"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
When the lights first went off, she barely noticed at all. But when she heard a few screams outside her door, she blinked and realized it was dark. Not that it bothered her any. She could see just fine.
When a hotel employee with a name plate that read 'Henry' knocked on her door, she assured him she was quite all right and was soon left alone. But as she sat on her bed, a thought occurred to her.
Perhaps others need help, she mused with growing excitement. Maybe the humans' ghosts are haunting them. I can probably fight them off!
She leaped off the bed and hurried to the door. When she opened it, the smell of fear hit her like a wave. She sneezed, and stepped out.
As she ran down the hall, she saw two guests and Henry, the one who had stopped by her room earlier. None of them seemed afraid, though one of the guests was sure acting like it. She tilted her head to the side. Why would he pretend? Though she had lived quite a long time, in her opinion, she sometimes still couldn't understand human motives. But then, neither of the guests smelled human, either.
"Hello!" she called cheerfully. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Spoiler! :
You can see Li He's profile here. Her parents urged her to take a short vacation.
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
James was growing tired of waiting, and he could see the anxiety behind the faces of his fellow gathering employees. It was times like these where he knew he couldn't stay still, for his own sake. He knew Henry was probably busy answering to the litany of confused and worried guests, and likely handing out lamps, candles, and flashlights and anything of the like. Or just telling everyone that the situation is under control.
Whatever it was, he expected Henry to be a while before he actually made it to the all staff meeting. So he tapped Cynthia's shoulder, meeting her eyes, peering out from the flickering light of the candle she was holding on her face. She jumped a little bit, tensing up her shoulders a bit.
"If the meeting starts before I get back, let Henry know I haven't been swept away with the storm. I'll be back in a few." He explained, as his eyes swept the room and watched the head chef enter the room with a weary expression. As he walked past Cynthia he patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, it's just some rough weather." He tried to encourage her, with a fabricated warmth behind his words and good intentions. He wasn't too sure himself how all this would turn out, but he wanted to go outside and check something, just one more time.
He stopped by the janitor's closet and pullet out a dingy raincoat and pulled it on, flipping the hood over his head and buttoning it up securely. He paused for just a moment, looking into the closet as if his eyes were trying to focus on something in the back, or rather, conjure up a memory of something that was there once before. He stared intently for a good minute before jerking his head to the side to crack his neck and closing the door.
Before he stepped outside into the torrents of rain, he stood under the battered shelter that was the tarp arched over the door. He then ran out, letting his rain boots splash and slosh in the wet dirt and puddles. The blockade of fallen trees was about a half a mile down the road last he checked, but now as he stepped out into the parking lot and looked down the road, he witnessed a large oak take a fall only a small distance in front of him - right where the lot met the road. Simultaneously the storm above made a thunderous roar and lit the sky with a streak of lightning, altogether seeming to be a fearful omen. James blinked a few times, frozen for a moment as he looked at the huge tree blocking the road, and it's massive accompaniment of roots and dirt sticking out.
"I guess, in assessing the situation, it only appears to be more dire." He stumbled over the last word, disliking the taste of hopelessness on his mouth. "Or... discouraging."
Spoiler! :
this is kinda just filler cause I didn't really know what all to write but if anyone wants to interact with him out there feel free
@soundofmind: "'You wouldn't happen to have seen a woman wearing a black dress? Dark hair, light skin, one black eye and one red one?' Cornyx asks Henry."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Raven? he calls to her mind in silence. Raven, where are you? Answer me.
Irom...it is dark. There are spirits here, Master. Raven's voice is soft, singsong almost.
Where? he asks again, agitated.
666.
Room 666 must have been what she meant. "Excuse me. Sorry to have bothered you," he smiles deceptively warmly and then disappears down the hall.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Now that the man was gone, Hades resisted the urge to sigh in relief. He could finally slip away without his actions being questioned. Besides, the man had certainly not been normal. He wasn't sure what he had been, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was just as involved in the supernatural side of the hotel as he was.
"Thanks for your help," he said to the employee before rushing off into the dark hallway in search of whatever ghosts lived here.
He could feel his Artifact in his pocket as he searched the section of the hallway he had been in. He had it at his disposal. Was there any good way to use it? It was bound to terrify whoever saw him using; seeing their version of death would cause them to stop dead in their tracks.
I could use that to get more information about the ghosts! he realized. They were already dealing with something far from normal. He didn't have to worry about people questioning why their embodiment of death was lurking the hallways as well. He could go up to people and ask them if they had seen the ghosts or any signs of them. He wouldn't even have to use his alias!
Checking the hallway to see if anyone was watching, he withdrew the cloak from his pocket and unfolded it. Satisfied by the lack of people there, he threw it over his shoulders and pulled up the hood. The warmth that always accompanied his magic washed over him; it had done its job.
Now he wasn't playing the part of a man named Adrian Dixon.
A scream emits from one of the bedrooms. "A FACE!!" The door slams open and a girl comes running out, glancing at any mirrors in the hallway and screaming either a profanity or "ITS HER!" She stumbles into the other characters, out of breath. She sees another mirror and tells another profanity.
Spoiler! :
Jeanine: A girl no more than 18 that has long brown hair and brown eyes. She is constantly pale and is haunted by a female zombie-ghost who appears in mirror and chases her. Also from a horror novel that I'm writing mwuahaha >:3
tartaglia, they/he lesbian. i also go by skylar and reginald! First member of the bio trio™. victim of the writer’s block disease
Why are you there? he asks as he starts up the stairs to find Raven.
I wanted to see, Master.
Tell me where you're going next time, Raven.
Yes, irom.
He opened the door to Room 666 to find his follower standing in the middle of the room, staring rather intently at the ceiling. He glanced around to see if any of the staff or anyone was around; no one was.
"Come, Raven. We have to go back."
She gives one last glance at the ceiling, then turns to him. "Yes, Master."
Cornyx turns and starts back down the hall, startled when a terrified scream breaks the eerie silence. A young woman with long brown hair was running down the hallway yelling something about 'her'. Cornyx mutters something about hauntings and walks past her.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He rolls his eyes. Yet another mortal terrified from a ghost. Or a hallucination, either way. Cornyx pries her fingers off his arm. "There's no need for concern," he purrs. "A ghost doesn't concern me."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
When the sound of someone screaming from nearby reached his ears, he instinctively rushed to the source of it. He skid to a halt as he started to turn the corner, catching a glimpse of Cornyx being roughly shaken by the girl who must have uttered the scream. Pressing his back up against the wall of the adjacent hallway, he pulled the hood down as far as he could without blocking his line of sight. Cornyx seemed to be good at seeing through false identities, and he didn't want to risk being discovered again.
He looked around the corner once more. Deciding that he might lose his only lead if he didn't confront the horrified girl, he took several silent steps in their direction. He anxiously anticipated their reaction to seeing him, wondering what their version of death looked like. What did they see when their gaze finally fell on him?
Raven turns, looking straight at Death. She mutters something in a foreign tongue under her breath. Cornyx stops trying to pry the girl off her and looks up to see him.
She appears more curious than anything else. A bit surprised, perhaps even amused. Cornyx himself seems to be trying to make sense of it; he can tell this is indeed the Reaper but there's something that's not quite right. Something almost familiar.
"Jireq imaran, Reaper," Raven greets him as her scarlet eye glows dimly.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He stayed silent, growing pale underneath the hood of his Artifact. He had no idea what the woman had just said to him, and he was gaining the sneaking suspicion that he should. A quick glance at her soul proved that she was not completely normal, but that didn't help him in his current situation. He ended up giving a slight nod to acknowledge that he had heard her and turned to face the girl who had screamed instead. She was currently clinging to Cornyx, who was also giving him the same look that the woman was. Did they realize that something was up?
"Is the ghost in the mirrors?" he whispered to the girl, hoping that Cornyx wouldn't hear what he was saying.
So that's why something was off. Cornyx can hear the heartbeat of a human several rooms over, so he can most certainly detect the words of 'Death.' It takes him several moments to place, but when he does, things suddenly make a lot more sense. He finishes pulling the girl off of him, nods to the man he met in the hallway.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
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