Museums and other public buildings of a certain age tended to be built alike. You had your grand facades and impressive exhibits on the upper floors, but you also had to things which the public should never see. Old exhibits, janitorial closets, and security offices were all placed out of sight, and out of mind. They were in the basement. Pushed out of the light. Shoved into the darkness.
And it was very dark in the basement of this nightmarish museum. It shouldn't have been. There were lights, which were even on. But the light seemed weak and watery, and the shadows very thick. Moreover, the doors... sometimes they shuddered. As Caelan passed down the hallways in the basement, the doors would rattle, and shudder, and occasionally bulge outward, splintering a bit. There was never any light beyond them, though.
The security room was at the end of the corridor. The door was open, and Caelan could see firelight within it. The center of the room was given over to a burning fire, though it looked as though broken tables and pieces of office-chairs composed the fuel for this bonfire. Cords and cables ran from the walls to the fire, and in the flames, things moved. Images and visions moved in the fire, showing glimpses. Caelan thought she could see Robert's face on occasion, but then it was obscured as a form stalked in front of the fire.
It was a woman, and she was... beautiful. Unimaginably beautiful. Pale, alabaster skin. Black hair like raven's wings. Delicate features with high-cheekbones, exotic, slightly foreign eyes. She was like a doll, or a dream, something from a magazine cover. Living people, normal people, were not this beautiful. And then there were her eyes. They were a brilliant yellow-orange. Fox's eyes.
The beautiful woman stood before the fire, and pulled her coat closer about her form. It was a strange garment. A long, floor-length fur coat, with long sleeves and a hood. It was made entirely of fox fur. Russet fur, but not carefully sewn and cut. Rather it was as though the entire animals had been combined into this coat. Caelan could catch a glimpse of tail, a glimpse of black paw, even perhaps the shape of a head near the hood. The gorgeous woman pulled it about her, as though cold, and gazed into the fire.
Deeper in the darkness beyond the fire, something shifted. Something dark, and grey, and lean.
And it was very dark in the basement of this nightmarish museum. It shouldn't have been. There were lights, which were even on. But the light seemed weak and watery, and the shadows very thick. Moreover, the doors... sometimes they shuddered. As Caelan passed down the hallways in the basement, the doors would rattle, and shudder, and occasionally bulge outward, splintering a bit. There was never any light beyond them, though.
The security room was at the end of the corridor. The door was open, and Caelan could see firelight within it. The center of the room was given over to a burning fire, though it looked as though broken tables and pieces of office-chairs composed the fuel for this bonfire. Cords and cables ran from the walls to the fire, and in the flames, things moved. Images and visions moved in the fire, showing glimpses. Caelan thought she could see Robert's face on occasion, but then it was obscured as a form stalked in front of the fire.
It was a woman, and she was... beautiful. Unimaginably beautiful. Pale, alabaster skin. Black hair like raven's wings. Delicate features with high-cheekbones, exotic, slightly foreign eyes. She was like a doll, or a dream, something from a magazine cover. Living people, normal people, were not this beautiful. And then there were her eyes. They were a brilliant yellow-orange. Fox's eyes.
The beautiful woman stood before the fire, and pulled her coat closer about her form. It was a strange garment. A long, floor-length fur coat, with long sleeves and a hood. It was made entirely of fox fur. Russet fur, but not carefully sewn and cut. Rather it was as though the entire animals had been combined into this coat. Caelan could catch a glimpse of tail, a glimpse of black paw, even perhaps the shape of a head near the hood. The gorgeous woman pulled it about her, as though cold, and gazed into the fire.
Deeper in the darkness beyond the fire, something shifted. Something dark, and grey, and lean.
Resolve for Perception of fire