IC: Returning to Darkness [Genevieve Carrington]

[Pickman37]

The woman's eyes, similar to Genevieve's own, are a dead give-away based on the photos her father kept and the ones she saw once she was old enough to remember....standing out in their piercing blue color, even under the shroud of black and white photography....

"I knew I would see you again!" Genevieve can feel her heart swell as she leans in to embrace the woman, despite the filthy robe of ashes...

"It's true, mommy. There is an afterlife and you're there! Tell me what its like...."

Genevieve's voice, to her ears, again strikes her as it slowly changes to her older self....

[Kadael]

Josephine holds her daughter close, tears making tracks in the ashes on her cheeks. She parts her lips to speak -

- and a strangled, desperate noise comes from somewhere deep in her throat. Her hold on Genevieve loosens, and her arms go slack. Little streams of blood pour from the corners of her mouth and eyes.

"All right, which one of you broke concentration?" Ammon glares at the audience. He's picked up his cane, and jabs it like an accusation in random directions.

Then he spins on his heel, looks at Genevieve, and shakes his head. "No, I know. It's your fault."

[Pickman37]

As her mother's grip loosens and the blood flows from the corners of her mouth and eyes, Genevieve can feel her own eyes begin to fill with tears....

"No....." She whimpers quietly, her heart sinking....

It's been so long....

Then the accusation....

(Ammon) spins on his heel, looks at Genevieve, and shakes his head. "No, I know. It's your fault."

"NO! I believe and want to know!" Genevieve screams, the anger swelling in her to the point she is crying. "It's you who is taking this away from me!" She sobs...

The frustation consumes her and again, she has fallen...

[Kadael]

As Genevieve cries and falls, her mother is still. She gasps and chokes on her own blood welling in her throat - and begins to dissolve. Her skin withers into flakes of ash.

"Me?" Ammon takes a step back and presses a hand to his breast, shutting his eyes. "Oh, my dear Genevieve. I thought you, of all people, would know."

Then he looks at her. His eyes are green under the stage lights. "You killed your mother once. Now you're killing her again."

[Pickman37]

And then she snaps....

"Go to hell, you ass!"

She runs at Ammon hoping to grab his cane and spear him upon it....

[Kadael]

Genevieve's rush was not anticipated, and Ammon tries to sidestep her too late. His hold on the cane is strong, though, even as she tries to wrest it from his grip.

Genevieve,Make a STR x3 roll to try and pull the cane away. This is your lucid dream, so you may subtract 10 from the number you get.

[Pickman37]

Genevieve pulls at the cane as the tears begin to cloud her sight. Ammon's grip is strong but, in a moment, she feels the cane come loose and it is in her hands somehow....

The look on Ammon's face is either surprise or casual indifference...

In a second, his words come to her again...

"You killed your mother once. Now you're killing her again."

Genevieve feels a scream escape her being as she attempts to plunge the sword cane into Ammon's belly....

[Kadael]

The smile doesn't slip from Ammon's face until it contorts with pain. He looks down at himself, at Genevieve holding the cane, at the blood dripping onto the stage floor.

"This isn't going to help you," he gasps, struggling to maintain his confident and cheery persona through it all. "You sentimental, simpering bitch..."

His mouth twitches into a lopsided, mocking grin. "Oh, mommy, you really did go to Heaven! I'm so glad I sent you there - packed your bags and everything!" Ammon rolls his eyes, even as his body begins to crumple under its own weight. "You're a real treat on the stage, Genevieve. Should be in pictures, or whatever they're calling them now, and I- I can't believe you stabbed me."

He laughs, though it must be hurting him. "But this is your dream... and you have power... but then again, you're all the same. Stumbling around in the... in the dark..."

[Pickman37]

Genevieve comes to, shocked by her violent response. She releases the cane and takes a few steps back, glancing out towards the invisible audience, which is still obscured by the smoke that refuses to subside...

She feels guilt consume her...so many witnesses to her act....

But then her logic kicks in...

This is just a dream. None of this is real... She rationalizes...

Ammon's words about her being the reason her mother died had stirred up buried emotions and thoughts...Ideas she had never confronted and had buried deep inside of herself...

The academic in her is back in full force. Maybe that's what my subconscious wishes to show me...to finally deal with...

..."But this is your dream... and you have power... but then again, you're all the same. Stumbling around in the... in the dark..."

Ammon's words seem to confirm this even though Genevieve is unsure of the comparison to others...

"I...I..." She is at a loss for words. Should she apologize for her actions? The dark man's impending death performance seems real but then he must only be a phantasm of her mind...

She decides to avert her eyes to the pile of ashes on the table where her mother once appeared...

[Kadael]

When Genevieve lets go, Ammon stumbles backward and falls, the cane sticking out of his belly like a spear. He does not move or speak any longer.

And at this very moment, the smoke clears. The audience is gone from their seats, and they've left no trace of themselves. It's like they were never there.

There is nothing on the table save for a scattering of blood-soaked ashes. Something golden sparkles from the top of the mound, even as the stage lights begin to fade.

In the world beyond sleep, Genevieve can feel herself beginning to wake up.

Genevieve,Make a POW x3 roll if you don't want to wake up yet.

[Pickman37]

Genevieve feels a cold absence descend upon the stage, with Ammon's stillness, the missing audience and the dissipation of the smoke, and a pull from somewhere beyond...

I need to awaken...

But, in the dying stage lights, she sees the shining object on the pile and has to know...

She approaches the pile of blood-soaked ashes to investigate, as the stage slowly grows darker, reaching for the sparkling object...

[Kadael]

The lights go out just as Genevieve's hand closes on the object. It's cold in her fingers - a band of smooth metal. Her mother's wedding ring.

The show is over. Nothing left to do but leave this dream behind.

[Pickman37]

Genevieve looks at the ring, feeling the pull of the waking world upon her...

Genevieve, you need to wake up...

The voice in her head is not hers, but her mother's voice....

Kadael,I would like to wake up but if I cannot, I'll attempt to leave the theatre in an attempt to accomplish that task....

[Kadael]

Genevieve opens her eyes, and finds herself tangled in the familiar sheets of her bed. This communal housing isn't the nicest of places, but compared to the strange stage in her dream, it's refreshing and utterly calm.

The ring is gone - but so is Ammon, the silent audience, and that mocking pile of ashes.

[Pickman37]

Genevieve immediately reaches for the pencil and note-pad she keeps on her night stand and begins to jot down any details she can recall from the dream. It has been awhile since she has had a dream she can remember and this one was definitely curious enough to leave her a bit shaken. In fact, she finds she is covered with a layer of perspiration, which is odd because the window was left slightly open last night and usually it is cold and damp in the communal flat, due to its location in the Merchant District, close to the Miskatonic.

As she records notes, Genevieve again notices the calm of the flat and realizes her fellow flat-mates must be gone for the day. It is at this point, she realizes she is a few minutes away from missing an appointment with Assistant Professor Alex Warden concerning his research into parapsychological screening. She dons a robe and quickly rushes to the commons room to use the communal phone in order to re-schedule the appointment.

When she returns to her room, she decides she should make her way to the University library to conduct research. Her only class is later in the afternoon so she has the time.

Ammon?...Sounds Egyptian. She ponders. What a strange name for my brain to conjure. I don't recall ever hearing it before. Maybe the library will have some information.

Genevieve prepares herself for the day at a relaxed pace, suppressing any thought of her violent and disquieting actions within the dream, then sets off on foot to the University.

[Kadael]

As she reaches for the front door of the flat, it flies open. A young woman, probably younger than Genevieve, with honey-blonde hair and a tear-streaked face storms in. Just outside the doorway is a distraught young man, peering around Genevieve to look at the girl.

"FINE!" she shrieks, balling her hands into fists. "Go ahead! Leave me here! I won't care, I'll be dead!"

The man sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Eliza, you're not--"

"Stop talking! I hate you!"

[Pickman37]

Kadael,Do I recognize this girl as living here in the flat..?

Genevieve is surprised by the sudden appearance of the couple but the open hostility in the air causes her to attempt to defuse the situation by falling back on her training or, at least, what she can come up with in the spur of the moment...

"Eliza..."Genevieve turns and speaks as calmly as she can to the girl while motioning with her hand to the young man to stay back. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

[Kadael]

Genevieve has seen this girl, but she wasn't instantly recognizable because she's never witnessed her acting this way. She's always been calm and a little invisible.

Now, though, every move Eliza makes is dramatic and overwrought. "He's leaving and I'm scared," she wails, scratching at her face with mercifully short fingernails.

"Eliza, I'm just going to class!" The man gapes at her, arms outstretched as though he's begging her to come back, then looks over at Genevieve in that all-too-identifiable way: the helpmehelpmehelpme eyes.

"And while you're there the man will get me and rip out my eyes and you won't care and - and - and..." Eliza says it in one breath, which leaves her gasping in addition to her sobs.

The young man slowly shakes his head, the corners of his mouth drooping ever lower. "The police came. He is not going to get you or your eyes."

[Pickman37]

Genevieve is overwhelmed by what is happening. She finally recognizes the girl but this individual is not the one she recalls in memory. Her mind races...

The man who rips out eyes...? She must be suffering from hysteria. I need to separate her from the psychic stress. Genevieve reacts quickly, feeling the years of schooling have finally paid off...

This young man could be the stressor. I need to separate them...

Genevieve mentally details her schedule for the day and decides she has the time to deal with this. She addresses Eliza in the most calming and quiet tone she can...

"Eliza, we could go in for a tea and discuss what you're feeling. Your gentlemen friend can carry on to class and you and I can discuss this fear you are feeling. I'll be here with you and you'll be safe with me..."

[Kadael]

Eliza looks Genevieve up and down, then brushes her tears away and slowly nods. "...Okay. You... thank you." She keeps nodding to herself, mumbling almost inaudibly.

The young man gives Genevieve a look of gratitude and apology before waving goodbye to Eliza. She does not respond.