do to have you back. The things we'd let you do. Only if it would change things. We never meant for this to happen. If would have just told us how unhappy you were with the whole thing… we would have compromised. We would have done anything to save you from… taking that poison." She trailed off, only sobs could be heard. Victor sighed and cleared his throat.
"I guess then, this isn't the greatest time to tell you, that I'm really not dead…"
Author's Note: There you guys go. Another chapter out and ready for you guys to read. Thanks to those who have continued to ready my story for the first three chapters and welcome those who have just started to read it. I do hope you enjoy it. I'd like to thank MagicalGirl23 for your wonderful idea. I'm not sure where to fit it in, but I will try. Don't forget you're all welcome to leave ideas in and I hope you do.
If anyone if interested I have a Corpse Bride RPG going on as we speak. It's fairly new so most of the characters are still available to play. The only exception to this is Emily and Victor. Those are the only two characters that have already been claimed. If you have any questions about it, just include them in your review.