━━━━━━ｉ ｄ ｏ ｎ ＇ ｔ━
━━ｗ ｈ ｅ ｒ ｅ ｄｏ ｗｅ━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━ｉｎ ｔｈｅ━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ｉ ｓ ｔ ａ ｎ ｄ，━━━
━ｗ ｈ ｏ ＇ ｓ ｔｈｅ━━━━━━━━
━━;━
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
❝ i shall bite my tongue and bide my time
until the day revenge shall finally be mine
i will play my part until the time has come
and my foe shall be at last undone
i will spend my time honing my wiles
and perfecting my guiles
until the day for my vengeance that i take
and you a witless fool i shall make ❞
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
❝ i shall bite my tongue and bide my time
until the day revenge shall finally be mine
i will play my part until the time has come
and my foe shall be at last undone
i will spend my time honing my wiles
and perfecting my guiles
until the day for my vengeance that i take
and you a witless fool i shall make ❞
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76heart ● aurelia fiorella everleigh ● female ● she/her ● 5,512 words
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"golden child", "uncommon flower moniker, little flower", "wild boar + woodland clearing"
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black sea - natasha blume ● rise above - trella ● ready or not - mischa ● claim your weapon - christian reindl ft. atrel
seven nation army - the white stripes ● i know your secrets - liv ash ● control - halsey ● secret - the pierces ● monster - beth crowley
battle cry - beth crowley ● gone - beth crowley ● red - beth crowley ● undone - c21fx ● you made me do it - ruby amanfu
unbreakable - mike mains ● bottom of the deep blue sea - MISSIO ● prayer in c - lilly wood & the prick and robin schulz
blasphemy - bring me the horizon ● you should see me in a crown - billie eilish
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from the point of view of langdon
nobody wants to be alone - christian reindl ft. atrel
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76heart ● aurelia fiorella everleigh ● female ● she/her ● 5,512 words
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"golden child", "uncommon flower moniker, little flower", "wild boar + woodland clearing"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
black sea - natasha blume ● rise above - trella ● ready or not - mischa ● claim your weapon - christian reindl ft. atrel
seven nation army - the white stripes ● i know your secrets - liv ash ● control - halsey ● secret - the pierces ● monster - beth crowley
battle cry - beth crowley ● gone - beth crowley ● red - beth crowley ● undone - c21fx ● you made me do it - ruby amanfu
unbreakable - mike mains ● bottom of the deep blue sea - MISSIO ● prayer in c - lilly wood & the prick and robin schulz
blasphemy - bring me the horizon ● you should see me in a crown - billie eilish
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from the point of view of langdon
nobody wants to be alone - christian reindl ft. atrel
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xxxFlickers of smiles, forced grins of upturned corners with lips still pressed together, curtsies and bows lacking all that was genuine, and any heart. High, good impressions above all else; proper manners, and the very best behavior, acting the part of a perfect, well accomplished lady. She was used to it; it was her life, it was all she knew. Stand tall, stand straighter, impeccable posture, with none of her four paws ever scraping the ground. Delicate steps, as light as a butterfly; and steady and careful enough to keep books, and delicately woven curls of long locks from toppling down from her head.
xxx"Aurelia, would you come here, dear? There is an old friend at the door I would very much like you to meet." The voice of her mother came spiraling up the stairs, in a manner almost as elegant as the woman herself, as if she had carried the sound up the winding stairwell with her own steps and poise.
xxxAurelia looked up from the book she had been perusing, and set it carefully down upon the silken linens upon her bed, rising to her four paws, and allowing herself to straighten her dress and long locks.
xxx"I will be down in just a moment, mother!" Aurelia called, tossing her voice toward the stairs with a raise, so it would reach her dear mother, and the guest whom she wanted her to meet.
xxxIt had been quite some time since her family had hosted any sort of guest, or other, outside of their blood, or their cherished, well trusted staff. In fact it had been years since a stranger had last entered through the great, heavy doors, and their question for entry carried upon the ancient and aged brass knocker banging agains the old, black wood, had been answered. The last time it had been opened for an outsider had been on the night of her father's death, a death that still left a foul, bitter taste in her mouth, and an even sharper one on the tip of her tongue, and a suspicion of even fouler play in each and every depth of her mind. They had opened the doors to their great manor to a strange man she had never seen before, at a time when she was still small, and oblivious to the dark, twisted ways of the world, and the blackened hearts and rotted clawed paws of those who turned it. The man had announced himself to be a good friend of her father's, a man her mother had immediately recognized. Aurelia had been told to stay in her room until she was requested to emerge after they had exchanged a few whispers intelligible to her ears, but she hadn't listened, hadn't obeyed; she had only gone to the second floor, and hid behind the bannisters out of sight. Their voices had been hushed, yet she had still heard every word she needed to, that the weather had turned terribly dark and grim, and the trusty carriage that had been transporting her father to an important meeting with a man of even greater importance, had turned over on top of him after he had stepped out to check on the horses, and the old man pulling the cart. The words had instantly sent icy daggers to her heart, cracking it in two, and then in two again and a thousand times more as the cracks traveled across the surface of her breaking heart, and broke away as more and more pieces fell while the cracks grew and grew. She had since numbed herself to the daggers, hardened herself to the grief, to the tears, to the pain, but not the suspicion that crept through her veins, a sense that something was not quite right that she had felt even then. From her room, high up in the towers of their old manor, she could see the sky for miles around, including the clouds, with nothing blocking her perfect, crystal clear view, and there had been no such darkened clouds of storm about on the night of his death, and she knew his location would have been in the view of her sight of the skies. He had not been going far; it was a very short trip, there was no way he could have been outside of the upper world she could glimpse.
xxxWhat made it even fishier to her, right from the very start, was that he had been on a journey to meet with a man who would at last settle a nasty dispute of precious land between her family, and a man she still did not know the name of. She wasn't even sure if her mother had known his name; it wasn't unlike her father to keep such things a secret, so he would not worry his doting wife, or his young, impressionable daughter, who had always asked far too many questions for her own good.
Something just didn't feel right about it, it just felt terribly off, and horribly wrong to her, and besides those things, that xxxwas all she knew. She hadn't been there to see, and the only ones who would have known what had transpired that night because it most certainly was not a strong, stormy wind, were likely either dead, or sworn to secrecy, or paid off with stupid, ridiculous sacks of gold.
xxxNone of that mattered though, this was not a meeting involving her father, surely; her mother's voice would have cracked if it was. A part of her, if not all of her, had died with her father on that night, regardless of how his death had truly come to pass, and her mother had lost her light, her bright, shining light, and had never been the same every since. She was darker now, dimmed. Cold. And whenever her father was mentioned, her lips would tremble, and tears would spring forth. There were not sounds of heartbreak, of a broken soul in her voice; if anything, it sounded more alive than it had in years, no, this couldn't have something to do with the man that had been her mother's life.
xxxExcept, when her paws glided down from the final step of polished, dark wood, and she looked up with her ice blue eyes, she was proven terribly wrong.
xxxIt was the man from that fateful night, the one claiming to be her father's dearest friend, and her mother wore a smile.
xxxThis already felt very, very wrong.
xxxShe looked to her mother, questioningly with her head tilted to the side and brow ever-so-lightly raised, but before the older woman could answer, the all too familiar Kalon interjected and nudged himself in between their silent display, stepping toward her, and breaking their glance. Her gaze turned sharply to him, and she tensed. He wore a wide grin, one that she didn't like, and held his paw out in greeting. Aurelia accepted with her own, only because she knew her dear mother would scold her if she didn't, and she did not want to bring shame or distress onto her mother, after she had been through so much already. She had to resist the temptation to rub her paw clean on the floor when it returned to it's place on the ground.
xxx"Miss Aurelia, it is a pleasure to see you again, all grown up and well. You are as beautiful as your mother, and as bright as your father, may his soul rest in piece." He pulled his hat from the top of his skull to his chest, his words mournful, but his voice not quite matching. Her mother did not seem to catch it, but she had, and she wasn't going to forget it. She didn't like him, or trust him; not a single bit.
xxx"This is Gregory Langdon, and old friend of your father and I. He has something for you, Ella," The woman began to explain, Aurelia's icy blue eyes flickering back to her, and narrowing at the use of her nickname. It was a name she didn't mind loved ones using, but she was most unsure about how she felt about it being used in this man's presence. He hadn't yet proved himself deserving of learning the endearing name her father had first placed upon her. why don't we take this to the sitting room, so I can leave the two of you be, and you can speak in peace?" She did not trust this man, but she would go along with it, and behave for her mother's sake. She did not want to put a drain on her, or cause her any distress. This was probably only going to take a few short moments anyway, the least she could do for her mother after years of caring for her better than most mothers ever would even without the loss of a husband or wife even through her grief, was sit with a seemingly harmless man that had her fur standing on end. The older kalon seemed in agreement with her mother after the words passed through her lips, and she reluctantly gave a silent, compliment nod, so the three moved to the parlor, just as the servants finished fixing it up for guests, and opening the curtains that had been drawn tightly closed for years, allowing sunlight to pour into a room that had not felt it for a decade at least.
xxxParticles of dust sparkled in the air as they settled after the disruptance of a light no longer familiar to them, and more flew into the beams of light shining down from the sky as she and the kalon who had known her father settled down on opposite ends of an old couch, it's embroidery appearing different now that it was bathed in light. Her mother left them after a moment, announcing that she would soon return with tea, a sugared flavor of blood orange for Aurelia, and a unique blend of spices from across the world for herself and the supposedly well-travled man.
xxxLangdon turned to her, and her attention settled on him, ignoring he dancing specks in the air now rejoicing at the return of the light.
xxx"This was with your father on the night that he died. He had taken it with him, and I recently found it while taking a gander at the items stored in my attic. When my eyes fell upon it, I knew it had to be passed down to you." He pulled out an item she knew so very well from behind his back, and passed it to her. She accepted it, stunned, shocked, happy. A paw delicately swept across it's surface, feeling the cool, hard material, and the soft fabric of a comforting scarf, holding it together. It was her father's mask, a mask that had belong to his father during the times of plague, that had been given to him after his untimely death. She and her mother had thought that it had been lost in the mud churned up by the carriage wheels that night, but here it was, in perfect condition, undamaged, unchanged by any outside force, as if it had been trapped in time. It was no different than it had been the day he had left with a goodbye, not knowing it would truly be his last. She looked up, her eyes clouded with a feeling, a look she was incapable of describing.
xxx"I do not know what to say." She breathed, her eyes returning to the mask, and her paw running across it's surface again, allowing the paws to feel a surface she had truly believed, but not yet accepted that she would never see again.
xxx"You need say no thing. I know your father would have given it to you anyway. It is rightfully yours. It's just a right shame he was killed by a rearing horse's kick to the head that night." Wait. Her world came to a screeching halt. Her father had been killed by a carriage tipping and crushing him due to a gusty storm and terrible conditions of weather, not an unruly beast. She leaned back, pulling the mask closer to her, protectively. The words of his death had come from the mouth of that man, she had heard them clearly that very night, and he was no where near the age of old and senile. The suspicion she had felt before returned in full, and she gave a deep frown. That was wrong, that was very not right, in some part of it, was a lie, a lie from him, someone she had instantly known not to trust.
xxx"Forgive me, but I thought my father was killed by a tipped carriage in a storm, after getting out to check on the horses, sir?" Aurelia asked slowly, her words chosen carefully, tentatively, reaching out to grasp at the truth. Mr. Langdon startled, a moment of his careful composer slipping, before he skillfully fixed each slipped piece, and turned back to her with a shake of his head.
xxx"Your mother must have misheard. I told her there was a storm, and one of the horses spoked, so he stepped out of the carriage to check on the creature, like the good man we know he was bless his soul, but it spoked again, and the carriage tipped. She must have not heard me say the horse killed him." Except, he didn't know that she hadn't heard that from her mother. her mother had merely told him that her father had passed; not why. She had heard it directly from him; from his mouth, while hiding behind the stairs. Something was wrong, she needed to get out of that room, and away from him.
xxx"If you will excuse me sir, I wish to return to my room to... process.. this new information." She stood, the mask clutched tightly to her with a paw. It was unbefitting of a lady no doubt, but she could walk with three legs; she didn't much care for manners when this man had lied to her about the death of her father, and gave no signs that he was a kalon, or living being she could trust. He waved it off with a paw.
xxx"Of course, of course. It must be quite a great deal to sink in. This was going to be a surprise for your mother to reveal, but my men and I will be staying with you for a few days quite soon. We recently obtained some new land we wish to work near your home, so you dear mother offered her spare rooms for us to say. You'll be seeing quite a lot of me and my boys very soon." Mr. Langdon spoke with a grin she did not like, and his works sent another strike to her heart, in a place, in a way, she thought she had long since numbed herself to, but apparently had not, as the broken pieces once frozen together with frost, began to melt, and the pain began to resurface. The only land near her home that was available to work, was the ancient grounds of her family, her ancestor's home, and the land that had been up for contest, oh god.
xxxSuddenly it became very hard to breathe, and the dress' bodice, and corset, felt far too tight. She excused herself then without another word, and ran for the stairs. She had to be thankful that she was not human; for her skin would have for certain gone ghostly white, and he would have known she knew that something was up.
xxxShe got no sleep that night, nor the day after, or the day after that. Her mind just swirled too strongly with thoughts, with horrors, with theories, to settle. A doctor was finally called by her worried mother on the fifth night of her lacking sleep, and he gave her a tonic that at last put her to bed, and sent dreams of memories never forgotten to the world behind the lids of her eyes, until she awoke the day Langdon and his men were to arrive.
xxx"Ahh, my sweet summer flower." Her father's voice rang pleasantly through her ears as she laughed, his paws wrapping around her in a tight hug after arriving home from a trip of a few long days. He held her tightly, and close, before letting her go, and motioning for her to do a little twirl. "Let me get a good look at you, my dear, let me see how much you've grown." His voice was playful, and fatherly, and she happily obliged with a little spin, nearly tripping over her paws and tail, still unused to this new height. He caught her before she fell, and she let out a little laugh again as she grinned.
xxx"My, my, my, Ella, look at that! I think you're grown enough to wear my mask now." He beamed, and she returned the bright, wide grin. She had always loved his mask, and he had always let her try it on, but this time it would be special, if it actually fit, and to her pleasant surprise it fit like a glove; after he adjusted the scarf many, many times.
xxxA few days later he had allowed her to wear it outside, and she had played witchdoctor with her dolls. She had come in practically covered in mud, except for the mask which she had somehow managed to keep perfectly clean, and her mother had nearly had a heart attack, nearly fainting at how unladylike like and behaved she was being. She and her father had only shared a laugh.
xxxShe woke up with tears for her eyes, and went for a walk to erase them, and get herself as far away from the manor as possible when that man and his dirty thugs arrived. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky, and she had arrived back, when the sky opened to poor rain, before they had found themselves there, and her mother caught her before she could sneak silently up the stairs. She let out a silent groan as her wet grown dripped onto the stairway.
xxx"Aurelia, where have you been? And- heavens, what, pray tell, is that?" Her mother's voice sounded stern, only to end in a horrified squeak as her eyes caught sight of the ruined muddy hems of her dress. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't want to cause her more trouble, but she didn't want to deal with this, not now.
xxx"It's mud mother, I went outside for a walk and got caught in the rain." Aurelia replied tiredly, just wanted to get upstairs and done with this all.
xxx"Mud is not befitting of a lady to wear, my darling. Go clean yourself, and your dress, promptly. We have our very important guests arriving in but a few minutes." The older kalon scolded, waving her up the stairs to her room with a stressed hand carrying a spoon, meant to be stirring the pot of their dinner.
xxx"Of course mother, as you wish." Aurelia nodded with a curtsy, before carefully running up the stairs.
xxxShe couldn't help but release her pent up annoyance as she reached the top of her stairwell. Mother, I'm sorry. "Mud is not befitting of a lady." She mimicked, before a heavy sigh and shake of her head as she entered her room. "Poppycock, a lady can get dirty if she wants to. It's not some horrendous horror that would end the world."
xxxDinner went well, or at least, purely uneventful for the most part with their very unwelcome guests, and luckily, once the unpleasant event for her was done, she was allowed to return to her room in peace, away from them. It was when the world turned dark, and was blanketed in a sea of blackness that she next saw them again, though they were not aware of her.
xxxAurelia had gotten up to wander the halls of her home after hours of miserably failing at getting a wink of sleep, and after she climbed down the flights of stairs, she had come across a glow emerging from under the door, one that she instinctively knew was not meant to be there. It was the light of Langdon's room, and she could hear an array of voices coming from within, voices that struck daggers to her heart. She pressed herself silently against the wall to the side of the door, pressing her hear to the wall to listen, the other twitching as she heard.
xxx"Are you sure they ain't gonna find out what with us living with them and all?"
xxx"Please, do you really think a grieving woman and her naive child would have us figured out? There's no way for them to know our planned, or that we killed the man of the house all those years ago." A cackled laughter from the same voice sent chills down her spine.
xxx"I wouldn't be so sure Gavin. Hart does have a point, the girl caught me in a lie the other night, I think she's close. We must be careful."
xxxShe couldn't make out the next few whispers after, and in an attempt to hear more, to catch their whispered trails, as her stomach grew sick at the sinking, crushing news that they had killed her father, she leaned forward, dangerously balancing over the door so her shadow would not cross the emerging light and alert them to someone being awake.
xxx"She's not as dumb as 'er father then I'll give 'er that." How dar-
xxx"He wasn't stupid, he was just kind. Too kind. He was a fool because he was too kind to see the darkness in anyone. That's why we had to knock him off the playing field for the riches his family buried in the lands; he was too good to disgrace. The people loved him too much, they wouldn't believe an ounce of it." She had to stop a sob coming up from her throat then, or at least had to try, because in the end she didn't manage to shut it away, and it burst forth, painfully, loudly, heartbreakingly, and she could do nothing but wrong.
xxx"What was that?"
xxx"Huh? Who's there?"
xxx"Someone's obviously there you idiots. Go find out who it is, they heard what we cannot allow them to hear. If they get away it spells trouble for us, if you didn't realize."
xxxShe could hear the footsteps of the goons hurriedly rushing from the room with freshly lit lanterns, scrabbling to catch the eavesdropper who had heard them confess to murder, and a treasure buried in the grounds they recently acquired, but luckily they were slow, and she made it to her room before they could catch her, and she was left alone to stew in her rage, her fury, her anger. She could feel pieces snapping within her, frozen strings to her heart breaking as the raging fire warmed them too quick, and the links to her kindness, her empathy, had vanished, replaced with nothing but an agonizing pain, and a river of tears that only worsened as she realized that she still had to be careful, that she had to pretend nothing was wrong, that all was well, and that she wasn't living with the man who had murdered her very own fire. She released a wail into her pillow, accompanied by pained screams and cries, as the rest of her broken heart fell away with the morning sun, and she was just left feeling cold, and empty.
xxxSeveral days and nights passed, with nothing, nothing but her renewed grieving, and the temptation to rip out Sir Langdon's throat for what he had done. All she could do to keep from screaming murder to her name was remind herself that the time was not yet right, that nothing would come of it yet, that it was too soon. That she had to wait, and bide her time, while perfecting her wiles and her guiles as she had been raised to do. She had to force smiles as she put on a facade of the horrid man being her greatest friend, as if he were a guide to her, a kind fellow to call a friend. He took her places, forcing her from her home to places likes the theatre, and races, and far more things she cared nought for. It was just to make him look better, and increase the reputation he held, and better himself in the eyes of poor souls who had nothing better to busy themselves with. She shuddered every time he whispered something into her ear, comments she wished never to hear again, and she only managed to loath him more and more each day, until a ball was put in place, and her time of waiting finally seemed to be done, and over. Where better than to expose him, to get him to admit it, and slip up, than an opulent ballroom, filled with selfish, vain, over frivolous sycophants? She'd just need to force out the words that his company was riveting only a few times more, to people she didn't care about, and then she'd at last be able to thwart his schemes. Then at last she'd be done.
xxxShe had to force a smile for only a little while longer, the time would come soon where she would never need to hold it again.
xxxWhen the day of the ball came around, hosted for the first time in a decade at her family's ancestral home, she was a different being than she had been when all of this began. Revenge had twisted her, warped her, changed her, and she had been colder, more calculating, but less stable, less always filled by careful facades, with a poise that had only increased as she became consumed by the lust for vengeance, the need to make this right in a twisted way. She had started wearing her father's mask around her neck, allowing it to rest wherever she went, a silent promise to avenge him, and the wrong his "friend' had done to their family, and it was still with her now, as she wore an extravagant gown for the dance, wreathed in in beautiful laces, and soft fabrics imported in from far off places in the world she could only dream of one day seeing. The dress had been a gift from Gregory Langdon, the man she despised, naturally, which only made her hate this stupid event more, but she would stand by his side, endure this, and put on a ruse of smiles, just a little longer, until the time was right, and then she could strike.
xxx"Mr. Langdon, how are you holding up? It must be heartbreaking to be staying in the home of your late friend, god bless his soul." Aurelia stiffened, her eyes hardening, sharpening, and turning to the twisted monster at her side.
xxx"Oh, Miss Carolins, you do not know the half of it. It breaks my heart more each day. He was such a good man, may he rest peacefully. There was no better man than Everett Everleigh." He- How dare- How- He- How dare he.
xxxIt was improper, it was brash, and incredibly foolish, and far beyond stupid, but she cared not. He had killed her father, and he dared to speak of him as a friend after smearing his name into the bloody mud he had killed him in behind everyone's backs. She would not stand for it, and let this monster tarnish her father's name. Her father had been nothing but a light of goodness and hope, this horrid creature didn't deserve to be anywhere near his name. She could not help the surge of anger the bubbled forth, that spewed from her throat from her longs and into the air, and the malice that raked through her tongue as a cold, wild, rage burned in her icy eyes.
xxx"How dare you speak his name!" Aurelia hissed, shouting as she stepped from his side and seethed. The woman nearly dropped what she was holding. Mr. Langdon turned to her, eyes furious and blazing. She only matched his gaze, her eyes as cold as ice, if not colder.
xxx"How dare you claim to speak highly of him when you killed him! When you and your men murdered him! I heard you, you killed him! You have no right to speak my father's name you vile, vicious, disgusting beas-"
xxx"Aurelia Fiorella Everleigh! How dare you impugn the honor of this man who has been nothing but kind to you since you met?" Aurelia whirled around, to see her mother standing fuming behind her, almost shaking with rage. Her heart gave a pang of guilt amidst her fury, but a flood of anger washed it away. She had never meant to hurt her mother, not once, but it had come to it, clearly. Weeks ago that would have been a price she'd have been unwilling to pay, but now, she would sacrifice even her mother's happiness if it meant getting her revenge.
xxxShe opened her mouth to respond, but Langdon stepped in between them, his paws outstretched in an attempt to diffuse, but his eyes still alight with a fire her ice had not yet been able to put out.
xxx"Madam, Madam, it's quite alright I promise. She is still grieving I'm sure, and unwell, likely confused. Allow me to take her back to her rooms, and talk, and explain."
xxxHer mother hesitated a moment, looking between them before giving a nod, allowing it. He quickly nudged Aurelia toward the door then, and she complied, after a hiss. She knew very well that he had no intentions to do that at all, or talk. She had outed him, and now he would be seeking his own revenge, so the word would never get out and seen only as the outburst of an unwell child; but she was ready. She was ready for him, and anything he could throw her way.
xxxThis had not at all been her plan, not a single bit, but it would do. It. Would. Do.
xxxAs she had suspected, instead of her rooms, he lead her out onto one of the manor's balconies, the tallest one.
xxxHe shut the door after she stepped through, and then whirled on, her, cape fluttering behind him.
xxx"You." He hissed with a growl, every drop of malice within him poured into the word. She merely grinned, wickedly.
xxx"You were eavesdropping on us that night weren't you, you little rat?" She let out a laugh, a mad one, nearing insane. It had certainly taken him long enough to figure it out.
xxx"Who did you think it was? One of the servants? My mother?" She sneered, her lips curling in a snarl at her cynical words, causing him to lunge, until she dodged out the way, and he skidded dangerously close to the railing. She just needed to get him a little closer to the edge and then-
xxxLangdon lunged again, this time knocking her into the wall, and her breath was knocked forcefully from her lungs in a cloud of cold air. He pushed her roughly into it again, and then she leaned forward, and knocked him backward with a bump from her head, the tip of the mask poking at his neck.
xxx"You-"
xxx"You said that already!" Aurelia taunted as she skirted towards the railing, slowly regaining her breath as he struggled to regain his. He charged her again at that, his anger unhinging him, causing him not to think, and he ran into the railing with as much force he could muster, causing it to crack with it's great age. His eyes widened as he felt them crack further underneath him, and they widened still as she stepped away, out of his reach, and the railing his entire weight was held upon began to fall. She stepped back again as he began to slip, all four of his paws scrabbling, and then only his front two, on the balconies cracking edge. Then he clung with only one paw, and just as he lurched forward to catch him, a burst of fear and terror striking her heart as the situation's true reality, and who she had become hit her and she wished she hadn't done this at all, it became none, and she couldn't look as he fell from stories high.
xxxShe had avenged her father.
xxxAurelia had avenged the wrong to her family.
xxxBut all she felt was more tears, and screaming cries, and an overwhelming guilt that began to numb as the days went on, and the town still did not know what had transpired, or what had happened, because she refused to speak. She had gotten what she wanted, she had gotten what she had longed for for so long, an answer, revenge, but now she just wished she hadn't.
xxx"Aurelia, would you come here, dear? There is an old friend at the door I would very much like you to meet." The voice of her mother came spiraling up the stairs, in a manner almost as elegant as the woman herself, as if she had carried the sound up the winding stairwell with her own steps and poise.
xxxAurelia looked up from the book she had been perusing, and set it carefully down upon the silken linens upon her bed, rising to her four paws, and allowing herself to straighten her dress and long locks.
xxx"I will be down in just a moment, mother!" Aurelia called, tossing her voice toward the stairs with a raise, so it would reach her dear mother, and the guest whom she wanted her to meet.
xxxIt had been quite some time since her family had hosted any sort of guest, or other, outside of their blood, or their cherished, well trusted staff. In fact it had been years since a stranger had last entered through the great, heavy doors, and their question for entry carried upon the ancient and aged brass knocker banging agains the old, black wood, had been answered. The last time it had been opened for an outsider had been on the night of her father's death, a death that still left a foul, bitter taste in her mouth, and an even sharper one on the tip of her tongue, and a suspicion of even fouler play in each and every depth of her mind. They had opened the doors to their great manor to a strange man she had never seen before, at a time when she was still small, and oblivious to the dark, twisted ways of the world, and the blackened hearts and rotted clawed paws of those who turned it. The man had announced himself to be a good friend of her father's, a man her mother had immediately recognized. Aurelia had been told to stay in her room until she was requested to emerge after they had exchanged a few whispers intelligible to her ears, but she hadn't listened, hadn't obeyed; she had only gone to the second floor, and hid behind the bannisters out of sight. Their voices had been hushed, yet she had still heard every word she needed to, that the weather had turned terribly dark and grim, and the trusty carriage that had been transporting her father to an important meeting with a man of even greater importance, had turned over on top of him after he had stepped out to check on the horses, and the old man pulling the cart. The words had instantly sent icy daggers to her heart, cracking it in two, and then in two again and a thousand times more as the cracks traveled across the surface of her breaking heart, and broke away as more and more pieces fell while the cracks grew and grew. She had since numbed herself to the daggers, hardened herself to the grief, to the tears, to the pain, but not the suspicion that crept through her veins, a sense that something was not quite right that she had felt even then. From her room, high up in the towers of their old manor, she could see the sky for miles around, including the clouds, with nothing blocking her perfect, crystal clear view, and there had been no such darkened clouds of storm about on the night of his death, and she knew his location would have been in the view of her sight of the skies. He had not been going far; it was a very short trip, there was no way he could have been outside of the upper world she could glimpse.
xxxWhat made it even fishier to her, right from the very start, was that he had been on a journey to meet with a man who would at last settle a nasty dispute of precious land between her family, and a man she still did not know the name of. She wasn't even sure if her mother had known his name; it wasn't unlike her father to keep such things a secret, so he would not worry his doting wife, or his young, impressionable daughter, who had always asked far too many questions for her own good.
Something just didn't feel right about it, it just felt terribly off, and horribly wrong to her, and besides those things, that xxxwas all she knew. She hadn't been there to see, and the only ones who would have known what had transpired that night because it most certainly was not a strong, stormy wind, were likely either dead, or sworn to secrecy, or paid off with stupid, ridiculous sacks of gold.
xxxNone of that mattered though, this was not a meeting involving her father, surely; her mother's voice would have cracked if it was. A part of her, if not all of her, had died with her father on that night, regardless of how his death had truly come to pass, and her mother had lost her light, her bright, shining light, and had never been the same every since. She was darker now, dimmed. Cold. And whenever her father was mentioned, her lips would tremble, and tears would spring forth. There were not sounds of heartbreak, of a broken soul in her voice; if anything, it sounded more alive than it had in years, no, this couldn't have something to do with the man that had been her mother's life.
xxxExcept, when her paws glided down from the final step of polished, dark wood, and she looked up with her ice blue eyes, she was proven terribly wrong.
xxxIt was the man from that fateful night, the one claiming to be her father's dearest friend, and her mother wore a smile.
xxxThis already felt very, very wrong.
xxxShe looked to her mother, questioningly with her head tilted to the side and brow ever-so-lightly raised, but before the older woman could answer, the all too familiar Kalon interjected and nudged himself in between their silent display, stepping toward her, and breaking their glance. Her gaze turned sharply to him, and she tensed. He wore a wide grin, one that she didn't like, and held his paw out in greeting. Aurelia accepted with her own, only because she knew her dear mother would scold her if she didn't, and she did not want to bring shame or distress onto her mother, after she had been through so much already. She had to resist the temptation to rub her paw clean on the floor when it returned to it's place on the ground.
xxx"Miss Aurelia, it is a pleasure to see you again, all grown up and well. You are as beautiful as your mother, and as bright as your father, may his soul rest in piece." He pulled his hat from the top of his skull to his chest, his words mournful, but his voice not quite matching. Her mother did not seem to catch it, but she had, and she wasn't going to forget it. She didn't like him, or trust him; not a single bit.
xxx"This is Gregory Langdon, and old friend of your father and I. He has something for you, Ella," The woman began to explain, Aurelia's icy blue eyes flickering back to her, and narrowing at the use of her nickname. It was a name she didn't mind loved ones using, but she was most unsure about how she felt about it being used in this man's presence. He hadn't yet proved himself deserving of learning the endearing name her father had first placed upon her. why don't we take this to the sitting room, so I can leave the two of you be, and you can speak in peace?" She did not trust this man, but she would go along with it, and behave for her mother's sake. She did not want to put a drain on her, or cause her any distress. This was probably only going to take a few short moments anyway, the least she could do for her mother after years of caring for her better than most mothers ever would even without the loss of a husband or wife even through her grief, was sit with a seemingly harmless man that had her fur standing on end. The older kalon seemed in agreement with her mother after the words passed through her lips, and she reluctantly gave a silent, compliment nod, so the three moved to the parlor, just as the servants finished fixing it up for guests, and opening the curtains that had been drawn tightly closed for years, allowing sunlight to pour into a room that had not felt it for a decade at least.
xxxParticles of dust sparkled in the air as they settled after the disruptance of a light no longer familiar to them, and more flew into the beams of light shining down from the sky as she and the kalon who had known her father settled down on opposite ends of an old couch, it's embroidery appearing different now that it was bathed in light. Her mother left them after a moment, announcing that she would soon return with tea, a sugared flavor of blood orange for Aurelia, and a unique blend of spices from across the world for herself and the supposedly well-travled man.
xxxLangdon turned to her, and her attention settled on him, ignoring he dancing specks in the air now rejoicing at the return of the light.
xxx"This was with your father on the night that he died. He had taken it with him, and I recently found it while taking a gander at the items stored in my attic. When my eyes fell upon it, I knew it had to be passed down to you." He pulled out an item she knew so very well from behind his back, and passed it to her. She accepted it, stunned, shocked, happy. A paw delicately swept across it's surface, feeling the cool, hard material, and the soft fabric of a comforting scarf, holding it together. It was her father's mask, a mask that had belong to his father during the times of plague, that had been given to him after his untimely death. She and her mother had thought that it had been lost in the mud churned up by the carriage wheels that night, but here it was, in perfect condition, undamaged, unchanged by any outside force, as if it had been trapped in time. It was no different than it had been the day he had left with a goodbye, not knowing it would truly be his last. She looked up, her eyes clouded with a feeling, a look she was incapable of describing.
xxx"I do not know what to say." She breathed, her eyes returning to the mask, and her paw running across it's surface again, allowing the paws to feel a surface she had truly believed, but not yet accepted that she would never see again.
xxx"You need say no thing. I know your father would have given it to you anyway. It is rightfully yours. It's just a right shame he was killed by a rearing horse's kick to the head that night." Wait. Her world came to a screeching halt. Her father had been killed by a carriage tipping and crushing him due to a gusty storm and terrible conditions of weather, not an unruly beast. She leaned back, pulling the mask closer to her, protectively. The words of his death had come from the mouth of that man, she had heard them clearly that very night, and he was no where near the age of old and senile. The suspicion she had felt before returned in full, and she gave a deep frown. That was wrong, that was very not right, in some part of it, was a lie, a lie from him, someone she had instantly known not to trust.
xxx"Forgive me, but I thought my father was killed by a tipped carriage in a storm, after getting out to check on the horses, sir?" Aurelia asked slowly, her words chosen carefully, tentatively, reaching out to grasp at the truth. Mr. Langdon startled, a moment of his careful composer slipping, before he skillfully fixed each slipped piece, and turned back to her with a shake of his head.
xxx"Your mother must have misheard. I told her there was a storm, and one of the horses spoked, so he stepped out of the carriage to check on the creature, like the good man we know he was bless his soul, but it spoked again, and the carriage tipped. She must have not heard me say the horse killed him." Except, he didn't know that she hadn't heard that from her mother. her mother had merely told him that her father had passed; not why. She had heard it directly from him; from his mouth, while hiding behind the stairs. Something was wrong, she needed to get out of that room, and away from him.
xxx"If you will excuse me sir, I wish to return to my room to... process.. this new information." She stood, the mask clutched tightly to her with a paw. It was unbefitting of a lady no doubt, but she could walk with three legs; she didn't much care for manners when this man had lied to her about the death of her father, and gave no signs that he was a kalon, or living being she could trust. He waved it off with a paw.
xxx"Of course, of course. It must be quite a great deal to sink in. This was going to be a surprise for your mother to reveal, but my men and I will be staying with you for a few days quite soon. We recently obtained some new land we wish to work near your home, so you dear mother offered her spare rooms for us to say. You'll be seeing quite a lot of me and my boys very soon." Mr. Langdon spoke with a grin she did not like, and his works sent another strike to her heart, in a place, in a way, she thought she had long since numbed herself to, but apparently had not, as the broken pieces once frozen together with frost, began to melt, and the pain began to resurface. The only land near her home that was available to work, was the ancient grounds of her family, her ancestor's home, and the land that had been up for contest, oh god.
xxxSuddenly it became very hard to breathe, and the dress' bodice, and corset, felt far too tight. She excused herself then without another word, and ran for the stairs. She had to be thankful that she was not human; for her skin would have for certain gone ghostly white, and he would have known she knew that something was up.
xxxShe got no sleep that night, nor the day after, or the day after that. Her mind just swirled too strongly with thoughts, with horrors, with theories, to settle. A doctor was finally called by her worried mother on the fifth night of her lacking sleep, and he gave her a tonic that at last put her to bed, and sent dreams of memories never forgotten to the world behind the lids of her eyes, until she awoke the day Langdon and his men were to arrive.
xxx"Ahh, my sweet summer flower." Her father's voice rang pleasantly through her ears as she laughed, his paws wrapping around her in a tight hug after arriving home from a trip of a few long days. He held her tightly, and close, before letting her go, and motioning for her to do a little twirl. "Let me get a good look at you, my dear, let me see how much you've grown." His voice was playful, and fatherly, and she happily obliged with a little spin, nearly tripping over her paws and tail, still unused to this new height. He caught her before she fell, and she let out a little laugh again as she grinned.
xxx"My, my, my, Ella, look at that! I think you're grown enough to wear my mask now." He beamed, and she returned the bright, wide grin. She had always loved his mask, and he had always let her try it on, but this time it would be special, if it actually fit, and to her pleasant surprise it fit like a glove; after he adjusted the scarf many, many times.
xxxA few days later he had allowed her to wear it outside, and she had played witchdoctor with her dolls. She had come in practically covered in mud, except for the mask which she had somehow managed to keep perfectly clean, and her mother had nearly had a heart attack, nearly fainting at how unladylike like and behaved she was being. She and her father had only shared a laugh.
xxxShe woke up with tears for her eyes, and went for a walk to erase them, and get herself as far away from the manor as possible when that man and his dirty thugs arrived. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky, and she had arrived back, when the sky opened to poor rain, before they had found themselves there, and her mother caught her before she could sneak silently up the stairs. She let out a silent groan as her wet grown dripped onto the stairway.
xxx"Aurelia, where have you been? And- heavens, what, pray tell, is that?" Her mother's voice sounded stern, only to end in a horrified squeak as her eyes caught sight of the ruined muddy hems of her dress. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't want to cause her more trouble, but she didn't want to deal with this, not now.
xxx"It's mud mother, I went outside for a walk and got caught in the rain." Aurelia replied tiredly, just wanted to get upstairs and done with this all.
xxx"Mud is not befitting of a lady to wear, my darling. Go clean yourself, and your dress, promptly. We have our very important guests arriving in but a few minutes." The older kalon scolded, waving her up the stairs to her room with a stressed hand carrying a spoon, meant to be stirring the pot of their dinner.
xxx"Of course mother, as you wish." Aurelia nodded with a curtsy, before carefully running up the stairs.
xxxShe couldn't help but release her pent up annoyance as she reached the top of her stairwell. Mother, I'm sorry. "Mud is not befitting of a lady." She mimicked, before a heavy sigh and shake of her head as she entered her room. "Poppycock, a lady can get dirty if she wants to. It's not some horrendous horror that would end the world."
xxxDinner went well, or at least, purely uneventful for the most part with their very unwelcome guests, and luckily, once the unpleasant event for her was done, she was allowed to return to her room in peace, away from them. It was when the world turned dark, and was blanketed in a sea of blackness that she next saw them again, though they were not aware of her.
xxxAurelia had gotten up to wander the halls of her home after hours of miserably failing at getting a wink of sleep, and after she climbed down the flights of stairs, she had come across a glow emerging from under the door, one that she instinctively knew was not meant to be there. It was the light of Langdon's room, and she could hear an array of voices coming from within, voices that struck daggers to her heart. She pressed herself silently against the wall to the side of the door, pressing her hear to the wall to listen, the other twitching as she heard.
xxx"Are you sure they ain't gonna find out what with us living with them and all?"
xxx"Please, do you really think a grieving woman and her naive child would have us figured out? There's no way for them to know our planned, or that we killed the man of the house all those years ago." A cackled laughter from the same voice sent chills down her spine.
xxx"I wouldn't be so sure Gavin. Hart does have a point, the girl caught me in a lie the other night, I think she's close. We must be careful."
xxxShe couldn't make out the next few whispers after, and in an attempt to hear more, to catch their whispered trails, as her stomach grew sick at the sinking, crushing news that they had killed her father, she leaned forward, dangerously balancing over the door so her shadow would not cross the emerging light and alert them to someone being awake.
xxx"She's not as dumb as 'er father then I'll give 'er that." How dar-
xxx"He wasn't stupid, he was just kind. Too kind. He was a fool because he was too kind to see the darkness in anyone. That's why we had to knock him off the playing field for the riches his family buried in the lands; he was too good to disgrace. The people loved him too much, they wouldn't believe an ounce of it." She had to stop a sob coming up from her throat then, or at least had to try, because in the end she didn't manage to shut it away, and it burst forth, painfully, loudly, heartbreakingly, and she could do nothing but wrong.
xxx"What was that?"
xxx"Huh? Who's there?"
xxx"Someone's obviously there you idiots. Go find out who it is, they heard what we cannot allow them to hear. If they get away it spells trouble for us, if you didn't realize."
xxxShe could hear the footsteps of the goons hurriedly rushing from the room with freshly lit lanterns, scrabbling to catch the eavesdropper who had heard them confess to murder, and a treasure buried in the grounds they recently acquired, but luckily they were slow, and she made it to her room before they could catch her, and she was left alone to stew in her rage, her fury, her anger. She could feel pieces snapping within her, frozen strings to her heart breaking as the raging fire warmed them too quick, and the links to her kindness, her empathy, had vanished, replaced with nothing but an agonizing pain, and a river of tears that only worsened as she realized that she still had to be careful, that she had to pretend nothing was wrong, that all was well, and that she wasn't living with the man who had murdered her very own fire. She released a wail into her pillow, accompanied by pained screams and cries, as the rest of her broken heart fell away with the morning sun, and she was just left feeling cold, and empty.
xxxSeveral days and nights passed, with nothing, nothing but her renewed grieving, and the temptation to rip out Sir Langdon's throat for what he had done. All she could do to keep from screaming murder to her name was remind herself that the time was not yet right, that nothing would come of it yet, that it was too soon. That she had to wait, and bide her time, while perfecting her wiles and her guiles as she had been raised to do. She had to force smiles as she put on a facade of the horrid man being her greatest friend, as if he were a guide to her, a kind fellow to call a friend. He took her places, forcing her from her home to places likes the theatre, and races, and far more things she cared nought for. It was just to make him look better, and increase the reputation he held, and better himself in the eyes of poor souls who had nothing better to busy themselves with. She shuddered every time he whispered something into her ear, comments she wished never to hear again, and she only managed to loath him more and more each day, until a ball was put in place, and her time of waiting finally seemed to be done, and over. Where better than to expose him, to get him to admit it, and slip up, than an opulent ballroom, filled with selfish, vain, over frivolous sycophants? She'd just need to force out the words that his company was riveting only a few times more, to people she didn't care about, and then she'd at last be able to thwart his schemes. Then at last she'd be done.
xxxShe had to force a smile for only a little while longer, the time would come soon where she would never need to hold it again.
xxxWhen the day of the ball came around, hosted for the first time in a decade at her family's ancestral home, she was a different being than she had been when all of this began. Revenge had twisted her, warped her, changed her, and she had been colder, more calculating, but less stable, less always filled by careful facades, with a poise that had only increased as she became consumed by the lust for vengeance, the need to make this right in a twisted way. She had started wearing her father's mask around her neck, allowing it to rest wherever she went, a silent promise to avenge him, and the wrong his "friend' had done to their family, and it was still with her now, as she wore an extravagant gown for the dance, wreathed in in beautiful laces, and soft fabrics imported in from far off places in the world she could only dream of one day seeing. The dress had been a gift from Gregory Langdon, the man she despised, naturally, which only made her hate this stupid event more, but she would stand by his side, endure this, and put on a ruse of smiles, just a little longer, until the time was right, and then she could strike.
xxx"Mr. Langdon, how are you holding up? It must be heartbreaking to be staying in the home of your late friend, god bless his soul." Aurelia stiffened, her eyes hardening, sharpening, and turning to the twisted monster at her side.
xxx"Oh, Miss Carolins, you do not know the half of it. It breaks my heart more each day. He was such a good man, may he rest peacefully. There was no better man than Everett Everleigh." He- How dare- How- He- How dare he.
xxxIt was improper, it was brash, and incredibly foolish, and far beyond stupid, but she cared not. He had killed her father, and he dared to speak of him as a friend after smearing his name into the bloody mud he had killed him in behind everyone's backs. She would not stand for it, and let this monster tarnish her father's name. Her father had been nothing but a light of goodness and hope, this horrid creature didn't deserve to be anywhere near his name. She could not help the surge of anger the bubbled forth, that spewed from her throat from her longs and into the air, and the malice that raked through her tongue as a cold, wild, rage burned in her icy eyes.
xxx"How dare you speak his name!" Aurelia hissed, shouting as she stepped from his side and seethed. The woman nearly dropped what she was holding. Mr. Langdon turned to her, eyes furious and blazing. She only matched his gaze, her eyes as cold as ice, if not colder.
xxx"How dare you claim to speak highly of him when you killed him! When you and your men murdered him! I heard you, you killed him! You have no right to speak my father's name you vile, vicious, disgusting beas-"
xxx"Aurelia Fiorella Everleigh! How dare you impugn the honor of this man who has been nothing but kind to you since you met?" Aurelia whirled around, to see her mother standing fuming behind her, almost shaking with rage. Her heart gave a pang of guilt amidst her fury, but a flood of anger washed it away. She had never meant to hurt her mother, not once, but it had come to it, clearly. Weeks ago that would have been a price she'd have been unwilling to pay, but now, she would sacrifice even her mother's happiness if it meant getting her revenge.
xxxShe opened her mouth to respond, but Langdon stepped in between them, his paws outstretched in an attempt to diffuse, but his eyes still alight with a fire her ice had not yet been able to put out.
xxx"Madam, Madam, it's quite alright I promise. She is still grieving I'm sure, and unwell, likely confused. Allow me to take her back to her rooms, and talk, and explain."
xxxHer mother hesitated a moment, looking between them before giving a nod, allowing it. He quickly nudged Aurelia toward the door then, and she complied, after a hiss. She knew very well that he had no intentions to do that at all, or talk. She had outed him, and now he would be seeking his own revenge, so the word would never get out and seen only as the outburst of an unwell child; but she was ready. She was ready for him, and anything he could throw her way.
xxxThis had not at all been her plan, not a single bit, but it would do. It. Would. Do.
xxxAs she had suspected, instead of her rooms, he lead her out onto one of the manor's balconies, the tallest one.
xxxHe shut the door after she stepped through, and then whirled on, her, cape fluttering behind him.
xxx"You." He hissed with a growl, every drop of malice within him poured into the word. She merely grinned, wickedly.
xxx"You were eavesdropping on us that night weren't you, you little rat?" She let out a laugh, a mad one, nearing insane. It had certainly taken him long enough to figure it out.
xxx"Who did you think it was? One of the servants? My mother?" She sneered, her lips curling in a snarl at her cynical words, causing him to lunge, until she dodged out the way, and he skidded dangerously close to the railing. She just needed to get him a little closer to the edge and then-
xxxLangdon lunged again, this time knocking her into the wall, and her breath was knocked forcefully from her lungs in a cloud of cold air. He pushed her roughly into it again, and then she leaned forward, and knocked him backward with a bump from her head, the tip of the mask poking at his neck.
xxx"You-"
xxx"You said that already!" Aurelia taunted as she skirted towards the railing, slowly regaining her breath as he struggled to regain his. He charged her again at that, his anger unhinging him, causing him not to think, and he ran into the railing with as much force he could muster, causing it to crack with it's great age. His eyes widened as he felt them crack further underneath him, and they widened still as she stepped away, out of his reach, and the railing his entire weight was held upon began to fall. She stepped back again as he began to slip, all four of his paws scrabbling, and then only his front two, on the balconies cracking edge. Then he clung with only one paw, and just as he lurched forward to catch him, a burst of fear and terror striking her heart as the situation's true reality, and who she had become hit her and she wished she hadn't done this at all, it became none, and she couldn't look as he fell from stories high.
xxxShe had avenged her father.
xxxAurelia had avenged the wrong to her family.
xxxBut all she felt was more tears, and screaming cries, and an overwhelming guilt that began to numb as the days went on, and the town still did not know what had transpired, or what had happened, because she refused to speak. She had gotten what she wanted, she had gotten what she had longed for for so long, an answer, revenge, but now she just wished she hadn't.
