I met a man in midnight tailored thread,
Whose eyes like embers turned hope to dread.
He tipped his hat—so polished, so sly—
And murmured, “I possess what none may buy.”

I offer joy without restraint,
A bargain struck with wayward fate.
No saintly vow, no prayers to recite—
Just sign your soul in blood tonight.

His voice was molten, like velvet wine,
Each syllable a sin refined.
And though cold sweat traced my every trembling shake,
I laughed, well knowing what the flames would take.

“The soul,” he grinned, “is overrated—
It’s only baggage, to the furnace fated.
Why drag it through a mortal life,
When I could free you from all earthly strife?”

And in that truth, both strange and sweet,
I felt the chains wrap ’round my feet.
The scent of ash curled through the air,
A whispered hymn of grim despair.

Years slipped like footsteps—faint and fleet,
My gilded joys turned bittersweet.
For every smile, a shadow grew,
And each desire split my heart in two.

One day I wept to end the game,
He only grinned and spoke my name;
“We shook on this—and well you knew—
The Devil keeps his word… do you?”

I learned it all—too late to flee,
No mercy waits for souls like me.
The darkness bent to sanguine flame,
As hell’s lost chorus sang my name.

The damned rose forth from the obsidian abyss
To seal my fate with one final searing kiss.
With infernal delight, he bowed his head—
The perfect Gentleman in red.