Inktober stories!

Corpse Bride

"This day couldn't get any worse," I sigh, leaning over the side of a cobblestone bridge. At this point, I should probably jump off and drown in the churning river beneath me. It'd probably be less embarrassing than going back.

A week ago, I learned that I was to be married. Marriage itself is terrifying enough, but when I learned who my fiancee is, I almost threw up, right there in the family carriage. Not only was I engaged to someone I had never met, I was engaged to the Kokonose boy. Yes, a boy of the same Kokonose family that has a direct claim to the throne. Unfortunately, I learned this after we were well on our way, and I was unable to flee.

Frankly, I'm not sure why they chose me to marry off and not my little sister. Not a day has gone by where I haven't been told how much of a disgrace I am to the Kisaragi family. Mother always tells me I need to get out more, but whenever I go out, she takes every opportunity to criticize anything and everything that I do. Whether it's my messy hair, my poor posture, or my naturally unhappy disposition, there's always something wrong with me. She never harps on Momo, my baby sister, the way she does to me.

Ugh, I wish Momo had been here today. Maybe I wouldn't have been so nervous, and maybe I wouldn't have messed up so badly. Maybe - but no, it wouldn't have helped if she was here. Naturally, my long string of mistakes started when I arrived. My first mistake was when I tripped on the doorstep coming in. Then, I messed up introducing myself to Mrs. Kokonose. I'd said, "Hello, Lady Shintaro. My name is Kisaragi Kokonose." Like, really? You'd think it couldn't get worse than that. But it did. Everything that followed was far, far worse.

Lord and Lady Kokonose were giving my family a tour of the house when I noticed a grand piano. I heard a door slam as they all continued on. Hesitantly, I had tapped out a few notes. F sharp, F sharp, F sharp, B A B A B A B D. The final note lingered in the air. When no wrathful aristocrats descended on me from above, I sat at the piano and started to play the rest of my song. I'd composed it myself. When I was just finishing the first chorus, I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I jumped up, knocking the piano bench back. With a startled yelp, I fell backwards and landed flat on my rump. Wincing, I had stood up, straightening the piano bench, but my elbow hit a vase resting on the piano. A pale hand caught it.

My eyes went along the hand, up the white-sleeved arm attached to it, to the black tie around the neck, until finally I met the pale red eyes of the stranger. He was even pastier than me, which is really saying something. He wore a deep black suit with a light yellow pocket square. I noticed his white hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and my heart sank. This man was my fiancee.

I froze. Great, I thought, he's caught me playing his parent's expensive piano without permission. He's going to call them in here and they'll chop me up and feed me to their servants. I almost wish he had summoned his parents. At least I would have been spared from further humiliation. But instead, he smiled at me and offered me the flower I'd accidentally knocked out of the vase. His voice was quiet and kind as he said, "You play beautifully."

Now, one thing I've learned from twenty one years of life: never accept a free gift from an aristocrat. They'll either turn on you, call the police, and have you thrown into jail to rot, or they'll convince you that you're in their debt and make you work for them. So I did the only thing I could think to do at the time: I ran. Somehow, I managed to find my way back to the main hall, and there I stood, too afraid to sit on the plush couch next to me, for an hour, waiting for my family to come back.

The next day, I tried my hardest to avoid Konoha Kokonose. But it's a bit hard trying to avoid your fiancee when everyone in the house wants you to be with him. Through the course of the next five days, I got to know him. And I must say, I really do care for him. He has a childlike innocence which I really want to protect. And the poor kid's older brother was murdered a couple years back, leaving him alone with his parents. But still, Konoha is kind, good-looking, and irritatingly likable, unlike either Lord or Lady Kokonose. I really think he does care about me too, but I'm not sure why he would. Or at least, maybe he did care about me before tonight's disaster.

I don't want to get into the details. It simply involved me messing up my vows for hours on end which drastically lengthened the ceremony, my hands, sweating from nerves, dropping the ring, and a lit candle slipping through my fingers onto Lady Kokonose's dress.

Tears sting my eyes as I remember the bitter words and sharp glares from all directions after the rehearsal. Only Konoha seemed to feel sympathy. He'd tried to speak to me after the catastrophe, but just like when we first met, I followed my first instinct and ran. So, here I am on this bridge, contemplating suicide. I see a figure headed toward me and sprint off into the nearby woods like the coward I am. But I soon run out of steam. Exhausted from my short dash, I lean against a tree to catch my breath.

"It really shouldn't be all that difficult," I pant to myself. "It's just a few simple vows." Slowly, I start strolling deeper through the woods. My pitiful attempts to recite the vows eerily echo around me.

"With this hand, I will take your wine."

"Dammit!" I stomp my foot in frustration. Storming deeper and deeper into the forest, I try again and again. "With this hand, I will cup your - oh no, no no no!" Cheeks flushing with heat, I look down. Near my feet, I see a tree root which I would have tripped over. Carefully stepping over it, I say, "With this candle, I will... I will..." My voice falls flat. I sigh, and continue with an exasperated huff of "I will set your mother on fire. Oh, it's no use," I murmur softly. An image of Konoha, smiling softly and holding out a flower to me. I run my fingers over the ring in my pocket.

It looks like I'm in some sort of clearing. A giant oak looms over me while its roots spread out beneath me. One root in particular catches my eye - it looks almost like a hand. I take a deep breath.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle," I recite, my confidence growing, "I will light your way in darkness." I pull the ring out of my pocket.

"With this ring, I ask you to be mine." I kneel, and place the ring on the root.

I can't believe it. I said the vows flawlessly! Maybe I'm not a disgrace after all!

Suddenly, the wind picks up and I hear a loud "caw!" behind me. I turn to see an assembly of crows perched on the trees around me. I shiver when I realize every single crow is staring directly at me. Leaning back a little, I try to convince myself this is perfectly normal, that crows are naturally-

Something grabs my arm, and I yelp in surprise. Desperately, I try to break free, but whatever the hell has me sure does not want to let me go. Before I can see what it is, my left arm is pulled into what must be some animal's burrow. Because the ground can't just disappear under you, right? Now the crows have gotten all riled up, and I watch them cover the moon. Terrified, I push against the ground with my legs and finally break free of this thing's grasp. I fall backwards and look at my arm. A bony arm, broken at the elbow, is clamped firmly on mine. Its grip tightens and I scream. I shake it off and start to scramble backwards, but then I see the ground beneath the big oak start to rip open.

Petrified, I watch it burst out of the ground. No, no it - her. Before me, a bride rises out of the ground. Her left arm - the arm I put the ring on, I realize - is broken at the elbow. But that's not all. Her flesh is rotted away in several places, most noticeably on her right leg and left arm. Stringy hair is held back by two red clips, and a matching scarf is wrapped around her neck. She is certainly, definitely, absolutely dead. I feel sick. I almost vomit when she turns toward me, revealing a rotted portion of her cheek where her teeth show through. My heart skips a beat when she whispers these two words:

"I do."

I scramble to my feet and try to run, but that damn tree root I almost tripped over earlier gets me this time. As I fall, I scream, "KONOHA!" I'm not sure why. He's not coming for me, no one is. My head crashes into the unforgiving icy ground. I groan and roll onto my back, and then I see her. She's standing over me as I'm losing consciousness. She reaches down and cups my face in her frigid, dead hand. I try to say no, stop, please don't hurt me, but all that comes out is a whimper. Pathetic, just like me. The crows surround us, filling the air with their cries as everything starts going black. The last thing I hear is her voice, saying:

"You may now kiss the bride."