Betty’s house was standing at the end of the street, next to the restaurant she owned.

“Josh!” Alasie called out to a figure in the shadows, that leaned against the wall of the house.

“Is my grandfather in?”

“Yeah, he just got here. Why? Is something wrong?” His eyes widened as he spotted my ashen face “Faina? What is going on Alasie?”

“I don’t know; she won’t talk to me. She wants my grandfather.”

“All right.” Josh nodded “Wait right here, I’ll go fetch him.”

We watched as he ran into the house, leaving us in uncomfortable silence.

“I wish you’d trust me.” She whispered with hurt evident in her voice.

“I do! It’s just that I need the answers. And he’s got them.” I seized her gloved hands, begging her to understand.

But how could she? How could she understand something that was incomprehensible or even something that was so unreal it was barely believable?

“What is it?” Amaruq stepped out of the house, looking around to see where’s the fire.

“I need to talk to you. Now.” I ordered him, not caring about politeness and pleasantries.

“Faina?” He shared a look with his granddaughter and she shook her head to say she didn’t have a clue what was going on.

“All right.” He stopped in front of me “Tell me.”

“No. In private. Please.” I added, my voice changing to softer, pleading tone.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion “There are no secrets in our community.”

“It’s Tapeesa,” I said straightforwardly, hoping he will understand.

There was no way I could miss the surprise in his eyes even though he immediately covered his slip “Perhaps it’s better we do talk in... More private place. Excuse us.” He casted a glance at Josh and Alasie who now gaped at me with pure perplexity.

Amaruq put his hand on the small of my back, barely touching me as he led me away from all the inquisitive eyes.

“What about her, Faina?” He finally said when we stopped.

“She … what is she?”

He nervously laughed, turning away from me “An old woman.”

“You know what I mean.” I took a step towards him, not once looking away from his eyes.

“She’s different. An outcast, there’s nothing wrong with her.”

“Then why did you cast her out of the Iñupiat association?” I challenged him, sick of his secretiveness. He was hiding something, there was no doubt in that.

“Dear God! Who told you such nonsense? She just stopped coming.” He put his hands in the air, defending himself.

“Alasie told me. It was supposed to be about superstition. What was it really?”

He narrowed his eyes at me “Is all of this nonsense meant to be in your book you’re writing?”

“No! Do you want to know what she told me today?”

For a moment he stood there in silence. Eventually, he slightly bobbed his head, encouraging me to continue.

“She said: Stay out of the forest. Death is coming.” I repeated her strange words.

By the time I was finished his face was completely white with terror “What?”

“And her touch… It’s like she’s somehow prying into my brain. I know it sounds insane, but …”

“She touched you?” He whispered with puzzlement.

“Yes. She told me to run. Amaruq, you have to tell me what you know!”

“I don’t know anything.” He stuttered, burring his hand in his hair.

“Please, just tell me what you know,” I begged him to say something.

“Faina.” He said sternly “I don’t know anything.”

But I knew he was lying “Please, this is scaring me, Sir, I don’t know what to do. This isn’t natural isn’t it?” Then I suddenly remembered something Josh has told me a while ago “Wait. Don’t people believe she was supposed to be a witch of some sorts?”

He drew out a long breath as his features considerably hardened “Not a witch. Anatkuk – a shaman.”

“But, weren’t shamans respected in the community? You said they were healers with some sorts of powers.” I said with skeptical voice. Never in my wildest dreams or nightmares have I believed a mankind could possess magical powers. That kind of stuff belonged to fairy tales.

“Mostly yes, but when they abused their powers …”

“What do you mean?”

Amaruq slowly turned to me “Do you remember when I told you a story about Kalluk?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Kalluk’s mother couldn’t stand what the goddess had done to her son. So she took the matters into her own hands. She used the power of evil spirits to help her gain back her lost child – to raise him from death.”

“Wasn’t he already a monster?”

“He was … But what became of him after that was horrifying. She unknowingly cursed him to walk the earth as a monstrous spirit. Not really alive, but not dead either. Feeding on a flesh of animals, never seen by humans.” He explained.

“I don’t understand. Weren’t there sightings of him?”

“There were. But only few had the ability to see his true form. And whoever did, wasn’t the same anymore.”

“What does this have to do with Tapeesa?”

“Kalluk’s mother had another child, but she was too weak and too old, meaning she died giving birth. Aput, Kalluk’s father named the baby girl Yura because she possessed a great beauty. Sadly, this wasn’t the only thing she inherited from her mother. The child was born out of sin since her mother tapped into the world of dark forces and although not truly evil, she still possessed powers that were far greater than any shaman’s.”

“How is Yura connected to Tapeesa?” I shook my head in confusion.

“Yura is Tapeesa’s ancestor.”

“What? So she’s like her great-great-great-great-great-grandmother?” I asked, snorting at the absurdity of this conversation.

“Yes and she’s the only family Kalluk has left.”

“But Kalluk isn’t real! He’s only a myth! A story to prevent little children to wander alone in the woods at night!”

He shrugged, furrowing his brows “Honestly I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“Then tell me why did you banish her. What did she do to deserve it? Has she done something to harm you?”

“No, not me.” He paused for a second “There was a time she attended our gatherings. But people were wary of her, suspecting she was somehow different. Not once she revealed her power, well, at least not until the day a young hunter joined us.”

“What happened?”

“Strangely…. He said the exact same thing as you told me. She pried in his mind, warning him about the impending death.”

“What happened to him?” I urged him on, hoping for a positive response.

“He claimed to see Kalluk on his hunting trip and after that, his mind deteriorated.”

“But you said there were no sightings of him.”

“I wasn’t completely honest.” He admitted “His family wanted to keep this a secret, especially his wife. His doctor said it was a really bad case of psychosis.”

“Where is he now?” My heart raced so badly, I thought I will collapse.

“He died a few years ago.” The old man clenched his teeth, sighing deeply.

“So, was it really psychosis?”

“Well, it was plausible medical explanation.” Amaruq shook his head.

“What about Tapeesa? Nobody bothered to talk to her to find out what had she done to him?”

“I did. But she wouldn’t say a word so I banned her after that.”

“And after that, another incident hasn’t occurred, has it?” I watched him shook his head to say no “Never again after that.”

Suddenly I wished I would choose any other town but Atsanik. There was still time to run away, to disappear back to Moscow. But what would I be running from? From reality or some twisted made up story a man once upon a time, on a cold snowy day in Alaskan wilderness told his children?

“You don’t think this is real, do you?” I probed with less confidence that I would’ve wanted.

He looked at me dead in the eye, whispering: “I don’t know.”