The next morning, Victor opened his eyes to see Victoria sleeping peacefully beside him. He smiled and reached over to gently caress her cheek, glad that at least one of them was able to get some rest. How he had been able to fall asleep after the terrible nightmare he had endured was beyond him, but it hadn't exactly been the most peaceful slumber of his life, quite the contrary. Now, as he head pounded from exhaustion, he was sorely tempted to just remain right where he was for the rest of the day, ignoring the world outside and contently watching his wife sleep.
No, he quickly reprimanded himself quickly, today is a day for business. He had vowed the night before that that day would be the day he would began working on plans to put a stop to Barkis' reign of terror. It had to be, for it wouldn't be long before Barkis grew impatient and began hunting them down. And by no means could Victor let that happen.
So reluctantly, he threw the cover off himself and his wife and got up to get ready for the day. Victoria, however, shivered a bit from being exposed to the cold so suddenly, but otherwise made no attempt to get up. Victor hated to disturb her from one of the few peaceful slumbers she had experienced in the past week, but he knew it had to be done.
"Victoria," he called out to her as he sat down on the bed to put on his shoes, jostling it in an added attempt to wake her. "Victoria, you must get up. We have a lot to do today." She mumbled something incoherently as a response, but still remained asleep. Victor sighed and bounced on the bed again, jostling it with an ardor that she couldn't ignore.
"Alright, darling, I'm up," she contended as she reluctantly sat up from the comfort of the bed. Victor smiled appreciatively at her.
"Thank you," he told her as he watched her get up and search for her corset. "And please make haste, my dear. Today is a very important day."
"And why is that dear," Victoria asked as she peeked under the bed in her quest.
"Today we will begin making plans to put a stop to Barkis' rampage," he informed her. "I plan to meet with Emily and Elder Gutknecht to discuss the possibilities of catching him before…he, well…" Victor faltered and gazed at her nervously.
"Catches me," Victoria finished for him helpfully. Victor felt a dark pit grow in his stomach as gruesome images of his nightmare flashed before him. He gulped before continuing.
"Y-yes," he answered, trying to quell the nervous shaking of hands so he could finish adjusting his cravat. He heard Victoria take a few tentative steps towards him and practically felt her eyes boring into the back of his head as she studied him. He dared not look at her for fear of revealing the apparent agitation and fear his eyes probably held. Victor nearly jumped when he felt a small hand on his left shoulder.
"You'll stop him Victor," Victoria assured him in a soft, soothing voice that caused Victor's heart to swell with emotion. "I know you will." Victor smiled gratefully (though rather uselessly considering that she couldn't see it) and reached over with his right hand to place it gently on hers. No further words had to be spoken between them, for both of them knew what the other was feeling (which was a relief for Victor, since he had no idea how to respond to such a sweet sentiment).
"Now come help me with my corset," Victoria added after the sentimental moment had passed. Victor quickly put on his jacket and turned around.
"Gladly," he told her as he reached for her corset strings. It was until a second later that he realized just how many inappropriate connotations his response had held.
"I mean," he quickly added, trying to make amends, "I-I'll be glad to help you, not j-just because I w-want to see you in your corset, I mean…" he quickly trailed in humiliation as a blush spread across his cheeks. Apparently being married to Victoria didn't keep him from acting like a nervous, clumsy fool around her. But to his great relief, Victoria giggled delightfully.
"I know what you meant, Victor," she assured him. Victor smiled pleasantly and assumed tying Victoria's corset strings, extremely thankful to have a wife that understood him, and who obviously had more confidence in him than he in himself. As soon as the pair finished dressing, they headed out of their comfortable room and into the world and all its grim tasks.
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It had been hours since Victor met with Emily and Elder Gutknecht in the quaint little pub and still the trio could not come up with a suitable plan to stop Barkis. Upon further investigation, the elderly skeleton had realized that it seemed Barkis had cast a certain version of the Ukrainian Haunting Spell upon himself that allowed him permanent access to the world above. This unfortunately met that not only could the villain roam the streets of the Land of the Living freely without having to worry about accidentally returning the Land of the Dead, bringing him back downstairs once they captured him would prove to be even more difficult than expected. But for now, that was a hurdle that the three decided to put off until absolutely necessary. At the moment, the most urgent issue was how to capture him in the first place.
"I don't see why we can't just form a small squadron and hunt him down," Emily contested.
"Barkis Bittern is probably expecting, my dear," Elder Gutknecht answered her soothingly. "He must have found a very clever hiding place by now. Odds are he would get to Victoria while we were out searching for him."
"But what if we had another small group looking after Victoria at all times," Victor suggested.
"Knowing Barkis, he would probably find a way around them. After all, he attacked her without being noticed while your servants were just in a different part of the house. And not even you could be with her twenty four hours a day," the elder reasoned. Victor slumped his shoulders in disappointment when he realized he had a point. Barkis would only need a few minutes of Victoria being alone in order to take her away.
A tense silence passed between the three as each tried to rack their brain for new ideas, only occasionally interrupted by Elder Gutknecht's intense hacking. Finally, Emily sighed in frustration.
"Oh this is so distressing! If there was only a way we could just lure out Barkis from his hiding place! You know, like a hunter lures out it's pray with food or something," she ranted out of exhaustion. Victor leaned over and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly, assuring her without words that he knew how she felt. But as he did, he noticed Elder Gutknecht suddenly sit up straighter as if hit by an idea.
"That's it," he cried, startling them both. "Emily, you're brilliant!"
"Me," she asked confused, "but why? What's it?"
"That is how we are to capture Barkis, by luring him out of his hiding place and cornering him before he can do any damage!" At this, Emily chuckled slightly.
"Elder Gutknecht, I hardly think Barkis is going to be persuaded to come out of hiding by the lure of food."
Victor put his hand over his mouth to cover a smile, all of a sudden getting a ridiculous mental image of Barkis tiptoeing out of wherever he was at the smell of a steak. But he quickly worked to suppress it when he saw Elder Gutknecht shake his head vigorously.
"That is not quite what I meant," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. "I was thinking more along the lines of Victoria."
"Victoria," Victor asked, his smile disappearing all together. "What about Victoria?"
"Well, if Barkis knew Victoria was alone, he would surely leave his hiding place and come after her," the elderly skeleton began to explain, but Victor shook his head in protest.
"Absolutely not," he interrupted, his voice firm, "I refuse to leave Victoria alone. Not even for a minute."
"But she wouldn't truly be alone, my boy. We would be waiting in the shadows for him, and before he would have a chance to harm her, we would corner and capture him!"
"That actually sounds like a good idea," Emily agreed, but Victor continued to shake his head.
"No, it is not a good idea. There are too many risks."
"Such as," the Elder challenged.
"Such as, what if he goes by unnoticed and we do not reach him in time? What if he has weapons that we wouldn't be prepared for," Victor listed.
"But those are just chances we are going to have to take if we ever want to capture him," Elder Gutknecht insisted.
"I do not want to take any chances," Victor retorted a bit more harshly than he intended. "I do not want to do anything that would put my wife's life on the line more than it already is! I mean, even if the slightest thing goes wrong, Victoria could be killed!"
At that outburst, Victor's hand immediately flew over his mouth and his eyes grew wide in shock. He couldn't believe he had just said out loud what he had not even been able to bring himself to think about. It was then that he truly realized for the first time just how much was at stake. He could really lose Victoria, the person who he wouldn't be able to continue his life without. Emily put a comforting hand on his and offered him a smile which he failed to return.
"Victor," she said in a soothing voice, "it may be the only way."
Victor sighed when he realized she might have a point, but he couldn't help but object. Something inside him was telling him that it was a terrible mistake. All of a sudden, the same horrendous fear that he had experienced in his nightmare began to take shape in his heart again, and he quickly turned his body in his chair to gaze at his wife, who had opted to stay out of the Barkis capturing plans. Instead she was seated over at the piano with Bonejangles, who was attempting to give her a few simple piano playing lessons. Victor watched Victoria giggle with delight as the skeleton's hand detached itself from its master, becoming like a separate entity. It skimmed over the piano and played a charming melody, then proceeded to waltz over to Victoria's hand and attempt to dance with it, causing Victoria to burst into another fit of laughter. Meanwhile Mrs. Plum, knowing Bonejangles flirtatious tendencies with beautiful women, hovered over the pair like a hawk, making sure he didn't do or say anything that might be deemed inappropriate.
In spite of the fear, Victor smiled fondly at the lovely little scene. It had been quite a while since he saw his wife laugh like that, and he couldn't bare the prospect of putting her in a situation that would surely take it away again. He couldn't subject her to that kind of danger again, not after all that she had been through. Victor pushed his chair back and stood up, habitually rubbing the back of his neck in a tense manner.
"I'm sorry, I know it may be the only option we have," Victor admitted, "but you're asking me to intentionally put my wife in danger, and I just can't do that."
"But I can," Victor heard a familiar voice say behind him. He turned around to see Victoria standing behind him with a defiant look on her face.
"Victoria, you cannot mean that," he began to protest, but Victoria gently put her finger to his lips to silence him.
"Victor, I know you are concerned for me, and I love you deeply for it, but if this is the only way to prevent Barkis from ever hurting anyone again, I'll do it," she said, her eyes filled with a mixture of love and determination. Victor took the hand that had silenced him and kissed it softly. Victoria smiled.
"Besides, I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me," she assured him. "Would you?"
"Never," Victor promised seriously, pulling her towards him and wrapping an arm around her waist. "I love you Victoria."
"I love you too, Victor," she replied. He bent down to kiss her softly on the cheek before returning his attention to Emily and Elder Gutknecht.
"Well," he said nervously, "then we best get down to work." And with that, the four sat down to discuss they're new found plan.
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Sorry it took me so long for an update, I had some serious writer's block that I blame on college, which I started today for the first time, by the way! Whoo hoo! Sorry! Anyway, anyone know what's up with the line feature? I've been trying to put line's in my stories for a while now and it won't work! I had to use a bunch of s's instead! Weird! Anyway, hope you liked the update and reviews are still greatly appreciated! Adios!