A Drink of Red

An excerpt from the novel A Drink of Red by Kiko Quezon

“There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.”

-Edgar Allan Poe

A short scene of a tragic story of betrayal, regret, and despair. There are mysteries surrounding Elmstone Manor. The townsfolk whisper rumors about the Hollow man who lives alone inside the decaying estate.

Atop a cliff stood an old dusty mansion where ravens nest and wolves howl. There, he lives alone with his thoughts and his everlasting dreadful memories. He plays his old out of tune piano every moonlit night in a sinister yet passionate way as he magnificently synchronizes with the thunder and lightning.

His hair, a mess, his worn out prince charming suit all dirtied out and torn. His mind flashes a memory of his beloved who had fiendishly tried to take his fortune. The thunder stops. The wolves and the owls quiet, ravens flock to his creaky roof. The piano stood as silent as his desolated home. The cold wind blows through the tattered sheets of his window pane. He winces as more flashes of his past flicker in his mind as he stares at the flat red drink resting on the ivory keys. He's reminded of what happened on that dire night – of what everyone accuses him of.

Flickers of flashbacks become overwhelming waves pouring in all at once. A tiring day’s end, raindrops thrash against the window pane, the red drink flows into a gilded chalice, he makes it up to his bedchamber lugging his tired feet while the cold whispers to his unfeeling cheeks. Forks of azure lightning illuminate the dark clouds as he sees the silhouette of his beloved holding a dagger. She lunges at him. He tries to defend himself only to have her fall on the staircase head first. Crack! The flashback abruptly ends as soon as her blonde turns red on his hands.

He screams and smashes his ghoulish fists on to the old piano keys which play a low menacing hum. Murmurs of the townsfolk start to ring. “The hollow man who lives in his hollow mansion, the hollow man who had killed his love for his empty heart could not feel warmth.” He desperately tries to cover his ears. His nails clawing at the sides of his head, tearing through his scalp, leaving blood filled scars. He screams with what his dry lungs, could manage.

He wailed. The misery of being betrayed by the one person, whom he deeply loved, was torturous. In a flash, a single mistake changed his life forever. “How—Why.” His fists clench, and his teeth grit. The calm despair slowly creeps away replaced by overwhelming anger – wrath. The hollow man stands and walks over to the mezzanine slowly drifting left and right. He looks down to see what remains of the crimson stains of his love. The railings creak as his claws dig deeper to the wooden trims. Another flashback starts.

As the pool of blood drenches the blonde hair, horrified, he swiftly comes to her aid. Dread starts to fill his eyes. Shivering. He can barely bring himself to touch her face as she gasps with her final breath. Her eyes filled with trauma and what he could perceive as guilt. Her eyes close. His piercing screams echoes the mansion; for he is now and forever will be – alone. The flashback ends.

Tears trickle down his eyes. He carries himself over the railings and leaps, aiming for the stains on the floor. THUD… Silence. The hollow man is sprawled on the floor, his limbs twisted in a gruesome inhuman way. But then, weeping. The sound of hopelessness echoes. He picks himself up, his arms snap back into place. He slowly walks up the staircase dragging his twisted feet as he did a million times before. He looks back down; he sees the ghost of his past holding her.

And as this once well-endowed, hopeful young man; now a broken, empty husk of what he once was, stuck in the depths of his misery, he will remain forever so till the day of his long awaited slumber comes – if it comes.

The End.