The Secrets of Soulmist (Solo)

by **Aello** on January 8th, 2011, 6:51 pm

3 Winter, 510 AV

Aello was sitting inside a rather old, wooden building. The building was dark, and only a soft trickle of light seeped in through the boarded-up windows. Aello had snuck inside earlier in the day, the building's door having been ripped off completely from its hinges. The building looked like it hadn't been inhabited in ages- cobwebs hung in the corners, keeping company with the shadows, and a sheet of dust hung over each of the remaining pieces of worn, wooden furniture like a woolen grey blanket. The smell of the water down below hung deeply in the air, as did the scent of mold, and Aello couldn't help but shiver as she sat and wondered what had happened to the building's inhabitants.

Aello had pulled two jars out of her sack. One held a mixture she had created a few days before, from a single egg, flour, and a soft white cheese with lots of holes in it. It would be used later to create soul mist, once she had added her own blood, and chewed on it for a while. Then she would spit it into the empty jar. It was in this way that Aello made the soul mist. She tended to have three of the four ingredients handy in a jar, ready to be crafted into something useful. She tended not to make the soul mist right away however, having learned from experience that her soul mist crafting capabilities were not yet great; and thus, the mist would vanish within a few days, sometimes even hours.

But today, for whatever reason, Aello felt the need to make the mist, so she opened the first jar, containing the first three ingredients- flour, egg, and soft cheese, and pulled out a small portion with the tips of her fingers. The mixture was cold, and smelled funny, but Aello simply shrugged, placing the mixture in her mouth, letting it balance on her tongue, and absorb her saliva, while she pulled out her eating knife, and pricked her right index finger, holding it over her mouth so that her blood would drip onto the dough she was creating.

Aello held onto her finger with her left hand, pinching it slightly to help ease the blood out, until she was satisfied. Five beads of crimson red blood had spilled into her mouth, slowly she eased her hands back over her lap, closing her mouth, and starting to chew. Allowing the vile and cold taste of the dough to mix with her saliva. She would make the mist today.

Aello pulled a bloody cloth out of her bag, she used it to wipe her eating knife clean, and to wrap her finger so it wouldn't stain her clothes. She tried to apply pressure to her pricked finger, to get it to quit bleeding. The finger felt slightly numb, but Aello hardly bothered to notice it; being too caught up in the vile taste that danced across her tongue. Old cheese, blood, flour and an uncooked egg were not a good mix, and Aello still struggled not to vomit while she was making the mist.

Aello chewed for what felt like an eternity, but what was probably only a few minutes, maybe an hour or two in reality. She spent time thinking about how she wanted to make the mist, her strange sense of urgency, how she wanted to be able to offer this to a weakened ghost, give it to a ghost who needed more soulmist in order to remain noticeable. She felt bad for ghosts in a way, in the sense that not all of them were noticeable, and that if they were, they were oftentimes ignored, or their power was depleted so quickly, that they couldn't remain in that state for too long.

Aello tried not to think about this, it was hard for her to dwell on such things, so she pushed it from her mind, and instead, doubled her concentration on her task: successfully creating soul mist.

Eventually, Aello's mouth grew cool, like her mouth had just walked through a blizzard, or ingested a large number of icicles, and Aello knew it was ready. Aello closed the lid of the container with her soulmist supplies, and then opened the empty one, she raised the jar to her mouth, so that it covered her mouth, chin, and lower face, but not her nose. Then slowly, she exhaled an off-white gel into the jar. It filled up about a quarter of the way, and glowed and eerie white. Aello had made soul mist, when the last of it had escaped her lips, Aello tilted her head back, and took a few gasping breaths, before shutting the lid to the jar, which now contained her soul mist. Aello knew it wouldn't last very long however, and if it were indeed, going to be used by a ghost, then it would have to be in the next day or two or so, maybe even sooner than that. She didn't know how stable her latest attempt was, or how successful she had been. She simply knew that she had created some soul mist, she wasn't sure however, if she would get to use it, or how powerful it was exactly.

Aello put the jar down on the hardwood floor beside her. It made a low clanking sound as it touched down on the wood, sending up a small cloud of dust."Boy this place is a mess," Aello whispered into the still air around her. It seemed to hang limply around her, there was no life to it, no character. It wasn't particularly thick, or thin, and its scent was natural enough- mold and the water down below.

Aello shrugged, she was starting to feel rather sleepy, her eyes growing heavier and heavier with each passing moment. Aello pulled her hair back with her hands, slowly bending over to the side, and resting her head on her bag. She closed her eyes, and was breathing evenly, slowly drifting off into sleep when she heard a voice. "Hellloooooooo..." it called. The voice sounded distant, other-worldly, and so very very far away.

Aello's eyes opened instantly, her heart rate increasing rapidly. She jumped up a little, clutching the left side of her chest, by her heart with her right hand. She could feel it thumping against her rib cage, against her hand. Aello looked around her frantically, from left to right, wondering where the voice had come from; but she saw, nothing. Puzzled, Aello's brow furrowed, and her eyes continued to look around at her surroundings quizzically. Had she imagined hearing something? Aello wondered as she rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers, pushing the skin farther up on her face, forming tiny wrinkles that would soon disappear as quickly as they had come, once she stopped. Unable to find the source of the noise, Aello shrugged. Perhaps it had merely been a figment of her imagination after all. Or maybe it was the wind? Aello thought as she looked to her left. A window hung a few feet over her head. Even though the window had been haphazardly boarded up, Aello could still tell that the glass pane had been cracked, and a steady burst of wind managed to make its way into the tiny room. The pale white cloth curtains blew back towards Aello with the breeze. It was like the wind was blowing the curtains in such a way, that it made the curtains appear as though they were welcoming Aello into their embrace. Aello stared at the curtains for a short while, mesmerized by their subtle movements through the wind. Her eyes had started to feel heavy again, and she soon found herself slowly lying her body back down, her head resting on her bag, the jar of fresh soul mist and the jar of ingredients sat on the hardwood floor, not far from where she lay, and her eyes closed.

Aello's eyes didn't stay closed for very long though, because she heard it again. "Hellooooooooo," the mysterious voice called out to her. Aello opened her eyes, and sat back up. She was sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor of an abandoned building in Ravok. Aello reached her hands up to her eyes, and rubbed the sleep crystals away. Was she imagining things again? she wondered, as she looked around. At first, just as before, she saw nothing, but suddenly, she saw it. Aello gasped, her heart rate instantly climbing the proverbial staircase that brought it to higher speeds. No matter how many ghosts she met, Aello couldn't seem to get used to their dropping in.

Aello sprang to her feet, nearly knocking over the jars containing her freshly brewed soul mist, and the other one with the ingredients. "You... you... startled me," Aello gasped, brushing the thin layer of dust that clung to her clothes away. Her long skirt was brushing up against the hardwood floor, her eyes were wide, fixated on the male ghost that stood before her.

The ghost towered over her, at approximately six feet tall. His coloration was set in pastel tones- as though he were simply a more washed out version of the being he once was, the being he was before he had passed on. That was one of the first things Aello noticed after getting a good look at him. He was tall, and rather unnaturally pale.

The next thing that she noticed was that the ghost was older than she, perhaps twice her age, judging by his appearance alone. He had a square face, with a wide jaw. Fine brown hairs grew in around the edges of his face. The ghost had five- o'clock shadow, as well as a beard and mustache coming in. It gave him a rather rugged and warn appearance. There was a single visible scar- a bright red line that cut diagonally across his right cheek. It appeared as though it had been left by a fine blade.

The ghost's nose was wide and bulbous, which sharply contrasted his nearly blemish-free, deathly pale complexion. He had pale blue eyes, which seemed to be glazing over, and pale pink lips in the shape of an archer's bow. His neck was short, his body fairly well built-up. He was muscular, yet lean, athletic looking. He was wearing a simple white tunic, with white pants underneath, a simple brown leather belt seemed to be holding them up.

The ghost carried a distinctive smell on his skin- something slightly metallic, and it took Aello quite some time to recognize the smell as blood. When she realized, her eyes grew even wider, if such a thing were possible, and she took a cautious half-step back with her right foot. Her left foot remaining slightly out in front of her right.

The ghost seemed to be floating a few inches above the floorboards, and was shrouded in what Aello knew to be soulmist. The edges of his body were a blur to her. The pale white mist that surrounded him seeming to swirl around his form like an aura. In a strange sort of way, it was beautiful, and rather alluring to Aello.

"Sssssorrryyy I frightened you," the ghost began. "I didn't mean to do ssssssoooooo."

Aello gulped. "It's ok, it happens." The ghost nodded. "I oooooonly wisssssssshhhhhhh tooooo talk to yooooooouuuuu," it said in a deep, rather eerie, far-away sounding tone. "Since I knoooooooowwwww nooooooooowwww that yooooooouuuu can see me."

Aello nodded, wishing she could will herself to say the word that lingered on her lips, in her mind's eye, "unfortunately." Instead, she fought off her urge to speak to the ghost in such a way, knowing that it would be disrespectful. "What is it that you wish to speak to me about?" Aello asked, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Thiiiissssssss," the ghost hissed, as he turned himself around. In the middle of his back was a large cut, blood seeping out of either side of it. The blood was a deep red, and Aello was surprised that she hadn't really noticed it before. Sure, the ghost's back was turned to her, but it smelled awful. She had even picked up on it. Not only that, but a few deep red droplets were spilling onto the floor, as if the wound had never truly healed, even in death.

Aello gasped, there was a sharp intake of breath, and for a moment, Aello stopped breathing. "What happened?" she asked. Before finally taking in her first breath after the initial shock at the sight of the ghost's wound, presumably the one that had killed him in the first place.

"That issss what killed me," the ghost said, his body starting to fade a bit. Aello nodded, "what do you wish to say about it?"

"I wasssss killed in cold blood, walking home from work one day..." the ghost's voice trailed off. Aello nodded, as the ghost floated a few inches closer to her.

"I wasssss sssssstabbbed, just befooooore I reached the door to my hoooome." Aello nodded, watching as the ghost slowly started to fade.

Aello glanced at it nervously, and then down at the ground at the new batch of soul mist. She leaned down, and picked the jar up. She opened the lid, holding it out to the ghost. "Here take this, or you will fade and I will be unable to hear or see you until your supply of the mist is replenished. I know it isn't very good mist, but it should be enough to help you say whatever you need to to me."

The ghost nodded. Leaning in to sniff the top of the jar, as if inspecting it. He then lifted his face away again. "Yessssss, yoooooouuu are right. It isn't the bessssssst, but it will doooooo." The ghost paused, gesturing towards her. "Besssides, yoooou are still yooooung, yoooouuu still have time tooooo learn." Aello nodded as she lifted the jar closer to the ghost. "You can take it if you'd like," she said.

The ghost nodded, leaning into the jar, its mouth hovering just above the top of the open lid. He opened his mouth, exposing a row of pearly white teeth. The ghost was flickering, and Aello's fingertips began to feel cold. Aello didn't understand why, but ghosts always made her feel cold.

Aello watched silently as the ghost ingested the soul mist, and its form began to brighten a bit, it was still fading and rough about the edges, but it would do. It would have to do, because she was certainly not in the mood to make any more soul mist.

"That better?" Aello asked the ghost as it straightened up. The ghost nodded.

"So what is it that you want of me?" Aello asked, cutting right to the chase.

The ghost chuckled. "I do not remain because I want yoooouu to kill the man whoooo killed me."

"Then why are you here?" Aello questioned, her head tilted slightly to the side.

"Becausssse I ssstill have unfinished business to attend toooo, which I hope," the ghost stopped to point to her at this point, "yooouuu will be kind enough to help me with."

Aello gulped. "What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.

"The man who killed me dumped my belongings in a barrel in one of the lanes near here. It has been there since my death a month or so ago. I want you to find these things, and bring the letter to my wife. Ouuur house is right next door, the one with the bright red door, yoooou cannot missss it."

Aello nodded. "Bring a letter to your wife? How would I do that? Without being caught? Without making myself look like a villain?" Aello asked as she bent over, and put the jar with the soul mist supplies back in her bag. She then closed the lid to the jar that had once contained the soul mist, and put that in her bag as well, before grabbing the rest of her belongings, and tossing them over her shoulder. Her right hand held on tightly to her father's bow. Her knuckles were growing even whiter with the severity of her grip.

"Yoooouuu could always tooossss it in through the window, there is one by the door, close to the ground..." his voice trailed off again. Aello nodded.

"How will I know the barrel, which way is it from here?" Aello asked.

"Oooonce you leave the entrance of thisss building, goooo right, down the lane, and make the first left, you will find it there," the ghost answered.

Aello nodded, "fine, if what you say is true, consider it done."

The ghost nodded, "thank you," before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Aello sighed, what had she gotten herself into? she wondered, as she held on more tightly to her bow, and walked across the floor towards the staircase. Each of the floorboards creaked as she let herself out, and into the alleys below.

Aello silently wondered why she was doing this, and was incapable of deriving an answer better than: because she had nothing better to do with her time. And who doesn't want to help out dead people? Seriously?

Aello turned right as soon as she had left the building's door behind. It was windy outside, and there weren't very many people out and about. The people she did see however, were mainly men, although there was the occasional mother and child as well. They all seemed to be staring at her as she walked down the lane. Her eyes wide, as though that would help her notice more things. The subtle movements of people, of rats, or anything else for that matter.

"Don't look at me, don't look at me," Aello mumbled under her breath, quickening her pace down the lane, and covering her forehead with her free hand, as though she were shielding herself from the sun. Not realizing, that it was more than likely that these actions were the ones that had caused everyone to stare at her so intently as she strode down the lane. When she came to the first left, Aello turned abruptly on her heels, and walked down that way, keeping her eyes peeled for the barrel that the ghost had mentioned in their conversation.

Aello looked up and down, and all around, until she found a series of barrels in the corner. They were all stacked one atop of the other- three separate barrels made up the base, two were stacked on top. They were leaning against the side of a wooden building. Aello gripped her hand more tightly around her bow. These must be them, Aello thought as she strode over to them. She put her bow down, so it was leaning up against the side of the building, next to the barrel on the left.

Aello then looked all around her, she felt like there were several eyes on her. But she saw no one. Nothing, hurriedly, her hands shaking, she touched the base of the barrel directly in front of her. Lifting it up, before placing it down quickly on the ground. The barrel had been heavy, and it practically tumbled out of her grasp, spilling over, the top sliding off. The barrel was resting on its side, its contents all over the street: a bunch of dead rats. Aello tried not to gag, how positively disgusting she thought, as she squirmed around uncomfortably, jumping up and down, her eyes closed, her nose scrunched, internally squealing out in disgust. She wanted to scream, but she bit her tongue, which kept her from doing so.

When she had gotten all of her pent-up emotions out; mainly her disgust, Aello opened her eyes again, and looked at the four remaining barrels. The stench of dead rat was starting to fill her nostrils, and it was growing more and more difficult not to puke. She could still see them out of the corner of her eye- mangy looking, short black fur, matted, laced with clumps of brown, crusty dried blood. Thin, yet long pink tails, with little rings around them. Aello wondered what had killed them all, but she didn't bother to think about it long, she just wanted to get this all over with, so she could keep her promise to the ghost she had met earlier in the day.

Aello looked at the next barrel, the one that was atop the others, she placed her hands behind it and pushed it to the ground. It landed with a loud thud. Aello stood, slightly hunched over, her hands out at her sides, her knees slightly bent, her eyes wide. Had anyone heard that? Aello wondered as she looked wildly around. Only a man had walked by where she stood, inspecting the contents of the barrels, but he didn't seem to pay her much mind.

Aello must have looked crazy, but she forced herself to ignore it, even though she saw no one, it felt like there was someone gazing into the middle of her back, burning a hole into it. Aello forced herself to work faster, ripping the lid off the barrel she had just knocked over, only to find it empty, only sprinkles of sawdust lined that barrel. Aello grit her teeth, she wasn't much for these guessing games. Or rather, investigative ones.

Aello turned to the barrel that stood in the middle of the two others. She breathed slowly in through her nose, and out through her mouth, trying to calm her mounting anger, and anxiety. She was convinced someone was watching her, perhaps it was that ghost again, but when she looked, yet again, she saw nothing. And if the ghost were around, Aello couldn't sense him, the scent of blood he carried on his skin would have been masked by the scent of blood that clung to the rats that lay dead in the street and inside the barrel that lay next to her.

Aello sighed, she should just get this over with, no need to draw it out any more, she thought, as she bit her bottom lip nervously, before gingerly lifting the lid off the middle barrel. Inside was a white tunic and pants, stained with blood. This was certainly the right barrel, she thought, as she slowly pulled the blood-stained clothing out of the barrel.

Aello rammed her hands into each of the pockets before she pulled a letter out of one of the pant's pockets. The letter was sealed in an envelope, whose paper was tinted yellow, and felt rough to the touch. Like the paper had been well-worn, perhaps some water had seeped into the barrel and ruined it, Aello contemplated, as she turned it over in her hands. The letter was addressed with the following: Elizabeth. Nothing more, nothing less. Aello looked through the rest of the barrel, all it contained was a small knife. It was stained with blood along the tip, and had a simple wooden handle. The blade was slightly curved, and seemed sharp enough.

Aello picked up the blade, perhaps it was the murder weapon? she thought, or even the ghost's own blade. She turned it over in her hands, testing its weight. It was fairly light for a blade. Aello ran her finger along the edge, it pierced her skin quickly enough, letting out a small trickle of blood. Shrugging, wondering if the ghost would come back and tell her what to do with it, Aello tucked the letter into her bag, as well as the bloody knife, before picking her bow back up and heading back in the direction in which she had come. Now all she needed to do was drop off the letter, and all of this would be over, she thought to herself.

Aello walked as silently as she could through Ravok, but even so, she felt like she drew everyone's attention to her. Did she stand out that much? Aello wondered, as she continued on her way, soon finding herself in front of the door the ghost had described. She breathed in deeply. This is it, she thought, as she opened her bag, and retrieved the letter. Clutching it tightly in her left hand, her right was still holding her bow.

Aello stared over at the open window. It was calling to her. Dark blue curtains hung on the inside, fluttering slightly in the wind. Aello breathed deeply again, before slinking over to the window, when she reached it, she sat down quickly beneath it. She wasn't sure she was ready, and even if she were, she wanted to be absolutely certain that she would not be seen. Being seen would not go over well, Aello was sure of it.

Aello sat beneath the window, willing herself silently to calm down, before she eased herself up a bit. Her legs were bent, and her back was to the building. She was leaning up against it. She had positioned herself high enough were she could just make out the inside of the house if she peered over her shoulder. The house was dark, and eerily silent. It didn't seem like anyone was home.

Aello stood up, turned around, and tossed the letter into the open window. She watched it flutter to the ground, before landing silently on the floor. Phew, she was glad that was over. Aello thought, as she slunk down against the wall of the building again. Her head was resting against it, tilted up towards the sky a bit. She looked up, and saw only dark clouds. It looked as though it would rain sometime later in the day.

Aello sighed, she reached over for her bag, opening the flap. She pulled the knife out, turning it over and over in her hands. She placed it down just below the window, it seemed like the right thing to do, she thought, as she collected all of her things, and slowly got to her feet. Glancing around nervously before she slunk off down the lane, away from the window, away from where the ghost once lived.

by **Seth** on January 10th, 2011, 3:33 pm

Aello:

+3 Spiritism
+2 Stealth
+1 Listening
+1 Investigation

Lores: I see Dead People, I hear Dead People, I talk to Dead People, How to make Soulmist, Being Stealthy is Hard, You shouldn't play with Sharp Objects, Ghosts always bring Trouble.

Items: In a few hours, Aello will feel a strange weight in her pocket. Upon inspecting herself to figure out what it is, she will be surprised to find an extremely light-weight curved dagger, one that is blood-stained permanently. It is the exact dagger she left on the windowsill. No matter where she puts the dagger, it will always return in a few hours if removed from her person. Any attempts to destroy the dagger require a moderator.

The Method behind my Madness :