Disclaimer – I don't own American Horror Story
. . .
As it turns out, Gladys used to play the piano when she was alive. Nora had commanded Charles to dig around and find their old organ. The music began to play softly and Mary and Beau walked in between the aisles of chairs assembled by Chad and Patrick. They broke apart to stand on separate sides when they reached the podium Billy Dean had set up as the alter.
Next went Troy and Bryan, each having one hand on a little box that contained what must be the wedding rings. Violet almost laughed; she had never even seen her own wedding ring. She wondered what kind of cake Billy Dean had picked out.
Behind Troy and Bryan went Margret and Angela. The two girls dropped black rose petals at their feet as they walked.
The music changed. In her head, Violet sang the familiar words, here comes the bride . . . But the organ gave it a more sinister sounding tone. How very appropriate.
Lily quickly pulled Violet's veil over her head—something she had forgotten to do herself—before they came into view of the others from the dark shadows of the basement.
In the dim light, Violet already looked like a ghost. All eyes were trained on her, and she couldn't help but notice in her mind that Constance was the only living human there. She was sitting directly behind Hugo . . . uh oh.
Lily breathed out a shaky laugh. She whispered in Violet's ear. "Look at your future husband."
Violet tore her eyes away from Constance and looked at Tate. He was standing in front of Billie's podium. His cheeks had turned a somewhat greenish complexion and the rest of his face was white as a sheet. He looked like he was going to pass out. A few steps later she was standing next to him, positive she was in equally bad physical condition.
"Who gives this girl away?" Billie asked.
"Me," Lily said. "I . . . do that."
Billie glared at her. It took a few seconds for her to understand.
"Oh right!" Lily cried. She pulled Violet's veil back and placed her hand in Tate's. "There we go."
Lily gave them one final thumbs up before going to stand next to Mary, Margret, and Angela.
Billie gave the audience one of her TV-ready smiles—Violet remembered her mentioning something about a camera—before she began to recite; "We are gathered here today to bond in holy matrimony Tate Langdon and Violet Harmon."
She took the wine glass that was resting on the counter and handed it to Tate. He took a deep breath and put it to his lips. It tasted good, but his throat was too dry to enjoy it. He handed the glass to Violet. She experienced a similar sensation.
Billie took the box from Troy and Bryan and handed one ring to Violet and one to Tate. Violet didn't bother looking at it.
"Repeat after me," Billie instructed. "'I Tate, take thee Violet as my lawfully wedded wife.'"
Tate's voice quivered slightly as he spoke. "'I Tate, take thee Violet as my lawfully wedded wife."
"'To have and to hold . . .'"
"To have and to hold," Tate repeated.
"'From this day forth, for better or for worse . . .'"
"From this day forth, for better or for worse," Tate said. His voice was a little more under control now.
"'For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us start."
Troy and Bryan snickered at the adlib.
"For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us start." Tate took a deep breath and said the rest on his own. He slipped the ring on Violet's finger. "According to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth. With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
"What am I here for?" Billie muttered under her breath.
"I, Violet," she began without Billie's okay, "Take thee Tate as my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forth, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us start. According to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth. With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly good I thee endow; In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."
She put Tate's ring on his finger.
"Now," Billie Dean said. "With the knife of remembrance, you shall stab the heart of the living spouse, so that the two may forever be together, un-ageing, and in love."
That part was new . . . But Violet knew what was coming. From the folds in Billie Dean's dress, she pulled out a very old fashioned looking knife and handed it to Tate. "Go on now."
Violet took a deep breath and whispered to him, "Come on, Tate. You can do it."
His breath became nervous and quick. He didn't know what to do . . . He knew he had to kill Violet, but he also knew that killing her would be totally impossible for him. He stared down at the ancient looking dagger.
Infantata, he thought. Now would be a really great time to possess me.
But of course nothing happened. And even Thaddeus did possess him when he killed Violet, it wouldn't count because it wasn't Tate killing her of his own free will.
A few minutes passed, and still nothing happened.
Mary nudged Lily's foot with her own. Get going she meant.
"Tate!" Lily spoke up. "If you don't kill Violet now, she's going to move away and you'll never see her again."
She was trying to make him angry. Despite the fact that he only killed all those people because he had been possessed, Tate was still crazy. Lily knew it was true . . . It was impossible to have a demon baby's spirit living inside of you without picking up on a little of the crazy yourself. She just had to hit the right spot with her verbal hammer. "She'll leave Tate, and so will I. Then you'll be stuck here forever alone. Think about that Tate, never being able to see Violet again! But you can fix that, you can make her stay. She'll be with you forever, Tate."
He almost laughed. "That's the problem . . . I don't want her to be with me. I want her to live and to be happy!"
Violet saw Moira dab at her eyes with a tissue from the front row of chairs. The guests were enjoying this.
Lily needed a new approach. When nothing came to mind she went straight to her last resort.
"I'm sorry Violet," she whispered. She scanned the guests for a weak ghost, one that would be easy to possess. Her gaze landed on Dallas. That idiot would be so easy to control it was almost comical.
Lily focused. She wasn't positive this would work, but she really, really hopped so. With her mind, she willed Dallas to stand and walk over to the podium. He was a puppet and she was the master. She made him grab the glass of wine, then reach into Billie Dean's pocket and pull out the poison that Lily new was hidden in there—Billie's just in case back up for muggers. Harsh but effective . . . it won't kill you, but it'll make you feel like you're dying if you breath it in. Lily commanded Dallas to pour the entire bottle into the wine glass, then hold it to Violet's throat.
"NO!" Tate screamed. He attempted to attack, but Hayden, Fiona, and Travis grabbed him and held him back. "Violet!"
Dallas—at Lily's command—grabbed Violet by the neck and tilted her back. He plugged her nose and poured the poisoned wine into her mouth. She had no choice but to swallow.
Lily released her puppet. He left loose of Violet, confused. Violet fell to the ground.