The Hungry Unknown

Vincent only wished for a normal weekend. He had it all planned out, the Patriots were playing and he had some imported beer that he had been dying to try for a while now. It was going to be uneventful, and that’s how he wanted it to be. That morning, he received a rather peculiar gift from, well, someone he hopes. When the doorbell rang, there was no one present upon him opening the door. All that was there was a brown paper box on his front doorstep. The only reason he even took it inside was because it had his address on it, though there was no return address or any indication as to where it came from.

It started out small, no more than two inches all around. It felt pretty empty. Opening revealed that his suspicions were true, completely empty. He thought maybe a friend wanted to pull a prank by rigging it to spray an offending odor upon opening, but no. Absolutely nothing. He tossed it onto his dining table, barely even sparing a though to its unusual nature or where it came from. It was just a box, after all.

Things started to get weird after that. He first noticed that there were considerably less apples in his fruit basket when he went to get himself a small snack for lunch. He could have sworn there were seven… why were there only two? Maybe he ate more than he thought, perhaps a late night snack he didn’t care enough to remember. Oh well.

But he KNOWS he didn’t eat his potted plants. There was a gorgeous Golden Pothos he had for months at this point and its leaves were finally starting to trail down from the windowsill it sat upon. Next to it were other various plants: a simple cactus, some succulents, and a Wandering Jew plant. Where did they go? He at least wanted to find the Pothos, so he searched his townhouse up and down for it. Not in the bathroom (maybe he was cleaning the leaves), not in his bedroom (possible relocation? He did love that plant), not in the kitchen (a little pop of green never hurt anyone). It had to have been in the dining room, but it was simply gone. All of them were. What was odd were the remaining pots and some soil with indents where the roots grew into. “How the hell?”

He couldn’t make heads or tails of this, and frankly he was a bit annoyed. Did someone seriously just come into his house and steal his plants? What kind of whack job would do that?

His missing cat, Franklin, was what really brought forth his concern. Franklin wasn’t the kind of cat to hide away all day, he loved attention and pets. His stark white fur was always a welcome site, and Vincent was always able to tell when he would come into the living room by his raised tail poking over the coffee tail, a declaration that he was here. He was seen. He demanded pets. Did he slip out the door when he got the box that morning? Or perhaps… was the cat in the box? Granted, it was small, but that wouldn’t stop his furry friend from trying. Franklin was fond of his boxes.

That’s when he went to check on the box to see for himself, but… the box was much bigger than that morning. It was almost large enough to cover half the top of his humble dining table. He could have sworn that it was only big enough to fit in the palm of his hand! Regardless, he opened the box to see if he could find his dear cat. Empty. Where was his cat?!

Someone had to be playing with him. This must be some kind of prank, it had to be. “Alright, this isn’t funny anymore!” Vincent calls out, not even bothering to hide his frustration. He closes the box and only steps away a few feet before he hears it. A meow.

It came from the box.

Wasn’t it empty? Vincent hesitates. This was getting a bit weird, but not too weird for him to open the box again. It was different, there was no bottom any longer. There was nothing but blackness that swallowed any light that dared penetrate its depths.

Mrow?

“Franklin!” He knew he heard right, and he recognizes that meow from anywhere. He was in the endless depths… somehow. There was still something sinister about the inky blackness. He felt nothing but pure dread as he looked into it, but he knew what he had to do. His best friend for the past 7 years was in there, and he needed to get him back.

He gets up onto the table, takes a deep breath, and goes in to the unknown.