Free Enter the Dead: A Supernatural Thriller by Mark White

didn’t expect was to see Tom arm-in-arm with Sarah, skipping down the marble steps and
laughing together like two love-sick newlyweds, and what he certainly didn’t expect was to see them pausing at the bottom of the steps to embrace and
kiss each other full-tilt on the lips, while all he could do was watch from the
pavement as his world crumbled around him.
    It was only when Tom
caught a glimpse of Sam from the corner of his eye while kissing Sarah that he
broke their embrace and stepped back, wiping his mouth with the back of his
hand as if he was at risk of having contracted some deadly disease. Sarah
followed the direction of Tom’s gaze until her eyes met her husband’s. Sam stared
at her with a vacant expression as her mouth sagged open and her eyes widened
in utter horror and disbelief. As if in a movie, time seemed to stand still, as
the realisation of what was happening slowly dawned on the three main
protagonists.
    If ever there was a
moment when Sarah wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole, then
this was it. She felt her knees trembling and her heart pounding but was powerless
to stop them. She took a step towards Sam and held out her arms, like a zombie
staggering towards its next meal, but he instinctively recoiled, shunning her
advances.
    ‘Sam,’ she said, tears filling
her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. ‘Sam…wait.’
    He wasn’t going
anywhere. Instead, he stood rooted to the pavement and stared at her, unable to
grasp what he was seeing. As far as he was aware, he’d never been cheated on
before. He had several friends and acquaintances to whom their wives or
partners had been unfaithful – didn’t everyone? -  and he’d witnessed the
heartbreak and abject misery that infidelity could inflict upon its victims, but
not once had he even remotely considered that Sarah would do something like
this to him. Not his Sarah. No way. Not possible.
    ‘Sam, listen to me,’
she pleaded, drawing close and reaching out to touch him.
    ‘Get away from me,’ he
said, shrugging her arm off his shoulder.
    ‘Please, I can explain
everything. Just listen to me.’
    ‘Explain what, Sarah?
That you’re in love with Tom?’
    ‘Love? I’m not in love
with Tom!’
    ‘Then it’s purely sex,
is it? No-strings fucking behind your husband’s back.’
    ‘No! That’s not how it
is.’
    ‘Of course it’s not,’
Sam said, and this time it was his turn to shed tears. ‘Why…why would you do
this to me? How could you? You’re my wife, for Christ’s sake!’
    ‘You need to
understand,’ she said. ‘I did this for a reason. I did it to protect you. I did
it so you could get your job back.’
    ‘My job? You’re having
an affair with Tom in order for me to keep my fucking job? Is that it? Is that
the best you can come up with?’
    ‘Sam-’
    ‘How long has this been
going on for, eh? A week? A month? A year?’
    ‘You don’t understand.
You need to listen to me.’
    ‘Just answer the
question, would you? How lon-’
    ‘Four years,’ Tom said,
walking down the steps and joining them. Compared to Sam and Sarah, he seemed
far more at ease with the situation. His face was emotionless, his body
language calm and self-assured. ‘Sarah and I have been seeing each other for
nearly four years, mate.’
    Sam looked at Sarah,
his eyes pleading with her to tell him that Tom was lying. ‘Four years?’ he
said, his voice almost a whisper. ‘You’ve been seeing him for four years?’ He
felt himself beginning to tremble again, the damage to his self-confidence being
made worse by Tom’s arrogant indifference. ‘Is this true?’
    ‘Sam, it’s not-’
    ‘Is this true?’
    ‘Yes,’ she whispered,
dropping her chin to her chest and staring at the ground. ‘It’s true.’
    For what seemed like
minutes the three of them stood together without saying a word. Had it been any
other man’s wife, Tom would have justifiably feared for his own safety,
anticipating a fist or a boot being smashed