Chillingham's Curse

Prologue: May 1719

As Lady Mary Berkeley wandered the now-empty halls of Chillingham Castle, she only saw loneliness, despair, and a coldness that she had not seen before. With each step she took, she felt her heart break more and more, knowing that her sister would be happier than she ever would. Lord Forde Grey had abandoned her for Henrietta, her sister, with which she believed must have been a love spell; a spell she could not break. Portraits of the family line hung in the many corridors at Chillingham, amplifying the haunting aura the frigid stone structure offered. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from the constant tears she produced, and her light chestnut hair curled and disheveled. "What have I done to receive such punishment?" she thought to herself. A walking corpse as she willed herself to continue forward, one foot after the other. Her silken dress that adorned her slender ivory figure layered in beautiful shades of pale pink, yellow, and white ruffles and lace rustled as she continued her march.

It was not until her baby girl started to cry grabbing hold of the pearl necklace that wrapped her willowy neck; she stared down at her. Child in arms, her baby's fair ivory skin, curly blonde hair, and cerulean blue eyes shone in the darkness residing in the castle. She looked at her with hollow eyes and no feeling. She did not have a name, since Mary thought to herself "What purpose is there to name you?". Trapped in what seemed like a tragic Shakespearean play, Mary felt hopeless. There was only one undertaking she decided upon.

She stalked to the entrance of the castle she had entered and exited dozens of times, knowing this time, she had no intention of returning. The staircase leading to the internal courtyard which was covered in shadow with glimmers of fire glowing on the courtyard walls. This barrier of stone, that existed long before she resided here. The purpose was for protection, only she had lost that feeling long ago. She stared at the walls, furious that they had failed her. Sparks and smoke flew towards the sky from the torch Mary grabbed seeing no one around her, all the while her baby girl screaming like a banshee in the night. She had registered her baby's cry no more. No one would hear her wails, as they were left alone when her husband abandoned them. Her only thoughts were to end the pain she felt in her beating heart.

The chill of the night air pierced through her skin like a thousand needles as she found herself atop the tower attached to the outer wall of Chillingham Castle. The moon full in the sky created a serine view that most would note "breathtaking". As she stood at the edge of the high wall, she took in this view, knowing it would be the last. She turned to look upon the home she had known and lost strangely giddy of her soon departure, another feeling she had lost long ago. She was leaving her own personal hell. She looked down at her baby girl, taking in every detail from her rosy cheeks to her button nose, noticing the way her little fingers grasped around Mary's pinky and ring finger, as she had always done. Hearing her becoming quieter and more horse from the constant crying she projected. Nihtegales were singing the melody that she had heard many times throughout any given day. Mary turned back to the edge, cast the torch towards the ground below, and closed her eyes. She inhaled the crisp May air. She was not frightened, nor was she sad anymore. She was numb to everything in this moment; sound, sight, and spirit as her tears continued to fall from her eyes and roll down her pale, sickly cheeks. She tightened her embrace around her little girl and softly whispered "sairg" brushing her cheek against her baby girl's forehead. As she leaned forward, she started to feel a weightlessness as if flying. A joyful feeling flooded through her as if being shot by a cannon, then nothing. When she awoke, she felt only heartbreak, as if all her hard work had been for nothing. She was doomed to be forever stuck, feeling pain and sorrow. She started to stalk back to the gate, disappearing in the dawn the whole time crying her siren's song.

The next morning, the sun would rise over Chillingham Castle, and Mary and her daughter would be found dead outside the castle's gate entrance.