The Motionless In White Collection of Urban Legends

The Dead Body Under the Mattress: Ch. 3

"And I'll have the pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, fruit bowl and coffee." I told the waitress, handing my menu over. My appetite was quite large after not having a proper meal in days, but I didn't think this surprised Ricky in the least. He was used to my habits and this was one of them.

I leaned back in the small diners booth and checked my phone messages, cherishing these few moments of internet access and cell service. Other than a couple of notifications from social media, there was almost nothing. All of Ricky and I's close family and friends knew we wanted this to be a peaceful week and had taken the hint that that meant no texting or calling unless it was important.

I laid my phone down and leaned forward, watching as Ricky checked his messages too. I enjoyed watching the way his expressions would change so slightly based on the content of a screen. Mindlessly I felt the ring that adorned my finger, looking to my husband's hand for the same.

"Quit staring at me you freak." He snorted as he kicked me in the shin under the table. In response, I leaned in closer to him and rested my chin on my palms.

"I am so lucky to have married a physically-" I paused and gently kicked him back. "And verbally-" I pretended to cough, murmuring 'freak' in between. "Abusive child." I joked. His face scrunched up and I could tell that he was looking for something to retort with.

"Well, I am so lucky I married a pajama wearing-" He gestured to my outfit. "Old..." He was having trouble trying to find something to say. "Old pajama wearing freak." He repeated, playfully sticking his tongue out me. I smiled and he began to giggle, licking his lips as the waitress delivered our food, leaving us to ourselves.

I quickly shoveled a heap of scrambled eggs into my mouth, watching as Ricky slowly cut up his waffles and lightly drizzled them in syrup. By the time I was halfway done with the five dishes I had ordered, Ricky had only taken a dozen small bites and sips from his meal. I sat back and watched how methodical he was for a moment, returning to my feast before he could notice because I knew he would become self conscious with me staring again.

Believe it or not, there was a day a long time ago where Ricky failed to maintain his happy facade. For a week or so leading up to this day, he just wasn't the same. He didn't want to leave his house, he barely texted me, even things as small as his smile not having the same glow it always had. All it took was for me to sit him down and ask if he was honestly okay for his walls to come tumbling down. He cried for hours as he told me about how terrible high school was for him, how his family wasn't all that supportive and how he was losing interest in life. After that incident, I tried my absolute hardest to check in every single day, to make sure he knew I cared about him, and most importantly, that I would always love him. It took a long time for him to trust and believe me, but when he finally did, I made sure to not break this trust in any way.

"Do you like your food?" Ricky asked as he glanced up at me. I nodded and took a rapid bite off the plate, feeling it hit my stomach quickly. I suddenly felt full from gorging myself, laying my head down on the table and closing my eyes.

"You have to learn how to pace yourself." He said with a disappointed sigh. He ran a hand through my hair soothingly, stealing a bit of my fruit before also feeling the effects of eating too much. I continued to peck a bit, but Ricky fully tapped out. He went back to scrolling on his phone, smirking to himself.

A few moments later, my phone vibrated and I looked to Ricky to see him being rather content with himself. I hesitantly swiped on the message, watching as I was directed into Tumblr. I used to post all of my photographs on a designated account I had and Ricky had an account that was dedicated to his drawings, books, and anything else he found aesthetic.

I watched a picture slowly appear on my screen, rolling my eyes when I saw what it was. It was of a small thin boy who was sucking on a pacifier while he was being fucked into a bed by a more muscular man. I shut my phone off quickly as I blushed, glancing up and around to see Ricky was talking to the waitress by the door. He winked at me, waving for me to follow him.

"Is that what you want? You want to be my little whore?" I asked as we took our spots in our car. Ricky nodded and leaned towards me, kissing up my neck. As I started the vehicle, I wrapped a hand around my husband's throat, squeezing until he moaned. I kept my grip firm until we returned to the motel.

"Daddy please fuck me." Ricky begged, pulling at the edge of my pajama pants. I swatted his hand away, climbing out into the open air and pulling Ricky out with me. I grabbed the front of his pants, holding his hardening cock as we stepped into the privacy of our room. I would've continued to grope and tease him, however I was overcome by smell from earlier.

"I will when we get a new room. I promise baby. I just can't stand this smell." I told Ricky as I lightly grasped his chin. I pecked his lips softly and stepped outside, heading straight for the motel office. There was no one inside yet an old rusting car was parked at the door, which was open.

"Hello?" I called out a few times. I gave up after a moment and slipped behind the desk, plucking a key from a hook on the wall. I left a quick note on a spare pad of paper of what I had done and returned to the room.

I peaked in the window to see Ricky laying in bed playing on his phone before heading to our new room. The lock was a bit stuck and took some finessing to make it budge, but eventually it popped open. The smell in the new room was even worse, with swarms of flys above the bed rodents running to and fro. I slammed the door shut behind me and headed for the office again, seeing the car was now gone and Ricky and I's was the only one left in the parking lot. I tossed the borrowed key through a slot in the door and returned to the room we were camped out in, throwing the door open,

"Start packing our shit. We're going to another hotel." I snit with a sign. I loaded all the clothing up as Ricky handled the toys and toiletries. He began to bring the bags out to the car as I pulled a pocket knife from under the driver's seat and headed back into the room. I shifted furniture and turned the room upside down. I threw the pillows off the bed and shredded the chair cushions.

"Ryan, lets just go...:" Ricky insisted from where he stood in the doorway. I glared at him for a split second.

"This has been driving me insane. I will not leave until we figure it out." I snapped. In a last ditch effort to find the source of odor, I yanked the blankets and sheets from the mattress and tossed them in a heap on the floor. The smell became nauseating as I flipped the mattress to see a line of stitches running down the middle in a jagged line. With little effort, I sliced open the slit and yanked the quilting to the sides, a rotting face reveal in a cage of springs.

Ricky ran out the door and fell to his knees as he vomited, eventually working his way into the driver's seat of our car. I stomped to the other room I looked at, kicking the door in with ease and flipping the mattress again. There was the same cut down the center, along with a wet stain. With further inspection I found another body that was far more decomposed.

I tried another room too, this time with twin beds. Both had been stuffed with what have had to been a family. A mother with her daughter, arms still protectively around her body and a father with his son, their jaws broken open and eyes wide.

I had seen all that I could stomach and darted out, jumping into the passenger's seat of the car, Ricky instantly throwing it in reverse and speeding down the road until I had cell service.