RED-A horror story (Completed)
My grandson,yes my grandson,for if my lawyer was loyal then only you and not my son should be able to read this letter .If you are my granddaughter on the other hand then do not read any further.I don’t want your gentle mind to be corroupted by such ghastly and hellish reports.
I was born in 1810 in the same place where I died .San Luis mission complex in Texas.I don’t clearly remember my parents.They died when I was 4.I was raised by an improvished nobleman .At 16 I was sent to Mexico city to study something that very few common people studied-Medicine.At 20 I completed my studies and settled back in my old town .But upon opening a small practice in a hut I found no takers .Most people trusted Christ more than medicine .San Luis itself was a small village built on the base of the San Luis mission .It started from the middle of the town were the mission was situated and ended at the farms situated far off the borders of the horizon .But slowly and surely i became more and more famous because of one singular oddity in the perfect world .They dubbed it the ‘Red disease’ .Where it came from or how it spread ,nobody in the village knew .But it just kept on causing discomfort to people .Anybody who contracted it started losing blood rapidly.The first occurence of the disease was in 1832 if I remember clearly .For the small community of 350 people however it was no less than a calamity.
If I remember clearly it was in December that year when after 2 deaths and the inability of the church to cure it that I had my first customer .He was a middle aged Creole of medium built wearing the mediocre clothes of the rare Mexican middle class .His wife was severly ill .Like all other patients of the disease ,her body was losing blood day by day and she was getting weaker and weaker .When I went to their house,she was on the bed.There were bats outside on a tree in broad daylight.I don’t fear bats like everybody else,like everything else they are just a force of nature.Plus our town was famous for the hoards of bats that flew on days blocking out the sun and forcing everone into the church .I checked her pulse first .It was normal .Then I simply got up and told the man this one line “Give her some boiled carrots mixed with my special powder and she will get well soon “.I had told this just on impulse and with the intention of selling my medicine made of herbs .Everybody has to make money .But lo behold .A day later the man dragged me out of my practice and on the streets he sprinkled flowers on me .The women had really got better.All of a sudden hordes of the diseased began to flock to my practice and I became somewhat well off .I buyed my own acre of farm and a bigger hospital .It must have been among the first in Texas .While the disease kept on reoccurring,the people were content that my medicine with on their side made them safe .
But the saloon ,the mission and all other public places were just emitating with one discussion,where did this strange disease come from and why was it only in this one village .Once a lowly native asked it in public on a Sunday morning church.The padre told him to keep quiet .That afternoon the padre called me to his own lodging inside the church .When I went there the door was ajar .The Padre was seated on an ancient looking chair which looked as old as him.On his lap was the bible and otherwise there was nothing else in the room worth noting .There were two rosaries and one small chair and table on which was a flowerpot bedecked with old rotten flowers collected long ago .”Westley Roberts welcome,I was expecting you “he said .”Glad to be of your service father”I replied in a low monotonous tone .”The ‘Red(Disease)’ is bad for the community.You got the temporary cure and for that the community is thankfull of you.But now the natives are openly asking of its origin,they think that the devil is at work,what do you think?” he asked .”Its just one of nature’s oddities and nothing else “ I replied in an asking tone .”What if I told you that ,yes it is the work of the devil”said the Padre .”I don’t know……”said I .”Come with me “said he dragging me out of his room .We went via the long corridors of the mission complex and the stairs to the …the…cemetery .To my horror the padre took up a spade and went up to a special looking grave which was painted dark red .All about me there was a strange musty and rotten scent which the sky seemed to mirror with its greenish wet whiteness .To my horror he began to dig up the red grave .”PADREEEEE” I screamed aghast .”Wait up my son” he said continuing to dig .Soon he had dug up the covering marble slabs and then the ground .Then I looked on in horror .Inside was not one but 3 fresh dead bodies .Their colour was pale and they had lost almost all of their blood .For some moments we both stood in absolute silence .He with spade in hand and I with blood in my eyes.Finally after what must have been an eternity I mustered the courage to utter the words “What is this Padre” .”We found them behind the house of Senior John Arkham” said he .”Who’s he “ I asked .In all my life in this town I had never heard someone by the name of John Arkham.”He’s a devil”replied the Padre .”What” I asked .”He came here in 1830 and made a palatial home for himself with money coming straight from Santa Anna ,his close friend ,it was after his coming here that the ‘Red’ began to spread .He lives alone a mile away from the village on the outskirts .Never comkes to church.Is rarely seen in town and eats only meat and tomatoes.A few days ago Senior Gonzalez while on some gardening work in Arkham’s mansion found these 3 bodies neatly wrapped in a sheet of leather with not an ounce of blood in them .Somehow he managed to bring it to the village .He made 30 Pesos for supplying the bodies of All 3 missing persons .But he was dazed and himself looked pale .When he came to confession and may god have mercy on me for telling you this ,he confessed that when he was leaving the mansion with the bodies in the back of his cart,he saw the strange cloaked figure of Arkham in one of the hidden upper windows of the mansion looking at him in a hideous way with a warning in his eyes .Just then said he the clouds which hitherto had been blocking the sun subsided and the next moment Arkham had vanished.Senior Gonzalez is severly ill with the Red now .There are talks of the vampire now .We asked the local commodante to intervene ,but he told us that they cant lay their hands on someone who is so close to Santa Anna.Now tell me ,is this much enough to prove that we are daling with a vampiure now .” asked the Padre .” But what can we do of it” I asked still unsure what to say .”I have decided to take matters in my own hands now,tonight with the local strongmen ,I am going with garlic and a stake to put an end to this once and for all ,will you join us “he asked .”But ,I don’t believe in this ,it would be murder,I think that we should investigate further” I replied .To this he only said “Are you coming or not” .
Arkham’s mansion was much more than a mansion.It was a castle .The front gate was open .The garden appeared to be unkept except for the one patch of grass that locals like Gonzalez were called to repair .The mansion itself was made out of dank and musty smelling stones .Despite the night,there were only a few lights on .The main door of the house itself was made of moss filled wood .As we all 5 men watched the setting I screamed in terror .The tree was live ,hordes of bats,and entire army of them flew upon us .All of us ,even the 3 strongmen shrieked .Suddenly the door opened .Standing in front of us was Arkham .He was dressed in black and looked pale .”Soo,you tacos think you can outsmart me,Seniors you got in,but how will you go out” he shouted with a devilish grin on his face .”And oh,who is this,finally a fellow Englishman,you” said he pointing to me “Come in”.’NOWW” he shouted on seeing that my stiff body was unable to move .I staggered in alone .The Padre and the men were completely blocked by the hordes of bats .The door closed behind me .I was stiff and dazed ,I was in a delirium and unable to think properly .He motioned for me to sit down .As I sat down on the couch did I start to feel to feel the surroundings around me.The ballroom was massive with huge chandeliers decorating the high ceiling and all sorts of luxuries hung up on the walls .There was a rich carpet adorning the stone floor .Arkham seemed to have vanished .I still could not move as my muscles were rebelling against my mind .When he came back he held a rosary in his hand .”You think that this little piece of wood is enough to kill me,It may stop you but not me,hahahaha” he started laughing incontrolabbly like a madman.All of a sudden the chandeliers began to go off one by one .Then the candles and then the windows abruptly closed .What happened next I really don’t remember .I do recall something like a fight but it can aswell be my dream .I woke up in my own bed with almost everybody in town besides me .There was a strange happiness on their bright faces .”You did it” shouted the padre .”What” I asked .”You did it,you plunged the rosary in the devils chest ,he died “ said the Padre happily .”You are our saviour Senior Roberts” said a young woman .”He could have simply died from the wound of the rosary plunging in his chest” I reasoned despite remembering nothing .But I joined in the festivities of the townsfolk anyway .But since then I quit being a doctor .I kept low and managed my farm and cattle .For there is only so much that a being’s tounge can bear and unlike the others, Arkhams blood was a little too bitter even for my taste .
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