Matt Whyman - The Savages

The pizzas, when they arrived, looked just as Jack Greenway had imagined. Each one featured a lot of tomato, mushroom, pepper and onions, but with no sign of any cheese.

‘Yum,’ he made himself say for the benefit of the girl sharing his window table. ‘You made a great choice.’

Amanda Dias studied her topping for a moment, declining an invitation from the waiter for a twist of black pepper.

‘Food should be pure and simple,’ she told Jack, collecting her knife and fork. ‘I would sooner gnaw off my own fingers than eat dairy.’

Jack sat across from her with his hands on his knees and just stared.

‘Awesome,’ he said eventually. ‘Just amazing .’

He had contacted Amanda the day after her talk. Friending her on Facebook was out of the question. That would only invite Sasha’s suspicions. Instead, he had headed back to the university on his lunch break, where he found her handing out leaflets outside the Union bar. She recognised him straight away, and even seemed pleased when he approached. That’s when Jack had switched on every charm button in his body and invited her to lunch. He wanted to learn more about veganism, he had told her. From someone who could provide him with guidance, wisdom and inspiration.

The lunch, he had said to finish, would of course be his treat.

Now that Amanda was here, in his company, Jack found himself a little lost for words. It wasn’t something that had happened to him before. In fact, he prided himself on being able to talk easily to girls and win them over by showing how much he cared for animals. Sure, Amanda was attractive, but in terms of conversation he felt outclassed. She just seemed so confident. So sure of her outlook on life. Sasha was lovely – beautiful, kind and funny – but she had needed him to lead her into his vegetarian world. Amanda was different. Her views went way beyond anything Jack held, and now he wanted to go there. Having been in the audience when she spoke, he found himself seduced by her hardline veganism.

Unlike Sasha, she also looked like she might go all the way if he cooked for her one night.

‘I have a question,’ said Amanda, chewing on her second slice of pizza. ‘It’s hypothetical, of course, but I’m interested.’

‘Go ahead,’ said Jack, who had yet to start his meal. ‘Ask me anything.’

‘Let’s say we have two dishes on this table. Both of them covered with a lid, but you have to choose one.’

‘Sounds good,’ he said. ‘What’s on the menu?’

Amanda pretended to lift an invisible lid from her plate.

‘Roast leg of lamb,’ she told him, and then repeated the gesture. ‘Or braised human heart.’

The way she presented this, with a wicked smile and her eyes penetrating his, left Jack with no air in his lungs.

‘Oh,’ he croaked finally, and breathed in once again. ‘For real?’

Amanda Dias nodded, not releasing him from her gaze for a moment.

‘For me, it would come down to ethics,’ she said. ‘Which animal, the lamb or the human, has caused more misery, murder and suffering in this world?’

‘The human,’ said Jack, who was beginning to feel the need for some fresh air. ‘Naturally.’

‘Then there is your answer,’ she said, and presented him with the invisible plate he had selected. ‘Enjoy!’

For a moment, Jack wondered if she expected him to pretend to eat it. He regarded the empty space where the plate was supposed to be. ‘What does braised mean?’

A grin eased across Amanda’s face.

‘I’m thinking you wouldn’t, right?’

Jack sat back, feeling hot and ready for a glass of water.

‘I don’t… I don’t know,’ he said, faltering once more, and that’s when a figure passed the window that commanded his full attention.

‘Ivan!’ he said out loud, relieved at first that he had found a way out of the conversation. Then Jack considered just how bad this looked from the street, and called out to him more urgently, ‘Hey, wait a minute !’

Ivan Savage rarely experienced fear. He had seen it in the eyes of many people, of course, and not just the victims of his pranks. His father hated to witness it in those they intended to consume. It was inevitable that they’d freak out when it became apparent why they were in the house and what the family had in mind. Even so, it was important that they kept such suffering to a minimum. It only provoked a rush of adrenalin in their victims, and a hormonal release like that just risked spoiling the flavour of the meat.

It was this thought, no matter how misplaced, that dogged Ivan’s thoughts as he hurried past the pizza restaurant. He checked for the van once more. It had pulled in some distance behind, as if the driver was waiting for the moment to snatch him from the streets. Ivan’s mouth was dry and his throat felt tight when he swallowed. It was one of the diners on the other side of the glass that caught his eye, but Ivan didn’t register that it was Jack until the young man rushed from his table to the door.

‘It’s not what it seems!’ Jack called out to him, with both hands raised as if to calm the boy. ‘Amanda is a friend.’

Ivan blinked and glanced back inside at the girl he had left at the table. Then he focused on the van before addressing Jack.

‘Help me,’ he said, much to Jack’s surprise. ‘Is your car nearby?’

‘Sure,’ said Jack, sounding as disarmed as he looked. ‘It’s parked around the back.’

Ivan gestured at the van.

‘There’s a man over there. I think he wants to interfere with me.’

‘What?’ Jack wheeled around, saw the van, and then glanced back, looking a little wary. ‘Shouldn’t we call the police or something?’

‘Take me home, Jack.’

Jack considered the request for a moment. He looked torn.

‘But my date… my lunch date.’

This time, Ivan’s eyes narrowed before returning to the girl, who had just finished her last slice of pizza. Amanda regarded him for less than a second, before helping herself to a slice from Jack’s plate.

‘Aren’t you hungry?’ asked Ivan.

‘Not any more,’ said Jack, who had just worked out a way to buy the boy’s silence. ‘Listen, if I drive you home will you forget you saw me here? It never happened, right?’

Ivan didn’t even look in Amanda’s direction.

‘Let’s go,’ he said.

Sasha Savage had returned from school feeling ravenous.

It was a feeling she had become used to in recent weeks. Being vegetarian wasn’t easy. Sacrifices had to be made. Not only did she have to plan each meal, and carefully keep it from her father, she found that she needed to eat little and often to make it through each day. And yet despite it all, as the end of her month without meat approached, Sasha was feeling good about herself. Better than ever, in fact. She could see it in her skin, just as Jack had promised. It was supple and elastic, while her eyes were clear and sparkling. What’s more, as she hung her coat up in the hallway, she found that she had actually developed a taste for a meat-free diet.

‘Hello?’ she called up the stairs. ‘Is anyone home?’

She waited for a response for a moment, and then smiled to herself. Without a doubt, her grandfather would be in his bedroom, but the house was as good as empty. Not only was he hard of hearing, he hadn’t ventured downstairs in an age.

It meant Sasha was free to head for the kitchen and fix herself a tasty snack.

‘Let’s see,’ she said to herself, crouching in front of the fridge, and began to extract items one by one. ‘Tofu is good, cucumber, some mint, yoghurt and a pita pouch.’

The tofu block and the pita came from the lowest shelf, hidden at the back behind a ham. It was her mother who placed it all there for her. She had been so kind and understanding about everything. Sasha knew she disapproved, but that hadn’t stopped her from helping her daughter keep her food choices a secret from Titus. Laying a chopping board on the surface, Sasha found a knife and pierced the pita bread. Carefully, she drew the blade down, opening up the pouch. It reminded her of those times her father had asked her to help in getting ready for a feast. Over the years, with a corpse laid out on the kitchen table, she had learned to extract everything from top to toe and prepare it accordingly. Using her fingers, Sasha eased the pocket open, just as she would as if preparing to stuff a neck cutlet with herbs, butter and garlic. She had just reached for a teaspoon for the hummus when a shriek from close behind caused her to drop it to the floor.