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last online May 14, 2024 20:14:43 GMT -7
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Nov 5, 2020 15:43:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2020 15:43:45 GMT -7
It had been a while since Lúthien had last escaped her prison. It might be slightly over the top to describe it as such but sometimes the castle filled with students was a prison. Not even because she wasn't allowed to torture students in any way that was actually fun but also because she was expected to be.... Melody. There were some very obvious differences between Melody and Lúthien and for good reason. Lúthien was supposed to be dead and Melody clearly was not. That was just the most on the nose one. There was also the parts of their personalities. Lúthien was a very reserved kind of woman that barely spoke and usually only lured venom and hatred out of people and loved every second of it. She barely spoke a word more than needed and almost never ever smiled, except to mock people or in a semblence of smug arrogance, although the second was rare. She was too often bored to tears where arrogance just felt unneeded. Melody? That was a cheerful girl that talked far more in a day than Lúthien would in a year and almost never spoke many sensible words in a row. She was a girl of many smiles, a cheerful and positive person that enjoyed company and didn't always feel a need to be the smartest in the room. She liked people and social things and could gush endlessly about the most dumb and trivial things. Exactly the kind of person that Lúthien herself despised and hated being around. The only advantage was that she could (in her fake enthusiasm) interrupt people all the time and then deliver seemingly well meant apologies before telling them to continue the story. Lúthien felt herself going mad, which wasn't exactly an improvement. Still, she couldn't really risk her true identity coming out and nobody would ever suspect somebody so different from her to be Lúthien. It was her chance of a new life but it wasn't easy. The only good thing about today was that the students were off and she had some time to leave the library and go out and about where people wouldn't expect her. Still, she had to keep the act up most of the time. People here knew and rumours always spread too fast. She needed a break and thus she'd headed of to the shrieking shack. It was supposed to be intimidating but at least it was usually quiet. She could finally wipe the stupid grin off her face for a while and revel in her own annoyances. Possibly even scream since anybody in the distance would suspect it to come from the haunted house. Lúthien was mindly curious, as she didn't really understand what there was to fear. Having been a hired assassin in the past she'd done unspeakable things to people for money. She could easily conjure up dozens of images of very mutilated people that had failed to pass because she'd gotten paid extra to make their suffering long. She didn't flinch or feel much in terms of regret when she came at those memories. It was meaningless. She finally started to feel a little more like herself when she heard a noise behind her. She was not alone it seemed. She could feel her old self roaring inside to take over, but she knew she shouldn't. She so longed for it, to taste the poison in her mouth before spitting it at another human being. She hated being good with a passion. She stood still as a statue, which definitively wasn't much of a Melody trait and briefly glanced almost imperceptable over her shoulder. A male, not a familiar one. Decent build, relatively athletic. Exactly the build of those she loved humiliating due to their arrogance in believing they could overpower her simply because they were strong. Not that he was guaranteed to be one of them. She mentally sighed and screamed but failed to move for moments as she waited for him to get a bit closer. She then looked over her shoulder in a far more fluid and natural movement than she herself cared to use. Efficient and with the grace of a cat, that was Lúthien. Melody was... cheerful. Not efficient and not by default graceful either. Just common. "Hey!" She greeted him with Melody's usual cheer. "It's so eery! I mean, like, I knew it was supposed to be and all but I didn't get around to seeing it yet. What do you think happened? I tried to find it in the books and local history and all but I keep coming up blank....." She pulled a face that was designed as slightly disappointed before seemingly getting an idea and smiling at him broadly. Oh how she detested this. "Oh! Do you think there's folklore? Please tell me you know some stories!" She was half begging on the outside and attempting to hold back vomit on the inside. This was horrible, but it'd have to do. Maybe in a few months she could create some tragedy to take her personality down a few notches. At least there would be enough people that knew how irritatably happy she'd been before. They could vouch it was absolutely impossible that somebody like Melody would be Lúthien. If only they knew. Well, better not of course. rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,186 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 14, 2024 10:14:09 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 6, 2020 3:26:47 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Nov 6, 2020 3:26:47 GMT -7
cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
October 2025
Rhys stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and paused, taking a moment to roll his head to the left and then the right. Barely audible pops sounded as his neck cracked, it was sore but so was his whole being it seemed. Tossing and turning didn't do much for the quality of Rhys' sleep and he seemed that these past few weeks it had been more difficult most of the time than he would have liked. It was thankful he wasn't completely back to work as well since this type of exhaustion tended to lead to mistakes and mistakes lead to injuries or often something worse. He'd been injured on the job before, though even the most severe he didn't have to Owl his siblings or really cause any alert and then he was healed and recovered and went on his merry way. The Shreiking Shack was an infamous building pre-dating even the previous generation of Hogwarts students, he'd heard stories of course but who knew what the truth was from the lie and any attempt to ask a Professor usually resulted in a dismissal as a stupid question. Then again he was friends with more Professors now than before, perhaps he could ask Renfri who also happened to teach History of Magic what she knew, for his own personal curiosity.
Still it was easy enough to find a way into the Shack and he was sure that students snuck in here but the times he'd come for peace and quiet and a change of scenery especially with the quarantine he'd come here a few times. Again, curiosity got the better of him--a natural trait for his chosen profession. And since it was a place of history that also appealed to him. For now he stood pondering the history and mystery of such a simple building. It was fascinating merely on the level of that simplicity--the tombs he'd encountered large and small were so ornate and even just finding treasures for the bank. He walked up and only really looked up when he heard a voice and a woman was standing looking back at him as he approached. She enthusiastically asking him questions very quickly about the Shack and Rhys paused because he didn't recognize her at all and that didn't seem to matter to her. Though it just reminded Rhys of the times he'd gone to the museum as a child and encountered enthusiastic patrons.
She smiled brightly at him, it was refreshing actually. A pretty face that wasn't out to get him with a hidden agenda. Some of the reason for the walk today was to hopefully clear his head of that. She seemed young or at least in her eagerness which caused Rhys to half smile as he walked up to stand next to her. "I don't know much, they never told us much when we were at the school." He commented, it seemed like he wasn't the only curious one today. "I just heard its haunted but I don't know why." He added, even with his resources in Curse Breaking it was hard to find out certain things so he was always fascinated at why it was like that.
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last online May 14, 2024 20:14:43 GMT -7
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Nov 6, 2020 12:40:21 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2020 12:40:21 GMT -7
It seemed that knowledge on this place wasn't freely available, which made it appeal to her so much more than it otherwise might have. She was starved for something happening, it didn't really matter to her what. Just a simple fight, somebody getting so seriously hurt you could almost smell the blood. Maybe an adventure gone horribly wrong. Maybe going on an adventure more than anything. She felt stifled and as if she was sufficating in a life that didn't really belong to her. Maybe she hadn't exactly picked the right profession for herself but it was low key and didn't draw a lot of attention from law enforcement. Last they'd expect (if they were even on to her) was that she'd suddenly become a cheerful and chatty lawful citizen. She hated every second of it too! Still, the fact he'd gone to school here barely caught her interest. Her new alter ego naturally would be far more enthusiastic than she'd ever be. If it had been her at the sail she'd probably have given a kurt nod, perhaps the hint of a smile if she planned mischief with him rather than with him as target. Now she was just... horrible. She wanted to cast her eyes to the sky in annoyance at everything she couldn't do. "Did you ever..." She gave him a bit of a nervous fidgetty smile. "I don't know, break the rules and sneak off to explore?" She sounded guilty for even entertaining the thought. She would have been anything but worried about such things if she'd been a student here seeking for entertainment. It was so innocent. It made her want to vomit. Loudly. She giggled nervously for a moment. "I mean, most of my knowledge comes from books and everything. I wish I had the guts to just go on a limb and explore, you know?" She grinned a little, keeping the very awkward body language. "I guess I have a bit of a rebel in me?" She asked it as a question while she knew it to be absolute nonsense. She found rebel a far too soft description for the monster that was lurking below the surface, hoping and dreaming of just luring him off somewhere and tearing him to pieces just a little. She'd have to erase his memory after so he wouldn't know the truth of what he'd seen of course. Still, it seemed more and more tempting as seconds ticked by. Too bad he was decently attractive to top it all off. Nothing out of this world but nothing too disappointing to look at either. She turned her eyes to the building, very careful to maintain her expression while her thoughts strayed a little. It was easy to dream of her old life, but she knew she couldn't go back to it. Maybe eventually she could seek her way back to a life without too many rules but for now this seemed to be where she was stuck. Her personality was so opposite to her own that it felt like she'd robbed herself of any fun, unless she sauntered off to knockturne alley. Despite everything she'd managed to give a devious side to Melody. The girl had quite the knack for knowledge and making sure as much as possible was available to students. She could strike mean bargains and used the fact too many people underestimated her like this to her advantage. It hurt her pride immensely as she was proud of the fact she'd been able to command a room if needed. People had never really dared cross her without at least expecting some form of trouble. The few arrogant enough to think she wasn't a threat had always ended up regretting that, if they'd lived long enough to do so. It was partially why she'd fallen for Cas so much. He had always respected her as a worthy opponent, although by now she wanted something else from him. Trust, the one thing he wasn't willing to give so freely. Perhaps that was part of why she wanted it. With him it also felt like she had her old life back. Not the one of crime but the one before that. The one from back when she'd been a young teen, angry at her mother and the world but still willing to work within the loopholes of the law. Around him she'd felt young and capable of good deeds between the lines. She wasn't born to follow rules but sometimes it was nice to think she didn't have to live a life glued together by lies and deceit. Now that would truly be nice. She glanced over towards the stranger again. "Oh my, I'm so sorry, I was totally spacing for a moment there and I didn't even introduce myself." She smiled and held her hand out to him. "I'm Melody, pleasure to meet you." Now that wasn't a full lie. At least he wasn't as annoyingly chatty as she herself was. Maybe he could unwillingly help her get a reason for a rather permanent personality shift. It all started to depend on how she played her cards. Luckily a life time of practise would make her able to decide if it was worth the possible risk in the long run. Time would tell indeed. rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,186 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 14, 2024 10:14:09 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 7, 2020 15:02:03 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Nov 7, 2020 15:02:03 GMT -7
cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
October 2025
Rhys looked at the woman, she was a lot shorter than him and this this contagious energy. Still he sensed something else but he didn't think too much on that--he didn't know her nearly well enough to try and decipher what his instincts must be telling him. Though her less than subtle question about sneaking in seemed to answer that question. Rhys raised an eyebrow, in fact he had found it easy to sneak into the Shack though the students he used to break that rule with had been a very small group of very close friends since the last thing he had wanted was whatever punishment that had ensued. All the time he'd spent in detention for being in the wrong place and the wrong time but he'd never managed to get caught for that fortunately. Still, he paused at her suggesting question, mostly for some suspense. "I might have a time or two, it isn't difficult." It had been a long time since someone had asked him about his school days and truthfully he usually didn't like to revisit them--but this topic wasn't a bad memory for him.
Rhys looked back at the Shack and then back at the woman, was she suggesting something or just musing out loud. Either way he didn't have anywhere to be and honestly this was entirely different than anything he'd encountered this whole time home and even for him it was nice to break the routine. She wasn't Maria, all that giggly energy was completely different and even from Deva. Maybe Rhys was getting old, he liked having a routine and a plan where the only variable might have been where he went to work and what it would entail but things changed. And this year a lot had changed, he had changed. He pondered for a moment, sneaking into the Shack was hardly a legal offense and he wasn't a student anymore so it wouldn't be such an event if they got caught. Rhys didn't answer right away and the woman seemed to be lost in thought for a second, not that he minded as he was still pondering his next step.
She came out of her thought and then hurriedly introduced herself as if just remembering her manners, he smiled slightly. Rhys took his hand out of his jacket pocket and grasped her hand, it was soft and warm and small in his own. "Rhys." He merely responded with his own name for now. But since they were on a first name basis, "I can show you how to get in, if you like?" Rhys suggested. There was something...contagious about her energy even for a brooding type like herself. There was that sense of something else about her, but he didn't mind it for now. "Do you work around here?" He asked. Rhys figured since she was here she might have worked nearby or maybe she was like him and had wandered over to these parts despite not really being from the area.
Even Rhys knew he even despite what self-control or restraint he put on himself it would always be a pretty girl that could talk him out of it. It seemed to be a curse that befell even his brother at times. These past months had created complicated entanglements of that he was still attempting to process and sneaking into the Shreiking Shack just sounded...fun. Just what he needed, something fun and not dark and twisty as was a recurring theme in his own life. Melody. She seemed innocent enough and nothing had to come from it but perhaps his craving for something different was driving him today.
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last online May 14, 2024 20:14:43 GMT -7
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Nov 9, 2020 4:19:54 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 4:19:54 GMT -7
Well he certainly was turning out to be fun to play with. At least he was aware of the game of suspense, something Melody was not quite. Lúthien made use of that, seemingly tense while he allowed his moment of silence to stretch her fraying nerves. She pretended to be somewhat relieved. "Not fair playing with my nerves like that!" She said in a half complaint. "For a second I was worried you planned on calling law enforcement to come bring me in for planning a burglary or something." She let out a breath in relief, seemingly absently checking her heart beat. "I clearly wasn't built to break the rules. My mom was very strict so breaking the rules was a total no go." Oversharing as usual, but luckily Lúthien had been prepared for this. Sometimes it started to feel almost like she had a split personality, although that luckily wasn't the case. If she had to keep this up too long then perhaps it would develop? She didn't really know how those things came to be but pretending for too long couldn't really do a person too much good. She needed to get out of this fake skin, if only for a moment. Ghost hunting seemed like a fun enough path to take in order to escape this boring mundane life of cheer. How she longed to pain the walls in blood. Things were going perfectly. It would have been according to plan, if there had been one to begin with. This couldn't exactly be planned but that didn't mean that Lúthien wasn't planning to make the most of it. So his suggestion to show her the way in was absolutely perfect. Nobody would expect anybody in there, would they? With the reputation the building had it wouldn't surprise her if nobody would come to the sounds of screaming. Anybody would be a fool to head in with somebody they didn't know at all, even if they seemed to be perfectly good. Some people were good at heart and clearly trusted too easily. She wouldn't complain of course. It would feed into her blood lust to know these things and know a way into the building. It wasn't that she missed the killing in reality, she just missed being herself. Murder did seem like the easiest way to remember herself, or not even murder, just drawing blood. "Pleased to meet you Rhys!" She said all chipper and cheerful. "It would be kind of nice. Just promise you won't hate me if I get spooked and scream out my lungs. I'm not very good with jump scares." She looked around a little nervously. "And I never really broke the rules before." Now that was a lie to top all lies. She hadn't even made it to the age of 6 without breaking laws and at school she definitively hadn't been that good either. Although it had started with petty theft she was far from the innocent person she pretended to be by now. Although she didn't exactly plan to rush back to being the person that had gotten herself in jail. She wanted to walk the grey zone for a while. She had wanted to be good, it clearly wasn't who she was. She'd tried being bad and while it suited her it hadn't brought her any joy either. Perhaps she'd be able to find what she wanted and needed if she just found the perfect middle ground to walk on. He seemed to be the first step in that direction. If nothing else he could possibly offer up an opportunity for her to create a scenario to downscale the peppy nature. When asked if she worked around here Lúthien had to do quite a bit of effort to conjure up the guilty flush in her face. She hated blushing but being a metamorph made such things a lot easier for faking emotions. "Oh yeah... " She said, suddenly very shy. "I'm actually the new librarian at Hogwarts." She smiled a little sheepishly and allowed a little more colour to appear on her cheeks. Ugh, she wanted to vomit but she kept the shy smile on her face. "I figured that since I couldn't find any books on why or how the shack is haunted I could possibly figure it out for myself?" She said it as a question but the idea was actually in full honesty, just with a different intention. She was mildly curious and it wasn't odd for a person such as Melody to attempt to research it for... lore reasons. "You'll protect me, right?" She asked a bit awkwardly, as if she felt a little uncomfortable admitting just how scared or nervous she was about her own idea of going in to do research. Lúthien was starting to see the appeal of playing the sweet innocent girl in this scenario and gained a newfound appreciation for her old friendship with Lotten. She'd learned a lot from the girl that enjoyed playing guys like a fiddle. Perhaps that knowledge could come in handy in her new role. rhys alexander greyback
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rhys alexander greyback
HOGWARTS ALUM WEREWOLF CURSEBREAKER ECHO
1,186 posts
played by vanessa
the air around me still feels like a cage
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last online May 14, 2024 10:14:09 GMT -7
WIZARDING ADULT
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Nov 10, 2020 1:59:36 GMT -7
Post by rhys alexander greyback on Nov 10, 2020 1:59:36 GMT -7
cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
October 2025
Rhys had not meant to pause for so long, he had been thinking—he was trying to get a better sense of the situation. It was not abnormal for him to do so. Almost seven years in his career had caused him to be take a moment and take in a situation before rushing in. When it came to his job you did not just rush into a site without really evaluating it, like entering a building and knowing where the exits were always. It came naturally to him, but he was only a man and his track record at work tended to be much better than it was in real life. He thought of his current entanglements, the women in his life who each affected him in different ways, but he could not seem to let go of either of them. Melody, she seemed sweet and by her reaction to his responses she seemed innocent enough. It was almost refreshing since his whole experience since the Spring had certainly been less than innocent.
”Oh, I’m sure the Aurors have much bigger things to worry about than who is breaking into the Shrieking Shack” Rhys commented, his tone reassuring. Melody responded saying she was not typically a rule breaker and he thought of Deva and how she was mostly the same way. That innocence and penchant for good, maybe Melody was the same. She was friendly and bubbly, and it was a far cry from his own more introverted nature. When he had been younger personalities such as this had been a bit overwhelming but the older he go the more used to it he had become and traveling to many places had exposed him to many different personalities so he’d managed to learn to try and get along with people until he was given a reason not to. Her warnings caused him to smile a bit more, maybe her energy was just contagious after all.
”You’ll be fine.” Again he tried to be reassuring, in his experiences there hadn’t been anything of consequence in the Shack which had been interesting but then disappointing considering the legends and lore around this place. It had also been disappointing considering there was not any evidence in the Shack either to explain its origins or what had inspired the myths. It had been a secret among him and his friends that there wasn’t anything to worry about since he didn’t want to risk saying something to the wrong student and the staff finding out, yet he end up with even more detention than he had already been receiving. Rhys seemed to perk up some when she mentioned Hogwarts, it seemed he was becoming more and more acquainted with the staff the longer he stayed on the isles. It was not a bad thing, and it was not a good thing, he never wanted to interfere with his siblings work there but he could not just help but mention it at least. ”Oh, my younger sister Max is in her seventh year there.” He commented, maybe he would bring up his old co-workers later.
Rhys nodded, she had similar intentions to what he and his friends had intended to find out as teenagers. It was not the route his had imagined his day would go, he figured he would go for a walk to clear his head and then go find some whiskey to drink. This little impromptu adventure was not something he would normally do but the antsy feeling he’d been carrying for the past few weeks pushed him to it as naturally as it would have accepting a job from the Bank. It basically gave him something to do today and it was out of routine. ”I’m not sure why they keep it such a mystery….” He looked back at the Shack, the draw of a puzzle was something he always enjoyed. The curiosity and drive had served him well at work, what was the mystery of the Shrieking Shack if not just another puzzle? Rhys looked back at Melody and her as she asked him. ”Sure.”
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last online May 14, 2024 20:14:43 GMT -7
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Dec 26, 2020 16:37:29 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2020 16:37:29 GMT -7
It was amusing that his statement was true without a doubt. The aurors had much better things to worry about than who was breaking into the shrieking shack but had they known the identity they would have better things to worry about than why she was breaking into the exact same location. It would be a matter of being able to catch her without anybody actually dying in the process. Being legally dead had some pretty large advantages to it, since the hunt on her had ceased and pretty much nobody was bothering her. She finally got to live her life a little again, although it was dull and boring. Being a librarian gave her access to a lot of knowledge but the school library wasn't as impressive on dark arts as the one in Durmstrang had been. Apart from that it was a hassle in not being able to punish students for misbehaving in highly creative ways. Nobody would have considered damaging school books if she'd had her way, but that would have given her away and led to a fair amount of parents pulling their children from school. Too bad, so sad. He seemed to get along with Melody though, which said he was probably a good person. How dull how many good people the world had. Where were the few willing to liven things up a little? It didn't even have to be death! Then again, he was considering an impromptu break in, which gave him quite a few points. He mentioned his younger sister studied at Hogwarts and Melody kicked into gear. She smiled brightly and nodded. "Oh that is so cool!" She gushed enthusiastically. "Which house is she in? I never really got to go to like a big school. My dad mostly homeschooled me. It wasn't too bad but I just keep imagining which house I'd have been sorted in." She giggled a little self consciously while also mentally vomiting at her own behaviour. All part of the job. "I think I might have been hufflepuff? I don't think I've got the bravery of a gryffindor or something. I also might have been ravenclaw but I think I'd be better suited to hufflepuff really." Except totally not. She found those in the badger house were far too nice. She personally found herself drawn far more to Slytherin, although it had nothing to do with the purity ideals. Those held very little appeal to her. With his promise of protection Melody beamed brightly and then looked around a little nervously. "We should probably go before I chicken out." She said a little awkwardly before stepping through the fence and taking a few hesitant steps towards the shack. She normally might have marched right up but it didn't really appeal that much with somebody out here watching. She smiled a little, as if jittery from the nerves and excitement of breaking the rules. It was fun enough, although there was very little sense in storming in. Not that she'd know much in her current state but perhaps he was smarter. "Do you think they have like alarms or something if we get too close? Like some of the muggle houses?" She suggested nervously, although mostly so he'd check and hopefully be able to disable them so she wouldn't have to do so. It would give her tendency for sneaking around places she wasn't supposed to be away when she'd just claimed that she didn't do that often. Part of murdering people for a living tended to mean that you needed to make sure they didn't get a warning to either arm themselves or get a head start in running away. If you could get in unnoticed it was so much easier to take them down. rhys alexander greyback
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