Chronicles of Mystery

A Promise of Love

The pages of the diary stopped here, on this sentence. On the last pages, the writing had become more hesitant, more shaky, even more muddled. And, on the very last page, tears had fallen.

 - He committed suicide. The count committed suicide at the end of writing his diary. He gathered the last pages and hid them in the library before returning to his laboratory where he stuck a knife in his body. He was already weakened, ill. He ended his life like this.

Alistair turned around. Behind him stood Maude, calm as always, spouting the information without emotion.

 - And the investigation? The murder?

 - The Countess's exit door. To join her husband who is waiting for her.

Alistair sighed, his hand resting on the sheets of the newspaper he had just read.

 - Is it the truth ?

 - Yes...I've seen it all. Without being able to say anything. At least not directly. I tried to warn you, but I was trapped by the Count's commands.

 - And this is no longer the case ?

 - Only partly. His control is slowly breaking down. I believe that telling you the truth has accelerated the process. Now that he is gone, the orders he gave us are slowly dissipating, although the traces of them are still vivid.

Alistair got up and slowly walked through the entire manor to the attic, replaying in his mind everything he had just discovered as the increasingly dusty walls passed by. As he walked, the appearance of the mansion became more and more decadent, as if, little by little, all the layers of mystery that had covered this place and concealed the truth of it were erased, leaving only the miserable horror of this destitution, of this gray and dull end, far removed from the splendor of the balls held downstairs. One went up, always up, abandoning to the earth all the wealth one had enjoyed to climb higher, always higher, towards this attic where the winds resounded with a thousand echoes, blowing the sorrows of damned souls, blowing so hard that they seemed to want to carry away the few beings who went there, take them with them in a gigantic circle, a saraband with the zephyrs. Touching the clouds, going beyond the celestial vault, higher, always higher, in the infinite skies, in the midst of insensitive storms, braving the clouds, sheltered in these heights from the jeers that the earth had reserved for them.

Up there, the countess, her son by her side, was waiting for him, in this sinister room where the greatest sorrow and the greatest love had made the waltz together, inviting the last guest to the assembly: death.

 - I was waiting for you to come. Do you know how to proceed?

 - I think I understood. Are you sure of yourself? You could still live here, raise your son. The count's control over you is now fading, plus I believe I am able to make changes to the orders he gave you. It's not over for you yet.

 - Yes, it has been for a long time. I suffered too much, my son too, to resume a normal life. This manor is dead and so am I, a long time ago, no living soul could dwell there. I don't want to become a ghost. Besides, I have my husband to join, I don't want to keep him waiting too long.

She smiled at Alistair. A real smile, worthy of the Countess.

So, slowly, carefully, Alistair took a dagger out of his pocket and delicately pierced the metallic body of the woman and the child. This one hadn't left his apathy, and yet, when he looked up at Alistair, he thought he saw a glimmer of hope and relief as his childish doll form finally broke.

Elizabeth left looking calm and confident. She had waited for her, this old friend, this acquaintance, with her dark hood and her silver blade, she had begged her sometimes, without ever being able to find her, because this friend was always running away from her. Today, she seemed to her like a dark angel bringing her deliverance. Who carried her tenderly in her arms, in an embrace and took her far from the mansion, far from all the pain, to find the one she loved. She was boarding the boat for the last voyage, the prow splitting the skies, forward, forward, plunging to the bottom of the abyss, headlong into the abyss, passing heaven and earth, hell and heaven, to sink into the unknown while the last complaints of the wind, in funeral song, rose with her.

Once out of the mansion, accompanied only by Maude, who had not wished to end her life, Alistair headed back towards the village. There, in the center of the village, he found Lucy, lying on the ground, surrounded by the mechanical corpses of villagers, out of order. He supposed that the count's death must have reached them in turn, killing them instantly. Lucy was strangely fainted.

He took her in his arms and the three of them left, the tall man with dark hair, in a long coat and with a severe demeanor, the young girl in a sky blue dress, like a cloud, her glasses across nose, and the woman dressed as a servant, a scarlet rose in her hair. Walking towards the horizon, leaving this place where the sunrises would no longer be alike. Leaving behind the remains of the manor, an old body expiring, freeing all its inhabitants. A place where celebrations, pleasures and love had gone on and on, to end in death, mourning and tears.

It cried one last time, dying, while the sun gently caressed its ancient facade. And at the very end of its corridors, at the very top of its towers, still resounded a last promise, a promise of love.

AN: 

Hello ! I hope you're having a good day ! Thank you so much for reading through all the chapters to this point. I am really grateful for your dedication and couldn't be happier that you decided to stick with this story until this point. I hope that you will still follow it for the next chapters to come. 

No, this part is not the end of the story, far from it actually. It is a mere fragment of a much bigger plot. This part was pretty much the introduction of the story with the first mysteries being set up, as well as the characters. Now that the first narrative arc is over, much more mysterious things are to come. If you still have questions regarding the count and his experiences, they might find an answer later on in the story. If some things are weird, it's most probably on purpose, but don't hesitate to ask if you have any doubts, I'll try to answer without spoiling the rest of the story. 

The next part will be posted as usual and I am pretty excited about it since it introduce one of my favorite characters by far (I won't tell you who it is, I'll let you guess). 

I can't tell how happy I feel just thinking about all the m y s t e r i e s lying ahead for you to discover. I really hope you will enjoy the rest of the story and thank you again for reading.