11. The Perfect Retreat

It would be the perfect spot. Just as he said it would be. Gwen was perfectly satisfied. She'd had her doubts, specially on the three hour drive up to this incredibly remote spot but all those promises were fulfilled. The house was small really, but it overlooked the lake and it caught a nice view of the setting sun. Beautiful trees surrounded the house, shading it from view. Gwen had been so irritated that she'd driven right past it on the dirt road unaware of it, but she forgave the trees instantly as she listened to the birds having their evening gossip.

Inside the house, she was utterly enchanted. A small fireplace, worn table and chairs and a bear skin rug. How very charming. She'd had no idea that Martin had kept this little secret to himself for so long. Nor had she known that he could be quite so generous as to lend her this little secret spot for a full week. He might have been the office weirdo with his dull eyes, boring haircut and clothes from GAP, but apparently he wasn't entirely a lost cause. Just looking out her window in the bedroom, at the shimmering water brought visions of the relaxation she needed.

The feeling unfortunately didn't last beyond the unpacking. She cooked a simple spaghetti dinner on the ancient stove and tried not to look out the window in the kitchen. The trees which had looked so earthy and wonderful before sunset, now looked eerie and frightening in the dark. That didn't stop her from going outside for a quick fag but the chilly wind crying through the forest had her going back in pretty quickly.

The night did not get any warmer or sweeter as she'd hoped. Music only seemed to echo through the house making it seemed emptier. All the lights on had her imagining predators drawing near. Finally exasperated at herself she drew a bath and smoked a fag inside while languidly trying to build bubble fortresses.

Sleep came to her a little easier.  Dreams of flying over dark forests until she woke to the distinct sound of a thud. A muffled deep sound of a heavy object falling down. In an empty house, one did not usually hear such a sound and Gwen sat up with heart in her throat. All else seemed quiet and Gwen tried to imagine what it might be. Perhaps an animal had gotten in. As scary as that thought was, when she imagined it rifling through her kitchen, she felt another welcome emotion, anger. Stupid creature, she thought.

The door was silent as she pushed it open, the air dry and cool. Faint light from outside made odd shadows along the floor. Gwen looked down the stairs towards the kitchen and jumped back with a gasp when a definite shadow morphed and shifted. It passed right in front of her at the bottom of the stairs seeming much to big.

Gwen stood to calm the thundering in her chest. She had never tried to imagine what a heart attack might feel like but she was doing a good impression of it now. That shadow had seemed huge but that was obviously a trick of the light. Light was quite unreliable in that way, making things seem large and misshapen. Yes, that was it. Though as Gwen considered it, something was odd. Her light was turned off and the only light should have been the stars and moon over the lake, streaming through the window in silvery beams. Except the light had a warmer hue and was coming from around the corner towards the living area.

Gwen had no choice, she carefully stepped with bare feet down each step, feeling the dry worn wood and holding up the ugly pajama dress that she liked to wear. The light, warm as it was, wasn't enough to illuminate and when she stepped off the last step, she stepped into something very wet.

Ew, was her was thought. This creature must have pissed in the house. She lifted her foot and tried to shake it off and continue towards the source of the mystery light. Rounding the corner she saw something so strange she thought it must have been a dream. There, on the ground, under the worn rug she had admired was a hidden doorway with more steps leading down. Below was the light, brighter now that she stared at it.

Carefully, Gwen walked towards the open latch and peered down. A shadow moved again but Gwen forced herself to be quiet and stepped down. What or who was this? No animal could open latches or turn on lights.

She took each step down, eyes firmly on what might be hidden inside. There at the bottom seemed to be a figure on the ground. An odd looking figure. A figure that actually might be somewhat familiar though strange at the same time. A figure that she could only see clearly when she reached the bottom.

It was her. There she lay, eyes unseeing and her ugly pajamas stained red. At that moment, Gwen looked down at her feet. That had not been piss she had stepped in. It was blood. Her blood.

Shadows apeared on the wall and Gwen turned to face... Martin! Except Martin didn't see her. He was standing, holding a knife but he did not look at her. Instead he was looking at.. well her body. He went to her and quickly, roughly ripped and cut away her pajamas mumbling "ugly pajamas."

Gwen was shocked and disgusted and then she felt her emotions fade into something duller. Now that she considered it, she realised that everything felt just a little bit more distant. That was why, she, the woman who would run away at the sight of spiders had had the courage to come downstairs in the dark.

Martin was now considering her body and Gwen focused on him. His face registered disgust. "Fake boobs. Hate fake racks," he mumbled.

"Hey, they cost me a fortune!" she found herself saying before she stopped herself. Martin didn't notice.He instead was inspecting her, as if she was meat. "Arsehole," she muttered.

"Dyed hair?!" He exclaimed looking at the nest of hair she could never bring herself to dye.

"What, you though that I was a natural blond?" She replied sarcastically.

"What other fake work have you done on yourself bitch?" he asked her dead body with disgust.

"Hey, I've had good work down. What, you think chicks like me come natural? Bitch please!" Gwen rolled her eyes. Honestly. "I'm not the hottest chick in the office without a lot of work you know!"

"Fuckin hell, she smokes as well," he cursed, leaning over her face. "What a waste of time."

"Waste of time?! Excuse me, I'll have you know I'm a fucking catch! And what work? What those occasional creepy smiles, that lame attempts to chat me up while 'borrowing me stapler'. Douchebag, Nobody fell for that shit," she scoffed. Well she supposed she had, in accepting his offer to use his lakehouse but she'd been insistent that she be alone. "You've been following haven't you? Freak! Were you here when I came?" No, that couldn't be. She'd left him this afternoon at the office. "God, how did I miss what a creep you are!"

She watched as Martin cleaned the blood off her body and then begin to position her limbs. "yea fuckwad, I had work done on my arms." He touched her stomach, and frown, "Tummy tuck." He moved down her legs, "lipo there too arsehole." Then touched her feet, "Yea surgery there too. You think normal women with normal feet can wear Manolos? I dont think so!" Gwen rolled her eyes.

Martin sat back. He looked very frustrated and angry. "Fucking bitch, is any part of you real?!"

"Nope. Yea I had work done there.. that place you thinking of right now. Yea, there too. Things gotta stay tight and pretty." Gwen smiled with sweet satisfaction. She enjoyed seeing him so frustrated and angry. "Dream on you psycho, really. Real women don't pop up like me. We're made not born!"

Martin seemed to be having a little temper tantrum. He picked up the knife as if considering butcherig her, "Dont even think about it you freak!" she shrieked and then sighed when he dropped the knife while punching the walls. His temper fit continued abit and Gwen had a moment to worry about what he would do. She did not want to watch any necrophiliac action.

Martin began to pound the floor. "Months of work wasted! On a fake whore?! Fuck! I knew I should have picked Ceci the receptionist."

"Nah, she's had work done too. I know,  referred her," drawled Gwen to an unhearing Martin. "What you gonna do now? Huh? Seriously, you do anything kinky with my body, and I swear to god I'll not only curse you, but I'll haunt you right up to the day you go to hell," she spat. "I suggest you just turn yourself into the police.

Martin calmed down and seemed to consider her body. Finally he just picked up the body and began walking up the stairs. "Dude, careful with my head! hey!" she screamed as she followed him. Martin didn't stop or pause, he went right outside to the lake where he lay down her body, disapearing round the back to repear with a length of rope. He tied her ankles together and then tied the other end around the rock.

"Dude, that is like, so cliche," she said sarcastically as he pulled a small rowboat from the reeds. She was a little upset that this was to be her last resting place but she followed him as he took her body and dumped it into the dark oily depths a dozen meters from shore. "Seriously? Someone's gonna find me." she said to him. "Or i'll float back up in like a day or two. That rope won't hold me."

He didn't answer. Just went back, stowed the boat away and went inside to clean up. An hour later, he walked out to his car and drove off. Gwen didn't follow. She couldn't. That's when she felt quite dejected. She looked towards the lake where her body lay beneath the dark impenetrable surface. She stayed there till dawn feeling... very little by morning.

It was hard to feel in her current state. She didn't really care about anything. She found that she didn't particularly miss life. Death was much simpler and if she was aware, she chose to just enjoy the sunrises and sunsets and pretty things. A small part of her thought that perhaps she was here because of unfinished business, but another part insisted that she had come to the late to have a holiday. Well she got one. Indefinitely.

Then about four days later, the police came. Dozens of them. They came with helicopters and boats and teams of forensics. They combed through the surrounding areas until someone found the secret room of horrors where the bloodstains had only been cursorily cleaned. Then the helicopters found her body floating in the lake.

Gwen smiled as she listened to the police talk about Martin. They talked about someone who went fishing and saw her floating. She heard how easy it was to figure out hat the murderer was probably Martin. She heard that she was not the first, something like the fourth. That made her sad. Then she heard about how he was going to be arrested. She smiled so much she didn't notice herself fading away. When she did, she did not care one bit. Her purpose was done it seemed. This was not too bad a holiday because it would never end with another day in the office.