.jpeg)
(I do that too sometimes—)
Aspen gripped River's forearm harder.
"I don't like this." She whispered to him, her eyes darting around as if predators were to attack at any moment. "I really don't like this."
She looked at the old woman and squinted her eyes shut.
"Please don't make me go." She said worriedly.
.png)
"I-" River sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"Alright, fine. We'll find someplace else," he said, sending an apologetic glance to the old woman.
Aspen shook her head. "No you go." She insisted "see what this is all about."
She gave him a small shove, placing both hands on her shoulders and sent him slightly forward, after watching him walk toward the woman she bit her lip and walked quickly forward and walked beside him, she slipped her hand into his.
She was scared and she had no idea why.
But she needed the calm weight of his hand in hers before she started to calm, even if it was only the slightest bit.
River was slightly confused at the turn of events but he shrugged, giving Aspen's hand a gentle squeeze before giving the old woman a charming smile.
"Hello there young ones!" The old lady said once they were both close enough. Despite her age, her voice was surprisingly strong and didn't sound remotely like how Eiver expected her to. "It's been such a long time since we've had new company. Please, come inside. My husband and I have plenty of room to spare."
As if hearing his cue, the old man opened the door to the house and gestured for them to come in with a toothy grin, his milky gaze somehow pinpointing exactly where they were.
River glanced at Aspen, silently asking her if she was actually okay with this.
Aspen tightened her grip on River's hand and hid behind him slightly.
"Should we go?" She whispered to him, so quietly she knew only he could hear.
"Or do should we not?"
(btw there's a list on the starter post of characters and their abilities and then their ages right beneath that.)
(I saw that, thanks!)
"It wouldn't hurt to at least go in for a little bit," River whispered back.
In a louder voice he said to the old lady, "Thank you, we'd love to come in."
The old lady smiled, and River swore that for a second he saw something resembling hunger in her gaze but it was gone so fast that he must've imagined in.
"I'm glad," she replied, ushering them inside before her husband closed the door. River didn't even notice it when the man quietly locked the door behind them.
(no problem, it was more for myself than anything, because if there's more than like three OCs I get like mad confused and forgetful.)
Aspen, on the other hand, had noticed, she had been watching the old man rather creepily, but this was because he gave off a more hateful and hungry aura than his dear old wife did.
"River." She whispered urgently, shaking in fear now. "He just locked the door. He. Just. Locked. The. Door."
She turned and looked at the old man who was smiling creepily at her from behind and before she knew what was happening the old man had ripped her from River's grip and was strangling her.
Her breathing cut off and she gasped without pulling in any air.
She tried to use her levitation but nothing happened and she began to see black spots dance and grow across her vision.
(Same)
River wasn't so much shocked as he was angry. He felt his vision go red, locking in on the man.
"Let. Her. GO!" He shouted, flicking his wrist instinctively, which resulted in the veins in the man's neck to twist with his hand movements, and not a moment later he heard a horrible snapping noise and a thump as the man fell to the floor, his head turned at an odd angle, his white eyes staring blankly at him.
River immediately dropped his hand, his face pale with horror as he saw the dead man. His brain grew clouded and he heard a buzzing noise in his mind, feeling light headed.
"I just…" he trailed off, too dazed to finish his sentence.
Aspen doubled over, her hands clutching her chest as she got her breath back. When she finally did she grabbed River and unlocked the door, pushing him out the door. Before she herself could get out, she felt herself being yanked backwards by her hair, she fell and hit the floor with a violent click of her teeth.
"You two aren't going anywhere," the old lady hissed, her eyes burning with hatred and hunger as she yanked Aspen by the arm closer to her, her nails piercing the skin and drawing some blood.
River stumbled as he fell out the door. He couldn't even get the will to move himself and get help. All he kept seeing was the way the old man's neck snapped so easily by a mere burst of rage from him.
Aspen felt herself get further backwards and let out a blood curdling screech. She saw that out the door River had stopped and was standing there, in a daze.
"Run River! RUN!" She screamed at him, using her ability to send him up into the air but also further away from the house.
River didn't even remember getting sent up in the air, he just felt himself fall to the ground. He blinked, his eyesight going in and out of focus, but through the shock, he thought he saw the same small golden bird fly past him, accompanied by two other kids that ran by too fast for him to actually see.
Aspen squeezed her eyes shut but then felt herself being brought outside into the warm sunshine.
A girl with dark hair, black and dark eyes stood before her.
Aspen curled into the fetal position and rolled onto her side.
"It's okay. She's not able to hurt you anymore." The girl said in a pleasantly low voice.
Aspen burst into tears as her body shook, but clutched her knees tighter to her chest and refused to uncurl herself.
River felt someone gently pull him up so that he was standing. He blinked and slowly turned his head and was greeted by a pair of stunning deep golden eyes that gazed at him with so much kindness that he started to feel the shock wear off slightly.
"You're going to be alright now," the woman said, tucking a stray strand of her silky honey blonde hair behind her ear.
The girl standing above Aspen seemed momentarily surprised by her behaviour and then bent down, touching Aspen's shoulder lightly.
"Don't touch me." Aspen said loudly "go away, this is all a dream, I'm dead. That old woman killed me." She sobbed into her knees.
Morrigan pulled her hand away and stood up, walking over to where Mrs. Finch was standing with River, she tugged on the woman's sleeve.
"Mrs. F," the girl said to her, her pale complexion with dark features a contrast to the women's tan complexion and light features. "The girl is severely traumatized, she thinks she imagining this. Says the old woman killed her, that she's actually dead." She informed the woman with her sorrowful deep voice.
River looked over to the door of the house and saw a beautiful girl come out of the door, swearing colorfully. She had skin the color of dark chocolate, her long wavy and thick black hair that had dark golden streaks in it was put back in a tight braid.
"Watch your language, Maya," the woman next to River said sharply.
Maya turned her gaze to the woman and revealed to River her stunning dark grey eyes.
"Sorry Mrs. Finch," Maya said, sounding slightly apologetic. "It's just that damn wight got away before I could stop her. This is the third time she's been spotted so close to the loop."
"I know," the woman- Mrs. Finch, sighed. She turned her attention back to the other girl.
"I'm afraid this one is a bit tramautized too. We'll take them both back to The Chateau where I can give them some medicine to help with the shock."
Maya nodded her head. "Sounds good. But what should we do about the dead body?" She asked this so casually, as if she was asking what the weather was going to be like today. River closed his eyes, trying to erase the image of the dead man.
Murderer, his mind chanted, making him whimper slightly.
"burn it if you have too." Morrigan instructed her "but do it out of town."
Aspen curled herself tighter, making herself even smaller.
"I'm dead. That woman killed me, I'm dead." She chanted to herself under her breath.
With a surprisingly mass amount of strength Morrigan hoisted Aspen into a standing position, leaving Aspen to lean on Morrigan as she put Aspen's arm over her shoulder.
"I think we should get back as soon as possible, it's not safe out here." She said sorrowfully.
"We've been out of the loop for almost 30 minutes," Mrs. Finch agreed, supporting River as he struggled to keep standing up, his eyes clouded and distant.
"Maya dear, could you cast an illusion over us so the townsfolk don't see us? I'll send someone else to take care of the body."
Maya nodded and raised her hands in the air. River didn't notice anything at first, but he thought he saw the air shift a bit around him, almost like an invisible shield. Maybe he was just having a really trippy nightmare, and he never left the orphange after all.
Aspen too, was inside her own head, only vague shapes and blurs passed by her vision. She had no concept of her physical senses.
Her vision was blurred as they began making their way towards the back of the village, she moaned helplessly every once in a while, but other than that they made their way in silence.
Mrs. Finch led them all to the abandoned valley, but instead of going straight down to it, she walked towards a large boulder that was covered in dead ivy and moss. River blinked in surprise when Maya stomped her foot, which made the air around the boulder tremble before vanishing, revealing a tunnel that looked both natural and man-made.
Once they all got into the dark tunnel, Maya let down her arms, giving a sigh of relief and the shield around them evaporated. She snapped her fingers and the illusion around the tunnel reappeard, making the exterior of the tunnel look like a boulder once more.
Mrs. Finch led the way confidently, holding firmly onto River's arm so he didn't trip and fall. After a few moments of walking in pitch black darkness, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel.
Aspen finally came back into herself as she was led out of the darkness.
"I'm in heaven." She whispered in awe.
She began to get closer to the house and finally, once up the steps, they were inside were curios faces stared at them as they passed each room.
"It seems like heaven, but you aren't dead hon," Maya said to Aspen as they walked down the halls of the grand castle. "This is The Chateau. There's around 16 peculiars living here besides Mrs. Finch and if you two stay with us, that'll bring our numbers up to 18."
(do you like my new pfp?)
Aspen widened her eyes.
"Peculiars?" She asked in shock. "What are peculiars?"
Morrigan sighed and answered her question slowly.
"People with abilities that not everyone has, like you have the ability to levitate things, or more scientifically, telekinesis."
"everyone that lives in this castle, or The Chateau is peculiar except Mrs. Finch, whom is a Ymbryne." She explained "A Ymbryne is a woman who has the ability to manipulate times loops, turn into a bird and create time loops. A time loop is where you are now, that faint popping in your ears was signaling that you entered a different time by going through the tunnel and you went in during 2002, but you came out in 1981."
(OMG I LOVE IT!!!)
"Mrs. Finch has the most well protected loop out of all of the Ymbrynes," Maya added proudly. "Plus we're the only ones with a castle, so y'know. We're cooler."
"Morrigan, if you could please gather everyone to the dining hall that would be splended," Mrs. Finch said. "I was going to go get a couple of tonics from the medical wing, so please watch over these two while I'm gone."