5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

"Thunderbirds Are Go!"


"PIZZA NIGHTMARE"

JEFF and Grandma watched admiringly as the three Tracy brothers entered the lounge. Virgil was dressed as Frankenstein's Monster. Alan was a little goblin and Scott was Count Dracula.

"Good," said Jeff approvingly. "Very good, boys. Excellent effort."

Kayo and Lady Penelope were also there on the sofas. They had yet to reveal their own ones.

"If we're judging then I'm currently torn between Scott and Virgil," said Kayo.

"What, you don't like mine?" Alan pouted.

Penelope giggled. "Yours is also good, Alan," she said, which made him feel better.

"However…" Grandma cut in. "I think we're missing some."

"Yes…" agreed Jeff. "Where are Gordon and John?"

"John's coming later, Dad," said Scott. "As for Gordon. I have no idea."

Virgil started snickering to himself, although Jeff noticed this. "Is something funny, Virgil?" he asked.

"Maybe," said Virgil, trying to keep a straight face. "He doesn't know it, but I know what Gordon has been making."

"RAAAAAHH! RAAAAAAAAH!" came a strange strained roar from up the stairs.

"Ah, here he comes," said Kayo. "What on earth?!"

Everyone except for Virgil stared in surprise as Gordon appeared into view. He was wearing the most bizarre outfit any of them had seen. Instead of a vampire, a ghoul, ghost or any other kind of typical Halloween character, he was wearing a hand-made monster-like outfit made entirely of cardboard pizza slices. Only three holes were visible in the top of the head area where his eyes and mouth were just about visible. Virgil was trying very hard to keep himself together whilst the others were just simply dumbfounded.

"Gordon?" said Penelope, trying not to start laughing at herself. "Whatever are you supposed to be?"

Gordon made growling noises before answering. "I…am…PIZZA THE HUTT! THE MOST FEARED GANGSTER IN THE UNIVERSE!"

There were a few moments of silence before Virgil finally couldn't hold it any longer. He burst out with laughter and it didn't take long for Scott, Alan, Kayo and Lady Penelope to start laughing as well. Jeff and Grandma were amused but they didn't laugh like the others did.

Gordon was offended by them laughing. "Why the hell are you all laughing?" he asked. "Aren't I scary enough?"

"Scary?" laughed Scott. "That's the most ridiculous outfit I've ever seen, Gordon."

"I think you gotta have a prize for being the silliest," added Alan.

Gordon pulled up his costume's head and gave the others a very grumpy look. "I worked for weeks on this!" he fumed. "I did not do this to be laughed at!"

Penelope stood up and came over to put her arms around his waist. "Well, I love it," she said. "It's so silly and unique. It's just so you, Gordon."

Gordon went red with embarrassment. "It's not supposed to be loved," he grumbled. "It's supposed to be feared."

"Oh, yeah?" said Alan. "Well, newsflash, Gordo. There's nothing remotely scary that had anything to do with pizza!"

The others were in agreement. All except for Jeff and Grandma, who had finally stopped being amused and were now exchanging uncomfortable glances with one another.

Virgil was the only one to notice their expressions and stopped his laughing. "Dad? Grandma? Are you okay?" he asked.

The others stopped laughing also and turned to the eldest members of the family.

"What you just said there, Alan…" Jeff began. "About nothing to do with pizza being scary…that isn't entirely true."

Everyone exchanged confused looks. "What do you mean, Dad?" asked Scott.

Jeff and Grandma looked at each other again. "Do you want to tell them, or shall I?" Grandma asked.

Jeff swallowed. "I'll tell them," he said. "If I'm honest, it's about time they knew."

"Knew what?" asked Gordon uneasily.

Jeff repositioned himself in his seat to make himself comfortable. "It's quite a story," he said. "If you all sit down, I will tell you."

The four brothers and Penelope all sat down on the sofas. And this was the story that Jeff told.


***Flashback Begins***

Before Jeff joined the United States Air Force, he'd been an ordinary farm boy with a career to start. Everyone had to start somewhere, and as much as he enjoyed being on the family farm, Sally and Grant Tracy wouldn't let Jeff fully operate any of the machinery until he was at least twenty-one years of age. As a result, he found himself looking for a job outside of the farm to help pay off the car he'd recently acquired courtesy of his parents. The job he ended up with wasn't the most ideal but it was better than most dull jobs he could think of - A Pizza Delivery Boy. Jeff had never been a big fan of pizza but he liked to have it on a rare occasion. Although he felt sure working with and delivering pizzas might possibly put him off them for life.

Sabattini's was the name of the pizzeria where Jeff had become employed at. It was a small takeaway pizza outlet located on the outskirts of the nearest town to the Tracy's family farm in Kansas. It was run by Mr Sabattini. An Italian man who'd emigrated from his home country to the United States. He was well-liked and a fair employer, which was why Jeff had taken the job. His family knew Mr Sabattini and Grant had been key to getting Mr Sabattini to employ his son. Jeff soon settled in and became happy working with his fellow colleagues.

Jeff had only been working for a few weeks at the pizzeria when the night in question took place. This week it was his turn to do the Graveyard Shift. Late into the night and getting home at the very early hours of the morning. It was getting close to midnight, closing time. It had been a long shift and Jeff was eager to leave and make his way home. He'd been working behind the counter that night when the telephone rang. His colleague, Moses, answered it. "Hello, Sabattini's. How may I help you?"

The pizzeria itself was currently empty apart from Moses and Jeff. Jeff hadn't been paying much attention until he heard the sound of Moses's tone change.

"Yes? The usual? Okay. Bye." Then Moses let out a sigh.

"Something wrong, Moses?" Jeff asked.

"Ugh - just our regular weirdos, Jeff," Moses replied. He took the order sheet to the kitchen. "Sarah? We have one more! It's the oddball special."

Sarah Menkin, Jeff's other friend at the pizzeria, was heard to let out a groan. "Very well. I'll get them done. But I'm not taking it to them!"

Moses grumbled to himself after closing the door. "I sure as hell don't want to," he muttered.

Jeff was confused. "Pardon me, Moses, but may I ask what the matter is?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all," said Moses. "Forgive me, Jeff." He showed him the order on the tablet.

Jeff looked at the tablet. "Two small Margaritas with no toppings. I don't see what's wrong with that?"

"It's not the pizzas that are the problem, Jeff," said Moses. "It's the creeps that order them."

"Creeps?"

"Yeah, bro, it's so weird," said Moses. "Every week we get a call from them. Never on the same day. But always the same time of night. The same order. Every time."

"Why does that make them creepy?" Jeff asked, still confused.

"It doesn't," Moses admitted. "But we've never seen these people. Every time we deliver the pizzas to them, we go to their creepy little house in the middle of nowhere and get told to leave the boxes on the doorstep. They then pass money under the door and that's it, we go. Nobody knows what they look like."

"How many are there?"

"Two we think," said Moses. "They're brothers as far as we can tell. Don't know their names. We tried to look up the address to find out who lives there. But there are no registered owners."

Jeff scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Very strange," he remarked.

Mr Sabattini then came out of his office. He was about to head home. "Ah, Moses! Jethro!" For some reason he never got Jeff's name right, but Jeff liked him too much to correct him. "I'm-a go home now. How-a many more you got to do?"

"Only one more, Mr Sabattini," said Moses. "And…I'm afraid it's them…again." He showed him the order on the tablet.

Mr Sabattini's cheerful manner vanished and was replaced by uncomfortableness. "Oh, mama-mia! They call again? Who is-a taking pizza to them?"

Moses grimaced. "I guess it'll have to be me," he said. "Sarah's refusing to do it."

Mr Sabattini sighed. "I guess I'll-a take it myself," he said. "I am-a fed up-a of these creatures making my-a staff uncomfortable. I should-a call the Police-a on them!"

Jeff had taken note of the address on the order then checked it on his own tablet. "I'll take it," he said. "It's on my way home. I can just drop it off and head on home from there. I can bring you the money when I come in tomorrow, Mr Sabattini."

Moses and Mr Sabattini shared uncomfortable looks with one another.

"No, Jethro, you are the new boy," said Mr Sabattini. "I couldn't-a bare to let anything-a happen to you and I-a promised your Papua I'd give you good-a work to do."

Jeff frowned. "Mr Sabattini, with all due respect. I'm not afraid of creeps, or bullies. It takes a lot to make me feel intimidated. If these guys wish to remain hidden, let them. I'll just put the pizza down, tell them it's there, take the money and leave. No fuss. No bother. And it's on my way home, I insist!"

There wasn't much for either Mr Sabattini or Moses to do to argue against this. Jeff could be very stubborn if he wanted to be and to change his mind would often take a miracle in itself.

"Very well, Jethro," said Mr Sabattini. He placed one hand on each of Jeff's upper arms. "But you do just-a what you said. When you have-a left that horrible place, you let me-a know. Okay?"

"Sure," Jeff promised.

Mr Sabattini wasn't happy about it, but he left anyway to head home for the rest of the night.

Moses was quick to voice his dislike of Jeff's intentions. "Jeff, are you outta your mind?"

"Of course not, Moses," Jeff replied. "You clearly don't want to do this job and someone has to do it. I therefore will."

"Will what?" It was Sarah, emerging from the kitchen with the two small white boxes that contained the pizzas.

"Jeff's gonna take the pizzas to the house," said Moses.

Sarah stared at Jeff with stern eyes. "You're not serious?"

"I'm very serious," said Jeff. "We have a job to do, right? These people have ordered pizza. We can't let Mr Sabattini's reputation of always delivering fall, can we?"

"It's not about that!" snapped Moses. "It's just…we can't lose anyone else."

Jeff was confused. "What the hell does that mean?" he asked.

Sarah and Moses exchanged saddened looks before Moses pointed to a pair of Missing Persons posters that had been placed on the wall. "You see them?" he said. "That's why."

Jeff looked at the posters. The one on the left was for a teenager called Lucy Brown. The second was for another called Sharon Carter. Both had been missing for well over two months according to the posters.

"They both used to work here before you arrived," said Sarah. "Then one night they left to go home together. Their last job before they went missing was to deliver pizzas to that very address. Sharon's car was found the next day about twenty miles away in a ditch. But there was no sign of either of them." She sniffled and wiped away a tear. "They were such lovely people."

"So where do the people at this address come into it?" asked Jeff. "Do you think they were the ones responsible?"

"I'm sure of it, Jeff," said Moses. "And so is Sarah. Mr Sabattini seems to think so as well. But there is no proof. We've never seen these guys. They were ordering pizzas before they disappeared and we thought they were strange then. I mean, with the car being found where it was, it could just be a coincidence. But my gut tells me something happened to them that night."

Silence filled the now closed up pizzeria now that Mr Sabattini had left and Sarah closed the kitchen. Jeff looked back at the posters of the missing young girls. "Guessing the Police did nothing?"

"Without any proof or evidence, how could they?" said Sarah, pulling down her rolled up sleeves and taking her apron off. "I went once before they disappeared. The place was creepy even then."

"I have been three times and I feel physically sick whenever I'm near it," said Moses. "The sooner those guys find somewhere else to get their pizzas from, the better. Or if they leave the area, even better."

Jeff looked at the posters one more time, and then at the pizza boxes, and then finally at his watch. "I'd better get going," he said, picking the boxes up off the table. "The sooner I get this done, the sooner I'll be home. I'll let you know when I am."

"Thanks, Jeff," said Sarah. "Be careful for God's sake!"

"Yeah, man!" agreed Moses. "Don't do anything stupid, right?"

Jeff rolled his eyes without them seeing. "Don't worry, I won't be," he said as he left the building and got into his small blue car.

Moses and Sarah watched as Jeff drove his car out of the parking lot and then exchanged worried looks after locking the building up.

"He's being too naïve?" asked Sarah.

"Far too damn much," replied Moses grimly.


Jeff drove his car down the road. It was a route he knew well having driven along it every time he'd gone to and from work. The distance between the pizzeria and home was about twelve kilometres and the location of the address was roughly halfway between the two. Jeff didn't feel uncomfortable at first when driving along the first part of the journey, along the main road where there were street lamps. However, once he'd turned off to go down the country lane towards the address, things began to change. There were no lights down here. It was very dark. The only form of light apart from the beams of the car's headlamps was that of the Moon shining brightly in the sky. The darkness and silhouette's of the trees of the woodland that ran along both sides of the road made it feel creepy and eventually Jeff began to think about what Moses and Sarah had been saying. He'd seen the posters in the window before and had been saddened about the missing girls, but other than that, he'd not paid too much attention. Now he couldn't stop thinking about them. He thought also about the two sinister brothers that were the apparent occupants of the house. Part of him wondered if they'd been trying to scare him as a joke as they were coming up to Halloween. In fact it was only a few days before Halloween so the possibility was there. However, seeing how upset and worried they'd been about it, most of him felt that they were being truthful about it.

Soon, the GPS on Jeff's phone beeped to tell him he was less than a kilometre from the destination. He had been told of a lay-by at the side of the road where he could pull in. moments later it appeared in the beam of the headlights and Jeff pulled in on the left side of the road. He turned off the engine and began to look around. At first he couldn't see anything except for the silhouette's of the trees created by the bright white light of the Moon. then as he looked to his left, his eyes caught sight of an orange glow but he couldn't make it out through the windows of the car. He therefore stepped out and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark. Then he noticed it. It was an old farmhouse. It too was mostly silhouetted but had the orange glow of lights coming from inside. There did not appear to be any tracks or even a roadway leading into it which Jeff found peculiar. All that stood between him and the house was an open and untidy grass field. Damn, that does look kind of spooky, he thought to himself. He was starting to understand why Moses, Sarah and Mr Sabattini had been so anxious and reluctant to let him do the job. Normally Jeff was known for his bravery, but on this occasion, he was starting to have doubts about it himself.

Plucking up courage, he took the pizza boxes out of the car and closed the door behind him. He locked the car and started to make his way across the field towards the house. The closer he got, the bigger it became. And the bigger it became, the more uneasy he felt. The sound of squelching grass under his feet didn't help his nerves either, but he continued on regardless. Soon he reached the house and through the illuminations from the lights, he started to notice just how run-down and shabby the house was. He couldn't see all that was wrong with it, but he did notice that some bricks appeared to be missing. Part of one side of the roof had small pieces that were no longer there. The chimney was crooked and leaning to one side, like one small gust of wind could blow it over.

"How could anyone even live here?" Jeff muttered to himself. "This place is a right mess." He'd now reached the front door, took a deep breath and knocked three times. Then he took some deep breaths, preparing himself for whatever was going to come next. For a few moments, no sound was heard, and he began to wonder if he was even at the right address. But then he felt his heart jump a little at the sound of heavy footsteps coming from inside the house.

"Who is it?" a male voice growled from the other side of the door.

"Er…you ordered some pizzas?" Jeff answered, trying to sound as normal as he could.

"Just leave them on the doorstep," the voice growled again. And then it went silent.

Now I know what Moses meant about never seeing these guys, Jeff thought to himself. Cautiously, he bent down and placed the boxes on the doorstep. Then he waited as a small group of $5 notes were pushed under the door for him to take. He took the money and began to make his way back to the car.

The grass in the field was long and Jeff had bent most of the blades when walking over them from the road to the house so it was easy for him to find the path back. However, he got halfway across the field when he suddenly came to a stop. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't shake off the curiosity that was going through his body. Why had nobody seen these brothers? What did they look like? And why would they just ask to have the pizza left on the doorstep when any normal person would simply open the door itself and take the pizza? Jeff just couldn't understand it. And despite having been told by Mr Sabattini, Sarah and Moses not to do anything except leave after delivering the pizza, Jeff's curiosity got the better of him, and he decided instead not to go back to the car, but to conceal himself in the long grass and see if he could catch sight of the person coming out to collect the pizzas.

Jeff watched motionless as the door slowly creaked open. There was no light on inside the porch but Jeff did notice the silhouette of a dark figure, roughly five-foot-eight with a completely round head which looked like it had no hair. Jeff couldn't see the face or what the figure was wearing but it was definitely a man. But what he did notice which sent chills down his spine was that despite not seeing the face, he could see the eyes of the man. They were white like lights and seemed to show up in the dark whereas the rest of the man did not. The man stood very still, looking down at the two pizza boxes on the doorstep. Jeff waited as silent as a mouse. He hoped perhaps the man would turn on a light so he could see him better. But then, to his alarm, instead of picking the boxes up, the man turned his head and stared right at where he was hiding. He instantly felt a glare coming from the man like he'd been spotted. He tried to duck down even lower. But then a wailing sound from behind made him almost jump out of his skin. He looked behind him and saw flashing lights coming from the road. They were his car's alarm going off. Then he looked back towards the house and almost screamed in horror. The man had moved. He'd come out of the house and was now walking through the grass. His white eyes not blinking as he advanced on Jeff's position.

Jeff knew he couldn't stay any longer. He had to get out. He turned and legged it back across the grass towards his car, the flashing lights showing him exactly where to go. He glanced back again and saw that the figure was following him. It did not appear to be running, and yet it seemed to be keeping pace with him no matter how fast he was going. Jeff reached the car and tried to pull the door open. It didn't open. Then he realised it was because he'd locked it. He glanced back again, the figure was getting closer - less than twenty metres away. Jeff was panicking as he fumbled in his pocket for the car keys. He found them. Then he dropped them but luckily found them at his feet. He managed to unlock the car and scramble inside as the figure was now fifteen metres from the car. He tried to start the engine, but the engine spluttered and the car refused to start. Jeff was frantic. "Come on. Come on! Come OOOOOON!" he yelled. He looked to his left. The figure was almost at him, less than ten metres away. With a final roar of desperation, the car finally started and he slammed his foot on the accelerator. The car's wheels spun and it sped away down the road as the figure got within five metres of the car.

The figure stopped and watched in silence as the car sped away.

Jeff was hyperventilating. He began to take deep breaths to calm himself down. As he did so, the fear he'd experienced when being followed by the figure left him and was replaced by anger. He was furious with himself for what had just happened. "Idiot. Absolute…stupid…idiot!" he cursed himself. "They told you to leave after dropping the pizzas at the door. Why didn't you listen?"

It was at that moment that he happened to glance in his rear-view mirror to make sure that the figure was not following. However, the figure at the house no longer became his main concern and his heart almost exploded at the sight of the pair of eyes staring back at him in the mirror.

THUD!