Who Are You? (Nathan)

[Emma Ravenhearst]

Horror. Blood and horror.

That was all Emma Ravenhearst could think of. It was all that would run through her mind. Over and over again...So much blood...

It had been a month since her murder. A solid month and she had done nothing but cry in the little basement she had found herself in when she awoke.

She was a ghost now. That much was very clear, in everything about her form. She could remember her murder, could remember exactly how it had occurred. She wished she couldn't. She wished she could wipe the memory from her brain completely. Perhaps if she could, she would be able to move on.

Also clear to her was that she was unable to leave the bedeviled manor that she had died in. When she had first awoken, she had tried very hard to get out, had spent days trying to push her form out of the manor. But to no avail. She was trapped here. All she wanted was to go home...

But how could she go home? Now that she was a ghost...Charles obviously planned on keeping her in the manor forever, judging by the wedding dress that she had found herself in when she awoke. She was unable to remove the dress. It seemed stuck to her form, which caused her great distress, and she would have surely harmed herself with all of the scratching she did to try to get it off, if she had the ability to harm herself anymore.

After she had learned all of these things and figured out that there was nothing she could do, she had confined herself to the basement she had found herself in. Her body was there, in a coffin in the corner, and she could look in on it, if she wanted to. But it was now starting to rot away, as was Charles' body on the floor. He had died too, from what she could decipher from the body on the ground, and she had no idea if his spirit was haunting the manor as well. As far as she knew, she was alone...Completely and totally alone...

[alienist]

Nathan was not as sagely now as he always liked to think himself. In fact, at first, he had been just like her--and by ghosts' standards, he was just a baby. But the others here--and there were many others--had welcomed him with open arms and had taught him about his new life. He still had trouble coping. It was not the sort of thing one could get used to fast, dying. Especially dying and still having to life this half-life.

He had always thought he would go to Heaven and yet here he was. Maybe this was Hell.

Nathan had heard whispers of a new ghosts, though no one in the manor knew who had joined them like Charles did. He had died only a few days ago and was still in a limbo stage, and would not appear in the manor for some time. Good. Nobody wanted to deal with him, least of all the good doctor.

He hadn't even been searching for her, was the funny thing. Nate tended not to pay much mind to rumors... what else were dead people supposed to do all day? He knew that he had become extremely depressed, not only because he was now dead and could not move on, but because he was bored as hell.

And so he was not expecting to see her pale, weeping form when he accidentally floated into the room. The scene was grotesque--oh, and there was Charles. Nathan could not believe the mindset of worshipping a dead body until you yourself faded away. Dalimar had certainly had mental issues.

"Miss?" he whispered, letting it carry over to her. If he has killed her, and he almost certainly had, then perhaps Nathan could provide some comfort.

[Emma Ravenhearst]

Emma jumped violently when she heard someone speaking behind her. Her form trembled, and for a moment, she dared not move. What if it were Charles?! True, the voice sounded rather different than his...But the chance that he had come back to haunt her in death was too great for her to take by turning around.

She clutched at the ground, looking down at her partially transparent fingers. She was still not used to that, to being able to see right through herself. It had been terrifying the first time that she had noticed it, and she still could not get over the cold feeling that seemed to grip her every time she noticed the strangeness of her form.

Her weeping came to a halt as she tried to decide the best course of action, and a dead silence filled the room. It was a complete silence, one that can only be brought on by treading into a place so filled with death. Complete, total, and terrifying.

Emma steeled herself. She had to turn around, she decided. If it was Charles...Well, what further harm could he do her as a ghost? Rising slowly to her feet, she turned around to face the man.

Well, it wasn't Charles. It was a completely different man, one whom she had never seen before and, judging by his appearance, one who shared the same form as she. Perhaps he too had been killed by Charles...? She wouldn't have been surprised. What a mess she must look, she thought, for a stranger to see her. A silly thing to be worried about, but she did anyway.

She clutched at her wedding dress, the loathed thing, and whispered in a very soft voice, "...Who are you...? Why do you disturb me...?"

[alienist]

Nathan tilted his head as he watched the bride struggle. All at once, he knew who she thought he was, and felt quite confident that he knew who she was. He had never met nor seen Emma Ravenhearst, but who else could it be? His eyes traveled to Charles's fresh corpse, and the open coffin.

When she turned around, he offered a small smile as consolation. He would try to be as hospitable to her as the others had been to him, but he couldn't make any promises--his depression matched hers and then some, and he was still considerably frightened of whatever else lurked in the manor.

"Emma Ravenhearst?" he asked, approaching her a little. He sighed a little and didn't bother bowing as he had when greeting a lady for the past... how many years had he been alive...? "My name is Nathan. Was... Nathan. Nathan Valentine. You and I have a mutual friend, I think," he said bitterly. Dalimar.

"Come," he said, going to her and putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. "It isn't healthy for you to stay in here." He glanced at Charles's body in distaste. It smelled horrible in here. "Did he kill himself? Good," he muttered, and then wondered if that would be offensive. He'd never wished that on someone before.

[Emma Ravenhearst]

Emma didn't quite know how to react to this man. He did not seem to wish her any harm...But, than again, Charles had seemed relatively benevolent as well. The mere thought of him made her want to burst into tears. How could she have been so naive?! So...stupid?! She should have known. Should have seen it from the beginning. But she hadn't. She had been blinded by infatuation for a man who took to obsession and madness faster than she could come to her proper senses.

She didn't move when the man came closer, trying her best to hold her ground, to hold her head high. He could do her no harm. He could do her no harm...There were still tears on her face and she hurriedly moved to wipe them away. She needed to look at least somewhat put together, didn't she...? But what was the use? Who cared? It didn't faze her in the slightest when he didn't bow to her. She hardly deserved to be bowed to, for all that she had caused...

It took her a moment to register that he had just given her his name and she cleared her throat, her voice soft and a little husky as she whispered, "Emma Ravenhearst, sir..." She flinched a little when he put his arm around her, stiffening and not seeming at all comfortable, byt not even caring enough to move away. His words hardly seemed to register and she just nodded a little at his question, averting her eyes from Charles' corpse.