His Corpse Bride/ / DISCONTINUED

Chapter 7

     Damien took my hand and lead me out of the castle. I looked at the outside of the castle for the first time and was surprised. Now, don't get me wrong there is nothing bright about the underworld but there is no fire or screams of desperation and agony. There is just eery silence. A bat swooped down past us and I jumped.
      "Don't worry about them. They are dead, they're spirit will pass right through you if they hit you." Damien told me.
      I started walking faster to keep up with Damien, my legs getting sturdier by the day.
      "So which way do we go?" Damien asked me as we came to three different paths.
       I looked at him confusedly
"I don't know. You're the king of the underworld. Shouldn't you know?" I asked, confused.
His eyes shown amusement.
"Amanda, darling. I have no idea which path is which. There are millions of paths here. These are just three of them that you walked toward on your own. I walked with you. So just don't think about it and walk. The path you choose leads to the ones you love." He explained.
I sighed and turned to the three paths. I rubbed my hands against my pants nervously and slowly did what Damien told me. I let go and my feet began to move. I watched the ground, astounded as my feet seemed to move on their own. When I looked up, my house came into view. I gasped and went to look at Damien who was standing back in the opening of the trees. He waved his hand to say 'keep going'.
I walked closer and the door to my house opened. I felt so afraid to see the person who was coming out. I feared, as I saw my mother's beautiful, now ghostly, face that she would hate me. But instead, she smiled brightly and called into the house. Her spirit was bright and I cried out in bliss. I ran to my mother and father. I tried to hug them but my arms went right through them.
"Momma." I reached for her hand, once again not being able to touch her.
"My beautiful baby." She whispered.
I looked down to see her holding my father's hand. I was so glad they had each other.
"Amanda!" A voice shouted from my left.
"Isabella!" I shouted happily.
She ran to hug me but went right through me. I was saddened. I wanted so badly to hug all of them.
"Daddy." I whispered.
"It's alright." He assured me like he always did.
"But what I did. I could have-"
"Shhh. No, no baby. You did what I would have wanted you to do. You got out. You couldn't have known what to do, you were so young." My Mother told me.
"But Isabella, and you, and Daddy." I whispered.
"Are happy and love you so much. Now you're here and can see us anytime you want." My Dad said.
I smiled at that. It was true, I could see them whenever I wanted now. I could sit on the porch with my Mom and sister like we would always do. My Mom looked behind me and smiled.
"My baby girl. Royalty." She smiled proudly.
I shrugged.
"I don't know about all this yet, Mom." I said.
"We'll talk." She nodded.
"I love you, sissy." My sister said, smiling at me.
"I love you so much more." I said sincerely.
She smiled, showing her dimples.
"He's waiting for you, dear." My Mom said.
I sighed and nodded.
"I love you." I said to all of them.
"We love you, sweetheart." Dad said.
They went inside and I walked back to Damien. I was in euphoria as Damien stood up from his sitting position on the ground.
"So, how did it-" I cut him off, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you. Thank you."
He hugged me back tightly.
"Anything for you." He whispered.
I felt a warmth in my heart and pulled away from him. I looked down and saw nothing different. Damien took my hand and for the first time, I was okay with the gesture.
"Damien." I said.
"Hm?" He asked.
"The people in the human world. The people I knew. What will they think of me just disappearing?" I asked curiously.
"Now that I have you, you never existed in the human world as it stands now. You have no identity there. Only here." He answered softly.
"Oh." I said softly.
"Did I upset you?" He asked.
"No, actually. I'm glad to hear that people won't be worried for me. It's better that way." I said as I thought of my friends.
"Were you in love with someone?" He asked quietly.
"No, not even close." I answered him, wrapping my hand around his arm gently as we walked.
"Have you ever been in love?" He asked me.
"No, never." I answered truthfully.
"Have you?" I asked him.
His eyes suddenly showed a great amount of pain and I stopped walking. I looked into his eyes and he looked away from me.
"Are you still in love?" I asked, confused.
"No. No, my dear, of course not. It's just.. it's an old wound." He answered.
"What happened?" I asked him.
"I don't wish to talk about this now." He said softly and continued walking.
I walked beside him and took his hand. We got back to the castle and Sarraphine was waiting for us.
"Mind if I steal her for a while?" She asked Damien.
He chuckled.
"Sure." He responded.
I nodded to him and walked with Sarraphine to a separate part of the castle.
"What do you say to some girl time in my suite?" She asked.
I was distracted and she waved her hands in front of me. I shook myself out of my daze and nodded.
"What are you thinking so hard about? Troubles with my brother?" She asked.
"Not exactly. Sarraphine, today I saw my family and I asked Damien a while after if he had ever been in love. He wouldn't tell me anything about her." I told her.
She sighed and sat on her bed. She patted the seat next to her.
"Damien.. Damien was never suppose to show himself to a human who was not suppose to die within the next few months. But... somehow.. he ended up falling for a woman. Her name was Emily. Damien never revealed his identity to her but couldn't stay away, even though he knew she would soon die. I think he hoped she was his destined as you are. But she wasn't. She never showed what you did and she ended up passing away. She came to the underworld and Damien went to see her right when she got here. Damien has always blamed himself for being wrong and costing Emily her life. He was young and quite frankly, had no idea what he was doing. She's a spirit now and he goes to see her then and again." She said and I was shocked.
Damien's heart had been basically ripped out by his own hand. I couldn't believe my ears and oddly, I wanted to meet the woman that once had Damien's heart.