Orion stared at Nicholas and Elizabeth, then quickly looked away, limping and bumping his way over to the door and opening it, slamming the door shut with such force that the mirrors in the room shook. He hadn't heard from Jakob in a while, and right now, he just wanted to get the food. In fact, he just wanted this whole thing to be over. He limped quickly to the other room, opening cabinets and slamming them shut again, growing irritated and frusterated on how well Hoxac hid his stupid little kitchen.

Elizabeth jumped as Nicholas put his arm around her, then relaxed once she realised who it was.
She tried to say thank you, but she seemed incapable of speech, so she just smiled and leant her head on his shoulder. After a moment or two, she found her voice again.
"I'm fine," she whispered, "it's just...I...she's ok, isn't she? We'll be ok, won't we?"

Orion came back a few minutes later with some food, putting the food on the ground. "The food has arrived." He said cooly, glancing at Elizabeth and Nicholas and looking away and limping over to a wall and grabbing a pillow, sitting on the ground and staring out in space blankly.

Ooc: I think it should be the next day in a few more posts, okay?

Nicholas shook his head. "I...i don't know anymore." He said, seriously. He had told her the truth, no matter how much he wanted to lie, but he couldn't bring himself to make a promise he couldn't keep. The look of pain on her face was just too much for him..."But i'll try my hardest to make sure we are."

He heard Orion enter, and turned around. For the first time in his life, the sight of food seemed to make him sick, but he knew they should eat anyway. "Come on. Let's eat." He said simply, taking Elizabeth's hand and walking over to Orion. He didn't want her to feel alone...and he didn't want to feel alone either.

Orion glanced up at Nicholas came over with Elizabeth, then looked around at everyone else. Jakob looked like he was in a daze, not moving, and the same with Roma. He didn't remember anyone else anymore, and he just wanted to sleep. He looked at Nicholas again, then mumbled, "Hey." He pushed some food over to them, then sat back up, with his back against the wall and he bad leg on a pillow. He had a washcloth was was trying to clean all of his cuts, only making himself bleed again. He winced everytime he was about to wash his leg, finally giving up and leaning his head on the glass.

Elizabeth a forced down a slice of bread. She watched Orion trying to clean his cuts. Feeling for him, she took a cloth and a bottle of cognac of a nearby table.
"This is going to sting, a lot, but it will disinfect the wound, and heal it quicker. YOu might want to squeeze someones hand for the pain."
She doused the cloth with the alcohol and made to dab the wound, then hesitated.
"I'm sorry, but it will be worth it, I promise. It will only hurt for a little while."
She gritted her teeth and pressed the cloth against the wound, dabbing and washing as gently as she could, feeling terrible for the pain she knew she was causing.
"Roma, do you think you could heat me some water over the fire, this needs to be cleaned and dressed properly. I'll probably need some more cloth too - anything will do, but I'd prefer cotton if you could manage it."
She turned back to Orion, and rinsed his wound with the remaining alcohol.
"I'm really sorry..." she whispered.
She took the heated from Roma and some cotton cushion covers Nicholas had found. She ripped the cover, dipping some of them in the water, to further clean the wound. That done, she made a paste from some vodka and oats (which Orion had brought in with the food), dabbed it on his leg and wrapped some cloth around it.
"There, it will sting for a while, but it should be better by morning."
She stood up and made her way to the far side of the room, where she lay down on top of one of the blankets turning her back to the others, willing sleep to wash over her.

Orion was wincing and trying not to yell out, but he was also in awe on how fast Elizabeth did that. He glanced at Nicholas, then struggled to get up, keeping his bad leg straight and hobbling over to her. He took a bit of food, then offered it to her. "Before you sleep.. you need to eat. It's not healthy if you don't. Roma, Jakob and Nicholas, too," he said, adding a quiet thanks to her.

Elizabeth never felt less like eating in her whole life, but she took some anyway, if only to appease Orion.
"Don't worry about it, I spent some time in St Mungo's, it's basic stuff."
She ate some bread and cheese with some difficulty, and washed it down with some water. This done, she lay back down.
"Goodnight, don't let the bedbugs..." she didn't finish the sentence, sensing it's meaning was understood, and in any case, in this situation, futile. If something was going to bite them, it woul bite them, whether they wanted it to or not. With these disturbing thoughts floating around her head, she pulled a blanket tighter around herself and drifted off to unquiet dreams.

Jakob nodded, drowsily. His head seemed to be following some sort of Formula 1 circuit that his body could not attend, and all he could perceive of the others was a type of blurry form in the stead of each of the members of the remaining group. He thought he saw Spectres flying all around, making faces at him, gruesome and obsolete. And on top of it all, his forehead was broiling. Barely managing to utter a word, he addressed Orion, babbling more than talking with fluency:
"I... I don't think I can eat. See not... I can't see the where it is." and with that, his head fell on a pillow - luckily - and he remembered no more.

Orion nodded, then looked over at Jakob, stifling a yawn then putting a blanket on top of him. He looked around at everyone else, then limped slowly over to the door and stood there, as a look-out.

Ooc: Alright. I'll make it morning. Does anyone mind? If so, just tell me and I'll edit this post.

Orion was still awake by the time his still working watch signaled that it was around 8 am. He was reading an old history book, something about a curse on the house and magical worlds colliding. He was pretty fascinated by it, since it also said something about this Mansion.

He looked around, seeing if any of them were up yet. He didn't know what happened to Roma since she was suppossed to stay awake with him. He shrugged, then gathered some food for breakfast, putting the heavy book down.

He was drawing nearer... now standing so close he could perceive his nostrils flared indignantly at him, the abominable look on his face grow clearer and more hideous by the minute. It made his stomach revolve. The entire vision was just too realistic... but there was one thing, Jakob noticed, or better said, Jakob's subconcscious noticed, the dream had no sound, no voice to seal its gloominess. The lad sighed through closed lids, then, just as the Spectre backed away, a hoarse grunt came out of Hoxac's mouth, as he stormed like a serpent at him, scratching a dagger along his cheek:
"You won't last much longer." Jakob thought it spoke more, but even if it was just a product of his imagination, it made him faint. Faint away from reason. And turning all the more scared.

He woke up with a start to find Orion awake, leaned over some bowls or books, he couldn't distinguish properly.
"Orion, I... saw him. Hoxac. Or I thought I did. It was a dream, but it felt so real, I'm not sure if..." but he continued not, as he felt a salty taste in his mouth, and real blood trickled down his face. He felt his cheek with a shivering hand, only to find that the wound had somehow caught life. Jakob stared at Orion, mouth gaped.

Orion glanced up as Jakob woke, starting to mumble something about Hoxac and a dream. He got up slowly, and started over with a bowl of fruit, suddenly noticing that his cheek was bleeding. He stopped in mid-way across the room, staring at the blood. "But.. how? I was awake the whole.." he trailed off, then remembered that he caught an hour's worth of sleep, waking up to a strange noise and staying awake ever since. "..Hang on," he said, grabbing some cloths and water, then bringing them over and plopping down infront of Jakob. "..Maybe you scratched yourself in your sleep," he suggested, dipping the cloth in the water.

Even with all the blood covering his features, Jakob still managed to pull a pretty sarcastic expression on his face. He watched the now dripping cloth, but didn't stretch his arm to take it, he didn't know why.
"Listen... I know I may not seem the most self-aware person in this mansion, nor the most reasonable, as a matter of fact..." Jakob confessed in a streak of sincerity, thinking of all the moments of the time when he had smashed his leg against an iron-hard suit of armour.
"But still I'd know if I scratched my face in my sleep..." he finished, looking at Orion, half apologetically.

Orion shrugged. "Hey, I was just crossing out things that might be the problem," he said, not really making sense. He held the dripping cloth, thinking that Jakob was going to take it. He was kind of uncomfortable to help clean a male person, even if he was just helping. He was thinking about doing that, but then decided against it, thinking that Jakob probably would have Roma do it or something. Just like Nicholas and Elizabeth.. he thought, with a hint of jealousy. He held out the cloth to Jakob, then waited for him to take it or not. "..You honestly think that Hoxac scratched you?" He asked, with a hint of doubtfulness in his voice. "..But why just you? Hoxac is pretty cruel.. why wouldn't he hurt all of us?" Orion asked, adding in his mind, 'especially me.'

Jakob stared at Orion's handling of the cloth and wished to put an end to a somewhat weirdly embarrassing situation so he quickly took it from his hands and held it in midair, soon forgetting about it. His mind was on Hoxac, entirely.
"Unless it was you, yeah, I'd point the finger to Hoxac. And I dunno why he'd choose me. But you've seen it, too... he's threatened me more than the others. It must have something to do with my parents." Jakob said through gritted teeth, gripping the cloth so tightly it almost tore itself apart.

Ooc: I'll be back in around 10 minutes. Gotta do something for my mama. xD

Orion shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to anyone, honestly," he said, then stared at the cloth. "..Maybe you should put that down.." he said, referring to the part where it almost tore itself apart. "..What happened to your parents? I mean.. why did he kill them?" Orion asked curiously, adding quickly, "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to though."

ooc: oh, I gotta go. it's grown late on me, again

"I know you wouldn't." Jakob commented, as if assuring Orion that it was clear that Hoxac had done it. He then snapped with respect to the cloth mentioning, and he soothingly started nurturing his rather sharp cut in the cheek. Pondering for a moment, lost in thought as to the fate of his parents, he eventually mumbled, in a grumpy voice, avoiding eye contact:
"My parents... I don't know why he killed them, bloody *******..." the bloke started, clenching his fists, then, as if in a fit, he began laughing offhandedly, staring at Orion in a burlesque manner: "Funny, huh? How a son doesn't even know how his parents died. It's all so funny... All of it!"
Apparently, he couldn't stop himself from giggling like a madman, it seemed ever since he had gotten into this mansion he had gone from trance to trance, and the real Jakob had gotten stuck somewhere in between, trapped in his own cage of angst and regrets towards a parental memory.
"Now that I think of it, they may not even have been on the good side, eh, Orion? You tell me!" his eyes had now grown red and slightly accusatory, as he had never gotten over the fact that Orion knew stuff, more than he had ever told them, and perhaps, even held the key to solving the mystery of Jakob's own parents' death.
As he stared at him, the droplets of water kept trickling down his face, mixing with the blood, in a combination of aweful onlooking.

Orion dropped his mouth open in surpise, finding the giggling Jakob actually accusing him of something. From trust --- "Oh I know you wouldn't" --- to hate --- "You tell me!", it seemed as if Jakob had snapped. "What?!" He asked, catching his breath. "You think I know why your parents got killed?" He returned the stare at Jakob, shaking his head slightly. "Why would I ask, then? If I already knew? I told you," at this point, Orion seemed to be breaking down, "I told you.. I know things.. because he killed my parents too. I.. I'm just trying to find out what happened to them!" Orion said, opening his eyes wide. He still wasn't telling the whole truth, he didn't want to.

It seemed like they would all hate him if he told the truth right now. All hate me.. but.. I bet some of them know already. We look practically alike.. Orion thought to himself, his thinking stumbled and strange to him.

"Jakob, that's enough!" Elizabeth said, sitting up suddenly. She had been awake for at least fifteen minutes, if not longer, just lying there, staring into space, thinking.
"We all have our secrets, even me, it's just this...place, makes you think funny things, I suppose that's part of Hoxacs twisted sense of humour, trying to get us to turn on one another..."
She stood up and made her way wearily over to Jakob and Orion. Her stomach growled in what she supposed was hunger. Grabbing some cheese and a little bread she sat down beside the two.
"This place has a lot of secrets, secrets Hoxac doesn't want us to know about, that's why he's targeting us, especially those whom he knows have a personal stake in this," her eyes flickered to Orion before continuing, "but all will be revealed in the end, if we just stick together, we might even find out what happened to your parents."
She took note of the dripping cloth and the congealing blood on his face. Sighing she took the cloth from him and rinsed it.
"Honestly, you boys are useless at helping yourselves. Let me." She cleaned the cut thoroughly, then gently applied pressure to the wound until the bleeding stopped.
"So what do we do now? We still have to find Noira, she could be seriously injured..."she asked, turning to Orion.

Orion looked at one of the mirrors, a strange thing going through his mind. He thought the people -- Elizabeth, Jakob, Roma and Nicholas -- moved from their original spots. He also thought he saw more people in the room through the mirrors. But when he looked around, there wasn't anyone.

Orion turned back to Elizabeth with an odd look on his face, then shook his head. "I don't know. She could be anywhere in this mansion. Miles.. " he said, then added quickly, "but I'm sure she couldn't have gotten that far if she was injured." He stopped, then glanced at the mirrors again, frowning. "Did you see that?" He whispered, mainly to himself, but to everyone in the room also.

Elizabeth looked around, startled.
"I'm...I'm not sure, I don't think..." Her voice trailed off, she could have sworn she just saw a shadow moving behind her in one of the mirrors, but there was no one there.
"Hang on..." she said as she got to her feet slowly, realising something for the first time. She was staring fixedly at Nicholas who was still asleep, then glanced over to the window, beneath which she had woken up this morning.
"Last night, last night, I slept on the other side of the room, and Nicholas, he was over there, at my head...we've moved, we were moved, in our sleep!"
Panic began to rise in her chest at what this might mean, and the sight of another shadow in the mirrors did nothing to ease her anxiety.

Orion stared at Nicholas, then glanced at Elizabeth, moving over to her. "Relax. Just.. try and stay calm, alright?" He asked in a quiet voice, looking around. He grabbed the history book he was reading, then gathered up more of the food that was near him.

He suddenly heard a crack, almost piercing the inside of his head. He knew that no one else hadn't heard it because they probably would've looked around.. but.. as far as he could tell, they weren't. His eyes flicked to the mirror closest to Elizabeth and Jakob, the glass cracking silently as if someone was hitting it. It was cracking at all different places, but yet, it was silent, Orion knew that, even though his mind was filling with thuds and yells and cries. He suddenly yelled out as he thought he saw someone being hit into the mirror. Orion moved alittle towards it, suddenly jumping back, infront of Elizabeth and Jakob, the glass on the mirror shattering with a loud, piercing, whistle-type of sound filling the room. The glass flew in all directions, fortunatly only on one side of the room so that Roma and Nicholas weren't touch.

Orion had his back to the mirror, his face squinched up tight and his hands on his ears. He was infront of Elizabeth and Jakob.. almost positioned that he knew that the mirror was going to break and stopped the glass pieces from going into Jakob and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's voice caught in her throat, a strangled scream. She grabbed Orion by the shoulders and pulled him back and threw them both to the ground behind a desk.
"He's going to kill us." she whispered fearfully.
What could they do? Could they really fight an unseen force? She peered around the table to see more of the mirrors cracking - one of them right by Nicholas.
She threw herself forward, and grabbing his arms, pulled him back behind the desk where Orinon and Jakob lay, then went back for Roma. She had just pushed the now waking Roma behind underneath the table when something in one of the yet unbroken mirrors caught her eye.
It was the small round face of a young girl, her wide eyes pouring quietly, almost sadly, over Elizabeth. She froze.
"Ophelia." she breathed, but no sooner had she sadi her name than the face was gone, and the final mirror burst forth, showering Elizabeth with broken glass.

ooc:I've got to go, it's late, I can't keep my eyes open, lol. Night.

Ooc: Night!

Orion lurched forward, ramming his bad foot on the desk put paying no attention to it. He tackled Elizabeth, even though some of the glass already fell on her, then rolled over and over on his bad arm, smacking his shoulder into the empty mirror. He hesitated before slowly sitting up, glancing at Elizabeth and everyone else. "Are you okay?" He managed to get out, panting from the pain. He was clutching his leg and arm at the same time, trying to get up and get the history book and food. "Come.. on.. We.. need to go.. somewhere else!" He asked, struggling to lean on his left side, and trying to get up.

ooc: aw shoot! i missed the good part

Nicholas had slowly awoken to the sound of cracking glass, to find seconds later he was being pulled away by Elizabeth. "Woah! What happened to good morning?" He said, as they were showered with glass....about 3 times or so. After the turrent of pain was over, he got up shakily to his feet, his legs shaking. His arms and legs were cut up pretty badly, along with his shirt and face...But he was still alive. He looked around, checking on everybody else. Orion looked like a walking corpse, Jakob had a huge slash on the side of his face, and Elizabeth..."Elizabeth..." He whispered.

He ran over to Elizabeth, who was laying unconscious on the floor, kneeling beside her, shaking her lightly in an attempt to get her to wake up..."****..." He whispered again.

They were going to die. He was almost positive. They weren't going to make it out alive...

But the least they could do was try. He nodded at Orion, they had to leave the room. After checking to see that she definitely wasn't waking up, he picked Elizabeth up in his arms, standing up, his knees buckling. "After you, captain." He said, smiling, pointing to the door.