Prologue
Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?
Have you ever felt her lips, hot as hell's own flames, against your skin?
I have.
It is warm and comforting at first, then growing in intensity, searing your flesh. You open your mouth to scream, but no sound escapes your lips because the pain is so deafening. You wish to be free of the agony, yet the idea of leaving such pleasure fills your heart with dread. It is a sticky web of contradictions, tossing you back and forth until you are completely trapped, like a fly, helplessly waiting for the wicked spider.
Ah, yes, she is a sly thing, this Devil. With a smile like moon lace and lips like silk, she spins her web of lies—so beautifully, so artfully, that even though you can sense your own destruction, you cannot tear your eyes from her. You run wholeheartedly towards her innocent face, secretly knowing that her innocence, like her beauty, is only skin-deep. At first, you think you can control it, that you can tame this tempest, that you can bring out the damsel in distress that hides within that evil soul. Then you realize that you are the one being controlled, like a marionette—and somehow, you really don't mind. You accept it, because the one pulling the strings is so enchanting. That is how She works.
I used to think the Devil was a 'He' as well—but that was before I met Her. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what that dark being looks like, and never will I forget the sensation of her coal-bright lips as they met mine that sultry summer night so many years ago. I have danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight, and I have lived to tell the tale.
~*~
*Author's Note: She's baaack....Thanks to everyone for patiently waiting it out for the past few weeks. Like "Dark and Crooked Path", this story is a little different from the others. It has no ties whatsoever to any previous works.*