“Caution: may bite.”

I stifled a yawn as I haphazardly poured boiling water from the kettle into a mug. The front door slammed shut, making me jump. Water splashed out onto the counter as I turned to see Justin, my housemate, dropping a large black box on the kitchen table. 

“I found this on the doorstep,” he announced. 

“What is it?” I asked. 

“Dunno,” he replied. “Probably another one of Jenny’s online shopping sprees.” 

“Probably,” I said while opening the fridge for the milk. 

“I dunno how she affords it,” Justin continued. “It’s not like she works.” Jenny’s lack of a job continued to irk Justin, who never failed to find a reason that life was unfair. 

I got my first good look at the box as I walked over to the table, mug in hand. My slipper squelched on the cheap linoleum floor. “It’s a weird colour though. I haven’t seen a brand use all black for their boxes before.”

“Probably some special edition or something,” Justin said while taking my place at the kettle. 

“There isn’t a package label,” I said while taking a closer look at the box. Rapid footfalls from the stairs preceded our other housemate, Jenny, joining us. 

“Morning boys,” she said cheerfully. She was more of a morning person than me or Justin, probably because she didn’t spend her evenings working in a bar. “Ooh, what’s that?” she asked, her focus immediately captivated by the box. 

“Dunno,” Justin said as he joined us at the table with his own mug. “We assumed it was for you.” 

A frown came over Jenny’s face. “Nope, I haven’t ordered anything lately.” Justin scoffed into his mug. I quickly moved to quell any argument. 

“There doesn’t appear to be a package label,” I said again while picking the box up to show Jenny. 

“What’s that label there?” she asked while reaching out and pulling a note sellotaped to the other side. “Caution: may bite,” she read aloud. 

“What?” I asked while quickly putting the box down. 

“Give me that,” Justin said while snatching the note. “Huh, that is what it says.” I looked over his shoulder to get a look at the note with my own eyes. 

We all turned to look at the box. It looked more menacing than it had done when Justin had first brought it in. “What do you think is inside?” Jenny asked. 

“Probably just some dumb marketing gimmick,” Justin replied. 

“Why don’t you open it then?” she teased. 

Justin suddenly clapped me on the shoulder, making me jump again. “Go on mate, you open it,” he said with a grin. My gaze returned to the box. He was probably right. It’s not like anyone would actually post anything dangerous in a box like that. There weren’t even any air holes. 

I stepped forward and picked up the pair of scissors left on the table from Jenny’s last delivery. “Wait,” she said meekly as I ran one of the blades down the taped join at the top of the box before reaching in and pulling the two pieces apart, opening the box. “What is it?” Jenny asked while taking a step towards me. 

“Nothing,” I replied. 

Justin laughed. “See, I told you.” 

“Wel, that’s just stupid,” Jenny said, her frown returning. 

“Just another box to add to the pile, huh Jenny,” Justin said while heading back upstairs. Jenny tutted as she headed to the kitchen. 

I took one last look in the box, before following Justin up the stairs. As I took the first step I realised I had left my mug on the table and turned to grab it and felt something brush past my leg. I froze and looked down. There was nothing there. I looked up the stairs and back into the kitchen. All I could see was Jenny humming away while making tea. I shook my head, annoyed at whatever stupid prank had caused my imagination to act up and headed upstairs to my room.

As the day passed, we quickly forgot about the box on the kitchen table. Jenny and Justin continued to bicker whenever their paths crossed, much to my annoyance. 

The first flashpoint was around lunchtime. Justin was fairly cavalier with the food in the shared fridge and often helped himself to whatever was in there, something Jenny and I found frustrating. 

“Do you think the neighbours got one too?” Jenny asked me while filling a glass of water from the tap. I followed her gaze over to the table and the black box. 

“Maybe,” I replied while shrugging. I was waiting for my leftover pasta to reheat in the microwave. 

“I still think it’s silly,” she said. 

“Are you still talking about that box?” Justin said from the staircase, leaping the last few steps. “I had forgotten all about it,” he continued, entering the kitchen. 

“I’m not surprised, having not left your room all day,” Jenny said sarcastically as she quickly headed into the living room before Justin could respond. 

“Was that the doorbell I heard just now?” Justin asked me, a big grin across his face. 

“Yeah,” I replied as the microwave beeped. 

“Another online shopping binge?” Justin pressed, his grin widening. 

I pulled my Tupperware of pasta out of the microwave and gave it a stir, trying to buy myself time to respond. “Food delivery, I think”. 

“Justin!” Jenny screamed from the living room. “What the hell?” Jenny stomped into the kitchen with a frown on her face and a plate in her hand. “Where is my burrito?” she asked. 

“What are you talking about?” Justin replied, still grinning. 

“My burrito,” Jenny enunciated slowly. “It was on my plate while I went to get a drink and when I got back it was gone.”

“And?”

“You obviously took it!” she yelled. “Like you always do, helping yourself to our food,” she continued while gesturing wildly towards me. “It’s not fair Justin, that burrito cost me £15”. 

“I didn’t take it,” Justin protested. 

“Who did then?”

I took my Tupperware and headed for the stairs as they continued yelling at each other. As I reached the landing I noticed something on the floor near the bathroom door. As I bent down to get a better look I realised it was the torn paper wrapping of Jenny’s favourite burrito place. 

The next ruckus that dragged my attention away from the lecture notes I had been reading was a crashing sound from downstairs, followed by Justin yelling. I let out a sigh and pushed my chair back and walked across my room and opened the door to hear what had happened. 

Jenny and Justin were yelling at each other about breaking something. I sighed again and started to descend the stairs when something moved out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned my head to see the bathroom door slowly closing. I stood there for a few seconds, watching it. “Someone must have left the window open after their shower and the wind blew it shut,” I said out loud. 

The yelling from downstairs was intensifying, so I hurried down and entered the living room. Justin was holding the neck of his guitar in one hand and pointing at Jenny with the other. The rest of his guitar was at his feet. 

“I told you if you left it lying around it would get broken,” Jenny said. 

“So you admit you broke it?” Justin yelled. 

“No!” she cried back while throwing her arms up into the air in frustration. I looked back upstairs, still thinking about the door, before shrugging and resuming my role as mediator between my two housemates. 

The rest of the day passed without incident and I had made it to bed without any more shouting matches. I got the impression Jenny and Justin were avoiding each other, which suited me fine. 

I was just drifting off to sleep before the sound of Justin yelling caused me to stir. “What is it now?” I muttered to myself while grabbing the other pillow and pressing it down on my head to block out the sound. Sleep started to take me again before a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the house. I bolted upright in bed, dropping the pillow on the floor. I reached across and turned on the lamp. I blinked my eyes clear as I adjusted to the light and noticed that my door was wide open. 

“Jenny, Justin?” I called out. 

I went to pull the covers off me but realised there was a weight on them, stopping me. I rubbed my eyes and looked down at my bed. Nothing. As my body slowly woke up I noticed a strange sound coming from the hall. It sounded like sobbing. “Jenny?” I called out again. 

I felt the weight on my legs shift and could hear the sound of something panting alongside Jenny’s sobs. I froze and peered forward into the gloom. Nothing was there. But I knew if I reached my hand out, I would feel something. 

The weight shifted again and the panting got louder. Worse, I could feel the hot breath of whatever it was on my face. And the smell of blood almost made me gag. 

My mind suddenly went to the black box I had opened. ‘Caution: May Bite.’ Well, they had warned us, I thought to myself as the panting was replaced by a low rumbling growl.