Marie sat in a small ball in her hiding place. She was curled behind a lilac bush in the corner of her spacious backyard. The light from the porch did not reach her, and she felt a little safer. She could hear Kim bellowing her name as he searched the house for her. She had sneaked out to her haven when he had paused in his assault on her to grab a beer from the fridge. Beating up your wife is hard, thirsty work. She tried to make herself smaller, and she moved closer into the dark shadow of the corner. She knew if he found her, she would be in a world of hurt. She closed her eyes, and tried not to listen to the bellows of rage coming from inside her house.
Marie rubbed the ache in her upper right arm. The cast had only come off last week, and the muscles were still weak from lack of use. She had been rather thankful for the cast. Kim had not touched her the entire six weeks it had been on. He had resorted to some rather nasty verbal abuse, but after so long; she was able to tune out the worst of it. She remembered the suspicious looks the nurses had given her as she explained she had broken her arm in a tumble down the basement stairs. It had been the truth. She just didn't tell them that she had a little help in the fall. Kim had been adoring and supportive in the ER and since she had never been to this particular hospital, they didn't report the accident to the police.
She looked up at the house, and saw that the lights were off in most of the house. She could see the flicker of the TV in the den, and hoped Kim had settled in front of it, and would forget about her. She knew that if she stayed out of sight when he was in this frame of mind, that eventually he would fall asleep in front of the TV and she would be safe for a little while. If she was lucky, he would not remember in the morning.
She hugged her knees a little tighter and tried to remember what had set him off this time. Oh yeah. She had made the spaghetti sauce a little spicier than was to his liking, or so he said. She had made it exactly the same way she had a dozen times before, and he always raved about how good it was. That was the scariest part of the whole nightmare she was trapped in. She never knew what would set him off. If she said anything in her defense, he hit her. If she was quiet, he hit her. Tears rolled unnoticed from her eyes, and she felt so lost. She was alone in the world and at his mercy. She felt like no one cared. She reached up to rub her eyes, and winced at the pain. Her right eye was swollen almost shut and she knew it would be dark purple by morning. Her lip was swollen and the cut on it had almost stopped oozing blood. The face she would see in the mirror in the morning was one she was seeing all too frequently. Sighing, she put her head on her knees, and tried to remember how she had gotten into this mess.
Marie was 18 and alone when she met Kim. Her mom had died the year before after raising her alone since birth. She had never known her father. He had left her mom when she had told him she was pregnant, and it had been just the two of them. Her mom had worked hard and provided the necessities for herself and her daughter. They had been poor, but had loved one another, and had been happy. Marie was an intelligent child and had been advanced into a higher grade on two different occasions. She had graduated from high school at the young age of sixteen and had gotten scholarships from several universities. Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after she had graduated and Marie had postponed starting college to care for her. The cancer had been quick and had taken her mother only six months after she was diagnosed.
She had no living relatives that she was aware of, and was left all alone in the world. She was able to survive on the life insurance money, and by getting a job as a waitress in a coffee shop. She had herself declared an emancipated minor, and with the scholarship money, she started college. She wanted to be a writer.
It was on one fateful fall day that horror walked into her life. It was one of those crisp autumn days that made it Marie's favorite time of year. The air was clean and crisp, and she could smell the leaves in the air as she rode her bike to work. The colors of gold, yellow and red surrounded her and she loved hearing the crunch of the dry leaves as she rode over them. She locked her bike up outside the kitchen entrance, and made her way inside She put on an apron, grabbed her order pad, waved at the owner, and went to work. She was about half-way through her shift when the door opened, and a cold chill went down her back. She turned and spotted the source. He was standing uncertainly by the door, looking for a spot to sit down. It was crowded that afternoon, and Marie went over and led him to a vacant booth near the back of the shop. He smiled at her and sat down. She promised to be right back to get his order, and went off to fill up another customer's cup.
He was a good looking man. Tall, maybe six foot and well built. He had light blue eyes, and light brown hair that kept falling into his eyes. He was clean shaved and soft spoken. He seemed a little shy. He lingered over his coffee and Marie could feel his eyes on her as she went about her duties. She had no experience with men, and liked the attention she was getting from him. When there were only two or three customers left, she went over, and asked if he wanted anything else. He grinned up at her and said he just wanted to talk to her. Marie felt herself blush, and smiled shyly at him. She looked nervously over her shoulder for her boss, and when she didn't see him, sat slowly down across from him.
They made idle chit chat that afternoon. Marie learned his name, Kim, and that he was an associate professor at the college. He taught math. Marie told him a little about herself, and her courses at the college. She was not in any of his classes and felt totally at ease with him after a few minutes. She felt disappointed when he excused himself to go teach his afternoon class. He promised he would be back, and left a good sized tip. Marie felt as though she could have flown home that evening, and didn't even notice how cold it had become.
Through the days and weeks that followed she saw Kim almost daily. They began dating after only a few weeks, and Kim surprised her on their six month anniversary with a marriage proposal. Marie didn't even hesitate when she said yes. Kim planned the entire ceremony, and Marie had never felt so looked after, or better cared for in her life. She did not see the hints of the monster her husband was becoming.
They had been married only a couple of months when everything began to unravel. Kim had insisted she quit her job after they got married, and had begged her to put off going back to college for a while. He said they needed time to get to know each other, and to get settled into their marriage. Marie agreed, and happily began to make a home for them. She had moved into his house a week before the ceremony, and was trying to fit into her new role of wife. The first hint of trouble showed up on a rainy afternoon. Marie had spent the day shopping for new linens for the bedroom and curtains to match. She wanted to redo the house. Kim had furnished his house in a comfortable, but decidedly manly decor, and Marie wanted to add a touch of her to their home. She had just finished hanging the new curtains and was admiring the new look of their room when Kim came home.
He called out to her, and she told him where she was. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw their bedroom. She was facing the door when he opened it, and was watching his face as he took in the new furnishings. She was puzzled by the blank look on his face, and asked him if he liked what she had done? He turned to her and she recoiled in horror at the look in his eyes. She saw the anger on his face, and was just about to ask him what was wrong when suddenly he was in front of her, holding her arms too tightly, shaking her, and screaming at her. With dawning comprehension, his words began to reach her stunned brain. He threw her down on the bed and stormed from the room. She started to cry, and rolled into a little ball. She had never been treated in such a brutal manner before. She lay on the bed and cried, dreading his return.
She heard his footsteps on the stairs about an hour later and her stomach clinched in dread. He opened the door and looked at her for several minutes before coming in and sitting beside her. He took her hand and held it gently. He told her he was sorry he had to get angry like that, and said he knew some of it was his fault for not making some things clear to her from the beginning. He then proceeded to lay down "The Rules" to her. When he left the room she could only lay there and try to comprehend what had just happened. The loving man she had married had just revealed himself as a monster. He had told her in no uncertain terms that she belonged to him and everything she did had to be approved by him first. She was to make no changes to his house, and he expected her to remove the changes she had made before he was ready to go to bed. Marie stood shakily to her feet and began to remove the new linens and curtains. She moved slowly and felt like she was in a fog. She cowered in the corner when Kim came back to inspect her work, and when he saw that she had obeyed him, he went and pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head and told her what a good girl she was. He took her to bed and made love to her. Through it all, Marie felt as if she wasn't a part of what was happening to her. The next morning she saw the bruises he had left on her arms where he had grabbed her so tightly. She cried again as the nights events rolled through her mind.
The next few weeks passed without incident. Marie tried as hard as she could to get on with her marriage and after awhile, the event from that first episode faded a little. Kim was his old self again. Loving and attentive. He even allowed Marie to sign up for a book club that the local library was sponsoring. She went to a meeting once a week, and thought she was beginning to make friends with one of the women there. She gave her the telephone number to her house, and they made tentative arrangements to have lunch before the next book club meeting. Linda called Marie at home the night before to confirm their lunch date, and Kim answered the phone. Marie overheard his part of the conversation and knew it was not over. He told Linda that Marie had gone back east to care for her sick aunt, and he didn't know when she would be back. His back was to her and she could see the muscles in his neck tighten as he turned to face her. He walked over to where she was sitting and calmly slapped her face. Hard. She recoiled in horror as he bent over to look into her eyes. Her hand went to her cheek as the burning began. She tried to shrink away from him, but he was in her face and there was no where to go.
"I thought I told you that everything and I meant everything you do has to be cleared through me first. Did I not make myself clear on that? Now you've gone and ruined the freedom I have given you. You will not go back to the book club and you will not ever talk to that woman again. Do you understand?"
Marie didn't answer him fast enough and he slapped her again, whipping her head to the side as he struck her.
"I. Said. Do. You. Understand?" He screamed in her face.
Marie managed to nod and it seemed to mollify him. He left her and picked up the phone. She heard him as he talked to the pone company and arranged to have their home number changed to an unlisted number. He wrote the number on a piece of paper, then picked it up and put it in his pocket. He walked out of the room without looking at her and it dawned on her that he had no intention of letting her know what the number was. She could hear him as he went outside and started up the car. He drove away, and when she could no longer hear him, she got up and went into the bathroom and took a good look at her face. She could see the beginnings of the bruise that would be there in the morning and her eye was swollen. She went to the kitchen and made an icepack, and put it on her throbbing face. She cried and cried, and when no more tears would come, fell asleep curled up in the chair. She was jolted awake by the sound of Kim stumbling into the bookcase by the front door, and the cursing that followed. The realized he was drunk, and tried to make herself disappear. He didn't even see her as he weaved up the staircase and into their room. She heard a few more muffled curses and then nothing. She got up and crept up the stairs and peeked into the room. Kim was passed out on the bed, clothes still on, snoring loudly. Marie quietly got a blanket from the closet, and crept back down the stairs. She made a bed on the couch and tried to go back to sleep. The pain in her face made it difficult, and with every noise she was afraid he was awake and coming for her. She got no sleep.
The next morning she was rudely shaken awake. She must have dozed off. Kim pushed her into the kitchen and demanded hot coffee and breakfast. He studied her bruised face, and she swore she saw him smile as he turned away. He was proud of what he had done. As the days passed, he managed to make her literally his prisoner. He refused to let her do any of the shopping and wouldn't let her go outside without him. She was only allowed to go out into the back yard. The phone didn't ring anymore, and the only contact she had with the outside world was what little TV he let her watch. He even refused to let her read the books she loved so much. Little by little she shut down as a person, and functioned on auto pilot. She was his punching bag when he felt she needed some discipline, and his sex slave when he felt the need for sexual release. He made more and more frequent demands and became more depraved in his needs. The Marie he had married existed no more.
Marie shivered in her corner under the lilac bush and gradually returned from the past to the horrible present. In the small part of her mind that was still a cognizant human being, she knew she must find some way to escape from her tormentor, or she was not much longer for this world. She knew time was growing short for her, and something had to be done. She was no match for him physically. She was a tiny 5'2" and weighed about 90 pounds. She had once been a healthy 115, but had lost so much weight. She began to sob again, and shut her eyes, repeating the words that had become a sort of mantra to her. "I'll do anything to be out of this madness. Anything." Over and over. With her eyes closed she didn't see the shadow that seemed to peel away from the corner of the house and begin to drift toward her. It slowly crossed the yard and slipped under the lilac bush. Marie gasped and her eyes flew open and she stared at her feet as she felt a coldness enter her toes. She saw the shadow as it began to cover her and felt it's coldness as it worked it's way up her legs to the core of her being. Where there had been emptiness before was now filled with a terrible coldness. The shadow began to cover her face, and seemed to sink into her. When she opened her eyes as the last traces of the shadow disappeared, what once were green eyes, now were black, and totally void of any trace of humanity. The thing that was once a battered and bruised woman stood up, shook itself a little, and slowly started toward the house. It detoured into the tool shed, and emerged carrying something shiny in It's hand.
It entered the house very quietly and began looking for the source of the woman's torment. Slowly, It searched the house until It came to the den. There, snoring loudly, with a little drool hanging from his lip, was the doomed man. It came into the room and stood staring down at him. A terrible grin crossed It's face and It went over to the light switch and turned on the overhead light. At almost the same time, It kicked the TV screen and the picture went out in a shower of sparks. Kim jerked awake, and rage crossed his face as he saw Marie standing in front of him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He growled as he tried to get up out of his chair. "Don't you know I'll kill you for that"?
Before he could get out of the chair, It pushed him in his chest and back into the seat.
"Sit down and don't move". It said quietly. "You will never lay a hand on me again, you monster."
Kim stared at her with his mouth wide open. He couldn't believe the little cow was actually trying to stand up for herself. She was dead now. She just didn't know it yet. He tried to struggle to his feet again and before he could get out of the chair, It pushed him down again and took the ax from behind It's back and swung it at him. He howled as it connected with his left shin. He prided himself in keeping his tools in excellent condition, and the ax was extremely sharp. It cut through his skin and bone like butter, and stuck the leg of the chair. With no outward sign of any effort, It pulled the ax free, and struck a pose, ready to strike another blow.
Kim screamed and couldn't believe what she had done. "Have you lost your mind, you bitch? Look what you did to me." He grabbed his leg and tried to stop the spray of blood. He grabbed the stump and tried to apply pressure, but the blood continued to pump through his hands. It looked at him and went down the hall to the closet. It came back into the den with a sheet that It was tearing into strips. It threw a strip of the cloth at Kim and told him to tie a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding.
Sniveling, and crying, snot and tears streaming down his face, Kim tied a fairly decent tourniquet, and the jetting of blood slowed to a trickle. "Call an ambulance, for God's sake, you stupid bitch, before I bleed to death."
It looked at him and said. "There will be no ambulance, Kim. You have touched me for the last time, and the only reason I gave you the tourniquet is so you won't bleed to death before I'm done with you. I don't want you to go out easy. That would be too good for you."
Kim stared at It in shock and the dawning knowledge of what was happening to him could be seen crossing his face. He tried a different tactic. "Baby you know I love you, and I only do what you make me do." He whined. "I don't mean to hurt you, but you make me do it."
It stared down at him with no emotion on It's face. Slowly, It brought the ax into striking pose and before Kim could move, brought it down swiftly on his arm. The severed hand flopped to the floor, as the high pitched scream started from somewhere deep inside of him. The blood sprayed out and hit It in the face. It made no reaction to the gore dripping from It's face and calmly started toward him. Kim jerked back and screamed, "You keep away from me you psycho bitch." It ignored him and began to tie a strip of the sheet around the pumping stump of his arm. Kim grabbed her arm with his uninjured hand and tried to pull her away. It was like pulling on a piece of granite. Unmoving and very cold. He jerked his hand away in surprise and tried to struggle to his feet again. He had forgotten he only had one foot now, and howling in pain, fell back into the chair.
"You need to be still now, Kimmy. The more you struggle, the more blood you'll lose, and I want this to last. I have a few years to pay you back for, and I want to savor every minute of the time we have left together, Baby." Laughing, It leaned over and gave him a blood covered kiss on the mouth. Gagging, Kim tried to wipe the horribly cold feel of her lips from his. He was beginning to go into shock and the tears kept coming. It looked at him closely, and decided the time was going quickly. It leaned down and without any effort at all, picked him up, and slung him over It's shoulder. It made It's way into the kitchen and put him down on the table. Kim was blubbering and tried to wriggle away from It. It put a hand on his shoulder, and he stopped trying to move.
It walked down to where his foot was, and Kim screamed as he saw a flash as the bloody blade slammed down onto his remaining leg. Now he had no feet. He could feel her tying a tourniquet onto the freshly cut stump and began to feel blackness steal over his mind. He could hear her humming a tune as she worked and in his weakening state, recognized the tune as the old Frank Sinatra song, "I Did It My Way."
It came up to his other side and pried his hand away from his injured arm and proceeded to chop off his other hand. Too mercifully for him, he, at last, slid into darkness.
It continued It's grisly work until all that was left of the former Professor Kim were pieces. The kitchen was covered in blood and so was It. It finally put the ax down and went to one of the cupboards and pulled out a roll of plastic wrap and a roll of aluminum foil. Calmly It began to wrap the pieces of It's tormentor into neat little packages. It went back into the den and got the foot and hand It had left there. After every horrible piece was wrapped, It began to carry them down to the basement and put them into the freezer. As the pale light of dawn began to peek over the horizon, It was finishing the last bit of cleaning up. Everything looked as normal as it had before, and then It looked down at Itself and realized It had a little more cleaning to do. Smiling, It made It's way to the bathroom and turned on the shower. It shed the gore stained clothes and stepped inside.
Marie felt clean and refreshed as she stepped out of the shower. She gathered up the dirty clothes she had left on the floor, and threw them into the washing machine. She went into the kitchen and made a fresh pot of coffee. She hummed quietly to herself as she worked. Some old tune by Frank Sinatra. She didn't notice a black shadow ooze over the kitchen floor and under the door and out into the back yard. She was looking at the sunrise and planning on getting a roast out of the freezer for dinner. Then she was going to see if the book club still existed and start her life all over again.