My wife and I met in high school, it was love at first sight and ten years later, we were still there, as head over heels over each others as when we were teenagers. She was perfect, life was perfect.

However, as the years went by, a routine started etching itself over us, a routine that I desperately tried to overcome by having phases, each one different from the other. They always ended up making her laugh though and wonder what will the next one be. Last month for example, I decided to go vegan, I lasted two weeks until she found me eating a pepperoni pizza (with extra pepperoni), and this week, after watching a lot of videos about it, I had on my mind to use only natural stuff in my daily life.

To reach my new goal, I bought a new boar bristles hair brush, a new coal tooth brush, a new perfume (a musk) and everything that went with it. However for the first time, I decided not tell her about my new resolution. Indeed, I wanted her to tell me by herself that I looked healthier, that my teeth were whiter, my breath smelled nicer and my hair was softer.

I hid everything on the unused cupboard in our bathroom, and for the trick to actually work, I put false blond hair strands on my brush (you can buy it quite easily at the store now), and wet my unused old toothbrush everyday.

Everything went alright for a few days, then I started to realize some strange things about my wife. She was not as beautiful as usual, her face looking pale and wrinkled, I thought maybe she was tired, so I started doing more chores around the house to help her. I noticed that her steps were heavier, sounding like she was not walking but dragging her feet on the floor, which was not like her usual fairy like walk I always found cute about her.

Then last night happened.

Usually I could sleep through anything, a war could have happened under our bedroom window that I would have not heard it, I never had any problem with it considering the fact that my wife had the lightest sleep ever and could wake me up if anything happened (it never did).

That night however I was awakened by whispers, heavy whispers, she was muttering incomprehensible things by my side, things I did not understand, and that scared me. I looked at the clock, it indicated 3:30 am, since getting married I had never woken at that time. Maybe she was a sleep talker, I thought, something I could have skipped noticing since I was such a heavy sleeper.

I turned my head to look at her and I stopped, nearly peeing myself on the stop.

She was standing on the floor on her side of the bed, her back to me. Her head was bald, not shaved, but bald like she never had hair on the first place, she was shorter, her back crooked, her long fingers dancing around covered in a red substance as she kept chanting her words over and over again.

And then she stopped.

Slowly, for what seemed like hours, her head turned, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, up until her head was facing me but her body wasn’t. I was petrified and she looked perplexed. Her mouth opened, I could not recognize her voice, it sounded like three people were speaking from her at the same time.

“Go back to sleep.”

I did as she said, going back into my previous position. I had no other solution, no other idea, so I acted, even adding in a fake snoring sound as drops of pee wet the bed and my back burst out in full sweat, feeling her eyes on me. A few seconds later, she started chanting again, I however could not relaxe one bit. I watched the clock tick until 4:10, where she stopped her ritual and went back to sleep.

This morning, I acted like everything was alright, the same way I did every morning, kissed her, told her I loved her. She smiled and giggled, I noticed her mouth was devoid of teeth.

Later that day, I watched hiding behind the door she left ajar, as she went into our bathroom, grabbed my hair brush and frowned. I watched as she grabbed some fake hair I left on it, and dropped it straight into her mouth. I watched as her frowning deepened.

My knees buckled when she glanced towards the door, her eyes catching mine. She walked to me, smiling, her face crooked, her eyes bloodshot, naturally I started walking backward. She quickly grabbed my arm, planting her nails on it until drawing blood.

« What are you? »

She was full on giggling now, « You had to escape the spell before our wedding anniversary »

I tried running away, however I could not move anymore, my whole body feeling fixated on the floor, I watched as she put her mouth on my arms, sucking the blood out of it, feeling disgusted by the sensation of her wet teeth less mouth on it.

« Don’t worry darling, everything will be back to usual soon »

She grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked it, the pain making me yelp. Having everything she needed, she just went back into the bathroom closing the door this time.

I decided to run away, I just bolted towards the door the fastest I could, hearing noise behind me I looked back. I shouldn’t have. She was there, running after me on all fours, her body bent backwards, nearly folded in two, her smiling head appearing between her legs. Grabbing the door handle I tried opening it, but it would not budge, under the pressure I started crying, until snot ran down my face.

« Stop being ridiculous honey. » she laughed.

Dinner came, we’re currently both sitting at the table, pretending I’m working on a last minute project, I am writing to you, I cannot escape this house, I tried everything from breaking the windows to crawling into vents, nothing worked. Smiling at me from across the table, she’s urging me to drink more wine.

She’s starting to look beautiful again.