One Last Love Letter

Dearest Husband,

Do you remember the cold? I do. It was the kind of cold that seeps into bone and burns a hole into your memory. You gave me that cold. You wrapped it around my final breath like a gift I never asked for.

You stole my name and my breath from the air, but it lingers in the dust in our apartment. You tried to bury my voice, but it's humming in your pipes. You thought silence would be your shield... your reward. But that silence is where I live now.

I thought you knew me. Not just the me I shared with the world. The real me. My laugh and the curve of my hips. You knew the fire within me, but you feared it and tried to extinguish it.

I'm not gone. I am the flicker of your lights. The breath on your neck... I am the whisper in your dreams that wakes you with the guilt you can't handle. You thought my blood would buy you peace, but I am not just garbage to be thrown out or a seed to be buried. You will never know peace. I'm the echo that will never fade. You ended my life with your strong hands but a coward's heart. I don't forgive you.

Death isn't the end. I will be here every moment for the rest of your life, twisting your dreams into nightmares that wake you and leave you gasping for breath. You will never know rest.

Remember how you smiled as the light left my eyes? You enjoyed yourself, didn't you? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I will enjoy watching you quiver for the rest of your days as my name burns like a curse in your ears.

You can lock your door and wash your hands. You can bury the truth beneath a garden of lies and roses... but I will never leave your side. I am the shadow that moves when you blink and the cold that clings to your bones no matter how high you turn the heat. You carry me now in the blood on your hands and in the strained breath you take that barely stops you from suffocating.

You will never be alone again.

Every time you laugh, I will be there to remind you what you stole. Every time you touch someone else, I'll be the chill that makes them pull away. You will never feel warmth without ice or joy without dread.

You wanted to punish me. But instead, I am your punishment. You made me a ghost, but I am still watching and waiting. I have nothing but time.

Love, your wife Anna.

This is my entry for the unofficial challenge Tales From Beyond: The Haunted Letter Challenge which you can read about here-