Bitter Drink

in #hive-17768221 days ago

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The mansion loomed before them, imposing and sinister, as if sensing the dark events that were about to unfold within.

Amid drinks and fake laughter, a piercing scream rent the air, shattering the façade of merriment.

Roland, the private investigator hired for the evening, followed the sound to a darkened room.

There lay the limp body of an actress, her open eyes frozen in a mixture of horror and shock.

In her twitching hands, a small empty glass flask with the warning ‘Bitter Drink’ etched on the label.

The murmurs of the guests became a chorus of fear and suspicion.

Roland bent over the corpse, noticing a disturbing detail: a crooked smile adorned the victim's lips, as if he had laughed in his last moments.

Something didn't fit, the vial seemed purposefully placed, a macabre message from the killer.

Determined to catch the culprit, Roland stayed, convinced that the killer still lurked among the dark corridors and secret-laden rooms.

As he investigated, a sense of being watched overcame him, but as he turned, he found only emptiness.

In a room with red stained glass windows that tinged everything with an ominous hue, an old piano played a soft melody on its own, with no one sitting on the bench.

Fear was taking root in his chest, but Roland would not give up until he unravelled the mystery behind that twisted smile and found the person responsible for such a macabre crime, not knowing that he would be the next victim.