Vanessa // 001 // Interactive Dream
Who: Vanessa Nightray
Where: Her dream, the inside of the Nightray house
Style: Whichever is cool! I'll match!
Status: Open foreva
Warnings: Death, spoilers, etc.
She'd been sitting in the parlor with her mother when the commotion happened outside. The carriages had arrived, people were calling out for Claude and Ernest to hurry up - there wasn't any time to waste. Vanessa glanced at her mother who was sitting in the chair nearest the window, watching the carriages below, a handkerchief clasped in her white knuckled hand. One of her sons had already been killed, and the other two oldest were currently packing their things to find the person responsible and kill them.
Vanessa had mourned Fred's death. They all had. But their mother...she hadn't had time. Her eyes spoke of the pain that she was still experiencing as she watched the servants scurry about outside, tripping over their feet as they tried to keep the house functioning and still on schedule despite the circumstances.
"Excuse me, mother," she said softly as she rose from her seat and smoothed down her skirt. The Duchess didn't move from her place. She didn't even give her only daughter a sparing glance. If anything, she simply leaned closer to the window, her warm breath fogging the chilled glass.
Vanessa ran down the stairs as quickly as she could and hid in the doorway of the foyer. Ernest was leaning over her littlest brother, Elliot, patting his head.
"Take our mother and leave here," he said to Elliot. Behind him, Claude glanced at his pocket watch and grunted something about wasted time. Vanessa clasped a hand over her mouth, making sure that her breaths weren't heard, not that they would be over the commotion of the rest of the house. But she wasn't supposed to seeing this. The Nightray women weren't involved in Pandora business, which this had quickly become. The Headhunter was an illegal Contractor that had killed two of the nobility and poisoned a third. And though Pandora should have been responsible for catching them, it was the two oldest heirs of the Nightray house that would seek revenge before they allowed justice to have their turn.
"Ernest...?" Elliot replied, an expression on his face that Vanessa had never seen. Absolute fear.
"We'll definitely get rid of the Headhunter."
"Yes," Claude interjected, already heading for the door. "Even at the cost of our own lives."
As the two of them walked away, Elliot called out for them to wait, but the two older Nightray brothers didn't listen. They walked side by side out the door without ever looking behind them. Vanessa turned from the doorway and placed her other hand over her mouth, eyes shutting tightly to hold back tears. Her family...what would become of them if Claude and Ernest died too? Would she and Elliot be left alone? What if--
But then, the scene changed. Instead of the inside of an ornate house, there was only a wide, sprawling graveyard. A light fog covered the ground and shadows took on inhuman shapes, appearing to move despite the absence of wind. This wasn't a memory any longer - this was only a nightmare. Vanessa gasped and fell backwards, tripping over a low headstone. Her breath catching in her throat, she tried to scream, only to have nothing come out at all. Her feet refused to move, and the shadows cast by the full, shaded moon above loomed overhead. Thunder rumbled far off in the distance, shaking the ground beneath her. But it didn't stop there. Even after the noise ended, the ground continued shaking.
Still unable to stand, Vanessa grasped the ground behind her and tried to crawl backwards, her eyes darting every which way as tombstones toppled over from the force of the nightmare's earthquake. A few feet away, the ground split apart, just as it had between the neighboring countries after the Tragedy.
Finally, the earth went still, and she was able to scream.
Where: Her dream, the inside of the Nightray house
Style: Whichever is cool! I'll match!
Status: Open foreva
Warnings: Death, spoilers, etc.
She'd been sitting in the parlor with her mother when the commotion happened outside. The carriages had arrived, people were calling out for Claude and Ernest to hurry up - there wasn't any time to waste. Vanessa glanced at her mother who was sitting in the chair nearest the window, watching the carriages below, a handkerchief clasped in her white knuckled hand. One of her sons had already been killed, and the other two oldest were currently packing their things to find the person responsible and kill them.
Vanessa had mourned Fred's death. They all had. But their mother...she hadn't had time. Her eyes spoke of the pain that she was still experiencing as she watched the servants scurry about outside, tripping over their feet as they tried to keep the house functioning and still on schedule despite the circumstances.
"Excuse me, mother," she said softly as she rose from her seat and smoothed down her skirt. The Duchess didn't move from her place. She didn't even give her only daughter a sparing glance. If anything, she simply leaned closer to the window, her warm breath fogging the chilled glass.
Vanessa ran down the stairs as quickly as she could and hid in the doorway of the foyer. Ernest was leaning over her littlest brother, Elliot, patting his head.
"Take our mother and leave here," he said to Elliot. Behind him, Claude glanced at his pocket watch and grunted something about wasted time. Vanessa clasped a hand over her mouth, making sure that her breaths weren't heard, not that they would be over the commotion of the rest of the house. But she wasn't supposed to seeing this. The Nightray women weren't involved in Pandora business, which this had quickly become. The Headhunter was an illegal Contractor that had killed two of the nobility and poisoned a third. And though Pandora should have been responsible for catching them, it was the two oldest heirs of the Nightray house that would seek revenge before they allowed justice to have their turn.
"Ernest...?" Elliot replied, an expression on his face that Vanessa had never seen. Absolute fear.
"We'll definitely get rid of the Headhunter."
"Yes," Claude interjected, already heading for the door. "Even at the cost of our own lives."
As the two of them walked away, Elliot called out for them to wait, but the two older Nightray brothers didn't listen. They walked side by side out the door without ever looking behind them. Vanessa turned from the doorway and placed her other hand over her mouth, eyes shutting tightly to hold back tears. Her family...what would become of them if Claude and Ernest died too? Would she and Elliot be left alone? What if--
But then, the scene changed. Instead of the inside of an ornate house, there was only a wide, sprawling graveyard. A light fog covered the ground and shadows took on inhuman shapes, appearing to move despite the absence of wind. This wasn't a memory any longer - this was only a nightmare. Vanessa gasped and fell backwards, tripping over a low headstone. Her breath catching in her throat, she tried to scream, only to have nothing come out at all. Her feet refused to move, and the shadows cast by the full, shaded moon above loomed overhead. Thunder rumbled far off in the distance, shaking the ground beneath her. But it didn't stop there. Even after the noise ended, the ground continued shaking.
Still unable to stand, Vanessa grasped the ground behind her and tried to crawl backwards, her eyes darting every which way as tombstones toppled over from the force of the nightmare's earthquake. A few feet away, the ground split apart, just as it had between the neighboring countries after the Tragedy.
Finally, the earth went still, and she was able to scream.