★城裡的月光★

黑魔法

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瘋狂亨利是個隱士，獨自住在城市邊緣的破舊大宅子裡。

這個有凶惡眼神男人的謠言到處流傳著，

有些人說他是魔術師，可以召喚黑暗的力量，為他的鄰居帶來嚴重的傷害。

有些人則說他是個瘋狂博士，會在當地的墳墓裡修復破敗的屍首，讓它們起死回生。

城裡任何一個有權勢的人都拿瘋狂亨利沒轍。

有一年，一個新家庭搬進這個城市，

他們有個漂亮女兒叫瑞秋，深深吸引瘋狂亨利的目光。

他送給這個少女大量的禮物—純金的高腳杯、珍珠項鍊以及一大把不會凋謝的雛菊。

但儘管他送了這些禮物，瑞秋仍愛上了別人—傑弗瑞，一個大學剛畢業的青年才俊。

他們才認識一週就私奔了，留下震驚的瘋狂亨利。

當瑞秋和傑弗瑞私奔回來時，他們開了舞會並邀請了城裡所有人來參加，

正當瑞秋和父親在跳華爾滋時，她聽見一聲響雷，還有一下又一下的閃電。

突然，兩扇門炸開，一陣風吹了進來，傳來東西腐爛、死亡的氣味，

瘋狂亨利出現在門口，眼神閃爍憤怒的紅光，

而跟在他身後的是奇形怪狀的屍體，一個接一個走進房間裡，

他們的眼窩冒著青色火光，團團包圍住整個房間。

兩具屍體抓住了傑弗瑞，把他丟在他們主人的腳邊，

瘋狂亨利眼睛發著紅光，拿出一把銀刃小刀，胡亂的砍著新郎的喉嚨，

瑞秋尖叫著跑向前，把擋路的發臭死人都推倒，然後撲倒在垂死的丈夫身邊。

「把我們都殺了吧！」她絕望地哭喊著。

但瘋狂亨利把少女從倒在血泊中的亡夫身邊抓起，在這個打雷的夜晚將她帶走。

在他身後，這批死人軍團轉身跟隨他們的主人，

而打雷閃電也隨著這個有魔力的人和他的死亡同伴們一同在黑夜裡消失。

傑弗瑞的父親和瑞秋的父親聚集了一群流氓，跟隨著這個邪惡隱士的腳步，企圖拯救瑞秋，

當他們抵達瘋狂亨利的家時，只找到一個光照的空房子，

而光源是每個房間天花板上掛著的一連串神祕地球儀，

瘋狂亨利失蹤了。

 搜救人員終日搜索著鄉鎮，但什麼也沒找到。

傑弗瑞被安葬在當地的墳墓，歌舞廳被拆了，

城裡沒有人談論這件事，也沒人敢想像可憐的瑞秋的遭遇。

 舞會後又過了一年，某天瑞秋老家響起微弱的敲門聲。

當瑞秋的父親開門時，他看見一個憔悴的、駝背的灰色人影。

她的眼神晦暗，佈滿疲備和痛苦。

是瑞秋！

她的舌頭被割斷了，所以不能說話，

但她從她破爛的衣服裡拿出一把小刀--那把小刀有銀色的刀刃，

是他們上一次在瘋狂亨利的手裡看過的那把。

瑞秋用心滿意足的眼神告訴他們，上面的血跡是瘋狂亨利的。

那天晚上，瑞秋滿是傷痕的臉上露出微笑，在睡夢中平靜地死去。

原文：Black Magic

Mad Henry was a hermit who lived alone in a decrepit mansion at the edge of town.  Rumors were rife about the wild-eyed man.  Some folks said that he was a magician who called upon the powers of darkness to wreck havoc upon his neighbors.  Others called him a mad doctor who could restore life to foul corpses from the local cemetery.  No respectable citizen in town had anything to do with Mad Henry
 

Then one year a new family moved to town with a lovely daughter, Rachel, who caught Mad Henry’s eye. He showered the maiden with gifts—goblets of pure gold, necklaces of pearl, and a pot of daisies that never dropped a single petal. Despite the gifts, Rachael fell in love with another, Geoffrey, a handsome young man just home from university. A week after meeting they eloped, leaving behind a stunned Mad Henry. 
 

When Rachael and Geoffrey returned from the elopement, they threw a big ball and invited everyone in town. While Rachel was waltzing with her father, she heard a  clap of thunder. Lightning flashed again and again. Suddenly, the double doors blew open and a breeze whirled in, bringing with it the smell of dead, decaying things. Mad Henry loomed in the doorway, pupils gleaming red with anger. He was followed by the grotesque figures of the dead, who came marching two by two into the room. Their eye sockets glowed with blue fire as they surrounded the room.
Two of the corpses captured Geoffrey and threw him down at the feet of their lord. Red eyes gleaming, Mad Henry drew a silver-bladed knife and casually cut the bridegroom’s throat from ear to ear. Rachel screamed and ran forward, pushing through the foul, stinking corpses of the dead, and flung herself upon her dying husband. 
 

“Kill us both,” she cried desperately. 
 

But Mad Henry  plucked the lass out of the pool of blood surrounding her dead husband and carried her out into the thundering night. Behind him, the army of the dead turned from the grizzly scene and followed their master. The sounds of thunder and lightning faded away as the alchemist and his dead companions disappeared into the dark night. 
 

Geoffrey’s father and Rachael’s father gathered a small mob and followed the evil hermit, intent upon saving Rachel.  When they searched Mad Henry’s house, they found it completely empty save for a light, which shone from a series of mysterious globes that bobbed near the ceiling of each room. Mad Henry had vanished. 
 

Search parties scoured the countryside for days, but turned up nothing. Geoffrey was buried in the local cemetery, and the dance hall was torn down. No one in town spoke about what had happened, and no one dared imagine what had become of poor Rachel. 
 

A year to the day after the ball, a timid knock sounded upon the door of Rachael’s parents’ home. When her father opened it, he saw a gaunt, gray figure on the stoop. Her eyes were dull with exhaustion and pain. It was Rachel! Her tongue had been cut out so she couldn’t speak.  But when she produced a knife from her tattered garments—the knife with a silver blade that they had last seen in the hands of Mad Henry— the gleam of satisfaction in Rachel’s eyes told them that the streaks of blood that coated the knife were those of Mad Henry. That night, Rachel died in her sleep with a peaceful smile upon her ravaged face.