She sat down opposite Terrance, her face looking stiff, as if it was covered with a layer of human skin.
"I...it's okay."
Terrance forced a smile and continued to stir the milk carelessly, his mind filled with the scene last night.
"I plan to take a few days off...I always feel very tired recently." Shelley smoothed her long hair, and a large amount of hair slipped from her fingertips and scattered beside her elbow on the dining table.
She was unaware of this scene.
"Okay, okay...I'll talk to the manager."
Terrance stared blankly at the loose mass of dead hair. When Shelley's eyes fell on him, he quickly moved away and stumbled to answer.
Usually during breakfast, Shelley would talk non-stop, complaining about how nagging customers were and what was happening at his colleagues’ homes. Terrance would listen quietly. But today, Shelley’s voice was no longer heard at the dinner table, especially
Lance finished his breakfast in relative silence.
The preoccupied Terrance finished his breakfast as if chewing something and put down his knife and fork.
He was hesitating how to face his wife when his wife across the dining table suddenly left her seat and leaned forward to get closer to Terrance.
Terrance suddenly remembered that every morning, his wife would give him a kiss like this...
The stiff face was approaching, and suddenly Terrance smelled a putrid smell. He suppressed the urge to retching, swallowed the secreted saliva with a pale face, staggered to his feet, and avoided his wife's kiss.
"I...I have to go to work quickly."
After grabbing the briefcase beside the dining table and taking off the coat from the hanger, Terrance hurriedly left the house without even taking the umbrella.
The patter--
The light rain was falling hazily. We had just entered the rainy season and there was mostly drizzle. However, the intensity of the rain should change in a few days.
The direction of the company was on the right side of the street, but Terrance walked under the rain and walked in the opposite direction.
Behind the window of the house, a figure stood in front of the window, quietly watching Terrance's back gradually retreating, a trace of sadness flashed deep in his eyes.
…
"You mean there are cadaverous spots on her body? This is impossible. Corpse spots cannot appear on a living person... I know, but the fact that you came to me instead of going to church means that you are also aware of your wife's condition... Especially
Mr. Lance, don't worry, I can understand your nervousness. According to the description, it may be a very serious skin disease, and the back has already ulcerated. It needs to be diagnosed specifically. If you have time... No, I hope you can bring your wife here as soon as possible.
To prevent her skin disease from getting worse."
"Oh child, what makes you look so hasty... Go see Father Charlie, he may be able to answer your questions... May the Lord bless you and your wife..."
"Yes, this is the work of the devil, there is no doubt about it. She is suffering the pain that the devil has inflicted on her... Poor child. Terrance, if you take her to the church, I will perform an exorcism ceremony
, to drive away the pain from your wife. Mama! Do we have any holy water left?"
"Damn Terrance! Today is the second time you ignored a guest, the third time you took the wrong document and the fifth time you picked up an empty coffee cup to drink water... What? I'm sorry I don't know, no wonder Shelley today
Is it serious that you didn't come to the company? Oh... I can approve your request for leave and let you go back to take care of it, but you really don't have to? Okay, since you said so, don't be rude anymore."
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Terrance closed his briefcase, stood up and walked into the bathroom.
There was a splash of water, and Terrance turned on the faucet, took a handful of water and splashed it on his face.
In an instant, the coldness dispelled the confusion in his brain. He raised his head and looked at himself in the mirror with bloodshot eyes on the edges.
Turning on the faucet, Terrance left the bathroom, put on his coat, picked up his briefcase and left the company.
At 5:15 in the afternoon, Terrance stood at the door of his house.
When he took out the key to open the door, he hesitated for a moment and slowly opened the door.
What came out to greet him was not his wife's laughter, but the rotten smell that filled the air.
Terrance's heart tightened, and in an instant his concern for his wife dispelled his fear. He put his briefcase on the shoe rack and rushed home impatiently.
Wow——
The sound of cooking came from the living room.
Terrance rushed outside the kitchen and saw the figure looking sideways at him. He took a step forward and said eagerly: "I went today -"
His words stopped suddenly, and his heart felt like it was suddenly squeezed by a big hand, making him unable to breathe in pain.
On my wife’s beautiful cheeks, there were patches of bluish-purple corpse spots.
Not only that, those bright and penetrating eyes became cloudy and no longer clear. The seemingly unfocused eyes awakened Terrance’s past memories. He suddenly remembered that when he was a child more than ten years ago, he was playing with his companions on the edge of the woods.
They saw a figure hanging in the forest. When the children plucked up the courage to get closer, the wind blew the figure hanging on the rope and turned around leisurely.
On that slender neck, the cloudy and broken eyes looked like this at this moment.
This is not a disease...his wife is already dead.
Terrance no longer remembers how he sat down, finished his meal, and then turned off the light and went to sleep.
It was the body that suddenly squeezed into his arms that awakened his consciousness.
Her murmur sounded in her ears, and her cloudy and dilated eyes stared at her.
"Do you love me……"
"Of course..." Terrance replied subconsciously.
"Then let us... merge... into one."
The wife suddenly twitched and her tone gradually became weird.
On the forehead where Terrance had kissed, the skull cracked open, and a blood-red tentacle came out, stretched out towards him.
At this moment, as deep as his love for her once was, now his fear is as deep.
Terrance pushed Shelley away, grabbed his clothes in shock, and rushed out the door.
"Don't go-"
Shelley's cry came from behind, like a shrill scream, with a long cry and a tail tone.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and Terrance ran away without looking back.
For the next three days, Terrance stayed at the company. He worked during the day and rested in the office in the name of working overtime at night.
But his thoughts couldn't help but fly back home.
Finally, on the morning of the fifth day after Shelley's disappearance, Terrance returned home in the heavy rain.
When he opened the door, the smell of corpses filled the air, but it was not strong.
He forgot to close the door and walked into the bedroom and study in a daze. The smell of corpses had disappeared, which meant that his wife was no longer here.
At this moment, an old voice came from outside the door: "Are you back?"
Terrance was shocked to see that it was an old man he didn't recognize. He spun a lie and said, "Well... I'm working overtime these days."
"Oh... I'm leaving then, remember to take care of yourself." The old man nodded, his cloudy pupils contained too many things. He took a deep look at Terrance, turned around and walked away slowly.
Terrance watched in wonder as the old man, who did not carry an umbrella even on rainy days, disappeared into the rain, sat back on the sofa, and hugged his head.
In the dark and empty living room, he sat alone in the middle of the sofa.
The voice and smile of my wife seemed to echo in my ears.