Category : Stories

Sub Category : Suspense/Mystery

What's that smell? I thought as I rolled over and opened my eyes. It was already dark out, I must have fallen asleep. Wait, Holly, I remembered Holly and jolted out of bed. Someone was cooking and I hoped it was her. With one long stride I was at the door, I put my ear to the door to see if I could hear anything. I could hear faint sounds coming from the kitchen, so I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. I could see that Brad's door was still closed so I headed to the kitchen. Halfway down the hall I called out, “Holly?” as I turned into the kitchen I saw Brad cooking something on the stove. In any other circumstance this would have been a dream come true. 
He stood at the stove with his back to me, he hadn't even noticed I was there. His bandaged arm was resting on the upper cabinet, while the other was holding a spatula. He looked so good without a shirt on. It was summer and he had a nice tan that accentuated his muscles. However, we were locked in this house and Holly was still missing. 
“Brad?” I called out. He turned around so fast, “Shit, Gretchen you scared the hell out of me,” he said with his hand to his chest trying to settle himself. “I'm sorry, I just woke up, I thought you might be Holly,” I said filling disappointed. 
“Oh, nope, not Holly, sorry. Hungry?” he asked sounding a bit insensitive. I was a little taken aback, and by the look on his face he could tell. “Gosh, I'm sorry Gretch. I didn't mean to sound like I don't care. I do, I am doing everything I can trying to stay sane here. Trying to find some normal in all this, that's all, now are you hungry or what?” he said with a half smile I couldn't resist. “I'll get the plates, smells good, what is it?” “Just spaghetti, not much else to choose from here,” he said.
I opened the lower cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. “Hey, where'd you get that?” Brad said looking a bit excited. 
“Under here, we found it when we first got here, you're going to need it if/when they send another request,” I said while popping the cork. I poured us both a glass and sat down to eat. The dinner he made was good and for a moment it felt like we were on a date. I have had a crush on Brad since the sixth grade, and it wasn't until sophomore year that he finally started talking to me. We had English together and we were reading partners in class. He hated reading so I would read then tell him all about it. From there we grew close. We hung around the same crowd but we never took it to the next level. I always hoped that we would, in fact, the night of the bonfire I was going to kiss him. I mentioned it to Holly and she was going to make sure I followed through. I wish she was here. 
We cleaned up after dinner and went to go lay on the couch. I was feeling a little tipsy from the wine, and I decided to lean in for a kiss. I looked at him and he was looking at me, for a moment I froze, then I just went for it. He leaned in and kissed me back. I could feel the heat rushing through my body. We were in the moment, kissing and touching each other when suddenly the alarm went off. It startled us both and we jumped to our feet. “Get in your room,” I yelled running down the hall. Closing the door behind me, I jumped on my bed. Really, you had to do that now, I thought to myself. 
I heard a something and looked towards the door. A large Manila envelope slipped under the door and into my room. My stomach turned, I knew what this was, another assignment. I took the envelope and sat down on my bed and stared at it. I didn't want to open it, but I also was not wanting to get shocked. I picked it up, slid my finger under the tab and opened it. Inside were two envelopes, one said, “Open me first,” I picked it then looked up at the cameras then back down to the envelope. I opened it and slid out the letter.
       You must cut off one ear from Brad, or you will get the collar. 
“Are you fucking serious?” I said to the camera in the corner. “Even if I was going to, it's not like I can tackle him down,” I yelled. Nothing, nothing happened. I sat there for a while waiting for the collar to go off, but it didn't. Now what do I do? Just sit here and wait? I got up paced back and forth for what seemed like hours. This is what they want, they want to drive me crazy. Then I remembered the second envelope. I rushed to the bed and pulled it out of the bigger envelope. It was heavier than the last. I slipped it open and pulled out a stack of photos. The top photo was a picture of Brad. He was laying in his room on his bed. His hands and feet were bound and he seemed to be asleep. The next picture, oh my god, the next picture was Holly. She was in the bathtub and Brad was standing over her while she lay bloody in the bath. One picture after another told a terrible story. Brad killing Holly, then cutting her up and taking a giant bag, which I could only assume was Holly, to the front door. Then it showed him holding pieces of her in the kitchen. He used Holly's body to make us dinner. I threw the pictures to the floor and began to vomit. 
I lay curled up in a ball crying. I can't believe she was gone, and Brad did that to her. My sadness turned to anger and I got up, marched to the kitchen for scissors, then headed to Brad's room. As I got close his door opened on its own. I saw him lying there, just like in the picture. I climbed up on him in a fit of rage and grabbed his ear. His eyes popped open and he tried to fight me off, but in one quick swoop I felt his warm blood spill over my hand, and I had his ear. When I was finished I shoved it in his mouth and then ran to the bathroom. I stood there staring at myself in the mirror. My face wet with tears as I washed his blood down the drain.