Enouement

It is peaceful and quiet in the residence of Knight's. All lights are out, sleeping peacefully on their respective bedrooms. Their large European style house is covered with thick snow and placed in between two ordinary houses. It also what makes them outstand yet at the same time center for attraction in their neighborhood. Although, most of their neighbors envied and mostly talked about them, they simply do not care as they live whatever they want to do in their lives. They have an enormous swimming pool in the backyard and a treehouse adjacent to it.

It's snowing and way past of midnight, stars are clearly visible in the sky and ready to be stargazed but the people are seemed to be too deep on their sleep to even dare to go outside just to stargaze. The hoot of an owl keeps the silent neighborhood alive and lively. The road on their street is filled with stacked-up snows and a gentle winter breeze is flowing in the air, knocking onto their windows, seemingly trying to get inside. Some lampposts are flickering but it what makes them fight the darkness in night. Tiny snowflakes slowly fall from the sky as if they are trying to get ahead from others. It is almost a perfect environment when a sudden barge of knocking onto their front door snapped them from their eternal slumber.

"W-who is that?" a woman in his late 40s stuttered, unconsciously biting her nails in fear and looking right up into her husband. Her husband also feels the same way but looks more collected than her anxious wife. "I don't know honey but I'll try to look at it." His lips quivered and paled; he can't help but to think of the worst. He is also visibly shaking ever so slightly. He carefully stands up, attempting to not make a noise as much as possible, grabbing a bat from their cabinet with his already sweating palms. A drop of sweat escapes his temple each time he overthinks and imagines a scenario that would happen if he opened that door.

"B-be careful, love," the wife uttered, fear lingering in her voice as she clutches the silk of their bedsheet. A worry glints in her eyes as they automatically follow her husband's movement, thinking of the worst-case scenario she decides to shift her thoughts into positive ones and praying for the safety of her husband. As her husband walks out of the room, a dark hallway greets him. He fished out his little flashlight from his pajama pockets, which he usually brings with him at night. He lit the area and a path to downstairs came into view. He holds the bat firmly and raises it up into his shoulder, albeit there is a faint tremble in his actions. He can't help but think what were to happen if it is a thief who would stab him right after he opens the door or worse, a group of maniacs that would massacre them. On the other hand, it could be just a stray cat or something that was caught by the wind and happened to bang the door. Yet the knock is continuous, which definitely breaks the idea of the cat and the thing that caught by the wind, making the husband more anxious than he was earlier. The bang on the door is becoming more aggressive-- the person on the other side is demanding to open the door. His legs start to give out and the possibility of death is finally crossing his mind. He switched the lights on, making everything shine in the light but it doesn't help his fear subside. He approaches the door, reaching and turning the doorknob slowly with his right hand, his palms becoming sweatier, eyes dilated already in horror. Anticipating the cat as an omen, he closes his eyes and ready to smack the intruder with his bat when the person behind the door screams at the top of his lungs, making a high-pitched noise and bombarding the whole neighborhood.

A woman? A bucket of cold water washed over the husband's body as a sign of relief, his legs weaken and almost falls into the ground but manages to keep his posture. He looked at the woman incredulously, waiting for an explanation for her sudden appearance, frantically knocking. The woman smiles sheepishly, scratching her hair in embarrassment.

"Honey!! I'm coming to save your ass!" the wife shouts, swiftly coming down the stairs with a gun in her hand. She stopped by her tracks when she saw a woman standing at their doorway. "Honey, who is this?" she asked as she pointed her finger to the mysterious woman. "Are you keeping something from me? A mistress? A whore?" she began to question as she approached her husband and gripped his arm. She gritted her teeth, and the husband felt her nails digging in his arms. The woman in question is just watching them making her frustrations rise "answer me!"

"You filthy-" She was about to strike the mysterious woman with the gun when Mark instinctively reaches her out and snatches the gun out of her grip.

"Maria! Calm down, she is not my mistress nor my whore. And for fuck's sake I don't have any of that." He hugs her from behind, trying to calm her down. It is proven successful when her ragged breathing slows down. The mysterious woman just awkwardly observes, still standing in the doorway seemingly waiting for an order to obey. The couple stared back at her with distaste apparent on their faces. The woman then vehemently bows down to apologize and it is enough for the married couple to accept the apology.

A few moments later, they let her in and give her a blanket, since they noticed her shaking from the cold. She seems unfamiliar and weird. The Knights have been here for a long time so they already know the people in this village, assuming that she must have been from a far place and came down over to their village. Probably an escapee of a girl who eloped with her boyfriend as she did only come alone carrying nothing but the clothes she wears, a red laced-up dress with red heels, atypical for the current season. She is also carrying a purse but not that they care anyway. The couple sit in front of the woman, who is merely staring blankly at the firepit. They try to call her out but she is in a daze so Mark decides to wave his hand in front of her face. The woman flinches and finally looks at the couple with glazed eyes, suddenly out of words to utter.

"What happened to you, young lady? You seem new here," Mark asks with a furrowed forehead. Maria excuses herself for a moment to make them hot chocolate. Mark simply nods his head without looking at her direction, his eyes laid to the woman's undecipherable gaze. The woman tries to speak but no words come out of her mouth. Mark sighs and tries again. "What is your name then?"

The woman instead looks back at the firepit, completely entranced with its flames. Abruptly, her eyes widened and stares back at Mark, making the latter flinch.

"I am Roxanne, Roxanne Knight. I am your son's wife!"