8 Glade 4622
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The young woman sighed, shifting restlessly in the carriage, the vessel trudging faithfully along the old road, thunking softly from the recently replaced axel. Outside the sun was setting, the sky cast in a smear of pastel gloom on the blanket of still-stubborn snow. Vera hugged her arms to her chest, crushing the study cards that she had been reviewing against her silk skirt and shivered beneath its thin fabric, "It's freezing," she sniffled, resting her head against the wall of the vehicle. Her shoulder length hair had been combed through with rose water and pulled back on one side, set in place with her mother's silver comb, "We should have been there already. Everyone will gossip now."
Her father barely glanced up from his reading, "With that, I have no doubt," he stated, squinting in the dying light of the setting sun, "Darling, did you happen to pack my readers?"
"Hm?" Syetsulia looked up from her letter correspondence, to her husband who was struggling to make sense of the stack of papers scattered across his lap. They each held a pen, although her father's was red, marking a poor victim's essay with a vicious brutality, "What's wrong?"
"We're late," Vera interjected, huffing at the thought, "And now we'll have to deal with all the gossips; We should have left sooner," If the damned axle hadn't broken, they might have made it in time. And then of course, the party was set in the midst of the countryside of Nivenhain. Vera sat forward in her seat, furrowing her brow as the carriage began to turn away from the main road and onto a thin dirth pathway veering into the woods. Were they even going in the right direction? "What's happening?"
Her parents looked at each other, the first time they had made eye contact since the ride began, "We're just making a little stop."
Vera was instantly on alert, "What kind of stop?"
"It's nothing to worry about," her mother quickly relayed, "We're simply picking a friend up along the way."
"A friend?" Vera was quickly puzzled, trying to remember what sort of social gatherings her mother had been hosting as of late in Gothenburg. Her parents were so constantly surrounded by other people, it seemed, that the idea of suddenly being deprived their small moments of family intimacy, even if it had been awfully dull, sparked a fierce jealous in the young woman, "Who dares live this far West?"
Peering out the window, Vera looked between the barren trees on either side of the thin road, their spindly branches stretching towards the vehicle like curled fingers covered in snow. She pulled back the curtain and window slide, allowing an icy draft of cool air that suddenly brightened the stuffy cabin. Sticking her head out the window, the darkness felt thicker than before. Up ahead, blinded by the lantern of the driver, was the silhouette of a large estate
Finally her father sighed as the driver started to climb from his seat to announce their arrival, "Vera, please."
"I don't think that's an unusual question."
This time, Vera's mother, Syetsulia lifted a hand in an effort to placate her headstrong child, "A family friend asked us if we could pick him up on the way to. It's just a favor."
"Favor?" From the glimpse she had caught of the manor, it looked as if this "friend" lived in an abandoned estate. A light washed over the window, illuminating the carriage briefly as a lantern light passed outside. Vera turned sharply, pulling back the curtain and screamed.
Something stared back.
Her father barely glanced up from his reading, "With that, I have no doubt," he stated, squinting in the dying light of the setting sun, "Darling, did you happen to pack my readers?"
"Hm?" Syetsulia looked up from her letter correspondence, to her husband who was struggling to make sense of the stack of papers scattered across his lap. They each held a pen, although her father's was red, marking a poor victim's essay with a vicious brutality, "What's wrong?"
"We're late," Vera interjected, huffing at the thought, "And now we'll have to deal with all the gossips; We should have left sooner," If the damned axle hadn't broken, they might have made it in time. And then of course, the party was set in the midst of the countryside of Nivenhain. Vera sat forward in her seat, furrowing her brow as the carriage began to turn away from the main road and onto a thin dirth pathway veering into the woods. Were they even going in the right direction? "What's happening?"
Her parents looked at each other, the first time they had made eye contact since the ride began, "We're just making a little stop."
Vera was instantly on alert, "What kind of stop?"
"It's nothing to worry about," her mother quickly relayed, "We're simply picking a friend up along the way."
"A friend?" Vera was quickly puzzled, trying to remember what sort of social gatherings her mother had been hosting as of late in Gothenburg. Her parents were so constantly surrounded by other people, it seemed, that the idea of suddenly being deprived their small moments of family intimacy, even if it had been awfully dull, sparked a fierce jealous in the young woman, "Who dares live this far West?"
Peering out the window, Vera looked between the barren trees on either side of the thin road, their spindly branches stretching towards the vehicle like curled fingers covered in snow. She pulled back the curtain and window slide, allowing an icy draft of cool air that suddenly brightened the stuffy cabin. Sticking her head out the window, the darkness felt thicker than before. Up ahead, blinded by the lantern of the driver, was the silhouette of a large estate
Finally her father sighed as the driver started to climb from his seat to announce their arrival, "Vera, please."
"I don't think that's an unusual question."
This time, Vera's mother, Syetsulia lifted a hand in an effort to placate her headstrong child, "A family friend asked us if we could pick him up on the way to. It's just a favor."
"Favor?" From the glimpse she had caught of the manor, it looked as if this "friend" lived in an abandoned estate. A light washed over the window, illuminating the carriage briefly as a lantern light passed outside. Vera turned sharply, pulling back the curtain and screamed.
Something stared back.
