'Murderer' He Whispered

17

The world began to spin as Megan held her head in her shaking hands. The atmosphere around her felt so heavy that she thought it would crush her as she tried to calm down her raging stomach from spilling out vomit.

Why can't I remember anything?!

Although she was certain the girls had been lying to her about attending school today, it didn't bring her away from the fact that she could hardly remember how her day went.

She could remember snippets of talking with Christie. She'd made her a drink. Something rich with a kick that burned her throat. But other than that, she couldn't even remember what she and her best friend had even spoken about. And yet, there was something on the tip of her tongue, something about being with Christie that made the woman feel uncomfortable, on edge.

What was it?

All of a sudden, a shrill of laughter made Megan jump up from the sofa in fright, before seeing Bethany in a fit of giggles as she ran up the stairs on all fours like a goofy animal.

"I'm going to beat you!" she yelled through her giggles before dashing into her bedroom.

Megan sighed in relief. At least one of us is in good spirits, she thought to herself wryly. Although Bethany was getting to the age where she shouldn't have an imaginary friend anymore as the girl would be turning nine in a couple of months, Megan was still glad that she had someone to distract her from the chaos. Even if that person wasn't real.

Feeling herself grimace, Megan forced her legs to move. She couldn't sit and wallow in self pity for hours, she needed to make dinner for herself and the girls.

Even though the girls had lied about school, Megan still felt a sting of guilt pierce her chest at the thought that she looked like a bad mother. Although she knew Olivia was very clearly hiding something and had dragged Bethany into it, the tired woman still felt that she had to make it up to her eldest daughter.

However, just as Megan had made it to the doorway of the living room and was about to pass through it into the hallway, her foot kicked over something solid that made the woman lose her balance before latching onto the wall for support.

Feeling her heart drum inside her chest at the sudden shock, Megan frowned. Although the woman hadn't been the best at cleaning and tidying the past month, she had been certain that the living room floor was spotless of any clatter. It was the one room that was surprisingly easy to keep clean and tidy.

Steadying herself from the wall and calming her drumming heart, Megan turned to pick up whatever had been dropped on the floor, only to have her heart shoot up into her throat upon seeing her and Charlie's wedding photo lying face down on the carpet.

Megan felt nausea unsettle her stomach as she stared down at the back of the frame, seeing the date of the wedding scribbled on the back with pencil lead that she remembered doing when she and Charlie had joked about how they forgot most things and would certainly forget the date.

"We'll just celebrate it once a week then so that when the anniversary finally arrives, we definitely wouldn't miss it " Charlie had joked as Megan scribbled the date on the back of the photo frame.

"We can't do that! We'll be broke!" Megan felt her eyes roll, although she was smiling.

Charlie grinned, that mischievous grin she had always loved that made the skin around his green eyes crinkle. "Then we'll just have to celebrate it each week at McDonald's" he replied with a wink that made Megan laugh.

"Wow, that's so romantic of you!" she spoke through her fit of giggles as she placed the framed photo back on the mantelpiece.

"Exactly! We'll both order a Happy Meal and cheers with our blackcurrant fruit shoots"