Black Manor

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Once again startled, Sazael jumped as Julius touched her cheek out of no where. The pressure applied to her wound made it sting, but it didn't seem to bother her as much at this point. Just then, he pushed something, an herb as he said, into her mouth. As a reflex, she chewed twice and swallowed. This man was certainly weird.... and oddly charming. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head and looked directly at him. "Why?,"she asked, speaking her first word in a long while. Her voice was quiet and soft as she asked why he wanted her to win. She was confused about everything that had happpened, but she wasn't expecting any thorough explanation.
 
Julius shrugged, messing with the small braid in his hair. "Because sometimes the most quiet ones are the deadliest. People can underestimate people like us.." He pulled out a small needle from his pocket, pushing it slowly into his finger and removing it. Blood came out, though it was slow and a darker color than normal blood. "You and I are able to inflict wounds on ourselves. Isn't that odd?" He shrugged, patting her shoulder and walking out the door, looking to Abigale. "Lock up. Then Jarrett can use the key to unlock the next door. We're done here." Abigale nodded, looking at everyone before exiting. "Be safe. Eat up."
 
Keith nodded at the woman in the black dress, whose name was apparently Abigale, as he received his meal. The reluctance, to put it mildly, she shared with Julius was almost impossible to miss. It was then that Keith came to a sort of realization: if there were only four people who were residents of the house, and three of them did not agree with what was going on, then Serena was the only one who was truly against them. How had Serena bent the others so severely to her will?

Keith walked back to his cell, meal in hand. He ate it slowly and quietly, eating everything on the tray. Then he decided he might as well talk to everyone. "Excuse me, everyone. Would it be all right with all of you if we introduced ourselves to eachother? You don't have to say much; a name alone is fine. For example, my name is Keith." He hoped this might bring a bit of cheer to the otherwise grim situation.
 
Sazael took a minute to think over his words. Deadliest? People like us? Him and I are able to inflict wounds on ourselves? She tried to make sense of what he had said and stood there, desperately trying to. When she couldn't figure it out, she decided that she'd just think of this later. A few things were for sure though; Julius was odd and touchy, but he and the other woman had a reassuring and trustworthy feel. Her eyes followed Julius, watching his hair trail behind him as he left, before turning away.

Just as she was finishing up her meal after eating the herb Julius had given her, a man spoke. Of course, she stayed silent. She placed the tray on the ground and dug out the cloth from earlier, pressing it against her cheek. The bits of blood on her cheek began to dry up and become flaky, but she simply brushed it off.
 
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Ryan slowly walked back to his cell and ate quietly. After he was finished with the small amount of food on the tray he had received, he began to unwrap his jacket sleeve from his arm. He felt a bit annoyed that he had been given a cloth anyway, even though he had gone through the trouble to tear off the sleeve beforehand. As he peeled it off, the blood that had dried between the wound stuck and pulled at the cut, renewing the bloodflow. With a sigh, Ryan used the clean part of the sleeve to wipe up the remainder of the blood, then tightly wrapped the new peice of cloth that he had been given around the cut. He walked to the front of his cell and peered out, looking over at the man who had recently stated that his name was Keith.

"Hey." He waved him down, getting his attention. "I'm Ryan."
 
Sid opened his box, inside of it was a knife and a letter with the name keith on it. Who was keith? He didn't know, but if cutting keith would mean his freedom. He would do it.

After a couple hours listening to everyone, trying to figure out who keith was. He finally found out when keith spoke up. Sid hid the knife in his pants behind his back. Then made his way to keiths cell.

"Hello Keith, i'm Sid..." after the introduction, Sid brandished the knife and sliced towards Keith quickly towards his arm.
 
Abigale followed Julius back to his room, her eyebrow raising. "So what exactly should I say to Serena? She intends on one of the prisoners dying so she can feed you, Julius." Julius nodded, sighing. "I know.. But I intend to stop that from happening.. I have killed to feast. These people aren't meant to die in this fate..." Abigale walked around the room, shaking her head. "Why do you think such things?" Julius put a finger into each of the vials, smiling as he tasted each drops of blood. "I can taste it."



Abigale left shortly, finding Serena in the dining room looking over financial papers. "Hello, Serena. May I help you?" Serena nodded, handing her a stack of papers and a quill with ink. "Help me write down the reports for this year.. I need to pay off the last of the manor." Abigale nodded, quickly writing down reports before glancing over at Serena. "You seem upset. What's wrong?" Serena sighed, taking off her glasses and looking down at her hands. "Julius requested something from me.. And part of me wants to give it back. But another part wants to keep it. Is that bad?" Abigale nodded, resuming writing. "I think it is."
 
Keith waved back, deciding not to point out that he already knew Ryan's name from earlier. Then the brown-haired man from earlier came up to him, saying his name was Sid. Keith barely had time to react to the name before Sid stabbed his left arm. Keith instinctively flinched at the abrupt attack, but he managed to stay in the path of the knife. If he had to get cut, he might as well get it over with now. The pain was a little worse than he had expected it to be, but it could still be ignored.

Keith looked up at Sid, attempting to grin and bear it. "Well, thank you for getting it done quickly, Sid. Surprising me like that would be the best way to keep me from resisting, wouldn't it? So if you did it for that reason, then good thinking on your part. Now, er, would anyone else...like to answer me? It's fine if you don't, of course, but..." Keith realized he must look slightly mad, asking other people what their names were while there was a knife in his arm. He looked at the floor, hoping he wasn't blushing.
 
Sazael looked over to see what was going on, only to see the man, Keith, to be stabbed by Sid. She was slightly worried, especially since the woman and Julius had already left and there was no one to tend to him. However, when he looked up to talk, he looked a bit agitated or mad. Well, it was understandable since he had a knife in his arm.

She remained quiet, but was obviously watching from her own cell. Inside her head, she debated about whether or not to help at all. It probably wouldn't help if she did anything, but in the end, she tore 4 inches off her dress in a single strip, making her dress reach to slightly above her knees. Quietly, she walked tp Keith and held the strip of cloth to him, waiting for him to accept it. Hopefully he'd understand that it was for his wound.
 
Keith looked up in surprise at the blue-haired girl; he had not been expecting anyone to approach him. Then he saw the cloth in her hand. "Ah, is that part of your dress?" He saw her gaze fall upon his wound and finally figured out what she was trying to do. "Thank you, miss. This is very kind of you."

Keith removed the knife, handing it back to Sid, and carefully wrapped the cloth around his wound. He felt slightly guilty, using part of someone's dress as a bandage when he could have used part of his jacket, but it would be rude of him not to accept her offer. When he was finished wrapping his arm up, he checked to see whether or not the blood would be absorbed. Thankfully, the cloth was fantastic for the job.

He unrolled his shirtsleeve over the wound and put his jacket back on. If nothing else, it was one way for him to be prepared for the next challenge. He thought about asking everyone for their names one more time, but he gave up on it; if other people didn't want to answer, he wasn't going to force them. Feeling slightly restless, he sat on the floor and waited for whatever was going to happen next.
 
Sid turned aroubd after slicing keiths arm and walked back to his cell, lighting up another cigarette. "I'm sorry Keith. But i had to, for my freedom out" he made it to the inside of his cell and waited for the next phase in this twisted game.
 
Sazael left as soon as he took the cloth and made her way back to her own cell. She then looked down at her own hands, which were stained with blood. The sight didn't bother her, but instead made her think about Julius and the woman. Recalling their words, she was sure that the woman had said something about how hard this was for her and Julius. On top of that, a normal person wouldn't just lick blood, would they? Now that she thought about it, the whole blood-for-food thing seemed a bit odd. That and having people cut others. She curled up into a ball in the corner of her cell, deep in thought.
 
Jarrett smiled to the others, nodding to Keith and using the key to open Sazael's cell. "My name is Jarrett, everyone. We don't have much time.. I'm sure Serena will be waiting for us in no time." He unlocked the door opposite of the one that Julius and Abigale had exited.

Serena was indeed waiting; Her skin tight dress showed the upper parts of her breasts, exposing the vial of ashes around her neck. She nodded to everyone, handing out an envelope to everyone that entered the room. "The next task is quite easy and will be awarded with shillings." She looked to Jarrett, nodding. "Open it."

Jarrett did as he was told, slightly tearing open the envelope and looking inside. There was a hand written instruction on the thin piece of paper. "I'm not sure what it is.."

Serena giggled, nodding and pushing her blue hair behind her shoulder. "Precisely. You all will be split up into three groups for this task. Beyond this door are three swimming pools filled with blood. All groups will need to retrieve twenty onyx gemstones. That means each person will have five a piece.. But there is a catch. The blood is so thick that you will not be able to see. If you pass five minutes without finding a gemstone, another person from your team will need to try and find them. Do not throw the gemstone's away, though.. Those will be used for the next task. But there's a catch - Since there are an uneven amount of prisoners, I had a beloved member step forward to help you... He's quite quick, so one team already has an advantage."


She smiled to the group, opening the door and letting Julius inside, he nodded to the group, grabbing an envelope and sighing. Serena shut the door, locking it slowly. "Good luck, everyone. You too, Julius."


Julius opened his envelope, smiling quietly to himself and humming. This was the type of task he loved the most; Blood gave him power and energy.

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Groups:​
Team 1:
​
  • Julius​
  • Sazael​
  • Spirit​
  • Keith​
Team 2:

  • Sid
  • Ryan
  • Georgio
  • Jarrett
Team 3:

  • Andrew
  • Taniac
  • Shu
  • Barnabas

Rules:
​
  1. You may not hit.​
  2. You may not be in the pool for more than twenty minutes.
  3. You have to retrieve all five gemstones within twenty minutes.
  4. You may not accuse anyone of cheating
  5. You cannot help anyone or delay someone from getting the gemstones.
  6. You cannot be submerged in the blood for more than four minutes. You MAY take another breath and then dive again.
  7. You cannot leave the pool without gathering all five gemstones.
  8. If you're squeamish with blood then you need to get over it.
  9. You may not try to persuade anyone to grab any more than five gemstones.
  10. If you cannot gather all five gemstones within twenty minutes, you will have to get out and let your teammates try. You may then try again after your teammates have tried. (If you only gather three within ten minutes then you can put those in the bucket and wait to try again after your teammates.
 
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Keith followed Jarrett into the next room. There Serena stood, and again, Keith couldn't ignore the familiarity in this girl's face. What was it about her? Keith ignored his thoughts and began listening to the instructions as he looked at the envelope he received. His mouth fell open, though he closed it after a second or two; this challenge sounded worse than the last one. At least, if they were truly swimming in blood. There was the possibility that she was saying this to weaken their resolve. It wasn't out of the question.

Taking a deep breath, Keith opened his envelope. The group assignments and the rules were given on the paper within. So Keith was in Group 1 with Julius, Spirit, and Sazael. He had never heard the other two names before, but it was clear who Julius was at this point. Keith began to think; if Julius is truly a vampire, then he would have no problem swimming in a pool of blood. Was it perhaps his own group who had the advantage? That would undoubtedly be helpful, to say the least.

Keith walked up to Julius. "Um, hello again, I'm Keith. Though you might know that already. Anyway, do you know where Spirit and Sazael are?" Keith hoped that by finding his group members, he would be able to put names to faces at last. After all, he preferred being "Keith" to being "the cheerful chatterbox", as he occasionally referred to himself. Other people, he was sure, would rather be known by their names instead of "miss", "mister", or "you". That was why he had attempted to learn the names of everyone else.
 
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Julius smiled slightly, hiding his fangs and nodding. "The two girls are our partners.. You should find them somewhere near the door."

Jarrett glared at Julius, huffing out a sigh and reading who the members of his group would be. "Go figure.. They all get the help while I am stuck to try to finish this task alone. Wonderful." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head and walking up to Julius. "Say.. Did you have a choice in what group.. Or did Serena put you in this group? Because I find this very unfair and a disadvantage to the remaining two groups." Julius narrowed his eyes, running a hand through his long gray hair. "I think that is the point, either way.. Be sensible, Jarrett.. Most importantly, be quiet." He growled, causing Jarrett to become nervous and step backwards. He scowled, raising a hand as well as his voice. "This isn't over, Julius."
 
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Sazael looked at Julius momentarily before cleanly opening her envelope. As she did, she saw two familiar names, Julius and Keith. She subconsciously let out a sigh of relief when she saw Julius, but immediately felt worried for Keith. His wound was still fresh, so he might have trouble using it. But surely, he'd definitely be able to hold up his part.

She hurried to meet up with the other two, who had already gotten together. Thinking now, she too would need to swim in the thick blood. The thought was unsettling and she shivered. She could only imagine her blue hair being dyed red by blood. As if to try and take her mind off it, she bit her lip hard, almost hard enough to bleed, but it did make her focus on the pain rather than fear.
 
Turning left on the Levyway Alley like the letter had asked of him, Barnabas knocked thrice on the door he had seen, waited, and knocked an additional two times whilst whistling 'The Parting Glass'.
'An now, we await for our next adventure.' He thought to himself while he removed his gloves and stuffed them into his back pocket. Formalities aside, shaking hands in gloves was seen as too posh in his eyes, to be shaking the bare hand of a man while wearing satin gloves, a real Gentleman wouldn't space himself from the working man.
 
Serena smiled at the new arrival named Barnabas, opening his cell and leading him to the door that occupied the prisoners. "Your first task begins. Don't try to run; There isn't any way out except the way I planned." She smiled, pushing him through the door and slowly closing it.


Julius looked to Keith, raising an eyebrow and smiling devilishly. "There's something about Serena that you can't exactly pin point.. Correct? I sense a connection between you and her.. Something like that of a memory." He took a drop of his blood from the cloth, tasting it quickly and nodding slightly. "As I suspected. One in a million." He smiled over at Sazael slightly, his long bangs falling onto his pale face. He brushed them away, curious if she was thinking about him or the scar that accompanied him; Surely she had no idea what he truly was and what he was capable of doing. He shrugged, looking away and frowning slightly before opening a silver flask. The blood inside was warm and sweet; Something he wasn't expecting but none the less was a pleasant surprise. He drank and wiped his lips quickly, avoiding the chance of anyone seeing that he had in fact been drinking blood.

"There is always surprises in Black Manor."
 
As Keith looked over the people assembled, the blue-haired girl walked up to him and Julius, standing near the both of them. So she was one of the girls, then? Keith hoped this task wouldn't be too jarring for her; she seemed somewhat nervous about it. Granted, he felt similarly, but it helped to think that maybe it wasn't actually blood. Whether or not that was the case did not entirely matter. As long as he could convince himself that was the truth, that was all he needed.

Suddenly, he heard Julius' comment about Serena. He was surprised that Julius had been able to figure him out so easily, and more surprised when Julius confirmed it by taking a drop of blood from the cloth. If that was the case, was Julius the only one who could tell? Did it matter if he was? Keith didn't want to discount any possibilities in this place.

With only one group member remaining, Keith looked at the two remaining girls. He made the decision that it wouldn't hurt to ask and went up to the timid young lady. "Pardon me for asking, but are you either Spirit or Sazael?"
 
Ryan took his envelope and read through it. He was slightly worried about Spirit being in a different group, but that was cancelled out by Julius, who seemed to know what he was doing and looked like he wouldn't mind getting covered in blood. He also seemed very good at persuading people, so hopefully this wouldn't prove to be too much for her.

Looking at his own group, he could only recognize the names Jarrett and Georgio. He walked over to Jarrett, who was standing a short distance away from Julius and waited for the other two to join them. He turned to Jarrett slightly.

"How are you with blood? It would appear that quite a few people in this house have a sadistic love for it, but you seem different. How do you think you will handle this challenge? Not to doubt your ability, of course."
 
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