[M e w]

The first text message had arrived about a week ago. Shannon was surprised to see a text message that wasn't from either of his parents and had eagerly opened it, only to see the words "Welcome to the Game" in bold black letters. Obviously Shannon knew what this meant, the mysterious game that had been talked and gossiped about. He had no idea what the actual game was about, but he felt a sense of excitement when he received a message welcoming him into it.
Of course, that was at the start. When the shadows started moving and becoming dense like actual living creatures he knew he didn't want to be part of this game. He would cower away from the shadows when they so much as flickered and at night when he was alone in him room he would lay there with his covers pulled up to his nose in fear.

Now he had received another message a week later, the same words printed in bold letters across the screen of his phone. As he sat in his room, the deep orange light of the setting sun filling his room, he felt more fear than he had in the past week as he stared at the message. The sun was going down and the shadows were stirring again, but this time they weren't going to stay put as if they were taunting him. The Game was beginning.

--

Work had been extremely boring, and Maddison had been more eager than normal to leave and get started with her nighttime thrills. She summoned her long spear as soon as she was out the door, not caring if she looked strange to non-Players. She was wearing her usual sort of outfit which consisted of a purple pleated mini skirt, black knee-high boots, a lime green low-cut sleeveless top, and leather fingerless gloves. She whistled as she walked down the emptying streets, ready for the night to begin so that she could relax.

Of course it seemed strange for Maddi to love the Game so much, but she was strange herself. The Game let her take out all of the frustrations and anger that had built up from her life. In the Game she felt free to do as she pleased, free to fight against whatever was coming for her. In the normal world she was expected to be a proper and charming woman. In the Game, nobody cared if you were screaming at the top of your lungs or cursing to the sky. In the Game, Maddison was free to do as she pleased, and she always looked forward to when the sun fell below the horizon and another night began.