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 Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:34 pm
Little Bit of Leather and a Whole Lot of Lace'
Sorry folks, currently this play is open only to Antlers and Scheherazadea, but there is a possibility we might open it in the future.
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:21 pm
She was only three when her mother took her to her first ballet class. She was outfitted nearly entirely in pink, and a fluffy bow held her gold hair in a neat bun. She loved dancing, and always prided herself on being the most elegant person in the Hellsing household, except, perhaps, for Walter. She never made it to pointe, however. When her mother passed away, her ballet lessons were dropped, even though the family had more than enough funds. Richard simply wouldn't bother dealing with another of his daughter's hobbies.
...
They certainly were not the Aire-Soft brand, and the shoes tapped and padded loudly on the neglected ballroom floor. Evangeline was the first to dance in that cavernous dark hall for nearly a decade, and the vast emptiness of the room seemed to swallow her up in delight, the flickering light from the tallows illuminating the elegant girl and her creamy pink pointe shoes. Her hair billowed free and loose behind her as she sprung gracefully in the air, grinning as she stretched her long limbs up and out, trying to make the most of each leap. Her fingers were posed gracefully, flowing and undulating with each move, as her corseted chest rose and fell fetchingly in the candlelight. The floor squealed in delight as the satin shoes fluttered above the mahogany boards, while the walls stood tall and proud, watching silently. The wall sconces marveled at the amount of skin that danced before them - it had been years since they had seen a bare hand, free of a restricting kid glove. The windows remained shut up and closed behind suffocatingly thick velvet curtains that shivered and shook at the thought of being opened. The ballroom was meant to be forgotten.
A new addition was an older stereo system that rested on the floor. It was from a time when things were made of that odd fake wood paneling, but it still pumped out music loudly and boldly. This particular evening, it's rather large sub-woofer was placed on a particular spot that Evangeline knew to be right above The Vampire's coffin. Catching the powerful and rumbling melodies of Swan Lake, the girl flung her lithe body into the air for jete after jete, pounding the floors with glee.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:01 pm
--thump—swish—squeak, thump-thump-thump—creak—THUMP!
Within the profound darkness of his grand ebony coffin, Alucard’s eyes opened, illuminating the underside of the lid with two crimson slashes of light from underneath his half-closed eyelids.
A small amount of disorientation accompanied his sudden awakening. He had been having one of his rare dreams, and though the memory was fading fast, he concentrated deeply, trying to recall it. It had been a reliving of a moment from his distant past and it had been unusually…pleasant. I was human and I was… young… she was…
His brow furrowed as he focused all his mental energy on recalling it, but another particularly enthusiastic pounding of his ceiling distracted him from his task and the recollection faded completely, burning off like fog before the morning sun.
A deep frown twisted his thin, pale lips as the reason for the interruption once again crashed down on to the floorboards above him. Let me see… the trite, sickeningly sweet strains of Swan Lake, complete disregard of anyone but herself... it must be the purely ornamental cousin of Sir Integra, Miss Etherington.
A rapid staccato of fussy dance steps made Alucard grit his fangs and raise himself on his elbows, as he automatically dematerialized through the surface of his coffin and reformed his full attire. With a small mental flex, he rose through the air, a swirl of black and red. He melted through his ceiling and hovered in the air outside the doorway of the usually forgotten ball room for an instant, before landing softly to the floor on his booted heels.
Leaning against the archway, the towering vampire watched the girl’s imperfectly executed, yet somehow graceful movements behind his amber-tinted lenses in silence. When a pause in the ear-splittingly loud music occurred, he said in a low timbre, “What a lovely performance, Miss Etherington. I am truly fortunate to have witnessed such a display.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:13 pm
For the last chords in the song, Eviee held a beautiful arabesque on pointe, stretching out as far as she could while still keeping the pose elegant and effortless. She closed her eyes, savoring the long lines her body could paint, the firm and steady pulsing of her muscles as they rippled and flexed as she became a living work of art, on display in the middle of the vast, cavernous ballroom for nobody to see.
As she pushed herself to the limit and took that flowing, upheaving 'breath' at the end of her pose, she felt a surging of her blood. It was as if a spring nest of young spiders had hatched in her heart and the little ballooners were bumping and jostling against the inside of her skin, desperate to get out and fly away. It was a queer feeling - not altogether unpleasant, but not something that was comforting and soft either.
Evangeline knew the feeling to be That Vampire. She always seemed to be able to feel him when he was near, and the reason behind her sensitivity was unclear. She brushed it off, believing that he wanted her to feel him.
She came down out of the arabesque quietly as she turned to him, a grin playing upon her slightly flushed face. Her posture was strong, tall, yet open and bright. With her hair losing it's natural wave due to her activities of the long day (including but not limited to: horseback riding, flower picking, bird watching, more horses, taking care of her pet duck, pestering Walter, pestering Fargueson, reading, lounging, cooking, pastry eating, snuggling, horseback riding, running about, leaping, sewing, looking through clothing magazines, and counting her petticoat collection), she almost could be mistaking for her cousin as she stood there in the middle of the empty floor, finally coming to rest on the soles of her shoes, her body still inclined slightly forward. Her large eyes dilated and focused on the vampire in the corner, out of the gleam of the candlelight.
"I would bow and thank you for your kind words, but I know that was probably dripping with sarcasm. No one in this house cares for dancing, let alone ballet..."
Her grin faded as that terrible truth was spoken. It was true - no one seemed to care. She had danced in that hall many times before since she came to live again at the Manor, but every time she had no audience, no curious eyes. It was as if the residents and staff of that great house could handle the blood, the death, the gore, but if a little sweetness was thrown their way, they would wither and die like a leaf held over a flame. No doubt they would faint at the sight of her body, free of a dark and shielding suit or uniform. Eviee didn't own a proper ballet outfit, so instead she donned a light pink, tank-style chemise edged with ruffles and ribbon, and around her middle was a delicately finished corset. Her bloomers, although short, were puffy and ended in the middle of her thigh, giving way to light pink tights. She certainly had the body of a young lady, and she thanked the Gods every morning that she had not been cursed with the broad-and-ugly-shoulders gene.
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Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:25 am
((This has been edited, dear, revamped! Okay, that was corny. xp ))
“Hm, how ironic. You dance in an empty hall as if you don't wish to be noticed, yet you make sure the volume of the music is turned up as high as possible, over a room I’m sure you are aware is mine. Obviously, you wanted my attention and when you receive it…”
Alucard’s lips twitched at the corner as he took in her attire. Bubble gum pink. It looks like someone vomited that human stomach remedy all over her. He thought for a moment, trying to place the name of the chalky liquid he sometimes witnessed Sir Integra chugging for her ulcer and was pleased when he finally came up with it. Pepto Bismol.
Alucard focused his attention back on the foolish girl, who was looking at him with wide-eyed fascination, a look with which he was all too familiar. He sighed, plucking up the thread of his thoughts once again. “…when you receive it, you are suspicious and rude. I may be irritated by being awakened, but the compliment was genuine. It appears you have some ability-”
The Nosferatu paused, taking off his glasses and then twirled them between his long, dexterous fingers, watching the subdued light of the large chamber flash off the reflective lenses. He finally said softly, “-but since you cannot accept praise graciously, I shall make it a point not to offer it again.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:53 am
The billowing velvet curtains in Eviee's equally lavish mind began to close up, one...by one...by one. She had heard this tone so many times before; she had received the looks and the scoffs and the lectures too many times to count. Alucard sounded just like her father...her tutors, the maids, her friends, her teachers, her cousin...So it was no surprise that the constant repetition of this unending criticism made the girl's mind shut down almost immediately. If Evangeline had remained open during these situations, she would have surely thrown herself into the Thames or some sequestered loch long ago.
And so the curtains swung shut, and Eviee drifted off into more pleasant thoughts. This time, the subject was waterfowl. She could hear the words spoken by the Vampire, but invested no emotion into it. She already knew the gist of what he was trying to say - she was an evil being who deserved nothing but to burn in purgatory for all eternity. The usual banter she heard from everyone else.
But since Evangeline really wanted to talk to someone, she decided not to walk away as she usually would. Indeed, she had not spoken to an actual human being in over two weeks. She went about her business, but no one in the house held any words for her. She spoke often to her animals, and even though they often returned the conversation, it was not in the English tongue.
"Genuine?" she had picked up on this word and thought over it carefully, "That's a bit of a stretch for you. Your life is all about masks and facades and illusions. You hide behind those glasses and change into creatures when it so pleases you. You don't even use doors. You're simply a dog whose learned a few fancy tricks and remains forever under the boot of a b***h... I may long for praise, but I'd prefer to hear it from a human with at least half a heart".
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Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:23 am
“That’s true,” Alucard said mildly. A brief look of disgust curled his lip as he bent at the waist so that he was eye-level with the childish, unpleasant Hellsing. “I’m not human. I am a demon that survives by drinking the blood of the living and I have never pretended to be anything other than this. And now I serve your illustrious family, but do not think for a moment because you have a pretty face or that because you happen to have the blood of Abraham Van Helsing running in your veins that you automatically merit special consideration from me.”
The Nosferatu leaned in closer and his grin reached it’s maximum width, “After all, I had no reservations about eating your traitorous father- like a dog, if you wish-while your cousin watched, I might add.”
After a moment of drinking in her expression with delight, Alucard rose to his full height and replaced his glasses on the bridge of his blade-like nose and said, “So, the next time you feel the need to go scratching at someone’s door so you can show off your tricks and get patted on the head, (...why… like a dog!-”
Taking in her frilly costume, he chuckled. “-in your case, I would liken you to a terrier or a poodle that yaps and n** ankles, not dangerous, but certainly annoying), I invite you to go find yourself a human since that is preferable to you.”
He covered a fangy, face-splitting yawn with his gloved-hand, feeling fatigued to be up at such an unnatural hour, and continued, “And when you storm off (in your undoubtedly haughty manner) to sob and whine to some unfortunate soul, write an angry entry in your diary about how cruel everyone is to you, take an emotional, romantic ride on your horse, play dress-up or all of the above…”
Alucard waved his hand vaguely, losing the miniscule amount of interest he had in the subject and said, “... as long as I don’t have to hear or witness it, I will be elated.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:23 pm
Whenever a humanoid being ever got within striking distance of Evangeline, her entire demeanor could change in seconds. Her usually sweet and calm face grew hard and rigid as her eyes began to slant and cool; much like a cat's when seeing something particularly unpleasant ahead of it. Her shoulders pushed back and her stance became coiled and ready to fight or flee. The warrior inside of the frilly little girl was armed and ready. So often had she needed to take this posture when living alone and fighting for herself during her long and cold removal from British aristocratic society.
The moment he uttered, "do not think for a moment..." the curtains closed up again and Evangeline actually sneered. The same shite pouring from a different mouth. It was all the same lecture, over, and over..and over again. He sounded exactly like Integra, save for the mouthful of fanged teeth and breath that smelled like wet copper instead of rotting tobacco.
It was only when her father was mentioned that the corner of her eye quivered as she continued to match the gaze of the vampire. No one had spoken of Richard in ages. Much like Eviee herself, most residents of the manor behaved as if Richard Hellsing never existed. He had only a minuscule granite memorial square in the family plot, yet there was no body in the family tomb, which Eviee had often wondered about.
It took her a second to fully take in what he said to her, but the pain of having the rest of your already beaten, starved, and ragged heart ripped from your chest was nearly unbearable. She continued to hold his gaze, but her tawny eyebrows tilted ever so slightly to give her almost a pitying look.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet,
"Then I pray you are taken to heaven, since sweetness is such torture to you..."
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:34 am
Alucard’s lips parted slightly in surprise, but he then threw back his head, laughing uproariously, his gales of laughter echoed and amplified in the cavernous hall.
Walking down the corridor towards her office and discussing the increasing vampire attacks in Britain, Integra Fairbrooke Wingates Hellsing paused and exchanged a confused look with her loyal retainer, Walter C. Dollneaz. Without saying anything to each other, they both quickened their step towards the ballroom from whence Alucard’s laughter was issuing.
They both poked their heads in the door with identical wide-eyed expressions as Alucard’s laughter subsided into stray chuckles at Eviee, the apparent source of his amusement. “Miss Etherington, if heaven is peopled with sharp-tongued little bits of fluff like yourself then I will happily take Hell-fire and eternal torment.”
Integra reluctantly stepped across the threshold with Walter at her side, the changes in the usually forgotten room disorienting her. She sighed and frowned deeply, first at her troublesome servant and then at Eviee. “What’s going on here?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:37 pm
Eviee remained rooted to the spot with her arms across her chest, her eyes cold and slightly closed. She was rolling a single foot up and down onto pointe, pressing so hard that it felt as if she could break the shank if she cared to. Being laughed at infuriated her even more. At least at first she was being taken seriously. The words about her father were still bouncing off her like so many rocks thrown with the intent to break something fragile. She continued to stare at the vampire as he went through his little laughing fit, nearly on the verge of tears but doing a fair job of keeping it inside.
She wanted nothing more than to curl up in a big fluffy arm chair in a fire lit room; for someone to wrap their strong arms around her and tell her that she was loved, that she was someone who was worth something to the world. Someone who would take the time to be with her and enjoy her presence, even if no words were ever spoken.
Evangeline had just the perfect spot in mind as she started to block out the vampire's guttural chuckles....There was a lovely little reading room tucked into a dark corner of the third floor. Eviee had been warned not to ever go in there ever since she became old enough to read. The cramped study was filled with old, leather bound books that dealt with the occult and other dark magic practices from times that had been forgotten by all but a small handful of people. The original family diaries were kept in a glass case there - diaries that were shared with a certain talented writer to bring Alucard's amusing past adventures into the public light, if only under the guise of fiction....It would be a marvelous little space to hide in.
She was nearly about to turn on her toe and leave the room when she was met with two of her least favorite people peering through the doorway. Again she put her hands over her chest and sighed.
"Why don't you ask him?" she chirped, closing her eyes and looking off in another direction. "I wouldn't mind hearing what twisted situation he dreampt up in his damp mind...."
In honesty she didn't wish to tell them she was dancing, but her pink ballet shoes already gave her away. She wasn't entirely sure, but she had a feeling that her cousin didn't care for ballet and wouldn't want the rosin sticking up her floors...
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:11 pm
"Fine," Integra bit out, pushing a bothersome sheaf of her platinum hair behind her ear. "You tell me about this nonsense," she said, frowning her befouled floors and then turning her gaze at the chuckling nosferatu. "Stop laughing!"
"My humble apologies, my Master-" Alucard managed between snorts, not sounding sorry at all. "-but 'damp mind'! Don't you just love your dear little cousin?"
Integra clenched her jaw and crossed her arms and gave him her best 'I'm not amused look'. "Alucard, I'm really not in the mood."
"You're never in the mood, Master, and that's why you're going to shorten your already short life-span as a mortal," Alucard retorted smoothly. "Tragic, isn't it?"
Integra took a couple of deep breaths to keep herself from exploding on the grinning demon. "I'll ask you one more time…"
Alucard's grin widened and, after a calculated pause, he said airily. "Oh, your cousin and I were having a most charming conversation…about ships and sails and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings."
Integra's frown deepened but inside she was worried. She knew his sanity was always a question mark but she thought with his creation of his servant he might stabilize since he had an outlet. She decided to remain silent about his odd reference to Alice in Wonderland and wait.
After a moment, he continued. "The conversation was about as meaningful and productive as this, but if you'd like to know, Miss Etherington was kind enough to share her thoughts on my character and then we began reminiscing about the past."
Integra glanced briefly at Walter and Eviee, feeling her stomach sinking and then refocused on Alucard. "Oh?"
The vampire's fangs were shown in sharp relief as his grin broadened. "Yes, I told her about the day when we first met, my Master."
Integra flushed a dull brick red, horrified that he had told Eviee what had happened. She knew without being told that he hadn't edited the story to protect her, quite the contrary knowing him. "Get out of my sight," she finally stated in a dead voice.
"As you wish, my Master," Alucard said doffing his hat and bowing deeply. "Good day... Walter... Miss Etherington," he stated with hilarity still evident in his voice. With that, he vanished through the floor in swirl of red and black.
Integra once again looked at Walter and almost felt undone by the look of sympathy in his eyes. She straightened her back and locked her emotions inside, trying to forget the day she had shot her uncle and then granted the starving vampire permission to eat him.
The most shameful part was she had felt a fierce joy at defeating Richard and having a powerful creature at her command. She hated herself for the way she had behaved, believed herself better, a loyal servant to God and country, but she wondered when she wasn't busy with her constant duties, if she was any better than her blood-thirsty servant.
"Evangeline, I… am sorry you had to hear that,"Integra said stiffly. She reached out her hand to grasp Eviee's smaller one but pulled back when she decided the girl wouldn't want to touch her father's murderer, whether it had been in self-defense or not.
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Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:18 pm
The tense girl stood there, listening to the exchange. That vampire was no better than a child! Here is poor Evangeline being scolded and lectured on her apparent immaturity and childishness when Alucard haunts the house like a spoiled little boy! Eviee was enraged. She couldn't stand people with no sympathy in their hearts. She longed for some kind of kindness, some sort of love. Indeed it had been a lonely month for her. She hadn't spoken to her cousin in nearly a month, and all Walter ever did was chide her for whatever trivial thing.
As soon as the vampire seeped into the floor, the girl placed her hands over her face and started to sob. She was destined to be this worthless thing, wasn't she? She had no standing in society, barely any money, and no way to advance herself with anyone. Her father had left this life in the most horrid way possible, and it seemed like no one was ever going to let her forget that.
As Integra reached out her gloved hand, Evangeline turned and walked limply to a lounging couch covered in a large white drape. Most of the furniture in the room was shielded from the dust and elements with these sheets, giving them the appearance of misshapen ghosts lurking about the cavernous room. Into this chair she curled up, hiding her head amongst her skinny arms and her pink pointeshoe feet tucked underneath her.
"Well," she sobbed, "it was only a matter of time before you shouted the same thing at me during some argument....You're always shouting...."
Quietly she added, in a shaken and hesitant voice, "I wish I could actually do something of worth here..."
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Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:54 pm
"Shouting?" Integra questioned, fastening on the word in her distress, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What?"
Recognizing that Integra's reaction to the combination of Eviee's manner and the previous upsetting conversation with Alucard would probably result in her raising her voice, Walter spoke for the first time. "Miss Evangeline, I thought you were content here. You are free to cultivate your hobbies and you want for nothing."
He pressed is lips together, realizing that his phrasing did make it sound like she was a useless ornament. Hazarding a look at his skeptical-looking leader, he continued, "But what did you have in mind? I'm sure we can arrange more diversions for you. More books? Or perhaps you would like to travel?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:00 am
As she lay there on the white settee in a crumpled up ball, she began thinking about how she was going to get out of the rut she found herself in. She needed to start making connections with the officers of the vampire unit, forging a stronger alliance with the Knights, and getting herself into high society. Integra would not live forever, and from the way the women kept acting, it felt as if she would perish soon in some dramatic, soldier-like way. Eviee's cousin didn't seem to be as in love with life as Evangeline was. Her passion for living, and a living a good life, seemed to have died with her father... Now that Evangeline thought about it, Integra never seemed that interesting even as a child. Always shut up in her room or alone with her father or Walter, never caring to join Eviee in more pleasurable pursuits. What a waste of a life.
Eviee was brought out of her thoughts by the uncharacteristically kind voice of Walter. She raised her pink and puffy eyes cautiously, surveying the ramrod straight man before her. It had to be some sort of manipulation - he rarely spoke to her with the ease and sensitivity he had now. Perhaps he's drunk...
"The diversion I desire is one I doubt you'll ever reward to me..." she spoke slowly, unraveling herself and turning on the sofa to face away from them. In truth, Evangeline hated making eye contact with almost everyone.
"You let that bumbling street urchin fight for this family, yet you won't so much as allow me to be in the same room with a soldier. You've fooled yourself into thinking I can't defend my country, and you are content to let me waste away. If you ever were my blood relation, you would allow me to battle under my own family crest..."
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