Mansion in the Woods

[l u c i d `]

((Charlie is a chain smoker, I see. AND YOU ARE MEAN, LUNA. MEAN! -shuns-))

It always seemed that, when placed in social situations with utter strangers, Izzy was the one who had to break the ice of sorts. It usually went well, considering she was a social creature and was a sweet girl, but this mans unearthly beauty caused her to clam up. She didn't like it. He was too pretty and it hurt, in some bizarre way, to look at him. Nevertheless, her smile never faltered.

"Hullo!" she greeted cheerfully. "I'm Izzy and this is Charlie and Akina." she pointed them out as she did so before going on. "We kinda.. spun out on some black ice and our car was totaled.. Do you possibly have a phone we could use?" her tone was carefully polite as she tilted her head slightly, almond-shaped eyes round and curious. She studied him silently, eyes hardly even moving as she traced his rather feminine features. Ember eyes? That was strange. And he had.. an older air about him, as if he were some how not the age he appeared. It was all too strange for her.

And normally, she was the weird one.

[Egyptian Myth]

Just as Ember invited them in, Simon had made it to the top of the stairs and now glided around the corner to make his way down the hall. He thought for a moment, then abruptly turned to phase through a large door into the impressive library. With a ceiling higher than that of the entrance way, the one room had three floors that could be viewed from each level. With its size - the different floors, the hundreds of bookshelves, and the thousands of books - one could imagine at least one copy of every book in the world being here, including ancient texts probably thought extinct elsewhere.

This was the place where Simon preferred to hunt on the occasion they had guests in the house, when the time came to do so of course. When they had a larger family, his kin would invite them in kindly, providing great hospitality in feeding them, giving them a tour and bedroom, luring them into spending more and more days there. Now that his family had been narrowed down, they didn't entertain visitors half as long, but still tended to them for a day or so, letting their prey grow accustomed to the place.
The library, being appealing to most with its wide selection, was like a trap. When readers entered, Simon would wait for them to explore enough, then hunt them. The rows of tall bookshelves served as a maze, and there were only two exits; the main one he had entered, and a more subtle one on the third floor that most never found.
When one entered, to their left and right were staircases that led to the second floor. Once on the second floor the stairs to the third floor were at the other side of the room. Once on the third floor one would have to venture again to the opposite side of the room to the second exit. So the main floor was a maze, while on the other two floors prey would have to go all the way around to the other side of the room to continue heading up towards the second exit.

Presently Simon crouched, and as he leaned up in what would normally become a leap his form turned to shadow and then into the crow, which flew to the second floor on the opposite side of the room. Landing on the railing, the bird changed back into Simon, who stepped down from the railing casually, then turning and leaning against it to watch the entrance, making sure he was partially concealed by a pillar. Here he'd wait, keeping track of everyone's locations through his olfactory and telepathy. He was patient. Ember could take as long as he liked with them.

[NightmareLullaby]

((Nice Luna, xDD and sorry, it's an old habit she has lol))

Charlie looked around, her grey eyes widening at the beauty of the place. They hadn't yet stepped in, but what she could see was magnificant.
She smiled cautiously, something about the tall man made her suspicious. She craned her nack to look at his face, her neck hurting from the effort. His face was gorgeous. She couldn't even describe it to anyone if she had to.
"It's astounding..."She mummbled looking away, "Time is fleeting."
She hummed the words' and madness takes it's tole'. She felt embarrassed by the fact that, even though he was so tall, he could probably still hear her.

[Lunar Tragedy]

Akina took her place near the door, watching Izzy and Charlie silently as they interacted with the tall male. She didn't have a problem with him just yet, but found she was annoyed simply by the danger his presence seemed to pose... It wasn't him, but the situation did seem to scream horror movie all on its own.

~*~

Food. Ember tried his best to push the word out of his mind, eradicating it from his vocabulary for as long as he had to endure their company. He supposed his expression as he strived to do so was somewhat akin to a grimace, and he forced a smile as he closed the door behind the group.

His firey gaze lifted from the ground he'd cast it toward, instead burning into Izzy. The expression he wore was pleasant enough, and despite his strain, he'd appear to be genuinely content just due to the way he could act. After all, he'd hidden cravings plenty of times before... and for long enough to satisfy them, too.

"Ember." He answered breathily, the slightest hint of a British accent depicted in his quiet, low-pitched voice. As the other two females were introduced, he chose to finally take a close look at both of them. The shortest one, oddly, seemed to inspire in him the most irritation. Just looking at her arrogant, dark blue eyes and defiant posture made him want to glare at her. He nearly did, but stopped only by wrenching his gaze from her and over to the other one, who seemed to be singing to herself.
With a smirk, he leaned forward, bending at the waist to bring himself to her height. "Are you singing?" He asked, laughter creeping up in his tone. Ember didn't intend to be rude; he just found it amusing that she felt the need to sing at a time like this. "Your voice sounds nice." He added, hoping silently that the complimet would remove the possibly offensive edge from his question.

[l u c i d `]

Izzy squirmed close to Akina as they stepped inside the unfamiliar home, gazing around with child-like curiosity, unused to such expensive looking furnishing. She shuddered to think of breaking something... At the sound of Charlie's singing, Izzy's soft amber eyes turned onto the other girl and Ember. She fought the urge to set her jaw, like she had so many times before. She disapproved of such a stranger being so close to her cousin.

After a moment of studying the two, she let her eyes roam, once more, to a stairwell. She stared at it, the childish itch of wanting to know what they led to causing her to take one step forward then another back, as if she were fighting with herself. She couldn't just go up them without asking, that would be rude. And it would also seem rude of her to ask if she could as well. She toyed with the dilemma for a moment, wondering what she should do.

[NightmareLullaby]

((Yea the pleasurable part isn't being like...weird or anything. She just likes it....not in the bad way. Hehe @-@))

Charlie gasped at the beautifuls man's closeness. She didn't want attention to be brought to herself, she was only trying to make herself feel better.
"Uhm, heh, yea." She stuttered, trying to sound as indifferent as possible
A slight blush warmed her cheeks when he'd said her singing sounded nice. People had told her before she had a good singing voice and she merely thanked them, but this man, so beautiful in a cryptic way, saying he thought it was nice was amazingly pleasurable to her.
"Th-thank you." she mummbled, looking away from his probing eyes

[Lunar Tragedy]

Akina growled quietly at Ember, taking a tiny step forward as if ready to launch her tiny self at him for the sake of her friend. Beside her, Izzy seemed to be encountering similar displeasure, and as Akina sensed this, she paused to glance at her. She frowned slightly.

Izzy's gaze gradually shifted from the disconcerting couple and over to the stairs. She held her hand out, placing it gently over her thin shoulder. "Hush, Izz. I doubt going up there would be a good idea." Akina hissed breathily, her eyes trailing over the path Izzy's took.

~*~

Ember smiled brilliantly, careful not to reveal the pearly white teeth that could arouse further suspicion in the small girls. His fingertips lightly pressed against the top of her head as he drew himself once more up to full height and stared down at her. "You're welcome." He answered, his tone more formal now.

His cold, golden gaze had drifted over to the other two, smiling as he studied Izzy's body language. One step toward the stairs, he noted silently, his smile growing to the point where his teeth were momentarily visible. "Izzy, was it?" His voice purred almost invitingly as he took a step forward and attempted to meet the other girl's stare."I'd be glad to take you on a tour of the house in a little while, if you'd like?" His smile remained friendly and harmless as he analyzed her carefully, awaiting some sort of reaction. It was amazing sometimes, what an actor he could be for the sake of satiating hunger. Truthfully, he was a distant creature, rarely inclined to speak to even his family... But, he needed to make them comfortable.

[l u c i d `]

Izzy gave Akina a reassuring smile and was about to reply when Ember's sensual voice cut her off and caused her to repress a shiver. She peered up at him, dark brown eyes wide with wonder and innocence before she looked away, smiling.

"If you want.." she gave a shrug. "I have more fun exploring by myself, however." a small grin tugged at her lips as she shifted her gaze back onto him, wondering if he would let her wander around the house on her own.