The atmosphere was strange, as if the sky was hung in a still gray color.
Sami was holding his daughter Joud's hand, and they were walking on the dirt road on their travel path. While walking, they felt hungry and wanted to find something to eat.
Joud pulled her hand away and said:
"Daddy… I'm very hungry."
Sami sighed; fatigue showed on his face:
"I know, I know, Joud. Soon we'll find a place to get some food."
Ahead of them was a small village that looked old, the street empty, and no sounds except their footsteps.
Sami looked at the cracked walls of the houses and said:
"Looks like we reached an abandoned village…"
But when they turned the corner, they found a small shop with a worn-out sign:
"Um Al-Khair Grocery"
Sami entered, and Joud followed him.
Inside, the air was colder and smelled strange — like rotten cheese mixed with something else, something unpalatable.
The shopkeeper stood by the fridge, his eyes small, and his smile unnervingly wide.
He spoke softly:
"Please… I have something you won't find anywhere else. Local cheese… rare."
Sami hesitated, but hunger won.
He took a small piece of the cheese, brought it close to his mouth… The taste? At first, it was normal, but after a few seconds, he felt a strange flavor — like metal, like it contained… blood.
He cut a bit and gave it to Joud.
Joud tasted it, then immediately grimaced and said:
"Yuck! What is this? It doesn't taste good at all!"
Sami gave the shopkeeper a sharp look and said:
"Sorry, we won't buy anything. Thanks."
They left the shop.
But as soon as they stepped outside… they stopped suddenly.
The street in front of them was full of people… but strangely, many of them had no hands.
Some had one hand, others had their hands cut off at the shoulder.
Joud gasped and screamed:
"Daddy! This village… I read about it before!"
Sami quickly turned to her:
"What? Where did you read that?"
She cried, "On the internet… a village known for cutting off the hands of the poor and using them for food… even the cheese! They mix it with human bones!"
Sami stood shocked, cold sweat running down his forehead.
He looked back at the shopkeeper standing behind the glass, smiling… the same smile, unchanged.
⸻
Chapter Two: You Can't Get Out
Sami held Joud's hand tightly and said:
"Come on, let's get back to the car quickly!"
But… the car?
It was gone.
"Daddy…! The car? It was here!"
Joud's eyes scanned the area.
Sami tried to stay calm:
"Maybe we took the wrong turn… let's walk this way!"
They started running, but every street they turned down, they found the same road… the same faces… the same people standing as if waiting for something.
A big man blocked their way, wearing a gray robe, his face expressionless.
He spoke in a deep voice:
"Where are you going?"
Sami replied:
"We want to get out of the village."
The man shook his head slowly:
"No one leaves here once they enter… now you're one of us."
"What do you mean?!" Sami shouted.
"We mean you're guests… but every guest pays a price. And we pay in our way."
Behind them, men appeared wearing old clothes, holding sharp tools… knives, saws, and one held a long piece of metal that looked like a melted hand.
Joud screamed and cried:
"Daddyyyy! Don't let them take me!"
Sami stood in front of her:
"I won't let anyone touch you! I swear I won't let them have you while I'm alive."
But before he could move… a heavy blow hit his head from behind.
They knocked him down and dragged him, whispering:
"We need new hands…"
⸻
Chapter Three: The Escape
Joud screamed as she watched her father dragged away, blood flowing from his head, unable to get up.
But she was smart and knew she couldn't scream and run at the same time.
She quietly stepped back… slipped between the alleys and disappeared.
She walked between houses, hearing people crying and pots cooking… but the smell?
Not like normal food.
She stopped at a window and saw through it a woman tied up, while another woman was cutting something from a man and putting it in a pan.
Joud held back a scream and whispered:
"Oh God… oh God… is this a nightmare?!"
But the voice behind her wasn't a nightmare.
It was a small boy who said:
"Looking for your dad?"
Joud turned and saw him — a boy about ten years old, missing one eye, but with a normal face.
"I can help you… but you have to do exactly what I say."
⸻
Chapter Four: The Path to the Cemetery
The boy's name was "Nassar," a poor villager who knew all the village's secrets.
He said:
"They take people to the old church… that's where they cook, prepare, and store. If we find your dad before dawn, we can get him out."
"And if we don't find him?" Joud asked, her voice breaking.
"He becomes part of the goods."
They walked through the cemetery, the roads were all dug up, with empty open graves…
Nassar said:
"These aren't graves of dead people… they're graves of people who get eaten."
Joud put her hand over her mouth, trying not to vomit.
They reached an old stone building topped with a broken cross, orange firelight shining through the windows.
⸻
Chapter Five: The Sacred Kitchen
Through a hole in the wall, they saw inside the church.
People dressed in white stood around a stone table, on which lay a body half covered…
And Sami was tied to the edge of the table!
"Daddyyyy!"
Joud shouted, but immediately regretted it… her voice was heard.
People chased after her, but Nassar grabbed her hand and said:
"Come this way — the secret path!"
He opened a back door and they went down under the church, through a narrow, smelly passage that led right under the table.
Nassar said:
"Pull him from under the table!"
Joud crawled through the blood and water and reached her father.
Sami was awake but weak.
"Daddy… I'm here, I'm here!"
She tried to untie his bonds.
"Run, Joud… don't leave me…"
He breathed with difficulty.
But she didn't give up.
She untied him, and Nassar pulled them inside.
⸻
Chapter Six: The Last Village
They ran through the night, hearing voices calling their names.
"Sami… Joud… come back, let us finish… you are our food, don't run…"
They reached a dark forest, Nassar said:
"If we can get to the stone bridge before sunrise, we can escape. The bridge separates the village from the rest of the world, but if daylight comes… it closes forever."
Joud carried her father, and Nassar led the way.
The screams behind them grew closer.
People walked without legs, children with empty eyes, a woman scratching her face with a nail.
They reached the bridge… it shook.
"Faster!" Nassar shouted.
They ran, and behind them something crawled on the ground, voices whispering:
"Join us… you are one of us…"
But they crossed…
And in a moment, everything disappeared.
The forest was silent.
The sun rose.
Sami fell to the ground crying…
"We were going to be… food…"
⸻
Chapter Seven: The Cheese, Once Again
They returned to the city, but Sami couldn't forget.
Joud became afraid of food, of shops, even of cheese.
One day…
They received a package in the mail.
Joud opened it.
Inside was a piece of cheese.
And a card that read:
"Taste your fate… what's coming."