Title: The Blood Serpent
Description: In “The Blood Serpent”, three young women—Adeline, Juliette, and Charlotte—navigate a world of cruelty and repression in 19th-century Paris. Adeline, the abused daughter of a morally bankrupt magistrate, Juliette, a sharp-witted scholar, and Charlotte, a timid soul tormented by her mother’s atrocities, bond over their shared homosexuality and defiance of societal norms. Their fragile camaraderie culminates in a nightmarish trap at the Villemarette Suites, where they are imprisoned in a sealed dining chamber by forces tied to Adeline’s father. Stripped of hope, the trio confronts their grim fate through philosophical discourse, a symbolic same-sex marriage, and ultimately, mutual suicide. The aftermath leaves investigators baffled, with no clear perpetrator, underscoring the systemic oppression that doomed the women. A harrowing tale of trauma, rebellion, and tragic solidarity.

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**“The Blood Serpent” © 2021 by Thomas Vancura is licensed under [CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).**
Subjects: literary fiction, gothic, psychological horror, LGBTQ short stories, LGBTQ historical fiction, psychological thriller, feminist literature, short story
Places: Paris (France)
Time periods: Napoleonic conquest, 1808-1815