Appolonia jumped as a second voice seemed to come out of nowhere. She looked to find a girl about her own age standing before her with brilliant blue eyes and a lithe body. She was, more than anything, a little jealous and somewhat distraught over being taken unaware, but she swallowed it as much as possible. Who needs enemies, anyway? She took quick stock of the new girl and put on a quixotic sort of face and said, "What's what? And... who are... Merrick, do you know her?"

Merrick turned and looked at the girl and said, "Yes, excuse me, this is Faith Bard", he paused and looked at her again before continuing, "I... I've been to a few of her exhibits. She's an artist."

He seemed a bit stunned at suddenly recognizing the person he'd shortly before not even considered so deeply. Still, one person was much like the rest, and so he shook his head, which was again a bad idea, and continued, "we... fell in here through some hole in the garden. At least as best as we can recollect that seems to have been what happened. How did you come to be here?"

"I took the-", said Apple, turning to indicate the stairs before looking in surprise and walking to the empty space, "There were stairs here, I swear to you they were there!"

She looked around for some sign of stairs, but there were none to be found. Merrick saw too that the stairs that he and Faith had used were missing as well.


The Count encountered Mr. Churchill with a kind of suspicious "harumph". He was, in truth, quite distracted. He'd been on the lookout for some sign of what was to come, some preparation or servant out of place, but the whole of the manor ran like clockwork. There were no irregularities in the smoking room, and there were no servants doing anything out of the ordinary. He'd visited the kitchen and thrown extra garlic into a few of the soups and dishes, hoping to harry the Marques some, and perhaps drive him back with their holy scent, but the meals had seemed very well prepared and even delicious. The Count had sampled many of them himself with no ill result. If they had been poisoned and he had died in the kitchen, surely that would have ended the dinner party prematurely and the people would all have been saved!

In any case, the man before him was young, successful, powerful, and common. The Count put out his hand to shake and said, "If you had any sense in your head, you'd leave here immediately. There's nothing but blood-sucking demons in there."

((So, I'm using Dark Red for Appolonia, Dark Blue for Merrick, Dark Green for the Count from now on. Dark Purple for the Marques. Black will be for GM mode and any of the NPCs.))

"I've never been allowed to touch a gun, except for plastic ones in video game arcades." Sakura Rose admits sheepishly as the two girls exchange a glance that shows that they are going to go down the steps side by side. At first she can only tell is that the walls are stone and somewhat covered in moss. It smells as if it is an area that hasn't been touched in years. After a minute, she could see that they grey light that bounced off the walls came in fact from a few gas-lamps on the walls that have been lit.

Her face is tangled with confusion as she sees not only Miss Appolonia, but also the Eldest Miss Bard, along with... "MERRICK!" The girl yells and runs down to the floor to her friend who seems very hurt and confused.

The stangest thing however, is that when Sakura Rose's foot leaves the stairs... they downright disappear, unintentionally leaving Alessia in a very unfavourable situation, of course the small girl does not see this as her back is toward said stairs as she runs, the molten wax from the taper singeing her hand a bit, towards her friend.

As Alessia stepped forward it felt as if she ran into a wall, and stumbled back onto her bottom. "Sakura Rose!" she called after the younger girl with. The name echoed hollowly around her, but didn't seem to move into the room before her. The perplexed looked around herself, gray wall on each side and the seemingly invisible wall before her. There was no other option but for her to turn around.

She lifted the skirt of her dress and ascended the stairs as quickly as she could without sending herself sprawling. As Alessia moved up the stairs, she chose not to tell the adults what had happened, as they'd likely think her insane and brush it off.

---

It seemed as if she'd been walking forever before she found the door it seemed to be coming from. The red headed girl stopped and examined the door carefully. The door was gracefully arched with a heavy looking door. The wood shone with age but seemed, all the same, inviting.

Ixandrias pulled on the door, expecting it to be difficult to open. It swung open without much resistance. The flute sound seemed to grow even louder. Gray stone stairs stretched down into darkness. Without a second thought, she gathered the hem of her dress and began descending the stairs.

Merrick turned and braced for impact as the small, but energetic bundle came barralling towards him. Just what was up with this day? He seemed to have become a... what did they call them? A chick magnet. The idea made the boy blanch a bit. Honestly, relations with the opposite sex was always such an awkward endeavor. Just what did they all expect, anyway?

"Down, please, down", he said, putting up his hands in a very pronounced "don't touch me" sort of way.

Apple turned and sort of accepted that Sakura Rose should be coming towards them. Why not? Everyone else seemed to be coming down there, why not a small hyperactive kiddo? At this point, the dark, dank, and terrifying cellar seemed almost festive. Now that there were other people around, her previous paranoia seemed to fade away. Maybe the stairs were... wait a minute...

"HEY! The stairs! How did you just get down here", she yelled to Sakura Rose, in a panicked sort of way. This was beginning to get weird.

Sakura Rose managed to avoid touching Merrick although she was so close to him she could feel his body heat. "I am not a dog, thank you. You look disheveled to the point of being hurt. Forgive me for caring." She then purposefully turned her back on him, a little sincerely hurt, though much less than she was putting on, and at this point redirected her attention to Apple.

"Yes, the stairs, that's how I got here, with Alessia! Did you know she has a gun?!", but when the girl looked, neither the stairs nor the Japanese youth were there.

"What has happened?!?"

She suddenly wanted a comforting hug. Really badly.

Alfred raised an eyebrow as an amused smile came upon his face as he said, "So, it would seem that what I've heard is true. Well, it was... interesting to meet you sir." Alfred turned away and walked over to another party guest, Sakura's father, and said, "Good evening sir, excuse me but I find your face oddly unfamiliar?"

Once she stepped back into the hall, she took long strides down the hall towards the parlor. Just before she entered she replaced her gun back into the garter and let her dress fall back over the tops over her shoes. Carefully she smoothed her hair back into place and stepped into the room.

Despite her decision not to say anything the distress showed, ever so slightly on her face. As gracefully as she could, she slid between the bodies to the wall. Her mind raced.

---

Her feet touched the landing with a soft click of each shoe. The room was small, and rectangular. There wasn't the first bit of light in this room. Ixandrias's heart began pounding. Where was the flutist? "Hello?" She said softly, feeling blindly around the room.

Ixandrias found the door again and pulled on the handle but it didn't budge. She bit her lip and began singing again. She wouldn't let fear over come her. This time the song was upbeat and lifted her mood.

"Hello, my dear Miss Devereaux. I've been expecting you", said a gentle voice and the music began again, this time much softer, and seemed to be coming from everywhere, just like the voice, "You know, you really are very lucky. You're the first to receive my great gift."

Ixandrias would feel a pair of powerful hands resting on her shoulders, and suddenly, she would be transfixed and then lifted into the air, not by the hands, but by the very darkness itself, enraptured by it and hanging in the air. And then there would be an instant of pain as a set of razor sharp teeth would pierce into her neck. But then, the strangest feeling of uncontrollable ecstasy would radiate throughout her entire being while her life would begin to drain away into the waiting belly of her infernal host, the Marques. And then, too weak to fight back, she would put up no protest as he pressed his own opened veins to her mouth and commanded her to drink.

The Count gave a very pronounced "harumph". Such lack of respect young people carried themselves with, these days. Even the ones from merry ol'- Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by a terrible feeling in his gut. Something unholy was taking place. Wasting no time, he ran towards one of the many doors in the manor... one that he was guided to. It was... an unholy door. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his silver cross, pressing it to the door, yelling, "I command you to obey me, in the name of Christ! OPEN!"

The door began to sizzle as the cross burned its way into the wood, and sure enough, it opened, shedding light inside. What he saw made his hair stand on end. The Marques stood there, enraptured by shadows, clutching a little girl to his breast as she drank blood from his veins! As the light befell the room, the Marques turned ever so slowly towards him and dissolved into the shadows, taking the girl with him. The Count charged blindly in, sword drawn, with a very tall glass of brandy in his hand that he had blessed to act as makeshift holy water.

Merrick rolled his eyes at Sakura Rose's indignation, but bowed and said "my apologies" anyway. He was, after all , a little grumpy, with injury and being somewhat lost and confused. He was willing to put that all behind him and search for a way out as a team until Apple's little outburst about the stairs, followed by Sakura Rose's own little realization. There was obviously far more to this than met the eye. Really this was all quite frustrating.

"Just what does the Marques need an elaborate underground cavern for in the first place", he asked no one in particular, but the answer would not be forthcoming.

Sakura Rose accepted Merrick's half-hearted apology and turned back around. "I know you're normally standoffish, but it truly wouldn't kill you to be a hair grateful when someone is sincerely concerned for your health and welfare."

The small girl seems to be fighting tears in her eyes. Just to make sure, as she holds the taper in her hands as if her life depends on it, she retraces her steps back to where her feet first landed on solid ground. She reached out to where the stairs used to be, wondering if they were invisible "This house must be haunted." is the only explanation she could think of. There is sometimes a fine line between the impossible and the implausible, but dissappearing stairs for multiple people... there is no worldly explanation.

"Perhaps we should all share what we know." her voice still choking back tears, hoping the logic will override her desire to cry and scream for her parents. "I managed to run into The Marques himself, after nearly being skewered by that crazy Count. When I mentioned that my friends had scattered, he asked that I gather all of you for his pre-dinner announcement. It had seemed like everyone had up and disappeared, which was indeed implausable so after being given a most strange piece of advice by a servant who didn't stick around for very long, then finding Alessia who said Apple was trapped behind a locked door... I managed to find said door, prop it open, we were walking side by side until I burst forward... and here I am. I am meant to gather you all for The Marques... but if we're dealing with a haunted house... what do you all know about this place, how you got here, an anything that might be useful?"

Faith turned to the pair as her name was mentioned. She had been to a few of Merrick's as well. She always felt a sort of Rivalry with the boy. Then again, that was her parents telling her. Not to like other art. Although in a much more difficult form. Faith stayed quiet as Merrick spoke with Appolonia. Or Loni. Well there was not much for her to say after all. Especially with a seemly jealous women in front of her.

It was nearly seconds later when the small voice of a girl sheiked the name of Merrick. What a popular boy he was. Faith along with the other two turned and looked. Watching as the young Sakura, followed by a mysterious girl came down the stairs. Sakura nearly jumping all over Merrick. "What a chick magnet." She said under her breath. Maybe just loud enough for Apple to hear her small joke.

Even threw the excitement, one thing Faith noticed was the stairs. They disappeared right in front of her eyes. Turning into nothing but a wall. Slowly Faith bend down. Pulling off her shoes. But holding them. Something was coming. After all, Stairs now gone. Her peers all brought to the same room, and now the words of Sakura. Telling them how she met the The Marques. It all seemed like a trap to Faith.. or maybe her imagination was acting up. No, she had fallen threw the ceiling, and now the stairs were gone.

"Merrick and I fell threw the same hole in the garden. I have to guess the rest of you used the stairs. What we know is this is not normal... And that someone may be coming shortly." Faith said. She towered over everyone, even with her heels off. The next being Merrick himself.

Sakura Rose had to do a double take. She shook her head so quickly and so violently that her own raven ponytails whipped her in the face, but she didn't seem to mind. It made a nice substitute for a splash of cold water to the face after all.

"Fell? Through a hole in the garden? Who keeps holes in their garden?!" After a brief moment of silence "I suppose that would explain why either of you didn't respond when I called after you..." She looked to Merrick sympathetically, then to Faith. "Yes, I called after you as well, I learned your name from your little sister, you are Faith, the eldest Miss Bard. My name is Sakura Rose Dawson by the way. I haven't really integrated into a school yet so I don't know everyone..."

A singe on her hand that is holding the taper candle brought her back to the present reality. Flicking off dried wax, "Merrick? Apple? Anything to add about your experiences in this haunted house that might help everyone?"

Before Sakura's father answered, the Count did his door opening and ran through. Alfred raised a hand to Sakura's father saying, "Excuse me sir, I do believe that the old count may have finally lost it, and as a gentleman I can't simply turn a blind eye and allow him to possibly hurt someone." Alfred ran after the Count, calling out, "Count, compose yourself man!"

Frantically, Ixandrias looked around herself, when he spoke. She felt blinded and disoriented in the darkness. Feeling the hands set on her shoulders froze. The feelings washed over her like water in a pool, soothing her fearful mind.

The razor sharp pain made her cry out, and struggle momentarily before the ecstasy washed over her. As he drank her blood her body weakened and soon became limp. All thoughts of time or what was happening faded into oblivion. The soft command took a few moments to register in her sluggish mind. The sweet metallic taste washed over her tongue.

It was like a drug and she found herself clinging to him. As the Count burst through the door. She hardly noticed the intrusion, or the movement soon after that.

Merrick listened intently to stories of the other, and for some time stayed rather quiet. It was beginning to dawn on him as well that there was something extremely odd taking place, and that Faith was absolutely right. How could there not be someone coming. Then again... it could be that the plan was simply to lock them in the dark basement and let them starve to death. What was it he'd said earlier? He'd said that he wasn't completely sure that this wasn't a crypt. His own words coming back to haunt him in the worst possible way. He cleared his throat before speaking, "I... I have been mostly unconscious. I'm still not completely sure that this isn't a nightmare."

Apple did, in fact, hear Faith's comment about Merrick and had to work very hard to choke back a giggle. It sounded something like a gag to one that didn't know it had originally been a loud giggle. Of course whatever mirth she may have been feeling was very quickly eclipsed by the fact that the situation was so utterly dire and with each new piece to this puzzle, her own sense of entrapment grew, something she had some serious difficulty with. She put a hand to her mouth before she spoke, organized her thoughts and then said, "I... me and Alessia were going to go looking around when we found this... this door that seemed different from the rest. I went in, it closed behind me and we couldn't get it open. And so I went down here hoping to find another way out."

Sakura Rose looked at her feet and muttered after Merrick had his small say, "I would poke you, but then again that is something you might have a nightmare about."

She then remained silent as Appolonia had her say, still fidgeting to remove dust from the many folds of her dark skirt.

"Another... way... out..." she mimicked the last three words and then left the group of teens all attempting to remain calm and hide their distress. She began at the invisible stairs and held her left hand to the wall, her taper candle in her right. Even though the immediate lamps were lit, she still was walking very slowly. There was a larged darkened portion of the room, and she could not visually make out the entire perimeter. A few yards after the gaslight ended, Sakura Rose's hand suddenly curved around the stone and went into a hole. She immediately withdrew, faced it with her taper, and saw that there was an archway. "Hey, there's a doorway over here!" she called out.

Upon her observation she noticed an unlit gas lamp near the doorway. She reached up but her tiny fingers merely slipped off the glass covering; she couldn't light it. "Can somebody give me a hand in lighting this? We might be able to see more of the room..."

[imgright]http://i318.photobucket.com/albums/mm422/kingpooky117/paranormal_by_jolelikek-d32zind-1.jpg[/imgright]

~Hannah~

Sakura Rose did not have to wait very long for a response, for just at that moment, the lamp in question and all the other lamps in the room lit themselves without any interference at all, revealing in fact three total doorways in the room, each leading to a new area. It was revealed, too, that the room was round and without any stairway of any kind. And though all the lamps were lit, a heavy blackness hung in the air like a rain cloud soon to burst. There was no ceiling, it seemed... as if the walls simply continued up until they reached the end of the universe.

What was probably far more troubling was the little girl sitting in the center of the room, silent and blood-spattered. She wore old stained rags and her skin was a sickly pale and she remained so still that one would have thought she was dead if not for the fire in her eyes. The kind of hatred that reflected out from her beautiful deep red eyes was absolutely unmistakable.

Sakura Rose made a rather high-pitched squeaking noise as the lamp appeared to light on its own. Taking a step back then facing the rest of the room, she saw all that all of the lamps had lit as if somebody flipped a switch, but there appeared to be no electrcity down here. "This haunted house thing is starting to get to m..." when she saw the girl, she fell silent.

She tried to remember how to get her jaw to work to say something such as 'hello' or 'are you okay' but it failed for a few seconds.

Before she knew it with the rise and fall of her breath she found herself whispering over and over again in a voiceless chant, ”悪霊退散（１)"

Translation NotesX

1. Romaji: Aku Ryou Tai San
Translation: "Evil Spirit(s) Begone"
OOC Notes: This is a ward against evil spirits used by the Shinto priestess Hino Rei in Sailor Moon. Sakura Rose isn't "religious" in the american way but she is spiritual. I also have these four characters tattoo'ed on my back to be permanently warded against evil, myself.

Merrick jumped as the lights suddenly flickered into life, illuminating and not illuminating. He looked about the room, as soon as he calmed, to take stock.

"Good god", he said upon seeing the little girl in the center of the room.

Apple, who had been about to offer her help to Sakura Rose, dropped her lighter on the ground, forgetting about it completely, and mostly just stared at the little girl in the center of the room.

The girl herself merely stared for at least two minutes and then spoke in a very small voice, "You are who he has chosen? You?"

The disdain in her words were palpable, as if each word were crafted with barbs and nettles. And then she was back to the staring again. A low rumbling sound seemed to be coming from her chest... the sort a wild animal might make if you stared at it directly in the eye in its territory. It was a dangerous sound. She turned her back to the four and said, "To the East is the winery. There is food there. To the West is the room of... you should leave what is in there alone. To the North is the catacombs. If you can survive them, there is an exit."

She paused, turned around and said very clearly, "And one of you will have to stay behind, if any of you wish to leave the room."

Kataro smiled slightly at the old door and pushed on it. Feeling that it wasn’t locked he opened it. He took a step through and began to descend the staircase below. It was almost tedious so hoping to get down quicker he broke into a jog of sorts. Then he was running in hopes to reach the bottom. He felt the step slip out from under his foot as he missed it by the skin of his teeth and ended up plummeting down. Coiling up in hopes to prevent too much damage he eventually found himself in a lit room. His nose was bleeding slightly and his knuckles were grazed. His suit was now worn and dirty. He cussed softly under his breath and turned to look at the stairs. It was obvious the shock on his face. The stairs were no longer there. He turned back to the group in front of him. He recognized most of them; it was his business to know. He knew they wouldn’t know him from appearance though. He then set eyes on the girl whom was covered in blood splatter. Staring as he wiped the blood off his face on a handkerchief he had in his pocket and returning it. There. He recomposed himself and sat there in silence trying to take in the whole situation. He raised a hand to his temple gently messaging it in confusion. This situation didn’t seem right no matter how he tried to think of an explanation.

Alfred paused to catch his breath, gasping out, "How does he move so bloody fast?Jesus, he's like a marathon runner. Now... where the bloody hell did he run off to?" Alfred had made his way to a four way intersection of hallways and, deciding on random, started down the West hall.

((sorry for the shortness))

Standing just a few yards or so in front of Alfred was the Marques himself, looking rather dashing, given his dreary surroundings. What was strange about this was that he didn't seem to have been there just a few moments earlier.

"Ah... good evening, Mr. Churchill. How wonderful it is to see you here. You were just the man I was looking for, in fact."

The Marques's lips curved upward into a knowing smile, and he waited for his sprinting companion to come to a halt, so as to talk to him further.

((short, but I've got to get this going...))

Alfred skidded to a halt and began adjusting his suit saying, "Ah, you must be the Marques. Well, you certainly look the part I must say sir. I do hope you'll forgive me for running about your home but I spotted the local Count running about with a weapon looking quite manic and felt I should stop him. Well, what is it that you need help with sir?"

Faith Looked to the girl. As everyone else did. In shear terror. The girl was covered with blood, and had just a dead look in her eyes. No sort of blushing was even visible to her face. Was there some sort of joke? Faith then listened to the girl speak. Giving directions. [I]how can you trust her? Seems too easy...[/I]The voice in her mind asked.

"Yes. That is very true." Faith said to everyone. Though really answering the invisible body. Faith seemed to completely ignore the word chosen the girl used. Going right for the directions. Then something crossed her mind..

"What are you?"

Jerked back into the present from her miniature trance that did alter the her aura a bit, giving her a bit of confidence that wasn't there before, she heard Faith inquire a question about the girl.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sakura Rose said in a quiet but matter-of-fact voice as she went to rejoin the others from the first archway. "She is an evil spirit. You can tell by the look in her eyes that for some reason she wants us dead, but can't, which is why she is making things difficult for us, like the disappearing stairs, and painting the only exit out as a rather deadly one."

Her voice rose to normal speaking tone "I have two thoughts: somebody has to stay behind, yet a common sense rule is that nobody is to be left alone, I suggest a buddy system, two by two.", unaware of the new companion with them who has remained silent thus far. "Also, we should check the other rooms first for any sort of supplies that may be useful and aid our way to exit the cursed place."

"Please call me Phillipe, my good sir. And you needn't worry. The Count is being... attended to", said the Marques without batting an eye, "You know, he's really quite an interesting man. Colorful, perhaps, obsessed... but not so crazed as the citizens of this town would have you believe."

The Marques looked down to pull a ruffle from his sleeve and then looked up at Alfred blankly, and then with a smile.

"I am aware that you are a man of means... ambition... lineage... These are important considerations, to be sure, but it all comes to an end when we meet our fate."

He paused for a moment and looked into Alfred's eyes, "What I am offering you, Mr. Churchill goes beyond that. It goes beyond... anything that could have been in your consideration up to this point. Do I have your attention?"

Hannah stared at the newcomer, a boy whose clumsiness or recklessness had caused him to fall flat on his face down the stairs. Idiots, she thought, Absolute idiots!

She ignored him, however, and addressed the rest of the group in a very stern tone, "Only one of you may and must stay behind. The rest must move as a group, together."

Merrick did not at all like the idea of leaving any of the girls behind. Even less did he like the idea of being ordered around by a child. And while he had been somewhat scared a few moments ago, in his deadpan sort of way, he found that feeling supplanted by a more pressing irritation. There weren't ghosts and evil demons causing any of this. The girl was flesh and blood like the rest of them. Obviously she was. She was bleeding wasn't she? Or was that someone else's blood? Merrick did not want to consider this. Instead he took a few steps forward and said, "And what are you going to do if we decide to leave together? There are four of us and one of you, and you don't seem to have the musculature or composition to be giving orders to anyone."

The girl's reaction was not kind. She pointed one of her small and delicate fingers at the boy, turned her hand palm upward and then curled her finger back into a fist and seemed to make a pulling motion in the air. Suddenly, about a pint's worth of blood sprayed forth from the boy's chest and he fell to his knees as the crimson liquid fell on top of him.

Apple stood transfixed as her friend fell to the floor, injured in such a bizarre way. She was horrified and completely helpless. As he lay on the floor, he mumbled faintly, "Get out of here. Go... Leave me..."

And then he blacked out.