|
|
Post by Alucard Nightshade on Aug 14, 2011 16:34:16 GMT -5
Alucard was sitting out in the courtyard reading one of these old books he had that was written in French. He couldn't remember where he had found it at or even why he had decided to buy it, but so far it wasn't disappointing him. He had decided to read it outside near some roses bushes that had been planted in the courtyard, but hadn't seemed to be trimmed once since they were. He didn't know why they weren't trimmed when every other plant had been taken care of to make sure they staid healthy. He was starting to bug him how much they needed to be trimmed up. He continued to try and read for a time before he finally gave in and put the book down.
" I'll trim you up you poor things." Alucard said as if he was speaking to the rose bushes. " Just give me a moment and you will look much nicer and be much healthier."
Alucard touched one of the thorns hard enough so it would prick his finger and cause it to bleed. He manipulated the blood around his fingers into a make shift glove so he didn't prick himself again and on the first two fingers of his rigth hand into short blades and began to use them like shears. He went to work on trimming the rose bushes up and was so focused he was oblivious to anything going on around him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rose North on Aug 18, 2011 1:45:12 GMT -5
Alucard had been avoiding Rose since finding out about her…. Situation. It was a lot to take in after all. He’d just found out that not only was his cousin alive, who he had been convinced committed suicide last year. If that weren’t enough, he’d been told that if their family every found out she was alive, they’d probably try to kill her. She knew it was a lot to take in. Rose herself had tried to kill a few people when she figured out she wasn’t who she thought she was. It was a bit disorienting, being completely convinced you were one person… Then finding out it was all just an act. And Alucard thought he had it rough.
She was wandering the grounds, hands stuffed in the pockets of her dark green hoodie. You wouldn’t guess she was a ‘Nightshade’ from her attire. Plain, dark wash jeans, with a white tank top and green hoodie. She looked like any other almost 20 year old around.
Alucard?
Rose came to a stop, her intelligent gaze focused on her younger cousin. Was he trimming the roses..? She smirked. How metaphoric. He finds out she’s alive, and hangs out in the rose garden. ”You know, messing with those will only get you on the gardener’s bad side.” He wouldn’t have heard her before now. ”They may look wild, but they were trimmed only last week. That’s what happens when someone with a green thumb takes care of them. Grow way to fast.” She approached, not asking to see if it was alright or anything. That sort of behavior would have been unacceptable for a Nightshade. Her time as an outcast though had helped rid of her the more…. Restricting behaviors that were drilled them.
”You’ve been avoiding me.” Rose shrugged when she paused. ”I don’t blame you. Well… Not that much.”
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by Alucard Nightshade on Aug 18, 2011 2:20:23 GMT -5
Alucard was so focused on trimming up the rose bush that he didn't notice when Rose had walked up to him. He didn't realize someone else was there until she spoke to him. He didn't stop trimming the roses or show any signs that he was surprised she was there, even though he was slightly surprised that Rose had found him yet again. He had finished with this one bush so he turned around to look at her. She was in plain cloths, but he didn't really care since he couldn't say that he cared what people wore so long as it covered what it needed to. She had said he had been avoiding her, which was half true. He didn't know what to say to her, so he hadn't exactly looked for her even if he didn't just go ahead and avoid her.
" They need to be maintained better if people want to have roses, otherwise the roses won't be as beautiful as they deserve to be. And I haven't been avoiding you exactly. I don't know what to say to you, but I haven't avoided you." Alucard said to her. " But what made you decide to speak to me and give me the honor of being near my beautiful cousin once again?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Rose North on Aug 18, 2011 11:23:41 GMT -5
”Sometimes, taking things into your own hands will only make it worse.” Rose smiled as she paused. ”You aren’t a gardener, after all. To make healthy cuts, promote growth. It’s an art. An art that can’t be learned from a book. Which is why you should leave it to the gardener, who knows what he’s doing. It would be far too easy for you to potentially harm the roses’ future growth.”
She felt silent for a moment as she stared, almost longingly, at the wild and untamed roses. ”Besides. I think they are perfect the way they are. Roses are wild by nature, and are the most beautiful when you let them be just that. When you start cutting away at them, you take away their true beauty, taming them.” She glanced at her cousin with a cold, unreadable expression. Silently, she’d been talking about themselves. No one else would catch it, but he’d understand. Nightshade children were raised for ‘perfection’, forced to fit molds. Never veering off course. And when they did…. Well, you got Rose here.
She’d run away from the family when she was ten, and was cut off. Her parents wouldn’t speak to her, or any of the adults actually. Sky only spoke to her before because she missed her baby sister, but she hadn’t seen her older sister since her suicide. Parker spoke to her, but that was because she’d been closest to him growing up. Alucard…. Well, he’d only just recently come into her life. And didn’t know how to react. The things he must have been told about her… Rose ran away. Rose went insane. Rose committed suicide.
Basically? She couldn’t blame him for not knowing what to say to her. He’d been told horrible things about her since she left.
”It’s close enough. You can’t bring yourself to talk to me, so you go out of your way making sure there won’t be any conversation.” Rose shrugged. ”I supposed I asked for that. Parker did the same thing when he found out. My own sister won’t even speak to me, and I’m positive she knows I’m still alive.”
Both Rose’s eyebrows raised at his question. ”I need a reason to talk to a cousin I haven’t seen in nine years?” She took her hands out of her pockets and planted them on her hips.
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by Alucard Nightshade on Aug 18, 2011 15:57:51 GMT -5
Alucard looked at the rose bush and figured she wouldn't know about his habit of taking care of the rose bushes at his parents home. It was something he had started to after she had run away, or at least he was told she had. He had heard what she said about the rose bush and how she was talking about their family when she said that. He agreed with her about how their family strive for perfection being far too great, but his way of looking at it was different then Rose was at a certain point.
" I know how to trim a rose bush and make it as healthy as possible, which the gardener here does not. I did this all the time after I was told you had run away so you wouldn't know about it. Although not many of the family knew about it. Your right about a wild rose being fine if left to grow on it's own, but this isn't a wild rose bush. These roses are ones that man had created themselves and because of that, letting them just grow as they please is very bad for them. A wild rose will naturally grow how it needs to without doing too much, but a domestic rose if left to just grow on its own or in the hands of someone with no knowledge of how to trim them properly will just spread themselves out too far and wide and the unmatched beauty they should have will become faded and dull. You have to gently guide the plant from spreading itself too far, then it will have an unmatched beauty and will be healthy and strong. You have always been a wild rose amongst domestic roses when it came to our family, so I'm sure you wouldn't agree with me on this." Alucard said to her as he picked up the roses he had snipped off and pushed the stems and leaves under the bush around the base so it would release the nutrients back into the ground.
Alucard held the roses out for Rose to take from him. He had a slight smile on his face as he waited for her to take them. He had also heard what she said about him avoiding her, but she seemed to have the wrong idea about why he had.
" Also if I was avoiding you, it wasn't because of you. I wasn't around to be here for you and help protect you, so I have no right to call my self your family." Alucard said in a voice edged with sorrow. " I'm glad you told me your still alive, but I lost my right to be able to be around you since I never did anything for you as your family before."
|
|
|
|
Post by Rose North on Aug 18, 2011 16:38:15 GMT -5
Rose’s eyebrows were raised in an almost ‘are you serious’ sort of way. ”Insulting the gardener in his garden will turn all the plants against you. I hope you know that. And he doesn’t trim them. He uses his power to control their growth. He just hasn’t gotten to this section of the grounds yet.” She paused for a moment, smirking. ”And it’s Garden roses. Not domestic.”
Why the hell were the arguing over roses? What was worse was Alucard acted like he knew more about her namesake flower then she did. Now that was an offense.
None the less, she kept the slight irritation hidden, so well only a telepath would be able to tell she was irritated. Even when he gave her the roses he’d cut off, she was irritated.
”….” Rose stared at him for several moments, her expression bare. ”I don’t want, or need anyone’s protection.” Protection was a sore subject for Rose. She actually looked furious that someone had dared to use the word towards her. No, she didn’t want anyone’s protection. Ever again. Last time someone did…. She’d lost her closest and longest friend. Taking a deep breath, she kept herself from acting on that sudden burst of rage.
” I’m your senior by four years. You were seven when I left, so you probably wouldn’t even know what happened until years later. The fact that you seem to think you should have done something is laughable.” Another pause. ”If anything, you should be angry at me for abandoning you and everyone else. I left by choice, after all. I didn’t care if I hurt anyone’s feelings.”
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by Alucard Nightshade on Aug 18, 2011 17:17:25 GMT -5
Alucard wasn't sure what to say or think after everything she said. She was angry at him for some reason. He must have done something wrong or else she wouldn't be this mad at him. She had indeed changed since he had last known her, but that was to be expected after everything and she was still his cousin Rose no matter what might have. He didn't know what to do now.
" I am sorry, I have offended you it seems. I do not deserve to be considered your family after all and shouldn't bother you with my presence. I will leave you be now." Alucard said in a voice that could be considered nothing but sad and hurt. " I am sorry I am not better family for you Rose, I just hope that you find the happy you deserve so much."
Alucard continued to hold onto the roses as he walked over and picked up his book. He didn't even try to hide how he felt in his actions like he had been taught to do and usually did out of habit. He looked as sad and hurt as he did all of that as he sounded when he had apologized to Rose. He went to leave, but stopped when he was next to her.
" And I never once blamed you for leaving. I thought more of you for it in fact because you had the strength to. I just thought you might like to know that." Alucard said to her in the sad voice from before, but was clear that he was being honest with her. " And you can't abandon someone who hasn't been much of family for you Rose."
|
|
|
|
Post by parker on Aug 18, 2011 19:57:44 GMT -5
While he sat in the main room watching the news, Parker did his usual daily readings of the people in the school to look for anything unusual. Even though he kept to himself most of the time, he would catch himself looking for any enemies or if any of the other students needed any help that he could provide. And Parker didn’t even blink an eye when he felt Rose’s mind and her mood. She was like that nowadays, getting irritated at almost every little thing. Usually he would let it be, but Parker saw that Rose was getting huffy at their cousin, Alucard. That certainly got his attention.
Slowly, but with purpose, Parker strolled out into the grounds. He loved the gardens here at the school. Soon, he found the two people he was patiently looking for. His face was expressionless, almost as if he was bored. But his mind was sharp and attentive. In a few moments, Parker figured out what they were talking about and why Rose was getting upset.
”You’re family, Alucard. She just did what she thought was right.” He took a long breath and walked over to the two. His chocolate eyes seemed to bore their way through Alucard’s, looking deep into his mind. It was that look that unnerved some of the students here at the school. Telepaths weren’t very popular, since they invaded other people’s personal space…their last sanctuary.
”It’s pride. Rose is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. And she may not want to admit it, but it’s her way of protecting you.” Parker then turned his gaze towards Rose, nodding slightly. He doesn’t know much, so don’t get yourself into a huff.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rose North on Aug 18, 2011 20:22:49 GMT -5
Rose let out a sigh. She didn’t mean to get angry. It just… happened. Randomly, uncontrolled. She couldn’t stop it from happening. And most people didn’t seem to realize this. It was a remnant, a daily reminder, that she’d gone insane. That she could go insane again. Easily.
”Don’t apologize. I’m sorry. I have…. Anger issues. I can’t always help it….” She sighed again, annoyed. Hadn’t he been warned about her emotional issues? Why was he going on about being better family for her? It was a little ridiculous, considering he’d only seen her for a few minutes since finding out about her actually being alive.
She was going to just let him leave, but Parker seemed to have other plans. The little eavesdropper had shown up, trying to resolve the situation before Alucard ran off in a slump. What he said though, she scowled at him.
Rose admitted it, she didn’t want people close to her. They always got hurt. Everyone close to her was in the line of fire. And when you have as many enemies as she did… Well, let’s just say she’d learned from experience, don’t let people protect her. They always ended up dead.
She stuffed her hands in her pockets, obviously not happy that Parker had called her prideful… Sadly she was though. Extremely prideful. Hence why she didn’t offer to help explain.
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by Alucard Nightshade on Aug 18, 2011 21:59:09 GMT -5
Alucard didn't like how Parker had decided to just look at his mind. He didn't care if he was a telepath and looked at his mind any other time, but right now was not the time for him to be looking at Alucard's mind. He usually controlled the flow of his emotions, but now that was the last thing on his mind. All the feelings of annoyance, anger, sorrow, joy, all of his emotions would be gushing from the dam that was his emotional control and balance. Even someone on Parker's level of telepathy could end up getting washed away in the flow of it if he was careless. Alucard stood there and listened to them talking, his hand ever tightening around the roses to the point to were the thorns had been buried as deep into his hands as they could get. His blood was seeping out of the wounds and dropping to the ground like a slow and light red rain.
" It doesn't matter if she needs someone to protect her or not, I have not been the family she deserves to have and have never been. That fact will not change and will always be there forever and always." Alucard had said in a voice choked with too many strong emotions to tell which one he was feeling the most at the moment. " I knew she had left and I should have been sure to visit her and be the cousin she needed to have after she had run away. I should have been here for her during all the happy and sad times she had. I should have been apart of her life like a real cousin would be, but I wasn't so I don't deserve to be so now that she has come back to me from the dead. All I ever did was read and wonder how she was and what she might be doing, but how did that ever make any difference in her life or ever make us family to begin with?"
|
|
|
|
Post by parker on Aug 18, 2011 22:50:28 GMT -5
Parker’s face remained expressionless as he gazed into Rose’s mind, but he had to keep from smiling a little bit when she scowled at him. ”Mean no harm, Rose. Just speaking my opinion and how I see and interpret things.”
As soon as Alucard’s emotions got the best of him, Parker glanced at him. He kept out of his mind for most of the torrent, but enough to see the surface thoughts. He was definitely unhappy with Parker’s telepathy, but Parker wasn’t fazed by that. Most of the minds he visited never enjoyed his company in their private world full of thoughts that the rest of the world didn’t see.
”Whatever. I was thinking of being related by blood, but it doesn’t apply anymore. It never applied to me. But from all this, you say that we’re not really family and yet, your reaction to all this says otherwise. No need to have a hissy fit over the fact that you weren’t there to protect Rose and help her out in her times of trouble. Regret about that yourself…don’t complain about it to us.” Parker kept himself distant and a little bit cold when he said that to his cousin. ”Be a man and make it up to yourself by being family to Rose now.”
He then let out a sigh. ”Even I have had times of regret. But I’m trying to make up for it…even if I’m terrible at it.” Parker couldn’t help smiling a little bit at that last comment.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rose North on Aug 18, 2011 23:36:28 GMT -5
And everyone thought Rose had emotion problems. Alucard went into a downward spiral every time something happened. It made her wonder if was purely her fault, or if he was always like this… No, he hadn’t had emotional issues before. It’d started when he found out she was alive. ”Parker, maybe you should just erase the knowledge of my being alive…” It wasn’t the first time she’d asked Parker to erase her existence from someone’s mind. She’d done it once before, and that hadn’t gone all that well… At least this time though, it was just a suggestion. ”If the mere mention of my name sends him into a psychotic break, maybe it’d be better if he didn’t know. For his own sake.”
Sighing, she took a few feet away. ”I don’t see how anyone could be much of a ‘family’ to me up until now. No one even knew I was at the school until I was your age. And that was because Parker enrolled here. But like Parker said, just because you weren’t part of it before, doesn’t mean you can’t be now.” She fell silent for a few moments, her expression hard as she looked at her two cousins.
”Alucard, I didn’t leave just because I didn’t agree with them. There were other… problems. I overheard things. Things that I wasn’t supposed to hear. If they’d thought you had contact with me, it would have put you in danger. I didn’t tell you I was leaving, or where I was going, for your own protection. Just like Parker.” She paused for a moment. ”And even if you had been here, you probably would have been killed. “
[/justify] |
|
|
|
Post by Alucard Nightshade on Aug 19, 2011 0:47:17 GMT -5
Alucard sat there and listened to what the both of them had to say to him. They were both talking down on him, but he couldn't blame them. He needed to sort his thoughts and emotions out and straighten them out since they were so over flowing in his mind. He heard them mention he just needed to be family now. He thought it was ironic they would say that even though they kept hiding things from him and pushing him away even though they kept telling him to just become family now. How could they do that and say he just needed to be family with them right now? They were just proving to him more that he couldn't be family with them now. They even were talking about erasing his mind of knowing that Rose.
" I can't believe you would think of erasing my memory so easily. Do you have so little faith that you can't give someone some time to sort things out for themselves?" Alucard said to the both of them. " If you don't mind, I need some time to sort things out for myself on this whole matter."
Alucard's eyes had turned red and his top canine teeth had lengthened and sharpened slightly. It only lasted while he spoke and for a few moments after he had spoken. Parker would feel during this time an edge to his mind. It was a madness and a literal thirst for blood that was endless, it was the madness of the Nightshades.
|
|
