The Bakers' Boneyard
A gate of bone reinforced the estate's entrance. The North Wind howled the night of their costume party. Hidden identities lurked in the shadows as the darkness was at its peak.
Anticipation filled the arriving guests as they entered. The party's reputation was legendary. Guests, and the Bakers themselves, desired reciprocal attendance. They greeted each guest with a sinister grin and a glass of cheer. The hired helper, Ozzie, escorted the partygoers to the grand hall, where the party would take place.
Eerie music played, and tiny waves of panic moved across their guests' faces as they tried to figure out who was behind the mask or underneath all that makeup. It transformed the plain into the scary. The frightened spooks and spirits of the dead rose. It empowered them to instil fear in others as retaliation for how they suffered in their everyday lives without masks or makeup.
The disguise enabled those present. Their hidden feelings came pouring out. The hallucinogens in the cup of cheer were working their magic now.
Men and women fed their raw and unfettered desires and passion with the most giant sex orgy they had ever known. Their unusual problem-solving skills resulted in a vast dive into their psyche, where they never allowed themselves to go since it was a scary and dirty place. In their lucid moments, they would be ashamed to know they had even participated in such an event.
But tonight, under the guise of being something and someone else from the Book of the Dead, it all seemed quite natural and welcome. The Bakers were investing time into getting everything just perfect for the evening.
The out-of-control atmosphere showed signs of moral decay, which caused the party to take a turn for the worse. The orgy was expected as the dancing became erotic, and desires needed to be fed like a starved beast who could smell its victim's blood.
The hallucinations started with one or two of the tinier people. They believed they were seeing pure evil. They needed to defend themselves, and they began to attack anyone in their path with the steak knives at their places at the grand table.
Everyone was using the cutlery transformed into weapons, and blood covered the grand hall floor. Their unusual problem-solving skills as guests resulted in the macabre, which was in keeping with such a party for the dead.
Ozzie hauled the naked bodies away one by one as he skinned and stripped everything away from the bone so they could be added to the fence surrounding the estate. The mixture of old and new bones alongside animal bones was enough to confuse any inspector or interviewer who came to investigate the party's events.
Had they been observant, they would have noticed the bone chandelier in the entryway and another in the grand hall. But in their earnestness, the guests overlooked them.
The Bakers knew, too, that their guests? desire to defend themselves for their survival would override their decision-making skills and their conscious belief system; killing someone was not an issue for them now.
The pile of discarded clothing accumulated in the corner of the hall and their actions were marked by unbridled indulgence in passions in the order of killing.
It was an adventure into a part of their psyche that they had tucked away, never meant to be opened. And they were unaware of what to do about it since it was raw, evil, and depraved.
The anonymity of the perpetrator was bold about the entire affair, with no one clear victor. The wounds caused people to bleed out in a matter of minutes.
They checked under the banquet tables and found one single woman alive who was traumatized and could not speak. Ozzie took her out of the room with his arm around her. He took her upstairs to a bedroom with a balcony.
He lit a fire in the fireplace and found a robe and some slippers for her. He asked her if she would like a cup of tea, and she nodded. After he made her the tea, he opened the balcony doors and went outside to look at the stars. He looked wild, like an animal, and she joined him.
He growled at her, and she backed away, dropping her teacup and hitting her back against the balcony rail hard. He rushed her at that moment and flipped her up and over the balcony, where she fell to her death below.
He ran down the stairs and put her dead body into the wheelbarrow. He stripped the flesh from the bone and everything else so that the bones could be used to make up the rest of the fence for the estate.
“Do you think we have enough now to go around the entire state?” Mrs. Baker asked Ozzie.
“Yes, ma'am, I do." Ozzie smiled with a gleam as he relayed the information to the Bakers.
After the fence was complete, Ozzie went to the house for lunch. Mrs. Baker had prepared his favourite coq au vin to honour the wall's completion. She offered him tea or whatever he wanted to drink, knowing he would choose the Johnnie Walker Blue.
She poured a glass and asked him if he wanted it neat or with ice. He chose to drink it neat. The three sat down to eat, and the Bakers had a drink, too. They weren't halfway through their lunch when Ozzie coughed.
His breath was short, and he gasped for air.
Ozzie, You know too much now. We don't know what you might be saying to others, so we must protect what is ours now. It's nothing personal; this is business. You understand, don't you?”
His eyes were large; he didn't want to believe it. He was the last victim of the Bakers. As he slumped into his food, they watched him die.
After throwing Ozzie's body down the well, the Bakers left for holiday that evening under a cloud of darkness that was as black as their hearts. They arrived at their summer home in Spain a few hours later.
They received a telegram from the Chief Inspector, and their reply was swift.
“Yes, we had a party at the house. But our manservant, Ozzie, held that party for us while we were here in Spain. Isn’t he available to speak with you? I'm confused; he usually handles these kinds of things. How may we help you?”
The inspector asked, “Do you know where Ozzie is currently?”
“Whatever do you mean, Inspector? He isn’t there? That’s impossible. He’s always there. What happened to him? Why are you looking for him?”
“I’d like you to come home to discuss the matter further in person," the inspector replied. When might I expect you?"
"We'll come straight away. We are anxious to see the state of our home and find out what has happened to our beloved Ozzie. There must be some logical explanation.”
After conversing, Mrs. Baker turned to her husband and said, "It's showtime, darling. Are you ready?”
He smiled and said, “My darling, I was born ready.” He held up the vile hallucinogen that had been used the night of the party. He smiled at her and said, “I wonder if the inspector likes tea."
They headed home to make a cup of tea for the unsuspecting inspector.
