The kindergarten

As she looked up at her mother, the toddler chuckled. Olivia, a milky white tot as soft as a stuffed teddy bear, toddled on her four legs, knowing it was time for her mother, who was getting ready to leave for her office, to carry her to a nearby creche. Emily, her mother, gently picked her daughter into her arms and pecked her on the cheek several times. She giggled with warmth and her mother's loving touch every time her lips touched her face.

 "My darling will now meet her mother later in the evening." Emily said to her toddler daughter. She knew her daughter had grown accustomed to only seeing her mother's face twice a day, in the morning and then in the evening. With a gentle smile, Olivia pressed her head against her mother's nose. Her toothless mouth opened to eat Emily's nose, and her saliva dripped down her mother's cheeks. 

 "Oh ho! My baby. You've made your mother's face wet once more." Emily kissed on her cheek before wiping her face with a tissue she pulled out from the tissue box kept on the dining table. She quickly slung her tote bag over her shoulder and exited the house with Olivia in her arms. They both got into the waiting cab at the front door. The cab driver, who was a regular, drove past Emily's office to the crèche. Olivia was made to wave goodbye to her mother after fifteen minutes by crèche owner Charlotte Taylor.

Emily had left her husband after the birth of Olivia because of her husband’s excessive drinking and violent temperament. She was an independent woman by nature and knew she could take care of her child better and more peacefully without her husband. Working as a Tele-Network marketing representative for a telecommunications company, men were plentiful in her life. Though she was a genteel woman with a good character, she had many crushes, but extramarital affairs were always a big no for her. She was the most eligible divorcee in her office, but not available to anyone. She had exceptional beauty on her face and the body of a fantasised goddess.

 "In ten minutes, we have a target meeting." Her boss called her on her desk phone as soon as she sat down, turned on her computer, and plugged in her headphones. 

 "Sir, yes." She replied before putting the phone down and getting her papers ready for the meeting.

Soon after, the meeting concluded, and Emily was named employee of the year for collecting the most clients. Everyone in the office applauded her and congratulated her. Emily returned everyone's compliments with her signature smile, which she only flashed when she was the happiest.

 “Hey, you've won the award and a cash prize yet again. This calls for a celebration. What do you think?” Emily was asked by Harry, her favourite coworker.

  "Of course, Harry, we'll organise a get-together on Saturday." She returned her colleague's handshake, which would not leave her hand even after holding it for long. 

 “Hey! I have a job.” She said as she attempted to free her hand from his firm manly grip. 

 "I, too, have a lot of work, but..." Harry's words stumbled around in his mouth before reaching Emily's ear.

 "Harry, keep your emotions in check," Emily said as she let go of her hand and walked away from him to her desk. Harry followed suit and sat in his chair, rubbing his brow with his palm. He secretly kissed his palm twice, which contained Emily's palm. He grinned at his good fortune and returned to his work. Emily noticed Harry kissing his palm out of the corner of her eye. She, too, smiled and immersed herself in her work.

  “Emily!” a worried female voice echoed through her headphone line, jolting her to her core. The voice was familiar to her. Charlotte Sood was the caller.

 "What happened? Why do you sound so terrified?" She inquired. Emily's heartbeats accelerated and thudded against her rib cage. She assumed Charlotte's concerns were about her daughter Olivia and who else. Charlotte never called her during her office hours. The silence on the other end of the line was unsettling. 

 "What happened, damn you?" She yelled rising from her chair. Emily pressed her headphones closer to her ears. Every head turned to look at her. The boss came from his chamber and approached her.

 "Olivia was in the house, but I can't find her now. I looked everywhere, inside, outside, and in the playground, but I couldn't find her." Charlotte's voice cracked, and she swallowed saliva frequently while speaking.

  "What do you mean you can't find her? Have you checked the bathroom, under the stairs, and in the attic? She's a naughty girl who must have crawled somewhere. Were you sleeping?" Emily yelled over the phone. 

 "I have searched every nook and cranny. She's nowhere to be found." Charlotte informed.

 "I swear I'll kill you if anything happens to my daughter." Emily tossed her headphones on her desk, grabbed her handbag, and turned to face her boss. He gestured at her to leave and hurry. 

 "Wait!" He yelled from behind Emily as she approached the exit door and was about to push the glass door open. 

 "Harry!" He beckoned with his finger. "You accompany her." 

Harry dashed towards the exit and sped alongside her to the elevator. 

 "What are you doing with your phone?" He inquired as the elevator descended from the 10th to the ground floor. "I'm going to call a cab," Emily replied. "I'm driving today. Leave it alone." Harry stated. Emily cancelled the reservation.

Emily got out of the car after half an hour and rang the doorbell of her daughter's creche. Charlotte assisted her by opening the door. Emily shoved her aside and stormed inside. 

 "Where has Olivia gone?" Charlotte drew a growl from her. 

 "She's nowhere to be found," Charlotte responded by lowering her gaze, unable to maintain eye contact with Emily's furiously reddened eyes for long. 

Emily slapped Charlotte across the face, sending her sprawling on the carpet among the plastic and stuffed toys.

 "Look, you bitch. I'm going to call the cops, who will question you first. And if something happens to my daughter, I will not hesitate to rip you apart." Emily threatened Charlotte, grabbing her hair and pulling her face closer to her own. Emily stood up and reached into her handbag for her cellphone. She was about to dial when a chloroform-soaked cloth was pressed against her nose. Charlotte rose from the floor and clasped Emily's hands. Emily struggled, wanting to turn around to see the face of whoever was attempting to render her unconscious, but her neck and shoulder were tightly gripped. Emily became drowsy within a minute. She kicked the ankle of the man behind her once with her sandal, but it had no effect. Emily's body went limp, and she collapsed on the floor. Harry and Charlotte exchanged smiles before embracing and kissing. Harry turned his head down at Emily after a moment of satisfaction.

  "Adorable bitch! I've always wanted to make her mine, squeeze her melons, and tuck her into bed. But she had always acted so pricy." Harry whispered into Charlotte's ear.

 "What about me? I had everything planned out for you. Did I not?" She said this as she rubbed her large breast against Harry's hairy chest.

  "You've been with me for a long time. You know I can't stay with one woman forever." Harry said this while separating Charlotte from him. He knelt, took Emily in his arms, and walked into the bedroom.

  "Wait!" Charlotte muttered.

  "What?" Harry asked, craning his neck backwards.

 "Olivia!" She said this while pointing to the refrigerator with her hand.

  "Oh, shit!" exclaimed Harry. He hurriedly placed Emily on the bed and dashed to the refrigerator.

 "You illiterate lass!" He growled at Charlotte as he held the refrigerator door open, his gaze fixed on Olivia's lifeless body inside. Olivia had turned white, with no blood or warmth inside her body. Everything was frozen. Her toothless mouth was open only an inch, showing suffocation. Her palms had cut marks, and her head had a blade mark cut as if the toddler had banged the door from inside and then crashed her head against the glass trays. Little snowy eyes were open, looking mercifully at her murderers. Her knees were frozen white, and her neck was dug inside her shoulder as if she had been compressed from her head while stuffing. Harry shut the door and closed his eyes.

  "Did you throw the child inside? You don't have any brains? You murdered her." He yelled, clenching his teeth so his growling didn't travel too far. 

 "You said to hide her or drug her so she doesn't chirp when Emily arrives. What better place could have been than a refrigerator, I reasoned." Charlotte replied innocently.

 "Where are you going?" Charlotte inquired as she noticed Harry getting ready to leave the house. 

 "I'm leaving; no one has seen me, not even Emily; handle this your way. I cannot handle a murder." As he rushed towards the main door, he said.

  "You can't abandon me like this. I'll tell the cops everything." Harry was threatened by Charlotte.

The sound of the door latching from inside came from the bedroom, where Emily had been placed in an unconscious state on the bed. Both Harry and Charlotte dashed to the bedroom and knocked on the door. 

 "You speak to her and tell her to open the door," Harry spoke into Charlotte's ear. 

 "Emily, we found Olivia. You can come out." Charlotte yelled to let her hear her voice inside.

Emily had not fully recovered her senses. She had overheard Harry and Charlotte's conversation and suspected something fishy, but she was not fully aware. Olivia's death had not yet been revealed to her. She walked towards the bed, her hands on her spinning head. Emily silently spread her body across the bed. Her mind raced like a whirlpool.

Charlotte assisted Harry by pushing the door inside to break it as he began to strike the strong door with his shoulders. The door latch finally gave way after some heavy thudding, and the door flung open inside. Harry and Charlotte both collapsed on the floor inside. Harry was the first to rise and assisted Charlotte in getting to her feet. Emily dozed off in the bed. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were crossed over her head. She was stunning in her saree-clad form. Harry got goosebumps from her milky white stomach, and butterflies flew in his stomach with an instant erection. As he ran his tongue across his lips, Harry slurped his saliva. 

 "Wow, what a piece," Harry exclaimed as he sat on the edge of the bed, gently pressing Emily's stomach and inserting his forefinger into her navel.

  "Stop right now!" Charlotte yelled. Harry broke free from his erotic spell and turned to face her.

  "Why? What happened?" He snarled at her. 

 "Foremost, we have to think about Olivia." Charlotte should hasten. 

 "You did it, you scumbag. Now it's up to you how to manage it." He said this while standing up and grabbing Charlotte's neck. Suddenly, Harry's attention was drawn to the door by a shadow. He let go of Charlotte's neck, who coughed bitterly before thumping against a nearby chair. Harry pushed open the door and looked to his right, then to his left. 

 "Oh my God!" He shouted. "This can't happen."

Charlotte dashed over to him, peering around Harry's tall frame to see what he saw. Charlotte passed out and collapsed to the ground. Harry cleared the obstruction by sliding her body inside with his legs. He intended to flee the house before something bad happened. Dashing towards the house's main door in a matter of seconds, Harry unlatched the door and turned the knob anticlockwise. He yanked again and again, but the door remained closed. He yanked on the doorknob more firmly, but the door did not open. His entire body shook. He realised he was trapped inside and had no way of ditching his death today, intending to jump out the window. He dashed towards it and unlatched the latch, but the window was jammed and refused to open. Harry turned around, intending to reveal the identity of the shadow that had crossed their path.

Olivia's body had vanished. It wasn't inside the fridge. Harry took slow, deliberate steps, making no noise. Olivia had crawled down across the bedroom door, he was certain. He got to the threshold of the house's wall between the living room and the bedroom. Charlotte remained on the floor. Harry looked around, into the kitchen, the common bathroom, the other bedroom, the cupboards, and under the beds.

 "Nothing." He muttered something. He smiled to himself and lit a cigarette. For a moment, the gushing smoke inside his lungs revived him, but he quickly succumbed to the sinking fear. He sat in a chair, staring at Emily's bare face. Her hands had fallen from her head, and her face glowed in the sunlight streaming in through the window. Harry's body trembled from an unknown or known fear. He was still perplexed where Olivia's body could have vanished to. His mind did not respond in sync with his body. His mind told him to do something else, while his body did the opposite. He once sucked on the burning side of his cigarette, which burned his lips and tongue. He spat and cried in agony.

 "Charlotte." Finally, his gaze was drawn to her, who lay motionless on the floor in front of him. Harry's gaze was fixed on her. His mind was dead. The ringing of his phone in his trouser pocket jolted Harry, and he screamed. He couldn't figure out what was causing the ringer or why his one leg was vibrating. When he got out of his chair, he realised it was his cellphone. He quickly reached into his pocket and looked at the screen that read 'Boss.'

  "Y...y... yes Sir!" he replied. 

 "What happened over there? Is Olivia all right?" His boss inquired.

 "We are still finding. She must have toddled somewhere. Need not worry." Harry gave false information to his boss.

 "How is Emily? Where is she? I want to speak to her." 

 "She is a little disturbed. I will tell her to call you when she is alright." 

 "Yeah ok. Keep me informed. By the way, why sound so horrified and why you cannot speak properly?" 

 "Oh, I just burnt my mouth with my cigarette," Harry answered.

 "Ah! Ha... ha… ha." His boss laughed. "Alright, keep us posted and have you guys called the police?"

 "Not yet. Emily says she will, but after we don't find Olivia ourselves." 

 "Yeah, ok." His boss said before disconnecting the call.

Harry quickly left his phone behind and dashed to pick up Charlotte. He first fizzled her with his leg, but when she didn't respond, he bent and turned her body to face him.

 "Oh, my goodness!" He yelled angrily at the top of his lungs. Harry stumbled backwards on his legs and came to a halt only when his back collided with the wall behind him. Charlotte was lying on the ground in front of him. Her eyes had been pulled from their sockets, a jumble of hair had been pulled from her head, which lay beside her head on the ground, and small baby bite marks ran all over her face. Her stomach was ripped open, and blood gushed out, forming a pool beneath her body. Harry trembled and dashed inside the house, looking for a way out. He picked up a chair and attempted to smash the living room window pane, which did not break. He was perplexed.

 "What? How is this possible?" he wondered. He tried again, throwing the chair with all his might at the window, but it came to a halt a foot before the window, suspended in the air. Harry returned. The chair got closer to him with each step he took. His gaze was fixed. The chair eventually fell to the ground; temperature in the room began to fall, and a cold breeze rushed in. The ringer on his cellphone went up again. His eardrum was pierced by the sound. He pressed the answer button quickly. 

 "Please help me. Please assist me." He pleaded on the phone to whoever it was.

Someone burst out laughing. His attention was drawn to the laughter. His face turned purple as he was drawn to the familiar feminine voice. Harry took a glance at the blank screen. He threw the phone to the floor.

 "Hello, Harry!" From inside the phone, Charlotte hissed. The phone vibrated and rose into the air. Harry backed up and moved out of its range. He dashed inside the bedroom with deftness. Charlotte's body had vanished. He shut the door, only to discover that the latch had failed. He closed the door and blocked the path with an iron almirah, wooden desks, and chairs. Someone pushed the door open from the outside. Harry grabbed a hammer from one desk in the room and gripped it tightly, ready to fight if necessary. The iron Almirah squeaked slightly, and the wooden chair toppled from the top of the desk with another push from outside. The furniture began to rumble. 

Emily remained motionless in the bed despite a near-fatal encounter. She was completely unaware of what went on around her. She was in a deep slumber. The chloroform quantity may have been greater than necessary. But that was not what Harry was thinking. He just wanted to live and get out of the house, but he didn't know how; suddenly remembered the hammer he was holding. He struck the windowpane with the hammer several times.

 "Holy hell! Do they have bulletproof glasses?" He was perplexed. The glass was not giving anything away. They had become impenetrable. Sweat beading formed on his brow. His lips turned bluish, and his throat became parched. He continued to strike the glass with the hammer. There was no positive outcome. The furniture eventually fell to the floor, and the iron almirah moved quickly as it was pushed by a hundred people from outside. Charlotte Sood entered the room. She had no clothes on, no eyes, and her entire body was filled with cockroaches and lizards fighting each other. Her hair was pulled out of her head in various places, and the bald spot shone in the light. She has white skin, no blood, and a creepy smile that complements her crooked face. Harry dived under the bed to hide. While Charlotte's spirit searched for him, he slid beneath. Charlotte begged Emily to forgive her with her socketless eyes and lipless mouth with exposed, corroded teeth. Before turning around to look for Harry, she ran her decomposing hand over Emily's forehead to soothe her.

 "It was my mistake." She howled. "Please forgive me." 

Harry could only see Charlotte's kegs when he looked at her from under the bed. As she walked out of the bedroom, her feet had turned backwards. Harry took a few deep breaths and rested his head between his crossed arms, his eyes closed. He raised his head after fifteen minutes of silence in the house. Under the bed, his gaze met Charlotte's. He yelled. She screamed. He screamed again, and she howled in response. Stinking brown fluid poured from her mouth and landed on Harry's face. He shut his eyes, but the filthy fluid poured into his mouth. While Charlotte laughed in front of him, Harry gripped his neck and began to press Adam's apple with all his might. Harry tried but failed to free his hand from his neck. They appeared to strangle him. He crawled out from beneath the bed and looked up. Emily sat with moist eyes, not looking at him but at the ceiling, half-sitting with both legs pressing against her chest. Harry begged her to save him. "Please save me, Emily." She sobbed. His voice, however, did not seem to reach her. Charlotte approached Harry and dug her hand inside his mouth and pulled out his intestine. Harry wailed in agony as he saw his body parts being pulled one by one. His vision began to fade, and he eventually died, with a last-minute scream out of unbearable pain.

The cops broke down the door and stormed in, followed by Emily's colleagues and the boss. A small shadowy figure toddled outside the living room window. Everyone saw but dismissed it as their imagination. The windowpane in the living room was broken, the furniture was piled on top of each other, and the refrigerator door was open. Everyone rushed into the bedroom, where they could hear sobbing. Charlotte's lifeless body was discovered inside the bedroom. Harry's distorted body with his inner parts scattered on the floor, Olivia's lifeless body in Emily's arms, almirah and furniture scattered all over the room, windowpane was smashed while Emily cried for her daughter, Olivia's eyes and mouth were closed with a satisfied expression on her face.

 "When I last spoke with Harry, I became skeptical. He had never responded to me like this before. I knew there was something wrong, so I called the police." While the bodies were stretchered out of the house through a swarm of neighbours gawking at whatever had happened, the boss spoke with the cops.