Chucks Steakhouse: Part Three

“JACK!” Mike yelled as he backed into the kitchen.

Gary managed to find a light switch and flicked it on just in time for them to see Chuck’s bony frame effortlessly toss an unconscious and bleeding Jack over his shoulder and disappear behind a side door.

Gary let out a scream of rage and charged after his little brother. When he found Chuck had locked the door behind him, he proceeded to kick and body slam the door relentlessly, grunting and screaming with every blow. Mike ran into the kitchen frantically searching for something to use as a weapon but stopped dead in his tracks. Human hands. Human feet. Human heads, all dismembered and nailed to the walls through tendons and hair. There were so many, there were bodyparts nailed to the ceiling, and heads hanging from a pot rack in the center of the kitchen. Mike forced himself to move forward through the kitchen towards a large knife block, there was no time to process what he was seeing at the moment. With shaking hands he grabbed the biggest knife he saw and ran back into the dining room.

Just as Mike reached the door Gary was attacking, it gave way. Gary tumbled into the room and Mike rushed in after him. Mike helped Gary up off the floor, holding the knife out in front of him and Gary panting with his fists at the ready. They listened tensely for any sounds of movement as they waited for their eyes to adjust to the dim light.

“Where did he go?” Gary whispered.

Mike didn’t answer as they began quietly searching among the floor to ceiling shelves. They were packed with non perishable food and restaurant supplies and all covered in dust. There was no sign of Jack or his attacker anywhere in the huge storage room, and the place was eerily silent. Mike noticed a door with a sliver of light escaping the bottom of it at the far end of the room.

“Gary,” Mike whispered, “this way.” He motioned towards the door and they both began walking as quietly as they could towards it. As they approached it, Mike became aware of the smell of cooking and some faint indistinct noises. Gary looked at Mike, acknowledging with a puzzled glance that he could smell and hear it too. The noise and the smell of meat grilling became stronger the closer they got. Mike reached the door first and looked at Gary as he gripped the doorknob. Gary nodded indicating he was ready for whatever they would find behind the door. Mike slowly turned the knob and opened the door just enough to peak inside, and knew that Gary was definitley not ready.

The door led back into the grotesquely decorated kitchen. There was Chuck humming and pacing maniacally in front of a stove, pausing every so often to tend to whatever he was cooking. And there was Jack, still unconscious, but now gagged and bound on the tile floor surrounded by decaying body parts. Blood was pooling around him, dripping from a gaping wound on his thigh where a large chunk of flesh was now missing. Mike’s stomach dropped at the site of so much blood. He watched Jack’s chest with baited breath until he saw it rise and fall before reluctantly backing away from the door so Gary could take a look.

to be continued...