4

Thomas just took hold of my hands and held them in his larger ones, his thumbs gently feeling over the tops of my palm.

"Thomas please, say something." I said feeling my stomach tighten from the smell of the room. He just looked down at the ground shaking his head slowly.

"Please help me." the girl said and I heard the door opened from upstairs and I could see Charlie's silhouette in the doorway.

"Well I guess we have been found out." he said and I looked up at him with confusion and fear. "Well don't just stand there boy bring her up!" My body was suddenly jerked and I felt my body being lifted off the ground. I panicked and began to push and shove against Thomas's chest trying to get free, but nothing could move him and already the ground left my feet as I was suddenly hoisted over his large shoulder and I started to struggle and yell.

"Let me go!" I demanded as Thomas swung and carried me up the stairs.

"No!" the girl screamed from the top of her lungs and I never imagined I could ever be man handled like this. I was a chunky girl, so I felt self-conscious now feeling as if Thomas would just drop me at any moment because I was too heavy.

"Stop it! Thomas, stop it!" I said struggling more.

"Go on now bring her to the dining room. We got some shit to sort out." Charlie commanded motioning his head to the dining room and Thomas did as he was told carrying me back into the dining room, his footsteps sounded large and rang in my ears.

"What are you going to do!" I shouted and Thomas pulled me off his shoulders and shoved me back down in my seat and his hands just remained on my shoulders holding me down in place so I couldn't move. I tried one time to stand up and he forced me back down into my chair with ease. Luda Mae just shook her head.

"Don't worry now honey, it'll be okay. I promise." she said and I looked at her as Charlie began to walk around the table.

"You always taught me not to tell lies, Luda Mae." I said with panic in my tone as I struggled against Thomas's hold but he did not loosen his grip on my shoulders. Luda Mae just winced at my words shaking her head slowly in fear. Since my jumper only came around my shoulders, I could feel Thomas occasionally rub them. God what was with him and rubbing me?

"Now, Tatianna," Charlie said looking at me from the head of the table, "I've known you since you were this tall." He placed his hand down low on the ground symbolizing my small size from my youth.

"You've known my family and we've known yours. Always a quiet bunch of colored people. In time we accepted you as our kin. The county is almost deserted. The slaughter house use to give us money and plenty of food to survive on, but now it's all gone. Eeeeveryone is gone. Now we are doing what we must to survive. Now I was hopin' you wouldn't see Thomas's play house down stairs and maybe could have let you go. But now things have changed and you have seen too much." he said. I just stared at him for a moment.

"What killing people?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Nah, kill, eat and kill again… then eat again." he explained and my eyes widened and I struggled against Thomas and held me down again.

"What!" I asked widely before looking down at the bowl of stew that sat before me. My eyes widened. The meat… it was… human flesh? I looked back at Charlie.

"So then who is Hoyt then? Was he a cop you killed? What you took his identity?" I asked and Charlie just wobbled his head from left or right.

"More like playin' pretend." he said and I just swallowed hard glad I didn't eat it. I just shook my head not being able to believe it. "So begs the question, what do we do with you?" Luda Mae looked at her son.

"What do you mean 'What do we do'? She is our family Charlie." she snapped and Charlie shook his head slowly and just looked at me.

"True, but she's been away for a long time, Momma, a very very long time. Who knows how much she has changed." he said unconvinced of Luda Mae's words and I just stiffened and stared at him for a moment wondering how the hell I would get out of this. I had to convince him somehow. I needed to stay alive or else I knew I would die at the hands of my close friend and fed to his family. I looked at Charlie.

"I once caught you doing something in the barn and I swore to you that I would never tell and from this very day, I haven't told." I said and now Charlie's eyes widened some and his hands curled into fists. "I saw you do many things in the barn with many… young people." His eyes just widened more.

Now there was a silence as Thomas slowly looked up at Charlie as well as Luda Mae and she looked so confused. Charlie stiffened before suddenly letting out a loud laugh and nodding slowly.

"Ohhh yeah sure sure. Those were some good days. I knew you was looking too." he said and I nodded.

"I haven't told a soul and the images have haunted me for a very long time." I said my mind wandering back to the nightmares and slowly I looked up at him. "so frankly I don't care about what you do or who you eat in this house. But I want to settle my mother's affairs and I will. You have no right to take that from me." As a normal human being I felt disgusted with my words, but in this house, I knew I had to push past my humanity in order to survive.

I looked up at Thomas.

"And neither do you." I snapped and he looked down at me, eyes soft and innocent as he stared at me. Charlie use to tell me stories about the war and he never left out a single detail to what he had to do and who he had to do it too. He wasn't human so I couldn't be either. Charlie just stared at me for a moment seriously, his eyes showing uncertainty. Luda Mae just leaned forward.

"Charlie… family is family we do not desert our family nor do we turn on them." she reminded and Charlie continued to nod as he observed me.

"Family is family." he said and suddenly sighed.

"Alright." he said and began to sit down. "Tomorrow we will go and settle your momma's affairs and then we come right back. But you better not forget… you are a Hewitt and you belong to us." At his words, Thomas's hands tightened on my shoulders as if to confirm his words. I just stared at Charlie before nodding slowly.

"I understand and I will not interfere." I promised. I wanted Charlie to know I was not going to get in the way of their future massacres, and that I would not escape less I be killed and eaten too.

Charlie nodded and began to get comfortable in his chair and began to pick up his spoon to eat. Thomas moved back over to his chair and sat down and I could hear it cracking a bit beneath his large form and I looked down at the soup, the chunks of meat just floated so innocently. I looked back at everyone to see they were eating, except for Thomas who seemed shy again. I close my eyes for a moment. Lord give me strength. I picked up the spoon with the broth and meat deep in it and I just put it right in my mouth and was oddly shocked at how good it was. The meat was seasoned and tasted spicy, but it wasn't a bad spicy. Charlie just looked at me and smiled as if proud of me and Luda Mae just laughed happily and kept eating. Thomas looked at me with blank eyes before looking back down at his bowl and slowly he picked up his spoon and lifted his mask up and slowly ate and we just continued to eat, ignoring the screams and cries for help from the young lady in the basement.

Author's Notes

So I thought it would be good for the main character to just go along rather than fight and struggle like a regular OC would. Oh no this will not take a cliche turn. Hope everyone's enjoying!