Midnight at The Lake

Seventh Stanza

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, in there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore
We break the surface of the water, and I am in some sort of lab. Hansel, ever the creep, lifts me and carries me bridal style to a metal table. I am shivering from the cold surface, and from the fear of this odd clinical hideout. I notice Hansel is slightly wrinkled, and there is grey in his hair. He has seen better days. Snip

Not the least obeisance made he, not a minute stopped or stayed he, but with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door
He quickly gets to work, cutting away my soaked clothes. Without a moments pause, he slides a needle beneath my skin. 'To soothe you.' He laughs, and I feel all my muscles relax, but then I realize I have no control over my body. I am paralyzed. A tear slides down my cheek. Thump

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door
He turns my head so that I am gazing at a lit up tank full of lake water. In it I see, presumably, Lenore. She is entering the tank through a small hole in the bottom. At this moment I really get to take in her appearance. Gray skin, flowing scraggly bits of hair, large eyes, and a seamless joining of her torso and a fish's tail. I can see that she once was gorgeous, but age and undeath have left her...distorted. Chuckle

Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
'Like what you see? Lenore was a radical success. And so shall you soon be.' I felt the hot sting of a blade cut through my lower half like butter. "Before you bleed out, perhaps you would like to know what makes her undead.' He flips a switch and the tank shows an x-ray of Lenore. 'As you will notice, her brain is connected to wires running through her spine. And where her heart is there is a little box. When she breathes in the water, it runs a little mill in that box. That produces power. She is hydroelectric.' Choke