It was 9pm and I was driving through unfamiliar roads. I would not let Axel’s car out of my sight. No more would I go to bed, blindly believing his lies. I was going to find out the truth.682Please respect copyright.PENANAmHHrk3NRqq
He turned into a car park. I drove around a roundabout, watching as my husband parked his car. I pulled my car into a car bay on the side of the road near the car park. Quietly, I got out of the car and followed Axel. I wondered what type of woman he’d be seeing, in this seemingly-abandoned warehouse.682Please respect copyright.PENANA5sf4QcjMG0
‘I need to work overtime. Loads of work to do,’ he’d said, whenever I asked him why he was leaving in such a hurry after only a few minutes of dinner. 682Please respect copyright.PENANAfFbkDnR3yx
‘I was at the post office. I left quietly about half an hour ago while you were asleep,’ he’d said, whenever I asked him why he came home 6:30 in the morning. It didn’t make sense, but I knew I hadn’t imagined the smell of burning candles whenever he came home in the morning.682Please respect copyright.PENANAYuQMHgFeO3
Two week ago, I began to set alarms at 1am, 3am and 5am. It made me bone-tired in the day, but at least it showed me the truth. Axel was gone for whole nights. In a row. For the past month. I even got up and checked the spare bedroom when I had enough willpower. 682Please respect copyright.PENANAoNs2wJ10Z0
He was having an affair. And I wanted to know who with, and why.682Please respect copyright.PENANA2S5WpBz7CR
I knew before I even entered, that this was where Axel’s been all those nights. I knew the smell. Burning candles.682Please respect copyright.PENANA9d1Kr48w6l
The warehouse was dark, save for a few candles illuminating the face of a woman sitting by a Victorian-looking table. I hid myself in a patch of darkness next to a pile of junk. 682Please respect copyright.PENANA1615YVFxSq
‘So, Axel, how many has it been now?’ the woman spoke in a business-like voice.
‘Nine, almost ten,’ he replied coldly as he walked up to the woman.682Please respect copyright.PENANAekx8Rbn7Q8
‘Good, good. Did the potion I gave you get rid of the traces of bodies?’682Please respect copyright.PENANA9mM4TpPuUP
Bodies? What was she talking about? What sort of affair was this?!682Please respect copyright.PENANAh0kNlDRE5d
‘It worked perfectly, Mrs Darkwill. The wives don’t suspect a thing and the police are as dumb as a box of rocks anyway.’
Mrs Darkwill? I thought this was an affair!682Please respect copyright.PENANAn35oeQp8xm
‘Of course.’682Please respect copyright.PENANAEPwpW8mW3G
Mrs Darkwill reached into her handbag. She produced a small orange bottle of some liquid and something shiny. A knife. Oh god. Please. No. No. This is not what I think it is.682Please respect copyright.PENANAe62FBY7bXO
‘Go home now. Make your tenth kill. Make me proud.’
‘But I don’t need to go home.’ Axel held the knife by the blade, with the ease of someone who’d handled weaponry all their lives. I was all I could do not to scream then and there.
Then he moved. A swift motion I couldn’t quite see.682Please respect copyright.PENANA6kLu5V1j6w
A flash of silver. Laughter. Something warm and metallic in my mouth.682Please respect copyright.PENANAKErnEKuNEP
The scream didn’t even make it to my throat.
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