Murdock Manor Massacre

There was once a forlorn looking house that, according to old stories, had the devil's own soul encased within its walls. Now, it stands a desolate derelict of a house, known infamously as the Murdock Manor. The thickly wooded swamp that surrounds it used to be a lush green field, teaming with life. Now all is dark, and the land reeks with death. Beautiful white doves that used to rest on the roof of the mansion have disappeared, replaced with carrion crows hovering ominously over the manor, waiting for their next meal. The giant mansion has lapsed into disrepair, its grand foyer, once an attestant to all that could be graceful in this mortal world, now lies under inches of smothering dust. Throughout its enormous elegant rooms there was evidence of one last fierce struggle. All Throughout the enormous house lay broken furniture, shattered vases, and fallen pictures. Whomever had last left this house had taken God with him, for this house had not been touched with holy light for years.
However, the Murdock Mansion had not always been this way. There had been a time when its shattered windows had let light pour through. This house was filled with people, laughing happily, never knowing the grim fate that would damn each of their souls to hell. Elegant music echoed through the halls, softly reverberating off each corner, making the house feel alive. The owner of the manor, Richard Murdock, had been poor all his life. Then, with a stroke of blind fate, he returned to his house to find all his possessions gone. The only thing left in his house was a table, with a radiant silver tea pot on it. Richard slowly walked up to the tea pot and inspected it. Inside, it was filled with hidden gold, rubies, and treasured artifacts from the days of old. Richard stood in awe and could just barely make out the clattering hooves outside his home.
Richard rushed to the door and could see a black horse with a great pair of blood red eyes. A lurking dread filled Richard, and his eyes slowly glanced up to the rider of the horse. Atop the mighty black stallion was a man, if you could call it that. He more looked like a shadow, wearing a deep black cloak with blood red embroidery, and with a pair of blood red eyes to match. The shadow somehow hissed out words in a hoarse, growling voice. Through each word was a gargle of blood. “Take the sudden fortune and know this. If thou wishes to save thy soul, leave this place, and never return. If thou wishes to be rich, then touch the tea pot and all your dreams shall become reality… for a price.” As the shadow finished its words, a terrible, black thunder gust roared up and tore away at the shadow. The horse looked like it would be blown away, when all of a sudden the black figure and its hellish mount dissolved into a puff of blood red smoke, and were quietly whisked away into the blackening sky, leaving Richard startled and alone. When he turned back to his house, he found that the small cottage was overflowing with riches. Richard instantly put the black figure out of his mind, and dove into his massive fortune without regret.
That was the night that Richard’s soul died.
Richard moved away from the small house and town where he had lived. He had brought only one thing with him, besides his fortune. The night the shadowed figure visited Richard, he ran to Victoria’s house. Victoria had been sought after by almost everyone in the village, and Richard felt he could finally have a chance. Little did Victoria know when she agreed to move away with Richard, she had opened herself to a damned fate.
And so she became Mrs. Victoria Murdock. Richard was so grateful she had married him. As a wedding gift he had the Murdock Manor build for their home. During the construction of the manor, there were many accidents. These accidents, in every case, ended with at least one death. Richard didn’t care though. Since his sudden fortune, he had been filled with avarice and had become a meager, miserly fellow that cared for two things: Money and Victoria. The wedding was not held in a church. It was held in a grand ballroom within the manor, and Richard and Victoria send invitations out to everyone they knew. There were hundreds of people there, all laughing and joking while elegant music floated through the room. Suddenly, two grand doors at one end of the ball room opened, and Victoria walked in. She was in a flowing dark red gown, wearing a matching vale over her long black hair. Richard received her at the other end of the ballroom, and within ten minutes, they were married. A cheer of glee rang up from the crowd, a cheer so loud that it snuffed out the horrid scream let out by a woman named Lisa all alone at the end of the ballroom.
Later on that day, Victoria‘s brother was looking for his wife, Lisa. He had wandered out of the ballroom, and into the foyer. He found a door under the grand staircase with a blood red star and a circle around it. Curious, he gave the door a push and it creaked open. There was a long and dark spiraling staircase leading down, down, down into the black earth. There seemed to be a red glow coming from the bottom. He was hesitant to continue, until he heard a blood curdling scream coming from the bottom of the stairs. He flew down the stairs and found that the red glow was coming from candles placed around the room in red glass lanterns. Lying on the floor was the lone woman who had screamed in the ballroom, his wife. He ran over to her, her normally light blonde hair now a shock of coarse black. She was not breathing. He noticed the pool of blood around her, and felt desperately for a pulse. There was no reassuring heart beat to comfort him. He shot up, and turned back to the stairs. The last thing he ever saw was a shadow, with blood red eyes. Than the death blow struck, and he was comforted with eternal blackness.
The next soul to fade into darkness was that of Richard’s mother, Sarah. Sarah was an old termagant of a woman, who had only come to her son’s wedding to see the manor. She left the ball room, her check apron filled with fine crystal glasses and gem-encrusted cutlery. As she rushed through the foyer humming an eerie tune, she heard three loud knocks coming from behind the stairs. Her curiosity doomed her, and she went to find the being responsible for the knocks. She found, and opened the door with the blood red star. Upon opening it, a black shadow engulfed her. She tried desperate means to escape, but was not successful. Her plundered glasses and cutlery fell to the floor with a horrid clatter. She was pulled down the stairs, and the last thing she ever saw were two blood red eyes piercing into her very soul.
Many more succumbed to the same fate as Sarah and Lisa. Saying goodbye to the newly weds, and making their way to the exit of the mansion, but never to leave. By the time that night had fallen, only a handful of people were left inside the ball room. These people were lucky enough to have been invited to spend the night in the manor, and their host and hostess led them to their rooms. All the rooms were on the same hallway, and inside each room were pure forms of opulence. After all were asleep, a shadow slowly started creeping up the hallway, silently snuffing out all life in each room, until it reached Victoria’s mother’s room.
Victoria sat upright in the bed, instantly awake after hearing the high pitched scream coming from her mothers room. She had never even changed out of her wedding dress, when she grabbed Richard’s arm, and he lit a candle and they journeyed into the hall way. The sight that met them would drive the most sane person mad. All the way down the hallway, the walls were dripping blood,and in the center of the hallway was the figure that had greeted Richard on the night he found the teapot. The thing had its back turned to the mortified couple, clearly deeply distracted by its own actions. That was when Victoria noticed the flailing limbs, and on a wrist of one of the limbs was her mother’s bracelet. She let out an ear piercing scream as her mothers body went limp in the shadow’s hands, and it snapped around to face them. It’s mouth was dripping with blood, and there was a gaping hole in Victoria’s mother's neck.
“Well, Richard, we meet again. I have been scheming this since you started constructing this wonderful mansion. You see, I had grown weak. It had been years since I had been able to feed and sustain myself by slowly picking off workers, working on building your lovely home. Ahh, it was worth it! You led a house full of people to their deaths at my hands, and now I feel stronger than ever! And now it is time for….”
What time it was, Richard would never know. He had grabbed Victoria’s arm and started to desperately run towards the exit of the house. As they were running, Victoria slipped in a pool of blood on the floor. Richard turned around in time to see the shadow wrapping itself around her. It lifted her hair away from her neck, but instead of biting her, it just sunk two teeth into her fine neck. Than in an instant the shadow was gone, and Victoria fell to the floor. Richard ran up to her, and held her in his arms. She was still breathing, but her eyes were closed and she felt cold. Then she opened her eyes. They were red. The color of blood.