I felt a dull pain in my stomach and I was feeling dizzy. My vision was still blurred, but I could still discern a few strange figures standing in front of me. Something didn't feel right. Suddenly, I realized that I wasn't even breathing, or at least that I didn't feel the urge to. It wasn't cold anymore. I put my hand on my chest and could feel no heartbeat. No, no, no, please, it can't be! I jumped up and the figures around me took a few steps backwards. My eyes were starting to adjust themselves and I shrieked when I saw the people around me. A few of them were skeletons, real skeletons! The others were partially decomposed. Their skin was a deathly blue, some parts of their flesh were already rotten and I could see their bare ribs. Some of them were missing an eye, while others were missing a limb or two. I looked around to see were I was and I deduced that I was In a tavern of some sort. The walls were bright green, there was a counter, a piano with a weird keyboard and a few more instruments made of bones. Most of the other people, those who weren't paying much attention to me, were chilling out and drinking concoctions that would probably be poisonous to normal people. I was standing there in a half-torn wedding dress that had belonged to my mother, a knife protruding from my belly, covered in scratches and surrounded by other corpses. Never have I felt more exposed or more humiliated

.

The day I died and the first time I arrived in the Neitherworld, or The Land of the Dead, whatever it's called, was one of the worst I've ever been through. There is no worse betrayal than to be murdered by the very person you would give your soul to and swear to love for an eternity. Now I curse the moment I laid my eyes on him. I was around twenty when I met Barkis. I remember myself sitting on the windowsill and watching the sea in the distance when a servant arrived with an invitation sent by one of my friends. Ada was celebrating her birthday and she had invited everybody who was anybody to attend it. I felt no real urge to go, but I didn't want to offend Ada. She was a very volatile person and a force to be reckoned with when upset. Still, finding a proper dress was a neven bigger nuisance. I stood in front of my mirror in my undergarments and I scrutinized my face. My long raven tresses were still there, before they were replaced by my current blue hair. My skin was pale then, but it was a healthy pallor, and my lips were red and full. I had a nice figure, but my hips were a bit too broad. All in all, I was a normal, healthy girl. Still, there were a lot of men that thought that Iwas a beauty and they had asked for my han din marriage, but my perfectionist father would always refuse them. I had tried to talk to him and explain to him that I am not going to be young forever and that all my other friends were already married, while I was slowly turning into a spinster.

He would always turn a deaf ear and ignore me. That is the worst thing a parent can do to a child: ignore it. I still posessed one treasure father couldn't take away from me and that was my piano. I had gotten it as a present when I was a child and since then it has been like a best friend to me. Everytime I felt sad or angry, I would pour out all my emotions in the simple act of playing it. I confessed all my deepest fears and secrets to it. I let the music take me through the darkest depths to the loftiest heights.

After an hour of searching through my wardrobe, I still couldn't find anything good enough to wear at Ada's party. I sighed and went over to my bed. I kneeled down and I pulled out a box from underneath it. I opened it and took out the dress father had given me a few months earlier. I haven't used it earlier because I found it ti be a bit too inapropriate. It was a deep crimson dress with a black cloak. The hem of the dress was covered in black lace, which formed a pattern of roses. I called for my maid to help me get in it. After that was over, I realized that I looked like I came from the late Renaissance period.

It took the carriage a good half an hour to arrive at Ada's manor. The mansion was full of life and I could hear people laughing and enjoying themselves. I sighed and looked behind me at the carriage that has already started to leave. I didn't want to be at that party. I looked up at the pale moon. Its natural light had been outshone by the thousands of lanterns Ada had set up in front of the house. Suddenly, I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I averted my gaze from the sky to the person's face.

-It's a beautiful night, isn't it? I too find myself quite often watching the moon and the shadows it creates with its light. But still… I don't believe that there is any light that can match the brightness and beauty of your face.

I wasn't impressed with his attempt to charm me with those words. –Did you just think of that now, or were you practicing your speech at home?

-Ha,ha, witty and beautiful. What a wonderful combination, he retorted. I gave him a look full of contempt and I continued to walk towards the treshold. Ada was chatting and gossiping with the other girls, but she stopped as soon as she spotted me. She waved at me and started to walk in my direction. She was dressed in her impeccable white dress and her oval face was surrounded with her golden ringlets. She gave away the impression of belonging to a n ancient royal bloodline, which was not that far away from the truth considering the fact that she came from a family of lords.

-Emily!¨How nice to see you here! I thought that you were going to stay at home with that miserable wretch you call a father. Honestly darling, we all know how you must be feeling…

-Ada, shut up. I don't have to be reminded of it everytime I show myself in the public.

-Sorry.

-By the way, happy birthday.

-Oh, please. There is nothing happy about getting old.

-Why throw a party, then?

-I got bored. Anyway, I have a surprise for you, darling! You are going to love it! Or, should I say him?

-Not another potential fiancé? I have already gotten tired of my father throwing them out of the house while uttering profanities.

-He is adorable! Plus, he is rich and comes from a noble family. Look, he is standing right there! What do you think?

-That he is fifteen years old. What am I supposed to do with him? Help him write his Latin homework?

-Woman, you are going to die alone if you keep up acting like your father.

-Don't be so melodramatic, Ada. I am going to get myself something to drink, Are you coming with me?

-Sorry, no. I have to greet all the other guests that are still arriving. You know, hostess duties and all that. But you go and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.

I went across the great hall and I stopped a waiter to tell him to bring me a cherry brandy. While waiting, I noticed the man that had approached me earlier. He was wearing a black frock coat and he had a cane with a skull head. He was passing through the crowd like a shadow, a smug expression on his face, which made him look even haughtier than Ada herself. That really got on my nerves. His hair was already white, eventhough he was a relatively young man. His dark eyes were almost scintillating, but I was still too far away to read anything from them. All in all, he was a regular dandy. The waiter brought my drink and when I turned back again I found myself face to face with the man. I gave a start and I gasped, while he was staring at me like I was something to eat. I composed myself soon enought and I, much to his surprise, poked him violently in the chest and started to reproach him.

-What is the meaning of this? Who gave you the right to follow me around?

-No need for you to get angry. I was just trying to get to know you, my dear lady. It is always nice to be in the company of such a lovely creature as yourself.

-Well then, sir, thank you for the compliment, but I am really noti n the mood for a conversation.

-Anger does not suit your features.

-I am not angry.

He grinned at me. Then he took my free hand and kissed it. –My name is Lord Barkis Bittern. And your name, my darling one?

-Countess Emily Carter.

He gave me a light nod, as if he was thanking me for giving him my name. I emptied my glass and gave it to a waiter that was passing by with an empty tray. I crossed my arms on my chest and I was just about to leave him when he put his hand on my shoulder and asked me to stay a bit longer. I sighed and decided to give him a few more minutes. What was I supposed to do, run away from him for the rest of the evening? He asked me to dance with him when the music started to play. I refused him, but I remained in his company. I thought that he was going to leave by himself if I continued to bore him and and answer his questions with monosyllabic words. To my disappointment, he didn't leave. An hour later, he dragged me to the balcony and closed the door. I made a self-satisfying smile when I saw his former smug and proud expression replaced with an irritated one.

-I don't understand you, Emily! You have been very rude with me for no reason at all. While I showered you with compliments, you threw insults at me!

-That is Countess Emily for you, Lord Barkis. And I haven't done a thing to you. You are the one that came to me in a very rude way. Your compliments were insulting my intelligence and I was just defending myself. You can't balme me for that, now can you? Not to mention the fact that you have been clinging to me like a duckling to its mother for the past hour and I don't even know you!

-That is exactly why I am here. I want to get to know you. What do I have to do to get in your good graces?

-Start acting like a real human being instead like a good copy of one. If you want to be in my company, at least have the decency to be yourself. Nobody likes a man who acts like he is a royal princess.

His black eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but then he let the matter drop. He thought about wwhat I had said for a moment and then I noticed the way his eyes changed. There was nothing left of the former self-loving jerk anymore and I had no idea which identity he had taken upon himself then. It was a bit scary, actually. It was almost like he was a natural at changing personalities. While still giving me that blank look, he took off the brooch he had had on his coat. Then he threw his coat and hat off, tossed his cane and rolled up his left sleave. To my horror, he pierced his skin with the needle of the brooch and held his arm up for me to see. Blood had started to appear.

-Are you mad? What are you doing to yourself?

-Do you still believe I am just a copy of a human being, Emily? There! Look at my arm! I am made of flesh and blood and that makes me real. Do you believe that I do not posess thoughts and feelings?

I shuddered at his words. His face looked weak and tortured. Then I gently took his arm and examine the wound he had inflicted upon himself.. I felt guilty about the whole situation. It was nothing serious, just a few drops of blood., but it was enough to convince me that he was a man like any other. A man that wanted love, just like I did. I had absolutely no idea how wrong I was.