Isaac Woods's Story

(OOC: Got distracted by studying.. only to have the test be postponed until next Monday... I hope you all forgive me! We'll use the order of posting as the order of arriving in the house, feel free to interact with those who come before/after you. Good luck to all, and with any luck, I'll see all of you on the other side.)



The chance that had been presented to him was nothing short of miraculous. Isaac had been looking for a place to live for a while; though living on campus was comfortable, there was something else that tugged at him, something that told him he had another place to be. And so when he read about a chance to live in a mansion, against his better judgement he took up on the offer.

Jolienne would have loved the irony, he thought to himself, slowly letting his car roll onto the driveway. He noticed that he was the first one arriving, and though there had been five other names on the sheet in the commons, he didn't have even the slightest idea of who they were.

A small part of him wanted to avoid finding out. He brushed that thought aside as he parked his car beneath an oak tree, spreading its branches over a patch of grass and a large pond. The front yard itself was impressively beautiful, and reminded him of his own at home - it looked as if fifty gardeners tended it every morning. Flowers bloomed nearly everywhere the eye could see, only being interrupted by cobble stone paths digging through the garden and several ponds scattered across the area.

Isaac turned his head away, a small phrase from Debussy's "Claire de Lune" floating through his thoughts. He held onto the piece as he walked through the garden and towards the door, imagining how Debussy might have played it if he were alive to be able to play the piece. And what he would have thought about someone transcribing it for piano.

His heart stopped for a brief moment, forced by panic, and he turned around and bolted for his car. The door opened with ease, as he had forgotten to lock it in a simple moment of bliss, but inside lay three of his instrument cases that he had brought with him. And upon seeing them, he let go a breath that he didn't know he was holding, grabbing the violin before shutting the door, and locking the car with a second thought.

That was how Isaac found himself entering the house. Granted that it was a mansion, he had been accustomed to houses of such sizes when he was younger, and no longer found it such a splendid thing - more a necessary evil that left him with thoughts of his father.

"Hello? Anyone home?" He listened to the echo of his voice carry through the house, and after it faded, there was no response. He took that as a simple sign to keep wandering through the house, and opened the first door he found, somewhere to the left of the main door. Engraved on a golden plaque was 'Ilyena's Study,' hanging on the front of the door.

Inside could be described as nothing less than pure joy for him to find. The windows, with the drapes thrown open, had a perfect view of the garden outside - but what he noticed more was the light being thrown onto the room. Everywhere, there were books in quantities that he had only dreamed of. Isaac carefully threw his violin onto the bed, and picked up the first piece of sheet music he found, the conductor's score for Chesnokov's 'Salvation is Created.'

He laughed merrily, and ran over to the grand piano sitting just besides the window. The lid opened easily, and while it was in need of dusting, the piano itself was relatively in tune for not having been played in some time. He carefully picked at the keys, playing the piece he had found, waiting for his other house mates to arrive.

Although scholarships and financial aid paid most of his expenses during the course of the year, the money was rarely enough to get him through the summer without going back home, something he liked to avoid at all cost. The opportunity to live somewhere for nickles in the grand scheme of things in exchange for taking care of the house was really a no-brainer. He had never actually taken care of a house before, but there would be five others to help him know what to do. He had a hard time keeping things organized, but for an almost free place to live, he would double his efforts.

He saw a car already parked under a large tree and pulled his pick up next to it before shutting off the engine. If he had the choice, he would drive something smaller, more economical, but his grandfather had left him that truck shortly before he went off to university, and now that the old man had passed, Nathaniel couldn't let himself get rid of one of the last things that still connected him to the man that raised him. He had moved many of his possessions earlier in the week, but a few straggling items lay in the passenger seat besides him. Among these items lay a beaten, brown bookbag Nathaniel grabbed before exiting the vehicle. He slung the strap over his shoulder and made his way inside.

The ornate decorations in the foyer caught him off guard, possibly more beautiful than the rest of the grounds. He took a moment to run his eyes and fingers over the decorations, fingertips searching for nooks and crannies on the dark wood molding that lined one of the walls. The sound of musical notes reached his ears and he followed it until he came across the study.

The sheer amount of books covering almost every free inch of wall instantly caught his eye, making him feel as if he had died and gone to heaven. He could see himself spending most of his time divided between the study and his own room. He saw the other man sitting at the piano, playing a few notes here and there. He usually liked to keep to himself, but he knew he should at least attempt to be on good terms with his housemates.

"Oh, howdy there. I'm Nathaniel." The "howdy" slipped naturally into his speech, not from his Texas heritage, but from the tradition of saying it as a greeting from the college town he grew up in.

He had lapsed into the usual excerpt from Chopin's First Nocturne, and nearly jumped when he heard someone else speak in the room. Isaac's fingers slipped and he hit a chord that made his skin shiver, at which point he looked up to see Nathaniel. He hadn't been expecting anyone to arrive for a while yet, and he had been so out of his thoughts that it still surprised him to see someone here.

Isaac stood up slowly to meet Nathaniel, surprising himself by finding that he was just a little taller. "Nathaniel, it is? I'm Isaac." He kept from his usual humor, hoping to make a good first impression; and as soon as he spoke, his eyes drifted behind to see Tatum entering the room.

I'm glad to see that my room has now been turned into the ballroom.

"Hello. My name is Tatum. Nice to meet you."

"Lovely to meet you. I would be Isaac, and that charming young man over there is Nathaniel." He bowed to Tatum, an old habit that he found hard to loose still. It wasn't that he minded being polite and all - that had never been a problem in his past.

And, of course, he felt that he was to take the liberty in introducing Nathaniel. That wasn't an old habit; that was Isaac trying to make enemies before the game even started. One of his favourite past times.

"So, let's pretend we're all friends here, and willing to sink on a ship together... Shall we explore the house? Unless, of course, you two have better things to be doing. I would assume that neither of you have found your own room yet?" He added some emphasis with that, trying to hint that he really wanted them out of his room as soon as could be, and looking for their own place to stay.

Nathaniel grit his teeth at the misplaced chord, but smiled and waved once Isaac acknowledged him. "Nice to meet you, Isaac." He never liked shaking hands and kept his own hands close to him in order to avoid the common gesture.

A new voice caused Nathaniel to turn around and look at the newcomer. He flashed a quick smile but was too slow to introduce himself. Nathaniel offered a little wave to Tatum as he was introduced to her before his hands returned to the strap of his bookbag and began worrying at the edges. He said the name over and over in his head, thinking it a bit strange and having to repeat it in order to become accustomed to it.

"Oh, is this your room?" Nathaniel glanced around the room once again, taking in more of it. He hadn't realized someone would be living in the room. It seemed like more of a common room than a bedroom. Either way, he now felt embarrassed that he had stepped into someone's room uninvited. "I'm sorry for just barging in here. Exploring sounds... fun." He forced another smile, even though exploring was very far from his idea of fun. He would rather find his room and plop down among his papers as soon as possible. He didn't catch the edge to Isaac's tone; he had never been good at picking up subtleties like that.

The scarlet red of her blood matched the colour of her bicycle very well. The trees appeared to taunt her from above, as the blood trickled from her calf into her Swiss-made socks. Lisette Lefeuvre was very fortunately, in her regular personality as she rode to the mansion. Although the conditions may have provoked her second, Lisette's car had broken down, and calling the tow truck men only led to a stream of "Bonjour!", "Croissants are tasty!" and "You live in Paris?". The man, after being slightly racist, told her that they would take an hour to come to the vehicle. Lisette could not have arriving in the afternoon an option, she pulled her bicycle off the back of the car, accidentally sending a spoke across her calf.

Upon arrival, Lisette marveled at the exterior of the mansion, it was conspicuously different from her expectations. The garden looked as if it would require a lot of work, and several cars were packed near the large tree Already, Goodness!. Lisette released her hands from the hand-grips, riding free for a few closed-eyes seconds, before letting it sit against the entrance pillars of the mansion. Before demounting her bicycle, she rethought the aforementioned surprise, riding a bicycle halfway from the university to here was certainly going to allow the others to arrive first.

Lisette unhooked her favourite sabre from her bicycle and slung her backpack, full of fruit, books, computer and telephone, over her shoulders. She knocked over a daffodil, soon after attempting to reassemble it into its former straight position. After Lisette felt as happy with the daffodil as possible, she continued on her route to the front door, which was conveniently wide open.

Upon entry, similar to the others, Lisette marveled at the decorations, the style of the doors, the chandeliers, the interior certainly did not resemble her original home. Seven seconds of observing the walls gave her sudden worries for tracking mud on the floor, she would not want to get her new French Carpet the colour of soil. Lisette attempted to remember the location of her new room, Second Floor? Where on the Second Floor? she decided it was best to simply explore the area for her room instead of ponder her embarrassingly short memory.

Lisette passed the room in which Nathaniel, Tatum and Issac were present, then walked a few steps backwards to greet and possibly request help from the people she would be traveling in time with(not that she would know that). "Why! Good day to you? Are you searching for rooms as well?", She said, with a very strict Swiss accent.