It was making sense. It was all coming together. The security man's words…
"He's waiting for you already and has booked a hotel room, here's the card he asked me to give to you. I don't know why you're back here for the other one but have it."
The security guard at his workplace knew her husband was cheating on her and since it was dark out, he didn't know who he gave the card to. Apparently there were two cards, and her sister had already come to pick up the first one.
Her own sister. Her own husband.
She drove violently until she got home, and it was surprising that she barely escaped getting into multiple accidents.
Immediately she arrived, she picked up a knife, ran herself a bath and entered the bathtub, where she began to cut herself in hidden places, to feel better. It was her coping mechanism, one she vowed to stop.
Her dark past. As she panicked, watching her blood flow out of her alongside her tears, she began to remember everything right from the start. Before her parents solidified whatever was left of their marriage, her father used to beat up her mother a lot.
She still remembered everything and was especially traumatized because in times like that, her own cheating sister would hide her away and try to placate her when she cried because of it. They were best of friends, so imagine the shock on her face when she saw her very own sister, writhing in pleasure under her husband.
Going on a violent spree, she began to cut herself even more until she stopped, watching the lather become red and dying in pain.
She would never ever forgive them. It was the reason she avoided men and the very one she accepted, chose to play her like that. She would never let it go. She was still wearing her lingerie, so she tore it out of her body and tossed the remnants aside as she stared down at her naked bruised self.
When she was satisfied, she came out of the bathtub and was about to open the drain to let the water flow when her husband ran in.
"Ayra, wait. It's not what you think. Listen to me, it's not…"and then he looked at her and paused.
"What happened? Are you self harming again?"
His voice. If she hadn't known him better now, she would have fallen for him all over again, and the thought of it made her gnash her teeth in anger.
"Why do you care? What are you doing here? Get out! Get out!" She screamed.
He looked messed up and thoroughly fucked that it angered her even more. She wanted to hurt him, but she couldn't. She could only cry.
He hurt her the most in life. Not even her father, or sister, because she let him in and told him everything.
He knew her through and through, yet he still cheated.
Her sister walked in as well, and Ayra looked up at her. She looked good, as if she didn't have the most breathtaking sex in her entire life. Alex was pretty good.
She scrutinized Ayra and laughed, and before Ayra could react to her, she rushed at her and slapped her, then pushed her down to fall on the floor.
Alex wanted to help her out, but her sister stopped her.
"If you step in and help that little bitch, it's over between us." Her sister thundered, eyes blazing as if they could shoot daggers.
Expecting Alex to come to her rescue, she waited but he never did. Instead, he stepped back and proceeded to hide behind her sister who had nothing but hatred from nowhere in her eyes. Ayra couldn't understand it.
Her eyes widened in shock upon watching their interactions. They had something going on, and it was much deeper than she had expected. Standing up and trying to leave the bathroom, her sister pushed her back down.
"You conniving little witch. You must think you're better than everyone. After everything I did for you, you can't even let me have one little husband? Who cares if you caught us? It's best, at least now you know your lovely husband is cheating. Isn't that right, Alex?"
She asked, cackling like a maniac and Ayra thought it was rhetorical until her sister turned back to face Alex angrily. She smiled like a witch when he agreed that he was in fact cheating.
"See? And now you want to leave? Not possible. You'll only leave if you promise that you would not say a word about it. Look at the disgusting marks all over you, and you expect him to stay with you, you unstable wench?"
Words got stuck in Ayra's throat as she could barely recover from the shock of hearing those words from her sister's mouth. How could she?
"How could you do this to me, Nina? How could you? How could you cheat on me with my own husband, and for how long?" Ayra cried out, looking nothing but pitiful in her naked state.
"Shut your trap. You won't tell anyone about it, don't play with me." her sister snickered, looking at her with contempt and anger. It looked as if she held a grudge, one she had failed to show up until that moment.
"You have no right to dictate what I'll say with my mouth, get out of my way."
Ayra got courage to reply and tried to leave but Nina grabbed her and pushed her down in anger, this time Ayra's head hit the tub and blood began to flow down.
Ayra saw stars and began to feel her body weaken. She was about to lose consciousness and all she could see were dizzy lines, blurred rays and fragments, but her hearing was still intact.
Alex came back to his senses from wherever Nina had kept it, and he sprang into action immediately, but it was short lived.
"Use the knife on the ground to stab her head if you really love me. Don't help her. Can't you see, she's about to die and she's the only witness. If you kill her, we'll be together forever and we can run away. Everything will be perfect."
It was Nina's voice, and Ayra could barely move an inch to try to stop her. The effect of the gold tub on her head was so painful that she just wanted to die, but hearing those words from her sister weakened her even more, and in as much as she wanted to live more than ever now, her sister would definitely not let her. After everything, this was definitely the end of the road for her, but at least, her husband would never stab her.
She cried in her heart, if he saved her, she would let everything go, she won't hate him, she'll let it all go and they'll live happily ever after. If he got Nina out of the picture, everything would be okay.
Deep inside her own world, she heard a loud bang, followed by an icy object, going through fleshy skin. Except, it was hers.
She got hit with a pumice stone on her head and her head got stabbed with the knife she used to self harm. Refusing to believe what was happening as her body system was beginning to fail, she begged her eyes to open up one last time to see the preparator.
To her utter dismay, as her eyes opened up for the last time, they locked with Alex's. He stabbed her. He was her killer. He didn't save her, instead, he sent her to heaven, or HELL.
He was the last thing she saw before she left consciousness, before she left life.