Dark Desire

Chapter Three

Before he knew it, time continued to pass at an alarming rate. Everything went back to normal. Gwen made no notion to try and make things better. There were times where she would be gone most of the night and he would wake up to her sleeping next to him. At times he felt as though that was becoming more and more common. What could she be possibly doing so late at night?

"What do you do so late in the evening?" He asked her.

She shrugged, "Does it matter?"

"I am concerned. I don't think it's healthy for you to be out alone so late at night." He said to her sternly.

"Are you trying to control my life now too?" Gwen said with irritation.

"That's not what I am--" He tried to defend himself.

She turned away from him and stormed out of the room, "I won't be told what to do!" The door slammed to their bedroom and he was left out in the living room with their daughter confused. Arianne made no notion that it bothered her at all and went back to playing with her doll. He was going to get up and knock on the door and try to talk with her, but he was getting tired of it all. He was tired. It was finally starting to get to him. Every day he worked hard for them. For the family, and for her. If Merinda couldn't cook for them, he was left to do all the cooking and cleaning as Gwen refused to do anything around the house. He couldn't understand what happened and where the woman went that he fell in love with, or was she really like this all along and he just didn't notice?

It didn't take much for him to just start sleeping out in the living room on their couch. He found it much easier to deal with her as he wouldn't be woken up at night and wouldn't be concerned with her being out all night. Now he just didn't notice.

"Did you say something to her?" Merinda asked him curiously.

He shook his head, "I tried, but she just stormed off." He sat down and let out a long sigh. "I honestly don't know what to do anymore. She doesn't even say hi to us. I don't even know if she is home."

Merinda placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I am sorry. I wish there was more I could do. I have been trying to get to her for years without success. I had hoped that you might make a difference in her behavior."

"What is she doing so late at night?" He asked looking up at her, hoping she would have the answer.

The woman shrugged, "I don't know. I have seen strange things in her room. A part of me thinks that she is into mage craft, however I cannot be for certain."

"Mage craft?" He said curiously. "You think she is dabbling in magic?"

"I honestly don't know. It's just a guess. She really doesn't like to be constrained in anyway. If you try to keep her inside on certain nights she freaks out and leaves anyways. There were nights where I would hear strange chanting coming from her room." Merinda sighed and shook her head, "I would hate to think that she was doing something with demons."

Andrew shook his head in disbelief, it would easier to believe that there was just something wrong with Gwen. He couldn't believe that she would be working with demons. What would her motivation be? What would she gain from something like that? "I don't believe that. I think that there is just something wrong with her."

"Very well. I am certainly not going to get between the two of you about it. She is yours to take care of now. Even if you left her, I honestly wouldn't take her back." The woman said turning from him and handing him a dinner basket like usual. "Let me know if you need anything else."

Arianne was ready to go, and they headed home. Sure enough, the house was empty, and he sat there eating dinner with his daughter.

He was starting to get in the hang of being a single parent. He stopped asking and even requesting any type of assistance from Gwen and for the most part that was fine. Occasionally she would ask for a little money, but nothing outrageous. He would just go about his day and so would everyone else.