I am SO sorry this update took so long. College seems to be keeping me busier than I expected. Please forgive me! Well, hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Oh and one more thing! It has been brought to my attention that I tend to make Victor and Victoria so mushy to the point where it's a little out of character. Well, I do apologize for this fact and I'll try to tone it down a bit, but this is the very climatic scene and Victor and Victoria are going to display some emotions that can be read as mushy. I'll try to make it as in character as possible but if it still feels wrong…..well….there's nothing I can do about that! Sorry! Anyway, constructive criticism is still taken seriously and I really do appreciate the honesty!
Well, on with the show!
After being half-dragged up the stairs, Victoria was forced by Barkis to sit in a chair with her hands tied behind her back and her feet bound together. She winced as he purposely gave the ropes that bound her hands one last violent yank.
"Too tight, my dear," he asked, his voice dripping with false concern.
"You know very well that it is," Victoria spat back quietly, seeing no use for her words but releasing some of her anger by saying them anyway. Barkis sneered at her.
"Good," he replied. He was about to rise from his kneeling position until he remembered something.
"Oh and by the way," he leaned in to where he was speaking straight into her ear, "if you so much as even think the word, 'hopscotch,' I'll be sure your husband never sees the light of day again." With that having been said, he walked around to the front of her and pulled out a little vial from his coat pocket.
"Now, I'm fairly certain that I explained all this to you before, but let us have a quick recap, shall we?" He removed the cap of the vial as if for emphasis. "This," he held up the vial, "is a special poison that you will soon drink. And these," he pulled out a crumpled page of the book from his opposite coat pocket, "are the magic words that will get it to do its job. And when all is said and done, I will be immortal and you will be dead. Understood?"
Victoria's only response was stunned silence. She couldn't believe the man standing in front of her was speaking of her death so calmly, as if he wasn't about to rip her away from everything she loved. It was enough to make her sick to her stomach.
"Well….let us begin!" He took a few steps toward Victoria, for which she could feel her heart begin to race. She couldn't believe it was actually happening, she couldn't let it. As he got closer to her, she began writhing in her chair trying desperately to make some sort of escape.
"No, you cannot do this," she told him. "There is no way you can get away with this." Barkis laughed once more.
"I've told you before, darling, I can and I will." He closed the space in between them and put the vial to her lips.
"Drink," he commanded, but Victoria tightened her lips and shook her head.
"Drink," he demanded again in a more violent tone, but she still refused. Suddenly, both heard the door open from downstairs and a desperate voice called out Victoria's name. Victoria immediately recognized her husband's voice as she listened to him scurry about the house in search of her. Barkis turned towards her again and smiled.
"Drink or he dies," he put simply. Victoria felt her heart drop to her feet when she looked into his eyes and realized he was dead serious. So, out of fear and concern for her husband, she parted her lips and let Barkis pour the hideous contents of the vial into her mouth. She began to cough violently, feeling the liquid making a searing course down her throat.
"And now to say the magic words," Barkis continued as he tossed the vial aside and smooth out the crumpled book page in his hands. He was about to open his mouth and recite the spell when the door to the bedroom burst open and Victor flew in with a sword pointing straight for Barkis.
"Get away from her," he demanded as he charged toward Barkis, weapon drawn. He was about to pierce through him but Barkis stepped aside and snatched the sword away before Victor had a chance to react. Victor whirled around in shock, for which he was met with a boot straight in the chest. He flew to the ground, out of breathe and staring up at a triumphant looking Barkis.
"Antics such as those are not going to work any longer, little boy. I have the upper-hand now. Now stand, or in your case lie, back while I finish the incantation." He was about to continue again when Emily and Elder Gutknecht rushed in.
"Halt Barkis," the elder demanded, finishing it off with a couple of hacking coughs. Emily rushed over to Victoria's side and began unfastening the ropes. As she did, she slipped out a tiny vial of her own and passed it discreetly to Victoria.
"Drink this," she whispered to her, a command that Victoria immediately obeyed. Thankfully, Barkis was too busy shouting to notice.
"You are in no position to be giving demands, old man, and as for you, Emily dear, you can free her if you like, but it will not make the slightest difference. She has drunken the poison and will perish as soon as I recite the spell, untied or not."
As if to prove his point, Victoria stood up from her seat after being untied, swooned a bit, and immediately collapsed to the floor. Victor pulled himself up to a crawling position and scurried over to her side.
"Victoria," he called out to her as he gathered her in his arms. His only response from her was some inaudible whisper before she closed her eyes and seemed to slip away.
"Victoria," Victor called out to her once more, his voice frantic with worry.
"Victoria, Victoria," Barkis mocked in an exaggerated high-pitched voice. "Give it up, you spineless twit, she's gone. You lose."
"B-but it can't be," he said more to himself than to anyone else. "You cannot get away with this!"
"Hmm, where have I heard that before," Barkis pretended to contemplate for a moment, "oh yes, you're wife said it just before she drank the poison."
"You will not get away with this, Barkis," Emily piped in from Elder Gutknecht's side.
"Can't you people come up with something more clever to say," Barkis asked as he began to pace about the room. "I've won! It is over! I have taken everything!"
"But why," Victor asked in a whisper, still trying desperately to revive Victoria. At that question, Barkis immediately ceased pacing and stomped over to look Victor straight in the face.
"Why," he yelled as if he couldn't believe the question. "Why, you ask? Why do you think? You took everything from me! All this," he made a great sweeping motion with his arm to indicate the house, "was supposed to belong to me! You earned none of it! Your mansion, your successful career, your beautiful wife, it was all just handed to you! I planned for weeks before I came here and you just took it all away in an instant! If things had just gone according to plan in the first place, I would be in your position and you would be dead! But she," he pointed to Victoria, "had to go and spoil it all! Well now I'm just taking back what is rightfully mine! That is why I did it, you fool! Barkis Bittern never leaves empty-handed!"
When the rant came to its conclusion, Barkis smoothed back a lock of hair that had come out of place and seemed to regain his composure. The mad look that had contorted his features during his speech had returned to the calm, arrogant look he usually wore as he stood up straight and took a couple of steps away from the couple.
"And now that that has been accomplished, I can finally revel in the fact that my work here is complete," he concluded, ready to continue with his chanting of the spell, but before he could Emily interrupted him.
"So you're saying your revenge is complete," she asked, at which Barkis scoffed.
"Of course, you fool! I have everything now, everything that was stolen from me and then some!"
"And was revenge your only reason for staying behind?"
"What?! Oh, yes, of course! Why are you asking," he responded, beginning to grow a little suspicious.
"Oh, no reason," Emily replied nonchalantly, her eyes sparkling with mystery. Barkis narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion, but decided instead to focus at the task at hand. He was about to open his mouth once more when suddenly a great crash of thunder sounded throughout the mansion that shook its very foundation. Barkis yelped in surprise.
"Except that," Emily added coyly, a devilish smile playing at her lips.
"What was that? What is happening," Barkis questioned as he began pacing about nervously. Suddenly the room seemed to grow ominously darker about them as the faint caws of a hundred crows could be heard in the distance. But these crows seemed to have a different call to them from those that carried people back to the Land of the Dead; these crows seemed to sound like that had a different destination at hand.
"Well, you admitted that your revenge was complete and that it was your only reason for staying behind. So, I guess it's time for you to crossover," Emily explained simply, not able to conceal her smug smile any longer.
"Crossover?! Crossover to where," Barkis asked, searching wildly about him for the direction the crow calls were coming from.
"I believe you know the answer to that, Barkis," she responded coldly. Before Barkis could say anything more, the caws intensified to such a degree that the occupants of the room had to cover their ears. In a flash they appeared and were circling about their victim in a mad frenzy, pulling and tugging at him from all directions. The only thing that could be heard above the cawing and the flapping of wings were the terrible shrieks of Barkis Bittern as they dragged him off the underworld and disappeared into thin air. When all was quiet again, those that were left stood unmoving in complete shock.
"We won," Elder Gutknecht finally spoke up, breaking the trance they all seemed to be in.
"You mean…it's finally over? Barkis is gone forever," Emily replied, not able to believe her ears.
"Yes, my dear," the Elder replied. "He's gone. His reign of terror is finally over." At this, Emily squealed in delight and did a few graceful twirls before wrapping her arms around the old skeleton.
"I can't believe it! After all these years, it's finally…." Before she could conclude her sentence, she caught sight of Victor still holding a motionless Victoria in his arms. She released Elder Gutknecht and walked over to their side.
"Victoria," she heard Victor call out to his wife, his voice barely above a whisper. "Victoria, we've won. We've defeated Barkis. You can wake up now, darling."
"Victor, is she…" Emily began to ask, but Victor interrupted her before she could finish.
"She can't be," he replied frantically. "She just can't be! Please, there has to be something you can do."
"We…I gave her the cure to the poison! She drank it, I saw her! It should have worked! Elder Gutknecht…"
"There was never any guarantee that it would work, my dear," he corrected sadly. At that statement, big crocodile tears began to roll down Emily's cheeks.
"But it just has to," she argued in a broken voice. The Elder shook his head.
"I'm sorry. She's gone," he concluded. Emily buried her hands in her face and began to weep, mourning the loss of her new dear friend.
Meanwhile, Victor listened to the words of the old skeleton with complete shock and denial. The words, she's gone, rung in his ears over and over again, but his mind would not wrap around the concept. It wasn't until he looked down at his wife's lifeless body in his hands once more did it hit him.
"Victoria," he called out to her in anguish. At that moment, Victor felt his whole world crash about him. The only person he ever loved was gone forever. His worse nightmares were coming true.
"Victoria," he whispered once more before he buried his face in her neck, commencing to sob quiet, heart-wrenching sobs and wanting nothing more than to lay down and die right along side her.
All of a sudden, he felt a soft tiny hand run itself through his hair. He picked up his head in shock and saw Victoria's doe eyes staring up at him. For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating, but then he heard what to him would forever be the most beautiful sound in the world, her voice.
"Victor, why are you crying," she asked him, causing him to laugh with sheer joy. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her to him, never wanting to let her go ever again.
"Victoria, you're alive," he told her, squeezing her even tighter.
"Yes Victor," she replied between gasps, "and I also can't breathe." Victor laughed delightfully as he released her from his death embrace and looked her in the eyes.
"I love you, Victoria," he told her before she could question what was going on. She smiled at him and planted a gentle kiss on his lips before responding.
"I love you too, Victor." After another kiss, the couple stood up and were immediately embraced by Emily.
"Oh I'm so glad you're alright," she told Victoria, who smiled sweetly in response.
"Thank you, Emily," she responded.
"Well, this calls for a celebration," Elder Gutknecht piped in after the happy scene concluded. "Hopscotch!"
In an instant all were transported back to the Land of the Dead to celebrate their triumph over Barkis and the return of a loved one.
Okay, this ended sucked, I'm aware, but I totally ran out of transition ideas! Please don't think poorly of me because of it! Anyway, don't go away yet! There's one more chapter coming up that really brings the story to its happy ending! Stay tuned!