The Chained Secret

"Ah!" Maya unleashed a piercing scream.

She ripped her arm out of Tessa's grasp and bolted for the staircase. Footsteps hammered down the wooden treads as she stumbled in blind panic. Duncan rushed up the stairs with a kitchen knife, his chest heaving, nearly colliding with her. He steadied himself and peered into the room. A metallic stench rolled out into the hallway. Everyone else shrank back against the wall. Gideon was the only one moving forward.

"Gideon! Are you crazy?" Duncan and Edgar shouted in unison.

Gideon ignored the warning. He strode straight to the reinforced bed and crouched to meet the giant's gaze. Thick, pale rolls of fat squeezed the patient's eyes into narrow slits, making it nearly impossible to tell if he was awake. Gideon fixed his attention on the fresh crimson smeared at the corner of the man's sagging mouth.

"You are not a vegetable, are you? If you are awake, move your finger." Gideon kept his voice steady.

The monstrous man offered no physical response. His ragged breathing drowned out the steady beep of the heart monitor. He lay there like a mountain of dead flesh.

"Get out," a muffled, gravelly voice rasped from the bed. "Get out now!"

Gideon knitted his brows. He stood up, signaling Duncan to bring the food. Then, he paced the length of the mattress, his eyes scanning the folds of skin and the restraints. He noticed the thick metal chains cutting into the wrists. The harsh restraints were buried deep beneath the bulging flesh, keeping the massive man pinned to the metal frame against his will.

"I guess you are not sick at all. You are just too obese to move. If I untie you, will you tell me everything?" Gideon asked, tapping his fingers against the bedrail.

Duncan entered holding a bowl filled with a foul mush of water and raw meat. He hesitated at the foot of the bed. Gideon took the bowl and stirred the slop with a silver spoon. The squelching sound filled the tense silence. The patient thrashed against his hidden chains, turning his heavy head away in clear disgust. The bedframes groaned under his shifting weight.

"You do not want to eat, do you? What should we do? Your wife instructed us to feed you every day, with extra meat. You are making this difficult for us." Gideon smirked, his eyes cold and calculating.

He brought the dripping spoon closer to the patient's face. The man clamped his jaw shut and let out a series of muffled grunts.

"Unless you answer my question. You are not really sick, are you?" Gideon let the spoon hover inches from the man's nose. "My condition is simple. Answer my question, and I can help you. We are on the same side. Trust me."

Gideon lowered the spoon. He leaned close to the giant's ear. He murmured a string of words too faint for anyone else in the room to catch. The syllables were quick and deliberate. Duncan gripped the handle of his knife, his knuckles turning white, terrified the monster would snap its jaws and bite Gideon's face off.

Instead, the patient froze. His frantic struggles ceased in an instant. The giant let out a long, shuddering breath and relaxed against the mattress, the tension draining from his massive frame.

Gideon stepped back and handed the bowl back to Duncan.

"Bring a bowl of oatmeal. No meat." Gideon commanded.

"What do you mean?" Duncan asked, staring at the disgusting mush in his hands.

"Just get the oatmeal."

Duncan frowned but took the foul mixture away. He returned moments later carrying a fresh bowl of plain oats cooked in milk. Gideon scooped up a spoonful and brought it to the man's mouth. This time, there was no resistance. The patient parted his lips and swallowed the food. He ate with quiet obedience.

The group watched in stunned silence. The wife had demanded meat for every meal, framing it as a strict medical necessity, yet the man dreaded it.

Gideon placed the empty bowl on the nightstand. Before stepping out of the room, he threw one last glance at the bed. A single tear tracked down the giant's swollen cheek, glistening under the harsh fluorescent light.

The group shuffled into the hallway. Duncan reached out and pulled the heavy double doors shut.

"Gideon, what did you say to him?" Duncan asked quietly.

"I cannot tell you yet." Gideon shook his head. He scanned the faces of the group. "Where is Maya?"

The group froze. They traded panicked glances. Maya had run downstairs minutes ago and never returned. A chilling silence hung in the air.

"Maya!" Tessa and Haley screamed.

They sprinted down the hallway, throwing open every door on the second floor. Silence greeted them. Dread settled over the group. They rushed down the stairs, their footsteps echoing through the empty house, sweeping the ground floor rooms. Nothing. No shadows, no whimpers, no sign of the terrified girl.

They found Gideon standing still in the foyer. The heavy wooden front door hung wide open. A freezing gust of wind whipped rain into the hallway, soaking the entrance rug.

"Do not bother looking. She ran away." Gideon stated coldly, staring out into the pitch-black night.

Tessa clamped a hand over her mouth. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the floorboards, sobbing softly into her palms. Outside, the torrential storm hammered the earth in a deafening roar. Lightning cracked, illuminating the thrashing trees and the dark, churning water surrounding the isolated house.

The gruesome image flashed in their minds. They remembered Simon. They remembered the severed limbs bobbing in the bloody tide. The rules stated they had to care for the patient for four days. No one knew the penalty for leaving the premises early, but the storm promised certain death.

Gideon grabbed the brass handle and shoved the door shut, locking the raging storm outside. The sudden quiet in the foyer was suffocating.

He turned to head back into the living room. His gaze dropped to the tall wooden shoe cabinet tucked against the entryway wall. A sudden thought crossed his mind. He walked over and pulled the slatted doors open. He stared into the shadows of the shelves.

The cabinet was empty. Bare wood stretched across every tier.

Duncan noticed Gideon lingering in the foyer and walked back over.

"What are you looking for?" Duncan asked, peering over his shoulder.

Without looking up, Gideon sighed. "Not a single pair of shoes. How can there be no shoes in a house with so many people living in it?"