'Murderer' He Whispered

2

"Are you sure you're okay, Megs?" Christie asked, scanning the woman in the corner of her eye as she drove in the direction of Megan's home.

Clutching tightly onto her seat belt with her fingers, Megan nodded frantically, even though she was far from 'okay'. Any stranger could look the woman up and down and say that she was falling apart without having to know anything about her or her life - even though everyone now knew everything about her.

Absolutely everything.

She chewed viciously on the skin around her thumb as she peered out through the passenger seat window, trying to calm herself down as the peaceful streets flashed by her vision. She had to get it together before her daughters saw her like this. She had to be strong in front of them.

"I know what Charlie did was horrible, to say the least, but everyone putting the blame on you will pass. I promise, it will. Everyone's just really angry and confused at why it happened, y'know, and they want someone in front of them to blame" Christie tried consoling her friend the best she could, which Megan appreciated, but she knew her closest friend was wrong. No one was ever going to let this go. Her name will be remembered forever, as the wife of a murderer.

Megan shuddered as the thought plagued her mind, causing her head to spin, watching as her future crumbled right in front of her. She pressed on the button to lower the window on her side down to gasp at the fresh air from outside, when a horrible sight met her.

People. Crowds of people standing on the sidewalk had stopped. It looked as though time had halted in place, causing everyone to become statues frozen in time. It certainly would have looked like that, if it wasn't for their eyes, following the car as it passed by them. Watching her.

Megan snatched her gaze away from the window and trained her shaking eyes straight ahead as tears filled into the brims.

No, you're wrong! You're in a passing car, they can't see you from where they're standing, she tried telling herself, begging herself to believe that it was all her imagination - her paranoia.

Holding onto her seat belt even tighter than before to the point that her fingers began to sting, Megan tried to ignore them all, but she could see all the people in the corner of her eye, watching her as the car passed.

Watching.

Watching...

"We're here!"

Megan yelped as she jumped in fright, causing Christie to jump in her seat as Megan peered around her. The car had stopped outside her home, and all the people she had sworn were watching her were gone, with only a few pedestrians walking past to wherever they were going, minding their own businesses.

After a moment of intense silence, which felt like the complete opposite of 'silence' to Megan as her brain buzzed with fear and confusion as questions of what she'd just seen piled into her mind, Christie let out a little laugh that contained some nervousness that Megan clearly picked up on.

"Sorry, Megs. I didn't mean to scare you. You must have really been zoning out!" she laughed again, with more confidence this time, as though Megan had only imagined her nervous tone beforehand.

Not feeling like she could muster up any form of laughter whatsoever, Megan managed a weak smile at her best friend before thanking her for the ride and stepping out of the car.

As Christie drove away with the sound of her car engine fading into the distance, Megan staggered up the path to the front door steps as she fished into her black handbag for her house keys. She felt around inside her bag as she tried to peak inside at the same time, but she couldn't find them. She shook her bag, sighing as she heard them jangling at the very bottom under all the other items she had stored inside.