I stepped outside and found Thomas playing with the bandana around his hand while he waited for me. He stopped and looked up at me as I stepped out. I smiled softly at him as he led the way downstairs. As we passed by the front door I saw my car parked in front of the house. I was glad to see it again since it was the only thing I owned that I actually cared about and it provided a vague comfort to think I might have a way out of here. I followed Thomas into the kitchen and found his mother hard at work at the stove.

She turned and looked me over. She smiled and said, "You cleaned up real nice."

"Thanks," I said stiffly, not really sure if it was a compliment, "Do you need any help?"

"You know how to cook?" she asked and I nodded. She handed me a wooden spoon and said, "Keep an eye on the stew while I help Thomas with the plates."

"Sure," I replied and moved to take her place at the stove while she and Thomas went into the other room. I stirred the soup that the woman had been working on. It smelled delicious whatever it was. I pulled the spoon and tasted the broth of the soup. It was a little bland so I looked around for some spices. I saw some familiar herbs on the shelf above the counter. They were pretty basic but I added some to the cooking soup. It was a small improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

From the other room I heard Thomas's mother say something to him as she returned to the kitchen. She stood next to me and observed what I was doing.

"What's your name, darling?"

I looked over to her before speaking, "Sarah Walker, ma'am."

"Well I'm Luda Mae, but you can call me Momma if you want." I smiled lightly at her. Even though I had been held in their basement against my will, Thomas and his mother seemed like good people. The only person that I really had problems with was Hoyt and as I was talking with Luda Mae, I heard him enter the dining room. The sound of a chair sliding back and someone sitting in it could be heard followed by a sharp "The fuck you looking at?" most likely directed at Thomas.

"Momma! Where's my lunch?" Hoyt called.

"It's coming!" She called back.

Luda Mae and I quickly finished the food and I helped her carry it out. Hoyt scoffed loudly when he saw me, but I ignored it as I placed the dishes of food in the middle of the table while avoiding Hoyt's gaze. When we were done, I took in the layout of the dining room. Hoyt was sitting at the head of the table with Luda Mae and Thomas sat on either side of him and the man in the wheelchair sat next to Luda Mae. I moved to the chair next to Thomas and sat down quietly.

"Monty, this here is Sarah. Sarah this is my brother Monty." I smiled and greeted him.

"Come on, Momma. You're not actually gonna let Tommy's pet sit at the table?" Hoyt bitched causing everyone at the table to look up at him. During normal circumstances, I would have stood up for myself, but these weren't exactly normal circumstances so I just kept my head down and remained silent. Luckily for me, before Hoyt could get rolling on another tyrade, Momma stepped in.

"Hoyt, this girl is a guest in this house and you will treat her with respect."

"Momma, you can't just let him play with the food. He doesn't even know what to use a woman for!" Hoyt growled back and this time when I looked up to him he was beyond angry, yet again and I silently wondered what his blood pressure looked like because even though he was trying not to yell I could see a vein popping out of his forehead and the blood was rushing to his face. As I regarded at him, I couldn't understand why he was so angry… and what did he mean about food? I glanced at the food on the table and noticed that some off the pieces of meat that sat in the bowl in front of me looked vaguely familiar and upon closer inspection I saw something that strongly resembled the curve of a human ear. My stomach lurched and I wanted to run for the bathroom, but now was really not the time.

"Hoyt we'll talk about this later." Luda responded.

"Hell no. We're gonna talk about this now."

"Don't you talk to her like that," the wheelchair bound man spoke up for the first time.

"You stay out of this Uncle Monty."

After Hoyt's comment it looked like Momma had had enough. "Thomas, take the young lady upstairs."

Thomas, who had been watching the conversation from the corner of his eye, stood quickly, nearly knocking the chair he was in over. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me up with him. He rushed up the stairs nearly tripping me on the way up. He pulled me into a room and tossed me in the direction of the bed before turning to pace across the room, anxiously rubbing his hands together. I took a seat on the bed and watched him hurry back and forth. Every so often he would glance at the door and then as he was turning for the hundredth time he looked to me. He glanced over at me and seemed to remember that I was in the room. He moved towards me and I scooted back. I just found out that there was a very real possibility that his family ate people and as I looked up at him I realized just how big he was.

He stopped his forward advance and stared at me. His eyes were large and revealed just how nervous he was. I realized that I was afraid of him, but at the same time, as I watched him scratch at the back of his hand and shift his weight, I felt bad for him. From what I saw, he was the low man on the totem pole in the house and seemed to be everyone else's doormat, especially when it came to Hoyt. A part of me sympathized with that. I moved a little closer towards him.

His dark eyes looked mildly hopeful as I slid forward. Hesitantly, he moved to the bed, but only sat after I patted that space beside me. Again, the floor seemed to capture most of his attention, but I did notice that every so often he would glance in my direction.

We sat in silence as the sounds of another argument between Hoyt and Luda Mae flooded the room. Whenever I looked over at Thomas he looked worried and the back of his hand was growing red with the amount of picking he was doing. The silence was bothering me so I decided to break it.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

He shook his head from side to side.

"Can you? Talk I mean."

He nodded and I stared at him expectantly but he didn't catch on. I sighed and looked at the wall.

"Thomas-"

"Tommy."

"What?" I said not expecting him to speak.

"Call me Tommy," he repeated. His voice was deep, but hoarse from lack of use.

I nodded and continued, "Okay Tommy, I was going to ask what did Hoyt mean when he said you were playing with your food?"

Tommy didn't know how to respond. He looked over at me and formed his words carefully. "A long time ago…when Hoyt was in the war he got captured…The prisoners were forced to eat each other to survive…" His voice grew stronger the more he spoke. "So when the town shut down and we started to run out of food…we ate another type of food." He didn't have to look up at me to know I was horrified.

I couldn't take this. I stood and paced across the room. This was all so wrong. I stopped and turned to Thomas. "So you kill and eat people?" He nodded but wouldn't look up at me. As I watched him I remembered the woman I had seen in the basement. "Tommy… who killed the woman downstairs?"

His head hung lower and I dreaded his response.

"I did."

His voice was barely above a whisper but I heard him. I felt my eyes grow wide as I saw Thomas in a new light. I turned to run from the room, but Thomas was faster. Before I could reach the doorknob, two strong arms encircled my waist and he pulled me back against his chest.

"Let go of me, you murderer!" I yelled, while struggling against him.

He only pulled me in closer and said something into my ear, "Please Sarah, I won't hurt you and I won't let anyone else hurt you, I swear." He turned me around in his arms so he could see my face.

When I saw him I couldn't help but yell at him, "Why would you protect me?! You don't even know me!"

"You were nice to me," he whispered, holding his bandaged hand against my cheek.

I stared up at him in surprise and I felt myself break down. I didn't want to be here, but on the same token I had nowhere else to go. The man in front of me was a murderer, yet had been nothing but kind to me. The tears came quickly and I latched onto the closest thing to me. I balled my hands into fists, clenching the fabric of his shirt between my fingers. I cried into his chest and he held me tighter in his arms. He pulled me over to the bed where he sat down and pulled me with him. I cried on him until I fell asleep again.