This story begins with death. With his death to be more specific. And it truly was a tragedy, for Mathis Bauer was still young when the last breath breezed his lips. No one saw it coming, no one could believe the news. How could Mathis Bauer, the well-known and famous writer, die at such a young age? How could he die at the same day his newest book got published? So much talent forever lost, so many stories that will never be told, that will never be read…
Such words circulated the world of literature immediately after learning about the news of his death, yet what everyone thought but didn't dare to say at loud was how all of them were glad that his death happened only after he finished his book. After all that's all they cared about. His books. His stories. The real tragedy would be if the book hadn't been finished.
Even though it was truly shocking that Mathis Bauer died at the age of thirty, many rumors were spread regarding his death. After the news of him passing away were published, surprisingly no details were given. As a result people started to let their imagination run free. Maybe he got killed. Maybe he committed suicide. Maybe he faked his death. Maybe there was an accident. Reporters from all over the place surrounded his house camping outside it just so they could make a question, just so they could get an answer. But no results. There weren't many people to demand answers from to begin with. Mathis Bauer never married, therefore he didn't have a wife or children. He never had any romantic relationship with anyone. To top it all, he grew up in an orphanage, so he never knew his parents. Due to his extremely asocial personality, he didn't have many friends either. The only people the reporters could interview were his manager, his housemaid and last but not least, his only friend who unfortunately lived abroad. However all of them refused to talk about the circumstances of Mathis Bauer's death.
This only lead people to thinking that this famous writer who was known all over the world for his fantasy books with epic battles and unique story telling, might have died as a result of something shameful or maybe even illegal. There were theories all over the internet, conspiracies and ideas, some even ridiculously thought that he might have been part of a cult or such a thing, yet the truth was far away from something like that. It was also far more simpler.
Mathis Bauer died late at night. He was used to pulling all-nighters almost all of his life. He would go days without sleep, without leaving his house nor even his room for long periods of time. His head would be hid behind his computer screen, frantically typing word after word for hours without stopping once, almost as if he was scared that the ideas would disappear for good if he dared so much as resting for five minutes.
A lot of people gained interest in him because of his first published book "Doomsday is 100 seconds away from midnight". The book was a huge hit. Millions of copies were sold in many different languages and shortly after that, it was adapted to a TV series that also turned out to be very successful. Yet despite all this, the face of the writer was never seen. This situation… such mysterious aura surrounding his identity, made everyone all around the world extremely curious. Such thing went on even after three other books of his got published, all three of them a bigger success than the other. Yet his face remained a secret. At some point during his short lived life he got the nickname of the Vampire Writer after an interview where his manager, a gray-haired man with a permanent smile plastered on his face, said that the famous Mathis Bauer always worked in darkness and hated the sun. But this isn't the only reason behind this nickname.
With his popularity growing with every book he wrote, and with his success increasing drastically, the number of people who demanded to see his face also grew. Seeing this situation, his manager convinced him that it was only fair for his fans to see his face, so after years and years of mystery, Mathis Bauer finally showed his face to the world. Upon seeing his pale complexion and thin body, the dark hair that were long enough to be tied up and his black piercing eyes, he got branded as the Vampire Writer.
But who would have thought that this Vampire who cherished the night the most, would die young, alone and in darkness?
Mathis Bauer died at night, not long after his latest book got officially published. He didn't like to be disturbed throughout the night, so his housemaid knew to not enter his room. She knew not to knock on the door and not to call him no matter what, so the poor lady had no idea that while she was walking back and forth in front of his room doing the laundry, behind that door that remained more closed than open, the man she worked for was dead. She had no idea throughout the whole night. She had no idea in the morning as well. Not until after one pm, when she knocked on the door and opened it with one hand while holding with the other one a tray with his "breakfast", saw that Mathis Bauer was sprawled on the floor, his face pressed against the dark reddish carpet. He didn't wake up when the tray fell from the woman's hands, a loud clang echoing through the room. He didn't wake up when she ran to him with teary eyes and called his name. Not even when she tried to shake him awake. No matter what she did, Mathis Bauer didn't wake up, for he was actually dead.
The reason behind his death was far from what people thought and speculated. He didn't commit suicide nor he got killed. He wasn't suffering from any illness that lead to his death. So why did Mathis Bauer die?
It was this question in particular that made his already famous personality, the center of discussion for quite a while. Oddly, it was also one of the reasons that made his last book the most sold novel of the decade. For some reason, people thought they would find the answer in the book if they studied it well and looked carefully. But his death remained a secret. In fact, his manager paid quite a big amount of money for it to be this way. He was a quite skillful man that knew how to manage the situation and turn everything to his best interest. With the mystery of Mathis Bauer's death being the most talked topic, he knew to keep such thing a secret and make the most of it he could, so the world never received an answer regarding this question.
Why did Mathis Bauer die….
The truth is quite funny actually. So funny and stupid that is tragically sad, especially for a writer like him who ended every book with a boom, for a writer like him who had mastered the art of capturing the reader's attention with his words and kept them glued to his books in anticipation until the very last word, where after the climax came the perfect ending that completed the book in such a way, it left people thinking about it for days.
It is funny and sad to say, that the famous writer Mathis Bauer died because of choking on a single round grape.