🕸 IX 🕸

We all gathered in the entertainment room which was quite small and cozy. There was furniture, a chandelier above and a few musical instruments. The wooden floor was polished to a mirror finish and once again, the walls were covered in taxidermy heads. The fireplace was one feature that struck my fancy.

The flame within the hearth was most dreadful. It was a magnificent shade of dark purple. The glow of the purple flame gave a tantalizing texture to the atmosphere. And there was the faint scent of something like bananas in the air.

“That is an interesting display,” commented Maggy. “How did you achieve such a unique color to the fire, dear Duke?”

“Yes, I have the wood treated with a special potassium solution which gives the fire a purple hue and the air a nice fragrant aroma,” explained the Duke.

Maggy glared at the fire with some concern and said, “I see but is it safe to inhale?”

“Oh, of course, my dear wife used to sit by a colored fire for hours on end and she is perfectly healthy,” said the Duke.

“The same wife who is your step-mother?” I whispered to Lurkson. “The one who is in a sanitarium?”

“Yes but I do not believe the treated firewood was the cause of her illness,” said Lurkson. “Regretfully.”

“How disappointing,” I said with a pout. “I was hoping for a touch of madness to add some excitement to this dreadful evening.”

“Yes, a little madness can elevate any dull evening,” said Lurkson.

The Duke proceeded to order the Earl to play the piano. The Earl hesitated out of embarrassment. Stage fright was insidious and happened to even those of high breeding. I felt no such fear because I relished any opportunity for eyes to be on me.

The Earl finally relented after we all badgered the poor fool to play for us. He sat at the black piano and his fingers fell on the keys with sudden confidence. The song was unfamiliar to me and it was sickeningly sweet and angelic.

Lurkson and I sat together and listened to the Earl play his cheery melody. I looked at Lurkson and the purple blaze was a backdrop. Seeing him in that violet light made him truly seem like a prince of darkness. His eyes were cast in shadows yet I felt them on me.

The desire between us was almost smothering. It felt like my whole world would end if I did not have a taste of my dark angel. We were mere inches apart and yet it felt like a sea was between us. And the Earl’s dreadful playing kept souring our dark romantic mood.

Lurkson and I endured until finally the Earl stopped. We did the obligatory applause but mine were hollow. I knew Lurkson was to play the violin next and a cello was brought so I could play with him. I was ready to have my dark duet with my devilish prince but then Maggy stood.

“That was absolutely wonderful, dear Earl,” said Maggy. “But I would like to join you. I believe we could do better together.”

The Duke was overjoyed by Maggy joining the Earl at the piano. My body sagged as my soul deflated. Lurkson patiently crossed his legs and smiled at me. He enjoyed watching me suffer.

And so Maggy played the piano with the Earl. It was a revoltingly uplifting song that one would hear during a festival. It was such dreadful playing that I wanted to gag. But I was to behave, Maggy was trying to win the Earl over, and I was to support her in all her endeavors.

What was truly tortuous was that the Earl and Maggy started with one song then played another. And then they played an amalgamation of classic songs all chopped up and strung together like some patchwork monster from a horror story. To any observer of their play, it looked like they were having fun.

But I was the closest to Maggy and knew her best.

I knew mother and father were pressuring her to marry and find a proper man soon. And he had to be of high nobility because the family’s reputation was on the line. Honestly, Maggy had her whole life to find a man yet our parents acted as if the world would end tomorrow if she did not marry immediately.

I knew Maggy’s little play with the Earl was nothing more than her spinning her web. She needed a man and any man would do as long as he was of higher status. I then did something that I rarely would ever do with someone I first met.

I leaned over to Lurkson and shared with him my Maggy’s situation. I trusted this person who was no more than a stranger to me. I vented my own frustrations about my parents and my poor Maggy’s dilemma. All my words spilled into the ears of a man who had captivated my black heart.

Lurkson could have used my honesty as a weapon. But I will say it now, he never did betray me. He kept all of my secrets which only made him more desirable. The whole time Maggy played with the Earl, I grew closer to my Lurkson, my dark angel!

Finally, it came our time to play as Maggy and the Earl concluded their fun.

It was time for Lurkson and I to truly express ourselves. Words could fail anyone when expressing what the heart desired. But music was the window into the soul. And our dark souls were both black abysses that yearned to swallow one another whole.

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Lurkson rested his violin on his shoulder and pressed it against his neck. It was an ebony black violin and its surface reflected the violet light. It truly looked like the violin glowed with some black magic. A fiery magic that was attracting me like a moth to a flame.

I sat in a wooden chair next to the cello. It was a plain chestnut brown cello like the one at home. I looked upon Lurkson’s dark violin with envy and wished there existed a cello as black as midnight.

Lurkson played first and I would join him after he played a solo song. We did not discuss what to play during our duet, we just agreed to enjoy the moment. Lurkson placed his bow on the strings and out came a black note of such long and wicked tone.

He had my attention and I licked my lips at him with bated breath.

Lurkson then commenced to play “Pasiphae Romances the Cretan Bull.” It was an aggressive and harsh piece that illustrated the cruel fate of having cursed unrequited love. After a few bars I swooned and my legs coiled around my cello. And my fingers clenched my bow so hard that I almost slit my palm open.

It was my favorite song of any string instrumental and I did not tell Lurkson before he played. I told no one that “Pasiphae Romances the Cretan Bull” was my choice overture for any event. It was a tragic sonata that spoke volumes to my black heart.

And here was Lurkson playing that song on a whim.

And I could not hold back any longer.

I took my bow and played along with Lurkson and matched him note for note. Suddenly the room filled with an aura of absolute darkness. The gates of Hades opened and Cerberus’s three heads barked at the blood moon. Oh, I ceased to be Gothia Cordila Vineharth and became a muse to the master of all things dreadful and dark!

Our duet of “Pasiphae Romances the Cretan Bull” soon came to an end and before anyone could applaud, I challenged Lurkson. I played “Athena Births From Zeus’ Skull” and to my utter delight, he knew that song too and followed me. He followed me through the Gates of Hades and we danced with Charon across the River Styx.

“Athena Births From Zeus’ Skull” was an ingenious piece that could be played slow or fast. And both approaches added a whole new layer of dark depths and sinful intrigue. I started fast then went slow and then from slow to fast again. And Lurkson followed and did not miss a beat.

As “Athena Births From Zeus’ Skull” came to an end, I did not wish for our dark duet to end. A song came to mind, one that I was sure would break the spell of playing with Lurkson. It was “Persephones’ Departure Brings Forth Eternal Winter.”

It was an obscure piece written by some long forgotten madman with all the time in the world on his hands. It was a song that could last ten whole minutes of constant play. It was a dreadful chorus that most professional musicians shied away from.

Maggy gifted the sheet music for “Persephones’ Departure Brings Forth Eternal Winter” to me on my thirteenth birthday. And I was determined to master it. I was prepared to seize the black light from my Lurkson and seduce him with my music until his soul surrendered to me.

After we concluded “Athena Births From Zeus’ Skull” I rocketed into “Persephones’ Departure Brings Forth Eternal Winter” without hesitation or fear.

I played alone for a few notes before looking at Lurkson. His eyes widened and he grinned like a madman. He then placed his bow against his dark violin. My prince of darkness then mirrored my play of “Persephone’s Departure Brings Forth Eternal Winter” without a miss.

In fact, Lurkson played the song better than me, with more zeal and elegance then I could imagine.

Each wail and cry from his violin was a challenge for me to keep up. “Persephone’s Departure Brings Forth Eternal Winter” was the most inspirational and lengthy piece I knew. And I thought it was obscure. But Lurkson knew it, and he was getting ahead of me, he was trying to force me to surrender.

But I did not waver. I accepted his challenge which was a challenge I originally sent to him. We played and played without missing a single note. And we played the whole ten minutes of “Persephone’s Departure Brings Forth Eternal Winter.”

My insides boiled. The sweat against my skin pickled. My eyes blurred and were plunged into darkness. My very soul felt naked and exhausted in the most dreadful and wondrous way I had ever experienced.

After our final song concluded, we both practically collapsed in a most comical unison. Lurkson dropped his bow and violin at a maid in waiting. I slouched back in my chair and let go of my cello and bow. The sound of my bow hitting the floor was like a bell ringing in a distant dark cathedral.

Lurkson sat in a chair near me. We both struggled to breathe. It was only three songs but they were the most damnable three songs ever conceived by mortal hands. Some professionals would call the three song nightmares and true ballads from the depths of Hades.

And my Lurkson and I played them all. And we did not play them for our families. We played them for each other. And after that, I truly knew Lurkson was my dark soulmate.

“D-Did you two practice all that beforehand?” asked the Earl.

I was so lightheaded I failed to notice that we did have an audience and they were applauding us.

Lurkson sucked his teeth and said, “Dear brother, when would I and the dear Madame Vineharth have time to practice any of that?”

“Are you saying that my sister and yourself just so happen to know the same three songs and just played them together?” asked Maggy with heavy suspicion.

“Maggy, you know how I practice,” I said. “There is no way Lurkson and I could have rehearsed such a performance in mere hours.”

“Then how else could you explain what happened, Gothia?” asked Maggy.

I grinned blindingly and said, “Kismet! There is no other explanation.”

“I am impressed,” said the Duke proudly. “Imagine if you were a quartet? What a phenomenal performance that would be if you were to add two others of like mind and taste.”

“Yes, father, it would be phantasmagorical,” said Lurkson.

My ears almost melted from sheer ecstasy to hear such a long and dreadful word from my dark angel’s lips. I forced myself to my feet. There was no better moment to have a first kiss. But I dare not in front of an audience and not because of any thought of shame.

But because others would spoil the moment.

I excused myself and said I needed some air. I said this while staring right at Lurkson. He winked at me and excused himself for some air too.

🕷

We exited the manor into the cool starry night.

The zodiacs were bright and the stars in perfect alignment. Lurkson and I strolled away from the manor to make distance from any distractions. I could almost smell his bashfulness but he followed me and kept close.

Lurkson was about to speak and while I enjoyed our banter, it was not the moment for words. I reached up, grabbed him by the collar, and then pulled him down to my level. I then took his lips and was generous with my tongue and teeth.

Lurkson did not hold back and we kissed under a starry sky. A bit of girlish sentimentality came over me and I became very giddy by the perfect atmosphere. ‘Dreadful’ was a word I often used to confuse people but there was nothing ironically dreadful about that moment.

It was like the music we played, so beautiful and horrifyingly pure that I hoped it was not a dream.

After several minutes of enjoying each other's oral flesh, Lurkson tried to straighten himself. His bitter-sweet taste dared to escape me and I grappled his lips with my teeth. He laid his hands on my cheeks and gently pulled me away.

But I wanted more. I grew desperate and needy. I shattered in the face of my one true love. I said words and they were words from my lascivious black heart.

“Midnight. Your room. Be ready.”

Lurkson raised an eyebrow at me as I continued to hold his collar.

“Do you know where my room is, dear Gothia?” he asked me.

“Tell me,” I insisted as I leered at him. “From the guest room to your room. Instruct me now.”

Lurkson did so with a trembling smile. I would have made ravenous love to him right then and there but closed doors would prevent interruptions. When he gave me the instructions I desired, I let him go. And without another word, just a smile and a wink, Lurkson walked back into the manor without me.

I was looking forward to my first night alone with my Lurkson. I then looked down at my dress and sneered. The dress Maggy chose for me would not do and neither would the underwear I wore. I needed something far more fitting, something that made me like a succubus.

I then saw Miss Easter in the corner of my eye and she was smoking a pipe while she watched the stars. Her face was illuminated by the flames from the pipe as she inhaled. She then blew blue smoke up at the stars as she glanced at me.

“I know that look,” said Miss Easter as she pointed her pipe at me. “‘That dress will not do, not do at all’ is what you are thinking.”

“You can read minds?” I asked.

“No but I can read hearts,” said Miss Easter as she offered her hand to me. “And I know just what your heart desires.”

There was an unspoken promise of assistance as she offered her hand. I was a bit weary because she could easily take advantage of my lustful heart and steal me from Lurkson. I showed some resilience and refused her hand.

And instead I asked, “Miss Easter, do you have suitable garments for one's first night of passion?”

Miss Easter giggled then declared, “Dear Gothia, I have all manner of garments for any night of passion.”

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