I was looking for a breath of life
another taste of divine rush
Food always makes her sleepy; whether it’s a bellyful of grass or a mouthful of hot, tangy blood, her digestive system takes precedence after a full meal. And Mary was.... quite the meal. Mostly naked Shay burps again and then sits on the ground, running her fingers (the ones that still have their nails) through the wet grass. Ooooh… so soft. So green. She smiles the smile of a foggy brain and then lays down, thinking - just a quick little nap.
That quick little nap slips into a deep sleep. A werewolf’s howl couldn’t wake her from her from this sleep. What the hell was in that liquid? When Shay wakes again, she is in a four poster, feather bed, surrounded by puffy pillows, candelabras all around the bed, and a heavy, blood-red satin comforter. Straight out of some gothic movie - her hair is undone and loose and when she picks up the sheets and comforter to peer beneath, she is wearing only a long, white, cotton nightgown. She is officially dressed like a damsel in distress and it’s a little weird, considering that oh yeah, she was just a WEREWOLF. Talk about doing a one-eighty. In fact, now that Shay looks around, the whole setup looks vaguely like an old fashioned wake. It must be all the candles. Oh! It also reminds her of the Chamber tree, and her mind drifts back to pony-Shay and the Chamber and the fire tree. She smiles a little whimsical smile and spaces out for a moment.
When she comes back to reality, she notices a single gold candlestick and a candle on a nightstand to the right of the bed. Shay slips out from underneath the covers and grabs the candlestick, lighting it on one of the candelabras. Beyond the ethereal circle of light, she can see that the rest of the room is ordinary - a tall, wooden bureau, heavy velvet drapes across a pair of french doors, and an abnormally cold floor. She goes over to doors and tries to open them, but they seem to be locked, holding even when she throws her weight against them. When she pulls the drapes aside, there is nothing but a brick wall on the other side. How… odd. Her toes curl under to try and warm themselves, reminding her that it could just be easier to go back to bed and see what happens later… but at that very moment, the single door (was that there originally?) leading out to what can only be presumed is the hallway, creaks open. Something shoves her from behind. Shay goes stumbling forward, almost dropping the candlestick, but she manages to catch herself in time. That could have been disastrous.
Whatever happens to be in the room with her clearly doesn’t want her to stay in that room. So Shay cautiously tiptoes to the door and peeks out, looking first left and then right, finding nothing outside the door but a very long and empty hallway. Both ends are visible, but she can’t tell if there’s a staircase anywhere - and there has to be a staircase somewhere. Not that it really matters, as she also can’t tell where she is, let alone what floor of the house she’s on. Custom decrees that she’s probably on the 2nd, or even 3rd floor, because who has bedrooms in the basement? And the room is far too sumptuous to be part of the servant’s quarters.
Her current room is a little left of center, so Shay heads left first. She holds the candle high and can see that the hallway is gloomy… and everything here seems to a rich, blood red color. A faint light comes from wall sconces, but it isn’t until Shay steps towards the wall that she can see their true shape: bunnies. She inhales sharply and just stares. Of all the things that have recently happened to her, this is by far the creepiest. Who would know that bunnies are her thing? It’s drawn straight from her subconscious. WHO HAS BUNNY SCONCES ON THEIR WALLS?! She glances furtively left and right, but nary a soul nor sound is around to witness her growing unease. Shay, however, is nothing if not bull-headed, and she is determined not to let it affect her.
The pale, red-headed, nightgown-clad woman returns to the center of the hallway with her eyes focused firmly ahead. Maybe if she ignores them, they’ll go away. Just put one foot in front of the other one. It isn’t long before she finds herself at the end of the hall, facing a window, with a marble staircase leading down to the first floor. When she glances out, she can tell that she’s on the second floor, which gives her a decent view of the surrounding land. The window looks out onto a fog-covered highland, with a vast expanse of open field before her, and what seems to be a dark (leafless) forest much further back. There are no other buildings in sight, no carriages or pathways on this side of the house. No garden or statues (which might be a good thing) or anything customary of a well run, inhabited manor. Just a devastating sense of loneliness. As Shay looks out over the desolate wilderness, it feels as if a massive weight has all of a sudden been placed on her shoulders.
She’s never really been the type to care about being alone; Belgarath was a piss poor excuse of a father, and Xyster was practically a verifiable sociopath. Shaytan was doomed from the start. Sure, her childhood was odd and she never had any friends - but she also never minded the solitude. So she never really thought about how Sayaa must feel, or whether or not her daughter needed more than Shay could give her. The whole birth thing seemed like such an out of body experience that half the time she forgot she had a child (even now, she forgets there were two, a dead boy). All of a sudden, she has a great longing for her Raven Queen, so intense it seems that there must be something physically wrong with her heart. It hurts; it aches and throbs and pulses so fervently that surely her lungs will be squished and her ribs crack into smithereens. It takes her breath away and she closes her eyes to manage feelings that are ten times more than she’s ever felt before.
When Shay opens her eyes again, there’s a black mare with orange eyes staring up at Shay. She knows those eyes, but they’ve never looked at her like this before. A bay and white tobiano mare kneels in front of her, and oh, she would recognize that pattern anywhere. A stifled gasp escapes her lips and she hits glass pane with her free hand, perhaps in an attempt to draw Straia’s attention, or just in feeble protest. It doesn’t do any good, she can’t do anything from up there. Shay’s feet seem to be glued to the floor, because she can’t move to sprint down the stairs and try to find a way out to the yard. The manor isn’t ready to let her go. Sayaa’s lips part into a cruel sneer, revealing razor sharp teeth that she then sinks into the top of Straia’s neck, just behind her ears. Somehow, those teeth clamp down and she pulls, skinning Straia alive. Shay can hear Straia’s tortured screams through the glass, and oh GOD, how does she make it stop? She can’t look away; those orange eyes don’t blink, they just stare up at Shay, commanding her to watch. Watch. Watch while the daughter she’s neglected and abused tears her idol’s beautiful, beautiful skin from her muscles.WATCH. It could have prevented if only Shay ever tried to give a fuck.
It seems to last forever, and by the time Straia’s gorgeous, silky tail is savagely torn out, Shay’s voice is hoarse from her hysterical screams and sobs, her palms bruised and her knuckles bloody from trying to break the window. In the last moment of her agonizing end (who can survive such pain, such blood loss?), Straia looks up at her, crying, and then her head sinks lifelessly to the ground. She sinks to her knees, leaning her forehead against the unbreakable glass and just… gives up. She’s numb. It’s easier to shut down than to feel all the feelings. Her eyes close again and she dives inward, trying to conveniently erase everything that she just saw.
Unfortunately, this world doesn’t operate like the real world; when coping mechanisms kick in, the mansion steps it up a notch and beats its victims when they’re down. Shay’s back is to the crimson tide, the flood that starts as a trickle, as if a bathtub is overflowing in a nearby room. She should notice the red liquid as it stains her nightgown and warms her lower legs, but she is barely functional at the moment. Her daughter killed her Queen. Her daughter took away the only one she’s ever loved (in her obsessive, twisted way). Her daughter. Her love. Her blood. Her blood. Her blood. Slowly, her eyes focus on the liquid that is starting to stream past her, and then she notices a dull roar coming from behind. Shay glances over her shoulder and spies a tsunami wave of blood barrelling down the hallway faster that she can count to five. There’s a moment for her to grab a deep breath, and then she is caught up in the liquid as it turns the corner and sweeps her down the stairs.
She tumbles head over heels, hitting corners and steps and choking on the lukewarm (hey, at least it isn’t freezing cold!), metallic tasting bodily fluid. At least her ride isn’t long, as the wave dumps her in front of another room and then disappears into the recesses of the house. She lays there, coughing up the rest of the blood in her lungs until she can muster the energy to examine her new surroundings. This hallway looks almost identical to the one ‘above’ it, except that there are a couple of gilded mirrors on the walls, and she is now without any extra light. Shay turns her attention back to the door in front of her and hauls herself up to her hands and knees, reaching for the knob for a little extra assistance. After using it for leverage, the door easily opens, and what she finds inside makes her jaw drop.
A room full of bunnies.
These are no ordinary bunnies; they are child-sized and humanoid, and if it weren’t for the ear holes in their black cloaks, she probably wouldn’t even realize that they were giant rodents. The ears are always a dead giveaway. They are gathered in a half circle and seem to be chanting something in a singular, childish, sing-songy voice: Tick tock goes the clock, revenge could not be sweeter. Tick tock goes the clock, the bunnies kill the monster. They turn as one towards the open door, red eyes glowing from beneath their hoods. Shay slams the door shut and runs to the next one, wrenching it open in hopes that it has some place to hide. But that door also holds a room full of killer bunnies, singing the same song and wearing the same cultish cloaks. Shay slams that door shut too, running to the next one. When she opens the next door, the bunnies are still there, but they are no longer in a semi circle. They are advancing, chanting, filling Shay’s ears with her own certain death. That door too, is quickly shut, and Shay leans against it - though what a relatively skinny woman who lacks any real combat skills can do against a horde of bunnies already half her size is probably slim.
The previous two doors begin to open, and she can feel the one she’s leaning against start to press outwards. Down the hall, the other doors begin to open too, and the chanting echoes through the hall. Shay comes to the conclusion that there’s nothing left to do but run. The only good thing is that she is faster than the giant rabbits, who seem to be stuck in a slow, methodical march. Shay darts back to where the staircase was, but that is gone, replaced by smooth wall. She frantically beats at the wall, scratching at the wood with the remaining nails on her right hand, but of course, it doesn’t give. She quickly gives up and runs the other way - maybe there’s an exit or a hidden door or something that she’s missed.
Narrowly avoiding their outstretched paws by just inches, Shay makes it to the other side of the hallway and finds an unopened, white door. Yes! It must be the way out! She yanks it open and darts inside, and then finds herself thrust upward, caught in a net. She thrashes about, tangling herself and pleading, frantically promising to never kill bunnies again, but it is to no avail. The horde files slowly through the door and assembles beneath the net. Then the net is lowered, and when a paw finally touches her, she is transformed again, but this time, it is into the crimson rabbit that was left on her chest from the last nightmare.
All of a sudden her heart is pounding, and her vision is split, and everything is telling her to RUN RUN RUN! So she does - somehow flipping and twisting and writhing in their grasp until they drop her to the floor, and she weaves quickly in and out of their feet. Finally, she spots a hole in the wall, just big enough for a rabbit to squeeze through. Scared out of her mind and running on pure animal instinct, Shay surges for the whole and makes it through, entering into an equally terrifying room of bright, bright light.
There she freezes, beady little eyes squeezed tightly shut, cowering from whatever monster must be coming to devour her. What a fitting - and utterly ironic - way to die.
Shaytan
so many lives
so many pairs of eyes
[if Shay gets eliminated, can she have a fun defect too? ^_^ ]