Always Eat Your Meat

Chapter 9

It was about 7:40 P.M. and only a few customers remained seated in the spine-chilling diner.

As conversation lingered and mouths chomped, I sat in the dimly lit corner by the greasy filmed window reorganizing and throwing away any ancient newspapers or magazines.

All day since this morning's unnerving conversation, I've felt like Earl and Susan have been watching me like a hawk, with the flickering lights of the kitchen casting an evil glow upon their menacing faces.

I can't do anything without them taking note of my every move. The one job I've been waiting for my whole life, is now the one I want to quit so badly.

A few more minutes passed and the diner was once again void, which made me feel slightly more anxious knowing that I was all alone with Earl and Susan once again.

To distract myself and pass the time, I whispered aloud, "Less than one hour you can go home and everything will be alright."

I took a deep breath, and then continued my duty, when a tattered, yellowing newspaper article caught my attention.

I carefully pulled out the page that read, "Another Gone Without a Trace," along with a grainy black and white photo of what appeared to be a diner, and not just any diner; Earl's Fresh Eats.

"What? No...this can't be true." I calmly tried to whisper so Earl and Susan wouldn't hear my reaction.

I pulled the article closer to my ghost like face and read the description silently out loud.

"Elderly couple who owns Earl's Fresh Eats is questioned after another employee named Charlotte Brooks goes missing. This will be the fifth employee this year. The couple claims they know nothing about the whereabouts of their former employees."

Out of disbelief, I tossed the article aside and picked up another write up that appeared to be recently printed, with a crystal clear photo of what looked like the two cops I talked to last night. The title read, "Cops Vanish From Late Night Shift."

Before I could voice a single word, I had to take a deep breath to keep my head from spinning, when finally I uttered, "Oh my gosh! This can't be....Mr. Brooks was right." Just as I was about to get up from my seat and run out the door, a cold hand rested on my shoulder blade, and I knew exactly who it was.

Forcing myself out of the booth, I screamed, "Stay away from me you monsters!"

"I see you've discovered our little secret. We were hoping you could've stayed longer because Earl and I really liked you. It's such a shame." Susan maliciously replied as she locked the entrance door, creeping closer.

Panting and ruffling my hair, "I don't understand! How could you just kill people? Please I beg you, don't hurt me!" I gasped stumbling backwards on the checkered floor, when I heard the sound of a blade being sharpened.

"I'm glad you asked," Susan chortled. "You see, it gets expensive to have meat shipped all the way out here and business was getting so slow to the point where we would have had to close. As a result, Earl and I thought of a cheaper way to save money and our business by using our customers as our source of meat!" she exclaimed like she just won the lottery.

"Unfortunately, we never thought you would've been this smart to figure out our little scheme. You may have solved this mystery Valerie, but you'll never be able to tell it!" Susan appearing now more like the Devil than a fragile China doll.

"You people are sick!" I countered appalled and angry.

All of a sudden, Earl came through the squeaky kitchen door with his machete, and in the most sinister way possible said, "Thank you for your contribution Valerie."

Earl and Susan cackled like witches as they enclosed on me.

"Please...don't..." I screamed as I saw my reflection in the blade as it came down.

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Thank you once again to everyone who chose to read, vote, or comment on Always Eat Your Meat!

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