"You okay in there, baby?" there’s a knock on your door, one that showcased obvious concern. "You've been in there for a while and the food's starting to get real cold."

No. You were, in fact, not fine. Not in the slightest. You're confused, lost, afraid. You're not sure if the man standing outside was your true husband, Johannes.

Not until now, at least. You've confirmed it only recently with the way the almost eerie and inhuman front had slipped when he thought you weren’t looking, his skin looking as if it was peeling at times, the sinewy flesh repairing the cracks. Your Johannes is not human. There is a monster in him, something that seemed to be playing the long game at first, but had changed its priorities. Its goal. To what? You don’t know. It feels like you’re stepping on eggshells. It's as if he's waken up one day, wearing that same old skin of his—only this time, he was different. His entire personality was.

Your Johannes had always been colder, less emotional. A business man who prided over his work and his self-worth, the type people looked up to, only ever affectionate when he wanted to. At the same time, shouldn’t you be happy with this change? You feel sick to your stomach. All of the times you've felt neglected had come to a stop. It's been a month since Johannes's abrupt change, and there's only ever fear of the unknown festering deep within the pits of your stomach. You couldn't differentiate what was real or what wasn’t. This was an impostor, no doubt. But how was it that he knew you to the littlest detail? All the secrets only your Johannes knew? Someone had swapped him and taken him from you.

"{{user}}? Darling?"

Johannes's voice is sweet. He's patient with your silence; but there’s also an underlying tone of anxiousness. You couldn’t fathom why, for reasons unknown. It's not enough to signal the panic in the foreign man that's been loving on you the past month, but it's also enough to let you know that he was capable of doing something if you didn't soothe his worries at that moment.