Snow is falling in light, refreshing rivets. The world around me is a beautiful crystalline blanket. I look up at the huge clock towering above me. The hands show that he's late, or maybe he's not even coming. I wrap my arms around myself and shiver. He promised me. He promised he would come. Tears begin rolling down my face, freezing instantly.

"Please" I whisper, my mouth sending out a puff of cloud. That's when I see him, a tall shadowy figure walking towards me through the suddenly heavy snow. My heartbeat picks up as he approaches. Relief is probably plastered all over my face. He comes right up to me, his smile making him look even more appealing and sinister.

"I-I thought you weren't going to show." Just being near him has me like a melted pile of snow.

"Of course I'd come," his gloved hand strokes my damp hair. Warmth spreads where he touches. "I missed you."

I wrap my arms around him and immediately my sense of feeling comes back through my body. I look up at his face, at the eyes that hypnotize me, the lips that tempt me, the soft hair that my hands long to run through. He puts his hands to my face and leans down. Our lips touch, and it's like I'm on fire. He pulls me as close as possible and kisses me more passionately. I'm lost in him, his mysteriousness, his body, the way he makes me feel. He tells me he loves me, and I tell him I love him. He pulls away, but his arms still circle my waist. I feel dizzy from the passion of our kiss.

Suddenly, I'm filled with an overwhelming need to know why. Why someone as wonderful and special as he would pick someone so broken and ordinary like me? And most importantly, why I can only see him at this time of night?

"Why?" I choke out, gripping his coat and burying my face in it.

"Why do I love you?" he asks, lifting my face up with his hand.

I nod as my breath held the second part of my question hanging onto my tongue. But, I realize I don't want to know the answer. His eyes sparkle, red and fiery.

"Because you're the only one who makes me happy, who makes me feel like this world is worth living in," he explains with a voice full of passion and seduction he always seems to carry. "This is a dull existence for me, but with you, I FEEL. You add excitement to my life. You keep me here my love."

As my eyes fill with happy tears, I wobble to say: "I love you." I push his hair out of his eyes. He watches at the clock toll with frustration on his face.

"I must leave and I will see you as soon as I can," he kisses my forehead and leaves, disappearing into the softly falling snow, leaving behind crow feathers and the faint scent of shoe polish. My breath catches as he turns and winks with his red eyes illuminating the snow.

And, that's when I am released.