and i know that i am dead

“Emily…” he trailed off, pulling himself out of the hug and meeting the corpse’s gaze. She did look quite real, beautiful even... He felt that trance again, similar to when he first saw her. Despite his hesitance and shock, her smile never seemed to falter. “Wow... I’m sorry, I’m just — surprised. Uh, maybe you should ... come inside so we can talk?” She was already practically inside as she had hugged him, so it only took a few extra steps for both of them to be fully inside his apartment. He shut the door and led her to his couch, taking a seat and leaving room for her to sit beside him.

Victor really was at a loss of what to say next; this was a lot to process. How was he to confess that he didn’t believe what happened to be true, but simply a dream? He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, seeing as she was in such high spirits to see him… “I really didn’t expect to see you again,” he finally confessed, meeting her gaze hesitantly. “I’ve got so many questions, I’m not sure where to start…”

His eyes still held that same brokenness she noticed from back when they first met, but this time it was overwhelmed by confusion, likely due to her sudden presences. Oh, if she could have given him an earlier warning of her arrival, she would have, but there wasn’t exactly a way for one to communicate between the living and the dead. They were two separate realms for a reason. “A good surprise, I hope?” Emily inquired, nodding her head at the suggestion for them to move things inside. Yes, this was exactly what she was hoping for. Maybe soon she could even propose the idea of her living with him as well, she thought as the apartment door closed behind them. They migrated to his couch, and without needing to be encouraged, the corpse sat besides her husband, their knees pressing against one another with how close she sat.

“I did not expect to see you again so soon either.” She confessed, allowing the later half of her words to go unsaid. Despite her complete jubilance of being here, she could understand his confusion over the sight of her. After all, she was meant to be dead and yet here she was, as if she had a real bleeding heart to her. But despite her appearance, Emily wasn’t all that alive. At least, not yet. “Ask me anything, and I’ll respond honestly.” The former actress then stated. “I’m sure you’re curious to know how I got here or why I don’t look like the undead woman you met prior.” 

When Emily introduced herself, his brows raised in surprise. “No way,” he replied, just in the way of someone hearing something unexpected, not because he actually disbelieved her when she told him her name. She could indeed be joking and trying to get a reaction out of him, but she seemed too genuine to doubt. Even so, he was stunned to learn that somebody who looked so much like the long-gone actress had the same name as well. It wasn’t as if Emily was that uncommon of a name, but still…“Reincarnation is the only explanation,” Morty said, mostly joking. Mostly. It was kind of a crazy coincidence, and magic did exist, and he didn’t really know what he believed about life after death, but he wasn’t going to jump to such conclusions when simpler explanations existed: Emily happened to look like Emily, because that was a thing that could happen. "Really, though, you could play her in a biopic. Have you ever thought of getting into acting?"

After introducing herself, she wasn’t sure of what kind of reaction she would reactive. Would he immediately pin-point her as the same actress he had been gushing on about due to her similarities to, well, herself? Or would he think she was making a joke, as if Emily decided to take advantage of the fact that she looked like herself, but was secretly an entirely new being? Morty’s response indicated that it indeed had been the later, and while a small part of her had hoped he would believe she was the exact same actress she was relating her to, she cannot say she was surprised that hadn’t been his main conclusion. “Reincarnation, huh? I supposed you can say that is what it is.” The corpse vaguely replied, although not finding that to be one hundred precent the case. If things goes as she is hoping for with Victor than maybe Morty was truly onto something right there. But as of now, she was still completely and utterly herself, just masked within magic. “Oh yes, I’ve actually been—” Cutting herself off, it now dawned to Emily that while she had acted on countless different titles and works back when she had been alive, as of currently? Not so much. She hadn’t even tried to book an acting gig as of yet for that matter. “—I have acted before, yes, but not so much as of lately.”

Despite his panic and confusion ( and sleepiness ), the corpse bride still seemed greatly excited to see him. Victor’s eyes followed to her hand as she showed off her ring, the ring which belonged to his grandmother. It now belonged to her. It was the reminder that the woman was in fact deceased, the shiny ring contrasting against her undead bony finger, that reality was hitting Victor — not only was she wearing his grandmother’s ring, solidifying their marriage, but she kissed him and caused him to faint …. Perhaps he did more than just faint. Was it, perhaps, the kiss of death?

He hardly heard the rest of what she said as Victor exhaled in disbelief, “Dead…” Convinced that she wasn’t the only deceased one in the room, Victor chuckled at the irony. He assumed the corpse was just being kind and pretending he was still alive, answering her question with one of his own. “Comfort doesn’t matter now that I've kicked the bucket, does it?"

“You aren’t dead.” The former actress once again spoke, hoping that by helping him see that he was very much alive could help calm this situation entirely. “See?” Without much thinking, Emily leaned over and gently placed her hand against his chest. Although she no longer had a pulse that could be felt through the palm of her own hand, she was able to feel to slightly erratic beating of his very own heart beat against her bony fingers. “I can feel your heart beat against my hand” She remarked. “—can you not feel it yourself?” Certainly, he would be able to feel his own heart bleed and beat against his chest, would he not? 

For what felt like hours yet had only been a few minutes, Emily eventually pulled away. “You are very much alive and you won’t be dying” —yet, is the one word that almost escaped her lips, however she kept to herself. She didn’t want to scare him again, especially when she has yet to know what will come of her husband now that they were newly wedded. They most likely might need to speak with Elder Gutknecht soon. However for now, her main concern was to keep reassuring her husband. “Feeling any better now?” 

Victor couldn’t pinpoint what was real and what was his imagination anymore. He’d just experienced a quite traumatic day — any chances with Victoria were now permanently squished, he completely embarrassed himself at her wedding, and now there was a chance that he was married? To a dead stranger at that? Peacefully unconscious though, none of these thoughts would surface until he slowly awoke to a familiar voice. He does look rather dashing in his sleep, he heard softly beside him. Her voice was soothing despite the confusion that began to surface. It wasn’t until he felt the cold, bony touch of her fingers in his hair that his breath hitched, eyes opening suddenly.

There she was, kneeling beside the bed and waiting for him to wake up. She looked so at peace despite Victor’s sudden panic. He didn’t mean to startle her as he sat up, looking around at his unfamiliar surroundings before meeting her gaze again. He didn’t want to fear her, the more he took in her features the more she seemed harmless ( besides the undead part, of course ), but he couldn’t help his anxiety. Victor had so many questions that he wasn’t even sure where to start. He cleared his throat, his voice still sounding distant from the sleepiness that lingered. “Hi .. I um, don’t mean to sound insensitive, but … Did we actually get married?”

Emily waited for him to say or do something next instead, so for his first question to be if they actually got married, her smile grew and the undead woman nodded. “We did.” She confirmed, only for her to lift up her hand to his view. There, surrounding her boney finger was a wedding ring— his grandmother’s wedding ring. "With this ring, I ask you to be mine.” Emily then recited, confirming the fact that she had overheard his vows, the tone of her voice so soft and airy, almost like she could not believe herself that this had came true. Yet, the ring sitting against her wedding finger indicated that this was very much that. She gazed at the ring. If the bride still had a beating heart and blood flowing through her body, her face could’ve been flushed with how enamored she was currently. “You are the one and who I’ve been waiting so long for.” She softy spoke, without explanation of what she meant.

Instead, with one last smile at the ring, she glanced back at him. “Did you have a pleasant sleep? My apologies if the bed wasn’t so comfortable, it’s normally used for visual and metaphoric purposes rather than literal. Plus, as you can see? I'm mainly of bones, so everything feels hard and stiff for me to decipher.” 

“They are? So it was from them where you developed the passion for the arts then?” She commented, not taking the credit to being the reason he grew to love acting. It was a pleasant thought to think that she helped inspire him, but there was something she found so fondly about developing a passion from watching a loved one be so passionate about it themselves. Emily was now starting to get curious on what kind of work his aunt and uncle did, and for that matter, what kind of work was he in. However, she realized that he knew her name (though he did not realized she was the Emily he was referring to) but she did not know his. And as if he was a mind reader, the young man placed his contraption away and held out his hand, introducing himself as Morty to her. Oh, should she give him her own name in return? Her actual name? With a slight tilt of the head, the former bride thought it over for a few seconds before smiling once more. “Likewise, Morty.” She grasp his hand and shook it. “Would you believe if I say my name is Emily as well?” 

He had been home much more recently since the wedding. Having just finished the dishes in the kitchen, he dried his hands with a dish towel before making his way to the door. He had no idea who to expect, his first thought being that it was probably his parents finally checking in on him. Instead, as he opened the door, he was met with ... her. The girl from his dream.

At first, he thought he might be mistaken, for she didn't look exactly like the corpse bride. She was ... alive, or at least she appeared to be. There was no mistaking her, though, between her eyes and her voice, her smile. He froze in place, blinking as if ensuring that he was truly seeing her. "You're .... You're ...." he stuttered, struggling to get his thoughts out in the open. He had so many thoughts, so many questions, but all that he managed to ask initially was, "You're real?"

Unfortunately, thrilled at the sight of her wasn’t the response Emily had received. Instead, her husband stared at her with shock and confusion, before blurting out about her being “real.” Such a response did not deter the old actress, a soft chuckle escaping her lips as she happily smiled at him. “Yes, I’m very much real.” Emily responded, eyes softening as she truly could not believe she was actually here with him.

“And for good!” The undead woman continued before she extended out her arm and pinching the flesh with the tip of her fingers. “See! I even have flesh so I can blend in with you and the rest of the living— isn’t that wonderful?” The sound of her voice was truly ecstatic, and Emily was in such a great mood that despite her husband being frozen in place, the former bride made no haste in reaching over and hugging him. “Now we can be together again.” 

No matter how hard he tried to convince himself he was dreaming, his racing heart and uneven breath as he ran told him otherwise. He'd never had a dream feel this real in all his life. He couldn't be married, especially not after the Victoria fiasco. He just had to run home, run to what was familar and maybe he'd wake from this nightmare.

Evidently, one could guess the correct answer as to why Emily was there.

For centuries, she familiarized herself with as many lost souls as she could, some who had came and passed, other’s whom lived there longer than she has— all the while as she waited for the day in where she finally met her true love. And now that she had, a soft and gentle smile forming onto her undead face as she watched the sleeping figure of her now husband whom she placed against her bed, she could not wait to continue living her undead life with him. Or perhaps, move on with him by her side. For an hour, the bride had allowed her still humanly breathing husband slumber, aware that once she woke him up, that he would prone back into shock as he had been earlier. But alas, Emily couldn’t allow him to keep sleeping for so long. “He does look rather dashing in his sleep…” She commented in a whisper, enchanted as for the past hour, she has been doing nothing more but stare at him as he slept. Then out of a sudden urge, the undead woman reached over and attempted to gently caress him by the hair, not expecting for the feel of her boney fingers to be the cause in waking him up.

He pulled out his phone as he rambled and started googling the actress to pull up some old photographs of her online to show the stranger. It had been a while since Morty had watched one of Emily Merrimack’s projects, so even if he had caught the resemblance himself, it still stunned him to see just how perfectly this woman matched her long-gone celebrity doppelganger. “See? This is identical, and I’m a twin...” He kept looking back and forth between the image and the woman. “A real dead-ringer, huh? Pardon the pun.”

She did not get the chance to comment on that though, for he pulled out his phone contraption and showed her an old image of herself while pointing out on how identical she was. At that, Emily chuckled. Oh, he certainly had the dead part correct, but she could not confirm to him that it was in fact she in those pictures.. “There is a resemblance, I can agree.” Emily instead said, agreeing. She also stared at the screen with awe for she now wondered how many photos of her there was out there in the, what was it Victor had referred to it as? Ah yes, the internet! “Are there…many more photos of her? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this one before” At least, not in color. “And you said you got into her because you were an actor yourself?” 

There was a small bit of space between Vic and the corpse, now scrambling to straighten himself back up so he could run if necessary. But even if he was scared, he couldn't find it in himself to run just yet. He was frozen in fear, brushing the dirt off his pants now as the veiled corpse stood across from him.

There was the sound of crows cawing and circling the two of them from above as the corpse lifted her veil, revealing a sight that Victor had never experienced in his life. She was .... dead, but strangely beautiful at the same time. Broken. They were both hurting from circumstances out of their control.. but that didn't mean that Victor wanted to marry her. Whoever she was .. he'd almost forgotten that the ring was on her finger, suddenly recognizing the wedding gown and veil she wore as she said I do.

Suddenly, Victor's eyes widened as he pieced together what was happening. Did he just marry himself to a corpse?

But as soon as her arms extended out towards him, he let out a scream, and began to run away. Stunned, the corpse pulled her arm back. She then watched from where she stood over her grave as he attempted to moved further and further away from her. His reaction had been enough for her to believe that this indeed was all true, and yet, rather than any feelings of dismay over him suddenly leaving her after bestowing Emily her ring, the corner of her lips had tugged and the undead bride smiled to herself. This was real. He was real.

Invigorated, she began to follow right after him. 

He was the one! He had to be! Even now, as she neared him, Emily started to feel a pull towards him. Was this the bond that appeared within a newly formed marriage? The one thing she had been missing even after she and Barkis had “married”. Or perhaps, the two of them never had been married after all? Not even on his end. For so long, she believed that had been the case as even those who eventually passed on into the Land of the Dead and caught wind over the truth of what had truly happened to her, they would say that Barkis claimed the two had been husband and wife right before her passing. That infuriated Emily to no ends, but also one she could not do much about. And yet she never felt like her marriage to him was ever a true one. Not only because Barkis had murdered her, but also quite possibly because she never wanted to be so near a person the same way she did at this very moment.

The moment he tripped over a branch had granted Emily enough time to catch up to him, and once she did, she reached for him. As he stood, her boney fingers was able to grasp against his arms, and the bride turned him over to stare back at her. Again, she looked deeply into his eyes— fear now mixing with the hurt and hopelessness he emitted from before. Slipping her arms up around his shoulders, the corps leaned in closer and closer to him while whispering the words "You may kiss the bride" at him before she slowly closed her eyes. Internally, she made another vow to herself, one where she would do whatever it takes to free him of those feelings, and how now as his wife, she would grant him better days from that there on.

With her cold blue lips hovering over his own, Emily took one final took at him before closing her eyes and sealing her vow—and their marriage—with a kiss. 

He hadn't been sure what to expect out of today, but it certainly wasn't this... All his friends had been fully supportive in Victor's actions, had hyped him up enough for him to think that there was no way of screwing this up. And yet, he still felt like a fool.

She was married. Victoria was married. Still, Victor didn't lose hope entirely with that in mind. His main goal had been to prevent Victoria from getting hurt and, they somehow did succeed in that. Only, Victoria had to marry someone else to accomplish this.... She had found a way to escape, and it wasn't with him.

He had done his best to hide the heartbreak he was feeling, though it was impossible to hide his shock. The more he thought it over as he wandered the nearby woods though, the more his heart grew heavy. He thought he was fighting for Victoria, for her love, but maybe he had been right all long about it being a lost cause. Really, this day couldn't get any worse. He couldn't bother to show his face to his friends and family yet, not ready to face any of them. Instead, he continued to wander the woods, thinking about how beautiful Victoria looked despite the outcome of the wedding.

Vic stuck his hand in his pocket, remembering the special gift he had initially brought for Victoria — a ring, one that had belonged to his grandmother. It wasn't for a marriage proposal, of course, but to show her how much she meant to him. He had forgotten all about it once he heard the news, and now he was alone, the cold ring resting in his palm.

"It really shouldn't be that difficult," Victor shook his head as he stared at the ring. Surely, he was crazy now — talking to himself in the middle of nowhere, but in a strange, comforting way, he didn't really feel alone. "Victoria, I'm in love with you..." he repeated, just as he had said in front of everyone at the altar. "I've always loved you..." he continued, twirling the ring in his hand as he stepped forward, noticing a branch close-by that somewhat resembled a hand. He thought about what could have been, what could have been different had he been honest sooner. As he stared at the branch in front of him, he thought about love — how even if you did all that you could, sometimes it still wasn't enough... Yet, Victor could still dream, imagining the hand in front of him did belong to his love, a love who would love him back, for his flaws and all.

The thought of it alone is often regarded as terrifying to most. It’s the notion of not knowing what occurs when life comes to an end, or on whether there even was an after once death was near. It was an unstoppable force— and enigma, and the one thing that will occur in life no matter what. To simply put, death was a way of life. 

However, if one were to have questioned Emily on what her thoughts on death were back when she had still been alive, she would’ve answered how she never pondered too much over it. It had never been a need for her to do so, for the woman had always believed that when it came to her own life, she would go on to live a fruitful and long one. That way, once death does arrive, there wouldn’t be the need to fear it for she would’ve been at peace with what she had done throughout her time in the world of the living. 

And for the most part, she hadn’t been wrong. Emily had been living a fruitful life— one in which led her into the spot light and in the eyes of many people as a beloved actress. She had been seen on the screen, captured by many, and eventually became a household name. Everyone had been at awe with her and adored her to pieces, and it all was done within a short span of a few years. She had a bright path ahead of her, and yet no matter how bright that path was, Emily felt like something had been missing. Love. She was adored by many—yes—and even had multiple suitors who had asked for her hand, but Emily herself had never fallen for another. That is, not until Barkis came along. Meeting him had practically been love at first sight for Emily, and she had truly believed he had loved her in return. However, it was falling for him is what sealed her fate in cutting her life shorter than expected.

Charmed yet manipulated by the man into secretly marrying him, what should have been the most memorable day of her life, became the day in where she had her last breath. Never did Emily imagine that being murdered is how things would end for her—not by the hands of the one she loved, and yet that is exactly what had happened to her. She had been betrayed and then attacked, internally bleeding from where he instilled his wound, soaking her gown from white to red as she slowly began to lose her breath. Emily couldn’t fathom why he would have done this to her, but then one look into his eyes and seeing how cold and unfeeling they were when staring back at hers, the woman felt a deeper wound than the one inflicted. Heartbreak. She had loved with him all her heart, and had been ready to spend the rest of her future with him, but he had never loved her the same. And now her life had ceased to exist. 

But her death did not come without a cost. Just before everything had fallen into darkness, Emily made a vow. She vowed to bound her soul under the oak three where she had passed, waiting for the day where her true love would appear and ask her hand in marriage. Only then, would her soul be set free and she could truly move on from life. 

For years to come, Emily waited. Haunted by the feelings of betrayal and hurt that stayed within her now un-beating heart. Yet she still had hope that one day someone will come. And in some ways, some did. Most who had gone by her tree don’t often notice her presences, but a few would sense her being there before going off on their merry way. Only two living beings seemed to truly notice Emily being here, and yet neither could be the one to help her. And so the bride continued to wait. And Wait. Until— 

“—I’m in love with you…..” She heard his voice. Muffled but coherent enough, similar like with others before. But unlike them, this time seemed different, for he continued on. “I’ve always loved you…” So honest and so genuine, she could not recall the last time she heard anyone alive speak in such a way. But for as honest as he sounds, there was also a hint of despair evident within his tone— a feeling of loss despite such heartfelt words he was emitting. As if he was equally as hopeless as he was in love. And then it happened. The feeling of something slipping through her finger, she heard him speak that oh so familiar words she had literally died to hear. “With this ring, I ask you to be mine.” 

And just like that, it’s as if Emily had truly awaken. Slowly rising from her grave, her vail at first covered her perception of him, making it her unable to see. But then as she lifted an undead hand to push the vail away from her eyes, her gaze locked within his. There, she stared deeply into his eyes. So much life could be seen within them, but also so much emotion as well. It’s true he was in love, but the hopelessness was equally the same. There was also a familiar sense of hurt within his eyes as well— and with that, she made her decision. 

Leaning in closer to him, Emily spoke the one line she never got to say until now.

"I do."

It wasn’t often that someone earned a triple take from Morty. The first look was a standard passing glance, the second because he realized how drop dead gorgeous the woman was and needed another peek, and the third because his brain only processed how familiar her face was after that second glance. He finally stopped short, assessing, before deciding she didn’t look too busy or too introverted to be bothered by a random stranger—which was totally something one could tell at a (third) glance.

“Hi! Gosh, sorry if this sounds weird, but you look just like this old actress—” Morty caught how that might sound as it left his mouth and cleared it up immediately, “Not old like old, but from a long time ago. This beautiful actress from the early nineteen-hundreds; she's kind of legendary.” He didn’t expect the woman to actually know about such an outdated cultural reference, but the legend surrounding Emily Merrimack wasn’t obscure to him, so he assumed it would be just as interesting to a passerby on the street who bore a striking resemblance to the long-dead thespian. It was a deep cut to be sure, but wouldn't you like to know your celebrity lookalike, even if they were long dead?

And yet, as the young man walked up to her and pointed out how exact she looked from— well, herself, Emily could not help the shocked look that appeared on her face. He did not mention her name, merely that she was from the early nineteen-hundreds, which points to the fact that he indeed was alluding to her. Because of that, her shock turn into bemusement as the woman now stared at him with curiosity. “Is that so?” Emily responded, a small smile now on her face. “Well, thank you for the compliment, but who is this actress you speak of? And may I ask, how do you know her if she’s from so long ago?”