Meat and Desire

Abby was a usually quiet boy who sat in the corner of the classroom, dreaming of going to university, but feeling like he had nowhere to fit in. Living in the corner house of an isolated street with few children, Abby wasn’t a cry-baby, but he wasn’t happy either. He often cursed his fate, believing destiny was cruel and that there was nothing left for him to live for, especially after discovering that his biological father was alive but had abandoned him following his mother’s tragic accident. Abby felt sorry for himself most of the time, guilt-tripping himself for being a victim. His silence made him an easy target for bullies, and he barely spoke, sinking deeper into his quiet world and becoming the most silent person anyone had ever known.

This little boy grew up to be a die-hard fan of the dark web, mastering its intricacies and navigating its depths with ease, until his eighteenth birthday. Abby, feeling a wave of depression as he approached this milestone, turned to the dark web to explore unsolved criminal cases from around the world. One day, while browsing, he accidentally clicked on a popup message that read, “Life is a mystery. Do you want to know what the future holds? Check out this mystery box!” He ignored the message and moved the cursor.

That day was an exception! He was hovering over an article when the message popped up and he accidentally clicked on it. All of a sudden, his current screen minimised and he was redirected to a chatroom. A dark themed window opened with several people chatting anonymously. He tried reading few sentences. Everyone was excitedly talking about some mystery box. Abby scrolled up the screen to read older messages however, chats were moving too fast. He wasn’t able to get hold of initial conversation. He continued going through the messages and noticed the group getting excited about mysteries and discussing previously received mystery boxes. Out of them, he narrowed down the results and identified there was one user who was replying to all the users in the chatroom. “Meat&Desire407” - this user answered several questions. Appeared like this user was the master of mystery boxes. So, Abby posted “How about sending one to me?” Meat&Desire407 responded - “Will be sent to you on a special occasion”. Abby replied - “Well, turning Eighteen in an hour and having no one to celebrate. What’s more special than this?” Meat&Desire407 replied - “Oh man! Happy birthday!” They exchanged few lines more about Abby’s feelings and his current mental state. Then, a message showed up – “One box your way!” Abby was confused! So, he asked - “How will you find me?” Meat&Desire407 replied - “An hour buddy, and you will unfold this mystery.”

Abby smirked! How will someone find his address when he accessing the chatroom over private network? He smiled over his silliness and called it ‘bullshit’. He continued reading the chats on the dark screen. Some members asking for mystery boxes, talking about occasions, sharing experiences about random strangers, talking drugs and magical spells. Abby was reading the user names rather than the messages. Suddenly he realises the user name ‘Meat&Desire’ is taken by few more members. As he carefully read through the lines, he noticed there are four users with Meat&Desire user names - Meat&Desire304, Meat&Desire202, Meat&Desire110 and Meat&Desire407, who had interacted with him. He immediately made a note of those four user names. He started going through the chats thoroughly, especially the ones with those four user names. They were peculiar, and were confined to mystery boxes, while remaining members were also discussing their experiences. Abby found it odd!

As he was trying to uncover more details, suddenly the doorbell rang! Abby was startled by the bell ring. He left the chatroom and went to open the door. He was taken by surprise! Quite shockingly, he found a gift-wrapped mysterious box delivered at his doorstep. In the beginning, he was hesitant to even touch the box, but when he heard the footsteps of his foster parents, he picked up the box quickly and hid it in his hoodie.

He went back to his room. It was midnight, his birthday! Rather celebrating it, he had only one question in his mind - How did Meat&Desire407 find out his address?

Was anyone playing around with Abby? Was it someone from the foster care or his bullies from his school? But then, how will anybody recognise Abby from his username? Abby started feeling nervous! He took off his hoodie as he started sweating. The gift box fell from his pocket then, and he realised that it was time to open the ‘mystery box’. At first, he was scared of opening the small box, later he had the courage to take it off the table and unbox.

His nervousness transformed into confusion. There were three transparent plastic pouches with different content. One had dried and crushed leaves, one had cufflinks and the third one had a pill, a white coloured unimpeachable pill. Abby laughed and heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at the cufflinks and kept it in his study table drawer. Then he looked at the leaves and the pill for a while, and suddenly his eyes fell on a note written on the box. It said - “want to have the happiest birthday, swallow the pill and unfold the mystery”. Abby thought to himself, at the most the pill will be fatal, so why not give it a try! Abby took the pill and continued going through some of the crime files available online.

The next thing Abby remembered was being woken up by the police in the middle of the woods. He opened his eyes to the sight of several policemen searching for him with the help of dogs. Abby was drenched in rain, which had probably started a few hours earlier. Nearby, a huge pit was being dug, surrounded by policemen. One officer was making a video, another was scrubbing something on a notepad, while the rest were peering into the pit with intense focus. They were carefully extracting something and placing it into a plastic bag. Abby had no idea how many days had passed; he was in a state of sheer confusion and couldn’t recall anything. The police found him with multiple bruises all over his body, his hoodie hanging loosely, and his trousers tattered. The entire scene was surreal, and Abby’s mind struggled to piece together the events that had led him to this moment. Abby was wounded and woke with an intense pain in his lower back. He had no memory of what had transpired in between swallowing the pill and when he woke up. But he had already figured out, it wasn’t as silly as he has imagined. He has been through something intense.

When police got Abby out of the forest, he was taken to the nearby hospital. His foster family was called for identification, who, upon arrival, identified Abby before police. Apparently, they were already present nearby, they were the one to file missing complaint. Twenty-four hours after the complaint, Abby was found in a forest near the hills which is famous for trekking and tent stays. However, Abby had no clue on how he got there, nor he had an idea what had happened within those twenty-four hours. Doctors examined him thoroughly if there were signs of violence, and conducted blood tests as well. It was discovered that there were traces of three drugs in Abby’s bloodstream. Not only that, the doctors confirmed that he was beaten before he became unconscious. He had backache due muscle injury that might have happened due to physical fight. Furthermore, he had cuts near his neck, those cuts that were possibly made from sharp objects like surgical knife. He had a deep cut on his finger and bruises near lips, eyes and all over chest. Police was shocked when the doctors informed that Abby has consumed a combination of three drugs out of which one directly impacts central nervous system. The doctor confirmed the drugs were not injected, rather Abby has swallowed it.

The doctor’s confirmation raised suspicion against Abby. Police began investigating to detect whether Abby was involved in a drug racket or he was a victim. Police started with interrogation. Abby was questioned about taking drugs. Abby abruptly denied using drugs ever in his life, nor he had been in touch with anyone related to drugs. Police confirmed this with his foster parents and conducted an enquiry at school, only to find out that Abby is the most obedient student and has never messed with anyone inspite of being bullied by classmates. Police also tried investigating an angle of depression and drug abuse, however that was ruled out due to unavailability of substantial evidence.

Abby’s involvement in drug activities were disregarded and the police was left with one perspective - combination of drugs and surgical knife. This is consistent with someone or a group that practices medicine. Having an idea about medical students was not enough to get hold of culprits especially given drugs in picture, one of which is a stronger variant of medication used for treatment of neurological illness. Abby was interrogated further, and when he admitted about receiving mystery box where he found the pill, his laptop and the box were confiscated for further investigation. The dried leaves in the other pouch were another illegal substance, but the cufflinks meant no harm, that was indeed a birthday gift.

Abby’s case started getting darker and mysterious. The police force realized that the attack on Abby was not an isolated incident and suspected there were related cases. They uncovered older files of mysteriously missing teenagers and wondered if these cases were connected. To avoid alerting the culprits and risking their escape, the police acted swiftly. They broadcasted false news that Abby had been hypnotized and could remember the attackers’ faces. They also made a hoax news that after a thorough search of the area, they found blood stains, which they planned to match with every registered citizen. The police also kept a close watch on medical colleges within the city and an extremely close watch on the hills. Their plan worked. Two days later, four young men gathered in an isolated area in the woods to discuss their escape. Before they could act, they were apprehended and taken into custody for further investigation.

The revelations were shocking and gore! As they narrated, entire department was in sheer disbelief! Do such humans even exist? The revelations were both shocking and gruesome, leaving the entire department in sheer disbelief as they listened to the narration. It was hard to fathom that such individuals could exist. Following the prosecution, their story was broadcasted nationwide, capturing the attention of millions. The details of their actions were so disturbing and unprecedented that it quickly became known as the most shocking and unsettling scandal in human history. The public was horrified, and the case sparked widespread outrage and fear, leading to intense scrutiny and discussions about the darker aspects of human nature. The impact of the scandal was profound, leaving a lasting mark on society and prompting calls for greater vigilance and preventive measures to ensure such atrocities could never happen again.

Four young men had arrived in the city to study medicine, each with a unique background and distinct personality. One struggled with uncontrollable anger, another was consumed by various obsessions, the third had an insatiable curiosity for exploration, and the fourth was a follower, willing to go along with whatever the group decided. Despite their differences, they all shared disoriented thought processes and harboured wicked ideas. Their bond formed on the first day of college, united by their experiences with senior students. This initial camaraderie grew stronger as they embarked on various explorations and experiments, which gradually took a darker turn. The four were particularly fascinated by chemical compositions and their effects on the human body. They frequently combined different chemicals to study their impact on humans, eventually creating a tablet that directly affected the brain, causing hallucinations and numbness, rendering the user immune to pain. One day, they decided to test this tablet on a fellow student, marking the beginning of their descent into criminal activity. Realizing the potential for profit, they turned to the dark web to sell their drug. Despite being only twenty years old, their intelligence and cunning made them formidable criminals. Their reputation as the brightest students in the class shielded them from suspicion, allowing them to operate under the radar.

One thing led to the other! While they were studying human anatomy, on a dark night, one of them made a random remark - How does human meat taste like? The other replied humorously, let us taste and then we can decide!

Little did the world know their humour would turn darker! The four of them unanimously decided to taste human meat, a decision that marked a new level of depravity. The very thought of consuming human flesh filled them with a twisted sense of excitement. The next course of action was not only difficult but also thrilling for them, as the mere thought of procuring a prey sent waves of adrenaline rushing through their veins. The evilness that had taken root within them was unimaginable, driving them to commit acts that defied all moral boundaries. This marked the beginning of user names Meat&Desire, a twisted tale of hunting humans to feed on their flesh. Their first prey was someone from their medicine fraternity. The victim - an orphan girl - she was an easy catch! They first lured her through romance and then asked her to swallow a pill. She had no idea that she was being given a fatal combination of medicines that will kill her painlessly. She was taken in between the woods where she was brutally killed. At first her body was drained out of all the blood. Then they cut her body into several pieces to cook on fire and feast on it.

This marked the rise of four monsters trapped in human body. Together they had killed twenty-three people - few new-borns, few teenagers and two adults. The numbers behind Meat&Desire304, Meat&Desire202, Meat&Desire110 and Meat&Desire407 was finally decoded by the police. The first number denoted the person, second and third combined to form how many they had managed to lure, in short, the number of victims. Abby was contacted by the fourth person of the group who had trapped seven people already, this was presumed from the number 407. This happened in a course of three years. Their operation required not only access to the dark web but also a variety of skills to avoid getting caught. The four individuals involved would access the dark web specifically to send the deadly pills under the guise of mystery boxes. They meticulously used the dark web only within a specific time frame, employing a paid VPN to maintain their anonymity. This careful planning and execution allowed them to continue their activities without getting caught. At times, they would gain access to dead bodies from the hospital by pretending to be relatives. As time went on, their confidence in their gruesome work grew. They began to identify targets, making them swallow the pill before beating them to death. After extracting all the flesh, they would dig a pit and dump the remains of the body. There was a specific area between the woods, just beside the hills, known for trekking and infamous for its wild animals. However, these monsters never encountered any wild animals. And the worst part was – they enjoyed every bit of their action and showed no signs of guilt or pain. They never got caught, which only boosted their confidence and adrenaline.

Abby was supposed to be the eighth prey of Meat&Desire407, but fortunately it rained! The incessant rains made it difficult for them to beat Abby to death. They couldn’t enjoy the merciless killing of an innocent who had ever meant any harm. During this entire ordeal one of them broke their leg and decided to abort their mission. It was indeed a lucky day for Abby! He was fortunate not to be a prey of the four innocent faced devils.

The entire police team was in utter shock at the audacity and lack of remorse displayed by the perpetrators, who had brutally killed twenty-three people, including infants. The revelation of their heinous acts left everyone in disbelief and horror, shaking the entire nation to its core. The fact that such thoughts and actions came from teenagers was particularly disturbing. The culprits were sentenced to death, and this case led to the implementation of stricter laws regulating access to chemicals, medicines, and mortuary facilities. Hospitals underwent rigorous inspections to prevent such incidents in the future.

It was Abby’s lucky day as he got another life! As for Abby, his life took a turn for the better, although he struggled to process the trauma and was advised to undergo counselling to help him cope with the psychological impact of the events. Counselling helped him get over the fear of using internet, still, even today, Abby is haunted by the memories of the chatroom. He gets nightmares about mystery boxes. Abby might have recovered physically, but mentally he is somewhat stuck in that black chatroom screen.