The Blue Beard Modern versions

Published by the American University in Bulgaria, 2700 Blagoevgrad.
On the world wide web at www.aubg.bg
Print in Bulgaria , May 2001

Charles Perraults text: http://www.english.upenn.edu/~esimpson/Ft/bluebeard.html
Cover illustrations: Front La Barbe Blue par Gustave Dor, originally published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel for his 1861 edition of the Contes. www.wesleyan.edu/~mennis/fist255s.mle.dore.html
Back "Blue beard joins his other wives." By Harry Clarke London: George W. Harrap and Company, 1922. http://www.ub.rug.nl/camelot/cinder/images/Clarke19.htm

CONTENTS

Preface 4
Thank you 5
Bosiljka Vukovic: The Lesion Man 7
Liliana Iakimova: The Cyclops or the Man with One Eye 10
Stefan Ralchev: Big Nose 12
Elena Shishkova: Fang 14
Raul Carstocea: Burn 17
Assen Radev: no title 21
Senad Sabovic: Tommy Lee 23
Andrei Panici: no title 26
Dimitrina Totomanova: no title 30
Darina Angelova: no title 32
Margarita Georgieva: no title 35
Mircea Draghici: The mysterious Mr. Brown 40
Daniela Dimitrova: no title 43
Mrta Blint: Blue Beard in Istanbul 46
Marko Moracic: Screams in Ice 50
Mimika Loshi: The handsome painter 53
Camelia Checeanu: no title 57
Oana Uiorean: How dogs can save your life 60
Anatolie Cernii:Bluebeard Urban Version 62
Miladin Bogetic: no title 65
Ivan B.:Balabanov: no title 68

NB: The Charles Perrault text has been cut into nine parts.

PREFACE

Throughout my teaching career, I have been publishing my students work on the Internet, and so upon arriving at AUBG, I was pleased to discover its publication activities. I have used this method to encourage my students to produce their own work and assume responsibility for their own learning. I was amazed by the enthusiasm and the productivity of the students in the class assignments and their motivation for the French Tales encouraged me to promote their own texts.
Twenty of them decided to participate and share with you their modern versions of Charles Perraults The Blue Beard. And the students from the Mll 210a class decided to publish all of them after an email vote. They are not perfect and I ask you to be indulgent of any style or writing mistakes but I enjoyed reading them as much as the students enjoyed writing them and, I hope, as much as you will appreciate them.

C. Bontemps.

THANK YOU

Thanks to Associate Dean Charles Grim and Division Chair Vernon Pedersen for encouraging this project.
Thanks to the English Department for helping us with financial support.
Thanks to Lydia Krise and Kate Pedersen for their technical advice and help.
Thanks to Marko Moracic, Anatolie Cernii and Chris Walsh for their computer and editing work.
And a special thanks to the Mll 210a French authors class for their participation.

Once upon a time there was a man who owned splendid town and country houses, gold and silver plates, tapestries and coaches gilt all over. But the poor fellow had a blue beard, and this made him so ugly and frightful that there was not a woman or girl who did not run away at the sight of him.

The Lesion Man

Once upon a time in a neighbourhood similar to one we live in today, there lived a very wealthy and very special man. If you had a chance to see him only once, for just a glimpse, you would never forget that image. What made his appearance so strong was the birthmark on his face. Although birthmarks are not something special, the dilated white birthmark of Mr. Johnson along the length of his nose to the lower line of his upper lip was so big and plump that everyone felt disgust toward him. Being horrified and aghast, people started calling him the Lesion Man, and soon no one could remember his true name, the nickname standing as a label for all of his work and all his being.
Despite his looks, the Lesion Man was very rich, and thus, very respected in society. However, he was well aware that people said dreadful things about him behind his back, and that no one would be there for him if he needed help, and that even the most ugly women would never even look at him. He tried for years to find a way to remove the mark, but even the most modern medical accomplishments couldnt help him. The plastic surgery for removing the birthmark would have destroyed his breathing apparatus and a pipe would have had to be installed in his throat in order for him to breathe, so he decided to leave everything the way nature or some bad spell had designed. The years passed by, and the loneliness and constant humiliation turned the Lesion Man into a bitter and harsh person. Because he couldnt enjoy the pleasures of human relationships, he became obsessed with buying new technological innovations and expensive items. His houses were full of pictures of the most famous painters, golden dishes from Roman times and the latest PC and mobile telephone models. He stopped working, and the only persons he had contact with were the maids that cleaned his villas. However, although the salary was very high, soon there was nobody to answer his advertisements and come to work for him because it was a mystery what had become of the maids who had previously worked on his property.
In the suburb of the city where the Lesion Man lived, as a contrast to the sharp and shining skyscrapers and fancy downtown villas, poor building blocks stood as a reminder of the communist period of the twentieth century. The most unfortunate people lived in those matchboxes, as those buildings were called because of the suppressed living space. One of the older families of the suburb had two kids, Jenny, the older child, and Tomas, the younger one. Because of the poor living conditions, Jenny decided to take a job at the Lesion Mans home, although a lot of people warned her not to go there. With the words that shed be careful, she knocked on the door, and after being accepted, she stood for a moment to observe the weirdos home. All around there were luxurious objects and in the corners of the ceiling surveillance cameras were recording everything. She was frightened by the appearance of her master, but, fortunately, he was spending almost all day in one of the rooms in the attic. She was forbidden to enter there, and because that was the reason she was mostly left alone, she didnt care much. As she was a very diligent and hardworking girl, always completing her duties on time, the Lesion Man expressed his satisfaction by raising her wage.
One day, the Lesion Man entered the dining room while she was setting dinner for him, and asked her to join him. Not wanting to make him angry, Jenny set a dish for herself, but frightened, she could not even look at him. After a while, the Lesion Man decided to break the silence by saying that he was very pleased with her work and commitment to the job, and that she was very pretty and beautiful. She thanked him for those words, but before she could finish, he said: I would like you to become my wife! She was puzzled. She remained silent, not knowing what to say and how to answer him. He realized that and said that he would give her time to think about his proposal. Next morning, he announced that he was going to check on his assets and that he would be away for two weeks, hoping that she could give him an answer on his return. On his way out, he asked her to make herself at home, to enjoy everything that was in the house, but not to enter his room in the attic, because of his privacy, he said. After he had left, she didnt do anything for a couple of days but wonder about what to do. She felt repugnance at first, but his good treatment and offered wealth that would help her family move from the poor suburb diminished the disgust she felt about his plump white birthmark.
After four days, she called her brother and asked him to visit her to help her in making a decision. Tomas, being younger and more foolish, first wanted to see what there was in the villa. She accompanied him, and opened all the doors with the laser beam the Lesion Man had given her. When they came to the attic, she explained that it was his personal room, and that he had forbidden her to enter. Young Tomas said: If you are going to marry this man, shouldnt you see his personality and his room? Scared because of the possible punishment, she just skipped the room and took her brother to other rooms in the house. Tomas, who was working in a computer firm, was so thrilled about having a chance to use the Lesion Mans latest computer server that he spent two whole days exploring the possibilities of the net. After a few days, Jenny got intrigued with her brothers question, and decided to enter the room despite the prohibition. She pressed the little orange button on the laser, and the door opened. She stood for a few seconds in front of the door, and when she turned the lights on, she saw five mummified bodies lying on planks, and all over the walls there were pictures of dead naked women. In the left corner of the room, a computer screen was showing little monitors displaying everything from all the rooms in the villa. On the same desk, a pile of pictures presenting her in everyday situations from the day she had come till the day the Lesion Man had left the villa. She cried for help and ran out of the room, but nobody could hear her. After she had recovered her breath, she sent a message to her brother informing him of what she had discovered and asked him to come.
At the same time, she heard someone unlocking the door. She ran to the hallway and the Lesion Man appeared, smiling at her. He asked her why she was upset, and she immediately started begging him to forgive her, saying that she would marry him and wouldnt say a word about what she had seen in his room. His face changed, he looked at her with eyes that turned into strident evil and replied: I know you wont say anything, because you will join the other women in the room! You have disappointed me, I thought you were special, that we could live together, but you are as unfaithful and immoral as the others were! While finishing the sentence, he tried to drag her to his room, but she begged him to let her write a letter to her family saying that they were leaving for their honeymoon and that she would not be able to contact them for a while. He gave her permission for this, and she ran into one of the computer rooms and tried to contact her brother, weeping helplessly. But there was no answer, and the Lesion Man was urging her to finish the letter. After fifteen minutes of unsuccessful attempts, she had to go back to the hall where her executor was waiting. She pleaded for her life, but he didnt pay any attention. He forced her to go to his room, put her on a new plank and wired her, preparing the mummifying system. At the moment that he was going to press the button to start the engine, the whole house started trembling so hard that the Lesion Man lost his balance and almost fell on the floor. In a flash, Tomas appeared in the room with the laser in his hand, saying that he would destroy the whole villa if he didnt leave his sister alone. The Lesion Man tried to press the button despite the warning, but Tomas managed to jump on him, pull the wires from his sister and onto the Lesion Man, and press the button for the mummifying device. Almost in a second, the Lesion Mans body was mummified, and then Tomas took his sister out of that horrible place.
Soon the police came, and for helping in the investigation that was conducted regarding the missing maids, the city authorities rewarded Tomas and Jenny with half of the money from the sale of the Lesion Mans assets. The other half went to charity institutions for children with physical and mental defects. Jennys family used the money to move from that city and start a new life. In two years, both Jenny and Tomas fell in love. They organized a double wedding and lived happily ever after.
Bosiljka Vukovic

The Cyclops or the Man with One Eye

Cyclops was one of the richest men in the town. He owned an enormous apartment on the main street, a big villa on the seaside with a beautiful yacht docked in front of it, not to mention his impressive collection of cars. However, there was something missing in his life -- a woman. The problem was that he had one eye, not that the other one was hurt or something like this, he just was born with one eye. He looked even more frightful than you could imagine, because the eye was in the center of his forehead, just above his nose. Another thing about him was that all of the women that had had affairs with him had eventually disappeared. He managed to keep the police away from these mysterious disappearances thanks to his money and political relations.
Lately his eyes, or, more correctly, his one eye, had fallen on two girls, Jane and Anne. They were sisters and models in the local fashion agency. Cyclops decided to throw a big party at his seaside villa and to invite the two sisters in order to impress them. A big bunch of people gathered and spent a whole week there. They were swimming, sunbathing, going on trips on the yacht, and dancing. They almost never slept as the Cyclops had given them a lot of expensive exciting drugs to keep them awake. Towards the end of the week the younger girl, Jane, thought that life with Cyclops could be very pleasant and once they returned to the town she started going out with him.
Some time afterward some problems with Cyclops business appeared and he had to go to the capital. Before he left in his black BMW, his latest, he gave the keys to the seaside villa to Jane and told her that she could go have fun with her friends there. He also warned her that it was very important that she not open the freezer in the little room downstairs, because it was full of dangerous chemicals that were important for his business and that could be ruined by higher temperature or light.
Jane invited her friends and her sister and two brothers. However, her brothers were working in a security firm in another town and said they could only come for the weekend. The rest of the group arrived in the villa and had another week full of pleasures. Only Jane was not entirely enjoying the stay. She was very curious to take a look of the contents of the freezer, as she did not believe that Cyclops would keep chemicals for his business in his seaside villa. It just did not make sense.
No matter how pleasant the stay in the villa was, the guests started leaving one by one because they had their own staff to do in town. When Jane awoke on Saturday morning she realized that she was alone in the villa, except for her sister who was still sleeping. Jane thought that this was the best moment to have a look in the freezer. She rushed downstairs and entered the room. It smelt awful end the small window was so dirty that the room was quite dark. Jane stepped towards the freezer and opened it with a trembling hand. What she saw there made her scream. On the shelves of the freezer, carefully arranged, were the heads of all the women Cyclops had had affairs with.
Jane ran upstairs, woke her sister and told her what she had found. Both girls were terrified. They tried to get out and run away from the villa but they could not. The door of the freezer was connected to a mechanism that locked all the doors and the windows of the villa when opened. Overcoming their panic, the girls remembered that Jane had her mobile phone with her. Having in mind the connections Cyclops had in the police office, they decided they had better call their brothers, who should have been on their way to the villa. The brothers turned out to be still ten kilometres away and the girls urged them to hurry. After that they went to a room upstairs and started watching the road with both fear and hope. Not long after they saw Cyclops black BMW approaching. The girls looked at each other. Anne grabbed the phone, dialled her brothers number and screamed into the receiver: Hurry up! He is here!
The brothers explained that they were very close but a traffic jam was slowing them down. They gave instructions that the girls should hide somewhere. Meanwhile Jane heard the front door opening. Cyclops entered the house and shouted, You stupid girl, you opened the freezer and now you will meet your destiny you will die like the others! Then a terrifying chase began. The girls were running from one room to another, hearing the doors slam behind them. In the kitchen Jane stumbled and fell on the floor. She screamed, Run, Anne! At the same time Cyclops entered and grabbed her, and took out a knife as sharp as a scalpel. He pressed it lightly to her throat. Now, he said, your head will soon become a part of my precious collection! He had not finished this sentence when Janes brothers rushed into the room with guns in their hands. As their sisters life was in obvious danger they did not hesitate to shoot. Cyclops fell dead on the floor. Jane, crying, hugged her brothers. The horror had ended, but she would remember it for a long time.

Liliana Iakimova

Big Nose

Once upon a time there was a man living in a small Balkan country called Bulgaria. He was not an ordinary man, however. He had a very good job he worked as a financial consultant in a major company and earned more than he could spend, which was totally rare in an economic crisis like the Bulgarian one. That is why he led a luxurious life and had many people around him who tried to curry his favour. However, he was mainly known for another thing: he had an enormous nose, which was incommensurate with his face and made women shun him out of disgust or fear. For this reason, Big Nose had a drinking problem. As soon as he finished work, he went to pubs, restaurants, and clubs and got dead drunk until the early hours. His employers held him only for his indisputable professional qualities as a consultant.
Everybody in his office knew that the few women with whom Big Nose had gone out very soon left him. In fact his affairs lasted a matter of weeks, at the most. Nobody knew what the reason was for that, and nobody had the guts to ask him. So his female colleagues did not feel comfortable when he was around and generally tried to avoid him.
One day, however, to the surprise of all, Big Nose invited all his colleagues to a nearby restaurant in order to celebrate his birthday. But this was only a cover-up reason for his invitation. In truth he wanted to make a good impression on one of his woman-colleagues, a young lady with black hair, blue eyes, and gorgeous body proportions. He refrained from drinking too much that evening he drank only a couple of glasses of wine to his own health. Her was sociable and made everybody at the table laugh with his funny stories and jokes. Big Nose revealed himself in another light before his colleagues, including the black-haired woman, and at the end of the evening he had the opportunity to invite her personally on a date the next week, to which she joyfully agreed.
Big Nose started to go out regularly with his new girlfriend. He told her many stories about his work experience, took her to movies and theatre performances, concerts and exhibitions. The two went together on excursions to the seaside and the mountains, made love in huts and on riverbanks. However, there were several problems, too. Big Nose never talked about his personal life nor about his drinking problem. Although he drank less after the beginning of this new relationship, he by no means drank little. He could never remember what he had told his girlfriend the other night, and when he woke up in the morning he was a completely different man. The woman had the feeling that she went with two different people. Big Nose never told her where he lived, never invited her to his place. So she began to suspect that his home and his drinking problem were connected. But when she asked him something related, he went mad and started to scream. So she decided to follow him secretly to his home, surprise him there and try to comfort him, because she loved him.
It turned to be a far-away quarter of the town, a neighborhood notorious for its criminals and paupers. She climbed the stairs after him and saw him unlock his door from the back. Just then, however, she dropped the bottle of wine that she had bought for the surprise. The plastic bag that the wine was in could not stand its weight and tore apart. Big nose turned back and when he saw his girlfriend, he started screaming and threatening her. He was quite drunk by then, since he had drunk several bottles of rakia and a few beers. He shouted:
I told you I dont want you to mess with my personal life! You curious b***, why have you come here following me?! You want to see whats in there? Now youll see! And then Im going to beat you up like nobody else has done to you before!
He grabbed her by the hand and pushed her into the room. There she saw something that she would never forget. There sat in a wheelchair the most terrible creature in the world. This was Big Noses brother, ill with an incurable disease. He looked like a helpless, ugly monster. He had short thin hands, deformed head and face, no legs. It seemed that Big Nose had been taking care of him and known that he would never be cured. Thats why he drank so much and kept his personal life secret. Thats why all his women had left him: the curiosity they did not bother to hide about him made him beat them as he was drunk. That is what happened now, too.
Big Nose started to thrash the black-haired woman with a stick, and her yells resounded in the building. This is in fact what saved her. Some concerned neighbors broke into the room and stopped him. They could smell how drunk he was. They consoled the woman and called the police to arrest Big Nose.

Stefan Ralchev

Fang

Once upon a time there was a man who was extremely rich, and owned a splendid mansion in Hollywood with vast gardens and lanes. He owned his own business and had more than ten cars parked in his lot at his disposal. But the unfortunate man had two sharp fangs that made him look so scary that people would say he looked like Dracula and women would not come close to him.
One day, on his way to a business meeting, he met a beautiful young lady in the elevator. He was totally enraptured by her elegant look and alluring smell of French perfume. She looked up at him and smiled, but as soon as he smiled back and showed his wolf-like teeth, she cried out in terror, and ran out of the elevator.
After his encounter with the beauty in the elevator, Fang fell head over heels in love with her, and he was so dreamy during a business meeting that even some of his co-workers wondered what was wrong with him. Straight after the meeting he went to his secretary, and told her to find out who the girl he had met was. The secretary did as she was told and gave Fang the girls address and phone number.
The following couple of days, Fang sent large bouquets of exotic flowers, chocolate and expensive jewellery to her home. At the end of the week, he could not wait any more to see her, so he decided to organize a huge dinner party at his house and invite her over. So he sent one of his assistants to bring her an invitation for the party and told her that she could bring her friends along as well.
Now the girl, although she was still terribly repelled by Fangs appearance, was extremely impressed by all the valuable gifts that she had received from him during the week and by the idea of spending a day in Hollywood. Her friends warned her that there were rumours about this man that all the women he had married had mysteriously disappeared, but the girl didnt believe them. And so, she decided to gather a few of her friends and go to the party.
The night of the party, Fang sent a limousine to pick up the girls from their house and bring them to his mansion. His girl was simply dazzled at the beauty of his estate and had a wonderful time. She was graciously waited upon by his house assistants, and she was made to feel like a princess. Fang and the girl got very close following that party, and soon afterwards, they got married.
A month after their marriage, Fang announced to his wife that he had to leave on a business trip to Paris for the weekend, and that he would be back soon. While he was gone, however, he told her that he needed someone to check his e-mail from time to time to see if anything came up at the company. So he told her his passwords for his personal computer, but told her never to snoop around his personal documents that were on the hard disk. He told her that if she opened up the documents he had forbidden her to access, he would be very angry.
As soon as Fang left for the airport in his Ferrari the following morning, his wife decided to switch on his computer and try to open his mail account. But after she checked the mail, she was suddenly tempted to peep into his document files, and see what it was that she was so forbidden to do. Clicking on Documents from the menu, a screen popped up asking her to enter the password. Finding out the password from the sheet of paper he had given her, she slowly typed in the numbers 395224 on the keyboard. This was the only password from those that he had given her that contained numbers. As soon as she pressed the last key, number 4, the key sank into the keyboard, and she couldnt dislodge it. She pulled and pulled, but it was stuck. Having entered the password, a screen opened up that made her hair stand on end. There were pictures of his murdered wives, and descriptions about how he had killed them and where he had buried them. She was so shaken she quickly switched off the computer, forgetting about the key.
The following morning, her husband came home unexpectedly from his trip. After a short talk with his wife, asking her how she had spent her weekend, he went up to his office and switched on his computer. He noticed at once the key that had sunk into the keyboard, and since the only password that contained numbers was the one to his confidential documents, he immediately realized that she had opened his files. He called her up at once, and with a harsh voice screamed, You have broken my trust! I told you not to use this password, and NOT to snoop around my private documents! Now you must die, like the rest of my unfaithful wives! and he gave out a malicious laugh.
The girl, scared to death, begged him to change his mind and forgive her, but he only got more furious, and pulled out a gun from his belt. Wait, she said in a trembling voice, lets talk about this She managed to make him listen to what she had to say. She talked about how much she cared for him, and how sorry she was. At this point, there was a surge of wind, and one of the windows slammed shut with a huge bang. Fang turned to see where the noise had come from, and his wife, taking advantage of the situation, gripped the floor mat that he was standing on with both hands and pulled it with all her strength. This brought Fang down on the floor, and he dropped his gun. Quickly picking it up from the floor, she pointed it at him. Then she picked up the phone and called the police.
Soon enough, the police arrived and arrested Fang. He was sentenced to death for all the murders he had committed. His wife, on the other hand, inherited all his wealth. She married a very distinguished gentleman, who treated her well, and they lived happily ever after in the luxurious mansion in Hollywood.

Elena Shishkova

Amongst his neighbours was a lady of high degree who had two surpassingly beautiful daughters. He asked for the hand of one of those in marriage, leaving it to their mother to choose which should be bestowed upon him. Both girls, however, raised objections, and his offer was bandied from one to the other, neither being able to bring herself to accept a man with a blue beard. Another reason for their distaste was the fact that he had already married several wives, and no one knew what had become of them.
In order that they might become better acquainted, Blue Beard invited the two girls, with their mother and three or four of their best friends, to meet a party of young men from the neighbourhood at one of his country houses. Here they spent eight whole days, and throughout their stay there was a constant round of picnics, hunting and fishing expeditions, dances, dinners, and luncheons; and they never slept at all, through spending all the night playing merry pranks upon each other. In short, everything went so gaily that the younger daughter began to think the master of the house had not so very blue a beard after all, and that he was an exceedingly agreeable man. As soon as the party returned to town their marriage took place.

BURN !

Mary worked in an office as an assistant programmer. Although physically attractive, she had a manner of talking and moving about that turned most men away from her. They said she was too shy, and too weird maybe, for she did not preoccupy herself with the tricks in Cosmopolitan or Vogue, but rather with poetry and painting. She did her job excellently, but one could have easily noticed just how unrewarding it was for her. She looked bored most of the time, with the exception of some very rare moments during lunch breaks, when the conversation led to something of interest to her, and when her eyes flashed wildly for a few moments, only to come back as soon as that topic was exhausted to her usual expressionless, empty glance.

The manager was a weird man, feared and disliked by all. While his company ranked among the most successful in the City, his private life was a complete mystery, ignored even by the scandal sheets. His face was definitely not suited for a magazine cover, with all those terrible burns covering it, and in the days when he brought his company to fame he had obstinately refused any kind of interview. So the media people just let him be, and preoccupied themselves with more spicy stories. He made a point of carefully selecting his employees himself, but afterwards left them mostly to their own devices, as he chose only those that could usually work best unattended.

Mary was no exception. Excellent at her job, she hated having someone staring over her shoulder, and so she greatly appreciated the independence her position offered her. She did feel lonely at times, but all her attempts at dating had been disastrous, with shallow men who only wanted sex and paid no attention to her sensitivity, that she finally gave them up. She missed the physical contact, but had decided not to go through the pains of getting it again. As an expert in computers, she often tried the Internet dating channels, although most of the times those were boring too, and maybe too explicit for her taste. The absence of contact was made up by vulgar language that displeased her poetic orientation profoundly.

Not tonight, though. The guy (she assumed you never knew on the net, it could be a woman, a trans-sexual, anything) was under the nickname Bluebeard, and despite its terrifying connotations, he seemed nothing like that. He was gentle, seemed so much like a kindred spirit, a solitary She thought of asking about the nickname, but most of the times they hated that and went offline and she did not want this one to go offline, not when he was quoting Shakespeare. The computer got jammed. Damn, she murmured. Must it happen now, tonight? Raising her eyes from the screen, she saw the light in her boss office on. She remembered seeing him leave. Well, better turn it off. She stepped in, and almost fainted when she saw him behind the desk, working on his computer. Did I scare you, Mary? A little, Sir. Sorry about that Mary, or, should I call you moonchild? Now, now, dont be so panicked, I could have easily guessed it was you. I suppose you understand my choice for the nickname, right? Its Phantom of the Opera some nights... His smile would have been terrifying, at any other time, for anybody else this time it only seemed sad to Mary. Want to go for a coffee, Mary? Its Saturday tomorrow anyway.

They got married three months later. She did not remember if she had ever been so happy before. She loved him, loved their house, not the typical executive mansion, but a building that bore the clear mark of the good taste of its owner, loved his horses, loved absolutely everything about her new status. And she did not have to do that boring job. Her family was pleased, although in the beginning they had been horrified by her husbands appearance. Yet, their daughters happiness, and the good situation shed be moving into convinced them all was well. Everyone came to like William, all except Jack, the little brother, of course, but nobody paid attention to him anyway. It was a surprise to everybody that Mary even bothered to talk to him about the wedding. He was a drug dealer, the disgrace of the family, and only his intelligence had kept him out of jail so far. They all kept his cellphone number, for he was the kind of underworld connection that might get one out of trouble, illegally that is, but nobody bothered to contact him, unless there was a problem and there were no problems usually. Mary had always had a soft spot for her little brother, as much as she despised the elder, a philosophy professor (a wimp, as she referred to him), and had secretly met with him regularly ever since he left home. She admired his spirit of adventure, his freedom, even his streetwise way of talking really nice in the mouth for one holding two masters degrees.

I dont like him, Mary. Theres something strange about him. Jacks voice was worried, a most unusual thing, but then again he worried too much about Mary anyway.
Well, Jack. There obviously is. But, you see
Cmon, sis, dya think Im stupid? Its not the burns, trust me, Ive seen much worse than that, its somethin else. He seems sneaky, fake. A cover.
Jack, youve seen too much, thats precisely your problem. Besides, I love him. And I have you if Im ever in trouble, I know who to call.
Do that, sis. Youre the only one around Im not just helping out because hes family. Meanwhile, Ill do some checkin o my own on this guy.

Months of marriage passed by, in perfect happiness. Between horse-racing, fast cars, and the newly discovered friends that started popping out from everywhere once she got married, Mary had no time to be bored. She started liking the easygoing way of life her husband could provide, and forgot at once the ultimate questions of truth and beauty she had preoccupied herself with before. And if she was ever in the mood for good conversation, her husband was the perfect intellectual partner. She appreciated the fact the media still avoided them, and could not hope for more happiness. Her brothers words that haunted her in the beginning finally disappeared from her memory.

William was away to Montreal for a week. Following his advice, she was enjoying herself as best she could. One morning, the telephone rang at a very unpleasant hour. Trying to clear her mind of the hangover she felt after the previous nights party, she heard Williams voice and got alarmed. He never called at this hour it must be something urgent.

Darling, Im sorry I woke you up. I need some files from my computer. Yes, the one in my study. Yes, honey, I know you dont have the password its Wbluebeard. Yes, darling, a w and then Ok, thank you. And, please, honey, dont look at any other files.
Why not? Do you hide things from me?
No, honey, its just that I have some things there Im embarrassed about. Please dont open any other folders. Especially the one called safe. Ill be really upset if you do.
His voice was bitter, frightening, like it never was before in the last months. It sounded like the time he was still her boss, and she feared him.

She went to his study. They had made love there once, but she had never used that computer before. She did not have the password. She did not care too much to have it. But now she was intrigued. What the hell can he be hiding? Well, most likely its some pictures of him since he was a little boy he had none of those anyway. Or previous girlfriends, or just smut. Anyway, I have to know: Im his wife after all. She sent the documents, pondered for a while, then opened the folder. Immediately a code violation warning flashed on the screen. Damn. How could I be so stupid? Of course it was protected against intruders, even intruders who got the first password. Thats why its called safe, stupid. She managed to get inside, and started working to fix the system, to make it look as though the folder had not been open. She even forgot she was interested in the content. All of a sudden, she remembered. Noticed separate folders with womens names. Just what I thought, she murmured to herself. Nothing much, just the previous women. Daphne lets see. A photo scan of a woman with short dark hair, and a sexy dress welcomed her. However, beneath it, some horrible newspaper scans terrified her. Mysterious disappearance of young Daphne Lloyd just before her marriage. Body found mutilated and partially burned in a cabin in the woods. Serial pyromaniac killer still at large. They went on and on, same story with all the other six women.

Mary was petrified. She gasped for air, looked around as if someone was watching her. Good thing she sent the files already. She was now horrified, incapable of movement. She picked up the phone next to the computer, and tried to call Jack. The line was dead. But how? It was working just a couple of minutes ago.

Well, dear, I guess its not working now.
Her scream couldnt even come out it just stayed there in her throat, choking her.
Surprised to see me? I guess Im not in Montreal, dear. Just checking on my faithful little wife a snoop, just like all the others. I had hoped better for you I thought you werent that curious, since you hadnt asked for that password before. Of course, I wouldnt have given it to you you could have found it out easily yourself, since youre so good at computers. But, of course, its protected. And I would have known just as I know now. Then I decided to finally take the ultimate test. You used to like ultimate things, didnt you, Mary? Well, try fire it purifies, you know. Takes away your sins.
Why?
Dont be such a clich, Mary. I hate clichs. However, you might like the truth. Its also a clich. I told you I got these from a car accident, he pointed to his scars. No, I got them from my father, for snooping into his business, when I was 16. I killed him, of course, when I got better. And made a fortune from his dirty money. Enough talking lets go into the cellar, now. He waved his 9 mm Smith & Wesson with a light gesture. Move!
A gunshot. You useless piece of shit. Didnt even have the guts to do your Dads work, Jack grinned at the body still holding on to the 9 mm piece. You alright, Mary?
How did you know?
Well, his Dad was a smuggler. A tough one, really. Guns, drugs, chicks, all there is to smuggle. I talked to some friends of his old guys, retired. Told me about the son who made it out of Hells Kitchen. The burned bastard over there.

Raul Carstocea

I

John Philips was such a man that everyone would say that he couldnt desire anything more. He had everything one could dream of: A very successful career as a gynaecologist, a place among the intellectuals and wealthy people of New York, two cool kids a son and a daughter, a comfortable and cosy house to relax in after a strenuous day at his private clinic
He had everything but a happy marriage. His wife Judith was a former model in a leading fashion magazine. She was much younger than he was and extremely beautiful and funny. Everything was going fine until one day he came home from work and found a message: I had a great time with you but I need some tension and dynamics. Judith The divorce was easy. She did not want any money because she immediately started a job in the fashion business and agreed to leave the kids with John, as she was already living with another man. Strangely enough, he somehow showed understanding of his wifes actions and did not show what he felt at the time.
John actually suffered the whole tragedy in his soul, not showing any outer signs of that to anyone. He could not bear the illusion about a happy life, the questions and tears of the children, the various implications and ambiguous questions (well-hidden mockery) about the entire story of many people from the top society he lived in. The hatred towards his wife was growing immensely with every second. Even when not asked anything, his mind was always obsessed by the magic past. Hatred not only of Judith, but also of any womanHatred that gave him reasons to live. To everyone else John did not change.

II
One day Nicky, a young and beautiful woman, pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend, came to his clinic. She wanted to have an abortion. He gave her some pills that are given before such cases and told her to come again. Soon she died at her house. There were not any reasons for the death. An autopsy followed but nothing again. Two more strange deaths took place with Dr. Philipss next patients. Both of them were as mysterious as the first. Police investigation followed, police came to the clinic several times but nothing was discovered.
It all happened in only one month. Regardless of Johns prestige, not one client came after the incidents and he closed the clinic. He had enough money to retire and all his friends advised him to rest for a while. He stopped going out and kept meeting only with his best friend Tom a bank clerk and a bachelor. They met each other after Johns divorce. Having dinner once Tom said that his sister Michele was coming from England where she was studying medicine at a prestigious college. Michele soon met John. It was amazing how much she resembled Judith. Michele woke up the man in John and he quickly fell in love with her and a marriage followed. The kids loved her as much as their mother and everything started to look like in the old days, but now the love between John and Michele was true.

III

A year passed. Michele found that she had married a wonderful man. Her husband was working in his clinic again and all doubts about the strange and unexplainable deaths of Johns patients disappeared. The kids started going to school and Michele started working in a hospital. The only new thing except Michele was the new house that they had moved into. Only one thing tortured Michele. John did not let her open the safe, even though they were together for more than a year. He explained to her that he kept financial statements and other valuables there and asked her not to open it. He also told her that he didnt want to think that she married him for his money as Judith did. Michele understood him because she really loved him and promised him not to open the safe.
One morning she found a small sheet of paper while cleaning the bedroom. On it she found written some numbers. She immediately understood that this was the combination for the safe. Michele knew that her husband was rich and wanted to throw the sheet away immediately, but she was extremely curious. Her curiosity was not about the money, but simply what the safe contained She opened the safe. Usual stuff jewellery, documents, some cash. Only one red file caught her attention. She opened it and saw some health files. Michele found it quite unusual that her husband kept such staff at home, but not at the clinic. She started reading the first file: Nicky, 23, pregnant, abortion. She recalled that Nicky was the first of Johns patients who had died. It continued describing with what methods the patient was treated, mentioning some strange name of pills. Even though Michele was a doctor she had never heard of that name. Michele was so obsessed reading that she did not hear when John entered the bedroom. There are not faithful women. You do not deserve to live! I will kill you right now! He ran to the kitchen to get a knife and his 10-year old daughter entered to see him running with the knife in his hand: Daddy, what are you doing?

IV

Dr. Philips confessed everything to the police. He had killed all the women with various pills, knowing exactly how to not be caught after the autopsy. He was sentenced to death.
Michele and Tom continued taking care of the children. Michele was given all the property John had. That was Johns desire.
Dr. John Philips was a very good doctor.

Assen Radev

Tommy Lee

Once upon a time, in a distant kingdom called Los Angeles, there lived a man who managed to gain an incredibly large amount of money by playing drums for Motley Crue. This money had bought him huge houses with interestingly shaped pools, a collection of the 259 best sport vehicles ever, and a life that many can only dream about. However, he was born with various colorful stains that covered much of his body and had the most problematic hair and the longest nose in Los Angeles. Only the bravest women, for example actresses who wanted some excitement in their lives after being with guys such as Leonardo DiCaprio, dared to talk to Tommy Lee for more than five minutes. All others, the overwhelming majority, ran away at the very sight of him.

Despite his unbeautiful appearance, Tommy Lee was a normal human organism, which meant that he had emotions. One day he fell in love with two sisters from his neighbourhood, with the names Beauty Queen and Miss America. After failing to talk them both into being his mistresses, he decided to take a more direct approach to the subject. At one of his shows with Motley Crue, somewhere in Bulgaria if I recall correctly, he stood up before the cameras and openly asked the girls to decide which one was more willing to marry him. The girls mother was delighted by the offer, for not only was she acquainted with the size of Tommy Lees house and bank account, but also he talked with so much love and passion about the girls that it made the mother believe that his intentions were true.

This, however, was not enough for the girls who were among those that found Tommy Lee extremely appalling. Still, one of Tommy Lees rare positive characteristics was that he was never willing to give up something he appreciated greatly. Thus, he invited the girls and their mother to spend the weekend at his estate. They all had a wonderful time listening to heavy metal music (which was the most popular in the kingdom at the time) on his brand new digital hi-fi equipment, driving his automobiles and boats, and finally flying on his private jet to Paris for a dinner at the Perraults Complete Fairy Tales restaurant. All the time they spent together, Tommy Lee was skillfully dressed in a modern suit that covered much of his body, and he also managed to cut his hair (using the lawnmower from his garden) and arrange it so that it could remove some attention from the nose. In the magic of the events, the older sister, Beauty Queen, began seeing Tommy Lee in another way, one full of sympathy and even passion. Having noticed the change, he hurried not to waste the opportunity and proposed to Beauty Queen. She was delighted and the preparations were made for a wedding at the end of the month.

For some time Beauty Queen and Tommy Lee were exceptionally happy. They had fun on his yacht, spent hours watching movies, travelling throughout the Balkans troubled regions (due to their interest in inter-ethnic conflict and conflict resolution), and dining in the finest restaurants of the world. Life, unfortunately, also involves business obligations, and Tommy Lee wasnt an exception. After a year of fun, his band, Motley Crue, were about to tour the Middle East and he was called on to play the drums. Leaving Beauty Queen to manage everything he owned, he explicitly ordered her not to open the My Business file on his personal computer. As he was leaving he mentioned it a couple more times, with words such as: Use everything we have and enjoy it, if you need, use my computer too, but do not make any attempts to break the code and enter the My Business file, I would be angry to the extent that it may seriously disturb our relationship.

During the next couple of weeks, Beauty Queen called some of her girl friends over and they had lots of fun. Yet, she was becoming more and more disturbed by the thought of finding out what there was in Tommy Lees secret file. Finally, the curiosity became unbearable and she decided to try to open the file. To her surprise, it wasnt such a demanding task as the file opened after some fifteen minutes of hacking. After that sweet surprise, another one shocked Beauty Queen. The file contained pictures and motion pictures of parties at Tommy Lees house; private parties at which his previous wives could be seen in some very compromising positions. It was becoming clear to Beauty Queen that her husband used these pictures to blackmail his ex-wives, who were vulnerable either because of their Hollywood star or high society status. Now, Beauty Queen realized where all of them disappeared after separation from Tommy Leeafter he lost interest and love in them, Tommy Lee would order them to disappear and never even talk in public, let alone talk about himself. Some psychoanalysts had later attributed this to his inferiority complex, which is not that important for our story. We should only understand that his mind was that of a twisted and insane person.

After calming down from the shock, Beauty Queen became troubled by the stains on her fingers. She tried to wash them a thousand times but they wouldnt go off. It seemed that the keyboard of the computer was magical and that typing the password for the file had put some kind of magic ink on her fingers, one that would stay for all eternity. Beauty Queen could only wait for her husband and hope that he wouldnt be as angry as he had promised. Her hope, however, did not have a base in reality for, as soon as Tommy Lee arrived home, he examined his wifes hands and saw the colour stains. He got so angry that he couldnt keep the rage coming out of him to a level lower than shouting, cursing, and breaking the furniture.

I gave you my love and everything I owned and this is how you repay me, he shouted. Get out of my house and just wait to see some of your photos all over the Internet.

But you dont have any, Beauty Queen replied through tears.

Oh yes I do, darling, do you think that those you saw were the originals, ha ha ha, he laughed. It only takes me an everyday picnic photo of any of you witches, said Tommy Lee, where witches were probably all his wives, and continued, I take the picture and work on it in the programme I designed especially for this action, and in the end the photos show whatever I want them to show. It is a perfect computer programme, for I have been doing it for a long time and none of the photos has ever been proven false. How do you think I made all this money, playing drums?

Beauty Queen was devastated. All she wanted was just to get out of what was becoming a cursed house for her. Running downstairs, already seeing the kind of embarrassment her husband was about to cause for her, she thought she heard the sound of a helicopter. As she got of the house she stood amazedbefore her eyes was a whole FBI unit with guns, cars, and even helicopters. One of the policemen took her aside and put her in one of the cars. Then, the police unit entered the house and very energetically arrested Tommy Lee. Later, Beauty Queen found out that while her husband was shouting at her in rage, her sister tried to reach her over the phone. Not knowing what he was doing because of the anger, Tommy Lee picked up the phone and as he was about to say hello, saw his wife reentering the room and went on attacking her. The line remained open and Miss America, Beauty Queens sister, was able to hear and record everything Tommy Lee said. At the same time, using her mobile phone, she called the police, and the rest of the story is already known.

It should be known that Beauty Queen recovered pretty well from the shock. Soon, she was able to go out and even have fun with her friends and sister, and also with a new guy on the block who was to become her husband. They had seven children and lived a wonderfully harmonious life together. Tommy Lee, on the other hand, as all villains do, ended up in a prison where he waited for his death as he was sentenced to 250 years of forced labour. And the world lived mostly happily ever after.

Senad Sabovic

There was a man who was the CFO of a major international business corporation and who was one of the richest men of his country. Being in the possession of such immense wealth, he bought an island all for himself and there he built a residence that was one of the biggest castles in the world. To give you only an idea, in order to change all the light-bulbs in the castle, a single man would have to work a whole year without stopping. No matter how rich he was, this man was unhappy at all times since he was so ugly and so weird-looking that everybody was calling him Baron Bluebeard, after the ugly personage from the old tales.
At one of the official banquets he met a very beautiful and well-elevated young woman. She was the vice-president of a medium-sized software company and was present at the banquet since her boss had had to go on an urgent trip to Asia and asked her to substitute for him. Bluebeard fell in love with her at first sight. He was terrified by the feeling since he knew that this woman would probably reject him as soon as she saw him. Nonetheless, the sentiment was too strong, so he approached her and tried to make conversation. As expected, that first approach proved to be a total disaster. Not only was she terrified by the sight of him, she wasnt even able to maintain formal conversation. The party was a disaster for Bluebeard.
Next morning though, after he woke up in his castle, had his morning hour of jogging on his personal beach, watched the morning news and read the reports of his board of directors, he thought of her again. He decided that another way to win her was to buy her firm and thus make her one of his employees. Immediately he called his brokers and ordered them to buy a control package of actions. By the end of the day, the software firm was part of Bluebeards corporation.
To celebrate the event, Bluebeard organized a party for all the high officers of the new firm on his island. Therefore, all of the directors were invited and the young lady was one of them. The party was enormous. There were all kinds of special electronic and computer-based special effects. Special dancers were invited to perform and famous pop-stars were singing live on stage. The guests were really impressed. The young woman saw that Bluebeard was trying to do all he could to please her. Bluebeard had indeed invested all the effort and resources he had to make sure that the party was one of the biggest and finest ever. The Millennium New York Festival was a weak attempt compared to Bluebeards private festival. The island could be seen from miles away in the night. The music reached the continent.
After the festivities Bluebeard gathered all his courage and approached the young lady again. He confessed to her that he was deeply in love with her and that he wanted to marry her. Still deeply impressed by the festivities, the young lady agreed. In a week they were engaged and the wedding was to be one of the most sumptuous weddings to have ever been held.
A couple of days before the marriage, Bluebeard told his young fiance that he had been forced to leave for South Africa since the new deal that his corporation was signing with the government of that country required his presence there. He added that she would be the mistress of the castle while he was away and that she had total access to all parts of the palace. He even gave her the access card to his private rooms but ordered her not to touch his personal computer, no matter what. He also said that it was absolutely imperative that she didnt touch that computer. Still happy and anxious about the upcoming wedding, the young woman agreed to all the rules without thinking and thus was given the access card to all the rooms of the palace.
After Bluebeard had left, she wondered around the palace examining its grandeur and beauty. Soon enough though she was quite bored by the place and then she remembered about the personal private apartments of her future husband. She hurried to those rooms immediately and entered them without even thinking. The rooms were even more stylishly arranged then the rest of the castle. Every single item in those rooms was worth a fortune. She was totally astonished by what she saw. In a few minutes she suddenly felt the desire to turn the computer on and see what was so secret that her husband wouldnt let her see. She was sure that, given her education and knowledge on software, she would be able to erase all traces of her intrusion into the system.
Without any second thoughts she turned on the computer, bypassed the banal security systems that she understood were too easy to compete with her experience and knowledge in the field and opened the personal files of Bluebeard. The sight of those documents terrified her completely. She found files that could convict the Baron to a long prison sentence. There she found evidence ranging from forged documents and false financial statements to video-files where the Baron was amusing himself killing young women. She understood that she was marrying a beast.
When she understood that, she closed the computer, deleted all tracks of her access and was about to leave when she noticed a video camera built into the wall that was transmitting video images and which was focused on the area of the room where the computer was. Fear embraced her. She understood that at the same moment the Baron in his private plane was watching her. Indeed the Baron was notified immediately by his security system about the intruder and was now watching the scene on his laptop that was transmitting the image through the Corporations private satellite.
The young woman understood that unless she did something, she would be killed. No matter how much the Baron loved her, he loved himself even more. The only solution was for her to call her two brothers, her only family and ask them to rescue her. Her only hope lied in the fact that her brothers were ex-Army commandoes trained specially for rescue operations.
She called her brothers, who were back home, taking a break between two operations. Nevertheless, when they found out about her situation, they immediately packed up and started an operation to save her. Time was running short. The guys had to be there before the Baron returned. They packed up, gathered a couple of old friends and rushed to the rescue.
When they reached the island, they received recon confirmation from their sister that the Baron was not back. They rushed into the castle, found their sister and headed towards the exit. At that moment one of them heard the sound of the helicopter that was bringing Bluebeard to the island from the airport. They started shooting at it but soon understood that their bullets could not penetrate the armour of the chopper. One of them then took a grenade-launcher and, after taking aim for a couple of seconds, shot in the direction of the helicopter
A couple of weeks later, the world was informed about the tragic death of Bluebeard. The report said that his helicopter had crashed due to some technical problems into the ocean and that rescue teams found only parts of the machine. He was buried as a loving husband and a good man. Nobody ever found out the truth about him. His wife was the only heir to his wealth.

Andrei Panici

At the end of a month Blue Beard informed his wife that important business obliged him to make a journey into a distant part of the country, which would occupy at least six weeks. He begged her to amuse herself well during his absence, and suggested that she should invite some of her friends and take them, if she liked, into the country. He was particularly anxious that she should enjoy herself thoroughly.
"Here," he said, "are the keys of the two large storerooms, and here is the one that locks up the gold and silver plates which are not in everyday use. This key belongs to the strongboxes where my gold and silver is kept, this to the caskets containing my jewels; while here you have the master which gives admittance to all the apartments. As regards this little key, it is the key of the small room at the end of the long passage on the lower floor. You may open everything, you may go everywhere, but I forbid you to enter this little room. And I forbid you so seriously that if you were indeed to open the door, I should be so angry that I might do anything."
She promised to follow these instructions exactly, and after embracing her, Blue Beard stepped into his coach and was off upon his journey.

Once upon a time in the small and prosperous town of Meddea lived a tradesman, Bluebeard, who had been so successful in his business that his wealth and power could not be measured. He lived in a beautiful mention perched on a high hill below which spread an ever blue and radiant south sea. Not only was the tradesman wealthy but he was also an ardent admirer of art and nature. His gardens and parks were famous throughout the country with their opulence and rare, exotic flowers. His rooms were true art galleries so full were they with all kinds of artifacts, pictures and vanguard furniture. The tradesman's hospitality could not but add to his fame. Every month he organized big receptions to which he invited the social and cultural elite of Meddea.

However, despite all his wealth, intelligence and high social standing the tradesman was not a happy man in his personal affairs. He had married three times but all of his wives had died or disappeared in the most mysterious of ways. A rumour spread that he was hiding a terrible secret but no one dared to question his integrity openly. He was not a man to have as an enemy. Despite his charm, this was a cold, strong-willed and determined man who was a dangerous opponent.

Once, at a splendid New Year's ball the tradesman was introduced to the daughter of a poor, but respected old lawyer who had recently settled in Meddea. Her name, Gloria, matched her personality completely. The girl was beautiful, graceful and charming. But she attracted Bluebeard's attention mostly with her quick, witty mind as well as with her direct and confident manner. It was obvious that Gloria had received a good education and had high professional ambitions. She shared with her host a love for painting and a desire to become an artist. The tradesman promised to help her in her endeavour. "Dear, Gloria. There is nothing more worthwhile of encouragement in people than talent, courage and initiative. I always respect these qualities in men but when I see them in such a charming young lady as you, I cannot hide my admiration," he told her. From then on the girl's career prospered. Her first exhibition, which took place in one of the most splendid auditoriums of the tradesman's mansion, was favourably received by the critics, opening the way to new, greater challenges. In the meantime, the tradesman asked Gloria to marry him. Although she did not feel a romantic attraction to him the girl saw in her benefactor the friend, protector and partner of whom she had always dreamed. This fact, coupled with a recent love disappointment, prompted her to disregard her friends' cautions of the tradesman's dark side and to become his wife.

The next three months were the happiest moments of her life until then. There was not a more generous, gallant and kind husband than Bluebeard. He catered to all her needs and fulfilled her slightest whims. One evening he announced to her that he had to leave on a business trip. The tradesman told her to take good care of herself and promised that he would return as quickly as possible. He also gave her the secret combination from the family safe but forbade her to open a red folder in it. "This folder is very important to me. It contains private information that I would like to keep confidential. I trust, Madam, that I can count on your word not to open it. Most terrible consequences could ensue from a possible indiscretion on your part." No sooner had her husband left than Gloria's curiosity began to torment her. She remembered the rumours about a secret that her husband was hiding and this only increased her desire to open the folder. After all, she thought, a husband and wife should not keep secrets from each other, so she went to the safe, opened it and looked into a thin folder that was lying at the bottom. IT WAS EMPTY! A wave of relief passed over her face. And then she heard a noise behind her back. It was an unpleasant, cracking noise that made her blood freeze. She slowly turned and saw her husband with a gun in his hand pointed at her. His face was pale and twisted in a grimace that was intended to imitate irony but in fact betrayed just a deep bitterness and desperation. "You win the competition," said he and again she heard that cracking sound that was his laughter. "From all of my wives you are the quickest to break your promise. And, I, the fool trusted you the most! But now you will die like all of the other ungrateful and disobedient wives!" Gloria was terrified by the sight of the madman standing in front of her. She could not recognize her husband in him any more. She was also angry. How dare he offend her and threaten her! But she did her best to remain calm. "Nobody betrayed you. After all I did not promise you anything," she said. He seemed not to hear her at all. It was useless to argue with him. "I loved you and you betrayed me just like the others. Now you." At this moment Aurora's father and brother whom she had invited to visit her entered the room. They threw themselves on Bluebeard and after a vicious fight disarmed him. They gave him up to the police.

The investigation revealed that he had murdered all his ex-wives. The medical expertise certified that he was deranged and he was sent to a madhouse where he spent the rest of his life. Aurora recovered from the shock and after some time remarried happily.

Dimitrina Totomanova

Abigale Dupont was an exceptional prosecutor. Though only 32, she was considered an authority in the sphere of juridical matters. There was one distinct characteristic about her - she was persistent. A case dropped by her was a rare occurrence. This case, however, was a tough one. She was advised daily to give it up. In the course of the past two years she had been working with the best police investigators and they never found the decisive evidence, the tiny particle, which could reveal the identity of Blue Beard.
Blue Beard was a working name that she and her colleagues had made up to refer to the mysterious person behind the vanishing of four women. They had chosen the name because the only thing they were certain about was that whoever he was, he was imitating the character from the tale Blue Beard.
The first woman disappeared on 24th November 1998. She was married to a prosperous sports manager. The marriage seemed to have no flaws. The acquaintances of the couple were positive: The husband?! He never mistreated her, you are wrong, my dear, he has nothing to do with it. Three months later another woman was announced missing. At first glance this case had nothing to do with the previous one. The woman was of different age, occupation and character. The investigators checked the husbands details, no connection was found between him and the husband of the other missing woman. This one was a well-to-do lawyer and a pretty decent husband. There was not another disappearance for the next 9 months. And then on New Years Eve 2000 the same scenario occurred 200 miles away. The fourth and last one was filed missing three weeks ago, on 13th August 2001.
The common factors among all the cases were that the women were newly married, no more than three months before they would disappear and that the husbands were always the least probable to be charged. No other evident connection could be found among the four victims. The police were sure the women had been murdered but no bodies had been discovered.
Abigale was convinced that they needed to look for only one person, he was the author of the four episodes. However, there was no stable ground they could start from, no single man they could suspect. No leads were forthcoming. She expected to be called to close it any moment. And suddenly one morning she was introduced to the new district judge who was intrigued by the case.
Mark De Burg was of the restless kind. He did not stop asking questions. How come they had not discovered a single body? Whom did they suspect during the course of the investigation? What was found in the residences of the victims? At last somebody was indeed enthusiastic about the whole affair. Abigale thought this was her chance to have everything started over again. With the judge supporting her she could face any of her superiors and most of all the stubborn chief of police who thought that this investigation was going nowhere.
De Burg was calling friends working in the criminal and juridical sphere. He was making suggestions that new examinations of the evidence should be carried out, that psychoanalysis of the victims and anybody even slightly connected to them should be done. Despite her efforts to keep him out of the case as much as she could, the judge did not give up. In the course of a month they were unofficially working together. The results they got were not much better than any previous ones, however she already trusted her new partner and forgot rule number one: Do not reveal everything to an outside party. The chief of police was furious such a big waste of time and resources just because of the ambition of a woman who could not face defeat. And this judge, why didnt he concentrate on work appropriate for his position? Abruptly, De Burg indeed slowed things down. The trust Abigale Dupont had in him was cleverly and very cautiously used to blind her intuition. They continued work for several more weeks until one day he just suggested that she temporarily give the case up as she would not be able to work while she was on honeymoon with him. A proposal for marriage - a very subtle and at the same time a very flattering one. Abigale was so impressed by De Burg and surprised that he had cast his eyes upon her. Love is blind. Abigale accepted. Half a year later she was still a prominent prosecutor and the wife of Judge Mark De Burg. The file of Blue Beard was closed. Abigale Dupont had other intriguing cases to work on. They could have lived happily ever after were it not for his trip.
Judge De Burg left the house before dawn. He was not expected to be back until the following Wednesday. The chief of police came to visit Abigale for breakfast. He was tense and she could feel that he was embarrassed. He started with distant remarks about this and that and when he could not think of anything else to fill the time with he just spat out the words: We are opening the file again, Dupont. I thought you should know. Who is taking it? They are sending a special agent to work on it. I have orders to cooperate fully. I am sorry. But Abigale was not. She had a competitor now and this used to be her case and what had to be completed once should be done now. She did not mention anything to her husband; he was calling asking how she was doing, she was replying she had a lot to work on. The current file was forgotten. Blue Beard gained all her attention.
It was the afternoon of the day when De Burg was coming back. Abigale was lost among all the records and the examinations. She remembered they had kept some of the documentation in the attic of her husbands house where they were presently living. She stood up to look for the keys of the attic. The phone rang. She picked up the phone. It was the chief and he was on his way to the house as there was something new they had come upon which she had to be acquainted with. Abigale hung up and went to look for the documentation. She found the key easily and headed towards the attic. She put the key into the lock and being in a hurry entered the room without looking around. Then she froze.
Her eyes fixed upon corpses. Four unrecognizable female bodies with dried blood around them. Horror. Fear. Anger. He had fooled her.
Abigale thought of the chief who was driving towards the house. He would be there any moment and then he would know andShe turned to run down the stairs and bumped into a large stable object. Mark De Burg faced her with his calm and cold eyes. He smiled and then uttered sarcastically: You never give up, ha? He pushed her back into the room. His expression displayed utmost satisfaction. A fifth victim - he did not want things to go into that direction, however she had chosen this way. He admitted she was talented and he hated to waste such a talent. Nevertheless, he had managed to manipulate her and it was a challenge worth taking the risk of being caught. Now, unfortunately, she had to follow the victims whose stories she so precisely knew. What a pity!
A pistol was fired. Abigale Dupont was standing up. Mark De Berg was lying at her feet. She could not make sense of the scene. Abigale! It was the voice of the chief.

Darina Angelova

Her neighbours and friends did not wait to be invited before coming to call upon the young bride, so great was their eagerness to see the splendours of her house. They had not dared to venture while her husband was there, for his blue beard frightened them. But in less than no time there they were, running in and out of the rooms, the closets, and the wardrobes, each of which was finer than the last. Presently they went upstairs to the storerooms, and there they could not admire enough the profusion and magnificence of the tapestries, beds, sofas, cabinets, tables, and stands. There were mirrors in which they could view themselves from top to toe, some with frames of plate glass, others with frames of silver and gilt lacquer, that were the most superb and beautiful things that had ever been seen. They were loud and persistent in their envy of their friend's good fortune. She, on the other hand, derived little amusement from the sight of all these riches, the reason being that she was impatient to go and inspect the little room of the lower floor.
So overcome with curiosity was she that, without reflecting upon the discourtesy of leaving her guests, she ran down a private staircase, so precipitately that twice or thrice she nearly broke her neck, and so reached the door of her little room. There she paused for a while, thinking of the prohibition which her husband had made, and reflecting that harm might come to her as a result of disobedience. But the temptation was so great that she could not conquer it. Taking the little key, with a trembling hand she opened the door of the room.

At the stroke of ten, Father Jacob removed the torch from the rusty grip of the wall-hook. Every evening he would descend the narrow steps, carefully feeling them one by one with his good foot, slowly and only briefly stepping on his bad one.
The cellar was not as deep as it seemed from above but, oddly enough, sufficiently cold to keep the fruits from decaying. Father Jacob had to lean on the door to open it. He then pushed aside the woollen cloth with his good foot and sneaked in through the thin opening.
Father Jacob was a pious man who lived by the rules that God brought upon the world. As only some rare people do, Father Jacob considered himself sinful. He knew the faults within his soul. Sadly, he rarely found a way out of his transgressions. Such was his fate. Until the present day he had found no possible solution to the dilemma that tormented him. From a very young age, he had been educated as a priest and a godly man. He had to serve God and initiate others into His divine wisdom. One question he could not answer. Why was he forbidden to marry? If, indeed, God had blessed the world and all its creatures to live and multiply, why should he distance himself from this divine order?
***
There lived a beautiful and kind-hearted young lady in the neighbourhood. She had a sister and brothers but was the most beautiful of all of them. Father Jacob liked her a lot and she, too, liked Father Jacob a lot. Their friendship stayed a secret from her family. Her father, being the mayor of the town, could not allow scandals. Father Jacob could not forgive himself for wondering whether falling in love with someone when you are a priest is as bad as it is proclaimed
Every day, Father Jacob would go downtown to do some shopping and meet the young lady. They would stroll up the street for half an hour and talk. It was the best time of the day for him and the best conversation of the day for her. Often, she would ask herself if falling in love with the town priest could really be as harshly punished as the laws said
***
At the stroke of ten, Father Jacob had to go down to the cellar to check if the fruits were drying properly. He crawled into the cellar and sniffed the air. The faint, sweet smell of apples filled the cavern. There was a narrow window in front and a lean ray of light came through it. As Father Jacob leaned over a pile of dry fruit, he felt the twilight advance towards him. It became a shadow that blocked the window.
The menacing shadow of a giant man came nearer while Father Jacob struggled to keep the torch alive and flickering. Two strong hands protruded from the crevices under the windowpane. Father Jacob watched as the hands skillfully opened the window from the inside and left just enough space for the mans head to pass through it. Father Jacob stood transfixed.
He could see the eyes of a man. They were wild eyes with their whites drowned in the color of blood. An enormous, thick, blue beard hid all other traces of human resemblance. Father Jacob recognized in that creature one of his past sins, another, which tormented him in his sleep even after years had passed. Now, it was returning. The man laughed a sinister laugh and motioned at Father Jacob to go out and open the gate. "Come on, old buddy! Open the gate for I have a dozen horses to water and feed tonight!"
***
Father Jacob went out, slowly wiping his face with one hand, paying attention not to give away his limp. He crossed the yard and opened the gate to the blue-bearded man. He thought it was more of a monster that had somehow acquired human shape. Bluebeard pushed past Father Jacob, as though it were his property he were entering. Then he tied his horses in front of the porch and went in, slamming the door behind him. Father Jacob went in after Bluebeard; his face white with fear.
Inside, Bluebeard sat at the kitchen table, twisting a piece of brown rope in his right hand. He looked at Father Jacob and smiled. How have you been doing, pal? Ive missed you!
Well I got here only a year ago and Father Jacob looked at Bluebeards right hand.
Ive come to you with a request, pal. The monster on the table gave off a muffle of laughter. I want you to come to my wedding. I want you to be our priest.
Father Jacob stood still. So Mary went back to her father?
Mary passed away. Bluebeard looked straight at Father Jacob. A bloody dot in his eyes twinkled. Ive got a crush on a lady here and the mayor could be a good father-in-law, dont you think?
***
Bluebeard worked on his plan. Father Jacob did not see the lady he loved so much the next day when he went shopping. Bluebeard was having a picnic with her father that day. Bluebeard was rich and ugly but his wealth outsized his ugliness and the mayor liked him. He was the son-in-law the mayor had always dreamt of - the man of fine houses, fine furniture and gentle manners.
The daughter, on the other hand, hated the presence of that man who nobody knew. It was rumoured that he had had several wives already and they had all gone back to their parents or disappeared. He claimed the last one, Mary, was dead because of a grave illness that struck her. The mayors daughter could not go against her fathers will, however
The marriage was to be held in the town church. Father Jacob would read to the bride and groom on the day of the ceremony. They would, afterwards, leave for their honeymoon. The mayors daughter no longer considered him ugly but still could not get used to the thought of his marrying her. The image of Father Jacobs face at the wedding ceremony appeared to her at night. He was crying
***
A month after their marriage, Bluebeard decided he should take a journey on some business. Another plan began to form again He told his wife about his obligations, made her promise that she would amuse herself when he was away and gave her the permission to invite all her friends to the house. Those, he said, are the keys to all the rooms in our house. This key is for the room with gold and silver, this one is from the room where I keep the best clothes on earth, this one is for the food storage room and these are all the keys to the bedrooms. I also give you this big golden key for the room in the tower of the house. And I give you this small golden key, which is for the small basement under the house. He looked her straight in the eye and smiled. Do not go into this small basement. You can open every other room but not this one. All the other rooms are full with gold and the small one has nothing in it. But if you enter there, I will know it and then you will pay for it with your life!
Of course, I will not enter there! Believe me, I will not put my foot near the basement, she said.
Bluebeard left the next morning. As soon as his wife saw him off she remembered to invite her friends and relatives. They all came, curious to see where she was living and how wealthy her husband was. But as she entertained her guests a thought passed through her head. She had not seen Father Jacob for so long. She missed their clever conversations and his beautiful smile. She put on her cloak and hurried out, leaving her friends to their games and music.
Father Jacob met her at the gate. His eyes were darker and there was a line on his forehead. He tried to hide his limp when she smiled at him. Dont hide it Jacob. I love the way you hurry in spite of it!
Why have you come here? He might see you and then I am not a good friend of his! Youd better go home again.
He is not at home, Jacob! He went away on business. I came to invite you for tea. Please, do come! My friends would love to see you there. And he wont even know. Please!
Father Jacob could not refuse. He went with her to the house. Everyone was indeed charmed to see him. There was much talk and noise, and music. Father Jacob liked the garden. He sat under a tree and watched the guests. Among them, there was only one who could hold his attention and it was the mayors daughter. At some point she came to him and they chatted as before. Then, little by little, she told him about what her husband had said before leaving. He said I must pay with my life if I go down to that basement, she said.
Father Jacob remembered Mary. She was Bluebeards first wife and had disappeared after she went down to the basement to fetch some coal Lets look around the place, Father Jacob suggested. You will be with me and he will pardon you. He should kill me for trespassing.
Then, they slowly descended the steps to the basement. It was dark and wet. The walls seemed to converge at the end. She held Jacobs hand. They unlocked the door. It was heavy and had to be pushed forward. The place seemed tiny and confined only from the outside. In fact, it was a room, dug into the ground and covered with stones. On the floor, there were dark stains. Several bodies of young ladies were strewn inside. Bluebeards wife could not bear the sight of it, nearly collapsed and dropped the small golden key on the floor. Father Jacob rushed and took it. There was blood on it. He pushed her out of the room, quickly locked the door and began to scrub the key with his mantle. The blood did not come off. He tried and tried, and when it did not come off they tried to wash it off but where it fell off from one side, the blood appeared on the other.
That night Bluebeard came back. He asked his wife to bring him the keys. He looked at all of them, asked about the people who had come into the house, what they had done and what they had eaten. He then inspected the small golden key and asked his wife about it. Why is there blood on that small key? She began to stammer. I dont know Probably Ive cut myself somewhere. Or probably the blood has already been on it I really dont know
Youre lying, Bluebeard smiled with a sinister smile and took his knife. Now, you must pay as I told you!
She begged him to be able to go up to the tower and pray for a while before she died. Bluebeard decided to grant her that wish and she went up to the tower. From there, she shouted for help. It happened that Father Jacob was out and had decided to stop by her house again. He thought that Bluebeard was still away and that there was time enough to invent a plan. He also wanted to tell Bluebeards wife about his feelings and probably tell her about his decision to leave the order.
As he walked up the path towards the house, he heard the voice of Bluebeards wife. She was desperately trying to call someone for help. He rushed to the house, knowing that her husband was back. At the same time her brothers who were out hunting heard her and ran towards the house.
Father Jacob was the first to reach the house. He grabbed the door and pulled it open. There stood Bluebeard, furious. He rushed towards Father Jacob and hit him. They began to fight. Bluebeard was much stronger than Father Jacob but soon the brothers of Bluebeards wife came. They hit him and then threw him in the well, which stood in the middle of the yard. He fell inside and drowned.
That day Father Jacob left the order. A week later he was married and lived happily ever after with the mayors daughter.

Margarita Georgieva

At first she saw nothing, for the windows were closed, but after a few moments she perceived dimly that the floor was entirely covered with clotted blood, and that in this there were reflected the dead bodies of several women that hung along the walls. These were all the wives of Blue Beard, whose throats he had cut, one after the other.
She thought to die of terror, and the key of the room, which she had just withdrawn from the lock, fell from her hand.
When she had somewhat regained her senses, she picked up the key, closed the door, and went up to her chamber to compose herself a little. But this she could not do, for her nerves were too shaken. Noticing that the key of the little room was stained with blood, she wiped it two or three times. But the blood did not go. She washed it well, and even rubbed it with sand and grit. Always the blood remained. For the key was bewitched, and there was no means of cleaning it completely. When the blood was removed from one side, it reappeared on the other.

The mysterious Mr. Brown

Brienz is a little town in Switzerland and one of the best mountain resorts in the world. What is so special about this place is the type of person that one can find here. People who can afford to have a place in this paradise are either members of the aristocracy, that still posses their familys castles in the region, or rich newcomers that have made their fortunes abroad and find comfort in the financial and political refuge that Switzerland provides.
Mr. Brown, or at least thats how he introduced himself, was a member of this last group. No one really new anything about him except that he had moved in a couple of years before and bought one of the biggest and oldest castles in the region, the Gutenschlau Castle. The rumours about the amounts involved in the deal involved impressive figures but the exact sum was never revealed. What was sure though, was that Mr. Brown was a person who did not really pay any attention to financial matters it always seemed as if money were of no concern to him. The most expensive services that one can find in Brienz were always Mr. Browns choice.
To gather all this scarce information about the mysterious man that moved into town, it took a lot of time and no one was ever able to verify whether these details were true or not. The first year Mr. Brown spent in Brienz, he was a really secluded person, rarely attending any social events or leaving his house for that matter. Many times people had seen young women going into his castle but no one had ever seen them come out. Little by little rumours started spreading. In everybodys mind he began to be associated with the image of a killer or that of a deranged person who cannot control their urges. Outrageous stories started circulating in the high circles of the towns society and his name became the main gossiping topic.
A year after his first appearance in town an unexpected development took place. The mayor was organizing a party to celebrate the towns centenary and Mr. Brown was invited, since he was one of the biggest behind-the-scenes benefactors. No one expected him to show up and no one really knew that he was invited. A little later, after all the guests had arrived, Mr. Brown appeared. The mayor was taken by surprise but quickly adapted to the situation by taking Mr. Brown and introducing him to the rest of crowd. Everybody was familiar with the existence of the mystery man, Mr. Brown, the owner of Gutenschlau Castle. And everybody was scared of him.
By physical appearance, Mr. Brown was the type of man one would suspect of being able to seduce any woman. He was a tall man with black, long hair and with thick eyebrows arched above his dark blue eyes. When mingling among the guests at the party he proved to be a graduate of some of the best schools and talking to him was simply a delight. That evening his attention fell upon the youngest daughter of the local town sheriff and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Dupre. Cecile was 21 years of age and was considered to be the most beautiful girl in the city, one who had a real chance of becoming a star in the fashion business. Cecile, despite her initial fears about Mr. Brown based on all the rumours that she had heard, was really impressed by this beautiful man that was talking to her. The mystery surrounding his person combined with the power that everybody knew he possessed and his charm completely swept her off her feet. She fell in love with him and their story continued in the following months.
Cecile and Mr. Brown were seen skiing together many times and hanging out a lot and they really looked like a happy couple. A few months later the news of their marriage came as a shock to everybody. Mrs. Dupre was outraged by her daughters decision not to invite her own mother to the wedding and moreover the idea of a fast and secret wedding was hard for her to accept. But in the end she had no choice, having been presented with a fait accompli.
Relatively soon after the wedding, Mr. Brown told his wife that he had to leave the country for a couple of weeks as there was an important business merger involving one of his companies that needed his immediate attention. He told Cecile that in the meantime she could do whatever she wanted and whatever pleased her. However, he specifically asked her not to go to the wine cellar, since he was keeping his most precious collection there and if something happened to it he would be very upset. He said that he had some of the rarest and most famous wines in there and that specific care must be taken when dealing with them. The temperature and light of the room were of big importance for their preservation and only he knew how to operate the system controlling the whole thing.
A week later, Cecile decided to celebrate with her friends the wedding that they were never invited to. One Saturday evening, everybody gathered in Gutenschlau Castle and all were admiring the beauty and luxury that Cecile was enjoying. Her friends kept complementing her on her success in finding such a handsome and rich husband. Later that evening, when spirits were high, Cecile decided that celebrating their wedding was sufficient reason to go against her husband wishes. She thought that getting some bottles of champagne from the wine cellar would not upset Mr. Brown when he found out that the bottles were used to celebrate their love. Secondly, she was intrigued by this new discovery about her husbands personality since she had never perceived him as a passionate collector and, moreover, she had always thought that he disliked wine.
Filled with curiosity, she ventured down the stairs with a few keys hanging from the key-chain and a few other modern card-keys. When she reached the basement, instead of the old wooden door that she was expecting, she found a brand new air-conditioning system that was displaying the room temperature as being below freezing. A nervous flicker sprang through her body as she realized something was wrong. Although she was not an expert she knew that this temperature was inappropriate for a wine cellar and the old rumours that she used to hear about her husband all of a sudden started coming back. She also remembered her husbands request to leave the wine cellar alone. But since she had come this far she decided to go all the way. With a trembling hand she inserted the key in the lock and opened the door. In the beginning she could not see anything, as there was no light, but the wave of cold coming out of there gave her the chills. As her eyes adapted to the lack of light she managed to find the switch and the terror that laid before her made her speechless. The old wine cellar of the castle had been transformed into a huge refrigerator that was being used as a repository for the slaughtered bodies of some twenty to thirty young females. Cecile lost her senses when faced with such a gruesome picture and it took her a few minutes to recompose herself. Finally, she gathered all her strength and ran upstairs to her room. Still shaking, she managed to pick up the phone and dial the police number, where luckily her father was on duty that night. In between his daughters cries he managed to get her location and a vague idea about what had just happened.
While Cecile was crying in her room unable to recover from the shock, downstairs the party was continuing. The music was loud and everybody was having fun dancing and drinking, so nobody noticed when Mr. Brown returned home. Calmly entering the lobby, he started mingling with the guests and looking for his wife but was unable to find her. He went upstairs to her room and found her lying in the bathroom, pale, sick and crying. Lovingly, he approached her, thinking that she was drunk and that she needed his help but Cecile ran away scared and called him a murderer. At that very moment he changed. His eyes became red with blood, his pupils dilated and his body started shaking with anger. He grabbed the stick lying next to the fireplace and started chasing his wife through the apartment. Close to the exit he managed to get a hold of her by catching her leg. Cecile clutched herself to the door handle and in a desperate attempt tried to open it so that she could call for some help. Unfortunately his strength was overwhelmingly greater than hers and her attempt was unsuccessful. But as he was just preparing to insert the stick he was holding into Ceciles heart, the door opened and her father was standing in the doorframe with a gun aimed at Mr. Brown. Although a veteran policeman, seeing his daughter nearly killed caused Mr. Dupre to lose his temper and he unloaded his gun into his daughters attacker. The poor girl was scared to death and barely had the strength to get up.
It took a lot of time and patience on everybodys behalf to succeed in helping Cecile get over the traumatic experience that she had been a part of. In the end, she inherited all her husbands estate and eventually returned to her usual self. Currently, she has managed to become a very successful model and is planning on opening her own modelling agency.

Mircea Draghici

One evening I went to visit my 64-year-old aunt, who is famous for being the most well-informed woman in the whole neighbourhood. I do not mean that she is a gossip but, anyway, if you called her so, you would not be mistaken. Nevertheless, she is still a very agile old woman.
Hello, my dear, come in, I am so glad to see you. Come in, come in, take a seat, she kept urging me. I have something really important to tell you. You would not believe what happened to Mrs. Wolfstonescraft`s youngest daughter two weeks ago. Awful, my dear, really awful I noticed that the eyes of my sympathizing aunt began to water.
But, aunt, I tried to protest. I only came to see you, I do not really want to listen to all these neighbourhood stories.
It is not that, my dear, you should really hear this one, the old woman protested, have you ever read that children`s story about Duke Blue Beard and his murdered wives?
Yes, I remember it vaguely. I started getting interested. But do not tell me that this gossip Wolfstonescraft, having nothing significant to do in her free time, invented another version of the fairy tale and is now dying to publish it.
Actually, that is a good idea, it never occurred to me
But, aunt, please
Listen to this, my dear, you will really feel sorry for the poor woman after hearing what misfortune faced her little Judith
Since I did not really want to make any more objections and thus spoil my aunt`s enthusiasm, I sat quietly on her big sofa and pretended to be interested.
You know, my dear, this dark oak-forest near our village and the long, dark path that passes through it. Well, you probably do not know that this path leads to a newly built residence, the most luxurious in a 200-mile radius. The residence has 16 bedrooms, several dining halls, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a fitness centre
Whoever can afford all this must be really well-off.
You are right, my dear, this little palace belongs to Mr. Flesheat, a single young man, quite attractive I should say, probably with the exception of his long beard and gigantic figure. He came only recently to these places from the north, and decided to set himself permanently in the remnants of the old castle that was nearly ruined by an earthquake years ago. So, he built his stylish residence over the ruins of the old castle and settled himself there. Imagine, my dear child, nighttime in this dismal place... Gloom and solitude everywhere. Not a single human soul to be seen in the distance. Only his ominous gigantic shadow moving in the dark.
So, silly young Judith who has always been a very curious and riotous creature, met the man one day near the lake beside the residence and started meeting him secretly during the night because she feared her parents` anger. So, she soon she fell in love with him and decided to join him in his glorious little palace. Her love for him was so strong that when she met the firm opposition of her parents, she decided to leave her home, family and friends, as well as abandon her fianc, this really decent-looking gentleman, Richard Honestman. Some people say the green-eyed stranger has cast a spell on her, and who knows, it might be true. However, Judith, as unmanageable as she has always been, did not really care about what the village people were saying. Her husband was an embodiment of masculinity for her. His stately presence filled her with awe and admiration. So, she became the mistress of the ancient castle...
This place, as you might suppose, has always been sunk in dusk and seclusion. One day Judith decided to disperse the sinister twilight and pulled the curtains of the windows in the one of the largest halls. At the end of the corridor she saw seven doors, each of them with a massive latch. The young lady was obviously very curious to see what was behind these doors. Therefore, she asked her husband but was startled by his abrupt answer. Mr. Flesheat threateningly warned his wife that these doors should remain locked up for ever. However, Judith was obviously so insistent that the man could not resist her and yielded to her begging. He opened the first door and the bright bloody-red light, coming from the room blinded Judith. Rusty chains and torture instruments were hanging on the walls.
This, my dear niece, was the Questioning Room.
Poor Judith was terrified but she did not hesitate much before unlocking the second door. Here, she saw different weapons stained with blood.
This was the Armoury Room.
Through the door of the third room, Judith saw the gleaming reflections of gold and jewellery but these, too, were stained with blood.
Behind the fourth door a magnificent scenery revealed itself. Judith was enchanted by a gorgeous garden with all kinds of beautiful flowers growing in it. However, instead of the odour of flowers, the poor girl could sense the characteristic smell of blood.
Behind the next door the young lady saw fields, forests and mountains and, again, all of these were sprinkled with blood.
Mr. Flesheat saw the terror in his wifes eyes and, since he loved her very much and did not really want to lose her, begged her to resist her curiosity and not to unlock the last two doors. Judith, however, was as unbending as ever.
On opening the sixth door, Judith saw a frozen lake full of tears. Seeing this, the young lady got furious and asked her husband:
What is this all about? Are you some kind of sexual maniac or something?
But, honey, Flesheat protested, how could you say such a thing?
How can you explain all this then? insisted Judith.
Flesheat then sighed deeply and revealed to his wife his greatest secret. It lied behind the last seventh door. There appeared the ghosts of his three former wives, all three dressed up with the most magnificent ancient attires and crowns of jewellery on their heads. The master of the castle confessed to Judith that he got his wealth from them and that they were now the guardians of his treasures.
You must forgive me, dear Judith, that I did not tell you this before for now it is too late. These are the spirits of my three former wives that can find no peace. I found my first wife in morning-time and to her belong all mornings. My second wife I found in the afternoon and to her belong all unclouded days. The third one I found in the evening and she is the mistress of all evenings.
Saying this, he approached Judith, threw a black mantel on her shoulders and put a jewellery crown on her head. Horrified, the young wife started screaming and yelling:
But you must be insane, what are all these crazy things you are talking about? I cannot get a thing from what you are saying?
You, my dear, I found during the night and you are now the mistress of all nights.
Stricken with grief, Judith silently followed the three other women. The door of the seventh room was locked up again and no one has seen Judith ever since

The whole story made me feel quite suspicious:
But, aunt, it does sound like a fairy tale! Besides, how do you know all these details since no one has seen Judith ever since?
Well, my dear, the murderer felt pangs of conscience shortly afterwards and made a full confession in the nearest police station. His confessions were confirmed by the police investigation, but the bodies of the four women were never found.
But it does not make sense! How come he could so suddenly feel remorse about what he did? Something does not match in the whole story

Daniela Dimitrova

Blue Beard in Istanbul

Once upon time (not quite so long ago) there was a Turkish man who lived in Istanbul, close to the Grand Bazaar. As he was a prominent and resourceful rug-dealer and also owned one of the finest leather-shops in the Bazaar, his wealth was unbelievableluxurious houses (not only in Turkey, but on the French Riviera and in the Alps as well), impressive, latest-edition cars, fortunes invested in stockmarkets, etc. But unfortunately for him, he had a repulsive blue beard which made him ugly and frightful and was the main reason for his remaining a bachelor for many years (at least that is what rumour had it about him).

One day, three women (a mother and her two daughters) arrived for a brief visit to Istanbul. As most tourists do, the ladies decided to visit the Bazaar, especially the leather and jewellery sections that they thought would hold pleasant surprises for them. And their hopes were not dashed. Going through the hundreds of little shops in the Bazaar they happened to venture into Blue Beards corner where the owner himself was trying to attract the clients with irresistible offers and promises of unbelievable discounts. The two girls (dizzy with the splendour of Istanbuls sights and with the rush of people trying to read their wishes and offer them their merchandise) were quite amazed at the kindness and openness of this particular businessman.

After they struck a few amazing deals (buying leather jackets, pants and bags) and the customers and the merchant alike felt that they had accomplished what they had initially set out to do, they all decided to celebrate their success by going out for a drink. The two girls and their mother were taken to a distinctive club in one of Blue Beards fanciest cars. The youngest daughter was particularly impressed by the riches and the kindness of this Turkish man whom she did not find exceptionally attractive, yet in a weird sort of way she felt drawn closer and closer to him as the evening went on. As if ordained by the gods (or Allah) above, at a certain point the electricity in the club went out and thus the enforced candlelit romantic atmosphere seemed to add to the magic of the night. After hours and hours of sweet-talk (and serious debates about the fate of the Turkish economy), Blue Beard decided to make a bold move and ask for the hand of the youngest daughter. And to his greatest surprise, he received an affirmative reply both from mother and her daughter. As soon as it could be arranged, their marriage took place in the magical surroundings of Istanbul and the newlyweds moved into a beautifully and tastefully arranged new house, with many rooms and secret corridors, on Taksim square.

One day, as Blue Beard had to go away on business, he entrusted all the keys of the house to his young wife. Now, my dear, he said, I give you the keys that give you access to all the rooms in this house, to the two cars you love so much, and even to some of the storerooms behind the shops in the Bazaarfeel free to use any of them. But there is a small key, this one, and he pointed to a tiny golden key on the ring that I forbid you to use. It is the key to my old apartment, one block down this street, where I used to live before I met you. I urge you to observe my wish for if you fail to do so . . . I will not assume any responsibility for the consequences of my actions. And with this he drove away.
His wife and his sister-in-law who was living with them (because she fell in love with Istanbul and so she stayed on and taught foreign languages at a local high-school) decided to organize a grand party. They invited all their friends, new and old ones (whom they had flown in with her husbands private jets). In the midst of all the preparations, however, as she was using many of the keys given to her, the young wife was tempted to make use of the one that was so clearly forbidden to her. After some reflection, she decided to take a chance regardless of the consequences and so she went to her husbands old apartment. As soon as she opened the door, she was struck not only by the horrible sight but also by the temperature of the room. She entered. Several frozen bodies of women were laid out in glass cases in a room with a temperature well below freezing (powered by an emergency generator to avoid incidents with electricity cuts such as the one during the night she and her husband came to like each other). As she was trying to make her way out, she also realized that the little golden key was for one single use and therefore she could not take it out of the lock any more.

Frightened and trembling in all her limbs, she returned to her apartment only to find out that in the meantime her husband had returned as some emergency had called him back to Istanbul. The next day he demanded the keys and he did not fail to notice the absence of the smallest key.
I want to know what happened to the small key, he said as his voice grew deeper and more menacing with every word.
I do not know that one at all, his wife said but she did not sound convincing and she very well knew this.
You mean you do not know? shouted Blue Beard; well, I do. Here is what happened with it: in spite of my prohibition. You took the key, went to my apartment, opened the door . . .
Stop, I beg you. Stop! his wife replied. But nothing could stop Blue Beard in his rage any more.
You wanted to enter the room, madam, well that is exactly what you will do and he grabbed her with a gesture that was clear in its meaning: she was to die and thus enter the room that her curiosity uncovered to her. You shall die, madam, immediately, and take your rightful place in the room.
Please, she said, let me send an email to my mother first so that I can at least say goodbye to her. Give me twenty-five minutes, please.
Her husband, so outraged at what he had found upon his return, granted her this wish, without really thinking of the possible implications.

Thus, his wife hurried back to her room and used the opportunity to send an instant message to her brothers mobile phone. She knew he must be somewhere close to Istanbul already, if not yet in the city, as he had also been invited to the party and had promised to come. But the reply to his sisters desperate plea failed to come in time and as time was passing by quickly, she emailed her sister who was in her own room at her own computer and asked her to keep sending messages to their brother. At the end of her twenty-fourth minute, she received a reply from her sister that informed her that their brother was very close by and that he was expected to show up any moment.

Nevertheless, she had to go back to her husband because he was becoming impatient and started reminding her boisterously that her 25 minutes were coming to an end. Just as he was getting ready to pull the trigger on his small but swift gun, a terrifying noise came from the door. It was her brother, joined by police forces (whom he had met on his way to Taksim square and alerted about the gravity of the situation) who surrounded Blue Beard instantly. But he tried to escape and hurt one policeman and therefore was shot in his chest and died on the spot.

His wife, his only legal heir, inherited all his fortune and it did not take her long to find consolation and (this time) genuine happiness in another mans arms. As the good sister that she was, she bestowed a large part of her inheritance upon her sister and brother, the latter becoming a successful businessman (away from Istanbul, though), while the former used most of her funds for commendable charity purposes (funding, especially Third World-country hospitals where AIDS infected children were treated).

Mrta Blint

Blue Beard returned from his journey that very evening. He had received some letters on the way, he said, from which he learned that the business upon which he had set forth had just been concluded to his satisfaction. His wife did everything she could to make it appear that she was delighted by his speedy return.
On the morrow he demanded the keys. She gave them to him, but with so trembling a hand that he guessed at once what had happened.
"How comes it," he said to her, "that the key of the little room is not with the others?"
"I must have left it upstairs upon my table," she said.
"Do not fail to bring it to me presently," said Blue Beard.
After several delays the key had to be brought. Blue Beard examined it, and addressed his wife.
"Why is there blood on this key?"
"I do not know at all," replied the poor woman, paler than death.
"You do not know at all?" exclaimed Blue Beard; "I know well enough. You wanted to enter the little room! Well, madam, enter it you shall--you shall go and take your place among the ladies you have seen there."
She threw herself at her husband's feet, asking his pardon with tears, and with all the signs of true repentance for her disobedience. She would have softened a rock, in her beauty and distress, but Blue Beard had a heart harder than any stone.
"You must die, madam," he said; "and at once."
"Since I must die," she replied, gazing at him with eyes that were wet with tears, "give me a little time to say my prayers."
"I give you but one quarter of an hour," replied Blue Beard, "but not a moment longer.

Screams in Ice

There was a man, called Victor Altruist, who lived on the outskirts of the city, which was rather unusual at that time. Everybody was rushing to the city in those days. Everybody wanted to live in the 75-million-person capital of the world. It was the age of plastic surgery, virtual reality, virtual life and friendship. Anybody could be anything and no one wanted to be imperfect. People who did not correct their appearance were rare, unusual and nobody really liked them. No one wants to be reminded, with other peoples imperfections, that their appearance is artificial. The man did not want to change himself. He had a scar covering most of the left side of his face from his forehead down to the upper lip and pale, pale blue eyes. One could almost think that he had white eyes, which stood in quite a contrast to his black skin. He was not a popular man. Maybe because of his scar or eyes, maybe because of the tales that were told about him in the city. The story that was going around said that he killed and ate his wives, but that was, nonetheless, told for everybody who lived out of the city in those days.
Although pretty much not interested in the world around him and the gossip about him, he had his share of sorrow. The daughter of an influential man who hated him fiercely (because of his wealth and lifestyle, most probably) was Victors love, but like her father the girl thought that Victor was trouble and that she should stay away from him. In order to change her mind Victor invited Dhea, which was her name, to join him and a couple of his friends on a cruise in his cruise jet, over the city and forbidden areas beyond the outskirts of town. Although the area they were flying above was a restricted or no-fly area, or maybe just because of that, some kind of thrill connected the people on the cruiser. And Dhea eventually got to like Victor and his scary eyes and scars. These developments led, through a series of meetings and days they spent together, to the wedding of Victor and Dhea. Her father was of course opposed to the wedding, and never got around to visiting them or giving them his blessing for life. But the newly wedded couple was not bothered with that. They got along fine, and although the brides father had tried to influence his daughters choice of marriage partner, he could not stop her getting married and moving to her new home.
Their home was on the bare outer reaches of the city, far from the people who had tried to destroy their marriage with gossip and envy, as they perceived it. It was a castle with a hundred rooms and as many balconies as could be built. The walls were covered with beautiful antique tapestries and paintings, which nobody liked any more because in those days anybody could have any painting he or she liked displayed on a liquid crystal screen. But for Victor and his new bride curiosity was a driving force; they were not satisfied with the displayed or imitated stuff. There was no feeling such as touching the fine layers of colour and feeling the path that the painters brush had made in a painting. This was not only the case with the paintings but it rather referred to their whole household. Their furniture, walls, rooms and beds were either made a few centuries ago or exact replicas of what was considered as medieval. They spent a vast amount of time just browsing through the house and looking at and admiring their assets. They enjoyed to be so out of the modern times, somehow thrilled to live outside the technical revolution that was all around them. And they were proud not to be living by the rules of the world, but rather by their own rules and in their own time.
Nevertheless, not too long after they had married Victor came to his wife and told her that he was to undertake a business trip into the town, and that he would not be back for at least a couple of weeks, if not a month or so. The couple lived a very reserved life and did not associate a lot with other people, who were either eager to accompany them in their life because they were rich, or did not like them because they stood apart from the normal people as they called them. Apart from a couple of close friends of Victor almost nobody came to their home. However, Victor was very persistent that Dhea was not to be aloe while he was away traveling. Over and over he insisted that she call some friends over to stay with her, browse through the house, have a nice time and enjoy herself. He would not leave until she had called some of her friends over the videophone, and finally when he was certain that her friends were coming he was ultimately satisfied and said that he could not travel if he knew that she were alone, nobody keeping her company and making her laugh.
Right before he left he gave her the electronic cards which opened all the doors and operated the electronics in the house. Although one could do almost nothing in the house without these cards she had never held them. Victor never permitted her to do anything that required her to have the e-cards, however he had given her a card of her own that operated most of the household appliances. She had never thought that she would one day hold the keys to everything in the house. Victor told her that she could go wherever she wanted, open any doors that she liked, turn on or off anything she liked, but that she was not to enter the attic or go near it. He said that this room was his personal area and not for anybodys eyes but his own. At the and, he added that he would not be responsible for his actions if he found out that she had used the cards to enter the attic. Although somewhat mysterious, she did not pay too much attention to the threat of her husband. As he said goodbye and left, her friends started arriving. None of her friends had ever liked Victor and probably therefore did not want to arrive before he left.
They spent the next few days having fun and browsing throughout the house, visiting all the beautifully decorated rooms, admiring the taste of the housemaster, dancing, listening to music. But every now and then, Dheas mind would drift to the attic, and as time passed she felt more and more curious about what was hidden and so important that no mans eyes could look at it besides her husband. As the first week of Victors absence was coming to an end, and the only one left in the house with Dhea was her sister, her curiosity finally overwhelmed her, and while her sister was preparing diner, she took her e-cards and rushed to the attic. Her hands were trembling as she opened the door. She stood stunned at the door with the scream still on her lips - she was breathless. On the walls of the attic there stood Victors previous wives, frozen in cryogenic chambers and making up a bizarre gallery in memory of Victors past life. The cries and the agony of the women were apparent on their faces as they had obviously been frozen alive. Their screams were floating unheard and unspoken through the air, and there was a sense of pain in the room. Their voices were frozen along with their unscreamed pain; frozen for all time as witness to the punishment.
Crying and confused, Dhea descended to the kitchen to find her sister and tell her what she had seen, but on the stairs she almost fell over her husband, who had appeared moments before, just like he had been waiting for her to enter the attic. He wanted immediately to take her upstairs and punish her curiosity, just as he had done with his previous wives, but she begged him to give her a minute to say her prayers and to bid farewell to her sister. Yet, Victor was emotionless and just grabbed her arm and dragged her to the attic and started to prepare a cryogenic chamber for her. You are going to make a nice decoration! he shouted. I told you, didnt I? And you just would not listen! His pale eyes glowed with a white fire. Yet, just as he was about to push Enter and murder her, a tiny red beam pierced his forehead and a strange, harsh smell of burning flesh filled the room. Victor fell down, revealing Dheas father standing by the door. Her sister had figured that since Victor was not in town , and would not be back for at least a week, that she could invite their father for lunch and try to reconcile her father and sister. Fortunately enough their father arrived just as the fight between Victor and Dhea started.He heard his daughter screaming and rushed upstairs towards the screams to find his daughter in deadly danger.
Although the father was not a man who liked the way that Victor had lived, he moved to his house with his daughters, both of whom got happily married. The attic was cleaned and the women were properly buried but the cryogenic chamber received a new inhabitant. Dhea put Victors dead body in it and had it frozen to remain there for all time, never to be buried and feel heavenly peace. He was put in the centre of the attic and the room was sealed for eternity. There he remains, and even now, although this tale is from a galaxy far, far away and long ago, you can still hear his soul searching for peace and screaming in the night.

Marko Moracic

The handsome painter

Demon was a rich and famous painter who loved to paint nude women. He was rich in the sense that he owned every major gallery in the city where he lived, and so famous that every newspaper in town had at least one article about his social and private life. He owned a beautiful house in a deserted part of the suburbs surrounded by beautiful hills and an exquisite garden. Demons real pride was his vineyard and wine basement where he held his old wines. Many people who worked on his estate gossiped that there was something more in the wine basement than just wine. The word was out that the basement was the place where he kept his major works of art and they were only for him to see. However, that was only gossip, which made everyone indifferent to the issue.
Conversely to his wine and painting affiliations, Demons passions were also cars and women, which he never seemed to neglect. Everyone in town knew all about his affairs with women and that he had been married several times in the past. However, no one knew what happened to these women and why his marriages ended in such short fashion. Furthermore, what was very interesting was that all of his wives were his models before they got married to him. They were also very young and blinded by his beauty and charm.
As creative and handsome as Demon was, winning the hearts of young women was not a difficult task for him. This happened to be one of the reasons that he was married so many times. However, another strong attribute was his wealth, which was partly from his inheritance and partly from his work as a painter. Hence, the models he chose to paint did not have any difficulty in exposing and even submitting all of their selves to him. Demons appearance and charisma had a final say on his attractiveness and luck in every aspect of his social life.
After splitting with his last wife, Demon experienced a terrible car accident that left him with a face fracture, disfigured and burned skin. This accident entirely changed Demons life and made it a living hell. His attempts at plastic surgery ended unsuccessfully and did nothing to help Demon gain his beautiful face back. From an ideal personality and iconic face Demon turned into a monster, which every girl was afraid to meet. His iconic features ceased to exist, together with his image of a beautiful painter that every model enjoyed to be exposed before and painted by. Demons myth of a handsome painter died and now he was facing a new life that made him conceal what he had once shown off. At present, he was nothing more than a rich and ugly young man whose beauty and ideals were taken by a car crash.
Demon was so overtaken by his misery and outrage at his appearance that he decided to withdraw himself entirely from the social life he had lived before. Thus even his work as a painter did not make sense to him anymore. He was totally detached from the reality that surrounded him; and created his own world of solitude. Depression rubbed around his own net that he mentally constructed. There was nothing that would make him get back his creativity and desire for living. Everyday he sank deeper and deeper in his depression and self-loathing, and that caused him to become a real evil person.
Demons days were passing, and overtaken by his depression and agony, he could not grab his brush to paint anymore. Demons passion for painting had vanished. He surrendered himself to his pain and was apathetic about life and reality. Demon had neither friends nor girlfriends anymore; he was entirely overwhelmed by his present uncanny appearance that he lost the self-confidence and personality he once possessed.
One day the gardener of his house came and found Demon lying half-dead on the porch. He called the ambulance straight away. The doctor came and reacted immediately, however, the doctor decided that Demon was suffering from a lack of home care and socializing with people. Thus, he ascribed to him a nurse who would insure he underwent his therapy and communicated at least with her since he was so lonely.
The nurses name was Darla and to Demons luck she was a stunning woman in her mid-twenties and very much dedicated to her work. She tried in every way she could to make Demon respond to the world and pain, and thus heal him from his everyday agony and inner scars that the accident had left in him. Her efforts convinced Demon that inner beauty is what matters and not external appearance. Many times her struggles went in vain but she never gave up.
Darla was a passion-driven person to whom round-the-clock work hours were not tiresome. She was committed to her work as a nurse and approached Demon in a way that nobody had tried before. Her gentleness, compassion and persistence made Demon react in a positive manner and thus communicate with her. Demon became very fond of Darla and they were spending more and more time together. As each day passed by, Darla was increasingly indifferent to his disfigured appearance. She was falling in love with Demon and his personality, and she did not mind his appearance. Demon fell in love with Darla too and the sensation happened one night as they were having dinner. Demon proposed marriage to Darla. She accepted instantaneously, and they got married in the next couple of days. They had an intimate marriage at their house and went on honeymoon to a hacienda, which Demon owned in Mexico.
They were very happy and pleased with their lives and especially Demon who had never felt so much in love and content as he was feeling now. Because Demons passion for painting disappeared, Darla felt miserable that she had not accomplished her mission in bringing the old Demon back. Therefore, she decided she was not going to give up until she had reconciled this last part of the Demon puzzle, which he had lost in that car accident. Hence, she decided to provoke him to paint again. Darla pleaded with Demon to paint her naked so she would have his painting as a sign of his eternal love to her. Although she found it very difficult to persuade Demon, she eventually succeeded and for this reason Demon started to paint her. During his work, he felt very discontented with what he was doing and so admitted to her that this was not what he wanted. Demon confessed to Darla that after he survived the accident he promised himself that he was never going back to his indulgences nor paint again, but that he was doing this only to please her desire.
Painting Darla took him a few days and when he had finished painting her, Demon felt sad that the work was finished. Demon and Darla went to sleep very late that night and he promised her that the picture would be ready and that tomorrow he would show it to her but that she was not supposed to see it before the next day. However, Demon did not comprehend how tremendous Darlas anxiety was and how impatient she was. Thus, that same night Darla was restless and could not sleep at all. She was so impatient to see the painting that she woke up before sunrise and went to look for the painting. The picture was nowhere to be found. She searched everywhere in the house, porch, even the garden but she could not find the painting.
She accidentally remembered the rumors of her husbands sanctuary and where he kept his major works of art. She remembered the vineyard and went to look for the key. She went into his study room, looked for the key in Demons drawers, and finally found it. It was the biggest, the most ancient key of all, with Latin script written on it, and it was pointy as a real knife. Because that key seemed to be the most awkward key of all, Darla presumed that it was the right key and that it would unlock the basement door. She took it and opened the big and steely door of the basement. It was very dark inside so she turned on the light. The view was horrible. She encountered many paintings of dead women, most probably Demons previous wives, and attached to each painting a photo of their dead bodies.
Darla was shocked and she could not believe her own eyes. Inside the vineyard were paintings of dead women, Demons previous wives, and on top of each painting a picture taken of their dead bodies covered with red wine. Darla could not comprehend that she had married a true monster and that he was trying to do the same to her too. Demon was preparing to kill her the next day and Darla had discovered at the last moment. She got so upset and edgy that she did not know what to do and whom to tell.
Darla took the key, went out of the basement and in a tremendous panic started to run futilely. She had no idea from whom she was running because no one was there and she had no idea where she was running because there was no place to hide. She felt that wherever she would hide, Demon would find her, and this was true. Demon saw her running and started running after her until he caught her. Darla was so scared that she did not even wait for Demon to react. She took the basement key and stabbed Demon in the heart with it. He looked her in the eyes and before taking his last breath, he told that he loved her and he had not meant to do it. He told her that he had changed and he painted her only to comply with her wish. However, Darla did not believe him and she left him dead on the spot and ran away. No one knew what had become of her, although this was not anything new since no one recalled what happened to any of Demons wives.

Mimika Loshi

When the poor girl was alone, she called her sister to her and said:
"Sister Anne"--for that was her name--"go up, I implore you, to the top of the tower, and see if my brothers are not approaching. They promised that they would come and visit me today. If you see them, make signs to them to hasten."
Sister Anne went up to the top of the tower, and the poor unhappy girl cried out to her from time to time:
"Anne, Sister Anne, do you see nothing coming?" And Sister Anne replied:
"I see nought but dust in the sun and the green grass growing."
Presently Blue Beard, grasping a great cutlass, cried out at the top of his voice:
"Come down quickly, or I shall come upstairs myself."
"Oh please, one moment more," called out his wife.
And at the same moment she cried in a whisper:
"Anne, Sister Anne, do you see nothing coming?"
"I see," replied sister Anne, "a great cloud of dust which comes this way."
"Is it my brothers?"
"Alas, sister, no; it is but a flock of sheep."
"Do you refuse to come down?" roared Blue Beard.
"One little moment more," exclaimed his wife.
Once more she cried:
"Anne, Sister Anne, do you see nothing coming?"
"I see," replied her sister, "two horsemen who come this way, but they are yet a long way off. . . . Heaven be praised," she exclaimed a moment later, "they are my brothers. . . . I am signalling to them all I can to hasten."

Not a very long time ago, in a not-very-far-off land, a young girl, as beautiful as could be, turned sixteen. She was very wise, in spite of her young age. Wiser even than her parents, who did not think of her as anything more than a sixteen-year-old child. Since they were too busy tending to their wealth, she was raised by her grandmother, who had been a powerful white sorceress in her youth. Thus, the old woman taught the little girl all she knew of charms and spells, but most of all, she taught her the secret of the life she was to live: Listen to your heart, my child, listen to your heart, she would say.
And so, when Flamme turned sixteen (for this was the girls name), she already knew that wealth meant not happiness but sorrow, and did not want to follow her parents path. In that not-very-distant time and land, the custom was that girls should marry shortly after turning sixteen, and Flammes parents sought a rich and not very young spouse for her. They did not seek long, for wealth draws wealth like honey draws the bee. And without asking the young bride, they planned the wedding. Flamme had a younger sister, called Anne. So young was her sister, Anne, that she still had the childish habit of eavesdropping. And so it came to pass that Anne learned about the wedding and the old groom, and sighing, warned her sister.
Flamme did not think twice. She packed just a few things and bid her siblings farewell, happy to flee the golden birdcage. A life of journeys began and time went by unnoticed. She traveled from town to town, from desert to sea, from plain to mountain. The day she turned eighteen she stopped at the gates of a blue palace.
For the first time since she had left home, she suddenly felt a strange need to rest and maybe even dwell somewhere for a while. She knocked three times and the blue gates opened to a blue brick path crossing a garden full of blue forget-me-not flowers. She followed the path and the gate shut silently behind her. She entered the palace and stood amazed by the beauty of the gilded floors, by the silver plates and crystal glasses on huge oak tables, by the precious blue stones encrusted on the walls.
She thought the castle was abandoned until she saw a blue-bearded old man, wearing a blue crown, fast asleep on a high throne. She woke him up, and asked for his name. Glace is my name the old man said, and then kept quiet, looking at her with deep, wise eyes. Flamme was curious about the palace and all that blue surrounding them. After having silently looked at her, the old man rose and said: You were chosen to marry me and be the lady of this palace. Flamme felt strangely compelled to accept, and replied: I will marry you, old man, for my heart says I should, and I trust my heart. They wedded at a blue altar, without a priest, just by exchanging rings. A blue ring for young Flamme, a red ring for old Glace.
Not long after the marriage, her old husband fell ill and called her to his side. My child and spouse, you will soon become the sole owner of this palace. These are the keys to all the doors of the castle. You must open all of them and light them with your youth, except the one chamber this little black key opens. Do not attempt to enter this little chamber, for your young light shall not endure the old darkness that has been dwelling in there for ages. Do not open the little door, I beseech you. And now, farewell, my child and spouse. Go wake the blue palace to life.
And he died. And Flamme did everything she had been told. She opened all the doors and all the windows of the chambers to let the sun warm-up the cold blue walls. But when, at last, she had tried all the keys, she saw the little black key she was never to use. For night after night she couldnt sleep. And when she did, the dark little room haunted her dreams, and voices called on her softly. One day, she woke up and decided to put an end to her craving.
So Flamme unlocked the little black door and entered. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she saw the bodies of six young women hanging from the ceiling, looking as though life had simply been drained out of them. A soft warm voice murmured: I knew you would come, for you are not the candle, but the light. Its time to forsake the candle and be free. And the last thing Flamme saw was her husband Glace, no longer an old man, but shining with a blue light, bending over her with a kiss.
Not a very long time ago, in a not-very-far-off land, young Anne turned sixteen. And from that time, a voice calls softly in her sleep. Anne sistermy love And Anne dreams of a blue-brick path crossing a garden full of blue forget-me-nots, leading to a blue palace where an old blue-bearded man sleeps on a high throne. There, in a little dark room, seven red flames are waiting. For her.

Camelia Checeanu

Blue Beard let forth so mighty a shout that the whole house shook. The poor wife went down and cast herself at his feet, all disheveled and in tears.
"That avails you nothing," said Blue Beard; "you must die."
Seizing her by the hair with one hand, and with the other brandishing the cutlass aloft, he made as if to cut off her head.
The poor woman, turning towards him and fixing a dying gaze upon him, begged for a brief moment in which to collect her thoughts.
"No! no!" he cried; "commend your soul to heaven." And raising his arm--
At this very moment there came so loud a knocking at the gate that Blue Beard stopped short. The gate was opened, and two horsemen dashed in, who drew their swords and rode straight at Blue Beard. The latter recognized them as the brothers of his wife--one of them a dragoon, and the other a musketeer--and fled instantly in an effort to escape. But the two brothers were so close upon him that they caught him ere he could gain the first flight of steps. They plunged their swords through his body and left him dead. The poor woman was nearly as dead as her husband, and had not the strength to rise and embrace her brothers.
It was found that Blue Beard had no heirs, and that consequently his wife became mistress of all his wealth. She devoted a portion to arranging a marriage between her sister Anne and a young gentleman with whom the latter had been for some time in love, while another portion purchased a captain's commission for each of her brothers. The rest formed a dowry for her own marriage with a very worthy man, who banished from her mind all memory of the evil days she had spent with Blue Beard

HOW DOGS CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

It was pretty difficult for him to get a wife. Its true, he was the wealthiest man in the whole country, with huge residences in all major cities, owner of the top TV network, the top radio company, and the most-read daily newspaper. But he was presently not married, despite all of it. And it was getting rather late, since he would turn 50 the following spring, and he knew that aging would not help, especially since he seemed to drive away most women he tried his luck with. First, it was the fact that he had had four or five wives that had vanished, and nobody knew where and how, even though some investigations had been conducted by the local police force. Of course, they were all on his payroll, and so there was little chance of him ever being caught with anything unlawful. However, some women would have been willing to forget about that, in exchange for the glamorous life he could offer, but his madman outbursts scared most anybody off. He would sometimes appear dressed as a beggar to fancy parties, or walk down the main street of the capital in womens clothes. And, if you looked him in the eye you could be sure of losing sleep for a few weeks, not to mention the violent way in which it was said he treated his employees. However, after a careful search, he decided that he wanted as his wife the young daughter of the mayor of a Western border town, a very beautiful maiden, just out of her teenage years, well educated and intelligent, who was not too poor so as to marry him only for his money, and not too rich either, so as to be very pampered and spoiled. At first the girl wouldnt hear about it, despite her fathers constant pleas or, rather, threats. The old man was not very happy to give his daughter to such a frightful husband, but he knew that a refusal on behalf of their family would be a sure ticket toward destruction by the powerful pretender. And so he suggested to the rich man that he throw a party in honor of his desired one, with all the wealth and glory he could manage, counting on the fact that such a young mind could easily be impressed. And, indeed, at the end of the evenings festivities, the girl, a little dizzy from drinking champagne and dancing all night, found her potential husband not so awful any longer She agreed to the marriage, which took place a month later in the biggest abbey of the nation, with the president, the prime minister, the head of the police, and various other prominent figures as honorary guests. A surprise came on the wedding night, when the husband just kissed his bride goodnight on the forehead and retreated to his chambers, without performing any of the celebrations usually expected under such circumstances. The girl did not mind much, since he did not seem to her particularly attractive. However, after he had continued in the same manner all through the honeymoon, she became suspicious, and, since she did not have anyone to talk to about it, she started keeping a diary. One day she forgot to switch off the computer after making her daily entry, and so he had access to her files without the need of a password. When he saw what she had been writing, he started questioning her, with the famous insane look in his eyes, on whether she had told anyone else. Seeing how relieved he was at her negative response, and how strongly he forbade her to talk to anyone about this, her curiosity was aroused. And so she started searching for articles in magazines and scholarly journals, and pretty soon was well versed on the matter of male impotence, which was what she assumed her husband was suffering from, all of this in great secrecy. However, something else happened during the process - she became thirsty for knowledge, and so she asked her husband to allow her to continue her studies. The husband, who was generally very busy, agreed, since he didnt want his young wife to suffer from boredom. In college, she took almost only psychology and sexuality courses, and pretty soon she was a rising star of the profession, giving lectures and counselling others on the matter. However, in order to become a certified psychologist, the law required her to go to sessions with one herself, and so she did. During one session, when she had already come to trust her therapist completely, passing over the resistance period, and already displaying strong transference symptoms, she told the doctor about her strange marriage. What she didnt know, though, was that her psychologist gave detailed accounts of what she said during each session to her husband, in exchange for large sums of money, and pretty soon he was informed about her disobedience. When he returned home that evening, he went straight to her room, locked the door, and told her the story of his previous five wives, which he had killed precisely for the same reason. He told her that now she would have to die, too. In terror, he begged him to allow her to see her dog one last time. He gave her 15 minutes for this purpose, and so she descended to the large yard of their house, and called the dog to her. The dog was a beautiful mixture of a Labrador Retriever and a Red Irish Setter, very bright and very well trained, and he understood every word his mistress told him. She told the dog to run to the police station around the corner and make the squad on duty come over immediately. The dog wagged his tail, signalling he understood, and then she opened the gate and let him run, which he did. After the 15 minutes had elapsed, she reluctantly returned to her husband, doing her best to delay the moment of her execution. However, he had already prepared the chainsaw he had used on all his previous wives, and she almost gave up hope. Luckily, there was not enough fuel in the engine, and he went to refill it, thus giving her a few more minutes, and renewing her optimism. However, he had already started the chainsaw and grabbed her hair to have a better hold on her head for the purpose of killing her, when she heard the barking of her faithful dog, and the alarm of the police car. He stopped short of cutting through her neck, being prompted by the policeman to stop the chainsaw. As he refused to do so, the policeman shot him, and seconds later the grateful widow was hugging her dog, crying tears of happiness at her newly found freedom and the affluence she would inherit. She was already making plans on what a beautiful wedding she would have with a colleague from college that she had secretly been having an incipient affair with.
Oana Uiorean

Bluebeard Urban Version

Nancy was a cool babe. She rocked the party and was the queen of the streets. Oh yeah, Nancy wanted to get the most out of her life. She thought that when life gives you a key, you have to try all the doors.

One sunny day, the door of a silver X-type Jaguar opened, and a shiny Armani shoe stepped on the concrete. A gust of wind brought her the scent of Hugo Boss and she knew immediately that this was a very, very respectable gentleman.

Oooh hot! Was it love at first sight? My name is Beard Bleu, Jr., he said, call me Blue. Indeed, the gentleman had a colored, but very stylish moustache and a short devilish beard of an unnatural blue, which matched marvellously his Gucci suit and sunglasses.

Nancy was not at all disturbed by his nickname or his looks, maybe a tad by his Spanish or French accent. Nancy was too dazzled by the car, the clothes and especially the perfume that she could not refuse a dinner with the Mr. Beard. A door is about to be opened, she thought.

It wasnt too long until Mr. Beard invited her to his apartments, as you might have guessed. Of all the luxuries found in his mansion, Nancy enjoyed most the Jacuzzi and the indoor swimming pool by the garden. She was eager to try all the chick things Blue had to offer.

Mr. Beard soon had to attend to his business, and he left Nancy with all the luxuries all to herself for a few days. He gave her the keys to the mansion, but warned her not to go into the basement. Thats the part of the house you dont need to know he told her. Dont open the basement door, or Ill make sure you never open it again.

Stunned by the words of Mr. Bluebeard, Nancy pledged not to go against his will and to wait quietly for his return.

She could not resist the temptation, however, and invited her gang for a wild chick party the very same evening.

Momma! And what a party it was! The mansion rocked all night, filled to the brim with dudes and babes that only dreamed of such luxury. Some shook their booties in a tight dance crowd in the dining hall, while others enjoyed the privacy of the far corners of the estate and of the many rooms. Music blasted through open windows into the garden and echoed in both swimming pools.

While the party rocked on, Nancy could not help herself and so snuck into the basement. For courage, she took with her one of her boyfriends. As they descended into the basement and stood in front of the door, Nancy took out the key. After a short pause of final deliberation, she put it into the keyhole and turned.
What a shock it was! Through the darkness of the large basement, they saw the floor covered with puddles of clotted blood. When their eyes got used to the gloomy and cold darkness, they realized that the blood was from womens dead bodies, stretched on the walls, tables and all over the floor.

Mr. Beard returned unexpectedly early from his business, and Nancy could not hide her shock, nor could she wash off the key stained with blood, nor could she hide the bloody footprints on the fur carpets.

Did you open the basement door, Nancy? asked Mr. Beard with Arctic-cold politeness. His elegance and sophistication now resembled elegance of a cobra before attack. Did you?

Nancy could not speak. She dropped the key and ran for her life, locking herself in a room. Mr. Beard however had the key and opened doors one by one, as she ran from room to room, vainly locking and propping doors behind her.

At last she had no more rooms to run into but the indoor pool. Now the exquisite style of the pool, the dancing light reflected from the surface of the water, the large columns around and the echo off the marble walls made this luxury a perfect sepulture site. Nancy couldnt feel her knees anymore, she lumped to the floor at the other end of the pool, watching Mr. Bluebeard approach with a butcher knife in his hand. Embracing a column, she began to plead and yell in tears. No, please, no All because of one stupid key and one stupid door! she whispered, without being able to say anything more.

Yes, yes! thundered Bluebeard from across the pool, slowly approaching his helpless victim. You unfaithful tramp! Now you have to die, like the rest of them! roared he and lifted the knife, as he came closer and closer.

This very moment, Nancys two brothers approached the house, as they used to come check on their sister after wild parties like the one the previous night. They knew Nancy had to be in the mansion. Finding that nobody answered the phone, which rang madly while Nancy ran from room to room, and that the gates were open, they walked up to the mansion.

Hearing her brothers calls outside, Nancy regained her courage and gathered all of her strength. She dashed for the exit at the other end of the pool, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Hearing their sisters desperate cry, the brothers rushed through the garden. Seeing Mr. Beard towering over Nancy with a knife through theglass walls of the swimming pool, they drew their guns and shot him through the window.

Nancy recovered, but she never again partied like before, and she never uses her keys to open strange doors.

Anatolie Cernii

Moral
Ladies, you should never pry--
You'll repent it by and by!
'Tis the silliest of sins;
Trouble in a trice begins.
There are, surely--more's the woe!--
Lots of things you need not know.
Come, forswear it now and here--
Joy so brief, that costs so dear!
Another Moral
You can tell this tale is old
By the very way it's told.
Those were days of derring-do;
Man was lord, and master too.
Then the husband ruled as king.
Now it's quite a different thing;
Be his beard what hue it may--
Madam has a word to say!

Once in the 21st century, in one highly developed state in the USA, there lived a businessman who owned a huge computer company and was very wealthy. He used to wear very expensive suits, eat at the best restaurants, and drive the most fashionable cars. However, he had one big disadvantage: his beard was blue. So, in spite of how famous and wealthy he was, no girl employed in his company and no other girl wanted to go out with him, not to mention getting married to him because his beard was so strange and unfashionable. People said that several girls had gone out with him in the past, in some other states where he used to work, and all of them, supposedly, disappeared. But this was only a rumour going around, and no one really believed it.
Among the employees in his company, there were two girls working in his office: his personal assistant and his secretary, who were both very beautiful, hardworking and intelligent. Though Blue Beard, as his employees called him secretly, invited both girls to go out with him, they refused, saying politely that they were busy or tired. This happened many times.
In order to become better acquainted with these girls, Blue Beard decided to organize a big party at his house and invite all of his employees, hundreds of them. His house was more like a castle, so there was enough space for everyone. The party was magnificent: there were many different sorts of wine and whiskey, various exotic meals, and several orchestras played different kinds of music on each floor The house was decorated so nicely, and Blue Beard was so gentle that evening, so the younger girl, his personal assistant, started to think that his blue beard was actually cool and attractive, and that it might be interesting to know him better.
The next day, on the job, when Blue Beard asked the girls again if they wished to go out with him, the younger one agreed, and they went out together that very evening. Blue Beard picked her up with his beautiful long white limousine, and they went to the best, highly fashionable and most popular restaurant The girl had a very nice time and at the end Blue Beard invited her to his house for a drink. She agreed.
In his huge living room, while they were drinking their whiskeys with ice, a phone on the second floor rang and Blue Beard had to climb upstairs to answer it.
It is an important business call and I need to make a deal with one of my main partners. Excuse me. I will be back in fifteen minutes, I promise. You make yourself comfortable, have one more drink, watch TV or use this computer here, walk around, just enjoy yourself! Blue Beard really wanted to make the girl feel comfortable. But, please, just dont turn on that old white computer in the corner, because I would be angry. OK?
OK, chief, no problems.
After he went upstairs, she started watching TV on a magnificent screen that covered the whole wall. Then, she checked her email on the new super-fast computer in front of her (it was a Pentium VII, and only a few people in the world had it at that time), but she wondered what the secret of the old small computer was. She heard Blue Beard talking on the phone upstairs, so she decided to look at the computer. It was a very old, slow computer, created some 40 years ago, and no one used it anymore. Why would he need this computer when he can have anything he wants? the girl asked herself. There must be something special about it, and I must find out what it is. I must. She turned it on and there were only several files inside. Her curiosity made her open each of them. The girl was shocked. In each of the files there was a picture of a dead young woman in Blue Beards hands! All the women in the pictures were of her age, and Blue Beard was smiling in each picture. The girl started shaking, and wanted to turn off the computer as soon as possible because she heard Blue Beards steps. He had finished his phone conversation. Unfortunately, she could not turn off the computer because it was blocked. She took her coat and put it over the monitor, hoping that Blue Beard would not notice it. She quickly returned to the sofa and pretended that she was watching TV.
When he came down and apologized for leaving her alone for so long, he instantly saw fear in her eyes, and he guessed what she had done. He looked at the old computer in the corner, and saw her coat there.
Oh, it seems that you were not able to resist your temptation, were you? Nice, niceWell, girl, if you like that computer so much, we will create your own file inside! What do you think about it? Prepare yourself to enter my gallery of pictures!
The girl started crying and begging him not to hurt her, but it seemed that Blue Beard had no emotions. He went to his working table, opened an offset in it and took out a gun. It was a new, modern laser gun, which produced no sound and the victim died in a second. The girl realized that her end was close, and she asked him for several moments to pray for her soul.
I give you fifteen minutes, and not a second more, and you must pray here, in this room, so I can keep my eye on you.
The girl went to a corner of the room, turned her back to Blue Beard who was sitting on the sofa, and knelt.
Blue Beard was checking the latest CNN news on the Internet, so the girl decided to use the moment and took out a miniature mobile phone from her pocket. She sent a short message to a friend of hers, another girl from her office. She asked her to call the police immediately, and gave her the number of the closest police station, where two brothers of the girl worked. Time was passing fast. In several minutes the girl received a reply from the friend, who said that the police phone line was busy and that she would try again. Time was passing, and Blue Beard started to call the girl. She asked him to give her several more minutes, just to finish her prayer. She sent another SOS to her friend, asking if the police were coming. The friend replied that the line was free, and that she had informed the police about the emergency, and that they were on their way. Blue Beard approached the girl, and she had to stand up.
Heaven be praised, she said and got up.
Blue Beard took her to the sofa, put her on it and pointed his laser gun at her. She was weeping, desperately, but Blue Beard paid no attention to her. She asked him for one more moment to say the last prayer, but he did not even want to hear about it. At the moment when he pointed the gun at her, a big window of the living room broke into pieces and two guys from special police forces jumped inside. They were dressed in black, with masks over their faces, and they pointed their laser shotguns at Blue Beard. He tried to shoot them, but they were trained policemen and they shot him first. He fell dead on the floor. The girl was crying on the sofa, in shock. The two policemen were her brothers, and they took care of her.
Later, the investigation showed that Blue Beard had killed seven young girls, all of whom worked for him as personal assistants in different states. Their bodies were never found and that is why there had been no evidence with which to accuse Blue Beard of anything. This last girl, who discovered him and whose brothers killed him, got a large reward for exposing this mass killer. Her brothers were also rewarded and became famous sergeants in the police force. Soon afterwards, she became president of the company because Blue Beard had no heirs and the employees in the company decided that this girl should be their boss, because she was very hardworking and intelligent. Another girl, who was Blue Beards secretary, became vice-president. Soon afterwards, both the president and vice-president fell in love and got married to their business partners. They united their companies into a big successful company and lived happily ever after.

Miladin Bogetic

Disclaimer:
I tried to write a true modern tale, an attempt to produce a narration interesting for the modern reader as much as Perraults was for those who read him in his time. No doubt a far too ambitious task, the story (I strongly hope) turns out to be fun for reading and interesting for following. I hope youll like it.

Ivan B. B.

Most of you will probably remember the striking story that was spread around by the newspapers a couple of months ago. Well, since I am completely aware that many of you are already bored to death by it, I shall just add a couple of personal details that I have not shared previously with the public. These are my personal experiences with the affair between my closest friend Peter Winnington-Ball and the lady that The Times so aptly called the Blue Hair.

By the time the story started, I was running my small gallery in the western part of the Chelsea quarter of London. Claiming that my business was very successful would have been a gross overstatement, yet I did not have a lot of things to complain about. I lived in a small house near the gallery with my closest friend -- the gentleman in question, Peter Winnington-Ball, a young artist with considerable skill and passion for art in his heart. He was quite proud of his original technique of expressing his emotions on the white canvas, and I was completely convinced that he had a great future as an artist. He had not sold too many pictures by the time the story began, yet without doubt, the future was wide open before him.

Everything started on a sunny morning sometime in mid-August. The sun was shining, a couple of white clouds hung over the horizon -- in short, a perfect morning to be alive. Peter and I were having a cup of coffee in the lounge of my gallery, discussing the next exhibition, which would have saved my humble business from oblivion. Then the bell rang. We looked at each other, then I yelled: Come in! A lady entered, and as she slowly came through the frame of the door I managed to get a better look at her. She was a young woman with fine and gentle structure, pretty face, and indignant air. However, I could not lift my eyes off her hair -- it was as blue as the trousers of an Ottoman sultan from the 14th century. Not that it was ugly -- it was striking, and somehow not entirely lady-like. She moved in slowly and graciously, and said:
Morning, gentlemen, how do you do? I am looking for Mr. Winnington-Ball.
I looked at Peter and mumbled:
Hullo, hullo.... Heres he, himself.
Peter looked far more shocked than me. I thought it would be better to leave them alone, so continued my mumbling with:
Errrrrrrr, well, the coffee upstairs.....errrr, boiling, perhaps, you know, fire alarms, indeed......
She gave me a look as if she was dismissing me, and I did not hesitate too much along the stairs. I was terribly curious as to what was going on down there. Not that I am a diehard eavesdropper or a keen key-hole spectator, but, well come on, it is not every day that a blue-haired lady comes in for a chat with your best friend at such an ungodly hour as 08:30 in the morning. And it just so happened that I had some quiet work to do on the balcony, just above them. I did not even had to strain my ears -- the gallery is pretty small.
Heres the dialogue I heard:

It is a real pleasure for me to meet you, Mr Winnington, she said.
Urghhhh, aaaaaaaaa, Peter, my pleasure, of course.
Call me Isabelle, she half-whispered
Yes, Isabelle, of course, indeed, gurgled the poor thing, like a ruptured boiler.
I have come to discuss a business issue with you.
Have you? Oh, great! Excellent! How nice of you. I felt the note of relief in Peters voice -- the day when the rent would be due was coming in like the Scotland express.
I want a painting. There was something mystical about her voice.
But of course, painting, indeed, errrr, paintings is what I do, right? The poor bloke was completely babbling.
I want you to do a re-painting for me of a classical portrait of Lucretia Borgia.
Have you heard a cat purr? Of course you have. Well, there was something of a purring vibration at the back of her voice.
But of course, a re-painting, of course, indeed, no problem.
Now, that was a shock. Peter was proud of not having ever painted any reproductions, and he swore he never would. I was just short of falling down from the balcony square between them.
I have the original. The purring became more persistent. I want a copy. When can you start? I have everything necessary in my Chelsea flat, a couple of blocks away.
Uhhhhhhh, well, ....anytime you say, sure enough. I could not believe my ears.
Tomorrow morning, then. Here is my card, you will find the address, I am completely convinced. Have a nice day now...Peter
A pause.
Ergh....have a ergh, a nice day, Isidore.
Isabelle. A smile hinted in the word.
Isabelle.

The door closed as I came down the stairs. Peter was sitting in his chair, eyes fixed on the upper-left corner if the hall.

How did it go? I couldnt admit Id been listening, after all.
Oh, great.
Something new?
Aha.
Really?
Aha.
Idiot, I thought.
And what is it?
A painting.
Seriously?
Aha.
Listen. I could not handle it any more Tell me what happened, or I shall break your bloody neck.
Eyes still on the upper corner, he said:
A reproduction, you know. I know what youll think -- I am getting commercialised. Not quite true. She was begging me for a favour. Now, I cant resist a plea from a lady, you know quite well. Even though she has that absurd blue hair of hers, you saw her, didnt you? But there is something so mystical and mysterious about her. I could not resist the temptation to learn a bit more about her. And, you know, the money will surely come in handy, right? That dragon of a landlord will eat me alive if I dont pay on time again.
Suddenly the upper corner lost its importance. He looked down at his shoelaces.
And I am not compromising my principles, sure enough. Its about curiosity and money, am I right?
Sure, old chap, sure. What could I say after all?

Next morning he went out. Came back in the evening. I was arranging the hall all day. He came in in a flurry. Talked like Niagara falls:
A great flat, dash it! That girl has scored a top notch pad! Great view, great space! Arrangement -- phew! Bugger, I wish I had something like that!
Hows the painting going?
Oh, just great. A piece of cake. These classics are so easy to copy. I could never dream of copying a Picasso so easily. It is a Borgia, or something of that sort. Isabelle seems to have a passion for that Lucilla.
Lucretia.
The same.
Im going to bed now. Ill have to work hard tomorrow.
Have a nice sleep, I said.
Ditto, and he disappeared.

In the course of the following weeks he became even more and more passionate about the whole affair. One evening, while sipping on a cup of the Souths best, he said:
You know, there is blue and blue. Now, you have the faceless, mundane blue, you have the plain light blue, and on the other hand, you have the deep, passionate blue, the engulfing blue, the blue of life and mystery.
I raised an eyebrow.
Well, sure enough. You are the artist, you know the colours.
Indeed, you are right. Take for an example the blue of this car across the street. It is a simple colour, it tells you everything right off. Now, take for example, errrr, what......, errr, for example, Isabelles hair colour. Now, thats a completely different story.
I raised a second eyebrow.
Oh, is it?
But of course! The difference is one of light years. Its like the difference between pornographic and erotic! One shows everything outright, the other makes you crave to see it all! Oh, by the way, Isabelle and I are going to her summer house in Cannes next week.
I ran out of eyebrows, so just said:
Oh, are you?
Yes, she wants to show me her collection of Lucilla Borgias accessories.
Hehe, she looks bloody keen about the LUCRETIA, right? And she seems quite well off, financially, I mean. It was getting interesting for me indeed.
Oh, yes, she is a real aficionado of the woman. And yes again, her father left her more money than you can possibly imagine.

Ill take a short break here. I am quite an old-fashioned person, and I am quite loath to speak ill of a woman. Yet, there was something odd about this blue-haired young lady. I could not tell what or why, but I could never have become attracted to her. Nevertheless, Peter seemed to be a completely different story.

So, off they went, and came back in two weeks. One not-so-shiny day Peter trotted in the front door, and bellowed:
How ho, old mule?
Right ho, stinky bastard! I was so glad to see him.
Hey, I am accepting congratulations! Isabelle and I got engaged! The wedding is next month! Itll be in her hunting lodge up there at Cheshire! If I dont see you there, Ill blast the hell out of you! What is more important, I shall not give my next exhibition -- which is ready -- in your gallery.
Peter and I had known each other since childhood. I was really happy for him. After discussing the good news, we discussed the exhibition.
It is called Sky and Sea -- all in blue! This is the greatest, most magnificent colour in the Universe. I do not want to be impertinent, but I think that God wears blue!
Ergh, Pete, you stupid old idiot, you are pushing it a bit too much, dont you?
Well, I know, but I am so fascinated by Isabelle, you know....

And so they married. I am taking a brief break from my personal experience in order to maintain the story. So, thus it happened one day (I believe it was in late March, if I recall correctly) that Isabelle, who acted like the perfect wife (as much as her blue hair allowed her to) had to go on a trip to Europe. Paris, in particular. Pacco Raban wanted to have a chat with her in order to gain inspiration for his new line, you know. So, she gave our chap Peter all the keys from all her possessions, in case he wanted to have an artists party, or something of the sort. Off the topic, I have seen MANY artists parties, and I am pretty much sure that this is not what one wants to see in his / her own house. So, she really loved Peter -- I cant imagine a normal human being giving a permission for an ARTISTS party without being fooled and duped by love (or being on hard drugs -- which she wasnt, Peter swore, even after the following showdown.) She told him:
Dear little Winnie (thats what she called him), here are the keys for everything, as well as the credit cards. Please, just do not enter the small room down on the ground floor, this is the little privacy I have preserved for myself. Nothing interesting inside -- just my heritage from Lucretia, here she smiled slyly, kissed our fellow goodbye, and jumped into her red, convertible two-seater.
Naturally, Peter had a HORRIBLE artists party, smashing up virtually the whole house and half of the adjacent ones. I didnt go, because it was the very same day when my girl Catherine left me, because I had been persistently indecisive and impractical. In spite of all the pleas, I did not go.
While a wild band of artists were thrashing the places guts out, Peter -- you have probably seen how curious he was -- could not resist the temptation to solve the mystery of the small room on the ground floor. So in he went. In the beginning he saw nothing, for it was pretty dark inside. Then he realised that the small room had many shelves with jars on them. Jars, full of some liquid, in which parts of human bodies -- male bodies -- floated. At that very moment Peter remembered the whispers of some people during the wedding about previous husbands of Isabelle. The poor bloke was in shock. He dropped the key, and while he tried to pick it up, he touched a jar, and the jar fell down and broke to pieces (the jar had a couple of toes in it, Peter later said). The liquid that preserved the body parts splashed around and soaked the key. Peter ran out, and tried to wash the key, but could not completely remove the smell of formaldehyde. Exactly at this point he heard the familiar Honk-honk of Isabelles two-seater in the garden. It turned out that she had come back earlier. She came in, and Peter gave her back the keys. She asked:
Ha, whats that smell?
Ah, nothing, my new after-shave, Peter mumbled.
After-shave, you say?
Yes, do you like it?
Well, not quite. Are you sure you havent entered the small room on the ground floor?
Sure as hell.
Well, thats fine. Ill make something to eat. Are you hungry?
Peters one of those lads who is always hungry.
But of course, my dear.

She went and made a supper. They ate, and Peter said:
Uhhhh, great. I love your meals. Just, dont you think the soup tasted somewhat strange?
Of course it tasted strange. The strange taste came from the five boxes of tranquillizer pills that I put in it. You lied to me. You entered the small room on the ground floor, you liar. You broke a jar, as well! Now, youll die for that. I love you so much, so that I have chosen the least painful way. Youll just go and sleep, and you wont wake up!

Peter was horrified, and ran to his painting room. Isabelle had switched off all phones, so he managed to find only his cellular phone.

And here comes my role again. I was taking my afternoon nap when my cellular phone rang. When I looked at it, I couldnt believe my eyes. It was Peter. He never used cellular phones. Claimed that he preferred the more romantic way of communication -- pigeons, for example, blue ones, at that. Anyway, he was ringing. I thought something fishy was coming up. I picked up. He yelled:
Mate, I am dying! Listen to me and do not interrupt me -- I am already passing away! My toes just switched off, and I cant feel them! Isabelle has poisoned me! With five packs of tranquillizers! She murdered her previous husbands, and since I found this out, shes poisoned me! Please, mate, hurry up! Youre my only hope! Im here at her Chelsea house!

What could I do? Tell me, what could I do? I grabbed the phone, and the first person I could think of was Catherine, my already former girlfriend. She is a doctor at the Chelsea municipality hospital. I rang her and shouted:
Do not contradict me! Do exactly as I say! Take anti-poisoning pills for a tranquillizer overdose! Peter is dying -- Isabelle has poisoned him with five boxes! Im coming in five minutes!

I jumped into the car, and raced to Catherines workplace. I took her from there, and we sped up to Isabelles house. The big ground door of the house was locked. I banged on it a couple of times, to no avail. I jumped into the car, put it into reverse, then sped up to the door. A bush, some, flowers, the door, more flowers, a sofa, a pillar -- BANG! We were in!
Quite practical, Catherine said.
And quite decisive, at that, I grumbled.

We rushed upstairs. Suddenly, Isabelle appeared, with a big knife. I told you, I am quite old-fashioned. I could not afford getting stabbed a couple of times due to this old-fashionedness. Catherine and I walked over Isabelles unconscious body, and managed to find Peter just by the time he claimed his mind was shutting off. I slapped him a couple of times, he came to, and Catherine managed to do everything necessary to save him.

Thats about it. In the aftermath, Catherine and I got back together, and were getting married next month. Isabelle went to a hospital for mentally challenged individuals. Peter dropped painting. He is a photographer now. In my small, yet already quite famous gallery, his series of latest pictures from Egypts western desert is now showing. The exhibition is extremely popular, and is called Saqqara -- the Red Desert. He managed to find a black-haired girlfriend from a Berber tribe somewhere off the northern coast of Tunisia on his way back home from Egypt.

Moral: Dont be too curious, because you become too vulnerable to manipulation. It helps business (if you have a gallery) if your name appears in The Sun, The Mirror, and The Times for a month as frequent as that of Tony Blair.

Ivan B. Balabanov

Nancy was a cool babe. She rocked the party and was the queen of the streets. Oh yeah, Nancy wanted to get most out of her life. She thought that when life gives you a key, you have to try all the doors.. A.C.

She knocked three times and the blue gates opened to a blue-brick path crossing a garden full of blue Forget-me-not flowers. She followed the path and the gate shut silently behind her... They wedded in a blue altar, without a priest, just by exchanging rings. Blue ring for young Flamme, red ring for old Glace... C.C.

Her curiosity made her open each of the files Unfortunately, she could not turn off the computer because it was blocked. She took her coat and put it over the monitor M.B.