Deadly Betrayal
Emily Farandole stared out of the rain-drenched window. Where was he? He was supposed to be here at 5:00 sharp. Donal had never been late before, so why was he late now? She stared once again at the empty street. With sudden determination, she grabbed her coat and umbrella and walked downstairs. Emily passed the blaring TV with a twinge of guilt�as per usual, her mom had fallen asleep in front of it. Divorced for three years, Emily's mom had drowned her sorrows in liquor and TV. Emily took one glance at the prone figure of her mom lying on the couch and walked out the door. She looked about the well-lit street and began making her way to Donal�s house.
Donal had been her boyfriend since she was 14, and after four years of being together, he still hadn�t popped the question. But tonight�tonight he had been supposed to come to her house to have dinner with her and her mom. Something must have happened to him, something dire. But what could it be?
Emily rounded the corner and stood in Donal�s driveway. She walked towards the house and knocked once, twice, three times. There was no answer. Emily bit her lip with worry and took the spare key from the flowerpot. Inserting the key in the door, she slowly turned the handle and walked inside.
Immediately she wrinkled her nose. The entire house smelled of rotting food, old garbage, and general decay. Following the strongest smell, for it had permeated the entire house it seemed, Emily walked into the living room. Everything was a shambles, which was exceedingly strange. Kindly Mrs. Drake was neat to the point of obsession, as was her daughter Sarah. They would never allow such a mess to even appear, let alone perpetuate itself. Something was definitely wrong. She carefully walked upstairs, picking her way among broken crockery and clumps of dust. She held her hand in front of her face, not daring to breathe. Something was dreadfully wrong. It seemed more like a morgue than a house, except even morgues were cleaner. Emily reached the top of the landing�and screamed. There, lying amidst the rubble, was kindly Mrs. Drake and her daughter. Stomach reeling, Emily backed up as she fought to control her reaction. Their eyes had been gouged out and their faces, where there was any, were pockmarked as if they had been chewed on. Didn�t Donal own a dog and cat�perhaps they had turned on their former masters in lieu of hunger. But where was Donal? She looked around, shuffling the debris. She came across the bodies of the dog and cat. Again, Emily fought for control of her stomach�s reactions. This time, her stomach won. She violently spewed her gut out in a corner, adding to the prevalent stench of the place. The animals had looked as if someone had dumped acid on them. Emily found herself fervently hoping that they had not been alive when it happened.
Done with her investigations upstairs, Emily proceeded to the basement. Strangely, there was a light on. She slowly entered the basement, being careful so as to not alert the madman who was taking refuge there. She crept along the back wall, not daring to breathe. Down here the decay was even worse. Emily bit her tongue to keep from crying out at the first pile of maggots she saw. There were piles of entrails on the floor�dog, cat, human. Emily heard a noise and her heart jumped into her throat. She turned to flee and saw a figure. Emily backpedaled, throwing her hands in front of her face. She stopped when she heard the familiar voice of Donal.
�Emily? What�s wrong? What are you doing here?�
She broke down, seeking solace in Donal�s strong arms. She told him about how she had snuck out to visit him, but stopped at the part where she went upstairs. She stammered softly to him:
�Oh, I-I�m s-so sorry! Th-they were�were j-just lying there, d-dead and half eaten�and�and oh w-what are you going to do?� Emily looked up at her boyfriend, now blurred by tears. He had an odd look on his face, as if he knew. Yet there was no grief displayed on his features, no remorse whatsoever. He looked at her face, smiled wistfully, kissed her head, and stepped back.
�I know they�re dead. I killed them.�
Emily staggered back as her world spun. She looked at Donal�s now blank face with horror in her eyes.
�W-what?� she said weakly.
�Oh Em, they were too nosy. Stupid really. Silly Sarah walked in on me when I was dismembering someone. Your dad I believe. Anyway, she told mom. They had to go. If anyone else found out, my entire business would have gone under. Many people depend on the human entrails I ship out. Someone has to do the dirty work. I simply volunteered. You get used to the smell really. And human beings are a plentiful sort of livestock. It is an inevitable turn of events. Don�t fret Em. When we get married, I�ll be rich!�
Emily stared at Donal. No, no� this couldn�t be the man she had fallen in love with. There had to be some horrible mistake. She looked up into his clear eyes. No, there was no hiding his feelings from her. Donal was telling the truth.
�No, I won�t agree with what you�re doing. It�s not business, it�s slaughter!� she wailed.
Donal looked sad. �Then Em, dear sweet Em, you�ll have to die too.� He gazed into her horrified eyes. �Tell mom and Sarah that I�m sorry.�
With that last word, Donal whipped around and flipped a switch. A shockwave coursed from a device in the far corner throughout the rest of the room. Emily felt her legs turn to jelly, her bones weaken, and her muscles give way. She lifted her feebly to look one last time at the man she had loved.
�I�m sorry Em,� he murmured. �I wish there could be another way. Well, you�ll help my cause. I�ll understand if that serves as a small consolation.�
Emily�s tears flowed freely as Donal bent down, cleave in hand. He kissed her head and she felt dampness in her hair. She saw Donal pull back with tears in his eyes.
�I-I�ll knock you out first. At least you won�t feel the pain,� he said with aggrieved finality. He picked up a syringe from the table and emptied its contents into Emily�s veins. She struggled to stay conscious as she watched her boyfriend swim in her vision. The world went fuzzy, then black. In a matter of seconds, she was dead.
Donal brushed off his hands as he laid aside the dismembered corpse of his former girlfriend. Foolish humans, he thought. She had been close though, to discovering his secret. But after 257 years of doing this, he wasn�t about to get caught. Foolish, foolish humans, he thought again. They didn�t even suspect that they were all cannibals. Did they honestly think their meats were made out of livestock? Donal grinned wickedly to himself as he planned for his next kill�
