Heather's shoulders sagged the second Luke agreed. She let out a long, shaky breath like soone had just taken a weight off her back.
Her friends stepped forward to introduce themselves.
The blonde girl smiled first. "I'm Nikki. These two are Kenny and Rayne. We're all Heather's friends."
Kenny, the white guy with the thin mustache, gave a short nod. His eyes stayed guarded. Rayne, the Black guy, crossed his arms and casually shifted half a step in front of Heather, sizing them up.
These four had clearly jumped in the car on impulse with zero plan. The groceries they'd just bought were probably the last of their money. That mix of wariness and desperate hope was written all over their faces.
"Finally, a real bed," Brando said, way too cheerful for the situation. Years of surviving in the real world had made him immune to awkward tension.
He stepped up and stuck out his hand. "I'm Brando. Senior environntal consultant."
The lie ca out smooth, but the young people only looked more suspicious. They were starting to wonder if inviting these strangers had been a terrible idea.
Right then the van door slid open.
Lionel poked his head out, half-asleep. "You guys done yet? I already took another nap."
The ridiculous timing instantly eased the mood. Kenny and Rayne took one look at Lionel's sleepy, harmless face and relaxed. These three didn't look like so dangerous crew—just three unlucky guys on a work trip.
Kenny still asked, "Why would an environntal consultant co all the way out to this shithole?"
Brando lit up like he'd found a fellow believer. "That's exactly why! The best opportunities are in places nobody else wants to go. You gotta get off the beaten path if you want to win big these days."
Luke cut him off before he could keep spinning. "Our budget's tight. As long as the price is fair and we get a hot shower, we're good."
Heather nodded fast. "Of course. We can work out the price. Let's just go now."
They piled back into the vehicles and headed out.
Lionel was practically bouncing in the back seat. "Finally getting to sleep in a real bed. My back's been killing ."
Luke smirked. "You worried about your back breaking? If it does, we'll just glue it back together."
Brando didn't catch the joke and just kept driving.
Twenty minutes later they pulled up to a large iron gate. Beyond it stretched wide lawns and a massive two-story manor house in the distance.
Brando's eyes went wide. "Once my invention's done, I'm buying one of these."
Lionel just snorted. "What's the point of a place this big? You'd spend half your life cleaning it. And when you die in so random corner, nobody would find you until you started stinking."
The kid still had trauma from big houses.
They parked in front of the manor and climbed out.
A sharp gasp cut through the quiet.
Everyone rushed to the front door. Inside was pure chaos—furniture overturned, drawers yanked out, clothes and papers scattered everywhere.
"Oh my God…" Heather whispered, hands flying to her mouth.
Rayne's face twisted with rage. "That fucking hitchhiker! I knew he was shady!"
Luke glanced at Kenny. "What hitchhiker?"
Kenny looked sick. "We picked up a guy on the way here. He said he wanted to rest while we went shopping. Guess we should've known better."
Luke nodded. Classic scam. He could see the mix of anger, regret, and panic on their faces. They were in a bad spot, and he didn't want any misunderstandings while they were staying here.
He clapped Brando on the shoulder. "I'm paying upfront."
Brando caught on imdiately and gave him a thumbs-up. "Smart. Gets rid of the suspicion. We still gotta sleep here tonight."
Luke walked over to Heather, who was shaking with fury.
"Heather, I need to talk to you."
She snapped, "What? Make it quick—I have to clean this ss."
Luke didn't react to her tone. "You guys look like you're running low on cash. I figured I'd pay for the rooms now."
Heather froze. The ntion of money drained so of the anger out of her. She stared at him, stunned.
Luke pulled out a stack of bills and handed them over. "This should cover it. The rest can go toward making us dinner tonight."
Heather looked at the cash, then at Luke's calm face. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She didn't say a word—just took the money and clenched it tight in her fist.
The tension in the house dropped imdiately.
They started cleaning and prepping dinner together. Nikki suddenly noticed Kenny was missing.
She joked, "Did Kenny sneak off to slack again?"
Lionel, happy to have sothing to do, stood up. "I'll go find him."
He wandered through the first floor, checked a few rooms, then spotted a basent door. Curious, he pushed it open.
The basent was dark and felt completely different from the rest of the house. He took a few steps down and kicked sothing tal.
A large tal bowl clattered across the floor.
Lionel frowned. "They have a dog? Weird place to keep one."
He looked up.
Kenny stood right in front of him, swinging a heavy at cleaver straight at his shoulder.
The blade bit deep into flesh.
No scream. No blood.
Lionel just tilted his head, completely calm, and said,
"Texas hello is pretty aggressive, huh?"
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