A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Forty-Nine With everything set and being put into action, | went hto wait. It was now up to Myra to pull off the next part.

The idea was that she would pretend to notice Thea was new in town and politely ask about her, even try to befriend her. With the two of them getting closer, | was hopeful that Thea would divulge a little about herself; information I'd literally been paying a private investigator to obtain for years now.

In order for this to work though, | couldn't be anywhere in sight or else I'd risk Thea catching on.

We agreed to meet again in an hour at a park down the street. It was rarely used at this tof the day and bordered on the forest. This meant we didn’t need to worry about being seen together. If everything went perfect then Myra would get the information | needed before | cto pick her up, and Thea would be none the wiser to the entire plot.

The tpassed quickly and, with every second that passed, | could feel my own anxiety building. I'd waited so long for this and needed Myra to be successful so badly. | knew even the tiniest bit of information was going to helpstop Thea... and possibly even helpstop my own death.

And so, before I knew it, it was finally about that time.

| headed downstairs, moving towards the car but spotted Lucy along the way down. “Lucy,” | called out. She looked up sharply at my voice, surprised to see me.

But then her face turned into a frown almost immediately.

“Miss, | didn’t know you were home,” she said. | walked over to her, taking the small detour since | knew I still had a little bit of tbefore | needed to leave.

“I'm just heading out now. Any luck with the private investigator?” “Not really...,” she said, her brow only creasing further. “To be honest, | was going to wait a little longer before | spoke to you, but I think something might be amiss. He normally doesn’t take this long to get back to me.” | hesitated. “You think he might have run off with the money as | thought?” She nodded. “I do. It would confirm your theory too. However, I'm still waiting to hear back from a few different leads so | can’t be certain yet.” “Fuck,” | hissed, and gently hit my fist against the wall next to me. | had known this was a possibility and it was a risk 1'd been willing to take when | first hired him. Speople's loyalty cost more than what could be bought with money. It looked as if his greed had gotten the better of him.

Though there was one other possibility.... ... That they'd been working together from the beginning.

“Find him,” | said. “I don’t care what resources you need, 1'll pay whatever the price. If he’s run off then he at least knows something about Thea. Even if that’s only because he made a deal with her.” Lucy bowed her head. “Of course, Miss.” It was just like it was in the past; Thea had her hand in manipulating the people around me. Sthings really didn’t change.

But as | continued to mull on it, another thought hit me. One where | realised I'd just introduced my best friend...

to my worst enemy.

But Myra wouldn't... would she? That echo of pain from whenever | thought of my old attendant, Sophie, cto me. | had loved her like a mother and yet she had resorted to taking a deal from Thea in the end, sendingto my death regardless. It proved that sometimes a person wasn’t who you thought they were. | had to quickly push those thoughts from my head. | could trust Myra, | knew that. And besides, there were more important things to worry about right now. Like meeting up with her and discussing what she’d learnt about Thea. Without any further delay, | got into my car and drove back into town, heading straight to the park The trip didn’t take very long to arrive and | immediately scanned the area without getting out. The entire space seemed completely clear of any people though; Myra included.

I didn’t want to rush anything, makingdecide to wait another half an hour. | wanted to give her all the tshe needed. But once that period cand went, | found Myra still hadn't shown up. It was then that | couldnt help but start to feel a little worried. It was a very large area and so, naturally, | figured she probably hadn‘t realised I'd arrived yet, possibly waiting forsomewhere that | couldn't see. | quickly slipped out of the driver's seat, having already made sure that the coast was clear, and made my way into the park.

It seemed quiet. There was no play equipment for children here as this area was mostly just a collection of trees and nature. Not that | was complaining. It made for sgreat privacy when needed.

| continued to search for a few minutes until, finally, | found Myra in the distance by a tree. As | expected, she was facing the opposite direction to where I'd parked so she must not have seen me.

“Myra!” | called out and started walking over to see her. She didn’t hearand so | quickened my pace to reach her. “Hey! Myra! I've been waiting for you on the other side. How did it go?” But she didn’t reply. | couldn't have been more than a few meters away from her now. She should have heard me.

“Myra..?” | walked over slowly until I stood in front of her, as If a part ofknew something wasn’t quite right ...But it was fine.

| could see she was completely fine. | had been worried about nothing.

And yet her blue eyes continued to stare out towards the forest, refusing to look at me. “Myra, I'm here.” ...She was acting so immature by not replying. | didn’t know why she would do that, it wasn’t even funny. | reached out and touched her hand gently. She felt a little cold but that was just the weather moving into winter soon. | knew she should have brought a jacket. When | had cto pick her up earlier | had even told her that she was going to regret not bringing one.

‘I can’t look’ “Con. We need to go,” | said. “We have so much to talk about.” | could feel tears start to fall down my cheeks and I blinked them away. Couldn't she see how her behaviour was so incredibly frustrating right now? She was wasting time.

“Myra, stop this. Please.” ‘I don’t want to look’ | tugged at her hand to get her to follow me, but instead, her upper body only lurched sideways in the direction I'd pulled her. It was as if her centre was stuck in one place, completely unable to be moved. “...Please.” ‘Don’t makelook’ | pulled again and shook my head as the tears began to increase.

“Myra... please....” ‘I'm not going to look.’ “It's tto go home, Myra. Your parents are waiting for you.” ‘Please don’t makelook.’ “The kids at the orphanage need you. You can’t stay here.” ...Please.’ Scanned with CamScanner “...I need you, Myra.” | fell to my knees before her and instantly felt as the moisture hidden within the grass started t o seep into my clothes, completely covering my hands and legs.

That damn rain we had a few weeks ago had made the ground completely soggy.

It couldn't be helped though. That was just the season it was. That damn red rain will get you.

Red rain ...Goddess, please, don’t makelook.” Red like the colour parts of my clothes were. | stared at it oddly, my head starting to spin. | didn’t realise I'd worn such a strange pattern today. It'd been so long since I'd picked such a vibrant colour for myself. ...Please, no." And then | snapped... ...The veil of deniability insidebreaking...

...And | did the one thing I'd been refusing to do since arriving. | looked up | looked up to where my best friend stood.

| looked up to where a familiar silver dagger was pierced completely through her chest.

| looked up to the note that was forcefully pushed onto the hilt, intended forto find it.

| looked up at the words.

The three words.

The three simple words. Words | wish | could forget.

...“You forgot this.” | immediately threw my body to the side and purged up all the contents of my stomach.

| could see it all so clearly now. My clothes... my hands... my legs... it was all blood. It was all blood.

It was all Myra’s blood. What was | doing? Why was | wasting time? | moved quickly and put my hand to the stab wound, trying to close off where the blood had cfrom. Blood that had already stopped flowing long ago. | could see the knife had been twisted, skewed enough to make the entrance larger.

It would be okay though. | just needed to apply pressure. Pressure helps stop the flow and aids i n sealing it. I'd learnt that from my mother.

“Someone! Please! Help!” | yelled out over and over again. “Anyone! Please!” | needed someone to get a doctor while | applied pressure.

| had to stay and apply pressure. If | let go, she was going to bleed out.

...I had to apply pressure. ...I had to apply pressure. ... | had to apply pressure. ...| had to apply pressure.

...But then my cries for help eventually turned into screams.

| screamed for what felt like hours. | screamed until my voice was completely hoarse. | screamed until | physically couldn’t anymore. And when | was done and could go on no more, | slumped back to the ground in defeat, staring at my hands. Because a part ofhad known the reality of the situation the very second I'd seen her in the distance.

...Myra was dead. And there was no bringing her back Inside, | could also feel a part ofhad just died too. The part ofthat Myra held. *Had* held. The part that had allowedto see the good in others when I'd felt the world against m e. The only pure and good thing that had never hurt me.

It took a long tbefore | was able to move again... but eventually, | could feel myself stand u p calmly.

| wasn’t really there though. Not really. | was just staring out, feeling like a passenger within m y own body, as | started to walk back to the car. It didn’t take long; just a few minutes walk. It had only taken a few minutes to find her and so i t made sense that it would only take a few minutes to walk back.

A few minutes seemed to be such a short amount of tfor something to happen. | opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, immediately starting the five minute drive in the opposite direction to town. | drove until | finally cto a house | hadn’t seen in a very long time.

| cto the Alpha‘s packhouse. My old home. Was it intentional? Had it been pure muscle memory? ...Or had it been because | knew Aleric would probably be there? The only other person I felt could not judgefor my sins... because my memories of their sins were no better. But it didn’t matter. | didn’t care about any of that right now. | stood at the front door and knocked politely, stepping back to wait patiently for someone to answer. | could see the bright red spots my hand left on the pristine white door as | touched it.

How easily things were ruined by things | touched.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t an attendant that opened the door to greet me. It was Aleric himself. He looked as if he was about to go out somewhere.

“...Aria?” he asked, startled to seeshow up at the packhouse of all places. “What are you doing here...? What's that smell...? It smells like... -.” It only took a moment before his eyes finally registered what he was actually seeing before him; my dishevelled appearance being a sight he probably wasn’t expecting with the copious amounts of red blood quickly drying all over me. “Aria?! What the fuck? Are you hurt?!” He rushed towardsand started inspectingfor the wounds | knew he wouldn't be able to find.

After all, it wasn’t my blood.

| just stood there, shaking my head, and felt the familiar moisture of tears start to fall down my face once more.

| didn’t know I'd had any more left in my body.

“She's dead, Aleric.” His eyes only becwider in utter confusion over the whole situation. “What? Dead? Who's dead? Cinside, | can alert the patrols. Do you know who did it?” He pulled at my hand, trying to getto follow him into the house, but I ripped it away. “Me, Aleric,” | said between my clenched jaw, my body beginning to shake again. | could feel the pain coming back now; the numb calm I'd experienced only having lasted long enough to make it here. But now | could feel it begin to rot atinside once more, building its way to the surface. | stared at him with wild, desperate eyes, unable to physically do anything else. “....... | killed her.” Aleric stepped back in shock, only further confusion being added by my words. “...What?” “I killed her, Aleric,” | repeated, my breath now becoming laboured. “It's my fault... | killed Myra.” But | couldn't take it anymore. | couldnt breathe.

..And | felt myself fainting to the ground, giving myself over to the darkness that had been threatening to overcme. And | knew that, deep down, even this temporary peace was a luxury | hadn't deserved.

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