{Le Château du Seul.}

Isabelle

Isabelle pushed a strand of hair back from her face impatiently. How could he have done that?! Joshua had just kissed her, for God's sake! And now he runs away, muttering something about Mercy?!

A cold night breeze flew in, making Isabelle shiver. She grabbed the back of her neck uncertainly, and was surprised to find she had broken out in a cold sweat. With an irritated glance at the full, cold moon, Isabelle stepped back inside. She searched the ballroom, carelessly shoving guests aside.

A man arrogantly swaggered up to her. Isabelle eyed him suspiciously.

"Dance with me?" he asked, his tone commanding. Isabelle pursed her lips.

"Not on your life."

She scurried away, ignoring the protesting shouts coming from the man. Isabelle kept her gaze on the tops of the crowd.

"Oh, come on, Joshua..." she muttered furiously. "Where are you hiding?"

With a glance behind her, Isabelle spotted the same man pursuing her. Oh, no you don't, Isabelle thought grimly. She ducked away, darting into a crowd of giggling women. Isabelle watched the man hurry pass her, and she once again set out on her hunt for Joshua.

Isabelle tried to put herself in Joshua's shoes. If she were Joshua, she would want to get out of the crowd while staying within the party for a quick escape, should the need arise.

Isabelle set off toward the edges of the ballroom, where the crowd was the thinnest.

"Aha!" cried a voice behind her. Isabelle glanced toward the source. She gritted her teeth irritably. The man had found her again. Once again, Isabelle darted away, past a trio of men merrily joking about their spouse's latest adventures.

Isabelle jumped behind a column as her pursuer tumbled past. Shaking her head, she scanned the wall carefully, looking for Joshua. There!

He was leaning against the wall in a shady corner of the room. His arms were folded tightly across his chest, and his gaze was fixed determinedly on the ceiling. Isabelle set her jaw grimly. She marched up to Joshua and coughed loudly. Joshua jumped, and looked at her. Isabelle gave him a curt smile.

"Joshua," she snapped.

"... Isabelle..."

And that was when Isabelle slapped him across the jaw.

William

And he found himself alone again, his piano sitting in his wake. Oh what a bittersweet feeling it was, to know that the thing he loved the most, was the thing only he could understand to the fullest. His fingers slowed, the song become something much sadder, twisted even. A song that had no name and yet it was the most passionate he had ever played. The cords were simple, slow even, but constant, singing a tale of misery and woe... and of loneliness.

Oh how sickly sweet it was, as he played. The thick vines of loneliness, twisting around his legs, holding him where he was, as his fingers pressed the keys, his already tear stained face become raw from the constant tears, his eyes swollen over. He would cry, and cry some more, and maybe he would cry until the sun hit the hills. All he knew was he was going to cry till ever last tear had been shed. Every spiteful thought leaving his body with each salty drip. Maybe, after that, he would not find the need to cry any longer and that he would find someone.. anyone at all that could cut the vines that were slowly suffocating him.

His fingers slowed, then stopped, before raising to cup his face, the sobs slipping through his lips in an unmanly manner. Of course, no one was there to see this act cause no one ever was, so why would it matter? Nothing mattered... nothing at all, except these tears that fell, the piano that sat ajacent, and the solemn room that felt more large and cold then it could have possibly felt.

Mikael

Finally my moment of triumph, i thought lounging idly against the wall of the chateau. My eyes flicked to the clock, over and over, watching thew seconds count down to my triumph. Bong, the first stroke of midnight. How ironic, i thought smirking before a stream of men strolled into the room hooded and armed and began grabbing people at random. I turned and saw Hester and Hiriam rising from there seats.
"Ah ah ah." i called to them "Sit down you two. We wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to your guests now would we? Now everyone stay calm and no heroics. I would hate to have to kill you all."
A man punched Alex and ran at me across the ballroom. My sword cane whistled from its sheath and he fell in a bloody heap.
"Now stay where you are while i speak with our hoasts." I marched over to the two of them, comforted by the knowledge i would have their secret or kill them both.

Joshua

The slap was biting into his skin, shifting his mask, revealing his one side of the face partly. But Joshua made no move to fix it because he was entranced. She was haunting him, plaguing him. When he needed that time alone she was always there nagging. Sometimes he just wished she would be gone and stop crippling his life at this moment.

But as soon as those thoughts were revealed, they were recoiled right back. Who was he kidding? He would be nothing without her. If he never showed up on the fronts steps of this castle, and she was never there, he would have gone away again vanished in to the world once more, never feeling quite as human. Here he was, feeling the emotions of an actual human, feeling like them thoroughly, yet he looked like a monster. Yet he couldn't help but feel happy that this chance arrived for he would never have been brought back to his right mind.

"I am sorry if I offended you." Joshua said, slipping the mask over his face properly. "And I am sorry if you feel violated in any means. I do not know what came over me. Please excuse my actions." His voice was formal, hoping she would loose interest and go away so he could lick his wounds in solitude.

"You kissed me." She looked positively outraged, "You just blandly kissed me!"

"Yes I understand. I did wrong. I did not mean to offend you. Sometimes, I let my emotions get a hold of me." Ha. Yah right. What a bland lie. "Just forget about it, it never happened. I am sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. Rest be assured, I do not have any of those kind of feelings for you." He spoke again, his fist clenching into fists. He lied again. That is what he has become, a liar. He resented ever words he spoke, every syllable that escaped his lips. But what could he possibly do about it? He had ruined everything, there was not a chance now.

His thought train was broken by feminine screams and shouts. Automatically, Joshua leapt into the panicking ground, finding his way to what had been happening. Hester and Hiram where standing, looking at a man horrified. He held a pistol in his hand. And assortment of black clothed men also crept into the ballroom.

"Ah, ah, ah." he shouted at Hiram and Hester. "Sit down you two. We wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to any of your guests, now would we? Now everyone stay calm and please no heroics. I would hate to kill you all."

A man went rushing at him, but fell to the floor in a crumpled form obviously dead, a pool of blood spreading on the floor. The man started to approach Hester. Joshua leapt forward out of the crowd, and charged at the man. No heroics, yah right. the man whirled around, his sword outstretched, aimed perfectly to slice Joshua's throat.

Somewhere someone screamed his name, or at least he wish someone would. He caught the blade with one hand, the silver sword biting into his flesh, blood gently dripping to the ground.

"I can not let you hurt them." Joshua swore, stepping forward, his hand still holding the blade. He did not care for pain. He did not seem to care at all, yet his heart still beat within his chest and all he could envision was Isabelle being harmed. He would never let that happen.

--------------------------

Another long post. I am sorry!

~Incognito

Mikael

As i approached Hester and Hiriam another dashed from the crowd and grabbed my sword cane.
"Sir i suggest you let go right now." I spoke calmly aiming my pistol squarely between his eyes.
"Unless of course you want all these innocent people to die right now?" I smiled as i saw the look of worry and the pain of indescision fill his face.
"Come on now make your choice" i laughed into his face "All of them or a few moments with our hoasts. Come on, times wasting. Tick, tock, tick, oh forget it!" I aimed at his knee and blew it out. i stood and watched him writhe on the floor, sobbing the name Isabella over and over, before approaching Hester and Hiriam once again.
"Now then you two. I have a question for you both. How would someone like me go about becoming something like you?"

Joshua

The blistering pain crept through his leg, blood seeping through his pant leg. He slid onto the floor and felt himself trying to do something, anything to get the pain to vanish. She would be hurt. They would be hurt. Everyone would be hurt, even killed, their life force extinguishing simply like a little flame. But Joshua would not let them. He could not let this man get any closer to Hiram and Hester.

"Isabelle." He felt himself whisper as he tried to get to his feet once more, pain makinging him unable to put his weight on it. Someone kicked him from behind, making him fall over and bite his tongue, a salty taste spreading. Joshua spit, a swab of blood landing on the ground.

It was hopeless. Yet still he tried, getting back to his feet, he staggered towards the man's retreating back. Joshua wiped his mouth from the blood on his lips. This man was and his crew, his death threats and demands. Joshua could not stand this man's kind.

"Stop." Joshua said gruffly. The man turned around his pistol pointed at him. He looked annoyed, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"I should have killed you then and there."

"I would not have died that easily." Joshua felt his voice come out stronger than he felt. "I am not like you." His action was quick but had its affect on the people. He swiped his mask away, and held it in his hand to the side, the brown feathers being stained with the blood there. "I am a monster, and I am against you and your kind. I want you to go, before I am forced to kill you."

The desired effect was simple. The people gasped and stepped back, some even racing towards the door. Other covering their partners eyes. They all were horrified and gently surprised, their eyes open in amazement. He knew what they all were thinking at this moment. He had bared himself to them, hoping that would be a big enough window for them to all change their minds and disappear, from this castle gently layered in dust that no one else could see.

But there was again no truth behind his words. He could die, easily enough. Just one well targetting shot, if he didn't drop without there help before that. He was becoming dizzy from the pain yet he could not fall. He would not fall. There was no way he could let himself. Isabelle was out there in the crowd, obviously watching this charade, and he would not let it fail before he saw her again.

"A mutant." the man breathed, his eyes widening in bewilderment. He stumbled towards Joshua looking at him, examining every wretched mark that scared Joshua's face.

------------------------

~Incognito

Isabelle

Isabelle watched the scene unfold before her in a state of shock. What was it Joshua had said? Rest be assured, I do not have any of those kind of feelings for you. How could Isabelle have been such a fool? Joshua was showing all the signs of a regular man, careless about his action, positive that his male supremacy will shelter him from punishment.

But yet, that one, painful whisper seemed to have spread throughout the near silent ballroom.

Isabelle.

And now? Joshua was doing the very thing that Isabelle had urged him to do since seeing his face! He willingly, in public, had taken off his mask. Maybe it was a last resort, intended to scare away that wretched man and his consorts. But Joshua had done it.

Isabelle glanced around her. She began slowly threading her way through the corralled guests.

"A doctor?" she whispered. In this big of a crowd, there must be one somewhere. "Is anyone a doctor here?" The whisper spread throughout the crowd.

Time passed excruciatingly slow. Isabelle moved slowly enough so as not to attract attention to herself. Isabelle had one chance. She couldn't miss.

Finally, someone tapped her on her shoulder. Isabelle turned.

"You were looking for a doctor?"

Isabelle muffled a grateful gasp. "Yes. Oh, thank God. Listen: If I could get him into a private room, could you treat him?"

The man glanced toward Joshua's trembling form. Isabelle couldn't bear to glance; she knew what there was to see.

"I have no materials..."

"That could be arranged," said Isabelle immediately. Residents of the Chateau rarely left the Chateau to see a doctor. They had a full supply of medical equipment and a sick room near the bedrooms.

"Then, yes, I could."

"Right," muttered Isabelle. She glanced nonchalantly behind her, then turned back to the man. "See that door behind me?" The man glanced at it and nodded. "Go down the hallway on the other side, make a right, go up the stairs and you'll find yourself in another hallway. The sick room should be your first door on the left. Meet me there in a minute."

The man furrowed his eyebrows. "You can't possibly think you can retrieve him?"

Isabelle glared. "I can and will, Monsieur. I will see you in a few minutes. With Joshua."

The man pursed his lips doubtfully. "I only hope I don't have to treat you as well..."

"You won't," replied Isabelle shortly, turning to face Joshua. She felt the man move away and heard the door quietly click open and close. Isabelle took a deep breath, then stepped out of the bulk of the crowd.

"Monsieur," she said, forcing her voice into the typical sweet innocence of a young woman. He turned to her, sneering.

"I said no heroism, Miss. Back into the crowd."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Monsieur," said Isabelle lightly. The man's eyes lit up with a new thought.

"Might you be that lovely Isabelle?"

"I might be, Monsieur. But you really should let me take the man. You see, he is staining the floor, bleeding like that..."

Mikael

So Hester and Hiriam weren't the only two of their kind, i thought. A woman, clearly this wretches Isabella, demanded his release.
"I'm afraid i cannot allow that Madam. This creature may just hold the secret i have chased for so long."
"And what would that be, Monsieur?" she asked obviously trying to play the innocent
"It would be the key to becoming like them. Faster, stronger and with far greater longevity."
"And the mutilation you would have to suffer?" She stared into my eyes looking for some sign of fear.
"Is a price worth paying. And let us not forget, Madam, that science and the skill of surgeons has advanced greatly since the creation of these few creatures. Now, unless you can tell me what i want to know, or if you have some hold of our hoasts, have them tell me, then you foolish pet mutant will bleed to death all over this nice floor. So," i turned with a theatrical flourish to Hester and Hiriam "What is it to be?"

Isabelle

Isabelle flickered a glance toward Hester. Hester cast a glance back towards Isabelle. Hester had always been gruff toward Isabelle, and Isabelle in return was always slightly left of cordial with her. Any roughness between the women was lost for that one, brief moment. In that moment, the same thought flickered through both women's heads.

"Sir," began Hester. "I feel I must warn you of the pain involved. It is - "

"I'm no stranger to pain," sneered the man. "I do not fear it."

"Then," said Isabelle quickly, after a quick glance a Joshua had shown how pale he had become. "there is only one way forward. The process is relatively simple. It does require tools, however. Should you agree to follow us, we can initiate the process. But, for us to do that, you must allow us to treat the good Monsieur lying on the floor."

Isabelle had to suppress a small smile, despite the dire situation. Isabelle had the upper hand now. Only residents of the Chateau had the secret bargaining tool.

And the man knew it. His eyebrow cocked toward Isabelle. Isabelle could almost see his thoughts flicker behind his face. The cards had turned, and he was impressed that it had happened. More so that a woman had done it.

"Very well," he said, his eye glinting. "Remove your wounded. We have an agreement."

Isabelle stared at him for a moment before slowly moving to Joshua. She bent down to him. As her hair fell around her face, only then did she betray all of the hidden worry and doubt. Isabelle almost burst into tears then and there.

"Are you all right?" she whispered frantically to Joshua and she grabbed under his armpit and attempted to hoist him up.

"You," Joshua panted painfully. "are mad. Why did you - Why did you agree to him?"

"I'm sorry, Monsieur," said Isabelle irritatedly. "It was a bit hard to think logically while you were bleeding to your death on the floor. And if you will so kindly realize, the transformation takes days, most of which are spent in bed with a high fever. No man can do much with that kind of illness. Oh, and by the way, there's a doctor waiting upstairs in the sick room for you."

Mikael

"Give me a few moments to make some arrangements and then we shall begin." I turned away from our hoasts. "Alex where are you my friend." Hesitantly Alex stepped forward.
"Yes, Sir."
"Gather five of your best men and have them keep guard over me during my incapacitation."
"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean not to seem disrespectful but these people are, well they're"
"Freaks?" I cut in. "These are not my freaks my friend. These were and still are the greatest soldiers mankind could create. Don't tell me you have never heard of the Forgotten Revolution?"
"But, Sir, thats just a legend."
"No my friend i am afraid it's not. Now Hiriam please correct me if i get anything wrong. They were created in the French Revolution as weapons of mass destruction, however the King in his infinite wisdom set them aside. Then they were just released. With no money, no home and no one to explain their new gifts to them. They banded together and staged a miniature revolution to rejoin society only to be wiped out when their fearful visages got them branded vampires. However one of them ggot away didn't they Hiriam?" I smirked turning to Hester as Isabella re entered the ballroom.

Joshua

He heard the last words by that man, echoing through the hallways and finding itself in a small room where Joshua was being kept.

"However one of them got away didn't they Hiram?" he spoke.

Actually there was two.. Joshua thought solemnly to himself. There was nothing left of what he once was, a mortal boy with and innocent mind, yet his had become tainted. Torture and experiments had changed his form and shape. The world had been unforgiving, merciless and ruthless. And now here he is, suffering of extreme blood loss, fever spreading quickly, breaking out in a cold sweat. The pain was terrorizing, and he felt, that maybe he should actually die. To get this over and done with. To forget about this world in general and look heavenward and to embrace God whose arms would be open wide.

Yet he would not die. He would not die because Isabelle was waiting for him. and he could not bear for her to be hurt because of him, anymore then she was already. Foolish acts were permitted, actions that would never be put away.

The doctor was trying futily to stitch his skin back together, so that no more blood would be lost. Joshua watched with blurred vision of the steady movement of the doctors hand. The doctor was alarmed about treating such a patient as himself, but otherwise was calming himself with his work. The stitches were neat a precise, but it would scar, and the stitches probably wouldn't be able to be removed for his skin would not heal. Because his skin was dead, the only thing living in him was his brain and organ functions. He had no immune system for he would never get sick. His body could not knit istelf together again. Another jagged scar to add to the numbers.

The bullet lay on a tray a little while on the table. The doctor had removed the huge lead ball with tweezers. the doctor was worried about lead poisoning. Joshua only wished he could assure the doctor that there would be no effect. What could he tell him? That he was a walking corpse.

The man finished stitching and started to bandage the knee beautifully and skillfully. Soon he stepped back revealing he was done.

"Thank you sir." Joshua managed to say. His face displayed pain, his mask lay on a different table.

"You are lucky to be alive."

"Why? A bullet to the knee couldn't have killed me." Joshua said slowly, his brain not functioning right without the blood.

"But that man could have shot you anywhere but there. He spared your life. You know that?" The doctor looked at him sternly.

"Yes, I know that too well." The words came out more like a sigh. He would not hide his feelings at the moment. He hadn't the strength.

"And that Isabelle girl, if she did not act as she did, you would have died from loss of blood."

"Yes."

"Well, I am going to go now. Hopefully unnoticed through the other door. I'll see if I can contact the authorities." The doctor said turning, barring his retreating back to Joshua who looked back at his company longingly.

"No. Do not get the authorities. That would only make this situation worse." That it would. None of these mutants were supposed to be alive. At first sight a militant or cop would kill them instantly either out of fear or orders. Also the conflict would escalade including more injuries, and Joshua could not afford that to happen. Not when Isabelle was out there. "Just forget about us and this matter. Do not come back to the Chateau. We will be fine."

The man paused at the door, but opened and closed it behind him, leaving Joshua in solitude.

--------------------

~Incognito

William

It all happened in a blink of an eye or so it seemed. Solitude was a friendly enough place for someone as tearstriken as William, but when he heard the gunshot and commotion from afar, his first instinct was to hide.

He knew it was cowardly, and he didnt quite understand his irrational fear of guns, but he hid under the piano, his eyes widening in fright and shock. His whole body quivered from the fear that slowly corrupted him, taking over his soul, leaving him a shaking mess on the polished wood floor where the tear no longer fell. Oh how cowardly he felt, rocking back and forth, knees to his chest as his mind wandered. The thoughts of the people out there.. the woman who was kind enough to say something to him, Isabelle, the one who smiled sweetly, the beautiful Mercy... Joshua... Joshua. His eyes widened again as he pushed himself out from underneath the piano.

The fear that had made itself evident before was no comparison to the fear that enveloped him now as he strode clumsily towards the door. It couldnt have been Joshua to get hurt, he thought frantically to himself. Anyone but them...

As he strode into the ballroom, he couldnt see Joshua anywhere and his fear only seemed to multiply at the sight. He strode for the hallway and with a burning ache in his chest, watched a man with a distinguished face exit a room with a sadened look to his face.

"Sir, do you know what happened when the gun was fired?" William's voice sounded foreign to him as he asked with a slight hysteria.

"A man was injured," he stated simply. "I did what I could for him. I'm a doctor you know. He was only shot in the knee but it was still a gruesome wound. Why the questions?"

"Who was the man?" William couldnt hold back the question any longer. "Please sir, tell me who the man was?"

"I believed his name was.. Joe..Johnson..no wait, it's Joshua I think."

"Oh no," He bolted towards the door the man had exited, flinging it open recklessly to see Joshua lying on a bed, his leg bandaged. His heart sank at the sight. "Joshua.."

Isabelle

Isabelle wanted nothing more than to stay with Joshua. But she didn't know what the man in the ballroom would do if left alone for long. So it was, with a supreme effort of will, that Isabelle forced herself to leave the sick room. Of course, before she left, Isabelle grabbed a long, sinister looking syringe from the medical cabinet. She quickly filled it with a clear, shining liquid from an unmarked bottle in the cabinet.

Isabelle walked back down to the ballroom, needle in hand. She shouldered her way through the crowd until she was facing the man once more.

"Monsieur," she said, addressing the man. He turned to her, amusement written all over his face.

"It's still 'Monsieur', is it? My, my, my, you are French. Always the polite people, are they not?"

"Not always, Monsieur," replied Isabelle coolly over the sound of his chuckles. Isabelle glared at him.

"Ah. Pity."

Isabelle's scowl deepened. "If you would follow me, Monsieur, we could get on with this..."

The man's smile widened. He motioned to members of the crowd. Five heavily armed men shoved there way out of the silent crowd. Isabelle's eyes widened as she looked at them.

"Who are they?" she demanded. The man raised his eyebrows.

"Protection. Surely you don't expect me to wander willingly into openly hostile territory without some form of protection.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "You are despicable," she snapped.

"And you, my dear, are not very good at comebacks."

Isabelle's eyes flashed furiously. She spun around on her heel and marched off toward the edge of the ballroom. She burst through the door, through the many hallways, up the stairs, until she stood in the bedroom hallway. Isabelle motioned violently to a door.

"Get in there," she spat. The man paused at the threshold to give her a sarcastic, taunting, sweeping bow. His guards leered at her as they themselves entered the room. Isabelle subtly pulled out her syringe.

"What is that?" asked the man casually. Isabelle noticed he was eyeing it suspiciously.

"The transformation drug. I told you it was a simple process."

"And how do I know you are not poisoning me?"

Isabelle flashed her most dangerous smile. "You'll just have to trust me," she sneered, before running forward and plunging the needle into his arm. She back away swiftly as the man began to convulse. With a grim smile, Isabelle placed the needle on a desk in the room. The man had days worth of pain and sickness to look forward to. He was worried Isabelle would poison him. Why would Isabelle poison the man, when she could give him a fate worse that death?

And it was with a grim, satisfied smile that Isabelle backed out of the room and returned to the sick room. To Joshua, and away from the man and his thugs.

[Tash M. Grevette]


"So, that's how far I fell," I muttered, sitting on the window ledge, looking out to the tree I had fallen from.

Click!

The door shut close and the echo of heels on marble floor entered the room. It was her, that girl: Isabelle. I kept my eyes to the window, gazing out.

"How's your arm?"

"It's broken," I stated bluntly.

"Maybe you should lay down?"

I stayed rigid on the windowseat and made it clear that I wasn't moving anywhere. Isabelle sight and sat down opposite of me, her face looking exhausted and angered. She didn't say another word. Neither did I. It was a good ten minutes before one of us broke the silence.

"How's you and Mr. Escort?" I growled, "Anything fun go on in there? Come to take revenge on him or something again?"

Isabelle

Isabelle's face clouded. "W-What?" she demanded, jumping up. "How dare you accuse me of - How dare you!"

Tash's face remained impassive as he stared out of the window. "I have said nothing that you can deny."

"Indeed you have!" retorted Isabelle. Tash raised his eyebrows, but still didn't look at her.

"Oh?"

"First of all, the man in there most certainly is not Joshua!"

Now Tash turned to Isabelle. "Another man? Already?"

"No!" cried Isabelle indignantly. "I despise that man! He is nothing more than a lowly, despicable, rat of a man!"

"Ah." Tash was looking out of the window again. Isabelle gave a frustrated sigh.

"And, secondly, Joshua happens to be in the sick room. He was shot tonight."

Tash looked at her. "Then why don't you go and comfort him? And, while you are at it, tell him about your little exploits with that man that you 'despise'."

Isabelle let out a cry of outrage. "How dare you - ! I - He - " Isabelle balled her hands into fist. She continued on with clenched teeth. "The man inside that room brought his little gang tonight to terrorize the masquerade. He wanted to become one of us. He corralled all of the guests around the edges of the ballroom, and threatened Hester and Hiram. Joshua tried to help the two, and the man shot him. The only way we could get Joshua treated was to agree to his demands. I brought him up here only to administer the transformation drug. Now, do you think, even for a moment, that I would do anything with that man?!"

Tash turned to Isabelle, inspecting her icily. "Can this truly be?" he asked shrewdly. "Can Isabelle Barnett finally be trying to do something for the benefit of people, other than the benefit of herself?"

Isabelle opened her mouth the reply furiously, but something in Tash's stare made her falter. Isabelle found herself staring back helplessly at Tash, dumbfounded and horrified.