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Post by Erik Lavalais on Jun 25, 2012 13:44:29 GMT -5
"Intriguing, indeed...." Erik's voice was low and calm. "So you mean to tell me that you are...well your body has gone? How long have you been this way?" The apparition came toward him, but he did not move. What would happen if she touched him? Would he feel it? Or would she just go through?
Erik flexed his fingers. She was not like the ghosts he was warned about. Never had he heard of an intelligent apparition that played music and spoke softly. He'd always heard of demon poltergeists, intent on the hurt and destruction of others. And he'd never believed in them. Not til this point....
How many other ghosts in this manor were there? Were they all like her? Soft spoken and kind? Or were there more malevolent things at work here?
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Jun 25, 2012 15:47:10 GMT -5
There was no question at all in Emma's mind now. This was a living person she could trust, could feel comfortable around. His voice was inviting, and he seemed to wish her no harm. Rather, he seemed as interested in her as she was in him, which was something she could hardly believe. She let her violin fall completely to her side, relaxing and looking at the man with a curious gaze. She wanted to float closer and take a closer look...But she didn't want to frighten him off.
She blinked a little at his questions. Normally, she wouldn't have answered questions that even came close to mentioning her death. But now, she saw no issue with satisfying the man's curiosity, "I've been here 117 years, sir..."
117 years. Well, it hadn't seemed quite that long. Once a being passes into a plane where they will be held for all eternity and time no longer matters, they tend to lose track of it. As a result, the time had not seemed as long as it would have for a living person...Not when eternity was waiting at the door...
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Jun 27, 2012 12:01:37 GMT -5
Erik smirked. He was older than the apparition. "I'm afraid I have you beat, mademoiselle. Age-wise, at least. What is your name?" He stepped a little closer. She seemed more relaxed. Wonderful!
Perhaps he could get a closer look at her if she was comfortable around him? It looked like it might turn out that way, her 'body language' suggested that she was alright with him, and she'd put the misty violin at her side.
Was she curious too? She didn't make a move, but her eyes...her strange eyes were lit up with a sort of vibrancy. Like a human when they were curious or joyful.
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Jun 27, 2012 12:50:37 GMT -5
Older than her? Older than 117 years? How in the world could that be possible for a living being? That is, if he was living...Perhaps he was a ghost like her? He certainly didn't look ghostly...But, then again, sometimes you couldn't tell... "...How could you possibly be older than me...?"
The words left her mouth before she fully processed the next question. Her name. Well, she didn't normally make a habit of giving that out, but she didn't see the harm...She liked this man, "Emma Ravenhearst, sir...."
She gave a curtsy, pulling up her wedding dress and dipping down, rather surprised that she remembered how to do it with such grace, before moving back to a standing position. She didn't move at all when he came closer, and merely cocked her head a little, looking him over. She was extremely curious about him, it was true...She had never seen a living person like him...
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Jun 28, 2012 13:34:52 GMT -5
"Erik Lavalais, at your service, milady." Erik made a swift, graceful bow to her curtsy. "And, make no mistake, I am mortal, I'm just....strange." He smirked. He was hoping, in his head, that she wouldn't inquire further as to his strange mutation of the genes. It wasn't his fault and he wasn't overly proud.
But he was very curious about her. How does one exactly become a ghost? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? A blessing or a curse?
And how did she get her musical talent? Obviously she was a musician during her lifetime...She was actually pretty good on the violin. He had enjoyed playing with her. Perhaps sometime they could do a duet together?
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Jun 28, 2012 13:41:22 GMT -5
Another Erik...She had gathered that there were many throughout the manor, all with the same name and sort of manners. She had met one before, but she found she liked the one she had just met far more than any other she had come into contact with.
She wanted to ask questions. What else could he play? Was he familiar with La Campanella? It was another Liszt piece, which she loved dearly. She herself could never master it (piano was not her forte) and truthfully, she had never known anyone who could play it flawlessly. It would be interesting indeed to see if this man could handle it.
This curiosity showed on her face as she crept just a little closer, her head cocked, furrowing her brow. He was extremely strange looking...Was there no hope for normality in the manor any longer?
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Jul 11, 2012 12:19:51 GMT -5
Erik held out his hand to her, curious to see what she'd do. "Do you have any questions for me? I'd be happy to answer anything you asked." This was exciting, to Erik.
He observed the spectre closer now, since both parties were equally curious about the other. She was beautiful, hinting at her state from when she was alive. And musically talented, that was for sure. Her form, though pale and white, had small hints of what colours her hair, skin, and eyes used to be. He wondered what sorts of things she'd ask him...
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Jul 24, 2012 13:20:16 GMT -5
Emma paused as he invited her to ask questions. It was important that she make every question count, for she wanted as much information about the man as possible before he inevitably became frightened of her and left. It had been so dreadfully long since she had had a proper conversation with anyone but Charles...She wasn't entirely sure she remember how to do it properly.
The hand stumped her momentarily. Did he expect her to shake hands...? Give her his hand? What did he want? Was he not aware of the unpleasant experience of touching a ghost's hand? He was obviously curious...And surely, he was smart enough to realize that this would not be a normal feeling...
Slight hesitation in her movements, she crept close enough so that she could reach out her hand to him. She gently lay her fingers against his, their touch so light and fragile, it was almost like the fluttering of a butterfly's wings. But cold. Her touch had the chill of death in it, something that would send shivers through a man's spine, just to feel it and know the horror that it meant.
"...How did you find yourself in this manor...?"
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Aug 4, 2012 20:46:09 GMT -5
Erik inhaled sharply when her fingers touched his. She was colder than ice, but that didn't stop him. He smirked, stepping close.
"I'm not quite sure...One minute, I was walking down the corridor to my audience in the Shah's Throne Room, and the next, I was out cold in this very room...Right over there..." He nodded his head toward the spot where he'd come to. He was giving her the watered down version, without the collapsing and the headache, and the white that overcame his vision, but that could be inferred....
"I am in the employ of the Shah of Persia, as an architect and illusionist."
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Aug 4, 2012 23:02:26 GMT -5
Emma blinked a little as he came closer, shrinking only slightly. She hadn't been this close to a living person in such a long time...He was less than two feet away now...She fought for stillness, for she was still fascinated by him and wanted to know more about him.
She furrowed her brow when he told of his appearing here...Had the other ghosts simply plucked these characters straight from their stories? Told them nothing of where they were going or even that they had left their world entirely? It seemed extremely cruel to her and she almost felt sorry for the man...He was no longer under the employ of anyone. He was a lost soul, trapped in the bedeviled manor like all the rest...
But no reason to broad on that. This was her first real conversation in such a long time, she wanted to get something from it. She studied his face with piercing eyes for a moment, wondering about the mask. Should she ask...? She had a feeling he would not take well to her asking...And she did not need another enemy in the manor. Instead, she asked a question she thought more friendly, "I see...Where did you learn to play the piano with such skill...?"
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Aug 5, 2012 14:12:56 GMT -5
"I actually started off on the organ. I trained myself by ear at the age of five. Unfortunately, I had to sneak into a church to do so..." Erik paused. Should he tell her? "It wasn't until a little over a century later when the piano was created. I had my own harpsichord by then, and knew how to build one from scratch, but I'd never heard anything quite as beautiful as the pianoforte. I had to have one. So I bought one, learned it, and learned how to make my own."
He looked at her to see her reaction. If she was quick, she'd catch on to how old he was.
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Aug 8, 2012 10:07:39 GMT -5
Emma listened quietly to the beginning of the story with an expression of honest interest- but when he mentioned a century, she faltered, her expression changing to one of slight confusion. Surely, the man had misspoke...It was not possible for anyone to live for a century, unless it was in the mock state of being that she was trapped in. But a look in his yellow eyes told her that he was not joking, nor had he misspoke. The idea that he knew how to make a piano from scratch also stuck with her, but she abandoned it momentarily in wake of the interesting piece of information he had revealed, whether intentionally or no.
Her brow furrowed, she looked him over. Perhaps that was the reason for his skeletal appearance...Was he little more than a walking corpse? If so, his state seemed to be much worse off than hers, "...Pardon me, did you say...a century? How could it be possible to live for so long...?"
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Aug 11, 2012 23:48:04 GMT -5
Erik chuckled. Of course she thought him to be an impossibility, and though he was an enigma, he was far from impossible.
"You see, my dear, I spent a long time trying to figure that out myself. It wasn't until I discovered - by means of scientific experimentation as well as some trial and error - that I could not physically be brought to death by the usage of many methods, that I had a condition since birth that made my existence continuous until acted upon by an outside force of great unfix-able magnitude." Erik felt that perhaps his language had gotten a bit too flowery, so he went on. "In short, unless I'm killed in a way that would rend me impossible to fix, I will continue living. I can be shot, hanged, frozen, poisoned, beaten, sliced, and a number of other things, and still live on. Strange, I know, but it's how I've lived for well over two-hundred years."
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Emma Ravenhearst
Love can hold one captive in more ways than one...
The bride of Ravenhearst
Posts: 269
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Post by Emma Ravenhearst on Aug 12, 2012 8:59:01 GMT -5
"...You cannot die..."
This was a thing that Emma found endlessly fascinating. She herself was in the same sort of place now, in that her existence could not be ended. She was go on as a ghost for the rest of time, inhabiting this manor...But oh, if she could live out the time with a real body! If she could walk to manor with no fear of being seen, be able to speak to people without fear that they might shun her for her state! Such a thing would be miraculous...She wanted to have that curse to, to be alive. She was already going to have to exist for the rest of time, so why couldn't it be in life...
She looked him over again with a newfound excitement. This meant that she had found a friend! Someone who would not and could not die, someone who would be here until the end of time, just as she would be! He could keep her sane...For, with Charles constantly haunting her, sanity was hard to keep. She gave him a little smile, almost reverent in nature, and pressed her lips together before speaking, "I wish I had that plight..."
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Post by Erik Lavalais on Aug 14, 2012 16:10:17 GMT -5
"Do you now...?" Erik sighed. "I'd gladly trade. I've been wishing I was dead since I was forty...For, you see, there was this--No, no, I shouldn't trouble you with such things. It wouldn't matter anyway."
He had to stop himself before he talked about her, about Miya...He was going to tell the female spectre about her....thank God he stopped himself. The subject was a tender one. He had nightmares every night about her, he'd wake up jumping out of his skin, crying, screaming, something of that nature...He didn't need to break down in front of someone else.
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