The Lament of Hollow Manor
In the shadowy hills of Vermont, there stood a decrepit mansion, known to the townsfolk as Hollow Manor. Though once magnificent in its grandeur, the manor now lay in ruins, hidden away from prying eyes by a dense forest that seemed almost sentient in its desire to keep intruders away. Whispered tales spoke of Lamentis, the cursed creature, which roamed the woods and the halls of Hollow Manor.
One cold winter's eve, a stranger, a journalist by the name of Arthur Hawthorne, arrived in the nearby town. He had heard the legends of Lamentis and, dismissing them as mere folklore, decided to venture into Hollow Manor to uncover its secrets.
With lantern in hand, Arthur approached the manor at dusk. As he set foot inside, the chilling wind seemed to carry with it a haunting melody, a lament that echoed through the halls. Ignoring the dread building within him, Arthur pressed on.
It wasn’t long before he stumbled upon an old journal, its pages yellowed and brittle. It spoke of Lady Eleanor, the once proud owner of Hollow Manor, and her tragic love for a stable hand. Their love, forbidden by societal norms, was a secret they kept close. But when the stable hand was tragically killed by a wild horse, Lady Eleanor, in her grief, had sought the power of ancient incantations to bring him back to life. It was her forbidden act that birthed Lamentis, a creature of sorrow and torment.
As Arthur delved deeper into the manor, he began to hear soft whispers. Following them, he arrived at a grand ballroom, now decrepit and covered in a thick layer of dust. But in its center stood Lamentis. The creature's horse skull head turned to regard Arthur, its womanly hands outstretched as if in sorrowful plea.
But instead of the monstrous roars one might expect, Lamentis sang. Its voice was haunting, a blend of Lady Eleanor's lament and the wild, untamed growls of a beast. The song told of love lost, of forbidden desires, and of the eternal curse that bound it to Hollow Manor.
Moved by the creature's tragic tale, Arthur decided then and there that the story of Lamentis wasn’t one of horror, but of profound sadness. He chose to leave the manor, keeping its secrets intact, vowing to tell a tale not of a monster, but of a creature born from the deepest wells of human emotion.
And so, the legend of Lamentis continued, not as a tale to frighten children but as a tragic love story, a reminder of the profound depths of human passion and the consequences of meddling with forces beyond our comprehension.