Under the Cult's Shroud

"Take a seat, Melissa."

I took the leather chair as instructed. The room was small and dark with windowless wooden walls. The only light came from the desk lamp which illuminated Dr. Evans' face. He was in his late fifties and wore thick rimmed glasses. He looked tired, but his smile was pleasant. I had met him for the first time three days ago when I went into labor and had subsequently been seeing him on a daily basis for checkups with my newborn baby girl.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"Fine," I said, "just a little tired." I smiled back at him, but he did not return it. His eyes were serious and he leaned forward placing his hands on the desk in front of me.

"You know why you're here, right?" he asked. I shook my head no, suddenly feeling nervous. "We've been trying to reach your husband, Mark, all day but haven't been able to get in touch with him. He's never missed an appointment before and we need to discuss your future together." His tone was gentle but his eyes were cold and distant as they observed my reaction.

"What do you mean?" I asked, "he's supposed to be here now."

Dr. Evans shifted uncomfortably in his chair and sighed, "Melissa...I think that you should know that your husband has been found dead." My mouth fell open in shock, unable to process the meaning of this statement. "They found him early this morning," he continued calmly; "the police believe that it happened sometime last night." My eyes grew wide as tears welled up in them and began rolling down my cheeks unbidden; the whole situation felt surreal and yet all too real at the same time...

"Are you sure?" I cried out hysterically, "how do you know? Are you sure it was him? You don't understand...he would never do this..." My voice trailed off as I realized how ridiculous my words sounded even to myself; deep down in my heart I knew that this man who had entered my life only two weeks ago could never love me like he did. He had told me stories about how he joined some cult when he was younger and how they had convinced him that eating people would grant immortality - how he had tried many times and finally given up after his mother died from cancer despite it...but still he kept going back to them over the years out of guilt for what she went through during her final days...and then eventually met Melanie - and then somehow ended up marrying me... Suddenly it all made sense - there was no way that Mark would have married me if he didn't have to...it had all been a lie! He probably just wanted an easy meal ticket so he could keep funding his drug habit! My mind flashed back to earlier this afternoon when I had felt so sick that I couldn't stand up straight anymore; I thought it was because of morning sickness (I didn't take any prenatal vitamins or anything) but now I realized that it must have been something else entirely! Mark must have slipped me some kind of drug while offering to hold our daughter so I wouldn't notice! Then after giving birth, he must have slipped me more drugs so that when he left explaining that we'd meet tomorrow I wouldn't suspect anything...and then it clicked! When we first met at the bar we talked about meeting on Friday - today is Tuesday! He didn't want to wait another day...and now looking back on everything carefully it all makes so much sense! The signs were there all along but I ignored them because of how much I loved him...i never wanted to believe that someone could be capable of such evil...but now it's too late!!

Then suddenly Dr. Evans grabbed my arms tightly from across the desk making me jump in surprise - breaking me out of my reverie; pulling himself closer he spoke low into my ear with surprising strength: "Listen closely Melissa," he said sternly, "I don't care what happened between you two personally or where Mark got his drugs from but I will NOT allow someone like him access to our children!" Shocked by his outburst and frightened by what he might do given how near his face was to mine, i nodded weakly in agreement not knowing exactly what he meant by 'our children'. He let go of one hand saying: "Don't worry about your baby girl," gesturing towards the crib in one corner of the room filled with stuffed animals behind us; he continued: "She'll be safe here at least until things settle down." Then abruptly turning away from me to walk over towards the crib; speaking softly under his breath: "Bye bye sweetheart..." Then suddenly reaching into the crib gently picking up the baby wrapped in pink blankets; cradling her against his chest before climbing out through a trap door hidden behind a bookshelf on one side of the room while calling back over his shoulder: "...I'll see you soon." As though nothing unusual had happened at all...