Till Death Do Us Part

She looked up from writing in her book and blushed deeply as he stared directly at her

She flashed him a small smile and yet he didn’t look away

It’s like they were the only people in the class, maybe because they were. It was still early in the morning afterall

She hooded her face with the book she was writing in hoping to cool her hot cheeks before they exploded.

She glanced at him and frowned. His head hung limp again on his shoulder and the flies wouldn’t leave.

She fumed and got up, her dirty nails digging into the desk as she clutch the table to stand.

Her movement echoed through the long abandoned decaying school building and the patter of her feet through the water that had leaked through the ceiling could be heard.

She lifted his head and smiled as she gazed into his eyes or rather eye sockets.

She planted a kiss on his rotten lips and propped his head up with a little stick she had brought along from the graveyard after digging her lover out

Her hair was all about her from not showering for days. She returned to her seat and looked over at her man.

She blushed again and went back to writing in her book.

As her hands shook from weakness, anyone who would read that book after their bodies are found would find the illegible words.. till death do us part

Deck The Halls….

Dave stood outside in the cold… Blowing air into his mitten covered palms looking through the window at his family making dinner.

He shivered but didn’t leave his spot. Christmas had never looked so beautiful in this house,well ever since dad died.

He sighed and clouded the air with his warm breath. Finally, after 15 years everyone was here, again without dad.

Just them, no external family so it was even more intimate than what he’d ever had.

Dave stood and stared with unseeing eyes, he loved his dad and was closest to him next to his Mom. The death of his father hurt even afterall these years.

Mother lifted her head to smile at him.. this was her idea afterall. She didn’t want to see everyone so disconnected.. it’s the least they could do for her as she was widowed for quite a while.

He waved at her and walked into the house,stomping his feet so the snow goes off. He sighed and took in a deep breath as the aroma of chicken and the other meals reached his nostrils.

He sat at the table and smiled and talked and as everyone took their places around the table.

Your father would be very proud to see how all of you have grown so well.. mother said looking at her oldest child. He smiled and said,Yes he will.

They held hands and said grace and the food started going round.. he sat watching, smiling not eating… Just watching and taking in this scene as it was his last until he left the country for work.

Suddenly the forks and knives dropped from the hands as everyone seemed to have fallen asleep behind the table.

Dave looked in confusion then burst out laughing.. you can’t fool me twice. Plus today isn’t my birthday..no pranks on New Year’s Eve remember?

He was about to take a bite.. but dropped his fork and yet no one moved. He stood,slightly disturbed at their realistic stillness and shook Jeffery but his brother slid off his chair in an unconscious heap.

His eyes widened.. and checked the rest of his family, his little sister and mother. Both were breathing evenly, barely as well… Like they had fallen asleep.

What is happening? Guys this isn’t funny at all… He tried to sound stern. Oh don’t fuss so much Dave. They’re only alseep..I am yet to kill them. A voice said from behind him.

Dave turned sharply and saw a hooded figure in the dining room. He shrieked and took a step back almost falling over his mother who are you a-and what have you done with my family?

The figure said nothing and walked towards him. Daintily flipped the oak dining table and scattered the chairs.

Dave, who had always been soft at heart was frozen with fear as he watched the dark figure approach. He looked around for a weapon but it was too late.. this stranger had him down and was soon tied up firmly and gagged…

The man proceeded to put him in a chair and pushed him towards the wall.Well the figure said Now you must know the truth.

He pulled his hoodie off to reveal a deeply scarred face and sunken eyes. His expression was blank, mostly because all the passion was present in his death-filled eyes. My name is Freeman.

Freeman lifted Jeffery up by his hair and scoffed This bastard here is not your brother… He slashed the neck of the his brother. As the blood spilled from the gash, Freeman opened his mouth to quench his thirst.

He dropped the bloody body and went over to Tiana. She looks so much like her mother don’t you think? Too bad she’s not mine.. he groped the body and fondled with the breasts of the unconscious young woman.

He put his hands in her mouth, one each on where teeth were and pulled,he opened and stretched till the lower jaw was no longer attached to the body and threw her against the wall.

Dave screamed through his gag as he watched this man tear his family apart. Freeman flashed him a wink and went over to his mother and ripped off her clothes.

Oh how she turns me on… He said snickering at his captive in the chair.. he fondled her gently and run his blade all over her body and proceeded to lick the blood off her.

He pulled off the panties of the older woman and begun to make love to her right there on the dinning room floor. Dave struggled and screamed and cried as he watched the man abuse his mother…

The intruder stood with a satisfied smile on his face and pulled a butcher’s knife from the rack… I loved her but she didn’t want me.. did your mother ever tell you who your father was? He screamed Or did she lie that it was your deceased loser father? A low chuckle escaped his mouth.

I raped her before her wedding day so you are my son… He smiled widely… But she didn’t want me… The smile quickly changed to a scowl as he begun to chop on the neck of the nearly lifeless woman.

He chopped and chopped and laughed and laughed as he chopped.. blood splattered everywhere as he continued and soon he held her head up by her hair and showed it triumphantly to his son.

Say hi to mama and papa he said as he pointed to the head and then to himself. Look Olivia.. he said addressing the head. Mistletoe.. he took mistletoe out of his front pocket and hung it over then and kissed the head passionately.

He laughed maniacally and bashed the head against the wall and let it fall… He looked at the man in the chair who was weeping and quivering with fear.. as for you my son… We have lots to catch up on.. he said as he dragged him off the chair and unto the floor I had to watch you spend quality time with that old rat.

He chuckled no one would ever know how he died, unless of course it slips out that I was there in the hospital that day

He laughed and dragged his son out but stopped when he saw the radio and pushed a button.. deck the halls with boughs of holly.. it sung.. he hummed along as he dragged his captive out of the house

Inside Out.

I stare at the ceiling,the fan in the room turns lazily, one blade after another.

I sigh happily knowing that I have the love of my life beside me and damn is she beautiful.

I look to the window where the pane gets stained with the cold of the winter air and the sky is one with the earth sharing the same sad gray and white appearance.

I turn to face my wife of ten years and smile at her peaceful face. Her bushy brows and lovely lashes which bordered the lids of her ocean-blue eyes , shut in slumber.

I know she loves me, I know she is mine and nothing makes me happier.

Flashes of last night’s hot intimacy danced on my conciousness, and the small smile on my face grows wider.

Her skin was soft to touch, her short laboured breaths as she urged me on fuelled my desire. Oh her warm and wet grip on me was something every man would want on a cold night such as last night.

I stand from the bed and look around. But I have to leave. I have to run away before dawn. My smile fades as I looked at her.

I walk over to the wardrobe, my things already packed and step out of the clothes stained with last night’s memories.

I take a quick shower and wore fresh clothes and pick up my bag. She must be exhausted.

I kiss her forehead and brush her cheeks with my fingers. She is cold. I pull her blanket all the way to her neck to keep her warm. I leave without another sound.

Not that she can hear me, at least not anymore.

Flashes of the night before hit me again as I walked.

Last night…

I made love to her and she looked me in the eye and called my brother’s name. Twice.

Tears ran down my cheek as she gripped my shoulders urging me on.

I smiled at her sadly and went down to where she dripped warm and wet. I put a finger in and choked on tears as she let out a moan .

Anger built up inside me. I didn’t want any explanation. I was crazy with envy and pain

My hand on her neck, I kept clawing going deeper and deeper. I placed a pillow on her face to muffle her screams.

I added another finger and yet another and clawed. She yelped in pain and lifted herself to look at me with confusion. I pushed her back down

I pulled whatever my hand touched inside with all my anger. The rumors were true afterall.

I pulled and pulled, trying to erase every trace of my brother from within her,hearing little snaps and tears in her body as she wriggled and her blood stained our matrimonial sheets.

I had sat watching her body, sat watching the love of my life grow cold.

Drowning in her blood surrounded by her insides and the unfinished body of a little fetus,that wasn’t mine.

I had pulled the blanket over her and got in beside her. Kissed her forehead and stared at the ceiling as the fan turned lazily, one after the other.

I see you.

Her palms were sweaty. The room was thick with tension. She tried to breathe. In…out…in…out, like her boyfriend had told her to.

He couldn’t be here since he was attending a conference outside the country. It’s probably nothing, he had said, but the cuts and bruises on her body said the exact opposite.

A shiver went down her spine as she realized that for the first time, she was about to prove she wasn’t being paranoid by seeing what happens to her when she’s asleep.

She looked on the screen, waiting for the footage to load and sighed in frustration. It must be the network. We’ll get that fixed by the end of the week the night guard, who noticed her anxiety, said with an awkward smile.

She smiled back knowing very well that everyone thought she was crazy. She looked back at the screen. Her back ached from sitting so she stood to pace the small security room.

She turned her face, looking all battered, to the monitor again and the video has begun to play. 25 Nov.2020/00:01/, a minute after midnight she muttered and stepped closer. Please, fast forward to night time she said impatiently.

The video sped through the early hours of the day, showing her go about her activities.

She caught a glimpse of when her boyfriend dropped by, smiling, as she remembered his encouraging words and his warm hug.

She had left for work by the time she caught up with the footage. The room was empty and everything was still.

Sigh. Faster sir. Finally, the video showed her retiring to bed. As the lights went off, footage capture was switched to night vision mode.

It was well past 10pm, 10:35 to be exact, as they noticed the curtains in her room to drawing apart gently as wind blew into the room.

She looked intently at the screen; her heart racing and her palms even more sweaty.

Suddenly, a man came out of the closet and stood in the middle of the room, seemingly out of nowhere.

He paced the room, as if he was familiar with it. He stood at the foot of the bed and seemed to be muttering to himself. He began to change, transforming into…something.

Five minutes passed and he….no, the creature stood huge, almost touching the fan and covering almost the entire width of the room.

She took a seat and drew closer to the screen since her legs had almost given up on her, glancing at the security guard who looked shaken; his eyes fixed on the screen.

She looked back the monitor with fear. The creature in her room lifted its head as another snake-like creature emerged from its mouth.

She watched in horror as it lowered itself and connected with her mouth and started sucking.

She shrieked as tears rolled down her cheek and terror shook her very being as she continued to watch. The tube retracted and disappeared into the creature’s body.

Slowly but carefully, it took the human form again. He got closer to the sleeping woman and pulled out a knife from his clothes, running the edge all over her body.

Choking on her tears, she hugged herself in disgust and horror as the man kissed her sleeping self from yesterday on the forehead.

The man in the video turned to face the camera and smiled. “That smile. No, it couldn’t be!”

Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth in disbelief. Her breaths became heavy as the man looked directly into the camera.

Her father, who had died a couple years earlier, stared at the camera, as if directly at her. He looked like he was laughing.

He stopped and his lips read I see you

Ink and Hammer

I was at my desk again. My pen hovered on the page I had opened.Blank. Absolutely blank, my mind,the page, both were blank.

The distant sound of the carpenter came through my window in a heartfelt tango with the evening air.

The sheets of papers on my desk slid off by the coaxing of the wind.

I ignored them. Blank. They all were reminding me of how I had nothing to write.

The white sheet stared back at me and the ink on the tip of the pen stained it’s purity.

Defeated, I stood from the table to the window to see the world around me.

A lonely country side. The grass spread as far as the eye could see and farms dotted the regions all around. The sound of nailing reached my ears again.

The carpenter. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. He learnt his trade from his father who, according to stories the carpenter told, also learnt from his father.

He never ceased to raise his head in a silent prayer to the heavens. A good hearted man yet without a child and a bride of his own.

My own wedding came to mind and I shrugged the thought away quickly. It cannot be as bad as I thought, I encouraged myself.

Night had fallen, I stood again at my window looking at the fields. The carpenter passed below.

His movement was laboured and his bag of tools slung over his shoulder. He stopped and looked up with a smile and tipped his hat to me.

I smiled back and with a slight wave of my hand I retreated, mostly embarrassed at being caught. I slipped under my sheets and fell asleep.

---

The carpenter looked up and smiled at the young woman at her window.

A beautiful young woman he thought as he tipped his hat to her and watched in amusement as she recoiled into her room and he walked on.

Father was right he thought. This makes me happy and keeps food on my table. He shifted the load from one shoulder to the other.

The moon waltzed across the dark night sky and shone a gentle light over the sleeping world.

The window of his store room hung open,forgotten and the moonlight stole it’s way inside.

The half completed furniture was scattered all over the room and it smelled like decaying flesh to the point of being nauseating

The rats on the floor scurried at the thought of being found out. Those on the walls nibbled on the faces of the heads that has been hung up on the wall.

The blood dripped off the newest addition, down the walls to the ground and the rats cooled their thirsts.

The heads of the people who the carpenter had killed hung on the walls with nails in their forehead and eye sockets to keep them in place.

Third time is the charm

The owl hooted close to the window.Third time already, but no one seemed to notice

The world was asleep. The lanterns slowly went out in various homes as the parents retired to bed, their young ones put to sleep.

The doctor’s house on the outskirts of town was alive with movement.

Downstairs, the expectant father paced while his wife was being delivered of her baby by the doctor and his assistant.

His palms sweaty.. a third child he thought. He could not do it. He just couldn’t.

Everyone said he’d done a good job, that he was a good man. But he didn’t believe that. He just couldn’t he take care of a third child.

His wife’s screams interrupted his thought. He looked towards the stairs with worry.

Upstairs, sweat, blood and tears filled the small dimly lit room. The only light, was near the baby’s entrance to the world.

She held the sheets tightly as pain racked her body. She closed her eyes and pushed one last time.

Finally, the cries of the infant forced it’s way out of it’s little body and the mother heaved a sigh of relief.

She lay back and closed her eyes.. she’s asleep they murmured. Take him to his father to be taken care of the doctor whispered to his assistant

Footsteps retreated as they both left the room and she opened her eyes to look about her.
For the first time, though this was her third birth in the house, she saw the room in which she lay..

She had arrived unconscious and left unconscious after being given the news of her children’s deaths.

The previous births had also been boys but she’d only heard their cries.

She couldn’t lose this chance to see her baby boy. Jed,I have to see him she thought. She got on her feet with much difficulty and walked out of the room using the walls as support.

Downstairs, Jed held his little child and shed tears.. the doctors gave him a solemn nod and left him alone.

He walked to the back of the house, cradling his baby and cooing that all will be fine.. he smiled sadly when the baby grew quiet.

He pulled out the sack from his coat and put his baby in it, with tears rolling down his face.

Jed let out a small cry and with the knife be brought along stabbed the sack in every way until it dripped with blood

He turned slowly, the sack in one hand and the knife in the other,saw his wife and froze.

She stood there with many thoughts as she watched him drop the knife.

They told me it was the weather she thought. They told me it was a disease. She’d never held the babies and didn’t see their lifeless bodies.

His face streaming with tears and blood and his heart and mind stained with pain and guilt. He took a step towards her.

She turned to ran, but she was weak.. she called out for the doctors.. screaming for help…

The doctor rushed down and held the woman’s head in his hands.. she frantically pointed at her husband and sputtered her words as she tried to explain

Jed, what have you done? The doctor asked. The concern on his face switched to anger as he said how could you be this careless that she’ll see you in the act…

His wife’s face crumpled with horror and realization as the doctor with an almost sympathetic smile, turned her head all the way around, the bones snapping noisily with the movement and her eyes rolled in their sockets.

He dropped the body in a crumpled heap and stood. You said in the agreement, that you’ll take care of them he growled walking towards him menacingly. Now you’ll have to find a new wife.

She haunts the night.

The door knob turned slowly and the heavy door swung open noiselessly

She tiptoed into the room. Her eyes flaming and her smile as beautiful as ever.

She walked around him for a while then giggled as she pulled his blanket off his half clothed body.

She drooled at the sight of his slightly wet well-contoured body and she gasped as she traced her fingers over his biceps.

He woke with a start and looked in shock at the beauty beside him.

His eyes widened with recognition.

What on Earth are you doing here? He asked terrified.

She put a finger on her lips for silence then grabbed his neck and pinned him down with a spell.

Her other hand found its way inside his lower clothing and felt him get hard.

She bit her lip in anticipation..
I see you don’t mind making love to me. She giggled.

Her eyes shone like two little flames and her skin was flawless and her smile,enchanting.

Her voice flowed out of her mouth like melting butter on hot pancakes.

He struggled but it was futile since the spell was stronger.

Would you relax? She said as she ripped his pyjamas apart slowly with her sharp nails and licked her lips at him.

He looked on helpless and tried to shriek. Even if he had a will in his body, it was long gone since he was under her spell now.

Her evil spell. She took his hardness in her mouth and sucked till she could feel him throbbing with want.

Good boy.. she whispered.

She took him inside her and made little sounds as she took over his body against his will.

She bit into his neck gently as he released his seed inside her.

She sighed happily and got off him. Now time for dinner..

She held him by his hair and dragged him behind her as they climbed up the basement stairs. He cursed his luck for falling asleep in that room again.

He struggled and begged for mercy with intermittent gasps for air.

His body was powerless under her spell. Why…are.. you.. doing this? He said with much difficulty. His reply was a hysterical laughter

Up the stairs, they went. His legs dragged beneath him from weakness. A nail in the steps pierced his calf, he shrieked in pain and begged her but she dragged him on and the nail licked through the flesh of his legs parting it in two.

Tears flowed down his face as the pain increased with his screams.Too weak to even whimper now, his blood left a trail as she walked out of the house into the night air.

She giggled and chattered with herself like an excited little girl. She stopped and lifted him by his hair, licking her lips..

It’s a pity, such a waste of beauty. I’m sorry little brother.

She run her fingers over his body one last time… Her mouth stretched open inhumanly wide and in two blood curdling bites, he was gone.

She licked her fingers and sniffed the air and chuckled to herself.

How insanely sexy.. another male is awake out there…

She smiled a breathtaking smile and looked at the window who’s lights just went out.

Once upon a happy Bride..

She showed up at the entrance of the asylum, dirty, tired, crying and in pain..

Bruises marked her body from her head to her soles and she won’t stop looking over her shoulder.

She seemed to have come from a distant city and she smelled like she had been crawling through sewers.

Traces of beauty to marked her face but as if they knew they were noticed, they disappeared and left a horrid looking creature on your sight.

This was a place for her and others like her. She held nurse’s hand as she was led away and mumbled..

They told me to do it . They said they’d make me happy, give me a family of my own . I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

She had left messages written in blood on the walls of her cell and they weren’t noticed till her disappearance.

She wanted her sister’s life, stable, happy and fulfilled. She wanted a man of her own.

Jealousy made her do it…

She killed her sister’s husband to be in his sleep. A knife in his chest. She gouged his eyes out but lost them on her way to offer her sacrifice.

She has been tortured ever since…

The dream…

Her sister glided down the aisle. Smiling to those who smiled back and nodding politely as she made her way to the groom on the other side.

A beautiful bride she was. Slowly her smile fades as she gets closer to her groom.

The faces of the people seemed to melt as their facial features contort.

She stopped in her tracks and looked around her. Everything moved slowly.

The brightly lit room was turning dark . Blood poured from her husband’s eyes and mouth.

Howling and screeching were coming from all over the building. She put her hands to the sides of her head and looked around.

Her white and silver gown was getting soaked with the blood of the people from the edges that touched the ground upwards..

She shut her eyes as the darkness seemed to engulf her and screamed so loud that those hearing might have bleeding ears.

The cell she occupied shook in its foundation as she screamed again for the umpteenth time that night.

She wrote all this on her walls and it seemed it was all she dreamed about.
The iron on the cell bars seemed to be bitten and bent in odd places.

The night she left, one of the inmates, saw her crawling in the hallway in the middle of the night, on all fours but not in anyway human.

Her fingers were shorter than normal and rugged like they were used to scrape a rough surface.

Her mouth was opened,teeth were missing and she drooled heavily and arms were covered in deep bites and bloody palm prints that showed that she escaped through a window which was high off the ground.

The same window that the cleaners used eighteen foot step ladders to reach.

Mama knows best….

The rickety bus made its way slowly away from the city and the tired young woman sunk deeply into one of the torn leather covered seats.

The bus was noisy and hot even though it was in the early hours of a Friday morning, just a little past midnight.

She sighed deeply and looked out the window as the bus passed many buildings.

Slowly the people reduced on the bus and their noise with it.

She hummed a little song to herself when the thought of her children at home came to mind. Clara and her little boy Sam. She smiled to herself.

Her own mother had sung this song to her as a little girl. The thought of ending up like her mother saddened her and she held back tears knowing she’d work harder for all of them.

The bus came to an exhausted stop at the foot of a hill, she picked up the groceries and got off the bus, waving to the bus driver.

She started her journey up the hill to the lonely house on it’s very top… She kept humming.

She found her way up and finally she stood in front of her house. The poor structure shook with the least puff of wind, it’s amazing how they weathered the storm last year.

She turned and looked at the sleeping city below and tears threatened to fill her eyes. One day she’ll be rich enough and they would live among the fine ones.

She walked into the house. It was dark and she knew her children would be asleep upstairs.

She went to the kitchen to unload her groceries. She went upstairs to her room, stepped in to shower when she was done downstairs,for a warm shower and a run down of what she’d do in the morning for money.

She settled into the bed which creaked loudly. Thoughts run through her mind.

Many years ago on a night like this, her little brother disappeared and her last memory of him was his loud screaming.

Guilt consumed her as she thought of the fact that she just went back to sleep thinking to herself that her brother was making too much noise.

Her mother had changed after that day, overcome with grief.

Sam begun to cry.

She sat up with a start and listened, her eyes staring blankly ahead of her.

She threw her feet off the bed and listened again.

Sam cried on.

The candle went out suddenly and shadows appeared where they should be. The room got chilly and it couldn’t be blamed on the wind since her window was closed shut.

Her pupils dilated as she stood from her bed wearing a small sad smile.

She started humming as she walked to the children’s room with slow careful steps.

She turned the door knob slowly and walked to her son.
She sung..

My little one do not disturb the night,
My little one, Mama’s here do not fret..
Mother knows best, mother knows best
And mother likes her children silent..

When Sam wouldn’t stop crying, she helped him down to his feet and walked out of the room with him moving with more steps.

Down the stairs to her kitchen. Sam cried on. She opened a cupboard and took out a bodkin and shoemaker’s thread.

She sat down and beckoned to him. He came to her crying and rubbing his eyes..

Bless your poor heart.

She smiled a wider smile, so wide all her teeth showed from corner to corner and her eyes went white.

She placed the boy on her lap and placed a finger on her lips but little Sam refused to be comforted.

She held his lips together and slowly drove the bodkin up the lower lip through the top one and threaded it.

Innocent little shrieks filled the night air and she continued.. in and out, in and out again sewing her son’s lips together.

Clara stood at the entrance horrified as she had been awoken by the shrieks and scream grew in the pit of her stomach and she opened her mouth to let it out when…

My little one do not disturb the night,
My little one, Mama’s here do not fret..
Mother knows best, mother knows best
And mother likes her children silent

She lifted her eyes to Clara and put her bloody fingers on her lips.

Another for dinner.

They sat at the dinner table..

Only cutlery could be heard hitting plates.

The aroma was divine and the lights were dim and it provided a serene setting for this perfect family night.

He was her family and she was his. They lifted their eyes and smiled at each other. Sometimes their eyes would meet other times they could just stare briefly and think how much the other means to them.

The meal was small, hardly satisfying and they both knew that soon they’d starve if they don’t eat the food she said she’d stored up.

But no one knew when the search for the kidnappers would end,when they’d be allowed to walk the streets again.

They stared and smiled, smiled and stared and ate their meal with as much joy as they could master.

He placed his fork down and locked his fingers under his chin staring. What? She asked. I want more he said licking his lips.

More…the forbidden word.

More…the word of the greedy, the selfish.

More…the word that made her smile from ear to ear with pleasure.

More.

She pulled out the storage key from her bossom and and let it glimmer in the dim light.

She wore the sickening smile as she stood from her place by the table and proceeded to leave the room.

She turned around with the most menacing look on her face and pointed her lovely finger at him and beckoned.

He rose and followed her to a small door in the far end of the hallway. She opened the door, lighted a torch and led the way.

His breath quickened as he followed her down the steps . Spiders fell on his shirt and in his hair.. rats crossed him severally as he followed this woman who now seemed to be gliding.

She came to another door. Still wearing the menacing look, she handed the torch to him, holding the key infront of the door and with slow movements unlocked the door.

A wave of stench drowned the dusty but breathable air around them. It was nauseating. Something.. or somethings moved in the darkness of the room.

A little cry, a low groan.. quiet sobbing, all came from the room.

She turned her head to him and said choose.

He stepped forward , dizzy from the odor which got stronger as he neared the door.. with shaky hands he lifted the torch’s light into the room and gasped.

Children, Children of all ages. Some dead. Some alive. Sickly looking, sunken eyes.

He saw a little boy of about five sobbing quietly. The smell of unwashed body, and excreta roamed his nose.. he couldn’t.. he stumbled,the room spun and the world shifted below him. His mind gave way to unconsciousness.

More.. more.. more..
His eyes opened

More..

He was back at the table, his head on it.. he lifted it sharply and smelled aromas of cooking.

He touched the back of his head convincing himself that he had a nightmare. He sniffed deep and long..

More, more he heard her chant as he stepped into the kitchen.. his heart stopped.

From behind, he could see the key hung around her neck as it dangled on her back, his eyes widened with shock.

The head of the little boy he’d seen, lay without it’s body on the side of the chopping board.

Blood covered everything .. yet she kept cooking.. he looked at his leather shoes whose soles were now covered in blood.

His head reeled. His heart threatened to burst.

Her head turned all the way round to face him as her hands continued to stir and her body faced the stove..
More, more, more, more.