Phantom in the Cradle

Part Two

Ruth woke with a start to her husband knocking on the door. The constant ache in her head had suddenly gotten worse. As usual she didn't rise from her chair. The chair was located in the barren nursery. Anxiety attacks started to occur shortly after the incident and Ruth realised she only felt at ease in the nursery.

Aidan slowly crept into the room with a plate of food, setting it on top of the dresser next to her uneaten lunch. Since the incident five months ago, Aidan had put an enormous effort into taking care of his wife. 

The guilt he felt at what he had done to her crushed his souls every day. He couldn't fathom why she hadn't tried to leave him after that. Ruth hardly did anything but sit in the nursery, constantly staring at the empty cradle.

Placing his hand on her hair, he bent down close to her ear. "I'm so sorry Ruthie. You mean everything to me." Ruth made no indication that she had heard him but that was no surprise to Aidan. He just hoped that if he said it to her everyday, she would soon realise just how sorry he was.

Angry tears welled up in her hazel eyes as Aidan left with the old plateful of food. Thoughts of leaving her husband floated through her mind everyday but she couldn't bear to leave the nursery. Looking at the cradle and torturing herself with images of what could've been was all her brain let her do.

The street lamps outside turned on, basking the gloomy room in a yellow glow. Suddenly, the quiet laugh of a child rang through Ruth's ears. Her head turned to the location of the sound, narrowing her eyes at the darkest corner of the room. She sat up straight in her chair, straining her ears for any other noise. Only silence greeted her and she blamed her sleep deprived mind for her active imagination.

For a moment she allowed her eyes to close, rubbing her temple to relieve the pain in her head. She could hear something moving beside her but she refused to think anything of it.

"Mommy let's play a game."

Her eyes snapped open and met the eyes of a small child standing in the corner. A small scream was trapped in the back of her throat as Ruth watched the child swaying innocently back and forth.

The child, a girl about six years old, was dressed in a pair of dirt covered dungarees. She was sporting a torn pink t-shirt and one of her worn runners were missing, revealing a sock with a large hole in it. Looking into the eyes of this child strangely comforted Ruth and she found herself smiling at her. "What do you want to play?"

The child giggled, causing Ruth's heart to soar. A small hand pointed at the cradle excitedly. "Get the toy mommy, please." A strong urge to anything for that child gave Ruth the strength to stand up and walk to the cradle. A slender object glinted against the glow of the street lamp and she picked it up, feeling the slight weight of the knife in her hand.

"Get daddy! Mommy get daddy!" The little girl jumped up and down but the sound of her weight couldn't be heard when she landed. Ruth took a deep breath and gripped firmly on the knife before she walked to the nursery door and opened it. She found herself walking down the corridor as towards the top of the stairs. 

The sound of the television could be heard in the sitting room and she knew Aidan was there. The carpeted steps muffled the sound of her footsteps as Ruth snook downstairs. She ignored the splitting pain in her head as she walked slowly to the sitting room, the door slightly ajar.

Her body pushed itself into the room and in front her was the back of the couch in which Aidan was sitting on. Without thinking, Ruth raced towards her husband and with her hand raised she plunged the knife straight into the side of his neck.

"Got you!" Ruth yelled and started to laugh, pulling the bloodied knife out and stabbing him repeatedly in his neck as Aidan screamed frantically, trying to push her away, his energy fading fast. Blood spurted from his wounds and Ruth's hands looked like they were covered in red satin gloves. 

She was still laughing as Aidan slumped against the couch, his breathing ragged as he clutched at his neck. Walking around to the front of the couch, Ruth smiled sadly at her dying husband. She raised the blade again.

"If I can't have a child, you can't have a wife." The blade made it's way slowly across her left wrist, cutting every tendon like the tight string of a guitar. Ruth did the same to her right arm and dropped the blade, moving towards the stairs. With weakening legs she climbed the stairs and managed to get herself to the nursery before she collapsed onto the floor.

The girl who waited for her in the corner was smiling at Ruth. She let out one last giggle before walking to Ruth's body. The phantom crouched down and tucked the hair of the dying woman behind her ear, then she lowered her lips to it. 

An icy breath chilled Ruth to the bone.

"Sweet dreams mommy." 

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-ella