#dcsvanecerse

“ My heart is already his , William , “

                       Over a c e n t u r y had passed since Elizabeth scrawled the letter she slipped under the door of her beloved’s chambers. The message short , but one daren’t say it lacked any affection or p a s s i o n. Her words were brief , because the message was simple: Edward Gracey had taken claim of her heart , and she wished for the entire world to know it by becoming his w i f e.

Had this doomed her? It was a r g u a b l e , considering that had she never fallen in love with him , and he with her in turn , Elizabeth’s end would not have met at such a young age. Did the spectre r e g r e t meeting Edward and accepting his proposal , and then ultimately continuing to remain loyal to him even after this caused her untimely death?

                       N e v e r.

There was no changing what had been done to her. No way to turn back time and revisit that d r e a d f u l night to prevent tragedy from befalling the manor. The curse had been c a s t and there was no undoing it until Elizabeth and her beloved were reunited once more. And even if she could s p a r e herself from any longer of this fate by renouncing her love for her fiance , never could Elizabeth bring herself to do it.

                     Death would not cause their love to perish. Nor centuries spent a p a r t , nor any curses that brought d a r k n e s s to hang over the house. Even something as unkind as f a t e could not completely separate the lovers , for although they were apart and would continue to stay that way until the truth became known , one thing could not be changed: their souls were still b o n d e d as long as their love remained true. 

It did not falter in life , even when the s e c r e c y of their courtship led Elizabeth and Edward to meet out in the gardens at late hours , and speak in hushed whispers for fear of anyone noticing that two souls within the home were still a w a k e. And it would not falter n o w.

continued from ( x )

                          ❝ i DO... ❞

     BETTER THAN anything else, she knows THAT, and yet it is      still so VERY easy to doubt when she has KNOWN little else      besides it for SO LONG. part of her MIND whispers that now,      a WEDDING may not even be possible, while the other hisses      it’s insidious REFRAIN, that he may not wish to RISK another      RUINED wedding. or, WORSE STILL risk a fate WORSE than      death, should the UNTHINKABLE occur.

     IMPOSSIBLE, perhaps, but anxiety had been a CONSTANT      companion for CENTURIES now. melanie isn’t SURE just      what else to FEEL.

                 ❝ i         i only THOUGHT...in our STATE OF                     BEING...such a thing may not be POSSIBLE. ❞

     CLOSURE, THAT’S WHAT she’s calling it.

     for a TIME, melanie hadn’t even been CERTAIN that the MANOR      was still STANDING. her recollections of it SEEM like little more      than an elaborate DREAM, and even if she HADN’T imagined it,      TIME && DECAY might have DONE IT IN all the same. it nearly      comes as a SURPRISE when she PULLS UP after traversing the      NARROW STREETS of what had once been THUNDER MESA,      to find the HOUSE still standing, SILHOUETTED against the sky      && BLOTTING out the stars.

     EVEN in the hot, desert air, the sight had CHILLED her to the bone.      && yet, she had CONTINUED onward nonetheless, up the carriage      ROAD and into the MANOR itself.

     melanie’s no MEDIUM, but even so, something DRAWS her to the      attic. it’s far better UP THERE, where she’d never been, than the      AWFUL familiarity of the manor’s CORRIDORS. wandering them      even now is ENOUGH to make her SICK with fear && anxiety. as      SUCH, she makes her way to the TOPMOST part of the house,      only HESITATING a moment before ENTERING.

     THE ROOM IS small && quiet && dark, nearly PERFECT for      what she’s MEANING to accomplish. with only a GLANCE at      the rest of the CHAMBER, melanie kneels, pulling out an old      BOOK from the BAG she’s had by her side and FLICKING      through the pages until she LOCATES the ceremony she’s to      PERFORM here. 

     an EXORCISM. not something she PREFERS to resort to, but      in THIS CASE, it’s MORE than required.

     THIS, she sets on the ground by her SIDE, and taking the bag      once MORE, she begins to rummage for the REST of her items.      she doesn’t USUALLY do well with things like THIS, exorcisms       && SPELLS, but now...

     THE GROUNDS of ravenswood MANOR offer very LITTLE in the way      of BEAUTY, these days. the CARE and devotion to KEEPING it alive      && thriving has LONG SINCE vanished centuries AGO, and as such      the AREA has been LEFT to its own DEVICES. 

     weed-choked && dead as the manor’s INHABITANTS it may be, but      to one such RESIDENT, it is an ESCAPE from the GLOOM within.

     GLITTERING and golden, dorian’s form is a BEACON in the rapidly      falling NIGHT as he pads through the CEMETERY behind the manor      PROPER. it is HERE that the mortals usually INVESTIGATE first,      && it is here that he REMAINS, in hopes to SCARE them away before      something FAR more malicious can DO SO.

     luckily, the manor’s most MALICIOUS beings seem OTHERWISE      occupied at the MOMENT.

     he does not LEAP so much as DISAPPEAR and reappear atop the      black CRYPT in the very CENTER of the GRAVEYARD, the one that      has HOUSED his melanie’s REMAINS these past DECADES, if not      his own. DAEMONS aren’t meant to LEAVE BEHIND earthly remains,      AFTER ALL, much as he MIGHT have liked to SPEND the rest of his      existence CURLED by her side, the BOTH of them at ETERNAL rest.

     THOUGH HE requires it not, dorian begins to IDLY groom himself,       appearing for ALL THE WORLD as though this has DISTRACTED      him ENTIRELY. those who APPROACH may find the REALITY of      the situation QUITE different.

If there was one truth that Elizabeth had fully learned after her death , it was that there were very few things that were in a permanent state. Change would almost always come , even if waiting was involved before it arrived. 

“ You’re right , “ She acknowledged with a sigh. Though Elizabeth knew all of this well , that did not make the anticipation for the thing to pass any easier. As most people would relate.

ok though but can william and elizabeth start a support group like 

     FOR ONCE, ravenswood manor is silent, filled neither with the      screaming of terrified mortals, nor with the vengeful curses of      its resident father and DAUGHTER. the latter is gone, most      likely off skulking in the catacombs or visiting the TOWN with      the freedom melanie still cannot call her own. she loathes him      for it, loathes him for EVERYTHING that her existence has      become. for everything that he has STOLEN from her.

     most RECENTLY, it’s become apparent just how much that      truly has been.

     the attic door looms before her, more IMPOSING than anything      of it’s sort had a right to be. there is not much that melanie fears      in this place ANY LONGER, and yet, trepidation rises as she       lingers at the top of the steps. her last encounter with the room’s      resident had not gone as she might have WISHED, and despite      it all, that STUNG.

                      ❝ will ---- ❞

     she halts her speech, tries again. it’s so very DIFFICULT now,      to speak in a manner that isn’t the HARSH and angered tone      she takes with her father. no doubt a product of the fact that he      was her only CONVERSATION partner for decades, now.  her      voice doesn’t not soften as easily as it ONCE did.