Corpse Groom

For Whom Death Calls

(Art by me, obviously.)
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Erik's eye held the emotion of a thousand tortured souls.

"I remember everything about my life... about my death."

(Y/n) blinked up at the corpse, warily glancing at the hunting knife still clutched tightly in his hand.

"I remember the woman I loved. My orchid... my Lula."

The wind picked up, blowing dark hair back and out of Erik's face.

"It was love at first sight... but Lula was the daughter of a widower noble. A hunter by trade, who would never give her hand away to just anyone."

The corpse's breathing became heavier with each word.

"So, I... watched her from afar."

Erik's eye slowly lidded, a soft smile accompanying the emotion on his face that (Y/n) couldn't name.

"I learned so much about my orchid just by looking through her windows..."

The expression shifted, a ravenous hunger present beneath all that deranged love.

"But I wasn't content."

(Y/n) couldn't hold his stare.

"I needed to be with her like I needed air. I wouldn't accept anyone else... she was my perfect bride."

Erik sighed. He closed his eye and lightly shook his head, smile all but forgotten.

"Yet, I had learned much by watching her. Lula would never choose someone like me... so I changed myself for her."

There was a moment of silence between them, save for the howling wind.

"It wasn't enough."

Moonlight made Erik's skin look even paler. It felt like the void of his empty eye socket was slowly pulling (Y/n) in.

"Lula rejected me at every turn. It was breaking my heart... but then, seemingly out of nowhere, she asked to meet me in the woods."

That smile returned, much more eerie and sinister now.

"The only possibility was that she finally wanted to marry me."

"What? That doesn't..."

(Y/n) yelped as the tip of the hunting knife was buried into the ground mere inches from his head. (E/c) eyes darted between gleaming metal and Erik's sour face. The corpse's shoulders were almost fully tensed.

"Silence."

His words were growled through clenched teeth, and the (h/c) rapidly nodded. Suit-clad shoulders lowered in response, knife lifting out of the dirt.

He didn't bother repositioning the blade above (Y/n). Instead, he laid his hand flat beside the (h/c)'s head; pinning the young man down.

"I went to Lula, and she spoke so sweetly. Her words were like honey in my ears... I could've listened to her all day."

Though his voice sounded calm and clear, there was a deep frustration in his eye.

"I was so focused on the sweet nothings spewing from her mouth that I never even noticed the hunting knife she held behind her back."

Cold breath fanned over (Y/n)'s face as Erik gently closed the distance. The (h/c) shivered.

"She stabbed me in the eye and slit my throat. In my final moments, she told me I was... disgusting."

There was something foreign in his tone... a strange mix of sorrow, exasperation, and bitterness.

"Those words killed any feelings I held for her, just like she had killed me. I only wanted to be happy... it isn't fair."

Slowly, (Y/n) rested a hand on Erik's chest. It was disturbingly cold... and, of course, there was nothing steadily beating against his fingers.

"E-Erik... I think we both know-"

"No."

A yelp echoed between the trees as Erik roughly grabbed a fistful of (Y/n)'s (h/l) hair, icy fingers painfully threading into (h/c) locks, and violently dragged him up.

He forced the other male to sit in his lap, his skeletal hand picking the knife up once again.

"You know... Lula buried me there; the place you found me. I wasn't quite dead yet, though. She had buried me with her knife, and I tried to dig my way out... but I only managed to get my arm free by the time I finally succumbed to death."

(Y/n) shuddered when cold metal lightly dragged against the skin of his exposed throat.

"My final wish... was to find the person destined for me. Someone who could finally fulfill my desire to be part of a perfect pair."

Erik sighed, nuzzling into the side of (Y/n)'s neck while the (h/c) whimpered. His entire body was trembling in horror at everything he was hearing.

"That someone... is you."

"B-But I... I didn't m-mean to marry you... I-I'm betrothed! Can't you just-"

The corpse leaned in even closer, cutting the desperate words off, and (Y/n) felt his heart sink into his stomach at the uncaring tone to Erik's voice.

"My dreams were taken from me. Now I will do whatever I must to make them come true."

The knife lightly kissed the skin of his throat as it was pulled away, swiftly lowered to hover a few inches above his rapidly beating heart.

"And you don't get a choice in the matter."

(Y/n) screamed.