A Night to Remember

God Himself could not have created a more beautiful creature.

Small, golden curls created a glowing halo around her angelic face. With lips as red as blood, it was as if Love itself was grinning with favor upon me. Her beautiful brown eyes carried a seductive hunger behind them that set the trap for her prey.

Her hips back and forth to the music's rhythm as she walked, but her step was smooth. I caught her eye from across the bar and she sent me a radiant smirk that lit up my soul. She slithered over, her hand gliding across the bar top. She didn't say her name, but as she spoke, her words seemed to sing out to me, sending me deeper under her spell. I asked her if she wanted to dance, and she seemed more than happy to oblige. She moved with such grace and dexterity. Grace that I nor any other man upon this earth could compare to. The longing looks of men filled the room, and the jealous glares of their lady companions poisoned the atmosphere.

I was a king among peasants - a high I was unwilling to come down from. Champagne rained down from the ceiling freely, drenching the two of us.

She leaned in close enough to where I could feel her breath running down my neck and whispered into my ear.

Perhaps we could go somewhere quieter?

And then came the smile. The same smile from before -- the hunger. The need for something beyond what was currently given.

She led me out into the streets where the cool night air encompassed us. The hustle and bustle of late-night Charleston around us set a lively setting. Buggies and horse-drawn carriages clicked and clattered around the streets. Drunken tourists stumbled up and down the boulevard, laughing and giggling as they went.

Oh, how I adored New Year's Eve in the city.

The angel grabbed my hand and pulled me down the main street. We glanced into open shop windows and dodged our way around a few stray policemen loitering the streets in search of trouble. We pushed them away and soon found ourselves in a quiet alleyway.

Silently, we waltzed our way down the narrow alley, ignoring the curious glares from the occasional beggar. Deeper and deeper we crept into the heart of the city. The clear sound of the city was still audible as we found ourselves face to face with an old, abandoned warehouse. She put her finger over her lips and motioned for me to be quiet as she pushed open the large door of an abandoned cathedral. The door closed silently behind us as we crept in, the sounds of the bands now distant and faint.

We tiptoed our way upstairs into a large, empty space, fitted with a wall of smashed stained glass windows that cast hues of blues, reds, and greens upon the floorboards. We stood there for a moment, taking in the reflections of the city lights and fireworks in the water below us. Unconsciously, I wrapped my arm around her waist, and she leaned into my touch. And then...

She kissed me. I could hear the fireworks booming in the background, their red and orange hues lighting up our faces as if it were daytime. But when she pulled away, something about her changed. Her eyes were darker. Her lips were a deeper shade of red. Her smirk was nauseatingly alluring.

And then came the shatter.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. In some twisted game, someone had stopped the clock so I could see that smirk one last time.

Her blonde hair no longer created a halo. They were horns. Those bloody lips no longer smiled down with Love, but Hatred. It was the Devil Himself embodied as a siren.

As the world fell above me, I could still see her smile. It was the last thing I saw before the world went dark.