Ours

The keys jingled as they hit the floor. It was hard to spot the keys through the incredible darkness that swallowed his entire front porch. Gabriel, a 33-year-old man, had just relocated to a new residence. It was a small town with a population of fewer than 5,000 residents, with everyone on the street being on friendly terms with each other. Gabriel hasn’t had the chance to speak with his neighbors due to picking up afternoon shifts causing him to leave work at 10 pm. All in a futile attempt to distract himself from the many troubles presented in life.

He crouched down and began to use his hands like an identification cane in hopes of finding his keys. After what he felt like ages, Gabriel finally managed to grab them and open the door. A sense of relief washed over him as he stepped into his home. He hung his coat and beanie onto a coat rack and turned on the light.

When he turned around, an uninvited visitor was sitting on a kitchen dining chair. A woman in her early thirties holding a shotgun pointed directly at Gabriel. She gestured with the barrel of her gun to another dining chair directly in front of her. Gabriel raised his hands slowly and sat down in front of her.

The living room itself was almost vacant, something a person would expect from someone who was never home. The only furnishing present was a lawn chair placed perpendicular to them that faced a small T.V located on the ground.

“What do you want?” asked Gabriel, hands still raised in the air.

“Three years on the run, and you still don’t know what I want,” she replied.

Gabriel bit his lower lip and furrowed his brows at the situation he found himself in. He broke eye contact and nodded, sighing heavily in the process.

“It’s about Jennifer, isn’t it?” Gabriel calmly answered. “Nothing I say woul—”

“Shut the fuck up!” she screamed. She started breathing heavily. She began caressing the trigger guard in case of any sudden movements by Gabriel. “The cops are already on their way, you murderer.”

“Tch.” Gabriel gave her a nasty look.

“Honestly, I’m doing you a favor by calling the police… If I hadn’t known you since we were kids, I’d kill you here and now.”

“Do it.”

“What?”

“I said… do it,” he responded slowly.

She hovered her finger over the trigger and held her breath. Her hands started trembling as Gabriel looked at her with sympathy. After a couple of seconds, she started breathing again and let go of the trigger.

“At least… At least tell me why you did it?” She said sorrowfully.

“I’m sorry,” he replied, looking away from her.

“Why!? It’s been three years! Three years and I still don’t know why you murdered our daughter!”

“It—”

“Do you know how many nights I’ve spent wondering why? We made a promise!”

Gabriel tightened his fist and shut his eyes.

“You fucking monster! You selfish! Piece of—”

“Do you think I wanted to kill our daughter!” he snapped back.

She was taken aback as Gabriel stared at her with tears in his eyes, seeing this reaction caused the woman to start shedding tears as well. She placed the shotgun on her lap and began sobbing into her hands.

“Then why’d you do it?” she cried.

“I…”

She looked up at him with red eyes and trembling hands. A river of tears streamed down her face.

“I- I… did it for you….”

This left the woman even more confused than before.

“What?”

“Did you know about Jennifer’s hobby?” he stated.

“You mean when she would run into the forest and start climbing trees?” she replied. A subtle smile spread across her face as if she seemed to be remembering it as if it was just yesterday.

“No. Not that. I meant the one with the animals.”

“The animals?”

He took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to say next, “She would kill small animals and stake their heads on branches. I saw her one day burying a corpse, and when I dug up the hole later that night…, There were over 20 corpses.”

She started shaking her head in disbelief.

“It was probably just a phase,” she said with her voice trembling. Trying to reassure herself. “That didn’t mean you had to kill her.”

“I didn’t want to scare you, so I sat her down in private. I told her you’d be very upset if you caught her playing with a dead animal. I thought that was going to be the end of it, but she looked me in the eyes and said, “But if mommy never finds out, it’s ok, right?” I don’t know what it was, but shivers ran down my spine, and I just nodded…, hoping that would be the end of that. She stopped killing the animals but….”

“But what?”

He took another deep breath.

“She had written in her diary some plans to kill you one night. She wrote how she was going to grab a knife from the kitchen and stab you when you were sleeping Sunday night. She wanted to bury you with her animals. I didn’t want to believe it, but I waited in the downstairs bathroom, and when I saw her grab the knife, that’s when I jumped on her. There was a struggle, and…, I- I accidentally killed her. In a panic, I grabbed her diary from her room, called the cops, and ran away. I didn’t want you to believe that our little angel was capable of something like that.”

Her cries rang louder throughout the house at the sudden revelation from the person she once called her husband. She dropped her weapon onto the floor and buckled over onto the floor.

The sound of sirens wailing in the distance grew stronger with each passing second.

Gabriel rushed over and held her in his arms as she tearfully grabbed his arm and dug her face into his chest. She clung to him as if her life depended on it.

Eventually, the house’s interior was illuminated with red and blue lights as she remained yelling, sobbing, and apologizing.

Gabriel kissed her head and began cradling her, knowing this would be the last time he felt her warmth.