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Post by bluecloud on Aug 16, 2012 19:14:38 GMT -6
Melanie took deep, shaky breaths as she slowly wandered through the halls of the first floor. Every 30 seconds, she would cautiously look behind her, thinking she heard any foot steps or felt and eerie presence. She didn’t want to admit that she was scared although her body language told other wise. Venturing on, she flinched at the squeaky sounds with every step she took of the old wooden staircase leading to the second floor, adding up to her anxiety. She was surprised she hadn’t encountered anything out of the ordinary, yet, which she was so thankful for. She was beginning to think the manor rumors weren’t true and someone was just playing a trick on them. She giggled quietly, thinking she came to the correct conclusion which lowered her anxiety level by a bit.
As she was taking self tour of the second level of the manor, Melanie came upon a huge, double-door entrance. She stood, eyebrows furrowing and contemplating whether to go in. “S-should I? If the door is that big, there has to be something important there, oui?” She paused then hesitantly lifted a hand and twisted the knob. Upon hearing a click, she slowly opened the creaky door. Her brown eyes opened wide with amazement as she opened the door wider.
“Mon dieu! I haven’t seen so many books in one place,” she stated as she walked in, forgetting about the horror stories of the manor. She stopped at a shelf, examining the types of books. Titles of old classics and fairytale-folklores and legends met her fingers as she dusted off the spines of the books. Besides the dusty shelves, the library seemed safe enough, especially with the lights on. As she continued to look through the shelves, she noticed that one shelf had books without titles. Slipping out one of the “mystery” books, she took a seat on the floor next to the shelf and began reading, eye rapidly skimming through the pages of....
“A journal?”
Melanie’s body suddenly froze, letting out a small squeak, as she saw something dangling close to her face. She stared widely at the 8 legged "friend" as it landed on her nose. She knew that screaming may attract the ghouls and whatnots to her location....But, she couldn't help it as she gave out a loud scream, swatting the spider off her nose with the journal and huddled to the closest corner she could find.
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Post by iceland on Aug 16, 2012 22:37:15 GMT -6
Another day alive. Funny how he had managed to make it so far, wandering around on his own. The creatures, demons, and other hazards were so occasional that Emil had grown accustomed to being constantly fearful for his life; to this day, it was more of a habit now and he was comfortable with that. The real bane of sanity was the manor's seemingly safe presence that would conjure itself at times. A haven simply didn't exist, and he knew firsthand. It was actually the manor's specialty to play tricks with the mind.
One moment you're safe, sitting down to catch a breath, and in another you're face-to-face with the snarl of a fifty-toothed carnivore. Serenity, however elusive, could be quite charming when around. Emil had been able to be granted the luxury of meeting serenity a couple of times more than he should've, he presumed. Just hopefully, his luck won't run out.
Meanwhile, he was enjoying the last bit of peace in a library. He had been drawn in by curiosity and didn't seem to want to leave. While he was browsing one aisle of the library, he did not seem to notice the girl that walked in.When he heard a scream, he immediately dropped the book he held. His vision went blank, his shoulders tensed, his breath fell short, and his fingers trembled. It was just another normal reaction of being scared out of his wits. Emil was never good with surprise loud noises.
Shortly, he recovered and then realized that the shriek... could've been a nation person just like him. Then again, it could be a banshee or a monster of some sort. He gulped. Death was inevitable in the long-run, honestly, and he had known that for some time. If it was indeed a monster, it would get to him whether or not he runs, stays put, or approaches it. Experience, in a way, had ripened him with recklessness.
He walked slowly with cautious steps. His hand on the hilt of the sword, Emil mentally readied himself to strike if danger were to be present. "Eh?"
The library was dimly illuminated all over by flickering candlelight, but he saw a figure. A girl. She was in a weird costume too. Maybe she was another nation, just like him! Before he could worry about her identity, he was more concerned about the unusual petrified state she was in. "Excuse me..." He said as he secured the sword back in the sheathe. "Is something wrong?"
Even though he had a placid expression on, he was a little disturbed by the constant little noises that sounded the air. He hadn't heard it before... It sounded like... little steps--like a lot of walking. He turned his head to see a spider on a bookshelf. Emil turned away, just hoping this wasn't going to be what he thought it was going to happen.
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Post by bluecloud on Aug 17, 2012 20:56:17 GMT -6
Hearing foot steps coming towards her direction, Melanie coward more into the corner. She attempted to pull her pirate hat down for cover, but didn’t work as she saw the shoes of the man standing before her. She patted her thigh to make sure her knife was still there and began to slip it out of the holder, until she heard the man speak.
She slowly look up and met a pair of eyes staring at her. She thought about looking around making sure he was addressing to her, but that would’ve been dumb, considering she hasn’t seen anyone else in the large dusty room. Instead, she just blinked, staring with a blank expression on her face, trying to register what he had just asked. Looking at him, she noticed he was clad in a costume. Was he from the party, too? It was hard to recall who was invited since it was America’s party after all. He could’ve invited the entire world if he wanted to. Melanie placed that fact in the back of her mind to give America a never-ending scolding if they all escaped the manor safe and sound.
She shook her head, almost forgetting about the man in front of her. It amazed her that fear didn’t even mark his face! She took note of the sword, but was thankful no weapon was drawn. How oblivious she was about the situation. She could’ve been killed instantly if she didn’t know the guy! Now that she found a fellow nation, she felt safe and now a bit embarrassed, face turning red, as she recalled her “little” incident with the itsy-bitsy spider. She felt like an elephant being afraid of a tiny mouse!
“I-I’m fine! M-Merci!” She quickly got up, dusted off her costume and adjusted her hat. “Just a s-small s-spider and I smashed it to death!” She gave a shaky laugh and mentally cursed herself for stuttering.
Melanie followed the direction to where his head had turned, but couldn’t register anything it this type of lighting. She sighed in relief and slightly relaxed since she has someone else with her. Maybe they can pair up? “Two people is better than one,” people always say. Besides, it’s frightening to be in this type of place alone.
“U-um,” she began, starting to act demure as her gaze met the floor. Meeting new people wasn’t her forte, but in this life-threatening situation of the manor she had to take action at some point. The poor girl was also glad her pocket knife didn’t play a role in the manor, yet. It would bring her extraordinary pain upon her being if she had to end up killing anything... “Y-you’re from the party, oui?” She took a deep breath. “I w-was wondering...wondering if you would like to team up with me?” She finally look up, her anxious eyes staring at him for an answer.
Now that Melanie got a good look of him, he kind of reminded her of one of those cool, heroic knights that just magically appeared right out of one of the old story books taking refuge in the dusty-bunny coated shelves. She mentally slapped herself for that simple thought. As if she was a "damsel is distress" that needed to be “rescued.” But, it too late now that she asked for accompaniment.
The clock was ticking as she stood there waiting for an answer. She was glad she wasn't scared as she was before, but that didn't prevent the flow of rumors of the manor replaying in her mind. She was starting to get a little impatient and quickly glanced around to make sure nothing was after them, constantly repeating in her head that everything is going to be fine.
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Post by iceland on Aug 18, 2012 0:38:29 GMT -6
[ our colors matched eue ]
He decided to ignore the seemingly harmless spider for now. At least it was just a spider. Most likely, that was the case behind the girl's fright. When she spoke, she confirmed his prior assumption. "Oh.. I see. Well it is an old library." Perhaps it was a good thing he didn't mention that the place was probably teeming with spiders. He didn't know for sure but the likelihood of it being possible was evident in the number of cobwebs and invisible gossamer strands that decorate the area.
Seeing her nervousness made him just as nervous. To be honest, his ability to talk to girls well is essentially very low. Just hopefully she didn't think he was staring at her or something. She looked really exotic, dark hair, dark skin, dark eyes--he just couldn't help but wonder where she was from. Maybe he did know her or heard of her, but his memory wasn't really cooperating. Inwardly, he felt a little flustered as he tried to think of what to say in reply. "A-Ah... ja. I am from the party... I guess you are too."
Goodness, she just took a deep breath. Emil was pretty sure he had the intimidating looks of a kitty. He had no idea what merited her unease, but perhaps he was giving himself too much credit. She was in the manor just like he. Must be a side effect, he thought. Flushing a bit, perhaps out of habit, he nodded slightly, "I-It's better that way for us anyway. The possibility of us being alive for a little longer would be higher."
Iceland realized that probably wasn't the best thing to say--or even the friendliest thing to say to a girl who he had just met. Sure the rationale was all there but he wasn't so sure how she would react to that. He cleared his throat. "I will team up with you then... I'm Emil, Iceland."
The handshake, right. The boy approached her and then shakily extended his hand while looking away. Eye-contact with a girl was the hardest thing he could ever maintain.
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Post by bluecloud on Aug 18, 2012 14:05:35 GMT -6
(Sorry! XP)
“Oui! O-of course!” Melanie just blinked. That was it? She didn’t think it would be that easy to ask to partner up. She was probably over thinking it as most would do. Wait, what did he say about the probability of life and death? What was he to make something up like that? She had to admit, he has some nerves to say something like that. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she crossed her arms. Fire of determination filled her eyes. They will escape alive. She cannot guarantee they won’t escape without scars and scratches, maybe even worse. Fire of determination filled her eyes.
The island girl’s thoughts can to a halt when she heard him introduce himself. She blinked at him again, then smiled. She just made a friend! She was excited like a kid going to, scratch that, living in a candy house of their dreams. But, she thought he would be weirded out if she showed that childish side of her.
She noticed his hand was extended toward her when he stood close by. Melanie grabs his hand and gave it a light shake. “I’m Melanie of Seychelles.” She couldn’t help but surpass a giggle in awe when his line of sight wasn’t at her. Was he shy? Cute! She covered her mouth with her free hand, hoping he didn’t hear her. She knew if was wrong for her to laugh since she was the one having people troubles, too! “Nice to meet you, Emil!”
Just then, Melanie snapped back into reality when she thought she heard a creak from somewhere. Something that sounded like a door opening. It could have been the floor, but whatever it was, it made her flinch, quickly letting go of his hand, and wanting to take cover behind the Icelandic's back. She stood her ground and can’t afford to show her weakness to whatever it was. Knowing it’ll go after her first, she was beginning to feel like a burden to the man.
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Post by iceland on Aug 18, 2012 15:31:20 GMT -6
[ It's okay <33 I like this new color better~ ]
Oh he had hoped she wasn't mad at him. That look in her eyes really made him nervous. At that point, he also felt a little bit ashamed and was quite sure that it was a reaction to his previous statement about life and death. This was why he could never talk to girls. Every facial movement they make freaks him out--mostly because he would always blame himself if the female acquaintance were to feel anything other than contentment.
Even more strangely, she smiled, right after that flare that illuminated her eyes! Emil blinked as bewilderment lit up his face; she changed expressions so quickly, so dramatically. His mind raced, just wondering how in the world he managed to make her smile without really doing anything? Emil thought that making a girl smile would be extremely difficult. Females that he had met before Melanie did not greet him with an as immediate smile as her's. It was only natural for him to think that way for he was one that rarely smiled at all. Therefore, her warm friendliness must be an indication that he did not mess up in his introduction. What a relief.
"A-Ah..." He stammered when she took his hand. Then, the boy undoubtedly flushed to her giggle, quite embarrassed and so very confused as to why she laughed. Emil just did it again, somehow, something that he had done made her laugh. Inwardly, he surely hoped that he didn't do anything silly.
Females were so complicated.
After the handshake, he reeled his hand back in quickly and then hid it behind his back as if he was ashamed. "Nice to... meet you too." Emil replied in a meek undertone, keeping minimal eye contact by looking at her by his peripheral. The peculiar feeling of embarrassed only existed for a fleeting moment. A noise sounded the air, and to its response, Emil straightened up, his muscles taut, his senses sharpened.
It sounded like someone opened a door. It could very well be nothing at all. The manor had its ways with ruses and callous jokes. Still, he didn't want to dismiss it as a passing breeze. Emil shot an arm straight down, fingers stretched as a signal to stay quiet or stay back. Still believing in the traditional roles of men, he swelled with a bit of protectiveness. True, he didn't know the girl well but she was still a girl, still a person, still alive just like he.
Silence rang so loudly it deafened his ears. Everything was frozen in place, ghastly still. Nothing happened yet. Emil slightly turned his head to the side when he addressed her, "Do you have a weapon?" He paused but then continued, "Whatever made that noise... well be on your toes."
Crawling. Little legs moving. Emil squinted when he saw a couple of more spiders on a different bookshelf. Just great. "We might want to move some place else Ms. Melanie..."
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Post by bluecloud on Aug 18, 2012 18:08:23 GMT -6
She was silent. Not a single peep, nor a single breath. His protective gesture did little to calm her down, but it did make her feel safe like she was in some sort of barrier or kept inside a wall.
The dead air just added more tension, as thoughts scattered throughout her mind. What if that was the entrance doors? What if the doors locked and they couldn’t escape? What’s going to happen to them? “What if the monster can sense where they are and has invisibility? It felt as if the walls were closing in on them since it was dark. Paranoia made her mind scream in agony thinking of the possible things that might happen.
When the coast was said to be clear as he broke the silence, Melanie gave a long, audible exhale. Asking if she contained a weapon, she slipped out her pocket knife for show and placed it back in the holder. “O-oui...Thank you...” Melanie felt like she needed to thank him. As confusing as she thought it was, she didn’t have a reason to present to him.
Her guard was most definitely up now. She was alert and cautious to every tiny object around her. She nodded her head in agreement when he made the suggestion to go somewhere else, surprise with the formalities. He was such a gentleman.“Yeah. We should go. And, just Melanie is fine.” They have been standing there quite awhile and it was best that they get a move on.
Melanie took a quick glance at the shelf where she was last and noticed the journal she dropped was nowhere in sight. Her breath hitched in the back of her throat. She swore to herself she left it there. Perhaps she doesn’t remember putting it back? The poor girl decided not to tell her new friend about it and directed her head back to him. She knew she did the wrong thing, but his being seemed unworried about everything, so a small thing like that, she thought, wouldn’t have an affect on him that much.“Lead the way, mon ami.” She gave a slight grin.
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Post by iceland on Aug 20, 2012 13:46:54 GMT -6
"Oh... r-right---Melanie then." He replied hastily, unconsciously thinking that the promptness of that reply would correct what he had said. Of course, his formality was just a gesture of politeness for he neither knew her too well or wished to offend her since he did not know what customs she withheld. For her to allow some informality did make him relax for a bit. Calling her 'Miss' and this would probably become a mouthful after a while if they were to continue journeying together, so he was glad about that too.
"Ah, ja.. Let's see if there's a way out." He replied as he tried to remember a bit of French he had picked up long ago. If he was certain, and his certainty could well be doubted in this instance, he presumed she had just called him a 'friend'. Perhaps it was a slip of her tongue--or maybe he did very well make a friend! Emil cleared his mind as he cautiously walked down an aisle that appeared free of spiders. Well he was more concerned about protecting a friend rather than wondering how he made a friend. He let out a sigh, as if it could help him release some anxiety.
Ugh. Crawling, little legs. They moved at such a pace. Annoying things. The sound of the spiders creeping around were probably too subtle for Melanie to hear since she had made no reaction yet. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of old, dusty books. Normally, he wouldn't mind but that was this added stench of decay that was thrown in the mixture. He glanced at one row of the bookshelf as he lead the way in silence. The orange candlelight revealed an assortment of blank book spines. If curiously had gotten the best of him, he would've pulled it out to inspect it. Instead, he sauntered right pass them to where he remembered entering the library.
The door was surprisingly closed despite them hearing it being opened only moments ago. His hand hovered over the doorknob and already did he have a bad feeling. When he turned the knob, it did not budge. "Thought so..." Emil muttered underneath his breath. He turned around to staidly announce their new ordeal. "This was where I came in... and apparently we're locked in here. Maybe there's another door somewhere--probably is..."
There were about three floors if he could remember. He hadn't gotten the chance to go up there because of the bad gut feelings. However the situation called for him to go up there nonetheless. "Have you been around the other floors before..?"
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Post by bluecloud on Aug 21, 2012 16:38:56 GMT -6
A gentle smile tainted her face at she heard him comply to her “informal” name. Melanie is a bit tired of the formalness of people when she met them. She knew they were just trying to be polite, probably because she was a lady and guys were taught to be gentlemen. After awhile, she thought of it to become quite annoying. They aren’t really showing their real personality. From what she perceived from the Icelandic, he seemed nervous around her, noting the stuttering. To her, it was like he was afraid to mess up or something.
She followed close behind, the clacking sound of the heels of her boots filling the air. Clenching her fists at the sound, she cursed herself for wearing these shoes. So much for lying low. Great. She rolled her eyes. Thinking about slipping them off and leaving them, a second thought rolled around as she looked at the floor. A handful of dead spiders littered and scattered all around. If there were that many spiders, there must be millions scampering about in this place! A shiver ran down her spine as she walked closer behind him, trying to watch for his feet so she wouldn’t trip him. Thank goodness there weren’t any spiders in sight of the aisle they were walking through.
More journals, she observed. These people sure loved to write. Now that she was reminded of it, didn’t her ex-French caretaker tell her about his German friend who keeps numerous diaries? There was something about this aisle that suddenly made her sad. It was like she knew what was written in ink already without opening one. She remembered reading the pages of one before that spider rudely interrupted. Something about loosing the one he loved? Maybe not...unless it was something about war? She shook her head, not wanting to be reminded of it.
It was quiet, too quiet for Melanie’s taste. She stared at his back. What was she suppose to say? She didn’t know how to start a conversation. She couldn’t just burying him with questions! Oh, but she was curious about him. Friends? Family? What was Iceland like? Is it always cold there? A picture of a Kingdom of Ice popped into her mind, hence the name ‘Iceland’. At least the thoughts were distracting her, easing the fear, until she bumped into his back.
She watched as he tried to opened the door. Her eyes widened as the door still remained shut. When he turned to her, moral shrunk from her eyes. “O-oui...J'espère que...Let me try just in case.” She went over and attempted herself, thinking the door will magically open, but nothing. Whatever locked it, must be after them now.
When he asked about the other floors, Melanie just turn around and stared in question. This is a mansion after all. It would be logical to have more that two floors. “Non...I have not. Just this floor et the first. Et toi, Emil? Where did you wake up?”
[J'espère que - I hope]
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Post by iceland on Sept 7, 2012 18:22:36 GMT -6
"Ah... 'and you'?" Emil pointed at himself for good measure before flushing, not quite confident in what he assumed to be a 'translation'. Straightening himself up, he decided to answer whether his assumption was right or wrong. "I have only been on this floor. I didn't go too far from this door." He said quietly as he gazed at the closed door in front of them. The fact that the only known way of exit was locked made the situation more grave than he initially realized it to be. Such was life.
"I..." He paused as he tried to recall exactly where and how he woke up. "I woke up in a dark room. It was as if I had been asleep for a long time because I was sore and... dizzy when I woke up." The following events were quite disturbing and he had trouble trying to muster out the words to explain. However he brushed it aside as she had only asked for the location of which he woke up from.
Suddenly he felt a little concerned about how Melanie had woken up. He sincerely hoped she didn't experience anything gruesome as he had. So far, she act too badly scathed but he knew better than to underestimate the willpower of women. "How... about you?"
In mere seconds, the reaction came. Emil let out a yelp and then flinched as he felt a sore, burning pain that was concentrated around his forearm. There was a tickling sensation after that, as if something was crawling up his arm. Instinctively, he began to shake his arm. Immediately, a spider fell from the inside of his sleeve. Grunting, he stepped on the bug to retaliate.
"Dammit." He mumbled as he lifted up his sleeve to reveal to small bright red bite marks. Here was him hoping it wasn't poisonous.
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Post by bluecloud on Sept 28, 2012 9:22:13 GMT -6
“You too?! I woke up on a bed of a bedroom on the first floor. Luckily it was near the stairs...” It’s only been minutes, hours since she has woken up? She stared to fiddle with the hem of her dress, her gaze drifting to the floor. “I didn’t encounter anything, at least I think I didn’t...” Her voice trailed off. Melanie didn’t want to admit she has been getting reoccurring headaches. She didn’t want him to worry. She figured it could be the after affects of waking up? Unless something has been following her the whole time. She had to be strong, though. She’s sure that the man standing by her has probably met much worse in this hell house. Her thoughts were all over the place to the point that she thought she accidentally ripped her costume.
She snapped back into reality after being interrupted by a yelp beside her. Seeing Emil pull up his sleeve, she went over to him. Arm littered with red marks. Her eyes went wide with the sight of the bites as she inspected it and recognized the bite. She ripped off a layer of her costume and tightly wrapped it around his arm. “D-don’t worry. It’s not poisonous enough to kill--”
Suddenly, Melanie felt a huge throbbing in her head, like someone took a big stone or a metal pipe and hit her. She winced in pain as her eyes shut, her hand holding her head and the other using his shoulder for support from collapsing to the ground. Tears were starting to form at the corners of her eyes. She tried to hold in her scream, but couldn’t. Her eyes widened when a figure and gory images flashed across her mind. It petrified her. She couldn’t help, but wrap her arms tightly around the Icelandic’s torso and screamed and cried into his chest.
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Post by iceland on Dec 18, 2012 17:19:44 GMT -6
"I rather hate spiders." Emil remarked as he pulled down his sleeve to conceal the wound. If anything, there was no way he was going to make a big deal out of it in front of her. When she mentioned something about it not being poisonous, he couldn't help but flinch a bit. Perhaps the main was all mental because the two little bite marks began to sting.
As if on cue, written by some remarkable playwright, Melanie ripped out a piece of her garment to wrap around his wound. He was touched by this gesture, perhaps so deeply that it showed on the rosiness of his cheeks. Really, that was so surreal, it felt as if it was pulled out of a movie. Hastily, he looked down at his feet as he mumbled, "Thank you."
It was a good thing it was rather dark. It would be quite embarrassing if she saw his flustered expression.
But there was a swift turn in events. It went from a rather suave and touching moment to time frame of panic and confusion in mere seconds. The girl before him started to writhe in some sort of agony. The Icelander widened his eyes and stood terribly still, petrified for the first few breathes before he shakily called out to her. "M-Melanie, what's going on are you--?"
He reached out to her, holding her shoulder with a firm and protective grip as his eyes remained on her, glossed with evident worry. And when she became to scream, he swore he felt something in him shatter. Why was it--why was it that he felt so useless? Emil knitted his brows, unable to process or piece together the phenomenon that was going on.
He pulled her close to him, holding her securely as she wept on his chest. The boy let out a shaky breath as he pressed his cheek against her sea-salt scented black hair. If anything, he was doing this as a person, a nation, and a friend to someone else in need.
"H-Hey, hey it's going to be okay." He uttered softly, his tone warm with comfort. He exhaled once, really unsure of what he was doing. Comforting others was a skill he hadn't quite mastered yet.
His eyes fluttered closed, not with serenity but confliction, as he tried to figure out the words to say.
"Don't worry--ah... w-whatever it is you're thinking, it's not here. But I'm h-here, you're safe with me."
Then he opened his eyes, his facial features relaxing as his mouth slightly gaped open. Something clicked. Flesh by flesh, his whole body tingled with some sort of sensation--the sensation of realization.
These words. It came from his past. Someone had said this to him before when he had cried and wept into the chest of another. Somebody, at some time, had promised him this by uttering these words:
"I'll protect you."
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