Dig In

'Come on...Come on... What's taking him so long to get the meal ready?' Jess wondered as she looked toward the kitchen door.

She tensed when she felt eyes on her. She didn't dare look back as she knew it was the the older kid.

She could hear the smallest creak behind her causing her heart to jolt. She slowly looked back not seeing the boy at the doorway.

She sighed in relief as she looked back. Suddenly strong hands were harshly placed over her mouth. She was about to scream but she stopped when she heard a soft whisper. One she could barely hear.

"Don't make a noise. Unless you want a limb missing."

She silently cried as she prayed the man would return soon.

"Now.... I want to make this clear. You will not speak to that little boy and you won't look at him. Do you understand?"

Jess nervously nodded as more tears fell from her cheek.

"Do not talk about us with that man. If you do we will find out and you will regret it."

She nodded again.

"Do not speak of this moment or what you saw in the other room. Got it?"

She nodded yet again.

At that moment the door to the kitchen opened. Within the time the man showed his face with a bowl, the older boy let go of her mouth and hid behind the couch.

Jess felt very uneasy as she still had tears on her face.

"Oh sweetheart, are you crying?"

Jess sniveled as she wiped her face.

"Did one of the boys approach you while I was gone, I'll be sure to have a talk with them all."

"N-No... It wasn't the boys. I... Haven't seen them."

"Oh? Then why are you crying? What has upset you?" The man asked while setting the food on the table.

"I...." Jess was frozen as she couldn't find any lie.

The man looked around as if he had a suspicion to her lying.

"Dear.. You can tell me if the boys have been pestering you again. I'd hate for you to want to leave so soon. And... Please, don't lie to me.. For some boys that only want to hurt you."

Jess was speechless.

'That boy.. He... Said if I talked about them or us talking, I could be missing some limbs.. He will kill me if I tell the truth.'

"No sir, I'm sorry. I'm just emotional because I don't have any way of contacting my sister. She's probably worried sick."

"Ohh I see.. I would offer you a phone to call her but unfortunately we have been behind on our bills."

"Oh it's okay, I... Will see her soon."

"Well, your still badly hurt. It would be quite rude of me to not take care of you until your all better. If that's alright with you?"

Jess smiled sweetly to his kindness.

"Thank you sir. I am off on the weekend and I guess staying two nights wouldn't hurt."

"Excellent. Now... Why don't you dig in while I fix up your bed for the night."

"Ohh thank you."

The man went off in the direction she saw the young boy and older talking before.

She pulled up the chair while looking around.

'I should watch out for that older guy.'

She picked up her spoon while looking at the soup in front of her.

'Whoa... It smells really good.'

She dipped her spoon in the soup while placing it against her lips. Her stomach rumbled as she was about to sip. Suddenly she noticed something floating in the soup that looks quite... Odd.

She looked at the food more closely then..

*bud-dum*

She dropped her spoon in the bowl while staring at the object floating in her soup.

She pinched it between her fingers and saw...

'Is that a... Whole fingernail?'

Her mouth began to sweat as she felt she could throw up.

'There was a fucking fingernail in the food? Oh my god.. Maybe it was an accident... But.. It's a WHOLE fingernail..'

At that moment the man came in. Jess freaked out as she shoved the fingernail in between the couch cushion.

"Are you enjoying your... Why haven't you eaten any of it?" He asked seeming ashamed.

"Oh I uhh.."

He walked up to the girl.

"Did you find something perhaps, or do you not think my wife knows how to cook a meal?"

Jess tensed as she felt guilty.

"N-no it's not that, I just wanted to wait because it was SO hot." She came up with the quickest lie.

"Oh well your bed is made. When your done eating I will take you to the room."

"Thank you sir."

He gave a smile as he walked in the kitchen.

She breathed out as she looked down at the soup.

'I don't want to be rude but... This soup is contaminated. If there was a fingernail... What else could have accidentally be in here?'

She looked around and noticed a window nearby.

She looked back at the kitchen door as she stood up. She slowly made her way to the window. The moment she tried opening it, something hit her leg. Looking over she saw one of the other little boys with pebbles in his hand.

'Did he throw a rock at me?'

Suddenly the boy waved her toward him as if he wanted to talk with her.

She looked at the kitchen nervously then made her way to the boy.

The boy put the pebbles in his pocket then held out his hands toward the bowl. She looked at him nervously and handed it to him.

The boy quickly ran off with the bowl going to a different room.

Jess followed the boy as she was worried the man could come back at any moment and wonder why she didn't have her bowl.

She looked in the room where the boy went in. She saw him dump the soup out in the toilet. One thing she noticed was the kid in front of her was missing a finger and had a fresh bandage over it.

'Oh my god.. did he have an accident?'

The boy flushed the soup down the toilet while handing it back to her.

"Thank you." She softly whispered.

The boy nodded as he walked past her off in a different direction.

The woman looked back seeing him go in a different room.

She quickly made her way back to the living room. It seemed the moment she sat down the kitchen door opened. She quickly put the bowl to her lips while tilting it back and slurp.

"My my, I take it you liked the soup?"

Jess nodded trying to come off nice. There was no way she would tell him what happened.

"Would you like more?"

"No I'm good. I'm really full after that."

The silence was broke by her stomach growling.

"Are you sure your not hungry?"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure. That's actually because I'm so full. That soup was so filling."

"Well we have the best meat in the house. It'll fill you up."

"Sure did. I think I'm ready for bed now."

"Okay, let me show you the way."

When the man let her out of the living room he stopped in his tracks.

"What's this?" He asked while picking up a pebble.

Jess's eyes widen as she knew she had to cover for the boy.

"Well... Looks like I need a word with my maid." He said while putting the pebble in his pocket.

"Actually sir, I'm very sorry but.. I found that in my shoe, I... Was wanting to put it away but I couldn't find the trash can."

His attitude suddenly softened.

"Ohhh well in that case, it's quite alright. Mistakes happen."

The man walked away. Jess let out a soft relieved sigh and followed the man to her room.

She looked around seeing a blue room with really nice furniture.

"Hope you have a good night sleep. Breakfast will be ready at 8 A.M.."

"Okay, thank you sir."

He nodded as he walked away.

Jess looked around the room seeing it was neatly organized and cleaned as if it wasn't used in several years.

She took off her shoes and shirt while wearing a white tank top and skinny jeans.

She pulled the blanket while getting situated in the bed. She set her head on the pillow while looking up at the ceiling. She let out a loud sigh as her stomach began to growl more.

She held her stomach as she was about to turn off the lights when she heard soft whispering outside the door.

She tried listening but she couldn't make out what was said but she saw a small hand holding an apple setting it on the in-table next to the bed.

She felt her heart warm up as she took the apple seeing it was fresh and rinsed. She was about to take a bite but before she could she heard the smallest voice. "Good night."