Players:
Special Guest
Summary: While on the way home from a date, Travis and Rashmi find themselves under attack in the park.
Date: February 22, 2012
Log Title: There's A Chill In The Air
Rating: PG-13
NYC- Thompson Square Park
Thompson Square Park is a small park in the middle of Mutant Town. The benches might need a fresh coat of paint, the fence might be rusted in places and the pavement is raised and has cracks but it's all part of the mutant haven and fairly relaxing. Trees and grassy areas are in between the many paths, there are a few structures and benches along the path as well as a special area of the park that is marked 'the dog walk'.
//Two trees have been planted in the park as a Memorial to Carmencita Florez and Detective Baxter each with a plaque stating the tree is in their memory. //
After a lovely dinner followed by a night out at the ballet, Travis is now walking with Rashmi home. The walk leads them through Thompson Square Park which is fairly quiet this time of night. The moon shines bright in the sky and a few clouds can be seen drifting in front of it. Holding one of Rashmi's hands in his, he smiles at her. "I have to admit, the ballet really wasn't that bad."
"I *told* you you might like it," Rashmi says with a grin, squeezing Travis' hand. "I'm glad you did, I *loved* it. …I did sort of wonder how they'd translate the battle to ballet, but, I should have remembered how they did for the Nutcracker. Dunno if you've ever seen that?" Shaking her head, she draws in a deep breath, looking up toward the moon. "Anyway. I had a *really* great time, Travis, thank you *so much.*"
Travis shakes his head. "No…wait, I think I did as a kid in like second grade but I really don't remember it." He lets go of Rashmi's hand and puts one of his own around her shoulders. "I'm glad you enjoyed it and you look amazing tonight, I don't remember if I told you yet or not." There's a smile on his face as it's about the fifth time he's said it.
As the pair continue to walk along a fog starts to quickly roll across the ground and lingers there a few inches off the dirt. The park seems to get darker as some of the park lights in the distant go out.
"Ma-a-aybe once or twice, I think," Rashmi replies, winking and slipping her arm around Travis' waist in turn. "Hard to tell, I was sort of distracted by how you look in that suit. Which is *really* good, by the by…" Trailing off, her eyes fall to the park, a small frown passing over her face as she notes the arrival of the clinging fog. "Travis," she murmurs softly, "did the weather say anything about fog tonight?"
"Barnes is good for tailoring." Travis says as his grin starts to falter a bit as he looks around. "Not that I know of but then I don't look at the weather." There's a shiver from Travis as an unnatural cold blows through the area. "I just know it wasn't supposed to rain which makes this fog a bit…weird." It's also the entirely wrong season for it. "Let's hurry up and get back to your place, we're only a few blocks away." He says quickening the pace.
The same chill that struck Travis hits Rashmi as well and as the two move on the cold gets more intense. The lights around them start to flicker and go out, leaving them in a foggy darkness in the park. One thing noticable is the silence, none of the typical New York noises seem to be heard.
Rashmi shudders deeply as the chill strikes, pressing tightly against Travis, eyes flickering back and forth as the lights go out. With a slow, deep breath, Rashmi's translucent orbs fade into view, splitting off to orbit in opposing directions at chest and waist-level. "I don't like this, Travis," she murmurs again, the sudden onset of true silence jarring to the New Yorker. "Your phone is easier to reach. Be ready."
Travis wraps all three left arms around Rashmi in a protective gesture as his top left arm creates an energy sheild as a sort of barrier. His bottom right hand reaches into his pocket and closes around his phone. "I'm not too happy about this either but let's just becareful." He says as he continues to slowly walk towards the exit.
Before the two get much farther a ghostly apprition of a woman appears before them. There's a haunting sort of beauty about the ghost woman and her hair and dress is obviously from the turn of the nineteenth century. She reaches out a hand towards Rashmi and beckons with one finger.
Rashmi swallows a tight lump past her throat. "Aaaand I was right," she mutters, orbs beginning to rotate faster around the pair. "I *hate* being right. About this. *Especially* after a perfectly nice date. Couldn't they have waited until tomorrow? And *why does she think I'm just going to say okay?*" To Travis' ears, between the swapping of thoughts and the concentrating on minutiae, it's readily apparent that Rashmi is in fact more than a little scared by the sudden beckoning of the undead, but is determined to talk herself past it. "Okay, what should we do."
Travis takes a deep breath and steels himself. "I've never dealt with a ghost before but they shouldn't be able to hurt us right, they're ghosts?" He whispers ever so quitely in Rashmi's ear. "Maybe we should just try to run back and then take the long way around. Just get ready incase, something happnes." He says as he looks around to see if their clear to make a break for it.
The ghost woman continues to beckon Rashmi to come over. A second ghoslty woman appears to the couples right, in dress that looks like it's from sixteenth century. Then a third woman who looks like someone out of the eighteenth century appears to their left, waving a bit more urgently for Rashmi to join them. Whispers can be heard all around them. "Come with us." "Join us."
"Probably best," Rashmi whispers, looking to the second ghost, then the third, when they appear. "…If only because I don't like the idea of 'joining them,' no matter *what* that's supposed to actually mean. So um… When I say the word — you'll know, trust me — split off, okay? Meet back at my place."
"I don't like the idea of you joining them either." Travis says quietly under his breath as he takes a few steps back. His arms move from Rashmi to allow her to run. "I love you." He says to her and at the same time it expresses his concern and his trust in his girlfriend.
The whispers become more urgent and it's almost like they're coming from more than the three ghostly like women in front of them. The whispers sound desperate and pleading, to Rashmi there'd almost be a hypnotic lure to the call but not enough to make her want to go with them. The unnatural cold increases as a layer of ice starts to form over the grass, benches and bushes.
"I love you too," Rashmi whispers, leaning up to kiss the corner of Travis' mouth. Shivering against the unnatural cold, she slips to one side, tilting her head up and staring at the ghostly women. Drawing in a deep, shuddery breath, she raises her voice for the first time since the fog crept in. "*No.*"
And then she runs.
As soon as Rashmi says the word 'No', Travis takes it as his queue and turns and runs as well, keeping his shield out just in case. He runs away from Rashmi but never far enough to loose sight of her, though the fog is making it difficult. The six-armed mutant looks over his shoulder as he runs to see if he needs to block her escape.
As soon as Rashmi says no and runs, the faces of the three women turn horrible. Their faces turn wrinkled and rotted, clothes tattered and their hair has fallen out in clumps. Loud, unearlthy screams shriek out of the three women in anger, ear splittingly high pitched. As the two start to run one ghost flies towards Travis to keep him busy as the other two fly after Rashmi, clawed hands out stretched to tear at her.
Not for the first time does Rashmi breathe a mental sigh of relief for her preference in senseble footwear. Running full-tilt across a park, even a slab of concrete like Thompson Square, would be murder in heels. One of her orbs drats backwards in the general direction of her pursuers, more as a test than anything else, while another tucks in close to her belly… And as her path reaches the playground, she wraps her arms around it, hauling herself skyward and *over* the barkpit and its constructions, the sudden pressure against her stomach startling a croak out of her.
Travis can't fly or phase so one of the wraiths quickly catches up to him as there are no obsticles to slow her flight. He turns and ducks just in time to avoid a clawed hand. "She will not join you." He spits out at the wraith woman as he goes to shield bash her, only to find his sheild, and arm, go right through her.
The screaming wraiths follow Rashmi and fly after her in the air. The orb sent flying towards one of the women floats right through her, though it seems to stop her for a moment, which is a moment enough to put a decent gap between them. As for the other wraith after Rashmi, she catches up and claws at the redhead.
The claw passes through Rashmi, the sudden cold and weakness very nearly causing her to lose her grip on her sphere. "GO AWAY!" she screams, the rest of her spheres exploding out into the spirit's face. "RUN, TRAVIS! GET TO SHIELD!!" Fighting back a wave of dizziness, she picks up her flight speed, trying to ignore the bobbles in her flight path as she streaks toward the ground.
Hearing Rashmi's yells, Travis immediately pulls out his phone and sends the message to Barnes that he's in distress. "I'm not leaving you!" He yells back as he keeps his stance in front of the wraith to try to keep at least her busy. If the shield didn't work, he figures maybe heat will as he goes to slam his hand into (quite literally) into the wraith and heat it up. There's a screech from the wraith as she starts to feel the heat and before it can do too much damage she claws at the six armed mutant, causing him to reel backwards with a cry of surprise and pain.
The other two Wraiths keep up pace with Rashmi and start to circle around her as she flies. "Our Master wants you to join us." They both say, echoing each other so the words repeat themselves. After a bit of taunting they both fly in to try to swipe at Rashmi.
"Well then STOP TRYING TO KILL ME!" Rashmi shrieks, clenching tightly around the sphere as the spirits dive in. Before they can attack, however, she makes full use of how physics refuse to apply to her spheres, and drops like a stone for a good ten feet, whipping backwards to get closer to Travis. "GO!" she screams. "I'll be okay, I PROMISE!!"
Travis looks at Rashmi and nods before turning around and running. He doesn't want to leave her but he knows he has to trust his girlfriend. It's the split moment decision where it's unsure if it's the right one. He continues to run full tilt towards the exit of the park.
As Rashmi escapes the two wraiths another ear splitting shrill scream echos across the park before they take of flying but this time it's not after Rashmi but Travis. The third wraith joins her sisters as decend on the six-armed mutant, surrounding him, as they start to attack him instead.
"NO!!" Arcing herself up above the ground, Rashmi's spheres begin to slam into the ground around Travis, through the wraiths when it can be managed. "KEEP YOUR SHIELD UP, TRAVIS!" And thus the redhead attempts to cover Travis' retreat, however successful she may be.
The orbs around Travis do slow up the wraiths but they don't stop them as they circle around him. Inbetween doging the orbs they take the occasional swipe at the mutant, clawed hands going through the shield and eventually he has to take a knee being too weak to stand from the life force being drained. "Just run." He whispers to her.
One of the wraiths flies up to Rashmi, looking like her beautiful self more than the hideous monster she really is. "We'll leave your lover alone if you come with us, if not…" She looks down as one of her sisters takes another swipe at him.
Rashmi chews hard on her lip, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment… then nods faintly, easing herself to the ground. "Go, Travis," she says, her voice thick. "I'll be okay. Tell Connor, tell SHIELD. I'll see you again, okay? You know I will." Standing, she banishes her spheres, staring up at the beautiful-looking specter. "This was a big mistake. But I'll come with you."
Travis looks at Rashmi and nods to her. "I'll find you." He whispers not really sure what else to do, mainly because he feels to weak to really do anything. Before he can push himself to his feet though one of the wraiths lightly touches Travis, enough to cause him to pass out but not to kill him.
The two wraiths join their sister, having also regained their beauty. "He's not dead and he'll be fine, our master awaits." One of them says as all three start to circle around Rashmi, moving faster and faster until it's almost a blur and then, all four are gone. The lights in the park start to flicker back on, the noise returns and the fog disappears leaving Travis alone, asleep, in the park.
Romania - Tower - Rashmi's Suite
Golden statues of angels hold back the white bed curtains for a large golden framed bed decorated with white and gold silk linens. The bed curtains hang down from an oval canopy with more white with golden decorated fabrics attached to a gold oval structure with much pattern and detail. On top of the structure fluffy white plumes of feathers sit atop proudly. The gold and red themes echo through out the room from the ceiling to the floor.
Two gold and crystal chandeliers hang down in the middle of the room bring light from long white candles that never seem to shorten or die down. Red velvet and gold decorate what suspends chandeliers from the detailed ceiling. Panels separating various floral like pictures cover the ceiling in different shaped squares and rectangles, but yet forming perfect lines.
Golden framed squares and white pillars decorated with gold design line the walls and where there isn't decor on the walls there are large mirrors. Two large mirrors draped with red, gold and white fabric sit on either side of the bed and a large mirror sits on an adjacent wall with a red and gold couch in front of it. A marble toped table sits in front of the couch with two matching chairs around it. On the table sits an antique silver tea set and the teapot seems to be always filled with Masala chai, already perfectly sweetened with milk, that never seems to get cold or empty. A matching silver platter of petit fours in all different flavors and colors, like the pot of tea, the platter never seems to get empty and the small cakes are always delicious.
Across from the couch sits a magnificent white marble fireplace with a golden angel statue on each site. A fire is always ablaze and seems to keep the room at a perfect temperature. Another mirror sits on top of the fireplace with a vase of red roses on each side the never seem to wilt or die. On the wall opposite the bed is a large white armoire with gold trim filled with gowns made of silks and other exquisite materials. A matching dresser sits beside it with a mirror behind and a red and gold chair in front of it. On top sits perfumes, elegant hair brushes and combs and other beauty products.
//http://i43.tinypic.com/2hfuu0i.jpg//
Waking up, feeling quite refreshed, Rashmi would find her self in a soft bed and wearing a fancy nightgown. The large room is almost overwhelming in decor and design. The sound of glass clinking against eachother can be heard as a small figure with a hunched back puts a tray of something on the table.
Rashmi stirs, sitting bolt upright as consciousness kicks into gear with a soft gasp. Pausing, she blinks, brow furrowed as her eyes wander the room, bafflement writ large upon her dusky face. "…Wait… but…" Looking down at herself, she blinks harder, reflexively crossing her arms over her chest, a definite feeling of skeeze crawling over her at the realization that someone not only knocked her out, but changed her clothes as well. "…Where am I?" she asks of the hunched figure.
The hunched figure turns and looks at Rashmi, his patchwork features mismatched and grotesque. One eye is larger than the other and his mouth seems to drop a bit. Stitches seems to hold together his face as if he's sewn from bits of different people. "Ah the misthress ith awake." He says in a surprisingly quite and soothing voice, though heavy with a lisp. "I hath brought up a tway of thupper for you, Mithsthress. You are in the Mathster guest chamber. He hath requethed that you be comfortable."
"That… that's kind of him," Rashmi says neutrally, taking a moment to tamp down her reaction to her server's features. "…But if he really wanted me to be comfortable, he *probably* shouldn't've kidnapped me in the first place…" Drawing in a breath, she gives her head a shake. "…Sorry. Habit. Thank you very much for dinner… but um… who are you? ….And… who's your… master?"
"Mathster hath alwayth mythstery." The man says before bowing before Rashmi. "You may call me Igor. Whilth you are a guetht here I am your thervant. If you require anything, jutht athk." He hobbles over to the armior and opens it. "Clothing ith in here and there ith a thitting room juth down the hallway for the Mithstretheth to enjoy." He pauses before answering the last question. "Mathster will be introduthing himthelf to you perthonally."
Rashmi's lips press together, but the redhead answers with a slow nod. "Thank you… I don't suppose it would help if I said I required to go home?" This question, spoken with wry humor, as she rises from the bed. "Not that I expect *that* to work, but… I sort of can't help trying, y'know…?"
Igor stops busing himself and looks over at Rashmi, with a sympathetic expression on his face. "I'm thorry Mithstreth, but I am jutht a manthervant. I do not have the meanth to thend you home." Nor would he do it if he did. "The candles and fire will light on your command, if you feel iths to warm, let the fire know, tham if it ith too cold."
Rashmi lifts a shoulder at the reply. "Like I said… I didn't really *expect* you'd be able to, or even want to. May I ask, though… Is there anything stopping me from jumping out the window and flying away?" Again, clearly a question for form's sake, as the tray is examined, a nibble taken. Looking up, Rashmi attempts to summon her spheres, in their usual lazy orbit above her head.
Instantly Rashmi would notice that her orbs do not come to her and there is a tingling feeling like her abilities are being blocked by something when she tries to use them. The food that Rashmi nibbles is amazingly delicious, cooked to perfection. "There are not windowth in thith room, but in the thitting room a large window lookths over the water fallth. There ith nothing thoping you from jumping but I mutht athk that you do not. I do not want you to perith." The tone of his voice suggests that he might be saying it more be cause he truely doesn't want her to die rather than because his master wouldn't like her dead.
Rashmi's nose wrinkles as her orbs fail to materialize, and she lets out a quiet sigh. "…I really wouldn't like that either," she says, shaking her head. "This food is *wonderful* though… did you make it?"
"I am just a manthervent, I do not do the cooking. Mathster hath thomething elthe which doeth the cooking." Igor says as he bows again to Rashmi. "I am thorry if thith doeth not feel like home for you. Pleath be pathient, thith tower may feel like home thooner than later."
Rashmi smiles gently, shaking her head. "It *is* a very nice place, Mr. Igor, really… but I don't believe I'll be staying long, y'know? Too many people are going to be looking for me, and some of them are, um… *really enthusiastic* about getting me back. But I *can* promise I'll do my best to be a very nice guest, while I'm here."
Travis bows again to Rashmi. "It ith not Mithter, it ith jutht Igor." He says respectfully. "As long as you are here, it ith my duty and my pleathure to be at your thervice." The only reaction he has to her having friends coming is a simple nod as if he's agreeing with her statement on the weather. "Ith there anything you require before I go?"
Rashmi shakes her head, taking another nibble of the food. "Not that I can thi… actually is there a library or something I could look at, sometime? I don't have to see it now, just curious…"
Travis nods to Rashmi. "Mathster has quite the library in the thitting room for you to enjoy. Jutht down the hallway." He says to her motiong in the general direction. "If you require anything just thay my name and I thall be of athithance. Enjoy your thay." He says bowing again as he shuffles out of the room. In the distance, a few moments after Igor has left the room, the faint sound of a bell tinkling can be heard.
Once the door closes, Rashmi's mien of pleasant understanding crumples, and she spends a moment struggling to get her breathing under control, choking back terrified sobs. Perhaps the surroundings may be more pleasant, but being held captive dredges up memories that are anything but pleasant, and for the moment the bells go ignored as she wavers between giving into her powerless terror and keeping her outburst silent.
