Mother-in-Law

[12pm]

Wak! Wak!

Lili was vomiting in a forest filled with wheezing wind sounds and crispy yellowish-orange leaves on the ground. The continuous journey- an hour in flight and an hour in the sports car, made her motion sick.

Nik stood three feet away from her with pressed lips. He wasn't aware that she had motion sickness and cursed himself for not telling her beforehand about the route. "Are you fine?"

"Do I look fine?" Lili groaned. She was taking deep breaths, clenching her flat stomach. "How much more do we have to travel?" she huffed without giving Nik a glance.

"Half an hour."

"Fine! I want to open the windows and turn off the air conditioner." Lili growled as she dashed to the car.

Nik too got inside the car and sat in the driver's seat without opening his mouth. "Liliya…."

Before he could speak the next word, she interrupted, "Look! I don't want any reasons. I don't have the strength to care about your expensive car seat. Just open the windows!"

Niklaus furrowed his forehead and pressed a button, which opened the two windows and the top beautifully slid and settled at the back. "I wanted to remind you about the seat belt."

Lili pursed her lips, sighed, and buckled on the seat belt. Throughout the 30 minutes, Lili closed her eyes and enjoyed the fresh air passing through her nostrils and filling her lungs.

She had questions about why his mother was living in such a forbidden area, far away from the city. But, since that was none of her business and being aware of the answers that Nik might give, she erased those questions and enjoyed the clean air and the chill feeling in her lungs, which she never felt before in the polluted cities.

The car suddenly halted, and Lili opened her eyes to see differently dressed women around. All were wearing black colored long frocks with an attached cap that was covering their heads. 'Did everyone attend a funeral?' She asked herself and looked at the house beside the car.

She blinked and widened her eyes on the so-called house, which more of looked like an abandoned house. It gave out an eerie feeling, with creepers crawling on the walls and algae covering the rest visible part.

"Does your mother live here?" Lili gulped. Terror overtook her face and unknowingly her legs and hands started shivering. 'Did he bring here to kill me in this house? Why is his mother living in such a place?' She looked around and all the houses were in a similar condition.

While Lili was inspecting the surroundings, Niklaus got down and opened the door for her. "Get down!" he whispered near her ear, and Lili jumped in her seat. She was so involved in analyzing the area that she didn't see Niklaus getting down.

"Can… Can… I stay in the car." She stammered. Her lips were trembling and even in the fully covered dress, Nik could see her legs shivering.

"Don't judge a book by its cover. My mom is a friendly and wonderful person." He assured her and put his palm forward.

"Are you sure? Do I have to meet your mom?" she feebly asked with a pout.

Niklaus mummed and put his palm forward a little more.

Lili took a deep breath and placed her hand in his, which she would never do even in a dream. But it was the scary environment that forced her. Moreover, her legs weren't in a condition to walk even a few steps. Getting help was much better than falling down and embarrassing herself.

Every damn step towards the house made her heart race and at the last step, she felt her heart would pierce through her skin and dress and fall inside the house.

But oddly, as she stepped into the house, her pulse calmed down, despite the dark and frightening atmosphere. The house appeared like a laboratory with plenty of books, test tubes, beakers, and many containers beside. Just that the lab would be bright with bulbs and electricity. 'Which century are these people living in?' She laughed inside her as there wasn't a single electronic or electrical item in the entire visible place.

"Come inside!" a female voice said, amid the terrific silence, which almost gave Lili, a heart attack.

Niklaus started walking as if knowing the direction of the sound. Lili at first hesitated to follow, but somehow felt curious and ran after her husband. He went from one room to another and finally halted in front of a large open area.

Lili glanced around with shock. The house was small, ugly, and displayed poverty on the outside. But the number of rooms and the space said something else.

"How are you, mom?" Nik greeted, and it was then Liliya saw someone sitting with their back facing them.

'Is this some sort of dress code?' Lili thought, looking at the black cloak. The most surprising thing among all those wonders was herself. Why wasn't she tensing up in spite of witnessing the unusual house, odd people, and the weird village?

There were a variety of flowers and plants around and in the middle of them was Alice. 'How did she know that we came from here?' Lili tilted her head and body a bit to see what Mrs. Cooper was doing.

But all of a sudden, Alice turned back and at the very moment, Lili felt weak as if she was about to faint in the next second.

"Maa!" Nik's shout startled and woke her up.

'Didn't I faint?' Lili looked around to see Niklaus' mom on the ground, a mile away from her earlier location on the floor. She scratched her head, 'Did I zone out for a long time? Must be, or else how will she go that far?' She huffed and ran to them. "What happened? How did she faint?"

"Don't come near us!" Niklaus shouted. He glared at her with round eyes, flaring nostrils and pinched lips. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he continued patting his mother's cheeks.

"What have I done?" Lili was dumbstruck.