* / 𝘿𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙍𝙄𝙐𝙈.

“ and you, my darling— you wear that smile too often. ” pointing a finger at him in feigned accusation, she tapped it to her lips. “ let me guess, you’re going to suggest we play a game in the dark. like hide and seek. ” 

' that smile? ‘ he asked in a mocking tone, his voice light as ever as though it were dancing with the flickers of light between fleeting moments. a corner of his lips arching higher, he leaned in to take a whiff of his drink. amber essence flooding his senses, rose hues flushing his features.  

‘ i think not, but each to their own opinion. i find it brings me exactly where i feel i need to be in life. ‘ 

a gasp, breath sucked into his lungs kept in for a moment before being released into the surrounding world. his attention directed to the dark haired woman, he added; ‘ i did no such thing, but from where i stand... that seems like quite the grande idea. i vote we play  game of hide and seek, unless of course, you feel that might be too terrifying? given that everyone is scared... i wouldn’t hold it against you, my dear. ‘ 

History is a terrible burden to bear. She’s not quite sure where she heard the phrase last. Perhaps it was her mother who said it while tucking her into bed one night. Or professor Wolf with his poetic manner of speech. Wherever it originated from was a pale and distant memory, growing ever more elusive every moment she spent inside the house. But the phrase remained and found a physical form - one named Luc Rioux. 

Anke didn’t know him well. She didn’t know him at all. It wouldn’t have mattered if she didn’t notice the small signs - his discomfort whenever she slipped into her mother tongue, his voice turning quieter as she entered the room. The fact that he seemed to evasive, a phantom to her but to no one else. In her search for an explanation, the year 1955 comes up. She connects the dots. Her theory makes her sick to her stomach. So she avoids him, too.

But unfortunate circumstances brought them together. There, in the lobby, surrounded by candles, Anke tried to focus on her notebook and not the nervous stutter in his voice. It would be best, she wanted to stay, but her mouth remained shut, a hand scribbling messy notes under the title power outage (Stormausfall. She sincerely hoped it was too dark for him to see it). If she was to understand the workings of The Raven House, this predicament of theirs could prove invaluable. His question, however, made her hand stop in its place.

“Just…taking notes,” has her English always been so plagued with her mother tongue? “about what’s happening. Also, I’m trying to determine whether the candles are burning slower or faster than…on the outside.” She stopped herself before she got carried away. Rather, she hoped a single candle, as strange as it sounded, would offer an insight into how time runs in the house. It was easier said than done.

too far to see, yet close enough to witness. 

his entire life seemed to be an array of events he didn’t quite understand, but to turn away would be wrong. and this moment was no different. he was here now, there was no turning back. and so, releasing a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, he took the first step. one step at a time, the young man crossed the room until he was standing beside anke. 

the hairs on his arms standing upright-- as though a window was open, letting the cold autumn air in. but, when he glanced up, searching in the darkness, he found this was not the case. shifting his weight from one leg to the other, the young man drew his attention to the candles that the young woman had been observing. to determine whether the candles are burning slower or faster than on the outside. it took him a moment to connect the dots, the outside-- a foreign concept at this point in time. 

a concept that lived solely through memory. and, memory faded. to see the truth beyond sentiment was a difficult task, when one wasn’t sure what was true and what was false. memories merged, they blurred, the fine line between reality and dream becoming unrecognizable the more time passed. his heart ached to embrace his sister once more, to see his mother’s smile-- and even to see his father scowl. but, life had chosen a different direction for luc. 

once upon a dream... 

but, this was his life now. this was his home. the people he met here, became his family. a dysfunctional patchwork family. all but one. perhaps, he had been too fast to jump to conclusions. losing his mind in the past-- irrational behaviour based on disproportionate gut feeling. ‘ how do you ... determine such a thing? how do you know how fast a candle would burn elsewhere? ‘ the words seemed to fall from his lips, before he even thought of them. the confusion obvious as ever at the task she was completing. and why now? the questions never seemed to end. 

‘ can i help somehow? ‘ 

event » candlelight  location » the bar

the game they had been playing had been fun, remnants of a childhood lost. whilst most guests spent their night horrified of the events that had passed, luc had been searching the entire premise for vasya, and once found she returned the favour. somewhere along the way, he had lost her-- the most probable solution to this issue was to go to the bar. after all, that was the place vasya would most likely be found at. 

in her stead, he found a familiar face. a glimpse of a life he once lived, a life beyond this gilden cage. he found none other than dominique. 

a warm sensation grew in his chest, corners of his lips immediately turned upwards, and a shimmer ever present in emerald hues. ‘ bonsoir ! ‘ with a certain skip in his step, the young man crossed the room before leaning ever so slightly against her frame, his head lingering upon her shoulder. cheerful as ever he added in his maternal language, ‘ ah, are we drinking? mind if i join? ‘ 

the initial jolt of seeing a man step out of the darkness faded quickly as she recognized his face and she smiled in relief. ‘oh thank goodness, i was starting to worry everyone had vanished!” she exclaimed, twisting her fingers in the fabric of her skirt. the smooth texture was calming, it didn’t grate on her nerves like some of her old dresses had, tangling and hanging too heavy or too light. it had been the first gift she’d allowed herself in the hotel, a tentative question to the closet one night.

as luc sat down across from her she was grateful for the warmth of the candles. a better reason for the heat she could feel coming over her, ears burning in what was surely just nerves from the darkness. she wasn’t sure what the words he said meant, but the gentle tone sent her reaching into her pocket and gripping the cold metal band sewn inside. for comfort, for surety, she wasn’t quite sure. ‘i- i thought it would be smart to stay somewhere where others might come along, but- well, you’re the only one to show up so far and i’d rather not sit here alone any longer.’ reaching out, she lifted one of the candles by its holder gently, careful not to let it blow out. ‘where to?’

the sound of relief in her voice was comforting, seeing bonnie afraid was not something he enjoyed seeing. ‘ it was a brilliant idea, and thanks to said brilliant idea i was lucky enough to find you. ‘ a soft chuckle escaped his lips as the young man leaned back into his seat yet again. he had a horrible habit of speaking with his hands, and so the words he spoke often followed with wild hand gestures. this very moment was no excuse to that rule. 

‘ i was thinking we might explore the rooftop? ‘ pausing momentarily the young man raised his brows slightly-- a gleaming smile ever so present on his features. ‘ i think some fresh air, and a starry sky might be the best solution to whatever this is. ‘ he could tell that the current situation, the power outage, brought the young woman discomfort-- and he wasn’t about to let that be the case for the rest of the night. he hoped, that maybe, being able to somewhat leave the raven house would ease her mind. 

event » candlelight  location » somewhere in the raven house 

it wasn’t that he didn’t like her... he was sure that anke was a wonderful person-- actually, no, he wasn’t sure about any of that. he didn’t know her at all, despite having resided in the same building for far too long. and it was entirely his fault-- the young man withdrew when she entered a room. when she spoke, he shut down. he didn’t make an effort to get to know her, and truly it was his loss (not that he would know about that). 

so, when the young man found himself in the same room as her / alone, at that / he was far from comfortable. the usual manner in which he held himself, his confidence, suddenly lacking. head lowered he began to fumble with his fingers, ‘ uhh... sorry, i can-- uh i can leave if you want to be alone. ‘ he muttered before tilting his head to the side, emerald green hues averting to glance upon the young woman. his curiosity got the best of him. he couldn’t evade her presence forever. ‘ what exactly is it that you are doing? ‘ he had seen her, notebook in hand, making observations, drawing conclusions, setting up hypothesis about the raven house-- something about scientific method, or so he was told-- he had always been rather horrible at all things scientific. 

Trying to ignore the fact that she was the spitting image of a horror movie protagonist, entering a poorly lit basement with only a candlestick in hand for light, Ela was glad that she didn’t believe in ghosts or supernatural creatures. What she did fear was her fellow humans, and the thing that gave her a hint of nerves was the thought that a baddie could be lurking out of sight.

She tried to shake the notion off, and focus on locating the electrical box. It had to be down here somewhere…. The problem was the basement was full of random clutter she had to weave around. An old arcade game, dusty with a crack through the screen, suddenly caught her eye. It was one she and her brother used to play all the time when they were young… Drawn to it, she pushed the electricity issues aside for the moment and slowly approached. 

Just as she reached the machine a sound from behind had her on instant alert. Ela whirled around, holding the candle up higher in an effort to better illuminate the space, to little effect. “Hello…?” she called out, squinting and seeing nothing but shadows around her.

' je t'ai trouvé ! tu dois mieux te cacher la prochaine fois... ‘ found you ! you need to hide better next time... it was only after the words left his lips that luc realized that the woman before him was not actually vasya. ‘ ah non... pardon-- ‘ his mind quickly scrambling for the right words, perhaps taking english lessons from tommy had not been his most brilliant idea-- but he was progressing nonetheless. closing his eyes momentarily, his hand was brought up to meet his forehead, the right words simply weren’t coming to him. he had been so comfortable speaking in french with vasya during their game of hide and seek, that it felt twice as difficult to try to switch to english. 

but he would try his best. 

chapter :   book  i,  chapter  i      location :   lobby  convenience  store      tagging :   @lucrloux​

it  was  not  as  if  the  lobby  convenience  store  ever  really  was  a  place  you   had   to  pay  for  things.  maybe  they  charged  your  room,  but  tommy  had  never  seen  a  bill.  plus,  he’d  paid  of  the  original  motel  in  cash,  so  it  wasn’t  as  if  they  could  really  hold  him  to  anything.  besides,  he’d  never  asked  to  stay  here  this  long,  and  while  tommy  knew  relatively  little  about  the  legal  system,  that  felt  like  something  he  shouldn’t  be  held  responsible  for.  but  no,  it  was  not  a  place  where  you  typically  had  to  pay  for  things  and  yet,  the  darkness  that  had  enveloped  the  hotel  had  raised  in  tommy  an  impulse  that  was  likely  rooted  in  him  from  the  years  he  spent  living  with  relatively  little.  darkness  is  a  good  cover,  and  it  makes  you  harder  to  catch.  darkness  was  a  good  excuse  to  take  what  you  needed.

besides,  the  lack  of  electricity  meant  the  items  in  the  fridge  would  go  bad  soon.  tommy  was  really  doing  everyone  a  favor.  he  sees  luc  walk  in  from  his  position,  camped  on  the  floor  with  his  back  against  the  cool  glass  door.   ‘  dude,  c’mere.  ice  cream  pints  are  gonna  go  all  soupy  in  about  thirty  minutes.  you  want  one  ?  ’

it hadn’t been long since the darkness took over raven house, silence rang clearly through the halls-- it felt as though the entire world had fallen asleep and woken up at the same time. but, he wouldn’t know for he remained confined within it’s walls, in a sense the world to luc was now nothing more than the premises of the raven house. tragic. he stumbled through the darkness until he finally found what he was looking for, his stomach had been twisting and turning all day-- he had forgotten to eat yet again. it happened rather often, mostly when he was entranced by the canvas before him. 

time: ??? location: lobby

you needed a community to survive. bonnie had learned that before she was even weaned, before she began to speak. if your livestock die one year, if your harvest is plagued by insects and vermin, you don’t make it if your neighbors don’t step up to help. it was maybe the hardest thing about the hotel, being wrenched from her family, not knowing who here was telling the truth, what other people might have done to deserve this. bonnie had lived her life on stable soil and now far too often she felt as if she was tumbling through the air.

still clutching the items she’d been holding when the lights went off she finally made it safely down the stairway. maybe there would be more people down here, maybe even someone who knew what had happened with the lights. the candles glowing provided some relief and she hurried over to sit in their light. the room was silent for a while and she began to regret being in the light. so close to them, she couldn’t see out into the shadows, and it was as if she were all alone in the world. at last she heard footsteps and her heart leapt. ‘hello?’ she called out into the black. ‘are they- has anyone found out what’s going on?’

his vision was of no use, for the flickering of a candle in the distance did not do much to help the situation. instead, luc found he had to rely on his sense of touch. an arm extended, fingers trailing against the wall he slowly wandered forward into the darkness. this entire ordeal, was possibly the only normal thing about the raven house. its usual functionality disturbed by something so ordinary as a power outage, and something about that brought his mind to ease. not before long, the young man had wandered into an open space, he could make out the silhouette of a young woman-- nothing more. and then she spoke, and within an instant he placed the voice to none other than bonnie. 

bonnie whitaker. kindness seemed to radiate off her, wherever she went. it was cute. a soft smile slipped across his lips as the young man moved out of the shadows, lingering by her side for a moment before taking comfort in the seat opposite her. ‘ ma chère... ‘ he paused, shifting his weight in his seat ever so slightly, his upper body leaning forward, arms resting comfortably upon his knees, ‘ surely, it nothing, the lights will return soon i’m certain. ‘ sky blue hues averted to meet her own, ‘ but for now... will you join me on an expedition into the unknown?  ‘ 

timestamp:   ——  ,  NULL .   ·   location:   where  else?   the  raven  house  ,  MADNESS  TAKES  IT’S  TOLL .   ·   tagging:   open  for  everyone !

when  the  power  flickered  the  first  time,  macie  thought  maybe  she  was  seeing  things.  maybe  the  exhaustion  or  the  stress  or  something  had  finally  caused  her  to  snap.  but  then  it  happened  again,  and  again,  until  finally  the  power  disappeared  completely,  leaving  the  room  with  a  gentle  hum.   “ shit, ”   the  word  is  blown  out  on  a  soft  breath.  fingers  instantaneously  slide  down  her  thigh  to  reaffirm  that  the  bowie  knife,  her  safety  net,   was   still  within  reach  as  if  it  ever  left.  it  lessens  the  tightening  in  her  chest.  she  fumbles  around  in  the  dark  for  the  candle  that  is  kept  on  the  desk  in  her  room.  she’d  only  thought  it  was  decorative.  when  her  fingers  finally  find  purchase  on  it,  she  realizes  there’s  no  point.  she  doesn’t  have  a  light.

stepping  into  the  hall  does  nothing  to  help  the  uneasiness  that  has  settled  into  her  stomach.   no  emergency  lights.   what  kind  of  fucking  nightmare  was  this?  there’s  something,  maybe  it’s  anxiety  or  knowing  she’s  been  caught  in  situations  like  this  before,  that  makes  her  grip  the  bowie.  using  her  other  hand,  she  feels  down  the  wall  as  she  walks  for  the  dip  that  will  lead  to  the  stairs.  it’s  only  when  she  hits  the  bottom  that  she  runs  clear  into  another  body.   “ fuck! ”   c’mon  sullivan,  you’re  better  than  that  —  but  hey,  at  least  you  didn’t  stab  them. 

the glass which had been so idly placed in his hand moments before, had been set down somewhere in the parlour. after taking a few steps, the young man came to accept that he would likely never find it again in this lighting. and so, he abandoned it. who knew, perhaps this would be the first time something would collect dust in the raven house. a part of him was delighted to find out, another yearned for the return of his glass. alas he began his journey through the dark, fingers trailing against the wall in the hopes they would guide him toward the door. 

it didn’t bother him much-- as a matter of fact it didn’t bother him at all. perhaps, he should have been more wary of what lurked in the shadows. perhaps he should have quivered, frozen or at the very least demonstrated some semblance of disapproval. instead, the young man found acceptance. this was nothing new to him-- it was comforting even. comforting to know that this gilden cage didn’t function flawlessly. he learned to be wary of things that were too good to be true-- for they generally housed the most twisted secrets. and this place? it was but a well-oiled machine. each gear falling into place, running effortlessly like clockwork. it seemed only natural something should go wrong. even a clock had to be rewound eventually.

lost in his thoughts the young man barely noticed another figure approaching-- the moment he did, it was already too late. bodies collided and he stumbled back within an instant. icy blue hues searching for an outline, at the very least, of the person he had run into. ‘ merde ! ‘ it felt only natural for him to slip into the tongue so familiar to him when in a state of surprise, ‘ est-ce que-- ‘ ah right, he wasn’t in paris anymore. he wasn’t at home... and so he corrected himself, ‘ are you ok? ‘ 

music cuts, lights go out; the quiet hits her first. do you know what it is like to sit in silence? you still hear tchaikovsky in your dreams. unease settles, and she washes it down with the rest of her scotch. if this malfunction is out of her hands, then at least she refuses to be scared.

someone takes the seat across from her, though she can’t make out their features in the dim candlelight, the only illumination left. and what a pathetic glow it is—for all its opulence, the raven house should sorely invest in working lightbulbs. “ i don’t suppose you are an electrician, ” she says dryly, pouring herself another glass before holding the decanter out. “ drink? ”

within an instant darkness swallowed the building, shadows making themselves known in a sweeping movement. it was far from unknown to the young man-- the power outage was welcomed like an old friend. a semblance of comfort, a flaw in the usually operative building. corners of his lips twisted up into his usual grin-- charming with a flash of something else; something catching. 

dim light granted by few candles reflected in sky blue eyes as the young man averted to meet her gaze. ‘ well, aren’t you sunshine taken mortal form? ‘ leaning further back into the comfort his seat, crystal was brought up to his lips-- the last remnants of liquid gold was emptied down his throat. ‘ a top up would be grand... ‘ he muttered, arm extending in her direction with a now empty glass. 

— playlist, LE DIABLE AU CŒUR ! 

— meet LUC RIOUX !

hello ! my name is ani and i am so excited to be here ! below the cut you can find some information on my son, luc ! if you are interested in plotting please feel free to like this post or simply shoot me a message !