30 Jan There’s Something Different About Her

As Lynn drove off to visit her parents, I waved with a smile. I was going to enjoy the next week. Sure, I’d miss her, but it was going to be great hanging with the guys, too. Seven days wasn’t a long time, but it was long enough.

As much as my friends make fun of me, I’m truly in love with her. We’d never been apart for longer than a weekend before, but even then, we’d checked in with each other a few times a day. Unfortunately, she and her parents were vacationing in a cabin out in the woods, so the cell phone reception would be spotty if it existed at all.

Living out in the country ourselves, cell service issues were something we’d grown used to. Still, the cabin they were staying at was so remote that I likely wouldn’t hear from her until they were leaving. Hopefully, everything would go well, and the time would fly by quickly.

Later that evening, I went out with my buddies Greg and Nick. We’d planned to hit up a nearby bar where one of our favorite local bands was playing. Thankfully, Nick had volunteered to be the designated driver, so Greg and I got completely wasted.

The music was amazing. It took us back to the days of our youth, spent in bars and clubs all over the state playing shows of our own. I even bought the band a round of drinks and talked to them for a little while.

Nick dropped me off at home, and I wandered up to the front door. I took my keys from my pocket and slipped one into the lock. I went to turn the key, but found the door was already unlocked. That was odd; I could have sworn I’d locked it on my way out.

I went on high alert. I quickly stumbled into the house, grabbing a huge umbrella from the nearby stand as I went. I staggered into the living room with it held over my head and came to an abrupt halt, seeing Lynn sitting there reading a book. I pulled a smooth move and put the umbrella away before she noticed.

“Have a good night, babe?”

I raised a brow and moved to sit next to her on the couch.

“Yeah, it was awesome. Shrug was playing tonight. What are you doing home, babe? I thought you were on the road to the cabin earlier?”

She smiled and shrugged as she replied.

“About a half-hour or so after I left, I got a call from Mom saying that Dad wasn’t doing too well, and that we had to postpone until next weekend. It kind of sucks, but since I don’t work weekends, I guess it’s not really that big of a deal.”

That was a little concerning.

“What’s wrong with your dad? Is everything okay?”

She nodded and put a hand on my leg.

“Yeah, just his blood pressure again, it sounds like. You know how stressed out he is all the time.”

I nodded. Her father had indeed seemed more anxious than usual lately. I adored that man, truly. He’d given me a lot of amazing advice over the years and welcomed me into their family almost immediately. He’d become more of a father to me than my own father had ever been. I don’t know what I’d do without him.

The room was still spinning a bit from all the alcohol, and I looked longingly at the kitchen. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until that moment. I looked back at Lynn with a silly grin on my face.

“Babe, how much do you love me?”

She set her book down on the coffee table. She tossed a smirk my way and raised an inquisitive brow. She knew me well.

“More than anything, but an exact answer depends on what it is you want.”

I drunkenly chuckled at that and affected a royal accent.

“I would give you my Kingdom for a bacon burger right now.”

Lynn rolled her eyes at my comment.

“And what Kingdom would that be, Aaron?”

My smile faded a bit, as it took all the concentration I possessed to think of a name. My finger shot into the air as the perfect reply hit me.

“The Kingdom of Neversober. Where the men drink all day, and the ladies make bacon burgers. It’s a magical world, really, full of great liquor and greasy foods. No one gets a hangover there either, which is why it’s so magical!”

She seemed impressed that I was able to string all that together and took some time to blatantly laugh at me before responding.

“Sounds like you live in a very sexist Kingdom, sweetheart. What if I want to drink all day and have someone make me burgers?”

I was quick to respond.

“Yes, I thought you might say that. As the King of Neversober, I hereby make you my Queen. You shall drink or make burgers on alternating days. Except for Sundays when we shall drink together and eat pizza. ‘Cause, let’s be honest, sometimes you just need a break from burgers.”

That elicited another grin and laugh from Lynn. She ran her fingers through my hair for a moment before slipping off the couch.

“Only because I love you, my King, shall I make thy burger that thou hast so humbly requested.”

I was a little surprised. While she did cook for me generally, she’d usually suggest that we get some fast food or something, so she didn’t have to cook so late. I assumed she was just in a great mood and decided not to question it, lest my bacon burger be forsaken. I lay down on the couch and closed my eyes to rest for a second.

The next thing I knew, she was shaking me awake gently and laying my plated burger on the coffee table in front of me. Just as I shook off the sleep and woke myself up, she was coming back with a nice tall glass of milk. Ah, she knew me so well. I kissed her on the cheek and tucked into my food. I finished in record time and chugged the last half of my glass of milk to wash it all down. I looked over at her when I was done.

“Thanks, baby. I’m lucky to have you.”

She smirked at that before replying.

“Damn right, you are.”

I laughed and stood up with a stretch. I took my plate to the kitchen sink and pre-washed the ketchup from it for easy cleanup later. I wandered back into the living room with a yawn before looking at her again.

“I’m tired, baby. I think I’m going to head to bed. Coming with me?”

She smiled at me over her book as she responded.

“I’m going to stay down here and do some cleaning between chapters. I’ll be up in a little while.”

I bowed my head to her reverently while speaking.

“I shall see thee on the morrow, my Queen!”

I left the room, followed by a new round of Lynn’s laughter echoing down the hall. I somehow managed to climb the steps and ditch most of my clothes on the way to bed, where I quickly passed out.

I woke in the middle of the night to strange sounds coming from downstairs. A quick glance to the other side of the bed told me that Lynn hadn’t made it to bed. I blinked my eyes a few times, forced myself to stand, and walked out of our bedroom and down the stairs.

I walked as quietly as I could, out of habit for the time of night. When I got to the bottom step, I looked both ways and ended up slowly following the sound to the bathroom. Noticing the door was cracked a little, I knocked on it before entering.

“Is everything okay, babe?”

I looked around the bathroom lazily before noticing the blood in the sink. I jolted completely awake and ran to her side. I thought I’d noticed a tooth, but before I had the time to take a decent look, she was already running hot water and washing whatever had been there down the drain. I stared at her reflection in the mirror.

“Oh my god, baby, what happened?”

She seemed pale but otherwise okay, as she responded.

“I’m fine, honey. It’s just a nosebleed.”

I was concerned. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d had one.

“Do you have a headache or anything?”

She washed her face before responding tiredly.

“No, just the nosebleed. It happens sometimes when the weather changes like this. Gotta love living in Ohio.”

I eased a bit when I saw a slight smile creep across her features. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head gently.

“Let’s go back to bed, and I’ll rub your shoulders. If you’re still feeling bad tomorrow, we’ll just call it a bed and Netflix day.”

She smiled and nodded gingerly, allowing me to lead her back upstairs to bed. As promised, I rubbed her shoulders until she fell asleep. I passed out again soon afterward.

I woke up the next morning and once again found her side of the bed empty. I yawned with a stretch, slipped out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. I was nursing one hell of a hangover, and the best way to start the day in this scenario was with a nice hot shower.

As I got in and turned the faucet on, fine-tuning the temperature via the hot and cold knobs, I noticed something in the drain. There was a large amount of hair in there that hadn’t been there the day before. It was a little odd, but not completely out of the ordinary. I ignored it and enjoyed the water flowing over my skin. I wasted about thirty minutes there before getting out to towel off.

I pulled on some flannel pajama pants and the first t-shirt I pulled out of my drawer before heading downstairs. About halfway down, I caught the smell of pancakes and bacon. Bacon, twice in a row? This was like some previously unexplored version of Heaven!

I rushed down the rest of the steps, down the hallway, and into the kitchen. I slipped up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She startled a bit before turning around with a huge grin and a curtsy.

“Your greasy breakfast is nearly ready, my liege.”

I got a huge kick out of that and laid a gentle kiss on her lips before replying.

“I can’t remember the last time you got up early to cook me breakfast, babe. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

I was only half-joking, still worried about her from the night before. She turned back around to flip the pancakes and shrugged.

“I’ll be fine. I just couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d surprise you with a nice breakfast. Coffee is ready if you want some. I put the bottle of ibuprofen next to the pot on the counter.”

I sighed contently and headed for my bounty as I spoke.

“What would I do without you, babe?”

She chuckled and flipped the pancakes again as she replied.

“I ask myself that same question every day.”

I groaned good-naturedly, poured some coffee, took a couple of ibuprofen, and sat at the kitchen table to relax. Halfway through my first cup, she served me a ham and cheese omelet, some buttermilk pancakes and the glorious bacon. I put a hand on her arm before she made her own plate.

“I really appreciate this, babe. Love you.”

She winked at me and stole a quick kiss before making her plate and joining me at the table. We sat there for a while, eating, drinking coffee, and making small-talk. Even though she insisted that she was feeling okay, I still couldn’t help but worry about her.

I convinced her to have that bed and Netflix day, after all. We spent most of the day and evening binge-watching episodes of American Horror Story, one of her favorite shows. We even took turns getting snacks from the kitchen and talking about plot points. It was nearly three in the morning by the time we realized it. After the last episode of the season about the freak show, Lynn kissed my cheek and slipped out of bed.

“I’m going to go take a bath and read for a bit, babe.”

I nodded and called after her.

“If I haven’t heard from you in an hour or so, I’ll check on you.”

I flipped through the newly added section of Netflix to find something that would catch my interest. Like always, I ended up scanning every inch of it, which ate up thirty minutes of my time. In the end, I settled on watching an episode of 30 Rock.

When that was over, I headed downstairs to check on Lynn. I found her in the tub, reading her Kindle. The water looked a little red, but I assumed she’d used some bath salts or something. I sat on the closed toilet next to the tub and smiled over at her.

“Are you doing okay in there? It’s been about an hour.”

She lowered the Kindle to look over at me.

“Yeah, I just got caught up in this book. I’ll be out in a bit.”

I kissed her forehead and headed back upstairs to bed. I watched a couple more episodes of 30 Rock. By the time the two-hour mark had passed, I wandered back down to check on her again. She’d never stayed in the tub for this long. She must be going for a new personal best, I joked with myself.

By the time I got there, the bathroom was empty, and a dark red ring lined the inside of the tub. There was also a strange smell in the room I couldn’t put my finger on. A smell that hadn’t been present an hour ago.

I left the bathroom and went in search of her. It didn’t take long. She was wrapped in a towel on the couch, reading.

“Babe, are you sure everything is okay? I just found the weirdest stuff in the tub.”

She looked up curiously.

“Like I’ve told you a hundred times today, honey, I’m fine. Sorry, I accidentally used too much bubble bath stuff. I’ll rinse it out better before I come to bed, so it doesn’t stain.”

That explained the red ring but not the smell. I decided to let it go for now. I carefully unwrapped the towel from her body, ditched my clothes, and we made love right there on the couch. We’d been lacking some spontaneity lately, and it was nice to just go with the flow of things, so to speak.

It turned out to be the best sex I’d ever had. I couldn’t quite explain it; it was almost like making love to another person. She’d done things she’d never done before, and it drove me absolutely wild. I carried her to bed afterward. We curled up together and passed right out.

Despite work, the whole week went like that. There was breakfast every morning, dinner every night, amazing sex, sometimes more than once a day, and random disappearances at odd times for baths.

I found that red ring in the tub a few more times, an increasing amount of hair in the drain, and I would swear I saw a tooth in the sink the other day. I was met with increasing levels of annoyance whenever I asked her how she was feeling.

The strangest thing of all happened on Thursday morning. On my way to work, I’d gotten a voicemail from her boss, wondering if she was all right. When I asked Lynn about it, she told me she’d taken the week off work, and maybe the manager had forgotten about it. Lynn said she’d give her a call and take care of it. Something about her felt off, yet at the same time, I was enjoying this new side of her.

That night, while we were making love, something odd happened. We were in mid-kiss when one of her teeth came out and made its way into my mouth. I gripped her face on either side carefully and broke the kiss in a panic. When my fingers touched her skin, they sunk in slightly, and her face seemed to tear.

She jumped up and ran to the bathroom with me hot on her trail. She slammed the door in my face and locked it, refusing to let me in. That’s when I heard my cell phone ring upstairs. No one ever called this late, so I assumed it was an emergency.

I dashed up the stairs to grab my phone. I was in the process of answering it halfway back down the steps. It was Lynn’s mother.

“Aaron? Hello?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Is something wrong with Gene?”

“No, it’s Lynn. There’s been an accident.”

I jerked the phone away from my ear. I looked between it and the bathroom a few times in a stupor before responding. Had she called her mother?

“What’s going on with Lynn? I’ve been worried for days.”

“We just made it to the hospital. Something attacked her out in the woods this morning. The doctors think it was a wolf or something, but we’re not entirely sure yet. How quickly can you make it here?”

My whole world came to a standstill. How was that possible? Lynn was on the other side of that door. We’d just made love, for God’s sake! None of this made any sense to me. With the phone in my hand, I slammed my foot hard enough into that bathroom door to pop the lock.

As it flew open, I saw her, or at least what was left of her. Something stood there devoid of skin, staring at me with Lynn’s eyes. Its mouth opened into a sneer, revealing a glistening, moist hole full of broken teeth and bleeding gums. A twisted hand clawed out at me, ripping into the flesh of my chest.

I screamed and dropped the phone as the creature tried to pull me into the bathroom. I put all my weight behind a boot to its left knee. It roared as it stumbled, its claws ripping from my flesh with a spray of blood.

It bought me just enough time to get out of there. I heard Lynn’s mom screaming over the phone as I ran by, but there was no time to pick it up.

I tore down the hallway and through the living room to the front door. All the while, that thing screeched and dogged my every step. It was close enough that I could smell its rancid breath on my neck. I made it to the front door, but it was locked. There wasn’t enough time to flip the latch.

I ducked as it clawed at me again, instead wedging those jagged claws right into the wood of the front door. It wailed as it wiggled around, attempting to dislodge itself. I grabbed a nearby lamp and smashed it over the thing’s oozing head. It barely even blinked.

I took off once again, this time for the back door. I made it there quickly enough to unlock it and slip out into the night. The creature’s blood-thirsty screeches thundered along behind me.

Our closest neighbor was through the woods behind the house, barely a quarter of a mile away. I’d made the journey a few times over the last couple of years. It was an easy stroll between the properties. At that moment, it might as well be across the country. I ducked through bushes and under branches, all the while I heard it crashing along, slipping now and again from the gore that clung to its feet.

I could hear sheets of quickly decaying flesh slough off the creature’s impossibly thin frame as it chased me.  It squished and oozed its way faster, starting to close the distance between us. I had no idea how close I was to the neighbor’s house, nor how much longer I had before the thing overtook me.

I barreled out of the woods. The neighbor’s old brown and white cottage was right where I remembered it. My feet had barely passed the edge of the tree line when that thing grabbed me.

Dark fluids soaked through the shoulder of my t-shirt as it jerked me to the ground. It looked down at me. Yellow, viscous fluid gushed from its mouth as its jaw popped like bubble wrap and unhinged itself. I watched in terror as its mouth opened far larger than was anatomically possible. Its fetid, steam-like breath expelled from cracked and rotting lips, leaving my skin oily.

Just as it pulled back its claws once more, for what surely would have been a death blow, its bulbous head exploded into bloody rotten chunks everywhere, and it fell atop me. I kicked it off and scooted backward as fast as I could, slipping and sliding across the gore-soaked grass.

I slid and crab-walked in reverse until something solid arrested my momentum. I looked back to see my neighbor standing there with a smoking double-barreled shotgun in his hands. He looked down at me briefly, then turned and gestured for me to come with him. Not thinking twice about it, I pulled myself to my feet and followed him inside.

He sat me down on his couch and slipped a beer into my hands. He sat in a recliner across from me and lit his pipe. We sat there in silence for a while. I drank three beers, in shock, before we said a word to one another.

“What was that thing?”

He filled me in as best he could. There was no name he knew to call it, but he’d killed a few of them over the years. They were known to take over the life of a loved one, and over time they’d eat you alive before moving on to the next lovestruck sucker.

He’d experienced it a few years back himself. He didn’t give me a lot of details about the encounter, but mentioned never seeing his wife again. Those words immediately snapped me back to reality. I borrowed his phone to call Lynn’s mother.

I calmed her down long enough to tell her I’d be on the way to the hospital as soon as I could and would explain everything when I got there. My neighbor drove me back to the house and even came inside, shotgun and all, while I grabbed my keys and packed a few things. Before I left, I locked up and thanked him for his assistance. He promised to tell me more about the creature when I came back.

Lynn and I decided to move in with her parents for a while. Gene and I took care of the move while Lynn’s mother took care of her. I never did speak to my neighbor about the creature. I couldn’t handle any more information than I already had.

To this day, I see my wife in a different way. When I stare into her eyes, all I can see is that creature looking back at me. I never told her or her family the truth of what happened. I made up lies about a stupid injury, and they didn’t ask a lot of questions.

This morning, I went to take a shower and noticed a foul-smelling ring in the tub. Her mother made a grand breakfast that morning, too. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something… different… about her…