Hildegard took small steps as her frail body carried a tiny tray. On the tray was the smallest wedding cake imaginable. It was all the Everglots could afford. The old woman carried the silver tray to the large table of people. It was incredibly quiet for an after-party of the Everglots wedding. No laughter or talking ensued, no music was heard. A man snored in his chair as the tiny cake was served on the table. The grey and dreary people sighed in their own miserableness as they studied the threads on the table cloth, an old lady poked at the tiny roasted chicken on her plate absentmindedly. Mister and Mrs. Everglot looked at eachother with cold gazes.

" Alright alright, quiet down now, everyone." Lady Barkus said as she tapped her glass. The man who was snoring suddenly jolted awake. Edwin rolled his eyes at his new wife.

" Thank you." Lady Barkus said as she got everyone's attention. She cleared her throat as she prepared her speech. " Elegance, culture, radiant. Edwin has a wife with all these qualities," The woman spoke in her soft velvety voice as she inspected her nails. " And more. Serendipity brought us together," She clasped her hands together as Edwin rested his hand on his cheek lazily. " And no force on earth could tear us apart." Lady Barkus's speech was cut short as the fireplace and lighting in the room suddenly turned emerald green.

https://youtu.be/jaQuBkaflyY

Thunder struck as the guests and Edwin gasped. The room was eerie as the guests all sideglanced at eachother with wide, frightened eyes. Too scared to move from their seats.

Shadows moved behind Mister and Mrs. Everglot. Two skeletons and the bowler hat skeleton arose from the shadows behind them, the guests sitting across the table gasped. But before the skeletons could spook the Everglots, the bowler hat skeleton's single eye dropped into the bowl of soup. Mr. Everglot watched the eyeball bobble around in his broth. The man scooped the eye out of the bowl with his spoon as he studied it.

" There's an eye..in me soup."

An old woman screamed at the table as all chaos broke loose. The table was flipped over as guests ran away from the ghouls and skeletons and dead people that walked about the mansion.

Lady Barkus screamed as she shoved Edwin out of the way, crawling to hide under the table. Edwin deadpanned at the scene.

The soldier skeleton with sword in his torso chased an old woman, and Mrs.Everglot stood on a chair, horrified as P/n barked at the woman.

" Fetch me musket!" Mr.Everglot ordered the butler.

" FETCH YOUR OWN MUSKET! I'M OFF!" The mustached man said as he put on his hat and ran out of the door.

A woman screamed as Paulz ran out from under her dress, his severed head making its way across the floor in a scurry of beetles. " Coming'z through!"

Lady Barkus sat under the table with her hands over her eyes. She suddenly heard children's laughter and uncovered them to see the two skeleton children giggling as they sat under the table with her. The posh woman gasped in horror as she scooted away.

A man stood in shock in the middle of the room.

" Excuse me," The maggot said as it sat on his shoulder. The man gasped in terror.

" You don't know me but, I used to live in your dead mother." The maggot told him.

The man shouted in horror as he ran.

A pleasantly plump woman ran away from the bowler hat skeleton as fast as she could.

" Hey! Hold on there!" The skeleton said as he ran after her. " I love a woman with meat on her bones." His gravely voice said as he snickered.

" Goodness Phineas! Who invited these people?!" Mrs.Everglot said as she clung to the staircase in distress. " They must be from YOUR side of the family!"

" Certainly not!" Her husband yelled. " Why if my grandfather ever could see this he'd be turning in his grave!"

" PHINEAS!" A low voice said and the couple turned around.

A skeleton wearing a wig stood in front of an old painting of a man that also wore the same wig.

" Where do you keep the spirits?" He said as he waved his small empty wine glass in the air.

" Grandfather?" The Everglots looked at the man with dumbstruck gazes. They screamed in terror as they ran down the hall.

Dead and alive people alike ran about the town, screaming and yelling. The town crier stood in the chaos as he muttered. " In other news...." He suddenly rang his bell as he screamed.

" THE DEAD WALK THE EARTH!!!!!" His voice broke at the volume of his scream.

Two fish butchers were cornered as skeletons slowly walked towards them, wiggling their fingers.

An old woman was also cornered as an old tall ghoulish man with others slowly walked toward her.

" Stay back! Back I say!" As she crazily waved her walker cane around. " Don't you sneak up on me!" The walker whipped around as the woman went nuts, waving it everywhere.

The man and the other dead people stood awkwardly as they watched.

" I'll give you such a wallop!-"

A woman and an old man and a small child cowered as the dead people cornered them also. The boy hid behind his mother's apron, shaking.

Suddenly, the boy seemed to realize something as he stopped shaking and slowly walked out in front of his mother.

" NO!" His mother said as she reached out for him, but the boy walked over to an old dead man.

The two alive men gasped in fear as the dead man looked down at the boy.

Townspeople gasped as they saw the dead man suddenly pick up the boy.

.....

" Grampa?" The boy said in a high voice. The dead man suddenly hugged the boy lovingly as he closed his eyes.

The green lighting that filled the town suddenly disappeared as everyone 'awwed'.

The fish butchers looked at eachother in question. " Huh?"

The old woman beat the mustache fancy skeleton man. " Sweetie pie!" He tried to say.

" Monster!" She spat as she hit him again.

" Beautiful woman!" He said back as he bent over from the blow.

" EHHH" She wacked him again.

" GERTRUDE!" The skeleton desperately said.

The old woman suddenly stopped and lowered her cane. " ...Alfred?" She fixed her glasses.

" Oh!" Her old voice creaked " You've been dead for 15 years."

" Frankly my dear," The mustached skeleton exclaimed passionately as he dipped the old woman. " I don't give a damn."

Another dead woman hugged her shorter fish butcher husband lovingly as the townspeople started to recognize some of the dead people as their own relatives and lost lovers.

Mayhew shook hands with another butcher as as P/n and another dog sniffed eachother.

*************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, Edwin sat in the ruined dining hall, he hadn't moved. He'd been too lost in thought to care about any of the chaos.

A hand grasped the table he sat at, Lady Barkus climbed out from under the table with a grunt.

"Right, that's it." She gasped as she caught her breath and fixed her hair. " We're going to take whatever money we can and get out of here." She snarled, her perfect persona gone. Edwin sideglaned at the middle aged woman as he deadpanned.

" Money?" He asked, all shyness was now gone from his eyes. He no longer was his usual reserved self. " What money?" He asked as he stood, anger aflame in his eyes. He had known what Lady Barkus had been after since day 1. But he hadn't said anything about it until now.

" Your dowry. It's my right!"

Edwin put a hand on his hip as he smirked. " My parents don't have any money." He shrugged. " I-its my marriage to you," He said as he paced around the woman. " That will save them from the poorhouse." He simply explained.

Lady Barkus's eye twitched as her messy hair made her look mad. " THE POORHOUSE??!!" She roughly grabbed a straight faced Edwin by his small arms as she shook him. " YOU'RE LYING! IT ISN'T TRUE! TELL ME THAT YOU'RE LYING!!!"

Edwin's straight face rolled his eyes bitterly. " Did things not go according to your plan, Lady Barkus?" He pushed the woman away and fixed his suit of wrinkles as his soft quiet voice yelled as loud as it could. " WELL, THAT'S TERRIBLY SAD, ISN'T IT? NEXT THING YOU KNOW YOU SEE A CORPSE GROOM AND YOUR EX-FIANCE GET CARRIED OFF BY CROWS, AND NO ONE BELIEVES YOU SO YOU'RE DEEMED MAD! AND THEN YOU'RE MARRIED OFF TO SOME OLD WHENCH WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS SO SMART AND CUNNING, THINKING SHE COULD MARRY YOU TO GET MONEY! HA!" Edwin's eyes held crazy as he finished venting. " Life's full of surprises, isn't it? Well perhaps in terms of disappointment, we are perfectly matched." He said as he returned to his normal, quiet voice and walked off.

Lady Barkus watched the boy walk off as her eye twitched in hate and anger as she growled. This wasn't over yet.