Chapter 02

January 06, 2021; 2:05 am, I was stunned and found out that my wife wasn't at by my side.

Did she go to the bathroom? I asked myself.

I got out of bed when I felt a dryness in my throat. Then, I went downstairs for a while and went to the kitchen to drink some water. My left eye was still closed as I opened the refrigerator.

I immediately picked up the first pitcher I saw and removed the lid. I almost drank all of it with so much thirst. Until suddenly, I heard someone opened our door. I was so nervous that I immediately looked for a weapon that I could use to strike in case a thief broke into our house.

The knife was the first one caught my eye, but I couldn’t kill human, so I just took a reed broom. I held it tightly as I slowly walked towards the living room. My whole body was scared and trembling, but I tried to be brave.

I courage to approach his direction. I heard his heavy footsteps and also saw his shadow from the door. As he's getting closer and closer to me, the tremor in my chest grew stronger. I hid in a corner and I planned to strike him hard on the head like the ones I saw in the movie.

One, two, three and at my fourth count, he suddenly stopped in front of me. He looked around the entire living room and seemed to be searching for someone. I thought it was my chance to hit him hard, so I attempted to knock him down, but i suddenly stop when I watched him from head to toe and back. I noticed he was wearing a black raincoat and his bottom was muddy. He was carrying a sharp object in his right hand.

What is that? Is that a knife? But it is too large if it is indeed one kind of knife.

I moved a little closer to take a closer look at the object he was holding in his right hand.

Wait? Is it a rake?

My eyes widened, and I recoiled when I confirmed it was indeed one of those types of rake. I also noticed that there seemed to be a leaked in that thing. So, I looked at it again and stared at it, until I covered my mouth when I discovered what was dripping from that object is a fresh blood.

B… Blood? I mean, did he kill first before he came here to my house? But why? What is his purpose to us? My voyage in my mind.

I was swallowed deeply in fear, but I still had to be brave for my wife If not, this maybe my last moment in this world.

I didn't miss another chance, so I immediately hit him hard on the head.

But he didn't seem to budge when I hit him. He just scratched her head and turned to me. I backed away and tried to hit him hard again, but to my surprise, he suddenly grabbed the reed broom I was holding. I could not move my two hands because he was stronger than me. He pulled on the reed broom, but I quickly let go of it.

I backed away again as I threw him everything I could find. Until he suddenly approached me and strangled me tightly in the neck. I try to fight him. I removed his hand that was holding my neck, but he tightened it even more, and I was slowly running out of air in my body.

A flower vase near the two of us suddenly was caught my attention. I tried to reach for it, then I slapped it in his face. He immediately let go of me and I kicked him with excessive force in his abdomen as he held his face.

I ran towards the stairs to climb on my wife and protect her upstairs. But to my great surprise, he suddenly pulled me out of my clothes and dragged me back to the living room. I took off the clothes I was wearing, so I could escape from him, but he also immediately caught up with me and pulled over my hair.

I groped around, hoping to find something to hit him. But I was stunned when I looked at his right hand. He was wearing black gloves, and he was holding a rake.

I looked at his face again, but I could see nothing but the black mask he was wearing covered on his mouth. I fell to the floor when he hit me on the head with that thing. Gradually my vision blurred and everything seemed to be spinning around me. I crawled up the stairs, but he pulled me to my feet again, back to the living room.

I couldn't fight back or even get up because he kept kicking me in different parts of my body. The last thing I remember is, he was climbing the stairs before I completely lost consciousness.

The next morning, when I woke up, I found myself in my room.

Nadia! She was the first person who enter in my mind. So, I immediately got out of bed to look for her.

“Nadia, Nadia! my wife!” I shouted as I looked for her across our room and hurried down the stairs.

“Nad!-” I just stopped when I found her in the kitchen and busy cooking our breakfast.

“Oh why hon? Are you looking for me? Do you need anything?”

I didn't know what to say to her. I just approached her and touched her cheek.

“Why? What's the matter, my love? Didn't you have a good dream last night?”

It was as if a thorn had been pulled out of my chest as I stared into her eyes and confirmed that it wasn't just a dream.

I am thankful because nothing bad happened between the two of us and the whole incident last night was just a dream of mine.

I just invited her to eat breakfast and did not tell her about my dream. I chose not to ruin her good day or make her shaken with fear. So, I decided to hide it from her.

I just acted like I normally do. But no matter how hard I try to forget what happened, it still doesn't seem to disappear from my mind. I feel, everything really happened and not just a dream.

I suddenly noticed that there was a bandage attached to one of my fingers.

When did I apply this bandage? And where did I get the wound on my finger? I wonder from my mind.

“Hon!”

I didn't realize that she had kept calling me earlier.

My mind was still wandering about what happened from the dream.

“Huh? So-sorry, dear. I think I'm still a little sleepy.” I told her and just ignored that finger of mine.

“But, dear, what time is it? Aren't you late in to your work? ”

“Huh?”

I glanced at our wall clock for a moment and hurried to the bathroom to get ready to go to my work. I almost forgot that I had a job, and i also forgot to pick up the things I needed to prepare.

“Honey, I'll just leave what you're going to wear in front of your door, okay?”

“Thanks dear!” I told her, as I hurried to shampoo my hair.

“Ouch!” I shout out loud when I felt the pain in my back. But I just ignored it and resumed my shower. 

In less than half an hour, I was finished. I immediately picked up the white polo that my wife had prepared at the door earlier. Then I got dressed and hurriedly combed my hair, then I took my sling leather bag and slung it over my shoulder.

“Dear I'm leaving!” I shouted as I went downstairs. I noticed she was not in the living room as well as the kitchen.

Where did she go?

I walked around every corner of the house, but I still couldn’t find her.

“Honey, I'm leaving! ”

I was still wondering because no one was answering. So, I thought of going to the yard and hoping that I would just see her there and watering her plants.

“Honey, I'm leaving.”

As soon as I opened the door, I also saw that she wasn't there. So, I thought I'd just go back inside, but suddenly something caught my attention. I noticed that a pot of her plant was tilted, so I approached it to fix it. But it still tilts and just keeps falling.

I also realized that the reason it tilted was because of the convex ground it was on. I removed the pot for a moment, then stepped on the ground to make it sink to the bottom. However I still wonder why the bulge still doesn’t go away, and there seems to be something hard underneath it.

I looked at it carefully, and I'm sure it wasn't just large rocks buried there because the ground seemed to be dug up and re-buried. I wonder what is hidden in that land. So, I immediately looked for a usable excavator there. But I was surprised when Nadia suddenly appeared in front of me.

“Honey, you're just here. I thought you left.” She said and seemed to grab my attention there on the ground.

“Where are you from? I've been looking for you for a while.” I just told her. I put my arm on her shoulder and invited her into the house, even though I was still peeking at the ground.

Since that day, I have been suspicious of my wife.

What secret is she keeping from me?

I whispered in my mind. I felt like she was hiding something from me that she didn't want me to know.

***

FLASH NEWS

“News just come in. A man was found in a deep ravine, said to be in his thirties and wearing a black raincoat. He sustained multiple scars on various parts of his body, and his bones were shattered. Authorities are still investigating the identity of the victim and say it could be a homicide or another case of murder, as they saw a deep wound from the head. It is also suspicious of them that its shoe pair still being sought by the authorities, it is said that it could serve as evidence in the said crime or refer to the incident.”

—Reporter