Day 041

[allthekeys]

|| Day 041: GENERAL As night comes to an end, the sky seems to brighten with a bizarre swiftness. The sun rises quickly, the sky washed in the colours of dawn. Night disappears in an instant, leaving only the day to the residents of the house. The houseguests find their heads swimming, overcome with vertigo, as if they have stood too fast. The feeling does not last more than a few minutes, but is disorienting at best. The creatures of the night fade with it, chased away by the daylight. The morning is bitterly cold, and no fires will start in any fireplaces to take away from the chill. Instead of clock chimes, the music in the Ballroom rises in loud, booming reverberations. Half a dozen rumbling beats call in the dawn hour. With each burst of sound, the ghostly dancers cry out in pain, buckling over and away from their partners. Hands clap over ears and voices echo distantly. They seem to die with the calling of the sun, bloodied wounds reappearing on the dead as injuries and sickness reappear. They, too, fade away, but are gone by the time the last beat announces the sun, the music fading away. Somewhere in the confusion, Rose slips away out the back of the room and disappears, leaving only bloody footprints behind her. All that remains of the dance now are the buffet tables, covered with quickly rotting and moulding food, and the rose thorn throne. The throne seems to beckon those with a want for power and control, asking them to come sit upon it, despite the pain it would surely bring. Outside, there remains many bird corpses, seemingly suspended in mid-air. They slide slowly down an invisible wall far out of reach, leaving a mess of blood and feathers. The gore remains for the rest of the day, though slowly all the bodies disappear from sight, falling into oblivion. The stars start spinning rapidly once more, but this time around themselves; they pick up speed until they vanish, leaving only a momentary wisp of smoke and warmth behind before leaving a free passage through the Courtyard once more. The stars in the Birdcage Room, Soft Bedroom and Garage disappear as well. The noise in the Basement of the First House is still overwhelming, though it no longer seems to prove fatal. Still, it is increasingly uncomfortable as one bears it-- and it can leave the ears ringing for what feels like days. The Orchard stands smouldering after the fires during the night, each and every tree burnt down to embers. The whole area is warm but in a threatening way and the air is heavy with smoke and ashes, making it difficult to breathe properly. Calem and Hana are awake. Someone appear to have brought them breakfast, and both are draped in heavy robes to cut the cold of the day. Calem strums at a guitar, humming to himself and his companion as he plays, seeming entirely content this morning. Hana listens intently, head tipped to the side and hands resting on her stomach as she lounges. The Wax Man sits in the hallway outside the room, his head resting against his knees, his body entire still, save for a hand resting on the head of a black dog. The Servant's Kitchen stands deserted, but several tools are still laid out, as if the cook tending to them left in a hurry. The oven and stove are still hot and there are bloodied knives and messy scraps of meat and deer skin covering the workspace. Of the Cook and deer are no sign, but there’s a dark stain of blood where the latter spent the night, soaking into the floorboards. Of whatever happened in the Empty Kitchen during the night, there is no sign. The Beast in the Leaky Basement remains asleep beneath the flickering light, although its rest grows more and more agitated as the day drones on, clawing at the floor and apparently unconsciously leaving deep gouges. It shifts and turns, limbs twitching with unrest, and on occasion lets out deep sounds not dissimilar to mournful human groans. It could very well wake if disturbed.