Chapter 12
A/N: Hello all! I know it's been a bit over a month since I last updated. I haven't had access to my laptop for a while, so I couldn't really put anything up. Anyway, I'm back now. Enjoy Chapter 12!
Collin is practically shaking with excitement. It's finished. After three solid days of work, it's finally finished!
The text frames the pictures quite nicely, and after some editing on the older photos he had gotten them to match the quality of the newer ones. After some debating with Barkis, he had settled on Helvetica font, despite the fact that the paper he works for uses Poynter. All the more to make his work stand out. Now, he's just got to come up with an eye-catching title and he'll be ready to publish.
He would have finished sooner if Barkis hadn't kept interrupting him, demanding to know if he had located Emily Hunter yet. Collin had managed to somewhat pacify him with the promise of the media getting ahold of her as soon as his article is published. Barkis hadn't really seemed to believe him much, but he must have had something else on his mind because he let it go fairly easily.
He stares long and hard at the article, his masterpiece, for a few minutes.
His fingers scroll up to the top and type out the title.
Victor sits on the couch in the living room, a pen in his hand, absentmindedly tapping it against the coffee table. It's been nearly a week since the incident with Collin, and all has been surprisingly quiet. Emily is upstairs, napping after a few hours of fiddling with the keys. The divorce petition is sitting in front of him, demanding that he finish it. He and Victoria had decided to file on the grounds of desertion, since that seems to be the simplest way. There is no need for a mediator, as the reasoning is mutual, but he supposes he can always ask Bonejangles if the need arises. He already has an envelope with the five hundred and fifty euros beside the petition to accompany it. All he has to do now is sign, and then Victoria will receive the petition and sign her agreement. The worst part of it will be over.
So why is it so hard?
Victor comes from some money, fish merchants, that is, and with Victoria investing it into stocks he's always had enough money to live comfortably. Without her, he wouldn't have a clue how to manage what he's got. Emily wouldn't be much help, seeing as she came from a wealthy family from the beginning and never had to work a day in her life.
And besides that, he'd miss her.
Despite having to break things off with her, she is still dear to him, like a sister he feels he needs to protect. Not knowing if she'll be all right once they split bothers him. Yes, she knows how to take care of herself, but Victoria is the sort of person who doesn't feel secure without a companion. Bonejangles is still an option, but she'd never live with a man she isn't married to.
Victor's phone buzzes. Speaking of Bonejangles:
Victor, come over. There's something I want you to see.
Victor frowns.
Is everything alright?
A few seconds pass, then:
Just come over. Don't bring Emily.
This must be quite serious. Victor pockets his phone and heads upstairs. Opening Emily's door, he peers in. She's still fast asleep. He smiles, happy to see her looking so serene, before grabbing the notepad off the end table and jotting down a quick note for her. After pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, to which she smiles in her sleep, he heads out, wondering what is so important for Bonejangles to call him over.
Bonejangles doesn't say a word when Victor arrives; he just shoves a copy of The City Shuttle into his chest. Victor has to catch it before it falls to the floor. Bonejangles closes and locks the door behind him before moving towards the kitchen and busying himself with what appears to be a fairly new coffee machine.
"You can sit over there to read it." he says, gesturing towards the couch. "You want a cuppa?" He starts pulling things down from the cupboards above the machine, body tense.
Victor sets the paper aside. "I suppose I'll have one, thank you. Are you alright?"
Bonejangles grabs another mug and nearly drops it. "Just read the story, Victor."
Victor raises an eyebrow, but for once, says nothing. He picks up the paper again and brings his attention to the article.
THE ZOMBIE AMONG US
by Collin Percival
Among the massive walls of text are photos of Emily, dating from the first time they'd met to before then to now. They're blown up a little, blurring the images slightly and causing the article to span a bit over three pages, but it's clear that it's unmistakably her. The article begins with this:
Years of hoaxes of the dead walking among the living have amounted to nothing. They have been treated as nothing serious whatsoever.
Until now.
We have a zombie among us. Back from the dead, Emily Hunter, the infamous 'Corpse Bride', returns yet again. How is she here? Why is she here? Unfinished business, perhaps? Perhaps to seek vengeance on her former fiancé, Victor van Dort (pictured above) for marrying another woman, Miss Victoria Everglot (not pictured)!
Who knows how many others are among us, masquerading as normal human beings? Maybe there's a ringleader, waiting for enough to rise from the dead to plot their takeover on all humankind. There's only one way to know for sure: find Emily Hunter, and get some answers. And don't forget who brought you this groundbreaking news: Collin Percival.
Victor sets the paper down at that point and pushes it away from him. Bonejangles sets an orange patterned mug in front of him, lips pressed into a thin, hard line that appears nearly skeletal. For a moment, it's as if Victor can see the bones behind the flesh.
"So, what didja think? Are we finished?"
Victor glances at the article again. "No."
Bonejangles folds his arms and fixes him with a scowl. The expression looks wrong on his normally carefree face. "How? He's got pictures and everything!"
Victor hooks his fingers around the handle and brings the mug to his lips, thinking. The coffee is black and burns at his throat, but at the moment he doesn't really notice. "His story isn't at all credible. It was so poorly written that I had to put it down, and I had only gotten about a third of the way through. We don't need to worry about him." He swirls the liquid a little. "Where do you keep your sugar?"
Bonejangles snatches the paper from the table, flips to the second page, and points:
In case there's any doubt, I had the opportunity to interview Hunter, and if anyone's interested, contact me for the recordings.
Victor nearly spits out his coffee.
"Interview? Interview? He kidnapped her, - er, adultnapped, I suppose - but all the same!"
"What's going on?"
Victoria stands at the top of the stairs, barefoot, hair thrown into a messy bun, holding an open laptop. Much to Victor's surprise, she appears to be wearing one of Bonejangles's shirts judging by how long it is on her, a navy blue button up partially open at the top he's fairly certain Bonejangles wouldn't have purchased on his own, and a pair of her own jeans.
Victoria closes the laptop. "Well?"
Bonejangles folds the paper and tosses it onto the coffee table. "Collin wrote an article on Emily, and now it's all over The City Shuttle."
Victoria groans and makes her way downstairs. "Does Emily know?"
"Not yet. I didn't want to say anything since she just got back from that place."
"Understandable." She settles onto the couch beside Victor. "What do you propose we do?"
"We won't have to do anything if no one takes this seriously." Victor says. Victoria and Bonejangles give him a look. He rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on! Even if he has pictures, the writing's rubbish! No one is going to take him seriously."
"So you propose we do nothing?"
"Yes!" Victor snatches the article out of the paper and crumples it up into a dense ball. "Look, it's a rubbish ball now. That's all it is. Nothing more." The room is silent, unable to argue. He waves the ball at Bonejangles. "Still want to bother Emily with this?"
"No." he says, defeated. "But I can't help worrying, ya know? We just got her back."
Victor softens. "I understand. I was worried for a moment when I saw the pictures, but the article doesn't match. This isn't something we should be worried about."
Victoria takes the crumpled ball from Victor. "I still want to read this."
"Suit yourself. Just don't take it seriously."
Bonejangles switches off the coffee maker. "Y'know, with all we've been through, I think we need a nice night out. Somewhere we've never been, so the people that do care about the story won't bother us."
x
They end up at Woolamouth Beach, of all places. Victoria's never been swimming, and Victor is afraid of water, but Bonejangles and Emily were excited when it came up as a result from their web search. So Victor had pretended that he adored the beach and helped wrap Emily's ankle in some plastic so she could go into the water, and Victoria had flatly said that she'd sit on a towel under an umbrella with her laptop, and if Bonejangles so much as flicked a droplet of salt water in her direction, she'd slap him.
Well, at least she agreed to go.
Victor watches Emily and Bonejangles splash each other from a safe distance, toes curled in the wet sand. Emily looks beautiful under the sun, blonde hair flowing and damp with the ocean. He rubs his arms, getting a little chilly in his brown swim shorts — which he had to sneak out to buy. Despite the watery death trap in front of him, the beach atmosphere is oddly relaxing. The breeze ruffles his hair, pulling it out of its usually neatly combed style. If his mother were still around she'd call him a ruffian. He smiles at the thought.
"Victor!"
Emily's sweet voice pulls him out of his thoughts. She and Bonejangles are walking towards him now, Emily leaning on Bonejangles for support.
"Yes?" he calls back as they make their way over.
"Bonejangles is getting cold so he's going to join Victoria, and you know the sea's no fun alone." She looks at him sweetly through her lashes. "Come in with me?"
"Ah, well, um —"
Bonejangles claps him on the shoulder. "Have fun, mate!" He jogs the rest of the way to their setup.
Emily cocks her head to the side. "Is everything alright?"
Victor nods, vigorously, attempting to cover his nerves. "Yeah… yeah! Let's go."
The second his toe touches the water, he jumps back. "Nope, nope, nope! Absolutely not!"
x
Victoria snickers. "Oh my God."
Bonejangles looks up from his position on the towel, lying on his stomach. "What?"
"Emily's about to find out how much Victor loves the ocean."
x
Emily watches Victor take about fifty steps back before saying something. She carefully kneels beside where he's seated himself, palms and soles planted firmly in the sand. "All right you, talk."
Victor bites his lip. "I have a… a slight fear of the ocean."
Emily smirks. "Didn't you say you adored the ocean?"
"I might have."
"I think you did."
Victor pouts.
"Aw." She ruffles his hair. "Now you look like a sulky teenager." Victor fights back a smile, but it's no use, and it breaks across his face. Emily giggles and leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Come on. It's not scary, I promise."
She helps him to his feet and takes his hand, leading him towards the water. Her other arm goes around his shoulders, steadying herself and holding him close to her. This time, when the tide laps at his toes, Victor flinches, but he doesn't run this time. Slowly, Emily gets him in up to his knees, and that's as far as he goes. For now.
"I'm guessing splashing is out of the question?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay."
Emily nestles against him and wraps her arms around his waist. Victor's arm slides around her shoulders. True, he's not exactly deep in the water, but the warmth bubbling up in his chest right now makes everything okay.
"Hey! Hey, Corpse Bride!"
Emily groans.