Chapter 6 My Husband's Mysterious Disappearances
I was on my knees, feeling pretty bummed out, as the smell of hot chicken soup wafted in from the door.
My stomach growled even louder, practically begging for food.
It wasn't that I didn't want to eat; I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
If something happened to my dad, I'd never forgive myself.
Trying to ignore my hunger, I stayed put. But the smell was just too good. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and dashed to the door.
I grabbed the dishes from the ground, went back to kneel in front of the holy statue, and after a few bows, I snatched a drumstick and shoved it in my mouth.
But instead of tasting delicious, it was like chewing on rotten meat.
It was so gross.
I spat it out, stood up, and held the bowl under the light to get a better look.
What I saw almost made me scream.
The bowl slipped from my hands, spilling its contents everywhere.
The once yummy chicken soup had turned into black chunks of meat.
The drumstick I had just bitten into still had a fingernail on it. It was the same size as mine. It was a human hand!
Thinking about what I had just eaten made me want to puke.
I gagged myself, throwing up violently in front of the cushion until even bile came out, and I collapsed to the ground.
It was definitely the chicken soup my mom made. I had been eating it since I was a kid; how could it have turned into a human hand?
And why did my head hurt so much? I couldn't see clearly either.
It was like a fog covered my eyes, making it hard to see anything in front of me.
Before I completely blacked out, I thought I saw a dark figure standing in front of me, mocking me with the most disdainful tone, "So greedy, you deserve it!"
The somewhat familiar voice faded as I passed out.
When I woke up again, my head didn't hurt anymore.
But I still couldn't see clearly.
My hands felt around, touching raised stones and random stuff.
There were plastic cutlery, broken items, and flowers stuck in a grave.
Damn! I was sitting on someone's grave!
"Help!" I screamed, rolling and crawling off the grave.
If I wasn't mistaken, this was where our village buried the dead.
Because of my poor health, my parents never let me come to places like this.
I had never been here before, simply because I instinctively avoided it.
But now, I had gone straight from home to the graveyard.
Teleportation? How was that even possible?
I couldn't think of any way or reason that could make me appear here in the blink of an eye. It's not magic, and there were no gods in the world, so how could it happen?
Realizing how weird this was, I got so scared that I quickly crawled forward on all fours.
As long as I could get to the road, my mom would notice I was missing when the sun came up.
She would definitely come to save me then.
With that thought, I crawled frantically for a while, then got up and started running as fast as I could.
After running for ages, I plopped down, dry-mouthed and weary, and felt the flowers by the tomb as I reached out.
After wandering around for so long, I was back where I started.
Or maybe, I had never left in the first place.
Could it be that I was really being haunted by a demon?
Help, I hadn't done anything bad.
Why was the demon targeting me?
Hugging my legs tight, I buried my head in my knees, shaking like a leaf.
"Don't you like the clothes I gave you? Why aren't you wearing them?"
A familiar voice came from behind, and a wave of fear washed over me.
The strong, pungent perfume was exactly the same as that day.
Holding my breath, I kept moving forward. "You! Are you Andrew?"
Probably noticing that I couldn't see clearly, the person behind me waved his hand, and the fog in front of my eyes disappeared.
With my vision clear, I immediately stood up and stared at him. "Andrew, you're not dead."
Andrew raised an eyebrow and sneered, still wearing the same clothes from that day, with many ambiguous red marks on his neck. He didn't show any signs of injury; rather, he looked radiant.
He shrugged and smiled brightly, "Of course I'm not dead. After all, I haven't made love to you yet. How could I bear to die?"
He looked around and fixed his gaze on my legs, his eyes turning suggestive.
With a wave of his arm, the clothes that Mia had burned appeared out of thin air.
He chuckled, "I think this is a nice place. Taking your virginity in a graveyard should be quite thrilling."
I gritted my teeth, trying to look fierce, and shouted angrily, "You better stay away from me, or I won't let you go."
Andrew was visibly stunned for a moment, then laughed even louder, "You can't still be thinking about your husband, can you?"
His blatant mockery reminded me of something.
I looked at Andrew in confusion and retorted, "I'm not married."
He snorted lightly, his eyes quickly scanning me before finally landing on the amulet, "That amulet is a family heirloom of the Allen family, bestowed solely upon their wives.“
His reminder made everything clear to me.
So that jealous, bad-tempered, elusive husband was the one who beat up Andrew and threw me to the ground?
He was my husband? Was he Satan?
Seeing me silent, Andrew seemed to lose patience.
He slowly approached me, his eyes growing darker. "I brought the clothes. Do you want to do it yourself, or should I help you?"
Looking at the clothes in his hand and his bruised and battered face, I felt the bile rising in my stomach again.
That disgusting taste continued to make me feel sick.
"Don't come any closer."
Andrew tilted his head back and laughed, then stared at me with blatant greed and desire in his eyes. "Only you are worthy of making love to me. Your flesh and blood are fragrant and sweet, and the power from your first night is a great supplement for me. Besides, don't you like my body? This time, I'll make sure you're satisfied."
His short hair transformed into countless small green snakes in the shadows, hissing and sticking out their tongues as they approached me, finally binding my limbs. No matter how I struggled, it was useless.
"Your first night is mine. No one would want a greedy, lustful, and unfaithful woman."
His words stung. I paled with anger and shot back, "So what if I'm greedy and lustful? I haven't even spoken to a man more than ten times. If that makes me unfaithful, then go ahead and kill me."
Andrew cursed under his breath, his face stiffening. "Fuck!"
Following his gaze, I saw a man in black standing not far away, his long hair floating, adding to his mysterious aura.
Before I could take a closer look, I collapsed to the ground.
Andrew took a few steps back, leaving me and the man across from me staring at each other.
The man in black sneered, "Stupid woman, your things have been stolen."