The Restaurant

Rufus prides himself in owning the best restaurant in town, starting from a small canteen, he made it grow through the years. It was a long hard struggle to the top with many competitors, but after all that, it was worth the effort he says to himself.

Everything was going well for him, people rushed to his restaurant in droves, fighting furiously for the ever elusive reservations. He was making good money and all was perfect.

And then a new competitor came.

Rufus scoffed at the new competitors audacity, of all the places to open a restaurant, the newcomer just had to open his store across Rufus's. He shook his head in silent laughter and gave his new competitor 4 months before going bankrupt. Afterall, he had the advantage in loyal customers, experience and popularity. There was just no way the new restaurant is gonna beat him.

The next few days, many people flocked to the new restaurant. Some of his customers began to kid him of losing people to the new joint. He wasn't worried, Rufus said. Everyone just wanted to take a look at the new place, after their curiosities were satisfied, they would go back here and everything would be back to normal.

But as the weeks flew by, Rufus began to get worried. None of his customers stopped going to the new restaurant. In fact, all of his usual customers had stopped going to his restaurant! It was a complete reversal. Every day his competitor's place was packed while his was as empty as a beggar's wallet.

Furious but awfully curious at the same time, he went there himself to find out what makes it so attractive to the customers. As usual, it was filled with people and he almost didn't get a table for himself, he only managed it by bribing the waiter.

He studied the menu and found nothing special about the food selections. They were almost identical to the ones that he serves. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the fact that all the offered foods were meat, no vegetable or fruits were served.

"Must be a real meat eater the owner." he thought.

He decided to order the steak and the waiter gave a small bow before disappearing into the crowds. Rufus surveyed the surroundings as he waited, the place was very dark and illuminated only by the candles placed on the tables. Rufus was sure the ambiance of the place wasn't the one attracting the people.

As he anxiously waited for his meal, he suddenly spotted some of his old customers. Not wanting to be seen by them, he quickly snatched a newspaper nearby and buried his face into it. There was nothing unethical in what he was doing, but he didn't want to face them like this, it was too embarrassing.

He strained his hearing as best as he could, waiting for them to leave. His eyes merely glancing past the distressing headline about the sudden surge of the numbers of missing people. As luck would had had it, they left before his meal came.

As Rufus took his first bite, his mouth watered and his eyes began to glaze over. Never in his life had he tasted something so wonderful! So delicious! He couldn't believe it! So this was why his loyal customers deserted him, as much as he hated to admit it, their food was way way better than his.

He quickly finished his meal, savoring each tasty bite as best as he could. He sat on his seat full and contented, reliving the ecstasy that he just go through. But his euphoria was short lived. The sudden realization of his future came swift.

What was he supposed to do now? He was hopelessly outmatched. There was no possible way his customers would come back with this kind of cooking. His carreer was over! Rufus couldn't imagine his beloved restaurant closing, not after what all he's been through.

But maybe, if he could cook just as good as the chef's here, maybe he could steal some of his customers back. He schemed and plotted all night and he finally arrived to his solution, there was no other way but to sneak inside the competitor's kitchen and discover their cooking secrets.

He waited til midnight from inside his store, he saw the competitor's employees leave one by one. As the last one left, he made his way out of his store and lockpicked his way in from the backdoor. Having surveyed the place earlier during his dinner, he knew the way into the kitchen.

Despite the dark surroundings, he didn't had trouble finding the kitchen door. To his mild surprise, it was even more heavily locked than the store. The owner must be overprotective of his secret recipe, Rufus thought. Well that was tough, business was business. And if Rufus didn't do something, he was gonna be out of business. And that wasn't something he wanted.

It took him a bit longer to pick all the locks of the kitchen door, but when he finally cracked the last one, he was giddy with excitement to learn his competitor's secret. With a mighty push, he opened the huge metal door.

What greeted Rufus's sights wasn't what he was expecting. Not quite at all, his eyes almost popped out from horror, he covered his mouth with his hand, trying to force down the rising bile from his throat. The article he saw earlier came to his mind instantly, about the huge number of missing people. And the weird all meat selection of the restaurant. He whimpered pitifully as he struggled to regain control of his legs. Someone should report this to the police. Those animals!

Too preoccupied with the grotesque sight before him, Rufus didn't realize someone coming from behind him. The dark figure was gripping a metal rod in his hand, walking ever so silently towards the quivering intruder. The figure raised the metal rod high over his head and brought it down swiftly onto Rufus's head, smashing his skull instantly. He didn't got a chance to scream, and as he lay on the kitchen floor with his eyes still wide open, he saw the metal rod come down again, and again, until darkness took him.

The next day, it was again a busy day for the new restaurant. Some of the people noticed that Rufus's place was closed for the first time in years. But everyone noticed the absolute great flavor of the meat that day.