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Post by The Jenn on Feb 23, 2008 1:51:22 GMT -5
Thyme followed right behind her aunt, eyes widening as she realized where they were headed. She'd never been allowed down into the basement yet. Her aunt kept it securely locked, not that she had tried the door more than once. Even then, she wouldn't have gone down, just peeked in. Unlike her impetuous sister, she could control her curiosity. Most of the time, anyway. It was a good thing Rosemary hadn't been with her then or they might have ended up picking the lock or something equally stupid.
As they went down, it certainly looked like an unwelcoming place. She wouldn't want to spend time down here with the faded stone and echoing space. Bleh. And then she noticed the man chained to the wall.
Her eyes widened further and she kept moving mechanically as Josephine did, staying close but not too close to her aunt until the woman stopped. She was getting a good look at the man, yes, and her aunt's expression as well. That was even more telling. It was a scheming smirk. Those could be fun or dangerous. Or both. She had a feeling this one was very much the latter, at least for the man on the wall and possibly for herself and Conway as well.
Oh, well damn. Her mind scrambled to think of something intelligent to say quickly. "Offer? I don't think you'd bother keeping him down here, or even alive and on your property, unless he had some kind of information. He's a Two, so it's probably not much to do with him. He could have possibly worked for someone important and knew something about them. Being a biped, even as a two, he would make someone a useful servant." Her eyes stayed on Josephine's face.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 23, 2008 2:05:22 GMT -5
Josephine laughed. The cat winced as she leaned forward to put her hand on top of his head. "Not creative enough dear," She said, with a rather amused tone to her voice as she dug her nails into the man's skin. He whimpered, but nothing more.
"You see, he would be utterly worthless as a servant. And yes, I am keeping him here for reasons much more important. You see this lovely little boy... he's a bastard child. A Highlander and his little mistress produced a cute little boy. A two of clubs from a Highlander Heart and a Spade from Esterberry. Now, how do you think I found out this information if the little boy didn't beg for mercy?" She asked with an amused grin. She glance over her shoulder to see Rosemary slowly edging away. Apparently she didn't like this game.
Josephine suddenly let go of the cat and used her pain ability, the figure crumpled on the floor, twitching and doing his best not to cry and scream, but failing rather miserably. Josephine grabbed the water pitcher and dumbed it on the feline figure. "His pain is for my personal amusement, so how else would I get information from a bothersome untalkative boy Thyme. The better question is, how do you intend to get information from him. Get the names of his parents."
Conway was staring blankly at the cat on the floor. Poor bastard really didn't deserve that. Rosemary was apparently feeling the same way as she slowly edge her way to the door.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 23, 2008 2:19:37 GMT -5
Thyme had never mentioned to her sister just what kind of theoretical knowledge her aunt was teaching her. If Rosemary ever asked, she usually answered with a vague 'oh, just the kinds of things she works with' and left it at that, assuming her sister would take that to mean boring lessons from an old bat. Boy would she be wrong.
She had to admit that she'd half-suspected her aunt kept people in the basement but she just wasn't sure and actually seeing one was quite different from making an educated guess. She'd kept her answer on the slightly more tame side of things, worried in the back of her mind about Rosemary and Conway and their reactions. She didn't want to inadvertently goad her aunt into something worse than she already had planned. Apparently that wasn't going to be something she needed to worry about. Aunt Josephine already had everything in hand and it would be going in whatever direction the woman wanted.
The screaming, crying man on the floor was the bastard child of some Highland Heart who she could only assume was important enough to want to hide a bastard. No wonder she couldn't guess at his mix - she'd never seen an Esterberry before. And now she needed to think on her feet, and fast, and figure out how to get information out of him. The biggest problem was balancing that with her desire not to send her sister shooting up the stairs like a rocket in terror. She still didn't know what Conway thought about everything.
None of her abilities would help her in this situation. She didn't want to seal his mouth shut, didn't want to communicate with him over a distance...
Or...
Well. Damn. That might work. Her aunt did say that she wanted her to be creative. "Am I allowed to go up to my room and get something to help me, Aunt Josephine?" she asked in a carefully neutral voice.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 23, 2008 2:27:35 GMT -5
Josephine raised an eyebrow and curiously inspected Thyme. Well now, what was she exactly thinking. "If you see fit, be my guest. Just hurry before I change my mind and do something... regrettable." She smirked. Oh she wasn't going to do something regrettable if she wasn't fast enough--he would live. He just wouldn't be the same little boy he was. "Conway, get more water for me, and escort Rosemary to her room."
The Hisstor nodded emphatically as he took the pitcher and hurried up the stairs. Rosemary had already bolted as soon as she heard her name. She had already made it up the stairs and rounding the corner by the the time Conway had hit the bottom step. She was fast when she really wanted to be--not as fast as a spade but when you were terrified anything seemed fast.
Josephine waited quietly as she eyed the mass of cat that was shivering and whimpering on the floor. "Brave not to say a word. Your Daddy taught you well."
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 23, 2008 2:35:16 GMT -5
Bobbing her head to her aunt in a half-nod, half-bow, Thyme followed Conway up the stairs, wincing as she heard her sister pounding up and away. She would have to talk to Rosemary later, explain a few things... the other girl had never bothered to ask their grandparents questions like she had, or to get to know Lord Ghi. She just thought he was a creepy, scary mute who lived near their grandparents. Thyme agreed, but knew there was far more to it than her sister would have suspected. His basement was worse than Aunt Josephine's, far worse. She'd peeked through his window before.
She went upstairs and into her room, ignoring her sister for the time being in favor of grabbing what she was after and hurrying down again. She didn't want to be responsible for whatever her aunt was planning on doing to him if she didn't hurry.
In her mouth was a small golden figurine in the shape of a vertebrae, modeled after one of Conway's. She'd thought it was an interesting shape and tried to mimic it, mostly succeeding. Her power came in handy sometimes when she got bored and the small lump of gold she turned into things had stayed in this shape for months now.
When she got downstairs, she approached the man and very carefully dropped the item into his hand. Then she stared at him, red eyes going slightly darker as she concentrated, and suddenly... he had no mouth. There was nothing but smoothly furred skin where his lips should be.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 23, 2008 2:46:17 GMT -5
Conway filled the pitcher with water and returned to the basement shortly after Thyme did. He watched with wide eyes as he saw the the man's mouth disappear and the girl place something in his hands.
Josephine smirked. So that was her King ability then? Well that was interesting wasn't it. She hadn't the slightest idea what the girl was planning. It was nice to be surprised. So much potential...
The cat tried to scream, but tears welled up in his eyes when he realized he couldn't. What was going on? Why was this little girl doing this to him? He couldn't whimper properly, so he simply clutched the thing that was placed in his hand and curled up in a protective ball. He didn't want to be hurt anymore. He didn't want that scary woman to poke around inside his head... why... why him?
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 23, 2008 2:53:25 GMT -5
Watching the man curl into a fetal position after she made his mouth disappear, Thyme very carefully did not let any expression show on her face, not a wince of pity or a sneer of disgust. Nothing. She didn't want to have to deal with either right now and she didn't want her aunt to see either.
She took a deep breath and sat down next to him, staring at him and thinking very hard about the golden vertebrae. Hello? Can you hear me? Her voice would be clearly audible in his mind, as if she'd just said it aloud but quite clearly inside of his head. This way Aunt Josephine would have absolutely no idea what was going on or what she was saying to him, but if he reacted to the voice outwardly then she would certainly know that something was going on. If this went as Thyme dearly hoped it did, the woman would be interested enough to wait out the silence.
I know you know who's talking. I'm the one who handed you the trinket. I'm the one who made your mouth disappear. That's a consequence of not talking to this woman, you know. Now you'll never be able to say anything ever again to anyone. That's no good, now is it? She kept her eyes on his face, intent, willing him to look up at her. The ability would only last for twenty-four hours, but there was absolutely no way for him to know that. As far as he knew, it might well last forever.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 23, 2008 3:00:33 GMT -5
No.... no.... why are you doing this? I didn't ask for this. I've done everything she's wanted! What do you want from me? He shivered. Why was a little girl capable of such horrible things? This had to be some nightmare. I'll answer whatever you want me to.
Josephine tilted her head and eyed the pair. What was she doing? Was she... Clubs had an ability to communicate with each other didn't they? Clever little girl she was. Heaven only knew what she was saying to him. What on earth was she thinking.
Conway hovered in the background. He wasn't sure what to think of Thyme now. She had seemed like such a sweet girl and now... it just... it just fell apart. She was just like everyone else? Funny how that worked. It was probably the old bag's fault to. He sighed. He could only hope Thyme didn't end up like her.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 23, 2008 3:07:24 GMT -5
Keeping her expression very deliberately bland, Thyme looked down at him and tried to keep her mental voice just as steady and neutral. If you've done everything she's wanted then why are you still down here? Why hasn't she finished with you and let you go or... whatever?
Those were both good questions. The young man sounded very sincere. This must just be a big test for her benefit or something. Did Aunt Josephine already know all about him? What was she after today...?
I have a few questions for you. If you're willing to answer them like you said, I can give you your mouth back. If not... well, yeah. So tell me first what the name of your parents are. And then, if you could please tell me what she wanted you to do before I came along, that would make me very happy.
Everything she was doing to him right now, barring scaring him out of his wits with the mouth trick, wasn't going to hurt him. If she could avoid it, Thyme really didn't want to hurt him. She just wanted to do as her aunt asked, but she didn't have the kinds of pain abilities that the woman had and honestly, she was glad for it.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Feb 23, 2008 3:15:14 GMT -5
I-I don't know! She just said that she would let me go after... something... I don't remember. He made an odd sound in the back of his throat. He just wanted to run away right now. He shifted a bit though when Thyme asked the other question.
His parents? Why did she want to know about his parents? They.... their names were Ares and Indera. That... that woman wanted me to tell her everything I knew about my p-parents. I did everything she said but she... she hurt me. I just want to go home! His body gave a violent shudder as he remained on the floor.
Josephine was tapping her foot. This was taking too long. If Thyme didn't find results soon she would end this rather quickly. This wasn't a game that could be screwed up with horrible cause and effect. She glanced at Conway.
He was still as still as ever as he watched the people in front of him, wide eyed and waiting.
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