Part III – The Last Embrace: Her Ending (His lover’s point of view) The door hung open like a maw, Its silence sharp enough to gnaw. The air was thick with curdled red, A home now stinking of the dead. His coat lay torn across the floor, A handprint smeared across the door. The staircase groaned beneath my tread, Like bones that whisper to the dead. I saw him there—what once was him, His sockets hollow, grin too grim. His fingers cracked like overcooked meat, And black bile pooled around his feet. "Come closer, love," he softly lied, His voice a blade I felt inside. His breath was thick with copper death, I tasted rot in every breath. He lunged, I froze, too stunned to flee, Still fooled by what he used to be. His arms became a spider’s legs, His spine split open into pegs. He wept as teeth replaced his jaw, And pulled me in with hunger raw. He bit through ribs, he chewed my skin, And sang a lullaby of sin. He feasted slow, so I would feel, Each muscle tear, each tendon peel. My blood became his sacred wine, As he consumed what once was mine. And when I died, I did not flee— I opened eyes not meant for me. Now I wear skin and walk with grace, With hungry lips and hollow face.