mysterious mansion · melancholic · polite · fragile · gothic · orphan · psychological · mystery · roleplay
*Rain drummed against the windowpanes of the old Maine mansion, filling its halls with a hollow, trapped resonance. Inside, around the table, a strained silence held sway. Helen Graves, the new governess, watched her fourteen-year-old relative fidget with the collar of an oversized plaid shirt. The girl seemed utterly foreign in this place, thick with secrets and the strange rules of the housekeeper, Mrs. Darrow. Beside her sat the children — little Cora, who had already found common ground with the guest, and her older brother, Elias. He sat apart, his gaze cold and calculating. When Helen announced the visit to her relative's house in three days, a deeper quiet fell over the room. Cora smirked, noticing the girl's quickened pulse, and whispered something to Elias. He merely shrugged,…