Dear readers,

This story may be troubling for some, however, it was brought to my attention recently by an associate of mine. 

That associate of mine is a fairly well known writer, with his name being Roy Herlmine. Herlmine is my editor, who is currently helping me with my book, ‘Various Philosophies, by Grace Stirling’. 

Enough unnecessary detail. Herlmine told me this story only two weeks ago, and I have not been able to forget such an event. 

This particular incident took place at the Ross Bloom restaurant in London. 

The restaurant in particular is known for being a hotspot for wealthy persons, interesting characters, and whatnot. This fact of which is something to bear in mind as I continue.

Herlmine had finished his work at the office, and as a treat, decided to head over to the place. He brought along his fiancé, Jane Lourington. The two had been partners for around two years at this point, and Herlmine had planned to propose on this night. 

As Herlmine was leaving, a gentle rain began to downpour. This was just as much as a minor inconvenience for him, as the restaurant was just across the street from him. However, Jane had to walk over several blocks to get there.

As soon as Herlmine saw Jane, he rushed over to her with a massive amount of delight. Jane was not impressed, due to how wet his clothes were, but respected his patience. 

The two then continued about their walk, making conversation about their days, and whatnot. For those interested, Jane works in a newsagent. A relatively small one from what I can recall, called The Ancient-They focus on history and such. Anyways, so the two had made their way to the restaurant, and went over to their table. 

Herlmine noticed a few or so people from his office, and as he recalled to me, ‘It was rather an annoyance having to explain each time who Jane was and why she was there.’ I think you can tell that he’s not the most sociable of fellas, but he did put in effort this time, so I’ll give him that. (I wish I was given the same amount of effort when we’re together, but alas).

They went over to the table. It was the second table that sat next to a large, golden framed and perfect window, with a stellar view of the city below. There was also a golden chandelier, with who-knows-how-many candles above them. He really worked his socks off for this one, it would be amusing if the two didn’t stick with the relationship after this, but don’t worry, they’re still together.

Jane was stunned by the dazzling sight before her; Golden chairs, with cotton seat cushions, beautiful champagne glasses, with sparkles coming off them from all angles, and placed on top of Jane’s napkin, was a rose so beautiful, it would make anyone faint from its pure beauty. (Herlmine asked me to add that. The rose was not magical).

The two sat down, admiring the beautiful scenery of the place. The two continued to converse about their days, their families, and other uninteresting conversations. They had quite a few drinks, and they were ready to order their meals. Jane ordered first, followed by Herlmine. After he had finished, Herlmine gestured for the waiter to come closer, so he could whisper in their ear. He spoke softly, saying, ‘When my fiance receives her meal, may you please gift her with this on a smaller plate?’

He then took out a small leather box, containing a silver ring, with a shining yellow gemstone of small size, in a hexagonal shape within the middle. The waiter nodded, taking the box. Jane raised her eyebrow towards Herlmine. 

Now, before I progress, I must note that the following section was taken from several different people that Herlmine interviewed after the incident, and as normal he made me piece it all together in a coherent manner.

The waiter headed over to the kitchen, with the two’s orders on a small piece of paper. He gave them to the head chef, along with the ring box, which were both placed on the counter. The chef took the paper for the order, seeing that they had both ordered a well-done steak with mashed potatoes and peas. The chef scoffed at this, muttering, “They’re all the same these days…”

He then ordered the other chefs to get work on the preparations. His attention was then grabbed by the small box. He brought it over to one of the chefs, whose appearance was of a tall, minorly chubby, dark-browned haired, green-eyed, and somewhat miserable chap. His name was Roy Crimm. A gaze from his eyes peered at the box, and then swiftly to his coworker. The two gazed glances, as they were both rapidly chopping up potatoes.

Roy slowly took his right hand away from the holding down of the chopping board, and over to the box. He asked the other man if he should take a peek. He also looked over to the box, saying he shouldn’t, as it doesn’t belong to them. Roy was however insistent on having a look, saying, “It may not be ours, but we can still ‘ave a quick look. ‘Ho’s gonna no’ice?” The other chef was uninterested and resumed his focus towards his job.

Roy’s fingers pushed onto the soft leather case, opening up to reveal the shiny ring to his dull yet curious eyes. He was memorised by the sparkles gleaming off of the beautifully shaped ring. A faint glow was emanating from within the core of a small, yellow, hexagonal gemstone on the ring. The other chef made a quick glance at the box.

He noticed Roy’s hyperfixation and leaned over, commenting that, “That’s a cut I’ve never seen before. It’s either rare or a fake.” The edges of Roy’s fingers just barely managed to reach the top of the lid, and with a lot of force and struggle, he managed to slam it shut. Roy’s gaze was entirely broken, and his eyebrows lowered into an annoyed expression.

Roy then tended back to his potato chopping, which he then began to mash up, his movement slowly becoming more and more unfocused as he eventually became seemingly dazed by something, but this went unnoticed for a while. 

As we head back to our ‘leading man’, I should note that those different accounts will still be included, but the focus is mainly on Herlmine.

Herlmine and Jane continued to chatter away, reminiscing about their various dates over the past month or so, and other very boring and dull romance… fluff? Anyways, as the two were talking, within the busy grounds of the kitchen, their meal was nearly ready…aside from the potatoes. As the other chefs were hurriedly preparing their meal, Roy stood almost motionless, slowly cutting the potatoes with his hard, sturdy, durable and sharp knife. The chef who was next to Roy was hassling him, asking, “Why aren’t you working?”, “Can you get a move on?”, “Are you okay?”, “Do you need some water?”, and so on. 

This onslaught of questions from Roy’s coworker seemingly drove him mad, with a deep growl coming from his mouth, with a slight echo being heard after this. His coworker looked at him worryingly, and lightly moved his hand to the chopping board, offering to chop the potatoes for him. As he did this, Roy’s knife slammed into his hand, violently stabbing it. 

The coworker screamed, gathering the attention of the entire kitchen and most of the people in the restaurant who were in near vicinity to the sound. As the coworker looked horrified towards Roy, whose eyes and mouth seemed to have a slight yellow glow to them which seemed unnatural, and like something from another world.

Back in the kitchen, Jane and Herlmine had gathered that there was some sort of commotion going on in the kitchen, but didn’t hear the scream that well. Herlmine thought about going over, but also wanted to make sure that Jane was safe, and the contemplation of his options made him freeze in place. And so, he decided to stay put, but alarmingly observed the kitchen door. 

Quickly after, sounds of hurling equipment and utensils being thrown around in the kitchen were heard, which were accompanied by loud screams, broken windows, and splatters of blood across the windows. The lights in the kitchen had gone out, and the diners had become slightly more worried and some came over to the kitchen.

Suddenly, a tray containing the dishes and contents of Jane, Herlmine, and other guests’ meals came flying out of the kitchen doors. Herlmine had at this point had enough and immediately got up and quickly walked over to the tray, about to complain about the awful service [he can be really picky about these things], when he noticed something on the floor. 

It was the box containing the engagement ring, which was bad for two reasons; One- The box was open and meant that one of the chefs was poking their nose where it shouldn’t have been. But more importantly, 2- the yellow and almost mystical tint that the gem in the upper centre of the ring now had a pulsing light, with it increasing and decreasing in intensity.

Just as Herlmine was pondering the meaning of this, the door had opened again, only this time more violently. Emerging from the shadows, a figure moved forwards. He had vivid yellow eyes and teeth, which looked unnatural and like something from another world, and in his right hand was a knife which was covered in blood. He came forward slowly, and began to laugh menacingly, which echoed across the restaurant. 

Herlmine stood in front of this demonic figure, saying to the other diners to get back. He then looked over to Jane, whose face bore an expression of mild confusion mixed with fear. She stood up, going to Herlmine at a steady pace, which he was about to warn her against, when he heard a noise coming from the door.

He swiftly turned around at the figure, firmly standing his ground. The figure moved slowly, its eyes and teeth seeming to have a pulse of yellow light with the rhythm of its footsteps. Herlmine looked at Jane, then to the figure, and then to the door which had someone’s face leaning against the bottom of it. Looking closer, the body seemed to have several deep cuts and stab wounds on its back.

As the footsteps grew closer, Herlmine began to breathe rapidly, his eyesight becoming blurry. He looked to the floor where the ring was, the yellow pulsing distilled in his squinted eyes, and the faint reflection of the figure's eyes and teeth too. He then felt the soft touch of Jane, who he sluggishly turned to, only to see her with a worried expression.

Upon seeing this distressing sight, he snapped his eyes open, just to catch the figure raising the knife steadily, aiming towards the two. His eyes darted to the box, its pulse growing ever-larger, and then to Jane. He softly whispered to her, “Run..” She looked horrified, but understanding Herlmine’s intent, darted out to the entrance of the restaurant. 

Just as the knife was being raised at Herlmine, he sprinted to the box, slid on the floor, grabbing it. He briefly looked at it, but this gaze was felt for an eternity, with distorted images and shapes around him. He then blinked, shutting the box to see the eyes of the figure beginning to dim lightly. It then turned instantly to Jane, throwing the knife towards her instead.

Herlmine screamed as the collision took place. An ear piercing sound was heard, as glass shattered across the floor. Herlmine rushed over to Jane, the figure started to make its way to the pair. He checked to see if she was okay, finding her behind the door which was smashed, the knife just barely in front of it. Just as he was about to speak, the steps echoed even louder, and the figure made its way over.

He then took out the box, opened it, and took out the ring. Without a second thought, he dropped it on the floor and smashed it with his foot. Jane gasped, and the figure’s eyes and teeth began to flick with yellow light, as they slowly disappeared and returned to reveal the chef, Roy’s facial features. As they returned, he fainted. Both Herlmine and Jane were nervous about what had just happened, but also what to do with the unconscious chef in front of them. Herlmine went over to Roy, leaving the shattered gem from the ring visible to Jane. 

When he got to him, he examined the body and checked his pulse. He did still have one, but it was faint. Herlmine then got out his wallet, placed the amount that their meal would have been on his table. After putting it away, he rushed over to the door, and gently kicked the knife away. He then hugged Jane, holding her gently in a soft embrace. “I’m so sorry…” Jane said, a faint tear coming down her eye.

Herlmine softly said “It’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about..”Tears rolled down his eyes, and Jane could feel a somewhat rapid heartbeat from his chest. 

____

Following these events, Herlmine and Jane went to the police station to report what had happened, and an investigation began. The police however did not manage to determine what fully caused Roy to act in a bizarre manner, and so it still remains unsolved to this day.

And as I write the final passage here, I have just been invited to Herlmine and Jane’s wedding on the 25th of March, so I suppose it worked out?

As someone who has investigated the unusual, superstitious and unknown, the source of the events was undoubtedly, and Herlmine recognised this [although maybe not for the right reasons], the gemstone placed on the ring. I do not know much of it, but I have heard of it in mediaeval tales, and stories I heard as a child. It is believed to come from a deity that was sealed in many crystals, that its devoted followers would use to act as vessels for its purpose of rebirth. 

I will be adding this to my newest book, “Various Oddities and Superstitions”, but I suspect that it may take longer to do, due to the hush hush nature that it has in this era..Maybe somewhere else could have the answer….

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Author comments:

Okay so, not much from me. 

I am so sorry for the long wait between this and the last one, so much has happened in my life so yeah..

Anyways, I believe the inspiration for this was a conversation with my friend in a car ride, where we talked about a deranged chef or something, and this gave me the idea. I’m not too sure as it’s been nearly two years since but oh well.

Grace Stirling, the narrator here is a very important person to the stories [and I’m not talking just about this series], so keep her in your mind going forwards.

And as we explore one tragic incident, let us move on to a more tragic figure….