I suggest you seat yourself, for the tale enclosed in this letter is lengthy and unquestionably not one for the faint of heart. I urge that no other learns of its existence, lest the secrets you uncover about me ever implicate you.

Of these I write because the locket I keep on my desk chokes me with dread whenever my gaze falls upon it.

I confess it is not without its charms as a piece of exotic jewellery, though I can hardly dare inspect the cursed object at great length, much less discover the source of the hollow thrumming that echoes within.

It leaves a strong odour of imported tobacco on the rare occasion I turn it over in my palm, leading me to suspect that the person who forced it into my possession is not its original owner.

And yet, it is not the unfamiliarity of this foreign trinket that stirs within me such terror, but the story of how I acquired the ghastly thing that haunts me and seduces me in equal magnitude.

A Man of a Thousand Pieces is but one of my many ordeals with a peculiar man of science by the name of Dr Jonathan Corgaine. Not the first, and certainly not the last, but it is here that I wish to begin my harrowing account, as it is the October of 1888 that I regard as the birth of my undoing.

Even now I shudder beneath the locket's ominous presence as it lies so innocuously beside me on the bureau; locked in gazes with the contorted deity etched into its brass casing amongst lettering I cannot begin to understand. My tale is such that I can scarce believe it to be the truth, though by the end you will come to learn why the locket in my possession is both the most cherished of my trophies and the greatest burden of them all.

Yours,

I wanted to start this off with a letter/prologue from our narrator, though the actual story will commence henceforth.

As of November 1st 2016, this story is COMPLETED.

In addition to The Sinister Fate of Joseph Redding, The Cellist is available to read in the Sharing Nightmares Anthology courtesy of The_Write_Place. Be sure to check it out! This is a spin-off of the main story and links neatly into the second arc of the series.

Either catch it in the Sharing Nightmares Anthology or add it to your library from my profile so you don't miss out!