Today I Witnessed A Murder

Today I witnessed a murder but let me tell you about this place first. This place is special, if you die here you stay here and you don't get to leave. You see, I died here but it's been so long ago that I don't remember when or how but that seems to happen quite often. Maria is another ghost here, she died long before me and she says she's one of the first. This house is special, people come from all over to see it. Well, that's not necessarily true. They used to come here from all over. Once upon a time this place was beautiful. Can you picture it? Gold accents everywhere, large pictures with golden frames and golden candelabras placed everywhere. A very large staircase with beautiful vases full of fresh flowers and gorgeous statues awaiting your every turn. Up in the bedrooms there's large four poster beds and lush duvets with feather pillows. The big windows with long red curtains lined the hallways and over looked the beautiful full gardens. It's not like that anymore unfortunately. The wall paper has long since faded and pealed, and the statues are sad. What was once so beautiful is now cold, dark and dusty with only the few of us still here. Maria had told me stories of the fabulous balls they once held here. The halls were full of loud music and laughter and often she said couples would sneak through them giggling and disappear into one of the many rooms to indulge in their sins. Oh yes, Maria had witnessed that many times. You see, she was like a servant here to a very kind and generous Count named Christian. He took care of his people very well and Maria adored him for that. As Maria tells one night she had followed a very impatient couple who could not keep their hands off one another. Maria has seen the woman before and she had been known to steal things so Maria was keeping a very close eye on her. She followed them as they laughed and snuck through the halls and up a set of stairs and finally to a bedroom. The man laid down on the bed and the woman was walking along side the table across the room tracing her figures along the carved edges. She picked something up and inspected it then tucked it away into her corset. The man had gone up behind the woman and spun her around then his mouth went down to her collar bone. Maria had said that he whispered of continuing to look through the property for more valuables but first he had to have her right then and there. Maria pushed to open the door a bit more and the door creaked open loudly and Maria had fallen in. The man rushed over to her and picked her up asking if she was ok but he quickly realized she had over heard their conversation. She said she was going to inform the count that they were thieves and the woman insisted to the man that he couldn't lose what they had stolen and that if their debts weren't paid it meant death. Maria would often get teary eyed at this part of her story but she would always continue shakily. The man grabbed Maria harder and pulled her towards the bed as the woman shut the door behind them and came to help hold Maria. The woman apologized and then laughed as she undid Maria's apron. Clearly the woman was in charge here and she gave the man a chilling look. He had Maria's arms pulled tightly behind her as the woman wrapped the apron around Maria's neck. Then she felt the apron being pulled tightly around her throat and the man was pulling back on it and she began to gasp for air and grab at her neck. The woman in front of her had shear excitement in her dark eyes and smiled as Maria took her last breath. She said she escaped her body then and stood in confusion as she watched the couple then commit another sin right next to her lifeless body.