7.

It is seven in the evening on the first day of November 2019 and five friends have reunited just a few hours after parting ways from school grounds when the school day had come to an end. They are now indeed united as they always have been with time being just two hours away from something none of them could really properly prepare for.

A night lays ahead of each of them that cannot or will not come close to comparing with what it was that Keith Cross went through one summer more than four years prior to this day, but then again, if any of the friends could be in any way prepared for this night it would be Keith, and that would be in more ways than one of which he will soon discover.

Out of the five, Alex is the last to meet up and that was to be expected. There had been the wonder as to if he would turn up at all though turn up, he did.

'Shouldn't we tell someone?' he asks, referring to possibly letting someone know what they are about to do and knowing all too well that there is no one to tell.

Tell a parent or a sibling and there is no way any of them are going anywhere. Tell a friend ... what friend? The friendship is such between the five that any other friendship any of them have is just not the same. There is no other person that any of them trust well enough not to report what it is they are about to do, never mind attempt to keep track of it and of course, there is no keeping track of it.

Alex had his answer before asking the question and the looks shared between each of the five confirm that they are about to do this. No one outside the group has been told or will be told anything, at least not before it begins. There is no backing out. This is all or nothing. In about two hours' time, they each will enter a separate room and they will be locked inside for ten hours ...

'So, what now?' asks Alisha.

'There is a street corner we are supposed to go wait at, so I guess we go do that now?'

Perhaps a moment of realization hits in this moment for the five friends share glances with one another. It has gone silent, and all five heart rates have increased. Each also have their breath stretching out before them. The weather seems to have got in on the act, it has gone cold, quite cold, as if it has done so in an instance which in fact it hasn't, and the daytime sky had already turned dark over two hours ago by this point too.

'Where is this corner?' asks Gary.

'Follow me ...' Keith says.

Trebor would like to stretch out a hand to hold with Alisha so too would each the other guys, even Keith if he hadn't already gone and taken a lead. Alisha has started to shiver, and it looks like she might start to cry too. The enormity of what is about to happen has really hit, indeed more so now than any prior moment.

Three of the guys have immediately moved in for a group hug and this makes her smile and even giggle a little through her tears too. The giggle is contagious. Keith only realizes what has happened when he turns around after having heard the giggle.

She smiles at him. 'Get over here you ...'

Hands reach out for Keith, and he is brought in on the group hug.

'Guys ... why haven't we ever done this before ...?' Alex asks.

'What? Stand around in the cold and freeze our butt's off' Gary says.

'No,' Alex retorts, 'we should make a group hug mandatory once a week at least.'

'Or ladyatory ...' Trebor smartly points out with Alisha obviously being a girl.

'Personatory ...' Keith adds. 'And we will from here on in. A group hug at least once a week, with our next one scheduled for tomorrow once all this is over ... deal?'

'Deal ...' they all agree.

This lifts the mood somewhat, but the foreboding feeling is never more than what it has come to be right now. When the destination is reached, the silence comes ever so evident and each of the five fidget individually probably unaware of exactly what they and the others are doing. Quarter after eight and something that was nowhere near successful seven years ago is pulled off ever so professionally in the here and now.

A speeding white van screeches to a halt right in front of the five friends and before they know it, or be able to react to it, they each had hoods over their heads. Arms are quickly bound behind them at the wrists right before they are bundled into that van and then they are on the move. This whole incident only took a mere matter of seconds, so quick that none of them could react at all in any way to do anything about it.

If anyone had seen it happen, something which surely has not occurred, then they too would not have had the opportunity to even think about doing anything about it let alone manage to be able to offer any information as to where this van may have gone.

All of a sudden Alisha is taken back to being a scared little girl, back to when an abduction attempt came her way. There already had been tears and now she is crying uncontrollably and there is nothing any of the other four can do about it, they cannot console her in any way. They were her saviours first time around, this time they are coming with her.

Why did she agree to do this so easily? Being the only girl of the group perhaps, maybe she thought it would never happen, hell, she probably can't even guess to why she agreed as quickly as she did. This is real and this is happening.

Forty minutes pass, not that any of the friends can tell exactly how long they have been on the move for, and the van the friends had been bundled into comes to a stop. Hoods remain on while each of them are escourted along a footpath and on into a building. There are brought inside through into a building they have only ever heard stories about, and down a lengthy corridor they go before being stopped to be unhooded in what appears to be a large room or factory like operating room ... a central hub of a kind of meat processing factory with the meat it processes not being the kind typically associated with any regular meat processing factory.

There is no meat of any kind currently on display, but it is easy to imagine human torsos being hung or treated or maneuvered about. Such a thing or thought is seriously unnerving. The thought of not making it out of here alive has become very real. Whether done with purpose or just by chance, equipment begins to come alive.

The place stinks to high hell and it did so even before the building had been entered into and those hoods done very little to mask that stench. There is indeed machinery everywhere, carcasses all of a sudden now being hauled all around, and yeah, these appear not to be just any kind of carcasses ... they quite possibly are not animal at all. Alex quite possibly will be sick.

This place is a true house of horrors to a point the five friends cannot even begin to comprehend. Coming in through the hallway, prior to reaching this central hub, screams could be heard, all kinds of screams. Despite what anyone may or may not have been told, it would be difficult to even imagine what this place really is. High pitched screams, lengthy screams, moans of pain and echoing voices 'let me out ...' all extremely worrying elements for an incoming group of youngsters to take in.

All five friends want out now, but it is much too late, this is happening even with the fact that the invitations had pointed out that safe words could be used if any of them felt they couldn't go through with the challenge. Perhaps what lays ahead is nothing like anything they could have ever imagined.

The five friends barely have a moment to take in their surroundings when a bald-headed elder man enters the area via a different area from which they came through. Right away Keith recognizes this man. What is he doing here? Why is he here? There is something eerily familiar too for Alex.

'Welcome ...' he calls out. 'Welcome to The Flesh Factory.'

Alex is first to see the surprise on Keith's face and is equally surprised by that fact. 'Keith ... do you know who that is?' ... no response. 'Keith ...' Alex begins to wave a hand in front of Keith's face. 'Keith ... who is that?'

'He's ... erm ... he's ... he is my grandfather ...'

'That's right ... I am Keith's grandfather. Have any of you heard of he who is simply known as The Butcher?'

'No ...' Keith states but not as in answering the question with a negative but rather as a statement of disbelief, disbelief in a realization that his grandfather and this Butcher fellow could be one and the same. Grandfather cannot be saying what Keith thinks he is about to say.

'Keith ... who is The Butcher?' asks Gary.

'I think he might be ...'

'Might be what?' asks Trebor.

'There is a legend, it had become a kind of urban legend unique to this town. A long time ago, long before any of us were born, there was a local murdering psychopath nicknamed The Butcher due to how gruesome he could get with his ... victims ...'

'Victims' Alex speaks aloud. 'Aw hell ... we are all going to die, right?'

'No' speaks dear auld grandfather, 'not at all. Some of you might ... but survive the night in a room number of your choice and ... I always keep to my promises. I am not here to kill or maim. Quite simply, I am just a guide ... a host ...'

'This building ...' speaks Keith, '... this Flesh Factory ... it's a torture house ... isn't it? People pay money to come here and maim, torture and kill other ... people ... don't they?'

'Aw hell' says Alex. 'we're dead ... we are all so dead ...'

'I won't lie ... that is part of what this building is ...'

8.

Just one week before the day that is, or the night that is to be, and Alisha has put some time aside to be with her little sister and begin working on a Halloween costume with her and for her. For Alisha, the great thing about having one sibling, a big sister having a little sister nine years younger than her is that she can delay her own growing up process. Being that older sister can also quicken the growing up process by having the responsibility of looking out for a little sis but play time can be there when it would have likely ended years prior.

Dolls and doll houses, fancy dress, playing pretend, even the odd go or so on a playground swing or slide, Alisha can definitely remain childlike while also having that sense of responsibility that comes with it too. With this as well, she is well aware of what it is Alex has lost. Such a horror is something she'd never want to imagine. This particular Halloween, little Susie wants to mix things up. She wants to be a ballerina witch because even witches like to dance.

It's a Friday evening and Susie's school, her class in particular, will be having a fancy-dress party on the Monday before the mid-term break begins. Halloween is not until Thursday and of course the day that is and the night that will be so happens to be on the Friday, November first.

The clothing for Susie's Halloween outfit will be a ballerina dress of course but the upper half will be added to, darked especially when considering Susie's face will probably go green in some manner or other and that greenness, however it will be achieved, will most likely smear onto the dress so a darker disposable upper half may do the job there.

What a big sister Alisha is, for with her friends being who they are, it is only a matter of time before they call around and when they do call around on the Saturday afternoon, they will have a scary ballerina witch perform a dance for them. The four guys are more than happy to observe that dance and cheer it on as well as dish out plenty of praise for it, more than that they each want to learn it too so a real performance can be put on in the front garden of the Kelly sisters house-hold with little Susie being the main star.

Dance is performed as a six piece, Susie in full Halloween outfit. The Kelly parental units watch on and cheer as do some of the local neighbour's and everything goes down a treat. Susie is still dancing away and as happy as can be when Alisha moves on to spend a couple hours or so with her friends.

'Thanks for that guys ... you all are awesome but can't dance for s...'

'Says who?' speaks Keith.

'Yeah, I agree' Gary says. 'We all were totally awesome, sure we looked silly but yeah, we were totally awesome.'

'We were, we are totally awesome ...'

'That we are.'