Consumed

by Shaw, Matt

  He suddenly stopped and withdrew his fingers.

  She opened her eyes in time to see him climb from the table with a look of shame on his face. His eyes back to a more normal colour as though he had come to his senses - brought back, with a bump, by his own guilty conscience.

  “No,” he whispered - more or less to himself. “No.” He turned and hurried from the room, closing the door behind him.

  Charlotte couldn’t help but let slip with a sigh of relief even though she knew it was far from over. She called out, “Somebody help me!” despite knowing the chances of anyone coming to her aid were slim.

  * * * * *

  Tammy was in her bedroom, against Dan’s corpse, crying on the soiled bed. Suzanne was sitting on the side of the bed trying to comfort her.

  “What’s happened?” she asked. “What is it? Tell me...” Suzanne didn’t need Tammy to say what was causing the tears. She knew only too well. She had been in the same position herself. She recognised the limp that Tammy walked with when she passed Suzanne’s bedroom to get to her own room. It was a limp she had walked with on many occasions - usually late at night after her father had paid her a visit, drunk on the taste of flesh. For him to attack Tammy without even a hint of the taste of flesh, without even taking a taste of what was to come...Clearly he was already in a frenzied mood. Suzanne put her arm around Tammy but still Tammy didn’t say what was wrong. She just buried her face against Suzanne’s chest as though it was a safe haven from any monsters looming.

  There was a gentle knock on the door.

  “Come in,” Suzanne called out - she hoped that, whoever it was, they’d be able to have more success in calming Tammy down.

  Johnny pushed the door open, “Can I come in?”

  Suzanne nodded. Johnny stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, after a quick look to make sure his father wasn’t nearby.

  “Are you okay?” he asked Tammy. He had partly felt responsible for what had happened. It had been his idea to tell their parents what Tammy had done - not that they had had much of a choice. She didn’t respond. “We need to do something about him...” It didn’t matter that Suzanne heard him. He knew she had suffered at the hands of Robert too. They all had. “We shouldn’t have to live like this...In fear of him...”

  “It’s not him,” said Suzanne.

  “Bullshit, who else is it?”

  “You know who.”

  “No, I don’t believe in that. And you don’t either,” he retorted.

  “Maybe we should,” she continued.

  “Believe in what?” asked Tammy, wiping away the tears from her cheeks.

  “You don’t remember the stories dad told us as we were growing up?” asked Suzanne.

  She shook her head.

  “Don’t even start, Suzanne...None of it...It’s not true. It’s just stories. Some little tribes in North America...Around that area...Stories to tell their children...To scare them away from what we have grown up enjoying...”

  “Tell me,” Tammy insisted.

  “I don’t think our dad is always himself,” said Suzanne. “He used to tell us of a legend...Told by...I think...Algonquian people...The legend of Wendigo...”

  “Why are you telling her this? You don’t believe in it...You said so yourself.”

  “Maybe I was wrong. We were wrong.” She continued, “A malevolent spirit that could possess humans. People who were...People who liked...What we like...Flesh...Human flesh...We are more at risk.”

  “Then why haven’t we been possessed?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps because he has been doing it for longer. They say that, when possessed, you’d become violent and obsessed with eating human flesh...You know how hungry he can get...You know how violent he can get too.”

  Tammy started to cry again, “But...I couldn’t stop myself either.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I knew I shouldn’t have done what I did but I couldn’t stop myself. From the moment they got here...I knew what I wanted and, at the first opportunity, I took it.”

  “It’s not the same,” said Suzanne. “You were just hungry. We all are. It’s been months since we’ve had a good meal. A proper meal. Other meat just doesn’t satisfy the cravings as much. You are not like him, though. None of us are. We wouldn’t hurt each other...We wouldn’t. How many times has he hurt you?”

  “I forgot.”

  “I try to too,” nodded Suzanne. “Too many times to count. Too many times to forget. He isn’t our father anymore. He is something else.”

  “So you agree we need to do something then?” Johnny butted in.

  Suzanne nodded, “What about Stephen and mum though?”

  “They’re either with us or against us.”

  “And what about our guests?” Suzanne enquired further.

  Johnny smiled, “I’m sure we’ll work up a hunger.”

  * * * * *

  “Who’s that?” asked Joel with a hint of fear in his voice. He was tied to a chair with ropes around his wrists and ankles. Unbeknownst to him, in the same position behind him was Lara.

  “Joel? Is that you?”

  “Lara?” Joel tried to turn his head to see her but couldn’t. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she replied - the same fear in her voice. “I just woke up here. What happened?”

  “I’m the same. Just woke up. Can you see anything?” he asked.

  “No.”

  They were sitting in one of the house’s many rooms - not that they knew that as all the lights were off and there appeared to be no windows to let in any light or glimpse of their surroundings.

  “I’m scared,” Lara whispered.

  Joel wanted to tell her that everything was okay. He wanted to tell her that he’d protect her from whoever did this to them. He wanted to say it but didn’t because he knew it would’ve been nothing more than a lie - a lie which would have been easy for anyone to detect.

  “Me too,” he whispered back.

  “Where are the others?”

  Again, he didn’t answer. Lara didn’t expect him to. It was more of a rhetorical question. After all, in the position he was in, there was no way for him to know where any of their friends were. He startled to struggle against the ropes which had him locked to the wooden chair.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Can you get your hands free?” he replied as he still battled against his restraints.

  “I don’t know,” she started to fight against her ropes too. “They’re tight,” she moaned.

  “Fuck!”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Nothing. I cut myself on the rope. Fuck!” he said again. “What the fuck is going on? Where are we?”

  “I don’t know!” said Lara. She started to cry as fear took hold of her senses.

  “Lara, it’s okay. It’s okay. Just try and remember. Do you remember anything before waking up here?” he asked. “Anything at all?”

  “I just remember that we were waiting for dinner. The old lady...She gave us some drinks and we drank.”

  “The lemonade,” Joel suddenly realised what had happened, “it was drugged.”

  “What? It couldn’t have been. She wouldn’t have!”

  “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.

  “The question is, though...” said Robert whilst preparing another piece of Hayley’s flesh for mastication, “...are you as ashamed of me as I am of you? My own son...Disloyal...Disobedient...Disappointing...”

  “Coming from a rapist? You fuck your own daughter,” Johnny hissed.

  “Daughters!” Suzanne pointed out.

  Robert stood upright. He had no idea Suzanne was standing next to Johnny. Slowly he turned around as he popped the next piece of skin into his mouth. He saw Tammy was there too.

  Johnny looked at Suzanne, “I had no idea,” he said.

  “It’s not something you brag about.”

  “You’re standing with him?” Robert asked. He spotted the knife, “And what do you plan to do with that? Oh I see. You’ve come to put an end to my evil ways...”

  “You’re not our father. You haven’t been for a long time,” said Johnny.

  “Oh? So who am I?” asked Robert - trying his best to hide his smirk.

  “Wendigo!” Tammy pointed out.

  “Wendigo?” Robert laughed.

  Tammy nodded.

  “You’re not well,” Suzanne whispered.

  “You want to know where I went yesterday? I left. I had a bag packed and I jumped into my car. I left here. I left you all. The only reason I came back is because the car broke down...”

  Robert stared at her with a look of contempt on his face. How dare his own children talk to him as though he were mentally ill. After the briefest of silences he asked, “You think I’m ill?”

  “You have been for a long time,” said Johnny as he took a step forward with the knife clutched firmly in his hand.

  “You think I need to be put out of my misery?” Robert went on to ask.

  “It ends. Now.” Johnny said.

  “Yes,” his father agreed, “I do believe it does.” He smiled. “Well, come on then boy, make your move.”

  Johnny paused. He looked at his sisters for encouragement - a sign that it was still the right thing to do. They both were watching their father intently. He guessed that, if either of them were opposed to the idea, they’d have already said something.

  “There is just one thing though,” said Robert, “if I really am Wendigo, as you all seem to suspect, how do you think a knife is going to kill me? I mean, we’re supposed to have hearts of ice...Us Wendigo monsters...The only way to kill us is with a hot bullet through the heart. Do you remember anything I taught you?”

  Johnny hesitated for a moment or two. Long enough for Robert to lunge forward and plunge his own knife straight into Johnny’s heart. Suzanne and Tammy screamed whilst Johnny just stood there with a startled look upon his face. He opened his mouth, as though he wanted to say something, but no words came - just blood trickling down his chin.

  “You’re no son of mine,” hissed Robert as the life faded from Johnny’s clouding eyes. He let go of the knife - his own bodyweight stopping Johnny from dropping to the floor - and Johnny dropped to his knees. Knees first and then face forward; the force of the handle hitting the floor so hard it made the tip of the knife stick out of Johnny’s back. Robert spat on Johnny’s body and turned to his daughters who just stood there - too scared to do, or try, anything. “I believe it’s dinner time,” he whispered; a tone so threatening they didn’t dare to make a move of their own. He pushed past the girls and out of the barn.

  “What now?” asked Tammy.

  * * * * *

  “Please...I won’t t
ell anyone...Please...Just let me go...Please...I beg you...” Charlotte was squirming against the restraints which kept her bound to the table where Johnny had previously left her. She was positioned, in such a way, on the table that her head was in front of Robert who was sitting at the head of the table, casually tucking a napkin into the top of his shirt - no doubt in preparation for unavoidable crumbs being spilt.