The Cannibal House

16. The Cannibal House

Those were the sounds that woke up Lee. He was in the dark. Was he back in the room? He blinked and didn't see anything. He moved his head, tried to look around. He tried touched his hands to his face, but they were bound in something (again). His face was covered with something.

"Oh. Oh, it's awake."

"Remove the sack."

Brightness.

Lee saw he was in the kitchen of Road House. "No!"

"Yes, mister," said a man with a mustache and chef's hat. "You are at the finest diner no one knows about."

Lee put his head up and looked around, saw that someone was making ribs at the grill.

"You killed Danny. Or your woman did. Either way, she's dead now. Nice and cooked up. She was actually quite delicious as the appetizer. She made a great stew." the chef said.

The woman who had said that Lee was awake was quite ugly with short hair and bad lipstick. She was very skinny and said, "We have to bury Arnie and Danny tomorrow because of you."

"Danny was a good boy for Arnold. I'm proud of my uncle for raising Danny as his own."

Lee looked around and tried to move his legs but he couldn't and he couldn't see why not.

"Don't try to escape," the woman said, "or we'll just eat you raw. Its disgusting, raw is just so out this year. . . but, if you must be eaten, better now than never."

"I have to go check the ribs. Prep him."

"Yes, hon."

Lee started to sweat. He was very thirsty.

"Don't sweat, please," she said. "The salt. . .well, is it OK if he sweats?"

"Fine," the chef said, "cookin him will fix every imperfection. Slit the throat. Thought the wound in his chest would've killed him, but. . ."

"Clearly not." the woman said, she brought over a knife. Probably the same that Angie had stabbed Lee with accidentally.

"Brave souls, you two. But foolish," the woman said. "Understandable that you would stop at Road House, thinking it a place of actual shelter and eatery."

"He probably had to piss, hon."

"Yes. . . no local would ever come here. They know."

"Probably."

"He fears us, hon." the woman said.

The chef said, "Good. Y'slit his throat yet or is he listening?"

"He's listening."

"I told you to slit his-"

"Just a sec, hon!"

Lee's mind racked, he tried to think of something to do. The woman stooped over him, "You will be so delicious. The main course."

Lee shot out his bound hands, which were zip-tied together and grabbed at the woman, she screamed and slammed the butt of the knife into his forehead and he fell back to the metallic table - blurring the world. His head throbbing. The chef came over and grabbed the knife from her and said, "I told you not to play with the food!"

The chef slashed the knife across Lee's throat.