New Game

Basement

(No Mike yet.)

The woman admired her reflection in her vanity.

She tossed her hair and adjusted her perfect curl. She lifted a tube of mascara from the table and popped the cap, using the wand to apply generous layers to her the lashes above her eyes. Her eye-shadow was a glimmery shade of silver that matched her hair. She pouted coyly at her mirror-image.

Absolute perfection.

The woman reluctantly abandoned her reflection, leaving the vanity to venture out into the main part of her home. The living room walls were covered in pale yellow patterned wallpaper. The old, beaten leather furniture was dull and brown. It was rather modest for her tastes, but she had inherited it from her parents and she had not had enough time to re-model the entirety of the interior. She didn't spend much time here anyway.

She had compensated by covering every inch of the walls with framed photos of herself. She lined the adjacent hallway with gorgeous gilded mirrors so that she could admire her slender form from every angle while she walked into the kitchen. She paused for a moment to wink at her reflection.

Her kitchen looked the same way it did when her parents purchased the house over fifty years ago. She had not done much with the room since she rarely cooked for herself. It still had the same cracked linoleum floors and turquoise oven from her childhood. Tucked in the far corner, was a rickety white card-table that seats four. She vaguely recalled family dinners at that very table: a sweet, happy girl with doting parents, proud to remind their daughter of how incredible she was. How great she would be. She dismissed the thought.

The grey-haired woman turned away from the table and opened the refrigerator with a swift jerk. She peered inside at the sparse contents before settling on some baby carrots. She pulled out the vegetables, walking over to the table and sitting in the chair closest to the wall. The woman began nibbling her carrot quietly, thinking to herself. She should really do something about the inside of this house.

The only room she had put any work into was the basement. After all, it was where she kept her friends. It was one of her greatest achievements, really. She had done a lot of the labor herself, wanting as few people to know what she was up to as possible. She was immensely proud of herself for the achievement, more so than usual.

The woman heard a loud thumping and muffled screams from beneath her feet. Her guest was awake. She smiled to herself and got up from the table, heading towards the entrance to the basement.