-6- Dreamshare // Open to all!
[Major horror warning here.]
Your heart is racing as you shuffle around a large, heavy oak dinner table. Which way did the forks and spoons go? Did you know? Did you care? Well... yes! You finally get to eat at this table, and you're excited. You've spent countless nights trying to find a seat here, but you've always been too late, and your family goes on eating meals that you can never seem to see.
But tonight that changes! You're here early, and you're even setting the table out of courtesy! You finish setting down the silverware. You think this is the way it should go, and the plates are clean and pretty. You step back and admire your handiwork, counting the seats. One, two, three, four, five. Huh. Something seems wrong about that count... but you're sure you can set up another seat if you've forgotten someone.
Your siblings soon arrive from the kitchen, carrying in various silver trays with covers and placing them on the table. You help your brother and sister carry the heaviest tray, and note that your sister brought her, um, "friend" again. You wish she'd come out and say she has a girlfriend all ready, but that wasn't any of your business, you suppose. Besides, you had bigger things to worry about!
Your mother arrives, dusting off her apron, and you're all nerves again. You'd been working so hard, and hope she noticed. This time, you hope, this time you get to eat at the table! You don't want to go hungry again.
She looks your way, and that's when you notice her face is blurred. As a matter of fact, your brother, sister, and her friend's faces are all blurred, too. A question is at your lips when they begin to take a seat, and that question is gone when mother gestures to an empty seat.
"Join us and have a seat, little one," your mother says in a honeyed voice. You could practically die of joy right now as you take your seat at the table. Finally! You feel like part of the family now, and nothing could possibly take this spot! Her gaze turns to the rest of the family, however, and you feel your heart sink. Why didn't she notice how nicely you put everything together? ...Did...
"Now then, children. I think you'll like what we're having tonight," she says, rising again to pull the silver cover off the largest platter, the thing dissolving into mist. Your sister emits a shrill cackle of delight, your brother snickering alongside. The friend simply smiles, offering to pour the wine.
Lying on the silver platter was half a man, a knight in dark blue-gray armor. His chest plate was flayed open by someone's claws, exposing charred, leathery flesh. Everything below the belt line was simply gone, his legs torn off. His intestines were tucked into a neat pile for the taking, away from the platter edge to prevent them from staining the tablecloth.
This knight is... was... your older brother.
"He's been a thorn in our side for some time now, but no longer," Mother says sweetly, gently laughing as she lifted the carving knife and skewer to make the first slice. Your sister leans in eagerly, giggling. She reaches to sneak a piece, her arm twisting and reshaping into a thin, white arachnid leg as it lances a small bit of intestine, bringing it to her mouth to gnaw. You're not hungry anymore, but cannot move.
The moment the knife touches the knight's chest, the body comes alive. His eyes are wide and wild, gauntlet-covered hands grasping the platter edges as he begins to scream again and again, writhing in pain. Mother continues to cut unhindered.
"My lovely daughter... silence him, if you would," Mother says calmly. Your sister grabs what you thought was a baster and jams the hypodermic needle into the screaming demon's side. Before the plunger reached the halfway point, the screaming had silenced to half-hearted groaning, the knight's head rolling dully from side to side. Mother extracts the heart from the knight's ribcage and slaps it down on her plate.
"I worked so hard to prepare this, dear..." She then says in an icy tone, turning her blurry face toward you. You get the feeling you really shouldn't refuse her.
"I'll have some," you say in a voice you may or may not recognize. You sound shaken. Your stomach drops as Mother lays a particularly large section of meat upon your plate.
"Ugh, he's not going to eat, Mother. I think I know what to have tomorrow night," your sister replies, turning her gaze your way.
Then the rest of the table looks your way. You peel off a strip of flesh with your fork, and shakily lift it to your mouth...
Your heart is racing as you shuffle around a large, heavy oak dinner table. Which way did the forks and spoons go? Did you know? Did you care? Well... yes! You finally get to eat at this table, and you're excited. You've spent countless nights trying to find a seat here, but you've always been too late, and your family goes on eating meals that you can never seem to see.
But tonight that changes! You're here early, and you're even setting the table out of courtesy! You finish setting down the silverware. You think this is the way it should go, and the plates are clean and pretty. You step back and admire your handiwork, counting the seats. One, two, three, four, five. Huh. Something seems wrong about that count... but you're sure you can set up another seat if you've forgotten someone.
Your siblings soon arrive from the kitchen, carrying in various silver trays with covers and placing them on the table. You help your brother and sister carry the heaviest tray, and note that your sister brought her, um, "friend" again. You wish she'd come out and say she has a girlfriend all ready, but that wasn't any of your business, you suppose. Besides, you had bigger things to worry about!
Your mother arrives, dusting off her apron, and you're all nerves again. You'd been working so hard, and hope she noticed. This time, you hope, this time you get to eat at the table! You don't want to go hungry again.
She looks your way, and that's when you notice her face is blurred. As a matter of fact, your brother, sister, and her friend's faces are all blurred, too. A question is at your lips when they begin to take a seat, and that question is gone when mother gestures to an empty seat.
"Join us and have a seat, little one," your mother says in a honeyed voice. You could practically die of joy right now as you take your seat at the table. Finally! You feel like part of the family now, and nothing could possibly take this spot! Her gaze turns to the rest of the family, however, and you feel your heart sink. Why didn't she notice how nicely you put everything together? ...Did...
"Now then, children. I think you'll like what we're having tonight," she says, rising again to pull the silver cover off the largest platter, the thing dissolving into mist. Your sister emits a shrill cackle of delight, your brother snickering alongside. The friend simply smiles, offering to pour the wine.
Lying on the silver platter was half a man, a knight in dark blue-gray armor. His chest plate was flayed open by someone's claws, exposing charred, leathery flesh. Everything below the belt line was simply gone, his legs torn off. His intestines were tucked into a neat pile for the taking, away from the platter edge to prevent them from staining the tablecloth.
This knight is... was... your older brother.
"He's been a thorn in our side for some time now, but no longer," Mother says sweetly, gently laughing as she lifted the carving knife and skewer to make the first slice. Your sister leans in eagerly, giggling. She reaches to sneak a piece, her arm twisting and reshaping into a thin, white arachnid leg as it lances a small bit of intestine, bringing it to her mouth to gnaw. You're not hungry anymore, but cannot move.
The moment the knife touches the knight's chest, the body comes alive. His eyes are wide and wild, gauntlet-covered hands grasping the platter edges as he begins to scream again and again, writhing in pain. Mother continues to cut unhindered.
"My lovely daughter... silence him, if you would," Mother says calmly. Your sister grabs what you thought was a baster and jams the hypodermic needle into the screaming demon's side. Before the plunger reached the halfway point, the screaming had silenced to half-hearted groaning, the knight's head rolling dully from side to side. Mother extracts the heart from the knight's ribcage and slaps it down on her plate.
"I worked so hard to prepare this, dear..." She then says in an icy tone, turning her blurry face toward you. You get the feeling you really shouldn't refuse her.
"I'll have some," you say in a voice you may or may not recognize. You sound shaken. Your stomach drops as Mother lays a particularly large section of meat upon your plate.
"Ugh, he's not going to eat, Mother. I think I know what to have tomorrow night," your sister replies, turning her gaze your way.
Then the rest of the table looks your way. You peel off a strip of flesh with your fork, and shakily lift it to your mouth...