Midnight 018

[allthekeys]

|| FIRST HOUSE|| SECOND HOUSE <|| THIRD HOUSE || FOURTH HOUSE

|| NIGHT 018: MIDNIGHT There is a surge of activity as the clocks strike midnight. The voices behind closed doors begin to wail and cry, those that have been knocking begin to pound their fists louder, alarm and desperation boiling over to a tipping point where they are unable to contain it any longer. The Phantasms re-appear quite suddenly, surging around the unprepared house-guests. Those who had been marked by the bracelets at the start of the night are stolen away, taken for the sake of the experiments to come. There is no chance to resist and their friends and companions can only stare after them as they are dragged through floorboards and walls, taken from even the apparent safety they may have found. They come for Heather last, in the Ballroom. They pause at the door, watching her for a moment, and Rose, her one arm hanging, as if hurt, does not seem to notice-- is, in fact, completely absorbed by the confrontation with the target of the phantoms' hunt. She holds a bright dagger, and seems to threaten her with it. The Shadow does not move. Finally they interrupt and Rose begins to laugh loudly and hysterically as the teenager is dragged away from her. Lock looks up from his place in the Mis-Sized Dining Hall, as if thinking that he heard something, but quickly shrugs it off and returns his attention to the Spider. The two sit together at the table, the boy strangely dwarfed by its size. He holds an ice-pack to his eye but does not seem particularly perturbed, in spite of the scowl he wears. His inhuman companion seems much more at ease than earlier, amused instead of worried. The Lady In White and the Mute Ghost Girl are alone in the Hot House. The absence of the baby seems to have spurned them into a more dangerous state, though they are both laughing. The girl is chanting happy sounding songs, but the language is not one that anyone recognizes, and the woman is echoing them back to her. Anyone who enters the room will find themselves drawn to the seemingly happy scene, dangerous though it is to get close to them. There is another presence in the house after midnight has passed. A young girl with dark pigtails lurks outside the ballroom for a moment, a doll clutched in her arms as she surveys the scene. Anyone still present at the party might see her frowning darkly, glare resentfully fixed on Rose as she laughs. In the next moment, she's gone. For anyone looking, though, the dolls as a whole are far from locked away behind the firmly closed doors. In the Soft Bedroom a collection of them has appeared on the plush bed -- sat neatly leaning against the pillows as if arranged there by someone. At the centre of them is the Doll Queen, larger and more magnificent than the others -- looking for all the world like a mother surrounded by children. The book from the night-stand has been pulled out and opened, discarded on the end of the bed and some of the pages torn out -- balled up and flung across the room as if someone objected to the content. If someone was to leave the room and come back they might find the pile has grown, intent on destroying as much of the book as possible. Whoever may have done it is nowhere to be seen, but the air in the room is heavy. Every so often a voice can be heard, that of a young girl. The words are mostly indiscernible, but the tone is angry. It isn't fair. She'll see, I'll make her see. I hate her! On top of the closet sits a Doll-Spider, small hands fixed onto the edge to steady itself as it peers down at any guests who enter. Both the dolls and the spider seem passive for now, but any who have earned their ire previously will find they have very good memories. Distantly, if one is very quiet, the sound of scissors can be heard -- although the source is not apparent. Silence slowly ebbs over the house, the frantic banging on doors fading with the chimes of midnight.