St. Peter's Asylum discussion

Alice walked out of the library, feeling much better. For the first time since she woke up from her coma, she really had hope.

((I was just here, LOL))

Okay, he was here now. He could relax, forget. Maybe. Surrounded by the comforting smell of old leather and books, Raven browsed the old shelves. He was looking now for something particularly violent: Stephen King, perhaps. Violence always calmed him down. And God forbid he stay tense like he was, followed around by his memories. He was never pleasant with his brain crowded by thoughts of his sister or his life back home. It's her fault, Raven thought. Ever since he'd left her dorm he'd been high-strung.

((only a month ago, LOL))

Arabelle's blue-gray eyes scanned the blurb of the children's book, contemplating if one of the little multiple personality kids would enjoy it for that weeks read-aloud at the library. She scooped a bunch of the books in the series in her arms, leaving a sizable gap ion the shelf and went to go put them on her reserved shelf. However, with a soft, "Oh, sugar!" she went down, the paperbacks falling with a muffled thud.

((Sugar? XD))

At the noise he paused, fingers hovering over the spine of 'Salem's Lot. Raven half-turned, looking around. His eyes settled then on a haphazardly scattered pile of paperbacks and the girl lying on the floor in the center of the mess. She'd fallen. A small smirk of amusement made his lips part as he plucked the book from the shelf and made his way across the room to her. In a few moments he was at her side, looking down at her as a cat might look at a little mouse. "Need help?"

((of course! Cursing is wrong!))

"No, I'm fine, thanks." She murmured, standing up and collecting all of the books. "Are you a horror fan, then?" She remarked, rosebud lips turning into her usual smile.

((So it is. But "sugar"? *grins*))

"More than you know," he replied, a suggestive glint in his eye. He looked down at the book and fondly stroked the cover. "Kurt Barlow never fails to make me laugh." Raven tucked the book under one arm and eyed the stack of paperbacks. "You a fan of kid's books?" he asked, smirking again. "Or have you got a little sibling here?"

((oh yes.))

"Me? No, these are for some of the younger patients. We have a reading hour every Saturday, and one requested 'Magic Treehouse.'" Arabella laughed, a bit unsure as to who this Kurt Barlow character was and why the boy kept sneering at her as if she were fresh meat. She blushed slightly, feeling uncomfortable.

"Huh." Raven thought back to all the patients he'd seen or read about around the asylum. He couldn't recall there being many kids around, or in the records. As he was clicking through his mental list, the young nurse's face appeared and he smiled suddenly, matching a name and profession with a face. "You're that nurse then," he said. "Arabelle, is it?"

"Yes, and you would be?" She relaxed as the boy took on a calmer, friendlier demeanor. Maybe she was over analyzing things, but she was specifically trained to work with the higher security patients, so unusual behavior put her on edge.

((Relax? NO. Do not relax! LOL))

"Raven," said he, narrowing his eyes. He didn't like nurses. "Raven's what they call me." He set his book on the coffee table and then sat, his arms folded across his chest, ankles crossing. He looked rather tense, his lips drawn down ever-so-slightly in a tight frown as he studied Arabelle. He said nothing.

"Nice name." she remarked after a strange pause. "But I get the feeling that you don't like nurses." Still relaxed. After all, the librarian was right there. Nothing bad could happen.

((Ha!))

"No," Raven said. The word wasn't exactly threatening, but he said it in a way that was meant to make Arabelle uneasy. "Not at all." His hands curled into fists--once, twice, three times--and he placed them on his knees. "Did they ask you to keep an eye on me?" he asked suddenly, harshly. "That why you're here?"

((Exactly.))

Arabella's eyes widened ever so slightly at his tone of voice and fists. "No. I work with the high security patients sometimes, but mostly with the little ones. If they sent anyone to keep an eye on you, it would probably be someone stronger and more experienced. I'm still a minor, so the boss is quite hesitant to let me do my job." Arabella babbled.

((I'm tempted to make him threaten her.))

Raven laughed bitterly, mockingly. "So you do know about me," he said. He fixed her with a glare, looking quite like his bird namesake. The corners of his lips turned up slightly in a barely-visible smirk of what might have been pleasure when he registered her uncomfortableness. "If they've told you, who else knows, do you think?"

"No one has to inform me, you do have a file, you know. And that was my first job here, organizing files." Arabella deemed it fit to set her books down on the table and sit across from Raven. She figured that if he were to attack her, she might as well get comfortable.

"How much do they have?" Raven asked her suddenly, leaning forward. "What things are they saying about me, Arabelle?" He was itching now to get his hands on a computer and find out for himself, the desire to know written plainly across his features. He leaned back in the chair a moment later, realizing his mistake, taking on his arrogant demeanor once again. "I'm genuinely curious," he added. And he was. What where their sources and what sorts of things could they find out about people? "Because I sure as hell haven't told them sh*t about my life or who I am."

((Raven, threaten her!!!! XD I'm so mean.))

Arabella leaned away from him as he started to interrogate her. "That's classified information." She started to stand.

"Really." Raven's tone had changed: he'd gone from arrogant and full of contempt to flat-out dangerous over the span of that one word. He rose to his feet, eyes focused, expression still. He jumped over the length of the table and now towered over the young nurse. "I don't think it would hurt anyone if you let it slip," he said softly, the slightest of threats in his voice. "It will, however, hurt someone if you hold your tongue. Maybe even someone close to home." He reached out and very gently tapped her chest, right over her heart. "I don't think you want that, Arabelle."

"Police Records. Newspaper articles. Not much." Arabelle whispered, eyes wide like a terrified child.

((HahahaYES. I live for the terror.))

Raven nodded, thinking that over. Not much, the nurse had said. Good. "See?" he said then. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He circled back over to his own chair and sat, regarding Arabelle with a pleasant smile as if nothing at all had just happened. He wondered if he should make sure he wasn't reported. Threatening a nurse was bound to mean an up in his security, at the very least--he didn't want to have to deal with that. But he waited, eyes on the girl, still smiling. Maybe she would make it easy for him and no more threats would need to be exchanged. But then again, maybe not. He would find out, he supposed, in the next few seconds.

One strange kid. Arabelle thoguht. "I'll be going then." She stood once again, already wondering if it was necessary fro his security to be raised. He seemed to be a high security patient already, but he might need a nurse with him at all times.

"I don't think so." Raven stood as well and glared at her. "There's one more thing I need to tell you." He paused to make sure he got her attention. "Let's keep this our little secret, Arabelle. This never happened," he said, and gestured around him to indicate that he meant the little scene between them. "You and I, we've never met. There was nobody in the library when you came for your books." He walked towards her, eyes boring into hers, deadly serious. "Clear?"

((If you want to prolong the RP, go ahead. Fae wants Arabelle to scream at some point and that would require further roleplay.))

"OK." Lower lip trembled ever so slightly, and she picked up her books with shaky hands. She had no intention of keeping this to herself, but Raven couldn't have know that. She walked away slowly, as if she hadn't just been interrogated and blackmailed.

((What if Raven follows Arabelle when she goes to report him, and he attacks her? Then I can get her to scream. ))

((Perfect. Where do we go?))

((Hallway? I'll start?))

((Yepyep.))

((OK.))

Malinda was in the back corner of the room, curled up and tucked away as she reviewed her book of prayers. She hadn't been able to pray much since she came here--every place she found was too open, too watched--and her Latin had gotten a little rusty. So she was studying, murmuring words and phases and chants over and over to herself, under her breath. She probably sounded truly insane, in that corner and muttering what would sound to any normal person like gibberish.

Even after a few days of the incident, Rosemarie was still haunted by the events that had taken place at the graveyard. She had her head set down over her crossed arms that were on the back table of the library, trying to drive the memory out of her mind. She heard the murmuring and lifted up her head, brushing away some copper red locks that had fallen into her icy blue eyes. At first she feared that the murderous Indian boy had come found her to torture her. She then pushed the thought from her mind; it was an absurd thought. "Who's there?" She demanded, reaching for the bow on the floor what was never far from her reach.

At the sound of a new voice, Malinda stopped speaking mid-chant. Her own livid blue eyes scanned the room, searching for the speaker, and found her sitting at a table, with--was that a bow? The young Satanist looked surprised. Then, realizing that the girl with the reddish hair was still waiting for a response, she said, "Just me."

A femanine voice. An ally. Rosemarie breathed out a sigh of relief. "Who's 'just me'?" She asked, turning around in her seat to peer around and look for the person that had distracted Rosarie from her mental rant, which wasn't all that bad. She set the bow down when she saw two pools of bright blue staring at her from overtop a book. Some sort of bookworm? Nerd, perhaps?

"Malinda," said the girl, and she widened and narrowed her eyes repeatedly, staring at Rosemarie, preforming her evaluation. After a moment she stood, gave a curtsey, and added, "Lord Caim."

Rosemarie raised and eyebrow. Lord? This girl thought she was a lord? "Oh, good Lord," she muttered under her breath. "I've never heard of a Lord Caim," Rosemarie commented with a note of caution. It must have been some sort of make believe religion.

((Sorry, but Caim isn't a lady. The demon is male.))

Malinda swept gracefully over to Rosemarie, perching on the tabletop. "He's your patron," she explained with a small smile that didn't part her lips. "The demon inside of you. Lord Caim is you--or he might as well be. You and him are one."

[Lol okay.]

"I follow Artemis," Rosemarie explained curtly. "My goddess wouldn't let any demon possess me." She looked up at the girl with a hard set expression. She didn't like the thought of anyone defying Artemis.

((Raven defied Artemis several times, and she did nothing. XD))

"Your goddess has no say in the matter," Malinda said patiently. She was still giving that little, close-lipped smile. "Everybody has a patron. They choose you before you are even born. That demon will forever be your conscience." She swung her legs to and fro, listening to the swishing of the fabric of her dress.

(Swish, swish, swish, swish...)

"It is not possession," she finally got to the point. "It's just natural."

[Well he actually defied Rose's loyalty to her lol. XD and Raven is special.]

"Oh, really?" Rosemarie frowned deeply. "How interesting."

((Haha, I know.))

Malinda nodded. "What is your name?" she asked. "Your actual name? I am Malinda."

[Sorry.]

"Rosemarie," she replied crisply, extending out a hand. "Hunter of Artemis."

Malinda's smiled but did not take the hand. She didn't touch demons, and she especially didn't take their hands. They were above her.

A little insulted, Rosemarie looked at her hand pointedly. "Most people shake hands after meeting," she informed her. This was definately an odd one, even for St. Peter's.

"I apologize," Malinda replied politely. "I do not shake hands, my lord. I do not deserve the privilege." Her legs were still swinging.

(Swish, swish, swish.)

But she stilled them, tilting her head and studying the girl. "How does it work, your religion?" she asked suddenly. "It doesn't seem so different from mine."

"Fair enough," Rosemarie replied with a shrug and let her hand drop to its side. The swish, swish, swish of Malinda's pant legs were starting to drive the Hunter on edge. She set her jaw.

"It's pretty simple. You remain an eternal maiden, be kind to animals, and worship Artemis and she'll guide you." Another shrug and Rosemarie flippe more loose locks from her face. "You stay in touch with nature and Artemis. It's great."

Malinda nodded slowly. "Not so different," she repeated, smiling. "Not so different at all."

"What's not different about it? What is you religion, anyways?"

"Satanism," she said.

Spine tingling, Rosemarie shuffled around in her seat. Satanism was nothing like her religion, and the thought of the comparison made Rosemarie bristle. Her arms crossed rightly over her loose lounge shirt. "How is that anything like my religion? Artemis strives for saving young girls. She is the guardian of all I married women and sometimes helps women through birth. That is nothing like satanism." Rosemarie shuddered involuntarily and her upper lip pulled back over her teeth.

"Lilith," Malinda murmured. She looked back at the girl, gave her a wink. "You'll see," was all she said. "You'll see."

"How about you just tell me?" It was more of a demand than a request as Malinda had lit a fire under Rosemarie's ass. She was fired up because of the ghastly comparison to Artemis.

"How about I do not?" Malinda stood, looking as if she were trying not to laugh. "I am sorry, Lord Caim, but some things you just have to find out on your own." And then she walk away, not even sparing a glance behind her.

((Want to do Raven and her now, somewhere different?))