'tis the season to be killing by NirupamDhakal

She slowly opened her eyes. The alcohol of last night was wearing off, and she had a mild headache. She could see the empty bedside. Maybe he's awake. He must be in the kitchen making breakfast. She smiled at this thought. Her husband was the best. He loved her. He cherished her. He cared for her.

It was Halloween today; she looked at her signal-less phone. They were staying at his cabin. The last two nights had been magical. They drank a lot and made love a lot. But today was different. They had called some friends for a Halloween party. There was a lot of work to be done. She had to check the dress that was parcelled to her the day before. She also had to make some party snacks. But she wasn't stressed because she knew that he would help her. He always helped her.

She lazily climbed down the stairs. The sound of birds chirping echoed the wooden walls of the cabin. She could smell the fresh air. A cabin in the middle of woods was a surefire way to get rid of the city for a few days. She walked to the TV room, but there was no one there. The kitchen and the bathroom were at the other side, connected. One had to enter the kitchen first to go to the bathroom which was really weird.

She walked to the kitchen. "Hon.." her voice echoed around. "You there?" The kitchen was empty. She looked at the kitchen counter. It was empty. She looked around; her husband was nowhere to be seen. She moved towards the counter. She wanted a glass of water. But she stopped because something red caught her eye. Some kind of red liquid.

She moved towards it. And there he was. Lying down in a pool of blood. An axe stuck in his chest. Tears rolled down her eyes as she moved forward. Is he dead? No. No, it can't be. He can't be dead. She knelt down and touched his cheeks. It was cold. Who did this? She tried to pull out the axe and then she immediately let go when it didn't come out.

She ran towards the living room and picked up the receiver of the landline. She dialled the number nine when she realized that her hands were covered in blood. She dropped the receiver. She looked at her dress, and it had some blood on it. His blood. Why did I have to touch him? Now I have his blood on me. The police will think I did it.

She ran to the bathroom and washed off the blood from her hands. She needed some air. He . . .  he is dead. My loving husband of seventeen years is dead. It was hard to wrap her head around this. She didn't want to believe this.

She sat behind the kitchen counter. She needed some air. She needed to think. She had to call the police, didn't she? This can't be happening. She pinched herself. It was real. It was absolutely real.

A soft groan startled her. What is it?! She stood up. She looked around the room. There was no one there. "Relax, it's just me." It was a familiar voice, but she didn't realize whose it was. She turned around. And she saw herself. In the same bloody nightgown.

"Who are you?!" she asked. She was confused. Am I fucking dreaming?

"Don't be scared. I'm here to help you." the other her said. "I'm you."

You aren't real. No no." She was panicking.

"Of course I am not real. I'm you. I'm your imagination." The other her said.

"What? Why would I imagine you?"

"Because you need help. You need someone to talk to. You need to think what to do with his body."

"What should I do?"

"Bury him. Strip him down. Bury him. And burn his clothes."

"What? No.. I can't-do that."

"Of course you can."

"No. I won't do it. I won't. Don't talk to me."

The other her started laughing. She looked at her. She was getting angry. "Why are you laughing?!"

"Oh. I just remembered something."

"What?!"

"If anyone sees you. Well, us. Then they will think you're crazy. You're talking to yourself."

With this thought, she started laughing too. She was crazy. She was thinking about burying her husband. She was talking to herself. The laughing stopped abruptly and the other her said, "Do you remember the time he took you to the beach?"

"Yes. We did it at the beach." She smiled. She remembered how passionate he was. She remembered how much he loved her.

Ting Tong. The doorbell echoed all over the cabin. "Who is it?!" She said.

"The plumber was coming today. Oh, or could it be one of the guests?!"

"What should I do?!"

"Kill them, of course. You have no other choice. They'll think you did it. You touched the bloody axe. His blood is literally on you."

She sighed a deep breath and walked to the door. She saw the chain lock on the door. She opened the door only a crack. A man was standing at the other side.

"What?" She asked. Her voice sounded cold.

"Uh, ma'am I am the handyman. Sir called me to look at the leaky faucet." He said.

She nodded. She closed the door. She looked beside her. The other her was standing at the other side of the room. "Kill him." She said. "He'll know something is wrong when he sees blood on your clothes."

She opened the door. The man smiled as he entered the room. He looked at her. He looked at her bloody nightgown. "Everything okay, ma'am?"

"Yes. I was making fake blood. For Halloween. And I spilt it." She said smiling.

"Where's sir?" The man asked.

"He's..um..outside..running some errands." She said.

"But his car's outside." The man, who seemed to be in his late twenties said.

"He ran. I told you. He was 'running' some errands." She looked at the far end of the room. The other her was smiling.

"What are you looking at, ma'am?"

"Nothing." She smiled. "You need to go."

"Why?"

"Um.. my husband fixed the faucet." She lied.

"Really?" The man said. "Ok then. But can I have a glass of water?"

"Sure." She said and walked to the kitchen. Her husband was still lying on the floor. She took out a glass and poured some water in it. And as she was leaving the kitchen, she slowly grabbed a knife. She walked outside. The man was sitting on the sofa. She gave him the glass of water.

"So you're having a party?" He asked.

"Yes. Yes." She answered him. She slowly walked to the window behind him. She pulled the curtains shut.

"I love Halloween parties." He said.

"Yeah. They are fun." She said and stood behind him. She held his head with one hand.

"What are you doing, ma'am?" He started to say but before he could say anything else. She slid the knife around his neck. He gasped. Blood spewed out of his throat, and he fell down. She looked at him dying. A surge of panic struck her.

"Now you have to bury two bodies." The other her said. She was standing behind her now.

She nodded and then moved to the kitchen. Now she needed to pull his body to the backyard.

"First dig a hole, stupid." The other her told her. She nodded and walked to the backyard. Well, it wasn't technically a backyard. It was the woods. Big thick woods. She walked to the storage room and brought out a shovel and started digging through the cold hard ground.

After some time, she had dug a big enough hole for him. She walked inside. His body was still there.

"He was a good husband." The other her said. She nodded. "He was."

She took his leg and pulled him. He was heavy. She slowly dragged him outside. By the time she reached the backyard, she was covered in sweat. She knelt beside him and took out the axe from his chest. She kept the axe beside her. She started unbuttoning his shirt. Suddenly, his hand grabbed her, and he started laughing hysterically.

She stood up and grabbed the axe. She raised it at him. He slowly got up. "Gotcha." He said.

"What?! You're dead." She said, gasping for air.

"It was a prank. I had been practising for a while for this, and it was worth it."

"No no. You're dead. You had an axe inside you." she said, gasping for air. She was scared.

"No no no. It was a prank. It was a joke, and when you started talking to yourself, I kept on going. You were talking about stripping me naked. So, yeah. I couldn't help myself."

"No. No. You're dead. And I killed the handyman because you were dead."

"You did what?!" He was shocked. "It's ok, honey. We'll figure it out."

"No. You're dead. You're a ghost. You wanna kill me. No no." She started blabbering. She was sweating. He slowly moved towards her, trying to take away the axe from her but before he could take it away, she raised it and stabbed it in his chest. He fell down.

"You're a ghost. You're dead. You cannot kill me now." She said and hacked him again. This time on his head.

***