My mother-in-law came to visit, and after she left, the dog started growling and scratching at the ground. So I dug where he barkedand found something utterly horrifying.
My husband and I live out in the quiet countryside. He works on a farm, while I tend to the garden and keep house. His mother lives in London with her youngest son, and if Im honest, weve never really got on. From day one, shes given me disapproving looks and snide remarks. But I put up with itfor my husbands sake. Plus, the distance meant we rarely saw each other.
Then out of the blue, she announced she wanted to “escape the stress of the city” and came to stay with us for a whole week. Said shed missed us. Alarm bells rangbut my husband insisted.
From the moment she arrived, the criticisms started. The soup was too salty, the curtains werent pressed, and apparently, I was raising our five-year-old daughter all wrong. She stirred up trouble constantlyeven managed to start a row between me and my husband. One night, I cracked, crying myself to sleep. I just wanted it to be over.
When she finally left, I breathed a sigh of relief. But the next day, something odd began.
Our dog, Winstonusually the sweetest, cleverest spanielstarted acting strangely. He growled at nothing in the garden, ran in frantic circles, then clawed at the soil near the vegetable patch, barking and digging like mad. I tried calling him awayno luck. He just stared at me and carried on like a dog possessed.
By the next day, he was at it again. I couldnt take itI grabbed a spade. Heart pounding, I thought: *Dogs dont behave like this for no reason.* Something had spooked him. So I dug where hed been barking.
And suddenly, the earth gave way. I froze. Sticking out of the ground was a black bin bag. Tightly knotted. Hands shaking, I yanked it free.
Insidea foul stench and a collection of horrors: clumps of hair, an old childs dress (not my daughters!), a doll with its head snapped off, and a bundle of photos of me, my husband, and our little girl with the eyes scratched out.
A chill shot through me. This wasnt just oddit was something dark. Occult, even. A curse. And who couldve done it?
Only one answer: *Mum-in-law*. She was the only one whod been here. The only one with time to bury it while I was busy in the kitchen or with our daughter.
I didnt know what to do. I took the bag to the vicar. He called it a “curse to break the family apart.”
Now, Im not usually one for superstition, but between Winstons antics and everything shed said and done that week it all fit into one terrifying picture.
Since then, shes banned from our house. I told my husband everythingat first, he didnt believe me, but when he saw the photos and the bag (kept as evidence), he went quiet. Very, very quiet.
And now Winston sleeps by the front door, like hes standing guard.
Ive no idea what she was really trying to do. But one things certain: shes never setting foot in our home again.
Soam I overreacting? Or is there something even darker behind all this?
