Dark Rapture_A Disturbing Psychological Thriller

by Logan Fox

  But not now.

  Making friends was the last thing on her mind.

  “I mean, before this, I’d been doing some amateur porn stuff, you know. And I lived with my agent — there were six of us living there — and that place was a total dump.”

  Holy hell, didn’t the girl have an off-switch? Pearl gave her a polite, chilly smile, but it was obviously too subtle a gesture. Tina — who Pearl wouldn’t be able to pick out of a line up if her life depended on it — seemed determined to force Pearl into conversation.

  “And the pay’s so much better, right?” Tina put a manicured hand on the edge of the table — her nails were bright pink and encrusted with glittering silver tips — as she leaned closer. “For less sex. I mean, that’s a bargain if I ever saw one. And it’s not like it’s being recorded right? No permanent record.”

  Tina giggled.

  It was a surprisingly sweet, innocent sound.

  God, how old was she? Eighteen? Barely nineteen, surely.

  “I guess,” Pearl said.

  “I mean, videos are fine,” Tina went on. “I had a few thousand followers before I came here. But, since this is all hush-hush, I guess they’ll have forgotten about me by the time I get back into the real world.”

  She put the words ‘real world’ in air quotes, with another giggle.

  Pearl shifted on her chair and took a deep breath. Her eyes flashed over the assembled men and women before fixing on Tina.

  “I’m sorry, I have to go to the bathroom.” Pearl rose to her feet, her skin prickling in expectation of someone — Caden, probably — asking her where she was going.

  “Oh, me too!” Tina sprang up beside her, running her palms down the side of her dress. The bright yellow and her neon-colored nails made a queasy combination. “I’m so glad you said something—” she said in a conspiratorial whisper “—I didn’t know if we could. It’s all so… all so new and strict. It’s like being in school again.”

  Pearl groaned silently, trying very hard not to roll her eyes.

  But, no one tried to stop them. Maybe if it had just been Pearl — the girl who liked to roam around and get herself into trouble — she’d have been stopped. Or even escorted. But with airhead Tina, going to the bathroom seemed perfectly acceptable.

  Good.

  “Then let’s go,” Pearl said, holding her arms out so the girl could go in front of her.

  Tina nodded and gave her a bright smile before scurrying into the Fox Pit. She gave one of the girls from the east wing a quick wave as they slipped through the glass doors.

  Pearl’s gaze slid to the library. She could make out that single, unused door set in the stone wall. It would be locked, of course: they wouldn’t leave it open for anyone to just walk in and use the phone.

  Would they?

  “Hey, let’s go this way,” Pearl said.

  Tina spun around, her brown eyes widening. “What? Oh, sure. I love exploring this place.”

  “They let you?”

  “No.” Tina laughed, a sound only slightly less frivolous than her giggle. “But I still do it. Who wouldn’t? This is like one of those old castles or something, where there’s like treasure in the attic and stuff.”

  Pearl let Tina’s babble wash over her as she led the girl deeper into the library. Here, the musty smell of books scented the air, with a hint of ash from the fireplace. It had been cleaned, but recently. Had another one of those invisible servants been here while everyone was busy eating and making merry outside?

  “…was such a shock, you know? I mean, I get they’re all rich and stuff, but who cares? So you like to tie someone up before you fuck them? Everyone’s got a kink, you know?”

  “Sure,” Pearl murmured, her eyes set on the door ahead. “But not everyone can afford to satisfy it.”

  Tina laughed. “Right, I hear you. I guess this is like porn, but you can live it. Virtual reality, but in real life. You can do all those things you saw on the videos to a real girl.”

  Pearl grabbed the door’s handle and tugged it down.

  Locked.

  “Shit.” She turned, giving Tina a wary glance. “Know what’s behind here?”

  “Nope.” Tina shrugged, and then her eyes brightened with another smile. “Treasure.” She nodded. “Probably lots of treasure.”

  Pearl rolled her eyes and pushed past the girl. “Let’s go before someone sees us.”

  “Want me to open it for you?”

  Pearl spun back to her. “What did you say?”

  But she’d heard right: the girl lifted her dress and tugged a keycard from the waistband of her underwear.

  “Here. I think it’ll work. Wanna try?”

  Pearl leaned away from the card. Was this some kind of trick? Her eyes swept past the girl, taking in the empty library and the abandoned hallways.

  “Where’d you get that?” Pearl hissed, snatching the keycard from the girl’s hand.

  “Ethan.” Tina frowned at her, cocking her head like a dog trying to understand why you had a rolled up newspaper in your hand. “He lent it to me so I could go outside.” She shrugged. “I’m an insomniac. Like, big time. And he kept asking me if I was ever going to sleep last night and I was all like, ‘I’m not tired,’ and he was all like, ‘Well you gotta go to sleep,’ and I told him, ‘Walking sometimes helps,’ so he gave me his card. Told me to take a walk.”

  Another shrug.

  “I’ll give it back when he asks. He obviously has something on his mind, because he hasn’t asked for it yet.”

  Pearl closed her mouth and gave her head a small shake. Of course Ethan had other things on his mind: he was here investigating dead bodies and shit. And he’d obviously had to get Tina out of his fox den so he could slip out and make that call to his boss unnoticed.

  And he’d almost succeeded, had Pearl not dropped in and eavesdropped the crap out of him.

  Pearl’s hand tightened over the keycard.

  For a moment, it felt exactly like the business card Owen had slipped behind her G-string at The Doll House. The one he’d left in her box, alongside that dress.

  How long before Ethan asked Tina for this? How long before this golden ticket expired?

  “Tell him you lost it,” Pearl said though numb lips. “Tell him it’s gone.”

  “What?” Tina crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. “I don’t know—”

  “We can use it to explore, Tina.” Pearl took a step closer to the girl and dropped her voice. “Don’t you want to explore?”

  Tina’s eyes brightened again. She was almost beautiful, when that childish enthusiasm consumed her.

  “I do, so much,” she whispered. “I guess I can say I lost it. I mean, shit happens, right?”

  “Yes. In abundance,” Pearl agreed. “Tell him you lost it, and he’ll just get a new one. Meanwhile—” she wiggled the card in the air “—we get to explore.”

  Tina clapped her hands, barely suppressing a giggle. “Awesome. Fucking awesome.”

  “Now, I’m going to keep this with me, just in case Ethan doesn’t believe you and he searches you, okay?”

  Tina’s eyes went wide. “Ooh, good thinking.” She began to nod. “So, tonight?”

  Pearl, in the process of slipping the card behind her own waistband, blinked up at the girl. “Tonight, what?”

  “We go exploring!” Tina looked over her shoulder, shivering. “I think someone’s coming.”

  “Bathroom,” Pearl said, striding past the girl. “Let’s go.”

  Tina hurried along behind her, alternately humming and giggling under her breath. Pearl pressed her lips into a thin line, forcing herself not to shake her head.

  Keep it together, Tina. They wouldn’t be doing any exploring — or escaping — if she gave them away.

  2

  The Lesser of Two Evils

  Pearl had her hand more than a foot under her mattress, in the process of shoving the keycard into its new hiding place, when the door slammed open behind her. She j
erked her hand out, spun around, and almost collapsed in relief when Gia skipped into the room.

  She and Tina could be besties.

  They’d giggle and skip together all day long, enthusiastically recounting the day’s sexual adventures.

  Pearl pushed the thought away and managed a smile, which her roommate didn’t return. Gia — mind lost on another of its winding pathways that didn’t involve anything in this reality — flopped onto her bed and wriggled under the covers like a fish.

  Weirdo.

  Turning back, Pearl ran her gaze over the bed, making sure nothing looked out of place. It wasn’t the best hiding place, obviously, but it was better than sticking it to the back of the toilet bowl. And she doubted there were any convenient rubber vegetables in the fridge.

  “Roll call,” Gia moaned. “I hate roll call.”

  “What?” Not that she was really paying attention to the girl: she was trying to think of a better hiding place for her little treasure. Hopefully, if everything went well tonight, then it didn’t matter if they discovered the thing tomorrow. But shit happened… usually in abundance when she was involved. She had to factor in the worst possible ending for tonight’s jaunt.

  And that included factoring in Tina.

  And Gia.

  “It’s so cold in there,” Gia said, still wriggling around in her bed. “They never put on the heat. And it’s creepy.”

  Pearl’s ears pricked up. Gia thought something was creepy? Gia, who had no compunction about masked stranger tying her in a web of red ropes, suspending her from the ceiling, and then fucking her until she screamed for mercy?

  The same Gia?

  “What’s roll call?” She glanced at the girl over her shoulder. “Why’s it creepy?”

  “They didn’t tell you?” Gia’s head popped out from the covers, her blond braid disheveled. “Oh right, they never do. They boil you like a frog, slow, so you don’t realize what’s happening till you’re dead.”

  Pearl’s skin began to crawl. “What?” she managed, her voice unsteady and suddenly hoarse.

  Gia sat up, tugging her blankets around her.

  “We’re all going to see Jarred today,” Gia said. Her voice sounded matter-of-fact, but she was too stiff, her eyes flickering around the room as if searching for escape.

  “For what?” Pearl’s muscles tightened. The Switch? The one that whipped people? “Is he going to—”

  “You? Yes. That new girl, yes. Us, no.” Gia gave Pearl a sympathetic pursing of her lips. “It’ll be okay. He’s like really good. But… he’s always pushing you. Always testing—” Gia lifted her hands, palms flat and less than inch apart “—always making you push yourself.”

  “So he’s going to whip me?”

  Gia didn’t answer this, instead turning her attention back to her hands. She folded her fingers together as if trying to exactly match the knuckles on each hand.

  “Gia? What’s he going to do to me?”

  Gia shrugged. “Just don’t go in there thinking you can get away with anything.” She stared at Pearl through her lashes, shaking her head. “I mean it, Pearl. Jarred’s not like the others. He’s real serious about this shit.”

  “Serious how?”

  “Just don’t do what I did my first time.” She let out a snorting giggle, shaking her head and tipping her head back to stare up at the fairy lights in the ceiling. “I was crapping myself, so I had a few hits before we went in. Then, duh, I got all bratty and shit.” She swallowed. “He punished me for that. Fucking punished me good.” Her voice grew soft, her lips remaining open as her eyes flickered from light to light. “You just keep your head down, do what he says, and thank him when he’s done.”

  Pearl’s skin was making another valiant attempt at escape. “When?”

  “In an hour or so.” Gia’s eyes flickered to her. “There’s not enough time to run, trust me.”

  The girl laughed, pressing her hand over her mouth as she rocked forward, while Pearl’s heart did a series of rabbit-hops in her chest. The laughter stopped a few seconds later, cut off as if the girl had flicked a switch.

  “I thought it’d be a holiday, doing this,” Gia said. “You know? I mean, I was already technically fucking guys for money and I loved it. So what the fuck, right?”

  The girl’s blue eyes became unfocused, latching onto something unseen lurking beneath Pearl’s bed. She spoke slowly, her lips barely moving, completely lost in her reverie.

  “That green-eyed devil made it sound so awesome. Vacationing in a mansion, screwing some guys—” she clapped her hands, startling Pearl “—Bazinga! I’m rich! And I bought it. It got me out, right? Out of that shit hole. Away from Cameron.”

  The girl looked up, eyes bright and intense.

  “He drugged him, you know.”

  “What? Who?” Pearl sank down on the edge of the bed, captivated by the girl’s sudden change in demeanor.

  “Owen. You met him, right? The guy in the Plaza?”

  Pearl nodded, her brain serving her a timely flashback of Mr. Armani asking her if she could be obedient. Telling her to hold onto something.

  “Yeah, well, he drugged my boyfriend. Fed him some kind of tranq so he could have some alone time with me.”

  Pearl felt her eyes widening, her lips parting.

  “And you know,” Gia let out a soft, short laugh, “I thought it was fucked up at the time, but Cameron was a complete douche anyway so I also kinda thought he got what he deserved. He treated me like shit, day in, day out. I was such an idiot.”

  Gia looked away, toying with the edge of her blanket where it draped her shoulder. She looked older now; nothing of the buoyant eighteen-year-old that had met Pearl on the steps of the Fox Pit remained. Her mouth was sad, and her shoulder drooped.

  “But the sex?” Gia lifted her head, closing her eyes and as she shivered. “No one had ever done that to me before. My God, it was fucking amazing. I think I was still in some kind of subspace when he took me downstairs and laid it all out. The Fox Pit. The money.”

  Her gaze slid down, fixing on Pearl. No longer intense, but as deadpan as Seth’s.

  “It was six months for me. They’ve changed it since then, made it shorter. Girls don’t last that long, anymore. Most of them can’t take more than a month before they leave.” Gia leaned forward, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Morgan’s only been here three weeks. Ivy, a little longer.”

  She shook her head and grabbed her braid in a fist, studying its tips.

  “But we’ve all been here long enough to know you don’t wanna be here long enough to know.”

  Then she laughed, that serious expression shattering.

  “Say something, Pearl. You’re looking at me like I’ve gone crazy.”

  “He fucked me too,” Pearl managed. “Owen.” She shrugged. “And it was good. Unbelievably good.” Another shrug. She felt a stirring — tears… perhaps a headache — and pressed her fingertips into her temples. “It was so good I think I convinced myself I wanted more. That I could do this. That I wanted this.”

  “Yeah…” Gia let out a long sigh and hitched up her knees, trapping them against her chest. “Well, I’m done in a week and I’m not staying. Fuck it. I’ve made enough cash and fuck knows I’ve had enough fucking orgasms to last me another six lives. In fact, I’m thinking of becoming a nun.”

  She giggled at Pearl and pressed her face into her knees. Her giggles became outright laughter. Pearl watched, her hands in fists against her temples, as the girl laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

  They had to wear their standard yellow dresses for roll call. Seth came to collect them, looking weird and stiff in a pair of dark jeans and a black, button-up shirt. Had he combed his beard?

  A nervous energy clustered over the girls as they followed Seth up the stairs, everyone — including Gia — silent.

  The girls had all tied up their hair; even Ivy had tamed her mass of brown curls into a short, fat braid at the nape of her neck. Pearl’s hair was way too s
hort to attempt anything which, hopefully, was why no one had told her she needed to.

  Unless they were setting her up for disaster. Maybe they wanted her to draw Jarred’s attention, to screw up like they all had their first time. It was only fair right?

  Could anyone be so cruel?

  Seth didn’t lead them into a dungeon, like she’d expected. Hell, he didn’t even lead them up to one of the apartments, which would have been her second guess of where they were going. Instead, he led them outside like a line of yellow geese, heading toward the labyrinth.

  They were just about to go inside when Seth stopped and glanced over his shoulder. His dark eyes swept over them without settling. He crossed his arms over his chest, straining that dark fabric over his biceps.

  Pearl — last in line — ducked her head toward Gia.

  “What’s happening?”

  Gia glanced back at her, her eyes fidgety and her lips twisting. “Prob’ly waiting for the new guy. Doubt he knows how to get to the middle.”

  “That’s where this all happens?” A bright patch of artificial lawn in the middle of the day? It didn’t seem creepy at all. How fucked up was Gia if the girl was complaining about how they didn’t ‘turn up the heat’. Outside.

  “Sort of,” Gia said. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. Her nipples had hardened, and goose bumps littered her skin. “Where is he?”

  Ethan arrived less than a minute later, his foxes trailing him just like Seth’s had; yellow, silent, and wary. Their hair had all been plaited too. Pearl spotted Tina in the back, and for a moment she thought the girl would wave to her, but that eager face was downcast and looked too preoccupied to even notice Pearl.

  Ethan called his girls to a halt and then trotted over to Seth, his pale green eyes briefly touching on Pearl as he came past.

  They spoke in low voices, but they were close enough that Pearl could hear what they were saying.

  “Hey, man,” Ethan said, running a hand through his brown hair. “Am I late?”

  “Almost.” Seth cocked his head. “Let’s go.”

  “Hang on, will you?” Another swipe through his hair, Ethan glancing back and his eyes scanning the girls waiting in two nervous lines behind them. “Do you know how long this all takes?”