Rising Shadows

Emily had never been so happy in her entire life. And she'd also never been more terrified. She wasn't terrified about the wedding; though she was glad that everyone attributed her occasional skittishness and nerves to that. She felt no trace of fear when it came to marrying Percy. She loved him with every trace and fiber of her being.

It was the dreams that frightened her. She had started keeping a record of them, and had it hidden in a false bottom of her desk drawer so no one would find it. It seemed The Dollmaker was a man of routine and schedules. Almost every three weeks on the dot she had another vivid, horrific nightmare and would the next day find a story in the paper. Another victim claimed by The Dollmaker. She carefully followed the story but it didn't seem the police were any closer to catching him. She had taken to locking herself away in her study to read Malina Everett's books about the occult and the afterlife.

She hated keeping a secret like this from Percy, but she knew he hated seances and everything to do with ghosts. But Emily was starting to grow desperate. She didn't know what to do to stop the nightmares and the killer, but it seemed the lingering spirit of Millicent Kempwell had no intention of leaving her be. She was, with more and more frequency, feeling chills at random times and hearing a voice whisper to her when no one else was home. She was starting to worry that she was going to go completely mad.

Fortunately, her wedding day was just around the corner and soon she wouldn't be living alone anymore. With Percy beside her everything would be better. In the meantime she was secretly designing a special pair of glasses, using some of the magical glass she had obtained back when her adventure with Percy had all started. She was trying to make what she called "spirit lenses;" so she could actually see Millicent when she came calling.

"Emily, darling, did you hear what I said?"

"What?" Emily started, jarred from her dark thoughts by her mother; who was staring at her along with Amelia, Liza, Mary and Scarlett.

"You've just received a message from Viola Smythe!" Amelia said excitedly. "Your dress is ready!"

Emily returned all their smiles and was able to finally push away the darkness swirling in her mind. She was getting married in a week. The women ushered her out of the house and into a crowded carriage. Their enthusiasm was infectious and Emily was dying to see the gown Viola had designed for her. Emily hadn't had the foggiest idea what she wanted, so the dress would be a complete surprise.

"Miss Weldon, darling!" Viola greeted her dramatically, planting a kiss on each of her cheeks. "You're going to be the loveliest bride London has ever seen. This dress is a crown jewel."

Viola hurried her along, insisting she try the dress on before leaving to make sure the hemline was exactly right. The corset that went with the dress had a small diamond brooch pinned at the top. The sleeves were lace and bared her shoulders while the skirt flared out around her in a frothy sea of ivory silk covered in rose-patterned lace.

"You look like an angel," Tessa said, covering her mouth as tears formed in her eyes.

"Oh Mother, stop. If you start crying then I'll start crying, and then Mary will start and soon we'll all be blubbering messes."

Emily had never been very vain, but even she could only stand and gawk at her reflection. The dress was absolutely breathtaking and she had never felt so lovely in her entire life.

"Now just imagine the full effect as you're walking down the aisle," Scarlett said, smiling. "Poor Percy will probably keel over at the altar."

Emily smiled back, finding herself excited and nervous for Percy to see her in the dress. She hoped he liked it. The rest of the day passed in a blur for Emily. She double and triple checked to make sure all the wedding details were exactly right, adamantly assuring the florist yet again that she wanted dandelions in the bouquet. She had to put the final touches on an elaborate cuckoo clock that had been requested by a member of parliament. Apparently he had a very large collection of clocks, which Emily thought must get dreadfully annoying with all the ticking. After a late supper alone in her dining room, Emily dragged herself to her study and resumed working on her spirit lens project.

Malina's books were scattered across her desk, pages bookmarked that Emily thought might be useful. She found herself wishing that Malina was with her. She would know what to do about all of this. Emily carefully slipped rounded pieces of the island glass into the copper frames she had made. She had read that glass and mirrors could often capture images of ghosts and spirits that the naked eye didn't detect. She hoped she could use all of this to make contact with Millicent and try to figure out how to stop her nightmares.

Emily slipped the lenses on, fiddling with the glass pieces to make sure they were fitted securely into the frames. She saw a flash of movement in the doorway, as if someone had just walked by down the hallway.

"Nora?" Emily called. "Is that you?" She took the glasses off and tucked them into the false bottom of her desk drawer again. She rose and started to walk toward the hallway, letting out a strangled scream and jumping back as the door slammed shut in her face. Emily jumped as a gust of icy air blew across her neck.

"Millicent?" she said softly. She moved back to her desk to retrieve the glasses but felt someone shove her hard from behind. She fell against the desk with a gasp. Suddenly she wasn't so sure it was Millicent in the room with her and the thought sent a violent chill down her spine.

"Go away," she whispered fiercely. "Whoever you are, whatever you are, leave me alone!"

The feeling of menace seemed to seep out of the room and Emily could have sworn the shadows didn't seem as dark as they had a moment ago. The door handle rattled and Emily shrank back, heart pounding. The door opened and Nora stood there, frowning worriedly.

"I heard the door slam," she said. "Are you quite all right, Miss Emily? You look as though you've seen a ghost."

Emily let out a strangled laugh at the choice of words. "I'm fine," she said. "I've just been so busy lately."

"You should rest. You want to be refreshed for your wedding in a few days."

Emily let Nora usher her off to bed, burrowing deeply into her covers, wrapping them around her like a shield from the shadows.

.::.::.::.

The day of the wedding came faster than Emily had ever expected. Her mother and Nora rousted her from bed in the wee hours of the morning and she was thrust into a bath filled with rose water while still half asleep.

"The others will be here soon to help get you ready," Tessa said.

"The wedding isn't for hours still," Emily protested groggily. "Do I really need to have my hair done now?"

"Of course you do! We need to make sure everything goes off without a hitch."

Emily could hardly get a word in edgewise the entire morning. Liza, Amelia, Mary, Scarlett and Evelyn Tully arrived soon after to help doll her up. Mary was to be her matron of honor and Liza, Amelia and Evelyn were her bridesmaids. She wished Scarlett could have been one too, but she and Ben needed to keep a low profile while they were in London. Emily sat obediently still while the women all fussed over her, pinning her hair up into an elaborate bun strung with pearls and painted her lips a deep wine red and dusted light pink rouge in her cheeks.

"This can be your something borrowed," Tessa said, slipping a delicate pearl necklace around her neck. Finally they helped her into the dress and released her to let her go see how she looked. She stood in front of the full length mirror and stared at her reflection. She didn't think it was even really her standing there. The girl in the mirror looked beautiful and grown up and glowing. She turned to see her family beaming at her. There was a knock at the door and Bartimus, Teddy Ben and Henry came inside, pausing to gape.

"Can this really be our baby sister?" Henry said.

"She's not a baby anymore," Bartimus said, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head.

"You look absolutely beautiful, Emily."

"Thank you, Daddy." Emily hugged him back tightly. She hugged all her brothers.

"Our little sister," Ben said, smiling gently.

"Don't make me cry," Emily scolded. "You'll make me ruin my makeup."

"Sorry to interrupt," Simon said, appearing in the doorway. "The carriages are here to take us to the church. You look stunning, Em. Every bachelor in London is going to be green with envy. And probably a few of the married men too." He winked while Emily giggled. Everyone but her father left. Bartimus wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"No," Emily said truthfully. "I love him so much."

"I know you do. He's a lucky man. I'm so happy that you found someone. As independent as you are and as proud as that makes me, I worried about you spending life alone." He paused, and Emily was sure there was moisture glistening in his eyes before he blinked it away. "I can still see you when you were six, and you were furious with the fairy tale books because the princess always needed saving. So you made your brothers and Simon pretend to be dragons and ogres while you rescued Ben from the tower."

Emily laughed. "They always humored me and my wild ideas."

"You have always been every inch the warrior princess, my dear. Now that's enough sentimental reminiscing for one day. Let's get you to the alter to marry this reformed pirate of yours."

Bartimus linked his arm with Emily's and led her out and into the remaining carriage. They arrived last so the guests could all take their seats. Bartimus helped her out of the carriage and into the church, where Mary was waiting to hand her bouquet. Filled with blue flowers and dandelions just as she had asked. Mary gave her a last bright smile before disappearing into the chapel to stand with the bridesmaids. Emily heard music start up inside and she took a deep breath.

"Come on, Daddy," she said, smiling. "I'm ready to get married."