Tryst

Angelica, an adventurous young woman, and Tristan, her fretful boyfriend, have found the perfect spot to indulge in a picnic (but, most importantly, the excuse to engage in a risqué love-making session); a lush, grassy meadow that borders the foreboding, fairy tale-like forest from Tristan's childhood. Fuelled by an afternoon of food and drink, the couple begin passionately making out. As things begin to heat up, Angelica resists consummating where they are situated; the area is too public and she doesn't wish to be caught by a stray passerby. But when she suggests moving their escapades into the woods, Tristan suddenly becomes cold to the idea, dousing the flames of romance for a seemingly arbitrary reason. Not taking 'no' for an answer, Angelica pushes Tristan for an answer. Reluctantly, he opens up and what he responds with changes the mood drastically; he claims that the forest is cursed by the spirits of a former couple who were destroyed by the vengeful father of the girl. The boy was strangled to death and the girl was pushed into a pool of water whilst desperately attempting to break up the struggle, drowning within minutes. Their murderer committed suicide immediately afterwards, hanging himself from the tree that grows over the dark waters. Ever since the tragedy, the pool has been referred to by locals as Dead Raven's Pool, as the water appears to form the shape of a bird lying on its side. And, according to local superstition, anyone in love who enters the forest will be lured to the pool by the ghost of the murdered daughter and drowned in the same waters in which she met her violent end. Angelica, upon hearing this ghostly yarn, decides that enough is enough and ventures into the gloomy forest to prove Tristan wrong, despite his protesting against her entering the forest alone. She thoroughly accosts him for his cowardice and dives headfirst into the dense woodland. But, very quickly, it becomes apparent that not everything is as it seems. For the forest is darker and more complex than it appears. And the further Angelica wanders into the labyrinth of shadowy foliage and thorny branches, an archaic, malevolent force begins to stir in the depths of the blackened waters below...