((Oh yes, let's stick her with Rai. Surely that can't end badly. Also, Graxdon, stop stealing from Doctor Who! Bad boy! ;P))

"Astryd!" Mellony cried out in shock as the wall spun behind Astryd, saving her from the skeleton... Vashta... whatever it was, but leaving her and the man at its mercy. Whatever this thing was, it certainly wasn't going to go down just because it was missing a few bones. "How do you something that's already dead?" She whispered, horrified, as the creature lurched toward them- it was getting faster, and less jerky. Whatever was pulling the creatures strings, it was getting more practiced with every second. Looking down at the phone in her hand, she remembered what her new- and now, only- companion had said. It was a beacon. So, maybe... pulling her arm back, Mellony chucked the phone away, watching as its light disappeared into the hall. Please don't let me have made a horrible mistake and just blinded myself to that thing...

"What the hell?!" Astryd jerked back from the skeleton, only to find herself being pushed into a foreign room. "Mellony!" Alone. She hated being alone almost as much as she regretted making friends. Banging her fist on the wall she'd just fallen through, the redhead swallowed in dismay. It sounded thick. And, no matter how hard she pressed against the surface, it didn't turn. After a few moments, she built up the courage to turn around and survey her knew prison.
"Holy crap," she muttered under her breath. The doll that was sitting on the desk gave her the creeps. Especially when she the cellphone about its neck suddenly became familiar. Thick dust coated it. With shaking steps, Astryd got closer to the dummy. Would it speak?

The faint, warm light from the embers of the fire suddenly made Astryd shiver. How long had they been burning? Reaching for the candelabra, she swallowed her fear. "This is just a stupid game," she consoled herself, taking deep breaths as she picked up the box of matches. It took her over six tries to get the first match lit. Her trembling hands were shaking too badly to light the candles, and the fire went out too quickly.
Reed sent another wary look in the dummy's direction, knowing that the doll was the connection to the skeleton that was chasing them. "I wonder what would happen if I just threw you in there?" Looking at the fireplace, her green eyes narrowed. The dying embers didn't offer much in the way of roaring flames, but what would happen in the doll was burned? Would it get rid of the skeleton? If it did, how would Astryd know?

Once the candles were lit, Astryd began to explore the study. There were plenty of books. . . .
The artist lifted a few dusty tomes into her arms, setting the candelabra aside as she carried them to the dying embers. With a grimace (she loved books), she set the first one on top of the embers. Hopefully it would catch flame. Astryd carefully moved it around until she saw the glow begin to brighten. Smoke curled up from the book's corner. "Let's get a cheerful fire going," she muttered to herself, looking over her shoulder at the doll. Honestly, she was more than willing to roast the dummy. It was downright creepy.
-

((*laugh* I've never even seen Dr. Who. . . . :sweat: So I wouldn't know what happens or where anything came from. LOL

Ah, yes, that was fast. BAM, Astryd is gone! And now Mellony is stuck with Rai. :twisted: Perfect!))

Astryd's disappearance didn't seem to effect Rai. His cold expression never shifted - though his mind was spinning. And now I can't send this girl off alone. With a mental groan, the male turned his gaze to the undead who stumbled . . . and turned toward them. He saw Mellony draw back her arm . . . and then throw it down the hall.
As soon as the light disappeared, the sound of a whispering rush of wind moved past Mellony. The soft breeze that followed was a prelude to the sound of something ramming into the enemy. There was the sound of something breaking, and a splintered rib broke free and bounced off of Mellony's arm. Rai shoved the skeleton away, using the moment of momentary blindness to his advantage.

Mellony's question made him smile grimly. How do you kill something that's already dead? How, indeed.

((Haha, honestly? Neither have I- but I googled the thing's name, and that's what popped up. Also, just realized, if Rai still had blood on his hands from the vampires, that means when he grabbed Mellony's arm... oh dear))

As the cell phone clattered away from them, Mellony felt... something rush past her so quickly it left a strong breeze in its wake, and Mellony prayed that whatever it was, it was friendly. She heard something crack- bone, she recognized it from when she broke the skeleton's fingers and wrist earlier- and then something bounced off of her arm, something smooth and sort of rounded and oh god was that a bone? Taking a step back, Mellony looked around the darkened room, hoping she would be able to see SOMETHING that could help them stop this monster. But in the darkness, she couldn't see anything, and bleakly hoped that whatever she'd summoned by throwing away her only source of light would be enough to keep them alive through this- if only for a little longer.

That's when she heard it. This way, it whispered, come. This way... Something brushed past her, and in the darkness, she could almost make out the shape of something beckoning her away from the skeleton.

Or maybe that was her paranoia and panic attacks playing tricks on her. Either way, it couldn't be much worse than their current foe, could it? Groping in the darkness, she felt her hand close around flesh covered by a fancy jacket, and she pulled, hoping that the man would follow her. Hoping that whatever this thing was, it wouldn't lead them both to their deaths.

((haha, I feel like Mellony's so useless against this thing, except she can apparently summon skeleton-hating wraiths when she throws things. That's actually a pretty useful skill :D))

((^___^' Go Mellony! LOL!! And . . yes . . . Rai's hands are still bloody. :sweat: So Mellony has a lovely blood handprint on her arm now. *cough*))

Rai stepped away from the skeleton, staring down at the dim form he saw before him. Stay down. Just as he'd stepped back near Mellony, her reached out to him. The silver-haired male swallowed dryly before allowing her hold to pull him after her. Rai wanted to make sure the skeleton was dead, and by leaving there was no way to do that.
Following the faint form of the girl before him, Rai smiled grimly. "Where are we going?" Mellony looked as though she was focused on something that Rai himself couldn't see. Heck, the male couldn't see much of anything right now. His focus lingered on Mellony's wrist as she held his arm. Thirst burned his throat like a burst of scorching air. How long had it been since his last drink?

Rai looked up, forcing his gaze to search the darkness ahead of them. He saw nothing. "What are you following?" The girl seemed so sure of her course, yet there was no reason for her to be. Trying to bring his thoughts back to their current situation, Rai narrowed his pale eyes. He needed to find the fountain soon.

((LOL, really! Go Mellony!! Hahah))

(lol, I'm not stealing... it's a guest appearance)

The Vashta Nerada seemed confused for a few seconds before it turned and went after the cell phone, the voice calling out, "Why are we bound? Why can we not leave this form?" The skeleton vanished into the darkness of the house accompanied by a static-y hiss followed by, "N-no, keep away! AUUGH!"

A soft voice called out to Astryd, saying, "You... you'll make him mad if you do that." There was silence for a few seconds save for the sound of the book burning. Then, a soft clicking as the head of the ventriloquist doll turned slowly towards Astryd, the voice once again saying, "The Host... he doesn't like people ruining his things, especially the books."

((Haha, thanks, Esmme. That'd be a pretty cool video game ability- 'Summon Wraith.' And sure you are Graxd- OH FFFFFF WHY DOES THE DOLL TALK))

Mellony paused as the man behind her questioned her choice of direction. "Honestly? Not entirely sure." She admitted. "But it has to be better than the skeleton." In fact, she wasn't even following her ghostly little friend from earlier anymore, as it seemed to have disappeared when they'd gotten a far enough distance away from the skeleton. She wasn't sure what it was, but it hadn't seemed to mean them any harm... maybe it had once been a victim of their host as well? Finally stopping to look around, Mellony realized that she could actually see again, due to the large windows lining one wall of the hallway. That must be the hedge maze... She thought, looking out the windows to see a large, overgrown garden. Glancing over at her companion, she cleared her throat a little. "I, um, I don't think I ever got your name. I'm Mellony."

Astryd nearly dropped all the books she'd been carrying. The soft voice made the hair on the back of her neck rise. "R-right," the artist glanced at the burning book in surprise. "Well, if he didn't want people messing with his things he shouldn't have brought us here." Hell, she wanted to burn them all now. The only thing that stopped her was the thought of impending doom. It was bad enough that she was stuck somewhere alone with a freakish dummy. It would be worse if the Host chose to push her farther.

With a shudder, she then thought about what she was doing. The doll hadn't been speaking when she first got her idea. Now she would have to throw the thing into the fire. "Do you know how to get to the main hall?" she asked suddenly, wondering if this dummy knew anything else about the Host or the building. "There's a basement there that I need to get to." Astryd's skin began to crawl as she thought of the crawling, nasty critters that would be down there.
Putting the books down near the fireplace, Reed eyed the doll strangely. The punk-like doll had once had a human look-alike. That alone was creepy enough, and now here it was talking. "And who is this Host?"
-

The male's expression never changed, but his eyes narrowed. They were following an unknown source through uncharted territory. That thought didn't sit well with him.
As they walked, Rai's hearing picked up on the skeleton's last words. It left them then, and Rai's focus returned to the room before them. As they neared the light, his blue eyes moved over the large windows at one end of the hall. He was wary upon approaching them, and stopped a few feet away as though expecting something to crash through them.

Mellony's introduction brought him back to the present, and the tall youth's gaze moved away from the windows. "Rai," he said, smiling grimly. He would have offered a hand, but his fingers were still blackened from the vampires he'd fought. "Did you wake up here, too?"

A sense of nervous fear seemed to come from the doll as she said, "N-no. I didn't last all that long during the last ball. I was taken by the Host's 'right hand man', something he calls the Butler, and fed to the shadow creature... as for what the Host is... I don't know. I never saw him, none of us did. All I know about him is that he is pure evil and that if you die here... you don't get to pass on. The essence of your mind gets put into these dolls, but your soul... he takes it for himself. If you die here, you won't know rest, you'll only know the feeling of being trapped within your mind and tortured in your soul. I-I hate to ask since it isn't your business but... could you try and free me? I wouldn't want to trouble you too greatly since you're already in such danger, but if you manage to find my soul somewhere, can you release it? I don't know what will become of my mind, but at least my soul can go to heaven, or wherever comes after... but listen to me ramble... do you have more questions? I didn't last long, so I probably won't be able to help much, but you need every advantage you can get."

((...dude. Host is a major douche. Poor dolly. Also, Rai, don't freaking jinx yourself by saying that... getting them away from the windows now...))

Mellony smiled, glad to at least have a name. "Yeah, I woke up here too." She said sadly. "Does that mean you're looking for something in here too?" Mellony asked cautiously, looking out the window at the sky. Maybe she could figure out what direction they were heading in, and which way the north-east wing was. She didn't want to stay there too long, though- after being jumped by a skeleton, she wasn't sure she could trust anything int his house.

(ignore this post, t'was a mistake)

((Consider it ignored ;P))

The words from the doll made Astryd swallow thickly. If she died here, she would be imprisoned. Just like this poor girl, she would never be free of this hellish nightmare. The redhead shuddered, looking away from the dummy until she was finished speaking. "I promise to free you if I find your . . . soul." How strange it felt to be saying that to a usually inanimate object.
Astryd finally chose not to do what she'd originally planned. She couldn't burn this . . . girl. Uneasily shifting her feet, the artist moved toward the bookshelves again. After scanning a few titles, she looked toward the door. "Do you know where we are now?" Then Reed shivered visibly, rubbing her arms and wiping away what blackened blood she could. When she'd tripped over the vampires, some of the darkness had been left behind. "And . . . do you know what else is in this place? There was . . ." Astryd was about to say you, but that wouldn't have sat well. "There was a skeleton. And some creepy voices. Do you know about anything else?"
-

((*smack's Rai* RAI!! Don't do that! Stop thinking like someone who's used to this!! *smack* It's because of scary people like you that we have to keep moving!))

"Yes," Rai murmured, frowning a bit. "A fountain. I'm looking for one." He was quiet for a moment before asking his next question. "Do you see one? In the garden, perhaps?" That was where one usually found fountains, right? Granted, this place was a freak show, but that would be the best place to look.
Stepping away from the windows, Rai glanced down either end of the hall. Nothing, as of yet. "What are you looking for?" He almost regretted wasting the time that they were. It was normal social interaction (or, as normal as it could get under the current circumstances), but it was keeping them in one place. It was essential that Rai get to the fountain as soon as possible. He wasn't sure he wanted to go much longer with this girl, let alone the horrors of the building itself. He wasn't quite sure how much time he . . . or Mellony, actually . . . had left. The clock was still ticking, and with every precious second that passed by, Rai nearly cringed. Who knew how much longer he could stand this girl's presence?

"We should move on."

((Haha, you tell 'im, Esmme. Also, looking at Mel's dress, it looks like Rai would have most likely grabbed her sleeve and the left the hand print there, and not on her arm. We'll have to wait a lido longer for her to have her major freakout... >:D))

Taking another look over the garden, Mellony shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't see a well... it might be out there, though, that hedge maze takes up a lot of the view." She said, stepping away from the window and doing almost the same as Rai- glancing to either end of the hall to make sure they hadn't been noticed by some other monstrosity. "You're right, we- we should move." She said, moving down the hall in the direction they hadn't come from. The skeleton didn't appear to have followed them, but she wasn't taking any chances by walking back into its territory.

She had avoided his question of what she was looking for, because every time she thought of its location, it made her stomach sick and her mind race in a fevered panic. But that wasn't really fair, after he'd told her where his was. "My item, whatever it is, is supposed to be in the north-east wing of the building. It used to be a ho... a hos... a m-medical facility." She finally managed to stammer out. And she hadn't gotten much of a direction off the sky- honestly, when she laughed at Astronomy as a major, she hadn't really meant it...

((Also, just as a note for future reference: writing a post for this thread at three in the morning in a room you aren't familiar with and then trying to sleep? Not a good idea <.<;))

(warning: may not want to read what comes next while or directly after eating. I don't know how weak your stomachs are)

The doll seemed as if it were about to say something when it let out an ear
piercing shriek that was quickly cut off, and uncomfortably familiar sound to Astryd at that point, and the doll seemed to sag, as if the life in it had gone out. There was silence for a few moments before the doll seemed to sit up straight... and the Host's voice emerged from the doll, "Hello, Ms. Astryd Reed. Tell me, why would you go and burn one of my wonderful novels? Tsk tsk, now, that kind of behaviour, I simply cannot abide... I'm afraid I must punish you." With that, there was a hyrdaulic hiss from the center of the room as the floor opened up and a glass cylinder emerged from the floor. The cylinder was about the same size as Astryd and resembled a sci-fi medical pod or something, but what was inside of it looked like something out of sci-fi/horror. It looked like a mannequin, no openings for eyes or ear holes, or hair, or fingernails, or defininitive genetalia, it was just skin. It looked at Astryd with its nonexistent eyes and pressed its face against the glass where it smushed flat against it, like silly putty. It pulled away, the Freak's face taking form again, and where its mouth would be, it seemed to stretch, as if trying to open a mouth that wasn't there... until the sound of ripping flesh reached her ears, even through the glass. The skin ripped in a line where the mouth would be, revealing a gaping maw of sharp teeth, blackened with rot. A tounge, at least a foot long and covered with boils and disease, lashed out and licked all over the glass, leaving a pus yellow trail of slime before the mouth snapped shut, dismembering the tongue with a spurt of blood. The mouth resealed, not even a line remaining, before ripping open again as the Freak grinned and licked its lips with its seemingly regenerated tongue before the mouth closed again. A soft laugh came from the doll as one of the bookcases opened up, revealing a passageway, as the Host said, "I'll give you a ten second head start. More than you deserve for doing something as barbaric as burning a book, and then my experiment will be free to play... good luck."

"Medical facility?" Rai tilted his head as the girl stammered over the words. She sounded so frightened when she spoke of the hospital. "I suggest we stay together until we find a way out." He drew his own attention to the blackened liquid on his hands, trying to avoid looking at Mellony for many long moments. I don't know how this is going to work. "We can look for the fountain and the area that you need," he started walking toward the unexplored end of the hall as he spoke, "together." It didn't feel right sending a single girl off into the bowels of the freakish building alone. He looked uncomfortable with his decision, but Rai chose to ignore it.

As he walked, he grit his teeth. His throat was beginning to burn something fierce. Rai reached up to massage his neck a bit, frowning as his pace quickened. He needed to find the fountain. Now. "Stay close. I don't want you being hurt." Heaven forbid if the girl actually started bleeding. Nearly shuddering at the thought, Rai continued.
As they came into the next room, he scanned over the dusty surroundings. This place was a wider room than the last, and looked like there was a second floor above them. The balcony surrounded them on all sides. There were four doors . . . which Rai guessed led toward different wings of the house. Sadly, they had no sense of direction. Who knew if they were heading the right way?

With a frustrated growl, he took a deep breath. When he let it out, he started walking again. He chose a direction and headed toward that hallway. "Keep up."

((:XD I can't wait till she freaks out . . . . LOL! Guess we need a better light source, and possibly a place to rest, before she really figures out there's a handprint on her. ;)
@ your creepy room: Oh, perfect. *shiver* Now just listen to the theme song while typing and reading. . . .))
-

Seeing the doll become someone else, Astryd squeaked in fear and stood again. She'd just sat down to rest when the Host's voice entered the room. "P-punish?!" Her green eyes were wide as a hiss filled the room. Seeing the glass cylinder appear, she backed away as much as possible. The grotesque, faceless creature was . . . horrid. It made the girl want to hurl whatever she had left in her stomach immediately.
Upon hearing and seeing the mouth tear into the creature's features, Astryd did scream. Pressing herself back against the bookcase behind her, the redhead's pulse began to go crazy. Breath coming in shortened gasps, fear was suffocating her. Reed heaved dryly as the creature bit off it's own tongue, trembling at the thought of how close the thing actually was. The Host's voice brought her gaze snapping up to the opening in the bookcases.

Astryd was running before the Host ever finished his sentence. Scrambling down the darkened path, she heard her own sobbing breaths in the silence. "Oh, skies! No!" Trying to blink the tears from her vision, she kept running as quickly as she could. Fear made her steps faster, but that didn't matter. She didn't want to play with the experiment. If anything, she wanted to wake up. "Somebody help me!" she shouted, stumbling around a corner and charging as fast as she possibly could.

((HOLY . . . !!!!!!! Okay, that scared the poop right out of me there. :sweat: I'm looking over my shoulder right now. Hehe . . . creepy thing from friggin' Resident Evil or something. . . . *shiver*))

((...Graxdon, I really hope you borrowed that from somewhere else. Because if you came up with that... thing on your own... it does not speak well of your imagination.))

Mellony looked embarrassed as Rai questioned the location of her item. It did surprise her that he suggested they stay together to locate their items- he didn't seem too be thrilled with the idea, but she wasn't going to complain. It was better than being stuck in this place alone. 'Alone... like Astryd...' Mellony thought grimly. She really hoped that the redhead was all right- even though she'd only known Astryd for a short while, trauma like this bonded people. Mellony started as Rai snapped at her to keep up. "Oh! Right. Sorry." She said, hurrying after him. She hovered a little ways behind him, not sure how comfortable he'd be with her invading his personal space bubble. At close range, though, it was easy to tell that he was obviously uncomfortable with... something. Biting her lip, she looked at the surrounding area, then glanced back at him. "Um, Rai... are you... are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"

(No, no... I didn't borrow that thing from anywhere 3:) purely a product of my imagination)

With a crash of glass, the Host's voice echoed down saying, "Sorry... make that a five-second head start." The passage that Astryd was following led down and down, the walls all brick and slick with moisture before beginning to go back up, a small square of moonlit sky showing the exit. All the while, a fleshy, squishing noise followed behind Astryd, getting closer with every second.

Stepping through the doorway, Rai and Mellony found themselves in a long hallway, the same design as the rest of the house they'd seen thus far, beautiful portraits on the wall and excellent craftsmanship, though this hall way was also lit by several gas lamps along the walls. Another intriguing feature to this hall were several suits of armor upon stands against the wall, all European full plate like old tales of king Arthur.

((O___O" Wow! Did you grow up playing RE games, too? :eager:))

The silence that followed them as Rai looked around was heavy. When Mellony spoke, he seemed to snap his thoughts back from some distant point roughly. He partially turned to face Mellony, looking as unemotional as ever. "I'm fine," he said in an even tone, meeting her gaze to convey that he wasn't lying. "I'm not hurt." With a tight ghost of a smile, the male looked back to the portraits that lined the wall ahead of them. Rai was indeed lying - for despite being unharmed, he still needed to sustain himself. It was getting harder to concentrate on the task at hand with each passing second.
Rai's pale blue gaze lingered on the suits of armor at one side of the hallway warily. More accurately, he glanced at the burning lamps with a look of uncertainty.
"How old are you, Mellony?" The question was meant to distract Rai from the girl's close proximity. She was too close for comfort, though the male hardly showed it. Still . . . she seemed to sense his discomfort.

Rai slowly stepped forward, his keen gaze traveling over every inch of wall and floor as they crossed through the hallway.
-

Astryd's breath came in shorter gasps as fear clenched her stomach. The sound of shattering glass and the morbid voice of the Host brought the girl to a stumbling halt. She'd been going down for a while. It was starting to scare her, honestly. The redhead raked the back of her hand over her eyes, wiping away the tears that blurred her vision. She had to keep going!
The slimy moisture that clung to the walls and very air made Astryd shudder, but she didn't pause again. Running on, she glimpsed a bit of moonlight. "Please, be the way out!" Reed forged onward, pushed faster by the sound of the creature coming ever closer.

The exit in view, Astryd ignored the painful burn in her chest as she heaved for breath. Reaching the end of the hall, the girl pulled her hand away from the moist wall again. It was hard not to lean against anything and catch her breath, but the sound of the experiment was more than enough to keep anyone moving.
"Hello! Anyone!" Reed knew that no one heard her, but on the off chance that Mellony and the stranger heard her, it was worth the try.

((You came up with that thing on your own? *shudder* Also, while I applaud you for the monsters, Grax, you've kinda forgotten about Franklin somewhere...))

Mellony frowned, even as Rai assured her he was all right. Glancing at the decor, Mellony almost felt like she'd walked into an old medieval castle. At least there's light in here. She thought to herself, glad for that after running around in the dark for so long- even if the gas lamps' flames constant flickering made the shadows move strangely around the armor. Glancing at the folded hands of one suit, she briefly wondered if it would be wise to take one of the swords the decorations held. They looked real enough- but they also looked heavy, and considering she only weighed 120 soaking wet, picking one up seemed like an impossibility. She looked back at Rai as the man questioned her age. "I'm seventeen." She told him honestly. After all, it's not like she had a reason to lie about it. "What about you?"

((I was totally gonna have Mellony steal one of the swords. Then I realized that those things are freaking heavy, and Mellony's not exactly an intimidating specimen. Need to find this girl a knife or something. That, and I'm not gonna tempt the host by having her steal something 0.o))

(I didn't forget about him, I just can't decide whether he should live or die)

Under the moonlight, Astryd could see what the multiple buildings that apparently constituted the Host's home. The building she was next to appeared to be a sort of dormitories, just one of eight masterfully crafted and massive buildings, with the largest standing a top a hill on the other end of the complex, past gardens and greenhouses with the gate leading up the main house blocked by a huge hedge maze. It was both an eerie and beautiful sight, and one that deserved a good look, if not for the sound of flesh slapping stone as the Experiment grew ever closer.

((Well, Franklin can run into Astryd. ;) And he can die later, if you want. LOL

@Calyx: Whew, don't anger the Host! *shudder* Miss Reed is learning that the hard way. :XD))

Rai narrowed his eyes, glancing back as they reached the end of the hall. As though preoccupied, he didn't respond. The male blinked, and then took a moment to look over the next room. "Nineteen," he said after a few seconds of hesitation. Once again he swallowed and rubbed his throat as though it were sore. "Do you have any family?" He just wanted to keep the conversation moving. Anything to keep his mind off of their current situation.

Slowly stepping toward the door, he made sure that Mellony was close before reaching out to the door frame and looking through.
-

Breathing heavily, Astryd glanced over the thick maze that was between her and what seemed to be the main house. Without thinking, she ran toward it. Struggling to get out of the tunnel, Reed didn't look back. She just wanted to be rid of whatever was following her.
She kept moving until her chest heaved and burned so badly she almost flopped over from exhaustion. Heaving on an empty stomach, Astryd paused and stood for a few moments. It was harder to tell if the experiment was still following her without the help of the tunnel's echo.
The thought of the monster made Astryd shudder, and she began to walk once again. Hedges soon surrounded her. "Why didn't I look before running?" she groaned. Surely, it couldn't be that bad, right? Unfortunately, she had no idea which way she should go. Deciding on a direction, Reed started walking. She would get there eventually. She just began to pray that she wouldn't be lost in the maze with her lovely, nasty "playmate" coming after her.

((Yeah, no kidding 0.o))

Mellony was surprised. Rai wasn't much older than her- she'd thought he'd be at least in his twenties as... stoic... as he was. Her eyes narrowed as he rubbed at his throat. Clearly, something was wrong with Rai. Brushing it off, she thought about his next question. "Yes, I do. My parents. God, they're going to be so freaked when they realize I'm missing... if they even..." She bit her lip, cutting herself off. It wasn't her parents' fault that there was such a huge rift
between them.

...not entirely, anyway. Glancing over her shoulder at the decorated hallway, she quickly turned around and looked into the room beyond Rai. "Stupid question, but... see anything?" She asked a bit nervously. She hated relying on other people, because it made her sound needy and childish- two things that she'd tried very hard not to come off as at University. But her nerves wouldn't go away, and she wasn't sure what else to do. She almost wished her shadowy little friend from earlier would come back- even if it was just a manifestation of her panic and adrenaline, it was a lot more helpful than she was being right now.

(Sorry for not posting in forever. I forgot to subscribe! :P )

Lenelle could distinctly hear voices and other sounds coming from different places around her. She walked slowly, holding her other shoes in her hand as weapons. There was no way she was going down without a fight. She moved with the grace of a dancer as she wandered the halls. It didn't look like she'd ever make it to the exit. Her feet were aching and her hands were tired of holding the shoes.

Lenelle finally made it to a dining hall. It had a long, and the deep purple table-cloth on it added an elegant feel to the room that made her clothes seem perfect for her to be in there. The beige candles on the table reminded Lenelle of Thanksgiving dinner back home. She shook those sad nostalgic thoughts from her mind and continued on. There was a door in the far right corner of the room. Lenelle hurried to it, expecting a hallway to be on the other side. Instead, there was a kitchen. It smelled as clean and perfect as it looked. Everything inside was sliver and shiny, like Mr. Clean had cleaned it himself. Lenelle felt uncomfortable being there, like she could ruin everything with one touch. She walked slowly through, trying hard not to let anything on her touch anything in the room. Once she made it to the other side, she took a deep breath and opened the wooden door that was in front of her. On the other side was the most amazing thing.

She was finally outside. There were trees surrounding her and grass that went for miles. She saw flower bushes, and other buildings in the distance, and there was the one she was looking for right in front of her.

((Sorry peoples for not posting! My brain has been full of pony ))

Behind Lenelle, in the shadows of the house she heard a woman scream, "N-no, stay away!" followed by a blood curling shriek that was swiftly cut off before the whole thing repeated.

With a small gust seemingly coming from nowhere, the gas lights illuminating the hall Mellony and Rai were in suddenly went out, throwing the hallway into a deep darkness not even Rai could pierce. It only lasted a second, however, before the gas lights reignited as a low, blue flame, barely illuminating the hallway and casting long, shadows, though that was not what stood out about the hallway. The once resplendent suits of armor, suitable for any heroic knight, were now blackened, rusted, and adorned with cruel, jagged spikes. Instead of beautiful swords and lances, they were armed with flails and serrated blades, weapons made for a slow, painful death. The paintings no longer showed peaceful meadows or noble figures, but scenes of these dark knights killing, raping, and destroying all before them. The suits of armor, Rai also noticed, reeked of blood and he could see, even with the dim light, that the suits were bleeding from mortal wounds in the armor. Then, with a shrieking protest of rusted metal, the suits of armor all turned towards the two guests.

((hmm... I think I'll let Astryd squirm in the maze for a bit longer... mwahaha))

((...I knew you were going to do that. I knew it. Suits of armor are never NOT alive in creepy houses! Also, yay, MLP!))

Mellony jumped as a cold breeze raised goosebumps along her arms and sent shivers down her back. Darkness fell over the hall, and Mellony felt fear coil tight in her chest again. Oh no... Turning around, she could see in what was left in the dim light that the scenery in the hall had changed. Strangely enough, it felt less out of place with its new decor than it did before- even if it was even more terrifying.

Then, as if the sudden, startling change of scenery wasn't enough, the armor moved. To look at them. "Rai... I think we need to run."

((Yes, yes, Mellony has taken on the mantle of 'Captain Obvious' there. I know. But, to be fair, she doesn't know if the suits of armor can actually walk yet or if they can just turn their heads and scare the sh*t out of whoever happens to be in the hall.))