I wrapped myself up in a black velvet cloak.

Shortly after, my friend arrived.

" Let's go," she said.

I got in her car, and we drove to the theatre.

It was large, the signage glowing in an otherwise moonless night. The air was cold.

Inside, it was filled with many people, and I became lost in the crowd. The costumes were all cheap.

I wanted to see the screening of Daughters of Darkness. I wanted to see Delphine Seyrig writhing in ecstasy as she described her torture of her maid servants. The scene where she smashed John Karlen's head in with a lobster dish, her evening dress dripping with jewels.

There is madness in old things, that younger people do not have, and cannot possibly conceive of. There is no decadence in modern living.

Lost in the theatre, I wandered. It seemed no one had tickets. They were wandering as they pleased.

I looked at the movies, looking over them, to look for Daughters of Darkness.

A tall man with black hair walked by, dragging a woman in a white dress with him.

For just a moment, as they entered into a screening, she turned, and I saw her face.

She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen.

My heart stopped beating for a moment. No time elapsed. The room acquired a hazy, golden glow. Her face was so beautiful. Her hair was like gold. She was smooth, cheekbones round, lips full and autumn red, her eyebrows a perfect arch.

Then she was gone.

I stared a moment more, trying to imprint her image on my mind. She remained an incandescent blur, lips and eyes and cheekbones, like vaseline smeared on a camera.

My friend approached me, appearing from within the crowd.

" Let's go see the movie," she said.

She took my hand and we went to Daughters of Darkness.

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