A Black Rose,

A single black rose adorns her coffin.

I placed it there,

A year ago.

A Black Rose,

My last gift to her.

A Black Rose,

To let go of this pain.

That night,

A year ago tonight.

She died,

Her hand pressed against my chest.

She died in my arms.

Why must I be the one to go on?

Without her,

What am I to do?

I held her last,

She came to me,

And I did nothing.

She came yet I did nothing.

A soft knock,

The door I opened,

To find her,

Pale and fighting for breathe.

Her face contorted in pain,

An agony so great.

Silent she pushes past me.

Stumbling into my bedroom.

I follow her,

Wondering why tonight,

This dark angel has chosen to visit.

Why my rooms must it be?

Slowly,

I lower myself into a chair,

An armchair of midnight silk.

Exhaustion over takes me.

She collapses,

Into my arms she falls.

“Mata…”

I stop in mid-sentence,

Her fingernail had found my lips.

“Silence.”

I was quiet,

As she leaned forward,

Her mouth open,

Incisors extended.

She drags her fangs down my face.

The skin rising,

Tinged red.

She fell back.

“Monnunluelue saropueel deetahninkeylee?”

She whispered,

Her body,

Convulsed and fell limp.

Why she died I cannot know.

We laid her in a marble coffin,

Facing Blodic Lake.

In her hand,

She grasps,

A single Black Rose.

A single Black Rose,

One that I put there,

A single year ago.

“Monnunluelue saropueel deetahninkeylee?” means, “Will you dance?”