text: “I just need to get them to sign, then we can finally be done with this,” Kevin said to himself. He had just parked his car in front of the house. Not just any house. This was the house. Kevin worked for a real estate development company that was in the process of designing and building a new business and housing district in the area. The design was ready and approved and the community was looking forward to having a new area to explore in their city. They had everything they needed. Except... this new district would be going up in an area that was previously a residential area. The good news for the development company was that this area had seen a mass exodus in the last decade with few holdouts. The development company had “generously” offered every last person in the neighborhood a price that was well above market value and all of them had taken it. All except for one... Today is Kevin’s last chance to rectify this. “From what Tim, Jennifer, and Clyde all said, these people are a little odd, but I need to do whatever it takes to get them to sign,” Kevin mumbled to himself. As he got out of the car, Kevin briefly thought about the failures of his colleagues. Or, more accurately, former colleagues. Tim, the first one who had tried getting them to sign, gave up after trying for roughly six months. He got so frustrated that he came back one day and just quit. Jennifer, on the other hand, just moved away unexpectedly after trying for a few weeks, citing the same annoyance and frustration as Tim. Jennifer was on her last legs at the company and was a very odd individual, in Kevin’s opinion, so no one had questioned her departure. She would have been fired if she had returned empty handed since she had yet to make a sale or a signing. But Clyde... Kevin wasn’t sure what had happened to Clyde. He was a hard worker and they had sent him to close the deal a couple of weeks ago. After several tries, one day he had never returned. They tried calling the cops, but they said that he probably just left on his own and didn’t investigate at all. Clyde was single with no kids, so the police just assumed he took off on his own. Kevin had liked Clyde, for the most part. He had never spent any time outside of work with him, but the time at the office had always been pleasant. The one time that stood out to Kevin was the Christmas party three years ago. Neither of them knew it, but he and Clyde had somehow been each other’s Secret Santa. They had never talked to each other besides the typical “How are you?” pleasantries you say day to day to people, so neither of them knew what to get the other. Kevin had mused about a tie or a coffee cup and his wife suggested that he get Clyde a sweater or “something cute.” Clyde knew that none of these suggestions would do, so he did the only sensible thing when not knowing what to do. He turned to alcohol. Kevin, a man in his late twenties, decided the safest thing was to get Clyde a bottle Scotch. Nothing too expensive, of course, but the gesture would be there all the same. His wife was a little apprehensive about the gift, but relented when he asked her if she had any other ideas. When the day of the Christmas party came, Clyde put his gift on the table like everyone else and joined in the office festivities. They were one of the regional headquarters of a national conglomerate, so their Christmas parties were always decent. It was still a corporate office, so nothing too exciting ever happened. Just some live music and a few holiday themed games. It was during the day around 2pm, they weren’t allowed a plus one, and they were limited to two drink tickets each. Kevin perused the drink selection as he waited in line. Like previous years, it was just beer and wine. Kevin was regretting giving the Scotch to Clyde. Not that it was expensive or anything. He just wanted it for himself after this disappointment of a Christmas party. When the time came for the Secret Santa gifts to be given out, Kevin waited for his name to be called. Clyde’s name was called before him and he waited until everyone else had their gift. Kevin went to get his and opened it as soon as the rest of the gifts were given out. When he opened it, Kevin was astonished that it was the exact same brand of Scotch that he had given to Clyde. When he looked around at who might have given it to him, he saw Clyde doing the same. They both held their bottles up and nodded at one another with a smile. Kevin then watched Clyde leave the party, Scotch in hand. Clyde was a simple man. A man in his forties with no wife or kids. No personal attachments that Kevin knew of, but he was damn good at his job. Clyde would constantly be able to close the difficult deals, so when this house was the constant holdout and no one else could do it, they called on Clyde. Everyone was shocked when he just... vanished. Kevin hoped that he was ok, but he had to focus on the task at hand. He had to get that signature because today was the deadline for the giant bonus they would give to whoever could get it. As Kevin walked towards the house, he looked around the dilapidated neighborhood and imagined that at one point it had been a lively place full of children playing in the streets. Times had been tough for their city, but this new development project was sure to turn things around for the entire community. Plus, it would mean these people, whether they were a little odd or not, would be able to start a life somewhere fresh with the large sum of money being offered to them. The house in front of him was surprisingly nice for the area. Most houses around him were smaller ranch style homes without much flare. This house was a little older, but it was two stories, had a nice porch with pillars on each side, and a decent sized garage with an attic above it. Kevin thought that it probably had a basement too. He wasn’t surprised that they were holding out if the house was this nice, especially if it had sentimental value to them. Before Kevin could knock on the door, it opened. “Hello! You must be with the development company!” Said a woman in her late fifties to early sixties. “Please! Come in! Come in!” Kevin stammered as he was hurried inside the house where he counted at least four other people, who were all hustling around carrying boxes and moving furniture. Kevin overheard someone yell that they needed to organize the truck in the garage again before putting anything else inside. “Excuse me! Ma'am? What’s going on here?” Kevin asked, confused. “Why, my dear, I thought you of all people would know,” the lady said, with a toothless grin. “Me? Know what?” Kevin said, still not understanding. “Oh... I thought you were with the development company. Weren’t you coming to get our signature?” The lady said, innocently. “Yes, I uh... wait, you want to give me your signature?” Asked Kevin. “Of course!” Said the lady. “Great!” Kevin said as he handed her the clipboard. “On one condition, that is,” the lady said, holding up a finger. “You have to help us move some of our things into the truck.” “That’s it?” Kevin said with a sigh of relief. “And...” said the lady. “And?” Asked Kevin. “And! You have to eat a meal with us. It’ll be an honor to have you eat with us for our final meal here before we leave!” She said, slapping him on the back. “I would love to!” Kevin said, thinking that it couldn’t be this easy. The lady introduced Kevin to her husband, son, and two nephews as he helped them load the truck up with what was left in their house, which was just as spacious as Kevin thought it would be. From the front door Kevin could see the dining room in front of him. A lovely white staircase with a wood railing to his right. A doorway to his left that he assumed went to a family room. And a closed door to the right that was connected to the staircase. “Where does this door go?” Kevin asked as he was helping them move a sofa. “That’s the basement,” said the lady. “We don’t need to get anything from down there. Don’t worry about it. The final thing to load was the dining room table and chairs. The lady said that she wanted that to be loaded last so they could have one final meal. She ushered Kevin into a seat between her and her husband as she served Kevin his meal. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was delicious. Some type of meat, potatoes, glazed carrots, and some pie for dessert. Kevin thought that helping them move was worth it just for this meal. While they ate, Kevin told them about his wife, his work, and he asked if his colleagues had said anything about leaving when they were here. The lady, who had been the only to talk up to this point, said that she remembered Clyde had said something about needing a vacation. She wasn’t sure about the girl. The lady thought she was odd, so she wasn't surprised that she just vanished. “Well my dear,” said the lady, “I think it’s about time we get goin,” “Do you need help moving the table?” Asked Kevin. “Oh no, dear, don’t you worry about that. You’ve been more than enough help,” she said. “Ok, well, I better get going too. Thank you for the lovely meal,” Kevin said. “Don’t you want that signature?” Asked the lady. Kevin stopped. He had completely forgotten about the signature. He turned around and faced the lady with an embarrassed smile and said that he would love the signature. He said he wasn't sure how he had forgotten about it. More than likely it was because of the lovely hospitality and the amazing meal that she had provided. With signature in hand, Kevin wished the family the best of luck and headed towards his car. As he was walking towards his car he took his phone out of his pocket and started to text his boss that he had the signature. Before he could hit send, he started to feel lightheaded. He opened his car door, but didn’t have the strength to get inside. The world around him started to spin as he clung to the car door. Suddenly he heard voices ask if he was alright. It was the lady and her family. Two of the men put his arms over their shoulders and carried him inside as his phone dropped to the ground. The lady picked it up and followed them inside. “You’ll be ok, we just have to lay you down real quick. This normally happens at first, don’t worry,” said the lady. “Wha... what happens at first? I don’t understand...” Kevin said, barely able to speak. “Where are you taking me? What’s going on?” “Oh, my dear, we’re taking you to the basement. There you will truly start to understand,” the lady said with her toothless smile. The lady then opened the door as two of the four men carried him down the stairs into the darkness. Kevin’s world was spinning. He couldn’t tell up from down. The only two things keeping him from the ground were the two men holding him up. He felt ill. Like something in his stomach was attacking his entire body. Which was weird because the only thing he had eaten today was... “Did you poison me?” Kevin hoarsely asked. “Poison?” The lady asked, seemingly taken aback. “That was not poison, young man. That was your gateway into eternity!” As Kevin descended the stairs, the basement light came on and he saw the other two men standing there. They turned Kevin so he could see the entire basement. It looked like a butcher’s shop. Knives, cleavers, hammers, and all assortment of tools hung on the wall still. It seemed that this would be the last place that was packed up, not the dining room. As they walked Kevin over to a table, they turned more lights on and he saw something hanging from the ceiling. Or more precisely, someone. He squinted and saw more than just one. “Jennifer? Clyde? What have they done to you?” Kevin screamed in a hoarse whisper. “Oh, they can’t hear you my dear. Not yet anyway. Soon you’ll be reunited with them. Now, just lay on back and let this old lady take care of you,” she said, with a soothing tone. Kevin tried to struggle, but couldn’t. He couldn’t lift his arms. His head felt like it weighed a million pounds. He could barely even keep his eyelids open. “Why... are you doing this? You’re moving and you... you gave me the signature... I... I don’t understand...” Kevin kept gasping for air and could barely talk at this point. “Why?” Asked the lady. “You just were too tempting to pass up. We couldn’t help ourselves. You should have waited until tomorrow to come. We would have been long gone by then and you could have claimed our house without any effort. You are so selfish and greedy, just like the rest of them. We couldn’t just let you leave. We had to send one. More. Message.” Kevin continued his attempt at struggling, but he was far too weak now. His eyes were practically closed. He couldn’t talk. He could barely breathe. “Don’t worry. We’ll text your boss so he doesn’t worry. We’ll also text your wife and tell her you had to go out of town for a business trip and won’t be back for a while. That way they’ll all be oblivious to your current... circumstance.” Kevin is able to get out one more “why?” before finally losing the ability to talk. “Why?” She laughed. “I guess I’m just a little sentimental and just wanted to have fun one last time.” Kevin grunted in pain. He didn’t know what it was. Some kind of sharp pain in his legs and down his left side. “And don’t worry about us my dear. They won’t find you until well after we’re gone.” Kevin let out one final grunt of pain before finally succumbing to darkness.