The Alchemist

The Alchemist In this short story written by Howard Phillips Lovecraft the main character is also the narrator, describing past events and the situation he is in. The protagonist’s name is Antoine and he is the heirless descendant of a long line of French nobility. He lives in a medieval castle that is mostly in ruins, except for one barely habitable tower. The only other person to live with him was his caretaker Pierre, who died during his adolescence, and both his parents perished before he could meet them. His mother died while giving birth to him and his father was killed at the age of thirty-two. Although trivial at first glance, that last detail is crucial to the story. Every single one of Antoine’s ancestors had died upon reaching the age of thirty-two, and as he reaches the final weeks of his thirty-first year, he becomes increasingly curious about the deaths of the counts who preceded him. In spite of his fear, he decides to explore the sections of the castle that he had been forbidden to enter as a child, and it is there that he begins to uncover the horrid truth behind it all. Within a library eaten away by mold and covered by century-old dust, he discovers a tome detailing the reason behind the deaths of his ancestors. In the thirteenth century a man by the name of Michel Mauvais and his son, Charles Le Sorcier were little more than peasants on the societal pyramid, but they were not men of small accomplishments. Having extensive knowledge of dark arts and daemonic magicks they had brought upon themselves a morbid reputation. Rumors of infantile sacrifices and unholy rituals surrounded them like flies did a rotting carcass. When Henri, the count of the castle at the time saw his son was nowhere to be found he riled up a mob and barged into the cottage that was the home of Michel and Charles. Before the peasants tell the count his son Godfrey had been found locked away in a closet Henri had killed Michel, who was adored by his son. With unbridled fury, Charles placed a curse on him and his bloodline before splashing a liquid in his face, which killed him instantly. It was when Antoine reached the catacombs that he came at an impasse; an oaken door lay before him, and it would not budge. However, when he turned to leave it bolted open and out came a ghastly figure with long, jet-black hair and dressed in timeworn robes. The ghoulish humanoid attacked Antoine, but he was repelled and struck back with a torch that set him ablaze. Through the fire and flames the attacker spoke, confessing that he was the living curse brought upon Antoine’s bloodline. It was only through the Elixir of Life that he, Charles Le Sorcier, was the able to survive six hundred years and exact his revenge upon every man, murdering each of his ancestors at the age of thirty-two.