Something Wicked

Part 4: Dominance

"'Aren't you afraid of my darkness, my dear?' Hades asked with mischief in his eyes. 'No,' Persephone replied, 'You haven't even seen mine yet.'"
- kfg

Late Afternoon
Dormer Estate, Kent, England

The scent of rain and damp pine hung heavy in the air and Elyse breathed it in deep as she stepped out of the carriage, taking in the view of her childhood home.

Situated on the northern bank of a river, Dormer House stood looking across a number of low hills. The residence, which had been in the family for generations, was set in expansive parkland, backed by wooded, rocky knolls rising to heather-covered moorland which would stretch on for several miles before hitting the coast. Elyse had always been fond of her father's estate, with its secluded gardens and picturesque woods, all nestled away in some lush, green pocket of forgotten English countryside.

But home felt different to her now, its dramatic façade and embellishments not as warm or inviting as they had once been. Even as she stepped across the threshold, she found herself craving to be outside again, as if something beyond these familiar walls had tied a string to her wrist, taken to gently pulling.

As the servants unpacked her things, Elyse glanced out the nearest window, beyond the vast stretch of frozen gardens to the woods beyond. The mist that had followed her all the way from London had since settled along the fringes of the estate, appearing to surround the entire perimeter, but never encroaching forward, as if it were waiting, beckoning her to venture forth into the twilight to accompany it the rest of the way.

Unable to resist its summons, or to even consider the situation more rationally, Elyse found herself immediately calling for a horse to be brought. As if her mind had been possessed by a single thought, to lose herself in that gray mist, she promptly ignored the gentle insistence of the elderly housekeeper as she changed into her riding habit, declining the offer of tea and the promise of a hot dinner. The young woman would bear no refutation. She didn't care if the sun was due to set within the hour or that she had spent the better part of her day confined to a carriage. Her mind was riddled with an almost crippling blend of anxiety and anticipation.

Surely the fresh air and exercise would calm her restless nerves.

She hardly believed the rationalization as it flitted across her brain and passed her lips, but she also never bothered to question its origin.

She was consumed by a solitary need – she had to be outside.

Once changed, and with no person of authority to stop her, she made her way back out to the front of the house where a servant waited with her black mare, the steed saddled and ready to go. She mounted with ease and then dug her heels into the animal's side, rearing it forward and out of the driveway without a word of explanation, or any indication of when she would return.

The cold wind whipped against her flushing cheeks as she lightly brought down the end of her riding crop onto the rear of the beast's flesh, spurring it from a canter to a full gallop. The increase in speed sent her heart to race wildly in her chest, some primal instinct submitting that he was somehow associated with that mist. The notion – though utterly preposterous to a sensible mind – thrilled her to her very core, and with a flick of her wrist, she brought the riding crop down once more, steering her mare directly into the woods.

Even as the sun began to set behind them, the thoroughbred obeyed, albeit with a snort of protestation, racing straight for the dark shade of the trees until they were completely enveloped in shadow and mist.