OPEN | i looked around i saw and heard of none like me

[lifeskills]

Who: Victor Frankenstein (lifeskills) and anyone who wants a run-in with the good doctor.
Where: 10th floor, basement, library, generally anywhere around the mansion you'd like!
When: June 12-14th.
Rating: PG-13 in case of drive-by ghoul encounters?
Summary: Who ordered this ice wall? After escaping the hi-tech, anti-ghoul defenses set up on his floor, it's just another day in the life. But ghouls probably don't want this guy, he tastes like dead bodies, narcotics, and sadness.
The Story:



12th

<sub>[Taking a room on the tenth floor had been no more than random choice when Vanessa had been in residence. At first, it had only been to keep close to her, and in her absence, Victor had ultimately found it aesthetically-pleasing to be on the highest level where the roof and the attic converged, away from the hustle and bustle of the lower floors. With a room at the top and his lab at the bottom, he had the run of the mansion if he so chose, and that suited him well enough. The aerobics also didn't hurt, to tell the truth.

That had all been fine until he wakes up one morning to find that, once again, the tenth floor is under siege by arcane forces.

Victor bathes, dresses, and steps out the front door as he does each morning to begin his day... Only instead of a staircase, he turns around to find ice. Ice, everywhere. Ice, an entire sheet of it covering floor to ceiling where the way leading downstairs would have been.

With dumb surprise, Victor stares at it, then stares at it some more. He even dares to touch it (though he should really know better than to do so, after meeting Kol's Mirror self) and finds that it is, indeed, a cold, slick wall of ice trapping him in.

This hadn't been part of the morning's plan.]</sub>

13-14th

<sub>[Victor's incarceration doesn't last, thankfully. Elsa's icy blockade can't keep everyone in or out for long; when he spots an opening big enough for him to squeeze through, he gathers up every ounce of courage in his small, wiry body (the perfect size for slipping through holes in ice walls, as turns out) and makes a break for freedom.

The thought that he may return to find himself locked out of his floor doesn't bother him. He can rest his head just about anywhere, just as he could be devoured by monsters just about anywhere, but being separated from his workspace for an extended period of time bothers him more. Like a ghoul hungers for the flesh of the living, he hungers for familiar spaces--and he's not about to starve himself of that particular delicacy.

Most of the time, the doctor can be found haunting the basement where he keeps his lab, or else in the library, minding his own very important business. Frankenstein ain't got no time for solving world hunger. Sorry, ghouls.]</sub>

Comments

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Up until now, Victor had been paying more mind to the sheet of ice than on other bystanders like himself who might on their way out of their rooms, but now he gives her a slightly more attentive look, lowering the hand he'd brought to his chin while he'd started to think.

He hardly thinks she knows him well enough to be making those kinds of assessments, yet he doesn't disregard the remark entirely.]</sub>

As in aether? The pure essence of the gods? The theory transmissions in physics?

_{[He's always appreciated the irony of calling something a science when it's just as deeply rooted in myth as it is in fact.]}

I do believe in the sciences; however, I wouldn't use the word "distaste." Right at this moment, I'd say the cause of this is a bit undue, perhaps. _{[No mistaking the dry sarcasm there. Overkill, much?]} Unless we're calling it the science of excess.

_{[If so, Elsa should really get a commendation for her work in the field.]}

[fireheaded]

It's ether as in... [How do you describe the ether?] It's the lifeblood of the planet. When people die, they return to it. At least, they do if they don't come back like they do here. And it's something I can see. When I look into the ether, I see its power in everything.

[In Antimony's experience, myth and fact tend to get a bit muddled and mixed, not so strictly separated. She spent her younger years learning of mythology from psychopomps as cultural anecdotes. It's traditional science that she has a harder time with.]

I'm sure Elsa has her reasons. ...Or she could just want to keep us trapped up here forever.

[lifeskills]

<sub>[As he'd thought, the concept isn't dissimilar. Taken more literally than he's ever heard it taken before, though.

His gaze is speculative. A part of him's always believed that when people die, they go nowhere, and that feeling hasn't changed in Wonderland.]</sub>

Your perception of life and death is very different from mine. But this quintessence you speak of--you can see it, but not harness it without this stone?

_{[It sounds to him like the both of them have shaky grasps of their craft if they need "training wheels," but magic is hardly a topic he thought he'd be discussing with someone in his lifetime. He looks up at the wall again, craning his head back to see seam of it running along the ceiling.]}

Well, now that would be foolish, wouldn't it? We're already trapped. If you're right and she's the source of this, she must undo it. Or you can... _{[How had she put it?]} ... "burn" it. I can't stay here.

[fireheaded]

...I can hardly even see it without the blinker stone. It's harder than I thought it would be. Otherwise I might not have given it up so quickly.

[She might still have, though. She tends to put solving people's problems ahead of whatever repercussions doing so may bring about.

Meanwhile, he wants the problem solved now. If she wants to use this opportunity to eat him, it's now or never.]

But you have to stay here.

[She looks at him and her eyes change, sclera going dark and iris turning red.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[He makes a wordless noise to acknowledge she's spoken--neutral on the surface, but hinting at restlessness underneath. Antimony is definitely right about Victor wanting the problem solved now. Right now. He would have a greater interest in her abilities and the difficulties she has with them if she could prove their use. The ice needs to go. It's delaying him, and he's never had much patience for delays.

So intent is he on his desire to be in his lab that at first he doesn't process her words. He hears them, of course--you have to stay here--but it takes Victor a second to realize the demand in them.]</sub>

What?

<sub>[In the second it takes him to focus on her again, she's not the same young girl she'd been before. She changes so subtly that one might be liable to miss the transformation if they weren't looking her directly in the eyes.

Eyes, red now, like her hair.

Funny how something so slight can change an impression. Like an optical illusion, instead of thinking her hair resembles poppies, hair and eyes seem to change to the red of an open wound. He realizes two things as his heart makes a strangled leap into his throat: firstly, he knows now what's she's not (that is to say, entirely human), and secondly, he has a good idea what she intends. Exposure to the supernatural has made Victor a quick study.

His eyes widen, but he doesn't scream. Screaming isn't the first thing that comes to mind, or the second, or even the third.]</sub>

What do you mean by that?

[fireheaded]

[She falters a bit at his reaction, not the expected one at all. Don't people usually... run and hide at the sight of ghouls? She's not sure if he's brave or simply ignorant.]

I mean... I'm not letting you go. I'm going to... eat you. [It sounds awkward and unsure in her voice, a threat like that. A threat she's never made, despite being a ghoul all her life. She's not exactly sure what she's meant to do now, only ever having human meat handed to her. Just... take a bite?

She stares at him, unsure if she can really do it. But she has to, now. He knows she's a ghoul, he could tell others. And if she doesn't eat him, who else will she have to eat before the closets begin to work again?

She has to commit to this. Though as she's been standing there considering all this, she's effectively been staring at Victor and not moving for a short while now.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[He stares back, the look in his eyes indecipherable. Victor isn't sure what he feels himself, quite honestly.

Caught off guard by her unmasking, yes. But as to the rest...]</sub>

You're one of them, aren't you.

<sub>[Said in the tone of someone connecting two pieces of a puzzle together in his mind. "Eat," she'd said. Combine that with the ocular alterations, and Victor can only arrive at one conclusion--she is one of the sentient creatures who subsist on human flesh.

The sudden revelation outweighs the threat for a moment. Another question jumps to the tip of his tongue, one that seems logical to him.]</sub>

Attacking in broad daylight? Risking exposure? _{[His eyes narrow. That doesn't make sense for the ghouls, or for any creature who exists on the periphery of human awareness.]} I'd remember if we'd met before. Are you here for me?

[fireheaded]

[No, they hadn't met before. And she knows this is sloppy. But without food from the closets, she's grown desperate.]

You're just unlucky, I suppose.

[And, before she can talk herself out of it, she moves to seize him, teeth bared.]

SCREAMS, sorry for the lateness

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Not a personal attack? At least knowing a monster had a reason for baring its teeth at him would offer some comfort, something to grasp onto. Rotten luck offers nothing, and leaves him feeling cold like the ice has invaded the marrow of his bones.

Voice choked in his throat, Victor makes a leap sideways in the direction of his room, instinct driving him to get as far out of reach of those teeth as possible.

He can't escape down the stairs, but his room is only a few feet away--it's the nearest sanctuary he has.]</sub>

ITS OKAY !

[fireheaded]

[Thinking quickly, Antimony's kagune bursts from her shoulders, a red flame on her back that crackles and dances. It shoots hardened projectiles Victor's way, hoping to get him before he closes that door.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Neither his encounters with Caliban nor pursuit of the vampires to their lair at the theatre had prepared him for this. It's suddenly burning hot--and the girl is the source. He stifles a gasp, lungs already burning for air. Victor's heard stories, but had never had the opportunity to study ghouls and their abilities, not thinking he'd be on the receiving end of them anytime soon.

His saving grace is that he gives no care to dignity while trying to keep his head attached to his shoulders; surprised off balance, he ends up on all fours, making himself small when something impacts the wall just behind his head. He scrabbles along, seeking purchase.]</sub>

Stop!

_{[This is mad and he doesn't want to be a meal, this isn't fair.]}

[fireheaded]

I need to eat!

[It's her only reply, but she can only hope he can understand that. Probably not, though. She probably wouldn't understand if she had to be somebody's meal.

When he ends up on the ground she catches up, finally, and jumps onto him, ready to make a meal out of him.

Ready.

Very ready.

Any time now.

No, she only finds herself staring at him below her, unable to commit to the hunt. The food she's always received has never looked human, slabs of meat with dubious origins. He's so... alive, still whole, still moving, she can't end that. She thinks she can but she can't.

She rolls off of him and retracts her kagune, her eyes returning to their normal blue. She knows she will regret this but she can't change her mind now. She lets him go.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Before he can find his feet again, her weight knocks him back down, slamming his shoulders against the wall painfully.

He might have more physical strength than the average girl her age, but not a creature designed for subduing human prey much stronger than himself. Still, trying to push her away and locking his arms in place is all he can think to do.]</sub>

You think--hng--this will go unnoticed?

<sub>[Feeble attempts to delay those teeth from making a reappearance, all of them.

But to his surprise, she doesn't lunge for his throat as he expects. No blood, no rending flesh, nothing. Nothing happens. One second she's top of him, and the next she takes one long look at him and slides off. Shaken, he stares after her, reaching behind him for the support of the wall.

I need to eat!

He's meat, but instead of being bitten by a hungry ghoul, there's just... nothing.]</sub>

[fireheaded]

[Antimony curls up on the ground, burying her face between her knees.]

You should go before I kill you.

[It doesn't sound very threatening to her own ears. It sounds as dejected and resigned as she feels. She can't make herself do the very thing she's designed to do. She was babied by her parents and the Court all her life and now this is all she has to show for it. No nerve, no real bite to her words.

She'll have to try again, after this. Not with this man, but with someone else. She'll have to stop thinking so hard and just do it, because without food she'll end up a desperate and ravenous ghoul rampaging through the mansion.

Easier said than done, of course. She did just have someone in her grasp and then let him go just as quickly.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[He doesn't understand any of this. What's caused one of them to go out of control? Reveal itself in public like a common feral animal?

Victor stays frozen for a moment later before dragging himself to his feet, sweat beading on his skin beneath his clothes, shaky from adrenaline. He wants to understand, he wants to ask, say there are other ways to find sustenance beyond attacking him, but the words won't come. He doesn't want to risk becoming the food she so desperately wants, so he does exactly what he's told and scrambles for his room.

The door slams shut, the locks slide into place. Forgetting the wall of ice is easy when there are other more important dangers afoot.]</sub>