Invasion

A bell chimed from downstairs and was followed by Slasher calling Mabel’s name.

“Dinner!” he shouted up the stairs.

Mabel closed the book she had been reading—a romance novella she found in one drawer of the bedside table. She wasn’t very interested in the subject matter, but found the grouchy gardener character particularly compelling and hoped that he would cause riveting mischief throughout the otherwise boringly cliché plot. She sat up from the bed and left the novella on one of the pillows, then entered the hallway.

A servant was dusting off the small tables spaced throughout the hallway and nodded with a smile upon seeing Mabel. As she explored the house throughout the day, Mabel often found the servants of the property performing what she assumed to be their regular duties—cleaning and tidying, and keeping up general maintenance around the house. She counted five total, including the two yard workers she saw while circling the house earlier that afternoon.