The weeks that followed were some of the worst. Their relationship had deteriorated since he’d confronted her over the pills. Her behaviour was erratic, her dark days were dark, and he found them extremely hard to cope with. He was grateful to her mother and sister, who bore most of the caring for her. They were the ones who stood with her and made sure that she took all her medication, and they kept records of the quantities of pills that she had. She was rarely left on her own. He hated having to watch her take her pills, and he could feel the resentment pouring out of her towards him as she exaggerated her actions every time, she took a pill whilst he watched, sticking her tongue out afterwards for him to check

Things weren’t helped, when, as the anniversary of their daughter’s abduction approached, DI Rogers, told them that the investigation team had been pared back even further. Alan had expected it, but Susan reacted badly. He had tried to explain but, it didn’t matter how much he tried, she felt that everyone was giving up on her daughter, including him.

A couple of days before the anniversary, he got home from work and her mother met him at the front door, she stopped him going inside,

“What is it, Alice?”

“I don’t know Alan, she’s acting weird, she got up at lunchtime and took a shower, she even got dressed, we’ve been talking in the kitchen most of the afternoon. It’s like she’s a different person, I don’t know what it is, but I can tell you, I don’t like it, there’s something behind this.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Keep an eye on her Alan, I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like it.”

He stepped inside and she came out of the kitchen, she’d put on a little light make-up, and she looked so good. She greeted him with a hug and a kiss, not a peck but a full-on kiss. His suspicions were not lessened. Her mother left and she slipped her arm around his waist,

“Why don’t you order some take-away, and we can have an early night?”

He nodded, her mother was right, she wasn’t acting normally, but he wasn’t going to rock the boat, not just yet, he just hoped to get through the anniversary and then, maybe, they can start to look to the future.

They ate their takeaway on their laps, sat on the sofa, and watched a little TV, afterwards they lay together on the sofa, his arms around her. She turned and kissed him,

“What brought that on Susan?”

“It’s my apology, I’ve been so miserable lately, it’s not been fair on you, or the family.”

Before he could reply she kissed him again, and her hands started to unbutton his shirt, as their lips parted, he expressed his surprise,

“What here?”

She didn’t reply, she just continued to kiss his chest, moving slowly down his body. He thought about stopping her and asking her what she was up to, but, decided against it, he didn’t want her to explode again.

They slowly undressed each other. The thoughts of why this was happening were soon gone from his head as she revealed her body to him. She still looked so beautiful, and as she lay back on the sofa she looked so sexy.

She smiled at him and invited him to fuck her, he shook his head, and slid down her body and parted her legs before sliding between them and planting his mouth over her pussy. She moaned and as she always did, she lifted her legs over his shoulders and gripped his head between her thighs as he started to lick and tease her pussy. She loved to receive oral from him, and he knew just how to make her feel good.

It was just like always, he felt her orgasm approach, her legs trembled, her breathing quickened, she gripped his head and her hands pressed his head into her. Then she moaned and lifted her bum and cried out as she came hard. He stayed with her until she had calmed and he slid up and kissed her.

“I love you.” She whispered.

He kissed her and slipped inside her as he began to move back and forth slowly. She hooked her feet behind his legs and pulled him into her. Her hands wrapped around his neck and she pressed her lips hard against his and they made love. He thrust into her as she pushed back against him. Their movement synchronised and almost moving as one.

He felt so happy, so at ease, it was as if all of the past few months had been forgotten and she was back, back as her old self once again. He didn’t want it to end. But he soon recognised the old familiar sensations as he pushed faster into her and she thrust her hips up at him.

They were both moaning and groaning as they made love to each other and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to last much longer, and he didn’t. He gave one last thrust and pushed deep inside of her and cried out as his orgasmed rushed over him and he felt himself spurt out into her. She moaned as she felt his warm liquid gush into her. He fell on her and she wrapped her arms around him and held him there until he was spent.

Afterwards, they lay in each other’s arms, he could feel her warm body pressed against his, neither of them spoke, they just lay there, watching the logs in the fire flickering and illuminating the dark room. He didn’t ask why it had happened, he didn’t want to spoil the mood, he just lay with her and enjoyed being close to her once again.

The next morning, she was asleep when he left, as he drove to work, he felt so much more positive. He didn’t understand what had happened the previous night, but there was no denying that there had been a massive improvement in the situation, and for that he was grateful, he hoped that it wasn’t temporary. He received a call from her mother mid-morning, she’d called Susan and she had seemed okay, a little quiet but she didn’t seem to be as depressed as she had been. He didn’t tell her that he thought he knew the reason for that, and with that, he threw himself into his work.

He returned home from work at around six-thirty, he pulled the car onto the drive and switched off the engine, ‘strange? No lights on in the house, maybe she’s asleep?’ As he stepped into the house and turned on the light, he had a strange feeling, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but something didn’t feel right to him. He called out for her, there was no reply. As he began to climb the stairs, he began to feel tense, ‘something’s wrong’. He called out to her again as he made his way upstairs, he was getting scared now, he didn’t like how he was feeling.

He stopped at the top of the stairs, all the doors, apart from the bathroom were ajar, his eyes immediately focussed on the bathroom door. He knew that Susan would always insist that the bathroom door was closed whenever someone was inside, she used to yell at him constantly for not closing it whenever he went for a pee.

“Susan? Are you in the bathroom honey?”

No reply. He placed his hand on the handle and with his hand shaking he slowly turned it, the door cracked open, the room was in darkness, but he could feel, that the room was not empty. He pushed the door open a little further and reached in to turn on the light which filled the room with a soft, creamy glow. He stepped inside and turned, he froze. There she was, lying in the bath, her head flopped to her left, her chin just resting on the flat, still water. He didn’t rush to her, he knew, she was dead!

He stood for a few seconds, he had no idea how long, then he began to shake, he felt like his legs would give way, he knelt beside the bath and slowly reached out, his fingers brushed the side of her face as he placed them on the side of her neck, she was cold, and, there was no pulse, he knew that there wouldn’t be, her skin was pale, it had a grey pallor. He pulled his hand away, she looked like she was asleep. He knelt there for a few moments then slowly got up and left the bathroom, he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. In a trance, he walked downstairs, and, as he neared the bottom he sat on the lower steps and reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and dialled.

“Police please.”