Friday 13:20 - Ellen

Ellen walked out of the small restaurant, ignoring the dirty look she knew she was getting from the young girl now clearing her table. No, she hadn't left a tip. She felt bad for the girl, it wasn't her fault. There was nothing wrong with the service, but the food...

After a morning exploring the uninspiring sights of Marrenforth, she'd found what looked like a surprisingly sophisticated little restaurant down a back street. It had seemed to be a great place to have lunch and kill some time before heading to the railway station and a train home to London.

The menu was enticing, lots of interesting twists on standard recipes. And the prices were decent as well; this place was probably expensive for Marrenforth, but by London standards it was a bargain. After much indecision, she'd finally ordered the special: steamed local fish with saffron couscous. It sounded rather heavier than she'd normally choose for lunch, but after a morning in Marrenforth she deserved a treat. And the thought of fresh, locally caught fish had proved irresistible.

The food had taken a while to arrive, but that was a good sign. It meant it was actually being cooked rather than simply reheated. When her meal was finally delivered to her table, it had looked and smelt wonderful. Ellen thought that she'd actually found something worthwhile in the lousy town. With great expectations, she tried a little of the couscous. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise: excellent, and real saffron not padded out with turmeric. Next the fish. She'd cut some off and put a small forkful into her mouth.

Then almost spat it out again.

What on earth? That flavour... It hadn't been anything she could place, rather she would have described it as somehow metallic. As the piece of fish slid down her throat, it felt as if someone was running a fingernail along her gullet.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

It was, in a word, horrible. It wasn't 'off' or simply uncooked, she'd have sent it back. There was nothing definite that she could actually complain about. It was just... unpleasant. They either had strange tastes or strange fish in Marrenforth.

There was no way she would eat that. But at least the couscous was good, so she had just finished that quickly. Then she'd opened her purse and left exactly the right money on the table before walking out without saying a word. If she'd still been in London, she'd probably have demanded to see the manager and refused to pay, but her day was bad enough already and the last thing she wanted was an argument. Better to cut her losses and just leave.

So much for killing time over a long lunch. The next train out of Marrenforth back down to London didn't leave until just after three, so she had almost two hours to fill. She decided to do some window shopping whilst walking slowly to the station at the other end of town.

As she walked back toward the main street, she heard a loud clattering some way behind her. She turned round and saw two middle-aged women shuffling slowly in her direction. One of them had apparently just knocked over a dustbin, strewing garbage on the pavement and producing the noise Ellen had heard. Neither woman seemed to care, they just continued walking, ignoring the rubbish beneath their feet. They were a good hundred yards away, but even from that distance Ellen could see that they looked dreadful. Their faces were grey, their clothes were crumpled and out of place. Both seemed to be having trouble with their coordination, staggering from side to side as they walked towards her.

Drunk, thought Ellen. Out of their skulls at lunchtime. OK, so today was Friday – but even so, it was way too early to be that far gone. Maybe they were homeless drunks? Perhaps, but their clothes looked too new for that; as a Londoner, Ellen had plenty of experience with both drunks and the homeless. She knew that one didn't necessarily imply the other. She guessed that these two were probably office workers who had gone out for a 'quick glass of wine with lunch' and managed to get themselves into this state. She was almost impressed that they'd done it so thoroughly.

The women had clearly noticed Ellen now. One of them held out her arms and opened her mouth wide.

As Ellen watched, a young man came out of a shop just in front of the staggering women. They turned away from Ellen and one lunged toward him. She threw her arms around him and her head leant in. The young man pushed her away and span round, only to find the other woman just behind him. He shouted something, but Ellen was too far away to make out what it was.

Ellen felt herself shiver and her pulse rate increase. Oh no, not that. The poor guy. He was about to be the victim of a dreadful fate – hugs and kisses from over-friendly drunks.

Whilst sober.

She turned and continued on her way, leaving the terrifying scene behind.

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