The image of bricks came back to her as she sat across from her date. Light crept in through the spaces between the stone, letting her know that light still existed. It was cold in the hole, which didn’t bother her at first, but as time passed the temperature freezed her bones. When they removed the stones and let her out she could barely walk. Six weeks later and she was at a restaurant with an exposed brick wall and she couldn’t concentrate on the man on the other side of the table.
“Do you like your beer? It’s from that new brewery downtown. I love that they are already supporting them.” Max said.
Shelly smiled at him and tasted the beer for the first time. She studied him over the pint glass. He was a little older than her, but he dressed and acted much younger. Brown unkempt hair sat on top of his head in a perpetual state of shock. His usual wild beard had been trimmed before their date. A wrinkled blue plaid shirt finished his slacker appearance. He emptied a quarter of his beer under her gaze.
“It’s great. I usually go for fruity drinks, but there is enough sweetness in this to be good.” Shelly said.
“I’m glad you like it. I come here quite a bit. Wait till you try their pretzels, you are going to get addicted. I swear they put an addictive drug in them to make them haunt your dreams.”
Shelly laughed. It was a deep belly that parted her red lipsticked lips, and crinkled up that spot under her nose. Max’s blue eyes sparkled when he heard her laugh.
Max had built up enough nerve to ask her out a few days ago. They worked together in the same office, for a company that does finance for other companies. For the last five weeks Shelly worked as an admin for Max’s manager. As soon as he saw her behind her desk all he could think about was her smile, blond hair, and green eyes. After a few days of spying on her, he had finally worked up the courage to stop by her desk and talk to her. From that point on, her desk was the highlight of his days. That is, until tonight.
“You know, I’m really glad you asked me out tonight, Max. I wondered if you would ever man up, or if I was going to have to be the one.” Shelly said with a smile.
He blushed and looked down, “Ha ha.”
“I’m serious. You’ve made work a lot more enjoyable for me.”
“I know how it is coming to a new place. And some of the people at work can be a bit stuck up.” Max said.
“Seriously, what’s the deal with that?”
“They are just people who drunk the corporate kool-aid. I don’t even know what they talk about besides work, it’s crazy.”
“Who knows? But, at least it’s fun to talk about them.”
The waiter came with a basket of pretzels. Max grabbed a small blue plate and put a couple on it, then handed it to Shelly. She took it and brushed his finger. He almost blurted out an apology before he saw that she was smiling. Red blossomed on his cheeks again. His stomach flipped at her touch. She sat the plate down and took a bit out of the pretzel, pieces of salt stuck to her mouth.
“What did I tell you? Amazing, right?” He said, trying to recover his coolness.
“Oh yeah, I’m totally addicted.” She said through a mouth of the bread.
They sat at the table eating the pretzels in silence. Shelly watched him eat a pretzel before taking a bite. She wanted to take another one, but wanted to make sure he ate more than her. Flashes of past meals came to her mind. She thought about a meal she had with another man so long ago, how much he had eaten. Then she wondered if the others had dinner dates like this. If they all had mixed feeling about their dates.
“So, you know, we haven’t really talked about what you did before you worked at the office.” Max said.
“You never asked.” She said, “But, I don’t know if there is much to talk about. Probably just the usual past everyone has.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Max knew he was reaching for something deeper from her. Their conversations usually revolved around discussing their co-workers or other surface topics. He wanted to know more about her. There was something different with her that he couldn’t put his finger on. And he didn’t want to seem like he was only interested in her because she was the new girl.
“Can I tell you something? I’m terrible at these first date things. I never know the right things to say. So, if I ask you something that makes you uncomfortable or seems weird, please know that it’s just me being really awkward.” Max said.
“It’s okay, I’ve had my fair share of bad first dates. And this one doesn’t even make the list. Besides, we’ve haven’t even had our dinner yet.” Shelly said.
She pointed at the plate of pretzels, “You can have the last one, I’m saving room for dinner.”
Max took the last piece before he let out a breath and pretended to wipe his forehead. “That’s a relief. Though I am a little concerned about you having a lot of first dates.” He said with a wink.
“Well, I wouldn’t say a lot. I guess I should clarify and say that my roommates and I have had a collective of bad dates. And we sat around afterward talking about how bad they were. After that, it felt like we’ve been on the dates ourselves.” Shelly said.
“Your roommates, right. I don’t think I know too much about them. You live with another girl and a guy, right?”
Shelly thought about the other two. They were back at their house; the one that called herself Betty waited expectantly for her return.
“I do. Betty and Stephen. We’ve lived together for a long time. They are probably my closest friends. We are kind of a support system for each other. I don’t like sharing too much about my past, only because it kinda sucked. Which is the same for them. I guess you could say that through our pain, we’ve become family. So, as a family we sorta share everything.”
“That’s great. It’s pretty awesome that you have them to fall back on. And I’m sorry you had a crappy past. I wish I could say I also did, but I don’t know if it was the same as yours.” Max said.
“It’s quite alright. Don’t worry about it.” Shelly said.
She played with the utensils on the table and looked at the brick wall behind Max again. He seems like a pretty nice guy. Way better than the others we’ve brought home.
“Remember the other day, when we were laughing about the food on Bob’s shirt? God, it was so gross!” Shelly said with a laugh, changing the subject.
“Ha, yeah. I can’t believe he didn’t notice it!”
“We have a really good time together, don’t we?” Shelly said.
Before Max could answer, their food came to the table. Max had ordered a personal pizza and Shelly got a raw cheeseburger. He stared at her while the server asked them if they had everything they needed. He wanted to tell Shelly, yes, to tell her that every day at work was better with her in it. There were words he had practiced in his mind for just such an occasion, but now that the occasion was here, they froze on his tongue.
Shelly cut into her burger, the red juices oozed out onto the plate. The sight of the blood excited her, making her forget where she was. She dabbed her finger into the juices and licked it clean. An image of a man trapped with her behind a wall flashed through her mind. She was much different then, more ravenous and feral. Her wrinkled fingers had clawed into that man, tearing bits of flesh from him, sticking them into her drooling mouth. The blood from the cheeseburger wasn’t the same, but it was enough to satisfy her.
They sat silently at the table, Shelly devouring her meal and Max dumbfounded watching her. It felt like seeing a predator eating its prey. Grease smeared her chin and lips. Her eyes glittered in ecstasy. He tried to remember if he had seen her eat before. Nothing came to mind. But, seeing her now, he was repulsed by what he saw.
“Uhm, is it good?” Max asked.
Shelly shot him a look that reminded him of interrupting his family’s dog during dinner. Then her eyes lost the glare and sparkled with joy, “Oh yeah, this is great. You didn’t tell me they made great burgers here.”
He traced the grain in the wood table and avoided her eyes. There was a storm in his stomach, a clashing of nervousness and queasiness. It was strange, because he still couldn’t believe he was actually out with her, but she was still a mystery to him. Why was she so mysterious?
“Max, are you okay? Did they screw up your order? I hate when places do that, it’s always so tough to ask them to take it back. You never know what they are going to do with the food they bring you. Betty told me one time about a place that would just pick the stuff off you didn’t like with their bare fingers, it sounded disgusting.” Shelly said.
“I’m okay. I just, well…” Max said.
“Yeah?”
“Well, I don’t know. I really like you. I’m just really nervous, sorry.” Max said as he picked up a slice of pizza and tried to eat it.
Shelly’s plate was spotless, giving her nothing to distract her while she watched him eat. She needed him to finish the pizza. He had ate a few more pieces of the pretzels than she did, but she didn’t think it was enough. She guessed that he was a bit overweight, not huge, but definitely wasn’t in shape. It was part of the reason that she had continued the conversations with him. So, she watched him and tried her best to will him to eat more.
“It’s okay, actually it’s a bit flattering. But, don’t worry about it. I like you too.”
His heart skipped a beat. This was it. She likes me. His hand shook as he took another bite of pizza. A smile spread across his face and he felt like singing. The part of him that had worried about not knowing her shrunk to a small corner of his mind. I don’t care that she seems so mysterious, I have plenty of time to learn everything about her.
“Oh thank god!” Max blurted out.
He composed himself, finished chewing the food in his mouth and continued, “I was a little worried to say that. I mean I know it seemed pretty easy for us to become friends at work, but sometimes it stays that way and never goes anywhere. I wasn’t sure if you were just humoring me, like I was a nice distraction. But, when you said yes to coming to dinner with me, I was super excited. Then I was worried that maybe you just thought it was something else. And well, now I’m just rambling.”
Shelly laughed. A deep laugh that felt like a warm spring evening. Max vowed to take this memory and lock it away forever. Shelly settled down and they both took in the moment. Max studied her face, noting how one of her eyes seemed to be half closed as she smiled at him. He put his hand on the back of his head and rubbed his hair, then looked down at his empty plate. Shelly reached across the table for his hand. He watched as his hand closed around hers.
The rest of the restaurant seemed to disappear and it was just the two of them. There was no one else around. Time stopped. They held hands and all felt right with the world. Her hand was soft and gentle. Max felt like he was in high school again, going out with the hottest girl in school. He was willing to do anything she asked of him, as long as they could continue to hold hands. Shelly felt the spark between them and knew that she had him.
The moment continued while they finished their drinks and Max paid the bill. Shelly wrapped her arm around his and they walked out into the night. It was a cool night with a clear sky, the moon hung bright in the blackness. Before Max knew what was happening, Shelly pushed him against the brick building and kissed him. Her lips were full and soft on his mouth, he could taste the burger on her tongue. They stayed frozen like that, with their lips locked and his knees buckling. She released him from her grip with a smile and lifted a shoulder up in a half apology.
“Uhm, that was amazing.” Max said.
She smiled again, then started walking toward his car, leaving him stunned. He trotted up behind her and searched for her hand. They walked hand in hand to his car. Max opened her door for her and helped her into her seat. While she waited for him to get in, she tried to mentally send a message to Betty. She knew it probably wouldn’t work, but it was worth a shot.
They talked nonchalantly on the ride to her house, she didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying, she was focused on the next steps and what she was going to have to say to her co-workers on Monday.
Max had also been not paying attention to their conversation, he was thinking about whether he should kiss her when he dropped her off. She pointed out her house on the barren street. It was an old Victorian house in a deserted neighborhood. Dead trees swayed in the overgrown yard. The moonlight shined on the street, replacing the broken streetlamps. He pulled his car up to the curb in front of the house and put it in park. They faced each other, both with hopes on what was going to happen next.
“So, I had a great time tonight Shelly.”
“Thanks, I did too.”
“When do you think I can see you again? Besides at work, of course.” Max said.
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come in? You have to see the inside of this house, it is amazing and totally creepy.”
She smiled at him and her eyes flashed, reminding him of when she was eating her cheeseburger. A small warning alarm beeped in the back of his head, but he ignored it and focused on the fact that a girl had invited him into her house after a date. It wasn’t something that happened very often for him, but when it did, it usually meant the date went well.
“That sounds great. I’d love to come in and see it.” And then he found himself saying, “But, I don’t have to if you don’t want me to. I appreciate it, but I don’t want to ruin anything between us.”
Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought.
“I want you to come in.” Shelly said.
They walked up the cracked cement path to the house. The wood of the front porch was splintered and creaked with each step. Shelly fished in her purse for her keys, while Max tried to calm his nerves.
Inside the house, it was dark and quiet.
Shelly guided him into the living room and pushed him onto a couch. She didn’t turn a light on as she laid on top of him and they started to kiss. Max’s hands crawled over her body, feeling the fabric of her dress, the straps of her bra, and the curve of her butt. He couldn’t believe this was happening, it felt like a dream. She got up after a couple of minutes.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Nothing, I have to go the powder room for a moment. Stay right here.” Shelly said.
He watched her silhouette walk out of the dark room. A curtain was drawn over the window, letting in a tiny bit of purple light. He sat up and adjusted his pants, then smelled his breath. He tried to calm down his breathing and heart rate. This is happening, now don’t mess it up.
The little bit of light didn’t allow him to see very much, he could make out a coffee table and a couple of chairs, but the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. The silence in the room took on a life of its own, pressing down on him. His skin began to tingle and he wished there was more light in the room. He crawled over on the couch to feel for a lamp. A loud creak to his left froze him like an intruder caught in a light.
“Shelly, is that you?” He asked quietly.
A shadow peeled off the wall near the source of the sound. Max squinted in the darkness to try to discern what it was. The shadow was low to the ground. Does Shelly have a cat? The shadow moved silently toward him, distracting him from the sound of footsteps quickly coming up behind him. Before he realized he heard a new noise, something whistled in the air and cracked him in the back of the head. Fireworks exploded in his vision and he crashed to the floor.
Four pairs of feet filled his view as he woke up. One of the pairs was his shoes, another pair he recognized as Shelly’s. There was one in a dirty pair of yellow boots, and the other was a pair of wrinkled barefeet. They reminded him of the time he saw his great grandmother’s feet at the hospital, they had been shriveled and looked to be drained of all liquid. He tried to lift his head to see who was attached to the feet, but his head felt as heavy as stone. With difficulty he was able to bring it up and was face-to-face with a man in a green lucha libre mask.
The three stood in front of him in a semicircle studying him. The two he didn’t recognize were horrifying. His mind tried to comprehend them being next to the beautiful girl, but it couldn’t process it. The man in the mask drooled and gawked at him. He was short, but bulging with muscles. The other one was a living corpse, dressed in black robes. Her face looked like a melted candle, the chin and nose too long for a normal face, as if they had froze in a perpetual drip. And Shelly stood there smiling next to the two, with a hammer slick with blood in her hand.
His tongue was too big and slow for his mouth. He tried to speak, but it came out sluggish, “What is this?”
The one in the mask cackled an ear piercing laugh and slapped Max on the cheek. “Oh poor little rabbit, don’t you worry about what this is.”
“He’s perfect Shelly. You were right, he’s just what I need.” The old woman said.
She pawed at Shelly with her ugly yellowish hands. Max wretched at the sight of her touching the woman of his dreams. He looked at Shelly with pleading eyes. Her appearance seemed so different than what she had been. She stood taller and exuded an air of confidence that he never noticed before. She vibrated with a presence he couldn’t understand. Her face had taken on a sharper edge and her eyes were that of a wolf.
“Why are you doing this? What is happening? Shelly help me.” He pleaded.
“Shut up.” She said and then broke his kneecap with the hammer.
“You bitch! I’m going to kill you!” He struggled and realized he was tied to a chair.
The man in the mask jumped up and down clapping his hands. He raised his yellow boot and kicked Max in the chest, knocking him and the chair onto the ground.
“Ooh, he’s got some fight in him! Good, he’ll give me some sport in the hole.” The witch-like corpse said.
Max twisted his head while on the ground and saw the hole in the wall above him. Blackness reached out of the gap in the wall. Next to it he saw a pile of bricks neatly stacked. Shelly stepped over him and sat down on his chest. He could feel her lack of underwear through his clothes, his male mind cracking at the thought that he lost his chance with her. She wickedly smiled knowing what he was thinking and squirmed on top of him.
“I’m sorry Max. You were a great guy, are a great guy. I would say I hate doing this, but I don’t. I’m sad to lose my partner at work, but I think it’ll be okay, I won’t be there much longer. I had a lot of fun with you, but I have to share you. You know how I said we share everything here in this house, well it’s true. And Betty seems really interested in you. So, I’m going to let the two of you play seven minutes in heaven. It’s going to be hard, you were a great a kisser.” Shelly said and then looked over to Betty, “He’s a great kisser. So nervous and timid, it’s like he’s never kissed a girl before!”
They all laughed. Shelly bent over and kissed Max on the forehead. He spat on her, hitting her in the face. She laughed harder and brought the hammer down on his shoulder, shattering the bone. He screamed as she got up.
Betty walked over to him and slowly got down to his level. He could hear her bones popping at the exertion and strain she was putting on them. The smell of rotten meat wafted over him as she opened her mouth licking his cheek with her sandpaper tongue. Partially digested pizza crawled up his throat and filled his mouth with acid. She winked then shuffled over to the hole. Shelly helped her into the hole while taking her robes, leaving her naked in the darkness.
The flash of a large blade blinded Max. The man in the mask roughly cut the rope holding Max to the chair, slicing at Max’s skin as it slid through the fibers of the rope. A big drop of drool fell onto Max’s face as the man stood staring at him on the ground. Then he prodded Max in the ribs with his boot.
“Aren’t you going to try to run?” The man asked.
The man backed up and lifted his arms up gesturing toward the stairwell out of the basement. Max rolled over, his brain doing a couple of more flips, spinning the room around. He tried to crawl, but his shoulder and knee were busted, any pressure he put on them floored him with agonizing pain. The man laughed behind him and kicked him in the butt, busting Max’s nose as he fell face first into the floor. Max dragged his body toward the stairwell, doing his best to ignore the pain. He could hear the woman laughing and Shelly’s exasperated breath, “Just grab him already. I don’t think I can stand looking at him anymore.”
His heart and mind gave up. He laid there, sobbing. Blood and tears mixed on the basement floor. The man in the mask sighed and picked him up like a wounded animal. He flopped him on his shoulder. When they got to the hole, he tossed him in. Max fell into a pile of desiccated corpses. In a corner of the hole he saw the naked old woman crouched down, breathing heavy, watching him like a fighter waiting for the bell. Outside of the hole Shelly and the man piled bricks on the wall, blocking them in.
“Betty, we’ll check on you in a couple of weeks.”
The light was almost gone as the woman crawled over to him. Her mouth hung open revealing rotten teeth. She felt for the buttons of his shirt and stuck her cold hands in, ripping the shirt open. He had one last urge to fight and tried to push her face away from his stomach, but his broken shoulder made him useless. He felt her dry lips on his stomach, her teeth pressing into his skin, eventually breaking the skin. The sound of sucking and heavy breathing filled his ears as his world slowly tunneled away into darkness.
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