Poulpe Ménagère

The peace of the night was broken by light rays peering into the Columbina suite. Mira sat up in bed, silk negligee slightly disheveled but modesty preserved under the covers of the bed. She sat there, observing the room and processing several thoughts as they bubbled to the surface amidst the grog of recent sleep.

The first thought was that for the first time in a while, she was not dreading the descent to the meal hall. While it could not be denied that she and Eliza were by no means close, nor might they ever be again, the previous night's light friendly activity showed they could exist together without violence. It was a way forward, one better than she could have hoped for and in some ways better than she deserved.

Even without the influence of the Pierrot suite, Mira could feel the desire to try and right the ship and protect the others in the harem. No doubt that was part of the reason for Lucian’s new rule: to keep a constant source of pressure lit and ensure no one, despite earlier victories, could feel safe or relaxed. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again; the others were adults…she needed to trust and communicate with them, even if she could feel the walls pushing in.

That wasn’t the only thought that Mira was stuck with this morning, as the silence of the room encompassed her. Why was there silence? After their first night together, and then the tumultuous first morning, Mira had braced herself for the time with Stella as her roommate being anything but a confrontational mess. Yet when they had come back from the room after the night's festivities, she had wordlessly climbed into bed. And now that morning light cascaded through the room? There was nary a sign of the imp.

She slowly rose from the bed and looked toward the dresser, as if the tiny devil would be courteous enough to leave a note. Sure enough, there was none. It was her day to have her date with Caleb, so it was possible she was preparing for that, but how early had she gotten up to avoid waking her up while she slipped out? Not to mention how she had vanished yesterday to drink her day away before being found.

Mira sighed, it wasn’t any of her business, she knew. Stella was a grown adult, not her next ‘project’ as she had so aptly put it. Still, as the agent walked to her closet to look through her clothes, she hoped the feeling of unease she had was unfounded.

Her eyes darted between her suits and the various fetishwear items provided to her wardrobe after her transformation. She remembered what Maya had said to her about punishing herself and wanting her to just be a good person.

“Such a sweet girl…” Mira mused to herself as she reached out and grabbed a dress. It was latex and brightly coloured but still more conservative than the typical dommy mommy wear in here. Maybe she didn’t need to be submissive to prove herself, she also didnt have to be a slave to the whims of her transformation.

She pulled out the dress and began to change.

Where was Maya? She remembered falling asleep in the Master’s suite but as she looked around, the subtle luxury of the hotel felt so far away. Here space was amorphous, dull, vaguely shaped. She thought she could make out distant dark walls, but even those felt like they shifted slightly as she gazed upon them, becoming more difficult to make out.

She was dressed in the lingerie she had fallen asleep in, but the bed was nowhere to be seen, as was Caleb. Instead up to her legs was an inky black mire, it felt like water but clung to her skin as she shifted her legs to try and remove it. Panic began to overtake her mind and she called out

“Hello?!” Her voice echoed in the space and then bounced back to her, subtly morphing and changing until it was no longer her own voice. It was her mother’s.

“Mom?” Maya’s voice was trepidatious but tinged with hope. “Mom, is that you? I talked with everyone…I’m definitely coming to save you!”

The words ‘save you’ echoed the same way, and now in the distance, a rising break in the surface tension of the liquid began to appear. The thick liquid slowly sloughed off the emaciated pale form of a woman dressed in just a hospital gown, hunched over, face unseen as her hair shrouded her features.

“Mom!” Maya called out, trying to block out the echoes as she tried to move. The liquid was somehow deep enough that she couldn't feel the bottom while simultaneously enabling her to move with just a kick of her legs, even as the thick liquid resisted her movement. She scrambled forward, arms flailing to try and propel herself to the figure faster, the sounds of splashing liquid growing rapidly discordant within the enclosed space.

As she approached, she continued to call out, “Mom, I’m already so close! I have more points than anyone and Caleb…Caleb is going to help me!” This time it was the words ‘help me’ that began to echo as Maya fell beside the hunched-up figure, but instead of just changing, the words became louder and louder. Maya clutched her hands up to her ears as the amount of sound became overwhelming, and the figure moved to loom over her, red shining eyes gazing between strands of greasy long hair, an empty smile plastered across her pale face.

As the figure extended its hand towards Maya, all sound in the space cut out except for the raspy scream that echoed as the woman's face distorted, elongating as her mouth fell open impossibly wide and long and her eyes grew like saucers. Her fingers clutched to Maya’s arm as the scream penetrated the makeshift earplugs of her hands.

“HELP ME!!!” It echoed as suddenly the footing beneath Maya gave way and she found herself scrambling to stay afloat as the figure began to sink as well, both her ghastly arms clinging to her and the oozing black liquid dragging her beneath the surface.

“Mom! Mom! I’m-” Maya gasped, her head trying to stay above water level desperately even as the liquid gathered around her throat. She tried to reach out to grip something, anything that might keep her from sinking. But it was no use; her body fell deeper and deeper, and when she could no longer bear the pressure, her throat forced open, and she felt the black liquid filling her lungs-

-As she gasped herself awake. Her eyes shot wide open; she was covered in sweat and was sitting upright in the bed, and to her surprise, she still felt her mom’s hand on her shoulder and panicked. “Augh!” She reached up and slapped the hand, only to find it was stronger and thicker than she expected, though it backed off when struck. Caleb, next to her, looked down, concern filling his expression.

“Are you alright? You seemed like you were having a bad dream but wouldn’t respond when I spoke to you.” Caleb’s hand hung in the air, still wanting to comfort the woman in front of him but taking care not to press any contact she seemed currently uncomfortable with.

Maya's hands bunched in front of her chest, and she stared down at the bed before slowly looking up and gazing out. She was truly back in the Master’s Suite. Had that truly just been a dream? Or another vision like the one in the mirror? Why was she having so many now? She had had dreams before, when stressed or depressed, but now? They were so real, and the intensity of the woman she saw in them…was her mother truly in so much pain? Was that so unreasonable? Their own host was a testament to the potential horrors that await after death.

Seeing Caleb patiently waiting for her response, Maya slowly exhaled and tried to slow her heart; her mom’s scream still echoed in her ears. “It was…I saw my mom again. Still suffering, still…really bad..”

Caleb just nodded, “I see…you said you had these dreams before the hotel though?”

Maya twisted her head and swayed it side to side, “Kind of…not like this. When I was sad or depressed…I often had dreams where she’d come or comfort me. Or I’d just relive the night she passed away. This…this is different. She seems so…upset. Not with me, just…whatever is happening to her must be awful.”

Reaching out, Caleb gently touched her back and then, after seeing her gently relax her body against his hand, began to rub it. “She was very important to you.”

“Is very important to me.” Maya corrected.

“Right, of course.” Caleb paused. “You talked about her a little before. What was she like when she was alive?”

“Kind…sarcastic.” A wry grin broke out on Maya’s features. “She told me once that the way to tell if she was being sarcastic was that her lips were moving. It helped.” She leaned to the side against Caleb’s shoulder. “She was a journalist. Apparently, she used to work for a big magazine but after the snafu with Dad, she ended up having to leave. Then she mostly did freelance until I was almost through elementary school and got a job at a local paper, which is when we could afford the apartment.”

“She must have been pretty smart to do work like that, hardworking too.” Caleb commented, leaning his head against Maya's.

Maya’s smile grew gentler, and she nodded, “She worked almost all the time; she had to. It was only me and her against the world, so she needed to put in the effort…Even though she didn't make much, she set up a small trust for me. Just in case…” She sighed, “Thanks.”

“For what?” Caleb asked

“Talking about this…regardless of what is happening now, it reminds me of why I’m not scared of these dreams. Why it's important. Why I’m going to keep working hard, y’know? I don’t need to be freaked out.”

“Well, that’s good. I was a little worried we were back to what happened last time after last night.” Caleb remarked, his voice tinged with a slight sadness.

“Last time…what?” Maya trailed off, not connecting the dots. “Because we had sex?”

Caleb shrugged, “I mean…I didn’t know if maybe you had just been pushing yourself for the points and maybe it was a delayed reaction or realization.

“Oh…” Suddenly Maya pouted and punched Caleb in the arm

“Ow! Hey, what was that for?” Caleb winced; the punch barely hurt, but still, as Maya began to lay a series of rabbit punches into him, it was uncomfortable.

“You think- you honestly think I would break a promise to my mom and also just use you for points like that?” She crossed her arms. “Idiot. Stupid. Dumbass.”

Frowning Caleb nudged her, “You’re the one who said you don’t know how you feel about me.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t, but I also don’t know ok? I like you…a lot, Caleb. You make me feel safe, and you're one of the only people who didn't judge me when I wanted to play the game when I got here. You took a chance to trust me, and it means a lot to me. But I’ve also only known you for what a month? Not even? And Ive never been in love…how am I supposed to know?”

Caleb nodded sympathetically, “Yeah, no, that much I understand. Believe me, even having been in love before…I'm still at a loss.”

“Right, so maybe I don’t know if I’m in love with you.” Maya paused, “But I could be…I think that would be nice to be…so maybe it was worth taking a shot on.”

Caleb looked down at the covers on the bed, his fingers flexing on and off before looking back. “Do you think that’s enough?”

“We had sex, didn’t we? Multiple times. It feels weird. No one says that.” Maya swung her legs off the bed and went to gather her clothes.

Caleb’s eyebrows shot up. “Weird? Shit, did I do something wrong?”

“No, it felt good too, but like…super weird.” Maya wrinkled her nose. “But everyone says sex feels good; no one mentions it's weird.”

“I uh…I didn’t know.” Caleb said blankly, not really sure how to respond to that.

“Hmmm.” Maya picked up her shirt and began to put it on. “Maybe I’ll ask Lily about it at breakfast.”

Caleb’s face turned stark white. “I think if you do that, my end might rapidly be approaching.”

Maya perked up. “Huh, why’s that? We’re friends now; isn’t this what girlfriends talk about?”

“I don’t really know the protocol if you’re both dating the same guy…a guy that the other girl in question still has a lot of unresolved baggage concerning.” Caleb offered

“Oh, I suppose that’s true. Maybe I’ll ask Amy. No, wait, she’s dumb right now.” Maya trailed off, and Caleb sighed

“I’m sure one of the women in the group will be happy to discuss how sex is weird with you.” Beleaguredly, Caleb walked over to grab some pants to put on.

From the sidelines, Maya looked thoughtful. “It’s your date with Stella today, right? Did you have a plan for that?”

Caleb stuck his leg through the jeans in his hands. “The loose semblance of a plan. I was going to investigate after breakfast. Do you want to join me?”

Maya shook her head. “No, not really. I was more interested in checking out the bounties on the board and seeing if I could wrangle any of them.”

“Sounds like we’ll both be busy; just don’t bite off anything more than you can chew ok?” Caleb buttoned his shirt

Maya buttoned her skirt. “You don’t need to worry about me, Caleb; unlike some of the women here, I have a perfect grasp of how to play a game.”

Caleb smirked. “Remind me again, how many of the games last night did you win?”

Running over, Maya smacked the Master’s shoulder. “Party games are different! And I was on the winning team for Murder in Hong Kong!”

Caleb smiled, leaning away from the impact. “You ready to go down to breakfast?

Maya’s smile quickly returned to her face, “Sounds like a plan.” Caleb jokingly offered Maya his arm, who took it and leaned against him as they headed down to breakfast.