Chapter 1
I woke up with a start, faintly hearing slight noises coming from the living room.
It sounded like someone moaning and panting.
In the pitch darkness, I couldn’t help but feel a chill run down my spine. Instinctively, I reached out to nudge my wife beside me.
“Honey, I think there’s someone outside…”
I pushed her a few times, but she didn’t respond, seemingly fast asleep.
She must have been exhausted from the day, I thought.
In the end, I decided not to wake her. I slowly got up, grabbing a vase from the nightstand for self-defense.
Could it be a burglar?
I tiptoed out of the bedroom, the living room pitch black. After some hesitation, I mustered up the courage to feel my way to the kitchen and grab a knife.
Feeling slightly braver, I made my way to the light switch by the door and turned on all the lights.
The living room suddenly lit up. I looked around but found nothing out of place. I checked the other bedrooms too, but there were no signs of intrusion. Even our valuables were untouched.
I stood in the living room, bewildered. Had I imagined it all?
The next morning, I woke up and went to the living room to find my wife already sitting at the dining table, a radiant smile on her face as she looked at me.
“Good morning, honey! Come have breakfast!”
My wife, Lily, was tall and curvaceous, with looks that could easily be described as stunning. We had a whirlwind romance, getting married after knowing each other for just a month.
Despite the rushed nature of our marriage, our relationship had always been good. She stood by me as I went from having nothing to becoming the CEO of my own company.
I became the envy of all the men in our social circle.
After my business took off, she quit her job to become a full-time housewife.
The only regret was that after six years of marriage, we still didn’t have a child to show for our love.
We initially thought there might be some health issues, but medical check-ups showed we were both perfectly healthy. Perhaps it just wasn’t the right time yet.
I sat down after washing up and took a bite of the warm sandwich.
Remembering last night’s incident, I couldn’t help but ask her about it.
Lily rolled her eyes and said impatiently, “Honey, were you dreaming?”
I wanted to say more, but she had already gotten up, telling me, “Alright, you need to get to the office. Hurry up and eat! I’m going back for a nap. For some reason, I’ve been feeling really sleepy lately.”
Lily stretched and walked past me towards the bedroom. I don’t know if it was my imagination, but I thought I caught a faint strange odor coming from her.
Without thinking too much about it, I quickly finished my breakfast and headed to the office.
The next night, I don’t know how long I had been asleep when I was once again startled awake.
The panting sounds outside were even louder this time.
I got up to check, but again found nothing missing.
My scalp tingled with fear. Could it be not a burglar, but a ghost in our house?
I’m an atheist, but at that moment, the only explanation I could think of, besides a haunting, was beyond me.
However, for the next two weeks, everything seemed to return to normal. The eerie sounds never resurfaced.
I thought the matter had come to an end, but little did I know it was just the beginning.
One night, I had a vivid dream. In it, Lily and I were passionately intimate. But just as things were getting intense, I suddenly woke up.
The lingering desire from the dream left my entire body feeling like it was on fire.
I couldn’t help but snuggle closer to Lily’s body, softly calling out to her.
“Honey, are you asleep?”
Just like before, I called out to her many times, but she didn’t respond. It felt like lying next to a corpse.