A Undead Zing
Chapter 3 Exploration
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Emily looked around the room Dracula was letting her stay in. It was a fairly nice room with furniture and books. Emily went over to a mirror to get a good look of herself. When she had first woken up as a undead in the woods Emily had been very confused and disoriented as she traveled towards the nearest village. She had noticed her bone arm and leg which had confused her even more and then she had reached the village. The first people she had encountered had screamed and ran away at the sight of Emily and then Emily had gotten her first look at herself in a reflection of a store window and had jumped back startled by her appearance. Before she could examine and process her undead status a angry mob had formed and began chasing her out of the village, where she met Dracula.
Emily studied herself in the mirror. She was indeed dead, but despite the decay in some areas, Emily was still a beautiful and striking figure. Emily glanced down at the wedding dress and wondered what she had been doing before the time of her first death. She recalled going into the woods to meet someone she loved and then things went dark after that before she woke up again in the woods as an undead. Everything between that and her life before was a but foggy. Had there been some kind of secret wedding planned in the forest that had been attacked by bandits or had Emily just experienced a bit of bad luck or misfortune that had resulted in her death on the way to meet the person in the woods? Emily couldn't remember.
Emily laid on the bed and pondered for a few minutes and tried to sleep, but soon realized she couldn't. Didn't know because she was trying to remember her past or she couldn't really because she was an undead. Emily decided to get up and explore the manor. She left the room and headed down one of the hallways. The manor really was big and beautiful and as she walked Emily began to recall something from her past. Emily remembered walking down look big beautiful hallways similar to the manor she was in now. This could mean that Emily had once lived in a large manor and came from a rich family. Emily tried to remember more, like her last name, but it kept slipping away from her.
On her walk through the manor Emily passed a few zombies, a gargoyle, some knight armors, and a few witches cleaning the halls. They all greeted Emily nicely and politely, but Emily couldn't help but feel that they were staring at her and whispering behind her back. Though it probably had more to do with Emily being in a wedding dress then Emily being undead. Emily decided she was going to need a change of wardrobe.
Emily entered a area of the manor that appeared to be a library of some kind and found a hunched-over skeleton with no teeth, frail bones, a cracked open skull a wispy fragment of beard, and spectacles sitting in a table reading a large book. The skeleton looked up as Emily entered the room.
"Ah good evening young lady. My name is Elder Gutknecht. I heard that Master Dracula brought a guest in from the other servants, they failed to tell me how lovely you were." Said the skeleton.
"Nice to meet you Elder Gutknecht. I'm Emily." Said Emily.
"Nice to meet you Emily. What a lovely name. I take it you're a newly undead." Said Elder Gutknecht.
"I am, but how did you know?" Said Emily.
"I've been around for a very long time my dear, I'm a expert on these matters." Elder Gutknecht.
"Is having a problem remembering your death and past part of being an undead?" Asked Emily.
"It is, but don't you worry about it. Your memories will return to you in time and if you need help I have a few old remedies that can help with that if wish." Said Elder Gutknecht.
"Thank you for that. That helps put my mind at ease and I'll think about taking one of your remedies." Said Emily.
"Very well. I hope you enjoy your stay here. It's been a while since we had any new arrivals here and it's been a while since the master brought any females monsters here, since Maratha's passing." Elder Gutknecht.
"Whose Martha?" Asked Emily.
"Martha was Dracula's wife and they loved each other greatly. They had a daughter together, but a angry mob of humans attacked them. Dracula was able to save his daughter, but Martha was killed in the attack." Said Elder Gutknecht sadly.
"Oh my! That's terrible!" Said Emily.
"It was. Martha's death hit Dracula hard and if it wasn't for his daughter, he would have spiraled into a Great Depression and would have either taken his own life or seek out revenge on all humans." Said Elder Gutknecht.
Emily processed this. Dracula really had experienced some great tragedy in his life. Emily wished she could help Dracula.
"So do you want to learn how you died?" Asked Elder Gutknecht.
"You can do that?" Asked Emily with a bit of surprise.
"I can. I've studied bodies and wounds over the years, so I'm a expert in that field." Said Elder Gutknecht as he stood up and hobbled over to Emily on a bone cane.
Emily stood still as she let Elder Gutknecht study her. Elder Gutknecht studied the hole in Emily's wedding dress that exposed her ribs on her right side. He looked at the ribs closely and took note of a mark on one of them.
"I believe you were stabbed my dear." Said Elder Gutknecht.
"Stabbed?" Asked Emily.
"Yes. Stabbed. There's a mark on one of your ribs that indicates a blade of some kind was used on you, which lead to your death. Can't say why that person stabbed you, but that's what happened." Said Elder Gutknecht.
Emily faintly remembered a glint of a knife in the moonlight, but she couldn't remember who was holding it.
"Thank you for telling me this, Elder Gutknecht." Said Emily.
"You're welcome my dear. If you need anything else let me know." Said Elder Gutknecht as he returned to his table and book.
Emily left the library and headed back to her room, when she reached it she was a little surprised to see Dracula waiting outside her door.
"Oh hello Emily. Are you enjoying your stay?" Said Dracula.
"I am. You have a very lovely home. The servants have been very nice to me, especially Elder Gutknecht. He told me what caused my death." Said Emily.
"What was it?" Asked Dracula.
"I was stabbed apparently, though I only have a faint memory of the knife and not the person who did it to me." Said Emily.
"I'm so sorry for that." Said Dracula.
"It's ok. I'm sure all my memories will come back." Said Emily.
"Is there anything I can get you?" Asked Dracula.
"Well I suppose I could use a new change of clothes. It's a bit awkward walking around in a wedding dress." Said Emily.
"Understood. I'm sure some of my wife's things can fit you." Said Dracula.
"Oh, I heard about your wife and I'm so sorry about what happened to her." Said Emily.
"Thank you... I appreciate that. I'll have someone bring you some new clothes. Have a goodnight Emily." Said Dracula with a small smile as he walked away.
"Have a goodnight." Said Emily as she headed into her room.
To be continued.