"Everytime you kissed me I trembled like a child..."
Lightning struck. Thunder echoed off of the mountains. The rain pattered against the asphalt of the road and the cement of the sidewalk. A small slosh emanated from the ground every time you took another step. Occasionally a car would come by and disturb the peaceful pitter-patter of everything. The weather had been similar to this for the past few days.
"Gathering the roses, we sang for the hope..."
You lightly gripped the umbrella's handle, keeping it steady as a slight breeze threatened to blow it away, a few strands of your (h/l), (h/c) hair straying from their original places. You kept your (e/c) eyes focused on the ground, not wanting to look up and end up getting splattered in the face by rain.
"Your very voice is in my heartbeat, sweeter than my dream..."
You were walking home from the library after returning some books. Your house wasn't very far, and it wouldn't be worth it to waste the gas, so you simply walked.
"We were there in everlasting bloom-"
Just ahead of you was the old Nightray mansion, long abandoned and rotting. Lightning struck the building, causing you to jump a little. It was amazing said building was still standing after all of these years. No one dared to demolish it, but no one dared restore it either. It just kind of existed. Some of the old cement that held the building together chipped off where the lightning had struck, leaving an imprint of the lightning bolt from the top of the building down to the ground.
You passed this building everyday on your way to school, which was, once again, close enough to walk rather than drive.
You lived on your own. Your mother had died shortly after giving birth, and your brother was murdered. Your father had committed suicide due to both of these things. But you were still here, desperately getting by.
You now passed the gate of the mansion. Normally you wouldn't have stopped, but you heard something. It was a male's voice. He was singing. It was slightly disturbing as he was continuing the song you had been quietly singing.
"Roses die, the secret is inside the pain. Winds are high up on the hill, I cannot hear you. Come and hold me close, I'm shivering cold in the heart of rain. Darkness falls, I'm calling for the dawn..."
An eerie silence took hold, the wind blowing a bit harder and howling against the shattered windows of the mansion. You simply stood wide eyed, watching the mansion, trying to see if anyone was nearby, or perhaps if someone had been following you. However, you were on your own, the rain keeping everyone locked inside, whether it be in their cars, houses, or some other building.
You shook your head. There was no way in hell that was possible. You'd probably been imagining things. With a nod, confirming your thoughts, you continued walking back to your house, the thoughts of the male not quite able to leave your mind.
It didn't take long for you to arrive at your house, pulling out your keys and unlocking the door, then pushing it open and heading inside.
You resumed your normal schedule; studying, watching (favorite t.v. show), eating, showering, then getting ready for bed. You ran your fingers through your now wet hair and let the towel fall to the floor, changing into your pajamas.
After a quick walk through the small studio apartment you resided in to make sure all of the lights were off, you went back to your room, stopping at the door as a familiar tune gently filled the air. It was a music box. Such a nostalgic melody...
You glanced back at the front door, only to find that the melody disappeared as quickly as it had made itself present.
Lightning struck, lighting up the house for a brief moment before returning it to darkness. The thunder brought you from your thoughts, allowing you to simply shrug off the music box and flop onto the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The infernal noise of your alarm clock brought you back to the waking world. Although it was a Saturday, you didn't want to risk sleeping the day away, so you woke up at your normal time; six in the morning.
Your morning went on as usual, with no guy or music box making you question your sanity. You got dressed and ate breakfast, then did the chores that needed to be done around the house. You didn't work today, so you'd be free to do as you pleased all day.
By the time you'd finished everything you needed to do for the day, it was noon. The weather was still rainy outside, but that wouldn't stop you from taking a walk.
You put on your long (favorite color) trench coat and grabbed your umbrella. You walked outside and locked the door, then proceeded to open the umbrella and begin walking. There was no place in specific that you wanted to go, so you just let your feet guide you wherever.
After several minutes of walking, you found yourself stopped in front of a familiar mansion. You were practically bursting with curiosity to find out if anyone was residing within the collapsing walls.
So focused on your curiosity, you had yet to notice the piano music coming faintly from the mansion. It was the same tune. The one from the music box. The one you and the male had been singing.
Unconsciously you closed your umbrella and hid it in the bushes, your feet dragging you up to the mansion's front door as if it were some kind of magnetic force.
With a soft, "Who on earth...?" you walked through the broken door, avoiding the splintered wood. As you entered the mansion, the piano became a bit more clear and loud, the occasional clapping of thunder accompanying it.
Inside the mansion was beautiful. The whole interior had sort of a dark, yet nostalgic glow. There was ivy growing along the walls and a few plants here and there sprouting up in between the cracks of wood. Some of the candlesticks along the walls had been stolen or damaged, hanging loosely by a bit of metal, though some were left untouched and unharmed. Others had some of the ivy twisting around them, covering the old, beige-looking wax. The floorboards, besides being habitat to a few bugs and plants, were cracked, and some were missing to reveal a basement beneath the mansion. The marble-looking stairs were cracked and missing as well, not to mention the severe lack of railing that would have guided people up and down the magnificent set of stairs. Traces of a red carpet remained, although what was left was extremely discolored and tattered. Old paintings on the walls were either mostly destroyed or stolen. But there was one that stuck out.
You carefully made your way up the first set of stairs, facing a rather large painting. On it, although it had its fair share of rips and tears, was a boy of around 16. He had piercing blue eyes and beige hair, and he wore a soft, gentle smile. Underneath his left eye he had a mole. Both of his ears were pierced and contained blue studs. He was dressed like a noble. You ran your finger along the bottom of the painting, brushing some dust off of the old metal.
"E... Elliot Nightray?" You softly spoke. Right... he was the Nightray family's youngest son. The moment you spoke of his name, the music came to an abrupt halt.
Your head shot up in the direction of where you had last heard it coming from. Careful not to fall down any holes or step anywhere that might crumble beneath your feet, you walked up a second set of stairs and down a hallway.
All except one of the doors were closed, although it wouldn't take much effort to open said doors, as they weren't locked and most were already off their hinges anyways. But why was that single door open...? You were going to find out.
You sort of sneaked through the hallway, not wanting to alert anyone of your presence, although sneaking made no difference as the floorboards groaned beneath your feet. The open door remained open as you approached. You peeked inside but saw know one. Leaning against one of the withered walls for a moment, you took a deep breath and let out a sigh, then turned the corner and entered the room.
Inside was a large, beautiful, old grand piano. It was broken. Its keys were cracked, and several of the strings inside had snapped. The bench was knocked over, on the floor, and on the stand was a few papers of sheet music, smeared, torn, and withered away. Similar papers could be found on the ground around it. The curtains were drawn back, held by a rotting piece of cloth, allowing the light to slip in, although they were ripped and tattered, so light would have gotten in regardless. The floor was all in one piece, thankfully. Some old, Victorian-style furniture existed in the room, but most of it had rotten away or had been knocked over, some of it was even stolen. Paintings decorated the walls, though all were unrecognizable. A few droplets of water dropped at a constant rate from the ceiling.
You walked over to the piano, curious to see if it still worked somewhat. After deciding which keys still had strings, you gently let your hand hover over the cracked key before ever-so-slightly pressing it down. You let the out-of-tune note ring through the air for a moment before lifting your hand.
You looked up from the piano and jumped. There was a shadow. Or, rather, in more detail, an apparition. You could feel your heart rate increasing. A ghost...? It was gone just as soon as it had appeared.
It was then that you felt a slight shaking in the ground, then an ear-shattering split. Your eyes quickly flickered back and forth between where the ghost had been, the door, and the ground. As you looked at the ground, there was a noticeable, rather large crack in it. The floor was collapsing! You didn't hesitate to run for the door, forgetting about the ghost and the piano. If only you had left sooner...
It was too late. You felt the ground disappear from underneath you. Gravity took hold, and sent you barreling down to the floor below, following the piano. With a loud crash, the piano shattered, and with a loud thump, your now limp, unconscious body hit the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ow. All you could remember was pain. All you could feel was pain. All you could see was darkness. All you could hear was a gentle melody flowing in the background. A music box. A piano. Both. And a young boy sat at the piano, his blue eyes closed, his hands moving across the piano to produce such a lovely, nostalgic melody...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a grunt of pain and the rubbing of your forehead, you forced your eyes open. The amount of light blinded you, causing you to just close your eyes once again.
"She's awake. Leo. Go fetch a doctor." You heard a voice command. Someone had found you? Maybe it was the other person who had been playing the piano in the mansion before.
For some reason or another, you recognized this voice, like you had heard it once before. That's right. It was the same voice from before who had continued your song.
You wanted to open your eyes to look at who this boy was so you would know who he might be, but your eyes refused to cooperate.
Another male's voice, though not one you recognized, replied quickly, and what he said took your breath away and left you dumbfounded. "Right away, Elliot."