The Cheater - A Tale of Harris Burdick

The Cheater

The tall man had been planning the outcome of this visit for a month now. He had all the items in place for the murder to occur smoothly. He rocked back and forth in his handmade rocking chair, wondering where his cheating wife was. Abigail had been going on two-week "business" trips for six months now, but there is no real reason for a bakery owner to leave her business in the hands of a teenage assistant as often as she does for her "business" trips. He had already dug a hole in the wall of the basement and installed a tiny door to block out the smell that will eventually come from the body. There was a large, new rug, bought just for this occasion, laying in the entryway of the house. One of his ice skates was placed on the floor beside the door after the blade had been sharpened the day before.

He sat for what felt like an hour until he jumped up when he saw the headlights of a car pull into the driveway. He calmly walked to the door, picked up the shoe that was attached to the conveniently sharp blade, held the object behind his back, and waited till the car door slammed shut to open the door. The door opened to his beautiful wife, who he had loved for so long before he found out she was cheating on him.

"Hello, my darling angel! I have constantly missed you from the moment you left. I need a hug and kiss."

Abigail walked up the porch steps with a bag and coat in hand.

She put on an obviously fake smile as she came through the doorway, "I missed you too, Drake. I'm so tired, you have no idea. I feel as if I could sleep for five days."

Abigail placed her coat on the rack next to the door and dropped her bag onto the table by the wall. She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, exposing her torso to the man. He took this moment as his chance. Drake wrapped one arm around her back, and the other arm quickly slid the shoe in between the couple. The blade was against her stomach as his hand moved up her back to her neck, forcing her to look him in the eyes. He stared into her dark eyes, not seeing the love that used to be there, only confusion. He slowly slid the blade against her skin as her eyes become large with fear and tears of pain.

Once he had cut the entirety of her frontal stomach, she leaned into his body for stability, but he stepped to the side, allowing her body to land onto the fuzzy rug. She cried in pain as Drake acted quickly, wrapping the woman up in the blue rug that now has spots of purple, and tying two strings around the rug to restrict any possible movement. He picked up the woman onto his shoulder, and he carried her into the basement. He couldn't turn on the lights with his hands full, so he was guided down the stairs by the bright moonlight shining in from one tiny window. He placed her down onto the floor next to the old rug that is leaning up against the wall. He turned the tiny knob of the door, pulled it open, aligned her body with the hole in the wall, and pushed the rug into the hole. The body fit perfectly; he had done a great job estimating the right measurements. He shut the tiny door, enclosing the injured women. He walked back up the stairs to retrieve the bloody ice skate. He went to the kitchen, stuck the blade under the facet, turned the hot water on, and wiped the blade down with a yellow dish sponge. Drake then washes the sponge as best as possible so that there will be no traces of blood if the police investigate. He even goes as far as throwing the sponge away.

A few days go by as the man takes his time to clean out his ex-wife's things. He collects all of her useless shoes and purses into a large cardboard box that he is going to drop off at the Goodwill downtown. He's in her closet taking the items of clothing off of the coat hangers when he hears a constant lite banging noise. He searches through the whole first floor and does not find anything making the sound. As the sound continues, the only place left to look is the basement, maybe an animal broke through the window and cannot get back out. He opens the door slowly, flips the lightswitch, and glances around the room, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

Drake was about to switch the light off when he heard a noise come from the general area of the tiny door. He looked toward the door and noticed it vibrating as if it were being hit.

"What on Earth?" he yelled.

After he spoke those words, his heart was pounding because he was sure he just saw the doorknob start to turn. Suddenly, the door creaked open and a bloody hand appeared on the stone ground. A few seconds later, the head of Abigail could be seen as she looked up at her husband with cold, dead eyes.

"Oh my God! She's come back to kill me!" Drake yelled as he ran out of the room.

The screams of Drake were heard throughout the neighborhood that night as he ran out of the house and into the street, where he was then hit by a truck going fifty miles per hour in a forty-speed zone.

THE END