When the body was discovered, the girl had already been dead for several hours.
She lay on the floor, her eyes wide open and her skin ghastly pale. The floorboards were scratched and her nails were scraped. The whole sight was nothing but gruesome. And the yellowish light from the flickering bulb wasn't helping.
Arthur covered her body with a sheet. And then he stood there staring at the still figure. The downpour had intensified and the windows were rattling along the gusts of wind.
I stood beside him, watching the whole thing silently. Abruptly, he shuddered. I gazed at him. He was looking at the chair. There lay the silver ring. His eyes widened. He was thinking something and it wasn't pleasant.
I knew. I always knew. I knew him from the moment he was born. I saw him learning to speak, to walk, to do things by himself. And all these moments flashed in front of my eyes when I looked at him. He wasn't a kid anymore.
At once he turned around and walked out of the room. I stood there for some time. I picked up the ring and put it on the middle finger of my left hand.
Then I walked out.
Arthur was chatting with his Aunt. I never liked that woman. I told Arthur to stay away from her but he wouldn't listen. He never listened. Not after his mother died. She was a good woman. But not good enough. She didn't stop his grandfather. Maybe she was scared. Maybe they all were. I didn't care. It wasn't my fault.
I moved a bit closer.
"She was strangled, I am telling you",his voice shook.
"Don't be so silly",Aunt hissed, "There's no one else here".
"But how do you explain it then?" Arthur pointed at the living room, where the corpse lay. How ironic.
His Aunt sighed.
" We're leaving tomorrow, Arthur", she laid her hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.
" We never should've come here, your grandfather left for a reason."
She was trying to be kind. But she was not kind. She knew what her father was gonna do. She knew it was wrong. She let it happen anyway. I would've warned Arthur about the poison inside her. But he would not listen. He used to. When he was young. He was the only one who did. Then he stopped paying attention to me. Just like everyone else.
Arthur shifted on his feet and then he looked at me. Uncertainty gleamed in his eyes. I tried to smile but failed. He kept looking at me for a moment or two, then went upstairs.
I looked at Aunt. Her eyes followed Arthur until he was out of her sight.
Without sparing me a single glance, she went inside her own room. I listened. She didn't lock the door. She wasn't scared. She should be. I thought of warning her and I knocked but there was no reply.
The storm got worse as the night proceeded and I got restless. I had to end this tonight. For Arthur. For everyone.
I stayed in my room till midnight. The lightning struck now and then but I couldn't see my reflection in the mirror. My silver ring was on the vanity. This ring. I loved it. He gave it to me. Arthur's grandfather. My husband. Sometimes I think he loved me. But even his love for me couldn't stop him. I put my ring on. It glowed eerily in the gloomy room. I usually put it on before I had something important to do.
Arthur found it a few times. Once on the dead body of his mother. Then, near the grave of his eldest brother. I left it there on purpose. So that he would know. And I think he did know. That's probably why he never complained when I silently took it back. Though he did look awfully surprised when he saw it near the girl's body today. Pity. She knew me. She was an old maid.
The house was creepily cold. And then I heard it. The creak of a door. And then silent thumping. Somebody was awake. Why? It would ruin all my plans. Quietly, I made my way to the dark hallway. There in the middle of the stairs was Arthur. He held a candle in his hand. He did not see me. He was trying to see something in the darkness below.
" Aunt?",he called out, "are you there?".
He was shivering. Maybe it was the chill wind that swept through the house because of the lounge window I left open. Another door creaked open.
I watched the older woman come out of her room and sank deeper into the shadows.
She was still dressed. She was cautious. So she was scared. Good.
" Arthur?" She squinted her eyes to see him. She wasn't wearing her glasses. She lost them. I hid them.
" I heard footsteps", said Arthur. " What are you doing at this hour?"
" I was in the bed" Liar. She was reading that book about culinary arts.
Arthur swallowed. I could tell him it was me. I wanted to tell him it was. Maybe he would listen to me. Maybe he would believe me. He would smile and then go back to sleep. But I didn't. I waited silently for them to leave. And soon enough both of them were back in their rooms.
By the morning Aunt was dead. She was found in the bed, her throat slitted and her eyes wide. Arthur found the silver ring on the nightstand. He didn't even touch it.
By the evening Arthur went away too.
Though I didn't want him to. He didn't stay. He was the only member of this family with a heart. I wanted him to stay with me, here, at his grandfather's house where he murdered me. I remember how he had buried me under the same wooden boards of the room I still occupied. He killed me because he thought I betrayed him. I didn't. I never told anyone how he got his riches. Or what happened to his only brother. But he didn't listen. No one did. He was brutal. He should have been kind to his wife. But he wasn't. No one was. They all hated me. All but Arthur. He was just a year old then. And I had done all this for him.
I killed all of them just so he could come and live with me. They didn't deserve him. I've been keeping an eye on him. He's not like them. He's not broken. He's kind. And I love him for this.
I tried to stop him. He wouldn't listen. He couldn't listen. He used to see me, hear me. But this twisted family made him think he was going nuts. I feel pity for him. He didn't stay.I wish he would return. Maybe he would return.
0 Comments