The Belikov Manor

[MeloraBelikov]

With Azura sleeping safely away from her she slipped out of bed, grabbing her bag from the bedpost before slipping silently into the hallway, away from the cuddle puddle in the room. She had almost laughed as she left, which would have given her away. As she passed the rooms on either side of her she took care to remain quiet, not wishing to alert anyone. Upon coming to the same floor as the creepy hallway a wave of sickness washed over her. Something was here. Something absolutely dreadful. Immediately something...or someone...tugged at her arm, pulling her away from the source of the dark feelings. It felt like little hands on her wrist, and Melora shivered at the thought. Was it possible that it was the very same ghost Azura had been seeing? In either case she continued on, not wanting to be held back from her purpose. Fear swelled in her, and Vetis screeched various profanities at her, reminding her about the whole chained to the bed threat. She ignored it as if it were empty and continued to the hall. This time, the door hung open on it's hinges and darkness seemed to radiate from the doorway. It was as if all light in the hall had been sucked into that black hole of a room.

Click. Melora checked the chamber of her gun then slid it back into place. Fully loaded and ready to go. From her bag she pulled her bell. Without anyone else around she could use it without having to worry about Azura or Rima hearing it and thus being subjected to her ind control. There was no way to target anyone specific with this weapon, whoever heard it would fall slave to her commands, regardless of whether she wanted them to or not.

Drawing a deep breath, she held it as she made her way down the hall, towards the darkened doorway, and whatever else should happen to be behind it.

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Ramblings continued, until Rima found her voice. “Are you alright, dear?” Her voice was hoarse, barely an audible whisper. The murmurs of the girl changed to odd keening sounds. For a moment, she thought the girl hadn’t heard, until she went still.

“You.” She hissed. Contrary to her appearance, the voice was gentle, melodic, and oddly compelling, but with the depths of hatred mixed in. “Why did you do this to me?”

“I didn’t-” Rima began, before her mouth refused to work further. The girl shifted her face up, and Rima nearly screamed. She had a beautiful face, heart-shaped, but that wasn’t the problem. Her eyes. They were clouded pupil and all, and one had the appearance of a scar in the eye. The vaguest trace of pupil and iris still shown, greyed and hallow.

“You did this to me.” The voice turned wicked, spiteful. “You.” A sort of compulsion waved hit Rima, the pain extreme in strength. “Get over here. Now.” She demanded.

Against her will, Rima approached, then dropped to her knees at the girl’s side. A dirty, clawed hand reached out, and almost went as though to cradle her cheek, before a single claw tapped her cheek bone.

This time a scream did come from her. Pain, the worst, most immense pain possible blossomed from that tiny touch, sending a spray of tiny black cracks along her cheek.

“Rima…” The girl breathed, childish giggle laced in her word.

The way her name had been spoken shot shivers down Rima’s spine, threatening to paralyze her with fear. But self-preservation was still there, and she recoiled, landing just outside the door. Her hand clenched tightly around the golden pendant at her throat, sending a small metallic sound into the air as she rapidly began preying in Italian.

A sadistic giggle came from the girl. “Rima, come back and play with me.” Yes, it had been oh so much fun with that little Gallian girl, how she’d screamed… Seeing the older Vampire hit her back against the wall, her eyes fixed on her. Slowly, she began to claw her way along to ground, and out of the doorway.

Rima scuffled backward, desperate to get away, and in the process sent out something like a blinding mental flare to the first people she could think of: Azura, Anshel, and Melora.

The girl was near her now, leaning closer, preparing to go in for the game, the kill, and was completely oblivious to Melora. The icy chill was encasing her, binding Rima where she was. This single child was the source of the blackness, the ice.

[MeloraBelikov]

Click. Holding it steady, she released her breath and pulled the trigger all at once. BANG! The sound resounded through the halls, bouncing and echoing off of the empty wall space, disturbing nothing but dust and spiders, as well as the monstrosity in front of her.

At the moment that her bullet made contact, the girl's head tilted back with the force of it. All the way back, for that matter. Much further than anyone's head should go, for that matter. A shiver flew down Melora's body and to her feet. Running forward, she swooped to Rima's side, pulling the old vampire to her feet as quickly as her body would allow her to do. "Come on Бабушка." She muttered. Though poking fun at Rima wasn't her focus right now she couldn't help it. Nervous habit, perhaps.

"Женщина смерти." Melora spat in the direction of the shadowy figure of what once was a girl. With a crackling and popping noise the girl's head had returned to it's proper place, with a smile cast upon her features. The bullet hole Melora had just made sat square in the center of her forehead, but black dripped from the wound, looking like pen ink. It fell down her nose and across her cheek. In mid smile, the girl stuck her tongue out as the black dripped down, sampling the taste. Melora's heart sank. A silver bullet to the brain could kill anything, but apparently not this. All of her plans on handling the situation flew out the window. With Rima nearby she wouldn't be able to use her bell to kill the creature, Rima would die along with it.

Was that such a bad thing? Kill a Blackraven and possibly save the lives of all of the Gallu who reside here, including her partners?

Damn that Azura, damn them meeting, damn her thinking twice about killing a vampire. Killing Rima would be a last resort, she decided. For now, she'd need to hold off the shadow creature until she could figure out how to kill it.

[Doctor]

Anshel mumbled incoherently in his sleep. A muscle twitched here and there and his right arm was thrown back to rest along the chaise's headboard. The position didn't seem conducive to sleep, but it was the only position he found remotely tolerable. However, he was much more comfortable now that Azura, unknowingly to the both of them, was cuddled against his side. The line of the vampire's back and shoulder gave Anshel something to lay his left arm around and distribute his weight properly. Now he slouched even further down the chaise so he could bury his face at the junction of their shoulders.

A flash, a scream wrenched him from slumber and he was so alarmed he tumbled all the way off the seat and into something solid and cool, ears still ringing from the shrill relay. Gaining his bearings he quickly assessed his surroundings as well as he could in the darkness. The pile he had landed on was one of flesh. Azura's lap to be specific and he wondered how despite his best efforts he ended up in exactly the position he had been avoiding. He tried to tug his hand out from under the vampire's head and from the thin oiliness of his fingers he had a feeling he'd been petting the man's hair in his sleep.

"Azura?" Anshel's whisper echoed through the room's deafening silence.

[AzuraGallu]

"Hmmm?" was Azura's mumbled reply as he too came out of sleep from the most deafening screech he'd ever heard. As is eyes opened wider, adjusting to the dark, he realized Melora was nowhere in the vicinity. So who could have been-?
the weight on his lap pulled him out of his murky thoughts and he turned his head to look down at Anshel.
"How did you end up there? How did I end up here? Did we take drugs?" he asked, clearly not remembering the episode in his sleep.
It was then that his sensitive ears picked up the ring of the gunshot, his head swiveling toward the door.
It was left open, and only a single ghost remained; the young man. He still only stared, but a gesture with a tilt of his all too flexible neck told him without vocalizing it that he was needed.
"We need to find Melora," he spoke again, knowing he was half asleep and of really no use with his mind so foggy. Shaking his head he growled, unable to shed the haze of weariness from his body, and then knowing that this was not normal. He'd never been truly groggy in his entire life. Something was affecting him this way.

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Her back was no longer pressed against the wall, nor her butt to the floor, and that witch of a child was away. That was good enough news for Rima.

She was running along side Melora, letting her legs carry her like a deer fleeing from a car. She had to remind herself not to go to fast; not even the Russian deserved that kind of death. “It won’t die. She’s powerful.” She gasped out, eyes bleeding like silver coins as she quickly shot a single plea, focusing a bit more.

‘Help… She’s coming…’ She cried out in Anshel’s mind.

Rima continued along in her Italian prayers, before she came to something she hadn’t read, nor heard since she was small. In modern times, she had learned not to be religious, but a flicker of childhood had returned. And she began sputtering it out in Italian, psalm 23: “L'Eterno è il mio pastore, nulla mi mancherà. Egli mi fa giacere in pascoli di tenera erba, mi guida lungo acque riposanti. Egli mi ristora l'Anima, mi conduce per sentieri di giustizia, per amore del suo nome. Quand'anche camminassi nella valle dell'ombra della morte, non temerei alcun male perchè tu sei con me; il tuo bastone e la tua verga sono quelli che mi consolano. Tu apparecchi davanti a me la mensa in presenza dei miei nemici; tu ungi il mio capo con olio; la mia coppa trabocca. Per certo beni e benignità mi accompagneranno tutti i giorni della mia vita; e io abiterò nella casa dell'Eterno per lunghi giorni.” The wording was hushed and hurried, leaving her breathless.


***
Translation:
Italian, Psalm 23

English:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

[MeloraBelikov]

"Shut. It." Melora growled, taking aim for another shot. It connected with the neck of the girl and she lifted her hands to her throat, coughing and sputtering. She stood in place, swaying for a moment.

As the approached the turn to bring them to another hallway, Melora stopped, refusing to run any further. She wasn't intending to lead this thing anywhere near the main hallways of the house. "Rima, get out if you need to." Your praying is annoying me and aggravating my demon. She finished in her mind.

The shadowy mass down the hall had resumed the chase, no longer toying with the hole in her neck. Bullets could only buy Melora more time. She was getting closer with each passing second. Without explanation she stumbled back, and Melora watched completely dazed by it. Nothing had happened, but the girl with the insane eyes couldn't move any further towards them, stumbling and clawing at some invisible force.

The ghost who had grabbed Melora was going to work, buying her time, though that time was limited, and Melora had no idea. Still, she took another shot at the woman, this time the bullet made it's way through the side of the girl's head. Once again her neck twisted in a horrific fashion, a sick cracking noise accompanying it.

[Doctor]

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," Anshel chanted the obscenities while barreling down the stairs, Azura stumbling beside him.

He was going to kill Melora. He was going to save her from whatever it is she stupidly released from behind that door and then he was going to wring her neck for sixty-five days straight until Vetis was exorcised and she dropped dead. It angered him so fucking much that even after all they've been through, the girl would throw it all away to appease her curiosity and need for rebellion. He had done everything in his power to save her life and she took every opportunity to gamble with it. Anshel was glad he never had reservations about hitting women.

"Where the fuck are both of you and what's happening?" He projected the question. Another thing to be furious at the Russian for - forcing him to interact with that socially retarded vampire. Even without her answer, Anshel's feet took him along the path to that ominous hallway, because if there was a creepy ominous thing anywhere near them, surely there was nothing that could stop Melora from seeking it out, wounded and alone.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura's vision was swimming, though he was lucky enough to mark his physical progress by the colors of Anshel's bedclothes flashing before him. His ability to compensate for the tight turns and flight of stairs was thankfully just enough to keep him from killing himself unwittingly on the tiled floor.
"Yeah, I wish," the King quipped, though his voice was humorless.
What was Melora thinking? Then again, he someone felt that she wasn't at the root of this problem. He'd felt that seething evil long before, except he couldn't actually pin down when.
Growling, he pressed his eyes, hoping that the blurriness would fade and he'd be of some use to his friends.

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Damn that superstitious nature that made Rima hiss at the prospect of a demon. She hadn’t been aware of it, and that pissed her off quite a lot. “I’m shutting up.” Her eyes went wide at the child, who still refused to die.

‘A hall up from the door.’ Rima hurried to reply to Anshel, which was quickly followed by a stream of mental images of the approaching girl.

“You, my little human, aren’t being left here alone. You’re too fragile.” If she tried to flee, leaving Melora for dead, she’d make another enemy: the Banglaire. Her breath shown in the air on her next exhale, and the silvery coins that were her eyes flared with a hidden light. The reasonable exterior was falling away, and suddenly her voice fell low with a growl, and her words sounded as though spoken from another’s mouth.

“Stay where you are.” She commanded, verbal and mental control bouncing off an empty wall of insanity. The cracks on her cheek burned, searing the skin worse.

The girl let out another giggle at the pain, unphased. Though the ghost wasn’t allowing her to proceed, that would be no problem in a moment when its strength ran out. “Silly Rima, Silly Melora. Come play with me!” The voice turned hatefully, gravelly. “Now.”

[MeloraBelikov]

"Be patient," Melora growled. "We'll have plenty of time to play in Hell. Too bad I'm sending you there first." Another shot rang through the hall. Then, suddenly, Melora couldn't feel her feet touching the ground. It was as if a clawed hand was lifting her from around the waist. In another second she was face to face with the girl she'd just shot, held still by the shadows emanating from her.

"Melora..." The child half cooed and half whispered. "I promise I won't destroy you. Daddy wants us both intact at the very least." A fanged smile drew across her face as Melora struggled to be released from the grip of the shadows. Melora barely managed to aim her gun and take a shot at the child's chest, causing the shadow to fling her against the nearest wall.

Melora felt a few of the stitches in her shoulders rip themselves apart. Fuck. She ground her teeth and pulled herself up to her knees before reaching for her gun, which she'd dropped when thrown against the wall. A shadowy tendril gripped around her wrist, stopping her as she reached out. It pinned her arm against the wall beside her, pressing and tightening it's grip around her wrist. The more Melora pulled, the more it tightened.

The girl was using her own hands to cover the gaping hole now in her chest, where black was pouring out. It spilled over her rotting fingers and down her front. For the first time she'd expressed serious pain, something Melora had thought her previously incapable of.

[Doctor]

Anshel's bare feet slapped against the floor as he bounded towards the danger that held Melora captive. A what? A zombie? A little demon girl? The images Rima sent him were as frightening as they were confusing. Why was he perpetually surrounded by disturbed, violent women? If he hadn't already preferred men, he would have sure as Hell jumped ship a while back. Maybe he was being sexist, but damn, women could get twisted in the soul a way few men could.

Anshel halted when he reached the ladies, Melora pinned (again) and bleeding (again) and Rima looking lost and erratic. Anshel wasn't positive about how this monster's influence worked, but there was no harm in assuming proximity played a factor. So, with that in mind, the Hunter rushed behind the undead thing, still distracted by its manipulations of Melora, and grabbed it by the collar. With all his effort, he swung it away so that whatever it was flew through the air, a line of inky substance trailing from its wounds, before the tiny body smacked against a shadowed wall.

There was an unholy shriek, but Anshel paid it little mind in his attempt to pull Melora from the wall.

"Azura, what the Hell is that?" He yelled out, praying that the King knew the answer and oblivious to all else but his attempt to break the Huntress free.

[AzuraGallu]

Azura came in a little farther behind Anshel, feeling along the wall as he came nearer the thing. His vision had gotten worse, almost to the point that he felt he needed to release his stomach. However, the grit from training surfaced and he held the desperate want to do so all over the unkempt tiled floors.
"I don't know," he squeezed out from his convulsing esophagus, "what does it look like?"
He winced at the shriek, sensitive ears taking a beating as he honed in on the creature using the senses he could manage. Whatever it was, wasn't breathing and had no heartbeat. It wasn't dead in the way a vampire was either. Something was off about its existence, and he didn't wait for it to shuffle off the floor, little fingers and toes already tearing to the bone as he heard the beginnings of tapping from the points of the appendages.
Raising a hand he snapped his ring and fore-finger together, setting the thing alight, whatever it was. Luckily for him, her now burning form and her racious shrieks gave him a target to hit instead of arbitrarily casting magic all around. He wouldn't say it, but when he'd unleashed that bit of fire, he wasn't entirely sure it wasn't going to be one of his comrades he was burning.

[Rima Elaine Donavon]

Rima’s nostrils flared at the fresh scent of Merlora’s blood in the air. This was nothing more then a game to the child, and obviously not something that could be solved with mental combat. It was not a sort of chess game she was used to, it called for physical combat. And that was not her specialty, but Anshel was there for that.

Somebody was screaming, and she realized it was her, yet so was the undead girl. She shrieked once more, then quieted, turning her head slowly to Rima. “Riiiimmaaa. Come play with me. He hurt me Rima. Kill him.” The sickening voice tempted, and as Rima refused to move a muscle, the black cracks on her cheek exploded, turning molten red. “Do it now. Kill him.”

She ground her teeth, and let out a hiss, but was unable to stop herself. The pain… needed, just had to stop. She didn’t want to hurt Anshel. With that step, the heat began to cool, ever so slightly.

“Come and play…” The girl chanted. “Kill him.” And then she went alight. “BOTH!” She screeched. Rima winced at the pain that pounded in her skull and ears, but slowly turned between the two, looking from Anshel to Azura with pained eyes.

[MeloraBelikov]

Dazed, Melora stood from the floor, bracing herself against the wall. The vampire on fire in front of her was giving off the smell of a burning corpse. She was entirely engulfed in flame. Who knew that rotting flesh was so flammable?

This had gone on long enough, and there was no hope of them stopping the assault using physical attacks. Pulling the bell from her pajamas pocket, she took a deep breath to clear her mind and be sure she wanted to do this.

"Everyone cover your ears!" Her voice came screeching and hoarse, high above the wails and demands of the offending party. As soon as she could be sure that everyone had properly covered their ears she approached the death child and rang her bell. Immediately the child stopped writhing and screeching, an eerie sense of calm overtaking her as the flames melted the flesh away from her skeleton, revealing not the bleached white bones people typically associate with such, but instead the brownish horror that comes with a half melted face. That too would burn, but more slowly than the rest of her. With the girl subdued, Melora was able to concentrate on making the commands to destroy the thing entirely.

Mentally, Melora formed a shimmering light of her consciousness. And with it, she expanded towards the girl, grabbing it by the neck. Her eyes had melted, but Melora filled in the places on her face with an expression of shock. I have a hold of your consciousness in mine. She noted in a commanding tone. Melora stepped back and with it came her mentally controlled grasp. The spirit harboring the body came as well after a bit of force on her part. Finally, Melora was face to face with her grinning father in spirit form. A smile spread across his features and he attempted to speak, but nothing he said could be heard. Sick bastard. "Be gone from this place! Now!" She thought it but had also unknowingly shouted it. Her father dissipated into thin air in front of her and the girl's now unoccupied body crumpled to the floor, still burning. It was then Melora understood. This body had been a puppet.