#I tried pepperoni today. that sounds insane. I’ve tried pepperoni before I just didn’t like it but we had some in the fridge and I was like

[milo-is-rambling]

Fuck hyperfixation meals for real,,, what do you mean I ate a bacon egg and cheese sandwich at least once a day for a month and a half and now the taste and texture of eggs makes me sick and I only eat granola cereal and granola bars

[pebble-xo]

Heartbeats (1)

part one; part two; part three;

It all started with a phone call.

“I’ve hit the jackpot!” your best friend exclaimed loudly down the phone.

You laughed brightly, moving the microphone on your earphones closer to your mouth as you headed up the street towards your office. “Good morning to you too Mel.”

Mel had been your best friend since college. The two of you started a week after the beginning of term and immediately bonded as the only two people who didn't know anyone else in the school. After that, the two of you were inseparable, following each other to university and graduating with honours together. You’d made many more friends over the years but Mel had always stayed by your side. She knew how to handle your sometimes crippling anxiety and you could easily manage her perpetual overexcitement. It was a perfect friendship.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, good morning!” she dismissed quickly, no doubt bouncing about in a circle like a hyperactive puppy. “You will never guess what has just happened!”

Rolling your eyes, you paused at a crossing and waited for the lights to turn green. “If I’m never going to guess, why don’t you just tell me before I get into the office?” you reasoned.

Mel took a deep breath, a telltale signal that your best friend was about to launch into her story. “Do you remember Park Chanyeol? The really hot guy that lived across the hall from us at university?”

A small smile turned the corners of your lips up as you remembered the enigmatic man from across the hall. Dark brown hair, wide innocent eyes, cute protruding ears and a towering stature: the Chanyeol you recalled was handsome and cheerful. Last you heard, he had developed an online game and was now running a small gaming company with some of his friends.

The walking man flashed green overhead. “Yeah I remember him,” you replied, crossing the road quickly so you were on your office’s street.

“Well I met him yesterday at a media seminar and we spent the whole evening talking at the bar and …”

“And you ended up in his bed?” you finished.

Your best friend scoffed in mock-disbelief. “What kind of person do you think I am?” she exclaimed in pretend abhorrence.

If you weren’t her best friend, you might have thought that her hurt at your assumption was real, but you knew Mel too well. “My favourite person,” you teased.

“It’s a good thing I love you,” she teased back playfully. “And you’re wrong because I didn’t end up in his bed. Actually I was telling him about my recent housing problem, you know the one where my landlady is a bitch and is kicking me out with barely any notice…”

“I still think if you got yourself a lawyer, you could fight the eviction,” you interrupted to repeat the point you had been trying to make your best friend.

You didn’t need to see her to know Mel was rolling her eyes. “I’m not going to waste my money trying to keep myself in that bitch’s apartment. If she wants me out, that’s fine with me. As it turns out, one of Chanyeol’s business partners is in need a roommate,” she explained enthusiastically.

“I thought you were trying to find your own place?” you asked with a soft frown. One of you had to be the voice of reason and it was unlikely to be Mel. She had the tendency to be a little impulsive.

“It was, but I’m not going to find my dream place in two weeks and Chanyeol’s friend says I can stay for as long as it takes as long as I pay my rent,” she replied before squealing excitedly. “Plus I’ve seen photos of the guy and he’s fucking gorgeous. There’s always the chance we’ll fall in love and I won’t have to move out at all,” she added in pure Mel-like fashion.

It was your turn to roll your eyes, pulling your bag off your shoulder to find your pass as you approached your office building. “Don’t set yourself up for disappointment Mel,” you told her softly, pulling your lanyard out from the bottom of your bag.

“That’s alright for you to say; you can literally feel your soulmate’s heartbeat,” she retorted quickly. “Anyway, I need you to come round tonight and help me pack. I’ll pay you with pizza!”

“You know my weakness,” you answered with a smile, swiping yourself into your building. “I’m at work now so I’ll text you later.”

“Have a productive publishing day,” Mel joked, making kissing noises down the phone until she eventually hung up.

Pulling your earphones out, you wrapped your lanyard around your neck and headed across the foyer towards the elevator. You’d arrived pretty early this morning to get ready for the big publishing meeting you were supposed to sit in on today so there weren’t that many people in the building. Hopefully you had left yourself enough time to make a cup of tea and read through your notes before the meeting started.

Alone in the elevator, you could feel it. The heartbeat Mel had mentioned so enviously. Your soulmate's.

According to urban myth - basically YouTube videos and Twitter threads - those lucky enough were gifted with their soulmate’s heartbeat alongside their own from the age of sixteen. It was supposed to act as a guide, to lead you to the one you were destined to spend your life with. Apparently it is only with the touch of your soulmate that your heartbeats would merge and beat as one.

Honestly the whole thing sounded ludicrous to you. Mel thought it was the epitome of romance and loved that you were destined for someone. You however saw it as a nuisance. When you first felt it on your 16th birthday, you thought you were hallucinating. Your parents almost had you sectioned because they thought you were losing your mind. But when you figured out what the heartbeat actually meant, all that was left to do was wait.

However it wasn’t something that was easy to live with. In the beginning, every touch made you jittery in anticipation, only to have it replaced by disappointment. It was enough to drive you insane. After years of expecting to find your soulmate, you'd all but given up the idea of him, deciding instead to focus on your career.

You found that if you kept yourself busy, you barely even noticed your second heartbeat. Still, by yourself in the quietness of the elevator, it may as well have been pounding in your ears. The rhythm was slow and gentle, like it usually was in the morning. Whoever your soulmate was, he often didn’t get up until 10 or 11am if his heartbeat was anything to go by.

The elevator suddenly came to a halt at your floor, the doors pinging open in a swift motion. Walking out, you tried to shake off the disassociated feeling you felt when you lost yourself in your second heartbeat and instead focused on what you needed to do for the day.

However throughout your long hours in the office, it was always there, lingering in the very back of your mind just peering into your consciousness. The thought that someone out there was your soulmate.

-x-

You couldn’t fight the pleasurable moan slip from your lips as the stringy cheese of your pizza hit your tongue. “Ugh I love pizza so much!” you breathed, closing your eyes for a brief second to appreciate your mouthful.

Mel’s scoff brought you out of your moment of pleasure. “This is why your dates always go so bad. You’re more interested in the food than the men sat across the table from it,” she teased, picking off a piece of pepperoni from her slice of pizza and popping it into her mouth.

“No, my dates always went bad because the food was more interesting than the men. It’s really your fault for setting me up with guys as boring as bricks,” you replied, finishing your first slice of pizza with a big bite.

Reaching across the food, Mel poured out two Cokes into plastic cups, seeing as all of her glasses were already packed. “What did you expect? Good looks and a personality?” she answered with her loud melodious laugh.

“Is it too much to ask?” you retorted, dramatically shrugging your shoulders in pretend-despair.

Unlike Mel, you weren’t too concerned about love and romance and finding the owner of your second heartbeat. Your focus was solely on your career and trying to make a name for yourself within your publishing company. That didn’t leave much time for dating, or finding your soulmate as Mel liked to call the blind dates she forced you to go on.

However the guys she set you up with never had much going on upstairs. All of them had been very handsome, but none could hold an intelligent conversation with you, their brains unable to stretch further than sports or video games. The more dates Mel organised for you, the more annoyed you became with the calibre of men, so you decided to forget about finding the one and do something productive like get ahead at work.

“So are you going to help me move on Saturday or do I have to bribe you with more pizza?” Mel asked, giving you her best puppy dog expression to try and charm you.

As cute as she was though, you had become immune to her charms in university, otherwise neither of you would have graduated. “I’m out of town with my boss this Saturday. But I’ll come over and help you unpack when I get back,” you told her, hiding your face behind your cup. “I’ll even pay for the pizza!”

“Ugh, some friend you are!” she whined, her lips pulled into a sulky pout. “I’m sure Sehun will help me anyway.”

You shook your head, still a little disbelieving of the situation your best friend had found herself in. “I can’t believe you’re moving in with a complete stranger. What if he turns out to be a psychopathic killer?” you exclaimed, making Mel almost choke on her pizza with laughter. “I’m serious Mel! Do you know anything about this Sehun?” Like always, you were the cautious one.

Mel quickly swallowed her mouthful and reached for her phone. “I know he’s really good looking,” she retorted childishly. “Like seriously, the man could easily be a model if he wanted to!” She made a few swipes on her phone and then turned the screen towards you.

It was a photo, posted on what looked like Chanyeol’s instagram, of a man relaxing in the middle of a huge bed, dressed in a white shirt and charcoal trousers, one arm stretched behind his head while the other held his phone up to his face. Your heart stuttered at his handsomeness, his long slender body and styled up dark hair catching you off guard. He was gorgeous, every inch of his image a mirror of perfection.

A little too perfect.

You blinked out of your stupor and focused on your pizza instead. “Handsome men can be serial killers too.”

Mel sighed and collapsed onto her back exasperated. “This is exactly why you are single!” she exclaimed, dramatically wriggling on the floor before sitting up for more pizza. “Sometimes handsome men are just handsome and haven’t murdered someone.”

Sticking your tongue out, you scrunched your face up and finished chewing. “All I’m saying is don’t get ahead of yourself Mel. I know you, and your imagination tends to run off in these crazy scenarios that reality can never live up to,” you reasoned.

Mel frowned cutely. “Don’t spoil this for me!” she whined, scrolling through her phone no doubt in search of more photos of Sehun to show you.

“Just be careful babe,” you replied softly, reaching over to pinch her cheek.

-x-

“I’ll write up my notes and have them on your desk first thing Monday morning Mr Choi,” you told your boss through the phone, staring out of your taxi’s window at the blur of tall apartment buildings speeding past. Having just got back from your short business trip, you were on your way to Mel’s new apartment to help her unpack and settle in.

Your boss laughed deeply. “I don’t know what I would do without,” he complimented. “Thank you for everything today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

“You too sir,” you added politely, hanging up just as your taxi slowed to stop.

Leaning forward, you checked the price on the meter and took out a crisp note to pay for your fare. “Keep the change,” you told the driver, feeling bad for being so rude on the phone for the entire journey. Collecting your things, you shot the driver a brief smile and then climbed out of the taxi, pulling up your conversation with Mel on your phone to make sure you buzzed the right apartment.

You pressed the button for 8B and swung back on your heels, waiting for Mel’s loud voice to no doubt blast through the intercom. However the door just clicked open for you. “Maybe the intercom is broken,” you muttered to yourself, pushing the door wide and stepping inside. From there, Mel’s apartment was easy to find - a fast elevator ride and a turn of a corner away.

Pushing the doorbell, you flipped your hair out of your face and tapped your feet on the shiny stone floor. Knowing what a ball of energy Mel was when she was excited, she was probably going to come charging out the door and knock the air right out of your lungs.

But it wasn’t Mel that answered.

A tall, devastatingly handsome man swung the door open, his dark hair messy and styled up. His chocolate eyes widened slightly as they ran the length of your body and made you shudder, like a chilling breeze had just blown straight through you. He pulled his bottom lip between his white teeth and gave you a look that made both your heartbeats skip. You immediately recognised him from the number of photos Mel had shown you. This was Oh Sehun.

His brow knotted together in a hard frown. “You’re not the pizza delivery man?” he questioned, his eyes once again trailing your body, this time in search of any pizza you might be concealing.

“No, sorry,” you answered awkwardly, tucking your hair behind your ears.

“That’s a shame!” he mumbled quietly, giving you one last look before he moved to close the door.

“Actually,” you started quickly, stepping closer. “I’m here to see Mel.” You introduced yourself and held out your hand for him to shake, watching his eyebrows lift in surprise at your name.

Sehun pulled his thin lips into a pout, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded across his broad chest. “The way Chanyeol described you, I thought you’d be...,” he trailed off, leaving the unsaid words hanging in the air.

You balked in disbelief, your outstretched hand falling limply back to your side. Was this guy for real? “Sorry to disappoint,” you snapped. You didn’t care how handsome this guy was, nothing could excuse his rudeness. “Is Mel here?”

There was a flash of something in his expression but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Was it guilt? “Meg!” he called over his shoulder.

You couldn’t help the stunned look on your face. In all your years, you had never met anyone as rude and arrogant as Sehun. “Her name is Mel,” you told him sourly, watching the smirk on his pretty lips falter for a moment.

“Oh right,” he replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as he stepped back to let you pass through the door.

Making a conscious effort not to touch him, you walked through the threshold, slipping out of your shoes and leaving them neatly before walking down the short corridor that opened up onto a huge living room.

“You made it!” Mel squealed, her hair dishevelled and pulled up into a high ponytail. She ran across the room, wrapping you in a tight hug.

Sehun strutted past you with his hands buried in the pockets of his tracksuit trousers and a permanent smirk fixed to his flushed lips. “Try to keep the screaming down,” he remarked grumpily, leaving the room from the direction Mel had come from.

Slightly stunned by Sehun’s arrogant departure, you shook off his rudeness and pulled a bottle of Mel’s favourite champagne out of your bag. “I bought bubbles!” you announced proudly, watching your best friend’s eyes light up excitedly.

“Oh my gosh! I haven’t unpacked my wine glasses yet,” she exclaimed dramatically, quickly darting into the kitchen to start rummaging through boxes. “Can you believe Sehun doesn’t have any wine glasses? Like what does he drink his wine from? A tumbler?!”

“That’s against nature,” you played along, knowing how defensive Mel got about tableware. She was the type of girl who had a certain glass for every drink, and hated it when people used the incorrect glassware. Once you drank wine out of a gin glass and she lost it. You learnt quickly that it was best to just let her pour the drinks.

While Mel fished out her wine glasses, you had a nose around the apartment. It was a huge open-plan living room - high ceilings, clean white walls, charcoal grey furniture - with the kitchen separated by a long marble breakfast bar. There was a huge TV attached to the wall and an even bigger sound and gaming system underneath, typical of a bachelor pad.

However there were added details to the decor that surprised you.: like the four framed photos of the same set of trees, each different to represent the four seasons; or the sweet-scented candles dotted on the surfaces. Definitely not a feature in most bachelor pads. Plus it was clean and tidy - another rarity. Maybe Sehun wasn’t as bad as you first thought.

“This place is huge!” you murmured, running your hand along the soft blanket thrown over the back of one of the sofas.

Mel appeared behind the breakfast bar, triumphantly holding two wine glasses in her hands. “Isn’t it amazing?” she exclaimed, her dark eyes bright with excitement. “And you should see the size of my bedroom. You could probably fit my last apartment in it!”

Laughing lightly at her dramatics, you leaned across the breakfast bar with the bottle of bubbles. “Well pour me a glass and give me the tour!”

Like a pro, Mel popped the cork of the champagne and poured out two glasses, handing one to you across the breakfast bar before holding hers up in the air for a toast. “To fresh starts!” she exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear with the widest smile.

“To new beginnings!” you added, clinking your glass with hers.

While Mel walked you through the rest of the apartment, you quietly sipped your champagne and took in the huge spaces. Off from the living room was a long corridor that Sehun had earlier disappeared down, which led to the laundry room and the bathroom with a jacuzzi-sized bathtub. Immediately you and Mel climbed in and tested it out, stretching out fully and imagining the massage jets blasting water at you until you were completely relaxed. However it was the only bathroom in the apartment so Mel and Sehun would be sharing, something Mel had already worked up a hundred scenarios about.

“Towels only magically fall down in the movies,” you argued, taking a long sip of your champagne as Mel took you to the end of the corridor.

“It could happen!” she exclaimed, giving you a cheeky wink. “Oh yeah, so this is my bedroom and the door behind you leads to Sehun’s.”

You looked over your shoulder and scowled at the door, before turning back to Mel. “I guess we should start the unpacking,” you announced, letting her lead the way into her new bedroom. The room, like the rest of the apartment was huge, with the only piece of furniture being the queen size bed in the middle of the room. Everything else was bare, the white walls featuring no artwork or decor.

As soon as you stepped inside, you almost tripped over a stack of boxes labelled bedroom. “Bloody hell Mel!” you exclaimed, taking the whole room in. There were boxes everywhere, covering practically every inch of the floor. “How do you have so much stuff?”

“Why are you acting so shocked?” Mel countered, dancing her way through the stacks of boxes all the while filling her glass up with champagne. “You know I’m a sentimental hoarder!”

You sighed heavily, your shoulders tensing up as you took in the enormity of the task. “I think we need to talk about getting you some professional help,” you teased, moving to the first box and opening it up.

One hour - and an empty bottle of champagne - later, you could see a bit more of the floor, now that half of Mel’s clothes were hanging up all organised in her built-in wardrobe. However the champagne had gone straight through you, making you jump to your feet. “I need the toilet,” you announced, hurrying out of Mel’s bedroom and up the corridor to the bathroom.

As you reached for the handle, the door peeled back, filling you with sour dread as it revealed the handsome smirk of Oh Sehun. Once again, his chocolate stare rolled up and down your body, leaving you feeling exposed. “Ah you’re still here!” he drawled, wrapping the towel he was using to dry his damp hair across his shoulders. Thankfully he was still clothed.

“It would appear so,” you replied unenthusiastically, rolling your eyes. You tried to move past him but he leaned his long body against the doorframe, blocking your way.

He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and cocked his head to the side, looking at you like you were some sort of puzzle to solve. “You know, I think Chanyeol was wrong about you,” he continued, releasing his lip and running a small tongue across it.

Seriously what was this guy’s problem? “I’ll try to not lose sleep over it,” you replied, trying to sound completely uninterested, when inside your blood was boiling. “Could you move please?” you added, nodding your head for the bathroom.

Eventually he moved, only after giving you another long look as he sauntered past you. No doubt he was probably still looking, arrogantly trying to get the full view of you.

Huffing angrily, you stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind you, placing both hands on the edge of the basin while you stared at yourself in the mirror. You didn’t consider yourself as drop dead gorgeous but you weren’t ugly either. In fact you didn’t think your looks were anything to comment on.

But there was something about the arrogant Oh Sehun that got right under your skin and made your whole body go crazy. “Ugh I hate him!” you decided, turning away from the mirror and banishing the unsavoury thoughts of your best friend’s roommate from your mind.

[masterlist]

[zeltricstudio]

'LUNCH TIME SPECIAL'

HAPPYVILE

MARCH 2014

Happyvile High has been without a chef for an awfully long time but finally managed to hire someone. Abraham Cook, despite his family’s reputation he was a competent cook and could actually make some decent meals for the students. It was around this time that students started to go missing. At first it was 1 student a month, then a couple before eventually the school looked into it. Of course, the teachers and police did nothing to investigate the matter, instead just saying “they ran away” or “ditched school”. Sarah, however was not happy with how poorly this was being dealt with. Many students would simply shrug their shoulders, but not her. “The special for today is lasagna” Sarah scoffs. “How can they just go on and not give a damn that students are disappearing almost on a weekly basis?” Sarah asked, feeling angry.

“I’m sure the police are doing everything they can” Sarah’s best friend, Jessica, replied, not paying much attention except for the food in front of her.

“You should eat, all this pointless wondering is going to make you hungry” Jessica moved her food towards Sarah

“Hell no. For all I know, they probably put their disgusting, unwashed hand in that food before they served it” Sarah replied, pushing the food back to Jessica.

“As long as it tastes good, I don’t mind”

“Your standards are very low”

“Eh” Jessica said and continued digging into her food.

“Fuck it. If the teachers and police are not going to do anything, then I will” Sarah said with extreme confidence

“What are you going to do?” Jessica asked, not seriously

“I… I don’t know” Sarah replied, slinking back into her seat.

“Again, just let it go. I’m sure they will all turn up eventually, probably” Jessica replied with a mouthful.

That night, Sarah couldn’t stop thinking about the missing people. Sarah had read all papers and news reports about the disappearances, but they were all the same, ‘this student was staying late and never returned home. Parents didn’t find out till the next morning and no one saw a thing’. Personally, Sarah didn’t much care for the students as all of them were the absolute worst but the latest victim Kate was a close classmate she really liked and was baffled at how little her own teachers cared about a Grade-A kid. Sarah began documenting all the missing kids, but she couldn’t find a pattern due to how little the police cared. Some kids were not even reported missing until weeks later. Feeling defeated for the night, Sarah went to bed.

The next morning, during their lunch break, Sarah decided to buy a drink. It wasn’t until now that Sarah got an up-close look at Abraham. Like most of the males, he was very tall and noticeably huge. Not fat, but very built. He had an untrimmed beard that had little strands sticking upright, his eyes had bags underneath bags underneath bags and his skin was covered in bruises and scars all around. Despite his bodily appearance, he was surprisingly clean. His apron, clothes and even body odor were insanely neat and smelt like he dumped a load of perfume onto himself. After Sarah bought her drink, she went and sat down next to Jessica.

“I’ve noticed something” Sarah immediately said as he sat down.

“Aaaaaaand her comes the conspiracy theories” Jessica said, not even phased.

“Abraham is insanely clean”

“Well yeah. I know Happyvile isn’t the cleanest place, but we gotta have SOME standards”

“No, I mean like he is overly clean. Like not even a dirt or smudge anywhere, his clothes are pure white”

“Maybe he is a clean freak? Oddly, the dirtiest people are the cleanest”

“Perhaps. I just have an off feeling about him”

“You have an off feeling about everyone”

“That’s not true” Sarah points to Jessica

“Fair point. How’s your investigation coming along?” Jessica pondered, not really caring

“I got nowhere. This town’s not-giving-a-shit makes it almost impossible to even find out when they went missing”

“Uh-huh”

“What are you eating?”

“Spaghetti. It’s the new Lunch special” Jessica said, with added fake enthusiasm

“I still don��t know how you can eat that. It doesn’t even look like spaghetti”

“Maybe it’s a family recipe. Do I care? Nope” Jessica said and continued eating.

As the two continued chatting, they were approached by a classmate of theirs

“Have any of you two seen Adrian?” Sally asked

“Uh no, he was absent from first and second period” Sarah replied

“I haven’t heard from him since yesterday. If you do see him, please let me know” Sally said and walked off to a nearby table and asking them.

“Here we go” Jessica said, knowing what was about to come

“Another person to the list” Sarah replied, sounding smug.

Later that night, Sarah did a lot more studying and came across a status post a student had made. “It has been 2 months and my friend Alice is still missing! The police aren’t doing shit! Please if anyone knows anything, message me!”. Sarah finally had something to go on. Even though Sarah wasn’t close with most people, she at least knew of Alice who was one of the very first people to go missing. Sarah was able to begin a timeline. As Sarah began writing names, she had a curious thought.

The next day, early in the morning Sarah caught up to Principal Hayford.

“Principal Hayford” Sarah said, to get his attention

“Oh, hello Sarah” Hayford replied, looking slightly annoyed

“May I ask you a question?”

“That depends, is it about the missing kids?” Hayford said with a slight irritation in his voice

“No. I was wondering when you hired Abraham, the new cook?”

“Oh, about a couple months back” Hayford’s tone immediately changed

“Do you know the exact date?”

“Not right now, but I can look it up and e-mail you it. Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious. So far he is already the best cook we’ve gotten for this school”

“I agree. And he was cheap too. I feel like I got a good deal” Hayford chuckled

“Well thanks, I got to go now” and Sarah ran off before Hayford could trap her in a conversation.

“The day Abraham was hired, Alice went missing the same week!” Sarah said as she said down next to Jessica

“Good morning to you too” Jessica replied, preparing herself for another one of Sarah’s rants.

“Think about it. We’ve had cooks come and go with no problems and then when we got Abraham BOOM 16 students and counting have gone missing”

“That is pretty damning evidence, but you ever consider it could be the Happyvile Slasher behind this?”

“No, The Happyvile Slasher has been gone for a year now. And if it was him, we would definitely know”

“Yeah, I guess”

“How can you just sit there, eating and not give a single fuck?” “What can I do? I’m not the police. I don’t have any skills to do anything. I mean it sucks, but what can you do?”

“I guess” Sarah replied, feeling tired she wasn’t getting anywhere. “What is the lunch special for today?”

“Homemade pizza, with cheese, pepperoni and shredded meat” Jessica said as she took a huge bite

“Looks appetizing” Sarah said, with extreme sarcasm.

Throughout the day, her suspicions of Abraham continued to pursue her, and Sarah knew if she wanted to do something, she was going to have to act. She pretended to stay back at the library, studying and as everyone began leaving except the librarian, Sarah put her plan into motion. Because the school was empty, Sarah could easily slip into the cafeteria and hop the counter. Much like Abraham’s appearance, the kitchen too was spotless. Everything was neatly put away, no dishes in the rack and the floor was clean. Sarah continued looking but aside from basic kitchen items, nothing stood out, until she saw a cardboard box in underneath a table. Inside the box were a few random items and trinkets. Keyrings, badges, pins, hair ties, just a random assortment of items and then Sarah saw it, Kate’s bracelet. She knew it was Kate’s because it had pink nail polish striped onto it, which Sarah had done as a joke. Sarah then heard some heavy footsteps and she immediately put the box back and hopped the counter, pretending to look around. Abraham entered the café and noticed Sarah.

“What are you doing here, child?” Abraham asked, extremely suspiciously.

His voice was a lot deeper when he was angry.

“Oh, I uh dropped something and came back to look for it, but I… uh” Sarah tried to make excuses, but she was bad at it.

“Hold on, I got a box around here”

“A box?”

“Whenever I find stuff students have left, I collect them and hand it to the office’s lost-and-found”

Abraham entered the kitchen area and immediately noticed dirt prints on the floor. He kept this discovery to himself and got the box, all the while eyeing Sarah suspiciously.

“Are any of these yours?”

“Oh there it is, the bracelet. Where did you find this?”

“Over by the back table”

Sarah knew he was lying, Kate would never take off her bracelet unless she had to.

“Thank you” Sarah said and walked off, with fear consuming her.

Abraham watched her walk away and cleaned the kitchen, before closing and heading home. Sarah couldn’t shake the gut feeling she had of Abraham, but she knew he was responsible for this.

“I found Kate’s bracelet in the kitchen! He claims he found it on a table” Sarah exclaimed over the phone to Jessica

“So you broke into a kitchen and found a bracelet in a box”

“I didn’t break in, it was open”

“Sarah, that is a lazy connection and you know it”

“I’m telling you, he is responsible for Kate and maybe the others. I know it!”

“I’m hanging up, call me back when you’ve calmed down”

“Fucking asshole” Sarah muttered and dropped her phone onto her bed. Sarah knew Jessica was right, this evidence was barely anything, and even if it was enough, the cops wouldn’t give enough of a shit to do anything. Sarah knew if she wanted to make a change, she would have to get picture proof.

The next day seemed to drag on as Sarah waited for the end of the day. Knowing Jessica didn’t care, Sarah dropped the conversation and didn’t let Jessica in on her plan. She didn’t need the negativity to pull her down she reasoned. Finally the glorious day came and it was the end of the day. Sarah pretended to be studying and once Abraham was ready to leave, Sarah began tailing him on her bike. The drive lead them out of Happyvile and deep into the country side of things, before eventually into the forest. Abraham stopped his car at an incredibly old looking farmhouse, before getting out and entering a small house near the main house. Sarah noticed she had no signal and planned on a quick in-and-out job. She took pictures of the house and waited. After roughly 20 minutes, Abraham exited the house and drove off, leaving the door unlocked. Sarah took this opportunity and entered.

In a stark contrast to the kitchen, this house was messy. The walls were peeling, the carpet was covered in fur and junk, clothes and items strewn about and an awful stench immediately hit her. As Sarah began probing and poking around, she noticed a downstairs area. Sarah took a quick look outside to make sure he wasn’t back and entered. Any normal person would have immediately left by now, but Sarah was far too invested to give up. The closer she got to the basement, the stronger the smell became. It was very putrid and nearly made her gag. Sarah used her pocket flashlight to illuminate the area and she got a good look at her surroundings. The floors, walls and ceilings were covered in ceramic tiles, with drain holes every 5 feet. Trails of blood were flowing into them. Sarah also noticed there were lots of white, rolled up bags with blood splotches on them. As Sarah continued moving, she heard a light grunt and noticed a person on a table. Sarah rushed over and saw Adrian, except her was naked and had a hook impaled in him.

“Oh fuck” Sarah said, in surprise.

“H-help me” Adrian begged as he raised his hand, which had the index and thumb missing and a giant hole in the palm. Sarah stumbles backwards away from his hand as it drops to the side and hits the tables legs, making a heavy ding sound before passing out. Sarah was too stunned to move, her legs locked in place. After what feels like an eternity, Sarah was able to compose herself and began walking away, planning on calling the cops as soon as she leaves. Before she can reach the stairs, she hears the door lock and footsteps retreating down. Sarah immediately begins running further into the basement as the foot steps get louder. Sarah hides in a side room, surrounded by rolled-up bags. Sarah notices the figure to be Abraham as he makes his way to Adrian. Abraham picks up a hatchet and drives it into Adrian’s face. The impact makes a fleshy noise, as Adrian’s gasps are quickly stifled. Sarah has to bite her hand to stifle her screams, as she watches Abraham continue hacking the body, before putting the hatchet down and wheeling the table to another room. With Abraham gone, Sarah rushes to the stairs, but when she turns the knob, she is terrified to find it is locked.

“I was concerned” Abraham says, his voice echoing around the room. “How was I going to take care of you. Getting the others wasn’t easy, you know. They struggled, they screamed, they put up a fight, but you, you came here”

Sarah immediately ran away from the door, hugging the walls and moving around in the dark as Abraham’s voice came from multiple directions

“I promise you, if you give up I will make it quick” Abraham said, as calm as possible.

“Fuck you!” Sarah screamed in fear. Sarah made her way to the area Adrian was in and picked up the hatchet, arming herself.

“I am warning you” Abraham said, this time more sternly.

Sarah was beyond terrified now. Not only was she locked in a basement with a serial killer, but no one knew where she was.

“You’re not the first person, you know. There were others who came looking, but couldn’t leave well enough alone. I will do whatever it takes to protect my family” Abraham said, this time it sounded much closer.

Sarah jumped backwards and swung, but hit nothing. “Let me go, you fucker!” Sarah screamed, now absolutely petrified and shaking.

“Sorry, but I can’t. You know too much. This is your last warning” Abraham said, now getting angry.

As Sarah began looking around, hatchet ready to swing, she suddenly heard silence. As she began walking, looking for Abraham she felt a sudden pain in her shoulder. Abraham drove a meat hook into her right shoulder, causing her to drop the hatchet. Sarah tried running away, but Abraham drove another hook into her leg, causing her to trip. Sarah fell to the floor, her shoulder and leg in pain, with blood rushing down her back. Sarah continued crawling, before Abraham drove a final hook into the back of her neck, paralyzing her. Sarah wasn’t able to move anymore as Abraham grabbed her foot and dragged her further into the basement, past several rooms until she was in a smaller room. Abraham turned on the light and she noticed it was a make-shift bathroom, with only a tub and several hooks hanging above it.

“I’m sorry it has come to this, but don’t worry, your meat won’t be wasted” Abraham said, trying to calm her.

“Fuck, you!” Sarah screamed, in painful breaths as she couldn’t lift her head. It wasn’t until Abraham began putting on his apron and sharpening his knives, did his words kick in. “What, what are you doing?” Her anger suddenly turned to fear as she looked at Abraham out the corner of her eye.

“My family, my son to be exact, is very particular in he eats. He loves humans, craves it and I love my son, so I get him what he likes. But doesn’t like all parts of them. And I am not a wasteful man” Abraham says, grinding his knives as they make scratching noises.

“Before I begin, any final words?”

“Please, don’t” Sarah begged.

Abraham effortlessly picked up Sarah, before impaling her on a hook. Sarah began screaming, but it was gurgled by the hook. After a grueling 5 seconds, she was finally dead and Abraham got to work.

The next day, Jessica was sitting down, waiting for Sarah to join her like they always do, but she never showed. Jessica texted her and as she waited, she noticed the new Lunch special: this time it was a beef sandwich.