Chapter 3: Footprints in the Frost**
The freezing Chicago wind hit Victoria like a physical blow, cutting through the thin black sequins of her evening dress. The stone steps of the driveway were coated in slick, glistening sleet.
"Mom! Mom!" Victoria screamed into the darkness, her voice swallowed by the howling wind.
Rain mixed with snow lashed against her bare skin, instantly turning her lips blue. The long, winding driveway of the gated suburban community was empty, illuminated only by the faint orange glow of distant streetlamps.
She looked down and spotted faint, uneven scuff marks in the fresh layer of frost along the edge of the asphalt. One foot dragged slightly—Mary’s right hip had been bad ever since an old workplace fall she could never afford surgery to fix.
*“I’m fine, Vicky,”* her mother’s voice echoed in her mind from years ago. *“You need that SAT prep class more than I need a doctor. It’s just a little limp.”*
Victoria began to run. The frozen gravel dug into her soles, tearing through the thin nylon of her stockings, but she barely registered the pain. Her lungs burned with every breath of sub-zero air.
"Mom! Please! Stop!"
She reached the iron front gates of the community. The guard in the booth stared at her in total disbelief—the wealthy, aristocratic Mrs. Sterling running barefoot into the storm, drenched, weeping, and clutching a tattered rag.
"Mrs. Sterling? What happened? Do you need me to call the police?" the guard shouted through the intercom.
"Did you see an older woman?" Victoria gasped, pressing her hands against the freezing glass. "An older woman in a thin grey sweater, walking with a limp? Did she pass through here?"
The guard’s expression shifted from confusion to regret. "Yes, ma'am. About ten minutes ago. She wouldn't let me call her a cab. She said she didn't have any money on her and walked toward the bus stop on Route 4."
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Route 4 was a deserted, unlit two-lane highway flanked by deep drainage ditches and dense woods. And the last suburban bus had already stopped running an hour ago.
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