I have to write a mystery story for a competition i was selected for. So i thought why don't i test the story here. See what other writers think. Converting it into a fairy tail fic was easy.
Try to guess the answer of the mystery before the end...
I needed a story and I needed it fast. I had finally convinced the editor of the famous magazine 'Whirlwind' to publish my writing in their next issue. He didn't actually agree to publish my short romantic story but he promised me that he would submit the article I wrote, with the topic of his liking. I shouldn't complain much. After all, Erza's presence was the thing that made him let me do even that.
But it was okay. I'll write such an amazing article that he would beg for my story. But the only problem was that he wanted me to write a real life horror story. I could write about my guild mates. Erza, Gray and Miragane's past was horror in the extreme. But I didn't want any of my friend's dark secrets to be reveled to the whole world. They have been through too much pain already. I don't need to shove another miserable experience up their ass.
So I was in the search for a horror story. That bastard of a guy had given me only two days to find one. Thus I was on the outskirts of Magnolia, wandering aimlessly. Damn, it was already getting dark. I didn't have much energy to walk to the railway station. Looking around I saw a motel nearby. The name 'Majestica' was sparkling on the top of a huge building. Well, compared to the small shops and houses around, it was huge.
I walked in to see a serious looking woman standing behind the reception.
"Excuse me; I would like to have a room here." I said, getting her attention.
"Sorry, but we are full." She answered. Shit, this is bad. There is no other place to stay around here. I argued and pleaded with her to accommodate me somewhere. Hell, right now I would even agree to stay in a janitor's room.
"We don't have any other rooms, now get out." the receptionist shouted at me, looking utterly pissed.
"Is this a way to talk to our guests, Haimy?" a man's voice, interrupting our shouting match. I turned around to see an old man standing behind me.
"Go and attend to other people, I'll take the matter from here." The guy said, glaring at the bitch. She looked at me and I gave her my haughtiest grin.
When she left the room I looked back at the old man. "Thank you, very much."
"No problem, dear. You look worn out. I'm Nathan."
"I'm Lucy. So you really do have a room for me to stay in?" I asked
"Well yes, but it isn't the best of the rooms. It used to be a storeroom." Nathan said, giving me the keys
"Anything will be good at this point."
"Okay, but promise me you won't open the white door in that room. If you promise me that I'll let you stay." He cautioned me, his eyes boring into mine.
"Um okay. But why not?" I asked curiously.
"No time for questions. You should go have some rest." He said, changing the topic quickly.
…...
All my money was gone. This place's fee was pretty high. Even for a normal looking room. Life's hard. After changing I jumped on the bed, burying my face in the soft pillows. Sniggering I thought of the receptionist's name. Haimy. No wonder she was such a serious and nasty person. My eyes wandered to the white door which Nathan had warned me not to open. Curiosity kills the cat. Keeping that in mind, I closed my eyes and dozed off.
…
My eyes fluttered open, breaking my dream. More like a nightmare were Gajeel and I were getting married. I even got a horrible image of a me forcefully feeding a little, blond girl. She spat the food at my face and ate the spoon which I was holding.
Shuddering, I looked around for the source of the sound that woke me up. The sound was of a lovely violin. The tune was soft and melodic, rising suddenly at various points. The music was heavenly. Getting up from bed I figured out were it was coming from. The white door the guy told me not to open.
With the moonlight, streaming in, I saw that the door had a huge keyhole. The invisible bulb in my brain suddenly glowed. That guy told me not to open it; he didn't say that I couldn't peek through the keyhole. I bent down and looked through it. The sound was coming from a violin played by a man standing in the corner of the room. In the middle was a beautiful couple dancing. They were skidding across the room, the girl's long dress flowing behind them. At that time I didn't think about the absurdity of it all. I didn't look at the surroundings. And I didn't think of interrupting their dance. I was glued to my place. My head clouded with the music and the image of the couple dancing. I watched and watched. Suddenly my vision fazed and all I could see was the color red. Surprised, I stumbled back. Deciding that it was best to go to sleep I went back to bed.
….
"It doesn't look like you slept well." Nathan said, in the morning when I was checking out of the motel.
"No. Had two nightmares in a single night." Following the Gajeel nightmare was a dream about the people I saw through the keyhole. They would dance to the music and I would stand there looking at them. It felt as if I couldn't do anything else. Forgetting everything except the music and their dance.
I was still puzzled about last night's incident. Deciding that he might be able to quench my curiosity, I told Nathan about everything that had happened.
He didn't look angry like I thought he would. In fact, his face looked kinda glum.
"This house has been owned by my family since ages. I turned it into a motel after my wife passed away. Was really too big a house for me to live alone. Well, my family used to be really affluent. My great grandmother was a very good dancer. She used to teach her husband too, while her brother played the violin for them. One day, while they were in that room. "he said, pointing towards the white door "a fire started. They couldn't escape. They all died, burning to a crisp."
Cringing, my heart doubled in fear when I figured out who were the people I saw last night. But I had one final question,
"Why did everything suddenly turn red, though?" I asked
"Did you look at the woman's eyes?" Nathan asked, without answering my question
When I shook my head, he smiled a little.
"Her eyes were red" was the answer I received.
A/N- So what do you think. Good ending to the story or totally guessable? Hope you like it. Give me some suggestions on how to improve it. Because the winner gets a laptop. I already have one. A five year old one. A new laptop will be freaking awesome. So any comments will be deeply appreciated.
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