Once upon a time, there lived a man. He was loved by all, and hated by all. He was very handsome and charming, but, if the truth be told, there was something about him that made you feel respect, and a little uneasy. Nobody knew his real name, for he always used his fake name, Bluehair, because his hair was so black, it almost looked blue!

Bluehair was always going off to war, and when he did he left his wife in charge of the mansion. He had multiple wives, all young, pretty, and noble. As luck would have it, all his wives died, one after the other. Since they all died, he was married, over and over again.

"Sir," a random pedestrian might ask. "How have your wives died?"

"Well my friend," he would reply, "one died of smallpox, one of a hidden sickness, one of a high fever, and another of a terrible infection. Ah, I'm very unlucky, and they're unlucky too! They're all buried in the castle chapel," he added. No one found that strange. Neither did the small blonde girl who was to be his next wife. She went to the mansion with her elder sister Michelle, who thought she was the luckiest girl alive.

"You are so lucky to be marrying someone as noble as Bluehair!"

"I believe I am too! Plus, you know, when you're up close, his hair doesn't look as blue as people say!" The two sisters giggled. Nearly in hysterics, the two had no idea what was in store for them.

A month or so later, Bluehair had the carriage brought up to the side of the porch. "My dearest, I must leave you for a few weeks. You may invite people to stay with you while I am gone. Keep cheerful, and stay away from the cellar!" Throwing words back over his shoulder, he shouted "Remember, stay away from the cellar! If you do, I shall go into a terrible rage!"

"No need to worry, I shan't!" She waved as he turned down the bend.

As days went by, the girl invited her friends, and they went into every room except the cellar, which she kept locked. 'This is silly!' She fumed to herself, 'why can I not go into the cellar? Why is it forbidden?' She thought about it so much, she felt her head should burst! Taking matters into her own tiny hands, she unlocked the cellar and descended down the stairs.

Oh horror of horrors! What she found was not what she wanted. Inside, hanging on hooks from the ceiling, were all of Bluehair's former wives! From a petite bluenette, to a beautiful red-head, they were all there! Strangled, or so it seemed, by his own two hands! She dropped the key in a puddle of blood. Quickly bending to pick it up, she scurried across the room and out of the cellar, locking the door behind her. Noticing the key was stained red, she tried to scrub the tint off, to no avail. The key was still the hideous shade of red!

Later that evening, Bluehair came home. You could only imagine the poor state his wife was in when she saw him. "What's wrong dearest," he asked. "You look awfully pale this evening. have you seen a ghost?"

"No! No," she replied, just a little too quickly. "I'm fine." He did not ask for the cellar key that night. However she couldn't sleep a wink that night! The next day was quite different. When she woke up, she went to go make breakfast. "Good morning dear, biscuits and coffee?" She asked per normal.

"Oh, yes, that's fine. Have you seen the key to the cellar?" He asked, staring at her pointedly.

"N-no! O-of course not! Why would you think that?" He reached into his pocket and took out the blood-stained key.

"This is why. You were in the cellar. You must die now!" He screamed. Michelle came into the house. She called out and asked if anything was alright. "Yes, everything is fine." he called back.

"Please, have mercy on me!" His spouse cried. "Give me ten more minutes to live!"

"Ten minutes is it. You shall be dead at the end of that!" Running off with her sister, the fearful girl told her story.

"Are our brothers coming soon? I know I invited them over today." The young girl hurriedly asked her sister. Just as she was about to answer, her ten minutes were up.

"Where are you darling?" The voice of Blackhair sounded. The girl pulled her sister into the near by brush. As soon as they were hidden from sight, Michelle pointed happily towards the dirt path. Two horsemen were coming up the road!

"They're here!" She accidentally shouted in joy.

"Then they shall die too!" Bluehair yelled as he stumbled upon their hiding place with knife in hand. Just as he was about to stab down on the young girls neck, her brothers came from behind and stabbed him through the chest! The girl was terrified. The man whom she thought loved her, had tried to kill her.

Years later, the widow got remarried. Her new husband, young and noble, tried to help her forget what had happened. However, try as she might, she couldn't forget. Not with the blood stained key that she kept on the mantle. The key that unlocked the cellar, which was the one place that no one was allowed to enter.


AN. Was it good, bad, or meh. Let me know please. The story is based on the Grimm Fairy Tale Bluebeard. Not a good bedtime story, if I do say so myself. Fanfiction keeps deleting the spaces that I put for a new paragraph, and it's getting on my nerves. Let me know about any spelling/grammatical errors. By the way, if you couldn't tell, Gray is Bluehair and the 'young lady' is Lucy. I've always supported Gralu. All other characters, besides Michelle, are left up to your imagination! Have a beautiful day!