I heard the dog whine. I could see his shadow pacing back and forth through the crack under the door. I chuckled to myself. If only he had thumbs he could open the door and save my life. But he didn’t have thumbs. He was a dog. I felt a puddle of wetness spreading out all around me. The viscous liquid was hot and sticky. Somewhere in my mind, I knew what it was, but I couldn’t recall the word. I tried desperately to remember how I ended up on the floor here, in this room, my clothes soaked. I didn’t feel any pain apart from a profound frustration that I knew it was beyond my power to leave this place. I resented the dog for having the power to move freely. I tried to shout to the dog, but all that came out was a hoarse croak. 

Suddenly there was a commotion all around me. The dog quickly skittered away from the other side of the door. The world flooded with a bright, white light, and then my mind struggled to comprehend what I saw. The doorway opened and I tried to figure out who the culprit was. Unfortunately my vision was taken over by the artificial light, I had been trapped in the dark for days. I blinked and blinked in order to adjust my eyes to the light, and finally I saw a woman I was certain I’d never see again.

“Linda?” I barely managed to let out the name. Linda and I were high school sweethearts. We met my junior year and we were certain we were meant to be. The two of us were together for eight years, even got married and had a beautiful daughter. The shocker was that Linda died. She passed away in a car crash three years ago. Yet she was here, right before my eyes. How was she here?
“You, You” I was stammering, it was hard to talk straight while speaking to my deceased wife. “You died. I saw your body, you were gone with no chance of saving.” I felt my eyes well up with tears as the situation I was in slipped my mind. I no longer cared that I was being held captive. I was with Linda, she was right here in front of me. My beautiful lost wife. 

“Are you sober, Andrew?” The blonde replied emotionlessly, taking steps around me. I was still laid on the floor like an animal, but she was perfectly fine. She had no scratches on her and she was the goddess I remembered her as. “I never died? I’m right here.”
Her words dropped my jaw. This had to be some sort of prank, Linda was dead. I saw her die. She was not breathing when I got to the scene. “This has to be a joke. You were gone, Linda. You were practically drained of all your blood. You were pale and lifeless when I got there!”

Linda bent down next to me, her hand came in contact with mine. I spent a moment to look at my hand and notice the red staining, blood. I was in a pool of blood, it circled around me. My clothes were stained crimson and I looked like I should be dead. “You must have been seeing things, because I am right here.”

I finally allowed tears to fall from my eyes as I used the little strength I had to pull her into a hug, sobbing. “My love, my love. Oh how I have missed you my love.” My weeps were of desperation. I had been desperate to be with her, she was taken away from me too soon. Life without her was dull, yet she was right here.

I winced as I felt a sudden pain in my neck, a needle. My eyes rolled back as I slowly felt myself lose consciousness. I was drugged. Why would my lover drug me? “Linda, Linda please-” I barely managed to whisper out as I blacked out, becoming a slave to the substance. 

The substance had knocked me out for a few days, and by the time I woke up, I was utterly weak. I had not eaten or drank, and the pool of blood around me seemed to have expanded within the time I was unconscious, but how? My beautiful Linda would never do this to me. 

Adjusting my vision was hard as the door cracked open once again, my eyes lit up full of anticipation to see Linda again. Though this time, the woman was not the beautiful model-like blonde I yearned for. It was my current girlfriend, Alice.
“I knew it.” The woman snickered in a loathing tone, she was awfully angry. Alice had quite severe anger issues and normally I tried to calm her down, though I always failed. Alice was special and I cared for her, though she was not my Linda. I could never love her the way I love Linda.

“I knew it.” She repeated, walking towards me with loud, daunting steps. “You don’t love me. You love Linda. She died three years ago, yet she means more to you than I do. You would go back to her in a heartbeat. I’m the second choice, aren’t I Andrew?”

My throat was dry as I attempted to swallow, “No, no my darling Alice. You are the one I want. The only one.” I was lying through my teeth, the girl would go crazy if she knew how much I still wanted Linda. I didn’t want to think about what she’d do to me if she found out.

“You’re lying!” She shouted, using her heeled boot to step on my hand. I screamed in agony, I could have sworn I heard the bones crack. “I gave you a hallucinogen, Andrew! When I walked in the room, the drug caused you to see Linda! You were so excited and happy to be with Linda! It wasn’t Linda though, it was me! She’s still dead Andrew! Yet all you want is her. I’m your girlfriend, yet you want her.” She looked hurt, which hurt me. I care for her, of course I do. I wouldn’t date someone I don’t care about. I hated hurting her like this, she shouldn’t be a victim to my pain.

“I’m sorry, Alice.” I croaked out, tears falling down my cheek. “Her and I just went through so much together, and I miss her everyday. You can’t expect me to no longer think of her. She was my everything, the mother of my daughter. I like you Alice, but I will forever love Linda.” 

My pleas meant nothing to her as she kicked me in the stomach. The force was strong, causing me to throw up what was in my stomach. There was no food, only blood. The red liquid flowed from my mouth as she repeatedly kicked me, causing me to groan and gag from the blood trapped in my throat. 

“I loved you, Andrew. I showed you all the love a man could want and you still chose her? She’s dead, and you chose her. I was always suspicious of you, yet I trusted you. What a fool I was. I should have known, I will never be as good as Linda.” She spoke out, observing the wounds on my body.

“Stabbing you was satisfying, and so was watching my new dog maul you the second I found out the truth. You deserve what your wife got. How dare you use me and my feelings to get over her. You stupid man.” Her monologue kept going as if she was some villain in a movie. It was almost comical to me, I knew she had issues controlling her anger though I never viewed her as the psycho type. She would never kill me, especially over this. 

“You should be thanking me, actually. You will now be able to unite with your beautiful Linda.” She mocked, “My love, my love.” She continued to mock me. Why was she doing this? 

I did not want to die, it was not my time. “Alice, please. I don’t want to die. I will leave and never talk to you again. Just let me go, please.” I begged out, interlocking my blood-stained fingers as I looked up at the woman.

“There is no letting you go, Andrew. You should have thought before getting with a new woman. You will pay the price. Goodbye.” She spoke, bending down to press her cold lips to my forehead. Alice picked up a blood-stained knife on the floor, wedging it into my stomach as she twisted it around. I cried out for help as the pain consumed me. Her stabbing then moved to my legs as I felt blood leave my body. This was it. 

She then left my bleeding body, walking towards the door to open it. “Finish the job, Max!” she yelled out to the dog, commanding it to attack me. She laughed demonically as her dog bit me over and over, gnawing on my flesh as I bled out. My vision went blurry, but all I focused on in my final moments was how grand my union with Linda was going to be.