A few days had passed since she had attached the letter to the cat's collar. Mr. Sprinkles apparently hadn't been home in a couple of days when he kept showing up with the letter still on his collar. Emily shooed him away, feeling terrible every time. Today however he showed up, with no letter attached.
Could the cops be on their way? Is someone coming to finally rescue her? She heard the phone ring. Bill had gone grocery shopping or something earlier. It kept ringing until the answering machine picked up. Emily placed her ear on the door, listening in. "Hey Bill. I saw something most concerning on Mr. Sprinkles collar this morning. Seems your little missy is most desperate to runaway. You need to put her in her place and remind her that she needs to be grateful for a husband like you. I'm going to try your cell if you don't call back soon." A familiar voice played over the speaker. Emily's stomach dropped. Well this was just great.
Emily paced back and forth, the chain rattling loudly around her. What now? What now? She was a dead woman. God please don't call yet. She pleaded silently.
Bill opened the door, startling her out of her panicked pacing. She quickly straightened herself out and calmly greeted him. "Bill!" She chirped and pulled him into a hug, sweating nervously. Bill had a few bags of groceries threaded on his forearms. He sorted through the bags between cold food and not. He stuck the non refrigerated food into the cabinet, still in their bags and then stuffed the fridge with the cold stuff that he also left in the bags.
"Bill." Emily called softly.
His smartphone went off. She knew that ringtone, it was Brad's. A sense of dread filled her. Bill sighed as he reached into his pocket. Emily, threw herself into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Forget that, I've been waiting all morning for you to get back!" She said, pressing herself to him. Bill hesitated before just letting it ring. He wasn't sure what had gotten into her but he was beginning to like it.
He pulled her into a rough passionate kiss and pawed at her swollen breasts. Emily moaned into the kiss, exciting him further. His phone went off again. Bill broke the kiss and went to pull out his phone again. "Leave it." Emily whispered huskily, tugging at his belt. Bill ignored it again and went back to groping her body.
They had pulled each others clothes off when the phone went off again. Bill huffed and dug the phone out of his pockets that were around his ankles. He saw it was Brad. Emily tried to distract him by stroking him. Bill moaned before pushing her away. " I need to get this." He said breathlessly. "Just call him back later!" Emily whined.
Bill put his hand up and answered the phone. "Hello?"
Emily tried to get him off the phone by taking off her dress and putting his hand on her breast. Bill glared at her. "Thanks for letting me, know...I'll be sure to take care of it." Bill said politely, his voice stained with rage.
Emily picked up her dress and took a few steps back. She knew. Bill took a few steps forward, clenching his fists. "I love you, Bill." She said, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice. Bill said nothing as he put her to the floor and had his way with her. When he finished she was laying there crying. Bill stood and stared at her, mulling over what to do with this troublesome woman.
He stared at her swollen belly. She was carrying his child. His eyes softened as he continued to stare. "Please Bill." Emily cried softly. Bill scowled at her, the child would was a part of her anyway, doomed to be a brat. It was a mother's place to take care of it anyway. The thought that it would be waiting for him in heaven comforted him some.
Bill walked to the cupboard and grabbed a roll of tape. He power walked back over to her and laid atop her. Her managed to tape her ankles together while she screamed hit his back. Bill caught her hands, she kept managing to get one free. Bill huffed and decked her in the nose. Emily cried and cupped her face. Bill taped her wrists together as blood leaked from her nose.
Thunder cracked in the sky. It was going to storm soon. Bill picked Emily up and dumped her into the closet. She was a broken crying mess.
He got to work using the wood for the cradle for a new project.
Hours passed. Emily was restless. She had woken up, the smell of blood making her nauseous. She tried the door but couldn't get any grip since he taped socks to her fists. She tried pulling them off with her tea but it was no use. She just had to wait.
Bill inspected his handiwork, satisfied. Now for more work. It hadn't started raining quite yet. He grabbed a shovel and picked out a spot to start digging. He cut through the grass roots carefully and set them aside. He wanted to beat the rain so he hurried.
Half an hour later he called it quits. It was deep enough. He struggled to drag the coffin into the hole he had dug, it kept catching the dirt as he went.
He set in and went into the house to retrieve Emily. He opened the closet door to find her standing there, dried blood above her lip and on her chin and chest. She stared at him pitifully. "That was the last time of doing something like that, Bill...I'm truly ready to give our little family a chance." She said brokenly, she leaned on his chest, looking for some sort of comfort.
Bill began to second guess himself. "You're right, it was the last time." He said hollowly, in disbelief of what he was doing. He kissed her softly before scooping her into his arms. She laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
Bill hardened his heart. He was just done with her. He set her on the bed and unchained her leg. Emily smiled hauntingly at him. "Stop that!" He snapped. Her smiled faded into a frown. "I loved you, I really loved you." He said as angry tears fell down his face. Emily gave him a sad questioning look.
He scooped her back up into his arms and carried her outside. He kept his hand over her face so she couldn't see he was carrying her to her grave. "Its nice outside." She said quietly. Bill said nothing as he kneeled, he grunted as he lowered her down. Emily's eyes widened.
"Bruh." She protested, a look a betrayal in her eyes. Bill held her down as he grabbed the lid with his other hand and started to pull it over the opening. Emily came to her senses and began to fight back. "No!" She let out a blood curdling scream. "Help me!" She screamed again as she tried to fight back with her arms still bound by several layers of tape. She kicked at the lid.
Bill quickly released her chest with his hand and yanked the lid on, he hopped on it to keep her in. She pounded against the lid screaming and begging. He reached over and grabbed the box of nails and the hammer he had laid out. He began nailing her in.
"Please don't do this!" Emily pleaded as she tried with all her might to force the lid open. Bill ignored her and went nail by nail til he was at the final few. He paused for a moment. "Things could have been different, Emily." He yelled before quickly nailing the last on in.
He got up and began to fill in the grave.
Emily listened in mute horror as she heard dirt falling on top. She pounded on the lid til her hands were bloodied. "Keep struggling like that and you'll run out of air faster!" Bill shouted at her. Emily quieted down. Who was she kidding, no one was coming for her.
Emily couldn't believe she let him carry her to her fucking grave. The sounds of the dirt began to grow muted. How much longer would she have now? Why didn't she fight harder, scream louder? This was it. This was actually it...she was going to die.
Lenore called Dave again, angry as hell she kept running into dead ends. "Dave you better pi-"
"Hello?" He answered.
"Dave! I have a bad feeling! You need to take me to Bill's!" Lenore shouted into the phone, her long cigarette ash falling onto the carpet.
"Lenore..." Dave sighed on the other end.
"Don't Lenore me, just take me there right now. If nothing is wrong I'll never bother you again." She said in a dead serious tone.
There was silence on the other end, she had to check to make sure he hadn't hung up on her again. "Fine. Meet me at Mega-Lo Mart in 20 minutes." Dave said before hanging up.
Lenore nearly threw her phone when he hung up on her. She leapt into action, he said he was going to take her there, this was her chance. She locked up her apartment and ran to her car. The ride over felt like an eternity even though she was speeding. She parked and waited on Dave, her mind racing. She lit another cigarette.
Where was he? He was already 5 minutes late. Did he stand her up? Lenore was about to hit dial when Dave parked a few spaces down from her. She hopped out of her car and ran up to his. "You're late." She said as she got into his car. "We're not taking your car?" Dave questioned. Lenore gave him a look. "Okay, my car is fine." He said before driving.
"This is ridiculous, Lenore. Brad and I talked and they're just having a rough time." Dave tried to talk her out of this. Lenore didn't want to jeopardize her chance so she held her tongue.
Dave put on some twangy country. Lenore grit her teeth and turned off the radio. Dave shrugged and continued driving. The anticipation was killing her. "Now look Lenore, I don't want you starting nothing, okay." Dave said, giving her a worried glance. Lenore rolled her eyes. "I just want to talk." She stated tightly.
Lenore clutched her bag to her, feeling the weight of her revolver in her lap. She wasn't sure what she was expecting.
"Bill is a changed man. You'll see." Dave tried to reason with her. Lenore was having none of it. She didn't say anything, afraid to upset Dave and him turn around. "Can't you go any faster?" Lenore asked in a strained polite tone.
"I'm going speed limit." Dave said with a shrug.
Lenore clenched her jaw and sighed heavily. She was getting more nervous the closer they got. Bill sure did move a few minutes out.
Emily cried quietly, it was already unbearably hot and stuffy in there. She didn't want to die. Pure icy terror flooded her system, she did her best to not hyperventilate and use up all over her air. It was pitch black in there. She thought it began to rain but she couldn't tell for sure. She could barely hear over her heart crashing in her head and the ringing in her ears. She didn't expect him to murder her like. She figured he would beat her to death or something instead.
She wished she had a countdown clock or something. She tried to shift around but she was taped up good and the coffin was cramped. "God!" She screamed. "I don't want to die." She sobbed. Her head throbbed.
Dave pulled into Bill's driveway. "Oh good, he's home." Dave said as he parked. Lenore got out and marched up to the door, but paused, her mouth ran dry. Rain soaked right through her, her mascara ran. Bill walked from around back and greeted Dave. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lenore. "I see you've come home." He said.
Dave gave him a weird look, as he opened an umbrella. Bill was drenched in sweat and covered in mud.
"I'm sorry Bill, she wouldn't stop harassing me until I took her here. Just let her talk to Emily and she'll see everything is fine." Dave explained apologetically.
"She's taking a nap right now." He said, evasively a strange look in his eye.
Lenore scrutinized him. "Go wake her up then."
"Lenore." Dave warned.
Lenore grew more desperate. "Why are you so dirty?" She questioned him.
"I was doing yark work, not that it's any of your business." Bill snapped, he rested his arm on the shovel.
"Why is there blood on your shirt?" Lenore asked fearfully, her stomach dropped.
"It's tomato sauce. We had spaghetti for lunch." He spat, rolling his eyes.
Lenore blinked a few times, her blood running cold. "Where's your wife?" She asked quietly.
"I told you, she's taking a nap. If you don't leave I'm going to call the police." Bill warned.
"Take me to Emily, Bill." Lenore demanded, sliding her hand into her pocket.
Rain was pounding down at this point. "Leave or come back to me, Lenore." Bill spat. Lenore swallowed thickly, Dave tried to diffuse things to no avail. Lenore found her feet taking her around back, Bill hot on their heels. "You stay where I can see you." Lenore demanded, taking out her gun and pointing at Bill.
Dave went to disarm her. " Don't touch me!" She hissed, stepping back so that both were in her view. Dave put his hands up and stepped closer to Bill. "Move!" Lenore demanded, motioning with the gun. They complied. She wiped the rain out of her eyes, watery mascara on fingers. She noticed fresh earth about ten feet away from the house.
"Bill what's that?" She demanded.
"I buried my dog!" He snapped.
"You don't have a...dog." Dave said, it slowly dawning on him. Before Bill could say anything else Dave threw a punch, Bill went to hit him with the shovel when Lenore shot at him. He threw the shovel in surprise. She had missed him. Dave was on him, pounding him. Lenore grabbed the shovel and began to dig frantically. The ground getting muddier as the pain pelted down.
She kept digging down until she hit something solid a couple feet down. She kept clearing the lid of mud as Bill and Dave fought behind her.
She was tired and drenched, fueled by adrenaline and determination. Lenore turned and saw Bill strangling Dave. She ran up behind him and swung she shovel at his head, it connected with a sicken smack. Bill went limp and fell to the side. Lenore gave Dave a hand up as he coughed and spluttered. She looked at Bill's body, sure she killed him.
"Help me!" Lenore commanded as she went back to digging.
Dave got on his hands and knees and began clearing mud. They uncovered it after a ton of desperate effort.
Emily heard noise. Was she hallucinating? "Hello?" She yelled.
"She alive!" She heard a woman yell.
"How do we get her out?" She heard a man yell, he sounded familiar.
Emily was dizzy and her head pounded, she felt weak and couldn't focus.
Lenore tried to pry it open with the shovel. Dave took it out of her hands and managed to get a little leverage. He pried one board up partially, it began to crack. Emily was sure she was dreaming now. She was probably dying.
Bill groaned and held his head. He slowly got to his feet. He swayed a little before falling over face first into a puddle of water. He didn't move.
Dave managed to make a hole in the coffin, large enough that they could see her terrified face. Emily sucked in the fresh air. She was surprised to see Dave and this other lady. Did that mean Bill had been arrested or something? "Where's Bill?" She asked, squinting from the rain.
"He's incapacitated right now." Lenore said, looking over her shoulder to see him moving weakly. Ice went down her spine. Now was her chance to finally get justice. Lenore walked over to Bill, leaving Dave to take care of Emily.
Lenore kicked him, he collapsed onto his side from the blow. "Lenore!" He groaned.
She pointed the gun down at his head, her hands shaking. She willed herself to squeeze the trigger. Bill begged pathetically as he kept trying to orientate himself. Lenore glared down at him. "You never showed me any mercy!" She hissed, kicking him again. Bill held his stomach as he laid there.
"What you did to that woman! Your wife! How could you!" Lenore screamed, trying to make herself shoot him.
Emily watched Dave break open the coffin finally. He pulled her out, gasping at her naked, bruised form. She struggled to get her footing while still bound. Dave carefully laid her down and cut the tape off of her. She shivered, the rain and mud were cold and now she was caked in it. Emily cried tears of relief, she thought this day would never come. She thought she was going to die.
She saw Lenore struggling with Bill who was now unsteady but on his feet.
"You've always been a good for nothing cheap slut, Lenore. You're not taking my wife away from me!" Bill snarled as he swung at her. He was confused he didn't hit her, she looked so close. He stumbled forward. "You'll always be a worthless cunt." He snarled. "Shut up! You don't scare me anymore!" Lenore yelled, holding the gun tighter. "You can't even hold the fucking gun right!" He mocked her.
Emily grabbed the shovel and quickly walked over to Bill who hadn't either noticed or cared. "Just shut the fuck up Bill!" Emily snapped before swinging the shovel as hard as she could on his head. His eyes rolled back into his head as blood poured out of his nose. He crumpled to the ground, convulsing. "Oh god did I kill him?" She asked in disgust. Dave was already on the phone with 911.
Lenore put her coat around Emily and pulled her into a tight hug. Emily kept a tight hold onto the shovel in case he got back up again. Lenore sobbed into Emily's shoulder. "It's finally over." She cried. "I just had a feeling, I'm glad I got here in time!" Lenore sobbed. "How did you know?" Emily asked the stranger woman.
Lenore pulled back from Emily and wiped her eyes. "I'm Lenore, I used to be married to Bill." She said.
Emily stood there gobsmacked. "You're Lenore?"
Lenore nodded, looking over at Bill's still body.
"God I know some of the hell he put you through. Everything will be okay now." She said pulling Emily into another hug. "Everything will be okay, now." Lenore said protectively as Dave called 911.
