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 Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:28 pm
*Spirit was filled with understanding, she knew what it felt like to lose someone who you loved, and she was about to say that when she stopped herself. She had told Aly that her mom had said to come to this party, which was kind of a lie since Spirits mom was dead but she had always wanted Spirit to go with parties with her. Either way she didn’t feel ready to tell them that part of her past instead she thought of something else, “I’m a geek; I always had my nose in a book when I was a kid and I lived in the world of the written, and personally I liked it better then the real world. I had no friends…besides my mom, she was the only person who understood me and she never tried to make me do things she knew I didn’t like. And no matter what the other moms said she would always stand up for me.” Spirit mind fluttered with memories of her past she soon realized this and snapped back to the present, her cheeks turning a slight red with embarrassment. “And well my favorite books were the mystery ones, that’s why I’m excited about the chance to actually get involved with a real one.” She said in a more quiet voice and looked around at the two other girls to see if that was enough to say.*
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 7:44 am
*Aly listened carefully to everything that they were saying. As they were speaking she stared down at her hands, playing with a loose thread that had come undone from her dress. With everyone finish and her turn to confess, Aly felt the silience uncomfortable. Aly slowly lifted her head to Spirit and Maya, a peaceful smile on her face. She was glad that they were comfortable to tell each other something, even if it was small. * "Is it my turn then." Aly stated. "Well I suppose I told you some information about myself. With my mother favoring others and my interest in mysteries that happen around the world. I suppose my childhood was much like yours Maya, growing up with having to please my mother, but unlike you, I never pleased my mother. She has multiple personalities, around my siblings and others pleasant, but her other side is not so well. Like you Spirit, I enjoy books but strangely, not so much the mysteries. I love the horror books. I suppose their is not much else to tell you, my life has not been the best to describe, because I am travelling frequently searching for mysteries to solve. I can tell you that each one I found, was more difficult then the other, so this one should be the most challenging of all." *
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:01 pm
*Maya was glad that they had shared the stories of their lives with each other. It made the atmosphere feel less tense, and although it was awkward at first, it really broke the ice. Maya felt more comfortable now that they all knew each other a little better. A part of her would have liked to talk to these girls like this a little more, as she was a pretty lonely person. But it was time to get to work on the mystery. "Okay. So I heard a rumour about Louis. Something about him being very young, but inheriting the estate and all possessions after his father died in a riding accident. They say that Louis' murderer was a distant relative trying to claim what was not rightfully his. I don't know how close to the truth that could be. I don't know if it came from a reliable source. I mean, I just heard a couple of people gossiping about it in a bar a couple of days ago. I don't like spreading rumours, especially if I am unsure whether they are true. But it makes sense, doesn't it? It seems like a good motive for a murder, right?" Maya looked at the other girls and waited for a response.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:22 pm
*Aly stared at Maya for a moment and then reached behind her to pull out a thick, but well kept journal. It had a leather cover with A Mia Figlia Amata scribbled across the cover. The pages were worn and frayed, each containing their own mysteries to questions that needed to be answered. She flipped to the back of the book and wrote down what Maya said exactly. It was true, what she said made perfect sense but Aly had also received a clue. It was not different from what Maya had said and it fit with the rumour she had heard. Aly knew exactly that she should share it, afterall Maya had been confident in them to share a secret but Aly wasn't sure why she was so anxious. She had told them about her past, something she would never tell anyone and now this was simply a rumour, nothing more. She mulled it over in her mind for a few more minutes and then decided to finally break the ice. She knew that deep down she didn't want to tell them because she had never had a partner, but it was time for a change, and she knew it would be a good one. "Yes I got a rumour also," Aly stated," It said that a body washed up in a stream about the same time he went missing. But the identification was never found out."*
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:04 am
A soft chime echoed around the room, calling everyone to silence, the large gold inlaid doors swung open, screaming at the hinges. Swift and silent footsteps brought a kindly gentlemen to the foot of the table, his garments pinned him as the butler, awaiting the attention of the females before him he stood erect and solemn. "Madame's" He stated, with a small clearing of his throat. "If you would like to make your way to your rooms" Though it was obvious this wasnt really a matter of choice. The bedtime bell had been rung. Most of the other guests had already filtered away to their own accommodation within the house.
He waits for a moment, calm and sombre as you collect together before him, waiting to be led away from the ball room. The night is wearing long, and you, for the most part, are glad to be retiring.
The butler, whose name you never learn, leads you towards the back of the house, each corridor and room you walk through is as grand and decadent as the last. Not one corner or nook is left dusty or wanting. The walls are adorned in flock wallpaper, in various shades and textures- all vintage in their styling, but still timelessly stylish- and in keeping with the rest of the décor.
Your eyes wander across elaborate paintings and doubtlessly expensive vases, then to the back of the old butler, whose shuffling seems to get more laboured as you venture deeper into the depths of the manor. There is very little sound, other than the soft breathing of your new companions, and the occasional wheeze from your guide. Your feet against the embroidered Persian rugs makes almost no sound.
You begin to think you will never reach your abode, and that in-fact the house is a labyrinth of never-ending elegance; you slow however, and stop for a moment, as the butler turns to the right, and pushes open a heavy mahogany door. He grunts a little with the effort of its weight, and it swings open with the moaning of years of disuse.
“I am afraid, Madame’s” he tells you “That all of our usual chambers for guests are in use; as such we are putting you up in the Lavender Wing. The suits have been turned down, we hope they are to taste”
With this, he opens a door at the end of the dim corridor you have just been led down - its walls decorated in floral paper. A large drawing room is revealed, the long pale velvet curtains to a large bay window, though no light is let in on this dark night- the room obviously has not been renovated since the turn of the century. The tables and chairs, even the chaise-long, all reminiscent of something from a gothic romance. The room itself was circular, and lined with books, from it, there led five doors- one of which you have just entered through, the other four leading to your separate rooms.
The butler leaves you, with a small bow- you get the impression that he would have bowed lower, had his back not been so painful to him.
_________________
You each find that on entering your rooms, they are large and comfortable, each housing a full four poster bed, you also note that all your luggage has been left at the foot of those beds. You smile thankfully, not having wanted to make the long trek through the house again to have retrieved your belongings.
_________________
Aly begins to unpack her things, wanting to find a hairbrush, and nightclothes. After smoothing through her luscious locks, she quietly opens the drawer of her dresser, to put away the brush- on doing so, she finds the space not empty, as empty she had expected. Putting her brush back on the top of the dresser with a small and quizzical frown, she gently picks up a faded piece of paper, folded into four. Curiosity takes the better of her, and, sitting on the edge of her bed she opens it. The paper is written upon in looping penmanship, the ink splotched here and there as if written in real ink. Aly’s eyes skim over the writing, some of it illegible, from what she can make out, a few passages jump from the page, her lips forming a small ‘o’ as she reads.
To my dearest Amelia
Her eyes skip over a good many affectionate sentences about love and distance, before becoming more interested once more.
I never want to be more than sensible; but I find myself beyond sensibility. Amelia, you have told me in your letters, and I have read in the newspapers in the library, of the recent deaths in Goscott, three, to be precise. All young, all of high social standing. I do not wish to frighten you, but I am fearful.
The next paragraph or so seemed to have been written in such a hurry, Aly cannot make out its lettering, until;
I beg of you, my darling, flea these bad tidings to be at my side- such a curse could rip you from my grasp forever.
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:04 am
*The letter slipped from Aly's hands and landed amongst the safety of the floor without a sound. She clutched the hem of her nightdress as the words flashed in her mind, trying to reason with what it could all mean. Still as night, Aly remained seated. Try as she might, her brain would not rest, and she felt a spasm of terror, along with chills, travel through her body. Tears poured over her wide, yet terrified, eyes and she could not stop. She felt as if she was a stranger to her own body as the emotions soared through her. She needed to get out, away from it all. Everything was too still. The clock never seemed to move, the floorboards, which had sounded when she first entered the room, were still. No night creatures could be heard from outside of the mansion. It was as if everything was at a standstill- trapped forever in time, and Aly was the only one free. A curse. The one who wrote to Amelia had said that it was a curse. Had he meant that literally? Was there really a curse? Aly snatched the letter from the floor and reread it, certain that she must have read it wrong. She read it again and again until her eyelids drooped. With everything that had happened today, her body was worn. Yet, she could not sleep. She willed herself to stay away, and it was not as hard as she had expected. The clock, finally moving, chimed the hour, and Aly ran from the room. Pulling firmly on the doors as they protested and down the hall, knocking on the first door she found with the letter held dearly to her chest. She needed help, and she prayed she would find it with whoever was beyond the door. *
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:35 pm
*Maya heard a knock on her door. Who would be visiting at this late hour? She got out of bed to go answer it, and stared in confusion at the person who had knocked. "Aly? What happened? Your make up is all smeared..." it took Maya a second to realize that Aly had been crying. She immediately felt pity for the girl. "Why don't you come in and tell me what is wrong?" Maya offered.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:30 am
*Spirit gazed wide eyed at the room that surround her, it was bigger than any bedroom she had even seen before. This whole mansion was beyond describable and she was sure her mouth was hanging open the entire time her Maya and Aly were lead through the halls; she had only just realized it was like that a few minutes ago and yet it had fallen open once more when she walked into her bed chambers. She felt like a little child when she saw the size of the bed and couldn’t stop herself from doing a little jump onto it. After she had calmed herself down she got out of the tight fitting dress and slipped on her nightgown. It was dark blue and cut off right above her knees, something Spirit usually didn’t wear. She had debated over bringing a pair of long pajama pants and a t-shirt but decided that it be more appropriate to bring this instead. Before going out to see if Maya and Aly were done changing she grabbed a small blanket off her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, she felt a little self-conscious being surrounded by so many beautiful things; she didn’t fit in. She opened her door and poked her head out into the room that was attacked to each of their bedrooms and was glad when she saw Aly at Maya’s door. She was about to run over to them when she realized something wasn’t right, Aly’s eyes were red and some of her makeup was running down her cheeks. “Al…” she took a step forward but stopped mid-way. What was she going to say? She was never was good at comforting others and most of the time avoided situations like these. She stood there, most likely looking incredibly stupid, trying to figure out what to do.*
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 10:18 pm
*Aly stood in a trance. It was the beginning of her name that snapped her out of it. Her head turned sharply in the direction it came from, her face cold, her eyes dead. Relief flooded her body when she saw Spirit's still and unsure form in the hall. Wasting no time, she walked stiffly to Spirit and snatched her wrist. Aly did not deliberate for a moment to consider that the hold on Spirit's arm was too strong, she was still trying to figure everything out. With her other hand, she grabbed hold of Maya's wrist and sat them both on the bed. Aly felt no emotion. She did not feel embarrassment for storming in Maya's room and taking control. She felt no desire to put on a robe. She understood that if she were to be found, she would be disgraced. After all, she was in her nightgown and out of the proximity of her bedroom. She did not care. It was not until after that she had shut the groaning door did she break down once again. She felt shudders pass through her body, and an uncontrollable sob escape her lips. She stayed in a vegetative state for minutes. Aly cried until she had no more tears left. She didn't understand why she cried, nor did she wish to know. Something was at work here, and every moment that passed, it seemed to intensify. Worldlessly, she handed Maya and Spirit the letter. Maybe they would react differently, much more sensibly. Perhaps there was a reason why she had received the room with the letter. It did not make sense, but Aly would be damned if she had to figure it out herself. *
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 5:31 pm
*Spirit winced at Aly’s strong hold on her arm but she didn’t mind, she tripped a couple of times as she followed Aly into Maya’s room and it was Aly’s grip that kept her from falling flat on her face. When Aly started breaking down, that’s what surprised Spirit; she seemed like such a strong person on the outside and Spirit thought that she most liekly didn't cry in front of others a lot. Still unsure of herself Spirit got up from the bed and went to stand beside Aly, putting an arm around her shoulder as she tried to be comforting. She didn’t try to stop Aly though; her mother had told her that people should have a breakdown once in a while because it wasn’t healthy to keep all your emotions that have built up on the inside, it’s better to let them all out. Once Aly had stopped crying and handed them a letter Spirit sat beside Maya as she read. She had to reread it three times, and each time her eyes grew wider with disbelief. Could this case they were trying to solve really be part of something much bigger? Why hadn’t Spirit heard of all these deaths before, was it being kept secret for some reason? Questions bubbled through her head as she tried to come up with some answers but she couldn’t come to a conclusion. Slowly she peeled her eyes away from the letter and looked t Aly, trying to see if she had any answers, but considering hat had just happened Spirit doubted that she did. “Aly… where did you get this?” Spirit asked, hoping that it would clear some things up.*
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:40 pm
* Maya didn't understand what the big deal could be about this letter...until she read it. It had had Aly weeping and Spirit almost speechless with shock, and she could see why. The first questions that came to Maya's mind after she read the letter twice were the "what if" questions. What if this whole thing was a trap? What if they were collecting guests into this house to kill them? What if they only killed the ones who were able to figure out who killed Louis all those years ago? Maya took a deep break to collect herself before a panic attack could start. No, she thought to herself, there has to be a logical explanation for this. We will figure it out, one step at a time. Maya thought it was probably best to get the simple answers first, like the answer to the question Spirit asked. Then, they could get down to the tiny details, and maybe they could get somewhere with this disturbing letter. Maya waited patiently for Aly to answer Spirit's question.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:15 am
*Aly sat there expressionless as Spirit and Maya both took their turns reading the letter and then re-reading to find out anything they might have missed during the first time. She knew the shock they must both be feeling, as she had just suffered through it. Spirit was speechless, and as was Maya. They both stared at her, waiting patiently for what they hoped was an answer that would explain everything. She wished desperately that she had them. For minutes it remained silent, only her heavy breathing could be heard. " He just showed me to my room," Aly whispered suddenly. " The butler showed me to my room and I found that my stuff were already in the room. I was pleased and went to unpack. I had just finished changing into my nightgown and brushed my hair. Deciding that I was finally ready for bed, I went to put my brush in a drawer and I found this letter. Like you, I read and then read it again. But for some reason, I broke into hysterics. I felt like I was trapped and the what if questions came into my mind. I didn't know what to do, so I ran and came looking for one of you!" Then, after several seconds, Aly asked, "What do we do?" *
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:16 pm
* Maya tried to remain calm. Panicking would not help now. In fact, it might be safer not to panic. If anyone heard them panicking.... Well, it was probably not a good time to have people looking for her, Aly, and Spirit. Maya thought back to her what-ifs, and she realized that the first two were pretty far-fetched. But the third... Her third what-if had been "What if they will only kill the ones who were able to figure out who killed Louis all those years ago?" That one didn't seem completely irrational. Of course, Maya had to give the owners of the manor and the guests the benefit of the doubt. She would not automatically assume that they were going to kill people to keep a dark secret hidden. She still thought it best to play it safe. "Well," Maya began to answer Aly's question, "I'll tell you what we don't do. We don't tell anyone -" she lowered her voice "- that we're trying to solve the mystery of who killed Louis. I mean, it may have happened years and years ago, and the murderer is long since dead, but you never know who might know the answer to the question 'Who killed Louis?' You never know who might have connections to that person. And some people will go to great lengths to save face. They might....do something to any one of us to prevent their family name from being tarnished, to protect the secret." Maya stopped and shuddered. "If you guys want, maybe we should stop trying to solve the mystery. It might be safer. But if you guys are still going to, so am I."
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:48 pm
*Spirit pulled the blanket tighter as a shiver passed through her body. He wasn’t sure if it was only her but if felt colder in this room despite there begin three people in it. Spirit took a few deep breathes before she let her thoughts explore the possibilities of what they should do next. If it was true that there was a curse on this mystery then Spirit would think that in order to understand what was going on they must try and solve the murder case. There is always the chance that learning more information could put them in more danger then they already might be in. “I think we should try to find out ore information,” Spirit began, “maybe we should go see if there are any more clues in Aly’s room.” Spirit looked nervously at Aly and Maya, “If we find something it could give us a better understanding of what is going on here.” After holding their eyes for a while Spirit turned her gaze to the floor as a light pink covered her cheeks, she hoped Aly and Maya didn’t think her plan was stupid. She was new at this sort of thing and both Maya and Aly had more experience than her and they might not want her on their team for fear that Spirit would slow them down.*
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:57 pm
*Aly sat silently, watching the minute hand on the clock move every sixty seconds. As she watched, she listened to what Maya and Spirit had to say, agreeing to everything. With the finding of the letter, it just made Aly want to figure out what happened to Louis more. Was it a matter of life and death as Maya suggested? Could it be that the ones that had figured out the case in the past had met such a tragic fate similar to Louis? It seemed to Aly that more questions were forming than those that were being answered. Her head ached with all the new information that gathered and she signed in frustration. "Perhaps you’re right Maya," Aly said, thinking aloud. "Maybe we should keep quiet about this. Nevertheless, that will be hard. We certainly do not have enough information to figure it out, and the most practical would be to gather some of the rumours that have been spreading. How can we do that without causing suspicions?" Then, she nodded in agreement with Spirit, flashing an encouraging smile. It seemed that Spirit was a bit hesitant and Aly wanted her to feel comfortable with sharing. "Spirit, you are also right. If you'll follow me to my room we can get started." Aly began to stand when a thought occurred to her. "Wait. We should not all go together, that would be too conspicuous. I'll go first, one of you come several minutes after." With that, Aly swept past Spirit and Maya and paraded into the hall. She walked quickly and quietly, fearing the emptiness. She was almost to her room when she heard a sound echoing in the darkness of the hall. Panic consumed her, but she convinced herself that it was simply the creaking of the floorboard. After several more paces, she heard it again. Aly did not waste time. She ran full fledge into the safety of her room. She wrenched the door open and shut it with haste. Yet, even in the proximity of her bedroom, she did not feel safe as if there was something lurking, waiting to pounce. *
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