Stroke of Midnight [OPEN]

[acrookedchild]

Miss Abigail Widdowson cordially invites you to Geap Manor on Wednesday, July 1st at 19:00.

Food, drinks, and music will be provided.

All are welcome, but individuals are to be aware that any hostilities during the evening's festivities will not be tolerated.

It is the first time in at least a generation that the doors of Geap Manor have been opened to the general population. Or, at least, as general as the supernatural community could be considered. Some invitiations were made personally, but most were formally sent to the higher ranking members of the various factions.

Dinner is announced precisely at 19:30. The small, intimate eating area for the family has been turned into a buffet room. The caterers Abigail hired have obviously been paid well to make sure there is something for everyone. Rich meat dishes, hearty vegetarian dishes, light fish dishes, plenty of accompaniments and finger food. There is also plenty of fairly fresh blood for vampires. For the others, there are wines, water, and tea available.

The grand dining room has had its large table removed, replaced, instead, by small tables that can comfortably hold four. They can, of course, be pushed together to allow for more room.

The ballroom is open to the guests, and the DJ has also been highly paid to make sure the music played is precisely to the hostess's tastes. There is plenty of modern music, good for dancing, as well as older classics. However, interspersed are classical pieces meant for waltzes and foxtrots and other such ballroom dances.

In the sitting room is a drink cart with wine, tea, water, and blood. Chairs and divans are available, as the room is a quiet place, a little away from the ballroom, so conversation can be had with ease. There is an unlit fireplace, and a portrait of Abigail a few years younger than she is now hangs above it.

Most of the rest of the house is locked. One can wander the hallways, but it may prove ultimately fruitless. One who simply walks up the stairways will find the walls of each lined with the Widdowson family portraits of every generation, starting with one of a ten-year-old Abby, her parents, and her six-year-old brother. As one takes in all the paintings, a pattern presents itself. Every Widdowson woman featured is pale, thin, and blonde.

The grounds are beautifully maintained and fenced in by wrought iron on top of stone. A very traditional look for such an imposing manor. On the path from the street to the house, there's little remarkable, save the knocker on the door. Behind the house, however, if one ventures away, one might get the keen sense of something from inside the house watching, waiting, and hungering. On the ground floor, the locked rooms are mostly unremarkable, save for the study at the back of the house. Linger too long near there, and one might hear a sound coming in a pattering set. It isn't a knock against the door, no. Instead, it is the sound of something hitting the wall. If someone were to force their way into the nursery on the second floor or the attic several stories up... Well. They likely won't be coming back to the party. Or to anything.

Wandering, of course, isn't a suggested enterprise. The old house doesn't like people poking around and trying to find its secrets.


(Everyone who has at least a familiarity with the supernatural is welcome, as the invitations were distributed widely. Mingle, make your own top comments, enjoy the food, etc!)

Comments

[emotioneater]

1. Dinner

Cooper arrives a few minutes after sunset, fashionably late and once again dressed in a suit that makes him feel uncomfortable. He'd prefer to be wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Alas, appearances must be preserved. The dinner's already been going on a few hours. He picks up a glass of blood and a small plate of hors d'oeuvres. He looks for any table that still has a free seat.

When he spots one, he slides next to you without asking permission. Taking a deep drink of the blood, he fixes his eyes on those sitting at the table. "So, has anything interesting happened?"

2. Ballroom

After getting his fill at the dinner, Cooper makes his way to the ballroom. Now this is what he calls music. He stays against the wall for a few minutes, scanning the crowd to see if there's anyone that he recognizes. He won't be content to stay on the sidelines for long, however. Before too much time has passed, he's out on the dance floor.

3. Stairways

Cooper finds a quiet moment eventually during the event to explore the old house a little. He admires the portraits as he walks, glancing at each one in turn. Eventually, something clicks into his head. He stops at the third generation, staring hard at the woman in the painting. Then he goes onto the next one. Then he retraces his steps to the second generation. Once he realizes what's going on, he mutters to himself.

"Well, that's not creepy at all."

He's not entirely sure what it means, if anything, but he stopped believing in coincidences in the supernatural world quite some time ago.

2

[acrookedchild]

Abigail waits until Cooper's off the dance floor for a bit and approaches, smiling. With him, she can feel more at east. A little more settled. Plus, in a way, it's a relief to have the announcement done with and to have been socializing after it.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Cooper."

[emotioneater]

He grabs a water bottle from where he had placed it against the wall. Dancing up a storm was thirsty work. The tie on his suit had been loosened up and was currently hanging askew over one shoulder.

"I never miss an opportunity to dance. Life's too short to hang back on the sidelines."

[acrookedchild]

Abigail chuckled a little at the remark, giving a small nod of her head. It's good to see people enjoying themselves, even if the atmosphere was now a bit tense.

"I hope the music is decent. It doesn't clash too much, changing the styles?"

[emotioneater]

"Nah. Gives these people a taste of real culture. Most of them haven't listened to much besides Lady Gaga and Kesha." He gives a snort, showing his contempt for so-called modern pop music.

"Have you gotten out on the dance floor yet?"

3

[detectiveofthewest]

"Definite family resemblance," agreed Heiji, turning to look at the speaker. Eventually, he simply hadn't had enough willpower to resist a little looking around.

"...Oh, it's you." Whatever that meant...

[emotioneater]

"Excuse me?" Cooper raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at the speaker. There was something familiar about that voice, but he couldn't place the face. He sincerely hoped he hadn't done something like kill one of Heiji's family members. That would make the situation supremely awkward.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Huh?" Heiji couldn't lie, precisely, but hey. He didn't have to help Cooper along, either.

"Sorry, guess there're a lotta faces around here to mix up. Um... you a friend of the family?"

[emotioneater]

"Hmmmm." He hummed at the back of his throat, trying to figure out where they had met before. Well, no matter. Either it would come him or it wouldn't. He couldn't force it to happen.

"Yeah. I met Abigail a while back. Figured she could use all the support she could possibly get right about now." He was here regardless of what his nest's official policy was. "What about you?"

1

[entitles]

"Not yet. Mostly mingling," he said, taking a bite of his steak, "My, if it isn't the young man from the observatory."

A vampire. Of course. But he saw no reason to start fighting, not unless Cooper went for some of his blood.

[emotioneater]

"Good. I'd hate t'miss anythin' exciting." Like the announcement of Circle Midnight's territorial claim. He's keeping mum on that. It wouldn't do for anyone to find out that he knew about that ahead of time.

He sips the blood, occasionally picking at his food. He's too hyped up to go through the ritual he has of at least eating a little bit of something. "I don't think I ever gave you my name. I'm Cooper."

[entitles]

"Call me Cephei," he said, taking a drink of wine, "And pardon my manners, I suppose you might not be very young after all."

Although Balem had a habit of addressing almost anyone as 'young man' or 'young lady' unless they were clearly elderly.

[emotioneater]

Cooper shrugs. Everyone thinks he's young, even those who know better. It's a part of life for him. "I doubt you are either." He hasn't outright said it, but Cooper is no fool. With a name like that and looking as pretty as he does, he's got to be a fae.

3

[stauncherhearted]

"No- I told you- would you listen?" Nancy was a bit further down the hall, holding her cell-phone up to her ear. "I'm busy! No, it's not something I can work at, not here with this. It's-" She sighed, her teeth clenched. "I'm not bloody stoping by tonight, Fagin, and that's that! And if I do decide to work, you aren't seeing a bloody cent!" That was the problem with iphones. You couldn't slam them shut dramatically to hang up. So Nancy, following her declaration just had to press the red hang-up button and sigh irritatedly again.

Running her fingers through her hair, she turned in time to see-

"Cooper!" She gasped, hand flying to her throat. "Sorry- you just startled me." Something about this house.

[emotioneater]

Cooper is still staring at the paintings, engrossed in the strange similarities between all the women, when he hears a familiar voice. Turning, he spies Nancy and breaks out into a huge grin. "Well, look who it is."

Forget formalities. They're in a relatively deserted part of the house, so Nancy gets engulfed into a hug. He holds her out so that he can get a look at what she's wearing. Whatever it is, Cooper has no doubt she'll look good in it. "So who was that on the phone?"

[stauncherhearted]

"Hullo!" She said, hugging him back. Her hair is done up, exposing her neck. Her dress, a navy, skirts around her mid-thighs.

She'd hug him anyway, truth be told.

"Oh, just, ah," she shakes her head, grimacing. "Fagin." She rolls her eyes.

[emotioneater]

Cooper mirrors her grimace. He doesn't know that much about the fae, but hey, solidarity. "Want me to go eat him?" He asks. It's impossible to tell if he's being serious or just joking around. After all, isn't that what having a vampire friend is for?

3, if that's okay?

[megidoomed]

It's easier to poke around if you're not the only one looking. Sure, being a ghost kind of gives a loophole for that, but the house is steeped in old magic and it's messing with Aradia's head - but talking might help her ground a bit, so when Cooper does a double take at the portraits, there's a ghost watching from her perch on the bannister.

"They all look way too similar, don't they? I can't find one that doesn't have the same type of face."

Perfect!

[emotioneater]

Cooper's a little jumpy thanks to Abigail's warning about the house possibly being more than just a normal manor. Combine this with the creepy portraits and he's quite on edge. He whirls around when he hears Aradia's voice. He didn't hear or smell her coming up, which in and of itself is unusual. What a way to make an entrance.

His heart pounds in his chest, but his voice is steady as he answers. "It's certainly strange. Wonder if it has to do with the family curse."

I just noticed my giant run-on sentence back there whoops 0n0

[megidoomed]

It's always fun to spook people, supernatural or otherwise. Cooper's jumpy reaction is noted, as is the fact that he can hear her without too much effort on Aradia's part, since it's handy to keep track of who can see her in a pinch - but he seems to know at least a little bit about what's going on. Interesting.

"There's a family curse?" Out of courtesy, she puts in the extra focus to become visible. It might help keep the conversation going longer. "I've heard rumours about it, but they're pretty unreliable. Most of it's just people trying to make themselves sound fancier then everyone else."

It's all good!

[emotioneater]

"Abigail mentioned it when I first met her. I didn't really take it seriously at the time, but she also mentioned earlier tonight that the house doesn't like visitors. Now..." He gestures around him with a hand. The creepiness in this house is something almost tangible. "...I'm starting to think there's a little bit of truth t'all those stories."

1

[eyeforaneye]

Are we ever going to have a thread that doesn't revolve around drinking something, that's the question.

"By interesting do you mean you squeezing into another ill-fitting suit and looking uncomfortable throughout the span of a second evening? If so, yes. If not, no."

[emotioneater]

No, never, their lives revolve around blood and getting drunk.

Cooper looks him over with very little sympathy. Nice to know Sasuke is in his usual cheery mood. "Maybe if you weren't wearing a suit that looks like you've had it since you were twelve, you wouldn't feel so uncomfortable."

[eyeforaneye]

We obviously just have our lives figured out; everyone else is missing out.

"Good job turning it around on me, but that insult was for you. I guess we both look out of place here." He doesn't feel like adding that he's had it since he was fifteen instead of twelve because that does not sound like a very good comeback at all.

[emotioneater]

"Speak for yourself, kid. Just because I don't like dressin' up doesn't mean I don't know how t'act the part of the charming guest." He takes a glass full of whiskey and pours it into the glass of blood he has. It makes for a more interesting flavor.

"You might have a better time if you didn't look like someone was shovin' bamboo splinters under your nails." He tell him to smile, but he's afraid that might actually break Sasuke's face. In fact, he's sure it would.