A room for one and meal for all

 

In a city of millions there are always places that even the unluckiest don’t find themselves in, I just happened to go lower than that. I worked at a fast food place flipping pizzas to pay for my college till I lost the job due to some entitled guy walked into the place and tried to get his pizza directly from the oven. Long story short, he burnt his hand sued the place and I was the one with the shortest stick. I could not find another job so ended up losing my apartment and then got kicked out of college because I was behind on my fees. Life sucks but when it gets a chance it will pull the oxygen right out of your lungs, I was feeling that. I could not call my parents because they really didn’t care, I had 2 younger siblings who were the real parasites.

I found a place to rent but it was on a street where the houses looked run down that even the rats refused to live in, the one I was looking for was in the middle of the street. By the time I got there it was dark and there were a few lights in some of the houses so it did not feel like I was alone here. As I walked down the street I could feel the eyes upon me, when I looked around but could not see anyone. Picking up my pace I got to the house and walked up to the front door. It was a single-story place, old and in need of repair, the porch creaked as I walked up to the door and I felt like one wrong step and I will be in the basement. I knocked on the door and hoped that no one was around but I heard a sound of someone walking inside and a light come on. I stood back waiting for whoever was inside to open the door, I looked around the place and saw a figure at the window in house across the street.

I turned back when I heard the door open, it revealed an old man standing inside. He was five foot and hunched over, he looked up at me with his thick glasses and squinted like it was too bright. “Yes, what can I do for you?”

“I am here about the room you advertised?”

“Oh, that. Well come in then, please don’t mind the mess.”

I walked into the dimly lit house, inside was clean so when he mentioned mess I was expecting hoarder level mess. I was pointed to the back of the house, to his kitchen, there I stood in the middle of a small quaint kitchen. Looking around I could see he was in the middle of making himself something to eat, there was a pot bubbling away on the stove and bread placed on the dinner table. There was only one plate on the table so I could see why he was renting the room. He walked in and sat on a chair at the table and indicated for me to sit. I sat and looked at him more carefully now, his face showed age by the number of wrinkles on his cheeks and forehead but there were no crow’s legs on his eyes. The glasses he wore were thick making his eyes look like they were bulging, all in all he looked like an old fish with the big lips.

“So, tell me about yourself.”

“I am currently looking for a job, just needed a place to stay while I sort that and my college.” And recounted my recent troubles.

He nodded and then told me the amount I was to pay and asked when I will be moving in. I told him that I was ready to move that night since I was practically homeless, he raised his right hand. I fumbled with my pockets and looked for the money and gave him what I had at the time. He counted it and nodded again and asked to follow him to his room, the place was cleaner than my own apartment. The room was on the left of the front door and it had a bed and a chair with a closet for clothes. I placed my bag nest the bed and looked at the small room, I was grateful to have a place to sleep for the night and sat on the bed and cried myself to sleep.

A little later I heard an odd sound like someone moaning in pain and I tried to figure out where it could be coming from, thinking the old man was watching tv I dismissed it. Then I heard a scratching noise, I tried to check where it was coming from and found it to be under the bed. Moving closer, the scratching stopped and I tried to look for an opening or crack to see through but there was none. I got back out and decided to ask the old man, then I realised I gave him my name, but he didn’t introduce himself to me. I came out from the room and walked to the tv room and found him sitting on a chair staring into the tv. The tv was on but nothing was coming just white noise, I called to him but he did not budge only stared straight ahead.

I shook his shoulder and his head lolled to the side like he was out cold, I stood back thinking he had a heart attack. I got close and tried to wake him but he did not move, I placed my hand on his neck to check for a pulse and found that it was normal. This was odd and I felt like something was wrong here so I decided to leave this place before something worse happened. As I turned I saw an old woman at the door to the room, she was taller than the old man and looked much more menacing. Her face was long and she was sneering at me, “you were supposed to be in your room sonny. What are you doing out here child?”

“I… I heard something and wanted.. who are you?” she laughed at me and then raised he hand in a gesture to introduce herself, “I am the lady of this house, he is my subject. You are for later.”

I looked at her and took a step back, now I was thinking of how I was going to get out of here. I also began wonder why she said I was for later, was I a meal to her or something. Is she some sort of lunatic, thoughts were swirling in my head like a tornado, and I was trying to figure out how to escape. I looked to the windows and thought of jumping out but the tv was in the way so I by the time I moved it out of the way she would have caught up. “There is no place to run now, come be a good boy and…”

I rushed at her and bent down to catch her mid with my shoulder, when I hit her stomach, it felt like I hit the wall. She was solid and just like that her hand was on my neck and she pulled me up, she held me up with my feet barely touching the ground. Her face was like those old witches I see on tv, all wrinkles but her eyes were blazing. I found myself being mesmerised by them and soon everything was dark, I dreamt of falling down a mine shaft and the wind rushing up then I saw the bottom coming at me like train. I woke from the dream to find myself on the floor, looking around I realised I was in the basement and my left hand was shackled to the wall. There was nothing around me only a dirty rag, trying to pull the chain was fruitless it was too strong and trying the padlock was the same. I hear a noise somewhere in the basement and I tried to see where it was coming from but it there wasn’t enough light to see.

I heard footsteps coming down and the lights came on and I finally saw the source of the noise; it was another man dangling from 2 hooks that were chained to the ceiling. Each hook was pierced under the collar bone, his right hand was chopped off and so was his left leg. His eyes were frantic, and he looked at me with an expression of hopelessness, his mouth was sewn shut and his eyelids were cut so he could not close them. I wanted to throw up but I had not eaten in a while, so I ended up dry heaving, the wounds were badly stitched and there was blood still trickling down leaving a pool under him.

“Your meddling was not opportune and now I am forced to process this one early,” the woman spoke as she walked to the hanging man, there was a table near him and she picked up a large knife and began to inspect it. “I wanted to take my time with this one, seems you will have to do.” With that she stabbed the man in the neck and he began to writhe form the pain kicking the table while the woman stood back. A few implements flew from the table and I hoped that something would fall near me but no luck, I watched the man bleed from the neck wound and all the blood gushing down. The woman just stood there watching him bleed to death then turned to look at me.

After a minute she began to pickup the fallen tools and put on another table, then brought a tub and placed it under the body. She took the knife out from the neck and then with a quick motion sliced open his belly. All the guts from inside spilled out into the tub below, after that she pushed her hands into the body and began cutting off the rest of the insides. Finally, she squatted down and began to rummage through the viscera and picked up a kidney and cut it off. Holding the bloody part in her hand she brought it closer to her face and began to smell it and then licked it. I was already sick from the sight, but this forced me to turn away and roll myself into a ball.

She began to laugh and that was when I heard the knife cut through even more and parts fall into the tub, the sound was sickening, and I covered my ears in the hope of blocking the sound. I tried to block everything but could not stop myself from reliving the moment the poor man was stabbed, I saw the look of terror in his face and the way he just gave up before dying. I began to cry and wished I was somewhere else but knew this is where I would die.

I heard her then drag the tub to the back of the basement and a door open, I was finally alone and I got up to check the basement and see if there was anything I could use to escape. I saw an old saw that I could try and reach with my foot, other than that there was nothing else I could find. I sat there looking at the blood trail and wondered if this was where I would finally meet my end and how long she would be torturing me. I heard the door close and she came into view, she was holding a chunk of meat in one hand and the kidney in the other.

“Would you like to try some, it very rich in flavour and nutrients,” with that she cackled louder and walked back up the stairs. I waited for the door to close before I tried for the saw, the lights went out and the door closed. I reached over with my foot to where the saw was, feeling with my bare foot I felt the cold metal under my toe and tried to pull it close. Millimetre by millimetre I pulled at it and once it was close enough for my hands I slowly picked it up making sure not to make a sound.

The saw was old and rusted, I tried to use it on the chain but it was no use. I thought about sawing off my hand but the thought of that rusted blade cutting through my flesh forced me to think again. I sat there in a dark weighing my options and tried to find a way to get out of this mess. I tucked the blade into my pants and covered it with me t-shirt and sat back, soon sleep took over and I fell asleep from fatigue.

I woke up some time later and could see slivers of light pass through the windows, it was daylight outside. The woman may be asleep or something so I tried to pull at the chain as quietly as I could. It was not budging and I tried the saw again but nothing worked, I stood there looking for another option when the lights came on and I heard the door open and someone come down. I sat back down and acted like I was asleep, it was the old man. He came down and walked to the back and opened the door, I stood to see what was there but could not make out what was inside. He came back out and saw me, those fish eyes looked at me for a long moment and then he turned and closed the door and made he way back up without a word.

I tried again to saw at the shackle but no luck, I heard a laugh coming from upstairs and it was her. Desperate not be in her menu I decided to saw through my left wrist and free myself. I placed the blade just below the joint and felt the cold teeth bite into my skin, I hesitated then looked up. Finally I just began to saw, the pain almost made me scream but I had removed my t-shirt and stuffed into my mouth to stop that. I cut through the hand and removed the shackle, using the t-shirt as a temporary bandage I tried to stem the bleeding. I walked to the door at the back of the basement and opened the door and what was inside was worse then I had imagined.

There were racks of bodies hung on hooks like meat being stored to age, there were 4 tubs filled with guts in the corner. The smell was worse and I took a few steps back in total horror. I could not bring myself to enter but I needed to, I needed to know if there was a door in there out of this place. Inside the store there was a door and I entered and closed the door behind me, I walked in and covered my nose to pass the hanging bodies and tried the door. It was unlocked and I checked to see where it led, there were stairs that led up and I looked up to see the doors to my freedom. I checked to see if I wasn’t discovered and climbed the stairs and tried the doors, they were also open and I quietly opened one to check where I was. I was on the side of the house and I got out and ran, I heard a shout from inside the house but I did not care I wanted to get away from here.

Running down the street barefoot with a bleeding hand I looked like a total lunatic but I did not care. Finally after a few blocks I came to a busy street and began looking for police or anyone who could help me, I ran into a store and asked if they could call police and ambulance. The clerk looked at me in shock and it took her a few seconds to snao out of it, finally she called the authorities. I ran to the fridges and took a bottle of alcohol and poured it over my stump, I then slumped down and passed out. I was rushed to the hospital and when I came to I found a couple of detectives waiting for me, I told them everything and they promised to check the place. After that I focused on getting better, I did not know what happened to the couple and nor did I follow the investigation. The doctors told me that due to the wound I inflicted on myself they had to cut off my forearm also.

So this is my tale. I wish I never took up that advert.