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Upon a midnight stroll I met a stranger,
His eyes were seas of ice within black,
And his haggard expression stank of danger.
I walked on as he walked along beside me,
Until neither he nor I turned back.

Under lamp-lit asphalt the stranger spoke,
His voice was brittle: his lisp bad,
And with hesitant breath he drew a smoke.
I stopped as he stopped away behind me,
Never did I perceive a countenance as sad.

Patiently I waited against the midnight clear,
As he sucked dry that growling flame,
Then he continued on, closer for me to hear.
"Stay awhile. For I offer you a fine regale,
Of terror, love, and death: an unearthly tale."

He paused. Oh I wish I could escape his gaze.
"But I declare I have no care for guilt,
Nor regret." says the stranger; irises ablaze.
"Why is that?" I replied. Now he had me,
A prisoner trapped. Oh how my heart did wilt.

"Yesterday dawn is where my tale will begin,
That is when I first encountered her smile,
Pearls that shone without corruption nor sin.
She was beautiful - You see. An angel free,
But her wrath made her sick. Turned her vile."

I listened to the stranger's tale in banality,
Sleep was hearkening to me with her song,
And I had no time to endorse insanity with pity.
Alas he tarried onward: "Her locks were summer,
Nay more like hell's sun, so vibrant and strong."

"We passed each other in yonder meadow glade,
And I knew at once her untainted purpose,
Before she faded into that ever gnawing shade.
My heart exploded, my hands shook, and yet,
Nowhere was I to find her: my ghostly rose."

I yawned for I knew in my gut his romance,
Was naught but a mere story of cliché.
"I knew I had to see her again. No chance,
Was I given unless a miracle rained down;
So I slept knowing my luck was risqué."

He glanced at me with those eyes of his,
And for a second I thought I saw a tear.
"Patience rewarded me with a sudden kiss,
Overjoyed was I to believe she loved me too.
Aghast in horror I awoke to witness fear."

"Staring. All I did was stare and stare,
This was no lady. Nay, nor angel true,
But a hideous demon with blood in her hair.
No words could I utter as my mind raced,
This creature. This abomination. Left me blue."

"Then what happened?" I asked, feeling a chill,
"Daylight shone bright over her crimson mane.
Grimace did I as she whispered her whisper ill,
For she meant to kill me and this I knew too well,
Though my legs felt weak. Still I was sane."

"She raised a mighty club of an arm to punish,
Yet petrified as I was; I escaped her fate.
Dead grass enveloped me like a corpse's garnish,
Again she tried. Again I ducked and I cried,
Survival was being erased off my mortal slate."

Wet drops appeared to glaze his weary face,
Briefly he seemingly faded into vapour,
Stab my eyes: he disappeared without trace.
Minutes passed with no sight nor sound;
At last he appeared to continue once more.

"We are near the end, my earthly friend,
Share shall I, my untimely consequence;
Inflicted after my action I did rend.
Memories wither I am afraid at this stage,
Yet my final hours I recall in sequence.

She spat greasy saliva from her bony maws,
To bind me and blind me with her madness.
Oh how I quivered when I felt her hot jaws,
Rest close against my own. How I wept;
Until finally I succumbed to pitch darkness."

"You must have survived at least," says I,
"Since dead men can speak no words."
"Survive? Nay. Hear me now the reason why.
What can a weak soul do against such anger,
Without Cortana to guide as a shield or sword?

I found neither heaven nor hell when I died,
Except a shining expanse of infinite light.
However nothing would stop me not even pride,
To return and rid my home of her cruelty,
Even though my spirit was chained to twilight.

Alone I was within that shell of imprisonment,
An island surrounded by an ocean in fire,
Yet I knew I would escape this containment.
So hours passed and rolled into a single dream,
Revenge broiled within me like Medea's desire.

Finally I achieved what I had deeply yearned,
I found myself a witness to my morbid aftermath,
Yet she did not seem to notice I had returned.
I wish I could have killed her then and there,
Alas she stood; mouth agape with a mocking laugh."

Intently my attention was fixed upon his story,
Encapsulating me in his bubble of narration,
What a thrill to hear a tale devoid of glory.
He erupted for a time cursing through sobs,
Until he steered his thoughts to a conclusion.

"Ignoring her guttural insults: I saw my frame,
Battered, shattered, and lying in pain,
And now did I realise this was a child's game.
Innocently she picked me up like a rag doll,
Proceeded to swing me about again and again.

All my emotion of revenge withered into dust,
As I watched her play with abandoned glee.
Being of one now deceased, I felt a new trust,
That we were bound to a state of appeasement;
How wrong was I to really believe I was free?

I cannot say what horror I felt that hour,
When her grotesque form burst to a fiery glow.
Leather skin ripped like petals from a flower,
There she was - my ghostly rose. Her eyes wide;
Her skin bear as translucent as winter's snow.

She staggered as though she were a new born,
Then she caught her first glance at her crime;
My how she let out a howl deep and forlorn.
If malice had she when possessed by evil,
Only fresh kindness did she utilise this time.

Astonished was I when she dug me a grave,
Furiously clawing at moist soil with her nails,
Where upon she cried she was but Death's slave.
Righteous was her deed enough for me to forgive,
So forgiveness I entreated for her wails.

Now comes my shocking finale to this, my tale,
For upon dense winds did she hear my forgiveness,
Since her face drained and her lips went pale.
My corpse was at her side or so she believed,
Though here I was now shrouded in bleakness.

She stood up with a frightful gasp and died,
Her burden purged and my revenge bittersweet.
Demonic no more, but as an angel she cried,
Towards the light, towards that beacon.
Now here my tale ends like your own heartbeat."

Upon a midnight stroll I met a stranger,
He told me a story of love and death,
Pierced with words fraught with danger.
He walked away and I walked beside him,
Until neither he nor I drew a single breath.