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"I don't care how good the food is, I am still terrified of the dark!" said a female to Diane's left as she was scrolling through a menu on her phone.
Diane scoffed at letting out a laugh. "You are also scared of dolls but you still keep that horrifying porcelain doll your grandfather gave you when you were ten."
With a flip of a dirty blonde braid that nearly hit her, her friend Stella turned to her with a more goofy than intimidating scowl. "I will have you know that doll is one of a kind and there are hundreds of collectors that are begging me to sell the doll to them."
"Only because they think it is haunted." Diane stated as she kept her eyes on the phone's screen.
Stella huffed. "I can't help that it likes to fall over and roll under my bed at night."
"Hm, sure. It rolls under your bed. If that reasoning makes you sleep better at night..." Diane said with a smirk and Stella just replied with an eye roll as the pair started to walk up to the restaurant entrance.
Darkened dining, an emerging dining experience that started in Europe, was making a place in America. And Diane was lucky enough to be engaged to the man that could open one up to the town.
"I still don't understand why Jack had the whole place closed to only us. Wouldn't we get a better experience if there were more people?"
Diane just shrugged. "I guess he just wants it so we have a specialized experience before the grand opening. Besides, Melissa and Brenda are coming so it won't be just us."
A groan was made by Stella. "Oh, I nearly forgot. If they are going to start talking about the statistics about independent stores versus big box stores again, I am going to just sleep. Luckily they won't know if we are in the dark."
Diane then slid the phone into her pocket, keeping her smirk. "If it comes to that, try not to snore. You sound like you are trying to call a ship into harbor when you do." But before Stella could say another word, they met the usher at the door.
The man was quick to run them through the procedures, most of which Diane already knew, considering Jack was the one who owned the place. The gist of it was the servers were the only ones who could see, the customers could not. Diane was the one who had the menu planned out for each of them, making sure she remembered everyone's preference and allergy.
It wasn't long before they were in complete darkness and seated. Once they were, a duet of female voices greeted them. "I am assuming that is the woman of the hour along with Stella." Spoke Melissa brightly. "So happy to... uh, hear from you again." She laughed.
Within a few moments, the four were conversing. It was odd, to say the least. It was like they were all on a voice chat, although they were inches from each other. Not long into the conversation, she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder and a kiss at her temple. "Hello dear." The masculine voice greeted warmly.
"Greetings darling." Diane smiled as she blindly went to touch his face. She then felt him sit next to her. The conversation picked back up after greetings were said. About ten minutes after Jack's arrival, the food was served. And after some assistance from the wait staff, the party was ready to enjoy their meal.
Diane ordered the all too tempting baked shrimp and crab alfredo. The smell alone reminded her of home, and she was grateful to dig in. As she ate, she did so slowly as she found she was now more aware of every spice, seasoning, and other ingredients they used. Jack was right. This was an interesting but enjoyable experience so far.
As if he read her mind, she felt him come closer to her ear. "How are you enjoying it, honey?"
She smiled, although she knew that he couldn't see it. "It is magnificent! I can see why you were so adamant about opening one of these up." A low chuckle was heard from Jack before the party descended into silence again as they ate their food.
But the silence was getting to her, so after she was pretty sure she finished her meal, Diane spoke. "So I hope I am not the only one that has enjoyed myself."
Stella was the first to reply. "Honestly, I am surprised. I thought this was going to be more terrifying, but it is actually kind of delightful."
"I am happy to hear that, Stella." Jack spoke. "But if you may excuse me, I have to take care of something." With a kiss on Diane's cheek, she listened to two pairs of feet walk away from the table.
Diane looked over to where she thought Brenda and Melissa were at. "How about you two? I hoped this wasn't too weird for the two of you."
"It is weird, yes, but not too weird." Brenda joked and Diane awaited Melissa's reply, but none came. Before Diane could ask, Brenda spoke again. "Oh, I think she is in the bathroom. I would check to see what is taking her so long if I could." She finished with a half-hearted chuckle.
"Oh, she will be fine." Stella said as it sounded like she was putting more food into her mouth. After a few moments, the group fell into slightly uncomfortable silence again. Diane sipped at her water as she waited for Jack and Melissa to come back.
"So, Brenda, how has work been keeping you? I heard that you got that well needed promotion last week." Diane spoke, anxious to break the silence. But Brenda never replied. She was there just five minutes ago. Surely she would say if she also went to the bathroom? Maybe Diane zoned out. She did have a habit of doing that.
"Stella, did Brenda go to the bathroom?" Instead of her cheery friend's response, she was met again with silence. It was now that Diane was truly freaked out. But before she could worry any further, Jack came back and started to lead her from the table.
Diane was comforted a bit by his presence. "Jack, have you seen the girls?"
"Oh, I have honey, and I assure you that they are fine. They have been brought to the experimental dining hall. I am sorry that you are the last one to know but I wanted to show you the surprise myself."
"Oh.. okay? When did you plan this?"
"Not long after, this place was built. I really hope you like it dear."
Diane nodded, although she couldn't be seen. Did Jack have night vision googles like the waiters? She could have sworn she didn't feel that when he first appeared at the table. Regardless, she followed him slowly to what seemed like a narrow hallway.
"Just walk forward, my dear. And I will meet you there."
"Jack, where am I-?" Before she could finish, she felt his hand leave her's. After a moment of confusion, she decided it was best to follow his directions.
Walking slowly, she made her way through the darkness. The floor was hard, and it was probably made of tile or wood. Running her hands along the walls, it felt as if it were padded... cloth?
Feeling a sudden pain throughout her right arm, she stopped. She whimpered a bit. It felt like a muscle cramp that happened after exerting herself too much. She tried to flex it as much as she could, rubbing the tension out as best as she could. She started to move forward again as she wondered what could have been the cause. It wasn't like she was moving particularly laboriously or anything.
She idly rubbed at her arm as she continued down the hallway. How long did this hallway go? It felt like she had a been walking for a good twenty minutes or so. She should bring that up to Jack because she doubted if his future customers would approve of walking in complete darkness for so long.
She then felt her foot latch onto something, something that wrapped around her ankle and scratched painfully at her skin. Frustrated, she bent down to untangle herself from whatever it was. It felt like... brambles? One of the thorns painfully dug into her palm and, using her fingers to check, she felt a bit of warm blood trickle from her hand. She sighed as she grew even more frustrated and confused.
Before she could try to continue to untangle herself, she was suddenly pulled by her foot and into a canopy of cloth. She felt more of the brambles wrap around her arms and legs as she was pulled easily. She tried to scream, to shout, but her words fell like stones from her mouth. She began to become dizzy and nauseous. She didn't know if her vision was blurry, but her eyes felt as if they were spinning in her skull.
Suddenly, she stopped. She felt someone above her and when it was the words of Jack; she was only partially comforted. "There you are, dear. I am so glad you made it one piece."
But before she could say anything more, she felt something stab in-between her ribs, just below her sternum. Again, her scream was lost and the only thing that came out of her mouth was a painful wheeze. She felt the hand of Jack caressing her face, mumbling something intelligible. She wanted to say something, anything, but her world became weightless as consciousness left her and a pool of her own blood began to pool around her.
Diane scoffed at letting out a laugh. "You are also scared of dolls but you still keep that horrifying porcelain doll your grandfather gave you when you were ten."
With a flip of a dirty blonde braid that nearly hit her, her friend Stella turned to her with a more goofy than intimidating scowl. "I will have you know that doll is one of a kind and there are hundreds of collectors that are begging me to sell the doll to them."
"Only because they think it is haunted." Diane stated as she kept her eyes on the phone's screen.
Stella huffed. "I can't help that it likes to fall over and roll under my bed at night."
"Hm, sure. It rolls under your bed. If that reasoning makes you sleep better at night..." Diane said with a smirk and Stella just replied with an eye roll as the pair started to walk up to the restaurant entrance.
Darkened dining, an emerging dining experience that started in Europe, was making a place in America. And Diane was lucky enough to be engaged to the man that could open one up to the town.
"I still don't understand why Jack had the whole place closed to only us. Wouldn't we get a better experience if there were more people?"
Diane just shrugged. "I guess he just wants it so we have a specialized experience before the grand opening. Besides, Melissa and Brenda are coming so it won't be just us."
A groan was made by Stella. "Oh, I nearly forgot. If they are going to start talking about the statistics about independent stores versus big box stores again, I am going to just sleep. Luckily they won't know if we are in the dark."
Diane then slid the phone into her pocket, keeping her smirk. "If it comes to that, try not to snore. You sound like you are trying to call a ship into harbor when you do." But before Stella could say another word, they met the usher at the door.
The man was quick to run them through the procedures, most of which Diane already knew, considering Jack was the one who owned the place. The gist of it was the servers were the only ones who could see, the customers could not. Diane was the one who had the menu planned out for each of them, making sure she remembered everyone's preference and allergy.
It wasn't long before they were in complete darkness and seated. Once they were, a duet of female voices greeted them. "I am assuming that is the woman of the hour along with Stella." Spoke Melissa brightly. "So happy to... uh, hear from you again." She laughed.
Within a few moments, the four were conversing. It was odd, to say the least. It was like they were all on a voice chat, although they were inches from each other. Not long into the conversation, she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder and a kiss at her temple. "Hello dear." The masculine voice greeted warmly.
"Greetings darling." Diane smiled as she blindly went to touch his face. She then felt him sit next to her. The conversation picked back up after greetings were said. About ten minutes after Jack's arrival, the food was served. And after some assistance from the wait staff, the party was ready to enjoy their meal.
Diane ordered the all too tempting baked shrimp and crab alfredo. The smell alone reminded her of home, and she was grateful to dig in. As she ate, she did so slowly as she found she was now more aware of every spice, seasoning, and other ingredients they used. Jack was right. This was an interesting but enjoyable experience so far.
As if he read her mind, she felt him come closer to her ear. "How are you enjoying it, honey?"
She smiled, although she knew that he couldn't see it. "It is magnificent! I can see why you were so adamant about opening one of these up." A low chuckle was heard from Jack before the party descended into silence again as they ate their food.
But the silence was getting to her, so after she was pretty sure she finished her meal, Diane spoke. "So I hope I am not the only one that has enjoyed myself."
Stella was the first to reply. "Honestly, I am surprised. I thought this was going to be more terrifying, but it is actually kind of delightful."
"I am happy to hear that, Stella." Jack spoke. "But if you may excuse me, I have to take care of something." With a kiss on Diane's cheek, she listened to two pairs of feet walk away from the table.
Diane looked over to where she thought Brenda and Melissa were at. "How about you two? I hoped this wasn't too weird for the two of you."
"It is weird, yes, but not too weird." Brenda joked and Diane awaited Melissa's reply, but none came. Before Diane could ask, Brenda spoke again. "Oh, I think she is in the bathroom. I would check to see what is taking her so long if I could." She finished with a half-hearted chuckle.
"Oh, she will be fine." Stella said as it sounded like she was putting more food into her mouth. After a few moments, the group fell into slightly uncomfortable silence again. Diane sipped at her water as she waited for Jack and Melissa to come back.
"So, Brenda, how has work been keeping you? I heard that you got that well needed promotion last week." Diane spoke, anxious to break the silence. But Brenda never replied. She was there just five minutes ago. Surely she would say if she also went to the bathroom? Maybe Diane zoned out. She did have a habit of doing that.
"Stella, did Brenda go to the bathroom?" Instead of her cheery friend's response, she was met again with silence. It was now that Diane was truly freaked out. But before she could worry any further, Jack came back and started to lead her from the table.
Diane was comforted a bit by his presence. "Jack, have you seen the girls?"
"Oh, I have honey, and I assure you that they are fine. They have been brought to the experimental dining hall. I am sorry that you are the last one to know but I wanted to show you the surprise myself."
"Oh.. okay? When did you plan this?"
"Not long after, this place was built. I really hope you like it dear."
Diane nodded, although she couldn't be seen. Did Jack have night vision googles like the waiters? She could have sworn she didn't feel that when he first appeared at the table. Regardless, she followed him slowly to what seemed like a narrow hallway.
"Just walk forward, my dear. And I will meet you there."
"Jack, where am I-?" Before she could finish, she felt his hand leave her's. After a moment of confusion, she decided it was best to follow his directions.
Walking slowly, she made her way through the darkness. The floor was hard, and it was probably made of tile or wood. Running her hands along the walls, it felt as if it were padded... cloth?
Feeling a sudden pain throughout her right arm, she stopped. She whimpered a bit. It felt like a muscle cramp that happened after exerting herself too much. She tried to flex it as much as she could, rubbing the tension out as best as she could. She started to move forward again as she wondered what could have been the cause. It wasn't like she was moving particularly laboriously or anything.
She idly rubbed at her arm as she continued down the hallway. How long did this hallway go? It felt like she had a been walking for a good twenty minutes or so. She should bring that up to Jack because she doubted if his future customers would approve of walking in complete darkness for so long.
She then felt her foot latch onto something, something that wrapped around her ankle and scratched painfully at her skin. Frustrated, she bent down to untangle herself from whatever it was. It felt like... brambles? One of the thorns painfully dug into her palm and, using her fingers to check, she felt a bit of warm blood trickle from her hand. She sighed as she grew even more frustrated and confused.
Before she could try to continue to untangle herself, she was suddenly pulled by her foot and into a canopy of cloth. She felt more of the brambles wrap around her arms and legs as she was pulled easily. She tried to scream, to shout, but her words fell like stones from her mouth. She began to become dizzy and nauseous. She didn't know if her vision was blurry, but her eyes felt as if they were spinning in her skull.
Suddenly, she stopped. She felt someone above her and when it was the words of Jack; she was only partially comforted. "There you are, dear. I am so glad you made it one piece."
But before she could say anything more, she felt something stab in-between her ribs, just below her sternum. Again, her scream was lost and the only thing that came out of her mouth was a painful wheeze. She felt the hand of Jack caressing her face, mumbling something intelligible. She wanted to say something, anything, but her world became weightless as consciousness left her and a pool of her own blood began to pool around her.