Free Cosmetics

‘Hey, girly! I’ve decided to start selling cosmetics.’ I groaned as I read the text message.

When a girl you haven’t spoken to since high school, Kimmy in this case, sends you a message like that, it means they’re trying sell you on some MLM BS. My phone buzzed again, and despite my better judgement, I checked it and braced myself to read the words ‘boss babe’.

Instead, I was surprised at what I read. ‘I need help figuring out my formulations for my products before I can take them to market, and I would love it if you would test some out. They’ll be free product in it for you!’

I was immediately intrigued. Kimmy had always been a smart kid in school, taking all AP classes as just a sophomore before she moved away unexpectedly in the middle of the second semester. The thoughts of high-quality free makeup that ran through my head had me replying quickly.

‘That sounds great! I’d love to try your products and give you feedback!’ I had a big smile on my face as I sent my reply.  It’d been a hard week, a hard month really, and this was just the kind of pick me up I needed.

‘Awesome! You can come to my place, and I’ll load you up with product. Let me know when you’re free.’ She attached her address to the message. I had expected her to just send me products in the mail. I had no idea she had moved back to town. I was long overdue for a little girl time, so this sounded great to me. I sent her my schedule and my earliest convenience worked for her.

I showed up at her place a little early with a clean face and a big smile. I’d barely rang the doorbell when she answered the door, looking every bit as excited as me. After a quick hug, she led me to her living room. Clean make up brushes and mirrors were already set up.

“Do you want a glass of wine before I start working on you?” she asked, already heading to her attached kitchen.

“Oh, yeah, that’d be great!” Kimmy and I had never been close, so the upfront hospitality was a nice surprise. She returned with two glasses, and I happily accepted the one meant for me.

I sipped as she started pulling out the cosmetics she was going to use on me. The feeling of the brushes on my face as she started to work felt so soft and relaxing. I closed my eyes to get lost in the feeling. I didn’t catch myself falling asleep.

I woke up to the feeling of my eye being forced open. Kimmy was standing over me, dressed in a lab coat with gloved hands. She was dropping some sort of liquid into my right eye. It stung, but I was too groggy to effectively  fight her off. As I helplessly struggled, I realized I was restrained by my wrists and ankles. Kimmy crawled off of me and hopped off of the metal table where I was laying. My breath quickened , adrenaline filling my veins. I moved my head from side to side. The room was unfamiliar, brightly lit, and severely medical. What the hell was going on?

“Oh, calm down,” Kimmy chided. She placed the vial of liquid she’d used on my eye on a nearby metal table. “You agreed to help me test my cosmetics after all.”

“What are you talking about, you psycho!” I wanted to sound angry, but I just sounded scared.

Kimmy tsked and shook her head. “It’s not my fault you didn’t ask more questions.” Before I could get another word out of my mouth, she walked out of the room, shutting a loud heavy door behind her.

I screamed. I screamed for what felt like an hour, but the room had no windows, meaning I had no way to keep track of time. When my throat finally started to hurt and my voice weakened, my screams were replaced with my tears. How was I going to get out of this? What was she going to do to me? Had she already done it? I looked around the room with blurry eyes and caught site of the vial Kimmy left on the table. I strained my eyes to try to read the label, but the tears prevented my eyes from focusing.

Before the tears could end, this gnawing itching started in my right eye. It started mild and manageable. I didn’t pay attention to it; I had bigger things to worry about. I blinked away the last of my tears, and once again turned my attention to the mystery vial on the table. I fluttered my eyes and squinted, trying to make out the label, but something was wrong.

I still couldn’t read it. My right eye refused to focus, and the itching was quickly getting worse. It wasn’t long before the feeling completely overwhelmed me. The sensation was like spiders crawling all over the back and inside of my eye. I blinked my eyes rapidly in an unsuccessful attempt to feel any relief to the feeling. The itching soon turned to a searing pain, and my sight in that eye started to fade. If my hands hadn’t been restrained, I can’t say I wouldn’t have tried to claw my own eye out of its socket in an attempt to stop the torturous feeling. Just when I thought the pain couldn’t get any worse, I started to feel the same stabbing sensation spread to my brain like tree roots cracking through concrete.

I screamed for what felt like ages, my blown out vocal cords squeaking and cracking, only stopping to cough and gag. Eventually, noise almost stopped coming out of me completely because my voice was so shot. That didn’t stop me from trying to scream, I simply couldn’t stop. My arms and legs fought against my restraints till my wrists and ankles were left raw and bloody. Adrenaline kept my body struggling far past its breaking point. I didn’t stop fighting till my body shut down from utter exhaustion.

I don’t know how long I laid there in utter agony. I was covered in my sweat and other bodily fluids I didn’t have the consciousness to remember or identify. All there was in my mind was pain. I silently begged for death just so it would end, and eventually, I got my wish.

Kimmy’s Log #87:

Subject #6 lasted approximately 36 hours and 32 minutes before expiring after the serum was administrated via dropper directly into the right eye. Autopsy results show large mass of hair growth in right eye socket that protrudes through right eye and right side of brain. The mass originated from the tissue around and inside of the subject’s right eye. It has been concluded that this was likely the subject’s cause of death.

Subjected is noted to have lasted 7 hours and 52 minutes longer than subject #5 before expiring. Further safety testing of the hazards due to accidental eye exposure to Eye Lash Growth formula is still required. Currently in contact with a possible subject #7.