%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
The daily assignments for PrepMo 2015 |
| Let's see where this year takes us. |
13 Curves I. Prologue A. Journal Entry 1. Do one from Yvette's POV a. Post-Seth's birth. b. Distance from Francis i. Divorce 2. Do one from Francis' POV From the labratory II. Margot Baxter buys 13 Curves A. Gets teaching job B. Learns of Sebastian Harper C. Desire of learning family heritage 1. Parents talking about mom's connection 2. Dad's interest in Danbury name III. Sebastian Harper Introduction A. Sebastian's background B. Two characters meeting IV. Incorporate Danbury/Pleasantgate Point History A. Journal Entry from Francis Danbury B. Sebastian tells stories of family history C. Talk about history of Pleasantgate Point D. Talk about 4 co-founders V. Exploring 13 Curves A. Reason for name B. Exploring the house 1. Finding more history C. Exploring the house a second time 1. Finding something in the basement laboratory VI. Secret of the Laboratory A. Explain what secret is 1. The Dobagi B. Researching secret 1. Francis Danbury disappearance connection D. Find out reason for Pleasantgate Point 1. Connection to disappearances VII. Fighting the Secret A. Margot's connection to the secret B. Sebastian helps discover a way to beat it VIII. All is right in the world A. Relationship between Sebastian and Margot? B. Burn 13 Curves to the ground |
| Ella Jana Danbury was born April 4, 1933, almost a year after her parents married. Her childhood, by all accounts, was happy although she and her younger sister would be raised by wet nurses as her parents were off helping her father’s business grow and spread. Two years later, Brenna Emily would be born on October 3, 1935. It would be just the two of them until shortly after Ella’s fifth birthday when their brother Pierce would be born. From that moment on, Ella and Brenna would always feel like the odd ones out, the black sheep. The worlds in which Ella and Brenna grew up were different than the one in which their eleven siblings would grow up. After Pierce was born, their mother remained home almost entirely while their father was gone periodically for business. Also, after Pierce was born, their mother would be pregnant almost constantly, expanding their family. Once Ella turned twelve, she was sent off to a boarding school in Vermont where she would remain until she graduated. Brenna, once she also turned twelve, would be sent off here too. After Ella’s first year away at boarding school, their family up and moved to the Florida Keys after a vacation spent there made their father realize his life didn’t need to be spent running the business. He would spend a lot of time at home during this time. Sherman also thought of keeping Ella at home and bringing in tutors, like he had done as a child, but Ella refused. Ella hated Florida and fought to go back to the boarding school. Surprised, Sherman relented and Ella went back the following year. Brenna also decided to go to the boarding school as she and Ella were extremely close. Ella would eventually stop going back home all together and instead stay at her aunt Lorelei’s house during the holidays and during the summer. Brenna would also eventually do this as well. Ella and Brenna would continue to have an extremely close relationship until Ella’s death in 2012. After Ella graduated in 1951, she would stay with her aunt and would write letters to her parents, while receiving yearly updates of her new siblings, including pictures. In 1954, Ella would meet Richard Colvin at her aunt Lorelei’s fifty-fifth birthday party, being a son of one of her uncle’s friends. They would hit it off almost immediately, talking often and enjoying each other’s company. They would court for a year and a half before Richard would propose on a vacation trip in Italy, which Ella would accept. A year later they would wed in her aunt’s church, with her parents in attendance. Richard was a pediatrician who owned his own successful practice in Franklin Heights, a well-to-do neighborhood 50 miles north of New York City. They would purchase a home here where they raise their family until their divorce in in 1963. A year and a half into their marriage, Ella would find out she was pregnant with their first child. Richard was thrilled to find they were starting their family. Ella herself was excited to start her family with a man who had made her happy and in her mind, rescued her from her family (or as she had written in her journal, lack of one). On February 14, 1958, Gregory Pierce Colvin was born. Richard was happy to have a son and Ella was happy to be a mother. She was a natural at it and especially with her shy personality, loved the closeness she shared with her son. Even though they could’ve afforded a nanny, Ella refused. Ella herself had been raised by a wet nurse and she wanted her children to be raised by her. Ella believed being a mother was what she was born to do and she threw herself into it. This would eventually lead to the downfall of her marriage with Richard. By all accounts, Richard completely adored his wife and the fact that she was such a natural at being a mother made him love her even more. Being an upper-middle class, usually women only thought of having children as a duty to the marriage and would welcome a brood of nannies and servants if it meant she could still live her life. Knowing that his wife was the opposite of that, gave him a feeling of superiority over his colleagues. Nearly a year and a half later, Ella would find herself pregnant a second time. This time it would be a girl she would give birth to on November 29, 1960 and name her Erin Alma Colvin. Ella was excited to have a girl, now having one of each. |
| 13 Curves should’ve been a majestic and regal home that took your breath away once your eyes set upon it. With all of the great limestone and the intricate carvings and the iron balustrades, even on the roof, it should be a home that demanded respect, instead it is a home that was abandoned and sends a kind of whisper up your spine. Often, houses that are haunted or “cursed” as this home is considered, have that kind of aura around it, whether imagined or not, it stays with whomever lays their eyes upon it. There is something about that drive to the house, going around those curves and imagining what it must’ve been like in the mid 19th century, with a horse and buggy and realizing what awaited you at the top. Especially as there is nothing but trees as far as you can see as you climb. What must a trip in the darkness feel like? There is something about a man who would find a hill that steep to build his house upon, especially one as grand as the one he would come to build. The anticipation as you go around each curve, the elevation getting higher and higher, that in some parts of the year there will be fog that makes you believe you’re in some kind of mystical tale which often gets more macabre and ominous as each decade passes that it remains empty. Finally, you come over that last rise and there it sets in all of its twisted and sinister glory. The trees open up, finally there are some spanse of grass, even a poor excuse for a garden to the right of the house, which seems to wrap around the back. The visitor will try to imagine it back in its glory, with the gorgeous garden and that fountain you missed before, working and hearing that soft steady stream of water. It looks dead, dead as the garden and the giant oak that lumbers over the yard. The house seems like something out of your dreams, something out of a twisted fantasy novel. You notice there’s a porte cochere to the right as you bring your car slowly in that direction, finding your destination. You see the mansard roofs, the dormer windows that are placed just above the cornice line, the gable walls, the emphasis on corner quoining, the many chimneys, the elaborate pediments, the giant round veranda. As you round the house, you notice a partial dome of windows and it makes you wonder what grand room lies beyond. You bring the car around some more, circling this great manse until you’re nearly under the grand porte cochere and the grand entrance door is to your right. All dark mahogany makes you wonder what made them shut it for the last time, what lies beyond it. Is the inside of house as egotistical as the outside? There’s that slimy feeling in your guts as you climb out of your car. It’s day time, but it might as well be nighttime for all the good the sun does to make you feel normal, safe, average. Words that you are sure have never been used to describe any feeling, emotion, or description in regards to this house. You wonder about the legend of the house and it makes you wonder how large this house would seem if there was no legend, no talks of curses and unseen horrors. Would this house just seem like a grand house located on a hill? Would the fog that graces the grounds so often seem like a fairy tale, the expectations of fairies and magic? Evil is only in the mind, you think as you walk up the steps. Evil only has life if you believe. Though opening that door will either reassure that assumption or destroy it. Whispers buzz around your head; secrets and gossip fill your senses as you reach for the door. What will greet you, you wonder? Is it really just a house? |
| Pleasantgate Point A tourist town established in 1867, has an approximate population of 21,459 as of the last census. Three of the four founding families still reside within Pleasantgate Point and are heavily involved with the town. The town is entirely surrounded by woods with only one road in or out and the closest town nearby is ten miles outside town limits. The town has a grocery store, two banks, a private school system as well as a public school system, a library, a mall, a hardware store, many restaurants, three parks, a camp grounds, as well as many small businesses. 13 Curves A large Victorian Gothic style stone mansion that sits upon the top of a hill. It gets its name from the fact there are 13 curves in the drive that leads from the road to the estate. It has 10 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and sets on 10 acres of property, only 2 acres are cleared. The Home of Phillip and Erin Baxter A two-story brick Colonial style home that was built at the turn of the century. A good chunk of the home is covered in moss and Ivy and has a beautiful English garden that is often tended and maintained by a team of gardeners. It has 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and located on .94 acres in an upper middle class neighborhood called Bridgeton. The Home of Oscar and Lauren Danbury A three-story town home located in upper Manhattan, modern styled and luxurious. There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms with a private garage. The Home of Sebastian Harper Cottage style home located in Victorus, NY, a small town outside of Watertown, NY. Has two bedrooms and one bath, locate on .5 acres and what it lacks in size, makes up in gorgeous views. |
| Sherman Danbury was the third child of Franklin and Rosalie Danbury, born in 1901. He was eight months old when his parents moved into 13 Curves. He had already moved out by the time his parents had perished in an automobile accident. He had moved to New York City where a friend of his from college (Yale), had a great business idea. It has sense become one of the more prominent businesses in New York City. He was 26 when he’d moved to New York City and it would be a few years later when a beautiful socialite would catch his eye. Her name was Ava Rupert and he would meet her at a party thrown by her bank owner father, Harold Rupert. It was 1931, Sherman 30 years old and Ava was 21. He was entirely taken with her. They would court for almost eight months before he proposed and she accepted. Her father was overjoyed (duly to the fact that Sherman Danbury was already a wealthy man and was on the up and up with his business venture) at the man Ava was to marry. On April 30, 1932, Sherman and Ava would marry in an extravagant wedding (Sherman had allowed Ava full control over the wedding plans) in an old church. They would eventually move to a large estate outside of the city, to what Sherman had always called a proper family home. It was huge with 15 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and five acres of property to go with it. They would live here until 1946, when Sherman would fall in love with the Florida Keys on a family vacation. It would be an even larger home, with 20 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms and was built right on the beach. Sherman felt as if it was a gift to himself after his business grew to the point where he didn’t need to be on site every day. Sherman and Ava would go on to have thirteen children before Ava would die in childbirth at 46 years old. Sherman would marry Helen Allegheny 18 months later and they would go to have two sons. Out of Sherman’s first marriage, their first son, Pierce, would go on to take over Sherman’s business when Sherman suffered a stroke, which would eventually lead to his death in 1979. Pierce would move back to New York City and was labeled as CEO. Pierce was considering the life of bachelorhood, but under pressure from his ailing father, he set out to find a wife and ironically the woman he would later marry, bumped into him at the super market. Violet Rathburn was a pediatric nurse and came from a slightly upper-middle class family. They seemingly hit it off and got married in 1974, his father in attendance. They would go on to have five children before Violet herself would die in childbirth in 1981. He would go onto marry Scarlett Hubbard, a socialite, in 1982, have four children before their divorce in 1990. Nearly a year and a half later, Pierce would begin seeing Ava Maxwell, a daughter of one of his step-mother’s friends, who ironically enough he actually enjoyed having a relationship with. They would marry in 1992, a few months after realizing Ava was pregnant. They would go to have six children and remain married to this day. Oscar Clarence Danbury, Pierce’s third child with Violet, always felt entitled, no matter how often either of his parents tried to change it. He was a very sweet child without a harmful bone in his body, but he was very much a rich child. He grew up with servants who did his laundry and cooked his food, took care of his plates and drove him to school. He never had any responsibilities except to be a child. It also didn’t help that his older brother, Theodore, was the heir apparent and had been shaped and molded and trained in responsibility and respect. A lot of Oscar’s emotional and mental well being have a lot to do with the atmosphere in which he grew up. There was a lot of pressure on Pierce from his father to be who Sherman wanted him to be. It was as if he was the first born as both Ella and Brenna were hardly ever around while he grew up. Oscar was only two when his mother died and when his step-mother came into the picture, there were nannies and wet-nurses who seemingly took over responsibilities. His step-mother only seemed to crave the wealth that the Danbury’s had and not much else. She didn’t care for Pierce’s children and bore him four children out of duty before she divorced him in 1990 and was not only out of his life, but her children’s as well. When Ava came into Oscar’s life, he was thirteen years old and on the cusp of manhood. He was rebellious and entitled and did as he chose. He went to Yale out of high school at his father’s behest and graduated at the top of his class with his Business degree. Not that Oscar would ever do much with it. He hated the rigid and structured lifestyle his father wanted for him and craved the love he never received from his father and was only got from his mother for a very short time. In the short three months after high school and before he would go to Yale, he would spark a very hot and tumultuous relationship with Kayla Victory-Scott. It was never serious to Oscar, but regardless, it sparked a pregnancy. Kayla was also seventeen at the point and also very upper middle-class. Kayla fought to keep the child in hopes that it would also keep Oscar. It didn’t. Kayla would give birth to their son, Tobias Anthony Danbury on February 10, 1996. Oscar would visit Tobias as often as he could during his time at college and once he’d graduated and had his own house, Oscar sued for and attained visitation rights for Tobias. Around this same time, Oscar married a girl from college, named Stacy Brockport, with whom he’d shared a lot of classes and spent a lot of time with. Eventually, they dated for three years before marrying the summer after graduating from college in 2000. They had a very rocky and emotionally tumultuous marriage which only lasted three years. They would have a daughter 9 months after their wedding, Ella Giovanna, born March 21, 2001. Stacy had expected more from Oscar, but he seemed so aloof. He would leave for hours and come home having done really nothing and expect sex in the evenings. The day after Ella’s first birthday, Stacy moved out of their town home and went to live with her mother. This scared Oscar as Stacy wouldn’t allow him to see Ella and he went and professed his love and apologized to Stacy. Eventually, Stacy moved back and things were okay for a little while. Stacy became pregnant at the end of the year and by the time she was six months along, she had moved out for good and filed for divorce. She would give birth to a son, Caleb Silas, on September 3, 2003. Again, Oscar would take Stacy to court and attain visitation rights to his children. Two years later, Oscar would meet Lily Wilcox, a socialite daughter of his step-mother’s friend. They would date for nearly a year before Oscar would ask Lily to marry him and they would be married in the backyard of Lily’s family home. This would be Oscar’s longest marriage to date. A few months after marriage, Lily would discover she was pregnant. On December 3, 2007, Ashton Dwight Danbury would enter the world. In the beginning, married life for the Danburys would be okay. Oscar was a great father (something all of the women in Oscar’s life would agree on) and he would help with some other duties. Ten months later, Lily would find she was pregnant for a second time. Carmen Skyla Danbury was born June 30, 2008 and for a short while, life seemed perfect. Oscar would seemingly go back to his old ways, staying out late and being gone, often for days. It wouldn’t be until Lily would find herself pregnant for a third time before she would confront Oscar about it and threatened to take the children and leave. For the next year, Oscar worked at being a good husband and father and did well. Everett Patrick was born on January 26, 2009 and it would be shortly after his birth that Oscar would again go to his old ways and Lily would file for divorce, becoming official on Everett’s first birthday. Oscar would meet his next wife at a party and they basically knew each other 72 hours before getting married. Janice Colby was nine years younger than Oscar and had found him absolutely fascinating. The marriage lasted 8 months and they filed divorce in November of 2013. During the next two years, Oscar would often spent time in Europe, visiting France and visiting ancestral sites and places, only coming home on holidays and the birthdays of his children. Ironically, while in Paris, he would visit a fashion show. Entirely on a whim, he watched the show in its entirety and one of the models caught his eye. Lauren Appleby, 24 years old, and after he asked her for coffee, realized that she was as intelligent as she was beautiful. It had amazed him. Fortunately for Oscar, Lauren had an apartment in upper Manhattan only a few blocks away from the town home Oscar owned. Whenever Lauren was home, they would spend as much time together as possible. Mostly, they would talk. Talk about history or the future, science or movies, books or music, anything and everything. For the first time Oscar was actually terrified of the feelings he had for Lauren. He was terrified about bringing his children around her, knowing that this was a serious relationship. What would they think of her? Would they like her? Would she like them? What about his family? When had he never given a s*** what someone else thought of his family? Over the next year, Oscar and Lauren would fall in love and she would move into Oscar’s town home. Oscar would often take time to go to all of Lauren’s shows and photo shoots. He seemed rather mesmerized about it all. In April of 2015, he would buy a ring. For once, he didn’t just buy the most expensive ring the store had, instead he went out of his way to find a jeweler that created unique and custom jewelry and had something made for her. It took him three weeks to muster the courage and was awarded with an emotional yes. On August 15, 2015, Oscar and Lauren had an intimate wedding in France in a floral garden just outside of Paris. Oscar’s siblings, their families and his children were there as was Lauren’s parents and her siblings. They would remain in Paris for a month before coming back to the states, where they currently reside. |
| My name is Oscar Clarence Danbury, I’m 36 years old and I’ve had four wives (and I am currently on wife number five) and have six children. I’m 6’3” tall with dark brown hair and green eyes. I’m told I look a lot like my great great grandfather, Francis Danbury, though it’s usually in expressions. I am not employed, though why should I be when I have a wonderful allowance that lets me do whatever I want? I have a freedom that would be almost criminal if I didn’t take advantage of it. Some believe that I play at marriage, pretending to be a husband and a father until something better comes along and I say they’re wrong. What is wrong with trying to find the right wife? I never play at being a father and I love all of my children with a fierceness that often leaves me terrified. I think I might finally settle down with my current wife, Lauren. There’s something about her that I think I’ve tried to find in my other wives (maybe even as far back as Kayla in University) and just could never find. Sure, she’s 11 years younger than me, what is wrong with that? Sure, she’s extremely attractive and works as a model for some huge agency. I consider them pluses as usually I’ve come to realize that they were the only things I enjoyed in my other wives. Lauren is exceptionally smart and actually plans to teach at some college or university, teaching science. You might ask why someone who could teach science at a college or university be a model instead. I tell you why not? She wants girls to realize they can be both beautiful and smart and use what fame she gets as a model in that way. Smart, eh? Some say that I am too smart for my own good and never use it for anything worthwhile. Those people would be right. I graduated valedictorian of my class at Bryce Lutheran School for boys in some s***hole town in Vermont and I would graduate summa cum laude at Yale, with a 4.0 GPA in my Business major. Look at my sorry ass now, just wasting my allowance on liquor, women, poker, luxurious trips to the Caribbean or Europe at a whim and I only play at being a businessman when my father or brother need me to. I do spoil my kids rotten and I often splurge on trips or cars (how are two of my children driving already?), clothes or even food in the case with Kayla, a few times… I am not a monster as so many claim, though many might say useless and in that case…there might ring some truth in that. With Lauren though… There are also those that try often to compare me to my father and even some go so far as to compare me to my grandfather as a way to insult me. My grandfather was and has still (rest his soul) been used as the epitome of everything a man is and should be. My father, they say, made a mistake, but who could blame him after how he felt after the death of his wife? He settled and did his duty, did he not? Why, Oscar, can you not do your duty? In all of my life, I saw duty as many men see marriage, the ole’ ball and chain. In the Danbury family all there is is duty. f*** duty. Of course, now that I have Lauren…I can almost understand. Who the hell knew I’d be thirty-six years old before I’d realize what I was going to do with my life and be a grown ass man. |
| 13 Curves I. Prologue A. Journal Entry 1. Do one from Yvette's POV a. Post-Seth's birth. b. Distance from Francis i. Divorce 2. Do one from Francis' POV From the labratory II. Introduce Margot Baxter/Sebastian Harper A. Teaching B. Parents/family C. Desire of learning family heritage 1. Buys familial home 2. Parents talking about mom's connection 3. Dad's interest in Danbury name D. Sebastian's background E. Two characters meeting III. Incorporate Danbury/Pleasantgate Point History A. Journal Entry from Francis Danbury B. Sebastian tells stories of family history C. Talk about history of Pleasantgate Point D. Talk about 4 co-founders IV. Exploring 13 Curves A. Reason for name B. Exploring the house 1. Finding more history C. Exploring the house a second time 1. Finding something in the basement laboratory V. Secret of the Laboratory A. Explain what secret is 1. The Dobagi B. Researching secret 1. Francis Danbury disappearance connection D. Find out reason for Pleasantgate Point 1. Connection to disappearances VI. Fighting the Secret A. Margot's connection to the secret B. Sebastian helps discover a way to beat it VII. All is right in the world A. Relationship between Sebastian and Margot? B. Burn 13 Curves to the ground |
| Pleasantgate Point is a beautiful town nestled into the south Adirondack Mountains. There is a lot of Victorian influence in the original buildings, especially in the four large estates on each corner of the town. There are 13 curves, the Danbury estate, Willowdent Manor, the Johnson estate, Silverbrook Hall, the Craig estate, and Midnight Springs Garden, the McAntry estate. Each stood like a sentry over the town, keeping a protective eye on all that laid before them. There’s something special about them, the citizens of Pleasantgate take pride in them. Three of the four estates are still inhabited by the original families. The Danbury estate, 13 Curves, is the only one not and is entirely abandoned. There is still a “For Sale” sign stuck in front, but there have been no interested parties, not since the 1950’s. 13 Curves has become something of a legend in Pleasantgate Point, with many weird things happening within the residence or two those who inhabited it. The first would be Francis Danbury disappearing in 1897. No one is sure what even happened to him, including the multitude of servants employed by Francis. No one even saw him leave the home, though nobody was ever recovered on the property. His wife, Yvette, declared him legally dead in 1899. Yvette would eventually move out of the estate in 1901 to permanently live in France, where she would eventually marry a rich French businessman, Jean-Marc De Saint-Pierre, on the day of his death in April of 1920. She wouldn’t live much longer, following Jean-March four months later in August. The De Saint-Pierre estate was left to Yvette and in turn was split four ways and given to her children. In 1902, a year after Yvette moved to France, Franklin and his young family would move into 13 Curves. Seemingly good luck would be bestowed upon Franklin, including officially inheriting his father’s mass estate and wealth, worth close to two billion dollars in 1904 dollars ($54 billion in 2015). His father had invested incredibly well and so hadn’t the businesses his father had run. Franklin had managed these businesses up to this point and now had officially owned them. He would also have another son, Frederick Allen, of which they hadn’t believed, would’ve been a possibility. Life would go perfectly until November of 1917, when seemingly out of nowhere, Franklin’s eldest son, Milton, would commit suicide by hanging himself in the attic of 13 Curves. To the current day, no one is sure why Milton committed suicide. Franklin was utterly devastated by the loss of his son and left the country for nearly a year with his wife. Franklin left a fiancée, Lucille DuPree, who was 18 years old at the time. They were to be married the following spring. Life would seemingly go on after the death of Milton; Lorelei would go on to get married the following year. They would have six children, though they had originally planned for four. The death of their youngest child, Lilly-Anne Hope, at the age of seven in 1933, would prompt Lorelei to beg for another child to help cope with the loss. They would get pregnant almost instantly and in the summer of 1934, Josephine Yvette would be born. They would also be surprised a year later with the birth of Reginald Luther in 1935. In 1920, the family would go to France to mourn and pay respects to Franklin’s step father, Jean-Marc, then before they would depart for home, would do the same for Franklin’s mother. Eight years later, both Franklin and Yvette would end up in a horrible automobile accident that December. Their driver would slide over a patch of ice and drive off the side of a bridge. This would send the remaining Danbury clan out of Pleasantgate Point and not a single Danbury descendent would ever live in 13 Curves or Pleasantgate Point until 2015, when Francis’ great great great granddaughter, Margot Baxter, would move to town. The house would remain empty until a family from Chicago would buy the estate in 1942. The house was in disrepair and the family, Rupert and Mary Hotaling, would invest money into fixing up the home. They brought their three children, Richard, 13, Edward, 10, and Nancy, 7. Plans had been made to turn the large house into a bed and breakfast, keeping with the original design and structure of the house. They figured that a 19th century style bed and breakfast would fit the style of the town and as Pleasantgate Point was becoming a tourist town, they figured it would be perfect. Unfortunately, the family never got to see those dreams truly realized. Even though the family managed to repair the house, the family seemed to fall into one problem or another, ending with the death of their eldest son in 1953. Richard was in the attic, cleaning it out as his mother had asked the next he had flung himself out of the attic window. The police investigated, but it was officially ruled a suicide. Six months after Richard’s death, the family moved back to Chicago and the home remains empty to this day. |
| Francis leaned back against the hallway wall outside the master bedroom that he shared with his wife. There was almost constant moaning from his wife and soft murmurs from the midwife. It would be anytime when their child would be here. They had been tested, he saw now. After Adelaide, his sweet and beautifully charming Adelaide Olivia, there had been so much heartbreak. He felt as if it was his fault. They had had Franklin, his intelligent little boy who was above and beyond any other child with his learning abilities, and got spoiled. There was the rough pregnancy with Suzette, a warning, he felt. Human beings were so fragile and yet they always believed they were indestructible. Yvette's pregnancy with Adelaide had been smooth sailing, just like it had been with Franklin. It had been perfect. They had been lulled into a false sense of security. They tried for two years to get pregnant after Adelaide and nothing. It had been as if someone had changed the rules on them. Francis closed his eyes as he remembered the frustration, his hands balling into angry fists. They had almost become obsessed with it, their frustration so strong. Then finally! That spring of 1873, Yvette found herself pregnant and the joy they felt! Francis himself painted up one of the bedrooms for the baby. Bringing down the crib himself. He didn't want any of the servants to do it. Then it happened. Yvette had been feeling poorly that morning and he let her rest. He'd called her school to tell them she wouldn't be reporting in and made sure their nanny, Mary-Louise, took care of the children that morning. When he'd come back to check on her, he knew. There was blood everywhere and Yvette was hysterical. She had been six months along when she'd miscarried. Francis wanted to blame Yvette. It was her duty to bear children. Wasn't it what women were for? Women bore and raised children while the men worked and provided. It was the natural order of things. Plus, with his stature how would it look if his wife couldn't carry a child to term? Instead, he blamed himself. His agony had been so immense he'd locked himself in his office for a week. Late the next year, Yvette found herself pregnant again and this time Francis prohibited her from teaching and forced her doctor to push for bed rest. The pregnancy was even shorter this time, it was only a few weeks after she found she was pregnant before she miscarried. This time she had only carried for two months. How could this have happened? They were rich, high standing in their community. Francis a very well respected Psychiatrist who had written books and a very successful practice in town. He spoke at colleges to up and coming students who studied Psychiatry. His wife, gorgeous and smart. She had already birthed him three beautiful children, smart and respectful. This kind of thing didn't happen to them. It happened to the poor sods who had to work from the age they were ten just to help keep a roof over their heads. Finally, the following year, things seemed to be going better. Again, Yvette had been on bed rest and had a personal servant to help with anything she needed. He wished he could've complimented Yvette, tell her how beautiful she looked, how perfect she looked round with his child, but he could not. He hardly saw Yvette during this time, because there was no happiness in her. Even though things were going well, she ceased to believe it would work out. It didn't. November 12, 1875 came and it was blustery cold with snow and sleet. It was early that morning when Yvette went into labor. She was early. She had just turned into her eighth month of pregnancy. The baby wasn't due until right around Christmas time. Regardless, the baby had been born stillborn. It had been a boy. A son. The despair of holding your son, your own flesh and blood and knowing this was it. There were no cheers as you heard their first cry, no seeing his eyes open and looking at you. He was this horrid blueish purple and he felt wrong. He had been terrified after that. Yvette looked barely alive. She took time away from her school to recuperate, to heal. It was six months before she went back to teaching and he felt as if it was just the husk of her. She knew her importance to the marriage, he knew it too. It was more than that. His brothers would have laughed at this nonsense, he knew, but he missed her as a friend. They no longer had their evening discussions by the fire or hear her talk about her students or the funny things one of their children did. The evenings were silent and lonely as often Yvette slept separately from him, ashamed of her cursed body. There was nothing he could do or say. They were almost scared to try again. Francis remembered looking into Yvette's eyes the first time they made love. It was as if she was pleading with him to not do it, as if she was asking him if three children was alright. If they could just be happy with their son and two daughters. He remembered not looking at her the entire time they performed. It was eighteen months later when they found out they were pregnant. This pregnancy had been different, Francis knew. There was this beauty in Yvette that hadn't been there in years, a fullness. She talked with him and she had an immense appetite, craving all kinds of fruits. He was hopeful. Francis would be lying to himself if he didn't admit to how much he wanted this baby. It ceased to be because he wanted a child, it instead became because he wanted it to live. He wanted to know he could make a child that lived, that grew. He wanted to see his wife happy again, to know her body wasn't cursed or broken. As he prepared to slide down the wall and sit on the floor to continue his wait, he heard it. Oh! That noise! To think he thought he'd forgotten that beautiful perfect noise! He shoved open the bedroom door and there he was. This plump baby covered in afterbirth and blood and he was perfect. He took him from the midwife and kissed the baby's face. Here was his child and a son! Oh God had looked down on him with a smile this day. He handed the baby back to the midwife, who he kissed square on the mouth in thanks. Oh he wished he could profess his happiness to this woman. His wife, laying in bed with tears streaming down her face. Happiness was here! Oh! He didn't have to worry about expressing anything to this woman, who knew, who shared in that heartbreak. They had a son! |
| The antagonist(s) are the forefathers of Pleasantgate Point. They devise a plan to create the perfect human and eventually use it on the people of the town. Their ideas come from an old book they found in the library at Dartmouth, based upon ancient tellings from an old cult called the Dobagi. Unbeknownst to the four men, the Dobagi were obsessed about protecting their beliefs and their rituals and in essence boogie trapped all of their rituals so that only the followers of the Dobagi could perform them in the correct fashion should any of their rituals be stolen. The antagonists managed to "create" the perfect human but before they could act upon it, the trap sprung, believed to have been on Francis Danbury (hence his disappearance). The trap is what awaits the protagonists inside the estate of 13 Curves and what caused the disappearance of the Holloway family who purchased the estate shortly after Yvette Danbury moved out of the house in the spring of 1901. It's the only house of the four estates created by the forefathers to be uninhabited. The trap is so far undeveloped yet...but both Margot and Sebastian must figure out how to capture what has been released before it's too late. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
