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The Larder-Story 11 of 31

By Ta’kom Ironhoof

Denise waited in front of the house, sitting inside of her pristine SUV, as rain gently fell from the sky. The giraffe was really hoping that the cloudy weather would break, but it had done just the opposite. Over the last week, Denise had been posting advertisements for her latest real estate offer, a colonial era house on top of Snake Hill in Beverly.

The problem was, Denise was superstitious and overcast or even rainy days meant that a sale would fall through. Up to this point in her career as a realtor, this had always held true. Either the sale would fall through or the buyer would back out or, like on one occasion, the basement of the house would flood mysteriously.

Denise had a terrible feeling about today.

Before this listing was passed over to her, the real estate company she worked for had mostly remodeled the house, giving it a fresh coat of exterior pain, sanding and staining the floors, installing new cabinets, and other things to make the house ready for a big sale. That being said, it would seem that few were interested in this place, even with the low price. However, a newly married avian couple, a pair of Blue Jays, had inquired about the property and wanted someone to show it to them.

“Being on top of a hill, along with the trees being cleared away from the house, it would give a wonderful view of the open sky!” one of them had said.

Denise had to agree. While there were some smaller shrubs and plants closer to the house, none of the red oaks were less than fifty feet away. It would be perfect for stargazing or having a picnic outdoors when it was sunny. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to properly to show that off today. Well, that was, unless the young couple decided they didn’t mind standing in the rain.

“As long as this rain doesn’t get any worse…”

Denise’s thoughts were cut off as another vehicle pulled in next to hers. Inside the compact sedan were the two Blue Jay’s. The sound of their thumping music could be heard through the closed door of Denise’s SUV. Quickly, Denise got out, waving to the couple, as she then made her way up to the porch. It wasn’t long before the pair of “love birds” joined her.

“Hey! I’m Greg. I believe we spoke on the phone. This is my husband, Daryl.”

“Very nice to meet you in person, Greg. And you too, Daryl. Sorry about the weather. Was really hoping this would have cleared up for the viewing.”

Greg laughed a bit. “No worries. A little rain never hurt us. Ain’t that right, Daryl.”

Daryl shook his head in agreement.

Greg then chimed back in. “I guess I should mention. Daryl is mute. I mean, he ‘can’ make some words but it’s difficult for him. Just wanted to clarify that before we get started. Don’t want you wondering why I’m the only one talking.” He finished speaking with a little chuckle, and Daryl nodded.

Denise was thankful for this admission. She certainly would have questioned it, at least in her own head. She directed her words to Daryl. “Thank you for telling me. It would have been awkward if I had asked you a question and you couldn’t answer.” The giraffe then pulled a key from her pocket. “Come on, you two. Let’s get inside and I’ll start showing the place off.”

Over the next hour, the three of them toured the entire house, gingerly moving from the foyer, to the dining room, to the living room, and the study. Moving upstairs, Denise showed off the two smaller bedrooms and the master bedroom. Throughout the entire showing, Greg and Daryl both seemed to really enjoy everything that Denise was showing them. Denise was starting to think that her superstition about rainy days had finally broken.

“You know, Denise, this place might just be exactly what we had been looking for! We can turn one of the bedrooms into a study and the other one into…we I don’t know. Of course, we’ll be using the master bedroom.” Greg seemed very excited about the place as he spoke. Daryl smiled widely and shook his head affirmatively.

Denise smiled, replying, “That’s wonderful! Let’s head back down to the dining room and we can start going over some of the paperwork.”

Greg chuckled, “Hold on now. We’ve not looked at the kitchen yet. I love to cook, and I gotta have a good kitchen.”

The kitchen had completely slipped Denise’s mind. “Of course! How silly of me. Come on, let’s head back down and look.”

The three made their way back down the stairs, through the foyer, and over to the kitchen.

“All the appliances are still here from the previous owners, so you might want to look into updating them. The yellowish-brown colored stove is awful, in my opinion that is,” Denise said, trying her hardest to not tank this sale right at the end.

“Oh yes, I’ve already got some ideas on new appliances. But I absolutely love the cabinets. Those don’t look original.” Greg questioned.

Denise said enthusiastically, “We stripped out the old ones and put these in before listing the property. The old cabinets were awful looking and broken.”

As Greg and Denise continued to talk, Daryl had made his way over to a wooden door on the opposite end of the kitchen and knocked. Denise took notice, saying. “Oh yes. Here’s something I think you’ll both enjoy.” The giraffe made her way over, grabbing the doorknob. “A full size, walk in larder!”

Though she spoke with enthusiasm, when she tried to open the door, it was stuck. Denise tried several times to get the door open, pulling and tugging at the knob, but besides a little movement, the door wouldn’t budge.

Denise was upset by this revelation. “I’m very sorry about this. I guess the people who did the remodel messed the door up.”

Greg and Daryl stood there for a moment, looking at Denise and the door, before looking at each other. Greg spoke up at last.

“Denise, push the door open. See? Look at the frame.”

Denise looked at the frame and sure enough, the door swung inward, not outward. The giraffe was thoroughly embarrassed. She hadn’t noticed that at all.

“Oh, my goodness! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention!”

Denise then twisted the knob and pushed on the door. With some resistance and a creak, the door slowly swung into the pitch black room. What little light that entered the room illuminated a few empty and dusty shelves. The giraffe couldn’t help but feel like something about this room felt…wrong.

Greg then came up behind Denise, peaking her head around. “Wow! That is wonderful, Denise! I’ve always wanted a walk-in pantry.” He then pushed past Denise, fully entering the void, his blue tail feathers disappearing into the darkness.

Denise took a few steps away from the entrance and waited. As she did, Daryl silently followed Daryl into the larder as well. The entire house was silent now, oppressively so. To Denise, opening this door was like releasing something evil into the house.

“Guys?” Denise questioned aloud. “Everything ok in there?”

However, no response came back to her.

Denise continued to wait for longer before her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her. She entered the larder as well.

“Come on, you two. Let’s go back…”

Denise’s word were cut off and the house truly fell into silence.

Later that evening, a news broadcast aired on the local television station.

“Earlier this evening, the bodies of Greg and Daryl Matthews, along with Denise Weathers, were found in the larder of a home at the top of Snake Hill. From the coroner’s report, ‘all three bodies had been combined into a twisted amalgamation of flesh, making it more difficult to determine which parts belonged to which body.’ Police are still investigating and have asked community members to report any information that they may have. Now, over to Jim for the weather. When do you think this rain will finally break, Jim?”