Corpse Bride: M.C.

Chapter 13- Mali's Getting Married

Michael finally went looking for Emily, deciding it was best to keep the story from Ashton for now. He couldn’t tell Ashton at the moment anyways, because two kids came to see him. Two Children. They weren’t very old. They were apparently Ashton’s siblings. That thought broke his heart. He eventually found himself following the sweet sound of music, something he’d missed for so long in the few hours he’d been in the underworld. He soon came to a door, but stood outside of the frame and out of sight once he looked inside.

“Look at this photograph

Every time I do it makes me laugh

How did our eyes get so red?

And what the hell is on Ashton's head?”

Michael laughed quietly at the last line, but it didn’t lessen his awe. Emily’s voice was absolutely beautiful. As was her guitar playing. He didn’t even know she could play. He couldn’t help but wonder what else she could do. Her voice was soothing and like silk, she played the guitar as well as, if not better than, him. Emily seemed to be more than he thought. Of course there was more to this girl than he knew.

“Kim's the first girl I kissed

I was so nervous that I nearly missed

She's had a couple of kids since then

I haven't seen her since god knows when”

When Michael heard Calum’s voice singing, for the first time since he’d missed a lot of the song due to his thoughts, he was honestly jealous. His voice was warm and gave off a sense of security.

“I miss that town

I miss the faces

You can't erase

You can't replace it

I miss it now

I can't believe it

So hard to stay

Too hard to leave it”

It was hard for Michael to listen to this song without crying, but somehow he did it. It seemed there was more meaning than Michael could ever understand. It hurt him, slightly, though he’d only known these people for a very short time. He’d grown close to them. Watching the two of them sing together and play their guitars made Michael a bit jealous. He’d never had anyone like that. No friends, no siblings. No one to call his own. Not until Mali-Koa, that is. And Emily. But now he had to talk to Emily before he made any decisions. He needed to talk to the broken girl that he’d learned to care for.

Michael walked into the room and lightly knocked on the doorframe after the song was finished. The pair looked up at him, but as soon as they saw who it was Michael would have rather ran than look at their faces. “Umm, can I talk to Emily alone for a bit?” he asked politely, nervously scratching the back of his neck. Calum took the guitar off of his body and set it down carefully against the wall. He quickly gave Emily a kiss on the forehead, just like Michael imagined a big brother would do, and whispered something into her ear. When Calum walked over to Michael, he gave him an unsettling glare. “You better not hurt her again,” Calum growled before pushing past Michael, shoving the blonde’s shoulder.

Michael wasn’t surprised when Emily wouldn’t even look up at him. He sighed heavily and sat down where Calum had once been. She still didn’t look. She just continued to strum the guitar in her lap. Michael sat there playing with his fingers, waiting for her to acknowledge him. But she didn’t. Eventually he got the idea to pick up the other guitar. His fingers glided carefully over the strings as he tried to show off to the girl in front of him. “Okay, Michael, what do you want?” Emily finally groaned, looking up at the boy. “I’m sorry for lying to you,” he told her, putting down the guitar. Emily didn’t say anything. She just looked away again. “What happened?” Michael asked her, “I mean, to Calum and Ashton.” A frown formed on Emily’s face and an uncomfortable silence fell over the two of them. “I mean, if you don’t want to—” “No, no it’s fine,” she interrupted the blonde haired boy. She carefully put the guitar down by her feet, refusing to look him in the eye. “It’s my fault, really,” she whispered, “They’re dead because of me.”

“Calum told you that I asked him to throw a party for me, when I planned to get married,” Emily started, “And he did. The only other friend that showed up, though, was Ashton. Ashton and his two younger siblings, Harry and Lauren. They got to Calum’s house not long after I had left, because they only lived down the street. They all set up Calum’s house very nicely, or so i was told. There was a cake and streamers, the likes. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Calum went to go answer it, seeing as it was his house. They assumed it’d be another friend coming to the party. But it wasn’t. It was him. My fiancé. They congratulated him and asked him where I was, and he brought out a gun. Of course, Ashton hid Harry and Lauren behind his back but that didn’t help. He shot all four of them anyway. I suppose, looking back on it, that he didn’t want anyone to know about us since he was going to kill me anyway.”

Michael looked at the girl who had tears in her eyes. Honestly, he was close to crying, too. “I’m not sure you’ve met Harry and Lauren. They’re here, too, though.” Michael nodded his head, answering with, “Yeah. They came up to see Ashton before I came down here.” Emily nodded her head at his statement. It seemed that was all they could do, was nod their heads. “How come—How come Mali-Koa wasn’t, you know,” Michael asked, scratching the back of his head. “Murdered?” Emily asked him. Michael gulped and nodded his head. He just couldn’t get out the word. The thought of Mali-Koa being murdered was just so heart breaking to him. “She was at a friend’s house, according to Calum,” Emily told him, “I didn’t even know her. That’s why I didn’t recognize her earlier.” That information caused Michael to let out a big breath. He was thankful she’d been nowhere near the scene. Just as Michael was about to respond, little Lauren came running into the room saying, “Mali’s getting married.”