It's hard to remember how everything began. It seemed like just a letter on a stormy night, the toll of a grandfather clock, and then it was all over. But it ended up being much more than that.
Those golden, shimmering, sharpened clock hands, coldly gleaming in the moonlight. Stained in layers of blood. The simple, yet complicated key to the "ending"...you won't quite understand that yet. It will make sense later, I promise.
I was just a petite little girl from the village, lost in the woods. The typical beginning of a typical horror story. But it ended up being so much different. The faded letter I held in one hand; remember that I have that. It's a big part of the story.
In the glow of a full blood red moon, a storm was slowly building in the clouds above. On such a night, something interesting is sure to occur. Isn't that how most stories go? It seemed that way at the time. Perhaps the "usual" monsters; a vampire out for pale flesh and crimson blood, a werewolf bearing pointed fangs, or even a Frankenstein-like monster.
But, what if it were something simple? Maybe just an uninvited guest.
I came upon a mansion that night. Looking old, and worn down, yet the lights were still glowing from the inside. It was lit up like a beacon in the middle of the darkened forest.
Still being lost, and seeing no other options, I knocked softly on the old mansion's door. There was a few seconds of silence, before I could hear some quick murmurs from inside.
"Who is it?"
"At this time of night?"
The door creaked open, and I was greeted by a man in a formal-looking suit, much taller than I was, standing at least 6'2" and rather thin. He had long hair tied up behind him, reaching halfway down his back.
"...and you are...?" He asked, looking down at me with a curious expression.
I looked down, holding the letter behind my back, wanting to shy away from the elder.
"I'm sorry to bother, but could I stay for a single night?"
"My, aren't you a cutie!" A woman with long, silky looking hair came up behind the man, wearing a dress that came down just below her knees. It flowed behind her with the faint wind that was starting as she stood in the doorway.
"Oh, thank you," I replied shyly, smiling a little as I took the flattery.
"Come in, you must be cold..." The man opened the door, stepping to the side as to let me in. I gratefully stepped inside; taking note that the mansion was so much nicer on the inside than on the exterior. That, and there were even more people.
A young boy and girl; both with shoulder-length blonde hair and looking to be twins, the girl's hair left down while the boy's was tied up. They looked at me, before back to each other and giggling like school children. Another was a girl wearing a short maid-like dress, looking around the same age as the man who had greeted me. She seemed awfully cheerful.
The two others; husband and wife, the mansion's owners. A woman with dark hair up to her chin in a pixie-style cut, and a man in a long coat seeming to be master of the vicinity.
It seemed like it would be just an easy and forgettable night once it was all over, but things aren't always so easy.
The night moved quickly, and dinner was served for the eight of us by the girl in the maid outfit and the man who had greeted me at the door. I tried to ask their names, but all of them would keep dodging the question by asking me something instead, or simply telling me to drink some more. But I didn't mind, it was still the beginning of what seemed like a fun-filled night.
Singing, dancing, and forgetting what's sweet or bitter. Drinking and talking, a fancy looking glass of red wine in one hand. Once I was drunk enough, surely I would begin to enjoy myself!
"You're the lead actress this time." The master told me, the one in the long coat.
I looked at him strangely. "What do you mean?"
"It's simple, really!" The maid-girl put her arms over my shoulders, leaning onto my back. "It's exactly what you think it means. Whatever you think it means, that's what it is!"
"But I don't-"
"Just remember, that even if the lead role dies, the play will go on." The mistress of the mansion smiled at me.
I didn't understand. I thought maybe it was some inside joke they were pulling on me, but no. Either way, in the tipsy state I was in as they spoke, I didn't bother to try and comprehend the words, and only continued drinking and eating along with the others.
I was sure things would move quickly, and I would be home the next day. Until then, I could just live in the moment, couldn't I?
But things aren't always as they seem to be.
It was in my drunken state that I misplaced that letter.
I went to bed that night in one of the multiple guest bedrooms, but awoke to the moon still high in the sky, shining through the window. That morning had seemingly become non-existent, and it had become the world of an undawning night.
I hesitantly exited the room, to see the two blonde twins abruptly standing in front of me.
"Can we tell you a secret~?" They chanted in unison, their voices matching up perfectly and creating an eerie harmony.
"Take a look at the clock!"
Something was different. Looking closer, it was hard to believe, but their skin had become wood. Their joints, held together with nails. They had become simple, wooden dolls. As I looked at them, their stare never broke. They didn't blink, they didn't move. Their eyes were painted onto their faces, their smiles had become artificial.
I looked up and refocused my vision onto the grandfather clock behind them; frozen at four minutes to midnight. The clock stared at me with a horrible silence; that kind of silence that makes your ears ring with the sensory deprivation.
That pounding fear started in my chest, and I ran down the hallway, into the room at the end of the hall. I had thought it would lead me to another part of the mansion as I looked for an escape, but that wasn't at all the case...
Opening the door, which seemed rotten and aged compared to the others, led into a dark room full of simple and ominous coffins. It seemed like I was staring for so long, before I walked slowly, cautiously into the room, my footsteps echoing off the walls.
That one coffin in the center of the room, held higher than the others in the isolation. It called my name, beckoning me. I felt like I was about to open Pandora's box; like it was in my hands and waiting for me. I pulled open the locks, and found myself unthinkingly lifting the heavy lid.
I wasn't sure exactly what I saw.
A girl with long, extremely long hair reaching down to her knees, just like mine. In a dress the same color as mine. A face just like mine. Entirely like me. I was there, dead, in front of my own eyes. No puncture wounds, no signs of struggle. Just...dead.
I was the lead role, and was forcibly taken by madness. A sobbing laughter forced itself from my throat, making me want to tear my vocal cords right out of my neck. But the sound of what most considered horrible, it contained such outrageous perfection that I couldn't help but laugh! I smiled like a Cheshire Cat as tears poured from my eyes, laughing and crying at the same time.
I no longer knew what to believe. What was real, what was fake? There were no answers anywhere to be found. I ran one finger along my corpse's face, laughing as a sensation of pure joy pulsed through my veins. I was so pretty!
I quickly stood and ran from the room, not because I wanted to leave myself behind, but because I had figured out the truth! I only had to sleep, in the protection of those beautiful lies the artificial world had to offer. The doll twins, the mistress and master, the maid and butler...they were all just slaves to a play of my very own. The golden, sharpened hands of the clock. They weren't for tracking time; but tools of slaughter! I was to take the truth I wanted gone, to hide it away in the coffins.
"Miss...?" The voice came from behind me. The maid stood behind me, carrying a few glasses of wine as if she was cleaning up from earlier that night. She looked concerned. "What's wrong?"
I smiled with the insanity that had taken over my soul, continuing faster to the grandfather clock. I heard more voices call after me; and ignored them. It all wouldn't matter in just a few minutes! I stood in front of the grandfather clock, smashing into the glass with bare fists and grabbing the sharpened clock hands, turning the flesh of my delicate fingers into a mutilated, bloody mess.
The Bad End Night was all in accordance to the mental script. The words were so controlling captivating, and it was the letter I had lost which had lead to the encore of the story!
I was the lead role, betrayed by everything, and was destroyed by blackened madness. Longing for "eternity in a moment", and I alone would have to try again. They would all become slaves to the lead role's play, tonight, so that the world may be tamed. There's no other way to progress, and there never will be! Not until the end credits have lost their color.
Although, even if I had preformed entirely to the script, it wouldn't necessarily have been the truth...
Falling to my knees in front of the clock, I gripped the knife in trembling hands.
"Stop it!"
"Wait a minute!"
"It isn't supposed to be this way!"
They screamed and begged me to re-think, but until the applause ceases, none of this will ever end. I raised up the blade, not looking back, not thinking, just being a fool and thrusting it into my chest.
This was the way it had to be, the only True Ending that was possibly attainable. All this, because a blank sheet would receive no praise. With that last thought, and the story finally over, it was into the unwanted reality, that I would return.
Until the point of madness, enjoy a Bad End Night.
HAI! Authors note here c; I'm a 13 year old writer who decided to do this because I just listened to Ever Lasting Night; the newest and final song of the Night Series.
Please Review! C: I LOVE YOU.