Silence Before the Storm
Drifting like a ghost through earthen tunnels, her dainty white form flitted like a petal caught in the breeze without worry. Sneaking along she listened quietly to the thrum of stilled hearts just beyond the wall her fingers grazed. "OH yes...you have been oh so busy...a busy busy bee." Pale lips pout as though she'd been kept from this juicy loop before stilling beyond an iron doory. Fingertips splay across the rusted surface before flicking it with a barest touch of her nail.
A gleeful squeel echoes through the tunnels as she watches the foot thick vault door black back off its hinges like plywood.
There was an unnatural chill in the graveyard, fog and mist hovered in the air like ghostly clouds. With the cold and grim combination a hollow chill ran along Mayverdia?s spine. Docile jades didn?t waver, however, as she moved over the sacred earth. Bunching herself tighter into her slender form she made cautious observations of each tomb and grave, as if she was looking for something. As her hands dug into her pockets she paused, settling on the granite tomb with cast-iron doors, rusted and weathered.
May swallowed, hands slightly trembling as she approached those doors, knowing the answer was beyond the shielded portal.
"Tricky, tricky, tricky..." palest pink clucks against the roof of a dry mouth as she looked around a large, almost warehouse sized chamber. Narrow cubbies lining the wallls and cieling in the old style. Open tombs to make the dead feel as though they're not confined to remain in one place for eternity. Slowly she drifted along, looking into one empty nook after the other.
Cobwebs clung to her blonde hair when the door groaned open. Dust picked up at her feet and creepy crawlies scattered at the moon light. May?s hand left a cleared print on the otherwise dusted wall. Steps led down from the small opening chamber, and for a moment May hesitated. A moment past in debate, May all the while considering her fate. With one, then two steps, then more, the sound of her footsteps echoed along a narrow corridor in her decent, darkness swallowing all light and clear, human sight.
"Where oh, where, can the little ones be. Oh where oh where can they be..." A child's voice whispers through the silence as she moved deeper into the tomb. The dingy white of her dress flaring up dust as the train drug behind, wiping her steps from the stone. "with their teeth so sharp, and their nails so long...where oh where...oh there!" A delighted giggle pierced the song as she clapped giddily, skipping closer to where a naughty boy had hidden his newest toys. "Always making new toys and never sharing with me...well not any more. Nope, nope nope. Mr. Cain, your toys are going to be mine. Yes they are. "
?You?? May?s voice was fine and silent at the sight of Cain?s first. Her figure pressed back against the wall in an attempt to hide her from view. Heavy, shaken breaths left her, both her arms closed around her chest, and for a moment May was frozen in her spot. The voices shadowed what the first was saying, forcing a small buzz of whispers to fill her head.
Continuing along as though she were alone with the restful dead, the lithe figure paused before a row of stone coffins. Their lids held in place by hand-thick chains more suited to a ship's anchor than keeping the dead in their tombs. "How cruel he is....binding children and starving them....you poor dears." Bending low over the first she listened inside, hearing the faint scratch of the one inside wanting out.
Curiosity got the better of May and she approached, throwing safety out of her considerations. She had already come this far, she had to understand that there were risks. Stopping behind the first, she watched skeptically and pursed her thin lips into a frown. ?What did he starve? What did he do?? Cain?s monstrosities were coming to light for May, but so was the insanity of his first.
"All alone down here with no one to talk to...yes...yes, I understand. Children need to be let out to play. To grow.." Nodding to herself, the other remaining ignored as she moved to the next stone coffin and listened inside. "You poor dears. This simply will not do....not at all." Tongue clucking one again she tapped her chin as hips slowly sway in place, pondering. "First we must, must remove these filthy chains..." Pirouetting in place she stilled seeing May for the first time, a lewd smile sliding to her lips with a slow lick of angels bow. "Well well....seems we have a naughty girl spying..."
May?s figure stepped back when she was addressed in such a lewd fashion. Both hands clasped her jacket, bringing it closed tighter over her chest. Her previous encounter with this creature left her scared, damaged to say the least. For the life of her, May didn?t understand why exactly she was now staring the monster in the face. ?What are you doing?? The voices gave no answers, but the ominous feel of the air in this chamber and the first?s previous words gave her some incline.
"Little girls like you really shouldn't spy...so rude.." Smile remaining in place she hopped forward a foot, stopping on her toe of her ballerina flat. Eyes slowly swirl in place, listening to the voices around them that couldn't speak for themselves. "The children want out of time out."
May pulled back when she came closer, her back pressing against the stone walls. ?What children? What are you doing down here?? What was she doing down here? It was hard to even understand herself, the nagging that drew her here, but suddenly she regretted listening to the voices. The insanity that lurked in the eyes of the first had caused plenty of nightmares, both awake and asleep.
"I suppose the children could wait...while the adults play a bit.." Giggling she hopped forward another foot. Shoes landing on two different stone squares as she leaned forward and brought hands up to cover her eyes. "One..one thousand. Two..one thousand. Three one thousand." Soft giggle break up each number as she peeks between fingers at May.
?How about we don?t play and you cut to the chase.? Weary of games, the blonde stood her ground even as she neared and began her count. Parts of her called for her to run, yet a fire in her forced her to keep her chin up. May would eventually pay for that determination. ?What are you doing here?? Her voice was forced, the demand in it even more so.
"Four one thousand. Five one thousand. Six one thousand." Her hands slid closed once more over her eyes as the count continued, the hem of her dress shifting around her feet as knees bend just a touch. "Seven one thousand. Eight one thousand. Nine one thousand." The temperature continued to drop in the room in a foreboding nature.
She didn?t stop counting, and that gave May chills. Hands shook while she debated once again. Feverish breaths filtered needlessly from her lips, and she stepped forwards. She pushed past the first and stopped before the first coffin. Her eyes stared down at the chained wood before she looked over her shoulder. ?I?m not going to run or play this game.?
"We all play games silly." Another childish giggle as she turned on one toe. "Ten thousand...ready or not...." Slowly the petite figure lowered her hands as the pale flesh turned a shade of gray, red irises glowing brightly as white hair began to billow in an unnatural wind. "I'm going to get you....little pretty...then your Knight too..."
