A Gift from the Goddess novel Chapter 124

I left Noah in Zac’s capable hands and got his word that he’d call my father to say the job was completed per normal. He was risking a lot for my sake, I knew that. A lot of risk for what seemed like absolutely no reason. The level of danger associated with this insane plan wasn’t lost on me.

After all, the last thing I wanted was for Zac’s name to end up in my next manila folder.

I headed home as soon as I could, leaving enough time to arrive well before daylight, and walked towards my front door. But it was as I was entering through the front gate to our property that something caught my eye.

It was an old lady, huddled up in a shawl, standing just on the street outside.

She had grey hair and eyes to match, clearly at an age that would suggest a retirement home or carer was required. And yet she stood randomly outside my house at three o’clock in the morning, staring directly at me.

I paused for a moment and looked around, trying to see if she was with someone. But when the empty street was completely silent and devoid of all other life, I started to wonder if maybe she’d gotten lost.

…Did I really have the energy to deal with this right now though? I was already so exhausted and just wanted to go inside to sleep in my own bed, something that would be a first after many days. I could already perfectly visualise how soft my pillow would be… just begging to be laid on and—.

“I can save her,” the old lady suddenly said. “I can save the girl.”

…What?

I took my hand off the gate handle and turned back around to fully face her, part of me still wondering if she was even talking to me.

“…Pardon?” I called back.

Wasn’t it common for older people to lose their minds at a certain age? What if she was a dementia patient who wandered off? I should probably just look up where the closest hospital or retirement home was and tell them where to find—.

“The girl. Clarissa,” she said. As if that was of any real help.

I blankly stared back at her.

“I’m not Clarissa,” I clarified. “I think you’ve—.”

“I know that,” she snapped sharply, making me flinch a bit in surprise.

“Oh… ’kay. Well, is that… your daughter?” I asked, still trying to be polite. “Or your carer? Do you want me to call someone for you—?”

But then she started to walk towards me, her stride more steady than I would have expected given her appearance. There was something oddly strange about her too. A weird atmosphere around her.

Or maybe I was just slightly unnerved by the whole creepiness of the situation.

“Do you not know who I am?” she asked once she stood within a few feet of me.

“Ma’am, truthfully, I’m not even sure if you know who you are. No offence,” I said, starting to get more uncomfortable the longer this drew out. “If you just wait here a moment though, I’ll head inside and wake up one of the maids. They can maybe help you out or something.”

I really didn’t care about courtesy anymore and just wanted to leave as soon as possible. There was something about this entire encounter that just rubbed me the wrong way. Almost as if I could feel the hair at the back of my neck standing up.

I turned around and tried to open the gate, but she quickly moved forward to stop me.

“Wait,” she said, and I had to bite back my instincts telling me to go.

Rational logic would suggest that there was nothing to be worried about. She was just an old lady. Frail enough looking to be pushed over by the wind alone.

“Wait, a moment,” she repeated.

…And I reluctantly turned back around to meet her eyes.

Eyes that seemed to hold an intelligence there that I wasn’t expecting.

And she spoke in a tone so low that I almost didn’t hear her.

“…Do you know the true story of the Winter Mist?” she asked.

Her expression was completely serious as I shuffled uncomfortably under her gaze. It was as though I could feel her scrutinising me, analysing my face for any sort of recognition that I knew what she was talking about.

Which, of course, I didn’t.

“Is that like a fairy tale?” I asked. “Was it a book you used to read to your grandkids or something?”

But to my immense discomfort, she only continued to stare at me silently.

“…Ma’am…?”

I really wanted to leave. I was so close to home, merely a foot away from being back on the property. Just a step forward and I could close the gate between us. But she was so close to me that I wasn’t sure what she would do if I tried. Clearly, she wasn’t right in the head.

However, at the sound of bird wings loudly flying into the air somewhere, she finally turned away, pulling the hood of her shawl up.

“I can save her,” she simply repeated. “Do not forget that.”

And she started walking back down the street towards town.

…

…What the hell had that just been?

I didn’t waste any more time in stepping through the gate and locking it behind me, my chest still pounding slightly from the whole ordeal.

So much fear caused by just one crazy old lady.

But if I had to say one thing that was far more terrifying than the old crone, I would have to answer that it was the man waiting for me once I finally entered inside.

As I walked through my front door, I saw a light had been left on in the living room. A surprise given most people in the house should have been asleep by now. Naturally, after everything that had just happened, I had every intention of just ignoring it and heading upstairs to my room instead.

…However, I couldn’t help but catch the familiar scent of someone I knew only too well.

My father.