Ghost Strings (Verilian)

by **Aello** on January 10th, 2011, 4:59 am

4 Winter, 510 AV

Aello was wandering through one of Ravok's many alleys. The alley was dark, and fairly cut off from the rest of the city. There was no one in sight, and the only other creatures that hung about were flies; several of them buzzing about a series of crates that had been left to rot farther down the alley, and a few fat, black rats, that were sifting through the garbage the wooden crates contained, presumably looking for their next meal.

Aello sighed, as she leaned up against a large wooden building, her head tilted up towards the sky. The sun was hidden behind a series of grey, ominous looking clouds, that threatened the entire city with a shower of rain. Her bag, rested on her lap, as did her bow, her quiver was leaning up against the wall, a few peacock feather-tipped arrows peeked out of the top. Other than the smell of rotting wood and garbage, among other things, the day had proven to be a relatively peaceful one, and Aello wondered how she should spend her time. She wasn't tired, so she supposed that was out of the picture, but was there anything she wanted to accomplish? Anyone she wanted to meet? Aello wondered, realizing rather quickly that the answer was no.

Aello sat quietly for a few minutes, looking up at the sky, when her stomach started to rumble. Aello laughed, she supposed it had been some time since she had last bothered to feed herself so she opened her bag, reached into it, and rummaged around inside for a while before pulling out an orange. Aello started to peel it slowly, the scent of citrus floating up to her nostrils. The scent was intoxicating, it smelled far better than most of the things in Ravok it seemed, and Aello enjoyed every minute of it. Slowly but surely she peeled the orange, doing her best to be careful with it, but still failing to keep herself from piercing its flesh, despite her best efforts. When Aello pierced the orange's skin with her nail, it caused a steady stream of orange juice to squirt out onto her hands. The juice started to drip down the side of her fingertips, and Aello soon found herself lifting her hands to her face so that she could delicately lap all of the juice up with her tongue. The juice was cool, tangy, and rather refreshing. Her hands now smelled distinctively of citrus. Aello smiled; she didn't mind. The citrus smelled good, and was strangely alluring.

Aello split the orange in half using her two thumbs, as she cupped the meat in her hands, she then broke off a thin slice of orange, and plopped it in her mouth. The pulp burst out of the orange's skin after Aello took her first bite, and the unmistakable taste of the sweetest of oranges danced across Aello's tongue. She closed her eyes, doing her best to savor how it tasted, to allow herself to fully enjoy its texture before she broke off another piece of the orange, and plopped another slice into her mouth. Aello was enjoying herself so much, that she didn't even notice how sore her legs had become as they remained outstretched before her body as she sat, the weight of her bags starting to make her lose all feeling in them. Aello merely managed to feel her toes, which were twitching in her leather boots.

by **Verilian** on January 15th, 2011, 1:41 am

Walking the back alleys of any city was never a good idea, but in a city like Ravok it could be even worse. While things like theft or mugging were no worse than if one were to walk the streets of Sunberth at night, there were other things in Ravok. A city governed by the god of evil and chaos drew such things to it, and for the unsuspecting wanderer these things could be a serious threat. Such a thing just so happened to be wandering the streets that night as well, and Aello stood out like a beacon on the horizon in it's eyes. It had been searching for someone to help it, to fulfill it's desire... it had found the vessel it needed.

Aello was unaware that she had become the target of a wandering spirit, walking the alleyways of Ravok with little a care and no idea of the danger she was about to be in. The spirit watched her as she entered the narrow alley, filled with rats and rotting garbage. The spirit watched as Aello sat down, weary from hours of walking, and hungry from neglect to feed herself. It watched as she split the orange, remembering the scent and the taste as Aello licked her fingers dry and plopped the first slice into her mouth. Aello was distracted, and the spirit was hungry as well. Hungry for revenge? Hungry for answers? Hungry for something it couldn't quite put it's ethereal finger to, but it knew that Aello would end it's hunger.

Her first sign that she was not alone would have been the gradual drop of temperature in the area immediately surrounding her person.. but it was winter, and one could also assume a simple chill wind had blown by. But this was no chill wind, nor natural phenomenon, but the first sign of an unseen presence closing in on the unsuspecting Spiritist, whose body was a perfect host for the being that sought to make its way into the physical world.

The second sign that she was not alone was more obvious, as she lapped the delicious juices off her fingers and plopped slice after slice of orange into her mouth. Four slices remained to be peeled, and as she licked the juice of the last slice, Aello could not fail to notice when the remaining four were suddenly jerked out of her hand, hovering in the air inches in front of her. The orange began to shake, almost imperceptibly at first, but then it clearly began to wobble in front of her, as if it were straining to remain airborne. When it looked like whatever force was holding it up was about to give out and the orange would fall back to the ground it suddenly exploded showering Aello in juice and pulp, stinging her eyes.

As if that weren't enough, another sign manifested itself as she wiped the stinging juice from her eyes. Across the alley standing in the shadows she could just barely make out a figure, about the same height as Aello and of a feminine physique, though no more details could be seen. It was gone as quickly as it came, though the alleyway remained cold. Aello knew it was still there, she could feel it, but what did it want, and would it show itself again?

by **Aello** on January 16th, 2011, 5:27 pm

Aello sat against the wall, thoroughly enjoying her orange. When all of a sudden, the four remaining citrus slices were yanked out of her hands. A cool breeze seemed to wash over her fingertips, and Aello couldn't help but wonder if it were merely the wind, for it was truly a windy day, and her extremities always seemed to absorb far more of the elements than the rest of her body, or if it were something else. Perhaps, a spirit. She always did feel rather cool around spirits, but when she looked up at the orange, which was now hovering in front of her face, trembling slightly, she saw nothing. She stared intently as the orange continued to wobble, as if it were suspended in the air by the cool breeze, or even an invisible set of marionette strings.

And then, it exploded. Orange pulp leapt out of the tiny orange slices, and flew out of the fruit in all sorts of directions. Left, right, north, south, and everything else in-between. The pulp sprayed Aello's face, the juice and tiny pieces of orange flesh dripped down her cheeks, and trickled off the sides of her chin. Several citrus juice droplets flew into her eyes, orange juice tears were seeping out of the corners of her reddening whites and irises. Was she angry? No, in pain? Yes.

Aello hopelessly dapped at her eyes, trying to get the sting out. She blinked furiously, trying to get them to water so that they could naturally wash all the invading juice away. It took a few moments, but when she looked up, she could vaguely make out the outline of a girl, not much taller than her, further down the alley. But as soon as she saw her, she was gone.

Aello looked wildly about. Had she simply imagined seeing someone? she wondered, as she scanned the alley, unable to find any signs of human life. Aello sighed, perhaps she was only imagining things, she thought, as she picked tiny pieces of pulp off her corset top with her thumb and middle finger. She held them delicately in her fingertips, before she parted her lips slightly, and blew, releasing them into the wind, which carried them away, swirling into the distance, far away from where she sat, to a place that was no longer visible with the naked eye.

Aello rubbed her eyes one last time, as though she were trying to remove a few sleep crystals from them. She looked up again, after completing her task. She scanned the area, before rapidly turning her head to the right, she thought she had heard footsteps coming from over there. But she couldn't see anything... but she was convinced she had heard something... which meant something had to have been there even if she didn't see it right? That or she was starting to lose her mind... wait... that would only apply if she had a mind to begin with... well... she had a mind, but after having communicated with the dead and what not for so long... Aello was sure that her mind was something she had lost a long time ago, right along with her family, and any chance of leading a relatively normal life.

So, Aello opened her mouth, and said, "hey! Who goes there?" as she looked wildly around, trying to catch a glimpse of anything that may so much as suggest there was human life other than herself, in the alley. "I know you're out there!" she called, as she forced herself to keep looking in a single spot: the spot on the right where she was convinced she had heard a noise. "I can feel you..." she said, her voice being carried away on the wind.

OOCSorry this is a really bad post >.<

by **Verilian** on January 21st, 2011, 9:08 pm

Imagination can be a powerful thing. It can trick the mind into believing things are there that aren't really there. It can make somebody think they are being watched, it can lead a person down paths they never thought possible. But even the imagination has it's limits. What the imagination cannot do is pry a orange from your hands and cause it to explode... that goes beyond the imagined and into the real. There was somebody, or something there. Aello had not imagined the orange being torn from her grasp, had not imagined being showered in pulp, and certainly she had no imagined the image that appeared across the alley from her.

"Hey! Who goes there?" She shouted frantically. "I know you're out there! I can feel you..."

There was somebody or something out there, of that she was certain. Her suspicions were further confirmed when she heard a sound down the alley and whisper, though she couldn't make out it's words. Turning to look Aello spotted the figure again, still too dark to make out any details, but she could see it watching her. As soon as it realized it was being watched it disappeared, but to her right a door open slowly. Again she heard the whisper, and felt compelled to investigate. Her curiosity would not allow her to ignore it, and soon Aello found herself peeking through the door into a dimly lit room.

The room was empty save for a single chair sitting in its center, and a flickering candle on the ground in front of it. She heard the whisper again, barely discernible but she could just make out the word, "Help..." The chair was plain and made of wood, and had no distinguishing features on it. The candle flickered dimly, it was running low, and a small pool of wax spread out from it's base. Across the room, behind the chair, Aello saw something move, and again the whisper came. "...help." As soon as she stepped fully into the room the door slammed shut behind her. Cold settled in around her, and the whispering became louder. "Help me.. the candle. The chair... Help."

OOCTry as you might, the door will not budge. The spirit will continue whispering about helping it, about the chair and the candle, but will say no more. Examining the chair you will find it covered in blood, and a rope is draped around it, tied in the back and at the legs as if someone had been tied up at some point. The closer you get to the chair the colder it gets and the more clear the spirits voice will become, though it will give you no clues as to what is wants other than "Help, the candle, the chair."

Oh, and sorry for the short post. Next will be better.

by **Aello** on January 22nd, 2011, 5:21 pm

Aello gasped as soon as she heard the door slam shut behind her. Her face turned white, and her palms stared to sweat. Aello dropped her things, and headed for the door. She tried the knob. Turning it back and forth, but unable to open it. The door seemed to be locked from the outside. Aello's heart skipped a few beats, and a few beads of sweat appeared on her brow. What was going on? she wondered, as she abruptly turned her head to look over her shoulder, and then to the left, and then to the right. She had heard it again, that far away voice, whispering "help me."

Aello's hands were still clutching the door knob. They were trembling, the knuckles had gone white, as she dug her nails into the cold, golden door knob. The nail on her left pointer finger had chipped as she jiggled the knob frantically. At this point, Aello was scarcely breathing, and her eyes were wide as they darted back and forth across the room. She couldn't see anything. But she could hear someone speaking, she could feel another presence within the room. Perhaps the entity she was listening to was a ghost? she thought, as her hands slowly slipped from the doorknob and she turned around.

Aello's heart was pounding in her chest, and she tried to take a few deep breaths to calm herself. In through the nose, out through the mouth, but it didn't seem to do much of anything. Aello sighed, her entire body was shaking like a leaf, and she seemed to be locked inside this tiny room, and all there seemed to be in this room was a chair and with a thin white candle resting on the ground in front of it. The candle looked like it had been well-used. Like it had been burning for awhile, and was only just starting to flicker. Aello took a few steps closer to it. The wick was black, and the warm orange flame danced around it. Making a faint and nearly inaudible crackling noise from time to time. White wax dripped slowly down the side of the candle, after having spilled out of a small pool of melted wax at the top of the candle. Over time, the wax would harden as it trailed down the side of the candle, and form elongated bumpy lines along its length, which reminded Aello of tiny streams with a tear-drop at the end. Most of the wax, had re-formed at the candle's base, wide enough to support the candle without the use of a candle-holder or other surface. The candle was standing fairly upright, but if you stared long and hard enough, you could tell that it was tipped slightly over, on its right side.

It took a few moments for Aello to finally pull her gaze away from the flame, the flickering light having had a strangely alluring effect on her. She looked up and at the chair that stood behind the candle. It was made of wood, and looked like a chair that one would use at a kitchen table. The chair was covered in blood. Splotches of it covered the seat of the chair, while blood trickled and spiraled around the back, and the chair's legs. A light-brown slightly frayed rope was coiled all around the chair's legs and back. It looked like someone had been bound, and then died there. Aello's heart skipped a few beats, as it dropped around her knees. Her head was pounding as the voice kept whispering, "Help me.. the candle. The chair... Help." What on earth was going on she wondered, as she straightened up, and began to shiver. She folded her arms over her chest and rubbed her arms with her hands, trying to warm up. Aello was finally starting to realize that the closer she got to the chair, the colder it got. There was definitely a ghost in the room she thought, as she looked around again, looking for the spirit. But she saw nothing. Hoping to will the ghost to show itself, Aello called, "whose there? I know you are in here."

by **Verilian** on January 22nd, 2011, 9:01 pm

It was coldest around the chair, as if the ghost were right there with her, but Aello could see nothing. She could only hear the pleas for help, which made little sense to her. Behind her the candle flickered and almost went out, and the ghosts cries for help grew more urgent, but still no more clear as to what actually needed to be done. Fear could be heard in the spirits voice, however, most powerful when the candle flickered or grew dim.

"Whose there? I know you are in here."

Aello tried again to convince the ghost to reveal itself, and at first nothing happened. Even the voice went quiet, though the cold was still there. "HELP ME!" On the chair the ghost appeared, bound and struggling. It's image was clear only for an instant but when the candle flickered again so too did the ghost's image. The ghost remained for only a few short moments, struggling against the ropes and crying for help, but as the candle struggled to remain lit the ghost struggled to remain visible. "The candle," The ghost cried out in alarm as it flickered again and the image vanished, "The chair!" Aello could still see the ropes moving, as if the ghost were still struggling against it, but after a moment even that stopped and the only movement was that of the flickering candle light.

The cold in the room seemed to lessen somewhat, perhaps the spirit was weakening. It seemed to be trapped in the chair, but also seemed to fear the candle for some reason. Whatever the spirit wanted, it was clear it expected Aello to help it. Even if she didn't, the door still would not budge and there seemed to be no way out of the room.

oocShort post again... sorry.

by **Aello** on January 22nd, 2011, 10:15 pm

Aello looked wildly around, wondering where the voice was coming from. At times, it sounded like it was whispering in her ear, at others, coming from the doorway, or the various corners of the room. Yet whenever she looked, and wherever she looked, she couldn't catch sight of the female ghost again. Aello sighed, perhaps it was too tired to show itself, or scared? she wondered, as her brain was hit with the image of the ghost's frightened forest green eyes. It was only a glimpse though, gone as quickly as it had come. Aello shook her head, she didn't need her mind to play tricks on her.

Aello's right hands flew to her head. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, everything that was going on, the constant whispering, all of that was starting to give her a colossal headache. Aello breathed in deeply a few times, as the room started to warm up again, gradually. Maybe the ghost really was getting weaker she thought as she dropped her hands to her side again and opened her eyes. The room was blurry for a few moments, until they readjusted to the light, and being open.

Aello looked around, one last time, just to see if the ghost would show itself. It didn't. Aello sighed, wondering what she should do. Maybe the ghost was appearing to grow weak because it was bound? she wondered, her hand passing over the cursed blade her skirt concealed. Maybe it would help if she cut the rope? she thought as she pulled the blade out of its hiding place. The blade seemed to be lost in shadow, but even so, Aello could make out the blood that permanently stained its tip.

Aello looked over at the bloody chair, and the rope that coiled its way around it, like a snake around a tree. She bent down, careful not to burn herself or knock over the candle, and wrapped her fingers around the rope. She pulled it up and out, as far away from the chair as she could. Her right hand was clutching the dagger tightly. So tightly, her knuckles turned white. Pulling on the rope one last time, Aello set to work. She slowly slid the blade back and forth over the rope until the edges had started to fray and she had made her way all the way through it. She then moved onto the other pieces of rope that surrounded the bottom of the chair. When that was done, she stood up, and shook out her legs a bit, for they had grown sore.

Once Aello had gotten all the kinks out, she moved onto the last piece of rope. She lifted it in her left hand, and instantly got to work. Small beads of sweat were pouring down the corners of her face as she severed the final rope. Tiny pieces of fiber floating to the floor like leaves on the wind, before the entire coil made a muffled thud upon impact. Part of the rope fell on the candle, knocking it over and onto its side.

Aello watched in horror as part of the rope went up in flame. Smoke quickly filling the air, making its way to her nostrils. Aello's heart was filled with dread, as memories of the day her family's cottage burned down flooded her mind. Aello shook her head back and forth, shutting her eyes, trying to shake the memories out of her mind. But it didn't seem to work, because even when she had opened her eyes again, she was still seeing red-hot bright orange flames dancing before her, she was still seeing smoke billowing out around her, still hearing coughing, she was still smelling smoke even though the candle and the rope had gone out abruptly, accompanied only by a cool breeze. The candle still lay on its side, the wick black, and letting off tiny wisps of smoke from time to time. Aello shivered, it had never occurred to her, throughout all this time, that perhaps the person who seemed to be in the chair had been bound for a reason. She took a cautious step back, and for the first time in what felt like a long time, she found herself back in the room with the chair and the fallen candle. It was the first time she truly noticed them lying there, and she couldn't help but wonder what had happened in the brief time since she had first cut the rope, and now, having been lost in the inner reaches of her troubled mind until recently.

OOCYou know she could have always broken the window.

by **Verilian** on January 26th, 2011, 4:58 am

The moment Aello pulled out the knife the ghost fell silent. Aello could almost literally feel the anticipation in the air as she cut through the ropes apparently binding the ghost in place. Everything was still, and Aello could feel the ghosts invisible eyes upon her as she worked to set it free. When the last rope was cut the ghost let out a triumphant roar that turned into a shriek of surprise as the candle fell over and burst into flames. The fire only lasted a moment as the ghost quickly quenched the fire.

While Aello was lost in thought the ghost had quickly assessed its situation. The girl with the shining dagger had performed perfectly, better than it ever could have imagined. How did she know to burn the rope? It didn't even know about that little trick, but Aello had helped the ghost a lot in that accidental act. When she finally came back to reality the ghost was nowhere to be seen... which didn't mean much of anything, but the candle and chair still remained. As she wondered whether or not it had been a good idea to release the spirit, the spirit was moving itself into position, savoring the moment before it struck.

As Aello pondered over her current situation she realized a few things. First, the ghost must have been bound by someone skilled in spiritism, or the ropes must have been magic in some other way. However, after thinking about it or upon closer inspection she could tell that the ropes had actually been coated in some sort of high quality soulmist. Even the wax of the candle seemed to have soulmist mixed into it. ...but none of this really mattered at the time.

The ghost struck, diving into the girl and spreading itself out into her body. Its ethereal soul invaded every pore, covered every limb, enveloped her and entered her, and suddenly Aello felt she no longer had control of her body. She could try to resist, but the ghost was powerful and would fight back. It's first act of control was to force Aello's hand up before her eyes, wiggling her fingers in front of her face. Resisting would be painful as Aello tried to stop the ghosts movements and it forced its powerful will against hers.

The battle was both physical and mental, and Aello suddenly felt a connection with the spirit. This didn't always happen when being possessed by a ghost, but so intimate was the control it was trying to take of her that it could not help but share a bit of itself as well. The spirit was very old, and Aello could sense great anger in within it. Anger for being imprisoned, anger at the world itself, and a more focused anger perhaps directed at an individual. But behind that there was a more noble emotion.. honor, or perhaps a sense of justice buried beneath the anger that fueled the ghost. She could try to communicate with it, but it would not respond initially. Now was a battle for control, not a time for trading life stories, and the ghost was intent on being the one in control.

It would take all Aello had and more to resist the ghost's command over her body as it forced her limbs to move, testing Aello's body. The ghost seemed fascinated with the fingers and the hands, waving them about in front of Aello's face in a halting motion as it tried to wrestle control over the appendages. Aello could feel her muscles tensing and relaxing over and over as her body fought against the alien influence that was forcing it to move, and she knew it would soon suffer from exhaustion if she couldn't expel the spirit from her body or at least halt it's movements.

by **Aello** on January 26th, 2011, 4:59 pm

Aello's body felt as though it were turning into a giant block of ice. Her ears were ringing, her head was screaming, "get it out get it out get it out!" and as much as Aello agreed with what her mind seemed to be saying, and as much as she wanted to expel the ghost from her shivering body, she found that she didn't know how. Or rather, that she couldn't seem to fight back well enough against the powerful ghost that so desperately wanted to control her body.

Yet as Aello fought, she started to notice a sort of connection mounting between herself and the ghost, and of all the things that Aello could possibly pick up, she was finding that she was continually being shown two separate images. Two tiny glimpses; memories, of what the ghost had once been.

In the first glimpse, the ghost's body was splayed across a hardwood floor. Her eyes were wide, and she was leaning on her right arm slightly, while the left arm was raised in front of her face, as though she were shielding it from something. But all Aello could see, all she could sense, was the fact that she was hiding herself from a man with beady black eyes, who was wielding a blade. It glimmered, which gave Aello the impression that it an integral part of the memory. Aello shuddered, the glimpse was enough to unnerve her, and give her a faint, yet lingering impression that she had seen that particular blade before.

The second glimpse was even fainter than the first. All Aello saw was what she assumed to be the woman's legs. They were scrawny, and a large purple bruise snaked its way around the right leg. The woman seemed to be sitting in a wooden chair, much like the one that rested not even a foot away from her now. Aello could feel an intense fear emanating from the ghost as two hands, lined with tiny brown hairs, entered the glimpse, carrying a coiled and slightly frayed pile of rope. The hands then proceeded to tie the rope around the person's legs, ignoring the screams that sounded in the background. Aello assumed the ghost was screaming in the glimpse.

Aello shuddered, how horrible she thought, as the glimpses and intense feeling were washed away, almost as suddenly as they had come. Some of the glimpses returned to her, while others were seen only once, and after what felt like a long while, the glimpses seemed to stop altogether.

When everything finally quieted down, Aello breathed in a sigh of relief. Although, it may have been too soon. The ghost was still a part of her, and was slowly starting to dominate the body that had once been Aello's alone to control.

The ghost seemed to be fixated on Aello's hands, and was constantly waving them around in front of her face. Turning them back and forth so that she could examine both the palm, and the back of the hand. It made Aello think of a small child discovering something new, something they had never seen before, and being completely mesmerized by their discovery.

Slightly drained from everything she had picked up before from the ghost, Aello simply watched as the ghost obsessed over her hands, just as her nose started to itch again. Instinctively wanting to reach her hand up to scratch the itch, Aello tried to move her hand up, but the ghost was fighting to move it in the other direction, to keep it in a position in which it could easily be examined. "You... can... look at my hand... as soon... as I scratch... that obnoxious... itch on my nose... ok?" Aello practically grunted as she fought the ghost about the movement of her hand. The hand going next to nowhere, simply trembling in place, as though it had been overcome by an intense cold. "What... if I add... please," Aello said through gritted teeth, slowly beginning to realize that chances were, she wouldn't win, and she would simply have to be patient, and hope that the itch went away on its own.

Aello let up on her attempt at controlling her arm, the sudden lack of force in her arm, (the constant back and forth motion that had occurred because of the ghost's and her own attempts at control), having stopped entirely, Aello's right hand went out of control, and swung at her face. The ghost had just enough time to shut her eyes as the hand whacked the two of them in the forehead, sending a short, pulsing pain through Aello's head, and down to the tip of her chin. Aello gasped on impact, as another wave of the ghost's memories coursed through her brain.

Silver knife. Glinting in the light. Black Handle. White candle, rope, around the legs. Red marks around the ankle where the body had been bound. Aello winced. "How are you... why are you... who are you... what is going on?" she asked the ghost as another wave of memories washed over her. A black cat's face, it had beady yellow eyes. The candle... the white candle... wax dripping to the floor. "Stop... showing me... I don't want to feel," Aello grit her teeth as a searing pain cut diagonally across her chest, starting from the right side of her body around her shoulder, and ending at around her left hip. It felt like a knife had sliced through her, and a steady trickle of blood was dripping out of the wound. "Owww," she commented, wincing, gritting her teeth.

"Please stop showing me," she practically begged the ghost as more and more was revealed to her through their apparent psychic connection. Internally, Aello was clutching her hair tightly in her hands, her knuckles growing white, her eyes were closed tight and she was trying to shut it all out. Silently praying to whoever would listen to help her as she tried to scream and no sound came out.

"Please..." she whispered, one last effort, before, she was certain, the ghost gained control over her entire body.

OOCSorry this is a little jumpy, and generally kind of circular, and not too great.

by **Verilian** on February 3rd, 2011, 3:16 am

The images stopped, but the ghost remained. It did not relinquish control, but at least the memories had stopped flowing. And the itch was gone.. Aello could be thankful for that. All that remained was a slight tingling pain from having hit herself in the face, and the icy cold that came with the ghost being present in her body. The ghost was no longer looking at Aello's hands, it was moving across the room. Aello could feel her body moving even though she had issued it no such commands, she could see but could not control where her eyes looked. At least, most of the time she couldn't. As the ghost exited through the door, which now opened with no apparent difficulty despite the fact that Aello had been unable to budge it previously, she noticed that sometimes the ghost would let up control on this or that body part. Aello could occasionally move her eyes or turn her head, and found she could usually speak though the ghost never felt the need to answer.

With determined footsteps Aello's body made it's way through the streets of Ravok. The ghost made a point of avoiding any contact with anybody as it walked Aello to whatever destination it had in mind. At one point a beggar approached her, but Aello gave the man such a look as to send him backing away in fear. Perhaps it was the fact that the ghost was only controlling one of her eyes when it looked at him, or perhaps it was the expression it put on her face, Aello couldn't be sure. The ghost rounded a corner and approached a small dwelling, most likely a building rented out by the NHC, as most such buildings often were. The building was small, and the paint was crumbling off the outside. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for some time, or at least whoever did live there had long ago given up keeping the place in good condition.

Aello could feel the anticipation building inside the ghost and another wave of memories assailed her. The ghost was standing outside a building, much like the one they were looking at right then.. in fact, it was the same building, just in much better condition. The ghost, or perhaps a better word for it might be girl since the ghost was not yet dead in the memory, was happily waiting on somebody to come out. After a moment somebody did come out, a handsome young man with bright blue eyes and wearing a fancy suit. The girl was also dressed fairly nice, wearing a light blue frilly dress. "Ready, my dear? We just need to make one stop before we go." The girl giggled and gave the man a kiss, "Oh Nathan, anything for you!" The pair walked off down the street hand in hand, and often the girl would look up at the gentleman and smile, so happy she had found true love so early in life. The man would usually return the smile and give her a kiss.

The memory ended there, and Aello could now fill the ghosts anger. Why was it showing these memories to her? Did it want her to understand what had happened to it, or were these just random things it could not control? Aello couldn't be certain, but the one thing she knew for sure was that despite the happiness she felt in the memory, all Aello could feel coming from the ghost now was anger. And they were standing right outside the house from the memory.