Martha

The Discovery

Robert stared down at his watch as he waited for his wife to stir from her bed. His beloved cousin spent the early hours of the morning preparing breakfast for everyone, and he was mortified that his wife was too rude to join them at the table.

"I'm so sorry, Lydia." He said, "I told her last night that we would be eating breakfast at eight o'clock sharp. She said she'd set her alarm."

"She probably slept through it." Lucy offered politely, "Maybe someone should go check on her to see if she's still sleeping."

Mrs. Crenshaw wiped her hands on her apron and turned to her son. "Will you please go check on her, Simon? If she's asleep, leave her be, and we will fix her a plate later."

"Yes, ma'am."  Simon said.  He ascended the stairs and made his way to the guest room Tania was staying in.

He balled his hand into a fist and knocked on the door.  There was no answer.

"Tania?"

He persistently knocked for several more seconds, then decided to open the door. Tania was a rude bitch, there was no doubt about that, but something felt wrong. She wouldn't turn down a free meal. The woman was a sponge on society.

When he walked into her room, he noticed the bed was still unmade. Her shapely figure was lying beneath the covers. "Tania?"  He called, slowly stepping towards her.  "Are you awake?"

There was no reply. A bad feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. 

"Tania? Are you alright?"

He pulled the blanket off of her, stumbling backwards when he saw her lying there, her eyes wide and void of life, blood oozing from her open, dead mouth.

There was a large hole in her neck and a butcher knife sticking out of her crotch. Whoever committed this atrocity sliced her genitals to the point of being unrecognizable. All that was left was a bloody mess. It was absolutely horrific.

His chest began heaving up and down, and he threw his hand over his mouth to muffle the groans that escaped him. Who in the hell would do this to her!?

Everyone knew Tania was a horrid person, but she did not deserve such a violent and cruel death.

Someone wanted to make sure she suffered.

How was he going to tell his family about this gruesome discovery?

Robert would have a complete meltdown, and that this would send Martha back into a state of shock.

"Oh, God," He groaned, "God, help us all."

He sucked in a sharp breath of air and made his way down the stairs. His mother noticed the paleness of his face right away and stood from her chair.

"What's the matter, Simon?"

All eyes fell on Simon, and he found it difficult to hold it together. He took another long breath before stepping closer to his mother to whisper into her ear. "We have a big problem. Come with me upstairs."

"What's wrong?" She whispered, leaning into her ear.

"Just come with me."

Mrs. Crenshaw could hear the dread in his voice.
She glanced back at her family and gave them a small smile. "We'll be right back. Please go ahead and help yourselves to breakfast."

They turned around to go upstairs. Robert leapt from his chair. "Wait a minute! What the hell is going on, Simon? Where's Tania?"

Simon struggled for an explanation. 

"What did you do to Tania!?"

Lucy dropped her fork, shocked by his harsh tone.

Martha began to sob.

Robert pushed past his way them and flew up the stairs, shoving the door to the guest room open.  

His eyes landed on his butchered wife, and a gasp escaped his lips.  He stumbled backwards into the hallway and held his stomach.  "No," He groaned, "No, it's can't be. It just can't be."

Vomit spewed from his mouth. He held his stomach and doubled over, heaving.

Mrs. Crenshaw placed her hands on his shoulders. "What's wrong, Robert?"

He pointed to the bedroom with a trembling hand, and she stepped inside to find Tania's corpse sprawled across the bed. 

Horrified, she ran back out into the hallway and grabbed her son by his arms. "God in heaven! What happened, Simon!? Who did this!?"

"I....I don't know," Simon answered, "She was like that when I found her. I swear."

Mrs. Crenshaw closed her eyes and took a breath to calm herself, but a terrible thought crept into her mind.

She remembered what happened to Socks, the kitten that Martha stabbed to death just a few days ago. 

Tania's murder was nearly identical.

No, it couldn't be!! 

Martha was a troubled young girl, but there was no way she was capable of taking a human life!

Was she?

She opened up her eyes and looked at her son with uncertainty, making sure that Robert was not watching them before whispering, "I need you to go check Martha's room."

Simon's eyebrows raised and he leaned closer to his mother.  "You don't think-"

"I don't know. Please, do as I ask."

"Okay." Simon walked down the hall, and into his sister's room.

He looked and found that everything appeared to be in order-until he saw something sticking out from underneath her pillow. 

Dread filled the pit of his stomach as he slowly picked her pillow up, revealing the bloody knife that was used to murder Tania.

"Oh, no, Martha. Please, tell me you didn't."