My wife, Antonia, disappeared on June 9 last year. She was supposed to be at home taking care of the kids while I was at work, but no. She wasn’t home. I took care of the house and the kids without worrying about my job because I was given paid leave due to the sudden disappearance of my wife.

Antonia was loved by everyone in the neighborhood. She opened a cheap daycare center right next to our house, allowing parents who couldn't afford to put their children in a normal nursing home to finally rest easy. She used to also host parties and barbecues in our house and invite everyone in the neighborhood to join in without worrying about any costs. She was so loved that even the mayor of our town showed up to her empty-casket funeral.

I knew Antonia for just over twelve years before she disappeared. We were high school lovers who had everything work out well for them. We argued every once in a while, but what couple doesn’t? I asked her to marry me four years ago. We had two kids together, a boy and a girl. The oldest, Jeremy, is seven years old, while his sister is four years old.

A lot of people seemed to be sadder than I was that she was gone. I was adjusting well to her being gone. Yet, today when she walked into our front yard and stood in front of our front door while hiding her hands behind her back. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was seeing a ghost. She was still wearing the same clothes she was wearing the last time anyone saw her alive, and she seemed... normal? There was no blood, no cuts, no anything. Her limbs were all attached and she seemed human. I knew this couldn’t be real. I remember vividly that I cut her limbs off while she was screaming and begging for mercy. I remember putting what remained of her into a bag of rocks and dumping it into the ocean. I made sure nobody saw me and I made sure to tell nobody.

Yet there she was, standing on our front porch. Looking straight into the doorbell camera and smiling. I have to admit that I was scared. Not for the kids, not for myself, but by what this thing was. I got even more scared when my son saw his mother through the window and opened the door for her. I locked and barricaded my office door before I got my gun from the safe in my desks’ drawer. Forget about the kids I thought to myself, I never really loved them anyway.

I looked at the monitor that displayed my doorbell camera feed. She was no longer there. I heard the kids talking with her downstairs, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Not like it mattered, because then I heard screaming. I felt my entire body vibrate. My ears were blasted with shrieks of terror and pain that I never wanna hear again.

A second later and there was no noise in the house. Not even the air conditioning unit or the creaking floorboard of this old house made a noise. Nothing apart from my heart punching through my stomach and a thud that repeated every other second. I knew that sound. It was the sound of something slowly walking up the staircase. That thing wasn’t my wife, I never had a true wife. I never had kids.

All of the evidence lined up. Antonia was cheating on me with my best friend. I was sterile. I couldn’t have kids. She hired two people to take care of the daycare while her and Mathew were playing together while I was out at work. That’s why I saw his car on my driveway one day. That’s why I called her asking what she was doing that same day and she sounded exhausted.

I never called her out for it. I just poisoned her drink one night while the kids were sleeping. I took her into an abandoned cabin on the outskirts of the small town we lived in and did my deed there. Once I was done I took all the evidence to a lake and dumped it into the ocean, making sure that it sunk in.

Some people suspected I did it. I was the cause of her disappearance, but there was no evidence of any wrong-doings on my part. They had nothing that could pin-point it on me, not even her parents suspected a thing. They told me told they were sorry for my loss at her empty casket funeral. I kept in touch with them for a while before they both died in their sleep within a week of each other. They were good people, the only good involved in this story.

I relived all of our memories together in my head. Our first date, our first kiss, our wedding. Everything was going well, we didn’t even want kids. I don’t know why she did it. Why did she betray me in such a way, especially with my best friend?

I heard slamming on the door and felt the entire house shaking. I knew I didn’t have time and had to act fast, but what could I do? I thought of calling the cops, but would they believe me if I tell them that my wife is back from the dead and trying to kill me?

I could try and shoot it once it makes it past the doorway, but if cutting her into several pieces and dumping her into the ocean was not enough to kill her, several bullets will defiantly be of no help.

I could fight it and try to knock it out and run out the door, but the entire house shakes every time it slams on the door. Even I couldn’t do that with all of my strength. And even If I am successful, wouldn’t it just find me again?

I could jump through the window of my small office and make a run to my car, but wouldn’t it be suspicious if I was in my pajamas driving out of state while my house had two dead kids in it?

I thought of my last option, I had no chance of escaping without ruining my entire reputation or getting killed. At some point, the truth will come out. People will find out what really happened to Antonia. So why not finish the job myself. By the time you are reading this, I would have hopefully put a bullet in my brain.