RP:Love Me, Now?

Summary: Josleen meets her secret admirer.

Governor's Estate

Josleen :: It’s about 3 am, the witching hour. Josleen sleeps as a guest of the governor in an expansive suite. She hardly knows the layout of this manor. She can find her bed, the bathroom, the dining room, the foyer, and Tristram’s study. Beyond that the mansion sprawls like a labyrinth to her. It’s her first time in it’s walls. Like all manors, its unique architecture and constant bustle of servants, even at night, plays tricks of light, shadow, and sounds. But the bard feels safe here. Who messes with a dragon’s keep? She sleeps snuggly in a king-sized bed, her body sunken in the plush mattress and sheets.

Revan :: So beautiful, the youthful Josleen. Her adoring brown eyes hidden by heavy eye lids that linger shut as she succumbs to the the powerful embrace of a good night's sleep here in the center of a dragon's grand manor. Those stunning almost auburn colored locks, so clean and pampered, so perfect just like that flawless complexion of pristine white skin that screams out for attention, begging to be touched, pleading to be caressed by the hands of a secret admirer just like the one hovering at the foot of her large king sized bed. Towering in height with a bloody gash oozing at the top of his bald black, white and sickly green head, sunken black misplaced holes for eyes and a horrific abomination of a nose fused with his mouth or lack there of, Josleen's admirer carefully places his palm onto the comforter and offers three quick presses to test her depth of sleep ensuring he doesn't disturb his beloved during his ascent. Satisfied with the stress test the long curling tendrils that extend from his back begin to pluck away at the bed with suction cups aiding him to pull himself up onto the bed where he creeps closer and closer to his stunning, gorgeous target on his hands and knees. It isn't long before the creature sits straddled atop of the dreaming bard with his knees bent on either side of her body, he stares down with a soft, low and rapid clicking emitting somewhere from his body while the ooze from his scalp drips drops of bodily bile down to stain her perfect, beautiful little face.

Josleen stirs but doesn’t wake when the creature moves onto the bed. Her body in sleep forgets where she is. Her subconscious assumes it is her chosen lover, Ansel, nothing more. Then he’s straddling her, and she half-wakes without opening her eyes. She coos gently, her tone flirtatious, “Baby, at least give me until sunrise.” Then comes the drip. What? That’s not right. The drip splashes on her face at exactly the moment she remembers she isn’t home; she isn’t with Ansel. Her eyes snap open. She looks up at the nightmare in flesh and shrieks so loudly and so shrilly that the she hurts her own ears. She shoves at his chest and tries to get her legs under him to kick him off. He’s so horrible that even her words flee, leaving her to her fate. So terrified, incapable of shouting for help, she struggles to save her body and very soul. Something this hideous can only be evil, possessed, demonic.

Revan :: Josleen's shriek alerts the staff who rush to the door knocking rapidly while asking if everything is alright but her admirer is quick to lash out with his tendrils to press hard against the wooden frame and hold the knob in place to keep the would be intruders at bay and the pounding gets louder and louder. Another set of tendrils grab Josleen's arms and legs to force them down as the admirer uses his left index finger to run down her cheek in a slow, caring manner while his right hand brushes back that lush, sweet smelling clean hair of hers, his skin feeling like a week old corpse that's been resting at the bottom of a lake. The center of his throat begins to separate with a mushing sound as tendons and cartridge pick apart in a sticky black mess, the clicking preceding a tormented broken voice "Love. Me."

Josleen :: Nope. There is no way Josleen can bend and cater to a nightmarish creature who has invaded her bed and is groping her. His rubbery, water-logged touch sends a shiver through her core. Remembering how to speak at last she shouts, “Get off the bed!” Her voice is hoarse with fear. Tears run down her cheeks as she faces one of the greatest human fears with one of the fears particular to women. “GET OUT!”

Revan :: The admirer halts the motion of his hands though his fingers still remain in place on her cheek and in the thick of her hair, the tears noted as they streak down to smear the bloody ink that stained her skin moments earlier. "Scared?" he asks asks through the continued pounding on the door, servants crying out Josleen's name pleading with her to open the door. The flesh of the creature begins to morph in a shaken water like animation replacing his horrific features to a mirror image of someone Josleen knew quite well, a heavily armored paladin that stares at her with an expression of concern, "Love. me. now?" he asks again in the same broken tone, as the vapor like tendrils grip a little tighter at her appendages.

Josleen shivers as the creature becomes an uncanny version of Eliason. His movements are wrong, his smell, his voice. But as the creature shifts shapes she sees clues into how he wants to play this game. His motive remains unclear to Josleen. She isn’t willing to accept it simply wants love. It’s too horrific to be a creature of love in her mind. The terrifying awakening, the groping, the decay; it’s all too much to bear and accept. But she’s an actress after all, and if acting is what is necessary to survive then she is well equipped. “Eliason?” Her face softens to one of adoration. “Oh Eliason, you came to rescue me again when I needed you most. As always.” Her arms feel like lead as she forces them to loose circle the creature’s neck in a distant embrace. His skin feels clammy and wrong. She doesn’t press her body to his and stares lovingly into his eyes to provide an excuse for the distance. Even without pressing her body to his her stomach flips and heat of adrenaline floods her in disorienting bursts. Her peach fuzz stands on end. “My love I regret ever leaving you. Pride is the only reason I haven’t returned to you, but now you’ve returned to me. Stay here my love. Stay in my bed. Let me just assure the servants that there is nothing to worry about.” She kisses his head and misjudges where the ooze was. When she pulls away, red gunk stretches from ‘Eliason’s’ head to her stained lips like melted cheese. She tries to leave the bed while still looking fondly at the creature. Her body language suggests that she is honest, that she will tell the servants to go then return to the bed with him. In truth, as soon as she reaches that door, she’ll ask ‘Eliason’ to open the door so she can show the servants she is alright, then bolt. Run!

Revan :: Eliason releases his grip on Josleen after the kiss and allows her to get out of the bed though as she approaches the door the tendrils do not budge, in fact they reinforce the door even tighter by lining the crack letting in light below and then consuming the knob. Now standing in the bed Eliason stares at her and slowly shakes his head in an unnatural motion, "Lie. to. me?" he asks in a pitiful voice just before the same transformation as before takes place though this time the creature represents a familiar mage from Xalious. "Love. me. now?" the admirer asks with a heavy frown as he begins to shake violently, taking sloppy steps towards the edge of the bed as the mattress and box spring pop beneath his weight.

Josleen stiffens with her back to the bed when the door won’t budge. The servants still bang. She tells them nothing. Something heavy is being rammed against the door now. “No, I would never lie to you, Eliason.” Her mind races as she tries to find another solution. Her body is composed despite the quaking she feels inside. The springs creak as he walks towards her and she whips around quickly, eyes wide, betraying her fear. “Oh Ezekiel! I am so glad you came.” Her heart booms in her hot ears as the mattress pops under the force of the monster’s power. “Eliason was here and I was trying to escape him so I could be with you.” Her expression is sweet, and that rehearsed adoration returns to her stare. “I am so happy you chased him off. You’re the one I love, my darling. But oh!” She looks surprised. “Why do my lips feel wet?” She presses her knuckles to her lips gently then blinks down in surprise at the blood there [more terrific acting]. “I must have bitten my lip! Let me freshen up in the bathroom then I will join you in bed.” She crosses to the adjoining bathroom because she recalls it has a small window that opens into the inner courtyard of the mansion. She can make an escape there.

Revan :: The admirer watches with Ezekiel's eyes as Josleen continues her well rehearsed little act of the innocent lover, his heart breaking as he spots the fear in her eyes at his approach. Slowly turning his head to keep up with the bard's pace across the room he doesn't move to stop her as she opens the door to the bathroom leaving her free to escape through the small window to the outside word, or well, it would if Revan weren't standing there with his hands laced together as glowing red eyes burn brightly from beneath a heavy hood while a white necked raven rests upon his shoulder, "Some things never change." he decrees in a cracked voice, lunging out to take Josleen by the throat and lift her to his right slamming her against the wall, an action that causes the bard's lover on her bed to cry loudly before lashing out at the undead man with his tendrils only to have them burned as Revan's free hand extends to bellow out an inferno of fire that cooks the creature's figure resulting in shrill shrieks of pain as he collapses on the bed holding his melting face while writhing in pain. The assault loosening the hold on the door allowing the staff to burst into the room though they all become stricken in fear by the dying admirer and can't spot Josleen as Revan cloaks them sight. "So vein. So... full of yourself... Always so beautiful on the outside but so ugly within." The man's mouth doesn't move as he speaks and he clutches Josleen's throat tight enough so that she's choking and cannot cry out for help. Those fiery eyes bounce back and forth between the bards brown tinted own, his free hand lifted up to eye level to reveal a single black rose clutched tightly in his grasp. "Remember me." he orders while placing the stem of the rose between her teeth before dropping her, as she hits the floor she'd become visible to the staff who are eager to help her though some still stare at the admirer who upon the simple breeze of an eager aid rushing to Josleen turns into dust and blows away not leaving a single trace of his existence other than eye witness accounts.

Revan gave 1 black rose to Josleen.

Josleen chokes and sputters as Revan choke slams her against the wall. Her legs kick helplessly but she isn’t strong enough to throw off the zombie. She sees the creature come to defend her and is stunned, surprised, and, in a very small and nascent way, heartened. Not enough to ever love him in the way he seeks to be loved, but suddenly enough to care what happens to him after this. Perhaps he wasn’t a demon, but something more complex. When Revan releases her she spits out the rose and throws it across the room. Collapsed on the ground she cries and lets the servants tend to her. She purges the fear and adrenaline through thick, snot-clogged sobs and seemingly interminable crying, the only animalistic response appropriate to surviving something that rattles the soul. As for the rose, she trusts they’ll dispose of the rose when they tidy the room. She wants to leave it behind her along with the memory of this awful night. But more than the rose will haunt her for weeks to come, perhaps longer. The memory of the creature will inspire in her a fever to research what it could possibly have been, what happened to it, what its motives were, if it’s truly gone, what the best response is to such a thing. But for the remainder of the early morning she seeks out Hildegarde’s guest room to find comfort in her dragon friend.