Corona

[NativeForeigner]

Beyond the door was an excedingly long hallway, much longer than it appeared it should have been. The hallway was dimly lit and lined with red carpeting. There were many doors lining the right wall, about six or so doors in total and several paintings of the manor and unknown men adorning the left wall. After every two paintings was a single, round, ornate mirror with gold molding.
About a quarter of the way down the hallway was a door on the left leading into the Dining hall. There was another door on the left wall three-quarters of the way down and a final door at the very end of the hallway.  

[Isa-sama]

Ton'yell sighed as she gazed upon the Penfold Estate. "Did you disappear to here, Alex?" She had been searching for a boy that she counseled. His mother came to her about her missing boy. After much digging, she managed to find her way to this mansion.

The closer she got to the building, the more uncomfortable she felt about being there. However, she was adamant about finding Alex. Arriving at the front of the door, she knocked, but found that the door wasn't completely closed. She peaked inside and called out, "Hello? Is anyone here?"  

[Anima Shadow]

Rebecca yelped at the sound of the woman's voice. At the same time, she dropped her flashlight. It bounced a little before rolling a few feet away. Thankfully, the light held true. It had not broken. Above them her yelp echoed around the vaulted ceiling, growing softer with each repeat. The girl had been about to bolt down the hall when she saw that it was only a woman peeking inside from the front door.

Her heart still pounding, Rebecca looked to Tom, unsure of what to do with the arrival of this newcomer.  

[Dreamshell]

Tom turned his attention away from the hallway which seemed too long to be real, and approached the mansion's new arrival. This was becoming a trend...

"Uh, hi," he said. "I'm Tom. This," he pointed behind him, "is Rebecca. Who are you?"  

[Isa-sama]

Ton'yell gave a small smile towards the two people. "Hello. My name is Ton'yell Jordan. It is a pleasure to meet you both." She looked around the room to study the interior, curious about the history of the place. "I've come to look for a boy who might've come here. What about you two? What brought you to this place?"  

[Anima Shadow]

"Exploring..." Rebecca whispered, not caring if the woman who had scared her so much actually heard her or not. Picking up the flashlight, she walked across to the other side. There she repeated the same process she had done at the other door. Open it a crack. Peer inside. Use flashlight to illuminate.

Inisde she was a bit angry at Tom for revealing her name so readily. It wasn't like public property, to be used by anyone at anytime.  

[Dreamshell]

Tom saw Little Rebecca sulkily wander off, but chose to let her be. The kid was just shy. He continued talking with Ton'yell, ignoring the bizarre nature of her name.

"So, you've lost someone too, huh?" he asked her. "I'm looking for my wife, myself. Hey, uh, do you know anything about what's going on here, by any chance?" He looked over his shoulder at the girl. "Rebecca, can I see that silver coin?"

The girl reluctantly offered it up. Tom held it up to Ton'yell.

"Do you have anything like this? Everyone who was invited here—which is starting to look like quite a few people—got one of these, it seems."  

[NativeForeigner]

The interior of the room was too dark to see anything, but a slight sound, like breathing, could be heard from inside. Along with the breathing, some sort of liquid could be heard dripping to the ground.  

[Anima Shadow]

Rebecca instantly shut the door. Whatever might be in there, she wanted nothing to do with it. Returning to Tom's side, still keeping her distance. When he asked to see the coin she reluctantly pulled it from her pocket and handed it over. Glancing behind her, Rebecca looked at the doors standing beneath the staircase.

Those would be next, but for now she would listen to what the two adults were talking about.  

[Isa-sama]

Ton'yell had heard Rebecca and felt a little bit of sympathy flow through her. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but I won't force you to tell me. As a counselor, she'd learned about the different subtle tendencies people made to display an emotion. Rebecca seemed mad at her, but for what, she didn't know. Perhaps I scared her?

Ton'yell looked at Rebecca's timid stance and told her, "I'm so sorry if I scared you earlier. Perhaps I should have knocked, though this place did seemed abandoned." She hoped to get along with the girl, but it was completely up to Rebecca; if she didn't want to be friends, then Ton'yell wouldn't push.

She looked at Tom, glad to know that someone wasn't completely against her. "No, I don't have anything like this," she said as she studied the coin. "I'm afraid I know less than you on this topic."  

[Dreamshell]

Tom sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I guess we should look around together, then, right? Two's better than one, and there's a lot of ground to cover."

He took in the lobby once more, dreading the inevitable search of what laid beyond, and sighed again.  

[Anima Shadow]

"Not that door." Rebecca whispered, pointing to the door on the left. No reason was given. For the most part, she had decided to ignore the newcomer. As far as she was concerned, three was a crowd and crowds made her nervous. If she ignored the woman, maybe she'd feel better. Child's logic for a child.

"Hall through that one." This time pointing to the door on the right. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary through that one.  

[Isa-sama]

Ton'yell let out a sigh as Rebecca ignored her. Many girls strive to be the alpha female within a group; normally solved by being the sole female within a group. If another female were to enter, then the original would feel that her position was being threatened. Not to mention, Rebecca seemed to be close to Tom. Subconsciously she might even think that we're fighting over his attention. That would make her more protective of him and dislike me a bit more. Well, she was a young girl. 12 or 13 from the looks of it. If her hormones haven't gone crazy, then they soon would.


"I agree with you, Tom. But really, we have three people in our party," she looked over at Rebecca. Smiling back at Tom, she said, "While we search, would you mind telling me about your wife? I apologize if I'm being too bold, but I'd feel a lot better having a conversation going." Or anything to block the creepiness of this place.  

[SiberDrac]

"Oh, stop pretending you have enough testosterone in your body to qualify you as a 'man' and put it on."
"I never played 'dress-up' as a kid." Alex eyed the frilled suit jacket he was holding with one hand with suspicion. It was a dusty color of oxblood, with tarnished brass buttons and white lace exploding out of the sleeves.
"What the hell is testosterone, Chris?" Jesse tossed the burnt-out cigarette on the ground and stepped on it to put it out.
"Would you stop smoking in here?" she demanded. "These are so old they should be in a museum and here you are spewing ash and nicotine and arsenic and God-knows-how-many carcinogens I don't know about!"
"You two stop fighting, all right?" Alex said quietly. "I'll put it on." He slipped his arms through the sleeves, let the massive garment fall on his shoulders, and immediately felt the weight of the heavy material pulling him down.
To anyone listening, it sounded like there were three siblings, very near in age, arguing behind the stage of the massive hall. It was very dark back there, but there was enough light filtering through to at least make out where he could walk. He had spent most of his time in that backstage room once he had found it, playing with the props, uncovering whatever he could, and stuffing the occasional loose button or boutonniere into the pockets of his knapsack or his beer bottle, wherever they would fit.
He had started out where everyone did - walking through the front door. Treading softly, he had cautiously inspected the rooms of the house. Unable to rely on either Chris or Jesse for bravery against the paranormal, he had jumped in fright at most of the noises he heard until he could finally identify the natural settling of the floorboards for what it was. He had had the fortune to first reach the dining hall, from where he had stashed a few turkey legs once he realized exactly how long this expedition might take. From there, he had very slowly made his way to the dance hall, where Jesse immediately decided to try sweeping a tablecloth off a table without upsetting any of the settings.
It ended in failure - four times, before Chris stopped him. She and Alex also had to "drag" him away from tasting the wine. Alex's mother had instilled a fear of alcohol in him, but Jesse was decidedly more curious than cautious.
Once in the backstage area, he had become enamored of the multitude of costumes and props, and Chris's girly side had come out with a vengeance and she had been urging him to try on men and women's clothing alike since then.  

[Dreamshell]

"What the—?"

Tom turned his head at the faint sound of voices coming from somewhere in the house.

He looked back to Ton'yell, flustered. "Do what? Look, I'm not sure this is the time to..."

He tilted his head at another small hint of conversation. Where was it coming from?

"I'm sorry," he said, "do you hear that? Someone's talking."