A Trap

The Black Door swung open.

A woman stood there, in the darkness.

Her breasts hung free in her dress, and gave a half-smile as she spread her arms wide. Raven hair, slightly wild, but dark as Lois' own ran down to her back. She was tall, stately even—she carried herself with chin raised and broad shoulders thrown back, which caused her heavy breasts to jut forward, just a hint of wide areolas visible. The reporter her **** herself to look up, into half-lidded eyes that seemed so dark as almost to be black, and were set in a face that reminded her, vaguely, of the bust of Nefertiti—smooth, almost streamlined and alien yet distinctly human.

Lois could not make out many details of the room beyond the open door. There were no lights in the room whatsoever, and her black dress seemed to meld with the darkness.

"Hello Lois," she said, with the barest trace of an accent. Something Middle Eastern, the reporter thought. "Enter freely, and of your own will."

There was no visible threat, yet the Daily Planet's star reporter hesitated. Her intuition screamed at her that this was wrong. The woman snapped her fingers. Four figures stepped forward out of the darkness. Like the first woman, they were topless...but Lois recognized the faces of the missing women. Their eyes stared out from blank, expressionless faces, eyes dilated.

"You desire answers," she said. "Come. Let us...talk. Unless, of course," that strangely beautiful face broke into a smirk. "you're afraid?"

Anger stabbed through Lois mind, burned straight through her alcoholic haze, and almost before she realized it she stepped beyond the portal.

The door swung closed behind her. Her vision went out, and she blinked several times, with no difference. Not simply darkness—this was the complete absence of light. A memory flickered back, of a visit to Mammoth Cave, a tour guide explaining how her eyes would never adjust. She backed up, carefully...but couldn't feel the door. Only a bare expanse of concrete wall under her fingertips.

"Oh, Lois. I'm so glad you're come. I have such things in store for you..."

Lois couldn't place the voice. The woman should be directly in front of her, and yet it sounded as if she were right next to her.

"You can't do this," Lois said aloud. "This is ****."

"Do? Why I haven't done anything to you, yet. You came here of your own free will. A free...independent...woman. Your own actions, your own choices have led you here. You want answers, yes?"

"Yes," the reporter said, through gritted teeth.

"Then why don't we play a little game?"