The Entrancing Escape Room

Noa's mind wanders back to the kisses they shared when Marit brought her back from the flashlight trance. "And with every kiss, you feel the need to wake up grow inside you, it's the need to kiss me back. You want me, and you have to be awake to have me. So come back to me." Marit is sensual in everything she does. Noa sighs as she watches her lover go into trance in this strange machine.

Leslie paces around Will with their hands in the pocket of their hoodie. Will's hands move automatically on the keyboard, but otherwise his body has grown very still. As time passes by, Will's head bows slowly forward, and now his hair obscures his face. Leslie doesn't dare to look at the screen anymore. Will is typing affirmation after trancy affirmation, and just thinking those words will make them a little more true. Even watching Will go deeper into trance might make Leslie sink down again. They bite their lip.

There's nothing as delicious in the world as being in trance. All the responsibilities and inhibitions just fall away. Leslie loves to be free and mindless, but it's so hard and so incredibly embarrassing. They look back at the console that made them drool like that. Would that have happened if Will had stood there watching over them?

They turned back to Will. What are they supposed to do anyway, besides watching? Will is long gone, it seems like there was no way to prevent that from happening. Should they just wait here to help Will wake up when it's all over, just like he has done for them? Is that enough?

Hesitantly, Leslie steps closer to Will and brushes his hair out of his face. No reaction. Will's eyes are blank with large, dilated pupils. He doesn't need them to type; he has always been a computergeek. At the end of each phrase, his fingers press tab and then enter, so he doesn't need the mouse. His breathing is slow and deep, chest rising when he's listening to the voice on the headphones, and falling when he's typing. Leslie wonders if trance is as liberating to Will as it is to them.

Noa's face feels flushed as she's watching Marit inside the cabin. Marit has let go of her hand a while ago. The text on the spiral regularly prompts her to press the button on the armrest, and now Marit is tracing circles around her nipples protruding through her T-shirt with her fingers. If seeing Marit in deep trance wasn't hot enough, this vision of her mindlessly playing with herself is driving Noa nuts.

Noa wonders what would happen if she were to drag her lover out of the cabin to wake her up and then just occasionally press the button to make the machine continue until the end when it gives up the Keyword. Would the machine notice? Would it refuse to give the Keyword? Noa gasps as Marit thoughtlessly crams one hand into her jeans, her eyes still staring at the screen. Better not interrupt her now, Noa thinks to herself.

As Marit pleasures herself with one hand in her jeans, she starts to murmur words. At first it's inaudible, but it becomes clearer every time she repeats the words. Noa shudders in disbelief and arousal hits her like a hot flash. The creators of this escape room really did it. They had the balls to create it just like in all the porn. She no longer has any intention to interrupt the trance. This is a sexy fantasy come true, she wants it to last as long as possible. Breathlessly, she watches as Marit sits there, empty eyes reading the screen, one hand in her crotch, her voice monotonous as she repeats: "Obedience is pleasure. Obedience is pleasure. Obedience is pleasure. Obedience is pleasure."

There's a change in Will, Leslie notices. His face looks the same, slack with staring eyes, but his hands are moving more slowly, carefully pressing one key at the time. Leslie takes a deep breath and finally dares to look at the screen. I AM DEEPLY HYPNOTISED. Submit. Leslie bites their lip. They realise that they don't really know Will that well, and they have never really shared a moment of intimacy before. But watching him go into trance, watching this moment of surrender... Leslie gasps.

I SURRENDER MY WILL. I HAVE LOST THE GAME. Will types. The screen flashes two gigantic green words: WELL DONE! And Leslie can hear some kind of sound being played over the headphones. Will spasms as his eyes roll up and his knees buckle. Leslie catches him as he falls. They guide him to the floor and when he's safely lying down, they remove the headphones.

Will goes through another wave of spasming, his back arching, his head rolling back and the white of his eyes visible. Leslie turns Will onto his side, supporting his back and shoulders with their legs and gently holding his head. Hesitantly, Leslie speaks. "Let it fade away now." Another wave, Will's hands are shaking.

Leslie takes a deep breath and speaks more firmly now: "With every wave, you can feel those feelings fading away. It's all waning now. Take a deep breath. Feel the cold floor underneath you. Listen to my voice. Remember where you are. I am bringing you back, just like I promised I would. So keep your end of the bargain, Fucker. Wake up now."

Will jolts. His eyes blink and then look at Leslie. "I'm here. I'm awake," he rasps. He sits up and rubs his face for a moment, gasping. "That was..."

Leslie puts their arm around him and just sits with him, nodding. "I know, dude. I know. I won't tell anyone if you don't tell about me."

Will looks at them with a half-smile. "Deal." Then he looks up at the console, the headphones are dangling down beside it. "Why did I have to pick the one with the ASMR?"

Leslie opens their mouth and closes it again a few times. They want to ask something, but the words don't quite make it past their lips. Finally, they manage to ask: "Do you remember what you asked me just before you started?"

Will frowns as he thinks back. Then he shivers, processing some thoughts. He looks at Leslie and says: "Yes. Me too." Then he quickly looks away and gets up. "Do you want to input this word in the intercom?"

Leslie gets up too. "What is it?"

Will shakes his head as he looks away from the screen, blushing. "Complicit," he says without making eye-contact.

Leslie turns away, determined to let Will recover from the burning shame he must be feeling right now. They start walking towards the door, when they notice Noa and Marit making out in the cabin in the middle of the room. Noa is sitting in Marit's lap. It's a miracle she managed to curl herself into the cabin on top of Marit.

Leslie stops to lean up against the cabin. "For fuck's sake, girls, have you no shame?"

"Nope!" Noa responds with a giggle. "I have a hypnotised girlfriend and a dark room."

"You're not even trying to win, are you?" Leslie rolls their eyes and crosses their arms.

"The Keyword is Deference." Noa resplies without skipping a beat. "We're almost done having fun, and then we'll come back out."

Leslie lets out a dramatic sigh as they walk to the door. They input both of the Keywords, Complicit and Deference, and then they watch two more red circles turn into green check marks. Just as Will comes sauntering up behind them, they notice the stick figures. Three are red now, and one is yellow. Will stops beside Leslie and they share a silent look; they know what this means, but they can't talk about it.

Marit loudly clears her throat and spends a moment standing beside the cabin, closing the zipper of her jeans and smoothing her bra and T-shirt back down.

Noa skips towards the others, her candy-striped dress billowing around her. "How are we doing?" She looks at the screen and a puzzled expression comes over her. "Three red icons? But we're all awake." She whips around to look at Marit, who has come up behind her. "You're ok right?"

Marit puts her arms around Noa, holding her firmly in place. Marit's eyes dart from Will to Leslie and they nod at each other.

Noa's voice turns anxious now. "You're ok, right Marit?"

"I have lost the game." Marit replies.

Leslie and Will draw up close to Noa, saying the same thing. "I have lost the game." They stare at Noa as they come closer. "I have lost the game."

Noa tries to back away, but Marit holds her tight. Noa struggles for a moment, her breathing becoming faster and more shallow. "You're freaking me out now."

Leslie grabs Noa by the throat, holding her head in place. "We have to make you lose too."

Noa looks at Will. "There is no way we could have won, is there?"

"None," Will replies. "So stop fighting it."

"Remember how it felt to count your mind away, looking into the light?" Marit murmurs, her lips brushing Noa's ear.

Noa's eyes glaze over as she remembers, her head relaxing in Leslie's grip.

"Remember," Leslie commands.

"Remember," Will repeats.

Noa's body slumps in Marit's arms as her voice begins to count again. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Down."