Beyond the thin door to his office, he heard his wife Darlene yell at her mother, who, in turn, yelled back.
Hal didn’t care for either one of them, but he couldn’t afford a divorce.
Which was why he sat in semi-darkness, watching illicit videos with the volume down.
The computer clicked as the power dipped, and his hand reacted, closing the window. His heart raced, and he waited to hear something, anything from the hallway about what he was doing or why the electricity had faltered.
There wasn’t any inquiry.
His wife and mother-in-law continued to argue with one another in the kitchen.
Hal swallowed nervously and considered whether he should risk bringing up the website again, or if he should call it quits for the night. A glance at the clock showed it was five-thirty in the evening, which meant it was almost time for dinner.
No chance to finish that video, he thought morosely. And I won’t be able to come back to it tonight.
For a brief moment, Hal wondered if he might be able to watch it on his phone, but then he remembered he no longer had a security lock on it. Not since Darlene found the videos when I forgot to delete them.
He sighed and stood up, taking a moment to adjust his trousers.
“Well, you seem a little excited,” a woman said from behind him.
Hal jerked around, his eyes darting about, searching for the woman who had spoken.
Was it Darlene? Did she put a camera and a speaker in here? His heart raced, and he felt faint. No, no, she couldn’t do that, not without me noticing.
“That was a helluva stag film you were watching,” the unseen woman continued, her voice no louder than a whisper. “Your old lady sure as hell doesn’t look like those girls.”
He swallowed nervously, wiping his suddenly sweating palms against his pants. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice low.
“Just a girl,” she replied and stepped forward.
She seemed to step out of the wall. There was no place for her to have hidden, but his mind raced as he looked at her. She was stunningly beautiful, despite the grotesque makeup she was wearing on her stomach and the fake blood staining her pants. A smile settled onto her face, and she turned around slowly for him.
“Do you like what you see?”
Hal didn’t want to answer. He wouldn’t have answered either, but it seemed as though her question, the way she asked it, demanded a response.
And so, he gave it.
“Yeah,” he nodded, licking his lips. “I do.”
“Yeah, I know you do,” she smiled, coy. “I think you’re okay, too. You know, I think we might have a good time together. What do you think?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
His wife’s jarring voice nearly shook the spell the woman in the room was weaving around him. A frown flickered across her face. “Is she always like this?” the woman asked.
Hal nodded.
“She can’t be easy to live with,” the stranger said, her tone one of pure sympathy.
“It’s hard,” he admitted.
His mother-in-law yelled about the biscuits being burnt, and a second later, the smoke detector went off. Darlene shrieked at her mother, and Hal grimaced.
“Why don’t you do something about them?” the woman asked.
Hal blinked. “Like what?”
“Stop them from yelling,” the woman cooed. “You’re a strong man, I can see that. You’re tied down to that harpy. She doesn’t deserve you. You look like the type of man who would travel, too.”
“I want to,” he admitted. “I joined the Navy and saw the world from a ship. I want to do it again.”
She smiled. “Of course, you do. You just need to get rid of your ball and chain. What’s your name, handsome?”
“Hal,” he whispered.
“Hal, I’m Miriam. Maybe you should go and take care of your wife, huh?”
Hal nodded and got to his feet. He took his letter opener from its spot on his desk, clutched it, and turned toward the door as Darlene yelled to him that dinner was ready.
“I’m coming,” he answered and opened the door.
***
Claire Lester saw her son-in-law walk out of his excuse of a home office with a strange, dull expression.
Not that he ever looks that great, she thought, frowning.
“Mom, get out of the way!” Darlene barked.
“Don’t get all snippy with me!” Claire snapped. “It’s not my damned fault you’ve burned the roast.”
Turning her attention to Hal, Claire was about to speak, but she hesitated. For a second, she thought there was a woman behind him. When she blinked, the figure was gone.
“Oh,” Claire said in a high-pitched voice, “I suppose you’d like a Miller Lite with dinner again, Hal?”
He bestowed upon her a distant smile as he walked to Darlene, who was bent over the oven and trying to wrangle the burnt roast out. Something flashed in his hand, and then Darlene screamed, falling forward and going face-first into the oven. Hal’s hand rose up, and a spray of blood followed it.
Claire sat, petrified, her eyes fixed on his hand, in which he gripped the letter opener that she and her late husband had given him years earlier.
Twice more, he drove it into Darlene’s back, and the smell of scorched flesh joined the odor of burnt roast.
Hal turned his attention to Claire, and she saw with horror that his expression hadn’t changed. There was still that small, distant smile, and it was what drove her to her feet.
Something grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust her back down into the chair.
Claire tried to fight against it, but it was futile.
Hal stepped forward, and she attempted to speak.
He smiled and stabbed her in the mouth with the letter opener.
***
Hal looked around the kitchen and smiled.
His mother-in-law and his wife were dead. He looked at Miriam, who stood by the stove.
“You did a good job,” she told him, nodding. “All you have to do now is go and get my sunglasses, then we can take a little trip together. Sound good?”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “Sounds good.”
He walked out of the side door and into the garage.
“Do you have a car?” she asked.
Hal shook his head. “Nope. Can’t drive. My license is suspended.”
“Well, it makes no nevermind,” she smiled. “You can walk there from here.”
He nodded and went out through the garage. His wife’s blood mingled with her mother’s, and both dried on his hands as he walked.
Hal walked in a daze, not quite certain where he was going, but listening to the gentle guidance from Miriam. Soon, he turned onto a well-kept street, and far ahead, he saw a police SUV.
“You’ll need to go around to the back,” Miriam whispered, and when he looked to her, he saw she was no longer near him.
“I’m still here,” she assured him. “I don’t want anyone but you to see me.”
He smiled at her words and quickened his steps.
Hal was less than thirty feet from the house and the police when he veered toward the backyard. As he did so, the officer stepped out of the SUV. The officer called to Hal, but he ignored the man.
Instead, he ran for the backyard. Hal could feel the fat jiggling on his bones, the ache in his chest as he forced himself to go faster. He reached a slim fence, paused to prepare to climb over it, and stopped. Pain exploded in his head, and he stiffened. His entire body vibrated, and he crashed backward.