Emily used to be in love with Victor. Then Victoria came along and ruined everything. Two years later, Victor and Victoria are married, and Emily... officially died? Not quite. She has been planning her revenge on "Little Miss Living" since the day...
"Now, I don't normally do this, and I vowed I would not come back until I won Victor back, but obviously this is not what has happened," I said with regret, leading Alice down a flight of stairs, "but for you I'll make an exception."
When I dragged Victor down here, he seemed extremely nervous and scared. But Alice seemed like it was the most normal thing in the world! "You're not nervous?" I asked.
"Nervous? Why in the world would I be nervous?" she exclaimed. "Well, you're about to be surrounded by dead people," I say. Alice waved her hand at it. "That's nothing," she says. "Dolls. Now THOSE are scary."
O-kay. Making a weird look (mostly to myself), I push on, Alice following me.
When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I stopped at a locked door. "Are you ready to see your family again?" I ask Alice. "I am," she said, happily. I think I saw her tear up a little. That is the first time I've seen her look happy... at all.
I turn to the door and put my bone pointer finger in the lock and turn my wrist. I hear a click: the door is unlocked!
"Creepy," Alice said, "I like it!"
"Thank you!" I said. Finally, someone understands my creepiness!
As I open the door, it makes a loud creak sound. I lead Alice to Bonejangles' bar, The Ball and Socket Pub. I push through the crowds of dead bodies drinking and conversing.
"Bonejangles!" I call. "Are Mr. and Mrs. Liddell here?" I walked up to Bonejangles, who was cleaning glasses at the bar.
"They're not in the Pub, if that's what you're asking," Bonejangles said in his low, calm voice. "But I think I saw their daughter here, Elizabeth. Did you hear how they died? Tragic accident."
Alice hung her head at the mention of the fire, then her head shot back up. "Lizzie? Did you say Lizzie's here?" she asked in excitement.
Ignoring Alice's question, Bonejangles asked me, "Emily... what is this breather doing here?"
"Umm...." I hesitated. "She wanted to visit her parents."
Bonejangles was quiet for a moment, then he said,"Emily can I talk to you for a minute?" He then looked at Alice, and said, "In private?"
I walked over to the entrance of the bartender's counter and walked inside, then closed the little wooden door behind me. Bonejangles cornered me inside the counter, making sure Alice couldn't hear.
In an almost-whisper, Bonejangles said, in an exasperated tone, "Look. I tolerated the first breather you dragged down here because you loved him and he was your husband. Fine. Whatever," I crossed my arms and wondered what his point was, "But you can't keep dragging them down here. The living aren't even supposed to be here! The living and the dead are supposed to live separate!" Bonejangles seemed to have forgotten about whispering.
"This is the last time, I promise!" I said rather genuinely, though I can't garentee that what I said was true. "She just wants to see her family! She's my friend, she's trustworthy. And she told me her story, and I felt bad for her. Plus she's going to help me get revenge on Victoria, so I thought I'd help her with something." My tone became gentler when I said, "She witnessed her family die in a fire, Bonejangles. The least I could do was let her see them one last time."
Bonejangles thought for a moment, then said,"Fine. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine."
"Thank you, so much!" I said gratefully.
"Just don't tell Elder Gutknect about this!" Bonejangles yelled after me.
I walked out of the small counter door with a smile on my face. "Hey, Alice!" I said with a sing-songy lilt to my voice.
"Yes?" she said hopefully.
"Let's go find your sister." I said.
Alice gasped with utmost excitement that I didn't even know she was capable of. I linked my blue, dead arm with her fleshy, living arm, and we walked off with the fondness and happiness of true friends. Never did I EVER think I would end up trusting and becoming friends with someone who's alive.
Alice and I walked over to the dance floor of The Ball and Socket Pub. Bonejangles was singing a song on the stage.
I walked over to a girl who was dancing who had short dark brown hair. She's wearing a blue dress. I came up behind her and put my hand on her shoulder. She turns fast and suddenly. Alice gasped when she saw the front of the girl. She was blue and her cheek was rotting a bit, like mine. But she had kind eyes and looked really pretty, though her hair was a bit messy.
She recognized Alice immediately. "Alice?" She had a high, kind, pretty voice.
"Lizzie?" Alice asked, as though she couldn't believe it. "Is that really you?"
"Why, yes," Alice's sister answered, "It's me. I'm sorry you had to see me this way, but-"
Elizabeth got cut off when Alice hugged her older sister. She hugged Alice back and stroked her hair.
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"You're as pretty as ever and I love you no matter what you look like!" Alice said.
Lizzie giggled her pretty, light laugh. "Thank you, Alice. Come, let's sit down! We have much to discuss." Then she noticed me for what seemed like the first time. "Oh, who's this? There's so many people here, I can't keep track of everyone!"
"Lizzie, this is Emily," Alice said adressing me. "She's the whole reason why I'm here."
"Oh, really?" Lizzie asked. "Well, in that case, thank you, Emily. I really appreciate what you've done."
