The Foster Family

Delilah’s eyes blinked open and she snuggled deeper into her bed, clutching her teddy bear. She glanced over at her sister Sawyer’s side of the room. She wasn’t in her bed, and Delilah could hear noise coming from downstairs. Then she remembered. The visitor was coming today! She threw her unicorn covers back, and ran over to her shared dresser. She stripped out of her Minnie Mouse pajamas, and threw on the first outfit she could find, which was a purple sweater and jeans with a bedazzled pocket. She then pulled her knotted hair into a ponytail, and dashed down to the first floor. 

In the kitchen, Delilah’s mother Kelly was making pancakes, and her older siblings were waiting to be served. Her older brother, Arlo, turned to look at her.

“You look like you got in a fight with a bush.” He stated bluntly. 

“Arlo!” Their mother chided. “Don’t be rude to her, she’s young.” 

Arlo scoffed. “She’s six, that’s old enough to brush her own hair.”

Delilah rolled her eyes and sat next to Sawyer. Sawyer handed her a plate, and then spoke.

“Why DO you look like that, ‘Lilah?” 

Delilah bounced in her seat. “I was too excited for the visitor to get ready!”

Sawyer chuckled and looked at their mother. “Mom, what is the visitor’s name again?”

Kelly slid a pancake onto each child’s plate before answering. “Eleanor . Now, remember what we talked about..”

Delilah sat up straight, proud to remember. “Never mention what’s in the basement!”

Kelly smiled and nodded. Just then, their father walked into the kitchen, carrying their baby brother Lachlan. He sniffed the air.

“Mmm.. smells good!”

Their mother smiled and hummed, kissing him. “Thank you, Thomas.”

Lachlan squealed, trying to force them apart. The family laughed collectively, and Kelly took him from Thomas, balancing him on her hip.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, echoing an old classical song throughout the entire house. The children gasped excitedly, and they hurried to the front door, their parents close behind.

Thomas opened the door, and they all peered out from behind them. In front of them stood an older girl, around 14 or 15. She had long, black hair and dark eyes. She smiled at them forcibly, and held her hand out. 

“Hi, I’m Eleanor Dupont. My friends call me Nora though. I’m, uh, fifteen.”

Thomas shook her hand heartily, and opened the door for her to step in.

“I’m Thomas, and this is my wife Kelly. It’s nice to meet you! Kids, introduce yourselves.”

Sawyer stepped forward. “I’m Sawyer, and I’m ten. These are my siblings Arlo, Delilah and Lachlan. They’re nine, six and one years old.”

Eleanor nodded. “Nice to meet you.. Uhm, can I be shown my room please? I’d like to unpack.”

Kelly nodded and walked Eleanor to her room, chattering the whole way.

Delilah looked at her siblings, eyes wide. Their father crouched down in front of them.

“Now, children.. Remember what we talked about.” His voice was low, his eyes serious.

The three older children nodded obediently, and couldn’t help but to glance over to the basement door. 

“Okay, run along.” Thomas shooed them off. 

They hurried upstairs, and gathered in Sawyer and Delilah’s shared room.

“Do you think we should tell her?” Delilah questioned in a loud whisper.

Sawyer looked conflicted, but Arlo shook his head.

“Mom and Dad said not to,” He answered.

“But what if we like her?” Sawyer countered.

Arlo shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She’s theirs now.”

The girls sighed, then nodded. They knew what would happen if they told her. 

Later that day, the family and their new member sat down to dinner. Kelly had made lasagna, with garlic knots, salad and mashed potatoes as sides. It was Delilah’s favorite meal, and she was very excited. Eleanor looked at her plate. 

“Oh.. uhm, I’m a vegetarian.”

Kelly blinked. “Oh. It wasn’t mentioned in the fostering papers.”

“It’s okay!” Eleanor assured. “I’ll just eat the potatoes and salad. I’ll get something from the fridge, too!”

Kelly stepped in front of her. 

“No. You will eat what’s on the table.”

Eleanor looked confused, but nodded and sat back down slowly.

Kelly retreated, her lips pursed. The children glanced at each other. They hated this. 

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence, with only the sound of their forks clicking on their plates. 

The next morning, Delilah was shaken awake by Sawyer. She sat up groggily, and listened to what Sawyer was saying.

“Dad says we need to make sure Eleanor is occupied today. He’s preparing the station in the basement.”

Delilah nodded grimly, knowing what would go down in just a week. She slid out of bed and got dressed, following Sawyer and Arlo to the front yard. There, they found Eleanor reading a book in the grass, and sat down beside her. 

“Hello..” She said, looking startled. 

“Hi!” The children chorused.

“We’re just here to see what you’re doing,” Sawyer explained.

“Oh, well, I’m just reading,” Eleanor held up her book.

“Cool! Wanna play hide and seek?” 

“Uh.. I guess,” Eleanor answered. 

The children cheered, and they all stood up. For several hours, they made Eleanor play dozens of games with them. Hide and seek, soccer, tag, freeze dance, and so many other things that finally Eleanor broke.

“I don’t wanna play anymore games. It’s 5 o’clock.. I need to do my laundry.”

The children smiled innocently, and followed her inside. They climbed the stairs and watched as she entered the guest room, gathered up her laundry, and walked downstairs. 

They peered over the railing, watching Eleanor stop. She looked up at them, and motioned them down. Once they got to her, she spoke to them.

“Where is the laundry room?” She asked sheepishly. 

Without thinking, Delilah replied.

“In the basement!” 

Eleanor nodded, and headed towards it.

“No!” Sawyer yelped, throwing herself in front of the door. 

Eleanor looked at her weirdly, and Sawyer chuckled. 

“Uhm, let me take that for you!” She took the basket from Eleanor’s hand, and slipped into the basement, closing and locking the door behind her. 

Eleanor turned slowly to look at Arlo and Delilah, and they smiled. The children then turned on their heels and headed back upstairs to their bedrooms, leaving a confused Eleanor behind.

That evening, at supper, they had meatloaf. Once again, Eleanor mentioned that she was vegetarian. Kelly gasped. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I forgot!”

Eleanor assured her it was alright, scooping a big helping of macaroni and cheese. 

The remainder of the week went almost exactly the same. Eating, games, sleeping. Eating, games, sleeping. Every meal, there was a hearty, meaty course, and Eleanor would have to eat the side options. She was slightly weirded out by the monotony of the family, but she didn’t want to be rude and question it. They were fostering her, after all. 

But, there was a slight change on Friday evening, the children hurried downstairs to dinner when called. Once there, they were greeted by a gigantic spread of vegetarian foods. Vegetarian sushi, nuggets, burgers, and many more options. Eleanor was flabbergasted. 

Kelly smiled at her. “We just wanted to say we’re sorry for forgetting you were a vegetarian all week! So we made this meal just for you!”

Eleanor beamed. This was amazing!

The family sat down to eat, and she piled her plate. While she did this, she noticed the others were only eating the macaroni and the fried zucchini. When she asked them about it, Thomas smiled slightly and said,

“Oh, we just aren’t big on vegetarian food.”

Eleanor nodded, and dug in, eating until she couldn’t fit anymore in here. The entire week, she had been eating only macaroni and cheese and salads. She was starving.

Because she had consumed so much, she quickly got tired. The parents smiled at each other when Eleanor yawned and announced she was heading to bed. They sent the children up, telling them they had an early day tomorrow. Everyone in the house was asleep by 8 o’clock, but they wouldn’t be asleep for long. 

Later that night, at exactly two in the morning, Sawyer’s alarm clock went off. The girls looked at each other grimly. It was time.

They got up, and dressed in their lightest clothes. They had on thin, white gowns, which were surely about to be ruined. Then, they met the rest of their family in the hallway. 

Their parents had on the traditional white outfits with the red ties, and Arlo had on his white outfit too. Lachlan was too little to join in, so he was asleep in his crib.

Without saying anything, the family knew what was about to happen. Thomas opened the door to the guest room, and pulled out a camera. He took a picture of the sleeping girl, and waited for it to print out. Once it did, he pulled out a Sharpie, marking it with the words “number seventeen.” He pocketed the picture, and waved his family over to help. Together, the five of them lifted Eleanor’s sleeping body and began carrying her out of the room. They had to stop only once, when Eleanor shifted and groaned, before going back to sleep. Thomas grinned at his wife and children.

“I’m so glad I found those sleeping pills,” He whispered.

They nodded back, and resumed carrying Eleanor down the stairs, into the basement. Once down there, they laid Eleanor down on the examination table. Thomas pinned the picture of Eleanor to the wall, where sixteen other pictures were, all numbered. Thomas and Kelly then went to set up the iron maiden. The children nodded as they watched. They had assumed that was the way their parents would go. They began undressing Eleanor, because they knew the clothes needed to be saved. Once she was in just her underwear, the family lifted her up and propped her into the box. Suddenly, she blinked her eyes open. The family froze. 

“What.. What are you doing?” She stuttered groggily, flinching at the cold against her skin. 

Thomas shushed her. 

“It’ll all be over soon, dear.”

Before Eleanor could respond, Kelly closed the box. All that could be heard was a slight gasp, and then the drip, drip, drip of blood. The children watched as blood came pooling out from the box. Their father then opened the box and checked Eleanor’s pulse.

“Number seventeen down,” He smiled. 

The children giggled, looking at each other happily. They may have been hesitant at first, but this was their favorite part. They then helped their parents lift the lifeless body into a basket, where their father picked it up and began going upstairs. The children collected the clothes, and carried them out of the basement, out of sight from the countless torture devices they had used on their last victims. 

The next evening, Delilah hurried into the dining room. She was excited for dinner tonight. 

The children held their plates out, and their mother served them heaping amounts of steamy meatloaf. They licked their lips, and sat down at the table. They dug into the delicious meal, the only sounds the smacking of lips and Lachlan’s occasional giggle.

Once the family was almost completely done eating, Delilah looked up.

“Thank you for dinner, Mom! She was delicious!”

Kelly smiled, glad to be able to please her children’s taste buds.