Red Velvet

Red Velvet

“But I don’t want to stay with Grandma!” The young woman grumbled, her hands folded angrily in her lap. She was well dressed, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, the frilly blue dress feeling like a relic of older high class children. Heidi hated it.

Her father sighed, pulling the old truck into the driveway of the run-down town house. “C’mon Heidi, she’s a wonderful lady, and your mother wants you to know her. She’s got quite the inheritance under her, and she's not on best terms with her mother. Granny may be a bit odd, but there’s no reason to be a brat.” As a response, Heidi kicked her father’s seat. He shook his head, and got out to greet the wrinkled woman walking down the driveway.

She walked surprisingly quickly, her bent back seemingly ignored as she briskly approached the truck, flanked by a younger woman in black and white raiment, likely her maid, Ms. Peacock. She was a stern looking woman, towering in height over the older woman, but no less grey. She was quite thin, as if she rarely ate, but Granny’s arms looked thick enough to break rock. Heidi stared at the old lady; she was almost as short as the girl, but something struck her as strange. She had seen older people in her mother’s work, but something about Granny made her seem more vigorous, more alive. She shrugged it off, and walked into Granny’s arms, bracing against the tree trunk arms as they squeezed her.

“Oh, you got so big since I last saw you...you was just a little thing, now you’re all grown up.” She gave one more squeeze before releasing her. “Lets go inside, little one,” said Granny with a grin.

The summer sun beat down on them, the surrounding desert radiating heat. Granny made her uneasy...When she leaned in to whisper in her ear, Heidi instinctively leaned away, but could still hear Granny’s whisper: “Don’t tell your father, but I made a cake for us, a little celebration for your arrival. I’ve been looking forward to our get-together, little one.” She turned and waved at the truck as it began driving away. “Goodbye, Jakob, tell my daughter hello from me.”

---

A few hours later, her baggage was taken by Ms. Peacock to her room. She had spent the afternoon helping her grandma cook, pulling ingredients out of the fridge, ground beef, pork chops, and a third meat she couldn’t immediately identify, but was likely leftovers.

After dinner, she sat at the table, her stomach still full and satisfied from the three meat stew. she almost didn’t want the cake after all. As Ms. Peacock carried the weighty looking cake to the dining room, her eyes widened, and she wondered how she would fit more into her stomach. But, looking at the extravagant chocolate cake, nearly a foot thick, and two feet across, coated in fluffy, almost lacey frosting, Heidi felt her stomach make room. Granny took up the large knife on the tray, cutting a large slice for her.

Heidi’s smile froze, however, when she saw the inside. It was shockingly, unnervingly red. It seemed to glisten as Granny put it on her plate, and her smile slid further into a grimace.

Granny noticed her change of expression, and laughed. “Have you never had red velvet, sweetie? It’s just a red chocolate cake, most fancy. The kind of thing royalty used to eat. First time I tried this recipe, and I made some substitutions, but it should be good. Go on, give it a try before turning your nose up at it.”

Ms. Peacock brought her a fork, the silver clinking against the porcelain china. Heidi picked it up, cutting a sliver off the edge of the generous wedge of cake. It seemed too shiny, almost gel-like. She swallowed her nerves, then put the piece into her mouth.

Her eyes widened. Despite it’s odd appearance, It tasted like a moist piece of chocolate cake! Maybe the best cake she’s eaten...She smiled at Granny, who grinned back in her special way. “Told you, sweetie. Goodness knows why people thought to make a regular chocolate cake, and add red coloring, calling it a whole different beast. But, I suppose kings and queens can be delighted by the most silly novelties. It was fun to make, so I don’t complain.” She cut a smaller piece of cake for herself, and the two ate in happy silence, the scrape of forks the only noise for a few minutes. Heidi felt herself relax...maybe she had been hard on Granny. She wasn’t the horrible old woman her mother had described her as. She smiled, and let herself enjoy her Granny’s company.

When they finished, Heidi yawned, and Granny took her hand. “I agree entirely, sweetheart, I think it’s time for bed. Your father should be back tomorrow afternoon, and I’d hate to think what he’d say if I didn’t take care of you.” She was almost up the stairs when she paused. “Oh dear! I forgot to tell you where you’ll be laying your head! The guest room is just there, next to the larder.” She pointed vaguely in the direction of a hallway with two doors along its length. Heidi looked confusingly at the two doors, but before she could ask which was hers, Granny vanished, calling down, “Well, sweet dreams, dear.” Ms. Peacock flipped a switch, plunging the dining room into darkness, before seeming to glide up the stairs herself, leaving Heidi alone.

She stood a moment, surprised at how quickly the dining room turned empty as a graveyard, the only sounds being the creaking and murmurs upstairs as Ms. Peacock helped Granny to bed. She put her hands in front of her, her eyes barely adjusting to the darkness, as she navigated around the table, reaching the first room of the hallway, pulling it open, and slipping inside.

The air was frigid, and smelled oddly of metal shavings. The smell was familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She fumbled, trying to find a light switch so she could find her bed, hoping she could get used to the smell. Stumbling in the dark, she couldn’t seem to find a switch, no matter how far along the walls she felt. Her hand brushed cloth, and she jumped. She took a deep breath, ignoring the metallic smell. Jumping at curtains, she thought. Where is that bloody light?

As if in response, the lights came on, and her breath caught in her throat.

Two bodies hung a foot away from her, upside down from hooks on the ceiling. Both were male, barely as old as Heidi herself. Each had a deep slice across their throat, lines of deep red running down their faces, dripping into a sliver trough below them, almost half full of blood. Her hand had brushed the cloth of one of the boy’s sweaters.

She was about to scream, when a strong hand covered her mouth, and she was pulled backward out of the room. She struggled a moment, until she realised it was Ms. Peacock. She put her finger across her mouth to say, “Shush,” and pulled her to the other door. Turning on the light, Heidi saw that this one was her room, lightly lavender scented, a plain bed and flower paintings covering the walls.

“What were you doing in the larder, love?” Ms. Peacock spoke with a voice much deeper than her thin frame would suggest, a german accent hiding behind her attempt at American english. “Miss said your room, not the larder, you are not a meat.”

Heidi was shaking a bit from the shock of what she had seen, and her imagination raced... What if Granny wasn’t Granny? What if she was a murderer, and Heidi was next?

Ms. Peacock backed out of the room, again making the “shush” sign, and closed the door, as if she had found Heidi trying to raid the fridge, instead of finding her among dead children. Heidi left the light on, sitting upright in her bed. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t going to sleep tonight.

___

Morning shone through the window, the light of the sun spreading across the covers, lighting up Heidi where she fell to her side, snoring gently. A rap on the door jolted her awake. “Heidi, sweetheart, it's time to get up! Your father will be coming by to pick you up soon, and we should have breakfast before he gets here.”

Heidi bolted awake, the sun on her back hardly a comfort. Her blood felt cold, and no amount of summer heat would fix it.

She steeled herself to see Granny again; she would have to act natural, as though she didn’t see the larder at all, and wait for Dad to come pick her up. She had to hope that Ms. Peacock wouldn’t think to tell Granny about last night’s mistake, and nothing bad would happen.

She and Granny ate breakfast, simple porridge, as Granny talked about country life, new recipes she wanted to try, how things were when she was young...Heidi didn’t hear a word of it, her ears peeled for the sound of Dad’s truck coming to rescue her...Finally, after what felt like hours, the familiar engine could be heard coming up the driveway, and it was all she could do to not jump up and run out the door. Granny seemed to notice her eagerness to leave, and grinned. “That’s my stepson back; I won’t keep you, but feel free to visit Granny again, anytime, sweetheart.” Heidi nodded, and followed Ms. Peacock out the front door, her bag under her arm.

She saw her father getting out of the truck, and Heidi couldn’t control herself anymore. She broke into a run, throwing her arms around him.

Her voice shook hoarsely as she whispered to her father; “Dad, Granny’s got kids in the larder! They were killed and bled like pigs! Let’s go home, right now!”

His eyes widened, an eyebrow crooking upwards. He stroked his chin. “Ah, I see. How many she got, Heidi?”

She blinked. The morning heat made the surrounding desert wavey, matching her confusion. “Two?”

Isn’t one enough? she thought.

“Ah, I need to bring some more then. Hello, Granny.” Heidi whirled around to see Granny approach, as quickly as when Heidi arrived.

“Hello, Jakob. Doing well?”

“Ah, I’m enjoying my time, the mortician’s trade fits me well enough; but my girl here says your larder’s running light.”

Granny waved her hand dismissively. “I tried a new recipe last night… It always seemed a shame to waste all the blood from the three meat stew, so I had my maid look up dessert ideas on the interwebs. Never could get the hang of it myself…”

Heidi listened in stunned silence. Empty larder? Cooking? As if they were talking about the weather...

“...and as it happened, all a red velvet cake needs is red coloring! People back then used beets, and stores use red coloring, but it turns out blood works just as well! It was delicious, wasn’t it, Heidi? Nutritious, too, I’d imagine.”

Hearing her name jolted her out of her stupor. She realized Dad wasn’t in any hurry to leave, so dumbly nodded her head in agreement. As Granny went into details about her new recipes and sanitation station, Heidi drifted off again, dreamily fading in and out of reality, her thoughts as insubstantial as the summer heat. The word Cannibal kept cropping up in the back of her mind, but she forced it down, letting her mind float empty. She felt a tap on her shoulder.

“C’mon, Heidi, time to go...your mother’ll be excited to hear about what friends you two have made. We need to organise another visit soon, eh?”

She held her tongue as she climbed in the backseat of the truck, and waited until they were driving away, before letting herself silently cry.