Consumed

“She wouldn’t? You don’t even know her.”

“And you do? She seemed nice. They all did.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” he pointed out to her. “Obviously there’s some fucked up family shit going on in here and we’re slap bang in the middle of it.” He started to fight against the ropes again, despite the damage they were doing to his wrists.

“What are you doing?” asked Lara. The more Joel fought against the ropes, the more he was bumping into her back.

“We can’t just sit here and wait for whoever it is to come back. We need to get out of here. And now.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re probably trying to get out too,” he pointed out. “If they’re even alive.”

“What?!” another flood of panic rushed through her body.

“Nothing. I’m being dramatic. Come on, we need to get out of here. Can you get your hands free? Anything? If one of us can get out… We can help the other…” he continued. “Before they come back!”

Light flooded into the room as the door suddenly opened — giving both Lara and Joel a view of their prison; a derelict room. No carpets, just wooden floorboards. No wallpaper, or even paint, just bricks. There was nothing. When Lara’s eyes adjusted to the sudden light, in the room, she noticed Stephen standing in the doorway.

“Hi,” he said. “Can I get you guys anything to eat or drink?”

“Quick!” whispered Joel, when he realised it was Stephen standing in the doorway. “Undo the ropes.”

Stephen laughed, “Undo them? It took me ages to do them up — why the Hell would I want to undo them?”

“Please…” said Lara.

“Oh ssh now!” said Stephen. “I came here, in good spirits, asking you if you fancied anything to eat. I didn’t come for an argument. Now, are you hungry or not?” He stepped into the room.

“Of course we don’t, you sick fuck. We want to go home… What are you playing at? What do you want?” shouted Joel.

“Okay, for your own sake, I’d stop shouting… You don’t want to disturb my da….” Stephen was cut off mid-sentence as the door slammed behind him plunging them all into darkness. “What the hell was that?” The door’s lock clicked shut. “Great!” He twisted the door handle but the door, unsurprisingly didn’t budge, “Okay, very funny… Come on… Let me out…” He pressed his ear to the door and listened as, whoever had closed it, walked further away from them. He banged on the door but the fading footsteps on the other side didn’t falter. “Brilliant!” he muttered.

“Let me out,” said Joel as he seized the opportunity, “we can force the door together… We can all get out.”

“Seriously… I’m in a good mood… It’s probably just my brother mucking about… Don’t ruin my good mood. Shut up!” Stephen warned.

Joel fell quiet.

* * *

On the other side of the door, Johnny quietly crept away — back down the hallway he had previously snuck up, to catch his brother unaware. He turned the corner and bumped into his sisters.

“Well?” asked Suzanne.

Johnny held the key up that he had used to trap his brother.

“You didn’t talk to him?” asked Tammy.

“Even if he agreed with our plan — we don’t need him. It’s easier this way… We’ll deal with him afterwards…”

“He might be angry,” said Suzanne.

“And we’ll deal with him afterwards!” Johnny snapped. “What would you do if he didn’t agree with us? Back down? Carry on living as we are now?” The girls didn’t answer. “This is easier. It’s better,” he pointed out. “trust me. This is for the best of the family. How long before his temper… His greed… How long before he decides he’s permitted to snack on his kids?” They knew he was right. “Look… Let’s just get this done, yeah? You want it too, right?”

There was a slight pause before they both nodded.

He pushed past them and walked down the stairs. The two girls followed close behind — both of them starting to feel nervous about what was to come.

CHAPTER TEN

The knife slid into Hayley’s face as though it were as soft as butter. She didn’t scream though. The knife’s first cut, across her throat, made sure she made no noise now — other than a strange gurgling noise coming from her mouth — and, more importantly, the first cut ensured she didn’t move around whilst Robert continued working on her body.

The knife moved down slowly so as not to prematurely tear the flesh off the bone. The blade was pulled upwards when it got to her chin — an action which ensured the piece of skin was cut cleanly off.

“Perfect!” sighed Robert as he held the flap of skin up to his eyes for a closer look. “Should have been a butcher!” He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out — dropping Hayley’s skin onto the middle of it. Another sigh escaped his mouth.

“Robert?”

He stopped chewing, “Robert?” he said. “Is that any way to speak to your father?” he didn’t turn around to see who was addressing him from the doorway to the barn. He didn’t need to. He recognised the insolence in the tone as Johnny’s.

“I’m ashamed you’re my father,” Johnny said. Had Robert turned around he’d have seen that Johnny was holding an extremely large knife.