Time - (Identity V-Elisop)

Chapter 30

Aesop woke up at 2 AM again, not that he meant to. It was pitch dark and a bit cold in his room, but it was still late December so he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

As he sat up, he could hear people walking around the manor since it was dead silent everywhere else. There were 3 night matches going on, one of which was a 2v8. So around 16 survivors were out, and 4 hunters. Emily, Martha and Andrew were also awake as well, and Aesop would have volunteered to help with medical assistance, but this time he didn't want to.

He himself was just waiting for the time to come to 3 AM. As much as he didn't care about people watching him, he prefered to keep his music to himself.

Aesop was sure the seer was in a match, Naib always had this nature of convincing Eli to go with him.

He read a book as he waited, and the next time he looked up, it was 2:55 AM. And so he settled for it.

He fixed himself up, as to not look as messy and disheveled, and left his room as quietly as possible, sheets of music held under his arm.

He made his way down the stairs, hearing people in the rooms by him. Luckily he didn't hear anyone in the kitchen. Aesop walked past to the far hallway, the one nobody really entered unless one of the hunters, such at Miss Mary or Desaulniers, had thrown a party for everyone to enjoy. Agreed, the hunters were quite nice and even friendly with the survivors outside of matches, but of course, most still had an avoidence to them.

The Embalmer managed to slip past the people waiting in the other rooms, he didn't pay much attention to who was there, but he heard Emily and Vera's voices, perhaps Vera was waiting for Martha to return?

The music room was farther than he remembered, but he remembered it was near the ballroom. The manor had many rooms, nobody bothered counting them all.

A nice way to unwind and perhaps even forget his worries for a few minutes would be to go back to a past comfort he had had once.

He peered around the corner, hoping and silently praying nobody would be there.

He shivered with the thought of someone being there, though he was sure that he was alone.

The embalmer entered the room.

He hadn't been in there for a while. After feeling around for a few seconds, he found the light switch in the dark.

The old lightbulbs of the precious chandelier flickered on, casting a warm light over the large room. The light showcased the details of the paintings hung on the walls and the polished wooden floor.

He made his way up to the stage area, feeling the solid marble floor under his shoes. It usually shone in the light, but now it was more scratched and dusted, seeing how this specific room hadn't been used in a very long while now. Aesop looked around from the elevated stage. The windows were hidden with the red velvet curtains drawn, small gold tassels hung from the ends. He wondered how this room was created, it must have been made with quite a lot of funding.

Aesop sat down at the piano. Placing the sheet music infront of him as he took a deep breath and looked around, he closed the doors behind him. His fingers hit the first key and by past that point nothing else mattered apart from the piano beneath him.

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"You don't look okay," Eli greeted the mercenary as he walked through the door, clutching his left side with one hand as he leaned on the door frame.

"I'm fine, I'm telling you," He hissed in pain as he moved past Eli into the living room.

"Go to Emily, she'll help you, please," Eli looked him in the eyes as he slipped his blindfold off. For a second, Eli thought of kissing the other man, but they were still friends. Despite everything they had done, they were still friends, and Eli wasn't exactly ready to get in another relationship quite so quickly.

"Fine." He sighed in frustration, "See you later then," He left Eli alone in the hallway, only his own breathing accompanying the deadly silence of the room.

Deciding he had nothing better to do now, Eli made up his mind to wonder around the manor for a while, until Naib was ready to join him again.

The manor was huge. Everyone could admit that. Along with the bedrooms and huge kitchen+dining room, there was a ballroom, an art studio the painter had occupied, and even one he and Fiona had taken for their artefacts for their spirituality.

He left towards the far hallway, where the smaller ballroom was located, he noticed the door was already open, maybe the new survivor had decided to explore a bit.

This afternoon they were introduced to a new survivor. He didn't really remember her name, Annie? Or something like that. Naib said she would be good to help with kites, and so she took the containing role, secondary assist as well. He remembered that Aesop didn't choose to come down and meet her. He hardly ever came to look at new people or hunters, so it was quite a surprise when the both of them went up against The Breaking Wheel fir the first time, Eli knew he still had bruises and scars from that match, the spikes were certainly painful.

Eli stopped in his tracks when he heard something. Yet it wasn't footsteps, or anything of that sort. It was music. Piano music.

Of course Eli knew that this part of the manor also interjected with the hunter's side, so he had to be careful. The hunters weren't allowed to injure the survivors outside of actual matches, it would be giving an unfair advantage and they would be punished. He knew that the Violinist often played the violin, but not the piano.

Eli followed the sound, and in less than a minute found himself at the door of the smaller ballroom of the two. He listened in, and was sure that someone was there.

He gently opened the door, not making a single sound, and looked in. The lights were on, but hardly. This room was not to be used when it was dusk, clear with the grand windows lining the intricate walls. He didn't see who was there but someone was at the piano, playing to their heart's extent.

Eli closed the door behind him, and quietly walked over to a closer corner, still hiding in the shadows. He wouldn't spy on someone, he was just intrigued by the gentle melody they were making.

He didn't have a single clue on what it was, Eli wasn't really the type of person who would take much interest in music particularly.

It was going smoothly, the atmosphere was calm and serene, tranquil and carefree considering what cruel games the manor held.

The person's fingers must have slipped when they accidentally pressed a wrong note. After that they had stopped completely, hovering their hands above the keyboard, wondering if it was worth to continue or not.

Eli decided he shouldn't hide himself anymore, he didn't want to make them uncomfy if he stayed any longer.

He turned back to the door but stopped short when he heard something.

"E-Eli? Is that you?" The man stood from his seat, and walked down the stage, pulling his gloves back on and pulling his mask back up.

"Aesop..?" Eli turned around, making eye contact with the embalmer.

They walked back towards eachother until they were both at arms length.

"I'm a horrible person for saying this, but I miss you," Aesop said as he took a deep breath. Right now, he couldn't exactly avoid Eli, all he could do was face his impulsive decision and fix it.