Everlasting Agony

Chapter 3

       In the dream he danced through the whirling smoke down a hall with mirrors lined at the side. The mirrors reflected not the empty hall he was in but a pristine, white room. He could hear lovely, haunting music fill the empty space. He could see people in the pristine, white room reflected in the mirrors, their gaze all centered on him. He felt a sinking feeling when he felt someone grip his arm. He turned to face Jessamine, her face lined with malice. "Are you ready for our wedding, dear?" She asked. There was another man at the side of the hall.
       The man moved with panther-like grace, swiftly turning corners down the hall as if the smoke carried him. But though Emmett felt that he knew the man, he could not catch a glimpse of the man's face. The man might have been Damian, or someone else entirely. Emmett shrugged Jessamine's hand off, in order to pursue the man. He raced down the halls in an endless pursuit but could never reach the man. He ran and ran and-

       Emmett awoke with a cry, his eyes flying open, a strange, aching feeling forming in his chest.
       "Mr Lightwood? It would seem as though your carriage just arrived."
Emmett ran his hands through his hair as he turned to face his butler.

"My carriage?"

"Why yes, your father has arranged for it"
      
       Emmett sighed, predicting the reason for the unexpected trip. Another attempt from his father for him to marry.
       The carriage ride was veiled with deafening silence and Emmett could not help comparing it to the light-hearted carriage ride with Damian. The carriage ride dragged on for hours and he yearned for his feet to be in contact with the steady ground. It was almost midday when the carriage reached is destination. He braced himself for the mindless swooning and unceasing rambling.
       He was addressed by two women he had never met before, a maiden and her supposed mother. They beamed at him. He already dreaded the evening. But with notice of the absence of the cacophony of noise he was expecting from the girls, he relaxed slightly as he was guided to a seat with the two accompanying him. They gathered their skirts before sitting.
       The maiden was of breathtaking beauty although it was her demeanor that really caught his attention. She wasn't like other ladies, in a sense that she looked as if she dreaded to be here as much as he did and seemed quite nonchalant about anything he said. Other maidens would have started giggling but she seemed indifferent.
       Her mother excused herself shortly after introductions, looking over to her daughter, subtly jabbing at her to pay more attention to him. As soon as her mother left, she slumped back slightly in her seat. She looked hesitantly at him, as if contemplating something.
       "Look Emmett, you seem a nice man and I am sure you are aware of our parents attempt to match-make us but I have no interest of marriage," she let out in one breath, stiffening up as if preparing herself for an impudent answer.
       A smile broke out on Emmett's face. "Really? Oh thank gods, Ms Miller. Neither do I," he heaved a sigh of relief.
       The shock that came with his statement robbed her off speech. She was defenitely not expecting such answer.
       "Oh please, just call me Elizabeth. It is most certainly a joy to meet a man who is, for once, not interested in the marrying of any sort," she said after a while, a look of suprise still flickering in her eyes.
       "Friends, then?" he suggested, holding his breath, hoping for the most simplest of an answer, a simple 'yes' that would suffice.
        "Well yes, of course. It would be a pleasure to befriend someone of such amiable qualities," she managed.
       The day passed with rapid speed as Emmett got to know the breath-taking Elizabeth Smith Miller.

       "Definitely Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen was a million times better,"
      
       "She chose the boring one, it was simply predictable!" Elizabeth concluded,"A Tale of Two Cities was the best."

       Emmett's mouth quirked up in a smile, he certainly was not expecting to meet someone like Elizabeth. When the day ended, he left with great reluctance, declining the carriage ride home, so as to walk in silence.
       He broke into a brisk walk after bidding goodbyes with Elizabeth and her mother. He walked through the forsakened streets. The lingering light from the sun was obliterated by the rapidly falling night, a great mass of endless space towering above him. He quickened his footsteps slightly. 'Maybe Elizabeth or Damian could accompany me to town in the morrow and-'
       His thoughts were cut off when he collided with someone. He jumped. He lifted his head, only to be met with Damian's face.
       "Do you always get frightened easily? I would hate to get bashed with a jug again," he remarked.
       "Well, then maybe you should learn how to be less suspicious," Emmett said, straightening his waistcoat.
       "Why are you out so late anyway?" Emmett enquired. "Oh, it's a long story. I was merely walking through town and a little girl offered to sell me a flower for six-pence, seeing as the price was too steep, I declined politely," Damian went on,"When I declined, she then proceeded to rob me and now I'm lost,"
       Emmett laughed at him, before offering to guide him home. On the way, they talked. Their laughter did not build softly but exploded as the conversation progressed, filling the dank air and spilling out into the late night.
       After that day, things seemingly progressed. Emmett grew closer to Elizabeth and Damian. Despite Elizabeth's mother's constant pestering for her to get married, the three were certainly happy. And everything clicked on place. Perhaps that was his missing puzzle piece, the thing he was looking for his whole life and he had found it.
       But there was something eerie, something sinister happening, it occupied his mind. He felt as if someone was watching him. A shadow. It slipped his mind at first and he dismissed it as paranoia but he was sure more that it was someone, something more. He could see the shadow sometimes, out of the corner of his eyes, eyeing him. But everything else in his life was at its peak and he was happy.
       It hit him one day, when he was walking down the same street Damian and him had walked through that night, that he would never be allowed the simplicity of his platonic friendship with Elizabeth. People had already begun rumors about their trio and he wished not for it to get worse but-
       He was jerked out of his thoughts when a hand propelled him from the sidewalk into the dusty alley. The sight before him evoked a whole litany of emotions ranging from disbelief to amusement. Mostly disbelief.

       "Elizabeth?"

       And there Elizabeth was, standing right in front of him, wearing only a shirt with trousers and an overcoat. She wasn't wearing any skirts or even a corset.
       "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU WEARING," he managed, before getting shushed by her. "Why are you dressed as a man, Eliz? They'll throw you in jail for that!" he spoke, his voice lowered to merely a whisper.
        "I want to vote," she said, as if it was so simple. Her voice was filled with conviction as she looked Emmett in the eye. Frame-racking chortles of laughter jerked his frame as he shook his head in utter disbelief.
       "Wait, you're serious? That's why your dressed as a man? Elizabeth, if you get caught-" he said before getting interrupted. "Yes, I am aware. Which is why, I need your assistance. After all, you can agree that it is unfair girls are not allowed to vote" she said.
       "Elizabeth, we- Are those my clothes?" Emmett choked out. She shrugged. "I was planning to ask you for permission but you weren't home. So I took the liberty to let myself in, knowing you wouldn't mind,"
       "Eliz, if someone saw you, word would travel. Rumors would spread and-" he said, worry evident on his face.  "That is not the point, Emmett,"she went on,"The point is I need your help for this to work."  
       He gave her a lingering look before replying, "You're mad, I hope you know that. Brilliantly mad," he sighed before nodding his head, "Well, let us proceed. What is your plan?"