Final Checkout

Blood dripped from the handle of the cleaver that was buried deep in the man's chest. His shirt had caught upon the kitchen racks which had left him hanging in the air with his feet firmly placed on the ground, as if he were still alive. The gory scene nearly caused Ann to vomit but she held it down. After all, it wasn't the first time she had seen death today.

Ann gripped the handle of the cleaver and yanked. With a nauseating, bone-scrapping sound, the cleaver tore out of the man's chest. She ignored the body as it, now torn free from the racks, fell to the ground with a loud thud. She proceeded to wipe the blood off of the cleaver on the man's pants. She checked the cleaver to make sure it still had an edge. To her surprise it was still very sharp. She had expected several chips and cracks to be in it considering she had just embedded it into a man's chest. She glanced around to make sure no one else had entered the kitchen, but it was difficult to see since the only light provided was through a tiny window towards the rear of the kitchen. If that window had been big enough she would have squeezed her way out of this nightmare, but there was no escape for her. Her only option left had been to kill or be killed.

She remembered when she and the others had arrived. They had thought they had won a dream vacation in paradise but only to late realized it was hell. Everything had seemed normal at first. They were greeted by the so-called staff of the establishment, welcoming them here and promising them a weekend they'd never forget. At least they didn't lie about that. She remembered how suave and debonair the "manager" had seemed. They had all been treated to a dinner fit for a king, or in her case a queen. After dinner they were entertained by inhouse entertainment. Everyone believed they had stumbled onto the vacation of a lifetime.

The next day of the supposed dream vacation had begun where the night before left off. They were served delicious and always large meals. Which she now realized had been the fattening before the feast. They were ushered around to different areas of the establishment, the olympic size swimming pool and hot tub, the enormous gym, the raquetball courts, as well as basketball and volleyball courts, and of course, the casino. After a nice long day of spending money and general relaxation they all were treated to another feast of a dinner.

After dinner, they all spent time in the hotel's private casino, where they were served free drinks. Which she now knew had been drugged. Only five, including herself, of the initial 20 had not had a drink, and the last she knew they were the only ones still alive. Of course, that had been nearly an hour ago. God knows what's happened to them by now.

She took another look around, making sure no one was trying to sneak up on her. She clutched her weapon of choice as she crept over to the swinging double doors of the kitchen. She peaked out into the dining area and saw the bloody mess from the early morning massacre. On the banquet table was the charbroiled remains of one of her fellow guests. Most of the meat had been carved off and the bones were plainly visible. She knew the other bodies were piled in the freezer, in back of the kitchen. She had stumbled upon two men tossing the other bodies in the freezer and had managed to surprise them, slamming the cleaver into one man's chest while knocking the other into the freezer and locking him in with the other bodies.

After several minutes of waiting and watching, she was satisfied that no one was lingering nearby. She pushed one of the doors open ever so gently, testing it to make sure it didn't squeak. To the relief of her rapidly beating heart it was silent. She crept out of the kitchen and around the pools of blood that stained the rust colored carpet a deeper shade. The room had a sickening smell but she found she was growing used to it. The smell had filled her nostrils for the last several hours and she wasn't sure if she would ever be rid of it.

Ann clutched the cleaver firmly with both hands as she ducked around a corner expecting to find some of them waiting for her. She let out a small sigh of relief when she saw that the casino hall appeared to be void of any life. Blood was splattered across several machines and the limp body of one of the staff lay against one of them with their head through it. Not to far from him, there lay a woman who appeared to be sleeping if not for the knife protruding from her chest.

She continued at her cautious pace to the lounge area. There she found one of the other six bleeding to death on the carpet. It was an elderly man who'd reminded her of her departed grandfather. He had a kind heart and did not deserve to die this way. At least they would have no interest in eating him, since he was so old that his meat would be too tough, or that's what she'd overheard one of them saying anyway.

She glanced around before running to his side.

"Ray," she whispered as she clasped his hand. "What happened? Where is everyone else?"

His hand was cold and clammy and his eyes shone with a distant light. He looked at her but it was more like he was looking through her. His mouth opened to say something but he didn't have the strength. He made a slight gurgling noise as his spirit slipped away. It was almost the exact same way she remembered her grandfather dying. She closed his eyes and held back the tears. She couldn't cry now. It would only make things worse. She had to keep hope that she would somehow get through this. She had no room for fear, or sorrow, or pain. She had to survive. She had to save others from the same fate as they had endured. These monsters could not get away with this. She would not allow it. She had to live.

A sound came from behind her and she turned in time to see one of the cannibalistic staff members charging at her with a knife in hand. She flung the cleaver at him with strength she didn't know she had and it buried deep into the man's skull. She had to bite her lip to hold back a scream of terror as he collapsed at her feet. She yanked the cleaver free and ran for the door. It was chained and boarded up but she tried vainly to open it. Throwing caution aside, she slammed the cleaver into the door, splintering the wood, in a desperate attempt to escape.

A ray of light pierced through the hole she created, falling upon the old man lying on the floor. Ann didn't even notice as she continued hacking, in her frenzied attempt to escape. She heard a screech and turned in time to witness the murder of another of the guests as the lady that had been her roommate was cut down next to the old man.

Taking note of the cleaver in her hand, the two cannibals circled away from each other, forcing Ann to have to choose between them. Ann, instead turned back to the door and swung hard against the chain. With one powerful swing, she was able to break it and the door was free to open. The two darted towards her, knives raised to strike, when Ann threw one of the large boards aside and pushed her way out the door.

Once outside she turned with cleaver in hand, waiting for the first of them to come out after her. To her shock, neither of them made any attempt to follow her once she was out of the building. She glanced around in wide eyed disbelief. She could see the sun, clouds, even the filth of the streets made her ecstatic. She was so happy to be alive.

Casting the cleaver aside, she ran away from the building as fast as she could. She knew that the police station was up the road and she was determined to try and save any others that might still be trapped inside.

She reached the station a few minutes later and ran directly inside and up to the front desk.

"Help!" she cried out to the officer standing at the desk. "Help me please!"

The officer looked up at her in bewilderment, "Calm down ma'am. What seems to be the problem?"

"They're killing them," she persisted.

"Who's killing who?"

"Back at the hotel. They're all cannibals. They started killing all the guests and eating them. Please, you have to help."

"Oh," the officer said almost laughing. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She looked at him as if he were mad.

"Hey Clark," the officer called out to a man that was leaning over a desk toward the back of the room. "Is this the woman you're looking for?"

The man stood tall and as he turned, terror struck Ann like a semi. There, across the room was the manager.

"Oh my God!" she screamed as she turned to run.

Two officers were there and grabbed her before she could even take a step.

"Ah yes," Clark said as he casually walked up to Ann. "This is her. My dear Ann, telling those wild stories again I see. I'm sorry Sergeant. This is the second time she's escaped. Though I find it odd she came to a police station."

"It's quite alright," the officer at the desk responded. "After all, we're here to serve."

The two officers dragged the despondent Ann out of the police station and handed her up to two large men who were in the back of a padded ambulance like vehicle. One of the men strapped her down while the other hopped out and locked the doors. In a moment the man was climbing into the driver's seat as Clark climbed into the passenger's.

"My dear Ann, you should know better than to be off running around like this. You could've been hurt. All you need is your medicine and everything will be as it should."

The man that had strapped her down, stuck her with a needle and injected some fluid. She felt a little light headed and was confused by what was going on. Had she just imagined everything? Was she really just crazy? It made more sense than some cannibalistic hotel staff trying to eat her. She felt very tired and thought she might drift off to sleep.

She tried to speak but found that all she could do was mumble.

Clark glanced back at her again and smiled, "Now dear. You know you can't speak with that gag in your mouth. Don't worry, we'll be home soon, and then we can all eat."