"I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet
when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."



Locked beneath these silvery depths of eternity,
into the maze I beckon you... dream with me.

[Redone version]

"Do you love me?" she whispered, her voice fading into the darkness, a soft taste of her rous tone filling every inch of my being. Her silver apparition, an echo of her former self, hovered inches above his lips. Her eyes, orbs of a chestnut brown, gazed deep and penetratingly into his.

And as he breathed in his final breath, the face on his skin already beginning to lose its form and close onto the bones beneath, he answered her, simple and blatant, but in his mind...true. The wooden stake fell from his hand, both arms reaching to his lover’s form.
"I do."


* * * *


I turned, and yet...there was nothing there. But a moment ago I could have sworn that I saw her, oh that gorgeous femme fetale, my woman of mourning. I know that I had laid mine eyes, even for but a fleeting second, upon the voluptuous figure of her gloriousness. And now...now I had lost her again.

There! I whirled on the spot, my body surrounded by a dense fog, as if the world itself could see into my clouded and misguided mind. Alas, such small things did not matter...I -did- see her! And now I followed... I followed her so blindly, for the heart cannot see, but only feels.

And so, I tailed her, glimpse by glimpse, holding faithfully onto my only hope that either this fog would abate, or we should enter a clearing, so that I may fully gaze upon her righteousness. And so, as if the world revolved on my whimsy, my wish came true. As soon as the thought had flittered from my mind, we came upon a cemetery, dank and wet as it was, the sky was clear.

And that was when she turned to me. Her eyes penetrated my mind, my soul, like a knife in butter, turning and tearing into me, though I felt no pain, for my joy was so. The rous embodiment of her spiritual form seemed to draw me close, her hands lifting to rest on either of my cheeks, and it was pure adoration that I saw in her gaze, that I found in the orbs of magnificent destruction. Her lips parted, and I knew what was to come.

"Will you be with me forever?" Oh the joy! Her mouth parted to reveal the slightest, and yet, the most seductive tip of her tongue. Those full red lips, in complete contrast to the silvery pallor of her skin, seemed to leech part of my, take it away, though; I would have gladly given myself entirely to her.

"Yes."
It was simple, it was sweet. But all the more, it was the truth. I was completely overwhelmed simply by her presence. And yet, my eyes had not begun to draw away from her own, to even take the temptation of the rest of her body. So in this instant, before she turned again, I allowed myself this simple pleasure, though it was really so much more. My eyes slid from the glistening curve her bre.asts to the elongated calves of her spectral apparition
The way the arches in her body just seemed to flow with the powerful emotion of her voice; it was heavenly. Her seductive movements only enhanced the already ample bosom and hourglass figure of her, forever entrancing me with her dance-like step. Her lithe form was a reflection of my dreams, her luminescent epidermis allowing no wrinkle, but was entirely smooth.

She turned from me, but slid one hand from my cheek to my fingers, grasping me tightly as we walked further into the necropolis. With her leading the way, guiding me now, guiding me forever, we managed to make it to a large slab of flat stone, where she lay me down. And again, I looked up into those chestnut eyes and nearly wept, for she filled me with an explicit feeling of love.

"Do you love me?" She stated, as her face drew close to mine, her lips all but brushing against the surface of my own calloused set. But as the words to her reply formed on my lips, I realized, there was a difference in her and I, or at least, in and love.

"No," I said, "I love another."
Her reactions to be understood. I had just taken my life and laid it at her mercy, at the foot of her unending beauty. I could see the rage in those eyes, threatening to break through the barrier of the calm demeanor; and yet, I was unafraid. And then, as if her curiosity eliminated her anger, her mind stroked against mine, and I was barely aware of another consciousness touching me.
As she looked through my memories, my life, searching and prodding for what it was that may be able to keep me from her, I could feel the pain and torment radiating from her being to mine. For certain, she could now understand my hardships and failures, and the woman who I persevered through it all. Surely she would see her, the luminescence in my lifetime of darkness. Surely...

In a moment, she withdrew, and I looked up at the knowing yes of my enchantress. No longer was I astounded by her beauty, but I was only aware of her emptiness. A single, shimmering tear slid down her cheek before she spoke again, sadness lurking in the depths of her voice.

"Oh pour soul of da.mnation, how can it be? You have suffered turmoil and pain far worse than that of the daemons of Hell. Take pity from the pitiless, and take harbor from the weary. You are a great spirit, warrior. Fight on. Your love is undefeated, though often unfound."

With her words still ringing in my ears, I stood, and I lifted the cold, stone slab from the tomb that it covered. I need not look inside, for I already knew that which would reside in its shelter. The Vampiress body lay on the stone, arms folded against a decayed chest. Her mouth was closed as her body slept, her spirit now finished with its wanderings of the world above. And as I looked into the true being of my seductive succubus, I understood her own pain. I knew of her own d life, and furthermore, her revisiting of this world and the suffering that went with it. I looked into her shimmering form a final time, and to this day, her words still ring in the depths of my mind.

"Forever I was loved, but always withdrawn. Now I love you, and am Undone. Only you...But it shall never be.”
Her voice was troubled and weary, full of exhaustion. I looked into her eyes, a terrible sensation dripping slowly over my mind. I reached to the ground, slowly withdrawing a wooden stake that lay near her bed, clutched in the decomposed skeleton of one of her less fortunate lover’s. AS her nearly invisible figure lay back within her body, she raised a hand to her lips, then pressed it lightly on my cheek. I will never again no such love, and yet, an emotion filled with such pain.

I plunged the stake into her chest then, and with a silent groan, she was freed. As I watched her figure turn to ashes, I felt myself relieve a single tear of admonishment for this woman. She had been d.amned from the start, and yet, I had da.mned her still.

~ Devoted Guardian