First Impression

“Do you think they will like me?” I said, trying to fix my dress. I’d been anticipating this day for a while – meeting his parents.

Callum turned to me, grabbing my hand. “You're perfect, why wouldn’t they?” he said, smiling.

Before I could contradict him, the door burst open, and the sound of laughter filled the air. We were greeted by an older woman who yelled, “You finally brought her!” She looked me up and down with delight, filling her eyes.

“You must be Callum’s mother. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, happy that I was off to a good start with first impressions.

“Please call me Martha, and the pleasure is all ours for having you tonight,” she responded, ushering us in, where the rest of Callum’s family is seated in the living room. They seem to have been playing a game of cards and laughing as a tall, grey-haired man lost. “We have a special guest tonight, Henry.”

Callum’s father moved his attention to us as we entered the room. A smile started to grow on his face as he took me in. “Welcome to our home,” he said, and turned his attention to Callum next to me. “I was wondering when my son was going to bring you around.”

I was about to respond when another man with Callum’s dark brown hair rose from his chair. “It seems my brother was keeping you all to his self,” he added. “I’m Sam, by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m-”

“Callum has already told us a lot about you.” Sam had begun to stride to the dining room. “Let’s just start eating now that you’re here.”

Martha followed behind Sam but stopped in front of me and whispered, “Don’t mind him, he never brings girls to dinner,” before continuing after him.

Callum turned to me with his hand out – an offer for me to follow him. I grabbed his hand with a smile when, suddenly, I bumped into a young girl. Her hair was tied in two pigtails, and she wore a white dress, carrying a doll in her hands. The picture of innocence. When I was about to greet her, she hid behind Callum.

“This is my sister Lily,” he said, turning his head towards her. “She’s always nervous meeting new people.”

I bent down at her eye level and said, “Lily is such a beautiful name.” Her little head had begun to peek out from behind Callum. “They’re actually my favorite flower.”

Still clutching Callum like a lifeline, she said, “Lily is just a nickname, it’s actually short for-”

“Dinner is about to be served,” Martha came in abruptly. Her eyes met Callum’s and said, “Show some manners and bring our guest to the dining room.” With that, she vanished into the kitchen, and Lily trailed after her.

Callum directed his arm towards the dining room. “After you.”

As I entered the dining room, I couldn’t draw my eyes away from the setup. Gold, luxurious chairs lined the dining table, and red lilies were placed in a glass vase at the center. A white linen tablecloth covered the table with silver plates and utensils. The room itself was a picture of wealth and fortune.

“This house has been in my family for centuries,” said a voice. I didn’t realize Callum had come up behind me.

“What does your family do for business?” I asked, realizing Callum had never mentioned it before.

He moved his attention towards a painting on the wall of an old man. His resemblance to Callum was hard to miss. “My great-grandfather started a business. Now it gets passed down through the family.”

Before I could ask him to elaborate, Sam came in and said, “Mom is about to bring in the food.” He shifted his attention towards me, a smirk on his face.

A feeling crept into my stomach; it was nauseating as I met his gaze. Hungry – I must be starving right now. As if right on point, Martha entered the room and began placing the food on the table. Within minutes, the table was filled with food of all kinds – more food than we could all finish. A roasted chicken sat in the center with a large steak at its side that glistened in the light. Before I could protest, I was ushered into the chair at the head of the table.

“You’re the guest of honor,” said Henry as he insisted, I sit there. Everyone else followed suit and began taking their seats. Red wine was poured into my cup by Callum as he smiled – reassuring me that the dinner was going well. They began piling food onto their plates while Martha helped serve Lily. Conversations started around the table as I filled my plate.

Henry began sharing memories of Callum when he was younger. Sam would emphasize Callum’s more embarrassing moments as we all laughed. When Martha began telling a story of when Callum got lost as a kid, Lily’s empty gaze caught my attention. She has been silent this entire time, staring at the food on her plate like it was going to jump off.

“Hey Lily, what’s your favorite color?” I asked, trying to start a conversation. She just stared at me for a while and didn’t reply. That’s when I realized the laughter had stopped at the table.

Henry cleared his throat and said, “Let’s make a toast to our guest tonight.” Everyone had begun to raise their glasses, but I could’ve sworn I heard Lily whisper red. “To our guest of honor,” he continued. Everyone repeated it in synchronization.

“You’re definitely one of our favorites that Callum’s brought,” said Sam, the insinuation clear on his face.

“Have some respect, Sam. She’s my girlfriend,” Callum barked, already rising from his chair.

Martha slammed her hands against the table, drawing everyone’s attention towards her. “There will be no fighting tonight,” she said, ending the conversation. Her gaze met Henry’s – an unspoken conversation.

“We are proud of Callum for finding a wonderful girl like you,” said Henry.

Callum grabbed my hand, and I smiled at him. “Thank you for inviting me into your home,” I said, turning towards his family.

“We wanted to welcome you into the family with this dinner.” Martha moved her attention toward my plate. “So please eat as much as you want.”

With that, they all continued eating their food. I did the same and started to cut my steak when I noticed something. It was bloody – very bloody. I started to get the same nauseating feeling from earlier, but decided to push it down. I didn’t want to offend his family, not after this dinner was going well. I dug into my steak.

Time passed as we all ate. Conversations arose throughout the table from memories of their childhood to hobbies that consisted of hunting and poker. Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves except Lily, who barely touched her food. She seemed to be getting exceedingly anxious as we continued to eat. When I was about the ask Martha about her, the clock chimed, and it was midnight. The sound of the clock echoed throughout the room.

“Time really does fly by,” I said jokingly, except nobody was laughing. In fact, the room had gone eerily quiet. I had felt an immediate shift in the atmosphere. Everyone’s attention was fixated on the clock as if they were entranced by it.

“Martha, it’s time for dessert.” Henry drew his attention away from the clock to look at his wife. Martha obeyed and disappeared into the kitchen. Before I could ask if everything was alright, Martha was back in an instant. A shining gold platter sat in her hands with a cover to conceal the dessert beneath.

“Lilith, come help me with this,” said Martha, motioning for Lily – no Lilith to join her. She arose in an instant with her eyes fixated upon the dessert.

I wasn’t hungry anymore. I had started to get that nauseating feeling again. I turned to Callum to tell him that I wasn’t feeling well and needed to leave, but he wasn’t looking at me. His head was facing the opposite direction as if he couldn’t bear to look at me.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered with his head still turned. I didn’t understand what he was sorry for.

“Did someone even bother to get her name?” Sam said from the corner of the room. I didn’t try to ask what that meant, as my attention was fixated on Callum, who wouldn’t look at me. My mind had wandered as I tried to make sense of what I had done to upset Callum.

I was so focused on him that I didn’t notice when Martha removed the cover from the dessert tray or the knife that was concealed beneath it. I attempted to stand, but my limbs wouldn’t obey.

I couldn’t move. I looked around the table, and they were all staring at me. That is when I noticed nobody else had steak on their plates. I was the only one who ate it.

I did nothing but stare as Lilith took the knife and sank it into my heart. The room was silent as my blood stained the tablecloth.