The Fallen Goddess

Back Again

My eyes shoot open. An enormous crash has woken me up, and I slowly get out of bed. With a weird shudder of anticipation that I can't quite explain, I go through my bedroom door and out into the hall.

I slowly slink down the hall, slightly nervous about what I might find. I reach the end of the hallway and turn the corner to face the entrance to the kitchen. I'm surprised to see...

Nothing.

There is nothing there. Except... when I turn my head, looking elsewhere for something that could have made a sound that loud, I see a face in my window.

I jolt backward, and the face disappears as soon as I do. I can't help but notice, despite my confusion and fear, that the woman standing in my window was beautiful.

Her lips were full, her hair was long and ginger, her eyes a deep, gorgeous brown...

Not to mention that, as my apartment in on the third floor, there is no possible way that anyone, not even a beautiful girl, could be in the window.

I shudder and walk back to my room, moving a little faster than I normally would. I settle back into my bed, not wanting to go back to sleep, but ending up dropping off anyway.

The sun wakes me up once again at six in the morning. I get out of bed, the image of the woman still stuck in my head.

I think of her while I get dressed, while I eat breakfast, while I get ready to go out with Crissy.

I leave my apartment a half hour later to go pick Crissy up at her house. She still lives with her parents so that some expenses can be saved while she goes to college.

When I get to the house, I open the door and go straight in; I'm already like family to her parents.

Unsurprisingly, Crissy is at the foot of the stairs, on her phone. When I open the door, she looks up and smiles. She stands up and gives me a hug.

"Are you okay?" She asks, glancing at my face after she releases me.

Her question brings me back to the present; I was still thinking about the woman.

"Yeah," I answer unconvincingly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

She gives a look, a look that says she sees right through me. But she smiles too. She touches my arm.

"Maybe a good make-out session would fix whatever's bothering you?" She suggests, still smiling.

I really don't want to; I'm too tired. But I smile back.

I take her hand and we leave her house for my car. I open the door for her and then I go to the drivers side. As soon as I slide in, she takes my hand and leans in.

Our lips connect, and it's clear she's more into it than me; every time I try to subtly pull away, she leans in closer.

She leads my hand, the one she's still gripping, over to her shoulder. She laces my fingers under the sleeve of her shirt, all in the span of one kiss. Whether or not I want to do this, I have to hand it to her: she's pretty frickin' efficient.

I try to pull my hand away, but she's forces me to keep it there. She does, however, break away from our kiss.

"What's wrong, Blake? Why are you resisting so much?" She asks, looking at me like she's actually concerned.

"Rough night," I answer vaguely, which doesn't seem to satisfy her.

"Don't lie to me," she says, starting to pout. "Tell me what's really wrong."

"That really is it," I insist, not relenting.

She kisses me again with more intensity.

"Then why do you keep resisting?" She asks after the kiss.

"I'm not," I say in response, and with a mental sigh, I lean into her kiss.

After my date with Crissy, I head home, not wanting to do anything else. When I reach my apartment, I park my car and step out. I stand in the middle of the parking lot for a second, and that's when I see her: the woman from last night.

She's just standing across from me in the parking lot. I look around to see if anyone else in the parking area is looking at her, but no one seems to.

I look back to where she was standing a second before, but now she's gone.

I hurry into my apartment, my heart racing. She's beautiful, and seems to literally be haunting me. She's hauntingly beautiful.

*     *     *

The next couple days are my first days of college for the year. I spend most of my time studying or out with Crissy, who is way more pushy than I remember.

But that feels weird to say.

Than I remember? What is that supposed to mean? It's not like my life paused between now and then, and even if it did, then when the hell did "then" end and when did "now" start?

It just all feels wrong.

And that woman still keeps showing up.

Everywhere I go, she's there, staring at me. And whenever I glance away and then try to see her again, she's not there.

Sometimes I try to walk towards her, but people or cars always get in my way before I can get to her, and when the direction is clear again, she is not there.

She just leaves.

Whoever she is, she always leaves.

For whatever reason, she's just gone.