It didn't take long for Victor and Victoria to settle in to their new home; as a matter of fact, from the moment they stepped in it after arriving back from the honeymoon, they loved it.
Though it wasn't exactly as small a home as they had had in mind, with its six bedrooms, five washrooms, four parlors, two dining rooms, and one large kitchen (and a partridge in a pear tree, Victor jokingly added when he listed off the rooms), it was far from cavernous like their previous homes were. And with its plush furniture and cheery woodwork, it was definitely as cozy as the newlyweds wished it to be.
"Is it to your liking, my dear," Victor asked as he took Victoria by the hand and led her through the house.
"It's all I've ever dreamed," she said in a rather breathless tone as she gazed around the house. Victor smiled in delight.
As they continued their journey through their new home, Victoria noticed that Victor seemed to be avoiding two rooms downstairs just passed the staircase. Before she could question him about it, he led her over to them as if he read her mind.
"I saved these two rooms for last," he explained. "Close your eyes."
"Whatever for," Victoria asked incredulously.
"I want to surprise you. Please, close your eyes," Victor commanded once more. Victoria looked at him quizzically for a second more, but then closed her eyes.
"No peeking," Victor added as he took her by both hand and began to lead her in through the first door.
"I won't," Victoria promised as she giggled slightly. She felt him guide her to what she assumed was the middle of the room and stop her gently.
"Okay, now you can open them," Victor said. Victoria opened her eyes slowly and gasped in delight.
Rather than being in one small single room as she expected, she was in a room conjoined to the room next door by a beautiful archway. In the section of the large room she was standing in were hundreds of books lined on the wall and a sort of parlor setting in the middle. A large wooden cabinet stood open near the fireplace and inside there were dozens of knitting supplies. There was a fireplace at the opposite end of this room and a large elegant rug in the middle of the floor. In the other section of the combined room, there was a lovely grand piano and a desk for sketching. Several pieces of what she recognized as Victor's art work already lined the walls.
As Victoria stood mesmerized, Victor stood by her side and waited until she had had time to view the entire setting. After a few moments, he took her hand once more and began walking her through the large room.
"Before we left, I met with the architects personally and requested this," Victor explained. "I wanted a special place where we could share the things we love to do. See, your can read or sew over here, while I compose music or draw over here."
He paused to study Victoria's reaction. "Do you like it?"
"Like it? Victor, it's incredible," she said with a radiant smile.
"So you do like it then," he asked in a playful tone. Victoria giggled.
"Victor, it's one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me," she said as she turned to him and wrapped her arms around him. Victor gladly returned the gesture.
"How could I ever thank you," she asked.
"I can think of one way," Victor said with a smile as he bent down toward her. Victoria smiled in return and the next thing she knew, their lips met in a loving, passionate kiss.
Once they parted, Victoria rested her head against Victor's chest and just let him hold her, a loving gesture that Victor adored.
"We're going to be very happy here, Victoria," he said after a brief moment of silence.
"I know we are, darling," Victoria responded. "I know we are."
Barkis ran his hand over the cool leather of the book that was placed before him as he cackled evilly.
"Dark Magic," he read aloud with sheer delight. Finally after months of planning and waiting, he finally had the book he had been seeking for to carry out his act of revenge before him. He ran his hand over the cover once more, not able to get enough of the feel of finally having it in his grasp.
Barkis smiled to himself, proud of himself for successfully carrying out this particular phase of his plan. It certainly hadn't been easy, but with the help of his new found companion, he had been able to accomplish it.
Annabelle, Barkis repeated her name in his mind, what a pretty name. And it certainly did suit her. Annabelle was a newly deceased young girl, tragically murdered by a couple of desperate thieves. She was young, beautiful and with enough passion for two people, just like Emily, his favorite victim had been. And from the she walked into the jailhouse, Barkis knew she would be his ticket to fulfilling his revenge.
Annabelle had been assigned to look in on him once a week just as a precaution. Barkis knew that he was the only resident of the jailhouse, so he assumed that striking up a conversation with the lovely lady would be no trouble, but it proved to be more difficult than he thought. Before Annabelle had accepted the task of looking in on him, many resident's of the Land of the Dead told her horror stories of his shady past (after all, murdering a beloved bride and attempting to murder two other beloved friends doesn't exactly win a corpse a place with the in crowd). For about two months, she refused to speak to him beyond what was necessary.
But Barkis was determined to carry out his plan, so every time she would check in on him, he would barrage her with compliments and kind words. Finally, after about two and a half months, she began to let her guard down.
It didn't take long after that for Barkis to convince her that he had been framed for those "dreadful" acts that they had accused him of. He managed to persuade her that he would never even dream of harming such wonderful people such as Emily and the Van Dorts. After that, all he had to do was to add compliments and professions of love, and she was his for the manipulating.
After about another three weeks of listening to Annabelle's mindless dribble, Barkis finally found the perfect opportunity to mention his "love" of magic. He claimed that his grandfather used to have dozens of books about all kinds of magic that he used to love to read. Not long after that, Annabelle would come in carrying tons of magic books in her arms for his entertainment. Unfortunately, they were all the wrong kind, until that fateful day…
Barkis recalled that he nearly jumped for joy when he saw her walking down the hall with that big brown book in her arm.
"This was the last one I could find," she had said with a slight pout. "I hope it's to your liking."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll love it, my dear," Barkis had replied, his voice dripping with false adoration. Annabelle had beamed.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't stay long today, but I will be back as soon as I can, darling," she had told him as she began to walk away.
"Until then, my love," Barkis had replied. He recalled the ridiculous look of child-like adoration she had given him before she bounded away, and how he almost felt sorry for the naïve little fool.
"Almost," Barkis said aloud as he now held the precious book in his hands. Now, all his hard work had paid off. He had the perfect book in his hands at last and he was now one step closer to completely his plot. He took a deep breath (or he would if he had had any) to relish the moment. He then slid his fingers under the smooth cover and opened it.
Barkis could almost feel the power coming from the book's content. As a matter of fact, the book seemed to give off an eerie glow. He shuddered in delight before proceeding to flip through the pages.
Barkis spent the next two days absolutely consumed by the book. He was determined to find just the right spell, but page flip after page flip only revealed love spells and anti-love spells, morphing spells, and other meaningless things of that nature.
"More," Barkis seethed, "I need something more!" Barkis wanted something that equaled his rage toward his ex-wife and her wimp of a husband.
When the second day was drawing to a close, Barkis was about ready to give up. But then all of a sudden, he stumbled upon a sinister looking page entitled, "Ein Leben für ein Leben", which in German translated to "A Life for a Life".
Since the entire spell was written in German, it took Barkis a few moments to translate it, but once he did, he could feel the excitement rise up within him. Apparently this spell was so dark that it was only used once by a sorcerer long ago and then was banished forever. It consisted of one person feeding a special poison to the person of their choice, and after saying a few magic words, that person's soul would be lost forever, and the person who fed the poison would gain their lost life back and become invincible.
If this is true, Barkis thought to himself, then Victoria's would die, and I would live forever in her place!
It took Barkis a few moments to fully grasp the possible outcome of the situation, but once he did, he just couldn't contain himself. He jumped up from his seat at the edge of his bed and began running around his cell and rattling the bars, all the while cackling uncontrollably with sheer elation. He couldn't believe his incredible good fortune. He had actually found the perfect spell; the spell that he had only thought possible in his dreams.
Barkis paused from his celebrating to stand in the middle of his cell and look about him. Now all he had to do was escape the bars and walls that confined him.
"But how," he asked himself out loud.
As if on cue, he heard the door to the jailhouse open and Annabelle call out his name.
"Barkis, dear," she called. Barkis smiled a corrupt, conniving little smile.
"Hello again, my dear," he called back. As he heard his new companion approaching, Barkis had a feeling that that which trapped him wouldn't be a problem for much longer.