The passionate eye stared at Sir Jeremy from the wall, burning through him. Its flames, searing him, pupil pulsing, palpitating. He couldn’t take it any longer; it was driving him to madness. The teeth inside the blackened eye opened, its tongue writhed revolting. Jeremy tore down the hideous portrait and torched one of the many drawings he had created since the encounter. Sweat trickled like a salty insect. He swatted at it, looked at the blood. He fed the hungry fire with the fruit of his own impassioned blaze. I need a cig thought Jeremy, and lit one up to calm his nerves. The nicotine knelt nicely on his tongue, blackened smoke filled his lungs.

‘Dong, dong, dong,’ the grandfather clock struck three and then in the midst of the donging reverberating off the thick walls, he heard it… Screeching glass. It clattered to the ground with a chinking and then the sound of cold steel clicking on marble just outside Jeremy’s bedroom door. Moonlight escaped through the crack under the door. Slowly it was darkened by a deep crimson pool, its ever-expanding shore creeping in. In the reflection of the pool, Jeremy’s eyes were locked once again to the eyes that had haunted him for so long. The fiery eyes froze his senses. He felt his hand clench the armrest, the icy breeze from the flame frosting his fingers. The eye ever so passionate lured Jeremy in. When it had pulled him so close, that the tip of his nose was stained red, a shining hook suddenly shot out from under the door and hooked Jeremy by the nostril. It was sliced away. The nasal cavity shredded, blood spurting on the door. Jeremy fell back, scarlet hands pushed away, leaving their sanguinary prints on the hardwood floor. In seconds, the large oak door was slashed open; a dark, hunched figure stood in the gaping hole. The glinting, moonlit teeth consumed him. He only heard himself distantly repeating:

“My only solace is that one day, judgment will come, my only solace is that one day judgment will come…” The heavy words whispered held no comfort. The passionate eye troubled Jeremy no more.