In late Victorian London, playwright Kevin Francis Darley struggles with both poor reviews and writer’s block. He begins a dalliance with the mystical spirit absinthe and meets – and falls immediately in love with – an enigmatic young woman from his homeland. She inspires and enlivens him, but the man who knows Kevin better than any other cannot help but be wary of the profound and disturbing change that he sees in his friend.

A Gothic short story; 5,400 words.