Lil’s Spooky Stories: Day 2
For the month of October, I decided to try my hand at writing a genre that I’ve historically felt quite uncomfortable about… horror, creepy, haunting. I have not historically got on with this genre because I’m a baby and I’m trying to expand my repertoire and experiment with new topics to write about, so here we go.
The chandelier had been installed in this house for a hundred years, but it had existed since 1524. A duke had ordered its creation for his duchess, a symbol of his love ever burning for her, a testament to his devotion, desire, dreaming, because she already had a lover, that particular duke’s older brother. The young duke of the ever burning love chandelier had a chandelier crafted with thin petal shaped glass pieces that tiered outwards, reminiscent of a flower budding or the silhouette of the first golden ballgown he’d ever seen her in.
It was a beautiful history, if only the story had ended there.
As we all know, when people care to commit a folly, they never cease at a single one.
The younger duke, uncaring that the object of his desire was already his brother’s wife and deliriously happy in her marriage, decided that she’d see reason, so long as he could eliminate his brother. A plot was hatched. The young duke found another beautiful maiden who’d been enchanted with the darker arts of seduction to set before his brother. Knowing that if his sister-in-law discovered her husband in the arms of another, it would create a wedge between them that he could leverage wide open and ensure that he win her heart.
The young maiden, radiant from the dark magic, was brought in as a dancer for a grand event that the duke was hosting in his manor. She was clothed in a brilliant green silk gown, fitted to leave nothing to the imagination and succeeded at beguiling the married duke.
At the end of the night, the duchess roamed the manor looking for her beloved husband and couldn’t seem to find him in any of his usual spots. She ran into her younger brother-in-law as she turned into his wing of the manor and he ceased his chance to grab her by the gloved hand and lead her to the window in his study that overlooked the western garden. Down below, rimmed by the lanterns, the elder duke and the young maiden laid upon a patch of grass, quite spent from their earnest lovemaking. The duchess, looking upon this scene, screamed and backed away from the window. Her scream caused the petal thin glass pieces of the chandelier to rain down on her, slicing her open piece by piece and the pain of the thousands of cuts caused her heart to stop beating.
The younger duke looked at the mess of glass and blood and the object of his adoration, falling to his knees and sobbing at the mistake that he had made.
The young maiden enchantress appeared, robed in a shifty fog of shades of black and gray and with a wave of her hand reconstructed the chandelier, absorbing every particle of blood, skin, bone, and hair that had comprised the late duchess. She rehung the chandelier and spoke her final words to the foolish duke, “Don’t forget to feed my chandelier. She shines when she hungers.”
In the present, the chandelier glowed golden.
