At the core, it's all a ruse

by B.D. Adams Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:22 pm

Tick.
Tock.
Tick....tock.
Tick...tock-tick
. . . . Tock.

The deafening silence in the room could drive a person into insanity. Being alone in a still room devoid of any sound but that of a ticking clock and the pull and release of air from a single set of lungs had the ability to draw a person into madness if it lasted long enough. First they would start to drum their fingers upon their person or a surrounding object while looking around the room. Then their feet would start to tap against the floor, that motion alone would add an accompaniment to the ticking clock.

Then, perhaps they would wet their lips with a brief pass of their tongue, only then to take a dry swallow. Nervousness often gave people a case of dry mouth. Then they'd wipe the sudden sweat off of their forehead, the sudden feeling of suffocation settling in and causing them to pull at the collar of their shirt as the deafening sound of their own heartbeat pounded hard between their ears.

But it was not enough to drown out the sound of the clock, ticking away endlessly, hour after hour, and chipping away at their sanity.

This was the circumstance that Earl Tyrone le'Cree of Doraan had found himself. In the middle of the night he found himself transported out of his fur lined bed were he had been sleeping comfortably and dreaming of great fortune, and to this vacant chamber. So instantaneous and non-intrusive was this transport that when he arrived in this empty room, on the floor, he had stayed asleep still. It was the stiffness of the floor and the eerie chill that crept across the floor and tickled against his bare feet that had awakened him from slumber.

And when he woke up he saw that he was alone in an empty, dimly lit room - a plain, simple wooden chair in the middle, nothing along the pastel brown walls or on the gray granite floor, no doors and no windows. There was nothing there but himself, the chair, and the ominous ticking without a source.

He had spoken out to the walls in his solitude in hope that his voice would get out somewhere, but the only thing received was his own echo as it bounced off the walls and returned to him. Earl le'Cree had banged on the walls and yelled out until he was hoarse; and then he sat defeated in that chair. The current predicament was not advantageous to his claustrophobia, no windows or doors, he felt like the room was closing in on him and the longer he was in that small room, the more he drifted inwards.

Hours passed, exactly how many the Earl did not know for to him it felt like days, and soon then there was movement in the room.

And the ticking stopped.

The absence of noise caused le'Cree to languidly lift his head and turn it first to one side and then to the other. He was looking for why the sound had stopped. Nothing had changed in the room; and except for the lack of noise it still looked the same.

A dry cough followed after and he beat himself on the chest over the heart as he tried to pull his mind out of the panicked state it was in.

"Hello?"

(to be continued)

by B.D. Adams Thu Jul 09, 2009 4:56 pm

There was no immediate reply for the Earl besides his own voice echoing back at him. The lack of the ticking sound made the room all the more quieter and foreboding. Moments passed by that stretched before a shape came from the shadows in one of the rooms' corners. Tall and broad of shoulder the shadow hung on to this shape but the glint of eyes be seen. With the arrival of the presence the room took on a darker feel though the light did not change. "Did you get a good nights rest?" Sarcastic in tone and with a deep voice the words were spoken.

Still asleep after the previous nights long and arduous events. how could one consider a large ball as arduous, It was easy when most of the evening was spent working hard to garner even great appreciation in the court appreciation that was most certainly due to him. Of course when there was a voice calling out to him, asking how his sleep was." It would certainly be far greater where you to grant my wishes and leave me to my fair nights rest." words sternly spoken though the tone in his voice was most certainly annoyed.

He tsked from the shadows where he was, even caring to accent it with a hint of a smile that couldn't be seen. "You assume that your bed will be there when you return. If you return." It more was dependent on his mood and whether or not he felt like leaving the man here alone in this vacant box of a room and let him find his own way out or not. Something to be decided as the dialogue progressed. "Have you enjoyed the luxuries you've had over these past years? Earl Tyrone le'Cree?" Watching him, Benjamin was, from his location. Eyes staying fixed.

A frustrated sigh as the Earl stirred from his slumber and he sat up immediately with a great huff ,a huff that wasn’t even completed when he saw the gleaming eyes in the room. and the mans brow furrowed seeing the eyes. Was that? no, no it couldn’t have been." It takes a brave man to speak such words meant to inspire fear from the protection of darkness..." Sarcasm caked in his own words now. Some bravado provided probably mostly from the irritation of being woken up.

And so the man had grown complacent. That's what happens when they start to think that they have been forgotten. But Benjamin didn't forget any of those he had claimed as his own, he merely didn't bother with them unless they were needed. And those were the lucky ones. The others were unfortunate enough to get written off as unimportant and killed as easily as a person could squish an ant. Now and then people needed reminders that they were not alone and that their life wasn't theirs to do with as they pleased. The shadowed figure smirked and in the next moment he was there before the man, his sharp eyes cutting through the awakened man as he was nose to nose with him. There was nothing friendly or light in his appearance and death and despair surrounded him. Benjamin's body was slightly crouched - a hungry wolf standing over cornered prey. "Better?" His voice was hard and smooth. "I have a task for you and you're going to do it."

Most assuredly not, were the words he opened his mouth to say, and in his head he did, he said them with great vigor and gusto., but when he did speak and what he said was something entirely different. This was the man he was afraid of, the man who after his meetings disappeared off the face of the planet. "You, I.... What would you have me do?"

Benjamin did not move back right away but instead held the position, kept the hard contact with the eyes, When he did move back it was gradual and it was back enough to let Benjamin stand up straight and allow any folds that were made to his black collared shirt to fall out. His top was fitted with a high collar under his neck and sleeves to his wrist. "It's been two years since you've seen the girl you were given to foster. She will come of age in a couple weeks." Here he paused and crossed his arms over his chest. A normal person may have moved, shifted from foot to foot or gave any other type of normal fidget. Benjamin simple stood still. "You will go to where she is and give her a present. "

"The girl that was.." A look of concentration and he thought back, the past two years have been a blur and then he thought back and gave a look of clarity. "De'Ryanna... yes. I am to give her a present? I know not where she has gone, no longer does she spend her days with the princess of the land." eyes left Benjamin to wander about the room he was in, was it his room, was he home? hell could he even tell where he was? Could he get away if he tried. These were all things that went through his mind at the moment. But of course at this moment he was also trying to keep the man , the reason he was where he was happy, placated. that meant he was able to live. "What is the gift you'd like for her to have, should i find means to locate her."

"Hold out your hand." It was not a request, as he very well should know. As for where he was? He was in a place of Benjamin's choosing. Nothing would be familiar for it appears empty and devoid of anything save for what the man was sitting on. "De'Ryanna is in a land across the seas called Rhy'din. She has taken up to maintaining an Inn there know as Tel'Ranaemyn in the city of New Haven." Tyrone had better be listening for the information was not going to be repeated without a price. "Certainly it is not the place you would have her to be. Her leaving the court, the Princess, and refusing the suitor you chose for her has not helped your standing." Benjamin’s eyes narrowed on the man while he spoke, impressed what he was saying to the mans mind. Then he stirred up that frustration Tyrone had displayed earlier. To him, it would feel as though someone were pulling at his insides and heating his blood. "And you are less than pleased. Are you not? So you will find her and get her to leave the sanctuary of the Inn, alone with you. And you will give her what I am about to give you."

"Most certainly not.... not it has not all helped at all.. " a moment of silence to stew in his growing irritation and frustration. at the situation, at the child’s selfish decision to leave, at her lack of respect. and then he spoke up once again, that frustration in his voice apparent again, his hand held strait out." Yes, I'll have to pay the misguided selfish little girl a good visit at her inn out in New Haven."

Good. It was going as planned, for now. It was true that while Benjamin could have done this himself, why should he? There were other things for him to engage in . A silver necklace of three braided strands materialized in the Earl's outstretched hand. Pure silver with diamond crust worked into the braid. As this man had a eye for jewels he may be able to tell that this was fine craftsmanship. "Put it around her neck. Do not let anyone else wear it. Aside from you no one else is to touch it. If they do, they will die instantly. And once it is around her neck, if you touch it again, you too will die." Perhaps 'die' was to strong of a word but it served to get the point across. The reality of it was that to touch it would give an instant connection of that persons soul to Benjamin and therefore the person may as well be dead. This was a new 'trick' he was trying in an object.

The Earl brought the necklace close to his eyes, letting it dangle before his eyes for a moment." This is absolutely beautiful... I'll see to it that it reached her as perfect and pristine as it is this very moment in time...." His eyes didn’t leave the necklace for a moment before they returned to Benjamin." I'm absolutely certain that she will be more then pleased with the gift.... Shall I tell her whom it is she should thank for such a beautiful work of art?"

Now he moved, uncrossing his arms and turning his back to the man as he started to walk away . "It's from you of course. Why wouldn't you have such a thing in your possession." Where he headed there was a door. A very simple and plain door. "You have two months to complete the task before I come after you." that was a dismissal and tit was all he said before leaving. If the Earl chose to leave through the door, he would fins himself in the lower cellar of his own estate.

"Of course, why wouldn’t I have such a thing in my possession." Of course that was said into an empty room. Eyes going back to the necklace in his hand, once again looking about the room he was in, rising from the bed finally in order to make his way to the door of the room. And from there. to get back on with his day. It was certainly alot to ponder, he had two months in order to find his dear dear foster child. lets waffle for a spell, to hunt her down immediately or bide his time, it was far too early for such decisions best to be had after a late breakfast.

At the core, it's all a ruse

At the core, it's all a ruse

Re: At the core, it's all a ruse