"This place is amazing," Victor heard Victoria say in a breathless voice.

"Do you really think so," he asked. He had hoped its rather ghostly appearance wouldn't come as a shock to her. The last thing he would want to do was to frighten her.

"I truly do," she replied as she gazed around, taking in the whole view of the place. "The colors are spectacular! Everything seems so much more…alive, here. In a manner of speaking…"

Victor smiled, glad that she was more accepting of the situation than he was when he first arrived here. His smile faded, however, when he thought back to his frantic flee from his Corpse Bride down the very street they were standing on. He felt a pang of guilt stab his heart as he imagined how he must have hurt her by running from her like that, even if their marriage had been a grave misunderstanding. She definitely hadn't deserved that.

"Victor," he heard his wife call from beside him, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Yes Victoria?"

"Where…where is everyone?"

Victor looked at her befuddled for a moment, but then upon looking around, he realized for the first time that no one besides Victoria and himself were walking the streets.

"I'm not sure, darling," he answered her as he pondered the situation. He didn't understand. The last time he walked this place, there had been dozens of people…well, corpses, strolling about and carrying about normal daily activities. Now, it appeared to be a ghost town.

Hmm, I made a pun, Victor thought to himself, slightly amused for a second, but then shook his head clear and focused on the business at hand. He scratched his head and furrowed his brows in thought, trying to come up with the next best action to take. Suddenly it came to him.

"The Ball and Socket," he declared, his face lighting up in hope.

"Excuse me," Victoria asked him, confused.

"It's uh, a pub, so to speak, and it's usually where the…well…corpses, congress. Maybe there will be somewhere there that can help us," he reasoned. "Come on." Victor took Victoria by the hand and began to lead her to the direction of the pub.

A few minutes later, they had arrived and were now slowly making their way down the stairs that led to the main room. Once they reached the landing, Victor realized with frustration that the pub was just as empty as the rest of the town.

"Where is everyone," he wondered out loud. As in response to his question, they heard the clatter of a few pots and pans coming from somewhere in the back.

"Who in the world dares to enter this place at this hour…" they heard a raspy, female voice call from the direction of the clatter. A few seconds later, a short, stout woman appeared with a large fork in her hand. Victor immediately recognized her as Mrs. Plum.

"Mrs. Plum," Victor exclaimed, happy to see at least one soul he remembered. He walked over to her and stuck out his hand for a shake.

"Victor? Victor Van Dort, is that you," Mrs. Plum asked in disbelief. "Victor," she cried when she assessed that it really was. She ignored his hand completely and enveloped him in a tight hug, inadvertently stabbing him with the large fork she was yielding. Victor winced.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Victor, what brings you back down here?"

"Well, you see, I, that is, Victoria and I…" he began to explain, motioning for Victoria to join him. Victoria smiled graciously and walked over to his side. Victor cleared his throat and attempted to continue. "We…"

"Oh, is this that lovely girl you were engaged to marry," Mrs. Plum asked, interrupting him completely.

"Yes, well, now she is my wife. And you see…"

"You two got married," Mrs. Plum exclaimed.

"Yes, just a short month ago," Victor replied. "Now, we need…"

"Oh Victor! Why didn't you tell us sooner? Oh, the whole town simply must know about this," she decided, turning away from the two of them.

"B-but Mrs. Plum," Victor tried to call after her, but it was too late. Mrs. Plum was already on a mission. She walked over to the bell that hung by the bar and began to ring it aggressively.

"New arrival," she called out in a loud voice. Immediately, just as Victor had seen before, corpses seemed to pop out of nowhere and were suddenly milling around everywhere with large drinks in their hand. Victoria stepped closer to Victor's side and looped her arm in his, somewhat intimidated by the new crowd. Victor patted her hand in a comforting motion, trying to communicate with her that this was a normal situation.

"So who's the new arrival," Alfred, the well-to-do English skeleton asked.

"Here he is, Victor Van Dort," Mrs. Plum cried over the din. "You all remember him. And this is his new wife, Victoria."

"The Van Dort boy is back," General Bonesapart cried incredulously.

"Yes, and married too! And here I am, still a widow," the Black Widow spider threw in.

"Oh they must be parched," Victor heard Paul the head waiter's thick French accent cut through the noise. Paul and his service of roaches made their way over to Victor and Victoria to hand them their drinks.

"One for you," he told Victor, "and one for your lovely bride." They took the drinks from Paul and thanked him politely. As Victoria was about to take a slight sip of hers, Mrs. Plum pushed her way through the crowd to confront her.

"Out of the way," she cried to the other corpses while pushing them aside. "Welcoming committee coming through." She finally made her way to Victoria and took her hand.

"Hello, dear. We were never properly introduced. I'm Mrs. Plum."

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Victoria Van Dort," Victoria replied, smiling graciously at her new companion.

"We're so glad you came to visit us. And if there's anything you ever need, you just tell me." Mrs. Plum's brows furrowed as she gazed at Victoria's face. "What on earth happened to your cheek dear?"

Victoria put a hand up to her bruised cheek and frowned sadly.

"Did he hit you," Mrs. Plum demanded to know, gesturing to Victor. Before Victoria had a chance to explain, she cast an angry, accusing look his way. Victor's eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

"I most certainly did not," he cried indignantly. "That's what we're trying to explain. Now if you please just listen to me," he addressed the crowd, but it was to no avail. The din just seemed to increase.

As Victor and Victoria stood in the middle of the buzzing crowd for several more minutes, Victor began to get impatient. He decided it was time to speak up.

"P-people," he cried. "Um, people, er, corpses. Please! We need someone's help." He looked around helplessly, but no one seemed to be paying attention to him. Finally, Victor couldn't wait any longer. He took a fork that stuck out from the back of the shorter corpse cook and grabbed an empty glass from the bar. He then began clanging on the glass with the fork as loud as he could until the pub went silent.

"Everyone, please. We came down here for a reason. We are in dire need of help," he explained.

"What is it, Victor," Mrs. Plum asked in all seriousness.

"It concerns Barkis," Victor began to explain, but at the mention of that name, a slight gasp went up from the crowd.

"What about Barkis," Mrs. Plum prodded.

"Well, he," Victor paused for a second, finding it rather difficult to relive the awful events. He took Victoria's hand in his and took a deep breath before continuing. "He attacked my wife a couple of nights ago, in our own home, and he apparently tried to cast some sort of spell on her. And now, we need someone's help in figuring out what he plans are, and what we can do to stop them."

"So you say that Barkis is already in the Land of the Living," General Bonesapart asked from somewhere in the crowd.

"Y-yes, he is. Why," Victor asked, already afraid of the answer.

"This is more serious than we thought," the general replied.

"W-what do you mean," Victor questioned, feeling a shudder of dread go down his spine. Victor could feel Victoria grasp his hand tighter, knowing perfectly well that the general's comment alone was enough to bring all the fear and nervousness come she had been experiencing since the attack come rushing back. He squeezed her hand gently in a comforting manner.

"Well, you see," Mrs. Plum began to explain gravely. "We knew Barkis that was after the two of you, so as soon as he escaped we began searching for him everywhere, trying to catch him before he had a chance to reach the Land of the Living. We hid ourselves in various places, hoping that he would let his guard down and walk by so we could catch him. That is why you probably didn't see anyone out there when you arrived. It was our hope to stop his evil plan before he had a chance to start it. But now that he's already in the Land of the Living…"

"You, you can still stop him, can't you," Victor cut in frantically. "You have to! We have to! He's after Victoria, and he won't stop until he…until she's…" Victor sighed, not even able to finish the sentence. The possible outcome was too horrible to even imagine. Mrs. Plum put a comforting hand on Victor's shoulder.

"We would love to help you, Victor, but this is problem is just too big for us. We wouldn't know how to stop him if we tried."

Victor could feel his spirits sink even lower. He looked down at Victoria and noted the look of fear and disappoint in her face. It broke his heart to see her that way. And knowing that his failure to protect her had put that look on her face only added to his pain.

"But," Mrs. Plum added, immediately restoring belief to the couple. "I do know someone who can help you."

"Really? Who," Victor asked excitedly. Instead of answering, Mrs. Plum looked behind him and gestured for him to turn around. Victor did so and gasped in complete astonishment when he caught sight of who she was referring to, for standing at the opposite end of the room was none other than…

"Emily!"

Before you go all crazy, don't worry! I have an explanation as to why Emily has returned. I just like to leave cliffhanger, is all! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter and reviews are greatly appreciated! Bye!