Harmony exited the room where William remained, no closer to solving this mystery. As she rounded the corner, she heard a voice whisper to her close by. Upon turning, she noticed Benjamin beckoning her over.
"Ben, is something the matter?" Harmony inquired.
Benjamin simply replied, "Come with me. I need to show you something."
Harmony was as confused as she was intrigued, agreeing and following Ben through the manor.
The butler began to explain himself, stating, "Now if you're looking for answers, there's really no mystery at all. There's not a single detail of this house that I'm not privy to, and not a single guest that I have not personally vetted."
"You don't mean to say it was one of us, do you Ben? We're all friends," Harmony said cautiously.
"Perhaps, but you know as well as I there were a great deal of troubles that have occurred within this manor," Benjamin replied, leading Harmony to a barred off descent, stairs that descended into the manor's wine cellar.
As he opened the metal gate to go in, he stopped Harmony and said seriously, "Now I warn you. What you are about to see is not for the faint of heart. A domain of evil this is..."
Harmony was once more utterly confused as Benjamin opened the gate.
"...but in we must go," he stated.
With a wave of his hand, he gestured within, stating, "You first."
Harmony did so, gingerly taking steps down deeper and deeper into the colder darker underbelly of the manor. Her heels clicked upon the stony steps as she finally reached the bottom, her hand reaching for the light switch. Her fingers couldn't seem to find it with the ease she used to possess years ago. As she felt around, she could have sworn her hand had brushed against something other than the wall or switch, once more a cold sensation... The lights suddenly blinked on with a click, her eyes needing a brief moment to adjust.
She gazed about, Benjamin still waiting at the very top of the stairs. Looking around, Harmony found the wine cellar to be empty, as it should be. However, as her gaze lowered to her feet, a single shattered bottle of wine laid upon the floor in the very center of the small, secluded place. Harmony immediately heard footsteps shuffling down the stairs and a presence whisk past her, Benjamin.
In utter dismay, he bent down onto one knee, a dustpan and sweeper in hand, already cleaning the spilt glass as he exclaimed in sorrow, "Avert your eyes! I'm so sorry you had to see this! Master would be so displeased! If only he were still alive!"
He began to sob as he slowly swept each clinking piece of shattered glass, Harmony wishing she could comfort the poor man. She approached the poor butler and pried the duster and sweeper from his hands, cleaning the rest herself even in his protest.
"Benjamin, I'm so sorry. I know Mark meant so much to you as he did us all. He wouldn't want to see you so miserable and definitely not down here on your lonesome," Harmony comforted him, rubbing her hand upon the poor butler's back.
"T-the last I saw him... last night. H-he came down here. I offered to fetch him the wine myself, but he insisted I join the party. T-this was shortly after you retired," Benjamin sniffled, pulling himself together.
"There was plenty of wine upstairs. What would he need another for?" Harmony wondered aloud.
'And the wine bottle...' Harmony thought. 'It was completely empty. The wine couldn't have dried up so fast had a full bottle shattered, and even if it was full, who would clean the wine but not the shards?'
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Who Killed Harmony? (A WKM story)
FanfictionA mysterious letter ends up on Harmony's doorstep in the middle of the night. She's surprised to say the least when she finds it is from her friend Mark. The surprise was warranted since she hadn't seen of or spoken to the man in at least a year. An...
