My Strange Stories X

(Basado en The Masque of the Red Death de Edgar Allan Poe)

April 10th, 2011

My dear friend,

You are not going to believe this. I can’t although I saw it all with my own eyes! My dear, Prince Prospero is dead. Lord Wilghbur is dead, Carlotta is dead… everybody is dead! Do you remember I told you, there was a disease killing the people? The red death found us although we hid from her per six months! Oh, that’s so frightening!

Prince Prospero invited us –the nobility, indeed –to his abbey to hide from the illness and to entertain us, he offered a Masked ball. “Oh my God that is a splendid idea!” we all thought. I prepared my costume. I went to the Ball dressed like Cleopatra and made a beautiful masque. When I arrived to the suite I noticed it was formed by seven rooms. Each room was decorated with one specific color of walls, tapestries and stained glasses. The first one was blue, the second was purple, the third was green, the fourth was orange, the fifth was white, the sixth was violet and the seventh, oh my God! The seventh was black with scarlet stained glass! The death color! I didn’t have the courage enough to remain in the seventh room because of the atmosphere and bad feelings it produced me. The light, the fire of the braziers outside, each room went through the stained glasses and reflected the color of the glass over the people and the walls and it was a magical beauty effect excepting the seventh room because when the light went through the red stained glass you saw the people dancing happily, covered in blood. Lord Whilmood said to me, “Indeed, Madam. You are a superstitious woman!” but I didn’t pay attention to him and went out of there to the white room. I danced there two songs more the magnificent orchestra played but I still felt horrified, so, I went to the bathroom to calm myself when I heard one, two, three morbid clangs of that ebony clock. And the clangs continued. I couldn’t dare it! I knew there will be nine chimes more because it was twelve o’clock. I don’t know but that morbid clangs made me feel I must run away of there. So, guided by the most ghastly feeling I went out of the suite and run away to my room…

I reached my room when the twelfth clang sounded. And I heard the music stopped and there was silence where had had place happy music before. I knew the right thing was made by me. There was a lapse of silence, but then there were shouts and jells that sounded like an echo everywhere! That was horrifying! I couldn’t do anything! I just hid. Lord Whilmood told me I was superstitious but now he’s dead and I am not…

When everything returned to silence it was four o’clock I knew it because of that diabolic clock. I gathered together all my braveness and went downstairs to the suite and walked by the blue and purple rooms. Everybody was dead! I didn’t keep walking because I knew how the other rooms will be, full of corpses… I reached to see from the distance Prince Prospero dead and the seventh room was now completely red. The red of blood… that was no doubt it was fault of Red Death. All corpses I reached to see –unfortunately –had his bloody mark.

I never approved what Prince Prospero did –leaving his people to die –but I really appreciated he for inviting me to hide from Red Death. And now I thank God for giving me the chance to escape…

With my strongest affect,

Your friend

Lady Elizabeth M.