Chapter Three: The Stopped Clock

Inside its shade floated half a pomegranate seed in a sealed vial. As Zhiwei passed, she heard her sister whisper, “Forty.” Four doors waited at the bottom. Zhiwei entered 40 on the first keypad. Machinery hummed beyond it. Gu caught her hand. “Before we enter, you need to know one more thing. The twelve missing people were not ingredients for tonight's dinner.” She looked at him. “They were the previous guests,” he said. “The real ingredients were the people they loved most.” The door opened. Under cold white lights, twelve glass metabolic chambers stood in two rows. Eleven contained strangers, their chests rising faintly beneath nutrient fluid. The last chamber was empty. A water-warped photograph clung to its inner wall.