"I'm thinking of ending things," I said quietly as I brought my car to a stoplight.

"Bro! Then what the fuck are you doing going to that weirdo's house to have dinner and meet her parents?" Kenny demanded.

The light turned green and I passed through the intersection. "I don't know," I said behind a scoff, my eyes falling to the bottle of wine on the passenger seat.

"Dude. I know you're not feeling her. We even said that something feels off about her. You should have cut it off..."

"I did cut it off," I interjected.

"Well, then you weren't clear enough. I really don't know what you're doing meeting her parents tonight. You're an idiot."

I didn't have a valid answer for that. I let out a sigh and replied with a joke. "Free meal?"

That was bad, even I didn't buy that, and neither did Kenny.

"Oh, horse shit Aiden. You have more than enough food to cook at home. You don't need to have dinner with that lunatic and her family." I could sense a good amount of frustration in his voice.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Well they're expecting me and I'm almost there."

"Turn around. Seriously, you're wasting your fucking time. Come home and play Overwatch with us, you're missing Double XP time."

I sighed. "I can't."

I could see him shaking his head on the other end of the line. "Whatever man. I hope you at least get a good meal out of it."

-BEEP.BEEP-

The line went dead. He was pissed, and he had every right to be. There wasn't a connection with Audrey and I'd been well aware of it. She was a sweet girl, but we didn't share the same interests, our opinions varied on more than a few things and our backgrounds were a bit too different. I for one wasn't religious, quite the polar opposite and I knew that could be a problem.

There were also things she'd say and do that I found off-putting. It wasn't the worst, and maybe that's why I didn't end it as clearly as I should have. But there was something strange about her and I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

But then again. Maybe I was being too picky? Maybe I was looking for a reason to not like her. I'd been notorious for self-sabotaging relationships. This was the furthest I'd gotten with anyone in a long time. Maybe I was overthinking things? Or maybe I was just a big idiot.

Maybe...

I turned onto her driveway, my headlights washing over her quaint little house. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as my nerves got the best of me. Maybe I should turn around and go home. I wasn't even hungry, I hadn't realized it until I’d put the car in park. I could back the car out and be on the main road in a flash, give her a call and say...

The front door opened. Audrey walked out with a smile on her face.

I flashed her a grin and killed the engine. I took another deep breath and slowly exhaled. It was too late now, no turning back. I snatched the bottle of wine off my passenger seat and exited my car.

A free meal right?

"You made it!" She said with a tremble in her voice.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. "I made it." I wrapped her in my arms, she got on her tippy toes and gently kissed me on the lips.

"I know you said not to bring anything but I felt bad, so I got this. The review on Bevmo's app said it was good, figured I'd take their word." I said showing her the bottle of wine.

She smiled up at me and kissed me again. "They'll love it."

She grabbed hold of my hand and walked me to the front door, she turned the knob and pushed it open. I was greeted by a sweet smell that washed over me like a tidal wave. It was strong, causing my eyes to water, forcing me to stagger at the doorway. It smelled like an orchard of rotting fruit, with a hint of rotting meat. The strange odor clung to my nostril's hairs.

"Oh wow. That's..." I couldn't find the words. "Are we having dessert first?"

Audrey laughed and shook her head. "You're so silly, of course not."

I felt her hand tighten around mine as we made our way through the entryway and towards the kitchen, then she stopped and spun around.

"Oh my God!" She shrieked. "Your tattoos!"

I flashed her a puzzled look and glanced at the tattoos that graced both arms.

"My father hates tattoos!" She began unrolling my long sleeves, frantically fumbling with each button around my wrist as though she were concealing a heinous crime.

She stood on her tippy toes again and began sniffing the air around my mouth. "Did you smoke today?"

I shook my head. "Not since yesterday afternoon," I whispered.

Audrey nodded her head frantically. "Alright, good. My Mom hates smokers."

She'd never mentioned any of this to me. I had no idea her Mom hated smokers and that her Dad condemned tattoos. I dreaded the idea of religion popping up because I didn't have a good answer, and I was horrible at thinking on my toes. My mind began to race with the questions that her parents would ask me. I became very aware that the night could go sour with a single question.

“They’re in the kitchen. They can’t wait to meet you!” Audrey said with a smile.

It was then that I noticed the dynamic of the house. The walls were covered with a tacky red floral wallpaper that looked way too old. The curtains along the front window were an uninviting shade of burgundy that was caked with dust. An end table sat to the right of the front door, littered with those weird porcelain babies dressed in everyday work attire. It looked as though their entire family room was frozen in the mid-1980s. But the most bizarre piece of "furniture" was the carousel horse. Just a full-blown carousel horse, with the pole jutting from the top and bottom, standing in the far left corner of the family room, by the window facing the street.

Audrey tightened her grip around my arm, I felt her nails dig into my flesh, to the point where it hurt. My startled grunt cut through the silence of her house...

It was really quiet in here. Why was that? It seemed as though we were the only two in the house. I didn't hear any conversing amongst her parents, no dishes being moved around, no music or television. Just silence.

Maybe we were having dinner in the backyard?

But that didn't feel right either. I could see into the backyard from where I was standing and I couldn't see a thing, all I saw was an abyss of darkness.

"Ready?" She asked looking up at me. Her lips curled into a smile as her eyes widened.

I give a slow nod, my hands tightening around the bottle of wine. Before I knew it, she was dragging me through the entryway and towards the kitchen, closer to that smell.

"Mom, Dad...I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Aiden!"

Wait. Boyfriend? When did we establish that? We hadn't made anyth-

And then my eyes landed on her parents, and I learned where that sweet, and pungent smell was coming from. It was coming from the kitchen, and it wasn't rotting fruit or rotting meat. But two rotting corpses.

Audrey's parents were dead.

Both sitting at the dinner table, each appropriately dressed for the occasion. Her father was wearing a long-sleeved, button-up shirt, with a red tie. His graying black hair parted and combed to the left. He sat facing me, with both hands on the table, his head tilted slightly backward, his eyes staring at the ceiling fan. Her mother sat off to his right, her brown hair done in an elaborate bun. She wore a red dress with black stockings and matching red heels. She sat on the chair like a discarded marionette, arms hanging limply to her sides, her head tilted in my direction. Her lifeless eyes stared directly into mine. The kitchen lights made them look like wax figures. Their skin provided a certain shine, a gloss I'd never seen before.

"They went all out for tonight," Audrey said from off to my left. "Mom wore her best dress, and Daddy bought a new tie."

I was at a loss for words, it was as though I’d lost the ability to speak. My mouth was hanging open and I could taste the smell that had consumed the house. I could only see her parents, their ashy and paper-white skin, those glossy and lifeless eyes. The flies that swarmed above and around them.

Questions raced through my mind at lightspeed. When did she kill them? How did she kill them? How long had they been dead? Did she dress them herself?

Was she going to kill me next?

I needed to get out of here. My mind was screaming for me to run but I was frozen in place. I could taste the rotting smell of death, I could feel tears running down my cheeks.

RUN.

I turned for the door and that's when I felt the sharp pain in my stomach. I felt my muscles tighten and scream in pain, I could feel my breath escape through my lips.

CRASH!!!

I looked down at the sound through blurred vision. I'd dropped the bottle of wine. I could see the red liquid flooding across the kitchen tiles. I could feel warmth washing over my hands and through my fingers. I fell to my knees, the pain radiating from my stomach and surging through my body.

Audrey stabbed me.

I blinked my eyes, my mind struggling to separate the blood covering my hands and the wine on the kitchen floor. In the distance I could hear Audrey's footsteps, I could hear her talking but I couldn't make sense of what she was saying. I watched through blurred vision as she walked up to me, she sounded as though she were at the end of a long tunnel.

She grabbed me by the hair and pulled my head upwards so I could see her face. Her eyes were cold and expressionless.

"By the way Aiden." She whispered as she pressed the large knife to my throat.

"I'm thinking of ending things."

And then she slit my throat.