Sarah Mac’s Reviews > Crystal Shadows > Status Update

Poor Mr Willoughby...yeah, he's a bit crass & a perpetual drunk, but mainstream archaeology is just as unwelcoming to these same theories today as it was in 1898. 🙄 Nobody wants to consider that ancient cultures were more advanced than we give them credit for. Status quo must be maintained! Only current society Knows Things(tm)! *clutches pearls*

"I never loved her. I never loved any of them. I was always in control, always sure of myself, always taking what I wanted, but never from those who were not willing to play the game. But Alice decided that was not enough. She wanted more. And I had no intention of giving her more, of playing by different rules." ...H admits liaison w/ married woman who killed herself on the nearby ancient stones. 👻

'The full moon shone high overhead, a gilded disc against the velvet darkness. By its light I could see wisps of clouds drifting eerily across the sky. The mountains were indiscernible, cloaked by the night, but I knew they were there, formidable, brooding. I had the impression of something ominous out there, something which simmered & seethed, something we were helpless to extinguish.'

--"What a fascinating place. It's ideal for a murder, you know."
--I caught my breath. "A--a murder?"
--"Yes, don't you agree? An eerie setting, a timeless feeling to the place--it seems very far removed from any pretense of civilization. A place with its own rules. A place outside the world."

'I was too horrified to struggle this time, & stood stiff & mute in his arms, the tears continuing to slide down my cheeks. Groaning, he said, "Even your tears are sweet," & his voice was hoarse, his breathing ragged.' ....Lolz. They both got traitorous bodies for each other. 💞

'I was oddly reluctant to go any nearer, but there was really nothing to occasion such disquiet. Golden sunlight poured into the clearing; in the grass crickets chirped, locusts hummed. It was a peaceful place, I told myself. There was nothing in the least sinister about it.' ....Sure enough, old pagan stones are all sweet & innocent--until the disembodied chanting kicks in. 😂

'In the elegance of the diner car, they were perfectly at home, at ease w/ themselves. Yet for all of us the ride would end; the train would stop; we would disembark in a very different world from the place we had begun our journey. No matter the glories of the hotels, outside their doors & windows would be the same untamed landscape, the secretive gloom of the forests, the massive, brooding mountains.'

'There was a prickling at the back of my neck; my throat felt suddenly dry. I did not want her to do this. Not that I believed in it for a moment, foretelling the future. But it seemed wrong, it struck a jarring note which vaguely alarmed me. It was as though one were offering a challenge to Providence.'