The Bitten Queen

A tiny blue house sat crooked and weather worn, tucked just outside the reaches of town. The paved road ended turning into gravel that eventually thinned into a little dirt walking path. The surrounding forest seemed to grow and swallow everything around it. No cars had been down this road in ages and the remnants of the long forgotten houses hid in the shadows of the trees. Louise walked slowly,letting each step linger so she could savor the moment and the quiet beauty around her, despite the sorrow and the hurt that had shaped her young adult life. Louise stopped in front of the slumped and sagging white porch, or what was left of a white porch. The paint was chipped and peeling, pulling away from the wood in large curls, vines and weeds threatened to complete entrap it making it another memory lost to nature.

Taking a deep breath as to ready herself, Louise carefully navigated the wooden steps. They were soft with rot, the boards were splintered and grey from years of sun and rain, and as quickly and smoothly as she could opened the front door. It was old and hung crookedly from its frame causing it creak and groan in protest.

Louise grimaced, hoping the familiar sound of the door wouldn’t set her boyfriend off, again. He always acted like she was disrupting something vital every time she came home. Yet his days revolved around drinking and staring at the tv. He’d toss out a snide “fix it” every time, as if she could magically replace a door when they barely had enough money for simple groceries.

She gave a soft “hey” toward Aaron as she set the bags of groceries on the little sliver of what was considered a kitchen counter. He didn’t respond or make any indication that he heard her. It struck her as a little odd but not completely out of the ordinary for him to ignore her. She warily eyed him but continued to put everything away. When she was done she turned to face the tiny stainless steel sink, its small and shallow basin was just barely big enough to fit a few plates and cups. Despite its size it was filled to the brim with day old dishes. Louise plunged her hands into the cold murky grey dishwater and stared out the window in front of her, watching the darkening tree-line disappear. Completely zoned out into a daydream, wondering what her life could be like if she were ever able to escape this relationship. All the while the unusual silence of the woods went unnoticed. No wind tickled the trees, even the whippoorwill remained silent. Just a thick somber silence pressing against the glass, as if something out there was waiting for its moment to strike

Behind her Aaron was in the living room, perched on the edge of the threadbare couch. One hand clutched a bottle, the other drumming idly against the armrest. A laugh suddenly rang out, it sounded light on the surface, but it was laced with a deadly sort of charm, the kind that carried the promise of trouble.

“Hey,” he said, turning to look at her. His eyes were dark pools, but there was that practiced smile curling the corners of his lips, the one that made it easy to forget the cold underneath. “You were late coming back earlier, why?”

Louise swallowed, not turning around to face him, afraid her facial expressions would betray the underlying fear, she stammered slightly “I … went to the store… you know this? I went to go get milk, bread, and few other things”. She kept her tone steady and soft, almost apologetic without meaning to be.

Aaron’s smile stretched wider, but the shift in his eyes told the real story—narrowed, calculating, a spark of something sharp beneath the surface. “Milk and bread, huh?” his tone was light, though the words carried weight. On the couch he twisted to face her, his finger rhythmically tapping on his lips, as if he was carefully weighing his next words, in a slightly more aggressive tone he said “Funny how a quick errand turns into… what, an hour? Did you get caught up talking to someone? Or maybe you just had somewhere else you needed to be?”

Louise dried her hands slowly, buying time, as she quickly sorted through all her options before speaking but Aaron spoke again not giving her a chance to reply “are you trying to annoy me?”

With her back still turned to him , she leaned forward and grabbed the edge of sink to steady herself, the rush of adrenaline pulsing through her body made her shiver but without saying anything she shook her head no. Staying silent in these moments had always worked in the past. He hissed the next words “ then why don’t you turn around and look at me when I’m talking to you?”

She turned toward him with a small, involuntary flinch, shaking her head as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I—no, that’s not what I was trying to—”

Louise stared at the floor , instinctively drawing into herself in an effort to make her presence as small and harmless as possible, doing anything she could not to agitate Aaron further.

He tipped the bottle back and took a long, angry swallow. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand , eyes narrowing in on her as he replied “you’re never trying to piss me off, right?” His voice rose higher “ but yet somehow you always manage it!” He pointed the bottle at her like an accusation “and don’t think I’ve forgotten you were late, you really expect me to believe you weren’t off seeing someone?”

Louise’s breath hitched “Aaron, babe…I wasn’t trying to upset you,and I’m sorry if I did.” Her voice thinned “I just lost track of time, you know how I’m always daydreaming, and I swear I wasn’t with anyone.”

He lurched upright to his feet, the sudden movement sending him into an off- kilter spin. His hand shot out to steady himself on the armrest of the couch before he pushed himself forward. The bottle shook in his hand, he roughly set it down on the glass coffee table the sound of clinking echoed through the house. One step at a time , weaving slightly as he closed the distance between them. The silence felt heavier, as if the whole space braced for what might come next.

Aaron stopped at the square cut-out in the wall, bracing himself on the small ledge styled counter as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.

Louise’s pulse raced in her ears as she realized how little space remained between them. The wall wasn’t a barrier so much as a suggestion, one he could easily step around at any moment.

His expression warped and hardened, the hatred he had for her simmering just beneath the surface. The way he stared at her with his golden gaze, unwavering and steady was akin to the slow deliberate study of a predator deciding when to move. A cruel and twisted smile spread across his face “aww Louise are you scared?”

He turned to face her “You think you’re clever, staying quiet, saying sorry all the time But it doesn’t work that way. You think I don’t notice?”

Louise froze, not knowing what he was trying to imply, a cold knot tightening in her stomach. Every instinct told her don’t move and to stay calm not giving him any reason to react further, but it was too late!

He slowly walked to the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, his expression already twisted into something wounded and accusatory. He looked tired, but not in the way sleep could fix—something deeper, restless, volatile.

“You think I don’t notice?” he continued, stepping closer. “The way you act like you’re somewhere else all the time?”

The accusation hung between them, absurd and suffocating all at once. Louise swallowed, her pulse beginning to quicken.

“I’m right here.” she said carefully. “With you.”

Aaron took a slow sip from the bottle, watching her. “You know… I could get angry, and you wouldn’t even see it coming. You’d just…” His voice trailed off, but the threat hung in the air like smoke. “You’d just let me.”

She swallowed again, nodding, knowing it’s easier to agree than to fight.The familiar ache of tension crept along her spine. The house itself seemed to contract, the shadows leaning closer to the walls as if listening, waiting for the first real sound of conflict.

Aaron went silent maybe he was thinking about what he said, what he implied within the words he spoke, maybe he didn’t mean it, but maybe just maybe he did.