Lake Shore Drive, the road is called and it'll take you up or down

The honk of a horn shook Nick out of his fugue state. It took a moment to process where he was, but then he realized. He was standing on the street corner, surrounded by people. They were bustling around and talking with one another, and the air was filled with a sound that he hadn’t experienced in quite a long time.

Crowding.

The other girls had gotten their chances to return back to earth in their last challenge. But for Nick, his only foray back to the “real” world had been when he went to go bring Morgana into the harem, and, well…

The less he thought about that, the better.

He took another look around to get a better glimpse of his surroundings. It was night, but you couldn’t tell with how bright everything was. The surrounding buildings and signs lit up the whole sky, along with gleaming streetlamps and traffic signals. It could be the middle of the day for all he could tell!

Is this… huh. Times Square, maybe? It was a stab in the dark. Nick had never been to New York City before. But it looked like the place he knew, or he should say, he knew from the countless movies he’d seen with it, and internet pics.

So if that’s where he was… why was he here?

That’s when it came back to him. On the beach, Dakota had said that she would put him in a specifically dreamed-up scenario with each of the new women in his harem, to “get to know them better”.

That was definitely what was happening now.

“So who am I here for?” He wondered, looking around. “Who could-Oh!”

An unfamiliar familiar face appeared in the crowd of people, looking shyly his way. It was that girl, Ella. She looked so… different. Instead of that orange jumpsuit, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. She looked completely out of place, and whenever anyone came close to her she shrunk away to keep them from bumping into her.

Nick was reminded of a frightened little rabbit out of its hutch for the first time.

Well… this is the date she wanted, right? Nick approached her, and waved. He considered calling out, but didn’t want to startle her. Dakota said that the girls would choose the nature of these scenarios, so even if he didn’t know what she wanted, he was willing to go along with it.

Ella’s eye widened (the one he could see behind her bangs anyway) and her tan skin flushed.

“O-oh, um…” She mumbled something unintelligible, and didn’t raise her head until he was standing right in front of her. Only then did she look at him, and her face was filled with hesitation.

“Um, hi,” Nick said, feeling rather awkward about this whole thing himself. This wasn’t like meeting Rose, who had made a move on him easily, or Morgana, who had known about him and obsessed over him. Or even Mimi, who had been a magical creation who he’d already gotten… “physical” with, in a manner of speaking.

No, this girl… she was a complete stranger to him. And yet, she was an Auditionee?

No, she’s in my harem, he reminded himself. Dakota had made it clear, the Auditionee system was over now. The girls who were in his harem were staying there, unless they got eliminated for some other reason.

So the question was… what should he do now?

“You’re… Ella, right? That’s your name?” Nick asked, deciding that the best course of action was to begin with introductions. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Nick. Nick Reynolds.”

He held out his hand, but she didn’t take it. She just offered a shaky smile.

That’s when he realized that maybe this was the wrong way to go about things. That’s right, we’re strangers. It makes sense that she’d be uneasy and uncertain around me; why should she trust me at all!? She was ****, and **** to be in the harem of some guy she doesn’t even know! She’s going to get her body completely transformed! Heck, that’s probably why she wanted her date to be here, in front of all these people, so I wouldn’t be able to do anything to her!

Of course, Nick was well aware that these “people” were just projections. Creations of Dream Alley. The only real humans here were him and Ella; if he was that kind of person, he could have abused her however he wanted and there was nothing she could do about it.

Obviously, that was the furthest thing from his mind.

“I-I’m really sorry about this!” He blurted out, causing the other girl’s eye to widen. She clearly hadn’t expected him to raise his voice, so he quickly clarified.

“Look, it’s just, um… I didn’t bring you here,” he said. “I didn’t drag you onto this show. That was all Dakota! So like, I’m not some stalker or something like that. …I wish I could take you back, but… I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t look at her without being overwhelmed with guilt, so he turned away. “Dakota… she’s the one who did this. And I wish I could reach her… I wish I could get her to stop… but I don’t know how to do that.”

Ella shifted uncomfortably in place, toying with her fingers. She looked everywhere but at Nick, until finally, she gathered the courage to speak.

“It’s okay…”

Her voice was barely a whisper. But it was enough to get Nick to raise his head. He looked at her in confusion.

“Dakota… she’s the woman with the cane, right?” Ella asked, wincing as she said her name. “She didn’t… abduct me or anything. You don’t have to feel guilty. I… I asked to come here.”

Nick blinked. “…Huh? You… you asked to be here? Why? I’m sorry, but… we’ve never met before, have we? I-I don’t remember…”

“Oh! Oh, no, um, no!” Ella quickly shook her head. “It… it isn’t because of you. I’ve never met you either…”

Well, that was confusing.

“So… you were fine with joining the harem of a guy you never met before?” Nick couldn’t believe that. “…I-please don’t take that the wrong way!” He flushed, thinking that what he’d said sounded a little like calling her a slut.

“I-I wouldn’t, normally,” Ella said, looking down. “You could have been mean… or awful… But… I just… it’s complicated. I don’t want to talk about it. But the way that woman talked about you… it made me want to take a chance.”

A shaky smile crossed her lips, and she gazed up at Nick with an expression that was an odd mixture of hope and wariness.

“You aren’t a bad guy… right?”

“No! Of course I’m not! I just, I was worried you thought that way, that’s all,” Nick said, waving his hands. Ella reminded him a lot of Morgana. He had to be gentle with her, or she might just start panicking. But she was taking this pretty well, all things considered.

Ella sighed in relief. “Then… okay.”

She reached out a shaking hand, and to Nick’s surprise, she took his.

It seemed to surprise her, as well. Her face lit up in amazement.

“W-wow… so this is… holding hands with a boy…”

Nick blinked. “You’ve never held hands with a guy before?” He asked, surprised. “How old are you?”

She bit her lip and glanced away. “…22,” she replied, her face burning with shame. “And… yeah, I’ve never held hands with a guy before… or even really talked to many guys. That’s… it’s one of the reasons I agreed to come onto this show in the first place. I wanted at least to try falling in love, before…”

Her voice trailed off and she clamped her mouth shut tight.

Before? Nick had no idea what she meant by that. “What are you-”

“No!” She suddenly blurted out, her eyes widening behind her bangs. “I-I’m not ready yet, I don’t want to-!”

She quickly tore her hand away from his and held it over her chest. She seemed suddenly short of breath, and her face was flushed. It looked like she had broken out into a cold sweat. Then Nick heard a “thwap” sound. He looked down at her hands, and saw she was pulling on the rubber band around her wrist, and flicking it against her over and over.

“Ella? Are you okay?” Nick asked, approaching her cautiously.

Her eye widened and she took a shaky step back, holding up her arms. “It’s fine! I’m fine! I’m totally normal, everything’s fine! Don’t worry!”

“Uh… okay, then,” Nick nodded, not sure what to say to that. There was definitely something off about this girl, that was for sure. But he didn’t want to upset her. The whole point of this date was to get to know her better, after all. “It’s forgotten. So… what do you want to do?”

She blinked. “…Huh?”

Nick shrugged. “I mean… this is your date, right? That’s what Dakota said. We should spend time together to get to know each other, and you’re the one who’ll control that, so…”

“Oh, uh, yeah, right,” Ella laughed, scratching her hair sheepishly.

“Is that why you chose to come to New York City?” Nick asked. “Are you from here? Your English is very good, I don’t hear any trace of an accent at all!”

“Something like that, yeah,” she nodded, looking down. “I, I’m not an immigrant or anything like that. I was born in the US, and my stepmother, she was an American too, so…”

She gulped and shook her head quickly. Then she snapped her rubber band again. “…So yeah, I’m staying here for now, anyway… in New York… back on earth, I mean. But I’ve never really gotten to actually see the city, so… I wanted to have a chance. And if you wanted to join me, well…”

“Of course I want to join you,” Nick replied. Something about the cute and fussy Ella really triggered his protective instincts. She was like Mary and Morgana mixed together, with just a little bit of Kim. He was looking forward to getting to know her more. “Since neither one of us have been here before, though, I’ll follow your lead. Is there anything you want to do?”

“Um…”

A rumbling sound came from her stomach and she turned red. For once, she didn’t look away from Nick… because she froze as stiff as a board, staring blankly at him.

“…Let’s go get something to eat,” Nick suggested, laughing a little to try and defuse the tension.

Ella rapidly bobbed her head up and down.

Navigating the streets of New York City when neither of them had spent any meaningful amount of time there was pretty tricky. But because this was Dream Alley, things seemed to just fall into place for them both. Hence, why they quickly happened upon a burger joint.

Ella quickly displayed just how hungry she was. Nick watched in amazement as she tore into her hamburger with gusto, devouring it in only a couple of bites.

“Ong! Ung! Sho good!” Ella moaned as the thick juices rolled down her chin. She seemed almost orgasmic. Nick was astonished. The burger tasted great, but… it was just a burger. The way Ella was acting, you would think she’d never had a hamburger before in her life.

“Wow, you really liked it, huh?” Nick noted, trying to turn it into a funny joke.

Ella froze instantly and her eyes widened. The remains of her burger fell from her fingers and back onto her plate, and she started to redden.

“I-I just… I never…” She quickly averted her gaze again. She was really having trouble expressing herself. “…Growing up, I didn’t really get to eat a lot of food, not since I was very young…” she said sullenly, staring down at what was left of her meal. “And even now… well, the food I get doesn’t taste as good as this. I’m sorry, I’ve made a complete embarrassment of myself!”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Nick said quickly, trying to soothe her however he could. “I actually think it’s kind of charming, actually, that you just went and devoured your burger like that.”

Ella stared at him like he had just grown a third eyeball. “…Really?”

“Mhm,” Nick nodded.

“Thwap!”

Ella flicked her wrist with her rubber band again, and took a few deep breaths. That seemed to calm her down. “It’s okay,” she said to herself, closing her eyes. “It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m okay…”

She cracked her eye open, and looked cautiously at Nick. Seeing that he wasn’t looking at her judgmentally or with disdain, she fully relaxed.

“…Sorry.”

He really wished she would stop apologizing. That made things so much harder.

“…I think the one you should apologize to is your shirt,” he said, pointing at her.

She looked down again and gasped.

“Ah! I didn’t even notice! My clothes are all stained!” She wailed. She scrubbed at the stains with a napkin, but Nick knew a lost cause when he saw one.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he assured her. “This is all just part of Dream Alley, right? You picked that outfit out and everything. You can just clean your shirt with a thought, right?”

“I-I guess,” Ella agreed, calming down a little. Then she smiled. “But, actually… could we maybe… go shopping?”

“Clothes shopping?” Nick asked, surprised. “I mean, sure, we can. I’d be fine with that.”

She sighed in relief. “Oh, thank you!” She gushed. “See, I never got to wear new clothes… just hand-me-downs from my sisters, and rags, and- eep!” She quickly shut her mouth, and flicked her wrist a few more times. “It just slipped out,” she hissed under her breath, shaking her head. “I’m fine, I’m fine…”

“Ella?”

“Let’s go!” She shot out of her chair and fled the restaurant, without even paying her bill.

Nick sighed and slapped some money onto the table from his bottomless wallet (a pointless thing, since, well, this was all a dream, anyway) and followed after her.

She was waiting for him just outside the door with a sheepish expression on her face.

“…Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I can get really emotional… and when my emotions get the better of me, I have a tendency to just run away…” Her face blossomed with shame, but then she tightened up and put on a firm face. “But… I don’t want to do that anymore. I know I’m new to this romance stuff… but I really want to try!”

Nick felt a little uncertain about that. It was obvious that Ella was trying to use him to experience relationship stuff, and while he was fine with that, he really wanted to get to know her as a person, and vice versa.

Then he saw Ella was starting to get flustered.

“You, um, you’re looking at me a lot…” Ella played with her bangs, almost like she was trying to cover her other eye. “I know my clothes are stained, but…”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize,” Nick apologized. “Let’s go find a clothing store, okay?”

Ella nodded, then she pointed behind him. Nick turned and saw that right next to the burger place was a boutique.

How convenient.

The two of them entered, and Nick half-expected to see Kim manning the counter in skimpy lingerie. That probably would have given his timid companion a heart attack! But no, it was just a clerk with a bright smile.

“Welcome! What can we do for you today?” She asked.

“We’re looking for clothes,” Nick said, gesturing to Ella. “For her.”

Ella gulped and nodded.

“We, uh… we can just look around,” she mumbled.

Nick followed after Ella as headed deeper into the store. Just like in the restaurant, her face seemed filled with so much reverence that she could barely contain herself. It reminded him of a kid in a candy shop.

“So many clothes…” She breathed. “And so many colors! It’s amazing!”

She turned and looked back at him. “Can… can I really pick whatever I want?” She asked hopefully.

Nick shrugged. “Yeah, of course,” he nodded. “This is just a dream, so I’ve got plenty of money. Get whatever you want.”

She sure took him up on that offer. By the time they were done and heading for the changing rooms, Ella had a mountain of clothes in her shopping cart that was taller than she was!

While Nick waited for her to get changed and try on her multitude of outfits, he thought that now would be a good time to try to get to know her better.

“So Ella, do you have any hobbies or interests?” He inquired. “I’m a pretty big fan of reading, you know. In fact, I’m actually a published author!”

“Oh, really?” Ella’s voice filled with that awe tone again. “That’s really amazing! …As for me, well… I don’t have anything like that…”

“Really? No hobbies at all?” That didn’t sound like it made any sense.

“I just haven’t had the time… oh, but I’m really good at cleaning house, doing laundry, dishes, stuff like that, and I’m a decent cook, too, although I never got a chance to try any of my own dishes…” She sighed. Then Nick heard that “THWAP!” again. It was a sound he was quickly getting used to.

“…I’m sorry, but… I don’t really like talking much about myself,” Ella said after a very long pause. “It’s not like I’m that interesting, anyway.”

“Hey, come on, don’t be like that,” Nick said, placing his hand on the door. “I’m having a good time, Ella, really, I am. So don’t worry, okay? I just want to get to know you better. That’s a part of dating, right?”

She was silent again for a long time.

“No.” Her response was so sharp that it barely sounded like her. “…I don’t want to talk about myself,” she said, her voice softening immediately afterwards. “Please… I’ve been having a really good time hanging out with you. I don’t want to ruin it.”

Nick was hesitant. But he didn’t want to pry. Just like with Rose, if there was something sensitive in Ella’s past that she didn’t want to talk about, then he would respect her wishes and not pry.

“…Okay then, I’m sorry I asked,” he apologized.

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” she assured him from behind the door. He heard the flick of her rubber band on her wrist again.

Then, about a minute later, she knocked on the door.

“Um… I’m ready now,” she said quietly. “I really liked this, so… could you tell me what you think?”

“Yeah! Uh, sure!” Nick quickly agreed.

The door to the changing room swung open and Ella stepped out.

She looked nice. A lot better than the hastily-constructed outfit of a t-shirt and jeans. She wore a nice midnight blue skirt and a long-sleeved pink blouse. She seemed a lot more comfortable in these clothes, and they seemed to make her stand out.

When she saw he was staring at her, her cheeks flushed.

“Do… do you like it?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, you looked great!” Nick said without hesitation. He didn’t want Ella to feel any more self-conscious than she already did.

The tan girl smiled.

“So, um… what now?” Nick asked. “Do you want to try these other clothes on, or-”

“No, this… this one’s fine,” Ella said, glancing longingly at her clothes. While in the changing room, she’d realized how foolish the idea of “shopping” really was- she’d tried on the outfits, and she’d like them all, but they didn’t need to actually buy them.

“It’s kind of like cheating, to leave with only this,” Ella giggled, as Nick paid for her clothes at the counter. “But this is a dream, right?”

Nick nodded. “I’m glad you’re seeing it that way,” he agreed. “We can do whatever we want! So… what do you want?”

“I want… hm.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I’m not sure, but… how about we go watch a movie?” She pointed at a theater across the street. “I’ve always heard about watching movies with boys, and fooling around in the dark…” She said that last part quietly as she realized what she was saying, but she couldn’t take it back before the words escaped. Her face blanched with horror.

“Hey, we don’t have to do any fooling around or anything,” Nick assured her. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman, I promise.”

Ella sighed in relief while flicking her wrist again.

“Maybe… we could hold hands, then?” She asked hopefully, holding out her hand to Nick again. Nick hesitated, but he took it, feeling how sweaty and cold her hands were. She was as nervous as he was… no, a lot more nervous, he guessed.

After all, he was just trying to make sure she had a good time.

They crossed the street and headed to the theater. Nick was about to ask Ella what movie she wanted to watch, only to realize that there was only one playing.

“It’s… Happily Never After? I’ve never heard of that movie before,” Nick squinted. But the words shifted slightly, and the “N” disappeared. “Wait, no… Happily Ever After? What?”

The title of the movie kept blurring and coming into focus; he couldn’t tell what it actually was.

Ella squirmed uneasily, shifting from one foot to the other. “Well, we, uh… let’s just go in, okay?” She stammered. This wasn’t what she had planned. She’d wanted to watch something funny and lighthearted, like a romantic comedy! …But she’d never seen one of those before.

“I guess Dream Alley can’t create things if I haven’t seen them,” she mumbled.

“No, this is Dakota’s doing, probably,” Nick guessed as they walked into the empty theater. “When it comes to movies, she’s got a way about her…”

The theater lights dimmed as they took their seats. They were nicer than a normal theater’s; practically like armchairs side by side!

Then, cuffs shot out from the chairs. They bound their wrists, then their ankles, and even snapped shut around their stomach and neck.

“Hey! What is all this!?” Nick tried to look at Ella, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even turn his head with the tight restraints.

“I don’t know!” Ella wailed. Of course, Nick knew that already.

No, there was only one person he assumed was responsible for this mess.

“Dakota!” He snapped. “This is you, isn’t it? What’s going on here?!”

There was no response. Instead, gags slapped around their mouths, keeping them from speaking in anything but muffled grunts.

And the movie began to play.

HAPPILY N/EVER AFTER flashed onto the screen.

Then, a picture that looked like the crayon scrawls of a child popped up, showing a bright and sunny day. Little puppets made of paper with popsicle sticks on the bottom danced onto the field, three of them. A tanned man and woman, and a very young child.

“Once, there was a happy family,” Dakota’s voice echoed through the speakers in a saccharine sweet tone. “A loving father, a loving mother, and their lovely daughter.”

Nick heard Ella suck in a breath of air. He heard Ella frantically scraping at her bonds, but it was futile.

“The family of three was so happy together. The husband and wife had moved to the United States from Mexico to get a taste of the American Dream, and they were very successful! The father worked hard to amass quite a bit of wealth for him, his wife, and his daughter.”

The background shifted to show a haphazardly drawn mansion. The puppets danced around it with smiles on their faces.

“But then… tragedy struck. The mother fell ill… and before the year was out, she passed away.”

The mother puppet cracked in half and the pieces fell off screen. The father and daughter puppets spun around, revealing teary, crying faces on the other side. The lighting shifted, and the whole mansion was cast with a gloomy glow.

Nick wondered what he was seeing. The puppet on the screen, it was shoddily constructed, like a child’s creation. But it looked a little bit like Ella. Was this Dakota’s doing? Showing him what Ella had been through?

Dakota’s voiceover continued, “Not long after his wife’s passing, the father met a new woman. An American woman with two daughters of her own. He was smitten with her beauty immediately, and a year later, they were wed. His daughter would have a new stepmother, and two new stepsisters!”

Three more puppets bounced onto the screen. They had pale skin and blonde hair, and wore nice dresses. The other two puppets turned back around, and everyone was all smiles.

“But… not long after that, the father passed away as well. And while the circumstances of his passing were initially seen as suspicious… there was no evidence to implicate his new wife. And thus, his daughter was left in her care.”

The father puppet tore itself to pieces, while the stepmother puppet waddled off screen with a cartoonishly large bottle in her hand labeled with a skull and crossbones. The daughter puppet flipped back around, and her crying face returned.

Ella… I’m so sorry, Nick apologized mentally, wondering if this was really what had happened to her. He was **** to look his way, but with all the constraints on his body, his head could hardly move.

“After her father’s passing, the daughter’s life began to turn to hell on earth,” Dakota continued. “She wasn’t allowed to wear the fancy dresses her stepsisters got to wear. She wasn’t allowed to sit at the dinner table she’d grown up sharing meals with her mother and father on. All her beloved parents’ things were tossed into the rubbish heap! She was **** to wear ratty old rags.”

The daughter puppet’s clothes were replaced by a maid outfit, and her face changed again to a look of hollow resignation.

“‘You’re a Mexican, so you’re no better than our servant!’ the stepmother cruelly mocked her as she made the daughter do all the chores of the large house. The daughter was **** to dust the furniture, clean the windows, and mop the floors. She even had to chop the wood and clean out the fireplace, which was especially vindictive as the house came fully-equipped with indoor heating!” Dakota almost sounded amused by that; but her voice soon took on a somber tone. “All the while, the daughter was bullied by her stepmother and stepsisters. She cried herself to sleep every night, and woke up every morning to work hard at her chores. And all the while, she prayed that somebody would eventually come, and rescue her from her horrible fate…”

As Nick watched the puppet go through all those chores, he felt the same way. She seemed sadder and more miserable with each passing second.

“One morning, while the daughter was polishing the mirror, a voice spoke to her from her reflection!” A mirror popped up onto the stage across from the puppet, showing a reflection of her in it.

“‘Are you my faerie godmother?’ the daughter asked hopefully. But the mirror just laughed. ‘A faerie godmother? What year do you think this is?’ the daughter’s reflection asked her. ‘It’s 2020, girl! The future is female! You can’t sit back and wait for a faerie godmother to drop by and save you, if you want to make a better life for yourself, you need to seize it with your own two hands!’ …The daughter knew her reflection was right. She was so strong and sure of herself! She surely wouldn’t steer her wrong. So the daughter decided that she would make her own future!”

The mirror and the puppet faded away, and the screen went dark. Then the mansion background appeared again, and all four puppets danced onto the scene. The stepmother and stepsisters crowded around a table prop, while the daughter stood off to the side.

“So at dinner that night, the daughter put her plan into action! She took the axe she used to chop wood every day, and ‘bippity’d’ her older stepsister right across the throat! Then with a ‘boppity’ she cut the younger sister’s stomach open, and when her stepmother tried to run, she gave her a ‘boo’ right in the back of the skull!”

Nick stared in horror as the daughter puppet gruesomely dismembered the other three puppets, and danced joyfully around them.

“And then the police came and arrested the daughter… and she lived happily never after!” Dakota ominously concluded as the curtain fell.

The lights snapped on and their restraints opened. Nick let out the breath of air he was holding, and shivered. The twisted things he’d seen, in such a friendly little display… he felt a cold sweat roll down his back.

Frozen, he didn’t think to look Ella’s way until he saw her jerk up onto his feet. He turned, but she wasn’t looking at him.

“Ella?”

She ran out of the theater as fast as she could.

“Ella! Wait up!” Nick cried, chasing after her. He didn’t know what that was, but he was still worried about her.

He caught up to her outside the movie theater. She was standing on the sidewalk, staring vacantly off into space.

“Ella? What was that?” He asked as he approached her cautiously. “That movie, it… what the heck’s going on?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Ella asked him in a cool voice. She turned her head his way, looking a little off. She was smiling, and her bangs had shifted so that they covered her right eye, revealing her left, which glistened sharply. “It was really weird, huh?”

She laughed, and slapped Nick on the back.

“Don’t worry about it,” she sniffed, sauntering down the street. “Anyway. I’m still hungry. That burger wasn’t nearly enough. You’re paying, right?”

She rubbed her belly and Nick couldn’t do much else other than follow after her, wondering what the hell was going on.

“Mierda! This is delicious!” Ella tore into another hamburger, not caring one whit about manners, or the juice staining her new blouse. “I can’t get enough of these things!”

Nick just watched her sloppily devour her burger without saying anything. He’d tried to bring up the movie a few times, but she’d repeatedly cut him off and glare at him in a way that made him shiver.

“Why are you staring at me?” Ella demanded, narrowing her eyes into a glare. “Got something you want to say?”

“N-no,” Nick quickly replied, stiffening up straight. “I was just wondering-”

“Chinga tu madre,” she snapped, cutting him off. She flung her wadded-up wrapper onto her plate and leaned back in her seat. “You think I wanna listen to your whining? Me vale verga, the only reason you’re here is to cover the bill.”

Not caring that Nick wasn’t done with his food, she stood up and headed for the door. Nick desperately chased after her, still completely lost.

“Ella, why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Is it because of what happened in that twisted movie? Was… was that girl you?”

She turned on her heel and jammed her finger into his chest, nearly knocking him over.

“Don’t get that close to me again,” she snapped. “Or I’ll feed you your cojones in a sandwich. Comprende?”

Nick tensed. It was like he was talking to an entirely different person!

“I… I…”

“Aye, aye, fucking maricón get over yourself,” she rolled her eyes, and stormed off for the boutique.

The cashier greeted her again, only to be met with an upturned middle finger for her troubles. Nick hastily apologized, following after Ella with caution.

“Peek, and you’re dead,” the woman threatened, slamming the door behind her. Nick was sorely tempted to just run, but… could he really do that? After all, this was Ella’s dream world. That was fine when he was just helping her get used to being with a guy, and he was enjoying her company. But with the way she was acting now…

Nick had no idea what the proper course of action was.

Maybe there wasn’t any at all.

It’s fine, he reassured himself, taking a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, ironically just like Ella had done before. He remembered her comments about getting “emotional” too. Whatever that movie said, it doesn’t matter. Dakota wouldn’t let me get hurt. Neither would the producers.

He had no idea what Ella wanted from him anymore, but he resolved himself to weather the storm in front of him. That movie… all that stuff… it was like something out a story. Cinderella… Ella… no, it couldn’t be… could it?

Before Nick could think any further on the subject, the door to the changing room slammed open and Ella strolled out.

She looked a lot different.

Her clothes were styled in a way that Nick thought Gina might pick out. A torn red and black sleeveless shirt and tight jeans, and some punk jewelry. She had a sharp gleam in her eye like a predator, and a wicked smile on her face.

“Aaaahh, that’s much better. Gotta love this fit.” She turned and looked at herself in the mirror. Then she caught Nick staring at her in the reflection, and her face soured.

“See something you like?” She snapped, and whipped around, grabbing his shoulder. She shoved him against the wall, holding his collar with one hand while the other pressed against the wall beside his head. Her amber eyes glowed bloody **** as she fumed at him, and all Nick could do was shake.

“E-Ella, what’s going on?” He didn’t mean to sound that pathetic, but this girl was really intimidating him. “Let go of me!”

He pushed her off and regained his bearings, before glaring at her.

“Something’s going on!” He snapped. “That movie, then this? What the hell happened in that theater, huh?! You’ve been different ever since then!”

“That’s right I’m different,” she snapped, narrowing her eyes into slits. “I’m not fawning all over you like Ella. I’m not some naïve girl who doesn’t know anything about the world, and I’ll be damned if I let you lay a filthy hand on Ella after all we’ve been through, you miserable puta!” She spat.

Nick took a second to process what she was saying. It sounded so bizarre and out here, and yet… the idea that had taken root in his mind was the only one he could really consider. And given the crazy stuff he’d seen as a result of this show… was it really THAT out there?

“Who are you?” Nick asked suspiciously. “You’re not Ella. What’s going on?”

The girl’s frown deepened and she gritted her teeth. Then she laughed.

“Oh… I’m Ella,” she promised him. “Just… not exactly the Ella you were talking to earlier.” She sat down on the bench in the changing room and kicked up her legs, lounging back. “Tell me something, Nick, was it? Have you ever heard of something called ‘dissociative identity disorder’?”

“Dissa-what?” Nick blinked. “Wait, you mean multiple-personality disorder?!” That had been his initial suspicion. It seemed like he was right on the money.

“Ella” rolled her eyes and grunted. “Sure. Call it that if you like. We didn’t know what to call it at first either, but that’s what all the court-appointed shrinks were saying. Our lawyer may have been a cheap court-appointed prick, but hey- at least he finally helped us figure out what was going on with us.”

Nick paced back and forth, keeping his eyes trained on her just to be careful. He didn’t want to risk turning his back on “Ella” given what she’d been saying, and what he’d seen. “Lawyers, court-appointed shrinks… so that movie, that was the truth, then?”

“Ella” smirked, and nodded, stretching her hands behind her head and leaning against them. “Yeah. That was it. When Ella was a kid, our father remarried that witch of a woman. Then when he died… she abused us. Just like that Disney movie. Only, no Prince Charming to come to her rescue.” Her voice turned bitter and she glared at him. “Ella couldn’t go through with it. She was too scared. Too nice. And that’s why… I was born. To do the things she couldn’t.”

She clenched her fist so tightly Nick thought her nails might break the skin. Her hand trembled, and she stared contemptuously at him.

“So you’re… some kind of alternate personality, then?” Nick tried to scry for the truth. “Someone who comes out whenever she needs protecting, if I had to guess?” Given the way she was acting around him, it was clear this other Ella saw him as a threat. It was a reasonable guess.

“Hey! You’re not as stupid as I thought!” She laughed. “That’s basically correct, yeah. Ella’s never been good with confrontations. So whenever things are a little too overwhelming, and she can’t calm herself down…” She flicked her wrist with the rubber band a few times to emphasize her point, then looked up into Nick’s eyes.

“…I come out. And I take care of the problem.”

Before Nick could react, she sprung out of her seat and lunged at him, fingers curled into sharp talons.

But she never reached him.

“…What the hell?!” She exclaimed, swiping at him. But her hands never came close. “Puta madre, what’s going on?!”

“I think that’s quite enough,” Dakota said, popping into the center of the changing area with an amused expression on her face. “We can’t have you actually hurting the master in a non-sexy way, after all.”

“No mames!” She spat. “Are you fucking serious?! You can’t just hold me back like this! This pendejo is planning to-! With Ella-!” She rattled off a long string of Spanish words Nick assumed were profane in nature while he tried to focus on getting his heart beating like normal again.

“Dakota, this is your idea of a candidate for my harem?” Nick demanded, turning to her. “Someone who wants to kill me?!”

Dakota rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. It’s like you’ve never heard of a tsundere before. Remember Holly?”

“You CAN’T believe this is the same thing!” He sputtered, gesturing at the Mexican girl still struggling against the invisible wall keeping her from him.

Dakota just shrugged.

“Just think of it as two girls for the price of one… more or less,” she said, clapping her hands together. “Don’t worry, I promise that… sorry, what should we call you?” She turned to the fuming latina with a curious expression. “Calling you both ‘Ella’ wouldn’t really work. Do you have a name?”

The impeded woman glared at them both with **** in her eyes. “…Go fuck yourselves.”

“…Right. Well, how about we just call you ‘Coño’ then? My Spanish is a bit rusty, but I believe that means ‘cunt’.”

“Fine! Hija de puta!” She spat. “…The shrink told Ella to come up with a name for me, to make communicating easier.”

Dakota smirked. “And that name is…?”

Her tan cheeks flushed. “…Cinder,” she muttered, looking like the other Ella for the first time in her glowing embarrassment. “She calls me Cinder.”

“Oh, that’s just rich!” Dakota cackled, holding her sides. “Cinder and Ella!”

“It’s not a fucking joke!” Cinder exploded. “You think I’ll just let you mock the pain she’s been through, all these years… que te jodan madre-”

As she continued to curse, Dakota just rolled her eyes.

“I’ll admit, Nick, she’s not the nicest girl we could have picked for you. She may not be a convicted felon just yet, but a triple-murderer with massive mental issues certainly is an ambitious choice.”

She reached out and cradled his cheek. “But don’t worry. I have every faith that you’ll be able to fix her. Whichever ‘her’ it is, I mean.”

Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Dakota…”

“But enough of that!” Dakota stepped back, and raised her cane. “Your time’s almost up. Which means we must be getting down to business. This is Harem Hotel, after all! We need to move on to the transformations.”

“Transformations?” Nick frowned.

“Huh? The fuck is that, ‘transformations’?” Cinder demanded. “What are you talking about?!”

Dakota turned to look at her. “Oh, that’s right… your memories of when the other is present are always a little fuzzy, aren’t they? I only explained the rules to Ella… well, you can work it out with yourself later! Back to the point at hand.”

She turned back to Nick and tapped her cane. “Here’s how it’s going to go down. Because Mary had six transformations when she was eliminated, I’ll be giving six transformations to our little homicidal psychopath here.”

“Six?!” Nick couldn’t believe his ears.

Cinder tensed. “Is… is that bad?” A bit of fear leached into her voice, making her sound a lot more like Ella than she might have wanted.

“Of course, it’s not going to work out if we just dump six transformations on you,” Dakota said with a shrug. “Five was pushing it already last round, and six would start getting cluttered. So what we’re going to do, is we’re going to give her three transformations! Three for this round, and three more, after the next challenge. That sounds fair, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Wait, are you going to do with for all the girls?” Nick asked.

“Yes,” Dakota nodded, looking annoyed, as if she’d answered that question several times already. “For all the girls. And since I’m such a sweetheart, we’ll even avoid the ‘you expressing your desires’ part, since there’s no one here but us chickens! Now, let’s begin! Take a look at the first set of transformations! Remember, you’ll be getting three of them, one from each!”

She tapped her cane, and a screen appeared in front of them.

First Poll:

• Putting the “Sweet” in Suite: Cinder and Ella are the master’s new maids. Every day, in preparation for the master’s night with another contestant, they must arrive one hour in advance to clean the Master’s Suite, wearing a maid costume. They may not remove this outfit until the housekeeping is completed. While cleaning, the master has the right to sexually harass them at his leisure. [NOTE: Only actions that have already been done consensually with one of the personas are permitted.] (Maid)
• Apples to Apple: Each round, Cinder and Ella will be given two magic apples. They may eat one or both of them, and give them away as they wish. Once both are eaten, one apple will grant the eater a boon, and the other will grant the eater a punishment transformation for the remainder of the round. (Faerie Tale)
• Struggle for Dominance: Two girls in one body can be disorienting. It’s important that one persona is in charge. From this point, Cinder and Ella will be in a constant struggle for who is the “dominant” persona and who is the subservient one. Fetishes and desires of the dominant persona will begin to seep into the mind of the subservient persona. [NOTE: Which persona is dominant and which is subservient will be decided by the amount of sexual experience they have with the master.] (Switch)

https://strawpoll.com/w4nWWjoD5nA

Second Poll:

• The Master’s Command: As the master’s new maids, Cinder and Ella must be subservient! Once per day, the master may make any one request of his maid, that must be followed. Failure to follow the master’s order gives him the right to inflict an appropriate punishment on the disobedient girl. [NOTE: This punishment must be proportional to the weight of the order being given, and cannot exceed it.] (Maid)
• The Stroke of Midnight: Cinder and Ella have always put their hands to use scrubbing floors and sweeping away dust. Now, they will have hands that are perfectly soft, like a princess, that are unsuited for physical labor, but are incredibly sensitive. So sensitive that giving handjobs will bring immense pleasure to both the giver and the receiver. (Faerie Tale)
• Passenger Seat: Contrary to popular depictions of DID, Cinder and Ella are not present in their mind at the same time, and do not associate things that happened to the other persona as happening to them. For the purposes of sexual activity, that is no longer the case. Now, whenever Cinder or Ella experience sexual pleasure, the other persona will feel as though they were given the same pleasure, and knowledge of that will carry over the next time they take over. [NOTE: The persona will still not be present in the moment, this will only affect what they remember of the events.] (Switch)

https://strawpoll.com/xVg71RQdMyr

Third Poll:

• Clean Up This Mess!: It’s unseemly for the master’s maids to leave stains anywhere. Whenever Cinder or Ella see any of the master’s sexual fluids, they will feel compelled to clean them up. The best way to do that? With their tongue, of course! (Maid)
• Happily Ever After: Cinder and Ella have always longed for a happy ending. Now, they’ll be able to earn one for themselves! Every time the master gives them an orgasm, their fondness for him will increase slightly, even to the point of falling in love. The effect of this will build with subsequent orgasms, but if left orgasm-free for long enough, their feelings will revert to their baseline. (Faerie Tale)
• Chainge of Heart: Cinder and Ella will develop a fondness for whips, chains, and domination. Whether they prefer dominating or being dominated will depend on which persona is currently in charge. (Switch)

https://strawpoll.com/ajnE1zGNmnW

Nick was shocked at the transformations given to her.

“No fucking way!” Cinder spat. “I don’t want any of that! Get away from me you-!”

Dakota snapped her fingers and the votes started.