Audrey cranked up her radio as she flew down the highway, singing along to the song playing. Today had certainly been a long day, especially since she’d just been alerted that her job working at the mortuary had been replaced by some 22-year-old girl. On the bright side, at least she didn’t have to worry about putting dead people in coffins anymore.

As she drove, she noticed an elderly lady waving her hand. On the busy highway? What is this woman thinking? Audrey thought to herself as she slowed to a stop. “Are you alright, ma’am?” She asked, getting out of the car.

“My-my car broke down a little ways from here,” the lady said, her voice trembling as a cold gust of wind blew in her face. “Could you please help me get back home?”

“Of course! Here, let me get the door for you.” Audrey said as she opened the door for the woman, who was happy to sit down in the warm car. Audrey got back in, buckling her seatbelt before pulling back onto the highway. “Do you want the heated seats on? And where do you live?”

“Oh! Thank you dearie, the heated seats are quite lovely. I live not too far from here, but this frigid weather made me test my luck with hitchhiking.” She laughed, making Audrey reminisce of when her own grandmother was still alive.

Once at the woman’s house, Audrey noticed how many cars that she owned. “Wow! You must be a huge collector of cars!”

“Oh! Yes, yes. Yours is quite lovely too. Why don’t you come inside? Have a cup of warm tea?” The woman asked, and Audrey agreed, going inside and standing beside the entrance door. The woman came back only a moment later with a cup of tea in hand. “That nasty weather is going to give you a nasty cold. Drink the tea, Audrey.”

Audrey sipped at the tea as she sat down, feeling a tad lightheaded. She had never told the woman her name . . .

She woke up on a cold stone floor, shackles connecting her legs to the floor. She could move, but she couldn’t leave. “Ah! You’re awake, darling. I’d suggest you get to work.”

Audrey still felt dizzy as she looked up. The old woman had drugged her. “What? What do you mean, ‘get to work’?” She asked, her hands starting to tremble. She felt an electrical shock shoot through her body. The shackles were electrical.

“Building your own coffin, dearie. Hurry, hurry now, or you’ll be dead before you finish.” She had an evil grin on her face as she motioned to a bunch of wooden planks on the opposite corner of the room. “It’s hard getting all of those coffins, you know. That’s why you build them. Besides, I can’t just buy several coffins off the market. Raises too many eyebrows. This is by far the easiest way to get them, you know.”

“But . . . at least tell me this, how did you know my name?”

“Your name, dearie, was easy to find out. You had it printed on your cup.” She exhaled, putting a wrinkled hand to her face. “Time's a tickin’, honey. I’d rather like to have a new car to drive by tomorrow morning to get rid of your body. Won’t you help an old lady out?”