Tendrils… in my hair, across my face. I brushed them away. My fingers… why are they so black and shriveled? Something with tiny legs danced across my scalp. I struggled to stand. My legs were numb, I barely felt them. Something wasn’t right. 

Crickets chirped and bullfrogs bellowed in the night. Where am I? I don’t remember. I stumbled up the riverbank, clawing my way through thick mud. The skin from my palms hung loosely like deli meat. I’m not sure why but I wasn’t concerned. 

I looked down at the river, the black water flowed serenely as it reflected light from the moon. I turned to face an empty field. I didn’t know this place… Mark? Yes, Mark. I had to find him. He would know what to do. 

I didn’t understand why, but I knew exactly in which direction to go. Like an internal compass leading the way. I shambled forward as quickly as I could, following the invisible path that would lead me home. 

It was near sunrise when I approached our house. I’d made it. I had to find Mark. I twisted the knob of the front door and swung it wide. I stumbled inside, my feet leaving grime on the tile. It’s okay, I would clean it later. 

I made my way down the hallway to our bedroom. He lay splayed on the bed, nude and with a woman curled up beside him. I was confused… “Mmmmmaa.” Was all I could muster. I flipped on the light switch. 

They stirred, slowly at first, but once they saw me, they were screaming. The blonde woman, she withdrew to the corner, clutching her breast sobbing and yelling for Mark. My Mark… 

He had bolted to the other side of the room, clutching his hunting rifle. 

“Mmmmarr…” 

BOOM! A deafening ringing filled the room. 

“You should be dead!” He screamed. I looked down at the fresh bullet hole in my abdomen. Funny… it didn’t hurt at all. 

“You should be dead!” He bellowed, scrambling desperately to slide another round in the bolt action rifle. 

Suddenly the fog lifted in my mind and I remembered everything. His hands around my throat… the cold rush of river water. Anger… I felt anger. A white-hot rage consumed me. I leapt at him and pushed my hands through his chest, he squealed and pleaded as I slowly broke through his ribcage. I wrapped my cold, dead fingers around his still beating heart and pulled it from his body. I sunk my teeth into it and found that it was quite good. And that I needed more… 

I stepped away from his lifeless corpse and made my way over to the blonde. She never stopped weeping and crying out for Mark as I feasted. I savored every mouthful of flesh, every bite of bone.

Life may have given me love, but death had given me so much more.