At last, a big day arrived. It was Countess Karnstein's 18th birthday and a ball was being thrown in honor of it. People from all over the kingdom and the kingdoms of the sisters of Karnstein were in attendance. It was a gorgeous and impressive party with nothing quite so amazing having occurred at the darkened castle of Karnstein in several years.
"Marcia, Matilda, Maria, Margreta, Maximiliana, Magdalena!" Mircalla exclaimed in delight as she saw her sisters' carriage pull up. She ran ahead to greet them, ignoring the gentle chastisement behind her as she ran in her skirts. The youngest Karnstein may not have thought about her sisters very often, but seeing them again reignited an old flame within her heart and suddenly, she was only six years old again, running through the castle halls as she tried to find her family. Suddenly, she was happy and young and free. For all of her cruelty and selfishness, Mircalla was not without the capacity to love. She ran over to the carriage and threw open the door.
"Oh my God!" the young woman stepped back in confusion and fear when she realized that almost all of her sisters were crying, but it was not a good crying. They all looked miserable and haunted. The countess quickly took a headcount and realized that one sister was missing.
"Where's Magdalena?" Mircalla's concern grew when Margreta, Maximiliana and Matilda began crying even harder.
"She's dead," Marcia answered. Her voice was empty and bitter but tears glittered in her dark eyes.
"Dead?" Mircalla barely could force out a whisper. The night was suddenly far colder than before.
"We'd better go inside," Margreta pleaded. Mircalla nodded at once and gestured for her sisters to follow her in. All of the happiness of the reunion had vanished in a flash and Mircalla barely even breathed as she led her sisters into a side chamber where they could speak privately.
"What happened?" the countess asked the moment the door was shut behind them all.
"It was a suicide," Marcia replied, voice still hollow.
"Suicide?" Mircalla choked. Marcia nodded and then she explained. The way things were planned out, the sisters were each going to meet up at Magdalena's home castle because it was the one closest to Karnstein. Once there, they were going to ride together to Karnstein. That way, every sister could be reunited all at once. Marcia arrived at Magdalena's castle first but was horrified to find her sister dead in her bed. The girl's wrists were slashed open wide and so much blood had been lost that it created a large puddle that almost reached the window by the bed. It was a graphic sight that severely scarred Marcia and her cry of despair and terror woke up that entire wing of the castle. They all came running in but left later with matching expressions of horror that this young lady had taken her own life so suddenly and so secretly. How had nobody noticed until now?
"I asked the servants," Marcia said lowly, slowly. "They said that she had claimed she needed to rest. I guess nobody understood what 'rest' meant this time…" she trailed off and Mircalla swore she could see her sister's corpse still within Marcia's unseeing eyes.
"The rest of us arrived within the days to follow," Margreta continued. "We each were treated to the sight of our dead sister. We almost didn't come back to Karnstein tonight, but we knew we couldn't miss it. We couldn't miss your birthday. We're just sorry we have come with bad tidings instead of good ones…" then she trailed off as well. Mircalla could only shake her head. As proud and unmoving as she was, even she was not immune to surprises and to hear that one of her sisters was dead, by her own hand no less, was earth-shattering.
"Wow," she choked out at last. "I never realized…I never thought…"
"Nor did we," Matilda tried to comfort the girl. "None of us imagined Magdalena having the intelligence or the pain necessary to end her own life."
"Clearly she did," Maria grunted. Her voice was unnaturally sharp when compared to everyone else's but, for once, nobody bothered criticizing her for it. Instead, they were all silently mourning their dead sister.
But not even the death of Magdalena couldn't kill Mircalla's spirit. As much pain and shock, and even guilt, as Mircalla felt, she still had a party to attend to. She could not break down now. So she made a pact with her sisters that a proper funeral would be held eventually but for tonight, not a word was to be breathed to anyone. This party had to go off without a hitch, then the walls could come down and they could properly mourn Magdalena. The others agreed to it and, plastering false smiles upon their lovely faces, they exited that secret chamber and returned to the ballroom where the big party was taking place. It was really was a magnificent sight despite the gloominess the six living Karnsteins were feeling. But after the last few tears were shed, the party went into full swing and there was dinner and dancing all through the night.
During the rapturous event, Mircalla caught sight of her family together again and even though Mama and Magdalena were missing, Mircalla's heart still felt complete. She hadn't felt this way since she was 10 years old, back when Marcia got married and left them all behind. The young countess surveyed the room, trying to find each of her sisters. Marcia was reuniting with old friends. Maria was skirting around some of the higher up nobles with a bottle of fine liquor in her hands, Margreta was dancing with Maximiliana, both of them tripping over each other's feet, and Matilda was busy taking a peek at their father. He sat upon the throne, concealing his age by pretending that he was overseeing the party. Age had not taken his pride or his cunning away. It really was a lovely night.
But Mircalla's Birthday Ball did not end on the high note everybody hoped it would. The beginning of the end was nice, with Cornelius finally proposing and Mircalla saying yes, which ensured another ball sometime in the future, but that was about it. The rest of the ball was spent celebrating and congratulating the two fiancées as more songs and liquor were passed around, but once it was time to head to bed, everything turned dark. Mircalla retired to her own chambers while Cornelius went to his and Mircalla had only just started to fall asleep, head still buzzing with drink and song, when two red eyes peered down at her from the rafters.
"What the-?" Mircalla rasped, voice heavy with exhaustion. She was jolted awake by the two red eyes but she could only watch in silent horror as something oily and black slipped down from the rafters and right to her bedside where it rose up to an impossible height. What terrified the girl most of all, however, was that when the tall shadow gained a face, Mircalla found herself staring into the dead eyes of Magdalena Karnstein.
"Magdalena?" Mircalla croaked once the shadow started to look human.
"Mircalla Karnstein!" came the dry reply. "Thou hast taken from me every bit of happiness that should have rightfully been mine and thou shalt payest for what thou did!" Magdalena now had a terrible, ethereal voice, very different from the shy and awkward one she had when she was still alive. Mircalla could only tremble, mouth opened but nothing coming out of it. "Thou hast taken my title and my pride and my joy and even my very life, so I shalt exact my revenge upon thee and let thy knowest of mine suffering. Thou shalt feel my pain too…"
Then before Mircalla could even comprehend what Magdalena had just said, she felt two needles sink deep into her breast. The pain got worse every moment until Mircalla felt light-headed. This dizziness pervaded her mind and overpowered the pinching, poking sensation until the world went dark, her last vision being of Magdalena's unusually sharp teeth.