A diaphanous mist hung about the pool, the grating call of a carrion crow echoing eerily on the still morning air.
The young woman walked in silence, her feet barely making a sound on the dew beaded grass, the train of her dress slicing a dark wake through the silvery blades.
‘Please Mistress!’ begged a voice from somewhere behind her.
The slender figure continued oblivious, her face death
ly pale, heading purposefully towards the lake as if drawn by some inextricable force.
‘Mistress!’
The maid’s exclamation was swallowed by the chill morning mist, lost in the gloom of early dawn as the girl trod softly towards the pool - a lighter patch now against the brooding darkness of the trees. Her feet sank deep into the rich dark mud.
‘Please my Mistress!’
As her toes disturbed the surface, a dark vapour seemed suddenly to swirl and tangle with the mist which hung about the muddy shore.
‘Please!’ her maid yelled hysterically, ‘stop mistress – I beg you!’
The richly dressed young woman slipped deeper into the pool, the water lapping softly as she waded. She was waist deep now - descending with dream-like purposefulness - her pace unwavering.
‘By the Rood!’
Her maid was at the shore, feet slithering on the muddy ground, marring her mistress’ delicate footprints. She made as if to cry out then faltered, her words emerging as a cracked whisper.
‘By Jesu …’
Darkness engulfed the wading girl, a rich, silky blackness, swarming like living smoke from the depths of the pool. On and on she walked, sinking lower and lower – her chin brushing the water - stepping deeper till at last she was gone.
The frightened maid turned and ran.
‘The evil one!’ she screamed shrilly, ‘the evil one has called my mistress away!’
The Lake is set within the mysterious world of enigmatic time traveller Ravenna Friere, who's endless wandering through the corridors of past reality invade many of my stories.
That's So Cool. I could feel the eerie mist and water engulfing me, just as if it was I who was wading into the pool. Chilling, but really Cool.