The Dinner

Frantically running out of the apartment, Capri tries to simultaneously throw her hair in a bun while starting the car. Her breathing is harsh due to the panic she feels. As the car starts Mina comes barreling down the steps. Her green-streaked hair falls over her face as she tries to hold half of their cooking utensils in her arms. Her feet pound against the ground as she approaches the car, roughly throwing the supplies in the backseat before falling in the passenger seat with a huff. Doing a quick glance at the car Capri whips the car out of the parking space and speeds out of the complex, hoping for all of their supplies.

I told you we would need to wake up earlier,” Mina tensely states

“Mina leave me alone,” Capri responds, her body too tired from rushing to even engage with her friend.

“Not only do we have to get ourselves ready but we also have to get all our equipment and ingredients. With a job as big as this one we should’ve had our stuff prepped the night before,” Mina continues, not phased by Capri’s seemingly neutral attitude.

Mina clicks her teeth and rolls her eyes as Capri ignores her. Not only is she mad at her friend but she is also disappointed in herself. She knows how Capri can slack off at times and she should’ve just prepped by herself if she had to. Capri continues to drive and keeps a blank face at her friend's attitude. 

“The only reason I’m in such an uproar about this is that we both know how hesitant people are about hiring us. We are 19 and just starting our catering business. We do not have nearly as many years as an established business so it’s important for us to take every job extremely seriously. Even though we’ve gained more recognition and customers, one bad job could seriously hurt us.” After her spill, Mina averts her eyes from the window and lets her words marinate with Capri.

“I’m sorry,” Capri spits out after some thought. When we received the request to cater a whole dinner party I became so excited that I really wanted us to celebrate it. I realize now how idiotic that idea was. We should have taken last night to prepare and woken up earlier this morning to double-check that everything was in order.”

Mina slowly turns her head away from the window she was looking out of, crosses her arms, and stares at her friend. She mentally debates in her head whether or not to keep up her attitude. 

“It’s fine, we just need to focus on making it on time,” she finally lets out after deciding to let it go.

“Do you have the address in the maps?” Capri asks.

“I’m pulling it up right now,” Mina responds, pulling out her phone.

As she is putting the address in she noticed the unfamiliarity of the street and zip code. She had lived in the city her whole life and was confident she had a general idea of where everything was, so the unrecognizable address caught her off guard. Nevertheless, she entered it into the GPS and noticed how it took a minute for the system to load the directions.

“Is your phone dying?” questioned Capri.

Unsure of what was happening Mina checks her battery and sure enough, her phone is at a healthy 87%. 

“No, let me refresh the app.”

Right before she has a chance to do so the directions finally load. 

“Okay 30 minutes away. That’s actually closer than what I originally thought.”

Mina exclaims. She is relieved to know that they should make it on time despite their hectic morning.

“Really? That’s good then! What highway are we getting on?”

“Umm, it isn’t saying we need to take one. I’m looking at it right now and it is just having us go through a bunch of streets and backroads.” Mina explains. 

“Check to make sure you have “Avoid Highways” turned off.”

Mina checks as instructed and is shocked when she sees that they are taking the fastest route.

“Nope, this is the right way,” Mina says, choosing to trust the directions.

They both had a feeling of unease wash over them but under the pressures of time, they had no choice but to follow the directions.

During their drive, they remained casual and kept their conversations on the topic of who was going to be doing what when it was time to start cooking. Despite their conversation, they could not help but notice that the more they drove, the further they became from the city. Cement roads turned into dirt and buildings turned into deserted fields. The girls no longer could keep a laid-back vibe in the car. Their bodies tensed and their eyes rapidly scanned the area as they were driving. Capri adjusted her seat forward so she had a better view of the ground in front of her. They didn’t know what could jump out at them from the fields or if any sharp objects lay beneath the dirt. Suddenly the GPS instructed them to take a sharp right into a wooded area. Stomping on the brakes Capri stopped the car and looked around.

“Check to make sure the address is in the right direction” she instructed Mina.

“I already did 5 minutes ago. Maybe they’re just farmers who are used to making their own food. So they wanted someone else to do it this time.” Mina said.

“Mina I want to look around. These fields are empty and there aren’t even leaves on any of these trees. Does this look like we're approaching a farm anytime soon?”

“It says we're 5 minutes away, if we don't see a house soon we could always turn back.”

Reluctantly Capri listens to her friend and drives into the eerie forest. Tires rolling over the “STAY OUT” sign that had been knocked over.

The road has a single lane on each side so Capri just tries to stay focused in case deer or other animals come running out. Thinking that she heard a noise she turned her head to the side for a split second to see what it was.

“CAPRI!”

Snapping her head back to the front window a jet-black painted car is barreling towards them. Speeding ahead as if they do not see a car in front of them. Jumping into action Capri rips the when to the left, head making direct contact with the window and emitting a loud crack into the air. Mina jerks in her seat and almost soars through the front window but her seatbelt painfully pulls her back, the back of her head slamming into the seat and she passes out from the impact.  The car starts to spin out from the force of Capri’s pull. The impact of her head hitting the window has caused blood to start dripping from her head and her vision blurs. She tries her best to keep the car on the road and she feels herself losing consciousness. In her final attempt to stop them from crashing into a tree, Capri allows the car to sail into a ditch on the side of the road. With the car finally still, Capri takes some deep breaths and tries to soothe the ringing in her ears. Her eyelids get heavier and heavier as she frantically tries to find her phone to call for help. She finds it on the passenger seat floor and as she reaches down her body when against her mind and slumps over on top of the gear stick, consciousness leaving her.

When she awakens again she feels cool air on her face. She lays on her back in the back seat of a car, facing a stain-covered ceiling. She tries to sit up but notices her arms have been tightly bound behind her back. She cranes her neck to look out the opened car door and sees she is in a driveway. The opened door gives her a clear view of the field of dead grass and trash. Just then she hears a voice.

“You have reached your destination. You have reached your destination.”

She finds the orientation of the voices and sees Mina slumped over in the front seat. Her GPS caused her phone to light up. Capri begins to scream for her friend, desperately trying to wake her up so she can use the call to help. Her voice comes out dehydrated and broken. Her throat aches. In the middle of her cries, she hears footsteps and immediately goes silent. She closes her eyes and makes her body go limp to pretend she is still passed out. Hearing the footsteps get closer her body tense but she tries her best to slow her breathing. Feet crunching against the gravel driveway lets her know they are getting closer. Eventually, they come around to the back of the car and start to pull Capri out. Her mind screams at her to fight but knows it would be useless with her limbs bound and body still in pain from the car accident. She allows her body to be dead weight as the person puts her over their shoulder and begins to carry her. Capri steals a glance to see where she is being taken and notices the car she was just pulled from the same car that tried to run them off the road earlier. Her body instantly starts to panic and she can no longer keep up her unconscious routine. Sensing her awakening the person speaks.

“I know you're awake” a deep male voice lets out. His shoulder shakes as he starts to laugh at Capri’s attempt to trick him.

Panic overflowing through her, Capri violently shakes her body. She manages to shift hard enough causing him to drop her and she falls on the ground with a thump. She looks over and noticed they were approaching a large house that did not fit with its surroundings. The surrounding fields were haunting and dirty. This house looked taken care of and lived in. She noted the lights on in the house and a few figures moving inside. The man approaches and stands over her. Her heart rate quickens as she looks into his eyes and sees nothing there. His pitch-black eyes were lifeless as he reached down to pick her back up. 

“What are you doing with us?” she sobbed. Her lip quivered and her eyes flooded with tears.

“You forgot?” He questioned as a sinister smile stretched across his face. “We’re having a dinner party.”