I'm the Only One Who Remembers My Mother-in-Law

My wife, Sarah, doesn’t have the biggest family. Her dad died when she was young and she never got to know his side of the family. She mainly grew up with her mom and younger sister. On occasion, she’d sometimes see her aunt and a cousin or two, but mainly it was her, her sister, and her mom.
Her mom is where the story starts.
I never liked my mother-in-law, mainly because the feeling seemed mutual. That woman hated me from day one, always finding the time to tell my wife just how bad a husband and father I was. I don’t know what I did to piss this woman off, but regardless, she made sure to make my marriage as difficult as possible. Thankfully, she didn’t live with us, but she’d still call often, mainly to complain about me.
Whenever there were money problems, Sarah would hear, “I told you to marry that doctor.”
Our son got in trouble at school? “This wouldn’t have happened if Tim had a better male role model.”
Hell, if I had to call a plumber to the house, it would be, “You know, a real man would know how to do this himself.”
You can see why I don’t care for her, yeah?
So, a few weeks back, I was laid off from my job. “Corporate downsizing,” they called it. I was already feeling a mixture of shame, sadness, and anxiety from the loss of my job when, just to make things worse, my mother-in-law finds out. I told Sarah not to tell her, but I guess she needed to talk to someone. My mother-in-law, naturally, did not have anything nice to say. I could hear her insults over the phone.
This led to a huge fight between me and Sarah that ended with me sleeping on the couch that night.
I took this time on my own to engage in what I call my “coping mechanism.” Whenever my mother-in-law says something that really gets under my skin, I open up the Tor browser and look up Deep Web hitman sites. Don’t get me wrong, I know they’re all fake, but sometimes it’s fun to imagine that I can find someone to take care of this big pain in the ass in my life. Of course, I had no intention of actually using them, even if they were real. It was all fantasy for me. Or, well, it was.
Anyway, while I was browsing your standard Albanian mafia murder for hire sites, I come across a new one. This one was different than the others. It didn’t advertise murder exactly. Instead, the site said the service it offered was “erasing.” A blurb on the site said:
Have person who cause pain? Want someone go away? We will erase them, every part. No trace left! Payment done after erasure complete. We are professionals.
With the broken English, my guess was that the site meant to write “kill” but ended up with “erase” due to a mistranslation. This wasn’t uncommon; most of these hitman sites weren’t exactly written by native English speakers. However, what most of them didn’t say was that they’d take payment after the job was done.
In what would be one of the stupidest decisions in my life, I thought, “Eh, what the hell? Might be a fun way to waste a few minutes,” and made an account on the site. I messaged the guy running it, someone named Ruya, telling him I wanted my mother-in-law “erased.” Less than a minute later, I got a response.
“Give name address dob of target. First part done in 24hrs orless. Final erase done in 2weeks at late. Payment done after erasure complete.”
I asked how much I’d need to pay.
“Payment done after erasure complete,” was the only response Ruya sent.
Shrugging to myself, I sent Ruya the info on my mother-in-law.
“Thank for info. First part done in 24hrs orless. Final erase done in 2weeks at late.”
With that message, I got some sleep.
I woke up the next day and decided to patch things up with Sarah. I made some breakfast for my family, much to their surprise.
“What’s the occasion?” Sarah asked.
“Just wanted to do something nice,” I said.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have too much time to chat. Sarah had to get to work and Tim had to get to school. Still, Sarah said, “Breakfast was good, honey. Thank you,” and kissed my cheek. She asked Tim, “And what do we say?”
Tim, who was still chewing, said with a full mouth, “Thansh dad, breffis ish good!”
Sarah and I chuckled.
“Let’s talk after you get back home, ok?” I told her.
She looked at me with a bit of confusion, then said, “Alright, sure.”
And with that, the two of them left, leaving me at home to job hunt. I spent hours scouring Indeed and ZipRecruiter, sending out my resume to various companies. They say job hunting is a full time job, and until that moment I had forgotten how true that was. But, since it was a full time job, I felt that after those few hours, I was entitled to a break. So, out of curiosity, I went back to that hitman site from the night before. Apparently, I’d gotten a message.
“First part done.”
Wait, what? They actually did it?
I felt a pit form in my stomach. No way that happened. Sure, I hated the woman, but I didn’t want her dead. It’s probably nothing. Most of these sites were scams. Right?
Still, I had to check. First thing I tried doing was calling her. While I usually hated calling her, at that moment, I’d have been truly relieved to hear her voice.
Instead, I heard, “This number is no longer in service.”
The pit in my stomach deepened. Something was definitely going on. I got in my car and drove to her house. As I pulled into her driveway, I noticed that her car wasn't there.
Maybe she’s gone out? I told myself.
Regardless, I walked to her door, noting the overgrown lawn. My mother-in-law took very good care of her lawn. Just what the hell was going on?
I knocked on the door. No answer. I walked through the weeds and overgrowth, and looked through the windows into the house. It was empty. No photos, no furniture, nothing. It’s like no one lived here.
“Hey,” said someone behind me. I jumped at the sudden noise, then turned around to see my mother-in-law’s neighbor. He laughed at my surprise. “Don’t worry, buddy, I don’t bite. Guessing you’re looking to buy this place, huh?”
“I was actually looking for my mother-in-law,” I told him.
He looked at me in confusion. “Here?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Think you’ve got the wrong house, pal. No one’s lived here for, gosh, well as long as I’ve lived around here.” Upon seeing my shocked look, he patted me on the back and said, “Hey, you’re lucky. I wish I could forget where my in-laws lived!” He chuckled at his own joke, and I laughed along awkwardly.
What the hell had I done?
By the time I got home, it was dark. Sarah was already home with Tim.
“Where were you?” she asked.
“I was, uh, out,” I replied.
She raised an eyebrow. “Out?”
I noticed Tim watching our conversation. “Hey, why don’t you go in your room? Mommy and daddy need to talk,” I said.
“Ok,” he said.
When he was out of earshot, Sarah asked, “What is going on?”
I took a deep breath, trying to figure out how best to explain this. I decided on, “There’s something up with your mom.”
“My mom?”
I nodded. “I went to her house and she just wasn’t there. It was like she was never there.”
“How do you know my mom?”
That brought me up short. “I…uh…well, she’s your mom. I met her when you and I started dating.”
Sarah had tears in her eyes. “I never knew my mom,” she said. “She died right after I was born. Then my dad left and…” She took a deep breath, collecting herself. “You know this. What the hell kind of game are you playing?”
“I…I…” I was dumbfounded. I had no idea what to say. My words trailed off, until I quietly said, “I’m sorry.”
She walked away in a huff. Guess that meant another night on the couch.
I pulled up that website again, looking at that message from Ruya.
“First part done.”
I replied back with, “What the hell did you do?”
“Did first part.”
“I thought you were gonna kill her! No one remembers her except me!”
“Not kill. Erase.”
“Can you un-erase her then?”
“No. Erased is erased.”
Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. I had this woman killed. No, worse than killed. Erased from…well, from everything. What the hell was I going to do?
Wait. Think for a second. She’s gone. No one remembers her. That means no investigation. No one will ever know about this. I’ll never be charged with anything. No one can prove there was a crime if the victim never existed. I get away scot-free, and I’ll never have that old bat butting into my marriage ever again.
What’s done is done, right? Like Ruya said, she can’t be un-erased. Might as well make the most of it. “Alright,” I responded. “How much do I owe you?”
“Payment done after erasure complete. Only first part done.”
“But the person I wanted erased is gone.”
“Erase every part. No trace left. Only first part done so far.”
“What else is there to do?”
“Erase every part.”
I tried asking for clarification, but got no response.
With that, I tried going to sleep.
I had a dream where I was in a room full of people. Right next to me was my mother-in-law. I went to touch her, but as soon as I did, she vanished in a puff of smoke. Everyone else I touched suffered the same fate. Friends, family, random actors and fictional characters, all gone. Soon, there was only one person left: Sarah. I went to hug her, but when I wrapped my arms around her I found myself hugging empty air. I looked around, and saw no one. I was alone.
“Dad?” I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Tim, standing behind me.
I went to hug him. Right as my arms wrapped around him –
I woke up in a sweat, only to see Tim standing over me.
“You ok, dad?” he asked.
“Yeah…just had a bad dream.”
“Are you and mom ok?”
“We will be, don’t worry, bud.”
I got up, ruffled his hair, and went to try patching things up with Sarah. I knocked on the door to our room. She was finishing getting dressed for work.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hello,” she replied, coolly.
“I’m, uh, I’m sorry about last night.”
“Sorry about lying to me or sorry about playing some sick trick on me?”
“Um…both?”
She let out a sound of disgust. “I’m gonna be late for work. We’ll talk about this later.”
“Wait,” I said. She gave a look that said, ‘Make it quick.’
“I…I was drunk last night. Losing my job was tough, and so I went to the bar to drink. I came home a bit buzzed, and that’s why I forgot about your mom. I lied to you about where I was because I didn’t want you to worry,” I lied.
“You drove home drunk?” she asked.
“I was only buzzed,” I replied.
She glared at me.
“I won’t do it again, I promise.”
“Alright, sure. We’ll talk about this later. I need to get to work.”
And with that, I was home alone yet again. I went back to job hunting, and hoped like hell my marriage wasn’t going to fall apart. I tried not to think about whatever Ruya meant by “Erase every part.”
Sarah and Tim came home, and my wife and I did end up having that discussion. We agreed that I wouldn’t lie to her again, and if something like this happened again she’d take Tim and go stay with a friend.
After that, things mostly returned to normal. It was honestly nice for a few days, especially since I didn’t have to deal with my mother-in-law’s complaints. Since I was home, I made dinner every night, much to my family’s appreciation. I continued job hunting and soon enough had an interview.
As I was getting ready for my interview, Sarah said, “Oh, don’t forget: my aunt’s coming over tonight for dinner.”
“Alright, sounds good. I should be back in time to make something for everyone,” I told her.
She kissed me. “Good luck.”
The interview went fine. They said they’d call me back in a few days. I picked Tim up from school, drove back home, and worked on making dinner for four. Tim came in the kitchen and asked, “Why are you making so much food?”
“Oh, we’re having a guest tonight. Didn’t your mother tell you?”
He shook his head.
“Well, your great-aunt is coming over tonight. That means you got to be on your best behavior, alright?”
Tim nodded.
“Great. Now go finish your homework, ok?”
“Okkkkkkkkay,” Tim groaned as he went to his room.
I finished making dinner and got the table set up. Sarah got home and, looking at the places set for four people, asked, “Are we expecting someone?”
“Your aunt, remember? You told me this morning she was coming over for dinner.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I don’t have an aunt.”
My stomach dropped.
“Erase every part.”
Did Ruya mean every part of my mother-in-law’s family? Is that why Sarah doesn’t remember her aunt?
Sarah saw my worried expression, and came to a different conclusion.
“You drank again, didn’t you?” she asked.
“No, wait – ”
“I told you not to do it again, and yet you went out and did it anyway. Did you even have an interview today?”
“I did, I swear, I – ”
She held up a hand. “Stop. I know you’re lying to me. I just…I can’t trust you anymore.”
“Please,” I said, with tears in my eyes. “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right, I don’t. But I don’t think anything you say will make me understand.”
I kept trying to convince her that I wasn’t lying, but it was no use. The truth is, I was lying, but I couldn’t tell her the truth. If anything, the truth would only make things worse.
So, she took our son, and left. I sat alone in an empty house, and cried myself to sleep.
The next day, I woke up to see Tim standing over me.
Wait, Tim?
I jumped out of bed and hugged him.
“You’re back!” I said.
“I never left,” he replied.
I let go of him. “I thought your mom took you and went to a friend’s house?”
He gave me that confused look I’d come to dread.
“My…my mom? I…I thought…” he said, choking up.
I hugged him softly. “I’m sorry. I just forgot. It’s ok.”
I dropped my son off at school, and then called Sarah’s sister. I didn’t expect much, but I had to try.
“Hello? Who’s this?” she asked.
“Your sister’s husband,” I said.
“My sister? What the fuck is wrong with you? My sister died before I was born, you sick fuck! I – ”
I hung up.
I got home, pulled up the website, and messaged Ruya again.
“You erased my wife,” I wrote.
“Erase every part. Erasing almost done.”
I didn’t reply back. What was there to say?
My son and I had a quiet dinner.
The next day, I called Sarah’s sister again. I’m not sure why. I guess I wanted to see if she was still around.
“This number is no longer in service.”
I wish I were surprised.
I messaged Ruya again.
“You’ve got everyone. The erasing is done.”
“No. Erasing almost done.”
“Who is there left to erase?”
“Erase every part.”
Oh god. There was one last part.
“Please don’t do this. You’ve done enough. He’s just a boy.”
“Erase every part.”
“Don’t do this, you sick fuck! You’ve done enough! Erase me instead!”
“You’re not a part. Erase every part.”
Our conversation continued like that for a bit before I gave up. There was no reasoning with him.
I thought of calling the cops, the FBI, someone, but then realized that they wouldn’t believe me. No one could prove there was a crime if the victims never existed. There was nothing I could do.
I picked Tim up from school. He talked about his day. I listened to every part, putting every word to memory. We had dinner together, as I tried not to cry into my food. Before he went to bed, I hugged him as long as I could and told him I loved him. The world would forget him, but I refused to.
Finally, I went to sleep.
I woke up to an empty house.
My son was gone. My wife was gone. Any proof they existed outside of my memories was gone.
I checked the site again.
“Erasure complete. Send payment.”
“I’m not paying you. You erased my family.”
“We did job you asked.”
“Fuck you. I don’t even have the money to pay you.”
“Payment not in money.”
“What the hell is it in then?”
“Payment to be sent in 24hrs.”
And with that, I couldn’t message Ruya anymore. I don’t know how he was going to get his payment then. Honestly, I didn’t care. What the hell else could he take from me?
It’s been almost 24 hours since I got that message. I still have no idea what he wants. I’ve mainly alternated between crying and writing this. I need there to be some proof that all of this happened, that these people existed. They need to exist in more than my memory.
I need
Wait, what am I writing?
A mother-in-law? Sarah? Tim? That can’t be right.
After all, I’ve never been married.
Category:Dorkpool
Category:Computers and Internet