Black Manor

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Sazael had noticed Julius smiling at her, which only made her wonder why. He was certainly odd, no doubt about it, yet he seemed reliable enough. She turned away from to avoid any further eye contact. The way he tasted blood like it was something normal was definitely strange, almost like a vampire or something. But of course, such things weren't real. This place did have something dark and creepy going on, but it had nothing to do with mythical creatures.

Her mind then went back to the pool of blood before her. She'd have to swim in that and retrieve gems, which wasn't something she could just go and do. Cutting herself wasn't bad, but bathing in something's blood was a bit much. She could only wonder what or who's blood that was, but then again it was a task given to them.
 
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Jarrett scowled, shrugging slightly and looking down at the cut on his palm. "I don't mind having to see and touch blood. But this task is very difficult for any human to do.. I mean, we're going to be swimming in thick blood that will coat our skin. I've done a task similar to this one beforehand.. That task was by myself and I was tortured by Serena with getting my head dunked in a bucket of blood each time I got a wrong answer." He huffed out a sigh, shaking his head and taking a seat in a nearby chair. He took off his shoes and socks, looking to Ryan and nodding. "Unless you'd like to be slowed down and ruin your shoes I'd suggest you take them off and leave them in the room before diving in."
 
Barnabas was overwhelmed with confusion, his first question when he was pushed into the room full of others was a simple one.

"What in the name of Christ is going on?!"
He looked at the occupants of the room, expecting a thorough explanation for his current predicament.
 
Andrew sighed and stood, feeling an itch inside himself to explore. He felt across the wall for some clue as to an escape from the room. After many painstaking minutes of feeling up the walls he finally felt a break in the consistent smooth surface. He took hold of this, half preparing to have to break the wall he tensed up and pulled, and surprised himself by how easy it was to open it. A small amount of light came in, but it was obviously not the place he'd come in from. "Weird building...." He breathed frowning as he stepped out.
He was surprised. So, there are more...? He thought confused as he looked apon the group of strangers. He shrugged of the feeling of foreboding and continued into the room. "Um Hey, can someone explain to me what is going on? And what this is?" He held up the envelope and letter.
 
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Ryan shrugged, the began to remove his shoes and socks, then also took off his jacket, wrapping his coin purse in it. He walked back over to his cell barefoot and put his belongings into the corner. The floor was ice cold. He decided he'd take off his shirt too, but that he would wait until just before he jumped in, as he didnt want to be walking around half naked for who knew how long.

"So where's this pool we're going to?" he asked Jarrett.
 
Jarrett nodded to a small door hidden beneath a curtain. "That one. Unfortunately Julius is the only one that can unlock the door." He took off his jacket and shirt, rolling up his pants slowly before looking over at Ryan. "Why do you worry about Spirit? No offense, honestly.. I just mean that she does not seem to mind being around another female. Besides.. These tasks will toughen her up." He looked to Spirit and the girl he assumed was Sazael. They were lovely girls, though Jarrett could see who had easily won Julius' attention. Sazael. Something about her must have attracted Julius. "Serena is such a fool, though..."
 
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Sazael turned to see 2 men undressing and getting ready for the up and coming task, making her wonder is she could do the same. However, it wouldn't be very ladylike if she were to simply strip. But then again, swimming through blood with a dress on would slow her down. A slight irritation came to Sazael the more she thought about what to do with herself. As if looking for help, she looked to Julius, seeing if he was preparing at all for this.
 
"I dont know why I worry for her... and I agree that these tasks will make her stronger, but I just hate that she, or anyone for that matter, has to do this. Besides, it's nice having a purpose for once. To keep her safe. I guess it will be what keeps me going in the end. I dont really have all that much to escape to. A small house. No job. No family... She has her whole life ahead of her by the looks of things. If someone makes it out of here, it will be her. I'll make sure of it."

Ryan wasn't sure why he could explain this so easily to Jarrett, whom he had only just met. The man seemed to give off a kind of calming aura, like you could tell him anyway. Ah well. Ryan always did like having someone to talk to. He walked over to the door behind the curtain and examined it. It was your usual wooden door with a knob and a keyhole. he tried looking into it but couldnt see anything. he sat down infront of it and waited, looking around at everyone else.
 
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Georgio eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw what their next task was. Firstly he couldn't swim to save his life which seemed like what he would have to do; but now he had to swim in blood? These "people" or whatever were insane. Georgio walked over to the guy named Jarrett and someone that either was Sid or Ryan, who was getting ready to dive in. "Hey teammates! How about you all go first and I'll go last. You know what they say ; "save the best for last", that sounds about right." Hopefully him going last would at least give him enough time to get the courage to dive into the pool of blood. Georgio never got nervous this was a first for him. Whatever he had to do, he would get out of here...alive.
 
Ryan raised an eyebrow, then looked at his Georgio's hands, which were slightly shaking. "'Best for last'? Sure thing, Georgio. You can go last if you want to that bad." Something about this man, his happy-go-lucky attitude, and his 'hat' seemed to irritate Ryan. He understood that this was his way of dealing with things, but this wasn't the time to go making jokes. Ryan looked around the room again.

"Sid? Where are you? Get over here please." He called out to the room.
 
Julius ran a hand through his hair and sat down, looking over at Sazael with a small smile. "It's just like swimming in water.. Nothing to be frightened of." He nodded, looking to Keith and Spirit. "I'll go first, I guess.. I'm rather quick." He walked to the middle of the room, smiling and hitting an old fashioned drum. The bell rang throughout the room. "Time to start." He walked to the edge of the pool, pulling off his long sleeved shirt and looking to the others. His body was more pale than an average person; This made people think he was something short of a human. His muscles were sleek and his body was slim in the right places, though. With a wink to Sazael, he sat his shirt down and dove to the bottom of the pool in one jump.


Breathing underneath water and blood wasn't something that Julius needed to be troubled with; He was a vampire and technically didn't need to breathe. There were only a few yet tremendous perks of being a vampire. One was being able to see in blood. As he swam around, he found the first three, swallowing a big gulp of the blood and grinning. His long, gray hair trailed behind him, his body gliding through the pool. He found the other two bunched near the farthest corner from him. He realized it had only been a mere three minutes as he swam to the surface.

The blood rolled off of him as he swam towards the edge of the pool. He took a giant breath of air, enjoying the feeling of being able to breathe again. His hair was stained red, though he knew it would wash out with a good washing. He put his five gemstones in the bucket that belong to their team, looking to the other three and smiling. "Who is next? Are you up for it, Keith?" He walked towards a curtain near the next door, finding towels and quickly drying his chest and arms.


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Jarrett smiled at Ryan, standing and looking to Georgio. "I understand." He groaned as Georgio spoke, though. The fool had just informed them that he could not swim. "That's a disadvantage for us.." He sighed, snapping his head towards the bell and looking around. Julius had instructed that it was time to begin. Jarrett nodded, looking to Ryan and grinning. "I'll go first. I used to swim with my brother when we were younger." He jumped into the pool, his eyes unable to see anything except thick red. He blindly swam around, finding two of the gemstones before being unable to breathe. He swam to the surface in a hurried panic, sucking in a big gulp of air as he reached the surface. As the next twenty minutes rolled on, he found three, though he could not find the other two. He pulled himself out of the pool, shaking his head and putting his three gemstones in the bucket that was assigned to them. "I couldn't see a thing in there."
 
"Damn... Does that mean I have to get 7 then? Or do we just miss out on those 2" Ryan asked himself. "Well, either way, it's my turn now."

He walked up to the edge of the pool and pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it next to him, and diving into the pool. The blood was thick and viscous, and grabbed held him back as he moved blindly through the water. He wouldn't open his eyes, and used only his hands to search. Soon he found his first gem. He surfaced and put the gem on the side of the pool, so he had full use of both his hands. He dived once more and found the next four within the time limit. He pulled himself out of the pool, dumping the crystals, taking a towel, wiping off as much blood as he could, then hastily walking back to his cell. He felt like he was gonna fall to his knees and scream. He needed a moment.
 
Sazael nodded at Julius' advice and subconsciously watched him take his shirt off. His body was quite beautiful and pale, even more so than her own. In fact, his pale skin looked even more beautiful when his gray hair was up against his body. If there was anything in common with all the manor inhabitants, they were all ridiculously gorgeous. With Julius' wink, she bit the inside of her lip and watched him dive.

Though she could barely see him and he didn't come up, she knew he was succeeding. In fact, it was quite amazing how he could be so perfectly calm when he's swimming in blood. Surely she wouldn't be able to do as well as he did. As he got out, Sazael's eyes followed him and watched as he wiped himself down.
 
Keith turned away from the young lady, deciding not to force her to answer. If it was necessary, he would bring her with him, just to ensure she wouldn't get in trouble for not participating in the challenge. Yes, it would be rude, but something told him that whatever punishment Serena had for freeloaders would be far more severe. Walking back to Julius and the blue-haired girl, he overheard the conversation between Ryan and Jarrett, along with the confusion from two new arrivals. He decided to say, "We're trapped in this place and we need to complete some challenges. Currently, our objective is to retrieve some onyx gemstones from a pool. The envelope contains group assignments and instructions." He didn't say that the pool was filled with blood, for fear of frightening them.

As for what Ryan and Jarrett were saying, it was a good point. He couldn't exactly come home stained in blood. He took off his loafers and socks, putting the socks inside the loafers so he wouldn't lose them. Then, moving into a dark corner (as close as he could get to "out of sight"), he took off his pants and tied his jacket around his waist. Thankfully, the jacket had always been a bit too big for him, and it covered his lower half perfectly. He would take the jacket off when the time to swim came, of course, but he wanted to look decent until then. As for his shirt, he was fine with leaving that on; when he succeeded in getting out of this place, he would certainly have enough money to buy a new shirt.

Keith walked with Julius and the blue-haired girl, unfortunately forgetting all about the young lady from before. The smell of the pool nearly knocked him over, and it suddenly became much harder to convince himself that this might not be real blood. Julius went first, to Keith's relief, and managed to get five gemstones in time. He asked Keith if he wanted to go next, and at first, Keith was going to say no. But he then looked over at the blue-haired girl, who looked just as nervous as she had when he first saw her, and decided he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Nodding and taking his jacket off, Keith slid into the pool.

He didn't bother opening his eyes; a liquid as thick as blood would be near opaque. The smell was all around him now, and he forced himself to keep thinking that this wasn't blood, over and over like a mantra. Though he wasn't the best swimmer, the blood was surprisingly navigable, and he was able to take a breath of wonderful fresh air every time he found a gemstone. Just barely getting his fifth one in time, he got out of the pool and made his way over to the towels. He forced himself to block out any feeling of horror he had gotten from the experience as he wiped himself down, and instead let relief wash over him now that the trauma was temporarily over.
 
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Abigale walked through the door, watching most of the people swim through the blood to fish out the gemstones. Her eyes widened in excitement at the smell of the divine blood. She noticed Julius had already finished finding his, and she quickly walked over to him. "You know.. Serena is thinking about putting you in with the prisoners as punishment." Julius shrugged, looking around the room. "These people.. They are more interesting and whole hearted than Serena will ever be. I think I like the dark and depressing here." Abigale shook her head, hugging Julius and sniffing his hair. "This isn't the life we chose before, Julius." Julius nodded, drying off his hair that was now stained red from blood. "Sometimes the choices we make do not come true, Abi."
 
As soon as Keith dove in, Sazael turned to watch him. He didn't get them all in one go, but he still managed to get 5. Now knowing that her turn was next, she took off her shoes, which was the only thing she could take if off is she still wanted to look decent. As she did so, the feel of anxiety, doubt, and other emotions flooded over her as she stood at the edge of the pool, unable to move any further. As she was trying to muster up the courage to jump, she glanced at Julius for any support, but he was occupied with the woman from before. When the two of them stood together like that, they looked like a couple. Or maybe, they already were? No, this wasn't the time for that. With that, she dove into the pool.

The blood was thick and sickening, but she had to do this. Out of fear of blood entering her body, she held her nose while blindly searching for the gems. The first time she went down, she couldn't find any and went back up to the surface. The second time, she found 2 by each other. Sazael took a moment above the blood to really get a good breath, but all she could smell was the metallic iron scent. Without hesitation, she went down again and finally collected all 5 gems. While making her way out, she swept her bloodied hair back and crawled out. She dropped the gems in the bucket and sat by the pool, letting the blood slowly drip off her.
 
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Taniac had been silent throughout this ordeal, coming to terms mentally with all that has occurred. She'd complied and been as unnoticable as possible, it was what she was good at. Having spent a majority of her life unnoticed, it didn't phase her until she'd been put on a team. She couldn't speak, that's what being mute meant, and she had, like an idiot, left her method of communication elsewhere.

If she were stronger, if she hadn't gotten ill and been suffering the consequences of having to regain her strength, she maybe would have challenged her captors. It would definitely be stupid, but she was nutorious for such deeds. Now, she knows, though, that she would have to muster up what energy she had left to get out of this alive. Taniac wouldn't betray those she'd been teamed up with, not so quickly anyways. So it came to her sitting in the corner of her cell, slowly untying her boots and setting them neatly beside each other, her socks stuffed into the soles. She patted her pockets, and sadly had nothing more than some lint and a broken key, useless or so she thought. The lint was discarded, but the key put into her boot in case she did eventually go home.

Wiggling her toes, Taniac sighed quietly, crumpling the envelope in her hand and balling it up. That went under a boot and she decided to strip herself of all clothing but her undergarments. It's not like she dressed modest to begin with, and she wasn't so easily shamed. Although she was shy and untrusting, she was strong-willed and stubborn. Why would she possibly care if anyone saw her like this? It's highly unlikely that she'll ever see these people again if they got out; she intended to get out of this place as soon as possible. Her shorts and top were neatly folded by her boots, and she stood up, adjusting the strap of her bra as she watched members of Team 1 dive to find their gems.

It interested her. She was currently in a weak state, but had a sort of advantage to some of the other players in this gruesome game. Taniac had no fear of blood and her hands were permanently stained by the dead anyways. She was also a particularly good swimmer, but again, she would be at the level, perhaps even worse than most of the others here, due to her disadvantaged immune system. Even so, she devised a method in which would allow her to collect her total amount of gems (5) with minimal breaths and time-wasting surfaces. She noticed that when people had retrieved a stone, they came up to set it down then start again. It was wasting at least a minute each time, and she decided she'd ultimately just stuff them in her bra to save time.
 
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Spirit looked at her team, not feeling as distressed as she had been. The rules were as simple as the last time, yet diving into a pool of blood was.. Quite strange, and she didn't think she could possibly do it. Her team seemed likely enough to do so though, which made her calm down. This may be the only time she was actually.. Calm, with a task around other people. She thought of it as if she was swimming in one of the Safari's largest lakes in the world, and she couldn't see a thing. But she had to find her freedom, her own safety or else she'll die. Dying wasn't an option that came up in her mind right now, because she had a mother to go back to when she finished. But the thought was torn, due to if she died, she could always see her father. Even though that's a strange possibility, she had thought that after someone died, their souls traveling the earth, looking for their loved ones. It was... Different, but even her mother thought that too, so she wasn't alone.

As her Teammates went, she watched them all closely, as if she was analyzing them. She wanted to see what they felt, what they did, to get their gems. Finally her turn came, and she easily slid out of her skirt, setting it down somewhere in the back of the room. No, she wasn't naked, she was wearing something small under her skirt because she normally went swimming whenever she was outside. She kept her shirt on before stepping towards the edge of the blood-filled pool. Spirit took a deep breath before closing her eyes and diving in, not daring to open her eyes due to the blood. If it were any normal situation, then maybe she'd try to look, but right now wasn't the time. She swam at the bottom of the pool, trying to feel around for the much needed gems. Her team got all five of them, so she should be able to do that too.

Her mind kept telling her to do it, don't chicken out. The sickly feeling of the blood rushing against her skin was disgusting and outrageous, and hell, she couldn't believe she was doing it. The thought of the Safari river fading away, which meant she had to hurry if she wanted to complete her task. After what seemed like forever, she was able to find five gems. Barely making it on time, she swam back up, gasping for air. Her almost quite hair was strained, now looking like a strawberry-blonde while her skin looked darker than it was whilst her shirt was stained red. She climbed out of the pool, walking slowly over to their bucket and dropping them in. Her bangs covered her eyes as her lips were in a tight straight line.

After a minute, she walked back over to where she set her skirt and put it on. She had to be strong, or else she'll go insane if she'd allow this to corrupt her mind. Spirit sat down in the corner of the room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she tried wiping some of the blood off her skin. The reality of what she just did set in, causing her to close her eyes tightly and shake. She wasn't going to cry, no, but doing that.. So.. Calmly, was enough to cause her mind to think. It made her seem a bit crazy, since everyone else was nervous and scared. Yet here she was, all calm and completely unafraid. She, after a few minutes, opened her eyes again and looked at everyone as they all began to finish their tasks. Her gaze turning over to Ryan, he was a good guy. Not that anyone in this room was bad, he just tried to help her out during their first task.
 
Ryan had walked to the other side of the room and was sitting in the corner, staring at his blood soaked hands. How many people's blood had been used to fill this pool? Who's blood was on his hands now? There was no telling, which was even worse. it could be anywhere from an old man's to an innocent little girl's. His hands began shaking again. He needed to wash the blood off soon before he broke down. He looked up around the room, looking to see if there was a tap anywhere or something that people were using to clean themselves off. He had used the towels he had received as much as he could, but the blood was crusted on and couldnt be removed by just cloth. He needed water.
 
Julius watched the others, looking to Abigale as she walked out of the room. She flipped a small switch, allowing water to flood onto the floor. Julius tapped at the water with his feet, looking over at Sazael and smiling softly. If only these people knew how it felt to be a vampire; How divine the blood felt as it caressed his skin. He shook his head, walking to a hidden too and opening it. Inside the door were poorly made showers; Enough to wash off with, though the water would definitely be cold. Though Julius never felt cold or hot, he worried for the women and men in this group; Half of them seemed to have already cracked from the previous task. He washed his hair out, running his hands down his body and finding his hidden pair of clothes. They were exactly the same as the last, though they were clean and dry. He took a flask of blood out of his pocket, draining it dry as he toweled the water out of his hair.


He spotted Jarrett heading closely towards the showers, his eyes flitting towards the rest of the group. It seemed as if he had quickly found the last two gemstones that he needed. Jarrett scowled at Julius, pushing him as he walked past. "Out of my way."


Julius growled, grabbing Jarrett and quickly throwing him up against the bathroom wall. "Be careful what you say to me, Jarrett."


Jarrett rolled his eyes, laughing slowly. "You haven't killed me yet; I'm still alive and beating these tasks!"


Julius leaned in close to Jarrett's ear, his fangs sliding out of his mouth. "What doesn't kill you just isn't finished yet."
 
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