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The Ghost Haunts at Midnight
Jan. 31st, 2010 12:00 pmThe Fledgling was never so glad for her heavy boots as in the moment she started the climb out of the Access Point A of Santa Monica sewers. Part of her minds were quite sure Therese Voerman sent her that way on purpose...
The earlier meeting with the Voerman sisters was nothing but a large dish of disturbing with a small side of enlightening. First, she met with the White Daughter of Janus, Jeanette...
Oooh, what do we have here? Another scrumptious young plaything straight out of life and into my club? Mmm... you smell new, little girl, like fabric softener dew on freshly mowed Astroturf. Oh, I'm not frightening you, am I, duckling?
...
Truth is, she was. She was because Mercurio had warned the Fledgling of Jeanette's fame of indecent behaviour, and she had scoffed at it. It turned out that Jeanette was all that Mercurio meant and much, much more: ivory skin, skimpy clothes parodying a schoolgirl's uniform, covering little of her luscious build.
And a voice that was full of promises and dares. The neonate found herself staring in awe, only half-remembering the stream of flirting and innuendo spouted by that pale she-devil.
Vampires should not feel those things.
The meeting with the Dark Daughter, Therese, went worse than The Fledgling expected as well: Jeanette's sister seemed to be an aspiring Prince Lacroix, with all the arrogance but less grace.
It turned out that the grudge was petty and personal, with Therese incensed at Bertram Tung dating Jeanette. Of course the Dark Daughter made claims of insults that almost made her sound reasonable, but... were not. To call off the grudge and allow Bertram out of hiding without having to fear for his (un)life, Therese demanded a task done, a deed performed as sign of good faith.
Pushing the heavy metal cover out of the way, the Fledgling emerged to a demolition site on an area overlooking the beach and the ocean. Heavy machinery, a shed, and beyond that, a four-story building, the Ocean House Hotel.
Therese bought the property planning to raze the old construction to raise something new, but a little detail stalled her plan: the place was haunted. Aggressively haunted it seemed, since poltergeist phenomena had scared away several demolition crews. The Dark Daughter wanted The Fledgling to scour the building, to discover who was the ghost, and to find some personal possession that could be used as focus for an exorcism.
It seemed like a wild goose chase in a dark room with your feet tied together, but there was little choice on the matter: Therese had promised she would keep her end of the bargain, and The Fledgling had to uphold hers too.
Retrieving the hotel keys from a locker inside the shed, she made her way to the front doors: just as the vampire reached to unlock the entrance, the light fixture to the right exploded, showering her with fragments of glass.
Not a welcoming sign.
Entering through the front door, the vampire viewed a building that was at one time an elegant luxury hotel; now the rich walls showed signs of water damage, the thick carpeting was littered with debris from the decaying ceiling, and cobwebs and dust were everywhere. As she moved deeper into the once grand structure, it was clear some otherworldly entity was present, a strange chill that was not cold filling the atmosphere. Light bulbs glowed and shattered as she passed, the chandelier began vibrating and plunged to the floor barely missing her, and a half glimpsed shape of a woman could be seen rushing away.
Following the specter, The Fledgling rushed up a stair case, only to fall through the decaying floor boards to the sub basement, landing on a pile of debris painfully. A human would have broken several bones, but vampire flesh was much more resilient. Recovering quickly from the shock, she got to her feet again, none for the worse but for the dust, grime and cobwebs.
Moving though the hallways, trying to find a way back upstairs, she found newspapers yellow with age among the trash that littered the floor. The front pages told the story of a horrible killing that had taken place in this very hotel years before: a child's severed head had been found in a laundry dryer and police were stunned by the brutality of the crime and the carnage that had been left behind.
Suddenly the woman's shadow was visible again, running down a side passage, and the vampire followed her into a room filled with pipes and large boiler tanks. Through this maze she saw another figure: a man carrying an ax, moving with his head hung low. Calling upon the powers of her Blood, she made herself one with the nothingness of her mind, fading from view, and slowly made her way past the tank that was in between them. She rounded the corner and found - nothing. Thinking he had fled deeper into the mass of pipes, the vampire continued on, her nerves on edge as she waited for the attack that had to come.
Another turn lead The Fledgling to a room with a panel enclosed by chain link fence: closer inspection revealed that the panel was the master power switch. Throwing the lever brought the shriek of metal against metal as the generator coughed and the lights began to flicker back to life. The walls began to tremble slightly as she headed back the way she had come, feeling a bit more relaxed now that the lights were on. Of course, turning on the lights would warn anyone or anything in the hotel of her presence, but when the thought occurred to her, it was just too late for a change of plans.
Exploring the rest of the basement, the vampire saw a door she had missed in the dark and through it came into a large kitchen, visibly less dilapidated than the rest of the building. Pots and pans hung over the large stove in the center of the room, cabinets and a large sink lined the walls.
And on a corner rested a leather-bound book, closed with a simple lockable clasp.
A diary.
Sitting on the counter, The Fledgling opened the simple lock with ease, using the lockpick she had received from the cab driver nights ago. What she did read on those pages was disturbing, tragic and... predictable. A tale of mistrust and misdoings that ended in death.
Wife gets a beautiful necklace from her mother.
Husband thinks it's from another man.
Husband becomes convinced his wife has cheated on him.
Husband decides their daughter is not his daughter.
Husband mistreats his wife and child.
Husband goes completely batshit crazy.
Husband murders daughter.
Wife finds out and tries to escape.
The last entrance in the diary reads "He must know I know. I have to escape. He is coming for me tonight."
Of course she did not escape, hence the miasma of despair, hate and death; time to see if the necklace can be found somewhere, since as the focal point of the crisis, it must be the key to ending the haunting as well.
The earlier meeting with the Voerman sisters was nothing but a large dish of disturbing with a small side of enlightening. First, she met with the White Daughter of Janus, Jeanette...
Oooh, what do we have here? Another scrumptious young plaything straight out of life and into my club? Mmm... you smell new, little girl, like fabric softener dew on freshly mowed Astroturf. Oh, I'm not frightening you, am I, duckling?
...
Truth is, she was. She was because Mercurio had warned the Fledgling of Jeanette's fame of indecent behaviour, and she had scoffed at it. It turned out that Jeanette was all that Mercurio meant and much, much more: ivory skin, skimpy clothes parodying a schoolgirl's uniform, covering little of her luscious build.
And a voice that was full of promises and dares. The neonate found herself staring in awe, only half-remembering the stream of flirting and innuendo spouted by that pale she-devil.
Vampires should not feel those things.
The meeting with the Dark Daughter, Therese, went worse than The Fledgling expected as well: Jeanette's sister seemed to be an aspiring Prince Lacroix, with all the arrogance but less grace.
It turned out that the grudge was petty and personal, with Therese incensed at Bertram Tung dating Jeanette. Of course the Dark Daughter made claims of insults that almost made her sound reasonable, but... were not. To call off the grudge and allow Bertram out of hiding without having to fear for his (un)life, Therese demanded a task done, a deed performed as sign of good faith.
Pushing the heavy metal cover out of the way, the Fledgling emerged to a demolition site on an area overlooking the beach and the ocean. Heavy machinery, a shed, and beyond that, a four-story building, the Ocean House Hotel.
Therese bought the property planning to raze the old construction to raise something new, but a little detail stalled her plan: the place was haunted. Aggressively haunted it seemed, since poltergeist phenomena had scared away several demolition crews. The Dark Daughter wanted The Fledgling to scour the building, to discover who was the ghost, and to find some personal possession that could be used as focus for an exorcism.
It seemed like a wild goose chase in a dark room with your feet tied together, but there was little choice on the matter: Therese had promised she would keep her end of the bargain, and The Fledgling had to uphold hers too.
Retrieving the hotel keys from a locker inside the shed, she made her way to the front doors: just as the vampire reached to unlock the entrance, the light fixture to the right exploded, showering her with fragments of glass.
Not a welcoming sign.
Entering through the front door, the vampire viewed a building that was at one time an elegant luxury hotel; now the rich walls showed signs of water damage, the thick carpeting was littered with debris from the decaying ceiling, and cobwebs and dust were everywhere. As she moved deeper into the once grand structure, it was clear some otherworldly entity was present, a strange chill that was not cold filling the atmosphere. Light bulbs glowed and shattered as she passed, the chandelier began vibrating and plunged to the floor barely missing her, and a half glimpsed shape of a woman could be seen rushing away.
Following the specter, The Fledgling rushed up a stair case, only to fall through the decaying floor boards to the sub basement, landing on a pile of debris painfully. A human would have broken several bones, but vampire flesh was much more resilient. Recovering quickly from the shock, she got to her feet again, none for the worse but for the dust, grime and cobwebs.
Moving though the hallways, trying to find a way back upstairs, she found newspapers yellow with age among the trash that littered the floor. The front pages told the story of a horrible killing that had taken place in this very hotel years before: a child's severed head had been found in a laundry dryer and police were stunned by the brutality of the crime and the carnage that had been left behind.
Suddenly the woman's shadow was visible again, running down a side passage, and the vampire followed her into a room filled with pipes and large boiler tanks. Through this maze she saw another figure: a man carrying an ax, moving with his head hung low. Calling upon the powers of her Blood, she made herself one with the nothingness of her mind, fading from view, and slowly made her way past the tank that was in between them. She rounded the corner and found - nothing. Thinking he had fled deeper into the mass of pipes, the vampire continued on, her nerves on edge as she waited for the attack that had to come.
Another turn lead The Fledgling to a room with a panel enclosed by chain link fence: closer inspection revealed that the panel was the master power switch. Throwing the lever brought the shriek of metal against metal as the generator coughed and the lights began to flicker back to life. The walls began to tremble slightly as she headed back the way she had come, feeling a bit more relaxed now that the lights were on. Of course, turning on the lights would warn anyone or anything in the hotel of her presence, but when the thought occurred to her, it was just too late for a change of plans.
Exploring the rest of the basement, the vampire saw a door she had missed in the dark and through it came into a large kitchen, visibly less dilapidated than the rest of the building. Pots and pans hung over the large stove in the center of the room, cabinets and a large sink lined the walls.
And on a corner rested a leather-bound book, closed with a simple lockable clasp.
A diary.
Sitting on the counter, The Fledgling opened the simple lock with ease, using the lockpick she had received from the cab driver nights ago. What she did read on those pages was disturbing, tragic and... predictable. A tale of mistrust and misdoings that ended in death.
Wife gets a beautiful necklace from her mother.
Husband thinks it's from another man.
Husband becomes convinced his wife has cheated on him.
Husband decides their daughter is not his daughter.
Husband mistreats his wife and child.
Husband goes completely batshit crazy.
Husband murders daughter.
Wife finds out and tries to escape.
The last entrance in the diary reads "He must know I know. I have to escape. He is coming for me tonight."
Of course she did not escape, hence the miasma of despair, hate and death; time to see if the necklace can be found somewhere, since as the focal point of the crisis, it must be the key to ending the haunting as well.
