The Bloody Closet

In ancient times, a terrible and inexplicable tragedy occurred in the count's castle. It all started with the fact that the Count and Countess, walking one fine morning through the city shops, noticed in one of the workshops popular at that time, a massive wardrobe of a bright bloody shade.

Going into the workshop to take a closer look at the cabinet, they saw the master.

The master was blind in one eye, and apparently deaf, since he did not hear the count's couple enter his workshop, despite the ringing of bells on the front door.

"Mister, we'd like to take a look at that giant of a red color," the count called out to the man.

The master continued to work on the tree, paying no attention to the noble guests, no one.

The count was a calm man for that time, but the blue blood made itself felt. He walked up to the master and turned him to face him, and immediately recoiled from the old man.

The master's face was like a dried grape, so many wrinkles can only be found on the ground after a drought.

The master looked at the count with bewilderment, if the sighted eye still somehow looked alive, then the other was more like a cloudy crystal encrusted in his skull.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm a little hard of hearing, could you speak a little louder," the old man muttered.

The count pointed to the cabinet:

— My wife and I liked your creation, we would like to take a closer look at it.

— Of course, come in, inspect as much as your darling wants, — the old man removed the garbage from the floor so that it would not interfere with the gentlemen to go to the closet.

They were amazed by its beauty and sophistication, the cabinet was tall and massive, its doors were open, like the mouth of a wild lion ready to swallow its prey whole. The cabinet was made of dark wood and decorated with carved patterns and carvings. On each door there were images of animals, birds and flowers.

The most amazing thing seemed to be the color of the cabinet: it was a bright bloody shade, as if it was soaked in the blood of mystical dragons from old novels.

He radiated a faint, barely perceptible light, which seemed to be able to pull anyone who dared to approach him.

The Countess was completely delighted with the brilliance that almost stuck to the closet itself:

— And what is the closet painted like that? I've never seen such a rich red color before!

— Oh, madam, you have excellent taste, you see the colors of our world so subtly.

This is really a very rare shade, I call it "dragon's blood", the paint is brought to us from Rome itself, so few can afford furniture painted with this paint," the master boasted.

The Countess was clearly offended by the fact that the master felt that their family could not afford it, stamping her foot on the wooden floor, she replied to the master:

— This minute, we will take this cabinet, what is your price?

— Twenty royal gold coins, and by evening, the wardrobe will be waiting for you in your bedroom.

The Countess turned to her husband:

— Honey, are we going to buy it?

The Count put his arm around the Countess and whispered softly in her ear:

— Of course, dear, now I'll pay the master and let's go home.

The count put a handful of gold coins on the master's calloused hand and leaving the address, left the shop with his wife.

A carriage was already waiting for them at the shop.

The count's family got into the carriage, and the count hailed the coachman:

— Caleb, touch it!

The order was heard, the whistle of the whip cut through the air, the horses snorted and the carriage moved towards the castle.

When the cabinet was delivered to the castle, there was one small problem, the cabinet was very heavy and it took the help of six strong men to lift it.

As planned, the wardrobe was lifted and installed in the master bedroom.

Years passed, the count's couple got children and for five years they had not known troubles, and they would have lived happily if the war with the neighboring state had not started.

To replenish the ranks of his army, the king called on all the nobles to recruit their combat troops from the peasants.

The count was no exception and soon he gathered his army, although he had to shed blood to suppress the peasants' revolt.

Soon after, the count began to have insomnia, and after that his wife was overtaken by anxiety and a feeling of overwhelming fear.

The count's couple could not find a place for themselves, because of sleepless nights, their eyes dimmed, and they themselves looked like a pale toadstool, the maid cleaning the bedroom also looked unimportant.

A week later, the count went to bed, and no longer left the bedroom, only occasionally went out for a walk in the garden.

The best healers of the country who came to the castle could not understand what kind of infection struck the count, they tried everything from lotions and powders, to prayers and rituals.

Nothing helped, the count only got worse, he gradually lost his sight and hearing until he was completely blind in his left eye, but that was only half the trouble, the countess also fell ill after her husband.

One day, the count was walking through his huge garden, enjoying a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. He loved spending time outdoors, so he didn't bother his pregnant wife. The count thought about his future heir and dreamed about how he would raise his son.

But suddenly the count felt that something was wrong.

The wind rose, which stirred the leaves of the trees on which a flock of crows was sitting, they took off in fright and, announcing the whole garden with their harsh cawing, headed towards the castle.

The Count stopped and began to listen attentively. In the distance, he heard a faint cry that seemed painfully familiar to him. His heart beat faster, and he immediately ran to the castle.

When the count reached his bedroom, he saw his wife lying on the bed, wrapped in linen bandages. She was moaning in pain and blood was flowing from her body. The count realized that his wife was giving birth and called the servants to immediately call a doctor.

He stood next to his wife, holding her hand, and prayed that everything would be fine. But when the child was born, he did not utter a sound, this small, gentle creature, who was to become the heir of the count, lay lifeless on the countess's chest.

The Countess was heartbroken, she cried and prayed that God would give her back the life of this little angel. She will never forget that moment when she lost her baby and her heart was broken into thousands of little pieces.

The Count did not know what to do, he had never felt so helpless.

He took his wife into his arms and tried to comfort her, but she could not survive the loss of her child. She began to lose her mind and became more and more isolated from the world and the household.

The count tried to help his wife, but she rejected him. He felt helpless and didn't know what to do. He had never seen his wife so unhappy and vulnerable.

The next day the count found out that his wife was missing, he was in despair. He looked for her everywhere, but he couldn't find her.

Finally, when he returned to the castle, he heard a faint noise coming from the closet. He opened the door and saw his wife wrapped in a blanket. Her face was pale, and her eyes, swollen from shed tears, were closed.

The Count tried to wake her up, but she didn't answer. He realized that she was dead. He was heartbroken and devastated, not knowing how to live on without his wife. His life will never be the same.

The blow was instantaneous, at the same moment the count slid to the floor and lost consciousness.

The maid immediately ran for the butler and the doctor, they managed to bring the count back to life, but it was no longer possible to save the countess

The Count could no longer get out of bed and was unconscious all the time.

In a dream, he began to have nightmares, he saw how his peasants were dying, how he was cursed before death, the darkness pulled him into the abyss, the blood was up to the count's neck, it seemed a little more and he would drown in it, when suddenly the count woke up.

The countess came up to his head,

leaned close to his face, and he felt a gentle kiss on his lips, leaving a metallic taste in his mouth, the count wanted to grab his wife's hand, but the hand slipped through the air, and the countess disappeared.

Several months had passed, the count still could not accept her death. He kept seeing her in his dreams.

He heard her voice and felt her presence. He even talked to her as if she were next to him.

Every day when he woke up, he hoped it was just a nightmare. But when he opened his eyes, he saw her standing in front of him. She smiled at him and told him she loved him.

One night, his wife's voice called the count again, and begged him to break the damn cabinet, the count tried to break it by pulling the cabinet door.

His hands only scraped against the strong door handles, and the cabinet remained unshaken.

The count did not lose hope and tried to overturn the cabinet again, he grabbed the doors with both hands, and abruptly pulled back.

This time he was unlucky, the cabinet moved away from the wall and crushed the count with all its weight, crushing his skull, the count's head cracked like a ripe watermelon.

Thus, the count's family became extinct.

Since then, the castle has been considered a cursed place and no one has visited it anymore.

Almost three hundred years have passed since then, the castle has long been in ruins and a group of researchers decided to investigate the source of local legends about the curses of the count's family.

They came to this God-forsaken place to explore the ruins of the castle and find some artifacts or historically significant items.

What was their surprise when they found the cabinet from the legends intact among the collapsed walls of the old castle.

This cabinet was the same as it was described in the legend: it was tall and wide, with powerful doors that opened hard. The cabinet surface was covered with deep cutouts and carved patterns that gave the impression of continuous fluidity. Each pattern seemed alive, as if it was endowed with its own soul.

On the doors were images of various animals - lions, snakes and birds. Each image was cut with such precision and skill that it seemed as if they were ready to come out of the closet at any moment, but the most amazing thing in the closet were the flowers. They were carved with such subtlety and sophistication that it seemed as if they were real. They were so picturesque and colorful that you could feel the fragrance of each flower.

The researchers decided to immediately transport such a valuable exhibit to the museum.

Transporting the cabinet to the museum brought a lot of problems, it was not only heavy, but also huge. The researchers could not understand how it could be delivered to the museum building.

Without thinking for a long time, they called a crane to lift the cabinet onto a special truck that was supposed to deliver it to the museum. But even with the help of a crane, it was not so easy, the cabinet was too heavy and inconvenient for an ordinary crane.

The scientists decided to turn to specialists in the transportation of heavy goods. They suggested using a special transport that is capable of transporting heavy loads without any problems.

Thus, after much effort and many hours of work, the cabinet was finally delivered to the museum.

The cabinet has become one of the most interesting exhibits of the museum. Its unique design and history attracted many visitors.

But one day the museum was badly damaged by a fire, and the cabinet was one of the few exhibits that survived after it.

To restore the museum, its management decided to organize an auction and sell the cabinet to save the museum from decline.

Many museum visitors were upset by this decision, as the cabinet was not only a valuable exhibit, but also a symbol of the museum. It was a reminder that once the most valuable works of art were collected here.

However, at the auction, the cabinet was sold to a woman named Angela Robinson for a lot of money, which was enough not only for the restoration of the museum and even its expansion.

The woman was the widow of an American oil magnate, however, apart from the money left to her by her late husband, she had nothing else.

No family, no friends, except for one friend, Katerina Larsen, who occasionally came to her in the evening for a cup of coffee.

One day, on one of these evenings, there was a quarrel between friends.

Both women were standing in the room, looking at the closet that stood in the corner of the bedroom.

One of them, Katerina, began to say:

— I'm sure that everything that happened at your work is because of this closet. It emits some kind of sinister energy that attracts negative events to you.

"That's absurd," her friend, Angela, replied. — The closet can't be the cause of my problems. It's just a piece of furniture.

"But you don't understand,— Katerina continued. — This cabinet has a long history. I've read about him in books on esotericism and the occult. He may be cursed because the count suppressed the rebellion by force.

"It's all legends,— Angela said. — It seems to me that you are just looking for an excuse for my failures and do not want to offend me.

—No, it's not," said Katerina.— I just want to help you. Maybe you should go to an expert and find out more about the closet.

—No, thank you,— Angela replied.— I don't believe in these things. It seems to me that you're just scaring me for no reason.

— As you know, but I still insist on checking this legend, and by the way, turn on the air conditioner, it's unbearably hot in here.

And with these words, Katerina left the room, leaving Angela alone with the wardrobe.

Angela, in tears, slowly raised her hands to her face, trying to hold back her sobs. She felt her throat dry and it was hard for her to breathe. She closes her eyes and tries to calm down, but tears continue to flow down her cheeks.

She turned slowly and moved to the closet that stood in the corner of the room. Angela opened the closet door and climbed inside, closing the door behind her. She clasped her knees to her chest and hid her face in her hands, continuing to cry.

Inside the closet, she felt protected and isolated from the world. Here she can cry as much as she wants without being afraid that someone will hear her tears. She knew it was a temporary shelter, but right now it was the only place where she could find solace and peace.…

The next morning, when Katerina came to make peace with her friend, she did not find Angela.

The servants who worked in the villa also did not know where their mistress could have gone.

She might not have been found if it hadn't been for the maid who did the wet cleaning in Angela's bedroom in the morning.

A heart-rending scream rang out from the second floor, the guards who ran up to the floor saw the maid standing in front of the closet where the lifeless body of a woman lay.

Katerina was shocked when she saw the cooling corpse of her friend, with whom they had a nice conversation over a cup of coffee just yesterday.

Security immediately called the police, who began an investigation.

Along with the police, the detective of this small town, Michael Anderson, arrived.

A terrible picture was waiting for him, a woman who had recently quarreled with a friend was found dead in her own closet.

Angela was pale as chalk, the mucous membrane of her mouth was red as copper wire, a dark border was visible on her gums, her eyes were swollen, possibly due to tears, after a quarrel with a friend, her long nails were broken off on her hands, her hands were torn up to blood.

It seemed that the cause of death was either poisoning or violent death, but the detective lacked evidence for the complete authenticity of the picture.

Michael began an investigation, and the first person he questioned was the victim's girlfriend, but she claimed that she had nothing to do with her friend's death, but the detective did not believe a word she said, and began to study every aspect of the case in detail.

"Who are you, Miss Angelina?" — the detective asked, glaring at Katerina.

"I'm her friend,— Katerina replied in a trembling voice.

— You were the only one Ms. Angela saw yesterday morning, what did you do?

— We were chatting over a cup of coffee as usual, but then we had a little misunderstanding.

— Tell me, Miss Katerina, does your friend drink coffee with sugar or without sugar? The detective squinted at every muscle on Katerina's face.

— We have a sweet tooth, what kind of coffee without sugar can we talk about at all? Katerina frowned.

— Okay, stay in the villa, I'll interrogate the other witnesses.

The detective began to interview the service staff, and the first person he interviewed was the same maid who discovered the woman's body.

— Hello, did you find the body?

— Yes, it was terrible, even yesterday I found her in perfect health, albeit a little in decline, after an altercation with Miss Katerina.

"Why were you in Miss Angelina's room this morning?"

— My duties as a maid include wet cleaning in the bedroom where Mistress Angela sleeps.

— I noticed that you started with the closet, because the rest of the bedroom has not been touched, why did you start with the closet?

— I wash the closet exclusively with warm water, and if I start with other furniture, the water will have time to cool down.

— Hmm, well, you can be free.

After interviewing the maid, Michael Anderson found the guards.

— Do you have a list of those who came to Miss Angelina, yesterday and today?

— Except for Miss Katerina, no one visited Miss.

"Did you enter Miss Angela's room last night after Miss Katherine left?"

— Yes, sir, I went to check on her, but she was very upset and locked herself in her closet, I wanted to get her out of there, but she told me to leave, and I didn't insist.

— Are there cameras installed in the bedroom?

— No, Miss forbade them to be installed, even though we insisted.

— Of course, thank you for your cooperation.

The detective went back up to the second floor to Katerina.

— Excuse me for such a possibly tactless question, what was the reason for your quarrel with Miss Angela?

— Oh, this damn wardrobe, — Katerina glanced at the massive wardrobe standing in the bedroom.

"What do you mean?"

— Literally, Angela constantly complained to me that after buying the closet, she began to have problems in business, frequent illnesses and began to have nightmares at night, of course she did not want to think that this closet was all the fault.

"But how could the closet affect Miss Angela's life?"

— Yes, I understand, it doesn't sound very good, but just look at him, he literally seems to have come out of hell, the more I look at these patterns, the more attracted I am to the closet, Angela is not as superstitious as I am, so we quarreled.

The detective grabbed the cabinet doors and with great difficulty opened the cabinet completely.

There were a lot of dresses and other clothes inside, but what was remarkable was that one of the dresses was crumpled and slightly torn at the base.

Anderson was looking at the torn edge of the dress and suddenly a brilliant idea came to his head.

He called one of the cops to him and ordered him to watch how he went into the closet.

The cop stood in disbelief and watched as the detective went into the closet, took the dress and pushed it between the doors, and slammed them shut with force.

The fabric clamped between the doors, and the heavily opening doors slammed even harder.

The detective inside was trying to get out, but the closet door wouldn't budge.

Ten minutes later, the detective got tired of banging on the door and asked the cop to open the closet.

The detective was sweating all over, sat down on the floor and was breathing heavily.

The chief at the police station, John Kerry, approached him.

— Michael, any guesses? John sat down next to the detective.

— Take a look at the inside of the closet, it's scratched with nails, maybe the woman was locked in the closet and she was trying to get out of there, — the detective pointed out to John the deep furrows in the wood of the closet.

— Do you think that a murder was committed?

— Not at all, it is possible that after a quarrel with Miss Katerina, Miss Angela locked herself in the closet, and a piece of dress fabric got stuck between the doors.

When Miss Angela calmed down, she tried to get out, but the fabric stuck between the doors prevented her from doing so.

— Even if so, the closet has enough, even if not wide, but also rather big cracks on the sides, could Miss Angela have died only from suffocation?

— A good question, you need to better inspect the closet.

The detective approached Katerina.

— Do you happen to know how such a rare wardrobe got into your friend's bedroom?

— Five years ago, she won in a museum auction, they say the cabinet was found in the ruins of a cursed castle, where the count's family who lived in it died out from an unknown disease.

— Illness?

— I don't know the details, but they say the count suppressed the peasants' uprising by force, and then the count was overtaken by a curse.

— Of course, you can be free for today, but keep in mind that you are prohibited from leaving the city for a week.

The detective returned to John Kerry.

— Can I take the closet home with me, I want to make sure that this is just an accident, and not a damn story.

— Our criminologists would like to examine the cabinet, but if you insist, so be it, take it away.

To deliver the giant, the detective called the transport company.

The movers were standing in front of a huge closet, which was almost twice as large as the door when leaving the room, it was decided to pull out the closet through a large panoramic window.

In the detective's small apartment, the closet barely fit, like the previous victims of the cursed closet, the detective installed it in the bedroom.

The detective began to keep a diary of observation to find out if the closet could affect his mental state.

Day 1: Took the closet from the crime scene. I didn't notice anything unusual, everything looked normal. But on the way home, I felt uneasy, as if someone was watching me. I feel tense, but I don't understand what is happening to me yet.

Day 7: I had strange dreams last night. I dreamed of shadows and ghosts that haunted me. I woke up in a sweat, my heart was pounding. I feel like I'm starting to lose control of my thoughts, will I go to a bar?

Day 13: I feel the taste of metal in my mouth, I shouldn't have drunk so much yesterday.

Day 27: Nightmares have become more frequent. Tonight I had a hallucination, as if something was moving in the closet. I opened it, but I didn't see anything. That scared me even more. I do not know what to do to calm down.

Day 30: I can't sleep anymore. Every night nightmares and hallucinations haunt me. Today I noticed that there were scratches on my hands, although I don't remember anyone scratching me. I'm starting to think that the closet has brought a curse on me.

Day 34: I feel like I'm losing my mind. Tonight I saw a ghost in the mirror. I do not know how to continue to live with this. I have to get rid of the closet, but I don't know how to do it.

Day 40: I can't continue this anymore. I have to get rid of the closet. I do not know what will happen to me after that, but I can't live with this nightmare anymore. I think the closet is cursed.

Day 41: The nights at this time of year are very warm, the bedroom is incredibly stuffy.

Today I'm sleeping in the living room, and for some reason I feel much better, I think I've figured out what the secret is…

The next night, the detective was writing his thoughts about this case, he got hot and he opened the window wide and leaned out of it a little to get some fresh air, but suddenly lost his balance and fell out of it.

Neighbors heard a loud crash and screams. They ran out into the street and saw that the man was lying on the ground without moving. Someone called an ambulance, but it was too late, the detective received life-threatening injuries and died on the way to the hospital.

The police arrived at the scene and found the detective's diary on the table, where the last one was written:

— This antique cabinet has a suspiciously bright blood color, on the Internet, I searched for what was used in ancient times as a red dye and this is what I found:

This dye is cinnabar.

Cinnabar was used by the ancient Greeks, and then by the Romans.

It was mined in mines near Rome, the work at the mine was hard, few of the workers survived for a long time. Mostly slaves worked on the extraction. In those days, it was rarely thought about why miners die so quickly. Red paint was valued very highly, and was available only to a very rich stratum of society at that time.

The ailments and illnesses of many artisans who worked with cinnabar were attributed to the curse of the deceased miners.

However, the truth was that cinnabar is 85% mercury. It begins to actively stand out from the paint when heated, as well as when treating painted surfaces with acidic liquids.

In a couple of years, even insignificant doses of mercury vapor will make a weak-willed vegetable out of a person, who, if he does not die from poisoning, will eventually go crazy and commit suicide.

Most likely, it was because of her that the count's family died out three hundred years ago.

So tomorrow I'll go to the laboratory and take paint samples from the cabinet, I think my guess will be confirmed, but in the meantime I'll go open the window, this night is incredibly stuffy…