Chapter Eighty-Six
Eighty-Six
As the footage started playing on the screen, there was nothing else that Mary could do but hold her breath and hug her naked body to keep her from shivering even more.
Do you really want to watch this? the voice inside her head sounded like it was losing its grip. Because I sure as hell don’t. We need to go.
But Mary didn’t… couldn’t move. She had to watch.
On the screen, the woman, who was shaking and sobbing, coughed, spitting a red mist of blood onto the air.
Too fucking loud, the voice warned Mary, who immediately reached for the volume key on the keyboard and turned it almost all the way down.
‘Please… please don’t do this.’ Mary heard the woman plead in a barely audible voice that was strangled by fear and tears. Her pronunciation was completely erratic due to the huge chunk missing from her bottom lip. ‘Please don’t. I’ll do whatever you want.’
‘Shisss.’ A second voice came through the tiny speakers. ‘It will all be over soon. I promise you.’
That was when Mary’s heart stopped beating and her body went cement-rigid, because she knew that voice. She could recognize it in her sleep. That was Quaddra’s voice. She was absolutely certain of it.
Mary, please, the voice inside her head begged her. Let’s get the fuck out of here before it’s too late.
Right then, a second person appeared on the screen – male, tall, well built and dressed in a dark jumpsuit. He walked around to the other side of the woman on the chair before pausing directly behind her.
Mary could taste puke gathering at the back of her throat.
Despite the long-hair wig, the fake beard and the light color contact lenses, she had no doubt that the man in the video was her husband – Quaddra – and he was holding a hunting knife.
‘What’s happening right now?’ Mary’s voice was just as unsteady as the one belonging to the woman in the video.
This time, the voice inside her head didn’t have to answer. On the screen, fake-beard Quaddra grabbed the woman by the hair, violently pulled her head back, exposing her neck, and in one swift movement, sliced her throat open from ear to ear.
‘Oh my god!’ Mary’s hands shot up to her face to cover her nose and mouth, as her eyes filled up with tears. ‘He just… killed her.’
On the video, the woman started convulsing, as blood and life slowly left her body, cascading from the large wound on her neck in uneven, foaming waves.
The desperate, gargling sound that she emitted was like nothing Mary had ever heard before, but to Mary, the most shocking image…
the one that she knew would stay with her forever wasn’t the woman dying, or the blood sheet that was slowly covering her body.
The image that she knew would never leave her was the smile on Quaddra’s lips.
It was a contorted, evil-looking but pleased smile that she had never seen before… until then.
That’s it. We need to fucking go… NOW.
Mary wasn’t arguing with the voice in her head anymore. She reached for the computer mouse, moved the pointer onto the video’s playhead, and slid it back until the timecode on the right-hand corner of the screen read 02:22.
Good thinking, the voice agreed.
With her body shivering uncontrollably, Mary quickly ran back up the stairs and into Quaddra’s office.
She had no real idea of how long she’d been down in that basement of horrors, but the house still sounded quiet.
She pushed the filing cabinet back against the wall until she heard it click in place.
As she turned to exit the office, she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, above the Victorian chest of drawers – 5:37 a.m. Though it had seemed like an eternity, she’d only been gone from her room for a few minutes. Quaddra should still be in the shower.
Still shivering and with her breath as steady as a rope bridge, Mary ran up the stairs and back into her bedroom. The en suite bathroom door was still shut, and she could still hear the shower going.
‘Fuck!’ she breathed out, as tears flooded her eyes. She could feel vomit coming up from her stomach again, and again, she managed to swallow it back down.
‘What do I do? What do I do?’ Mary asked herself, completely out of breath, but not because she had run up the stairs. This was pure fear.
Get back into bed and pretend that you are sleeping, the voice inside her head told her. If there’s one thing you excel at, it’s pretending. So, get back under those covers, close your eyes, ease down your breathing and that’s it. Quaddra will be gone in minutes.
Mary nodded to herself before she jumped back into bed, facing away from the en suite bathroom. She concentrated on her breathing, which right then, was shallow and loud.
‘Get a grip, Mary,’ she whispered, pulling the covers over her head. ‘Get a fucking grip.’
She closed her eyes tight and forced herself to count down from ten, focusing on her lungs as they expanded and contracted to take in and expel oxygen… listening to her breath as it came in and out of her body. By the time she got to zero, Mary had finally gotten a grip on her nerves.
When Quaddra came out of the shower, just a few minutes later, Mary lay as still as she could…
eyes shut… listening to her husband’s movements.
She heard him step into his walk-in closet and come out a few minutes later – probably fully dressed in a dark designer suit – but she didn’t want to look.
Mary really didn’t want Quaddra to know that she was awake.
It took another couple of minutes before Mary heard Quaddra’s footsteps getting closer, rounding the bed to her side.
Mary’s body went stiff.
Quaddra kissed her on the cheek. ‘I’ve got to run, my love,’ he whispered into her ear.
‘Ummm,’ Mary moaned, just like she would’ve done on a normal day.
‘Stay in bed and sleep tight.’ He kissed her again. ‘I’ll call you when I land, but I’ll be home tomorrow, anyway.’ One final kiss. This time, on Mary’s lips. ‘I love you.’
Quaddra tasted of mint mouthwash and smelled of Tom Ford Black Lacquer, his favorite cologne.
Mary kept her eyes shut as she murmured back. ‘I love you too.’
After Quaddra had left their bedroom, she waited in total stillness for several minutes before she couldn’t take it anymore. That was when she exploded in sobs.