Waltzing By Myself (Vic Coleson)

[christineowivia]

The room was cold and almost dark, only enlightened by the soft, warm light of the sun through the window.
Olivia entered the Ballroom, a place she knew she was going to grow fond of... Dancing was one of her passions, just like singing.

She moved around for a few moments, studying the place. It was a beautiful, really well-decorated room. Olivia thought about the big balls that could be held there. Maybe in time, the manor could use a Grand Masquerade Ball. It was only a matter of time until the souls and the living people she had seen while she was wandering around came to an understanding and decided to throw a Ball. Maybe that was what the Manor needed! Content with herself, Olivia made a mental note to discuss it with someone, in case she found someone to talk to.

As she was imagining what it would look like, she could swear she was able to see transparent figures -just like herself- dancing around, chatting and having fun. They really looked... happy.

That convinced her even more. It had to be done. She was going to find a way to give the Manor the life she, herself, didn't have.

Absentmindly, she started to dance around, waltzing to music that was only able to be heard in her mind. Slowly and gracefully.
Out of impulse, she started to hum the music in her mind, floating around in waltz movements, her eyes closed and disconnecting herself from the rest of the world.

[victorcoleson]

The day was silent. It seemed the strange presences in the manor since his death had slowly begun to settle down and understand the manor, yet he was left with so many questions. He had yet to meet other's like him, perhaps he was the only one in the manor dead, yet so alive. Since being trapped in the place he now considered his own prison away from the afterlife, away from seeing his parents again, he hadn't explored much.

That day, though, deep inside, his aching ghostly gut had compelled Victor to wander, to find solace and comfort in the place he had once used for muse, for art and for privacy. Letting himself become nothing but a transparent piece of memory he went off, going through every room, not finding anyone interesting, anyone different. A confused Puerto Rican woman who seemed to enjoy her solitude, the young girl he'd once scared, many men with masks and women with just as much confusion or googly eyed at some young man which he knew nothing about.

To be honest, Victor could not care less anymore other than about the fact that one or more of these people could have been the cause of his death. One day he would figure it out, but on this day Victor remained determined in finding a being with interest.

That was when he saw her. Or was that just in his insane imagination. He had longed for companionship, someone of his kind to talk to. Perhaps his vivid past memories were playing tricks on him. As he silently watched in amazement, he could not control where he moved. He began to glide toward her, no longer transparent, without being able to stop until he touched her shoulder.

A gasp was heard for a moment, and for that moment he thought it was her. Until he realized it came from him. He could touch her...How could he do that? When he tried touching that Ellen girl he went right through her. VIctor's whole body went through solid walls and doors.

"You're real...?" He muttered, floating back slightly. His once bright blue eyes were shimmering silver in astonishment. She was there...It wasn't just a figment of his lonely lost soul. Softening up a bit, Victor moved toward her only an inch more and tried to smile.

The attempt to smile faded as he could only perfect one that was crooked and false. How could he truly attempt to smile? What was there to smile about? He was dead. More over, he was the living dead. Unable to enjoy peace in the after life nor normalcy with the living. Yet he did not want to lose the chance in getting to know the one being who was just like him.

He would not have to be lonely anymore. A ghost could have friends, no? As such, Victor did his best to keep calm. He did not want to frighten her, nor did he want to have to go about searching for her if he did frighten her.
"My name is Victor." He said softly, as it echoed around the room.

[christineowivia]

Olivia continued to waltz as even more figures constantly moved around her. She could feel them, even with her eyes closed. For once, she was almost happy again. /Almost/ happy... in her mind, a dead person could never be happy, unless they found something or someone. That would make them feel less alone.

Maybe that's what she needed... some kind of companion. Maybe a friend, one of those she had almost never had. She had met a lovely young girl named Meg back in Sweden, and they had been really close, but no one else. Well... Meg and Raoul.

Raoul... Viscount Raoul de Chagny... how she missed him.
Olivia had only seen him once, but that was enough. They both had felt the spark of love in their hearts... A love that had died young.

Just as she thought about him, she felt something on her shoulder and she jumped a little bit. It had startled her and made her unreal world where everyone was dancing fade away. The room was back to normal, the music in her head had stopped and the figures disappeared.

As she turned around, she saw a man, a tall handsome man standing before her. For a moment, she thought it was Raoul, for he looked like that young boy she had once met and the man she loved. But when she heard him introducing himself as Victor, that faded away, too.

To be nice, Olivia smiled softly and nodded her head. "Christine, but I go by 'Stine, or my middle name, Olivia," she introduced herself. 'Meet, greet, exchange names,' she remembered Charles saying that to her when they met. There was nothing wrong in making friends, right? And if she wanted to make friends, she had to be nice, non?

[victorcoleson]

His misty silver eyes that shimmered slightly in his ghostly state watched the girl with quite a curiosity. For a ghost she was a sight for sore eyes, though he wouldn't come to admit that. Even ghosts could be awkward and he was sure that if his ghostly appearance or his high strung "get-to-know" attitude didn't frighten her, an inch of awkwardness surely would. As such, Victor kept his thoughts in his head before smiling back at her. At least she had been nice enough to introduce herself.

"Olivia." He muttered for a moment and in that moment the name echoed in his own mind. He'd always liked that name. "That's a beautiful name." He said in a matter of a fact tone. He'd met a Christine already in this manor. It had to have been coincidence and yet he could not call them both Christine. Though he was sure he would not see the human Christine he had met, again in his life. Still, Victor needed answers. After all, he'd been in the manor for quite a few years and even having been alive the few ghosts he'd seen were nothing like her and other than him, no one else had died in the manor at least...not recently...or so he thought.

Facing the ghost girl before him, Victor looked at her deeply. Just as suddenly as a thought came into his mind, it escaped as he lost himself. Quickly though, he regained composure of sort. Perhaps they should know each other before the questioning began. "Olivia, what brings you to this part of the manor?" His eyes rolled and deep inside he was bashing his head against a wall. Was that the best question he could come up with? Dear God was he in for a rough time. Victor never really was good with talking to woman, he supposed that being dead, now, didn't change that.

Floating around the ballroom, he looked around at the dusty tapestry along the walls and the creaky yet sturdy floor boards. This was a room he had never seen in all his time here. Then again, he rarely visited many places of this manor. The library where he worked before-...before the footsteps, before the sound of wandering voices, before- crack...crash... It was happening again, the memory was resurfacing and his anger began to make the light that had already been dim, flicker and the windows began to open and close on its own. His eyes shut tight and he tried to forget, tried to push the memory aside. He didn't want to see it happen again, not again. That was when he remembered he was not alone and relaxed.

[christineowivia]

Olivia remained silent, eyeing the stranger and trying to decide whether or not he was to be trusted. Maybe if she gave away too much information... "Thank you," she replied to the compliment about her name. "Victor is a lovely name, as well," she added, unsure if she had said that before. Her mind trailed off for a moment... something usual for her. She'd lose her train of thought often. A weakness, for many. A strength for her. A strength because she could think about many things at the same time. And that was pretty useful.

Olivia had stopped dancing by then and she was merely staring at this young ghost. She wanted to ask him many things, but she decided not to. Maybe once they got to know each other a little better... That way, she'd be sure if she could trust him or not.

"Here? Well, it's a lovely room, don't you think? It's beautiful and peaceful and..." her voice trialed off. "What brings /you/ here?" Olivia asked curiously. Maybe that was too much and she shouldn't have asked that. But then...

The light flickered and the windows went crazy. Olivia silently closed her eyes and waited for it to be over. When it was, she looked up at Victor. He seemed... angry, upset. Cautiously, she floated over to him but kept her distance. "Victor? Are you all right?" she asked gently.

[victorcoleson]

Victor could tell she was observing him. Frankly, he didn't blame her. After all, the craziness in the manor seemed rather odd in his opinion. Giving a small toothy grin, Victor nodded. "Thanks!" Soon enough, though, she seemed to lose herself. Something Victor found to be odd. He tilted his head and almost out of habit waved a hand in front of her eyes. It was something he did when his brothers spaced out while they were conversating. The memory flashed by in its quickness.

"With my pieces and Mikes sense of humor we could make so much money!" Victor looked at Daniel with bright excited eyes. But Daniel was spaced out. "Helloooooooo." He waved his hands in front of Dan's eyes. "Wha-What I miss? Oh yeah Vic, sounds great."

Victor couldn't help in reminiscing. He missed his brothers dearly. But he branched off from his memories enough to hear her question. "I-I...saw you dancing and got curious." He answered honestly, a hand reaching toward the back of his head, rubbing his neck awkwardly. He never was good with women. "I've never seen another ghost..." To be honest, he was glad she was the first ghost he had met. He'd wandered around enough to hear stories of other ghosts. But Olivia seemed nice. "It's like-"

But all he could hear was his own body breaking as it hit the floor the night of his death. The moment Victor calmed down, he could tell she was frightened if anything a little intimidated. "I'm...fine." He lied. "H-Have you ever seen what happened to you the night you died?" He needed to ask. Victor remembering watching a paranormal special. When ghosts had trouble coming to terms with their deaths things like that seemed to happen often.

[christineowivia]

The hand waving in front of her face made her snap out of her trance, blinking a few times. "I'm... sorry, that usually happens," Olivia explained, giving an apologetic look. "And it has been happening way too often for my taste," she added a few seconds later in a softer voice, more like whispering to herself.

"I loved the room and it reminded me of the first time I danced in a room like this one, so I guess I couldn't help it," she said, smiling softly, to be polite, actually. "I have!" She stressed. "I've seen a few around here, and a few humans, too. Living people." Olivia paused for a moment. "They are nice... or most of them are."

Olivia looked at him with concern in her eyes. If there was something her eyes were capable of doing, that was showing her emotions. "I have... in those counted nights when I can sleep, I have nightmares about it."

[victorcoleson]

Somehow her explanation of her spacing out happening often bothered him . Before he could even stop himself for asking, he took quite a large step forward. "What do you think about when that happens?" Immediately Victor wanted to shove a sock into his mouth. He needed to stop talking. Victor could be rather intrusive at times. It wasn't his fault. For quite a few years he lived in a town where everyone knew everything there was about everyone.

Victor made a face of disbelief. "Nice..." He repeated, slowly going into thought himself. Perhaps it wasn't him, necessarily, avoiding to meet people. Perhaps it was the fear that if he met people they would run screaming or get the ghost busters on the job. Or perhaps he had watched much too much television as a kid. "...C-can I ask you something?" He said nervously, floating closer toward her.

He frowned and nodded. "It's frightening, isn't it? Seeing it all happen...Does it ever cause something to ha-..." That's when it hit him. "Sleep? You can sleep?" There was so much he had to learn! Perhaps he could be the mentor he was looking for! Victor suddenly beamed with excitement, his eyes a fierce and bright silver as he grinned a rather large Cheshire like grin. Perhaps she could tell him how he could contact his brothers!

[christineowivia]

"Everything and nothing," Olivia replied, nodding her head. "It's weird... and I can't control when it happens. Sometimes, I think of how I was when I was... alive. Sometimes, of how I am now. Sometimes, my mind wanders towards my little brother and I wonder how he is now that I'm not there anymore. And I can't help but feel guilty, knowing that I left him with... with /him/." The thought of her father creeped in her mind and made her lifeless, transparent form shiver.

"Yes," she said when he asked if he could ask her something. "Go ahead, ask."

"It's not that I can sleep like I used to, but sometimes I get some rest, or something like that," she explained. "Or -who knows- maybe it's a vision, or a daydream. I don't really know, but it scares me, greatly." Who would think a ghost would be scared? But, indeed, she was. Very scared. Maybe even more than she was in life.