The Unexpected

Bobby Gibbons was for all intents and purposes an introvert. Truth be told, this trait wasn't unique to him, as the small town surrounded by hills in which he resided was comprised of individuals with similar mindsets. They were small-town folk who had no desires for big-city shenanigans or troubles.
Bobby's life was simple. He tended to his garden, read his books, and smoked an almost (but not quite) excess of marijuana which he grew and happily shared with his neighbors (and local law enforcement that looked the other way). His simple life, however, would one day take an unexpected turn.
As of late, Bobby had felt himself feeling quite lonely, and decided to try his hand at online dating. He was too shy and introverted to go out to a bar or otherwise for any attempts at wooing the opposite sex, not that he'd ever had much luck in that department regardless. Nearly ten minutes into creating the account for a dating app he had just installed on his phone, he was alerted of a match in his area.
"Well, that didn't take long," he said, chuckling to himself.
Over the next five minutes, Bobby chatted with an attractive middle-aged woman with the username "GrayGalGail." Her profile picture presented an image of her staring seductively into the camera, some smokey eye shadow highlighting her light-gray eyes and jet black hair slightly covering the left side of her face.
"So what do you do for fun?" typed Gail.
Bobby cringed at the thought of sharing his exciting activities of gardening and reading. He knew that he was probably the most boring resident of his quiet town, but surely as she was local she couldn't be too adventurous herself.
Still, he didn't want to lose her interest so early on, so he made something up.
"Well, I like to go hiking, sightseeing, and hanging out with friends," he typed regrettably.
He didn't know why he said this. There would only be two outcomes to this should things move forward. He would either come clean as not only a liar, but a boring loser that only found joy in the most minuscule of activities... or he would continue his charade and find himself in very stressful and anxiety-inducing situations.
"That is fantastic," Gail replied. "I'm actually a bit of a sightseer myself. You may have seen my videos on YouTube? Most of the other folks in town don't really appreciate my openness to the world, LOL."
It then occurred to Bobby that he did in fact recognize GrayGalGail. They actually went to high school together, and after graduation, she moved into the big city and started a blogging lifestyle. While chatting with her, he looked her up and saw that her channel's activity had been at a standstill for the last couple of years.
"Well that's a shame," he said to himself.
"We should get together sometime," she started again. "Maybe I can get my crew and we can all go get into some trouble. :)"
That proposal didn't sound too good to someone like Bobby, but he would love to see Gail again in person. He decided he'd better not push his luck with not being quite so honest and admitted his more homebody nature.
"Well, I've got to be honest, I was sort of fibbing when I said I liked going out. I'm sorry, I just said that to impress you, but I don't want to start things out with being dishonest. If you like, we can hang out at my place anytime though?"
Bobby sat and waited for a reply, which didn't seem to come. He was sure he'd just blown it, and leaned back in his chair and groaned. When he looked back at his phone, however, he noticed the three dots indicating that Gail was typing something.
Hope had returned as he anxiously waited on her response.
"So we can hang out at your place then?" she finally typed.
"Of course!" replied Bobby, excitedly. "Anytime! Come on over and we can smoke and talk all you want. :)"
"I might take you up on that offer! :)"
Bobby and Gail chatted a bit more before he decided to turn in for the night. He smoked a bit before lying in his bed and imagined meeting this attractive woman that was clearly out of his league. That meeting, however, would happen sooner (and differently) than he expected.
Knock knock knock.
"Who on Earth could that be?" Bobby thought to himself. It was nearly midnight, and he was so close to falling asleep with his favorite book in his hands. Whoever was knocking at his door so late was surely going to be sorry.
As he pulled the door open to tell off his uninvited visitor, Bobby stood in confusion at the sight of the woman he had been chatting with hours ago. She stood there, arms crossed, and a smile on her face. She wore tight blue jeans and a long gray coat, while her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
"Gail?" said Bobby, not sure what else to say? He was not expecting Gail of all people to show up at his door in the middle of the night, merely hours after getting to know her. Normally, he'd be very angry at such rudeness, but his clear attraction clouded those thoughts, and all he knew was that he was in the presence of a goddess.
"Hey Bobby," she responded, winking her left eye. "We're here!" She said this in a sing-songy tone.
"We?" choked out Bobby.
Gail walked in and there stood a strange-looking man, stocky in build with a skull-printed bandana covering his face, a top-knot hairstyle, and wore a black leather jacket. Bobby was speechless as the intimating looking stranger stared at him.
"Sup," said the man, finally. "I'm Dwayne."
Before Bobby could respond, Dwayne shoved the timid man aside as he made his way into his home.
"Um... but... uh..." was all Bobby could saw as he watched his uninvited guest make himself comfortable on his couch.
"'Scuse me," said another voice from behind. Bobby turned around to see a pair of twins, just as stocky as Dwayne, wearing the same kind of jack and even had their own bandanas over their faces.
"I'm James," said the first.
"I'm Paul," said the other.
The twins pushed past Bobby, and made their way into his home as well, sitting next to Dwayne.
"Hold on now!" said Bobby, but was cut off yet again.
"I'm Kelly," said a female voice this time. "This is my husband Frank." Bobby turned around to see a similarly dressed couple, about the same build as their friends, and of course bandanas.
Bobby could feel his heart beginning to raise as his anxiety began to worsen. He couldn't handle any more visitors, but unfortunately, there was one final stocky built, bandana-wearing stranger in a black leather jacket.
"You must be Bobby," said a deep, gruff voice. Slowly turning around, the anxious host was greeted by an even more intimidating man than his predecessors.
"I'm Theo," he said, extending his hand. The polite gesture caught Bobby off guard, as he was expecting to be shoved aside once again.
"P-pleasured," he responded, trying to control his stutters.
"After you," said Theo, extending his arm toward the living room.
"Th-thank you," said Bobby, gracious to be allowed into his own home.
Slowly, the unwitting host stood in distress at the seven individuals that decided to make themselves at home. He looked over at Gail, his infatuation quickly dissipating. He cleared his throat to get her attention.
"Care to explain?" he said, holding his arms out.
"Well you did say that we could come to hang out at your place anytime," she answered. "And well... here we are!"
"I didn't mean bringing over six strangers in the middle of the night and just making yourself at home!" responded Bobby, his voice beginning to rise in frustration.
The loud sounds of chatter amongst the friends quickly fell silent as they all stopped and stared at Bobby. Instant regret fell over the poor man, but he decided to stay assertive and be heard. He cleared his throat and puff out his chest.
"Now, I'm going to have to ask you all to leave," he said, not quite confidently. "Perhaps we can get together another day, at a reasonable time of day, but I need to sleep and you all need to go."
An uncomfortable silence was in the room. Bobby gulped in nervousness. Eventually, the room was filled with laughter.
"I like this one," said Theo. "Where'd you find this guy, Gail?"
"Oh, I've known him since high school," answered Gail, to Bobby's shock. He didn't think she'd even noticed him back then, let alone recognized him so many years later.
"What... what do you want?" Bobby finally asked. "Why are you here?"
"Well," started Gail. "I guess it's my turn, to be honest now." She walked over to Bobby and placed her arms on his shoulders. "We need your help, Bobby"
"You need my help?" repeated Bobby, completely baffled.
"Well... more specifically... they need our help."
"What do you mean?"
"Well they hired me to help them get back something that was stolen from them, and I need your help to do it."
"What? What the hell could I possibly offer?" At that, Gail got close to Bobby's head and whispered into his ear.
"You might have the rest of the folks in town fooled... but I know your secret."
Bobby's heart dropped at the realization of what she meant. While these days Bobby found joy in gardening, reading, and smoking, in his youth he was more adventurous in less than legal avenues. For years, the town had been plagued by a mysterious burglar that had broken into nearly every home and made off with some very valuable items.
That burglar was Bobby. He had stolen and sold many things in his lifetime, but as he grew older he decided to give it all up for a more quiet lifestyle. He had never been caught and didn't want to push his luck anymore.
He stared at Gail, having no words to say in his defense. He knew that she knew the truth somehow, and didn't bother to waste his or her time denying it. He cleared his throat again.
"Blackmail, is it?" he said, trying to hide the sound of betrayal in his voice. "Is that how it is then?" Gail smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"You help us out, and your secret stays safe with me. I'll even give you a cut of my fee." Bobby shook his head.
"No," he simply said. A look of confusion came over Gail's face.
"Excuse me?" she responded, scoffing.
"I said no, Gail. I'm done with that lifestyle. Whether their... 'item' was stolen or not, I'm not breaking into someone's home to steal anything ever again. You don't fool me, you may have somehow found out about me, but there is no evidence tying me to any of my past crimes... I made sure of it."
"You sure about that?" she said, the pleasured tone in her voice now gone.
"You even try it and I'll ruin you. I'll slap you with a defamation lawsuit so hard that you'll never recover from your already failed career." Bobby regretted saying this.
Suddenly, Gail's light gray eyes changed into a bright purple. Bobby's eyes grew wide as he backed away. He was stopped, however, by the stocky body of Theo, whose eyes were glowing a bright red.
He soon found himself surrounded by his seven guests. He began to panic. Everyone one of them had horrifying red eyes, except for Gail, whose eyes maintained their purple glow.
"So that's the way it's going to be, is it?" said Gail, her voice now booming and echoing throughout the house. Shaking where he stood, Bobby couldn't think of any words to say. "Sorry, guys," she continued, "I guess I was wrong about him."
"Oh well," said Theo. "At least it won't be a complete waste."
Theo then removed the bandana from his face, revealing a horrifying mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs like a piranha. Terror struck Bobby, preventing him from screaming, no matter how much he wanted to. One by one, the rest of Theo's crew removed their bandanas, each revealing their own sets of fangs that looked like they were ready to tear into Bobby like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Tears ran from Bobby's eyes as the predators moved in on him.
"P-please!" he finally managed to beg. He fell to his knees and held his hands up in surrender. "I'll do it! I'll do it!"
Bobby's pleas fell on deaf ears, however. The night had been long for Theo's crew, and they were hungry... so very hungry. Bobby would finally manage to scream... and it filled his house, cutting off unexpectedly.
Category:Monsters