The Butcher in the mist

The man who is known as the butcher was not loved by his neighbors, the only encounter he has with people is those who come to his shop and order sliced ham or lean meat. The butcher was an odd man some people might say.

On a cloudy day, there was a knock on the butcher’s front door, he opened it only to discover a small girl with two braids and a white floral dress with small daisies on it, she did not move nor did she make any sound, she stood there and stared at him. The man comes around her holding out his hand only to see the butcher’s hand was full of blood. The man introduced himself as John Marble, a former employee of child custody authority. He reached in his pocket and hands the butcher's an envelope.

‘’May we come in’’ the man called John asked generously, while John handed an envelope to the butcher the little girl sat on a chair by the kitchen table. The envelope was signed and addresses to his given name, Miles Brown. He rips the envelope only to discover a death certificate and a Will signed by Milly James. The girl who sat by the table walked toward the butcher, hands him a letter and walked away, she sat at the table again, legs crossed, hands on her lap and eyes glued to the floor. The man called Miles Brown reads the letter and stopped at the sentence that states that she is his daughter and her name is Samantha Brown.

The butcher eyes moved from the letter to the little girl who did not move or made a sound. “Samantha’’ he said, she always liked the name Sophia he admitted. The girl looked up at him, dark shadows around her eyes was visible now, she relaxed her shoulders and let out a breath, ‘’Sam Sophia Brown is my name’’ she said, making eye contact for the first time.

Sam was not bothered by that blood on the butchers’ hands or that his shirt was coved in blood, the man names John Marble who delivered her to the butcher’s door was uncomfortable and stated that it is time for him to leave, he wished the best for Sam he claimed. ‘’Stay here’’ the butcher commanded the girl as he walked John to the front door and let him out.

The butcher made his way to the kitchen made a ham and cheese sandwich and handed the girl a plate and a glass of water, she only stared at the plate, she took the water and threw it over the sandwich. Miles Brown took his daughter by the arm, eyes are drawn to her as he said nothing and let her arm go, leaving red dark marks around her arms.

Years passed and the butcher behavior was the same towards Sam, cold and heartless. He would mostly sit and eat alone and a few words were exchanged every day. He taught her how to use a knife and sometimes she would help her father in the shop, slaughter pigs, cutting up the meat. At night the girl would hear loud noises coming from the walls but her thoughts drifted to the pipes and then she would hear screams only thinking the wind was playing tricks on her. Some morning after she heard the loud noises she would look outside her window and the butcher was there outside, filling holes with soil and sand. ‘’Moles’’ is the only answer she would get from her father.

On her eighteenth birthday, the butcher took his daughter hunting down by the woods,128 miles from his home. There were no words exchanged in the car ride, only a radio announcement that claimed, 4 missing women, age 21-24 all went missing 4 days apart, 2 bodies were found, heads cut off, looks like someone butchered them, as the butcher hears the announcement, he turned the radio off and there was silence in the car. Arriving at the cabin, mist surrounded the place and the girl could not see far in front of her. ‘’We hunt in the morning, we leave at sunrise’’ the butcher said, the only words he spoke since they left the house.

Miles took his daughter into the woods, he showed her how to use the rifle and where to aim, Sam hit a deer her first try, discovering the body she felt no remorse. Miles covered her face with the deer blood as a symbol for her first hunt. They made their way back to the cabin and saw two girls walking their way, hiking they said as Miles’s curiosity took the best of him, Sam did not speak to the girl, she smiled politely and laughed at a few jokes the butcher made about wandering alone in these woods. The butcher told his daughter to go back to the cabin and start the fire, her father will help these girls find the mountain they’d been searching for.

Sam walked toward the cabin looking back over her shoulder she saw the butcher knock the one over the head with his rifle and covered the other girl's mouth before her scream echoed in the woods. The butcher daughter did not flinch or got scared, she simply stood there. She turned around and walked, her mind somehow pieced the puzzle together, the missing girls, the screams at night, the holes she saw in the backyard, her mind drifted as she gathered woods for the fire. The butcher finally returned and he handed his daughter a knife. “I have something for you, come” the butcher compared.

Sam walked outside into the woods, a path that was not visible except for the night light her father had in his hand, guiding the way to an old abended shack. ‘’What is this place’’ Sam asked the butcher as he made way past her to open the door. She saw two girls handing from the roof, rustic chains around their wrists, toes barely touching the floor. The girls who wanted to find the mountain hangs for the ceiling now, mouth covered with a bloody material. The butcher walked towards a table, grabbed an apron, hanged it around his neck and tied the two strings around his waist. Sam remembers this apron, the first day she met Miles Brown he was wearing the same one, this one is different from the one he wears at the shop.

The butcher holds a cleaver knife in his hand, did not look at his daughter, he walked forward, stood in front of the girl and with one blow cut off her head. The butcher turned around, he saw his daughter standing there, she did not move nor made a sound. With wide eyes, she saw this girl's head fall off her body in one quick strike. Miles walked to the table placed the knife on the table and grabbed a butcher knife he hands it to his daughter; she was not scared. With the butchers’ bloody arm, he pointed to the girl, ‘’A gift for you” he simply said.

She took the knife without hesitation, she struck the girl in the chest, pulled down the knife, gutted the girl waist down, blood hit the floor and like rain, organs fell to the ground. On the walk back to the cabin the man knows as the butcher suddenly fell to the ground, hand grabbing his chest. A Heart attack his daughter thought. Sam knew what to do, she dragged his body to the cabin, placed him on the couch in front of the fire, she knew what to say. If someone asked, she will simply say he wanted to stay at the cabin.

Sam knew the responsibility that was given to her, she needed to take over the shop, all the responsibility that the butcher left her. On the drive home, the radio was on and an announcement was made regards to the missing girls. The person they have named this murdered was called the night butcher, he hunts at night, slaughter his victims like a pig for harvest day. The person they call the nigh butcher was her father, she knew she had a responsibility, she needs to uphold his name.

The End.