The corpse Groom (genderbent story)

Chapter 9:Jacuzzi

Maddie/Me: Hello readers! Here's the newest chapter for the corpse groom!

Warning: OOCness, and minor swearing

Chapter Eight-Jacuzzi

Thunder boomed as Trent and Gwen, and the lizards (who were riding on her shoulders), climbed up a long, spiraling staircase. Gwen had her doubts when Trent brought her to this dark, creepy tower, but if this 'Elder Geoff' person could get her back to her own world, at least for a little while, she didn't care.''Elder Geoff?" Trent called as they reached the top of the tower. "Are you there? Hello?" Gwen looked around. The top floor was piled with old, dusty books.''Is anyone home? Hello?" As she walked, Gwen accidentally knocked over a pile of books, startling some ravens nearby, one of which flew into a hanging lantern, causing it to swing dangerously to and fro.Unseen to Gwen and Trent, a bony hand reached out and...caught the lantern. An aged skeleton with a safari hat and blonde hair coughed as he looked down at the young couple.''Oh, there you are!" Trent said, recognizing him.''Trent! Dude, there you are!" The old skeleton said.''I brought my wife, Gwen." Trent said, introducing her.''Huh? Wife?" The skeleton said, taking off his hat to scratch his cranium. Gwen, thinking that he was hard of hearing, cupped her hands over her mouth and called up ''It's nice to meet you!" ''We need to go up." Trent informed him. "Upstairs? To visit the Land Of the Living." ''Land Of the Living?" Elder Geoff asked as he walked down to them.''Come on, Elder Geoff!" Trent begged him.''Why go up there when people are dying to get down here?" The old skeleton laughed at his own joke, causing him to cough a little more.''Can you please help?" Gwen added. "It means so much to m-" She caught Trent's eye (figuratively) and quickly corrected herself ''Us." ''I don't know, dude and dudette." Elder Geoff said. "Going upstairs-that's not natural, yo." ''Please, Elder Geoff?" Trent begged. "There must be something you can do?" Finally, the old skeleton caved.''Well, I can try." He said. "Now, where did I put that book?" He walked over to a bookshelf and pushed the books aside. Not finding what he was looking for, he walked over to a drawer and pulled it open, letting out a bunch of bats.''It must be here somewhere." He said, tossing aside a bunch of books. Angus and Vampyra had to run off to avoid being squished as a book landed next to them. Finally, Elder Geoff found the book he was looking for.''Ah, here it is!" He blew the dust off the cover before gathering the book, as well as a few bottles, and walking back up to his altar. He opened it, skimming through the pages with his nonexistent eyes.''Found it!" he announced. Trent beamed in excitement.''An Ukrainian haunting spell, just the thing for these quick trips!" ''Glad you thought of this." Trent whispered to Gwen.''Me too." Gwen smiled, just glad that she was ever closer to leaving the Land of the Dead and getting away from her 'husband'. As they watched, Elder Geoff poured a few ingredients into a goblet, including a feather from a raven that was sitting on his altar. Once the elixir was done, he raised the goblet and...drank it. Of course, him being a skeleton, it just poured right through his ribcage, but that didn't seem to matter, as he let out a burp.''Sorry dudes, had to quench my thirst. Now then, where were we?" ''Ukrainian haunting spell." Trent reminded him.''Oh, right." Elder Geoff grabbed the raven from before and squeezed it until an egg popped out. As the (no doubt confused) creature flew off, Elder Geoff held up the egg ''Here it is. Now, dudes, when you want to come back, just say the word 'Jacuzzi'. Got it?" ''Jacuzzi?" Trent asked with a raised eyebrow while Gwen gave him a confused look.''That's it." Elder Geoff confirmed. He held up the egg. "Ready?" He cracked the egg open, and a golden mist came out, surrounding Gwen and Trent. Before Gwen could blink, she found herself back in the forest where Trent had chased her. Trent looked up at the full moon above them, his eyes full of wonder.''I spent so long in the darkness, I almost forgot how beautiful the moonlight is." He said quietly. He smiled to himself as a white moth, like the one Gwen had been sketching earlier, flew overhead. He went chasing after it like a little boy, only for his foot to get caught in the root of a tree and trip, his leg breaking off. LeShawna popped out of his ear.''Don't look now, but I think you dropped something." she said snarkily. Trent reattached his skeleton leg and walked back over to Gwen. Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile a little at his childlike wonder and happiness. She put it out of her mind, however, as she said ''So, um, listen Trent? I think it would be better if I just go on ahead, to prepare my mother and father for the surprise. Just wait here, okay? I won't take long." ''Okay." Trent agreed. "I won't go anywhere." And with that, Gwen ran off, determined to leave him, and all the other dead people, far behind.

After a while, she reached the Libertines' mansion and brushed herself off, trying to make herself presentable. She was just about to knock on the door when she heard Alejandro's angry voice.''If I ever see that Stoss girl again, I'll strangle her with my bare hands!" ''Her neck is too skinny." Heather cackled. "You'd need a rope." Gwen gasped. Obviously, going in through the front door was out of the question.

Back in the forest, Trent was still sitting on a stump, waiting for Gwen to return. Inside his head, the voice of LeShawna said; ''Listen, Trent? This is the voice of your conscience. Now, when I say I have a bad feeling about that girl..." Irritated, Trent knocked the side of his head, causing LeShawna to fly out his ear and land in some snow ''Oh go and chew on someone else's ear for a while!" Trent pulled himself up, looking forward. "Gwen's just gone to see her parents for a while, like she said!" LeShawna snorted ''If I hadn't just been sitting in it, I'd say that you'd lost your mind!" ''I'm sure she has a good reason for...taking so long." He said defending her LeShawna snorted again.''Okay then, why don't you go find the girl and ask her, then?" She asked ''Alright then, I will." Trent said decisively, standing up.''After all," LeShawna finished, "She couldn't have gotten far with those cold feet!"

Back at the Libertine mansion, Duncan was whittling to try and take his mind off his missing friend. Suddenly, there was a knock at his balcony door. He quickly whipped his head around to see none other than the girl herself. His eyes widened in surprise, and he left his whittling tools behind as he hurried over to the balcony.''Gwen!" He opened the door and let her inside.''Duncan!" A smile crossed her face. "I'm so happy to see you!" ''Really?" Duncan asked surprised ''Here I thought you'd gone running off with some strange man." Gwen didn't know whether or not she was imagining it, but she could've sworn she heard jealousy in his voice.''No Duncan, it's not like that, I swear!" She said. "Look, it's been a crazy night..." Duncan then noticed the tears in her dress ''What happened?" His eyes suddenly filled with fury. "Did that son of a bitch-" ''No, nothing happened!" Gwen interupted before he could finish his question she put her hands on Duncan's shoulders to calm him down. "I'm alright, okay? I'm not hurt or anything!" Duncan relaxed a little, and Gwen walked over to the fire to warm up. Duncan sat across from her, and Gwen looked down at the floor.''This morning, getting married was the last thing I wanted to do." She confessed. "And I just found it weird marrying you when, as far as our parents knew, we didn't even know each other." A small smile then crossed her face. "But...I really like you Duncan. A lot." She finally lifted her eyes to meet his ''After all," she finished, "Who better to marry than your best friend?" Despite himself, Duncan gasped.''I-I was worried about you when you ran off like that earlier, and then when you didn't come back." He admitted. "I've never cared about anyone else that much." He smiled himself, trying (and failing) to hide his glee as he shrugged.''You know, maybe us being married won't be so bad after all." he said. Gwen felt her heart glow as she leaned forward to kiss Duncan and saw him do the same. Suddenly, her pupils shrank and her happiness was replaced with dread as she saw a familiar figure climbing over the balcony.''Gwen?" Duncan asked. "Is something...?" Suddenly, the balcony door flew open, and Trent climbed into the room.''Sorry!" He apologized to Gwen. "I just wanted to meet your-" He fixed his hat, which had fallen over his eyes, and fell silent upon seeing Duncan ''Who's that?" he asked Gwen ''Um, uh..." Gwen started as Trent went over to her side. Duncan's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the dead man in his room.''Who, or what are you supposed to be?!" He demanded of Trent, wondering if he should get his knife ''I'm her husband!" Trent boasted, showing off the wedding ring, Duncan's wedding ring, on his bony finger. Duncan looked from him to Gwen yelling ''Gwen?! You married a dead guy?!" ''It was an accident!" Gwen said, panicking again. "A mistake!" This had been the wrong thing to say. Trent's face grew dark, and he moved back out to the balcony.''Jacuzzi." He grabbed Gwen's arm, and she found herself being pulled back into the Netherworld.''No, no!" She looked desperately at Duncan, watching his figure grow smaller and smaller.....''DUNCAN!"

Me:Oh boy...Gwen's in for it now. Well, I hope you guys liked this extra-long chapter. Sorry for the bit with Duncan swearing, but I wanted to make him more in character in this chapter...not sure whether or not I succeeded.

Geoff: *comes out of nowhere* Wait a second, why am I the old skeleton?

Me: Cause it's my story. Now get back in there!

Geoff: *groans* fine! *leaves*

Me:Thank you!