Supper: The Horror Short Story You've Been Craving by Carolyn McCray Page A

her way
through it.
    It was supposed to be Stacey up in that front seat, being
Jonathan’s navigator. They had decided that since, you know, Stacey knew the
difference between north and south on a map, unlike Miss
if-we-are-going-uphill-we-must-be-going-north. Yet somehow, while Stacey helped
pack the trunk, Tamra miraculously was already sitting in the front seat. When
Stacey had protested, Jonathan had patted her shoulder and told her “not to be
like that.”
    Not to be like what? Fair?
    Frustrated, Stacey crossed her arms, giving Tamra a good
glare while she was at it, even though the blonde would never even glance back
to see it.
    “I feel your pain,” Leo said as he patted her knee. His dark
hand stark against her extremely pale leg. The reflection off her pasty-white
legs could be literally used as a first-strike weapon.
    Stacey glanced at Tamra’s golden-brown shoulder. Maybe
Stacey should have used a spray-on tan before leaving. But even that would
never have compared to Tamra’s natural glow. Stacey tugged her walking shorts
down to cover her knees. She wasn’t wearing short-shorts like Tamra. Those weren’t
even Daisy Dukes. They were Daisy-I-hope-you-got-a-Brazilian-yesterday-Dukes.
    But she couldn’t be angry with Leo. He was as fascinated
with Jonathan as she was. At least she had the fact that Jonathan batted for
her team going for her. Poor Leo could only hope to pine away as Jonathan
bounced from bimbo to bimbo.
    Actually, Stacey and Leo might as well be in the same boat.
They both had exactly the same chance of getting laid this weekend. Looking
over at Leo’s rippling muscles, close-cropped hair, and perfect onyx skin,
Stacey sighed. More than likely if Jonathan had to pick, he’d go with Leo.
Hell, she’d go with Leo.
    Fed up with what was happening inside the car,
Stacey’s eyes scanned the trees as they drove by. They weren’t normal trees, or
at least none like she’d seen before. Their branches were gnarled, and they
dripped with moss or algae or fungus, or whatever the hell made the tree look
like it was bleeding. Despite the sweltering heat, Stacey rubbed a hand up and
down her arm, trying to chase away the chill that had descended.
    How many eyes were there out in those woods? Ever since
making the stupid left turn, she had felt that someone was watching them.
Tracking them. Like the car was the rabbit and the “watcher” the wolf. But that
was stupid, right?
    She had to shake it off. The whole point of this trip was to
explore “strange” places, wasn’t it? That’s what coeds did, right?
    Stacey feared that she was wrong in both circumstances.
    “Is that a gas station up ahead?” Jonathan asked.
    Tamra shook her head, sending a golden cascade into motion,
her hair catching the waning light, nearly blinding the car with its radiance.
Either that, or the sun just hit the hood of the car as they entered a clearing
in the forest.
    “No, I think it’s a house,” Tamra answered.
    “Well, it had better be something,” Jonathan stated. “We’ve
been on empty for seven miles.”
    “But the sign said ‘gas station,’ ” Leo said, leaning
forward between the seats.
    He was right. After miles of lonely road, that little sign
had promised gasoline, but after about half an hour of windy road filled with
switchbacks, they had only found this lonesome house.
    The car jumped and lurched as they suddenly hit dirt road.
Stacey looked out of the window. The pavement had just stopped. No warning. No
sign.
    “Sorry!” Jonathan said as he slowed the car to barely a
crawl.
    Still, rocks and sticks popped under the tires. This sedan
was not exactly off-road material. But at this point, after three hours stuck
in the car with Miss Ample Bosom, and Jonathan barely able to keep his eyes on
the road, Stacey was ready to get out and walk the distance to the house.
    Anything had to be better than this.
    * * *
    Cliver smelled the soup. Somethin’ was missing.
    “Ruf!” Cliver bellowed as he