AUTHOR'S NOTE – Let's get business over with first: I don't own Corpse Bride, it's awesome characters, it's amazing story or any of it. Now, I'll tell you that you should REVIEW AND LIKE this story because this chapter took me a long time to write so ;D. Anyways I hope you all enjoy.
The day passed on and before anyone knew it, it was late noon. The shadow of the large church began to stretch through the town. The sunlight was streaming through the windows and the priest was getting more impatient by the second.
"Now let's try this again, Master Van Dort." The priest said yet again. Victor drew in a deep breath and turned back to Victoria, looking at the items on the table. Two candles that were close together, a cup that shined in the sunlight and a white silk cloth. Victor picked up his candle, as did Victoria.
"Right hand, Master Van Dort." The priest commanded. "Right?" Victor asked.
A realization flashed through Victor's mind as he saw it was in his left hand instead of right and he fumbled, making the candle spin in the air as he tried to correct his mistake causing it to almost fall to the ground. A murmur of voices filled the room, making Victors nervousness even worse. The candle now in his right hand, his heart jumped in his chest as the priest glared at him.
"Now, repeat from the book, these vows are the traditional sayings of a binding of two. With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way through darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine. Repeat those vows for this traditional wedding." The priest read.
Victor looked to his candle and tried to light it to the main candle on the table. His candle sparked but refused to light. Victor took a breath in and put the stub back up to the candle and watched as the wick ignited. He smiled and put the candle up next to Victoria's. He cleared his throat.
"With this candle- "he stated. "With this HAND!" The priest exclaimed. "Oh, right, with this h-hand." Victor corrected. The silence of the church chapel caused Victor to have goosebumps. The priest cleared his throat and waved his hand to Victor.
"Yes, with this… h-ring- "Victor said.
"MASTER VAN DORT! Do you need to hear the vows again?" The priest asked.
"No, of course not." Victor replied.
Victor looked down to the table and then back to his candle, taking in a breath. His exhale extended toward his candle, making the flame die out. Muttering of voices came throughout Van Dorts and the Everglots. Victor looked to see his parents beginning to tap their feet and twiddle their fingers. His eyes cut a glance over to the Everglots, noticing that Mr. Everglot was checking his pocket watch and Mrs. Everglots eye began to twitch.
"KEEP GOING." The priest commanded, his voice booming out in the echoes of the church.
"So, with this hand, I ask you to be my wine- "Victor incorrectly phrased.
"MASTER VAN DORT, do you not wish to marry this young woman? If you wish, then you must get these blessed vows CORRECT." The priest explained in an exasperated tone.
Victoria leaned over and re lit his candle without him looking and so the rehearsal continued. Victor cleared his throat again and tried to clear the thoughts from his head.
"With this hand, I will lift your… your… darkness. No, I will lift you out of darkness." Victor again incorrectly phrased.
"Boy, step aside." Mr. Everglot said from behind.
Victor turned around to see Lord Barkis standing behind him near the altar. His smile was as crooked as a twisted tree branch. His eyes the color of steel and his chin raised in the air once again, making him look arrogant
"Please, Mr. Everglot, give just one more chance sir." Victor pleaded.
"Boy, we have given you took many chances as is." Mr. Everglot replied.
The priest muffled a few solemn words to himself as Victor let Lord Barkis take his place by Victoria. She looked back at Victor and shook her head and smiled at Lord Barkis. Victor gulped and gave his candle to Lord Barkis, who shot him a look. Victor walked out of the church and into the courtyard. He sighed and walked to the edge of town, nearing a bridge that lead into the woods. He looked back to see that his parents didn't follow, so he trudged on. He looked at his ring and shook his head, putting it back into his right pocket. He walked onto the bridge and looked out at nothing in particular.
"Why must I make things difficult? I mean, things just can't get any worse." Victor told himself. He walked on down and tried to remember the vows that Pastor Galswells had told him to remember. Victor took in a breath and began reciting the vows aloud.
"With this ring, I will lift your sorrows… no." Victor told himself. He walked off the bridge and into the woods without even realizing it. Victor's footsteps were carpeted by snow and leaves in his path, but he was focused on saying his vows.
"With this hand, I will cup your… Oh goodness no." Victor said shaking his head.
His path leads him to an old oak tree and he stopped before it. He kept on trying to at least say a right verse within his mind and say it aloud but nothing was working the way he wanted it to.
"With this hand, I ask you… no. With this ring, I will… no. With this candle, your… your darkness will never… what's the point"? Victor asked himself miserably
He sat down in frustration and put his face to his hand, smoothing his hair to the right side. He dug his ring out again and studied it, imagining what it would have looked like on Victoria's finger. He took a big breath in and stood, now determined.
"I will not let a man like Barkis, take away a woman like you!" Victor exclaimed. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup, may never empty for I will be your wine."
Victor looked around and grasped a tree branch to use a candle. Smiling, he broke the branch off and held it up to another smaller branch. "With this candle I will light your way through darkness." He threw the makeshift candle to the side and saw a twig sticking up and he reached down. "With this ring, I- "Victor stopped. He thought of a different phrase, thinking untraditionally and smiled. "With this ring, I ask you to be mine forever through life and death." Victor finished slipping the ring onto the twig. The twig wobbled and he smiled as he had finished his vows and they sounded perfect.
The wind began to blow to the point of howling and he looked around noticing all the ravens that had suddenly appeared in the trees. He frowned as he heard their talons on the branches and suddenly there was a loud cracking sound, only it wasn't from the ever growing ravens, rather from the ground beneath. A tight hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the ground. He gasped as the force from hitting the ground knocked the wind out of him. He groaned and realized that the hand still gripped his wrist, so he pulled back and realized that it was all bone. He pulled harder trying to get it to let him go. Finally, he was let loose, and the force of him pulling away flung him back a few feet, landing at the base of another tree. He lifted his arm to see the hand still wrapped tightly around his wrist, his ring glittering on its finger and its forearm still attached. In fear and disgust, he shook the arm off and tried to stand but fell back as a mini quake rocked the ground.
The ground began to crack apart and heave where the hand had come up and slowly another hand came out and clawed at the ground. The skin on the hand and arm was a dark blue with little bits of lighter blues mixed in, and it looked like it was scared. As Victor watched in horror, he saw a figure began to rise out of the ground, dirt and snow being displaced as it rose. His jaw dropped and his senses shut off, as the figure stood, wearing a wedding gown and veil which was draped in front of her face.
He studied her with intent, trying to find an answer for what had just happened, but all he could really think about was how afraid he was. The moonlight shined through the exposed part of her ribcage and sprouted her.
Her eyes widened as her veil drifted up and over her head landing gently against her back, and Victor tried to crawl backwards. Her head tilted and her lips cracked into a smile, her right cheek bone being exposed through a tear in her blue tinted skin. A soft voice came from the corpse standing before him and what it said chilled him to the bone.
"I do." She said.
Without warning, the corpse bride began to slowly move forward, extending her still connected right arm towards Victor. Victor stood up and backed into a gravestone, falling over the thing. He looked over it and saw that she was still walking toward him. He turned his back to her and bolted into the cover of the trees, the moonlight lighting his way. He glanced back to see that the dead woman was still following him and he turned back to keep running but ran face first into a tree. He let out a cry of pain and felt his nose and eye throb in pain. He covered his eye and focused his other eye to notice the blue skinned monstrosity approaching him, now with her left arm intact.
Without thinking, he ran into the tree again then went around it. He kept on running and lost his balance on a hill and stumbled. His legs buckled and he landed near another gravestone. His head hit the stone and a lump started to from, but it was nothing compared to what could happen if she had caught up to him. So he looked back to see fog rolling down from the upper hill, followed by the corpse. He stood once more and kept on running from the dead woman.
He came across the frozen river and almost fell as he tried to run across the ice. His feet kept on running, but he stayed in the same place despite his efforts. Victor looked back to see that she was still walking toward him, arms extended and a blank faced smile that caused goosebumps to cover his skin and shudder to work its way down his spine. Finally, realizing that he'd get nowhere on the ice he hopped back onto the snowy ground and ran faster than he ever had before. His breath filled the midnight air as he came across the bridge at last. Twigs from the trees were all that stood between him and the bridge and he ran through them. They tore at his jacket and a piece clung to one of the thicker branches. He kept running and heard the rip as the branch took a piece of his jacket. He sprinted on, leaving the piece of cloth and stitching behind him on the branches. His jacket was the least of his worries, as he ran on towards the bridge.
The calls of ravens came from behind him and he yelled out as they flew out at him, surrounding him and the bridge. He ducked and closed his eyes, praying they all would just leave him alone. With that thought in his mind, he opened his eyes and suddenly everything was silent. He looked around to see that all the ravens had disappeared and the corpse was gone. His fear continued however and he gulped, looking back into the woods to be sure that he had not be followed to his sanctuary. Victor let out a sigh of relief and turned around just to come face to face with the corpse bride.
He let out a shriek as her blank face again stretched into a hideous smile. He tried to run again but was blocked by a circle of ravens forming around the bride and himself. He looked for any kind of way out but only found a circle of black forming. He gulped as the bride moved closer to him. His hands reached back to the bridge cobblestone and he just watched the harbinger of death approach.
"Please! I'm sorry I disturbed you! Don't hurt- "Victor tried to explain in his panicked state of mind.
"You may kiss the bride." The corpse replied.
Victor's eyes widened as the corpse's hand went on his shoulders and her eyes closed, puckering her cold blue lips. Slowly her head moved forward and all at once, the raven squalled and forced the two together and Victor's lively lips touched the lips of a corpse bride. All Victor could feel was a breath of cold winter's day engage his soul and a blistering pain entered his chest.
AUTHOR'S NOTE – Whew, that took a bit longer than I expected but what can you say, that is the writing and editing process. Which I have to think one of my best friends in the world for she is the editor of this "masterpiece". Her user is Kittenw21, her name is going to be nameless for privacy reasons of course! :D. In fact, she has helped me through writing and editing so much that we basically have become a writing duo :D. To help us even farther: Review, Favorite, Follow, READ MORE :D. Just remember, there's more to come… eventually; D.
