I enfold you with my wings as a muffled howl escapes my lips. I try to mute it even more while my wings retract into my back. My breath is heavy as they break through flesh and skin, as they tear apart sinew; but do not worry, for I heal quickly.
Take a deep breath, feel free to stare. I know that my body amazes you. I know that the nude form of my flesh reminds you of a statue of times gone by; as if all the deities of love had breathed life into their favorite sculpture of the male gender. Touch my muscles, let your fingers travel down south. Feel how hard my body is. I am stone come alive.
Now feel my hand grasp yours tightly. Feel the slight tingling of passions you never knew. Traces of arousal intermingle with pain as excitement sends shivers down your spine. The words I whisper make hairs stand on edge all over your body, even in places you never even knew were endowed with nerves.
We are about to go on a journey. I will be your guide through hidden realms of sin tonight. Only remember that those secrets you will learn tonight are not meant for everyone’s eyes just yet. You shall see, hear, and feel things you never dared to dream of, neither in your most shameful dream nor in your most unhinged nightmare. Come on. Hush now, little darling. It’s time to go.
Follow me. Close your eyes. Inhale deeply. Yes, that’s it. Now breathe out slowly. Let the rotten night air travel through your lungs and nostrils as you feel your surroundings change.
There’s a tingling on your skin. You shiver. Icy hands brush across your skin, and what’s that scent? Can you identify it? Sweetly sour – something in your guts tells you that whatever it is, this is not meant for human consumption.
Open your eyes, take a good look around you. Before you, standing tall, is an ancient gate. Arabesque metal dances next to marble stone, crimson roses lick at it as if they were guarding its lock. Take another deep breath, prepare for battle, for what comes next might hurt.
First, however, feel my soft fingers caress your naked bosom. They tickle your nipples, they encircle that special area you never let anyone touch. There it is, I found what I’m looking for.
My nails are sharper than you expected. Feel those claws tear away the skin. I cut away pieces as of a jigsaw and let them drift to the ground, swaying in tonight’s soft breeze, until they reassemble on accursed earth. Do not blush, I have seen it all before, so let me trace those few lines that age has left even on that part of your body.
Hear the rustle in the trees. The night wind is moving faster. It looks for you. Let it gently kiss those muscles and the flesh shimmering through the final layers remaining of your skin. Where before, only droplets of blood escaped, now a scarlet river runs down towards your navel, accumulating in a pool of blood. The wind is under my control and I do not let it stop. I dig deeper, send a sharp pain through your body when the sinews break. Now your flesh is laid bare. Yes, there it is, do you see?
The moon lavishly feasts on what she finds there, dancing a waltz that becomes a swirling gateway into the depths of your chest.
Fog crawls towards you, caressing your bare thighs like the fingers of secret lovers do. Upwards they find their way, entering through that cavity where your darkest fears are laid open for everyone to see. Exhale, let it soften your lips.
Open your mouth. Inhale again. Once more, the fog travels through your body. It fills you up. Your heart beats faster. Sweat breaks from the confines of your skin. You shiver, but you are addicted to the taste of the night air. You inhale even deeper to keep riding on that high. Just like that, carry on. Suck in the fog until I seal your lips with mine. Tongues fight for control, but you give in. Let my flesh lie on yours as clouds of ecstasy obscure your mind like those hiding the moon from the sins that we commit.
Somewhere, metal scrapes on stone. The gates are open. Follow me, I’ll take the lead. When I whisper desires you dare not confess to anyone in your ear, my breath turns into a storm that wipes away your shame.
The hairs all over your body waltz to the rhythm of my heart. Feel it, I am behind you now. My arms entangle you. I press you close to me until you feel the fur erupting from my chest pierce your skin. I am Grendel, but do not fear. This is merely part of the process. I tear at your flesh and carve a poem into your bones. Later, I shall give birth to you again like my mother did to me. Feel time eternally spinning, until the scream of a banshee shatters these eternal clocks. Glass pierces what remains of your body. It cuts apart the strings of your heart that send the echo of their fading rhythm into the night.
Can you feel your heartbeat slow down as you listen to my tale? It’s okay, do not worry. Let your fears be erased by those haunts and sprites that rise from below and lull you to your sleep with their ballads of mourning.
The moon burns iron chains into your skin
Tonight, the dark shall rise and thou abide
I tear at wounds and pain you hide within
We’re joined by sprites as next to death we ride
Your past unfolds as claws tear at your skin
Hear Grendel choke on flakes of airborne strips
In crimson lakes thou must confess your sin
As creatures howl, I seal your scarlet lips.
Our journey ends as we watch castles burn
Like witches pierced by prying eyes of men
Like them, you too feel lust, but us, we yearn
For blood, as broken souls return again
Three times the sun shall rise and set once more
By truth you’re bound, as in the oath you swore
Awaken, my sinful darling. Feel your limbs twist in pain. Their movement is beyond your control as I force apart your lips. The eternal warmth of the wine that burns my story into your body excites you, I feel it, so let me dig deeper and write it on your very soul.
What I told you is a part of you now. You and I become one as flickers of memory reenact a play of all those lives I’ve lived, everyone I ever knew is now a character in your mind. Watch closely. Even if eons pass, I will still be here. I’ll wait for you.
The smoke of bodies burnt in centuries past still lingers in the air as the wounds of pain felt by everyone I ever was overtake your thoughts. Your emotions become a storm that lashes at your mind and waves of knowledge beat against the shores of your enlightened soul.
You do not even feel your muscles, sinews and layers of skin rearrange until you, like every story ever told, take your first timid steps towards immortality.
Join me now, my lover, in telling the stories of those whose vocal chords were cut and whose imprints they tried to erase. Repeat with me the brave deeds of those who stood up when others dared to enslave everyone they themselves saw as other. Kneel with me in prayer to all the deities they fear, and lay your lips on mine in honor of all lovers torn apart.
Together, we’ll create earthquakes that will make the castles of those in power fall, until every soul is free. Await with me the time when unsung heroes can hear the echo of their name’s call, when blood is blood and everyone’s who they’re supposed to be, when those they called rotten are allowed to stand tall and dance with glee.
In gardens of eternal youth, we’ll raise our drinks to love borne out of every story that we share, and to the rhapsodies sung by every heart laid bare.