The Blood Shop

It was a long way I had driven and now that I was in the middle on nowhere, I was getting bored of the surroundings. I pulled over at an exit and followed signs to a store...but it was farther from the exit than I expected. 

When I finally arrived, I scanned the store to make sure it was not some crazy place. It looked well kept and like a small "mom and pop" store. I did need more things for the trip so I headed inside. 

The owner stood up from the stool he was sitting at and waved at me. 

"Welcome!" he said heartily.

I smiled and started to look around. There were lots of things that looked so yummy...and it didn't help that I was hungry. 

After I looked around I got a basketful of food and refreshments. 

I stood at the cashier and set down what I was going to buy.

The owner, at the corner of the store, strode to the door and turned the lock.

"Excuse me, sir," I said, realizing what he did, and feeling very odd about it, "why are you locking the door?"

The man did not respond. Why did he seem so cheery before? I turned and looked at the cashier.

They looked down and lowered their hat over their eyes.

"What is going on?" I asked, suddenly not worried about buying anything.

"We can't help it," the man said, "we ran out."

"Ran out of what?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, just some produce. Hardly any comes these days."

I scratched my head, worried, "You have plenty of food here. Plus this is in the country. It is to be expected that not many people come through here."

"Exactly my point."

I frowned at the man's voice. It sounded very unnerving, and I couldn't shake the dreadful feeling coming over me. I felt danger but I wasn't sure what it was.

"W-what do you mean?" I finally asked.

The cashier took my money and then slowly inched from behind the counter.

Then, both men grabbed me and started to drag me to the back door. I started to try to get away and yell at them, but they were strong. There were two of them and only one of me.

The back door led outside, and I found myself being dragged to a road in the distance that was shaded by old trees. It was a small trail and if they had not led me I would have become lost. I was terrified the whole time, wondering what was going to happen to me and where they were taking me.

"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to not sound afraid.

Neither men responded.

I knew that if I ran away I would get lost but wasn't that worth the risk?

"Guys..." I attempted to get away again but they gripped me stronger.

They were taking me deeper and deeper into the woods and it kept getting darker the farther we went in.

Finally we came upon a large, old looking barn. It looked abandoned and run down but they started to lead me inside.

Why were they bringing me here? Were there ghosts inside? I was getting desperate to get away as they led me into a stall and started tying my wrists to the ropes hanging from the bared windows.

"Let me go!" I yelled, thrashing as they did the same with my ankles, "What did I do to you? What in the hell did you mean by you 'ran out'?!"

Both men remained silent and ignored me.

Finally, they left me alone. 

..............................................