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Post by The Sidhe on May 27, 2014 17:53:23 GMT -5
As the team would lay eyes on the children racing in circles and reaching playfully for each other, their demeanor would shift instantly. All eight came to a dead halt, standing stock still, each facing away from the window just enough so their faces weren’t visible. It was only when they moved it became even more apparent that these were wrong and deceitful things. Each turned in fluid motion to stare at the team. They were as beautiful as they were terrifying. High cheeks bones, larger eyes with long lashes the same blonde as their hair. Straight, thin noses and jaw lines that curved softly. But their eyes were the tip off.
Black was what stared at them, from pupil to sclera. No other color resided save for gleaming, unblinking dark. The only worse sight was perhaps when the group began to move. With every movement smooth and full of grace, the advanced slowly towards the window residing in the main hallway, still several feet from it when the team made their passage out of their line of sight. The hallway was hardly extensive, actually rather short in truth. Almost as small as the kitchen. The door at the end shone with heavy dark lacquer under the warm glow, gold almost seeming to sparkle.
Except for the fact that it did not truly exist. The Meister’s hand would pass straight through it, the door dimming as she attempted to cross through it. The illusion ripped and faded, racing back to where the rest of it connected to the corners. The glow lingered save for the far wall of the run down kitchen they now face, empty panes and broken glass all around. Without swift action, the Meister would end up reaching into shards of glass lingering in the spaces.
Even with one wall of the now plain trickery gone, the stark contrast was unsettling. The golden glow of the lights still lingered and bathed them in gentle light. But the one real wall before them plainly was dim. The light shining through the true window now revealed was cold and pale, barely illuminated the old white tiles and rusted frames. Outside was the same as when they had entered. Trees bathed in shadows made it impossible to see further in from so far away, cloud cover accompanying the lingering spring chill with winter reluctant to release its grip. What was in front of them was real, and the reality of just how dangerous the Bambi now was had been made readily apparent.
And then the building shifted again. The false hall remained open, the only wall that started to change being the one immediately to their right. The wallpaper stretched, an opening twisting itself open as a window that reached from floor to ceiling formed. Gilded frames held flawlessly clear glass, stained and colored designs lining the shutters on either side in twisted and looped flowers. The sky was clear again, warm sunlight beaming down.
And the eight from before were pressed right up against it. The shortest looked about three, the tallest looked about sixteen. Their features were so alike and their figures all so slight, it was impossible to tell male from female save for the variation from flowing dresses to shirts with sleeves that belled at the elbows paired with pants that stopped at the knee. Black eyes stared the team down, slender faces pressed against the glass. Pointed ears were visible now that they were so close, peeking out between long strands of golden hair. With their palms meeting the small squares of the window panes, nails that were certainly too sharp became evident. Each and every one looked on with their thin lips slightly parted, staring with intent interest.
Only one of the eight was different. One of the taller girls, very apparently near six feet, blinked while the other didn’t. Her hair appeared duller now that she was close, but not by much. The hem of her long dress was grey and frayed, as were the ends of the long sleeves hanging to her knees. Her nails looked longer, and more importantly, she was the only one that seemed to be breathing, slender chest rising and falling slowly. After a moment, what should have been a warm smile appeared on her face to reveal perfect white teeth, the canines of which were just sharp enough to be worrying.
She giggled and it reverberated throughout the Bambi, her voice nowhere near enough and echoing as it had during the first shift.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2014 1:32:52 GMT -5
Lucia had been expecting to grasp a fancy doorknob. She was not expecting an optical illusion. Or hologram. Or whatever this was. Her hand passed through the doorway and threw her off balance. She stood on one foot for a moment, frantically moving her arms around to try to regain her balance. The glint of broken glass caught her eyes just in time for her to put her left foot down and force herself to fall backwards in the opposite direction of the glass shards. Lucia felt clumsy and childish for making such a stupid mistake, but she breathed a sigh of relief anyway. At least she hadn't fallen into the glass shredder.
After a moment, Lucia stood back up and brushed off any dust that might have gotten on her trousers. She stole another glance out the window to see that the children had definitely noticed her and Nolan. She ducked below the window pane, but yet again she knew that was a stupid choice. They already knew where she was; there was no use in hiding. Then the Bambi began to transform again. Lucia stood back up and took a few steps backwards down the hall. She could see why this house drove its victims crazy. Or worse. But she was a meister, and meisters were built to fight these kinds of phenomenons.
Finally the building stopped transforming again. Lucia had been more focused on the illusive doorway and the broken glass that she hadn't taken too much notice of the changes that had occurred on her right. Not that she could have heard them anyway. Once she noticed the new burst of sunlight coming from that side, though, she turned only to find herself face-to-face with all of the creepy children she had just seen outside. A hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a gasp as she stumbled backwards and bumped into the wall behind her. These weren't anywhere near normal children. Now Lucia could see their pointed ears, their sharp nails, the black eyes that made them all anything but human.
Her heart was racing a mile a minute. Could they come through the glass? Could they force the building to change again and converge on her? There were too many for her to fight all at once. It was then that an idea popped into her head. Considering how many illusions she had come across in the Bambi already, maybe some of the children....er, demons. Whatever they were. Maybe they were illusions, too. All she had to do was use Soul Perception to figure out which ones were real. Her eyes scanned each of the creatures until she stopped at one of the taller girls. This one didn't look exactly like the others. Her dress was frayed at its hems, her hair slightly duller, and the weirdest thing: she actually looked like she was breathing. Lucia decided to check this one first. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again with Soul Perception activated. With the creature being so close to her, she was able to clearly make out a soul attached to her. Or it. Whatever it was. It didn't look normal, though. This was probably their target, or at least their best bet for one at the moment. Lucia blinked again and her Soul Perception was gone.
“Alright, Nolan,” Lucia said as she stood a little straighter and gripped his weapon form with both hands. “Let's see if you can break glass.” With that, she raised the hatchet above her head, stepped forward, and with a shout slammed Nolan's hatchet form, blunt end forward, at the glass directly in front of the only creature that looked different.
Words: 619 Tag: Nolan/Sidhe
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2014 13:38:00 GMT -5
To his surprise, Lucia had in fact not grasped the doorknob and stepped outside. Instead, the door was revealed to be an illusion of some sort, fading away along with the entire wall they were facing to reveal a wall of broken windows from the rundown kitchen they had passed by earlier. Now that he thought about it, the small hallway that had formed after the building’s transformation was roughly the size of that kitchen, too. Luckily, Lucia had managed to make herself fall backwards before she could shred her arm on the broken glass of the window she had been unknowingly reaching into. So that was this kishin egg’s ruse: illusions? Drive the inhabitants of the castle mad so that they would cause their own demise?
After Lucia had stood up again and made an interesting ducking motion (Nolan assumed that it had something to do with those creepy children they just saw), the Bambi began to morph around them yet again. Lucia had stood up and moved towards the center of the hallway/kitchen, which Nolan silently commended her for doing because that would distance them from any more possible hazards. The only wall that seemed to have changed, though, was the wall to their immediate right. It now had a large window stretching from floor to ceiling, and… “Jesus CHRIST!” Nolan shouted, his metallic weapon-voice echoing in the room. He could tell that Lucia had a similar reaction after him because she stumbled backward, away from the window and stifling a gasp with her hand. All eight children from before were now pressed up against the glass, staring at the two of them with those dreadfully black eyes. They were most definitely not human, or at least they weren’t anymore. Pointy ears, claw-like nails and bodies inhumanly slender and tall for the ages they appeared to be. Looking more closely, Nolan noticed something off about the tallest of the children, and just as he was about to ponder this some more that particular creature giggled, her laughter echoing through the building just as it had before. It was as if she was far away and not at all behind this illusionary window...Nolan assumed it was an illusion now that he knew they were inside the kitchen.
Upon hearing Lucia’s plan, Nolan faltered. “W-Wait, Lucia, isn’t the window an illusion, too?” But his words went unheard by his partner, and she swung him blunt-end forward at the tall giggling creature through the glass. Agh, I hope this works…
Word Count: 427 Tagged: Lucia/Sidhe
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Post by The Sidhe on May 29, 2014 21:19:26 GMT -5
Giggling echoed off of every available surface, the source still sounding distant. A Lucia put her Soul Perception to use; she would happen upon a curious sight when she next directed her gaze to the odd one out. There was no soul to be found. The chest cavity of the creature was empty, thought there was another curious development. While there was not in fact a soul, there was plenty of red everywhere, a tint that glazed over the truth.
The images of the children, the window, the sunny day behind them looked as though they were part of a picture at mere half opacity. Behind them was the actual building structure. Lucia was swinging Nolan straight into solid white tile, gleaming even under the red. It tinted all that was touched by the clever creature’s illusion, stretching for as far as Lucia’s range would allow before they took over again and became falsely solid. There was no wall behind them, the cookers now visible and the one on the end leaking dark ooze looking especially unsettling with the new filter, the acrid smell beginning to hang on the air.
Nolan had been right. As the pummel came down on the “glass”, the image was not only clearly false but wavered. The giggling one held a hand over her mouth, shoulders still shaking with the sounds of her delight as she turned tail and ran. The other children continued to stare right up until the illusion collapsed fully, their forms fading and the trick tearing in two to retreat back into the corners and revealing the true wall fully, just as it had previously. They stood with two walls fully revealed, white tiles gleaming and looking quite odd next to the battered linoleum and broken windows on the adjacent side. No sun, no children, only the team.
As the illusion before them disappeared, the giggling ceased, echoes growing softer before vanishing entirely. The rest remained the same, all that was beyond the range of Lucia’s Soul Perception still solidly fake. From above them, the quick pitter-patter of feet reached their ears before disappearing into silence. The creature may have been confident in her tricks, but now the team had an unexpected upper hand she’d yet to realize. They now knew how to see through her illusions, and now finding the correct path to her hiding place would be all the easier.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2014 2:46:17 GMT -5
It turned out that Nolan could not, in fact, break glass.
Lucia realized this as soon as his weapon form struck the image before her. The force of the sudden halt in her momentum sent a shockwave down her body that made her freeze up for a moment before she fell over and landed on her rear. Nolan's hatchet form fell from her grip and clattered across the kitchen floor. She opened her eyes long enough to see the girl, whatever she was, retreating into her illusion and disappearing completely. The shock of the fall must have also made Lucia accidentally trigger her Soul Perception, for she was just able to catch a glimpse of the girl's soul, or odd lack thereof, before she blinked and it was gone. With a groan, Lucia let herself completely fall backward onto the floor and covered her face with her hands to hide her embarrassment. How could she have been so stupid? She should have listened to Nolan before allowing herself to make such an act of poor judgment. Getting so caught up in the moment was such a rookie move. She dropped her hands to her sides and turned her head to her right to look at Nolan's weapon form on the floor. Throughout this whole mission, she had mainly been relying on her own instincts. In fact, she had been leaving Nolan out of the investigation quite a bit. She couldn't just let him cover for her hearing; she had to trust him with everything else.
““I'm sorry about this, Nolan,” she said as she sat up and reached over to pick up his hatchet. ““You were right, I should have listened to you.” She rose to her feet just in time for a wave of the stench from the overflowing pot. ““What do you say to getting out of this room?” Where exactly would they go, though? With all the illusions, Lucia wasn't sure if what she had seen in the entrance hall was even real. She was just barely able to catch the sound of footsteps above her right after that worried thought. ““It looks like we're going upstairs, Nolan. You'll have to keep a close eye out, though. You're better at catching illusions, so keep your eyes peeled and let me know which things aren't real.” There, that felt a little more like the teamwork that they had needed originally. Lucia was beginning to feel a little more comfortable after she set foot outside the kitchen. Of course, getting away from the terribly creepy pots helped quite a bit, too. Even though that was her second encounter with the oozing cooker, there was still no way she was going to open it. Morbid guesses worked well enough for her now.
Lucia made her way up the stairs nearest the kitchen as quietly as she could, both hands tightly gripped to Nolan's hatchet form just in case. The sight of four doors met her at the top. This was going to be trickier than Lucia had thought. Oh well, there was only one way to go about this. Lucia headed towards the door closest to her on her right and placed her hand on the doorknob.
““Let's see what's behind Door Number One.”
Words: 544 Tag: Nolan/Sidhe
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2014 14:20:26 GMT -5
Oh dear, he had been spot-on about the whole illusion thing. Yikes.
This had become apparent when he in fact did not break the glass, but instead was halted completely as he was swung into some unforeseen unbreakable surface. “Gah!” He coughed, the force of the impact causing the metal of his hatchet form to vibrate and ring suddenly, knocking the wind right out of him and throwing Lucia on her back. Falling from his partner’s grip, Nolan clattered to the ground and skidded across the floor of the kitchen. “Owwowow…” He groaned. Now he had a splitting headache, and all they had to show for it was a broken tile on the kitchen wall. This enemy was proving to be quite a pain.
His attention was redirected from his current headache to Lucia, who began to apologize as she reached over and picked him up from the ground. Inside his weapon room, Nolan couldn’t help but smile affectionately as he gave his reply. “I forgive ya, love. It’s our very first mission, after all.” Upon Lucia standing up, one whiff of that horrid stench from before had Nolan gagging in disgust. He was more than happy to leave the kitchen ASAP. “Yeah, let’s get out of-” Nolan didn’t finish that sentence, however, because footsteps were heard above them on the second floor. He could tell that Lucia had heard them as well and her proposed plan of action seemed like a smart one to go by. “Sure, can do!” He replied, prepared to alert his meister to any illusions that might come their way. To be honest, he was a tad bit surprised at how much trust Lucia was putting in him, but he was proud of the character growth she was showing.
As they ascended the staircase nearest to the kitchen, Nolan kept his eyes peeled for anything suspicious in their path. Things that seemed out-of-place or just a little off from the norm were what he was looking for. They had reached the top of the staircase by now, and so far the coast had been clear. The pair approached the first of four doors, preparing themselves for whatever could be inside as Lucia attempted to open it. This time, they would proceed with caution as to not be caught off-guard.
Word Count: 386 Tagged: Lucia/Sidhe
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Post by The Sidhe on Jun 6, 2014 17:10:38 GMT -5
Upon reaching the top of the steps, it would become completely obvious that illusion had not reached upstairs for whatever reason. The carpet was stiff and bubbling in places, vibrant green now resembling swamp water. The wallpaper was less patterned, striped now and peeling even more than the downstairs had been. Plaster hung from the ceiling to reveal open spaces and old wire, pieces of white chips and dust blanketing a good deal of the hall. Only two of the room had doors. The two nearest the team were closed, but those at the end of the hall were open on cracked frames.
The door the Meister chose was worn and weary looking, the knob almost ready to fall off. As it opened, a shrill creak would greet them upon entry. Whatever carpet had once blanketing the floor had been ripped up at some point, unfinished wood absolutely drenched in dust. The window was no longer present, more glass littering the sill and the floor just below it. Plastic stapled to the top of the frame blew gently with the win from outside, filtered light illuminating the room in a grey glow to provide the best visibility yet seen within the Bambi.
The wall appeared in better shape, no lining fall for the most part, though water damage colored the tops a filthy brown color and ran down to the floor to let ominous looking dark patches grow. Shoved into the middle of the room was an old metal frame with an unfortunate looking mattress laid atop it. The white fabric had yellowed over the years save for one side which appeared sun bleached from facing the window. Nothing awaited the team within the room’s confines.
But it was obvious that someone had been inside recently. There were other marks on the walls, appearing as thin and random lines from afar, but revealed to be sinister upon drawing closer. Scratch marks carved into the wallpaper and even into the wood behind it in some places, streaking desperate lines as whoever it was tried to escape. Fingernails stuck into the woods in places, torn loose at their owners grew more desperate. Droplets of blood spattered near the window, dimmed to brown around where the panes had been broken by those stumbling through the illusion and to their deaths. But then, maybe they had thrown themselves out on purpose.
No sound accompanied their arrival. No humming, no footsteps. There was one thing, though, to greet the team. The smallest child from the window ran gracefully from the end of the hallway past the open door behind them. Her feet made no sound, blonde hair flowing behind her. She paused by the open door, not staring but appearing in a state of distress as she halted with effort to gaze at the team. The sclera of her eyes were white now as they should have been, though the irises were still disturbingly dark. She opened her mouth as though to speak but then her expression froze in terror. She glanced to her right down the hall and then turned, white dress whirling around her form and glittering with small embroidered pearls and crystal as she ran down the steps before disappearing from sight. As she had turned away from the team, her mouth at opened as her eyes had found them before she made her escape, the word clear despite how her thing lips had distorted in a scream inaudible to them.
Help.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2014 20:51:30 GMT -5
Lucia had to blink a few times as she entered the room. This section was actual kind of...bright. At least, it had the most light she had seen ever since she had entered the mansion. So far, the room looked safe – it was more than a little worn out, but its features were quite similar to the dilapidated look of the entryway. At least that creepy girl hadn't decide to distort this room. Considering Nolan had yet to alert her to any illusions, it seemed this room was clear. She took a step inside anyway just in case she had missed anything. It looked all clear until she caught sight of some scratch marks on the walls. Lucia took a few more steps into the room and kneeled down to get a closer look. Her fingers traced out the scratch marks as her mind worked to interpret their meaning. The sight of dried blood near the window caught her eyes and suddenly everything clicked. These weren't just any old scratches on a wall: these were signs of pain and torment. Lucia stood up and took a step back away from the wall.
“I don't think she's in this room, Nolan,” Lucia whispered. “We should probably move on.” She turned to head to the door only to stop mid-stride. One of the children from the window was standing at the door, staring at them. Lucia didn't need Nolan to tell her that she was one of the illusions. It's not real. It's not real Lucia kept telling herself, but the little girl looked different this time. Her eyes weren't empty, dark pools anymore; they had white around the irises now. She also looked more afraid than Lucia felt right now. The little girl disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, but her plea was clear. Help.
“Oh no,” Lucia murmured. “Is it...” She looked over her shoulder back at the window and the scratched walls. “Nolan, do you think....do you think she's a ghost of some kind? Maybe one of the missing children from town?” Lucia stood in the doorway and leaned out to look down the hall. The little girl was gone, but there were still three other rooms to explore. She took a step into the hall and turned to head further down the hall. She stopped by the next door and leaned a little to peek inside. Her heart was pounding in her chest. What had been here that had frightened the little girl so badly?
Words: 418 Tag: Nolan/Sidhe
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2014 0:01:20 GMT -5
Nolan kept a lookout for any possible illusions, as requested by his meister partner, but for some strange reason the upstairs area seemed void of any at all. But hadn’t this been where they had heard the footsteps coming from? Regardless, it seemed they were safe for now and could trust what they were seeing…which wasn’t exactly easy on the eyes anyway. A hideously green carpet that was colored like baby puke accompanied the seriously peeling wallpaper—even not-so-fashionable Nolan knew this was a visual disaster. Plus the ceiling looked like it was falling apart and there was dust everywhere; maybe their most immediate threat was making sure they didn’t fall through a rotted floorboard. Oh lovely, a creaky door: JUST what any already creepy situation needed… …Oh hey, light! Nolan was pleasantly surprised to find a relatively well-lit room awaiting them on the other side of the door. Not to say that the room was in any better shape than the rest of the upstairs. Lucia entered the room, kneeling to observe some scratch marks on the wall. Lovely. What’s more, there were fingernails in the wood, as well as blood by the window. “Ugh…” Nolan commented, trying not to think of what had happened some earlier time in that exact same room. “Yeah, le—“ About to agree with Lucia, he stopped his sentence as soon as he and his partner spotted the girl standing in the doorway. It was one of the children from that illusion earlier! “Stay calm, Lucia; it’s just an illusion, eh?” Nolan affirmed, keeping a wary gaze on the girl when…wait a second, she looked different this time. And she was scared, mouthing a word… ‘Help’Nope. Nopenopenope. Lucia’s question was exactly what he had been thinking, and the thought of dealing with actual ghosts here was pretty freaky. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right,” He replied, a hint of anxiety in his voice. Even with his usually tranquil demeanor, a little bit of fear was a normal response, right? He managed to keep himself from poorly influencing Lucia’s current state of mind through their connection as she ventured outside the room to peek cautiously into the next one. Word Count: 366 Tagged: Lucia/Sidhe
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Post by The Sidhe on Jun 27, 2014 15:24:10 GMT -5
The floorboards in the middle of the hall creaked under the team’s weight, unsettling in how the wood beams beneath cracked audibly. Carpet that bubbled having separated from its base held the dimples left by the Meister’s feet, the sound of the fibers not being dissimilar to walking on moss. Broken wires hung to hip level for most people, though they were harmless without electricity. Even so, the frayed copper ends still threatened to catch or poke. Through the numerous holes above them, beams that held up the third floor were visible, though it was not accessible from this side of the second floor.
Past leaning wallpaper peeling off from the deteriorated glue was the next door on their list, only feet from the end of the hall. Cracked wood framed the entrance, hinges coated in a thick layer of rust. The door that had once restricted entry was nowhere to be found.
The carpet of the room was a sick looking mauve, wrinkled and gathered in odd places as though someone had fallen and then either rolled around for some reason or been dragged. Two rather large dark stains made the weaves stick to the wooden base beneath, streaks appearing here and there leading towards the door, starting and stopping sporadically. The stain on the right appeared newer, still sticky and not quite as dim. The other was further to the left to the corner near the door appearing dried and hard, likely years old. The ceiling was precarious looking. Large cracks ran through it, and though the original overhead light was still in place and surprisingly intact, it looked not at all trustworthy.
The walls were impeccably preserved. Painted green like moss, the trim ran neat lines in what was now muted gold, a weaving circular pattern held within them. A fireplace stuck out a half foot from the right wall, painted the same color with the opening sealed by what looked to be more plaster. Another old mattress lay shoved up against it but minus any frame, free to bend between the edge of the mantle and the corner near the right of the door. In the far right corner was a dark wooden closet standing roughly eight feet tall.
The left side of the room held a small nightstand and a closet the same make and model as the other, placed directly across from it. At the end of the room the walls tilted at an angle, leading to a small enclave housing the window. An old space heater lay shoved up beneath the clouded glass, and the left angled wall held a sink. These walls were painted a deep red, and even I the cool light the window let in, it cast the entire room in a dark pink glow a little too close to red itself.
The only sign of anyone within the room was an expensive looking digital camera. It was less dusty but still obviously having been left for a good deal of time. The lens was cracked and the strap on it snapped. It lay on its side facing the door, only a little ways in and towards the right. It was a little too close to the second dark stain on the floor, and just before dim drag marks.
From behind them, the pitter patter of small feet would occur again. Another child, the smallest boy from the window. He appeared slowly before the door, different from the little girl. He turned around in a vague semi circle, pale hands cupped around his mouth. His voice was ambient, echoing oddly like he was speaking through water. It held concern, clear and smooth as it was. "Esther? Esther?" As he turned more towards the team, it became readily apparent he was oblivious to their presence. His eyes were dark as ever but, like the girl's, now held white. Hair so blonde it glowed like the sun fell in neat waves to his shoulders. His clothes flowed as easy as the girl's dress had, sleeves belling at his elbows and the legs of his pants doing the same at the knee. He was still dressed all in white, gold embroidery lining every edge of cloth.
He turned just enough to look fully through the door, standing at enough of an angle to see right to the dark stain due left in the room. The boy's look of concern flew into shock and then into blatant panic. He dropped his hands and hurried into the room, his image flickering before disappearing just as he reached the dark stain. As he vanished, his voice lingered on the air, a desperate call for whoever he was searching for.
"Esther!"
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2014 2:49:04 GMT -5
Lucia was becoming more and more accustomed to the dilapidated, worn-out look that the Bambi had taken. The bubbling carpet, the rusted door hinges, and even the exposed wires hardly bothered her anymore. As she stepped into the next room, though, the first thing that threw her off was the walls. They looked clean, like they hadn't endured the years that the rest of the house appeared to have dealt with. For a moment she was concerned that it was another illusion, but she had yet to hear Nolan give her a warning. As long as she kept trusting him, then the walls had to be real. The next thing to catch her eye was the stains on the carpet. Considering all that she had witnessed in this madhouse so far, she immediately assumed it was probably blood. It didn't look too fresh, but it didn't look very old, either. It was an ominous sight that reminded her of the big pot in the kitchen, but at least this room didn't hold the same rancid scent.
After a few more moments of examining the room, Lucia was ready to move on. She was about to turn when something shiny caught her eye: a camera. It was obviously worn out, old, most likely broken, but that didn't stop Lucia from stepping into the room and picking it up off the floor. With one hand still firmly grasping Nolan's weapon form, she used the other to hold the camera up in front of her so she could get a better look.
“This looks interesting, doens't it, Nolan?”
Maybe there were pictures on there that would lead to more evidence about whatever was haunting this place. This could be a huge advantage for them. All she had to do was figure out-
Her thoughts were cut short when the sound of feet echoed behind her. She quickly stood up and turned to face the door, camera in one hand and hatchet raised and ready to attack in the other. Her nerves had grown short in the time she had spent in the house, and now every unusual made her want to swing Nolan's weapon form in the off-chance that she might hit something that was real. This didn't look like a threat to her, though. Not this little boy. He looked reminiscent of the girl she had glimpsed in the previous room: his eyes lacked the darkness they had when she had seen him in the window downstairs. He didn't seem to see her as he called out a girl's name and scanned the room. He stopped at the dark stain that had piqued Lucia's interest before. Apparently it wasn't just any dark stain anymore: it was probably connected to the girl that the boy had been calling out to. If they really were ghosts, what kind of horrors had this monster forced the to endure?
Lucia relaxed her grip on Nolan's weapon form as she squatted close to the ground and held the camera out in front of her again. She looked between it and the two bloodstains as if calculating the angles of the shots the camera could have taken. It was the most recent form of technology she had seen in any of the rooms so far, an anachronism for what used to be a quaint countryside lodge. What was it doing in this particular room?
“Do you mind if we stay in here for a bit longer, Nolan?” Lucia asked as she pressed the power button on the camera. She silently hoped it would light up with life just long enough to give her any kind of useful information. It was either going to be a golden find or a dud, but it was worth a shot. There was always the chance that it would be full of traumatizing imagery that would fuel nightmares for months on end, but it wasn't like she hadn't dealt with that kind of stuff before. For Lucia, it was worth the risk.
Words: 667 Tag: Nolan/Sidhe
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Post by The Sidhe on Aug 6, 2014 18:08:57 GMT -5
The camera beeped twice. The lens extended and twisted into the focus it had previously been set to and the screen lit up with a cracked image of the floor. In the upper right corner was the little rectangle indicating it was still at half battery in charge, likely from being shut off, although just how was a mystery. There were several buttons, but the one for the slide show of what had been taken was one that looked more like a play button, a sideways triangle printed on it in white.
Upon entering the correct setting, the first photo would show three young adults. The one holding the camera was half out of the shot, only part of his face visible. A young man with startlingly blue eyes and shaggy looking brown hair, clad in clothes meant to block out cold and sporting a darker complexion. Throwing up a peace sign next to him to the left was a young woman, blonde hair tied tightly back and kept out of her green eyes. Her pale skin was littered with freckles, and the scarf she wore crept up over her chin. The last was another young man, wearing a lopsided grin and winking at the camera. His red hair was cut neatly and there looked to be a spark of mischief in his dark eyes. Despite the weather, he looked a touch sunburnt in his cheeks. Judging by the background, the group appeared to have been just at the end of the path, the Bambi looming not far off in the background.
The next photo contained the redhead and the blonde standing on the steps, both clambering rather ungracefully into the Bambi through a broken in window. Whether they had broken it or not was a mystery forever.
Next was a rather wide photo. It was taken of the main entry, showing the red haired young man standing with his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling with an awestruck smile. The blonde had her hand up in the background by the arch leading further in, facing away but clearly having ushered them to move it. The next was a photo of only the entryway ceiling.
The group moved into the hall and that was when they appeared to become distressed. The next photo held a picture of the redhead leaning on one elbow against the rickety banister of the right staircase leading in the opposite direction of where the team had gone. Behind him, the blonde had a look of confusion on her face, turning slightly to reach for the redhead with her left hand while point to the yard with her right. Another depicted both the redhead and the blonde staring out the window, the blonde beginning to look nervous while the redhead looked as though he’d begun to turn away with a hard look on his face.
There was nothing outside the window but the gardens.
Moving along to the next photo, they stumbled upon the old kitchen. The redhead was kneeling to look at the floor, once again in awe even though it was cracked and old. The blonde was in the background reaching to open the leaking cooker. The frame immediately after was the image of them moving down the hallway, the redhead holding the blonde tightly around her shoulders with a look of great concern on his face. She was covering her mouth with both hands, the rest of her face contorted into a look of pained distress with tear tracks tracing running mascara down her cheeks.
The next frame held a small pause icon in the lower left corner. Not a photo, rather a recoding from the setting the camera had been left in. Assuming the Meister pushed the large button to the left side of the camera surrounded by a circle with the direction arrows to go forwards or backwards, quite the tale would unfold.
The blonde girl’s speech was muffled, having turned into the redhead’s chest. He held her tightly; looking at the camera with a worried expression. “We should just get out of here, man, that was nasty and we need to calm her down or she could have an asthma attack.”
“I hear you, okay? Come on, let’s go. Whatever this place is doing to mess with us, the camera is having none of its bullshit.” The man behind the camera turned, walking further along the hallway before something spooked him and he jumped, cursing as he adjusted the camera so he could better see what was real. From behind him the blonde girl squeaked and sobbed. The redhead mumbled something unintelligible in an attempt to comfort her, but any peace it may have offered was short lived.
Something behind the group spooked the blonde girl. She screamed and ran in hysterics past the camera man and up the staircase. “Leslie, wait! You’re going the wrong way!” The redhead’s call was heard and then he was seen peeling up the stairs, the camera man hot on his heels.
“Hey wait, you don’t know what’s up there!” The view shook as he ran past for closed doors. The camera man only paused briefly to tilt the camera down to his left past the second door on the left, showing a deep red stain with scratch marks dragged through the caked carpet. “Jesus…”
There was a small stair at the very end of the hall. Leslie was far ahead of them. Right as the redhead latched onto the banister to run up, they both paused as they heard their friend scream from upstairs. She screamed twice until being abruptly cut off, the silence followed by a dull thud from above. The redhead sped up the stairs, screaming, “LESLIE!” as he went.
“Harper, wait-god damn it!” The camera man hurried until he heard another scream, almost immediate. Harper vanished and not two seconds later sounded as though he were violently struggling. The scuffling of feet and rasped curses were heard from above. The camera man stopped dead in his tracks, hesitating when it grew quiet. “…Harper?” He called out to his friend weakly, afraid that the answer he got wouldn’t be from his friend.
But Harper tumbled back into view a moment later, sliding down the stairs in a heap before latching on to part of the old banister. There was a deep wound in his left side, staining his clothes red as he tried to hold it shit with his free hand. There was another wound through his left shoulder, equally dark and still bleeding. His eyes were wide with terror, locking onto the camera man in an instant.
“El, run! Get out of here, you can see the way out, just go!”
The so-called El hesitated, but then the one behind Harper’s wounds appeared, or at least part of her. Shimmering fabric that was once white held a more silvery tone, glimmering with each movement with the gems embroidered into it. The hem of the long and dragging skirt was frayed, as were the end of the sleeves reaching down to her knees. As she descended the steps, her left hand shot out and tangled her fingers in Harper’s hair, yanking his head back with strength unexpected with her thin frame. Glinting silver rose from the back, a long, thin blade held in her right hand she positioned to draw across his neck. Dull blonde hair hung long past her hips in gentle curls. Only halfway down the stairs, her face wasn’t visible.
El turned and ran before the killing cut came. He stumbled down the stairs, turning to the left to go through the arch, but an illusion spooked him and kept him going straight up the stairs Nolan and Lucia had previously traversed. Breathing hard from the fear and adrenaline, he ducked into the open room where the camera had been found. “Oh no. No, no, no, I went the wrong way, no!” El whispered harshly to himself, pacing back and forth before turning away from the doorway to crouch down. The camera turned around and faced him, revealing familiar striking blue eyes and shaggy brown hair. Blinking back tears and whispering as softly as possible, the camera shook as badly as El’s voice.
“My name is Elijah Mason. I’m twenty two and I wish I was back home in California where I should be. I’m a law student at UCLA. I should be studying for the bar exam, not sitting here waiting for that…whatever she is to come find me.” He paused, hanging his head and taking interest in what was likely the floor. “This is all my fault. This stupid trip was my idea; Leslie didn’t even wanna come along! None of the other buildings were haunted, we didn’t think this one would be and it isn’t. I don’t know what she is, but that’s no ghost! That’s no…” Elijah lifted his head, his eyes red as tears started streaming down his cheeks. “Please, if anybody finds this, we’re all from Los Angeles, California. My friends are Leslie Baines and Harper Crook; they go to school with me. I’m from Beverly Hills, my parents are Maria and Lucy Mason…mom, mama, I’m so sorry. I love you so much, and I’m so sorry.”
The recording cut off, ending on the weeping image of Elijah’s face.
From upstairs came the humming from when the team first arrived.
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