Blood Town

[4]: He Pulled Out A Heart

"Abigail?" Emily walked forward slowly, fearfully tiptoeing. Her voice came out as a soft whimper.

The weather did her no good either. It was dark and cold, the sweater did little to protect her. Even worse, she was alone on top of a hill and frequently saw shadows walking by as if stalking her every move. Even the flowers appeared menacing tonight.

The door of the cottage, that stood in the middle of the garden, slowly creaked open. Emily gulped and stumbled forward. She knocked.

"Abigail?" She called out again.

"Come in," the old woman croaked.

She peaked her head in and there sat, the devil, in a cozy couch, eating a pot of what looked like porridge. Goosebumps kissed her skin.

"You arrived," the woman said hoarsely.

She nodded. "It wasn't hard to spot a cottage on a hill, Abigail." She giggled to lighten her mood but it came out as a noise a horse would make while getting tickled.

"Why don't you cook dinner for me?"

"Sorry?"

"Your first job."

"But you said I'd be running errands."

"Clearly your discomfort to my house is prohibiting your natural behavior. I'd like for you to get used to this."

She laughed uneasily. "What would you like?"

"I have no preferences."

Emily nodded weakly, wondering what the hell had been going through her mind when she accepted the offer of work here, and headed for the room which was evidently the kitchen. Her phone rang and she quickly answered it after ensuring her voice wasn't tainted with fear.

"Mark, hey."

"Emily, where are you?"

"I'm running an errand."

She could hear him groan with annoyance. "It wouldn't hurt to leave a message. Anyhow, make sure you come back before midnight."

"Sure."

She hung up and placed the phone on the counter, muttering something about old technology.

~

The two of them were wearing aprons and cooking dinner together. He was placing a pot of boiling water in the stove and she was chopping vegetables.

The moment of perfect synchronization with each other cracked open when her phone rang.

"Shall I answer?" Zane asked, removing his mittens.

Sure. Alyx replied.

Zane reached out for her phone.

"Lucy."

"Zane? Where's Alyx?"

"She's busy."

"Um... Can you pass a message onto her? We have a chemistry project-"

"Hello, Mr. Officer!" Zane heard another female voice from Lucy's side.

His eyes widened slightly. "Is that Lisa?"

"Oh, you two know each other?" Lucy asked.

"We do!" Lisa screamed into the phone.

Zane gritted his teeth. "You were saying, Lucy?"

"Oh, yes. So, we have a project to do and Ashton's paired up with Alyx. It's due the day after tomorrow and he wanted her phone number so-"

"Did you give it to him?"