Funny Games

His name was Caleb Mathews. He was a charming, young man. He always had a different lady at his side, each always prettier than the last. It was strange though, that each lady Caleb was with wouldn't be seen the next day. People said that the women would just leave, but no one could ever come up with a reason why. One day, Caleb was at a cafe when he spotted a young lady sitting alone at another table. She looked like the bleeding heart type, also very nice and pretty. Caleb got up and walked over to her.
"Hey there, my name's Caleb. I saw you sitting alone; I thought I'd give you some company."
"Um, hi. Uh, sure, sit down. I'm Marie."
"Nice to meet you, Marie. So tell me, what brings you here alone?"
"Nothing, just a cup of coffee before I leave."
"You're leaving?" He asked.
"Yes, in two days. I'm not from here, I was just visiting."
"Oh, well in that case, I must insist, we meet again. Say, here tonight at eight?"
"Well, you don't beat around the bush, do you Caleb?" He chuckled.
"I guess I don't. So what do you say?"

"Um, sure. Okay. At eight."
"Great!"
"I have to go now. I'll see you later." She left.
Caleb waved goodbye, already plotting what he would do. Marie had no idea who this man really was.
Eight o'clock came. Caleb arrived at the cafe. He saw Marie sitting at one of the tables.
"Hello Marie." He greeted her. She smiled and stood up.
"Caleb! For a minute there I thought you weren't coming."
"I would never do that. Actually, I was thinking of inviting you to dinner at my house. I thought it'd be better than some old cafe."
"Oh, well, um. Okay sure. I don't see why not." He led her to his car, and they drove off to his house.
When they got there, he let her inside. The first thing she noticed were the many pictures of women that lined his walls, they looked as if they were sleeping. She figured they were just family members.
"Marie, if you could follow me into the dining room, I'll get the food."
She followed him and she sat down at the dining table. The food was set.
"Oh, hang on; I'll go get some bread." He said. Caleb got up and went to the kitchen, where he had a bat. After grabbing it, he quietly walked over to Marie and hit her on the head three times. At the third strike, she was knocked out. There she lay on the floor. He stood over her, smiling, then he grabbed her by her ankles and dragged her into the living room, not bothering to be gentle. When he got her to the living room, he sat her down on a wooden chair and tied her up, whistling a strange tune as he did it. An hour later, she woke up.
"Good, you're awake."
"What? Where am I? What have you done to me?!" She yelled.
"Relax, I haven't done anything, unless you're referring to the slight bump on your head, you're fine."
"You horrid man! You let me go right now!"
"So soon? But I want to play a little game first." He said.
"You're horrible!"
"Well my dear, maybe if you weren’t so damn gullible, you wouldn't be in this situation. You never know who might want to pull a fast one on you." He laughed.
"I hate you! What kind of game would include tying me up?"
"Just a little game of cat and mouse. Sounds like fun, no?"
She spit at him. "You're despicable! I don't want to play any game, I want to be let go!" Caleb could tell she was in distress.
"Oh, why not? It'll be fun."
"Fun? You're sick. I bet your whole family is as deranged as you!" Caleb's face changed.
"You bite your tongue! Don't speak of my family in that manner, you know nothing about them!" Marie had found something that could make Caleb tick.
"I may not know anything about them, but seeing as how messed up you are, I can just picture them!" She yelled. Caleb grabbed the bat and walked towards her.
"The game is beginning. It's simple, I'm going to let you go and count to five. You can run and hide. If I haven't found you and I've given up, I'll let you go, but if I find you"-he chuckled- 'then I'm sure you can guess what will happen." He untied her as promised, walked over to the couch, and sat down. He closed his eyes and began counting.
"1...2...3..." Marie was off. She ran out of the room, looking for an exit, but she couldn't find one. She heard him yell out '5'. Panicking, she ran into the nearest bedroom and hid under the bed. She was scared for her life. She tried calming herself down.
"Pull yourself together, Marie." She whispered to herself. She heard footsteps, and the light turned on. She closed her eyes, assuming this would be her last night. She could no longer hear the footsteps, she thought he'd left. She opened her eyes, when suddenly she was dragged out of the bed by her feet. She screamed while he laughed.
"I found you, Marie." He was trying to get control of her, but she fought him. He lost his grip on her when she kicked him hard. He yelled out in pain and she ran out of the room. Marie ran around, looking for a way out. She terrified and exhausted, but she knew she had to find a way out. She heard Caleb yell her name.
"You can't hide from me Marie! This is my game!" He screamed. She ran into an open closet and shut the door. She had no idea what she was to do next. Then Caleb opened the closet door and pulled her out. She screamed for help.
"How dare you defy me in my own home? This is my game! If I knew you were going to play unferaily, I wouldn't have brought you here." He told her. Caleb brought her into the basement. All that was in the room was an old metal chair. She could see the straps on the arm rests. Caleb sat her on the chair, and strapped her in, Caleb noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Aw, cheer up Marie. You're ruining the game for me." He told her sweetly. Marie looked up at him.
"You disgusting, putrid man! You better keep your fingers crossed that no one finds out about what you do. I know you'll pay."
"Oh be quiet Marie, you're just mad because you lost."
"Just tell me one thing Caleb; why? Why did you do this?" He smiled at her.
"Just for the thrill of it, my dear. I've got to say, you are the only one that's lasted this long and for that I congratulate you. You sure did take a risk when you kicked me. Didn't your mother ever warn you about fighting with boys?" He responded.
"I guess not. My mother always told me to defend myself when someone tried to hurt me." He chuckled.
"I'm sure she did."
"So is this what you do? You meet people, sweet talk them and bring them here to play your sick game?" She asked.
"I guess it is. It's a lot of fun on my part; it shows who's really determined. But is that what you think of me? That I'm deranged?" He asked.
"Well if the shoe fits, wear it." She retorted. Caleb finished strapping her in and walked over to a lever on the other side of the room.
"Well, Marie, any last words? Make sure you're not keeping something under your hat."
"Just that you're a horribly disgusting man and you will pay for what you've done! One day, someone's going to find out about what you do, and you're going to be in trouble." He laughed at her.
"Well, we'll see."
He pulled the lever to the electric chair and watched as Marie’s body shook, white foam coming out of her mouth and her eyes turning back in her head. After a few minutes he turned it off, walked over to the lifeless body that sat in front of him and smiled. Then with that, he walked away, whistling a strange tune.