U
Literature
Until Death Do You Vow Ch3 (Again imagine what your dress looks like as the dress above/linked below only with a MUCH longer train and veil. 
https://images.app.goo.gl/V4BZ1rEaXstvYx696)
The sweet sunlight kisses the world good bye as the sun set on the world. Wishing it good bye to make way for the cruel night that way ahead. Bathing the world in darkness tinted in red by his sister the moon as she dawned her best war paint and climbed higher into the darkened sky to claim her rightful place as Queen of the dark realm. The red a sign to all her dark children that tonight would be the night for mischief and mayhem. Danger and chaos.
Death and undead.
Beware the blood moon that comes to rise in the sky.
Beware the monsters who lurk and live amongst the world.
Beware of those who seek out their own entertainment.
So lock your doors up tight when the blood moon appears. Barricade all your windows. Block up any chimneys. Hide away in your deepest closest. Arm yourself with your finest weapons. Speak not a word and be silent. Sleep not a wink and keep alert for they will all spirit you away.
Mischievous fae. Blood thirsty vampires. Carnivorous werewolves. Fire breathing dragons. Scheming demons. And so many more.
Those who refuse to heed the warnings are fated to die to be spirited away never to be seen again. So hide away and don't make a sound. Never answer the door no matter what. And above all else be weary.
Beware. Beware. Beware. BEWARE-
You jumped as a thunderclap in the distance overhead echoed throughout the sky. Your head looked up instinctively and stared at the still lit up sky and the dark grey storm clouds that scattered across it like some shattered jigsaw puzzle. The sight of it worried you making a frown appear on your perfectly make uped face. The chilly wind blowing over you making you shiver and the veil flow in the wind and over your face. 
A hand reached up to push the lacey veil away from your face to give a clearer look at the looming figure in front of you.  
The stories you've heard about the ancient Gallagher Mansion, the tales and whispers and rumors. Hone to decadence and luxury in the days of yore, now abandoned and mostly forgotten. The aura of mystery and lost inheritance tainted by misfortune and blood mixed with greedy ambition. It's shadow loomed over your form blocking most of what's left of the sunlight, casting the eerie darkness over your beautiful white dress. None of the rumors have done it justice, only instilling more creepiness to the overall visage. The whole place looked like the stereotypical image of a haunted mansion in every Halloween decoration made. Old worm building. Creaking creepy metal fence. The old rock pathway leading up to the doors full of cracks and had weeds growing in the crevices. Gallagher Mansion was obviously abandoned for most of its existence. So why doesn't it look like a pile of splinters by now? Why weren't the grounds more overgrown than expected??... Must've been the caretaker. There must've been a caretaker. 
"Team, do you copy?", a voice in your ear spoke out and made you jump nearly dropping both the phone and bouquet of roses in your arms.  "What's the situation on the field? Over."
Pushing your things into one arm, you reached out to gently touch the ear piece Taylor had given you before the mission. You've used these before on other ghosts hunts in big areas you had split up in. Made things easier to keep in touch with each other. Suppose it was a good idea to keep them instead of pawning them for club funding money. Although you heavily debated on whether THIS was a good idea.
"I'm fine," you nervously shuffled in place giving another look around the place. "But I think it might rain soon."
"Don't jinx yourself now, Buddy. Good weather will make the mission easier. Over."
"Y'know we don't have to say over after everything we say. I can hear you just fine." You could almost hear Taylor's pout on the other side. "But so far it's pretty good. Other than the looming storm and how creepy this place is."
"Keep your guard up. If I'm right then I'm ninety percent sure we'll find at least something in this place."
"Uh huh. Well I'm more worried about tripping over my gown. Can't I take the heels off? Or roll the hem of it up a bit?" The light wind made you shiver again before the lacey veil gently floated back down over your face. "And did I seriously need to wear the veil?"
"Sorry. No can do. You gotta look the part for when you fall into the cold dead arms of Elias Gallagher. Over."
Back To the over thing huh? You rolled your eyes and sighed. "Right. I'll look as classically ravishing as ever."
Honestly you didn't know why you kept this stupid outfit. It was nothing but a reminder of unhappy memories. You didn't want to unpack it ever again and honestly you should've just sold the dress to the drama club of Zephyr University instead of just tossing it into the back of your closet. You were surprised Taylor even remembered that you still had it. If you had known of his ideas to use it you would've definitely gotten rid of it.
...
"Hey. Do you still have that old wedding dress?"
The question was so out of nowhere that it caught you off guard and you nearly dropped your lunch of cafeteria pizza the university provided. You stared at his happy face wide eyed and blankly just taking a moment to actually process what Taylor actually said.
"...Why would you ask me that?," you slowly asked lowering the pizza back onto the tray. 
"Because I have an idea of how we could get Elias's attention!," he happily chirped ignoring your furrowed brows.
"And that involves my dress how?"
"Ghosts sometimes are drawn to things they're familiar with. That's why a lot of houses are haunted by former owners or something there'll be haunted objects that belonged to a dead person. Or sometimes they're drawn to people in similar situations to them when they were alive!"
"Taylor, in case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly dead!"
"No, but you both experienced tragic weddings-"
"No! Absolutely NOT!," you bluntly stated putting a stop to any wild plans as you pointed at him with a deep frown. "I'm not gonna go ghost hunting in a wedding dress that only brings me nothing but bad memories. I can't believe you'd even suggest that to me!"
"Oh, come on, Y/n! It's like the perfect plan! The groom who lost everything meets a bride who lost everything! It's full proof! It's perfect! It's-"
"A blatant disregard for my feelings and will nothing but stir up bad memories!," you spat before turning away to stare hard at the pizza on your tray.
Taylor seemed to pick up on the nerves he touched wincing and also looking away with a guilty look. There was silence except for the background murmurs of dozens of other people using the cafeteria. Eventually Taylor looked over glancing at your uneaten tray before looking at your face. 
"Hey. I'm.. sorry. That was a real jerk thing to suggest," he apologized.
"It's fine. I'm not really using the stupid get up for anything really, and it wasn't being used anyways-"
"Wait. You'll do it?!" He looked surprised but then concerned. "You don't.. have to. I mean what if your dress gets ruined?"
You shrugged still not looking up and just grabbing the pizza again. "Like I said, I never used it anyways and it's not like I bought it so I won't really lose any money by it."
"Oh. Um. Ok! Cool! We can totally use this!"
"But you're buying me lunch for the rest of the year."
"WHAT?!"
"I'm gonna be ghost bait right? The least you can do is feed me for saving the club."
"Wha- Rrr. Fine."
You smiled at Taylor's pout. Free pizza never tasted sweeter.
....
You shuffled more looking back behind you. Down the road from the open gates was Taylor's car where he stationed 'HQ' for this whole thing. You were almost tempted to just leave and go back and demand to be taken home to your own bed but... Technically you did promise and one last ghost hunt before the club retired forever would be fun. With a sigh you turned back to the entrance of the manor.
"Hey. I have a question before I start this mission."
"Shoot."
With an evil smirk you asked, "Did they still have jesters in the Victorian era?"
"I don't really know...or why you'd be asking me that."
With a bigger grin you chuckled. "Im just saying what if Elias isn't the only ghost here? What if I run into his personal jester?"
"G-G-GHOST CLOWN!? NO!," Taylor squealed out of the other side as you began walking. "Why would you even suggest that?!"
"But my life could be in danger. Unless it was a nice clown ghost that makes people laugh-"
"Quit stalling and start the mission already!"
You couldn't help but laugh practically hearing him pout on the other side. It at least helped to calm your nerves as you approached the giant doors. Instinctively a hand reached down to pull up the bottom of this ballroom nightmare of a dress. Each step of your heels made a clicking sound with every slow step you took against the pathway leading up to the old doors. The nervous feeling returned as you approached the front entrance. The wooden steps of the porch creaked as you stepped up onto the first one and continued u-
CLINK!!
You jumped and looked over as a glass bottle fell off the steps and landed somewhere in the grass. You sighed in relief and scolded yourself. It was just a bottle no doubt left from someone partying here a long time ago. Get ahold of yourself. With a breath you Willed your body to turn and click your heels back up the rest of the way to the porch and reach out to the door only to hesitate. The wind had picked up a little bit by then making you shiver and the gate creaked as the wind pushed its heavy frame. Yep. This is definitely the start of a horror movie. The only difference is that it was still sun up but just barely. Sunset was so near and it would officially be night within an hour. You didn't want to be stuck inside during the night but you didn't want to be stuck outside during the night. So with a breath you reached out to one of the old heavy doors, turned the old brass knobs, and pushed it open.
CCCCRRREEEAAAAKKK-
It slid right open with a loud creak and you poked your head in looking around. Seeing nothing of danger you slowly stepped the rest of the way in careful to not let the long veil or train get stuck in the doorway before the door slowly closed from its own weight. The entire place was no pun intended dead quiet. The air stale and colder than the wind outside making you feel strange. But you were more surprised that the whole place wasn't more..Well destroyed. Wasn't this supposed to be a known party house? There should've been more bottles and trash everywhere but there wasn't. You expected more graffiti and for the place to be at least more in disarray with all the parties that supposedly go on here but it looked almost untouched. Abandoned but untouched. Strange.
"How's it lookin' in there, Bud?"
You again nearly jumped at Taylor's voice but shook your head. "Perfectly ripe for a haunting complete with a creepy portrait on top of the stairs." You squinted your eyes up the stairs in the darkness but could barely make out the portrait with the painted face staring at you from the too of the stairs. "In fact you'd probably have an asthma attack from all this dust."
"Is your sixth sense tingling?"
You took a moment to pause and look around again. "Not really but it is weirdly cold in here. Might be a sign."
"Then it's time to summon a ghost!"
"Right." Without a pause you brought up your phone and put it to video and audio recording. "Alright. I think I'm ready to start the recording. Let's see if we can get some spooky audio recordings."
"Alright. Remember we're trying to entice him out, so be polite about it."
"Is there any questions you want me to ask?" 
"Well... don't ask him for the fortune up front, he might get offended. But maybe start with a greeting."
"Right." You walked a little more into the manor until you stood right at the end of the stairs, your heel clicks echoing everywhere. With an inhale you slowly sighed and pressed the record button on your phone. "Hello!" Your voice echoed throughout the building as you shouted at the air. "My name is Y/n. What's yours?" You waited a small moment to just allow anything to be caught on the recordings. "Is there anyone here who wishes to make contact with me?" Again another small pause. "Can you give me a sign you're here? Maybe move something or make a sound?" You stayed quiet maneuvering your phone around the place to record anything you might've missed ...but other than the wind and distant sounds of thunder, nothing answered you and all remained still. "Do you want me to leave? If you want me to leave please let me know so I can respect your space." Again... nothing but silence.
"Anything?"
"Nope. Not a thing. I'm gonna stop recording now and replay the video. Maybe the audio caught something we didn't."
Your thumb pressed the end button and you quickly went back to playback the video recording. "Hello!" Your voice echoed from the recording clear as day. "My name is Y/n. What's yours?" There wasn't a thing but silence next. "Can you give me a sign you're here? Maybe move something or make a noise?" You held it up to your free ear to listen closely...not a thing but static. "Do you want me to leave? If you want to leave please let me know so I can respect your space." You listened EXTRA carefully and closely...still nothing to be said. A little disappointed you removed the phone on your ear and went back to replay it. Ok. Nothing on the audio. Maybe the video? Just in case you slowed the video as slowly as the phone settings would allow you and painfully watched as it played all the way through...but saw absolutely nothing but a regular abandoned building you recorded.
"Ugh. There's nothing. It's a dud, Taylor."
"W-Wait! We can't give up now!," Taylor desperately shouted as if panicked you'd leave right now. "Maybe it's because it's still daylight out! It'll be nighttime in less than an hour. Ghost generally are more active at night right? Maybe we're not asking at the right time?"
You sighed before turning to sit down on the stairs and frowned. "Fine but Im sitting down. These shoes are killing me."
"Haha! I guess that's one downfall of dressing up so fancy."
You frowned.  "Let me remind you Mister that it was YOU that insisted on me dressing up in the full get up!"
There was an awkward pause on the other end as Taylor cleared his throat nervously. "W-Well it's all part of the plan. A groom ghost is about to be attracted to the real thing. Even if you're not his actual bride, he still might get curious enough to come out."
"Lucky me. I get to wear it once for a groom who ghosted me and twice as bait for a literal ghost groom. Nice."
Again there was more awkward silence. "Y'know. That wasn't your fault. Clearly that guy didn't know what he was missing! He was an absolute scumbag!"
You did smile a little bit. This is why he was a good friend. "Hmph. Thanks. I knew I could count on my knight in shining armor."
He gave a couple laughs. "Well then that makes you the damsel in distress."
"Nah. With how I'm dressed now, I might as well be a princess. Sure have the tacky get up for it."
"Hm. Fair enough point."
"Don't think I'm pretty enough for the role though."
"Hey. Don't put yourself down, Bud. You totally have the looks to pull it off."
...You smirked. "Oh. So you think I'm pretty now?"
"GAH?!" You snorted hearing Taylor sputtering and you can imagine the red on his face matching his hair perfectly. "N-N-Now that's enough! Get your head back to the mission."
You still  couldn't help but giggle at him. "Alright, alright. But I mean it. Thanks. I appreciate it."
Taylor didn't say anything but there was a few grumbles in response. You couldn't help but chuckle. You still remembered how he reacted to when Taylor saw you back in this whole get up back an hour or two ago when you got ready for the mission.
*****
"Come on, Y/n! It shouldn't take this long to throw on a dress and some make up." Taylor impatiently tapped his foot against the floor as he stood outside the room you were changing in.
"Hey! YOU were the one who wanted me to 'dress the whole none yards'. It takes a while to squeeze into this entire get up when I haven't even worn these in two years!" You answered back muffled by the door. "And I'm not exactly make up extrodinare. You can wait just a little bit more."
Taylor groaned rubbing his face. "Elias could've crossed over by the time you get done! Heck. I could become a ghost by the time you get out here!"
"Oh hush up you big baby. I'll be out as soon as I get these stupid shoes on."
Taylor only rolled his eyes as he still stared impatiently at nothing. How long could it take to put shoes on? Aren't girls supposed to be really good at dressing up? They're supposed to be shoe and fashion crazy! He pouted arms crossed for five more minutes until the door knob turned with a click and the door opened.
"Oh finally!" He turned around. "It was taking forev-"
Anything else he might've said died on his tongue as he turned and laid eyes on her mage walking out of the door. The white silky, sparkly white dress floated around her steps and hugged her body just so. Making her seem like Cinderella had just walked out of the fairytale books. The soft train drawling behind her along with the longer part of the giant veil that not only flowed down her back but covered her shoulders and sides too, with a smaller part of it covering her face. To which she reached up to push from her allowing him to see her fluttering lashes and shiny lips. There was enough make up to enhance her without taking away from her natural beauty.
She was...
BEAUT-
"Taylor?" He jumped when she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "You ok there pal?"
"Huh?! UH. YEAH!!" He cleared his throat and quickly looked away. "You look...You look exactly h-how I imagined for this!"
You rose a brow. "Thank you I guess." You blinked looking at his hands. "Taylor, are you holding a bouquet of roses?" He nodded. "Why?"
"W-What's a bride without her bouquet?" He shoved the bouquet at you. "H-Here."
You blinked but slowly looked at the bouquet. It wasn't a big bouquet, probably because Taylor and you couldn't spare a whole bunch of money being broke college students. There was about five roses all tied together and wrapped up in that fancy paper florists always used. You slowly took it from him in surprise and gazed over it.
"Wow... It's been a while since someone gave me flowers." A soft smile appeared on your face.
Taylor flushed more. "*Ahem* W-Well you gotta look the part. Um...You can just keep'em after the mission's done."
"Thanks, Taylor. They're beautiful."
"Um. Yeah! *ahem* C-Come on. It'll be dark soon. We better get going."
******
The sun soon disappeared over the horizon. Darkness took over the rest of the space and you sat there resting your legs as the darkness crept up enough to get you to shiver. The creepiness factor increased so much now that it wasn't bathed in light. Now that you were alone in the dark you used the flashlight on your phone to look around the place. Still looked the same as always. No changes. 
"Any noticable changes?"
"Nope. Everything looks the same only darker. Doesn't feel different either."
"Are you ready to give it another go, Bud?"
"Sure. Why not? Got nothing to lose." You slowly stood up brushing the dust off your dress and looking around. There was no changes. So again you quickly shifted your phone to record with the flashlight on and pointed it around slowly. "Is there anyone else here with me tonight?" Your voice echoed throughout the place making a shiver run down your spine. But nothing happened.
"Try addressing him directly or asking something he might be interested in," Taylor suggested through the earpiece. 
Why not? "I heard that Elias Gallagher is here. Do you want to come talk to me?" You listened closely but still no answer. "Do you like my dress? I heard you were going to be married. Is that true?" You still heard nothing carefully turning your phone this way and that to record the area surrounding you. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not here to hurt you. I only wanna talk to you and hear what you gotta say. Is there anything you want people to know about you?" Still nothing. "Is there anyone here who isn't Elias Gallagher? I'd be happy to talk to anyone. If you can make yourself known that'd be great. Make a sound or move something to let me know you're there." Still nothing but the wind and distant thunder that didn't sound so distant anymore. "I'm gonna stop recording now."
"Anything happen?"
"Nope but maybe the recording caught something." You doubted it but it was worth checking out.
You stopped the phone and rewound it back. "Is there anyone else here with me tonight?" Nothing. "I heard Elias Gallagher is here. Do you want to come talk to me?" Nothing. "Do you like my dress? I heard you were going to be married. Is that true?" Nothing. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not here to hurt you. I only wanna talk to you and hear what you gotta say. Is there anything you want people to know about you?" Nothing. Not a single thing. "Is there anyone here who isn't Elias Gallagher? I'd be happy to talk to anyone. If you can make yourself known that'd be great. Make a sound or move something to let me know you're there." Absolutely, purely, positively NOTHING!!
A big fat ZERO with a capital Z!!
You did the same thing as before rewinding it back and slowing down the footage to carefully comb through it again...Aaasnd nothing looked out of the ordinary again. The only difference was that it was darker than the previous footage. 
"Well? What's the verdict?," Taylor sounded hopeful through the mic.
With a sigh you only shook your head. "Nothing. No audio, no footage, not even one spooky shadow. Taylor, Id hate to say it but this place really is a dud. If it was haunted surely something would've happened by now. I think it's just that. A ghost story."
"I-... You-..W-Wait. Maybe we're doing something wrong. Maybe you're not asking the right questions o-or maybe he only haunts a certain room in the mansion!"
"Taylor, I'm not just wandering around a mansion that's nearly two hundred years old and I'm the dark. What if the floor collapses under me or I breath in some kind of mold?" You crossed your arms with a frown. "Are you seriously asking me to risk my life for a ghost that's probably not even here?"
"I-...*sigh* No. I'm not gonna do that to you."
You half deflated at his disappointed tone. "Look, Taylor. I'm really sorry. We'll figure something out I promise."
"Yeah...Hey. Wait a second. There actually might be something!"
You rose a brow. "What?"
"The Gallagher's like a lot of wealthy families had a small cemetery on the property. It should be just behind the manor! Maybe we can get something directly from the source!"
Your brows rose. "Uh...Hold on a second there. Are you trying to say I should just walk into a cemetery in a wedding dress and try to make contact with ghosts?! That's how a horror movie starts!"
"PLEASE!! You've investigated cemeteries before!" 
"Never alone! And you were always with me!"
"It's not a real cemetery though. Shortly after the death of the third Gallagher child, the family moved the all the Gallagher family remains to the community cemetery thinking that perhaps angry spirits on the property were to blame. So while there's no bodies, there's still the energy that they might've left behind."
.....Oh. Alright. That was..a bit better. You guessed. 
"I don't know, Taylor. I have a bad feeling."
"We'll make this quick. if you don't capture anything then..*sigh* Then we'll go home right after. How's that?"
You hesitated for a long time before sighing. "You are going to owe me BIG TIME for this!"
