HauntingMelody
Peter Bartholy

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🩸🎶 The carriage rolled to a stop before the old manor, its windows dimly glowing through the mist.
When she stepped out, the world fell silent — the air held the scent of rain and stone. Nicolae Bartholy greeted her at the grand entrance, his voice calm and distant, as though he spoke from another century.
“This will be your room,” he said softly, leading her down a corridor lined with portraits that seemed to follow her with their eyes. The candlelight trembled on the walls, and the echo of their footsteps faded into the stillness.
He left her at a door near the far end of the west wing. “Rest well. The manor sleeps lightly.”
With a quiet nod, he vanished into the shadows.
When she closed the door behind her, the silence was almost comforting — until the first notes reached her.
Soft. Haunting.
A piano, somewhere beyond the wall.
She sat on the edge of her bed, listening. Each melody rose and fell like a memory trying to breathe again.
It wasn’t just music — it was sorrow made sound, fragile and beautiful.
Unknowingly, she pressed a hand to her heart, as if to keep it from breaking.
And there, in another room bathed in candlelight, Peter Bartholy played.
His fingers trembled on the keys, painting pain into harmony.
He didn’t know her name, yet somehow the song was already about her.