🖤 A Spooky Date 🖤
It is the seventeenth century, the night is still cloudy, an intense cold sneaks through the windows of the houses of the Inhospitable town, everything seems so calm as if it were a ghost town, along its streets you can only hear the creaking whistle of the wind blowing strongly, so calm hides a terrible truth, the story of a curse and a being that lurks in the darkness. The cold cloudy night brings to mind the approaching one hundredth anniversary of a day in the past that marked the descent of the Inhospitable People. A date on the calendar that causes panic, a cold anguish in the hearts of the villagers who try to hide from a bloodthirsty being.
That date is a day they wish to erase from their calendar, year after year brings to mind the darkest history of their ancestors, the sad memory of a massacre that occurred in the Murky palace inhabited by a family of three people.
That agonizing day when that prestigious family that lived in that majestic palace was accused of committing heinous crimes, added to those accusations the people of the Inhospitable town believed this family was under a curse, they were guilty of occultism and drinking the blood of their victims. The evidence of the time motivated all the inhabitants of the town to unite to hire experienced killers from many nearby places to end the life of this family accused of being Vampires.
The wailing that night was heartbreaking, the desperate cries of the family did not stop the brutal killers, contrary to what the town expected, the death of that family did not end the curse, after that night, year after year, when the date of their imprudence approaches, a supernatural being stalks the town without mercy, taking the lives of innocent people, announcing to the town that the curse is still at large.
🖤 A Juicy Reward 🖤
After a long, cold night, dawn broke with the sad news of a crime near the road leading to the entrance of the town. Inhospitable merchants on their way to take merchandise to the town market found the remains of dismembered bodies. Those remains were pale, all the blood was absorbed. This unusual scene caused great commotion mixed with panic in every person of the town, a crime like this had never happened, unlike previous years, the victims always appeared near the town after the anniversary date, this incoherent crime did not fit with the date, which brought terror to everyone, stunned by what happened. The desperation of the People made them send letters to London to a famous detective named Louis so that he would immediately move to the Inhospitable town because he had been following the clues of the crimes committed in the town for a long time, only with his help the enigma of the deaths would be clarified.
The complaints did not cease, the fear was constant every night. Gathered at the entrance of the mayor's house, the people demanded justice; a prompt solution to this mysterious crime, they were willing to put an end to the curse at any price. Catching the ruthless being was what they wanted, only in this way, according to them, they would sleep peacefully again without feeling disturbed, they would keep away the nightmares, finally the curse of a hundred years would be put to an end.
The Mayor of the town, seeing himself helpless before the insistent request of the people, made the decision without hesitation to send posters to the nearest towns to show the increase of the reward because in this way he would gather Assassins once again after almost a hundred years without anyone doing anything to abruptly stop the thirsty Vampire.
The news of a large bounty spread quickly, as did the terror in the nearest villages, who, frightened by the bad news, joined together to contribute to the increase of the bounty, bringing with them large sums of gold to the Mayor of the Inhospitable town. The assassins arrived at the town mixed among the people who came from other places to bring the gold. Hundreds of them armed with all kinds of weapons came to participate in the search for the vampire. This greatly encouraged the town, which allowed the mayor to quickly meet with them and Detective Louis. There was no time to throw them a welcoming party; the initial plan was to catch or kill the violent killer stalking them. At that meeting, the Mayor invited witnesses to reveal the story behind the deaths to bring all the invited killers up to speed.
In their stories they described a supernatural being that had been haunting the town for many years. A being described by some witnesses as the fusion of a woman with a demon, with intense blue eyes as if a flame burned in them, hungry for revenge, thirsty for blood, although other descriptions compared her as a beautiful woman who, behind a sweet appearance, dragged her victims into the darkness to finish them off. The veracity of their testimonies was questioned by Detective Louis, who did not lose details of each testimony, stories that were hard to believe, only a being that came from hell itself would be the author of everything mentioned by the witnesses.
In that room, also attentive to the clue, was one of the famous Assassin, known as Jacques(the deceiver), a beautiful woman who had the reputation of killing all kinds of supernatural beings, she was the favorite to get that reward. The plan of the Inhospitable Town was revealed, the date of the anniversary was near, many in the town were willing to help exterminate the Vampire, only the brave men of the town were interested in collaborating in the search, the rest of the people because of the dread that all this situation caused them were in their homes reinforcing the doors and windows, praying as usual. The lodging places in town were full, there was not enough room for so many murderers. The mayor, who from the first moment set his sights on the beautiful Jacques, extended an invitation to stay at his house with a group of recognized killers. It was a good proposal that he also made to Detective Louis.
The detective wrote down all possible data, he was attentive to every detail disclosed. When night came, after visiting some places in town, questioning people, he had to go to the mayor's house to occupy his room. His stay in that town would be long. Fate had a surprise in store for him at the mayor's house; contrary to his plans, love was also included in this mystery trip. Upon entering the house, he looked among those present at a beautiful young woman, whose appearance attracted the detective. The intense blue-eyed gaze of the young woman bared the man's soul; she was the mayor's assistant.
The astute detective could not hide his attraction, his heart wanted to jump out of his chest. The nervousness betrayed that this young woman was special, it was the first time this happened to him, although for him the superstition of love at first sight was a vague theory. Jacques took notice of the situation, moved by envy, she did not hesitate to put an end to the exchange of glances between the detective and the beautiful young woman, reminding them both that there was no time for romance, even though she was also attracted to the detective.
The meeting between the detective and the mysterious woman was short that night. Like every detective, he used his techniques to finish with his interrogation, to know the name of the girl, consulting other employees, he discovered that her name was Rubi. Far from all that romance, alone in his room, again focused on his investigation, the detective began to organize his clues in detail, noticing the incongruities of the case. The evidence collected from the deaths brought to light that the perpetrator behind each crime had changed his way of killing the victims, a big change for this mystery. The detective had many doubts regarding the identity of the vampire, he had the strange hunch of two different characters, although he had to prove it.
Presentación 1
🖤 The Scarlet Dance 🖤
The arrival of the Assassins there were only sightings of the vampire on the outskirts of town in the woods surrounding the village. He was lurking in the dense fog that came every night. The presence of the Assassins caused serenity among the inhabitants of the village, for several days the nights were calm, only the sound of the wind, which blew as usual, could be heard in the houses with laughter. Hidden, always lurking, was the vampire. His glowing eyes could not hide in the undergrowth, he is waiting for a moment to come to light.
The investigations of the killers and the detective continued; they were on the lookout for any signs in the forest. The mayor might show his joy by holding a big banquet at his house for everyone in town. The night chosen was important not only for the banquet, but also the town would celebrate the Scarlet Ball, a traditional dance in honor of the full blood moon that rises on that date, the festive day where the moon shines in an intense red, creating the illusion in the landscape of the town as if a blood bath covered every corner, mixing with the intense mist that comes that night.
On the day of the ball, the music of the violins intoned a fantastic melody. Everything was ready to enjoy the banquet, the intoxicated heart of the wine helped the people to forget for a moment that in the intense fog a bloodthirsty being was hiding. The inhabitants were convinced of their protection by the presence of the assassins, everything was under control, they enjoyed the dance, overlooking a detail in the history of the blood moon. According to the story, the Scarlet Dance was dedicated by Mr. Murky to the birth of his only daughter Ilena, the girl who was born days before the massacre of her family.
Detective Louis was concerned as he watched the people intoxicated by the wine, distracted in the cold night; it was an uncomfortable celebration for this investigator. He had a hunch that soon the Vampire Macabre would make an attack. The young Ruby noticed the Detective's uneasiness, seeing his concern, she made him an invitation to leave the party, to go with her to another place outside the house, away from the noise and the music. A sudden invitation that caused Detective Louis distrust, an awkward moment for both of them until finally the detective agreed to go with Rubí away from the noise of the dance.
Presentación 2
🖤A lurker in the shadows 🖤
The party continued at the Mayor's party, the doses of wine were wreaking havoc on the guests, the frenzy made them forget that their lives were in imminent danger. The detective paused for a moment as he left the ball. The feeling that someone in the darkness was chasing them made him hesitate to go with Ruby. Near them, in one of the alleys of the village, the cries of a man asking for help dissolved the plans to go far away from the dance. A sound that alarmed the assassins who went out to look for the vampire; however, they found no trace of him, he vanished into the darkness of the forest. The next morning, the scene of the screaming man's death was horrifying. Once again another dismembered body, this time the detective found a clue on the body: a white hair that glistened in the sunlight. That morning also some bodies of a family appeared in a cabin; these were complete without a drop of blood in their veins. As in a seal, on their bodies was written a name Ilena, with a skin as white as the moon.
The name stamped on the bodies intrigued Detective Louis, and he began to investigate whether it was related to the curse. The answer to his question was to be found in the village church. She had to be cautious in asking, she had begun to doubt everyone in the village, including Rubi on her list. For an instant she placed her trust in Jacques, attending with her to meet with Father François, the spiritual leader of the church, who upon hearing the name found on the bodies trembled for a moment.
Father led Detective Louis and Jacques to a Crypt in the basement of the church that led to an old library that held the records of each family and their histories. It was overwhelming to see so many books. On one shelf, a book recovered from the day of the Murky family massacre was among the papyrus. The book was sealed, with a strange cover with strange symbols, in very small letters, had a message in Latin: UT ILLUSTRIS (She who shines).
Presentación 3
🖤 The Curse of Ilena 🖤
The detective put that strange book away on the shelf, he had the idea of coming back for it later to try to open the seal. In the room were other old records of testimony from the day the Murkys died, next to them was a diary of a scribe named Juan who was helping Father at the time. Juan described everything that was said about the family. The story goes that the Murkys were the richest family in the village, criticized for living an extravagant life in the inhospitable village. One morning, the patriarchs of the family were found dead on the banks of the river in the courtyard of the palace. It was the first death in which the bodies did not have a drop of blood on them, only fang marks on their necks. That crime went unpunished, the only son of the family did not claim the corpses. It was rumored that he murdered his family because he did not mourn for them. That rumor went on for years, Murky's son felt cold and alone. Ten years after the first bloodless animal deaths began to appear on the banks of the river, the deaths were constant. Everyone in the village distrusted the Murky's son, their nightmare multiplied when a young woman from the village went to the castle to live as the man's wife. The town became concerned that the Murky family's offspring could multiply. Secretly, the town hired assassins to kill the family accused of being vampires.
To everyone's surprise, the young wife conceived and gave birth to a girl they named Ilena (the one who shines). The girl was born on the night of the blood moon, an omen of misfortune for the villagers, but for the Murky it was a great celebration. He dedicated the Scarlet dance to the birth of his daughter. From that day on, the deaths increased. According to Juan, the Murky's newborn was kidnapped, leaving her parents devastated. Maddened by the kidnapping of his only daughter, the father went out for revenge without hiding his pale vampire face. The man's madness dragged his own family into disgrace, and it was then that everyone in the village joined the assassins to kill the family in their palace. Ilena's father, grief-stricken at having lost his daughter and his beloved wife, gave himself up to death. Since the night of the death of Ilena's mother and father, there had been speculation that the girl was alive somewhere. The problem was that they had no idea how it had happened, who had taken her away from her parents?
Juan's testimony brought a new route to the detective to uncover the mystery of the vampire. For the detective Luis everything was an enigma, he himself could not believe that the girl was alive now turned into an adult woman and even worse with the essence of a Vampire thirsty for Revenge.
.... 🍷 🖤 To be continued🖤
Presentación 4
🖤Texts translated through Deepl free version
Images used for the cover of pixabay edited through Canva
🖤Woman Bride from Hobim
🕷Presentation 1
🖤Gargola // Ghost// Medico
// Castle // Pueblo Valle // Autor ArtSpark
🕷Presentation 2
Vampire from BrinMacen // Man de fbartondavis //Princess de akadarcee
🕷Presentation 3
🖤Beer // Gargola// autor ArtSpark // Model from Kyraxys
🕷Presentation 4
🖤Monster//
Cuervo// Ghost
from sabrinabelle
🖤This is my entry to the S&S Invitational Tournament: Vampire Edition contest.