Lost

"Finally away from all that hustle. The appointments, the nursery renovation,the never-ending shopping, the parenting classes, the final touches at the office before the leave. I never thought we'd be able to get our babymoon. "
 
Samuel watched from his side-eye as Niharika animatedly explained their life of the past few months. She looked stunning and he was hopelessly in love with her. Eleven years and he was still head over heels in love with her. 

Niharika and Samuel. Quite a pair they were. The story of how the tall,dark and striking Samuel wooed the bold and beautiful Niharika was a favourite at every dinner party they attended. From friendship to love to marriage, their story was a fairy tale and now before their next chapter, they were on a break from their busy lives. 

"Don't you feel the same too, Sam? " She took a break from her enthusiastic rambling to maybe let him be part of the conversation but more so to see how much he was listening. 

Samuel gave her knowing smile, " Of course". She understood he hadn't heard a single word, she momentarily puffed up her face and then they both burst out laughing. Samuel gave her a quick peck on the cheeks and gave a gentle pat on the very visible bump. " You both feeling okay? "

She gave him a nod and a smile. " How long till we reach the cottage? "
 
He gave her a sheepish grin and said, "Don't panic. But I think we are lost"

"Lost! Lost! ", she exclaimed. " How can we be lost? Aren't we following the google maps? "

" We are. Chill. And we aren't THAT lost. Its just that I lost network a while back and I am not very sure the last turn we took was the right one. "

"Okay, fine. We'll just ask the next person we see if its the right route. Deal? "

"Done dear. Now smile", Samuel begged. Niharika did but something just felt off. 

They drove for a few kilometers with no man, beast or house in sight. " There! there!" Niharika enthusiastically pointed at the lone house that stood a few metres away from the road. 
"You sit in the car. I'll go see if someone is in there." Samuel stopped the car and got down. 

He walked towards the house and saw that it was the side of the house that faced the road. While walking he felt something weird as if someone was breathing down his neck and the feeling only intensified as he got closer. He cautiously rounded the house to reach the front door and slowly raised his arm to ring the doorbell. But he was stopped by a piercing scream and his heart stopped as he understood that it was Niharika. He rushed as fast as he could to the running car and opened the door. A breathless Niharika stared back at him with a flushed face. "Something.. Something..", she stammered.

" Baby, calm down and tell me what happened" replied Samuel in equal panic. 

Niharika took a deep breath and started again, " I felt something knocking on the windows after you left, it was incessant and disturbing but I couldn't see who it was so I lowered the windows. And then I saw a face, Samuel, it was horrible, so very horrible. Something like that of a nightmare. I screamed and later felt like I was choking on something, I couldn't breath, I couldn't speak. I thought I'd die. I think if you hadn't opened the door then... I might have.....", she broke down to sobs. 

Samuel could do nothing but console her and be bewildered. He kind of hoped it was some pregnancy hormones or something because he couldn't find any other logical reason for what his wife just told him. 

They continued the drive in silence, both of them a bit shaken by the incident and finally they reached the cottage. Samuel stopped the car and placed his hand on hers "whatever that was, it's done. Remember this trip is for us and I refuse to think of anything but us and I won't let you think of anything else either." He raised her hand and gave a gentle kiss on the back of her hand and smiled at her, to which she responded with a smile that wholeheartedly agreed with him. They took their bags and left the car.

The cottage was like one straight from a storybook. It was secluded and faraway from any crowd except maybe the caregivers who cleaned, made the meals and stocked up the fridge to the brim. They were like magical elves that the guests never saw. The entire cottage had a white fence all around and the vines intricately circled them, not hiding them but making the fence a part of the lush greenery that surrounded it. Hanging plants with picturesque pots were carefully maintained in the front porch and all kinds of flowers stood bright on two sides of the driveway. The driveway itself was cobblestone and without any signs of neglect. A place paused in time, as fine as the day it first welcomed its guests.

"It's marvelous", Niharika exclaimed as Samuel basked in the praise. Excited shrieks came from her as she discovered the kitchen with piles of food, the cute little tub in which she imagined the both of them, the overhead loft which served as the bedroom with a comfy mattress on the floor and the wooden floors and furnitures received seperate screams as well. Samuel took the bags to the bedroom as he had already seen everything personally before he chose this place. He had spent a lot of time to plan the babymoon as he wanted everything to be just perfect.

Niharika stared out of the window taking in the view, Samuel came behind her and hugged her, as she settled into the hug he gently pressed his lips to her neck and whispered, "I have nothing but bad intentions in my mind ma'am." She burst out into laughter and exclaimed, "You been preparing that throughout the ride?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"As much as I'd love to give into your bad intentions, me and our baby really,really need some sleep."

"Well, I think cuddling was also part of my intentions."

"That's settled then I guess, cuddles and sleep will be marking the start of the babymoon."

Samuel gave a mock salute,making her smile again . He loved her smile, he loved the way it made her eyes sparkle and made tiny dimples on her cheek. They quickly changed to more comfortable clothes and got under the blankets as soon as they could. 

"Good night then Sam," she said stifling a yawn.
With a light peck on her head, he said the same to her. He spooned her closer to him and they both drifted off, one quicker than the other.

Samuel woke up to find the bed empty which was strange because Niharika was never the first to wake. Then he heard noises from the kitchen and he smiled to himself, someone was snacking without him it seems. The world would have ended if the roles were reversed. He stretched to shake of his sleep and went in search for his wife.

She was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen island, facing away from him. She was munching something loudly which was quite unlike her. He slowly went towards her but, with an apprehension that he couldn't understand. Samuel came to an abrupt stop as he rounded the corner, there was a huge pool of blood on the floor. He wanted to race towards her but something stopped him, maybe it was the way she stood eerily calm even at the sight of blood. He tentatively called out, " Niharika, you okay? Niharika... Niharika can you hear me?" , his questions that started off as whispers slowly raised in volume.

Niharika slowly turned around and Samuel staggered back in shock, he held the counter for support, he felt nauseous. Before him she stood in her white nightgown which was no longer white but blood-soaked, a smile was etched into her face but not the one that he knew, not the one that he loved. The lips were stretched from cheek to cheek, as if somebody had plastered them there, blood stained her teeth as she continued her chewing. On one hand she held a kitchen knife, steel and red altering on its blade and on the other hand she held some kind of flesh in her hand, she slowly raised it to her mouth and started chewing, her hand then went through the slit she had torn in her nightgown, she again clenched something blood-soaked in her hand and shoveled it into her mouth, like a savage, frightening, disturbing. He puked into the blood covered tiles as he realised what she was munching on.

"Niharika...why... Our baby..", Samuel somehow managed to croak out. The thing that stood infront of him slowly tilted its head and in a voice so monotonous, so starkly different from the bubbling chatter of Niharika, it whispered "Niharika... Gone... Forever."

Samuel couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening, she was there but she wasn't. But the realisation slowly dawned on him that the woman he loved was gone. Whoever or whatever this was, it wasn't his Niharika. How could things go so horribly wrong, it was supposed to be him and her, always and forever. Hearing footsteps Samuel pulled himself out from his thoughts and looked infront of him. The creature was walking towards him, knife pointed. He staggered back till he was cornered and then only a single thought ran through his mind. Run.

Samuel rushed out of the kitchen towards the front door, his hands reaching into his pockets for the front door keys but grabbing nothing. He cursed himself as he remembered it was in the loft. Samuel ran up the stairs, frantically pulling open the drawers, not remembering in his frenzy where he kept them. Finally he kneeled down near the bedside table and started his search there. He felt his eyes stinging as he shuffled through the stuff that Niharika had unpacked just hours back. Finally his hands touched the cold metal of the keys and as he took them and turned. There she was. White gown splattered with blood, intestines hanging out from the cut that had deepened with repeated stabs, the unnatural smile still pasted in its face and a knife mere inches from his throat.

" Niharika, if you are there. Please stop!", Samuel begged as the threatened tears fell. "Niharika gone", the creature repeated as before and pushed the knife forwards into his throat and slashed, blood spraying everywhere and then Samuel too was gone.

The cottage stood picturesque wrapped in vines, the hanging pots showing off their shy blossoms and the dew drops splitting the light into a million sparkles and in the middle of it all rang the sound of sirens, uniformed men trampling through the carefully kept garden. Wisps of converation kept floating around, 

" Everyone says he was head over heels in love with her",

"The housekeeper found him? She must be in shock."

"Her blood was sprayed in places too. Probably to misguide the investigation."

".. killed him and ran off with her lover. Poor guy"

"His parts were scattered everywhere, except his head, that was kept on the bed, eyes closed, blood wiped, head combed. Very creepy."

And like smoke they disappeared away in that quiet morning. But in the silence, further into the woodland, barefeet sank into the thick moss as Niharika's body staggered through the trees. Rotten skin peeling off, maggots crawling through its flesh, intestines trailing behind, spreading the pungent smell of decay it shall walk. Not forever, but until the house on the lone road brings it someone new.