Midnight 016

[allthekeys]

|| THREAT DOWN

|| MIDNIGHT 016: GENERAL As the hours that mark daybreak begin to approach, the ice spears gradually begin to decrease in size as they fall. The hail becomes less frequent and intermixes with rain before it subsides. The wind stops; the thunder fades into the distance. Even after the storm has ended, the sky remains dark. The sun does not rise with the hours of dawn. The night carries on. || COURTYARD & GROUNDS Constance and her party arrive back in town and herald the end of the ice, though a cold, miserable rain remains. She and her party are met at the doors of the castle by her father, and she dismounts and sinks to her knees, speaking softly and urgently. Her father listens, his face expressionless, his eyes cold. "You lie." She startles, looking concerned, but her father's men are on her in an instant, holding her on her knees while he stalks forward, holding a cruel looking device in his hand. She tenses, trying to twist out of the hands that hold her, but it is ultimately fruitless. He fastens the metal piece over her eyes, and she screams as the metal burns with a white hot light. She is left, shuddering in the snow, hands pressed to the device. None of the guards move to aid her. || CASTLE The Grey Maids that were beheaded during the previous day rise from where they had been slain and shamble towards the Servant Passageways on the first and second floors of the castle. Once they have reached their destination, they will wander aimlessly through the narrow halls, seeming to have no clear intention or purpose. Their motions are automatic and they appear unaware of their surroundings—quite likely, perhaps, given that they lack heads. Should any servants block their path or otherwise interrupt them, however, they will swiftly latch on and attempt to strangle. They will not let go unless pried off with sufficient force—and they are stronger and more lethal than one might expect. The lone maid that had remained in the Music Box Bedroom has vanished. From the outside of the room, she would never have appeared to have left. From one of the windows on the castle’s third floor, five crows take flight.