library

@★ Fukutomi Tsuki Hamish's head snapped towards the loud creak, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the room. He couldn't see anyone but he knew in his gut that he wasn't alone. His heart began to race at the realization that someone must have caught him performing his ritual. ! How could he be so careless? He realized that the door was wide open. He was so focused on getting the ritual over with that he completely forgot to lock the door behind him when he came in here. His mind raced with thoughts of the consequences of being seen. The Guests would surely band together against him. They would begin staying in larger groups and keeping a sharp eye on him. Hamish knew if he didn't have bodies for his rituals, he would die. There was no doubt in that fact. Without the rituals, his body would turn to dust. His palms grew clammy and a cold sweat broke out across his brow.

Frantically, Hamish scanned the room, searching for any signs of a witness. Every shadow seemed to loom menacingly, the sound of the grandfather clock in the back of the room echoed loudly in his ears. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his trembling hands. He knew he had to act quickly but the fear was gnawing at him from the inside out.

Hamish took slow steps past the alcove, toward some of the bookshelves that lined the right side of the room. "I know you're in here, I know what you think you saw," Hamish spoke, trying to steady his voice. "There's a perfectly good reason for what I had to do." He poked his head around one of the bookshelves, fingers wrapped around the corner of it. Nothing. "That girl was already dead when I found her," his silky voice tried reassuring them. It was a lie of course, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. He knew he couldn't rest until he found the intruder. He moved with purpose, pace quickening a little as he began to walk down another aisle of bookshelves. He was determined to find the person. He was unsure as to what he would do with them when he found them. Plead and beg with them to not speak of what they saw? Threaten them?

"I promise I won't hurt you," Hamish murmured as his fingers gently dragged across the old books on the shelf while he walked through the aisle. "I just want us to talk, come to an agreement and I promise I'll let you go." The pleading was almost evident in his voice. He needed to find this stranger and quickly. He could feel the anger and fear bubbling inside his chest as he turned to go down one of the aisles on the left most side of the room. "I'm going to find you, you won't be able to hide forever."

@† hamish linklater It was late, but Tsuki didn’t tend to sleep much, not since she was a child at least. Instead she’d maybe nap for an hour or two and then wake up and listen to the noises of the house and the strange goings on, and then nap again later throughout the day. She’d just woken up from one of her naps, and while she was groggy at first, a few moments spent rubbing the sleep away from her eyes had managed to rouse her enough to put her shoes on and grab her camera. She’d have preferred to never take her shoes off, but she found that something in her stopped her from napping when she had them on.

Softly she sighed to herself, trying to debate what to do before something caught her attention. Under the door she could see faint hints of light moving along the corridor, followed by some of the quietest footsteps she’d heard in a while. It appeared that something secretive was going on. It took a few moments for her to decide what to do before she slipped off her shoes again and took her coat off, aware that her coat tended to rustle when she ,over her arms which wouldn’t have been good to her when she wanted to remain as silent as she could. She tested it as she walked to the door to the room, smiling as she realised that her thick socks had been a good choice before she turned her camera on and slowly opened the door, stepping out into the hallway and looking around to see a faint candlelight in the distance, glowing off a wall that had indicated that it’s owner had turned into another hallway.

She tiptoed after the light with her camera running, getting to the corner of new hallway and hearing the sound of a door creaking open. She waited a few moments before learning around the corner for a quick glance of the hallway and the source of the light and soft footsteps in time to see a leg disappearing through a large, ornate door, the candlelight bouncing off wall opposite. She frowned for a short while before realising it was the library, and as she realised she’d potentially just been stalking some poor insomniac she found herself shaking her head, exhaling slowly through her nose.

Still she had to be certain, and quickly she padded over to the doorway, slipping into the library and finding something to hide behind as she focused on getting a good shot of whatever was happening, her eyes on her camera as the man came into focus. At the sight of the caretaker reading through a book she shook her head, beginning to grow disappointed until he walked to an alcove and pulled a body from a chest. She raised her free hand to cover , suppressing a gasp at the sight. She’d never seen a body before, and the body appeared to be quite young, and in her eyes she seemed to have died pretty recently. She pressed the knuckles of her fingers against her teeth to avoid making any sound as she tried to focus on capturing evidence of whatever was going on, almost winding again at the sight of Hamish cutting his flesh and collecting his own blood in some sort of bowl.

She remained motionless and silent, holding her breath, as the man spoke, and she listened carefully to his words trying to work out exactly what he was trying to do. Finally, upon seeing the man appear to finish his ritual, Tsuki furrowed her brow slightly, confused as to what had blown out the candle and how the girls body had disappeared. Clearly the ritual had been something to do with youth and that begged the question of how old the man really was. There was strange, freaky stuff happening in the house and while at first she’d assumed that the man was just some poor soul also stuck here and making do, but now her perception of things was called into question.

She decided upon keeping her camera running as she worked out what to do next. She doubted he would appreciate having a witness so if she stayed too long she risked being caught seeing something she was fairly certain she shouldn’t have seen. After a few moments, she decided to leave and return to the room where she had been resting earlier. She kept her eyes on the caretaker as she backed away, being careful to take soft steps so as to not alert him to her presence. Things were going well until she stepped on a floorboard that seemed to move more than she had expected. She was too late to stop it though and a loud creak gave away her presence. She just hoped that it hadn’t given away her exact location. She tucked herself away behind a the edge of a bookcase, just hoping the creak would be mistaken as coming from somewhere else in the room, as if the caretaker came close enough she knew he wouldn’t have to look hard to find her. If that were to happen she knew she’d have to try outrunning him, though she’d at outrunning people in the past. Failing that her last option would be to scream bloody murder and wake up as many people as she could.

@★ Fukutomi Tsuki As the moon cast its pale light through the dusty windows of Havenwood Manor, Hamish moved silently through the darkened halls. His trembling hands held a flickering candle that cast eerie shadows against the walls and an ancient tome that looked as if it would fall apart at the slightest touch. He could feel a subtle ache gnawing at his bones, and with each step he took, his joints protested against the strain of movement. He kept telling himself that it was only a matter of time and this pain would cease. If his calculations were correct, he'd only have to perform the ritual once this month, which he was thankful for since there were less guests roaming the manor the past few months. Between the Hunters picking them off like prey and the Nightmares giving a few of them heart attacks, there just weren't too many left to choose from. He knew more would make an appearance though, they always did.

Hamish paused in front of the library's ornate door, he glanced over his shoulder to be sure he wasn't followed. Hamish was a paranoid man. He could not risk being found out, after all, what good would it do to have all the guests at his throat? If they knew what he was up to, it would most likely be the last thing he ever did. He pushed open the door, it creaking under the weight of his arm, and let his eyes wander over the dusty tomes on the shelves of the library. He walked over to a long table on the right of the room and placed the candle in the middle. He opened the old book in his hand and began to thumb through the pages. He knew this ritual like the back of his hand but he always double checked, if he did even a single thing wrong there would be dire consequences. With each passing moment, Hamish could feel his facade slipping, the carefully built illusion of youth and vitality faltering as his true self threatened to break free. It was a sensation similar to being pulled in two different directions at once and he gasped at the sudden feeling of pain. As the pain intensified, Hamish could feel his grip of reality slipping, his vision blurring, he placed his hands on either side of the book on the table and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't have much time.

Hamish moved toward a large chest hidden in an alcove behind one of the towering bookshelves. He ran his fingers over the clasp before opening it, revealing the deceased body of a guest. She was a younger girl that he had found roaming the forest earlier in the day. He only felt a little guilty for smashing her head in, but that sensation quickly passed as he desperately needed her for this ritual. He was grateful that this sacrifice didn't have to be alive during said ritual so long as he was the one who had murdered her. He very carefully removed her from the chest and held her bridal style as he walked her to the center of the room where there was a pentagram drawn in old, dried up blood. He knelt down, his thumb gently caressed her face as he laid her down. Rigor mortis had already started to set in, so he was unable to stretch her out perfectly like he normally liked to place the guests, but he couldn't be picky tonight. This was too important.

Hamish arranged a variety of items at each point of the pentagram, an amulet that belonged to his father before him, the skull of his mother, a gemstone, a strand of hair that belonged to the sacrifice, and finally an offering bowl. Hamish held his wrist over the bowl, quickly slit his imperfect pale skin, and watched as blood trickled from the wound into the bowl.

He stole one final glance at the ethereal corpse at his feet before he began the ritual.

"In the shadows of the night, I make this sacrifice, to reclaim the youth that time has stolen from me. By the blood of the innocent, I call upon ancient powers, to grant me strength and vitality once more,"

The air crackled with dark energy as Hamish continued to chant the ancient words of power that he knew from heart, ever since he did his first one a century ago.

"With this offering, I bind my fate to the darkest of arts and pledge my soul to the forces that dwell beyond. Grant me the gift of eternal youth, and let me be reborn in the fires of youth's embrace," Hamish's silky voice echoed through the silent room. He could feel the dark energy surrounding him, prickling his skin. He could feel reality bending around him.

"By the moon's pale light and the star's quiet gaze, I seal this pact with blood and magic. Give me the youth I seek, oh ancient ones, let me rise anew, reborn in youth's eternal glow." As Hamish spoke the last words of the ritual, the candle he had placed on the table blew out, the beautiful corpse of the young lady gone.

Hamish could feel a surge of power coursing through his veins, as if the very essence of youth was attaching to every fiber of his being. His skin, that was looking weathered and lined with marks of centuries, became smooth and flawless once more. The aches and pains that had plagued him only mere moments before, melted away, replaced with strength and agility. He took in a deep breath and allowed a relieved smile to form on his lips. Finally.