Page 66 of My Wife

“All I want is you.”

We’re trapped on an island with ghosts. Tomorrow morning, Mr. Mulligan is coming with the ferry. He’s expecting two guests to leave—sorry, Tommy—and I’ll be packed and ready to go with Clay. After that… I don’t know what’ll happen. That’s something my mastermind of a murderous husband will have to figure out. After all, he and Tommy planned this. Tommy arranged for every single one of our ‘friends’ to come on this island, knowing he was sending them to their graves.

Clay actually used a fictitious LLC tobuyHalo Island and set it up so that he’d be the perfect trap for all of us.

But now that they’ve done what they set out to do, what was their plan when Clay’s murder spree was done and it was the three of us left standing? I’m not sure, but as I lean back, tilting my head invitingly as I part my lips for my husband’s kiss, I don’t care.

I have him back—and that’s all I’ll ever want.

TWENTY-ONE

NOVEMBER 2ND

IN THE NOVEMBER 2ND EDITION OF THE GULLHAVEN GAZETTE:

MASSACRE ON HALO ISLAND:

IN A TRAGIC SCENE STRAIGHT OUT OF A HALLOWEEN HORROR FILM, MAN BRUTALLY MURDERS FIVE GUESTS,

THEN HIMSELF.

Six people are dead after a Halloween away on nearby Halo Island. When the ferry proprietor, Samuel Mulligan, returned on November 1st to retrieve the six guests and carry them back to Cottonwood Harbor, he walked into a scene that you’d find in any horror film: five young and promising Gullhaven locals had ben murdered, seemingly by the sixth: Thomas Gillis, 28, also a lifelong resident.

An investigation is ongoing, but the confirmed victims are: Tyler Kaye, 29; Summer Kaye, 28; Madison Powell, 27; Violet Lee, 29; and Chase Whitmore, 28. Further information on services for the victims, as well as a vigil near City Hall, will be printed in a future edition of the Gazette.

Two other guests were also part of the excursion, though Mr. Mulligan confirms that he ferried them off of Halo Island four days before he returned for the victims. Nothing was amiss at the time, though Detective Jordan of the Gullhaven Police Department requests that, if you have any information on how to reach Cynthia Preston and Aaron Mueller for further questioning about this tragedy, please contact him at (555) 754-1003, extension 6.

TWENTY-TWO

NOVEMBER 20TH

IN THE NOVEMBER 20TH EDITION OF THE GULLHAVEN GAZETTE:

MISSING LOCAL WOMAN DEAD:

CYNTHIA PRESTON. SURVIVOR OF THE HALO ISLAND HALLOWEEN MASSACRE, IS FOUND DEAD IN A CAR FIRE IN

NEW YORK.

A Gullhaven woman who managed to escape the Halo Island massacre perpetrated by Thomas Gillis, then seemed to have vanished when the Gullhaven Police Department invited her in for questioning about the tragic event, has died.

Cynthia Preston, 27, was involved in a car crash in Upstate New York, and perished when the vehicle she was in was engulfed in flames. When the police were called to the scene, the body was so damaged in the fire, dental records were needed to identify her. This led to Dr. Trent Vargas contacting Detective Jordan of the Gullhaven Police Department about her possible death.

At this time, it is confirmed that Ms. Preston was the sole passenger and casualty, and that this was an accident that has no correlation to the Halo Island Massacre. Ms. Preston is predeceased by her father, Steven Preston, her mother, Caroline Preston (who also tragically drowned on Halo Island a decade earlier), as well as her husband, Clayton Rivers, another Gullhaven local.

(Editor’s note:Referring back to the edition printed on November 2, the Gullhaven Police Department were interested in making contact with Cynthia Preston and Aaron Mueller to discuss the tragic events that occurred on Halo Island. Withthe report of Cynthia’s subsequent accidental death, Detective Jordan is still eager to speak with Aaron Mueller at (555) 754-1003, extension 6.)

EPILOGUE

There’s something almostamusingwhen it comes to reading about your own death.

The article isn’t an obituary, not really. I guess, if I want one of those, I’ll have to invent some fictitious family member to submit it to the paper. I honestly didn’t expect to see any news about my ‘death’ at all, though I did learn something from Tommy. After Clay and I staged the scene with the dead body and my smashed-up car, I set an online alert for my name to see what popped.

I did the same for Marla Hopps, the unfortunate blonde who was close enough to my age, my height, and my size to pass for my corpse. Clay only had her on ice for a few days while we did a little dental work and plotted how we would keep Detective Jordan off my ass, but it seems like we picked well. Doesn’t look like anyone misses Marla since I haven’t seen anything ping for her, but about two minutes ago, I got this notification.

The Gullhaven Gazette. I’m not surprised it’s that online rag that picked up the story. The rest of the world didn’t care about what happened on Halo Island—not ten years ago, not three weeks ago—but the hometown I could never truly escape… they just won’t let its ghosts rest.

I know the only reason I made the main page on their site is because everyone in Gullhaven knows I was on the island before all the murders. That I immediately left made them curious. Clay and I both decided I needed to disappear before they became suspicious.

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