|
Post by Behax on Oct 20, 2022 14:26:11 GMT
Dominic Silverstine was the only son of a powerful witch, as such he found himself drawn to all the mysteries of the world he inhabited. Especially if those mysteries seemed to be supernatural or paranormal in nature. Something not quite right on the edges of the ordinary. His thirst for knowledge and to understand the world around him, found Dominic travelling to all sorts of places, from deep dark caves, to hollowed out churches. Anything that seemed remotely interesting, and if what he found was dangerous well…He’d deal with that too.
That was how he found himself sitting on a horse outside a long abandoned manor…Allegedly abandoned anyway. Dominic had done some research beforehand; the manor belonged to the House of Dardariel, a noble family who had been responsible for the region and the two villages inside it. However it was believed that the last son of the family had died more than a century ago, and no one had been seen from the manor in over a century.
Despite this, no one had wanted to talk too much about the family or the unoccupied manor, nor take him to it. The most Dominic had been able to get was a map and the lending of a horse. The reason he was even there was due to some stories that had reached his ears. More than a century ago the last surviving son of the family had suddenly expelled all his servants and turned into a recluse. Shortly after the nearby towns experienced a number of disappearances and deaths, which later came to a sudden and abrupt end. Any who went to investigate the manor never returned, after a large group of people never came back the villages stopped sending people. Now no one dared to go near it. They just assumed their Lord had died, and decided to ignore the large house in the woods, keeping well clear of it and never speaking of it.
However every so often, 5 or 10 years at the most, 1 or 2 villagers would disappear suddenly. Never to be seen or heard from again, the most recent occurrence had been 3 years ago. This Dominic found, no one wanted to talk about either. Concerning, but also interesting.
“Are we really going in there?”
The voice Dominic heard directly in his mind.
“Would you like to stay out here in the rain instead?” He asked back verbally, his tone light, almost jovial.
The rain was light, and anyone watching would see Dominic as a figure cloaked in black, sitting atop a black horse, with a large crow perched on their shoulder.
“There is definitely something here,” he said aloud, before urging his horse on wards. The grounds certainly looked abandoned from the outside. Plants, trees and bushes had grown wild and reclaimed much of what Dominic assumed used to be a well kept and managed garden. The gates barring the entrance to the estate opened for him as he approached. An on looker might assume this was the owners doing, in actual fact Dominic had used his own magic to open the way. They gently swung closed behind him, and bolted themselves.
He let his horse trot slowly through the grounds. There were still the remnants of a road to follow. There was a fountain that was barely more than a trickle, clogged up with leaves and vines. The windows were dark and curtains clearly drawn, though everything was dirty and unkept. The building however still looked secure, no signs of looters which even given the rumours and stories Dominic considered odd. This place must be ripe for the picking.
He could tell his horse was getting anxious the closer to the building he got, so he dismounted several paces away from what looked to be the main entrance. Two large imposing doors. Tightly shut.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Oct 28, 2022 2:28:05 GMT
The Dardariel Manor had indeed been overtaken by over growth, entombed by brambles and vines. But once through the locked doors, they would find the inside in rather remarkable shape, if not for the dust and cobwebs that had layered up over the years. There were sheets over all of the furniture and over the pictures that hung on the walls. But it seemed as if every inch of maneuverable space was filled with easels, all with paintings. There were more paintings stacked along the edges of the room and along the edge of the corridors that lead in various directions through the house, each room just more of the same. More easels, more paintings.
There were in fact two occupants of the abandoned Dardariel manor and both of them were happy to be forgotten. One was Victor Dardariel, who was content to slumber for the rest of eternity. He had found himself the unfortunate plaything of a vampire. Wishing for it all to end Victor found himself reborn as a vampire instead. With the man who had sired him gone, Victor done the best he could to continue as normal. But the desire and need for blood became too great. Animal blood had worked for a time, until it didn’t. Soon Victor was trying to slumber the years away only to be awaken periodically by trespassers. And each time Victor moved further into the manor. For now he had slumbered for the past several years in relative peace on the floor of the massive windowless and locked library, laying in a mass of pillows and blankets as if one had just fallen asleep reading; except there was metal manacle around his neck, the chain it was attached to disappeared under the makeshift mattress.
The other occupant was Brodie, a cat-demon and the Dardariel Family’s Familiar. As a cat he could be easily mistaken for a black and grey Maine Coon, if it weren’t for the gold pierces adorning one of it’s ears, which most people had simply considered a rich person thing. He was very happy to watch over the last Dardariel as he slumbered, unmoving, unchanging over the years; which left Brodie free to do what he loved best. Which was nothing at all. Becoming the family familiar hadn’t been by choice as the cat-demon had been captured by the family when Dardariel were still Hunters. Instead of being exterminated, he was made to serve the family as punishment and he used the term ‘serve’ lightly. He’d be lying if he said the family didn’t grow on him, some more than others. Victor being one of them. Brodie was curled up on his own pile of pillows that were positioned on luxurious bench that sat in front of a warm roaring fire place, a book propped up and placed on a stand at a level Brodie could easily read. This was so much better than being down in the sunken churches crypt. Brodie shivered at the thought. He was glad he had talked Victor into slumbering in this room, at least he had the comforts of a warm fire and an expansive library here. And a record player, which was currently playing soft classical music. He wasn’t worried about waking Victor up, one would need physically rouse him from his sleep. The rain tonight had made it pointless to hunt although he was sure he could find a bird in the attic, or a mouse in the stables perhaps. He rolled over onto his back, paws in the air and started to settle down for a nap.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Oct 28, 2022 8:57:51 GMT
Naturally Dominic pushed on the doors to see if they would open, they didn’t but that was hardly unexpected. Dead bolted from the inside he suspected. No matter, this was hardly his first experience with breaking and entering. As if knowing his thoughts, the crow on his shoulder took flight to scout around the large building for easy access, while Dominic searched on foot. Something that was easier said than done as he clambered through the overgrowth. At this point he’d rather not have to break a window or use too much magic to announce his presence.
Eventually he discovered the servant’s entrance, and called his bird back to him. It was overgrown with ivy, so he spent a little time pulling it away from the door. He carefully rattled the handle. Locked. He shrugged and pulled out some tools. He doubted this door was as secure as the main entrance, the wealthy tended not to think too much about entrances they didn’t use.
A little more time and eventually Dominic got it open. He carefully pushed the door, and quietly stepped inside, his bird swooping in after him before he closed the door. He didn’t lock it, just in case he needed a quick escape later.
Dominic made his way through the servant’s quarters, mentally mapping the way. He came out in the kitchen only here did he finally drop the hood of his cloak. His hair was short, with long bangs and a side fringe framing his face, his hair black tipped with white. His eyes were shaded by a pair of round purple lensed spectacles.
He looked around, and aside from the barren emptiness and dust, the kitchen was in remarkable condition. This was weird in itself given the length of time the place had been abandoned. Things really took a turn however when he finally found his way to the main foyer.
“Okay I’m not sure if this is just weird….or creepy.” A voice said into his mind. Dominic didn’t reply.
Painting easels, everywhere he turned. There was hardly room to move between most of them. He carefully slipped from between one to the other, not wanting to knock any of them over. There seemed to be even more canvases stacked along the walls.
“Someone was certainly very prolific,” he said quietly as he reached for a sheet covering the nearest painting and pulled it loose. Might as well see what the apparent obsession was about.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Nov 12, 2022 4:02:46 GMT
The painting that Dominic had uncovered was rather peculiar for it depicted exactly this moment of the painting’s reveal. Although within the painting it appeared as Death pulled the sheet away for the grand reveal. The revealed painting in the painting was an echo of the original. The details had nearly driven Victor mad as he painted the moment, smaller and smaller within each painted canvas, caught in the echoing vision. It was one of the last paintings Victor had done, fueled by the blood of some poor son of a bitch that had happened to try and rob the Dardariel Estate.
In the library Brodie lounged contently in front of the warm fire, his tail slowly swishing back and forth with the gentle music and ambient sounds of the rain. It was all just lovely. The music faded as the recording came to an end, Brodie was just about to fall asleep when the unmistakable sound of the sheet being pulled off one of the easels managed to reach his ears. His eyes shot opened and Brodie twisted his body to see if Victor had somehow roused from his sleep, but the vampire was still sprawled across the bedding on the floor. As he strained his ears to listen, the record player began playing it’s next song, which began with the opening note of a very loud opera singer. Startled Brodie nearly jumped out if his skin, launching himself straight up and onto the cluttered fireplace mantle sending the items clattering along the floor. He leapt to a nearby table and darted into the shadows of the library content to hide for now.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Nov 12, 2022 7:14:57 GMT
A loud squawk echoed through the manor as Dominic’s familiar laid eyes on the painting. Dominic himself seemed unperturbed by the repeating image in front of him. In fact, his depiction as death brought a smirk to his lips.
“What about this is amusing to you!?”
“Come now Oz, what isn’t interesting about this painting? It’s clearly a masterpiece. Such attention to detail it has!” He exclaimed as he leaned in closer.
“Interesting!? That’s clearly -” The voice in Dominic’s head cut itself off as there was the sudden sound of opera singing in the distance, it almost drowned out the sound of something cluttering to the floor. Dominic reached out and grabbed Oz by the beak before the bird could make another sound.
“Shhh!” Dominic urged, putting the finger of his free hand to his lips. Once he was sure Oz would be quiet he let the bird go. He pulled the hood of his cloak back up, and carefully slipped between the easels. He found somewhere a little less cluttered to crouch and watch from, hiding in the shadows of a statue by the base of a grand staircase.
“Oz!” He whispered harshly. “Go take a look around, but remain high,” he instructed, pointing towards the high ceiling. The bird did his best impression of a nod, before flying as close to the ceiling as he could and flying off up the stairs.
The painting in question remained uncovered and revealed, and it stood out in the sea of white sheets covering the other paintings. Dominic could still see the image from where he crouched and still it made him smile. How very interesting. It was clearly him in the painting, but he wondered if the prophetic painter understood what they had painted, or did they simply think death was coming for them?
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Dec 1, 2022 2:37:25 GMT
Brodie waited for a moment, straining his ears to listen but it was hard to hear though the opera singing. He emerged from the shadows cautiously, not sure if he should turn off the music. Going around the edge of the room, Brodie made his way to the phonogram, that is, until he realized that Victor was no longer laying in the throw of pillows. The cat demon quickly ducked under the nearest piece of furniture, unsure as to what had stirred his master he knew that Victor had not consumed blood for several years…and Brodie didn’t want to accidentally end up on Victor’s radar.
Call it fate or destiny, or perhaps it was the masterful beauty of the one hundred year old opera, but for whatever reason, something had awoken Victor from his slumber. Starved and moving by natural instinct, he moved as a shadowy mist through the library, seeping past the locked door that had meant to keep others out. Dominic’s beating heart drummed like a beacon for Victor to follow. It would have felt cold as the mist came towards Dominic’s back before Victor shifted back into form and springing his attack on the intruder. Hand’s reached to grab his prey and razor sharp teeth violently sank down, ripping into flesh. It wasn’t a thing of grace as Victor began to drink, starved for more and more. Nothing was going to stop him until he drank every last delicious drop.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Dec 8, 2022 17:41:00 GMT
Dominic waited in silence, his ears straining to hear anything new. He could still hear the distant sound of opera singing, but nothing else. The sound of the rain outside grew heavier against the windows, but inside nothing seemed to stir. Taking a breath Dominic steeled himself before swinging out from behind the statue and carefully starting up the grand staircase. He stayed crouched, and was careful about the placement of his feet as he crept up the stairs.
Once he made it to the top, stepping out onto the landing he felt a chill travel down the length of his body. It took him a moment too long to realise why. He’d had his suspicions of course, but had in his curiosity failed to properly account for the possibility of any of them being true.
Searing pain spread out from his neck the moment he felt sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. This was no cunning predator, this was a starving beast. It certainly explained a lot, Dominic thought hollowly to himself even as he felt the blood leaving his body.
“O-oz….” He gasped out as he felt his knees buckle beneath him. His consciousness was fast fading, and with it his life. “F-fuck….” He hadn’t messed up this badly in a while, within seconds he’d nary the strength to resist or retaliate.
His last thoughts were for Oz to remain out of sight.
It was surprising how quickly the human body could be completely drained of blood and life. In barely any time at all Victor might come to realise there was a body, rapidly growing cold in his grip.
Meanwhile in the rafters above, Oz landed, silently watching his master's body below.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Dec 9, 2022 4:46:01 GMT
The delicious warm liquid was all Victor could want, gulping his victim until there was nothing left in Dominic’s veins. He started growling in frustration at how quickly his meal had ended and Victor began manhandling the body trying to claim every last bead of the liquid. When he came to his senses, Victor was fangs deep into a second set of bites into Dominic’s neck, the growl growing still in his throat just as the heat was leaving the body.
Horrified Victor released him uttering apologies. “No no no no no…I’m sorry…don’t be dead….” Victor shook the stranger trying wake up the person he found in his arms. And when that didn’t work the vampire called for the family familiar. “Brodie. Brodie!!” Victor pleaded to the darkened house, not even sure how long he had been asleep, or if the cat-demon was even still around.
“I’m here Victor.” Brodie spoke up as he ascended the stairs.
“Can you help him?” Victor pleaded.
“Surely you jest.” Brodie flicked his ear in annoyance. “He’s dead. You drank him dry.”
“How? How did he even get in?” The vampire was distraught at having another death on his hands. Gently he laid Dominic down and began to furiously clean off the blood on his face.
“Does it matter? Shouldn’t have been trespassing. Just another thief and by the tell of him,” Brodie nostrils flared, “a witch. Probably going to steal things from your family’s occult library no doubt.”
Victor looked at him in almost disbelief but then again, this had been the felines output on pretty much anything and everything that happened. According to Brodie, they all had it coming.
“You can’t leave the body like you did last time. The entire house reeked for months.” Brodie complained and Victor apologized for incidence again feeling the guilt compound. He was going to have to take care of the body, perhaps if he made room for him down in the crypt…or buried him outside? The prospect of going outside scared him, he didn’t trust what was waiting for him out there, and the crypt already contained the bodies of the others that had the misfortune to sneak into the manor. “The floor stones are loose in the servants wing. I could dig a grave there…” The idea seemed good and didn’t require Victor to go down into the crypt, a place he wasn’t very fond of. It seemed like a long time, Victor just sat next to the body in silence, Brodie sitting silently with him.
“Help me find a shovel…” Victor finally stood up and beaconed Brodie to come with him. It would be sometime before Victor returned for the body as the vampire wasn’t use to hard manual labor nor had he gotten the idea on how to dig properly. Brodie was of no help as he only hurled thin insults about Victor’s grave digging skills.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Dec 9, 2022 12:11:44 GMT
Oz hopped about on the rafters above watching the scene unfolding below him. He tilted his head curiously at Victor’s distress and the exchange with the cat familiar. He watched as the Vampire laid Dominic’s body down on the ground. His eyes were closed and his skin pale….well Dominic was always pale….
When the two left after discussing what to do with the body, and long after their voices and footsteps faded, Oz fluttered down from the rafters, and landed next to Dominic’s body. He gave his master a cursory peck with his beak.
Yep. Certainly he was dead, and if the Vampire really had drained him completely of blood well….This was going to take a while.
The truth of the matter was that Dominic was no more human than Victor was, not really. He wasn’t technically undead either, he was undying. A human who had been previously resurrected with dark magic, it left him in a permanent limbo of being unable to truely die. He would always recover after some time. In this instance it took him hours.
Fortunately the occupants of the house seemed to be taking their time digging Dominic’s grave, because they still hadn’t returned for him by the time he started to finally come too. His fingers twitched, and he let out a soft groan of pain and discomfort. Slowly he sat up, Oz hopped up onto his lap.
“Well? Was it worth it?” Asked the voice in Dominic’s head.
“Urgh….Can’t you be a little more sympathetic?”
The crow tilted his head.
“I’ve not died that way before…Not exactly pleasant, feeling your blood being literally *sucked* out of your body….”
“You wouldn't have had to experience it at all if we hadn’t come here.”
Dominic gave his companion a deadpan look, and then a grin spread across his face.
Oh no…
“Should we have a little fun with my murderer?”
Oz remained silent.
“Come on, the music is coming from this direction. Hopefully there is a fireplace too. I’m freezing.”
Oz let out the closest thing to a sigh a bird could manage. “Being dead will do that to a man.”
Dominic let out a short laugh as he stood up, and started to walk towards the library. He was a little surprised to find it locked, not that it proved too much difficulty. Using the same skills he’d used to gain entry to the house he picked the locks. The warmth from the roaring fireplace washed over him instantly. He closed the doors behind him, but didn’t lock them. He then found somewhere to sit and wait comfortably, but also picked a chair where he wouldn’t be immediately noticeable upon entry.
Victor and Brodie would eventually return to find the body gone, and the only clue would be a single crow feather laying upon the ground.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Dec 11, 2022 7:38:19 GMT
“It was absolutely pitiful the way you handled that shovel.” Brodie scolded Victor as they returned from grave digging.
“I’m a painter…I don’t do manual labor.” Victor’s clothing was covered in soil, his long hair in disarray and his face was red from exertion. After draining Dominic, Victor’s pale skin had a rosey glow that it failed to have in life.
“That’s painfully obvious.” Brodie retorted as they went up the stairs, the pair stopping when they realized that the body was gone. “Where did it go?” “Maybe..he wasn’t dead?” “He was dead.” Brodie shook his head and Victor’s wishful thinking. The pair argued and looked around the immediate area and after not finding any signs of the body Victor returned the library with Brodie padding behind him.
“We need to keep looking. We could be in danger. A dead body doesn’t just walk away.” Brodie jumped up on one of the study tables.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Dec 11, 2022 8:03:00 GMT
Dominic waited by the fire, sure that the pair would eventually return to the library. Dying had left him cold to the bone, and he desperately needed to warm up. Oz meanwhile turned off the source of the music, plunging the library into silence, the only sound being the crackling of the fire. Dominic almost fell asleep by the time he could hear arguing voices approaching the library.
“A dead body doesn’t just walk away.”
He smirked to himself in the arm chair he sat in.
“Ordinarily, I’d agree with you,” he spoke, his tone nonchalant.
There, next to the fire sat Victor’s latest victim. Leaning back in the large armchair, his legs spread casually. The wounds on his neck were clearly visible, no longer bleeding, but not healed either. His skin was pale, and while there was a heartbeat coming from this individual it was almost excessively slow now.
He reached into the pocket of his vest jacket, pulling out a single cigarette, in lue of a tinderbox he simply held it out to the fire, just close enough to light the end before putting it to his mouth. There was a disapproving caw from above Dominic, where perched on top of the armchair was a large black crow. Something that Brodie would immediately recognise as another familiar.
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Dec 30, 2022 15:46:47 GMT
From the moment that Dominic spoke, Victor felt a great pain in his chest as his heart stopped beating. In a panic he clutched at it, no longer feeling the familiar beat, and in it’s lasting stillness and his continued animation that he was reminded that he was in fact a vampire now.
Brodie’s back arched in alarm, the bristles standing on end making the large cat look even a bit larger and he emitted a low guttural growl. Oz’s call caught his attention and the cat licked his lips, the bird looked tasty.
“My deepest apologizes, and so glad you are alrighty.” Victor bent at the waist, bowing with his words. “I didn’t mean to…I’m not even sure how I was awoken.” “Well if you slept in a coffin maybe we would have this problem less often.” Brodie didn’t hesitate to add his two cents and Victor looked at his cat-familiar in disenchantment. “You know I’m claustrophobic.” Victor replied. “I’m claustrophobic.” Victor addressed Dominic, the not-so-dead-stranger who was warming by the fire. “Why are you telling him that?” Brodie looked as dumbfounded as a cat could look. “I don’t know, maybe he needs to know.” Victor had always failed in social interactions and the feeling of embarrassment for having sucked the man dry was throwing a wrench in Victor’s brain. “He might be here to kill you.” Brodie reminded him and the realization sunk across Victor’s face as he looked back to Dominic. “Well maybe that’s for the best.” Victor had a moment of truth, Brodie shook his head in disapproval.
|
|
|
Post by Behax on Nov 6, 2023 20:32:22 GMT
Dominic just blinked at the two for a moment, not sure what to make of the spectacle before him as they bickered. This was far from what he had been expecting, and if he was completely honest the strangest vampire he’d ever crossed paths with….Not that he made a habit of that.
“Do I strike the pair of you as a vampire hunter?” He asked, tipping his head in such a way that it revealed the true nature of his eyes that otherwise were obscured by his purple lensed glasses. His irises were purple and his scalera black rather than white.
“I’m not exactly a ’normal’ human myself, if the fact that I’m still alive wasn’t a strong indication.”
At this Oz began to caw with laughter, Dominic rolled his eyes as he took a long drag on his cigarette.
"I'm not here to kill you," he added as he blew the smoke from his mouth. "Not yet anyway."
|
|
|
Post by Grimm on Dec 7, 2023 2:58:26 GMT
“Oh that’s a relief, I think.” Victor looked to Brodie who was shaking his head in disbelief, which lead Victor to try to explain himself more. “I haven’t really come across uh, vampire hunters, so I wouldn’t know what to look for.” The irony being the Dardariel Family being notorious hunters back in the day. If Brodie could have face palmed, he would have.
“I’m serving an idiot.” Brodie didn’t exactly mutter the rude remark under his breath, “What do you want here? You’ve broken into the home of Dardariel’s, don’t think there won’t be retribution….Witch.” The cat familiar wrinkled his whiskers at Dominic.
“Brodie.” Victor sighed giving a polite smile to Dominic. “I’m sorry, please ignore him. It sounds like it’s pouring outside. You are welcome to stay.” He outstretched a hand in greeting. “I’m Victor Dardariel.”
|
|