The Trophy Room

based on the seven word short “I think I need a new suitcase”

Amber sat on the comfort of her armchair, admiring the animal heads that were around her. She had a collection of various animals from her hunting: a lion, a gazelle, an antelope, a pig, a tiger, a panther and a dog. Eyeing the dog, she smiled to herself, but it quickly faded as soon as she noticed the missing suitcase by the corner of the room.

Suddenly, a knock on her door startled her.

“Amber? I’m here.” Jason’s voice rang across the hallway.

She hurriedly stood up to meet him by the door. As she did so, Jason stood on her doorstep, a bag of groceries on his left hand and his car keys on the right.

“You want to cook?” Jason said with a smile on his face.

“Yeah sure. What’ve you got?” Amber replied, letting him inside the house.

Jason made his way into the kitchen.

“I’ve got lettuce here, tomatoes. You said you weren’t in the mood for meat right?” he said as he brought out the contents of his bag. “Do you have anywhere you want to go today?”

“I need to go to the mall.”

“But that’s an hour away.”

“I need a new suitcase.”

Jason’s brows furrowed.

“Okay.”

He started roaming around the house. Amber kept an eye on him. Just as he was about to enter her trophy room, she stopped him.

“Why? I’ve been here five times but I’ve never been in here. Anyway, it smells hideous, what’s in there?”

“This is… off limits.” Amber flashed him a quick smile, grabbing his arm “Don’t worry, you’ll see it, soon.” she then led him back to the kitchen.

Two hours later, they were off to the mall. Amber looked at Jason as he drove past the streets, admiring his features. He had a rosy, pink set of lips, a sharp nose and cat-like eyes, which were the ones who caught her attention in the first place. He looked like a cat. She liked that.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” Jason said as he turned a sharp left, avoiding a bicycle.

“You. I like your face.” Amber said casually, checking her phone for text messages.

“I guess that’s all you like about me.” Jason replied sadly.

Amber sighed quietly as Jason parked the car. He entwined his hand with hers and led her into the mall.

“How big of a suitcase do you need?” Jason said, eyeing the suitcases around the place.

“Big enough to fit a man. Around that size.”

“Why a man of all things you could say?” Jason said as he flinched, a late response from her earlier remark.

“It suits the description the best.” Amber shot him a quick smile as she grabbed a huge, pink suitcase from the racks. “I like this one.”

“Let’s have it then.”

Two hours later, Jason lay on Amber’s bed.

“Amber…” Jason said, admiring Amber from behind.

“Hmm?” Amber replied, putting her shirt on.

“I love you, you know?” he said, putting both hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

Amber stayed in silence as she once again, smiled at him, “You should get some sleep.”

“Will do.”

Minutes later, Jason dozed off. Amber sat on the bed, admiring his facial features, eyeing the cup of coffee he had finished merely minutes before. She lay down beside him. She noticed his long eyelashes which seemed more like whiskers to her. She liked his lashes. She liked his nose. She liked his mouth. She loved his eyes.

She laughed to herself as the feeling of attachment slowly downed to her.

Then she slit his throat with a snicker echoing across the silent, dark room.

Amber walked out of the house, dragging a pink suitcase into Jason’s car, a pool of blood following her lead. She was going to clean up later. No one was going to notice anyway. The nearest neighbor was nearly a mile away. She then proceeded to the nearby lake, throwing the suitcase into it. Finally, she left the car in the woods, getting herself back home.

She giggled to herself as she hung a new head on the wall. She had noticed the rotting smell coming from the room but she was too pleased to care as her eyes dwelt on the walls.

She had a cat now.