Elias approached Alderidge Lane with the weight of ineluctability pressing upon him. The fog had grown thicker, entwining in thick swells that cleaved to the ground and rose like spectral fritters along the crooked trees. Every breath he drew carried the cold tang of mist, every step echoed constitutionally on the unseen path, marking him for the house. He knew, with a bone-deep certainty, that this time there would be no turning back.