Deadly Dreamer - Book One ✔️

Chapter 18

Arriving home, I find that I've still beaten Alex back. Which is very good news for me. It's 12.57 and the house is dead quiet, maybe dead is the wrong word.

Walking through the entryway and flicking on the light in the lounge room, Ditz instantly starts to yap from the patio, begging to be let inside. I put down my bag and let her in, picking her up for a quick cuddle, glad to be home at last.

I grab my phone to see whether I've had any messages from Alex while I've been out and find that he still hasn't sent anything, which is more than fine by me. If he had, I would have taken a long while in responding and that would concern him. He would then have returned home sooner and found that I wasn't home and then all hell would have broken loose. I've gotten a lucky break with this situation. I can't imagine too many more of these lucky breaks will happen in the near future.

Glancing at the floor where my bag is still sitting, I realise that I need to find a hiding place for it. I can't just sit it anywhere, Alex could be home any minute now and he would become suspicious if my duffle bag was lying around. I had discovered tonight that I had used it before, for the same reasons. It was already lined with plastic to keep it from leaking any blood and staining the material. It also had my outfit prepared and ready to go. My collection of knives were all neatly placed inside the inner side pockets and I had a shiny, silver pistol jammed in beside them, for back up I assume. There is also a bottle of bleach for emergencies and a packet of matches.
I've come to find that the other side of my identity is certainly a well prepared woman, just as my semi normal side is and I was kind of proud to discover that.

Returning to the task at hand, I decide that my best option is to hide it beneath my old shoes in my shoe box. It's a big old, clunky thing and I don't go in there very often. It used to be my mothers, it's one of the few belongings I have left from her and I cannot bear to give it up. Alex never touches it. There are way too many shoes in there for his liking, he thinks I have a problem. But I have a thing for shoes, what more can I say.

After pulling all of my shoes out and squishing the bag into the base of the box, I drop all my shoes back into the box and force the lid down. I'm not sure where I'd hidden it before tonight but I'm certain that it's safe where it is.

Now that I'm at ease with my hiding place, I can relax and get more comfortable. I shimmy out of my cut offs and shirt then hop into a steaming, hot shower to rinse off any remaining blood. Rolling my neck around gently under the spray of hot water, I slowly release the tension that's developed in my neck throughout the night. After drying my body thoroughly, I throw on my navy blue sweat pants and a white singlet. Loping into our bedroom, I pull back the covers on our bed and hop in. Picking up my book from the bedside table, I continue on from where I'd read last as if my night wasn't filled with gore and violence.

A half hour later and I hear Alex arrive home. The front door is flung open and it hits the doorstop with a solid thud. I hear him faintly swear, then push the door closed as quietly as I assume he can manage - which is not quiet at all.

Ditz stirs from beside me and then hops up in haste and bolts to the front door yapping away.

"Helllooooo!" He calls out through the house. Kicking off his shoes at the door and making a lot more noise than usual.

"Heyyy Ditzy..."

I can tell he's had a fair few drinks, I chuckle to myself.

"Babe....helloooo......where are you??" He calls through the house, then stumbles into the bedroom and grabs at the door frame with both hands to steady himself.

Ditz is jumping around at his feet but he now seems unaware of her presence.
"Ahh, there you are! Hey!" He says then plonks down beside me on the bed.