A priest, Sven, and his wife Anna live in a lonely vicarage in northern Sweden. Anna has been suffering from nervous trouble. With them lives her "self-sacrificing" friend Hedvig. Hedvig is a complicated character. At first sight she exposes dark sides. She has sworn her self to the devil, by carving a bloody cross onto her body. Hedvig is successfully performing a lot of sorceries, several of them with a strong erotic meaning Thus she sneaks naked to the priest's bed during night. Leaning over him she kisses his body. Sven is moving uneasily in his sleep but does not wake up. Carefully she sits astride him. There is a night of lust. Anna fins herself soon entangled in a net of wickedness. It is surrounding her from all sides, still it is gliding away, always impalpable. There are cases of violent death, declared "natural" in spite of many question marks. There is a heavy atmosphere of fright, hatred and eroticism in the beautiful vicarage...