Eternally yours

[Angeltears]

((Closed for marauder13 ))

The white marble statue of the young woman stood in the middle of the entrance hall. Her arms held out before her hands together and palms up as if she was offering whoever stood before her something. The statue smiled at all those that passed her but the smile didn’t seem to reach her eyes, which if you really looked seemed sad, almost frightened. The woman’s long hair ran down her back reaching to her hips. A long dress seemed to flow down her body fanning out around her feet which were bare. Beneath the woman’s feet was a plaque that said, “Eternally yours.” The statue had been part of the great house where it still stood for as long as any one can remember. It was said that the original owner of the house had it created in memory of Ella the woman he loved who had gone missing with out a trace.

The truth was that Ella had never gone missing she had been there all along. The owner had been a jealous man and she was more his slave than his lover. He was also a magician. One night he had heard a rumour of another man trying to gain his slaves attention. To make sure she could never be taken from him he placed a spell on her so that she turned into a statue of marble. To be admired and looked upon by all but never claimed by any but him. Only his touch could turn her from marble to flesh again. The man aged and claimed another woman but he keep his beautiful Ella as a statue as price that he and only he owned.

The man eventually died and the house was passed on and slowly the house had slowly come to ruin over the years around her but never did the statue show any sign of age. Elle remained waiting for some one to free her because only someone with the magicians blood running through there veins could free her. Nobody lived in the house any more but that was about to change. One day people came and started to fix the house up around her and then they were gone too. It was a couple of days later when some one else returned, the new owner of the house.

((I am looking for a male to play a descendent of the magician who has just became the new owner of the house and will wake up the statue woman))

 

[Angeltears]

((Bump))

 

[marauder13]

Luke Ericksen stepped out of his well worn Landrover and took his first look at his new home. His scuffed surplus GPs kicked up dust from the gravel drive as he closed the door behind him. He folded his arms and leaned back against the vehicle, letting his blue eyes take in the manor's exterior. The flannel shirt and well worn jeans sat comfortably on his tall, solid frame. He readjusted himself to get his brown hair that had been pulled into a simple ponytail out from between his back and the car.

"Every pound well spent. Greg's team did a fine job. The photos do the place no justice at all."

Launching himself off the car, Luke headed to the front door. He was going to like working there. The nearest neighbour was over five minutes drive away and the lands about the manor were a decent size too. According to his brief chat to the lawyer handling the will, there was a fellow in the village that would be more than happy to come and tend to the landscaping.

He opened the front door, and was greeted by 'her'. If his research was correct, 'her' name was Ella. Luke just stood, staring at the statue. He slowly shook his head, not believing the level of detail the sculptor achieved with his, or her, work. Luke slowly circled the centrepiece of the entrance hall, awed by the fact that she looked as good as the day she was first placed there. He gazed at the plaque underneath her unclad feet.

"Eternally Yours."

He looked at her face, noting the differences in the upper and lower parts of her face. She was smiling, but the eyes weren't. If anything, he found them to be sad, maybe something else. Again, the ability of the artist just left him speechless. The expression was so real, so life like, it was as if they had a picture or even a photo to work from. Not that they had photos back then.

"Why are you so sad, Ella? Did you miss him that much? Well, I'm sorry to say that he's long gone now. Never mind, I'll take good care of you."

Luke casually patted the statute's foot as he walked further down the hall, trying to decide where he was going to look next.

 

[Angeltears]

As the man’s hand left the statues foot, the marble started to change. The stones surface changed from hard marble to soft skin, spreading up the statues leg. As it spread the marble dress fluttered and then lay straight around her ankles turning into silk. The change continued up along the statue spreading through her arms and to her hands and fingers. The statues fingers curled up and then the arms dropped to her sides. Then finally the statues head changed, its lips turning rosy, blue eyes blinked and last of all her hair changed from white to brown.

“Master why,” Ella gasped softly as she took her first breath when she woke. The last thing she remembered was her master telling her to hold out her hands and he would give her something. She had done what she had been told and he had taken both her hands in his. Then he had started to whisper something that she couldn’t understand and then she had started to feel strange. Before she knew it she couldn’t move and her skin turned white. Then there was darkness.

What had happened to her? What had her Master Victor done to her and why? Ella had loved Victor and she was sure that Victor had loved her. But once he had claimed her as his own he had seemed to change. Elle had become more a procession to him, never allowed out of his sight or even out of the house, unless with him. It was also then that she had discovered his secret life of magic, which he threatened that he would use on her if she ever left him.

Slowly turning around the house seemed to be different but how could that be. Once she had turned to look down the hall she spotted her Master. “Master,” she called to him. Lowering herself off the slab of marble that she had no idea how she had gotten onto. Taking a couple of steps to follow Victor she suddenly stopped. Something was wrong with Victor he looked different too. The clothes he wore where strange looking and his hair was longer but other than that he was the same height and the same brown hair. “Master Victor?”

 

[marauder13]

Luke was deciding between checking out the study, where he was going to do most of his work, or the library which had been nicely stocked prior to his arrival. He had decided that the study would be the next place for him to check. He wanted to make sure that the room as ready for him to start working as soon as the rest of his possessions arrived.

“Master!”

Luke stopped cold. He thought he was alone in the house, but he heard a woman's voice clearly calling out. He hadn't hired any staff yet, and he doubted that they would call him 'Master' even if he had.

“Master Victor?”

He turned to speak to the woman, to explain that he -

"JESUS CHRIST!"

Luke's face went white as he took a couple of steps back from the woman standing in the hall. He was staring at Ella! The woman from the statue! The statue that was missing!!!

"Wh... wh... what the fuck is going on? Who are you? How...?" He started to breathe deeper and slower. The woman looked as shocked as he felt. But... surely not.

"OK... OK... there has to be a simple explanation for this. Some elaborate prank or something. Yes. Very good prank." He finally brought himself under a semblance of control. "Right. Good and calm, Luke."

He looked back at the woman standing in the entrance hall. She could have been the model for the statue the similarity was that exact. Her hair was a lustrous brown, framing a face that was very pretty, her blue eyes wide at whatever discoveries she had made. The dress she wore was simple, yet very fitting for her. He wasn't sure, but he thought it might have been silk, or some modern lookalike.

"Right. Before we get to the normal social pleasantries, who are you? And who set up this little welcome 'gift' for me? I want to make sure that I thank them properly for the near heart attack you just gave me."

 

[Angeltears]

Ella watched as he turned around, maybe he was angry at her for something. Was that why he had ignored her when she had first called out to him? Was she now going to be punished for something she didn’t remember doing? It wouldn’t be the first time.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Ella heard Victor say and her attention focused back on him instead of worrying what she had done wrong. But as she looked at the man before her she realized that it wasn’t Master Victor at all. Who was he and why was he in this house? He wasn’t one of the servants that worked for Victor and she knew them all.

The stranger before her seemed shocked to see her. Why should he be shocked to see her here she lived here. He started to ramble on about something, which she didn’t pay much attention to as she was looking at him more closely. There was a resemblance there between her master and this stranger.

This man was the same build as Victor but this stranger seemed to be more solid in a way that Victor could never be. His face had a softness to it that Victor’s had had because he smiled so much. That was before he started to change. But the main difference between them other than the strange clothes this stranger wore was his eyes. Victor’s eyes had been brown where this stranger had an amazing blue color.

Her attention was back to what he was saying as she realized that he was asking her something. “I do not know what you are talking about Sir. I know nothing about a gift. I am Ella Owens,” realizing that this man might be a guest of her master she remembered her manners and curtsied. “May I ask if you are here to see the Master of the house, Lord Victor?”

Wondering where the servants where, for should not one of them have greeted this man. As she was wondering this she also wondered where Victor was, for she knew that she would get in trouble for talking to this stranger by herself. A shiver run up her spine as she remembered the last time she had been caught speaking to a man alone. Her eyes flicked to the sides expecting her master to appear and catch her like this.

 

[marauder13]

Luke found himself staring at pedestal that once had the statue upon it. There was not a single sign of dust on it from whatever had been covering her. It must of been some trick lighting perhaps.

But the way she looked at him was somewhat haunting. He thought that she was trying to solve some mystery by reading his face. The longer she stared at him, the more uncomfortable he felt.

“I do not know what you are talking about Sir. I know nothing about a gift. I am Ella Owens.”

Her voice was soft and almost lyrical. The last time he heard a voice anything like it was at one of the medieval reenactment group festivals when he had been invited to talk about sorcery. Like one of those reenactment women, she curtsied with ease as if it was something she did all of her life.

Luke had researched the manor while it was being rebuilt after he inherited it two years earlier. It was old, being built in the 1600's by one of his ancestors, Victor Eriksen. Due to a stroke of luck, Luke was descended from a younger son from the late 1700's and the main branch kept a track of the rest of the family. Which is why he ended up inheriting it some a distant family member who was childless.

But Victor had a woman, a lover of sorts, named Ella...

Ella Owens.

Luke was snapped out of his thoughts when Ella asked him a question. “May I ask if you are here to see the Master of the house, Lord Victor?”

Luke couldn't help but laugh. It helped break the tension within him, the laughter easing it out of his body.

"I must congratulate you on your ability to research the history of this place. Lord Victor Eriksen died nearly four centuries ago. I must admit that this prank is quite elaborate, and well executed. But enough with the pretenses. Who are you? Really. Ella Owens disappeared between one and three decades before Victor died."

Luke advanced a step or two closer. "Well, Miss? Who are you? Why are you doing this to me? Is this some joke by the locals to welcome the city fellow? This is not getting any funnier."

He started to scowl at the young woman, his temper rapidly running out with her.

 

[Angeltears]

Ella was taken back when he started to laugh. Why was he laughing at her? She had not said anything funny. Had this man no manners? Working herself up to the point that she was about to scold him she opened her mouth but he spoke first.

His words shocked and confused her that she forgot what she had been about to say. Lord Victor dead, but that couldn’t be true she had only just seen him. He had been standing right in front of her. This man must be lying to her, maybe it was one of her Masters new games. Ella didn’t like this game, whatever it was.

Also what did the man mean she had disappeared, she had not left the manor for the last couple of days. Victor had been in one of his dark moods so she had been confined to the house again, she hadn’t even been allowed into the gardens. She wouldn’t have gone anywhere without Victors permission and if she had he would have found her and punished her. So this stranger must be lying.

Ella’s eyes widened as the man stepped closer to her and she instantly took a couple of steps beck. “I am not joking I would never do something like that. I am speaking the truth when I say my name is Ella Owens and this is where I live with Lord Victor.” Ella took a couple more steps back as she saw him scowling at her, stopping when she felt the pedestal touch the back of her legs.

Starting to get scared Ella looked around the hall for help of some kind. When she found nothing of the kind she turned back at the man. "It is you who is lying, for Lord Victor had been standing there a few moments ago before you suddenly appeared. So he cannot be dead.” She said pointing to the place on the other side of the pedestal which she could not explain being there. But she did not let that small fact stop her as she held onto the only thing believed was true. That Victor had been standing there before it had gone dark.

“If you insist on telling such un truths about my Lord then I must ask you to leave his house. If you do not then I will be forced to call to him and he will remove you himself. This will not please him at all so for your own benefit it would be best for you to leave yourself.”

If this was one of Victor’s games then she feared what would happen if it did not go the way he wanted it to go and she feared that it was not a game and that there was a strange man in the house. What should she do?

 

[marauder13]

Luke was never one who liked bullies, or those that used their stature or anything else like it to pressure someone. But his temper was almost gone, and he was doing all those things he personally hated. The woman took a few steps back from him, and bumped into the pedestal.

“I am not joking I would never do something like that. I am speaking the truth when I say my name is Ella Owens and this is where I live with Lord Victor.”

"Miss, the time for this... foolish prank is over. If you don't tell me who you are, I have have the police here and have you arrested. So, for the final time, who are you, and who put you up to this?"

The woman was an impressive actress, or she perhaps realized she was in trouble. It was clear to Luke that she was scared, or at least acting that way. She was looking around as if expecting some support from someone, but there was no one else around. If anything, that made her look even more nervous as she turned her attention back to Luke. If it was not a prank, then the poor woman needed to go back to the facility she had escaped from.

"It is you who is lying, for Lord Victor had been standing there a few moments ago before you suddenly appeared. So he cannot be dead.”

"Suddenly appeared?!? Miss Owens I walked through that front door after driving here. And for the past two years, this place has been transformed from a ruin to a livable estate again. So, I didn't just pop up out of nowhere. Plus, there have been God knows how many workman on site during that time. And I am sure that if any of them encountered Lord Victor, I would have been told."

“If you insist on telling such untruths about my Lord then I must ask you to leave his house. If you do not then I will be forced to call to him and he will remove you himself. This will not please him at all so for your own benefit it would be best for you to leave yourself.”

Luke looked at her, stunned. She was pressing with her... whatever it was. She must have been mentally unsound or something similar. If she was an actress, she would've bailed out by that point. His temper finally vanished and he stormed over to where she stood.

"Go ahead, Miss Owens. I hope you have a voice strong enough to be heard in heaven, because that's where he is." He grabbed a hold of her arm, and dragged her to his office. His cell phone battery had run out on the way out to the estate, but he knew the landlines were working.

The room was furnished in the style of the rest of the estate, with the exception of a large modern filing cabinet which was at least a colour that fit in reasonably well. His desk housed a computer with dual screens, a phone and the other necessities for a writer's desk. A high quality, modern executive chair sat behind the desk, and two chairs more fitting the manor were on the other side of the desk. A slimline entertainment system sat in one corner of the room.

Luke propelled Ella into one of the chairs, and without thinking, started the sound system. Classical music flooded the room from the surround sound system speakers in each corner. He fired up his computer and within a minute, he was looking up the local police station number.

He picked up the phone, and was about to punch in the number when he looked back at Ella Owens.

"Last chance before I call the police. Care to elaborate or be arrested?"

 

[Angeltears]

This man must be mad, the things he was saying were impossible. Even if she pretended that what he said was true then that would mean she had closed her eyes slept or whatever happened to her for a long time. But then would she not have aged and would she not have heard and other people in the house. Also wouldn’t someone have known she was there why would they have said she had disappeared especially when she “woke up” in the same place.

But what he said couldn’t be true could it, there was no way it could have been possible. Or was it…. Had her master done something to her, she had felt strange and then there had been darkness. No he wouldn’t have done anything she had done nothing wrong to warrant him using his magic on her. Then she remembered the look in her face when he had asked for her hand and the way he had been before that.

Ella’s thoughts were broken when the stranger grabbed her by the arm. Trying to pull away from him she struggled against his grip but she couldn’t pull away. “NO let go of me,” she cried out not calling to her master as part her seemed to know that even if she did call out for him he would not come.

As she was dragged into Lord Victor’s study she stopped struggling as she took it in. This was not her master’s study it looked like it at first glance but there were things that she had never seen before. Things that were truly strange, even stranger than some of the things her master had shown her.

Thrown into a chair Ella stilled instantly as the sound of music filled the room. But there was no musician and the music seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Scared now, she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them hoping to make herself look smaller. Looking around she tried to find the source of the sound but instead her eyes fell on the stranger as he was looking at some panels they glowed and things started appearing on them.

Magic, this man was a magician like her master. Somehow she had found herself in the presence of another magician but she didn’t know how and by the way he looked at her he was angry. When he told her it was her last chance she flinched and held her legs closer.

“I am sorry I did not know you were a magician and I do not mean to anger you, but I don’t know what happened,” Ella said quickly, she was fighting back tears. If this magician was like Lord Victor she was going to be punished for angering him. Not knowing what more she could do she quickly tried to explain herself.

“I don’t know where I am. This place looks a lot like my home but it cannot be because there are things here I have never seen before. My name is really Ella Owens and the last thing I remember before seeing you was Lord Victor standing before me asking me to hold my hands out. He touched them and whispered something and then I started to feel strange and then it all went black. When I opened my eyes I was here in a house that looks like the one I lived in and with a man who looks similar in ways to my master. I don’t know what happened to me,” Ella went suddenly quiet expecting to be yelled at or accused of lying again.

Closing her eyes she buried her face against her knees maybe this was a dream and if she opened her eyes she would wake up in her home.

 

[marauder13]

He held the phone in his hand, watching Ella trying to make herself smaller. She was scared. Deep to the bone scared. She moved like he slapped her when he gave her her last chance.

“I am sorry I did not know you were a magician and I do not mean to anger you, but I don’t know what happened.” Tears welled in her eyes as he saw her tighten up even further.

Magician? She called him a magician? He remembered where her eyes had tracked. She looked at the computer and the sound system. Luke was starting to have doubts about Ella being an actress.

“I don’t know where I am. This place looks a lot like my home but it cannot be because there are things here I have never seen before. My name is really Ella Owens and the last thing I remember before seeing you was Lord Victor standing before me asking me to hold my hands out. He touched them and whispered something and then I started to feel strange and then it all went black. When I opened my eyes I was here in a house that looks like the one I lived in and with a man who looks similar in ways to my master. I don’t know what happened to me.”

Luke's hand dropped the phone back into the cradle. What got him writing occult books and paranormal fiction was his little known ancestor, Victor Eriksen. There were old tales that he was a wizard, warlock or worse. But given when he lived, that wasn't hard to imagine such tales being told. But this woman, what she said and how she has been reacting was starting to make Luke's spine shiver.

Could it have been true? While he enjoyed writing fiction that dealt with the occult, his non fictional works were mostly debunking the various tales he heard. The stories of Victor was what got him on his career in the first place, which is why Luke decided to keep Victor's manor when he inherited it. That man was the catalyst for his career.

"Ella! Quickly! What is this?" Luke pointed to the phone. "This?" Then the computer. "This?" He pointed to the filing cabinet.

In the back of his mind, he had the sinking feeling that he might have been wrong about about there being magic in the world. That a good portion of his work might be wrong. That what he believed was wrong.

 

[Angeltears]

At the sound of something being put down Ella dared to look up at the stranger. Peaking just over her knees she saw him standing there looking at her as if in deep thought. He looked so much like her master, what had happened to her master? If she believed this stranger he was dead and that would mean she was free to return home. But if he was speaking the truth then home was long gone.

Suddenly the stranger was in motion and pointing at things and asking her questions. Startled she gasped. Looking at the things he pointed at she tried to work out what they were, but she had no idea. The first thing he pointed to was the thing he had picked up half of when he had told her it was her last chance. Even looking at it she saw numbers labelled on it but for what purpose it had she couldn’t work it out.

The next thing was the panels which glowed that had to be magic and her master had not shown her that trick so she couldn’t tell what it was. The last thing he asked was large thing that had handles and what looked like door a cupboard of some sort maybe.

“I don’t know, sorry I don’t know what they are. I have never seen anything like them before,” she whispered, afraid she would be punished for not knowing what the things he was pointing at where. “My master never showed me any of these magic items, please don’t be angry with me,” she begged. Maybe being a magician himself he might be able to tell her what happened to her.

“Sir, do you know what happened to me?” she asked him.

 

[marauder13]

Luke watched her expression as he pointed to the various items around the room. Any modern person would identify them without thought. But she faltered. If the woman was an actress, she was in a league of her own, completely wasted on pranks like this. But, the reactions were too real, too spontaneous. There had to be a logical reason for what was happening.

“I don’t know, sorry I don’t know what they are. I have never seen anything like them before.” The softness of her voice carried the fear, confusion and doubt clearly.

“My master never showed me any of these magic items, please don’t be angry with me.”

"If, and I say if, what you are saying it true, none of these things existed when your master was alive. They are not magic, they're... normal. Mundane. Crap. I'll explain later."

“Sir, do you know what happened to me?”

"That's a question I am still trying to fathom. It would look like Victor did something to you. What exactly, I don't know. Miss Owens, how about I take you to a room where you can lie down and rest, while I try and figure out what has happened. Please, come with me."

Luke put his hand out to assist Ella get out of the seat, and led her upstairs to where the bedrooms were located. He had made sure that he had two spare bedrooms for the rare times he had visitors.

'God, I hope she's not a dangerous psych patient that's escaped from somewhere nearby. Just stay calm, Luke. Don't make her snap and axe murder you.'

"Here," Luke said as they stopped outside on of the doors in the hallway. He opened it, letting her enter first. "As you can see, it's not flash, but it will do for the moment."

The room had a standard double bed, walk in wardrobe, bed side chest of drawers and table. The bed was made, but looked like no one had ever slept in it. All of the furniture was selected to try and fit the manor in style and colour.

"Now, I'll be back in an hour or two. Do you have any questions? Do you need anything, like a drink, or some food?"

 

[Angeltears]

Normal, these things that he had pointed to were normal. These strange things normal, Ella looked at the items again and she still couldn’t understand what they could be used for. Giving up she looked back at the stranger for answers.

When he mentioned resting she nodded her head. She didn’t need to rest but she needed to think about what he had told her and try to work out what was happening. When he offered his hand she reluctantly took it and lowering her legs she rose to her feet. Following as he led she took the chance to look at the rest of the house as she walked through it. It looked like home but now she noticed things that she had never seen before.

As the stranger stopped and showed her one of the rooms she and froze before she stepped into the room. If this had been Lord Victor’s house this would have been her room. Though it had been her name in name mostly as she had never really used it, unless her master had not wanted her around. Stepping into the room, she looked around it amazed. This was not her room all the small things that she had kept in there that had made it her room where not there and the furniture was different, these only proved that this was not her home.

This final bit of proof made her heart sink as she truly realised that this was not her home. Looking around at the room she turned to him and smiled slightly. “There is nothing that I need Sir,” she replied when he asked if she needed anything. She had so many questions but the three main ones where, ‘What had happened to her?’ which he didn’t have the answer for. The other two she asked him, “Sir I only have two questions before you go. May I ask your name and where I am?” she asked as she moved over to the bed.

 

[marauder13]

Her face lit up for a moment, then disappointment set in as she looked around the room. Her eyes lingered in odd places, and the hand drifted as if touching something that might have been there.

“There is nothing that I need Sir.”

He watched her as she approached the bed, turning her head to speak to him once more.

“Sir I only have two questions before you go. May I ask your name and where I am?”

"Hmmmm? Oh, sorry for being rude. I'm Luke, Luke Eriksen. You're in my new home. I've just had it rebuilt. It belonged to an ancestor of mine, one who you... know quite well. Victor Eriksen.

"If you'll excuse me." Luke closed the door behind him, and walked very quickly back to his office. He sat down in his chair, trying to clear the jumbled mess in his head. No matter how hard he tried to push the thought from his head, he was afraid that she was the real woman. That Victor somehow got this woman to this day and age.

"Look, Luke, you're being stupid. There is no way she could be the real Ella Owens. Fine, Vic mentioned her in his private journals, but -" Luke was out of his chair and over to the filing cabinet, unlocking it, and opening the bottom draw. He pulled out three thick old tomes and place them on the desk. He put on a pair of cotton gloves before he brought the first book before him. He started flicking through the pages, scanning the handwritten pages. Every so often he would stop, slowly reading a certain passage before continuing his scan.

Just over half way through the second book he found what he hoped he would. Victor wrote of his desire to keep his ownership of Ella uncontested, including the ability to easily find her if she strayed. He wrote of some enchantment he laid on a mark he placed upon her back, just above the hip.

"Eve's Folly," Luke spoke of the mark Victor had mentioned. "What on Earth is Eve's Folly?" Luke went back to reading the tomes to see if there was anything else useful listed. All he had was the mark of Eve's Folly. "Great. All I need to do is go upstairs and as the woman if I can look at her back, just near her hips. Sure, like she'd agree to that.

"Look, just ask, let the woman laugh at you, got off her rocker, whatever and look for the proper answer."

An hour and a half after he left her room, Luke found himself outside the door. He knocked on the door. "Ella? Can I come in?"

 

[Angeltears]

Ella stared at Luke in shock when he answered her questions. Trying to comprehend what he had said, she didn’t hear him excuse himself before leaving. Then he was gone and she was in the room by herself. Slowly she sunk down on to the bed. He was an Eriksen that would explain why he was a magician. Was it possible that magic ran through the family? Ella knew very little about magic so she couldn’t begin to tell if it was possible. But that would also explain why he looked so much like Victor, he was his blood.

Then she looked at the room around her, this was Lord Victor’s house though it was different it was still her home and this was her room. That thought cheered her up but then she sighed. No this wasn’t her room, it had been long ago but now anything that made her room was gone. Rising from the bed she moved over to one of the corners of the room, where she remembered a large mirror had stood when she had lived here. Slowly she walked around the room not seeing it as it was but how she remembered it until she came to the window.

Standing there she looked out over the land, even the land had changed. Ella closed her eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. What had happened to her? Why had Lord Victor done this to her, what had she done for him punish her this was? Had every one thought she had just vanished, if they had known Lord Victor as she had known him then they would have realised that that wasn’t possible. Once she had wanted to explore the land that surround the house and as there had been quite a lot of it she knew that it would give her a chance to get away from the house and nobody would be able to find her with out having to spend a lot of time looking for her. She had not been out in the grounds long before Victor had found her and had dragged her back to the house, yelling at her the whole way. She had no idea how he had found her but he told her that she was his and that no matter where she went he would be able to find her. So no she couldn’t have just disappeared.

Ella didn’t know how long she had been standing by the window, when she heard a knock on the door and Luke’s voice come from the other side. “Yes,” she replied, but couldn’t bring herself to leave the window.

 

[marauder13]

When Luke heard the muffled "Yes" to his question, he reached for the handle and hesitated. Shaking his head slightly, he opened the door and walked in.

"Ella," Luke said, before sighing. "Ella, this is going to sound really strange, but I need to check something to make sure that you are who you claim to be. Because to the best of my understanding, if you are Victor Eriksen's Ella Owens, you should have died nearly four hundred years ago. But the only way to have not done that is if Victor was successful in placing some enchantment on you.

"Anyway, I found out how to determine the truth." Luke blushed slightly as he took a deep breath. "I need to look at your back."

Ella's eyes widened a little, then she slowly turned her back to him, and eased her dress off her shoulders and slowly lowered it. Luke felt a little uncomfortable as a complete stranger was revealing herself to him. Even though it was her back, and she was not showing him anything 'private' and it wasn't like he -

Above her right hip, he saw the first signs of a tattoo. Dark green ink slowly revealing a curved line. Within moments it was fully showing.

"Ella! Stop."

Eve's Folly was an apt name for the tattoo. A bright red apple surrounded by a serpent. Luke felt his face pale as his stomach dropped. He swallowed a few times before he could summon his voice.

"Ella... you can... get dressed again." He sank to the floor, shock setting in. "Dear Lord... He... Victor actually... statue... you..." He looked up at Ella when she finally dressed and turned to look at him.

"Ella. I'm... I'm so very sorry."

 

[Angeltears]

Ella was surprised when Luke asked to see her back. How would that prove that she was herself? Maybe as a magician he could just tell, she didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to refuse him in case it angered him. Turning slowly she did what she was asked. It felt wrong what she was doing because Victor had told her once that she was his and nobody else was to ever see her body.

Stopping when he told her to stop she looked back over her shoulder at him and was puzzled when he seemed to suddenly look sick. What had he seen that would have him react that way? Thinking hard as she pulled her dress back up, she realised what he had seen. The mark Victor had given to her. Remembering the night he had marked, after he had marked her and took her to his bed, he had been rougher than he normally was and he could be rough. The next morning when he had sent her to her room she had changed before the mirror. She checked her body for bruises and found them and more, she had stared at the mark for ages.

Turning back to Luke as he muttered a few things but which made no sense to her. When she saw that he was on the floor she got worried, quickly crossing the room she kneeled before him. “Are you okay sir?” she asked him concern filling her voice.

 

[marauder13]

Luke finally gathered his thoughts enough to start actually thinking again as Ella knelled in front of him.

“Are you okay sir?”

"Hmm? Ah.. yes. No. God, I just had my world turned upside down." Luke blinked a few times. "What am I bitching about, yours had been shattered. Ella, I'm finding this hard to believe myself, but... Victor somehow turned you into a statue. I'm not sure how, or why, but when I got here today, something happened to break the enchantment.

"Nearly four hundred years has passed, Ella. You have remained in Victor's manor the entire time, as a statue. Oh dear Lord... what am I going to do with you? So many things that you'll need. And all the changes. Where to start?"

Luke's mind was racing. A myriad of problems and issues flooded his thinking. He had a woman from 400 years ago! What if people found out about her? The authorities? He was lost in a sea of confusion and fears.

He turned and looked at the poor woman before him. "I'm hungry? Are you hungry? I need food. Let's go to the kitchen." Luke sprang up, taking Ella's hand in his, he led her to the kitchen. On reaching there, he pulled out some plates, cutlery and anything he could put his hands on that required little or no preparation before eating.

"Ummm... help yourself?" He collapsed into the chair, the shock hitting him again.

 

[Angeltears]

Ella looked at him puzzled when he couldn’t make up his mind on if he was okay or not. But then when he said about her world being shattered she sat back on her calves and thought about it. A statue Victor had turned her into a statue, why would he do that? A statue for four hundred years but it only felt like she had closed her eyes for a second and when she had opened them everything had changed. Her life, her family, everything she had owned and every thing she had known was gone. Where did that leave her?

Frowning to herself as she sat there, she considered what she would do but she couldn’t see to think of anything. When Luke suddenly sprung to his feet it startled her and then suddenly she was on her feet following him. When they came to there destination she stood to the side staring in wonder at all the strange looking things. Watching him as he moved around the room, she was amazed how he pulled things from all different places. He called this a kitchen, it looked like no other kitchen that she had seen before.

When Luke finally stopped and sat down she slowly sat down and looked at all that he had set out. Some of it looked strange but she found that she was hungry and tentatively she helped herself to some of the food. Slowly eating she would look over at him he looked like he was in shock. “Sir can I ask you something,” she asked hesitantly. “You seem to know a lot about Lord Victor, I was wondering if you knew what happened to him after I disappeared, I mean after he did what he did to me?” Had he done what he had to her because he had had enough of her, had there been some one else.

 

[marauder13]

Luke had just blanked out. Too many shocks, to many upheavals of what he held to be true, and a woman that presented so many sources of problems he had no idea of where to start listing them let alone resolving them.

“Sir can I ask you something. You seem to know a lot about Lord Victor, I was wondering if you knew what happened to him after I disappeared, I mean after he did what he did to me?”

"Hmmm?" Luke looked up, bring Ella back into focus. "Please... call me Luke. I'm not a knight, and I am not your master is any sense of the word. At least I don't think I am," Luke frowned.

"What happened to Victor? He married a woman named Patricia, and had three or four children by her and died of old age. I'm a direct male to male descendant of his, though not from first born males. About 5 or 6 generations after Victor, my ancestor was the third male of the family. But the main branch died out, along with some of the others, leaving me the closest relative of Victor's.

"I'm so sorry, Ella. You have nothing, but your clothes. They are not really suitable for nowadays. Fashion has changed quite a lot. Oh... geez. And... as far as the rest of world is concerned, you don't exist. I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining you. I've just got to calm down and think clearly. There are ways of doing this, I'm sure."

Luke stood up and started piling up food on his plate. He sat down at the bench and started to eat. He munched on his food while sorting through the mess of thoughts.

"First thing's first. Welcome home. You'll be living here from now on. The room I took you to will be your bedroom now. I'm sorry to do this to you, but for the foreseeable future you'll have to do as your told. If not, there is a risk something bad will happen to you. There are just so many dangers around here for someone of your origins that you could easily hurt yourself badly, if not kill yourself."

He ate some more of his food, slowly getting lost in the massive number of thoughts and problems on hand.

"Well... do you have any more questions at this stage?"

 

[Angeltears]

Ella’s heart sank as she listened to Luke tell her about Lord Victor and his family. So there had been another woman, Ella remembered Patricia, she had been a high born lady, daughter of a very wealthy man. There had been moments where Ella had thought that Lord Victor was interested in some one else, she remembered seeing the way he would look at other woman, but who was she to question him.

So he had married her and she had bore him children. That had been one of her dreams when she had been younger. To find a man that loved her and he would marry her and she would give him the children he wanted especially a son. But Victor had never shown any sign of marrying her and she given up hope for who would want a girl that a man like Lord Victor would judge unfit to marry. Only fit enough to use and as a statue it would seem.

Ella fought back the tears that wanted to slip from her eyes and she blinked them back. She continued to listen to Luke and it only made it worse, even now she was unfit to live in this time. When he seemed to start to talk to himself Ella pushed her plate away from her slightly, she was no longer hungry and she just simply looked down at her hands in her lap.

There was silence for awhile and then when Luke spoke again Ella looked up surprised that he was welcoming her to his house. When he could have quite easily thrown her right, she was nothing to him but a woman that his ancestor once owned. She nearly laughed when he told her, her room would be her own again, even if it didn’t have any of her things from her live at least she could still claim the room as hers.

It was his next words that made her pause. “I'm sorry to do this to you, but for the foreseeable future you'll have to do as you’re told” repeated its self in her mind, she had heard words similar to these said before to her. Victor had told her she was to do as she had been told, even if she didn’t like it, she had to do what he told her to do. Had she gone from one master to another, was that what Luke expected of her. Was that why he was allowing her to stay, was this the way of magicians or was it just the males of this family. The question was, was he exactly like Victor in his treatment of woman.

When he asked if she had any more questions she shook her head, “No Sir.” She knew he had told her to call him by his name, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to do that. It felt wrong. In truth all she wanted was to be alone so that she could work through her feeling at the fact that Lord Victor had moved on leaving her as a statue.

 

[marauder13]

Luke watched the roller coaster ride of emotions sweep across Ella as he explained things to her. Sad, happy, sad, crushed. He was trying to make things easier for her, but he was not doing a good job of it.

Then came the words that were so loaded with despair that it hurt to hear them. “No Sir.” Luke scratched his chin, then the thought hit him.

"Ella, follow me." He stood up, and led her back towards where her room was, except that they went a few doors away from there. "Well, it's time for you to learn a little more about the world you're living in now. Hopefully, you'll understand why I'll be instructing you on how to do things to start with. But it's not just a lesson, but something I hope you'll enjoy too."

Luke opened the door to the bathroom. He turned on the light, showing a large spa bath, shower, and vanity within the rather spacious room. He indicated that Ella come in with him.

"Firstly, Ella, you see this," he pointed to the light switch, "this will control the lights in the room. Watch." He flicked the switch, and the room dimmed as the lights turned off. Another flick and they were on again. "Every room that has lights will have a switch like it. Even your bedroom. Whenever you need light, find the switch, and turn them on. Just remember to turn them off after you finished."

He walked over the hallway to the linen closet, and pulled out a towel and a bathrobe for Ella. He placed them on the vanity for her.

"I'm sure that you know what a bath is, but this has a few features that I will explain later. The important one is the tap. You can control both the flow of water, as well as the temperature."

Luke got the water running, at a temperature that he found good for himself. "Check the temperature, Ella. If you'd like it hotter or colder, let me know and I'll change it for you." He adjusted it until the temperature was to her liking, then he started to actually fill the tub. "Later, we can get some more fitting toiletries for you, but this soap is plain and does the job."

Once the tub was full enough, Luke started heading for the door. "Go on, get in, have a wash and relax for a while. Once you get out, throw the robe on. I'll be in the study just a little way down the hall. Yell out if you need anything."

He gave her a nervous smile before closing the door behind him. He headed for the study, pulling out one of his own non fiction works, Myths of Magic. He stared at the book, the book that established himself in the Occult literature circles for his explanations behind how magic came into being, and why is wouldn't "work".

"Thanks, Victor. Thanks for making two years of hard work mean fuck all."

 

[Angeltears]

When Luke said for her to follow him she rose to her feet and did so. Following him she thought that he was leading her back to her room, but when they passed her room she was puzzled by where he was taking her. Tilting her head to the side as told her it was time for her to learn about the world she lived in now. Nodding she understood she would have to learn.

When he opened the door she stood there staring at the room. Suddenly light had filled the room, she had not seen him light a candle in fact she had only seen him touch the wall. But that was not the only thing that had her staring it was the room it’s self. In the corner there was glass room and then a large hollow basin whish she did not recognise. Stepping into the room she looked around.

Watching all he did she tried to remember what he told her. The switches amazed her they had made a way to capture light and use it in the dark with out using fire. Then he explained about the bath and it took her awhile to believe that she was looking at was a bath, it was and huge and odd looking. Watching as he worked what he called tap she was shocked to see water come out of a pipe.

It all was quite a lot for Ella to take in, so when he left she just stood there looking at the water filled tub. The water looked so good, how long had it been since she had had a hot bath. Slowly she stripped of her dress and slipped stepped into the water. Lowering herself she sighed as the water engulfed her, this was unbelievable. The last time she had had a bath the servants had filled a small tube with boiled water but it took along time to fill and by the time she got into the water it was only warm. This water was hot and warmed her skin and this bath tub was big enough to fit more than one person.

Ella relaxed in the bath but soon the water grew cold and she got out of the tub. Using the things he left her she dried herself. Slipping the robe on she wrapped it around herself and headed to the door. Remembering what he had told her about the light she looked at the wall and saw the switch. Pressing it the lights went out, unable to help herself she pressed it again and they went back on again. She played with the switch a little and then decided that she really shouldn’t play with stuff she didn’t understand. Turning the light off she went in search of Luke. Heading down the stairs she saw the pedestal and stopped before it. Looking down she saw that something was written there. Victor had taught her to read and she read the plague “Eternally yours.” Is that why you did this to me so you could keep me forever?

Ella couldn’t take her eyes of the pedestal and she just stood there looking at it while in nothing but the robe. Thinking about why he would have done this to her.

 

[marauder13]

Luke sat down, still trying to come to grips that a life long belief, knowledge, foundation of his life had been totally demolished by the arrival of Ella Owens. The statue was gone, Ella was there, and the proof was too much to ignore. Which brought his thoughts back to Ella. There was no one for her, no one would understand her situation, would be understanding of the young woman's plight.

"What am I going to do? What immediate practical things do I need to do? She has a place to stay, she has food, she has clothing. Clothing! She's got no wardrobe! Christ, how are we going to deal with all of that? She going to need pretty much everything, and she'll need a helping hand in selecting things too. Oh Lord..."

The thoughts of her getting underwear got his imagination running back to seeing her lowering her dress for him to check her tattoo. He could easily recall every detail of what she displayed to him. The way her waist narrowed, before the flare of her hips, even though still covered, he could see how that part of her figure was. Then his mind's eye started filling on the gaps, until he shook his head.

"God's sake, man. The woman's in the most vulnerable time of her life and all you can do is think with your dick?" He picked up the book, and took it back to its place in the shelves, and went to check on Ella in the bathroom. He saw the door was open, and knocked before poking his head in and finding it empty.

Luke went for a look around the manor house, and finally found her standing at the pedestal where she had stood for centuries. He looked at her, dressed in a simple bathrobe. Her hair was lustrous, and she could sit on it if she wasn't careful. Luke could see what Victor saw in her. She was rather pretty when she didn't have the haunted look on her face.

"Ella." Luke let out his breath. "I have been thinking. We need to get you some clothes of your own at the very least. It's going to take a bit of effort, and you're going to really get a rather big shock from it all. So, with that in mind, I'll see what I have that we can put you in so you... don't stand out as much. Make you look more modern."

Luke headed upstairs, and walked into his bedroom. Unlike Ella's room, his was less spartan. A King size bed with wooden bed head and footer took pride of place in the middle of the room up against the wall opposing the bedroom door. A large chest of draws was on the wall opposing the wall separating the bedroom from the balcony. On either side of the chest of draws were two more doors, one leading to the walk in wardrobe, the other into the ensuite. On the same wall as the main bedroom door was located a large flat screen TV hung from the ceiling. Below it was the media centre that was hooked up to the TV and the surround sound system.

Luke walked into the wardrobe, and after a few minutes of rummaging about, returned with some clothes for Ella to wear. The bundle was a pair of good track pants, a Nike t-shirt and a pair of sandals.

"I know you're going to look at these and wonder why a woman would wear them. Fashions have changed a lot since you were last out and about. But these will get you by until we can get you clothing that is more suited for you. Why don't you go back to your room and get changed, while I get everything we'll need for our trip."