there's beauty in the uncanny
3 stories
Play Me by authorbelladonna
authorbelladonna
  • WpView
    Reads 59
  • WpVote
    Votes 27
  • WpPart
    Parts 2
Which role are you? 🎭 A restored theatre in Paris, hiding century-old dust and scandals. For one night a year, an eccentric philanthropist and former stage magician, Auguste Morel, hosts 〝The Masquerade Game〞, a private, invite-only spectacle where twelve guests wear ornate masks and act out secret "roles" assigned to them in sealed envelopes. But this year, a quick-fingered pickpocket from Montmartre infiltrates the party. Sabine Lenoir isn't on the guest list; hell, she wasn't even invited to the world of the bourgeoisie, but when she steals a fancy mask and invitation from a drunken aristocrat outside the theatre, she sees the party as a golden opportunity. Not for champagne and caviar, but for the wealthy pockets ripe for picking. However, the game is stranger than she imagined. Guests are forbidden from revealing their true identities. Their roles are elaborate, unsettling, and oh so eerily specific that they reference scandals done in Parisian societies. Before the first act ends, the lights cut out, and someone is found dead in the orchestra pit with one hand clutching a card scrawled with: Play Me. ~ Coming to your screens on the 12th of December
M I A by authorbelladonna
authorbelladonna
  • WpView
    Reads 319
  • WpVote
    Votes 186
  • WpPart
    Parts 8
An infamous French mansion. A garden tended with malice. A filthy empire-and a mute maid with mismatched beliefs and an attraction to rancid scents stood in front of them all. Maison de Néronville makes luxurious perfumes worth gems and cradles deeds that could render their sophisticated scents putrid. Notable for their lush gardens, spotless legacy through philanthropy, and acute noses, they are French Riviera's finest- and dirtiest. Marguerite I. Alméras (Mia) helps to wash their dirty laundry in private. A talented soul with a disability who left her village in southeastern France to find a place where she could bloom- ironically, she found gardens, ones whose flowers smelled like decayed flesh. Getting hired at the mansion's fragrant house was as effortless as slipping on her mismatched flats. Navigating her term under the glass domes? That's another case-especially with a blind patriarch, a depressed heir, a bloodthirsty daughter, and hah...the notorious twins all spilling their nastiest acts to her, because: Mia sees, Mia hears, Mia feels, and Mia knows. But one thing Mia can't do...is tell. ~ ✨Highest Rank ✨7th in perfume out of 2.19k stories on 8/8/25
Il Vino Nero by authorbelladonna
authorbelladonna
  • WpView
    Reads 1,304
  • WpVote
    Votes 562
  • WpPart
    Parts 25
An ancient Italian estate. A vineyard full of secrets. A bloody legacy-and a young intern with mismatched socks and a hunger for mischief caught in the middle of it all. La famiglia Orsini Di Montepietra makes quality wine worth millions and harbours secrets that could stain it darker. Known for their vast fruitful vineyards, respectable reputation and intelligent minds, they are Tuscany's finest- and most feared. Marli Tavares is determined to find the skeleton in their antique cupboards. She's a young woman with a unique personality who left her home in Bahia to seek greener pastures-well, she found a whole vineyard; one whose grapes taste like bitter truth. Landing an internship at the estate's library was as easy as wearing her typewriter key ring. Surviving a year under the frescoed Orsini roof? That's another story-especially with a cold mistress, a brooding cleric, an annoyingly devoted first son, his Casanova of a younger brother, and oh! a brat of a younger sister all watching her every move. Would you like a tour of the Orsini estate, a taste of their darkest wine, or...both? ~ ✨ Highest Rank ✨1st in estate out of 6.2k stories on 18/11/2025 ✨3rd in unsolved out of 1.11k stories on 16/11/2025