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 Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:11 pm
Patrick's eyebrows shot up as he slipped his hands into his pockets. He leaned back slightly, throwing his head back with hearty laughter that echoed off the walls. Once his laughing fit died down, his expression faltered at the mention of his cut. Though he quickly threw on a fairly amused and calm facade. Shaking his head, he responded with a friendly tone. "I assure you, I don't and have never gone by the name of Clay." Lifting the arm that had to fresh cut on it, he gazed down at it for a few moments in thought. Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to tell a vague truth, right? "It's nothing. I'm used to it." Patrick locked his dull gaze on the girls, as it was an old habit he'd had.
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:16 am
Ooookay, the girl has told me to put on the coat, there must be some reason to it, maybe she just didn't find it fit to share with me. Anyway, better safe than sorry, I guess, though slightly in doubt, Vera carefully slipping her injured arm into the jacket sleeve. After some struggling with the barely movable arm, Vera had succeeded in putting on the jacket. Looking up, Vera realised the girl had got up from the bench and was speaking to Patrick, something she said must have appeared, as very amusing to Patrick as he started to laugh loudly. Vera noticed some people who had been in the room before had left, most likely to examine the hauntingly beautiful house they were locked in. Vera got up from the bench, and walked slowly towards the east direction, curiousity had gripped her mind. She set off to explore the house.
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 11:51 am
”Dear?” Muse quipped pointedly, ”I think your patient is leaving.”
”What?” Codi flipped around to see the girl had stood, making her way off someplace, ”Oh. Okay.”
”Okay?” Muse retorted, ”You’re not done yet! Tell me, why did I have you make her wear that jacket again?”
”Oh right!” Codi gave a small yelp of surprise, ducking away from Patrick’s hard gaze. She leaped in front of the girl; it must’ve looked weird, though. Codi normally looked quite clumsy, but in truth she “stalked” rather than walked, much like a cat would move through unfamiliar territory. At times she would fully crane her neck to get the full view of a place, while at others, such as now, she would crouch low and take long, quiet strides towards her target location.
The reason? Muse likes to know everything that goes on. And she’s paranoid—or rather, both of them are. But that’s a different story that I won’t bother explaining at the moment.
”Uhm—you—“ Codi, having intersected the girl without much more of a plan in mind (and with absolutely no clue as to what her name was), interjected awkwardly, ”I’m—not done yet. Sorry, I should’ve explained more of what I intended to do after you put on the jacket—uh—okay, hold still.”
Carefully, with liquid movements, Codi slipped forward and grabbed the right front tail of the jacket. It reached much further down on the girl’s waist, seeing as it belonged to Patrick the bulky Texan; having heard that last nickname, Muse burst into another fit of hysterical laughter, to which Codi ended up giggling herself.
The jacket was grasped the same way as before with only one finger and thumb. Codi found the button hole and brought it diagonally across the girl’s midsection, connecting it with the button on the adjacent collar. The result was a sort of pocket that may have looked awkward, but it created a sturdy and hopefully comfortable temporary sling. Codi stepped back and admired her handiwork.
”There. That should do it, I think…” she paused, waiting to see if Muse had anything else to say.
”Well ice would be nice to have,” shrugged the voice. Codi went back to reality.
”We should still look around for ice. It’ll numb your shoulder some and keep the swelling down…I wonder if this place has a kitchen?”
Codi began pondering to herself now, brought to mumbling wonder by the chandelier high above them, among other things. Taking the opportunity of Codi's temporary distraction, Muse directed her feet back towards the piano, curiosity growing by the second. They never did get to play a note on it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 12:04 pm
Anna, who was watching the proceedings with a softly concerned expression on her pale face, had at some point sunk down to sit on the piano bench. Her head still hurt, though the pain wasn't comparible to the excruciating headache she'd had upon awakening. What had happened, anyway? Had she been hit in the head? If she had, maybe it would be smart to check everyone in the group for concussions, though she couldn't quite remember what all the indicators of that where supposed to be. Fluid or blood in the ear?
Before she could remember, the insane little girl from before turned and started coming back towards her. Anna had to force herself not to roll her eyes, but, seemingly of it's own accord, one of her delicate, light brown eyebrows went up a fraction. Round two? she thought to herself, Maybe I should just knock her down. ....No. No hitting kids. At least, not without them giving her an actual reason, first.
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:17 pm
((Mansion Layout updated once again. 3nodding ))
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 1:03 am
Vera watched as the girl wrapped the jacket around her arm into a sling. Nice job, who would have thought? Vera was pleasantly surprised. The girl said something about finding ice, before walking back towards the piano again. Vera remembered she hadn't thanked the girl yet, she shouted, as hard as she could, though doubting her whispery voice could carry out so far, "Thank you!". Vera turned around, and walked towards the hallway.
Vera was walking along the hallway. She turned her head to her right, and saw light filtering through the windows. Vera stopped, and stretch out her good arm. She twisted her fingers, and put it up into the light. A large hound's head formed on the wall on her left. Moving her fingers, the dog appeared to be barking ferociously, and silently. Vera giggled, she hadn't tried anything like this for a long time, since her fa... Vera's smile faltered. Her mother! Her mother must not miss her! Or who knew what would happen to her poor mother's condition. She had to get out of here quickly. Vera put down her arm, and continued forward briskly.
At the end of the hallway, Vera faced a dark wooden door with polished surface. She could see the tight-lipped expression on her face reflected on the door, as she turned the golden handle. It wouldn't open. Perhaps the rust? She twisted the handle harder this time. Nope, I just wouldn't open for you, milady, Vera could almost hear the door taunting her, laughing coldly at her helplessness. Why the damned doors I tried in this house just wouldn't open?!! Vera glowered at the door, having a good mind to knock it down with her feet.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 1:54 pm
It was about then that Codi realized somebody had already beaten her to the piano. Having discovered this, she jumped slightly in shock, only to raise an eyebrow in skepticism. It was that older girl again.
”What’s she doing now, guarding the piano?” Muse scoffed, and Codi imagined the cartoonish figure putting her hands to her hips in disdain, ”I wouldn’t be surprised. With people like us wandering around, I would be cautious, too.”
”With people like you wandering around,” corrected Codi—there was less than a hint of joking in her voice, ”Not ‘us’. I am not crazy.”
This topic had been brought up many times in the past between them; and, like always, the end result was always the same. At first there was a brief void of silence within Codi’s mind—then, without warning, the both of them simultaneously burst into hysterical laughter.
”Ohmygoodness!” Muse cackled, keeling over, banging her intangible fists on the nonexistent ground, ”God—that never—gets old—!” and she was gone again in a fit of madness.
Codi felt like she could cry. It took her a little to recover, slowly adjusting her posture and licking off the sides of her soda can for any lost beverage; when finished, however, her smile quickly faded. There was still that problem that needed to be resolved: What to do about the girl? Why was she really there?
More importantly, would her overwhelming curiosity ever be satisfied?
Codi stared blankly for many moments. Her eyes, wide and alert, shifted mechanically from the piano, to the bench, and then the girl occupying it. She looked much like a small child eyeing the cookie jar, waiting for their mother to turn her back; similar to that situation, Codi had a feverish plan to make a mad dash, hoping that perhaps she would catch the girl off guard. Naturally that idea quickly left her mind. If she hadn’t noticed Codi’s body language already, then she would soon enough. Also Muse couldn’t risk losing another can of soda.
Codi compulsively took another sip through the chewed straw.
So then, what was there to do? Well, they could always try to negotiate. But if there was anything Codi hated, it was conflict. She avoided arguments the best she could, mainly because, while passionately raging about something, she may forget just what she was so angry about. And if anything made Codi look stupid, it was exactly that.
Presently, a voice. Codi tipped her head to the side and slowly twisted around. The girl who she had helped earlier had given her thanks, and then disappeared down a hallway.
Codi blinked. Muse chuckled. ”The piano can wait,” she said; Codi agreed, and without another word trotted after her.
The idea that this already massive area could be any larger was simply baffling to the mind. Codi looked down the narrow passageway in wonderment and realized, yes, obviously the place was much bigger than it first appeared.
As she continued onward, she noticed the line of windows along one side, and how they spattered the opposite wall with light. There was no need to create shadow puppets to make Codi satisfied; all she had to do was simply stand, basking in the concentrated warmth that the outside produced. All she wanted to do was plaster herself to the wall and soak up the sun, forgetting all about the fact that she was trapped in a creepy mansion with a bunch of other random people who were all as full of angst as she was about this state of affairs.
But then again, Codi realized that she was actually one of the less troubled people in the group. So far everyone was simply preoccupied with getting the hell out, and yet here Codi was, perfectly calm (if not any more jittery than she usually was), only concerned with playing the pretty piano and drinking her soda. Compared to her “normal” life in the previous few months, this retreat was actually quite nice. Almost like a vacation.
Then the girl was yelling about something again, and Codi shook her head, sighing as she peeled herself from the back wall. So much for that.
…
What was that girl’s name again? Codi had her mouth open to say something when she realized this with a pang, making her chuckle uncomfortably. Muse had remained oddly quiet throughout this session of pondering.
”Your welcome,” Codi replied at last, shuffling her big toe in the dirt and stuffing her free hand in her pocket, ”Uhm…I guess it would be better if I introduced myself? My name’s Codi.”
Uncertainly, she withdrew her hand and extended it, hesitant that the other girl may not return the gesture. People were normally not so forgiving to young teens who talked to themselves.
((Wow...and to actually think I was kinda out of muse! xDD ))
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:11 am
Vera kicked at the door, yelling, straining her voice, "Damnit!" She kicked the door again, harder this time. "F-king door," she muttered under her breath. Vera turned around when she heard footsteps behind her. It was the girl who put her arm in the sling. Vera's expression softened, and smiled, pushing her private matters out of her mind. She stretched out her hand, and shook Codi's warmly, "I am Vera." Vera released her hand. She started to turn back to the door, when she spotted a door on either side of her. Vera smiled, and turned back to Codi, "Would you like to try and open one of those doors? Doors just don't seem to work for me in this house."
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:37 am
A groan escaped his lips. He was sure of it. He couldn't hear anything, but he felt like he was in a world of pain. His senses were nulled. He couldn't see, hear, smell, taste, nothing. Nothing was present in this...
... Where was he, anyway? He knew he was horrible at waking up, but he had never experienced this kind of feeling in the morning. Unless... This wasn't waking up. He was awake. Why was everything like this, then? Why couldn't he see? He blinked, making sure that his eyes were indeed open. He inhaled through his nose, trying to catch a scent. He listened in, trying to hear something. Anything.
He realized that nothing would work. He held his hand to his head, rubbing his scalp a little to make sure he was still alive. He could feel, that was a good thing. He felt for everything on his person, making sure he was still in one piece. He seemed fine. An exhale of relief now escaped him, but this time he could hear it.
His senses were fading back in, slowly. He still couldn't see, but everything else was up and running. He thought he felt groggy, but he really couldn't tell. His head was a mess. He was thinking at an incredible rate... Confusion did that to him. As confused as he was, however, he did not panic. This situation had a logical reason for happening, and therefore had a logical solution.
He then connected the pieces in his mind. Darkness, unknown area, grogginess... Had he been drugged? It seemed likely, but... Why? This obviously wasn't a plan to rob him, since everything he had before was still on him, so... Why was he here? He hadn't made any enemies, unless...
He stood, thinking that he had found the reason for this happening. First things first, he decided. He needed to get out. He slowly found his one leg, coordinating himself. He pushed off the floor with it, losing his balance at first, catching himself with his arm. His reflexes were decent, it seemed... He tried again. One leg, then the other... And he was standing. Phase one was accomplished. Now was the next step, being finding a way out. This task would be difficult without light, he knew... Luckily, he had a remedy.
He searched his coat, checking the inside pocket. After a brief moment of fumbling, his hands found their target. A small metal object was now in his fingers. He quickly drew his hand out, and in one fluid motion, flicked open the top of his lighter. The light was stronger than nothing, but the area was still largely black. He realized that he would have to search carefully if he wanted an escape. It was unfortunate that he had terrible night-vision, or this task would be much simpler.
It seemed that he was in a basement. He had woken up in the corner. He wasn't all that surprised by that fact. The concrete flooring had the same feel as every other, so he had guessed that from the beginning. There was clutter in front of him, though he couldn't tell what it was. If nothing else, it had probably shielded him from view... He wondered if that helped any, or if that just prevented his rescue. Where would he start looking? The smell of lighter fluid now filled his nostrils, flame as well.
He moved around, stepping from the place where he had woken up, using only the flame for guidance. Everything looked the same down here. The floor was all the same color, same texture... He couldn't see the walls. He would probably run into them before seeing them, he figured. It happened to him a lot anyway, even in the light. He extended his right arm, feeling for obstacles while the left held his guidance. He laughed at a thought. He only now realized how much like a horror movie this was. He should prepare himself to run into a zombie at any moment, he thought with a smile.
Suddenly, he made contact with something. His arm didn't feel anything, but he walked straight into something flat, bumping his torso slightly painfully. He jolted more out of being startled than anything, though. He reached down, feeling what he had bumped into, examining it with his lighter. Wood... They looked to be stairs. Really old, though. Would they hold him? He couldn't say. It looked to be his only method of escape, though. The stairs looked to wind around... He walked around them, looking for the beginning of the steps. He soon found it. With one hand on the rusted railing, he took the first step up. It seemed to support his weight, so he decided to press forward. The next steps came easier, confidence building. They would hold.
Once he reached the top, he found that there was no door. The stairs seemed to lead to the ceiling. Odd, he thought, unless... He was right. A trap door. He pressed lightly on it, deciding whether or not to try it. If it gave him any trouble, he would force it, he decided. Luckily, it seemed that he wouldn't need to. The door pushed up, and he could now see where he was. Unfortunately, all he saw were more stairs. He decided that they needed to be climbed.
He was impressed with himself, though. He had done that with ease, very quickly and quietly. He wondered if anyone had been downstairs while he was waking up? If there were people down there, they were probably his assailants... He decided not to go back to look. If they noticed him, they could follow him up, if not... It was for the best. He preferred slipping out unnoticed anyway.
He eventually reached the top. Tension was building inside of him. He finally realized the depth of the situation, and the danger he was in. He still wouldn't panic, though. He drew out his knife, flicking the blade out. He felt safer having it ready, despite whatever he might find here. He flipped his lighter closed once he reached the top, relying on whatever was in the next room for light.
He slowly opened the doorway, swearing he could hear voices. It was time to find out why he was here, he figured. He wanted some answers...
((Alright, sorry for not starting off with the rest of you. Hope this obnoxious post makes up for it. XP))
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:00 am
Steven sighed in the silence. He then heard some noise coming from a different corner of the room so he turned to look in that direction. Apparently it was another person just waking up, he was going to say something and then figured it would just be best to stay quiet. After turning back to the wall, Steven got to the corner of the room between the North and East wall. He then tripped over something on the ground and fell to his knees. "Oww!" he groaned, as he tried to examine what he tripped over.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:04 pm
It seemed that the girl was unusually frustrated, as she was still cursing when Codi approached her. Ironically enough, her anger appeared to be directed at a large, well-preserved mahogany door. Contrary to this, Vera (as she was called) expressed her difficulty with the doors in this house. Codi chuckled lightly in agreement—she’d had many of those kinds of moments herself.
”Sure,” she replied, taking another draining sip of soda during the pause, ”I guess I’ll help.”
Codi looked to her right. There were a lot of spider webs. Codi did not like spiders. Consequently, she turned to her left, and found the other entrance slightly more inviting.
”How about this one?” she asked, taking a step forward. However, the question was not just directed at Vera, but also at the intangible presence within Codi’s subconscious. It was disconcerting how quiet Muse had become in these past few moments.
Muse did not answer her question. Shrugging, Codi realized that this might be a good sign.
She inspected what lay in front of her. The door was light and welcoming, made completely of frosted glass that streamed with light. Perhaps it led outside? Codi crossed her fingers, taking herself in stride as she reached for the handle—
”Look at your feet.”
Codi stopped dead in her tracks. A nasty shiver ran up her spine, leaving her arms prickling. When she looked, the fine brown hairs were standing on end.
”What?” Codi asked, looking back at Vera. Had Muse really said that? It didn’t sound like her voice.
Silence. Then, ”…Well, dimwit? Look at the ground!”
Oh. ”Geeze. You scared me,” Codi said to herself, scratching the back of her head uncomfortably. She hadn’t had a fright like that in quite a while. But it wasn’t so much frightening as it was…well…creepy.
Codi shook her head. No. She used to be superstitious about this stuff, but not anymore. Codi had seen enough in her life to become a “see-it-to-believe-it-type” person—and as of yet, she had never seen a ghost. Thus, they did not exist. End of story.
She looked at the ground and was pleasantly surprised to see something there, covered in dust. Poking through were several lines of flaking, moss-green paint. Cocking her head to the side, Codi curiously bent down to get a closer look. She took another draft of her soda and realized that it was running low.
”Odd,” she quipped, ”I wonder what that is?...”
Codi pondered, again getting little imput from Muse. She turned to Vera. ”Do you have a towel or something?”
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:20 am
Vera followed Codi as she started to make her way towards a frosted-glass door. Suddenly, Codi stopped, and was bending down, as if she saw something strange on the dust-covered floor. Vera, standing behind Codi, couldn't see what was so fascinating about the floor or the dust. She waited for a few seconds, but Codi was still bent towards the door, an uneasy thought flitted through her mind, She is not going crazy again, is she?
Vera stepped up to Codi's left, and opened her mouth to tell Codi to move on. But her mouth closed shut again. Interesting... Vera bent down, and stared at the strange painted wood on the floor that Codi was examining. But suddenly, Codi's voice rang out beside her, shattering the silence. Vera was jerked out of the trance. She straightened up, and stuck her hand into her jeans' pocket, rummaging through the contents, feeling for a towel. No... not a towel... no... nope... no again... Ah ha! Vera drew a handkerchief out of her pocket, smiling triumphantly, "Will this do?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:45 am
Rose continued to stand on the sidelines, unsure of whether to start a conversation with somebody or not. The girl who had tripped on her had finished quite quickly with the girl who'd fallen, and now they both had wandered into the corridor to explore a bit. Rose considered following again, but again, the safety in numbers lesson won, and since the numbers were currently in the lobby, that's where she was staying. She glanced around, and some colors over the door caught her eye. There was a stained glass window there, but a few of the panes were simply frosted clear glass. It was only the frosted effect that gave them away at first, because the light coming through them was golden, but at second glance, one could tell that they were in fact clear. Huh. So that must mean that whoever had the screwy phone had a really screwy phone, because it was obviously neither one in the morning nor one in the afternoon outside. It was either dawnish or duskish, but Rose couldn't tell, seeing as the clear panes weren't exactly clear. She considered making a comment to that effect, but she wanted to see if anyone else was paying attention.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:45 pm
Codi blinked, carefully examining the handkerchief. With a deliberate gesture, she reached out and plucked the tiny square cloth from Vera’s hand, holding it in front of her face, twirling it in little circles to get a full view. It was a lot like what Codi had done when handling Patrick’s jacket—like she didn’t fully trust the item given to her, and thusly had to examine it completely before putting it to full use.
This was only partially true.
Scan completed, Codi plopped the handkerchief onto the ground. It landed in a cloud of thick dust; when freed, the tiny particles lifted inches above the ground like a layer of polluted fog. Codi recoiled, feeling a sneeze coming on.
”I hope you don’t plan on using this thing again when I’m done,” she sniffed, placing her fingers on the thin white fabric. What a pity—it was a nice handkerchief, too. Shrugging, Codi began scrubbing furiously along the length of the green-colored object.
As the outline became discernable, Codi was aware of Muse lurking in the background. ”What’s your problem?” she muttered to herself, ”Are you mad at me for abandoning the piano?”
”Quiet,” Muse snapped, making Codi twitch in surprise, ”Can’t talk right now.”
And she disappeared back into the far reaches. Confused, Codi opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but ended up sneezing violently instead, scattering more dust at her feet. Recovering, Codi wiped her nose with her arm and looked at what she had uncovered.
Well. This was certainly bizarre. ”Any thoughts as to why there’s a window in the floor?” Codi quizzed, looking up at Vera. With one last fleeting hope she wondered if Muse would answer the question for her; however, the voice had long stalked off someplace. While this was typical angry-conscious behavior, and seeing as Muse’s nerves often ran thin for no apparent reason, it was still somewhat baffling to Codi. Muse rarely retreated with reason; the very fact that she had voiced her commands not to communicate was evidence enough that something strange was going on.
Codi couldn’t help but feel another shiver creep down the back of her neck.
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:01 pm
((Right, as many of you have probably noticed, the RP isn't really moving per say. As in, sure people are exploring and all that, but it's not really very... Exciting. I know, I'm trying to get things in order here. >.< My time's become a bit more limited with school and all, but that's really not the main problem.
While I figure out what things I should change in my plans and how I can get this moving at a faster pace... Feel free to explore the other parts of the house and give me a bit more I can work with.))
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