In Memoriam - An Unus Annus Fanfiction

13.04 - 04/13 - How to not be the perfect boyfriend

TW: Blood, body horror, implied self harm

Lixian blinked. The cold was gone, and so was the cheap hotel room. It felt as if he walked from a prison cell into a dining hall. He did not remember the house he found himself in, yet it felt strangely familiar. As if he had lived here for years, as if it was truly his. He heard humming come from the kitchen. It was the time just before the sun set on a warm summers day, and glowing light illuminated even the darkest corners of the house.
He followed the familiar tone. It was a song his wife would always sing to their children when they felt sick. He saw her standing in the kitchen, her back turned to him. She was working on something, and Luís once again wondered how he ended up with such a beautiful woman. Her hair was as golden as the sunset, and her eyes shone just as brightly. She turned to him with a smile that could defeat even the worst cold. »Luís, mi amore. You came just in time, the kids haven't  gotten hold of the cookies yet.« Her voice was warm and soft, like a favorite sweater on a cold winter day. Lixian smiled, taking a freshly baked cookie from the baking tray.
Just as he was about to bite into it, a foul smell hit his nose. He recoiled. »Is everything alright?« He looked up, and calmed down as his gaze met hers. He nodded. The cookie smelled normal.
  »Come on, eat it.«
»I will. It smells heavenly.»
   »Eat it. Now.«
Luís furrowed his brows. He did not want to eat the cookie anymore. He felt childish for just thinking it, but he felt as if he had suddenly lost all appetite. »Let the children have it. It'd be unfair of I ate it, you made it for them. «
   »Eat it. Now. « The woman repeated, more harshly now. For a split second, the warmth vanished from her voice, making it sound strangely hollow. Like a recording, being played by a humanoid robot.
Luís shook his head. »No,« he said, as clear as possible. Something warm was running down his hand. It took him a second to realize that it was too liquid, and just a tint too red to be molten chocolate. He let the cookie fall down. It hit the ground with a wet splat. He shivered.
   »Why haven't you eaten it?« The woman asked, and Lixian was sure that he could hear a second voice, just underneath hers. »I don't think the kids,« he didn't finish the sentence. The kids? He didn't even have kids.

He realized too late that this space had never been safe. The woman's fave was covered in ashen skin, her eyes moving rapidly underneath it. It looked as if someone had pulled a bag of grey rubber over her face. She extended her skeletal hand, her fingers blindly searching for his face. »Why haven't you eaten it?« The voices screamed. Luís pushed the tray upwards. The doors slammed shut behind him. Cold air blew through the rooms. He used his advantage, pushing the creature to the side and lunging for the knife block. It followed a breath later, but he turned around, knife in hand. The womans breath rattled as the knife plunged through her chest like butter. He couldn't hold the sudden added weight, and let go of the handle.
He screamed at her. She wasn't his wife because he didn't even have a wife and you're dead now let me out you are dead. But the creature was not deaddead, because you could only kill what was alive. He turned the knife towards himself.

Luís gasped and sat up so fast that he nearly fell out of the hotel bed. The kitchen was gone. So was the creature and the cold. Outside, a car drove by. He listened to it's motor. Cold sweat rolled down his back, and his chest was burning like fire. Safe space my ass, he thought. He needed a shower, and something against the headache.