The Chains

It was a moonless night. Thick clouds swallowed what little light the sky offered, and silence gripped the village like an iron fist. Yet, from the abandoned mansion at the edge of the fields, there came a sound—soft at first, but steady.
Clink… clink… clink…
Like rusted iron chains dragging across cold stone.

Nathan, known among his friends as the bravest—or the most foolish—had accepted their dare. With nothing but a flickering lantern in his trembling hand, he stepped through the broken gates of the mansion. The air inside was colder, heavy with the scent of damp wood and something else… something metallic.

His footsteps echoed as he walked deeper into the mansion, the wooden floorboards groaning under his weight. Then he saw them—chains sprawled across the floor, covered in rust and dark stains that looked suspiciously like old, dried blood. Nathan's heart thumped harder against his ribs.

He raised his lantern a little higher.
That’s when he saw it.

A figure.
Tall. Thin. Its head hung low, and long hair masked its face.
And in its bony hands… it gripped chains.
Heavy, blood-stained chains.

The sound grew louder.
Clink… clink… clink…

Nathan's voice cracked as he stammered, "W-who's there?"

The figure froze. Slowly, painfully, it lifted its head. Hollow black eyes stared back at him—deep, empty, like the endless void. And then it started moving, dragging the chains behind it as it shuffled toward him.
Clink… clink… clink…

Nathan’s lantern flickered wildly and then went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.

A scream tore through the still night air—sharp and desperate—and then… silence.

The next morning, when the villagers gathered at the mansion’s gate, they found nothing. No sign of Nathan. Only the same old chains lying still on the floor.

But that was not the end.

A week later, Nathan's closest friend, Lucas, discovered something hidden deep within the village library—an old, dust-covered journal belonging to the mansion's original owner, Lord Everhart. According to the journal, centuries ago, Lord Everhart had been obsessed with the idea of immortality. He had made a dark pact with an ancient spirit that promised him eternal life—but at a terrible price.

In the dead of night, Lord Everhart had bound his own servants in chains, sacrificing them one by one in a hidden chamber beneath the mansion. Their souls were trapped, forced to roam the mansion forever, dragging their chains as punishment for their master's sins.

But the journal hinted at an even darker secret.
Lord Everhart had failed to complete the ritual. His own soul had become trapped among the very servants he betrayed—cursed to wander with them, chained for eternity. And every few decades, the chains grew hungry, demanding a new soul to bind.

The villagers whispered that Nathan’s scream was not just a cry for help—it was the moment his soul was claimed, shackled, and added to the cursed procession.

Now, they say, if you walk past the mansion at midnight, you will hear not one chain… but two.
Clink… clink… clink… clink…
Growing louder… and closer… with every passing year.

And sometimes, if you're unlucky enough, you might catch a glimpse of a figure standing at the window—tall, thin, with hollow black eyes. And beside him, another figure, newer, still fresh… still screaming silently behind the curtain of chains.

But by then, it’s already too late.

The Chains — Part Two
Some chains are not meant to bind others, but to free oneself.

Months passed, and still, there was no sign of Nathan. The villagers, gripped by fear, avoided even looking at the mansion. But Lucas couldn’t find peace. Deep in his heart, he believed his friend was still out there—trapped, suffering, waiting.

One clear night, under the full moon's light, Lucas gathered his courage. He read the old journal again and found a hidden clue:
"Only he who breaks the chains not from others, but from his own sins, shall be free."

Armed with a shining crucifix and a pouch of blessed salt, Lucas stepped into the mansion.
The chains still lay scattered on the floor, but now their clinking echoed heavier than ever.
Clink… clink… clink… clink…

Then, he saw Nathan's shadow.
But Nathan was no longer the friend he knew. His eyes were pitch black, his hands gripping the rusted chains that slithered across the ground.
Beside him stood the shadow of Lord Everhart—tall, terrifying, and bound in chains that pulsed like living things.

Lucas cried out, "Nathan! You're not theirs! You're my friend!"
But Nathan kept dragging the chains, coming closer and closer.

Lucas slammed the crucifix to the ground and shouted, "You will all be free only when you stop chaining others and face your own sins!"

At those words, the mansion walls trembled.
The chains shuddered… and then shattered.
The chains fell from Nathan's shadow, and light flickered back into his eyes. Lord Everhart’s figure let out a monstrous scream and dissolved into the darkness.
The mansion's ceiling began to collapse.

Lucas grabbed Nathan, and together they ran out just as the ground swallowed the cursed mansion whole.


---

Moral:
Those who bind others in chains end up the most imprisoned themselves. True freedom comes only when we forgive others and confront the darkness within our own souls.