A very unique thanksgiving!

“Stop controlling my life, dammit!” I shriek, pounding on the table with a rather loud force while I momentarily stand up. My nose is fuming with anger and my eyes are glaring everyone in the room. My brother and mother stop eating for a while, telling me series of words to calm down. However, I am not calming down. My father, on the other hand, continues eating and just deadpans looks at me as if nothing’s wrong.

That infuriates me even more.

“Young lady, calm down.” My father finally speaks in his oh-so-ever calm tone. I roll my eyes quite rebelliously. “I’m leaving.” I declare without any hesitation at all. My brother and mother take hold of my arm but I merely brush them off away.

“Clara!” cries my father. I didn’t pay attention as I open the door and step outside and slam the door rather loudly. I step out of our house, feeling a bit of guilt that I did that. The autumn wind past by me, sending me shivers. Taking heavy steps, I walk out and take a faster pace before my brother or mother could catch up to me. It started with heavy steps, but now I find myself running.

Tears flow out of my eyes as I run, remembering what have transpired during Thanksgiving Day.

It started out quite fine; we were laughing and joking as a family. But then my father shifted the topic regarding about my future. The atmosphere then became uncomfortable. My whole family know me for my rebellious attitude and let’s just say: I don’t get along with my father because of his controlling personality. I don’t know what has gotten to him and began discussing about what course he wants for me during Thanksgiving Day. It’s Thanksgiving day for goodness sake.

I stop running for a while when I realize I don’t recognize this area in our subdivision. I look around and there are autumn trees and every house is lighted up quite brightly. Maybe they’re having a great time. That must be nice. I observe my surroundings and note that no one is around. It’s actually relaxing to be away from everything.

“Boo!” Someone scares me from behind and I yelp. I turn around and see that it’s one of my closest friends: Jacy.

“You scared me!” I playfully punch her and she just laughs. She must’ve noticed my tear-stained eyes because she frowns.

“Your dad again?”

I nod.

“Let’s go. Be part of our family just for this day.” Jacy takes my wrist and drags me towards their house without any hesitation.

“What were you doing outside though?”

“Taking out trash.”

“What an obedient child.”

She snickers.

===========

The whole atmosphere is awkward, at least for me. I’m only here for 10 minutes and I can already see how close-knit they are. Another thing, they are so welcoming and didn’t ask further why my eyes look very puffy.

“Do you want some potatoes, dear?” Mrs. Smith tenderly smiles at me while she puts more potatoes in my plate. I stare at her sweet smile and even though I’ve just met her today, it feels like I’m one of her child.

“Try our famous lasagna!” Mr. Smith offers to me while giving me a handful of the food.

“Dad, Clara can’t eat all of those!” Jacy complains while Mr. Smith casually smiles at his daughter. I just observe them, taking note of the close relationship the 2 of them has. It must be great to be close with your father.

“Clara, what’s wrong?” Mr. Smith asks, looking very concerned. “Is our food not to your liking?”

“No.” A tear falls from eyes. “It’s fantastic.”

For the whole dinner Mr. Smith tells dad jokes that certainly make us all groan. Mrs. Smith would sometimes scold her husband for eating too much and “It’s not good for his health.” Sometimes Jacy would steal a bunch of chicken from his father and that would result in bicker between the 2 of them. I find myself laughing at their shenanigans and my argument with my father slowly dissipates from my mind.

“My name is Jacy and I rap like Jay-Z!” Jazy hollers in the dining table, pretending to be a rapper. Her father joins along while the father and daughter show off their “rapping skills”.

“Yeah, uh-huh!” Mr. Smith tries to add some beat and that made Mrs. Smith facepalm. I laugh at how weird they look like. I continue eating the famous lasagna. It is quite good because the meat is really tasty and the sauce, gosh it’s so heavenly.

Crunch

I widen my eye for a while and I involuntarily spit out something. My hands start to shake and color leaves my face. I tense up and while digesting what’s on my hand. Thousands of questions stream on my mind and regretting the very moment I’ve entered this house.

It was a tooth.

Slowly looking up, I see the 3 of them, smiling. Mrs. Smith shakes her head but there’s a menacing grin on her face. I feel vomiting, because of the sudden realization from everything. I was eating human-flesh and was enjoying it. I feel sick. Trembling, I stand up. My whole mind is messy and I only thought of getting out

I have to call the police. I need to report this.

I need to get away from this mad family.

I immediately bolt out towards the door, adrenaline washing over me and the idea of going back to my parents is the only thing in my mind right now.

And then I feel a sharp pain hitting my head. A loud bang to accompany the stinging sensation. I slowly turn and see Jacy , with a warm smile in her face, holding a gun. Blood oozes out of my head, and I fall to the ground. My eyes struggle to keep open, my whole body suddenly wanting to fall asleep. I struggle, to reach the door and fight for my dear life.

“Since you’ve discovered our secret, we have no choice but to serve you next~”

That was the last thing I heard before everything turns to mere oblivion.

“Try this lasagna” Mr. Smith serves their famous lasagna on to the plate of Jacy’s new best friend—Mike. Just like Clara, he’s very rebellious and harbors a grudge towards their parents.

“The meat is very tender and juicy!”