acrookedchild: (He found a crooked sixpence)
Abigail Widdowson ([personal profile] acrookedchild) wrote in [community profile] undergrounds2015-07-01 07:21 am

Stroke of Midnight [OPEN]

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!)
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: yeah well)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-08 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"The internet, the internet..." Heiji said, pretending to put some real thought into it. "Oh, that's the one that's a series of tubes, ain't it?" Not a big truck. Not something that you just dump something on.

"I'll think about it. 'Course, it'd be a lot more convenient if I had a permanent place to crash."
stauncherhearted: (Default)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-08 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, something like that," she laughed, raising her glass to him before taking another sip. Okay, she needed a whole lot more to drink.

"You don't? But your cousins are coming into town..." She couldn't offer him any space at her place. It was already small enough.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: /scream)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-08 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Actually, a pet would need more room than my cousins," said Heiji. "Maybe it'd need protection from my cousins."

A bunch of fox kits loose with a kitten or a bird or even a little lizard?

"O-on second thought, maybe we should table the pet idea for now!" Heiji gave a nervous little laugh that was absolutely not suspicious at all. "You know how kids are, they'd probably bug anything I got nonstop."
stauncherhearted: (Default)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-09 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
That would undoubtedly be a disaster.

"I do, I do- so it's best to wait." No pets at Fagin's. Just a lot of young boys. And attempts at pets that always mysteriously disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: I was sweatin' bullets)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-09 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Definitely," Heiji agreed. "Speakin' of which..."

He lowered his voice a little so as not to be (too) rude. "...Don't it feel a little creepy in here? The house, I mean. It's like a goose walked over my grave."
stauncherhearted: (Default)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-09 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
One of Nancy's eyebrows is raised as she steps in towards Heiji. "A goose? But no- no, you're absolutely right." She didn't know the Widdowson's history. She wasn't sure if she did or didn't. But the fact of the matter was: this place was creepy as fuck.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: whatcha say?)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-09 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh?" he asked, looking mildly surprised. "Did I get the sayin' wrong? Whattaya usually say when you get that prickling feeling at the back of your neck?"

This was important, okay. He needed to get his idioms straight.
stauncherhearted: (breath)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-09 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
She grimaces a little and nods. "Yeah, it's just walked over your grave. There's no geese involved. Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed." But there was something fun about people trying to use English idioms. God knew she'd have the same troubles he did, if she spoke a lick of a language other than English.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: guess I'll be a srs detective)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-09 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"Really? Huh. I liked it better with the goose..." After all, geese were vicious water dinosaurs who didn't care who they hurt to get what they wanted (which was, incidentally, a piece of your arm).

"Anyway, point is I'm gettin' some weird vibes. There's a fae in here... aside from me, I mean." And the others who were familiar to him. He frowned a little in the direction of the attic.
stauncherhearted: (Default)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-10 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
Don't say the thing about water dinosaurs out-loud. Please.

"There's more than you- I saw Cephei earlier." The one with the ridiculous cheekbones.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: I was sweatin' bullets)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-10 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Ohh, that guy!" Heiji's expression eased somewhat. "Nah, I ain't talkin' about him. I mean, he's got a bit of that aura thing goin' on, but it's not as..."

Cue Heiji trying to express creepiness with his hands. It mostly involved moving his fingers around like claws and wiggling them around. Someone might use similar gestures to describe an octopus. Or a facehugger.
stauncherhearted: (everyday is halloween)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-10 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Or while pretending to be her foster-father. Luckily, that's only the second thing she thinks of, and the first one is more spot-on.

"Really? Maybe there's another one 'round." But there was something about this house... Great place for a coven, right, team?
detectiveofthewest: (Default)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-10 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Heiji nodded. "I think so. Well. Guess I can't judge just based on a feelin'. Some folks just kinda give off bad vibes, but they're okay if you get to know 'em." Or just accepted that you'd always have to be on your toes around them. That, too.
stauncherhearted: (Default)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-11 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
"If you see the offending fae, you'll let me know though, right?" She was now more curious than ever.
detectiveofthewest: (Heiji: I was sweatin' bullets)

[personal profile] detectiveofthewest 2015-07-11 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Sure. Heck, if he's nasty enough, I'll get ya outta here myself. No sense tempting fate." After all, not all fae liked iced coffee and fried tofu.

"...You're not gonna go looking for him yourself, though, right? That's dangerous." And he didn't want Nancy getting hurt, of course.
stauncherhearted: (and here i'll stay)

[personal profile] stauncherhearted 2015-07-11 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Preaching to the choir. "Aren't you the sweetest!" She's positively beaming at him. "Goodness, no. Not the sort to do that." Stiles would. "Got too many people what count on me." Even if her entire life was constantly putting at her at risk for this and that.