Midnight 041

[allthekeys]

|| THREAT DOWN

|| NIGHT 041: MIDNIGHT The tension in the ballroom ratchets with each passing hour. Estella's dark eyes stay fixed on Rose, pupils consuming every scrap of colour as she regards her with an easy grace. A relaxed stance that speaks of confidence, of power, of control that Rose utterly lacks. Rose's hair is ruffled, torn at, her temper slipping further and further as the Keeper fails to give in to her goading, chiding, abuse. To every attempt to move her frustrating lack of care for the tantrum before her. It eats at Rose and fuels her hate. "You can't have it." The voice that fades into the ballroom rings clearer to anyone listening, firmer, and into view fades the Pigtailed Girl. A doll waits obediently by her feet. Estella's calm trance breaks and she takes a breath, eyes fixing on the girl. "Elsie, sweetheart no. Go back." "I won't. She's a bully. She can't have it. She's not even a real princess, is she? She just likes to think she's important. She's got nothing. Nothing at all." The room pulses with power, and doll-spiders skitter through the house out of the Doll Bathroom. They pour along halls toward the Loft Bedroom, pick their way down into the ballroom and spread out around the room. Surround the three of them, waiting. "At least I have friends. She doesn't even have friends, does she? She's just mean." Rose shrieks again-- shrilly, an almost inhumanly ear-piercing note. Suddenly more than audible to everyone in the first house, as if the very halls amplify it. "I have friends!" she screams, stomping her foot. "And I have a mommy and a daddy who love me and would do anything for me, unlike you." She seethes, looking between them, and there is an almost electrical crackle in the air in response. "I hate you! Both of you! Give it back, it's mine! You can't hurt me like this!" In the next instant a ritualistic knife appears in her hand, seemingly instantly, and the girl launches herself at them both with another wild shriek. The doll-spiders swarm down off the walls, rushing Rose even as she flings herself at the other two. Estella grabs Elsie and swings her behind herself, lifting the lantern defensively. As if it's light might repel Rose, keep her back. The light amplifies and the doll-spiders shrink back -- stop at the edge of where it touches and Elsie cries out and struggles to step back out of it. "Stop this--" she manages, but Rose has no taste for reason. She crashes forward into her regardless. Rose just screams, agonized like a wounded animal, as she lunges into Estella with the blade of the knife raised high. She cries out as she plunges it downward, starting to chant beneath her breath; starting to sob between the words. The knife rips through Estella's skin and she grabs for Rose's arm, draws her forward so they both touch the lantern. Elsie lunges to stop them, but it's too late. The lantern's light burns bright, pulses out and rips through the ballroom until time seems to slow. Chips of wood hang suspended, drops of blood, a scrap of torn fabric, and scorch marks fan outward, and the lantern itself stays floating in mid air. Estella has vanished altogether, nothing but a patch of blood left, and Elsie lays prone in a dark corner where the blast had banished her to. The room feels heavy with power, the glow of the lantern too bright to look upon. Rose stands alone in the centre of the room, the lantern crashed to the floor at her feet, sobbing loudly and clutching at her head with bloodied hands. She tears at her own hair as she screams-- "You made me do it!"-- over and over again. The entire ballroom is a disaster of burns and peeling paint, all the remainders of Rose's festivities torn to shreds. The outwards blast of light and power from the ballroom ripples through each house like a shockwave. For a moment there’s a feeling of dizzying weightlessness before everything comes crashing down … only it doesn’t. Everything that isn’t nailed down is frozen in mid-air. Tables, chairs, bookcases with books tumbling from the wrongly angled shelves and picture frames torn from the walls – they all hang suspended throughout the houses, looking like somebody captured the moment in a photograph, the one second of everything defying gravity. Except this one second lasts indefinitely. Crouched just inside the door of the Loft Bedroom is Lyhn, his staff extended in front of him and his other hand holding an unconscious Lock. The boy is bleeding heavily from a wound on his head, though the injury is mostly hidden by matted, bloody hair. Lyhn is frowning, his dark eyes narrowed as he focuses, staff carving patterns in the air. Orbs of light appear in front of him, humming with energy, dividing and multiplying, dancing in the air until it is impossible to count, though once he seems to reach a number that satisfies him they scatter. One orb vanishes into Lock, though the child barely manages to twitch. The others whisk away into the house, most vanishing into the basement, though one goes to Rei in the Photographer's Bedroom, vanishing beneath her ghostly skin. Three others go to Jamie, Kuja and Sam. The orbs are hot, though they leave no mark on the skin of the person as they penetrate their torsos. Instead the heat lingers beneath the surface for the rest of the night, leaving the receivers breathless and exhausted. Those who approach them during the night might notice that their eyes have gained a strange gleam, almost glowing in the dark. Whatever this has accomplished, it seems to satisfy the sender, for Lyhn does not linger long on the balcony at all, scooping up the child and slipping away before Rose can notice either of them. A hoard of Wallcrawlers burst forth from the basement, shrieking messes as they flee from something terrible. The monsters seem too distracted to notice the houseguests much, scrambling across the ceiling with desperation. They quickly spread through all five houses, though their numbers remain thin at best. They are hungry as usual, but hesitant to hunt too actively for whatever has scared them so much. Those that make it to the Fifth House are boldest, and will drop down on anyone who lingers too long, all gnashing teeth and flailing arms. The mould in the Basement seems to be creeping up the stairs, small fingers of it creeping up the walls and ceiling of the staircase. Muddy footprints cover the stairs, leaving an obvious trail up the hall and into the Yellow Bedroom. The bed is covered in mud and feathers, as well as green leaves and daffodils. The room smells rancid, as though something unwashed still lingers in it, but there is nothing visible in the room. The Stage inside of the Theatre is cracked, a chasm forming in the middle of it. It is deeper and wider than seems logical in the room, with everything else untouched. It is impossible to tell how far down it goes without climbing in. The Smoke Room is open, letting the foul smoke creep into the hall. By morning, the hall is completely full of the stuff, making it difficult to breathe for anyone who tries to go down this hall and leaving disgusting yellow stains on the walls. The stains are joined by a slow progression of tiny hand prints, smearing the smog and mixing with the mud. No two are entirely alike, but all are of a form too small to be an adults. Something has happened to the Pool. There has been an explosion of water from the basin, great waves bursting outwards—and, like much of the house, it has been frozen in time. The water is still liquid, not ice, but touching it is like touching viscous goo, slimy and unpleasant. Pushing through it to find the source of the explosion would be uncomfortable at best, the water clinging to clothing and trying to drag the houseguests back inside of it, where drowning is a real and pressing concern. A bloated corpse hangs in the middle of the frozen tsunami, hanging limp like a doll. In the Mask Bedroom three figures have taken up a game of cards, seemingly heedless of the floating objects around them. One wears a white death mask, and seems uncomfortable or agitated, constantly shifting in the chair it sits in. The other two seem entirely comfortable with their game, the dark cloaked one occasionally laughing, as though some joke has been said, though none of them speak. The third is recognizably the Shadow Man, his form barely in focus. But there is a cool confidence to his manner that even the explosion seems to have left intact. He will rise to meet anyone who enters the room and invite them to join the game. Doing so is unwise, as those who agree to gamble with them will be playing for their lives. Don has found himself in the Gallery, and he seems to have broken along with the room. The corpse that sits sobbing in the centre of the room is undeniably the Art Enthusiast once more, face cradled in broken hands as the portraits around the room float suspended in mid-air. He is more than quick to share his pain with anyone who comes too close. The door to the Viewing Bedroom has opened a crack, allowing something that looks like vines to spill into the hallway. The 'vines' are green, and covered in a soft, moss like substance. Blindly they flail in the hallway, seeking movement. They are easy to slip past, though the unwary with find themselves quickly wrapped in the tentacles as they are squeezed to death. In the Second House, the door to the Priest's Room swings open. The man who strides out almost looks like his living self, only subtly off, eyes sunken and with water leaking from his mouth as he mumbles fragments of prayers in an unknown language. He goes armed with a torch that never seems to flag and a silver-plated sword, moving through All of the Houses as if seeking something. If he enters an area with any character that is nonhuman or has active powers, or other stray monsters, his attention quickly focuses on them. He will hunt them relentlessly, maintaining his pursuit until they pass the threshold of a safe room - and even then, he will pick his hunt back up, returning to stalking once they leave. Those who have died within the house may notice the ghost hesitating, falling silent; if they act in any manner that would draw his attention, or are too quick to flee, he will pursue them as well. Curiously, he seems to not even be aware of the existence of the Mask Bedroom tonight, and he is as unable to enter the Ballroom as anything else. The Lady In White sits on the steps of the Bell Tower wrapped in a white veil and combing her hair, she hums softly to herself as she sits, hand lifting occasionally to rock the simple wooden cradle that sits at the top of the steps. Her face is smudged with soot, and her gaze seems oddly sane, though her garb indicates that she should be hostile. She watches the doorway warily, rising whenever it opens and staring down at the person who enters. There is no cover from her gaze, and though she seems somewhat in control of herself, she does not seem inclined to accept anyone bothering her tonight. On the rare moment that the Priest finds this room on his ramblings, she rises with a crackle of power that will make the ears of anyone in the Second House pop. The power that surges from her smells of crushed leaves, quickly overwhelming the old man, ripping him to pieces in short order. Her powers will clearly not tolerate his presence, acting with seemingly little urging from the angry woman. His attacks are less than useless against the formless rush, though he tries and seems to cut at something none of the house guests can see before he falls. Getting caught between them is exceedingly ill-advised, though once their battle is done the Priest always reappears in his room and starts again, as though he does not remember her location. It is a cycle repeated throughout the night without change, each step followed exactly over and over again. Whatever dark substance that still weeps from the Blank Library suddenly spews forth into the Hallway, a slow-moving wave of liquid melancholy that thickly coats the floor and walls. It’s easy to slip and fall in if you don’t watch your step. It’s sticky enough to cling and pull. There is a commotion in the Birdcage Room. All of the cages are suspended at bizarre angles, affected by the same force that has blown its way through all of the houses and frozen in space. They aren’t empty, however— Sirens fill every cage, the source of a deafening clamour as they cry out in fear and pain. Some of them sob, many of them rally against the cages. Most flap their wings futilely to try and right themselves inside of the skewed cages. The noise is a far cry from their normally alluring songs, but there is something undeniably pitiful about the noise. Surely a kind person would want to help free them from their prisons. Hana and Calem have become extremely distressed. The man holds his lover close as she trembles, shaking her head into his shoulder. The entire Silk Room feels somehow too warm, just enough to be uncomfortably sticky. The Husk Bedroom is bleeding. The Seedy Bar is almost eerily put together. Unlike every other room in the house, this one seems somehow undisturbed, and it leaves an impression of wrongness that only the other rooms should hold. Still, it remains safe even if somehow disturbing. Dave, however, seems anxious and continuously glances at the clock. The Boneless in the Courtyard are suddenly no longer entwined, apparently knocked free by the sudden energy that runs through the houses. They twist free from one another with surprising speed and set off in different directions, some leaving small trails of blood, now a hazard for anyone outdoors. The Lake bursts into flames. The Frozen Woman sits near the lake, screaming at the top of her lungs. It's a horrible, agonized noise as her very flesh melts off of her body, a strange and painful mix of skin and water as the frost melts away. Her skin is left deadened and black behind, though it is impossible without touching her to tell which of her conditions has killed her flesh so thoroughly. She starts to wander outwards from the lake, staggering as she screams in horrible pain. Any touch from her will instantly make the victim feel as though their very skin is on high, burning and freezing all at once as the black death of frostbite and burns creep along their skin in tandem. It is difficult to break away, and the black flesh spreads quickly from her grip. Limbs quickly become useless, sensation numbed to only the phantom burning of fire and ice. The only saving grace is that she remains slow, staggering blindly in the horrible pain she inflicts upon herself and others. The air in the house is bitterly cold tonight, and yet something like heat prickles along all houseguests' skin, giving them goosebumps and making the hairs on their arms raise. They know only one thing for certain, in all of the confusion that midnight has brought, something they know in their very bones: there is something wrong. They do not know what it is, but there is something deeply, terribly wrong. || THREAT DOWN First House 1. Front Door 2. Entry Way 3. Coat Closet 4. Parlor 5. Formal Dining Room 6. Blue Kitchen 7. Doll Bathroom 8. East Hallway 9. Library 10. Study 11. Dawn Room 12. Closed Closet 13. Nursery 14. Dollhouse Room 15. Dollhouse 16. The Crack In The Wall 17. Maid Hallway 18. Clean Bedroom 19. Dirty Bedroom 20. Closet Room 21. Smoke Room 22. Yellow Bedroom 23. Vanity Room 24. Ivory Bathroom 25. Door to Basement 26. Supply Closet 27. Ballroom 28. Oak Hallway 30. Theater 31. Backstage 32. Locked Door 33. Music Room 1. Hallway 2. Student Bedroom 3. Student Closet 4. Mirror Bedroom 5. Journey Bedroom 6. Fairy Bedroom 7. Red Bedroom 8. Mask Bedroom 9. Trophy Room 10. Gallery 11. Observatory 12. Sewing Room 13. Glass Bathroom 14. Perfume Bedroom 15. Library 16. Cherry Hallway 17. Thin Bedroom 18. Dark Bedroom 19. Light Bedroom 20. Loft Bedroom 21. Ink Bedroom 22. Mosaic Bedroom 23. Day Room 24. Narrow Hallway 25. Store Room 26. Open Bathroom 27. Blind Bedroom 28. Door To Floating Hallway 29. Corkscrew Stair 1. Main Room 2. Green Room 3. Half Bath 4. Small Kitchen 5. Garden Closet 6. Empty Hall 7. Radio Room 8. Carpenters Room 9. Painter’s Room 10. Shared Bath 11. Glass Blowers Room 12. Tapestry Bedroom 13. Dollmaker's Workshop 14. Pottery Room 1. Basement 2. Dirt Hallway 3. Waiting Room 4. Doctor's Office 5. Supply Closet 6. Recovery Ward 7-11. Examination Rooms 12. Treatment Room 13. Surgery Room 14. Ward 15. Morgue Second House 1. Straight Hall 2. Public Restroom 3. Glass Half Empty 4. Fake Bedroom 5. Model Bedroom 6. Locked Door 7. Viewing Bedroom 8. Memory Bedroom 9. Photography Bedroom 10. Dark Room 11. Shelter Bedroom 1. Stairwell Room 2. Wallpapered Parlor 3. The Open Door 4. Plain Kitchen 5. Pantry 6. Dining Room 7. Hallway 8. Half Sized Bath 9. The Blank Library 10. ??? Room 11. Open Hall 12. Rose Garden 13. Chapel Courtyard 14. Priest's Room 15. Priest's Bedroom 16. Hallway 17. Locked Door 18. Rough Kitchen 19. Junior Dormitory 20. Bell Tower 21. Courtyard Third House 1. Wind Tunnel Hallway 2. The Front Door 3. Sitting Room 4. Leather Study 5. Gentlemen's Lounge 6. Diamond Dining Room 7. Professional Kitchen 8. Stable 9. Locked Door 10. Orchard 11. Hanging Tree 12. Hot Springs 13. Locked Door 1. Red Hallway 2. Herbal Bedroom 3. Costumed Room 4. Bell Bathroom 5. Locked Door 6. Playboy Bedroom 7. Statuary Bedroom 8. Candy Store 9. Stalker Room 10. Satin Room 11. Scented Bathroom 12. Birdcage Room 13. Hedonist Room 14. Carved Parlor 15. Silk Room 16. Get Away Cabin 17. Vanity Bathroom 18. Velvet Bedroom 19. Wax Bedroom 20. Husk Bedroom Fourth House 1. Hanging Hall 2. The Slaughterhouse 3. Meat Freezer 4. Cheese Room 5. Salt Room 6. Preserved Storage 7. Fresh Storage 8. Hallway 9. Distillery 10. Humidor 11. Cramped Stairs 12. Hook Hallway 13. Smoke House 14. Drying Shed 15. Hot House 16. Lift 1. Tea Room 2. Cafeteria 3. Entrance Hall 4. Courtyard 5. Bakery 6. Patisserie 7. Overstuffed Kitchen 8. Ladies' Room 9. Mis-sized Dining Room 10. Men's Room 11. Servant's Kitchen 12. Unidentified Restroom 13. Empty Kitchen 14. Opium Den 15. Seedy Bar 1. Checked Hall 2. Wine Room 3. Green Bedroom 4. Soft Bedroom 5. Carnivore Bedroom 6. Herbivore Bedroom 7. Sweet Bedroom 8. Chamber of Purification 9. Nasty Bathroom 10. Horrific Hotel Room 11. Locked Door Fifth House 1. Outside Door 2. Plastic Hall 3. Bachelor's Kitchen 4. Garage 5. Abandoned Nursery 6. Boarded Room 7. Rough Hall 8. Old Bedroom 9. Bathroom 10. Pillow Room 11. Empty Bedroom 12. Patio 13. Poet's Room 14. Forgotten Storeroom 15. Mildewed Hallway 16. Broom Cupboard 17. Den 18. Unfinished Stairs 19. Workman's Room 20. Guest Bedroom 21. Lily Bedroom 1. Upstairs 2. The Nest 1. Leaky Basement 2. Ruined Apartment 3. Drained Parlour 4. Decaying Bathroom 5. Jammed Door