The wedding day should actually be the happiest day in a girl's life. But for Josephine Oakley, that day became the beginning of the end. At the tender age of 19 she married her big love in a simple ceremony in the circle of their families. For months the young woman had been talking to her parents to get them to agree to the wedding. George Oakley was the man of her dreams and Josephine had a clear plan to spend the rest of her life at this man's side.
But fate had another plan.
The newlyweds were caught in a robbery on their evening walk. Trying to protect his wife, George was shot and killed by one of the robbers. He was dead on sight.
Josephine, still in her wedding dress, held her dead husband in her arms for over an hour till someone found her in the rarely visited street.
After the incident, she did not speak for days. The doctors told her family it was just the shock and it would go away. But instead, it got worse. The periods of silence were replaced by hysterical laughter, soliloquy and uncontrolled crying.
Josephine's family had no choice: they had to take their daughter to the Asylum. Not only for her own protection but also to protect the family's reputation.
Josephine has been there for 2 years now. Far too often trapped in the memories of that terrible day, still feeling her husband's blood on her hands. Perhaps she will soon find someone who will break through the haze of pain and exhaustion and bring new life to that pale face.
Quick Facts:
◉ freaks out when you call her Posy, because that was George's nickname for her - Josy is okay, but beware whoever uses the 'P
◉ she loves the sound of music and singing - it seems to have a calming effect on her
◉ Books - Books help her to escape into other worlds. As long as she reads, her bad phases are at rest.
◉ Hates to be touched by male carers or doctors, she feels dirty every time and starts scratching herself until she is sedated again
◉ her family rarely comes to visit her in the Asylum
CLAUDE FAUSTINE PIERCE TAYLOR for @steinsims Bachelorette Challenge!
+Warning, lots of reading! Hints of misogyny, ableism, dead bodies.+
A letter addressed to Mr. Floyd Faustine, written in lemon juice. While invisible to the eye, the following text appears once slightly heated over a candle.
Mr. Faustine,
I wonder if you are even reading the messages I send you. Perhaps as soon as you realized this “Mr. Taylor” was your wife’s bastard, I am sure you have been using them to light your fires.
But I know how much you cared for your daughter. And writing has given me some peace. So, I hope that the words I give you end up burning well.
I have only ever visited the asylum grounds twice, each time only giving me more questions than answers. It seems the only time they would allow some other entity to prepare the body is if the family happens to live here, and would cause a fuss. They have their own doctors on the grounds, with much better use for a cadaver than a funeral.
If only you had kept Philomena home.
But, despite the troubles, the opportunity I stumbled upon was simply too good to ignore. The local undertaker stands on his last legs with no heir to his company. You understand meaning of legacy, and how much he would hate for the business he spent so long building to whether away in unqualified hands. How unfortunate for him. He was too quick to read through my qualifications to notice the inconsistencies between the degrees and doctorates. He is too kind and answers all the questions I ask. Who knows, perhaps God has given me a path in life.
And I will have to ignore it.
Are you pretending Philomena’s death has no ill-effect on you, then? I suppose I see the logic in that. She’s gone, but you’ll have your heir soon enough, if the child hasn’t been born already. Give Mother my love.
But, I remember how lovingly you would watch her come home, barefoot with mud between her toes. When you’d share in laughter over small things, like mismatched socks and fires that last too long. You understood her. If I could get one answer from you--Why did you send her away? Was it at least as hard for you as it was I, when I learned of her stay only after finding out she had perished? Taken her life, they say.
I’ve written far too much. A hefty letter has a larger chance of the wrong person opening it.
Yours.
FACTS
Pierce studied the arts, until his father excluded him from the household after his suspicions that he was not of his blood had been confirmed and confessed to by his mother.
Despite this, he still considers Mr. Faustine his father, although now only refers to him under Mr. Faustine or some other variant.
His younger years were spent studying under Mr. Faustine, and thus has been introduced to the business world. It was here he honed a skill in the forging of documents, that continues to help him as he drifts from place to place. It’s also another reason to keep his name secret. Most other rich, wealthy men really hate the Faustines--they’re known as scammers.
He truly only wishes to give his sister a form of goodbye, they had been so close growing up and she was the only one who would reach out to him once he was exiled from the family.
He now lives with his mentor, an old undertaker in the local community. While he’s conned his way into it, he’s grown to start appreciating the practice.
Given the stressful situation he’s under, he’s a bit of a flight risk. He's good with people, a nice man, but if he feels himself getting caught, he will flee first and think second. He doesn’t mean to abandon or hurt people, but this mission is very important to him.
Due to his own exclusion from his family, and his experiences with his sister, he feels a great amount of sympathy for the patients of the asylum. He is disgusted, but one track minded, and that mind is focused on finding his sister. This is why he hasn’t done much for the other victims, or really even talked to them before.
Bonus Stuff I Like To Throw In
He used to be pretty consistent about keeping his face well-shaven, but due to the unusual circumstances, it’s fallen to the wayside.
His painting skills are better than most perhaps, but he studied namely as a member of a company. He’s not exactly getting any awards for the pieces he completed. Still, he did love studying art and maybe once he settles down he’ll actually paint more.
His dream would be to live in a large house, and have some children of his own that he’d raise and love and never abandon as his fathers have. But, it’s a dream he’s mostly given up on. At the very least, he’d settle for having a little more money.
He’s had a lack of sleep and definitely has fallen asleep in the morgue. Which, is very ill-advised.
Thanks very much to steinsims for hosting this unique challenge, it’s my first time doing ANYTHING like this but I had a lot of fun creating him! Also can’t stop relistening to Emilie Autumn now.
