Corpse Groom

Chapter 7

(I apologize for this one being so short, hopefully, the next one  will be longer!)

(With Howdy)

Being grounded was one thing, but being locked inside your room like a caged animal was another. Having just witnessed the woman he was supposed to marry get taken away by a corpse really takes a toll on one's sanity. So, after coming to terms with reality and calming himself down, if just a bit, he decided to make a makeshift rope out of blankets and sheets and climb down from his balcony. Once everyone in the manor was asleep of course.

It was storming, the rain was pouring down, and the thunder occasionally roared, providing plenty of noise to cover up the sound of him crashing to the ground just outside his parent's bedroom window after one of the sheets ripped in half. "Thank heavens I didn't have far to fall, that could have ended horribly." After picking himself up off the ground, he wrapped himself in the remaining half of the ripped sheet and headed towards the church, hoping to get some answers to this corpse-groom phenomenon.

After descending the church stairs, he took a deep breath and knocked on the giant wooden doors. The sound echoes throughout the inside of the church, causing an eerie feeling to wash over him as it does so. Soon after, the priest answers, dressed in a nightgown and a hat, all adorned with matching slippers and his cane, with a sleepy look on his face, having just woken up. "Young Pillar? What are you doing outside of your manor? Under-dressed for this weather no less, without an escort." Without an explanation, he walked inside with his hands clasped together in a plea, with a look of urgency on his face, "Please, Father! I have an important question, which is why I have come, and I just needed to know... Can the living marry the dead??"

The Priest's eyes widened in shock and horror before slowly shaking his head and trying to calm down the seemingly deranged man before him. "Young Pillar, where is all of this madness coming from? You're just not making any sense-" Interrupting the Priest he proceeded to clasp onto the Priest's robe while pleading, "It's (Y/n)! Please we have to help her! She could be in serious danger!" Once listening to the man's plea, the Priest took a deep breath and stated calmly, "I know exactly what to do." The Priest grabbed the man's wrist and dragged him out the door of the church. "You're clearly not well in the head, and so I am taking you back home to your parents." Baffled and betrayed, he tried to wiggle himself out of the Priest's grasp, all the while shouting to release him and begging him to believe his words. All was to no avail as it all seemed to fall upon deaf ears as the Priest paid him no mind and continued to escort him back to the manor.

Once they arrived at the manor they were greeted with the irked faces of Mr. and Mrs. Pillar standing in the doorway, followed by Mrs. Pillar's voice of confusion, "How did you get out of your room?" The Priest then shoved the man into the arms of his parents before speaking in a dull, seemingly bothered tone of voice, "I believe your son has fallen ill, speaking gibberish of the undead walking amongst the living. I believe he needs some well-needed rest." Mr. Pillar looked at his son in slight disappointment before returning his gaze to the Priest. "Thank you, Father, you can rest assured that we'll be keeping a closer eye on him from now on." The Priest nodded before bidding the family goodnight, and taking his leave, leaving the family to themselves.

Once dragged back to his room his parents made sure to have the butler barricade his balcony doors and the windows with wood and nails to not have him escape again. Furious, he grabbed the fire poker and proceeded to jab and scrape at the wood to try and pry it away but was cut short once his parents walked in, causing him to quickly hide the fire poker behind his back and look as if he wasn't doing anything wrong. Either they didn't notice his strange behavior or they just didn't care as they took a few steps into the room looking rather joyous considering the catastrophe that just unfolded just a bit ago.

"Son, it's time we tell you about the good news." His father said while straightening the collar on his dress coat. "You will be wed after all." Shocked, he dropped the fire poker, the sound going unnoticed by either of his parents, and his heart filled with slight hope. "You mean you found (Y/n)?" His mother chuckled and patted him on the head. "Of course not, we found someone better, Lady Julie Joyful is taking her place." His heart dropped, his body seemingly feeling as if he were about to collapse, Lady Julie? Why have they all given up on finding (Y/n) so quickly? What if they get hurt? Or worse? "Don't look so glum my dear, just think, she is a Lady, a wealthy one at that. She is the ticket that's gonna save us from the poor house." his mother stated in what she perceived as "reassuring" before making her way back over to the door with her husband. "Just remember the plan, put on a smile, and everything goes." and with that final statement, they left him. Broken, and defeated, they left him as nothing more than the shell of an empty cocoon waiting to be swept away by the wind, never to return.

(With Julie)

Having just heard the conversation between the Pillar's she couldn't help but laugh to herself. To think? Everything was going according to her plan. She roamed the empty halls with nothing but the Pillar family portraits to keep her company. Deaf ears and unseeing eyes are all that knew of her plan, and who could stop her? She had done it once, and surely she could get away with it again. She wandered the dimly lit halls until she came face to face with Howdy, "Oh don't look at me like that, soon we'll be married and you won't have to be alone anymore. That is, till death do us part right?" She chuckles to herself before walking away, dull, unseeing eyes watching as she takes her leave, depriving the portrait of any previous light the hallway once held in her presence.