Corpse Groom

Chapter 4

I thank December Silentvale for helping. The song is "You know better than I" by David Campbell. I know it's directed at God, but it's such a powerful and beautiful song. We did a slight change in one of the verses so it would fit. I hope we did it justice.

Before he knew it, Trevor returned to his home along with Pastor Galswells. For an old man, the pastor had quite the grip. Along the way, Trevor had asked what they were doing, but the man of the church refused to answer. The rain having stopped along the way, Pastor Galswells grabbed Trevor by the shoulder and pulled Trevor along when he lagged behind, refusing to follow until he got answers.

Opening the door, Mrs. Einhorn was shocked to see her son when she had already locked him in his room and the state he was in.

"Trevor? What are you doing here? Where is your frock coat and waistcoat?" Ingrid questioned.

"He's speaking in tongues. Of unholy alliances. His mind has come undone, l fear." Galswells exclaimed.

"You liar! You call yourself a priest! Unhand me you ignorant fool!" Trevor yelled at the pastor as he ripped his arm away. "It's not true, Mother!"

Ignoring her son, Ingrid pulled him inside. "Thank you, Pastor Galswells. Thank you so very much." She thanked him gently before shutting the door. Behind closed doors, Ingrid was furious. "Take him to his room!" She ordered.

"No, I'm telling the truth. I will make that rotting bag of bones pay for taking what is rightfully mine!" Trevor yelled as the butler and maid began to carry him away to his room. Looking at them and his family, his eyes pleaded them to listen and believe him. "Emil! Hildegarde! One of you must believe me, don't you? Mother, Father, please!"

"Seal the doors and bar the windows. See to it that he doesn't escape again." Ingrid yelled at the servants.

"You are making a mistake! Let me go! I will make them pay for this humiliation, tenfold!" Trevor shouted, sounding like a raving man-mad.

"Will the mortification never cease? It will be years before we can show ourselves in public again. What shall we do?" Ingrid cried, close to having a nervous breakdown from all the stress.

"We shall continue as planned, with or without Tissue." Wolfgang informed her, his eyes staring into the fireplace.

"Trisha." Ingrid corrected him.

"Whatever." Wolfgang replied, dismissively.

Having overheard the commotion from the shadows, Lady Berta entered the room. "For that girl to toss aside a man like Trevor... it's positively criminal." Berta said sadly. "Why, if l had a man like your son by my side, I would lavish him with the respect and care he deserves as we lived together with riches befitting royalty." Berta declared.

"Your master husband is a most fortunate man." Ingrid replied.

"Alas, l am not married. l was betrothed some years ago, but tragedy snatched my groom away. When one lives alone, wealth counts for naught." Berta bemoaned her sorry fate.

"Oh." Ingrid replied, a scheme hatching her mind as she shared a look with her husband. The same thoughts running through his own mind.

In his room, Trevor was hard at work. The door was once again locked with wooden planks baring his windows. He had tried getting some sleep only for nightmares to plague him. The images of the corpse groom haunting him. With renewed determination, Trevor tried to get out of his room. Taking a fire poker, he slammed it into the wood around the lock. Just as he was about to thrust it into the wood again, Trevor stopped as he heard someone approaching from the other side and unlocked the door. Hiding the fire poker behind his back, he stepped back as his parents entered the room.