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 Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 1:38 pm
Quote: Congratulations. You and someone else are walking - or driving, riding, whatever - along together on this fine, fine sunny day in Celeste City. Who are you? Who are they? Why are you two walking - or driving, or riding, etc. - and where to? Hope whatever your plans were though, assuming you had any, can take a small detour. By whatever forces seem to be at work around the city lately, you and your partner have now been chosen to join the oh so coveted "Attacked by Random Monsters" Club. Yay! We'll throw you two a party to celebrate ~! Well. "Yay" if you don't mind running into strange monsters with a potential for magical powers, and "we'll throw you a party" if you manage to survive the encounter... So it's more of a "You lived!" party than a "Welcome to the club~!" party. Hm. If you've heard about the strangely costumed people running around town lately, you might find yourself inclined to fight the monster. Or perhaps you'd rather one of them took care of this thing. Do you and your partner join forces to defeat the minions of evil?! ...or does one of you just bolt and leave the other with well-wishes and a prayer the monster goes after them first? Or maybe both of you just find a way to escape. Regardless. Tell us the tale of your mighty adventures, young warriors! ...or whatever you are.
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 3:28 pm
The sun was bearing down overhead and the albino girl did everything she could to disappear from it's rays under her parasol. Her light sensitive glasses had darkened but still, the bright light was painful to her eyes. She could feel that she was beginning to sweat and that made Velia exceptionally nervous. In her mind she went over every single inch of skin that was exposed and cursed herself for wearing a sleeveless, knee length dress. At least the lower half of her arms were protected by the gloves that laced their way up her arms. That much comforted her, as her hands were relatively exposed to the sun and the last thing she wanted was to deal with a vicious sunburn...Of course, for the albino girl, every sunburn was vicious...That knowledge made her quicken her pace, the ruffles of her skirt rustling rather loudly as she did so. Her breathing became heavier and her chest heaved against the corset like top of the dress.
This was why she hated Summer. There was no such thing as a casual stroll. With a dainty sigh, she rounded the corner and smiled as she reached for the door handle to her favorite shop. Sweet shade at last.
Bright red eyes flicked up to the sign labeled "Coming Up Roses", the flower shop that she and her sister both worked at.
Someday I will own a shop like this!
The door chimed as she opened it and she glanced around for her sister, who should have been working register at that particular moment. The girl closed down her parasol and gingerly tucked it away behind the front desk where it would be out of sight of grabby hands and hungry eyes. Cherry red eyes scanned the room, but she saw no sign of her twin and frowned a bit. Maybe she had been called into the back to restock. That was the only place she could have been, as she never would have left the shop unmanned. The owner would not be in today, so the twins were to hold down the fort.
Deciding to pursue her sister in just a moment, she went behind the desk and signed in on her time sheet, shaping each letter with careful delicacy so that even her name looked graceful and refined.
It was then that she noticed the store was cooler than usual. In fact, it was downright chilly. A shiver ran down her spine and she shuddered, her usual grace fading for just one second of convulsion. Velia wrinkled her nose and headed to the back, rubbing her arms for warmth as she did so. That was where the thermostat was and her guess was Camilla was as well.
With gentle, soundless steps she made her way to the back door, glancing down the aisles of flowers as she did so in hopes of spotting her sister. The trademark white hair, a dark red eye, maybe even some ribbons fluttering as she walked by. Something felt wrong. Aside from the cold. Something was just...Off. And the more she felt it, the more she desperately wanted to find her sister. Velia was prone to startling herself but at least when Cammy was around, it was easier to control and cope with.
A pale hand reached for the door and she turned the knob, calling out as she did so, her Italian accent ringing through the air.
"Cammy? Cammy, are you back here?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 11:09 am
Camilla had been working the cash, eyes often drifting to the sky outside. Watching the clouds. There wasn't anything to do in the back. Nothing she hadn't already done earlier that day. So all she had to do now was stand there and wait for customers to come in. Mother's Day was coming up. Business should be picking up, soon. She was fine either way, though. The quiet was nice, when she got it. Today she was letting her mind wander a little to possible dress designs. A soft song played on the radio above her head. Classical, as always. No other music seemed to fit the atmosphere of a flower shop.
It had started to get really cold while her mind was going over possible bow patterns on the front of a dress. Crinkled left over ribbon always looked nice below the bow. At first, she didn't notice the drop in temperature. A rather fierce shiver shook her body, snapping her away from her thoughts. Blowing warm air into her bare hands, the petite woman turned around to check on the thermostat. There was no reason behind this coldness. It was summer! And it felt like someone had left the door to a freezer opened too long.
Without a second thought as to what was back there, Camilla opened and closed the door behind her, rubbing her hands against the front of her dress for additional warmth. It was only a flower shop. She didn't think there could be anything bad back here. Besides, all those stories people like to tell about what goes on in Celeste. Untrue. People telling lies or pulling pranks. That was the only plausible explanation.
That was, until she heard the low hiss from a corner of the back room. It made her hesitate, her heels clinking on the floor once as she backed away a little. It had come from behind a shelf covered in boxes. A snake, maybe? Oh, please don't let it be a snake. Backing further away, she kept her distance as much as possible, grabbing her parasol from against the wall, and walked around the edge of the shelf. What was there was difficult to see.
She couldn't make it out. It was shaped like a snake, about the size of a cat from the coiled position it was in. The tail seemed to be moving, like a rattle snake, but no sound was coming from it. There was nothing but the black shape in front of her. Then it opened its eyes...
[You can decide what she's doing when Velia finds her. ;o Don't want to stretch this out too much.]
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:31 pm
Velia opened the door just in time to hear a gasp, a shriek, and an enraged hiss. Something from the shadows had leaped out at her sister who had, in some stroke of genius...Or possibly desperation, flipped open her parasol as a shield. She watched her sister's small frame get pushed back into the wall from the impact and whatever it was that had just assaulted her slammed into the cloth of the parasol, threatening to rip it's way through. Still, the frame stayed strong and the creature was launched back into the little corner it hid in.
"CAMILLA! Are you okay? What is that thing? Was that a snake?"
A convulsion of shivers ran down her spine as she ran into the room and realized it was colder in this room than in the rest of the shop...Why? There was no reason for it...Velia simply didn't understand what was going on but her sister was her first concern. Another hiss reinforced her fears and without waiting for an answer, she grabbed her sister by the wrist and pulled her from the room, her high heels clacking fervently as she did so.
Just as she turned around to close the door, she could see the...creature leaping towards her and she screamed before slamming the door shut with all of her might. The creature howled as it slammed head first into the door and Velia leaned her back against the door, trying to add some sort of weight or strength to the door so that the creature couldn't get free. She could hear scratching and hissing, none of which sounded likes natural sounds and she shuddered even more.
"That did not look like any kind of snake I have ever seen...Are you alright, Cammy?"
Velia didn't have a chance to get an answer though, because as she spoke, a rush of cold went in between her feet and she glanced down, eyes going wide as she watched a shadow slide it's way under the door.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 4:00 pm
Camilla allowed herself to be dragged away, closing her parasol as she followed Velia obediently. Her darker red eyes never once left the place the creature was, not even when she ran through the doorway and stayed clear of the closing door. She was afraid. Anyone would have to be a fool not to be. But she was also confused. The way it looked. The way it moved. It had a long body like a snake. No snake-or animal for that matter-she knew was shaped like a shadow. Not in the "It was the color of a shadow." Literally. It looked like a shadow. Like it was enveloped by mist, swirling around its body.
When it scratched at the door, this only confirmed it. It wasn't an animal. It was something more. Something different. Something the world probably never seen. Or if it did, no one lasted long enough to tell people about it.
The scratching made her jump. Camilla was too shaken to even respond to the concern in her sister's voice. Nor to even look at the other woman. Instead, when she saw the mist-was that the creature?-coming from under the door, she moved quickly to the counter to grab a pair of pruning shears kept on the shelves below the counter top. Shoving Velia aside, she waited until it was formed enough, shears in hand, and loped off where she guessed was the head. The creature made an angry hiss, making the silver haired woman back up in fright. The glowing eyes blinked once as the head fell towards the ground, disappearing into a burst of dust before it even hit the floor. The body soon followed. Camilla wasn't long to copy the action, dropping down to her knees with the shears still in hand.
"I guess..." she said softly, still looking at the place the strange snake-like creature had been. "The stories are true."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 9:52 pm
Velia had found herself unable to move as the mist,,,The shadow, whatever it had been, began to slither it's way out from under the door. Bright red eyes widened, her eyebrows rising up, her jaw dropping, knees knocking. As it solidified all she could do was stare down, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind that she needed to be running and feeling that she was incapable. If not for the wall she would have given way to the floor. The only thought, the only reasoning that she had was that she couldn't possibly let this monster escape and attack her sister. If course with it...Slithering? It's way out she vaguely realizes what she was doing was pointless.
That was when she gasped, watching as Cammy simply snapped it's head off. How had she thought to do that? What if it hadn't worked? What if it had simply...bitten her. Why did it just...Turn to dust? What snake became dust upon death? A million more questions swirled through her head but she began to slide toward the ground, using the wall as support for her back.
Velia sunk into a pile of lacy skirt material and leaned sideways against the door, panting, eyes closed. Could this have been one of those...Monsters everyone was talking about? Was it a prank? The questions came in a barrage of words, half of them no longer making sense.
After a moment, she leaned forward and began a slow crawl to her sister on all fours, careful to avoid the sheers. She wrapped her arms around her sister and leaned her head against her shoulder. Velia was shaking and could feel her sisters small frame shaking because of it.
"....Monsters," was all she could manage to say. The temperature of the room began to rise.
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