chapter 1

It was a hot and dry summer afternoon. The farms and pastures stretched as far as one could see, despite that it was less than a day’s drive from Los Angeles. The only audible sound was birds chirping, but that quaint silence was shattered by a loud red muscle car. Dust billowed behind it as the driver raced down the road while playing the new Metallica single. The driver was a thin, blonde woman in her mid-twenties. Her hair was cut short, her eyes were covered with cheap sunglasses and a cigarette was hanging from her lips. Her name was Selina. She was twenty-five, single and the closest thing she had to employment was that she played guitar for a few metal bands in the city. Ordinarily, she was hesitant to drive this far away from the city, but it was a nice day for a drive and there was the possibility of getting a little money.

She had gotten a phone call a few days before from a relative only calling herself “Granny”. Apparently, she was related to this woman and she called to have her come over and discuss some inheritance over lunch. Selina knew deep down that, at best, she’d maybe get some old furniture and, at worst, this was all some kind of scam and she just waisted her afternoon.

Finding the house was more difficult than it should have been. The driveway was was obscured by dead brush and there were no posts, mailboxes or anything to indicate that the little turnoff actually lead to a house. She would have passed it, but she saw a blue car driving down the road out of the corner of her eye and decided the house had to be down that barely visible path, since there was a road end sign a few yards ahead.

The path was even bumpier than the road she just left behind. It was almost complimented in a way by the heavy hitting, aggressive drums of the music she was playing, but she had to switch it off. All of it together was giving her a headache.

She pulled in front of the ancient farm house. It looked like it hadn’t been painted in decades and thick uncut grass surrounded it like it was being swallowed by the field it was built on. There were other cars sitting outside the house. Two, including the blue one that arrived right before she did and and white sedan.

Selina waited for the the diver of the blue car to get out, so she could possibly ask a few questions. The girl who got out of the car was a tall, beautiful African American American woman who looked about the same age. There was obviously a very slim chance that they were related at all.

Selina stamped out her cigarette on the ground and asked,” So, what do you make of all this?”

The girl brushed her long hair away from her face and spoke,” I’m not really sure yet.”

They continued talking as they walked to the front door.” Well, I think we’re about to find out.”

“Guess so, I’m Jay.”

“Selina.”

Selina knocked on the door and turned to the Jay,” So uh, Jay, not to sound rude, but how are we supposed to be related?”

She laughed and said,” I was gonna ask the same thing. I’m pretty sure we’re not, since all my family is in Vermont and you’re, uh, white.”

Selina reached into her pocket,” Well, now I’m convinced. This is probably a scam. Good thing I got this.” She pulled her hand out of her pocket holding something small and black. Then she moved her thumb and the blade of her knife sprung out with a loud click of springs inside.

Startled by the knife, Jay almost jumped back and looked down at the switchblade with wide eyes,” I left mine at home.” She had a bad habit of using sarcasm when she was anxious.

Finally, the door opened and they were greater by an older woman who appeared to be at least seventy.

“Oh, you finally made it. Come in dearies. There’s cake and tea.” After greeting the two girls, she led them in. Both Selina and Jay thought there was something odd about her appearance. She was overweight, but looked more like padding and her short grey hair looked almost like an ill fitting wig. Her posture and walk seemed off too, but of course, all of this could be explained by age and it wasn’t that uncommon for a woman to wear a wig. “Granny” pinched and poked the two girls and said things about how thin they looked, the way somebody’s grandmother would do.

They all walked into the dining room and the round table had dozens of cakes and pies in the center like there was a big crowd to accommodate, but there was only four other girls eating. Three of them were very obese. To the point where two of them looked like they would have trouble walking and the clothes on all three of them were far too tight. The other girl was an average weight. She looked like she was from Asian descent. She was wearing a baggy shirt with her bra strap and one shoulder visible.

Granny sat the two new arrivals at the table and gave both of them a large slice of cake. Selina still had no idea of what was happening. At first she thought this might be legitimate, then she thought somebody was going to try and rip her off and now she thought this was a lonely senile woman, who just called some random people to keep her company. She still wasn’t touching the cake. If this woman lied to get them all here, then who knows what the hell she put in her cakes. Though, the three fat women at the opposite end of the table seemed to think it was okay. They were eating like pigs. She looked at Jay, who was probably thinking the same thing and not eating.

Granny introduced Selina and Jay to the other guests and then went around the table and gave the names of the four other women. Their names were Billie, Dana and Sarah. The thin woman’s name was Kori. There was a moment of awkward silence. Nobody spoke.

After an few moments of just picking at the cake and listening to the sounds of the women across the table shoving cake in like they’d die if they didn’t, Selina spoke,” So, Jay and I were wondering when we would talk about the inheritance.” Jay looked at Selina and then back to granny and nodded.

Granny smiled, bearing her yellowed teeth,” oh don’t worry about that. You’re both so thin, so eat.”

Selina and Jay looked at each other, both knew the other wanted to desperately leave, despite their best efforts to mask their discomfort.

Selina had to get out of that room and she used the best excuse she had,” Well, I need to go out for a smoke.”

“Ya, me too!” Jay exclaimed. She didn’t smoke, but she couldn’t come up with a better reason to leave.

Granny’s toothed grin melted to a sagging scowl,” such a dirty habit.”

Selina laughed nervously,” Well, I can’t eat until I’ve had a smoke.”

Selina and Jay sat on the creaky wooden porch. There, they discussed their plan to just leave. Kori seemed almost normal, so they were planning on discretely telling her they were leaving and that she should too.

Selina stomped out another cigarette butt into the dirt driveway. They got up and went inside. Granny and three of the girls were missing from the table, leaving only Kori. She was still eating.

Selina puts her hand on Kori’s shoulder and asks,” Where did the others go?”

Kori pulled herself away from her dessert for a moment,” I dunno, they went into that door over there. I think they said it goes to the basement.”

Selina looked over to the door she was talking about. Now she was starting to get a little afraid. She couldn’t even think of a way that those women could get back up the stairs from how fat they were. She looked back at Kori,” Listen, I think we need to get the hell out of here.”

Kori stood up, still holding the plate of cake and eating,” Ya, I think you’re right. I don’t know what she put in this cake, but I can’t put it down.”

Then, Jay said,” Well, maybe you should. I don’t think you had that gut a few minutes ago.”

Kori’s baggy sweater had grown tighter in the ten minutes Selina and Jay had been outside and now a small amount of belly fat was visible from the bottom of her shirt.

Kori shrieked and Selina knocked the plate out of her hand, causing it to shatter on the floor. They all ran for the door, not waiting around to discuss all this until they were outside and safe. Before they get to the door, a heavy metal sheet slices down to the floor, blocking their way out. It was like a guillotine and there was seemingly no way to move it. It was obvious that whoever the hell granny was, she was keeping them there. Jay tried to get the shielded door to budge while Kori just poked her bloated stomach in disbelief. She only weighed one-hundred and ten pounds earlier. Selina told them she was going to look around for another way out. All of the windows were locked as well and she would only break one as a last resort, since it would make too much noise and she really wasn’t in the mood to severe an artery.

She really didn’t want to try opening the basement door and the door she thought might lead to the kitchen were locked, so she headed upstairs. None of the bedrooms had doors and they were all empty. They didn’t even have carpeting. The largest bedroom only had a telephone and a phone book. Selina picked up the phone book and flipped through it. Dozens of names were scratched out. She frantically looked for her own name and she found it. Scratched out. She found Jay and Kori’s names scratched out too. She placed the book back where it was. With all the names, it was like somebody was just going down through all the and trying to get people to come out here. She backed against the wall, ran her hands through her hair and said,” What the hell is going on?”

Then she heard one of the girls scream. It sounded like Kori. She ran downstairs, ready to use her knife. Selina came into the dining room to find Kori and Jay sitting at the table, eating while granny watched.