Alyssa's feet trampled over the gravel path through the woods. She took a deep breath of exultation as she entered a clearing. She could feel the power of the place as it reverberated from the trees to the stones. All Hallows Eve, Halloween, Samhain- it was the night the veil between the worlds was thinnest and the beginning of a new year. Maybe even a new life.
She looked at the ring on her finger, shining falsely in the moonlight around the network of scars and tried not to break down. Instead she sneered. A new life...since the old one was dead. Or more to the point had never really existed. It had all been a child's fairytale of a rich prince come to whisk her away to a dream life. Bryce the big shot stockbroker who claimed he would love her forever.
Then on the way home from a party six months before it had happened. Alyssa had no idea he was that drunk until the oncoming headlights shattered in a spray of searing metal and glass. Bryce was spared the majority of the impact by a last minute swerve that sent her into the windshield in spite of her seatbelt. Her eyes had stared up into nothing and unable to breathe she had blacked out.
Four days later when she finally became conscious she found out her position was far worse than she had imagined. Bryce was not a stockbroker. He was a spoiled black sheep scion of a wealthy family and lived off of a trust fund that he knew just enough about to fake his knowledge of Wall Street. He had no way to pay for her extensive medical bills and (disgusted by the sight of her damaged face, terrorized blue eyes, ragged brown hair and malformed body) informed her that since they weren't married he didn't feel he had any obligation to do so. He had "magnanimously" told her to keep the ring and left her alone, weeks from recovery.
She spent months in surgery and rehab to be able to walk again, but knew that with her scarred face she was unlikely to get a decent job. She had hoped the ring would be worth enough to put a dent into her bills, only to find that Bryce had played her false all along. When she took it to an appraiser she discovered it was a cubic zirconia set in electroplate that had cost him all of $40 at the most. The knowledge that he had betrayed her sat like a stone in her stomach. Sometimes she wondered if it would have been better if she had died in the crash.
A chill went down her spine. On second thought...no. She knew it made her a bad pagan, but she was deeply afraid of death. The blank, dismal unknown made her shiver at how close she had come to it. She knew it was a part of the cycle of Life, but that didn't change her panic at the touch of the beyond. Another chill ran through her and she was surprised as it sent a tingle between her legs. She hadn't felt the least bit sexual since the accident and rarely before for that matter. The whole business made her nervous. Intimacy and the act of surrendering physically to another person were not entirely unlike a milder version of her fear of death and the unknown.
The wind raised and stirred the tree branches to life. Energy flowed around the improvised circle. She removed her clothes and cleared her mind for the ritual. The air sent goose bumps along her naked skin and again she felt a chill tingle in her sex. She envisioned the energy coming together in her hands and directed it into the ring. She didn't want to harm Bryce; she just wanted closure and an end to the remorseless emotional pain. She said goodbye for the last time to the man she had loved and the life she had lost and buried the ring in the soil.
Alyssa collapsed into a heap and attempted to ground the remaining energy. Instead she was shocked as it surged more powerful than before. The chill deepened and the tingle turned to an ache. The moon was hidden behind clouds and the darkness surrounded her like a blanket. The darker it grew the colder she became and the more her body's need screamed out. She tried to calm herself to no avail. She began to panic which only added to her out of control responses.
Was she out of her mind? What was happening? Fear seized her completely. Somehow her magickal operation had gone awry and she didn't know what to do. Had she offended some power by cutting ties with Bryce? The wind and the cold was like something out of mythology, not any reality she had ever heard stories of, even from the most experienced priests and priestesses. She begged pardon of whatever spirit sought to punish her error.
The earth quaked under her feet and split like a seam. If she hadn't already been off her feet it would have knocked her down. She grabbed on to the altar stone for support. A flash of grey fire reared up through the fissure. In the center of the heatless flames appeared a black chariot pulled by stallions out of nightmare. Holding the reins stood a tall, dark figure. In a moment he had swooped to her side and pulled her into the chariot beside him. As she looked up into his dead grey eyes her body contracted into thunderous orgasm and she fainted into his arms.
*
Alyssa awoke in bed. A heavy brocade comforter decorated with intricate gold embroidery covered her otherwise still naked body. The entire room shone coldly of jet and was draped in black velvet. It was more luxurious and more foreboding than a sultan's palace. Had she dreamed what had happened? Was she still dreaming? She flashed back to the horror and began again to panic. At the same time a pressure in her mind pushed her to calm. The existence of a presence exerting influence frightened her more and again it reacted to soothe. The more fearful she became the more the sensation of being in a dream grew. She was sure she was trapped in a nightmare and pinched herself over and over in an attempt to awake.
The pain from the pinches didn't wake her up, but did make her squirm as it sent another twinge to her privates. She realized she was noticeably wet between her thighs. She thought again of the rush that had gone through her before she had blacked out and couldn't stop a thrill at the memory. What had caused it in the midst of her terror?
She kept telling herself that any minute she would wake up at home or someone would come in and explain that she had been found in the woods and brought wherever she was to recover. She shook herself hard and set her chin. There was no way her memory was real. She was a pagan and believed in the old gods, but they didn't ACTUALLY show up and kidnap random women on the sabbats.
At the same time there was something decidedly off about her surroundings. Nowhere on Earth was so beautiful and terrifying at the same time. She argued with the proof of her own senses. The light, what little there was of it, was diffuse and had no apparent source. The air smelled of an orchard in late autumn-a mix of earth and decay that was surprisingly pleasant. Her chamber appeared to be carved from a wall of precious stone veined with metals. The same cold that she had felt before the ground opened still gripped her and continued to feed the aching need that she could not shake or ignore.
She was confused, she was frightened and for some reason she was more turned on than she had ever been in her life. And there was something...she didn't know what or who or how, but something was there with her. She could sense it, but could not establish what or where it emanated from.
"What...what are you?" she asked the air in desperation.
She was shocked to get a response. "Calm...there is nothing to fear." She felt another wave of relaxation wash over her body. It soothed her fears but amplified the now uncomfortable spasms in her vulva. "I am nothing...and the source of everything. I am that which is beyond light and life and created this realm to which all return. I am darkness-void."
"Am I dead?" Alyssa asked, strangely calmer than the question should have made her.
Behind her a different voice replied, "No, not yet." The voice was deep and low and sounded almost like thunder in the cave-like chamber even though he barely spoke above a whisper.
Alyssa sat up in shock. No it couldn't be...she had dreamed it. The dark figure, the chariot-it had been just like the myth she had learned in school; except the myth had never mentioned Persephone's physical reaction to the act. Or just how devilishly good looking he was. Long dark hair could be seen peaking from under his hood. Steel grey eyes met hers with a passion that belied his cold exterior. Again she remembered the overwhelming orgasm that had ripped through her at his touch and she felt dizzy. The room went out of focus as if she looked through thick glass.
"Yes...you remember now. That felt good, didn't it?" he whispered.
The dizziness made her giddy. The memory made her giddier. The darkness' influence increased the effect and the presence and voice of the man sent her over the top. Alyssa came again as she contemplated her answer. Shaken she was forced to respond through chattering teeth, "Yes." Another wave of orgasm tore through her body and left her drenched in sweat and her own leaked juices.
He smiled at her and she was surprised that it was far from menacing. In fact it just made him more frighteningly attractive. His whole demeanor was reminiscent of a romantic poet. Her body cried out in lustful anguish and she imagined a thousand scenarios in a moment before she pushed herself back under control. Or at least she tried to as she was unable to completely eliminate the images from her mind. She turned to address the powerful gentleman.
