Morning all and happy Monday to you. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Got some yard work done but otherwise it was nice and quiet. Which is kind of what I needed actually. I am ready to start this week, so lets jump in with the morning writing prompt. Timers set to fifteen minutes and off we go.
Interesting. Not sure where this is going but it could be the start of an interesting monster hunt.
Monday, August 12th: The meat sizzled in the pan.
The meat sizzled in the pan. He inhaled deeply. The scent was becoming slightly acrid. ‘Oil burning,; he thought. He shifted towards the kitchen and he could see it. A steak nicely browned on one side and the oil beneath it in the rest of the pan starting to smoke. He was certain it was overcooked and probably soon catch fire.
Not wanting to set off the alarm, he shifted the pan to another burner and turned off the heat. He debated moving the meat out of the hot pan but as the smoke stopped with the removal of the heat he didn’t bother. Now that he was certain he would not be blasted by alarms, he looked around. There were foil wrapped potatoes on the counter. a touch of the foul proved they were still oven hot. lined up on the counter were various items to add to the potatoes when they were cracked open; butter, sour cream, shredded cheese and bacon bits that looked like they were poured from a container into a small bowl rather than recently chopped bacon slices. On the cutting board was a knife and some freshly chopped chives. Two empty plates and a pile of silverware, two forks, two knives, waited to be portioned out.
‘Someone planned a meat and potatoes night,’ he thought. He expected that the steak would have been sliced on the cutting board and split between the two plates. ‘No green veggies,’ he thought.
He stepped out of the kitchen and saw the door leading to the patio was open. He peered put, saw no one. He did see a bowl of leafy greens and herbs plucked no doubt from the garden beyond and put into the bowl sitting on the patio table.
‘I guess that is the green veg component.’ Salad, baked potato and steak. It was his kind of meal. But he knew it hadn’t been prepared for him. He looked around. He could see no one. Not really wanting to, he turned his steps back towards the interior of the house. Hs phone vibrated and he ignored it. He knew it was Lucy asking what he found.
She was the one who saw the neighbor’s door standing wide open and sent him to investigate. He took a deep breath. Looking into the living room was one thing, but the hall would take him into bedroom territory. He stopped in the middle of the living room.
“Hello,” he called. He called the same at the front door but no one responded. There was no response now. However when he took a deep breath he smelled a coppery scent that had nothing to do with the overcooked steak. He moved forward and looked into the first bedroom. Blood, a body, no one moving. He could do nothing for the dead.
He shook his head and decided not to investigate the other rooms. One body was enough for him to find. He moved quickly back to the front door. With no sounds coming from within and the scent of blood in the air, he wasn’t going to investigate on his own. He stepped out of the house and away from the door. He dialed emergency services and told him what he found, staying on the line while he waited.
The wait wasn’t long and soon officials were entering the house. What they found was worse than he thought.
Ten til Midnight 