Betrayed

I woke up to darkness; a lightless, hazy night. A faint fog permeated the air around me, impairing my vision from grasping the figures ahead. I got to my feet and looked around. There was hardly a voice or whisper in the wind, save the soft rustling of trees. As I took some steps forward, the scenery before me became clearer: rows of stone slabs were on the ground; some stood tall, while others laid crumbled.

Am I in a cemetery?

Suddenly, I sensed a presence approach me. However, I could neither hear nor see anyone. The wind grew stronger—heavier—as if it were whirling towards me. I was ready to run when a voice called out to me from behind.

"Sonia?"

The winds subsided, and I recognised the voice. It was one I hadn't heard in a year. I quickly turned around and was left speechless the second our eyes met. It was my late husband standing before me.

“Glen, is that really you?”

“Yes, but what are you doing here?”

“Am I... Am I dead?”

“Yes, but how did this happen?”

“I don’t remember. The last memory I have is having dinner with the kids.”

“What about after that? Try and remember.”

“I got a call from Joseph; he said there were some discrepancies in the accounts. I went to the office and looked into it; it looked like someone was stealing money.”

“So, what did you do?”

“I spoke to Jessie about it and she said she’d handle the matter. That night, someone broke into the house.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“It was…”

It was slowly coming back to me; I was betrayed by someone whom I considered to be one of my closest friends.

“It was Jessie. She attacked me from behind and said I just couldn’t leave things alone, just like how I ‘stole’ you from her and let you die.”

“What?”

“It seems she never got over our relationship; she also blames me for what happened to you. But that’s not all, Glen; there was another person standing beside her, and it was Travis.”

“Wait, that can’t be true!”

“It is... He always passed subtle hints of his resentment towards me because I got the company after you died.”

“I can’t believe this… We need to teach them both a lesson.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come with me.”

Glen took me out of the cemetery. We flew over the streets and arrived at Jessie’s house. Travis was there as well. They were talking about how stupid I was, and how I got what I deserved. Glen and I were shocked when we heard them planning to adopt our kids and move into our house. We began banging the doors and bashing in the windows.

Jessie and Travis got to their feet. They tried to get out of the house, but we flung furniture their way. They frantically rushed out the front door and got into the car, but we crashed it into their parapet wall. As they crawled out of the vehicle, we rose shattered shards of glass into the air and made them spell ‘Confess’ before volleying them back at the wall, bursting them into fine fragments.

Jessie and Travis wailed as they ran towards the road, but we blocked their way with the car. Glen grabbed Jessie’s phone and dropped it in front of her feet. They called the police over and told them what really happened that night; the two of them were arrested right after.

The kids were handed over to my mother a few days later. Glen and I looked at them one last time before leaving; we were glad that they were finally in good hands.