Mallory

“Your presence is requested in the Double Down room, Miss Mallory.” Damien said.

Mallory looked over the top of her book, and with great difficulty drew them away from the handsome man to scan the area around her before responding. Mallory’s little ‘slip of the tongue’ problem only seemed to happen around them. So far… The other contestants were not at the pool area, though she’d dragged her chair well away from the water just in case one came by. Still, she wanted to test it once more with a staff member to be sure.

“Who’s calling for me?” Mallory asked. Good, that’s what I meant to say.

“Master Michael, ma’am.” He said.

“Could you please not call him that? It weirds me out.”

“Sorry, Ma’am, only the hosts can change it.” He offered his hand to help her up. “If you would kindly follow me.” Meeting Michael wouldn’t be so bad. Of course she could say something supremely embarrassing at any moment, but how could she possibly do anything more embarrassing than what she’d already done? I guess if he wants to see me, he can’t still be mad about it. I hope.

“Great.” Mallory said, rising to her feet without accepting the offer, knocking over the discarded glassware next to her chair in the process. “How many did I have?” She asked rhetorically.

“I believe that was your fifth.” Damien said.

“Uh, thanks.” Probably about my limit, my head is pretty ‘clear’ now, but much more and I’d turn into a kitten. Or a Janet. Mallory chastised herself for thinking that way. Danica had been trying to push Mallory to apologize to Janet for days, but Mallory could not figure out how to do it. She’d never had much practice at apologizing, and that was before - when she could still control her own mouth. Or what I put it in it. Fuck, blowing Michael isn’t even the worst thing I have to apologize for.

Wanting to get out of her own head for a moment, Mallory asked “What’s the Double Down room, anyway? Never heard of it.”

“We have some areas of the hotel that can be customized to the Master’s liking, similar to the mountain.”

“Yeah, he gets anything he wants, doesn’t he.”

“Primarily, but the rooms are not exclusively for Master Michael. He gets priority, of course, but the contestants can rent them too. The prices for the contestants vary.” He smiled at Mallory, but she quickly looked away. He was still very easy on the eyes, but with this many drinks in her, she was too demure to meet his gaze.

“Vary how?”

“It depends on what you need. Cheaper for certain activities and more expensive for others.”

“Yeah, the ones the hotel wants from us.” Mallory groaned. “Free drinks and cheap slutwear, but if you wanted a quiet place to study I’m sure it would cost you an arm and a leg. And you’d probably have to dress like a slutty librarian to enter.” Mallory patted the book in her hand, The Good Book. Damien gave her a quizzical side eye. “This thing was damned hard to find in the marketplace out there, and you wouldn’t believe the things I had to turn down.”

“The Good Book? As in the good book?”

“Uh, no. It’s just a book on changing your thinking patterns, getting out of destructive cycles. Not, y’know, Jesus.” He went silent, and Mallory felt her usual compulsion to fill silence with words. “But I wasn’t talking just about this book, I’m getting killed in three classes right now, and I have no idea how time works in this place. We got grabbed in April and somehow just watched the Super Bowl. They could spit me out on the morning of final exams.”

“Are you worried about final exams?” He asked, and Mallory’s hackles raised, sensing an implied insult.

“I still care about my education!” She hissed.

“I didn’t say otherwise, ma’am.”

Mallory bit back an unkind remark. I have to stop that. I have to. She felt the book in her hand. No better time to practice than now. Honesty is the way out of these cycles. “I’m on academic probation,” She said. “Bomb the tests and I’m out of school.”

“I see,” Damien said. “Unfortunately I can’t help you with your question about time dilation, I have not had the opportunity to find out.”

Fuck, you stuck your foot in it there, Mallory thought. He couldn’t know because he hasn’t been back to Earth. He could have been here as long as Ronnie. Or longer. Wait… has he been here since Jesus? Was that the good book comment? Could they keep someone that long? Mallory followed him in silence as she pondered that existential horror.

He chose to take the stairs instead of the elevator, as it was closer to the pool area, and the adjustable magic fantasy rooms appeared to be on a lower floor than the ones where Michael and the other girls were staying. The door wasn’t on the direct path though, it seemed like it might be for staff only. He opened the door to their destination floor and waited for her to pass through, but on a whim Mallory chose to lean over the railing and look up and down the stairwell. It stretched much farther than she had expected, in both directions, like she was in the middle of a massive skyscraper. How big is this place, really?

“Please don’t linger in here, Miss Fremont.” He said with undisguised worry in his voice. He let her pass and then carefully closed the door behind him, as if she might bolt back through it. As it closed Mallory felt a powerful sensation that the room stilled, like she had closed a window to keep out a storm. “Did you have any other questions?” He said, as they approached the pair of doors with the large gold “Double Down” plaque adjacent.

Kind of a lot, now. Mallory had been reticent to explore the mysteries of this place, but since escape was proving even more elusive, she considered that perhaps a little more information would be helpful. She looked up at him, and gasped a little as she met his eyes. Come on, girl. The game. What can I ask to get a leg up in the Game?

“What’s a bukkake?” Goddamn it! She looked around quickly, but no other contestant seemed to be present.

“Oh!” He said, brief surprise pushed through his Staff demeanor, but it reverted to form quickly. “It’s when a group of men ejaculate-”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Mallory said, her own words coming through.

“Did you… want to do that? The Hotel could set that up, I expect the room would be free.” He gestured to the double doors behind him. “Well, not this one as its occupied, but another on this floor.”

No! She thought. “Possibly,” She said. Based on his face, he took that as a yes.

“Very well, Ma’am, I’ll put in the request for you.” Damien said. “Michael and the others are inside.” Mallory grabbed at his arm as he passed, and looked at him pleadingly now, but his look back was lust of a different stripe entirely.

No, that’s not what I want! Gross! “The pussycat gets the cream.”

“I understand.” He said, with a smile and wink. AHHHHHHHH! FUCK! She screamed internally, bottling it up because she could not risk bellowing anything in earshot of the others, god knows what would come out. Mallory let him leave, and he was back down the stairs, leaving her alone with her cheeks flushing hot crimson under her blonde hair. Fuck fuck fuck, he must think I’m such a whore now. …Assuming he didn’t already. Ughhhhhhh. Maybe nowhere is safe from that random

“Hiya, Mal.” Janet said, smiling as she rounded the corner, presumably coming from the elevators. I was joking about cheap slutwear, but this poor girl doesn’t have to pay a dime. Mallory thought. She recognized what the clothes used to be. She wore a regular white T-shirt with a rainbow heart on it from their trip to LA Pride week last year. At the time, she’d bought it to be an ally, but now it was far more confessional. And tighter. And shorter. It pulled up to expose her midriff and grew extremely tight around her ample chest. Her long, flowing red señorita skirt had risen higher on her thighs until it could only be described as a puta skirt. Stop, Mal. That’s not her fault. She smiled and waved, and looked slightly more tense than usual until Mallory returned it. Janet looked immensely relieved, and bounded the last few yards and jumped into Mallory’s arms. “I saw you down by the pool, but you were all tucked away in the corner, I could tell you didn’t want to be bothered.” Janet said, “Is everything ok?”

Mallory nodded, but the smile was **** and Janet could tell.

“...Are you sure?” Janet said, she brought her voice down. “You’re awfully quiet.”

Two words. That’s what it would take to get started. I’m. Sorry. Mallory cheeks twitched, she could feel the pressure building in her brain. The Producers, the hosts, the fans, everyone wanted her to say something vile or embarrassing, like with Damien. Could she even get through two simple words?

“...I-”

“There you are.” Michael said, interrupting her as he opened the door from the fantasy room. “Come in, girls, I was just about to go looking. Everyone else is here.”

Mallory clammed up immediately. Maybe, maybe she could have been allowed to apologize alone, but in front of Michael it was a guaranteed innuendo. She took Janet’s hand and led the confused girl inside.

…To the 70’s? Mallory was in an absolute time warp. Maybe the time dilation is weirder than I thought. The cheesy wood paneling, the mustard-yellow shag carpet, the large speakers connected to a record player… Oh man… Even though the room was towards the center of the hotel and multiple floors up, sunlight streamed through a nearby window and palm trees were visible growing in a well-manicured backyard. Mallory had no idea how much she’d missed them until she saw them again. The other women were sitting on couches arranged in a semi-circle around a central coffee table, chatting calmly, and looking less unsettled by the setting than Janet and Mallory were. Other than Vivian who looked extremely uncomfortable, but as she wasn’t on someone’s lap, it tracked. I guess this doesn’t feel like a history textbook to them. Mallory suspected the real reason was that they could talk normally without immediately propositioning everyone, and resented that, but she tried to resist her latent toxic thinking and pushed that one aside.

Fortunately, Janet could ask what they were clearly both wondering.

“What is this place?”

Michael closed the door and stepped up next to her, more closely than he did usually, which both Mallory and Janet noticed.

“It’s actually my old house. From when I was growing up. My mom, Mallory’s step-grandma, we lived in this place in the Valley that clearly hadn’t been touched decor-wise since the day it was built. I mean, even as a kid I could tell it was dated, but…” He shrugged.

“Ok, so why is this place?” Janet pressed.

“Right, well I needed to call a family meeting, and I thought we needed a neutral space. You haven’t seen my hotel room lately, but it's… not conducive to making you ladies feel comfortable. The hosts have a certain agenda they’re pushing with the aesthetic up there. And it felt like me coming into your living space would be invasive, I guess. Put everyone on the defensive. The Concierge told me I could make this space into almost anything I wanted, but everywhere I could think of had some kind of connection to one of you. The house I shared with Mallory and Danica? The apartment I shared with Ronnie? The Axiomatic office? I wanted everyone to feel comfortable and no one to feel like they had the upper hand, so I went with… this. None of you have ever visited it. My mom sold it before I met Ronnie, so obviously well before I met Danica. I felt safe here, and I hope all of you do too.”

“Wow. So, can we like, get a tour? Can I see your old room?” Janet said. Her eyes went wide and she quickly looked at Mallory, who despite her rising tension had to **** down laughter. At least wait until I’m out of the room before you seduce Michael.

“I wish! I’m sure you all would have swooned over my baseball card collection. Darryl Strawberry rookie card, first print.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“I want to die now, thank you.” Michael laughed, and Janet blushed, managing to match Mallory’s from a few minutes earlier. “But no, they only replicated the living room this time. In any event, we should get started.” Michael gestured to the couches, and let Mallory and Janet join the others. After a moment’s hesitation, Mallory chose to sit on the opposite side of Danica from Janet, just to be safe. Danica gave Mallory a quick look, almost imperceptibly nodding towards Janet as a question. Mallory shook her head no, and Danica nodded and patted Mallory’s thigh. Mallory noticed that Danica was looking less curvaceous than she had over the last several days. Did she take her pill? Or did she take a different pill…? Danica shifted in her seat slightly.

Michael stepped in front of the group, clearing his throat for their attention. Mallory hadn’t seen him work, never much cared to, but he seemed much more… in charge of the situation than he had the last few times he’d been with the group. It was slightly calming.

Like one less problem for all of us.

“Thanks to everyone for coming. I’m sorry for the short notice, but the last few days have been pretty chaotic and since we don’t know when the next challenge is meant to start, I wasn’t sure this - for lack of a better term - family meeting could wait.”

There was some restlessness in the room at the mention of a ‘family,’ and Michael picked up on it.

“I can tell that struck a bit of a nerve.” Michael said, to some agreement. “I think that means I’m on the right track, honestly. Obviously none of us need a reminder of the circumstances that brought us here, but I think all of us are struggling with the implications.”

“What implications?” Danica asked.

“Well…” Michael locked eyes with each woman one at a time before continuing. “When this is all over, they’re binding us somehow. ‘Bound to me, ready to satisfy my every need’ is what they said. I don’t understand how, but considering they’ve been able to casually do things like drag us across time and space, change our bodies and minds, then I doubt there’s a simple solution waiting out in the real world. In all likelihood, the pamphlet we’ve all seen is the truth: The eight of us are going to be connected, forever.”

Mallory felt a spike of anger at this, the same she’d felt on the opening night and many times since. How can he act like we’re all in this together? We’re being changed and he’s reaping all the rewards! Of course, yelling this in Michael’s face that night had not only cost her points, it had led ultimately to a very humiliating spanking, so she kept her mouth shut this time. Recalling her book, she closed her eyes and tried to blunt the toxic thinking at its source. I am in control of my mind. I don’t have to let it spiral. I can take the controls. Mallory had helped her mom seduce Michael, a memory which she intended to use her considerable fortune on therapy to suppress, but that was meant more for Danica’s benefit than his.

When the murmuring had died a little, Michael continued. “Back to my original point, I think all of us are struggling with this, and there’s been some concerning-” He stopped, mumbled something to himself, and began again. “No, I shouldn’t really sugarcoat this. Some of you have scared the fuck out of me recently.” Worry crossed his face.

“Danica, honey, you flipped your lid on me in the middle of a blowjob during our first night and were actual seconds away from being turned into god-knows-what.”

“Hold on-” Danica started to protest this, but he held up a finger to quiet her. Miracle of miracles, it worked! Mom?!

“I need to get through all of this, Danica. It’s important. Vivian, you came at me like a jungle cat in heat in New Orleans, and then nearly drowned yourself going down on me in the hot tub.”

“Do we need to fixate on the details?” Vivian asked.

“You have a hot tub?” Luciana and Ronnie demanded simultaneously.

“Yes. It’s important.” Michael said.

“It’s just a hot tub though.” Janet said.

“I meant the details, Janet. The details are important.”

“Oh… right.” She said, sliding down in her seat a little and flushing red again.

“Luciana, on our hike you went crazy and tried to climb a rock wall barehanded.”

“I made it though.”

“But what if you hadn’t?”

She gave an exaggerated shrug. “Then I guess you could light a candle for me on my birthday.”

“That’s not how it works,” Ronnie interjected. “The Hotel will just magic you back together and say you forfeited.”

Luciana waved it away. “Never live scared. This is just how I am.”

“That’s not how I live, Luciana.” Michael said, his voice cracking a little from the emotion. He took a second to collect himself, and Mallory and Janet took a second to share a look. They’d never seen him like this before. Ronnie and Danica shared an entirely different look, though no less meaningful, because they had. “Luciana, when I came here I’d only ever known you from your fights. But I’m catching feelings for you now.” Apparently the theme of the night was blushing, and it was Luciana’s turn. “After the hotel showed me what they’d taken - who they’d taken - I realized I was carrying the weight of my missing woman the whole time. I just couldn’t put a name to that loss. And I don’t want to do that again. I can’t.”

There was a long silence as Michael collected himself.

“And then yesterday, as I was in the driver’s seat of a car about to crash through a neon sign, I realized it was gonna happen again if I didn’t step in.”

“I already miss that car…” Sarah mumbled.

“Ok Michael,” Ronnie said softly, “What does that mean for us here and now?” Mallory breathed a sigh of relief that she somehow escaped being called out in this moment, though she suspected that was a short reprieve.

Michael struggled to move on, but this wasn’t fear or sadness. Oh man, now he’s blushing. No one is safe. “I was thinking that part of the issue driving this self-destruction is just a belief that the game is helplessly lopsided. Sarah is at a bit of a disadvantage-”

“You think?” Sarah snipped, but she was shushed by a few of the others.

“-as is Mallory. How can I handle that? How could I balance things so you all have a fighting chance to avoid elimination?” As he spoke he gave the distinct impression of pushing through mud, and if he stopped then he’d get helplessly stuck. Michael fought the awkwardness as best he could, but he paused long enough that it seemed as if he might succumb to it. “No sugarcoating.” He said to himself, then took a deep breath before continuing. “Start with the basic point. Each of you were brought here because, at one time or another, I wanted to have sex with you.”

“I mean, that was obvious.” Vivian said.

“Yes, but it still needed to be said. I’m clearing the air here.”

“How long?” Danica asked in a low voice, putting her hand on Mallory’s knee. The rest of the question didn’t need to be spoken.

“I never touched-” Michael started in hot, but caught himself short. “Ok… Ok. That’s a fair question, Danica, I put it out there. For Mallory, it started a year ago, and no earlier. But this is about all of us. I’ve had these feelings for all of you at one time or another, so I hoped to balance the scales by telling all of you when, and how, and to do so as a group so no one thinks there’s favoritism. ”

“You’re just going to tell… everyone?” Ronnie was completely incredulous, and she wasn’t alone.

Noooooooooooo! Mallory desperately needed a drink to tolerate this, but the goddamn thing would only make her more lucid - there was no escape through the bottle this time.

“Yeah, Ronnie, I think I have to. It will come out eventually once we’re all… bound, but at least revealing it now can help us all make it through the game in one piece.” Michael shot a glance at Sarah.

“This is the worst fucking TED talk I’ve ever seen.” Sarah groaned.

“I got the idea from you! ‘Decisive and honest!’ Your words! ‘This is your show, deal with it!’ Also your words!”

“I did not expect it to lead to this…this… unholy cringefest!” Sarah rose to leave.

“Sarah, you got me in a car accident less than 24 hours ago, I’m calling in a ‘You Owe Me.’ Sit down.” No please, no begging. Just an order. And Sarah listened. …He is getting good at this giving orders thing. Mallory thought, but whether that thought was comforting or concerning, she couldn’t decide. His attempts to tell her what to do before now had never gone well.

“Thank you.” Michael said as Sarah resumed her seat. “I guess then we can start with you, since I already told you I was hot for you back at the pool party a few days ago. My crush didn’t start immediately when you joined, I recognized you as a talented colleague and I swear that was the extent of it. One day, I’m early to the office and I see you french-kissing your girlfriend Olivia in the parking lot from my window. You had that undercut thing going that I really enjoyed, too bad it only lasted a few months. I, uh, thought about you and Olivia joining me in my office more than once over the next few weeks.”

“You liked that haircut?” Sarah’s eyes rolled back in her head.

“That’s the detail you took from his story?” Danica topped her with her own disbelief.

“Danica, I’m gay. If I kiss my girlfriend in public, I’m guaranteed to make some straight guy’s day. But the haircut thing? That’s news. Michael, why didn’t you say anything about the hair cut?”

“I thought it would come off creepy.”

“It’s just hair.”

“I was trying extremely hard not to let a three-way fantasy disrupt my workday, Sarah. Be impressed I didn’t drool down the front of my shirt.” Michael shifted his trousers, trying and failing to be subtle. That’s only going to get worse. “You are all getting hung up on the wrong parts. Anyway. Ok, I guess I’ll move to Luciana next. I used to watch your training videos in the run up to a fight, just entranced by how your muscles looked as you worked.”

“Those clips always got the most views.” Luciana shrugged.

“That was probably Michael, actually.” Sarah interjected. “IT guys said he used to watch them at work over and over.”

“Sarah…” Michael said.

“You started this confession session, Michael. Now that I know the truth, I’m just happy you were in there spanking it to squat thrust videos and not mental images of my girlfriend.”

“You both were involved there too. Since everything is in the open now.”

Sarah’s immediate reaction was regret at bringing it up, but after a second’s consideration, she gave Luciana a look and a short nod. “I wouldn’t say no.” Luciana returned her own inscrutable look, but said nothing. Michael picked it up again quickly.

“But that wasn’t the end of it, really.” He said. “Since you got this day time/night time thing going now, it really works for me. The way you looked on our date to the mountain, the way things were going… I would have gone further.”

“...Me too. I just …felt like I shouldn’t. Yet.” Luciana admitted quietly. Mallory gave Luciana a longer study than she had in this competition. I really discounted her at the start. Mallory admitted, and she realized what a mistake that had been.

“Yeah.” Michael said, not really in response to anything but because nothing else seemed appropriate. He cleared his throat. “Carrying on… Vivian.”

“Let me guess, Seattle?”

“Was I that obvious?”

“Somewhat, but only because I was being that forward.” Vivian said. “That button on my blouse didn’t pop open by accident.”

“Were you trying to seduce him even then?” Danica asked. And not in an accusatory way. Mom’s defeating her toxic thinking too, I guess.

“Not exactly, I was trying to get a job. I had no intention of sleeping with him, but I did want to gave him that impression.”

“You did get the job. And you slept with me many times.” Michael tapped his forehead, “Up here.”

“So it all went to plan.” Vivian said. Michael moved on, but Mallory kept watching Vivian. As soon as she felt the room’s attention was off her, she suddenly looked quite sad. Vivian shifted again in her seat, and took the leash attached to her collar in her hand, looking at it ruefully, but only Mallory noticed.

Michael scanned the room. “I guess I’ll do Ronnie next.” He shifted his pants again with no subtlety. It would have been pointless anyway, as he was clearly and obviously growing erect. Remembering all your sex fantasies will have that effect. Mallory wondered. Is telling everyone making it hotter for him, somehow like some kind of exhibitionist?

“It was that street fair in MacArthur Park. I was new to the neighborhood, heard music coming in my windows from a few blocks away, so I wandered down to see what was happening. I hung out to see what was going on, but It was kinda boring, honestly. I grabbed some food from a taco truck and I was gonna head home. And then the crowd parted and you were there … dancing to some drum group, moving like you were alone even though you were on a street with hundreds of people. You were still doing that throwback Fly Girl thing, it made you stand out. But still, that day you would have been enchanting in a grey sack. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything so sensual. I wanted you so badly in that moment… I’ve never felt anything like that. I leaned against a lamppost and watched you dance until the set was over. But then I lost you in the crowd as it broke up.”

“What do you mean you lost me? You asked me out at that fair, I remember that part vividly.”

“Not the one I’m talking about. I asked you out the year later. I kicked my own ass for twelve straight months about letting that opportunity pass, and so I came back to that fair the next year. Looking for you.”

“That’s kind of romantic.” Janet said. Ronnie was too choked up to respond, so she just nodded agreement as she wiped a tear from her eye.

“Fucking lucky too.” Luciana said. The others giggled slightly, and she playfully waved them off. “Shut up, I didn’t pick the name.”

“It was lucky, but it taught me a big lesson that luck only places the prize in front of you. You still have to seize it yourself.”

Seizing the prize? What the hell has gotten into Michael?

“Danica, I… Danica? Are you ok?” Mallory wondered what was getting into everyone, now. Danica’s expression was… intense. Hungry, almost. And then it clicked. She’s not as busty today. Oh… fuck… What did she take?

“I’m fine, Michael.” Danica looked like she couldn’t figure out what to do with her hands.

Or, she knows exactly what she wants to do with her hands, but doesn’t want anyone to see.

“Please. Keep going.” Danica said.

“Ok… Well, Danica, it’s not the same story as the others, but since I’m being confessional. Our ‘date’, in the suite? That was the hottest I’ve ever seen you.” Danica’s cheeks were flushed as she listened, her breathing was growing ragged. Jesus, she is horny as fuck! “The way you just…gave yourself to me fully. That was something I’d wanted to do for a while, and I don’t know if it would have happened if we never came here. We lived together and love each other and yet there is still just so much to learn.”

“I want to learn.” Danica said, and the two of them were locked in eye contact so intense it was palpably warming the room.

“Could you at least wait until we’re done here before you jump his ass?” Sarah complained, breaking the spell. Danica looked away, but only after a pause long enough to make Mallory realize she was considering jumping him anyway.

“These have all been difficult,” Michael said, “but Janet? Mallory? Yours are the hardest to admit.”

“This is really not necessary.” Janet waved her hands. “It’s ok, I don’t need the score boost or whatever.”

“It is.” Michael said firmly. “They said when you arrived here that you’d been nursing a crush. Obviously, you tried to kiss me, but I wasn’t sure if that was just a… I dunno… 19 year old’s slip-up or something. I always liked you Janet, but I never really thought about you in that way. You were my daughter’s best friend. Until then. It made me realize that you’d become a grown woman and not just a playdate for Mallory.”

“She’s your playdate now?” Sarah asked pointedly.

“Every man has an erotic imagination, and Janet, you joined it that day. Once that genie’s out of the bottle…” Michael said. Janet gave Danica and Mallory worried glances, the fear of rejection from the women she felt closest to gripped her. Danica slowly put her arm around Janet reassuringly, not unlike the first night at the Hotel, but suffused with new meaning. Michael looked relieved as well, having tinkered with a bomb and somehow not set it off. “I think it’s good that you and Mallory have found some comfort together.”

“You almost sound thankful for the hotel.” Sarah said.

“I can’t say that,” Michael backtracked. “But it’s fucking complicated. The truth is, I’ve actually had some positive experiences here, and repaired some relationships that I thought were destroyed for good. And that’s a horrible truth. If the Hotel had never taken Ronnie, I might never have met any of the others in this room. And now I have feelings for all of you. But how can I ever balance that with what they did to her? To any of you? Even trying would make me a monster.”

“It would make you a Master, Mikey.” Al said, announcing his entry into the room. Ruby followed him in and began looking over the arranged party with a curious eye, as if sizing all of them up based on their reactions to this information.

“Al, I’m in the middle of something here.” Michael said dismissively.

“I’ll say! It was getting pretty steamy there for a while. Can we rewind to the part with the hot lesbian three-way?” Sarah flipped him the bird and he cackled. “Mikey, I’m happy you found your balls and started telling the girls how you want to stick it to ‘em, but you kinda screwed Ruby and me here.” Michael couldn’t help but look pleased at himself at that. “We were gonna have a whole challenge around them finding that out and living it, it was gonna be great. Orgasms for all. Then you just gave all of them away.”

“Except for Mallory’s” Ruby added with a stern smirk. “Come on Michael, finish the chain.” Mallory shook her head furiously, but Michael was still staring down the hosts.

“We’ll pick it up later,” Michael said, addressing Mallory without looking in her direction.

“Continue, we insist.” Ruby said. “We’ll just step into the background, like we weren’t even here. Unless…” Ruby slowly swiveled her head to look at Mallory, giving her strong vibes of The Exorcist. “Mallory has something she wants to say first.”

Mallory felt herself rising to her feet. No! Not here! This cannot get any worse! Mallory panicked, but apparently she was going to have to give this confession in front of everyone. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Ruby’s distraction broke her hold. Damien entered a second later. It got worse!

“What in the hell do you want?” Al demanded.

“My apologies. I was here to tell Mallory that her bukkake is ready.”

“Whoa!” Sarah and Luciana leaned back in their seats like it was spraying then and there. Ruby covered her mouth so the room couldn’t see her laughing, but Al didn’t bother to hide it.

“Her what?” Danica blurted.

“The hell’s a bukkake?” Ronnie asked.

“The hell does Mallory want with a bukkake?” Michael said, though Mallory noticed to her horror that his trouser tent rose slightly further at this news.

Mallory saw an out, as awful as it was, and took it. “Yes! That’s it! That’s what I had to say! Bukkake!” She clapped and shone a plastic smile. “It’s my deep dark secret, revealed to you all. You got me, Ruby!” Mallory wagged her finger at the host, to the latter’s increasingly visible irritation. “Thanks, Damien, I’ll find you when this is over.”

“Really?” Janet’s eyebrow raised higher than it ever had, though Mallory couldn’t unpack that at the moment. Michael whistled softly in disbelief.

“Someone want to help me out here?” Ronnie asked again.

“When a woman and a man, and another man, and a couple other men love each other very much-” Al started to say, but before he could get out his explanation, Luciana leaned over and whispered it in her ear. Ronnie’s face started with shock, then confusion, back to shock, confusion again, then resignation.

“Mallory, you do you, girl.” Ronnie said with a shrug.

“Mallory can continue her skincare routine on her own time,” Ruby said, checking the clock on the wall, “We need to set up the next challenge, so Damien…” She turned to him, but as soon as Ruby mentioned his name, he was out the door with catlike quickness. “What do you think, Al?”

“Anything for you, Rubes.” Al and Ruby held up their hands, and power began to flow from it, changing the room around them as they were still in it. Vivian and Ronnie were on a small couch to one side, with Janet, Danica, and Mallory on the other. Those couches split and changed, becoming individual seats and sliding to form two straight lines. Sarah and Luciana’s couch, however, disappeared entirely and dropped them both on their asses.

“What the shit?” Luciana said, as a large table rose from the floor and came right at them, they both had to shuffle out of the way as it filled the center of the room.

It was covered in the green felt and the large logo of Harem Hotel - a card table. The room went dark but for a spotlight illuminating the center table, and Michael’s old childhood home faded into blackness.

“Could you warn us-” Luciana was cut off as chairs shot out from the darkness, catching her, Sarah, and Michael behind the knees and sliding them in, until all eight were seated around it.

“How’s that?” Ruby asked.”

“Very dramatic, Rubes. I like it.” Al said. “One last thing before we announce the rules.”

“And that is…?” Ruby’s voice was pure ice.

“Well, our girl Vivian here has a strike. Two strikes and you’re out. Shut up, Michael,” he said pre-emptively. “We’re tougher than baseball.” Al lifted his hand and Vivian was dragged from the chair to her feet. “I think she has something to tell the class before we get started.”

Vivian and Ruby stared each other down, saying nothing in a way that said everything. Then, when the tension had grown so thick that Mallory thought she was drowning in it, Vivian reached into her bra and removed a small trinket. Everyone leaned forward to see what it was, but Vivian quickly gripped it in her palm, so tightly that her hands were growing white and she winced from the pain.

“I bought this at the market.” Vivian spoke like a politician reading a concession speech, beaten down. “It cost the rest of my chips, now I’m barely worth more than Sarah.” She laughed softly, and no one joined. She set down the trinket on the table. A red “R” made entirely out of a gemstone. It sparked beautifully, and in another context it could have been hanging from a necklace.

“And that is…?” Michael asked.

“It lets the holder switch teams.” Vivian said. “I would join Ruby’s. But, I also have to send someone back to Al’s.”

“Is that all?” Michael said. “You’re still in the game, what’s the big deal?”

“It could mean nothing.” Vivian said. “-Or everything.” Ruby added, unprompted.

“So who’s switching?” Luciana said. “Because I’ve heard Mallory snore from our bedroom, and I want no part of being on that side.”

“I had some trouble choosing.” Vivian said, and her eyes quickly shot to Al. “But this took me damn near all my chips, so I figured it should be the girl who helped me get them in the first place.” Mallory hadn’t known Vivian long, but she could tell that claim was crap. When Vivian picked up the “R” and slid it across the table to Janet, it clicked. Janet’s in first place, why would Vivian pick her specifically? The chips thing is obvious crap. When the redhead touched it, the ruby began to shift and change in her hand, molding itself into an “A.” An “A” of onyx or something so deeply black it seemed to consume the spotlight shining down on it. It appeared to take and take and take until the entire room was plunged into darkness.

Janet is now on Al’s team
Vivian is now on Ruby’s team

After a moment, the effect stopped. The “A” was just a normal piece of black rock and the others could see each other again. Vivian was back in her chair, her fingers tented over her nose and mouth as she sat in quiet contemplation. Mallory looked over her shoulder at the hosts, and Ruby had her hostess smile on again. As broad and pearly as it had ever been. It was only the slight twitch in her cheek that showed Mallory how insanely furious the woman truly was.

“Hello viewers!” Ruby suddenly boomed. “Welcome to the third challenge of Harem Hotel - Casino!”