Chapter 1: Not an Ordinary Funeral

The day of Lucy’s funeral was overcast and gloomy, befitting Frank’s mood. He hadn’t wanted any of this – the people, the flowers, the empty platitudes about “a life well lived.” It all seemed meaningless compared to the gaping void in his heart.

Frank sat numbly in the front pew, staring at the closed mahogany casket holding his wife of 35 years. The church swam before him, a impressionistic blur of colors and muted sounds. He couldn’t focus on the eulogies or prayers. The only clear sensation was grief sitting heavily on his chest, cold and implacable.

Reality felt off-kilter, like he’d stepped into some parallel nightmare world. Frank half expected Lucy to step through the stained glass windows in her whimsical way, smiling and wondering what all the fuss was about. But of course she would never do that again. Not after the brutal hit-and-run that took her life.

Frank closed his eyes, the scene replaying in his mind. Lucy’s startled expression just before the impact. The sickening crunch of metal and bone. Her broken body laid out on the black asphalt. The driver hadn’t even stopped, leaving Frank cradling Lucy’s lifeless form in the middle of the street.

A touch on his shoulder jolted Frank back to the present. His brother whispered something about heading to the cemetery. Frank nodded mutely and rose on unsteady legs, following the casket outside. The sun had come out, offering a deceitful warmth for early spring. Frank suppressed a shudder, feeling suddenly exposed.

Strange flickering shadows played at the edge of his vision. He whipped his head around but saw nothing. Just nervous imaginings, he told himself. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of unseen eyes watching him. A presence lurking just out of sight.

Frank shook off the paranoia as he got in the limo. It was just grief and exhaustion making him see things. But when they reached the cemetery, the flickering shadows followed.

Chapter 2: She Visits while I sleep

That night, Frank’s uneasy dreams began.

He found himself walking down a dim hallway lined with doors on each side. Cold, damp stone comprised the floor and walls. Flickering torches provided the only light. Frank peered down the endless corridor, seeing nothing ahead but deepening darkness.

A woman’s soft laughter echoed around him. Frank turned but no one was there. “Hello?” he called out hesitantly. More laughter answered, teasing and beguiling.

Frank picked a door and entered a small, windowless room. Heavy velvet curtains covered the walls in crimson. The sickly sweet scent of incense hung in the air. In the room’s center lay a large canopy bed, its silk sheets rumpled.

A shapely figure lay amid the sheets, dressed in a lacy black negligee. As Frank approached, the woman turned languidly to face him. She was strikingly beautiful, with raven hair, ruby red lips, and piercing green eyes. Intricate tattoos adorned her arms, shoulders, and cleavage.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she purred, stretching like a cat. Her voice was mellifluous yet unsettling. She crooked a long nailed finger, beckoning Frank closer.

Against his better judgement, he sat on the bed’s edge. She trailed her nails down his cheek.

“We’re going to have such fun, you and I,” she whispered throatily.

Frank recoiled from her touch. “Who are you?”

The woman gave a mirthless smile. “I’m your new mistress, here to take away all that pain.” She leaned closer, lips brushing Frank’s ear. “I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams. Just give yourself to me…”

Frank lurched back, breaking her spell. This was wrong. He had to get out of here.

He fled the room with the woman’s mocking laughter echoing behind. The hallway stretched longer than before. Frank ran but went nowhere. Heavy footfalls sounded, pursued by a rasping breath. Terror urged Frank faster through the endless corridor.

A bony hand grasped his shoulder, spinning Frank around. The beautiful woman leered at him, eyes burning crimson. She opened her mouth impossibly wide, revealing a maw of endless darkness. Rotten breath hit Frank as she lunged…

Frank jolted awake, heart racing. Early morning light filtered through the curtains. Just a nightmare, he told himself. But deep down, he sensed this was only the beginning. The woman would return. And one day, she might not let him wake up.

Chapter 3: The Dark Arts

The nightmares continued plaguing Frank over the next few weeks. Each time the seductive woman pursued him more aggressively, her powers over the dream world strengthening. Frank took to wandering the house at night to avoid sleep. But exhaustion weakened his resistance.

Seeking answers, Frank arranged to meet his old friend Samuel who’d known Lucy since college. They sat across from each other in a dimly lit cafe. Frank recounted the dreams in detail. Samuel listened grimly, fingertips steepled under his chin.

“What you describe has the hallmarks of an incubus,” Samuel said finally. “A demon that enters dreams and drains the soul.”

Frank shook his head. “I don’t believe in demons. There must be a rational explanation.”

“I never told you this,” Samuel said slowly. “But Lucy practiced witchcraft…and she was quite adept.”

Frank stared. His practical, no-nonsense Lucy? dabbling in occult arts? It seemed absurd.

Samuel held up a hand before Frank could interject. “I know it sounds bizarre. But in college she joined a coven led by a very old, very powerful witch known as Valeria. Rumors abounded about the dark spells they cast. Many believed Valeria had lived multiple lifetimes, acquiring ancient knowledge over centuries.”

Frank listened uneasily. Valeria’s name evoked a visceral shiver of dread.

“Why are you telling me this now?” he asked.

Samuel leaned forward, voice dropping. “Because Valeria prides herself on collecting souls. She makes bargains with desperate souls willing to trade their afterlife for earthly rewards.” His eyes bore intensely into Frank’s. “I believe your wife made one such bargain.”

The implication sank like a stone in Frank’s gut. He thought back to Lucy’s abrupt windfall years ago that financed their comfortable life. At the time, he’d accepted her vague explanation and didn’t pry.

“You think this Valeria holds my wife’s soul?” Frank whispered.

Samuel nodded. “And I believe she now wants to collect yours as well.”

Frank recoiled as understanding dawned. The seductive woman…she must be Valeria. Which meant those horrifying nightly visitations were just the beginning. A cold purposefulness emanated from those crimson eyes – Valeria would not stop until she claimed Frank completely.

Shaken, Frank knew he had to find a way to break her hold on him and Lucy. Before Valeria’s shadows swallowed them both for eternity. The time had come to confront the witch queen.

Chapter 4: A Contract with Darkness

Night after night Valeria pursued Frank in his dreams. Her powers grew stronger, twisting the fabric of his nightmares to ensnare him. Exhausted, Frank could barely function during his waking hours.

Finally, one dreary night, she broke him. Valeria manifested in Frank’s bedroom, her demonic shadow falling over his bed.

“Why do you resist me so?” she purred in that bone-chilling voice. Her red eyes flashed with ancient cunning. “You prolong the inevitable. Your wife belongs to me. And now, so shall you.”

“I won’t…let you take me,” Frank muttered through parched lips.

“But my darling, I already have.” Valeria trailed a razor-sharp nail down his cheek. “Look at what resisting me has cost you. Wasting away, afraid to sleep…is this any way to live?”

Her whisper slithered into his mind, exploiting every weakness and fear. She was right – he couldn’t keep this up. His defenses lay shattered.

Valeria’s melodious voice soothed his ragged psyche. “I promise you centuries of delights beyond human comprehension. You will never want for anything again.”

Frank gazed up at her, broken. “And Lucy?”

“She is here, safe with me.” Valeria smiled. “Say you are mine, freely and fully. Then your suffering will end.”

Frank closed his eyes. He was just so very tired. Perhaps the only way out was through. To face the darkness within Valeria’s siren song. With a shuddering breath, he surrendered himself completely to her power.

Valeria’s grin turned feral, her skin shining like moonlit marble. She leaned down and kissed Frank deeply. His life force flowed into her as she consumed his soul.

When she finally released him, Frank saw himself transformed. Valeria had remade him into her consort, an incubus shade. Bound together in darkness, they passed through the veil into her domain, leaving Frank’s mortal life behind forever.

Chapter 5: An Unexpected Guest

He was in her prison for two days until the day the stranger arrived, piercing through Valeria’s domain like a heavenly light.

A strong pounding came at the door, it echoed through castle walls. It was the type of knocking that felt like everyone from every dimension could hear.

Valeria’s lips curled in irritation. With a flick of her fingers the heavy oak door flew open. A man dressed in white linens stood silhouetted in the entryway. The kindness in his eyes shown a radiance on his face.

“You are not welcome here, messenger,” Valeria hissed. “Turn back before I call upon my hellhounds to rip your wings off.”

But the angel stepped forward calmly. Frank was mesmerized at the searing aura surrounding him. Valeria bared her fangs, rising in fury.

“Enough!” the messenger commanded. Valeria froze against her will. “I have been sent with a message for the one you call Frank.”

Frank approached warily. The angel addressed him gently, “There is a slight conflict in contracts”.

He withdrew a scroll and handed it to Frank. Valeria looking bewildered says “what madness is this?” The parchment rolled across the floor, unfurling to reveal elegant handwritten script.

Frank scanned the scroll’s contents with widening eyes. It was a binding celestial contract, signed and authorized that very day he lost Lucy, weeks before his demise. In exchange for his soul, the One had agreed to grant Frank protection from all forms of darkness or harm. Which meant…

Valeria’s claim on him was null and void.

The messenger gently took Frank’s hands in his. “Come. You don’t need to be here one minute longer”

Valeria’s wailing rage shook the room’s foundations. But the messenger’s aura shielded Frank as the darkness could not overtake the light.

As the messenger makes to leave, Frank stops him. “What of my wife?”

The messenger’s eyes grow sad. “Her soul remains trapped. The contract did not include her.”

The shadows lost their grip upon him as he crossed into the light. Frank glances back once at the life he’s leaving behind before crossing through a shimmering portal with the messenger.