Sin of Greed

Ignited Trousers

  "Ugh, when I get home, I'm not watching reality shows ever again." Ezra ranted.

  "It ain't that bad." Mikah shrugged. "Though it did get Alec killed..."

   They clench their jaw. "Exactly! Most modern reality shows tend to get the contestants severely injured. Who knows, maybe the guy behind this is putting us in this game for the cash."

  Mikah slipped their phone in their pocket and ambled to the doorstep. Ezra gave them a stare and raised a brow. "Hey, I'm not done talking. What's up with you recently? You keep leaving me on read. I don't have a problem with it, but you never do that. And you've been hanging out with that actress. Did I say something that made you upset?"

  "Oh, no, it's not like that at all." Mikah's muscles tensed. "I'm just trying to make new friends. I always hang out with you all the time, so I thought it'd be nice to meet up with some other people."

  "Don't forget about me." Ezra joked.

   Mikah averted their gaze from their friend. "No, I wouldn't do that. Anyway, uh, I need to attend something urgent. Talk to you later."

   "Bye." They mumbled while facing the ceiling in bed.

    After slamming the door behind them, Mikah detected a faint hum adjacent from here, which was probably coming from the other side of the hall. To not startle the one singing, they slowly tip toe to the person. The noise became louder the closer they got.

   They placed a finger on the person's shoulder and tapped it. "Charlotte?"

   "Hello, Mikah. You shouldn't approach me like that." Charlotte turned to the sky. The sun's rays hit her face, causing her to glow brightly. "If you were to startle me, I would've fallen all the way down to my demise. Splat! I'd be a pile of blood on the floor."

   "Maybe you shouldn't be sitting so close to the ledge." They retort.

   She chuckled. "Hm, perhaps. You're quite an amusing one, aren't you? Well, I suppose we should begin the tutoring. I'm sure one of the bedrooms up here aren't occupied. Like Dan's for example?"

  "How'd ya know Dan slept up here?" Mikah stopped, taken aback.

   Charlotte stared at them for a long moment before finally answering. "Er... He gave me his number last night. I asked for it."

   "And you asked him what room he slept in while he was here? Isn't that, uh..." Mikah paused.

   The woman only shrugs, entirely ignoring their question. She twisted the doorknob to the door and unlatched it. The white bedsheets seemed the same, excluding the slight dust that had gathered. Sliding their hand on the ivory wall, Mikah gazed at their hand now covered in a thin layer of silver dust. Ew, dead skin. They grimace to themselves. Charlotte revolved their body to face Mikah's.

   "Now, to begin the lesson. If you don't want others to be able to read your expression, it is suggested that you learn how to make a good poker face." said she. "Oh, I know. Let's play a game of Uno."

   "Excuse me, but what?" Mikah peered intently at the woman.

    Charlotte gave her a look with a menacing tone. "Do not question my actions."

   "Jeez, okay." They nodded. Charlotte reached for the highest shelf and obtained a red and black box. She pulls up the chair to the rustic, miniture table and scatters the cards on it's smooth, wooden surface. She does a simple shuffle with the cards before placing all but fourteen of them at the opposite side of the table. She hands the stack of seven to Mikah and kept one to herself. Mikah scanned the contents of the cards and beamed. Sweet, looks like I got a four plus wild card.