Act V: Thanatopsis Requiem

With trembling urgency, I draw near the scarlet-haired demon, my words tumbling forth in anguish, "Why, oh why, have you cursed me so? You've reduced me to a monster, a creature of the damned, for your twisted pleasure! You've done this to me, intentionally, with malice and design. And now, I pose the question, burning with a fire of despair: what are you, and what dark arts drive you to perpetuate this agony? What malevolent force animates your soul, and why do you revel in my suffering.”

"My- my dear victim, you wound me with your accusations. The true architect of your descent is none other than yourself. You see, you've been trying to grasp the ungraspable, to define the indefinable — and in doing so, you've become lost in the labyrinth of your own mind. The question is, do you wish to find your way out, or do you prefer to remain lost in this hell of your own making? But know this: the more you struggle, the more ensnared you'll become. The answer lies not in the question, but in the silence between the words. Are you prepared to listen to the whispers of your own demons?"

Branding my blade, the glint flickering shine in thy eye, “Think your sly — little fox, what if I skinned you alive, wore your hide, and as your tumult guts fester in the moonlight, your own guide will be the eternal darkness of the night?” Countenance now full smile, creature of the nigh — somnambulant stride with blade sway. “Come now foxy, let — us — play!”

"Oh, dear, dear, dear, you think you're so clever, don't you? But, alas, you're just a pawn in the game of fate. Your threats are as hollow as the promises of surf. You see, I've been expecting the ebbing tide. I've been waiting for the one who would try to skin me alive. But, oh, you're so... predictable — it’s quite easily to easy in time. The only thing you'll find when you wear my skin is the echo of your own within, perpetually wrapped around the bone of your own descent into the edifice. I'll give you a choice: you can either continue to dance with the nebulous, or you can join me in the moribund. The darkness is always waiting, but it's not just the shade of the night. It's the tenebrous of your own — trust me, dear one, you'll find it's a far more comfortable fit than the skin of a sly fox with high wit. The silence between us is like a lovers sigh, don't you think?” With that he slinked away once more.

The world around me began to warp and distort, like a reflection in a funhouse mirror. The sky turned a sickly shade of chartreuse, and the trees twisted into grotesque, animate forms. I felt the weight of my own mortality crushing me, like a beetle under the heel of a behemoth.

The fox's laughter echoes my minds eye — like gravel, creaking open the gates of hell. I felt a new being creeping in, like a stain spreading across the pages of the book of the dead, sen en met.

As the silence hung in the air, I felt the darkness closing in, like a shroud. I dropped the Damascus and screamed to the skies, the sound tearing through my throat like a wolf howl. Raindrops of sanguine and thunder my friend, and my thanatopsis dirge of damnation.

A lightning bolt strikes, and holds, writhing a violent crimson plasma, coalescing, then snow blindness. As the winter flurry swept away from my vision there I stood — she stood. Scarlet rivulets pang raindrops like hail, the shower halts and clouds shine a light in a sunbeam on my doppelgänger with eyes of obsidian glass forged with lava stone. The blood from the rain swarmed her body make a beautiful long flowing scarlet dress with no breeze, but it was flowing and moving, almost hypnotizing as I felt a sense of lightheadedness and euphoria.

Her voice moistening my yonic, “My dear, you're right in front of what you could be, what's more real than the darkness that lies within? What's more real than the madness that drives you?” Kisses lips, the touch peaks mountains, In that moment, I am as real as I want to be. I am a creation of my own making, a manifestation of my deepest desires and darkest fears. And in that reality, I am as real as any tangible thing. Pulls back, eyes boring with intensity while her dress seems to cradle my frame, licking my skin like fluttering rose petals. “But, my dear, don't mistake me for fantasy. I am as real as the words I've written, as real as the blood that courses through your veins.” Leans in, voice dripping with sultry, “And in reality, I am you, dear. I am a better you —here to take, to claim, to devour, I am the real deal, your but a mockery wasting a viable husk.”

I gasp, arching my back as her dress explores my intimate area, “No, you are evil incarnate, aren't you?” my words are laced with moans, the dress sending waves of pleasure, making me want to submit. I'm lost in the moment, consumed by the pleasurable sensations she’s evoking. Close my eyes, letting the dress wash over me to cause a coo in my throat — a light “Mmmh.”

Body siezes, my eyes rolling back - her dress slides into me, slowness of the thrusts is tantalizing, each stroke building the anticipation and longing for the next. “Oh, yes, my love, I can be everything, anything you want me to be. But I am a real entity.” Suddenly the dress was wrapping around me like a snake, every push in my doorway - a little more of my breath was sucked away.

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