I gasped at the high regard he showed towards myself & my brethren, it seemed an honour indeed that not only he knew of us but that he was genuinely aware of our work & efforts, the time & energy & passion that we put into our endeavours (for our beloved brothers & sisters of course). My thoughts rolled freely & I couldn’t help but continue our conversation, not from my notepad, but to share with him an experience that happened to me on my journey to be with him on this day. It also partially explains the spring in my step on my arrival at the Hoffman Institute, aside from the anticipation of meeting the dark Frost of course.

“I am involuntarily aroused” I continued.

“Prior to my arrival here, I had a forceful corporeal experience in the shared company of a flame haired vixen I met fortuitously (or so I thought at the time) on the subway. She made steadfast eye-contact with me from the far reaches of the carriage. Principally I assumed she was gazing at some other within my proximity, but as the other commuters filtered out of the train, the realization dawned on me that it was in fact projected on me.”

As I spoke, Frost watched me intently, I earnestly told my story & he smiled with familiarity at my mention of the red head. Without once breaking eye contact with me, he inclined his head as if for confirmation and then nodded but it was unclear to me if it was to himself, his unseen confidant or he was politely nodding along in understanding of my tale. He didn’t interrupt me though & my mind continued to flow with my recent encounter.

“I found myself absorbed by her beckoning green eyes, I approached her at first hesitantly, drawn towards her as if magnetized. Standing before her, I lost all capability of articulation, not through anxiety or deficiency of swagger; her eyes had been jerking me off the entire expedition. There simply didn’t seem any obligation for idle chit-chat; the intensity between us was far too dominant to fritter away any words.”

I could feel myself become engorged at my recollections to Frost; there came tuts & sighs from behind me as the guards listened in. Whether they were frowning or hanging on my every word I couldn’t tell, I was far too involved in reliving my delicious adventure to look around or even care. Frosts’ gaze became lecherous, his eyes narrowed as I spoke, he continually nodded however slightly but now as though he was agreeing with me, as though (as I suspected) he knew my beautiful stranger.

“She opened her protracted overcoat and revealed to the Keeper of The Crimson Quill, a tightly-binding leather corset and intricately laced suspenders. Her evidently shaven quim bulged slightly from within her scant panties and I enthusiastically pulled them to one side, sliding my quivering digits along her moistened equator and then fucked her right where we stood. It was the most concentrated unification, with highly volatile orgasm emanating not only from my throbbing shaft but concealed G-spots deep within my prostrate. She departed the train one stop before me and still not a single word had escaped either of our lips. Since that lustful tryst her image has been burned into the forefront of my mind, it is almost as if I can still feel her constant gaze on the back of my neck. If you know as much of the Keeper of The Quill as you claim, tell me; who is this scarlet siren, and will our paths cross again?”

He smiled, a seemingly genuine smile, filled with joy & laughter as his eyes danced with merriment. Not something seen often in this place I’m sure but a dark pleasure to behold it was, then he answered my elongated tale & question. “Ah my dear Keeper” he began as his mirth subsided to a sinister grin “You have read Mr. Giles book, you know deep down that you know this woman.”

“Dr Alex Roth?” I inquired, was I asking out of hope or telling him, I wasn’t sure myself.

“To you, of course, though that might not be the name she’s using at this moment in time. She is known to me by her real name, the Lady Meridiana”

I gasped again with disbelief; my head shook as I tried to take in just what he was saying & to my actual relief & joy, what his words confirmed.

“I can’t believe she’s real” I said in a hoarse breath as I stared down at the table between us.

“But of course she’s real!” he boomed back at me with some laughter making me feel foolish “you felt her skin, touched her flesh, plunged her depths, isn’t that evidence enough for you?”

“Yes, yes of course but I thought she was just a character from a book, not a real live human being!” I spluttered.

“First of all” he began “she isn’t just a human being, she was born in the 10th Century, she is far, far more than that, she is a succubus. She is a Dark Lady, one of my Dark Fiends & you should consider yourself an incredibly fortunate mortal to have her cross your path. This is all documented in that book …Of Tortured Faustian Slumbers) her life is there for all to see”.

“I do understand that, but I thought she was ……fictional” I mumbled without thinking.

“She is as real as you or I Quill and you will have a little more respect in your voice when you talk about Meridiana” his voice grew angry at my perceived flippancy to which I was going to apologize but “secondly, am I just a character from a book? Can you feel my hot breath across the table, do you hear my chains rattle as I move, if I were just a character from a book I wouldn’t be able to smash this table into pieces and then do the same with you……..but I could.”

My heart instantly raced quicker, I found my thighs straining as they automatically pushed me back into my chair, trying to move me farther out of harms reach. I quickly shot glances over either shoulder at my guards who had made a single step forward to assert their ‘authority’, though how much use they’d be against Frost was highly debatable!! Thankfully his mood calmed as I threw my hands up in an apology for whatever misinterpretation had been taken, his mood seemed to calm more though as he took ‘advice’ from his dark friend (or friends, I couldn’t be sure) who were clearly talking to him. This could be the only ‘rational’ explanation as he inclined his head to the left again for what seemed like an age.

“All the other worldly people and forces in that book by your colleague Mr Giles are factual, feel free to look them up & study them, better yet, I could ask if their mighty Lords Astaroth and Asmodeus would care to look you up!”

His malevolently dark yet playful smile returned.

“Er no……. thank you but I will decline if that’s all the same to you” I hastily said trying to smile, having read the book and now hearing the revelation that they were real beings in it, I certainly did not want them paying me a visit. Everything in my mind now seemed so surreal, a book of fiction that I love, now being seen in a completely different light, a dark light. That darkness shrouded in on my thoughts, the possibilities became feverish, fractured & disjointed. Could I fall down that rabbits hole myself? Was a genuine Faustian nightmare waiting to open up before me? I have a wife and son, as did Seth Caine in the book. I am a writer, as was Seth Caine in the book! I have encountered Meridiana, as did Seth Caine in the book!

My mind started to spin out of control, a sweat began to form on my brow, just how was all this possible? Then I wondered just how and why Severin Frost knew so much about me, his Dark Friends he had said but why? My mind was fucked already and he sensed it clearly as he tipped it over the edge by answering the final part of my original question without prompting from me.

“And yes” he said with ebony glee “You will be seeing Meridiana again, she has said she is looking forward to it.”

Just like Seth Caine in that book!

Read Verse VI