Pleasantville

A woman moves to a new town and gets settled in when she seems to notice something strange. The townspeople are unusually nice. She investigates and finds a secret she could never forget.

I

Allie slammed the trunk of her taxi closed and looked at her new home.  Two stories with a pool and a nice neighborhood.  What else could she want?  She grabbed on to her two suitcases and walked into her new abode.  

            The first step inside was the best.  The natural colors of the entrance hallway blended perfectly into the living room than the kitchen.  Her furniture was already set up by the consent of the movers in a fairly nice fashion.  She took in the aroma of her new home and dropped the bags ready for a small tour.  The kitchen was fairly large with all of the necessary appliances for life.  Her cooking utensils were in boxes on the green marble counter ready for unpacking.  She would get to that later.  She walked on to the dining room.  Her coffee brown table had six chairs around it and a fake arrangement of flowers in the middle.  A soft golden chandelier hung above it creating a dim pleasant lighting.  She was looking forward to all of the meals she would be eating in there.

            With the first floor explored she walked to the staircase and mounted it admiring the white carpeting and wooden handrails.  At the top of the stairs there were to rooms.  The first was her bedroom.  Her mahogany bed with a curtained canopy was set up in between two nightstands.  A dresser was near the foot of the bed with her television.  The other room was a bathroom.  A toilet was set to the right of the door.  Steps led up to marble columns and a large bathtub.  Allie knew what she was going to do tonight.

            Allie was starting to unpack in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.  She put down her chef knives and opened the front door.  A pleasant looking couple stood on the porch the woman holding some sort of pie in her hand.  “Hello Miss Allie.  We heard you had just moved in so we decided that we could make you a pie.”

            “Why thank you um…”

            “Margaret.  And this is my husband James.”

            “Yes.  Thank you Margaret and James, but I’m a vegetarian.”

            “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.  I guess this pie will go to waste.”

            “I’ll take it.  I have company coming later.”

            “That’s nice.  Mind if we come over?”

            “Yeah come on over.  You seem like a nice enough couple.”

            “Well thank you.  We had better get going.  Nice to meet you.”

            “Bye.”

            Allie took the pie and the couple turned and walked off the porch and to their home.  When their door was closed Allie turned and closed the door.  Something was weird about the two.  The way they seemed so happy just seemed awkward.  She pushed the thoughts back and replaced them with anticipation for her perfect home.

 

II

            Allie finally had all of her stuff unpacked.  It was two days after she had moved there and she loved it.  Margaret and James had not come over again but they always seemed to be outside in sight of her house.  Two other families had visited both as awkward as Margaret and James both bringing the same gift.  Some sort of pie.

            Allie decided to go out for a walk to get better acquainted with her new neighborhood in Pleasantville.  She slipped on her tennis shoes and stepped out on the front porch taking on a breath of fresh air.  Margaret waved from her garden a weird smile branded on her face.  Allie shuddered and than walked in the opposite direction.  She did not want to walk near to her. 

            The neighborhood was fairly small.  There were three streets with one of them leading out into the vast desert surroundings.  Every house she passed seemed exactly the same.  A garden out front with a swing on the porch.  Some of the houses had children playing out front while others had people tending to their gardens.  The only house that stood out was one at the corner of an outside street.  It was old and had an antiqued appearance to it.  The windows had cobwebs growing on them and weeds have overgrown the garden.  She could tell someone lived there, she was just wondering who.

            When she made it back to her house it was around noon.  Margaret was no longer outside but Allie could feel her eyes boring into her back.  She sighed with relief as she walked in through the front door.  The town seemed very weird to her.  Something was wrong with it, but she could not put a finger on it.

            Allie’s stomach groaned with hunger so she walked into her kitchen and opened the fridge.  She dug through it looking for something to eat.  Pies lined all of the shelves all being exactly the same.  A pot pie with mystery meat.  She finally found some packaged cheese and bread.  A grilled cheese would be good enough.  When she closed the door, Allie thought briefly of how the whole town made the same exact thing for her.  It did not seem important.  Just strange.

 

III

            Her first week in her new house had seemed to last only a few moments.           Most of her neighbors had visited.  In fact, all but one had visited.  The only person who had not come was whoever lived in that strange decrepit house.  Every day since her walk she thought about that house and wondered who lived there.

            Today Allie planned on visiting.  She had her shoes on and was ready to go to the house when the doorbell rang.  She quickly walked to the door and opened it.  Two police officers in uniform stood on the front porch.  Their car was parked on the road.  Out of the corner of her eye Allie could see Margaret watching.  The taller policeman adjusted his weight than spoke.

            “Ma’am.  We have a couple of questions about this town.  Could you spare a moment?”

            “Yeah, sure, why not?”

            “Well there have been a couple of disappearances here lately.  People move in and sometimes they don’t move out.  Do you know anything about it?”

            “No.  I had no idea.  I just moved in last week.”

            “Have you noticed anything weird about the town?”

            “The people always seem happy but that’s about it.”

            “Well we’re going to be here for the next couple of weeks.  If you notice anything strange come and tell us.”

            “I will.”

            The two men walked to their car and drove down the street.  Allie closed her door and finished getting ready for her walk.  Right as she was getting ready to leave the doorbell rand again.  Allie walked back to the front door.  Margaret stood there with her plastered smile as happy as ever.  “Would you like to come over for supper tonight?  We were planning on having a big meal and we would like to have you there for it.”

            “I was planning on going for a little walk.  I would be happy to after that.  Anything to get out of cooking.”

            “Good.  I can’t wait to see you there.”

            Margaret left with a wave and disappeared into her house.  Allie set off for the old house.  She waved to all of the townspeople she walked by.  After ten minutes of walking she was at the end of the driveway of the old decrepit home.  Allie took a deep breath to ease her nerves and walked up to the front door.  She knocked.  There was silence for a couple of seconds followed by footsteps.  The door opened revealing an old man bent over with age.  His hair was thin and springy like grey thread.  He looked Allie up and down.

            “Are you new here?”

            “Um... yes, I’m”

            “Leave.  There is nothing here for you.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “Staying here will only cause problems.  Pack your bags and leave as soon as you can.”

            “I’m not going to move.  I just moved in.”

            “If you need a reason to leave check out the shed near Margaret’s house.  That’s all the proof you will need.”

            “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

            The door slammed shut leaving Allie with a scowl.  She huffed and walked back home to get ready for dinner.

 

IV

            “Come on in.  The main course is almost finished.”

            “Thank you.”

            Allie walked in through the front door into a home almost exactly like hers.  The smell of cooking meat and spices drifted through the air like a fragrant flood.  Margaret walked strait to the kitchen and started cooking.

            “Make yourself at home.  Our house is your house.”

            “I’ll be sure to do that.”

            Allie walked through the house taking in the style of the design.  Pictures lined many of the walls.  Pictures of family members took up all but one of the walls.  The other wall was a collection of unique photos.  The people were very diverse.  Some were black and Asian but the majority were white.  Allie looked at each of the pictures.

            “Hey Margaret.  Who are the people in these pictures?”

            “Those are old neighbors.  They moved away but we like to keep a part from each of them.”

            Allie thought of what police officers said about disappearances and shuddered.  What if some of these were those who disappeared?  She also thought about the shed the old man was talking about.  Her curiosity got the best of her.

            “It’s a little bit stuffy in here.  I’m going to go outside for a second.  Is that okay?”

            “Oh yeah.  It’s perfectly fine.  I’ll turn up the air.”
            Allie slipped out of the front door into the yard.  She made a sweep of the area.  The street was clear.  She snuck over to the side of the house and jumped the fence.  The back yard was small and the shed took up a lot of it.  She walked up to the front of the shed and observed it.  It was rusty and old.  The door was closed and the handle had a small lock on it.  Luckily it was unlocked.  Allie pulled the door and it opened soundlessly.

            She stepped inside and closed the door.  The smell in there was musky and smelt of decay but it was too dark to see anything.  Allie felt around for a light switch.  Nothing was on the wall near the door so she ventured towards the middle of the room.  She groped around blindly looking for a rope that would turn on the light.  After a couple of moments stumbling in the dark she found it.  The light turned on and buzzed lightly.

            Allie stifled a scream.  A dead body lay on the table in front of her.  Its stomach was cut open and many of the organs were in a messy pile near the body.  The rest of it was a mess with no discernable features.  A pool of blood was all along the table on the concrete floor.  She looked around and saw tools of many kinds most of which were for cutting.  Blood layered most of the room and the three fridges set up in a v fashion.  Allie silently crossed the room to the fridge and opened it.  Bags full of meat packed the fridge from top to bottom.  Allie knew what this was.  She held back the bile in her throat.  She could not leave any evidence.

            She shut off the light and slipped out of the shed.  No one was outside.  She ran back to the fence and jumped back over it again.  Than she ran to find the police.

V

            The streets were mostly empty.  Allie ran down each one searching for the police car.  She was almost out of hope on the last street.  Then she saw the police car parked on a curb.  She ran anxious to get the news with the authorities.  She stopped next to the front door and peered in. 

            Allie spun her head to the left and vomited on the street.  When she was done she looked back in the car.  Both policemen were dead leaning against each other.  Their necks had a gaping hole in them and were pouring out blood.  Their faces were frozen in a constant wail.  The rest of their body was covered in a layer of blood and gore.  Allie cried with all of her hopes lost.

            Then she had an idea.  Allie opened the front door of the car and pulled the body out. She than climbed in and searched for the keys.  She dug through the middle console and dashboard but it was not there.  She climbed out of the car and held her breath as she dug into the police officers pocket.  The moistness of it made her cringe.  She finally found something metallic.  She grabbed it and went to get back in the car.  Before she was all the way in she went back and got the gun in its holster outing it on her waist.

            Allie got in the car and put the keys in the ignition.  With a turn of the key the engine roared to life.  She put the shift in drive and started to drive down the street towards the main road.  The smell of decay was like in the shed but Allie pushed those thoughts out of her mind.  Her fear had her adrenaline pumping and her palms sweating.  She turned on to the last street.  Her heart was pumping in her chest.  She put more pressure on the gas and sped up.  She was feet away from the exit of the town.

            A truck backed out onto the road and Allie slammed into the side of it.  The force of the impact released the airbags suffocating Allie.  Glass and loose items flew everywhere.  Allie crawled out of the car disoriented and with her shoulder throbbing.  James climbed out of the truck with his constant smile. 

            “You okay.  Sorry about that.  I wasn’t paying much attention.”

            “I’m fine.”  Allie tried to hide her fear.  She knew he was onto her.  She was in a car with a person he probably killed.  Behind her, Allie could hear the footsteps of someone running up to her.  She turned and saw that it was Margaret.

            “Where did you go?  Supper just got finished.  Come on.”

            “Um.  I think I’m gonna go home.  Tonight was very busy and I want some rest.  Maybe tomorrow.”

            “But I just cooked a special meal.  Come on.  Let’s go.”

            “No.  I’m going home.”

            “You don’t want to do this Allie.  Just come with us.”

            “No.”  Allie took off running towards her house.  She could hear the two others take off after her.  Their footsteps like the awkward echo of hers.  She turned onto her street and ran on.  Her breath started to come a little harder.  She looked back and saw Margaret and James with their creepy smile.  She turned onto her lawn and ran in the front door slamming it shut behind her.  She turned the lock and ran into the living room.  She pulled out the gun and froze ready to shoot.

            There was no sound.  No one hit the front door or anything.  Allie listened hoping the cannibals would give away their position.  Glass shattered in the other room.  Allie spun to the sound than sunk below the coffee table.  The darkness was deep enough to hide her curled body under the table.  She heard movement in the kitchen.  Some crashed and then the metallic shing of a knife being pulled out of the sheath.  A shaded figure walked into the living room.

            “Allie.  You can’t hide forever.  We know you’re in here.  I have to admit.  You’re the smartest person we’ve ever had.  No one else ever found out.  They were easy picking.  You, on the other hand, are a pain.  Do you want to know how we got started?  We were a tribe of Indians wandering the lands.  We finally found this wonderful land and settled.  Food was hard to come by but we made do.  When food was low we just made do.  Than we tried the ultimate game.  Human meat.  We were hooked immediately.”

            Allie saw the silhouette move into the room in a leisurely fashion.  She though of using the gun but she was reluctant to kill.  When the figure left the room she crawled out and headed for the stairs.  She had a baseball bat for self defense next to her bed.  She walked in a crouch to the stairs.  She mounted them and started to move up them.  Halfway up she heard something drip behind her.  She turned and saw someone at the base of the stairs.

            She ran up the rest of the stars and sprinted into her room.  She jumped on her bed and grabbed for her baseball bat.  The person was right behind her and grabbed onto her foot.  She gripped the baseball bat and swung.  Her arm jarred as she came into contact with the person’s head.  It collapsed into a heap by the bed.  Allie ran to the door and turned the light on.  James was on the floor with his skull sagging in the site of impact.  At the bottom of the stairs she heard movement.  Allie looked and saw Margaret running up them.  Allie went back into her bedroom and shut off her light.  Margaret ran in just as Allie slid down beside her dresser.  The light turned on and there was a pain filled yell.

            “My James.  What did she do to you?” 

            Allie got up and swung the bat at Margaret.  She spun to the side and the bat slammed against James’s midsection.  Allie turned and brought the bat up barley parrying the knife in Margaret’s hand.  Margaret swung again with inhuman speed.  Allie dodged the blow and dove past the unexpecting woman.  Allie ran into the bathroom and headed to the top of the stairs.  Margaret walked in with an uncontrollable rage in her eyes.

            Allie brought up the bat in a defensive position.  She was not going down.  Margaret charged and swung when in range.  Allie jumped over the tub and landed behind the pillar out of range of the attack.  She heard Margaret mount the stairs.  The heavy breathing of he assailant.  An arm grabbed onto Allie’s and started to pull.  Allie franticly fought the pull.  She used the pillar as leverage.  She felt the pillar leaning slowly.  Then an idea came to mind.  She got all of her strength and pushed on the column.  It tottered than fell over followed by a pain filled scream.

            Allie fell to the ground exhausted.  She pushed herself up and walked to the side of the pillar.  Margaret was on the ground under it.  Her left side was under it.  Allie pulled out the gun and pointed it at the woman’s head.  She pulled the trigger and there was a loud bang.  Allie did not look down.  She walked into her bedroom and went to James’s body.  She grabbed the keys from his pocket than headed outside.  When she was out in the fresh air she went into a snaking position.  There was still a town full of people who wanted to eat her.

            By the time she made it to the crash site the sun was peaking up over the horizon.  She climbed into the front seat of the truck and turned the key.  The engine roared to life.  She was about to drive off when the old man walked to the side of the car.  He was smiling and had tears in his eyes.

            “I’m glad you decided to leave.  You are the first who’s gotten away.”

            “Thank you.  For everything.  I would be dead if it weren’t for you.”

            “No problem.  I had to do something honorable before I died.”

            “Did you also… you know.”

            “Yes.  Up until my wife died I did everything.  Then I thought about it.  I thought of how wrong it was.  I could not let this go on.  I was afraid to do anything about it.  Now I know that I can change things.  Margaret and James were the ring leaders.  Killing them will make a huge difference here.  Maybe I can even get them out of cannibalism.  Time will tell us the answers.  You had better go now.  The town will wake up soon.”

            “Thank you again.  And good luck.  I’ll be rooting for you.”

            Allie put the truck in drive and turned onto the street.  She drove down it all the way to the next town.  For the rest of her life she will remember the town like a nightmare.  James will become the new leader.  He will make the town prosper.  Unfortunately some traditions are too hard to break.

Reviews

[tonymad11392]

This was certainly a very intersting story, it reminds me of the cannibals in Fallout 3. The story was tightly controlled and I just wanted to keep reading, a very good job