Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

On each, public pr eening, postur ing or despair could be emphasised. A walk
along the dour suicide balcony might elicit the sympathies and patr onage of
fr iends. The simple theatr ical beauty of the balconies mer ely added, r ather than
detr acted fr om the dr amas of the casino.
With no inner unsightliness or debr is caused by the confusion and deaths of
patr ons, a dar k mystique developed w hich enhanced the r eputation of ?The Black
Casino?. In the cocktail bar s and fine houses in the tow ns below , intended tr ips
w ould always contain a bleakly humour ed r efer ence to the possibility of a ?Sw ift
r etur n fr om the Black Casino?, should calculations at its tables go aw r y.
These w er e the hey-days of the casino. When it had enjoyed r ich young cr ow ds as
w ell as a Bohemian r eputation for a cer tain style and elegance in bygone days of
compar ative peace. The Fr ench w er e to leave in time, w hen r umour s of war began,
w ith only mar ginally less haste than some of the less for tunate visitor s to the tables
w ithin. The casino was sold cheaply and sw iftly, though was unable to r etain its
custom, for mer glor y or indeed its pur pose.
As the war and its atr ocities tr uly unfolded, the high gr ound w her e the casino
stood became the shelter of the r etr eating and defeated r ebels. At fir st, its size
allow ed it to be used as a hospital. In time, as the number of r ebels became few er
and few er , it became mer ely a hideout for hunted br igands and bandits as the
peace of the new r egime below became established.
And so, ther e it still stood. Its decadence became w ither ed and dr ained. The
mar ble cladding was str ipped and sold w hile the Casino En Nuages itself melted
slow ly into disr epair , hidden fr om view by cr eeper and cloud. It became
near -for gotten as one age passed into another , into one w her e money was har d
enough fought for , that even those now seen as r ich in the new establishments had
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