Consumed

by Shaw, Matt

  Andrea was sitting at the other end of the table - the raw deal as she had the end with Charlotte’s feet. Tammy and Suzanne were sitting on the sides, opposite one another. There was an empty seat where Johnny and Stephen should have been. The girls, and Andrea, were weeping for Johnny.

  “Am I to presume Stephen didn’t want any part of your plan?” Robert asked as he continued adjusting his napkin. “I take it his body is somewhere around the house?” The girls didn’t answer. “A shame. He was a good son. At least I was able to count on one child out of four.” He looked to Andrea, “Did you know of their plan?” he asked - all the time trying to ignore the pleas of Charlotte.

  “I swear, I didn’t...”

  “Perhaps you even put them up to it?” he interrupted her.

  Charlotte screamed.

  “I suppose I have been strict,” he continued ignoring Charlotte’s scream as though he were used to it, “but I have been so for your own good. I had to protect the family. What I did...What I do...It’s always been for the good of the family as a collective. But I don’t suppose you give a shit, do you?”

  “Please...” Charlotte whispered looking directly at Robert.

  He finally snapped, “I’m trying to have a conversation with my family,” he hissed. “You trying to talk over the top of me...It’s rude...Very fucking rude...Now...I’d be eternally grateful if you’d shut up. Food should be eaten and not heard!” He addressed the rest of the family, “Right now we should be eating as kings and queens. All of us. A family. A real family. Enough food to last us for months but you’ve all played your part in ruining that for each of us.”

  “I won’t tell anyone...I won’t....I promise...” Charlotte pressed her luck. “Whatever I’ve done...I’m sorry.”

  “It’s nice to get fresh food eaten like this,” Robert sighed, “but it’s a real pain in the arse when it doesn’t know its place and continues to yak. Shut...Up....” he bellowed.

  “Maybe we should just eat,” said Andrea. “It might make us feel better.”

  “For once we agree upon something,” said Robert. He leaned forward until his face was nearly touching Charlotte’s, “Now you can start screaming,” he told her.

  He sat upright and put his hand over one of Charlotte’s eyes. As soon as his skin touched her’s she let out a little scream of fright. A louder scream followed when he dug his fingers into her eye-socket. By the time he removed them, he had her left eye in the palm of his hand. Charlotte’s screams got louder and louder - the pain from her eye so unbearable she probably didn’t notice the girls were pulling back her finger nails in a tried and tested method for removing them completely so they wouldn’t get stuck in their throats. Robert slid the eyeball into his mouth and held it there for a second before pressing down with his teeth to the satisfying sound of a pop. A little juice squirted down his chin much to his amusement. He had barely swallowed when he pressed his hand back against Charlotte’s face.

  * * * * *

  “What’s happening down there?” Joel asked from the darkness of the room where he was trapped with Lara and Stephen.

  “It’s dinner time,” Stephen answered as though it were all perfectly normal.

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Dinner time...”

  “That sounds like Charlotte,” said Lara - her voice quivering with fright. “What are they doing to her? What’s happening?”

  “I’m more concerned with how come they’re eating and yet I’m still locked in here,” said Stephen. He stumbled his way, through the blackness, to the locked door and started to bang on it as Charlotte screamed on downstairs. “Hello? Anyone? Come on! I’m hungry too! Why aren’t you letting me out? A joke’s a joke...Come on!”

  “My friend is in trouble,” Joel pointed out, “let me out so I can help her! Please!”

  “Now why would I want to do a thing like that?” asked Stephen. He carried on banging the door, “I’m supposed to be down there with them!” he reminded Joel and Lara.

  “They’re eating her?” asked Lara as another loud scream echoed through the house.

  “I’d say so - yes,” said Stephen. “They’d better save me some that’s all I can say.”

  “You’re fucking nuts! The lot of you!” Lara cried.

  “We’re nuts?”

  “You eat people?”

  “We’re nuts?” Stephen repeated. “You’re nuts! You haven’t even tried it! If you had - you’d realise you were the crazy ones for going so long without trying it! It’s the best fucking meat in the world. Tastes so good. One taste - you never forget. Tell you what, if they’ve left any...” another scream filled the room, “...I’ll sneak some up for you to try. Fair’s fair...”

  “You’re sick!” Joel shouted.

  “I was sick,” Stephen pointed out, “when I was young. I was about five or six, if memory serves correctly, and I caught some disease. Doctors didn’t know what it was. They had me wired to all these machines in the hospital...My chances of survival, they said, were slim to none. My dad...My dad unplugged me from that bed and took me home. He didn’t want me dying in some strange hospital bed. Once home he stayed with me, day in and day out...He fed me this meat...A strange taste which I had never known before but loved...A week later, on this strange diet, and I had enough strength to leave the bed. Two weeks later I was running around in the woods with my younger brother...Years later, occasionally getting another taste of that strange meat, my dad took me into the barn where he had been preparing it...He told me what it was. He showed me. A person. I didn’t know who it was. Some stranger. He had taken them. Skinned them. Fed them to his family. At first I was disgusted. I wanted to run but I didn’t. I was so young - where would I have gone? Mother was there, to reassure me it was okay. She told me they were bad people and it was their way of making amends for their wicked ways - they’d give themselves up to offer us strength in our hours of need. And strength they did give us...None of us...None...We never got ill. Not even a cold. We gained the strength and protection of those whom we devoured...Our own medication to keep us safe in this disease-ridden world...” He started to laugh, “I’m sorry, I can’t keep it up. I’m just playing with you...We just like the taste. Seriously...I mean it...If they leave any of your friend...I’ll get you some to try. Can’t say fairer than that.” He started to laugh when, suddenly, he saw a shadow in the darkness lunge at him. Before he had time to react a fist, hard as concrete, connected to his face causing him to stumble back blindly.

  “What’s happening?” Lara screamed when she heard the commotion - unaware that Joel had managed to free himself from his ropes.

  Stephen stood up, propping himself against the wall, in time for another fist to connect - this time to his stomach. A punch, so hard, it took the wind from him but he didn’t have time to react or attempt to catch his breath as a knee connected to his face; a loud crack from the bridge of his nose as the bone splintered under the skin. No relent. No forgiveness. Another knee directly in the same place as the last. Another. And another. By the time the blows stopping coming, Stephen slumped to the floor barely conscious. The last thing he saw, through instantly blackened eyes, was a large size eleven foot heading down towards his face.

  “Joel?” Lara asked when the banging and crashing came to a stop. There was silence. “Joel?”

  “Yeah,” he said - out of breath. “Talk to me...” he said.

  “Is he dead?” she asked. Joel used the sound of his voice to find his way back to where Lara was tied to the chair. “Joel?” she asked again, “Did you kill him?”

  “I think so. I hope so,” he told her as he fumbled with the ropes which bound her. He stopped when another of Charlotte’s screams ripped through the house. “We have to get out of here,” he said. He carried on with the ropes.

  “What about the others?”

  “What about them?” he asked. “They’re probably already dead...And if they’re not dead yet,” he said as another scream pointed out that at least one of them wa
s still alive, “they’ll be dead soon.”

  “We can’t just leave them,” said Lara.

  “When I said I wanted us to be together...I didn’t mean in a stew!” he said.

  “I’m not leaving them,” she said as the ropes were pulled away from her wrists. He leant forward and started to undo the ones around her ankles. “If you love me - you’ll help me...”

  “This is fucking insane,” he said. “You know that, right? This whole situation...We need to get out of here. We need to...We can get help for them when we’re out!” he told her.

  “I can’t leave it...Them...They’re our friends.”

  “Fine!” he said. “But the first sign of trouble or even a hint that they’re dead...We leave.”

  “Yes,” she said. She dropped the ropes to the floor - free at last.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Charlotte was lying motionless on the table - chunks of flesh missing from her body in various places, two deep black holes where her pretty eyes used to be. The majority of the flesh was missing from Robert’s end of the body.

  “What’s the matter,” he asked as he swallowed the last piece he had in his mouth, “you’re not hungry? Be a shame to waste her.”

  Suzanne looked at Robert whilst nibbling on one of Charlotte’s fingers - which she had already bitten off. “You just killed our brother...Her son...”

  “You were there, Suzanne, it was kill or be killed. Right? Right?” He wiped the excess blood from around his mouth using a part of his napkin. “What do you think?” he asked Andrea.

  “I just wish we could have talked...”

  “That’s what we’re doing now.”

  “Talked before anything happened,” she went on. “We used to talk.”

  “They killed Stephen...Your other son...The three of them...They plotted together...Fucking killed...”

  “He’s not dead,” Suzanne snapped, breaking Robert’s flow.

  “Oh? Then where the fuck is he? He wouldn’t miss out on a meal!”

  “He’s upstairs. Johnny locked him in with the two....” Tammy explained.

  “He’s alive? Go and get him then. Before dinner gets cold,” said Robert. “And then the five of us...We can all sit here and sort this mess out once and for all. Like a proper family!”

  Andrea stood up, “I’m going to start preparing pudding,” she informed the family. She wiped another tear from her face and walked from the room - not that anyone acknowledged her. They were all too busy staring at each other; Suzanne and Tammy watching their father and he was eye-balling them right back.

  “Well? Go and get him,” he ordered the girls. They both stood up, to see his orders through, “Not you,” he pointed to Tammy, “you can wait here...Keep your old man company so I don’t get lonely.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Suzanne told Tammy. She gave her a sympathetic smile. She knew that leaving Tammy with their father was a bad idea but also knew there was no choice without further angering him. Tammy smiled back and Suzanne left the room.

  “You know,” said Robert, “the whole Wendigo thing is bullshit, right?” Tammy looked at him. “It’s a myth. A legend. A story to scare people into not eating Human Flesh. Why they’d want to deny their loved ones something that tastes so good is beyond me, though, it really is...You think...You think if your brother had managed to kill me - do you think you’d have still eaten flesh in years to come?” Tammy didn’t answer. “Yes. I think you would. You like the taste too much, don’t you? I’ve seen you feasting...The look in your eye. Sheer joy. Pleasure. The taste dancing around...Teasing your taste buds...Exploding your senses...Delightful, isn’t it?”

  “Fuck you,” Tammy hissed.

  “Whoa,” said Robert, “check out my little firecracker. I think that’s the first time you’ve ever sworn at me...But, come on, we’ll all chat...Tomorrow...You’ll realise how silly you’ve all been. But, don’t worry, I won’t hold a grudge. I’m not that sort of person. I’m more of a...”

  “Rapist!” Tammy snapped.

  Robert stood up and walked over to where Tammy was sat. He leaned down close to her and whispered, “It’s funny how that’s only a problem now the rest of the family know. You’ve never complained before. If memory serves correctly...Sometimes...”

  “Shut up!”

  “In fact, the first time we ever fucked...”

  “Shut up!” she continued - louder this time.

  “You begged me. When I found you in the car...With your date...He was in the back seat...I need to remind you of how he was? Trousers around his ankle...A slash across his throat...Blood in his lap...You on the back seat next to him...Little panties pulled to one side, rubbing yourself with what appeared to be a piece of his member...Moaning...Sighing...The blood around your mouth...The look in your eyes...”

  “SHUT UP!” Tammy screamed.

  “You begged me to fuck you. Remember that? Begged.”

  “No...”

  “And now the family know we’ve fucked...”

  “You raped me in front of my brother and my mother...”

  “You always liked it rough,” Robert reminded her. “Those nights you told me to come to your room...You’d whisper it in my ear before you’d go upstairs to bed...Whisper it so the rest of the family wouldn’t hear. You know, after feasting on flesh...Your sister...Suzanne...She’s the same. Begs me. Must be an alpha-male thing.”

  “What?”

  “You didn’t know? You didn’t compare notes?”

  “You never fucked her in front of the rest of the family!” Tammy shouted again. “How am I supposed to look them in the eye now?”

  “That’s what the problem is? All the times we’ve fucked...All those times...Now...Now you feel bad about it? Now you think it’s wrong? And now you think I deserve to die?”

  “Johnny was right. You’re not our father anymore.”

  “No. I thought we were something more,” he said. “You and I have always had a special connection but...Well...Now it appears I’m condemned to death. Is that because you want to fuck your brothers now? Younger? Better looking Is that the real reason you were so happy to go along with Johnny’s stupid little plan?” He paused. “God only knows what was going on in your sister’s head. Probably jealous that I sleep with you. Rather see me dead than know we’re lovers too.”

  The door suddenly swung open with so much force it hit the wall with a bang. Robert and Tammy span around to see what caused it; Suzanne was standing there with a knife pressed against her throat. Hiding behind her were Joel and Lara.

  Lara screamed when she saw Charlotte’s body.

  “Dad!” shouted Suzanne.

  Robert stood up, “What the fuck is this?”

  “Where are our friends?” demanded Joel.

  “Well - there’s a little of one of them on the table...If you give us a few days...You can probably fish the rest of them out of the toilet bowl...”

  “Dad - please?” continued Suzanne.

  “Oh - now I’m your father?”

  “I’m not joking,” shouted Joel, “where are they? Tell me or she’s dead.”

  “Kill her. I was only going to kill her later. You’ll be doing me a favour.”

  “What? Dad?”

  Robert noticed the knife for the first time, “The knife...You’ve been in the kitchen? What have you done with my wife?”

  “What?”

  “The woman...In the fucking kitchen...”

  “There was no one there,” said Lara - unable to take her eyes off her friend’s half-eaten body. “Please...We just want to go home.”

  “You’re not going home, okay?” said Robert. “You know it. I know it.”

  “Where are our fucking friends?!” shouted Joel. He pressed the knife against Suzanne’s throat harder causing a little bit of blood to trickle down her neck. She let out a squeal of pain.

  “Daddy - please...”

  “Just kill her already,” said Robert - a smile on his face. “If you can’t kill her.
..How are you going to kill me? Think of her as the practice run before you come to me...I’m Wendigo, don’t you know?” he laughed and winked at Tammy. A laugh cut short by Joel’s scream.

  Robert turned his attention back to Joel just in time to see him drag the knife across his daughter’s throat. Suzanne’s eyes went wide as panic set in - a jet spray of blood spurted from the slit all across the dining room floor. Tammy screamed whilst Robert applauded, “Well done, you, I didn’t think you had it in you...” Joel pushed Suzanne to one side, where upon she fell to the floor clutching hopelessly at her throat, and made a sudden dash forward for Tammy who did little to protect herself from the incoming attack. The knife’s blade pierced her skin as easily as it had slid across her sister’s - a funny sound from Tammy’s mouth, as opposed to a scream, to let all those around realise it was a serious impaling. Robert howled with laughter as he jumped to his feet. “What a day this is turning out to be!” he laughed.