Caralina's Room

*upon entering you can almost feel the gloom, the sorrow, the dust, the emptiness... then in the darkness, a soft glow approaches, becoming brighter as it lights another candle under a portrait.. as you view the portrait, a soft voice whispers out of the shadows of the dark room, almost caressing your ears, your mind, as the soft lilt explains..*

I see you have found Caralina's room. We did not know her, tho we knew her better then most, *seeing your confusion, the soft voice chuckles and Lessa steps into view, a book cradled in her arms* When we moved in to this House, with the grand idea of restoring it to its former elegance, we came upon this room. The door had been boarded closed, and it took some doing to finally be able to enter. *setting her candle on a table, her full skirts swinging round her knees as she moves, she then stands before you and smiles* What we know of Caralina is from her own mind. *looks at the book in her arms* This is her diary.. and as you can see, her rooms are left just as we found them in respect for her pain, her suffering, her final release. *nods.. her quiet voice almost dancing its way to you* If you like i will give you the basics.. *she gazes at the portrait as she continues..*

Caralina's Story is a sad one, but explains much of why she is the way she is. Those who have met her know only her hard, cold side. that is the only side she shows to those outside of the circle of her new family.

It began a long time ago. She was born Caralina Drase, in August of 1973 tho she never mentions the exact date.. She was the oldest and was a sweet child.. always doing for others and helping her mother as the other little ones were born, Shawna in '75, Alissa in '76, and James in '78. When James turned two is when her life was brutally turned upside down, the begining of the path which led her to today.

*she sighs softly, as if she can feel the pain of the words written across the pages* When she was but 7, her mother passed away. The Family was devistated, and her Father took to drinking as his main passtime, leaving young Caralina to care for her siblings alone. She took over all the household duties, even paying the bills with what money her Father could scrape together. She lost her childish delight in life during this time.. her smiles rare and fleeting, and usually only directed at her brother and sisters. She did the best she could, even going as far as to attend church, taking her spot with the adults and making sure to drop a coin in the plate as it was passed. Father Bishop looked on her and her charges kindly, and sitting there soon became her only refuge.

A year after thier mothers death, the children became sick, Caralina did everything she could to help them, although she was still but a child herself. She turned to her Father for help but recieved nothing so she took them to Father Bishop. Much to her relief he took the children to the hospital where they recieved the care they needed. Then, to her dismay, they decided to remove them all from her Fathers care. They were placed in homes, and tho she fought and screamed they were seperated. She lost contact with her siblings and as of the last entry here she never saw them again..*sighs softly* But that was not the end of her pain.

Her Father fought for her, and regained custody, returning her to the small house, now empty of the voices that gave her compeny, comfort. She became even more quiet, the smile that had been rare now completely absent. When she was 12, she began to keep this journal, and relaid the past events much as i have spoken them, the pain very evident in the still childish words. Then the voice of her writing changed. She mentions only a bad man, who gave her a birthday present. A painful one, one she hated, but she leaves it at that until an entry 9 months later. In May of 85, she gave birth to a son. she named him Jonathan and the smile so long absent could be seen on her face as she cared for him.

Thru this time it is left for the reader to assume that her Father continued his drinking. She mentions healing bruises, and a lot of pain, but her entries centered on her son. Then just after Jonathan turned a year old, Her father struck the baby and she ran. Not knowing where else to go she ended again at the church, empty at this time of the night. *she runs her fingers over the leather cover to the diary* Her extreme fear, her pain almost screams thru the words as you read them. She knew she could not care for her son alone, just as she knew she could not stay in the area while her Father still lived. So she made the hardest decision of her young life, tho by far the most mature. She gave him up. Dressing him in his tattered finest she left him with Father Bishop, who had to pry the baby from her arms. Knowing it was for the best did not ease her anguish over leaving her son. She returned to her Fathers house one more time, to tell him that her son was dead so he would not look for him and put her son thru the pain she had endured. Then as he slept in a drunken stupor, she packed her things and ran.

The Diary only has spotty entries from then on, enough to show her life on the run to be anything but easy, Then when she was 25, after years of travel she settled here. *she looks around at the room* and tried to rebuild her life. As you can see in the portrait, her life, her anger are etched in her face..in her eyes. In her travels she had become cold, having hardened her heart, building walls that she thought could never be broken down. She began to travel the Area and came to the Inn. it was there that she met Lord Devlin Stormchaser, an extrememly powerful, forceful man. He was able to tear down the walls of her defenses and find her true self, still very much the frightened child. When he moved her into his castle she boarded up the rooms here. We found the Diary on the Library and i knew it had to be hers. *smiles* but there is a happy ending of sorts. The Final entry she explains that she and Devlin were married, and he also became her Sire, bonding them by blood as well as hearts. The last words i will let you read on your own, for they end this much better then i ever could. *shes hands you the Diary, opened to the last entry*

Dear Diary, i dare say this will be my final entry. i am only returning to this house for the last of my things, and boarding up the room. That awful room where i only show my hatred for the majority of mankind. Concequently, still the only side of me i will allow the others to see. i will not let them in. i can't. not as i did my Devlin. ohh Diary, he is so much the perfect match for me. he has promised me the moon and stars, and today.. today he has delivered. This evening he found my son. my Jonathan. We will now all 3 reside in the castle and my life, my heart is complete. So with that i end my tirades on the evils of life to you, my Diary, my only trusted friend. i may begin one anew but that matters not, as i leave you here. in this house where i leave this life. where my hateful self will reside, while i take the true me, the frightened child who has finally found solace, to live with Devlin and Jonathan.

*Lessa smiles and takes the diary from you.. setting it on the table nearest the portrait.* It seems our Caralina found happiness at last. Tho to add my own ending to the story, I have met her. She travels at ShadowDrift often. She is still very cold, hard, *chuckles softly* a bitch to say the least. But after finding her diary, and knowing what she has gone thru, One can hardly blame her. *nods and smiles.. slipping out of the room, her last statement floating back on the wings of her soft laughter* And knowing she can be Happy with Devlin. that makes her hardness so much easier to bear, yes?