Dark Compulsion

"I. . .it's closing time. . . everyone else has gone home. Somebody has to close up. What should I do?"

"Go home, Julie," he told her.

"But. . . I. . . "

"We'll lock up. You can go home now."

"Well, if you say so. Is everything all right in there?"

Jeff glanced down at the face on the floor that stared sightlessly up at the dingy ceiling. The eyeglasses were twisted, one lens shattered, and a rivulet of thick blood meandered lazily across the cool, green floor.

Jeff grinned malevolently. "Everything is just fine.' He listened to her hesitant footsteps tapping across the glassy, tiled floor on the other side of the door.

Rising clumsily, he told the now-still form, "You just sit on your fat can, as usual, and I'll do all the work." He ambled out to the front of the restaurant and stood behind the counter, looking around the deserted building in bewilderment. What am I supposed to be doing? he wondered.

Turning around sluggishly, he searched for a clue of what to do. He saw the pop dispenser. Deep fat fryer. Cutting board Ice machine. Grill.

"Hamburgers," he said out loud. Snatching up a gleaming carving knife, he strode purposefully back to the storeroom.

Returning a few minutes later, he tossed two pudgy, severed hands onto the hot grill. As they began to sputter and sizzle and pop, he went back into the storeroom one more time.

"Gotta put this meat away before it spoils," Jeff grunted while grasping the corpse under both arms. He dragged the heavy body from the small storeroom into the large walk-in freezer and dropped in into an empty corner. He shut the bulky door behind him, securely locking it.

With zombie-like motions, Jeff flipped the hand-burgers on the grill and grabbed a couple of buns. Using a long-handled spatula, he carefully lifted the cooked meat and placed them on the waiting buns. Adding catsup and two dill pickle slices, he wrapped the sandwiches and set them on the pick-up counter.

He glanced about the empty room, shook his head sadly, desolately, and turned off the grill. Then, he flipped off the lights and locked the door behind him before he left for home.