The Tourist Trap Ch. 03

"Right," Ellen said, turning to them, "One down, four to go." she beckoned Will over with a motion of her fingers, and he meandered over obediently with the key.

Quinn stared at them, feeling like she should interject. To stop them from just shoving a key in place to see what happened, but she felt unsure of herself. So far nothing she had tried had worked. They had all been robbed of their clothes despite her trying to fight it, and there was even a piercing truth to Meena's accusations: it was her that had got them all in this mess to begin with. Perhaps she had done enough. She watched intently as Ellen snatched the key, fed it into the socket until it met resistance, then turned it clockwise. There was a loud shunt, the lights in the room dimming slightly, accompanied by the faint sound of hissing from the ceiling. As it grew louder, the noise was more familiar: air funnelled through vents.

The touchscreens displayed a thermometer, half filled to indicate the current regular room temperature. As their attention was drawn to it, the scale dropped one line and the chill in the air accompanied it, the brightness of the room dropping in tandem. The four of them exchanged confused glances, until a loud mechanical whirring drew their attention.

This time, the top drawer of the kitchen island slid slowly open, the outline lined with a soft white glow as the others had been. Its gradual opening motion coaxed Quinn over to it as the rest of them followed. Meena deliberately trailed behind. As she neared, she saw the drawer was mostly empty, a white rectangular console in the centre with a set of small tiles on either side. The console was about the shape of a large book turned landscape. It was made of white matte plastic and looked a little like a child's toy: four shallow square slots along the top, and four circular ones along the bottom.

Quinn felt a shiver rush up her taut spine as the temperature dropped again with a beep, one unit colder and darker. It was a growing threat, an icy cold without any clothes to shield them. The darkness seemed especially menacing now that she knew the windows were fake, their brightness fading with the ceiling lights.

"What is this?" Will muttered as he stared into the drawer. To the left of the console were four white square tiles, to the right were a small pile of circular ones, clearly they fit into the slots. He reached in and lifted out one of the four square tiles laid out neatly. Each of them had a cartoonish illustration on them and a coloured outline, and he had felt drawn to this one with the green border. He recognised himself. The avatar had a narrow face topped with a jet black tuft, groomed facial hair lining a pronounced jaw, and brown eyes staring out. They had captured him perfectly with realistic features and he admired the craftsmanship. Looking from his tile to the other three, he saw each had a coloured border and an illustration of one of the girls.

Ellen snapped up her red-outlined likeness with a delighted eagerness. Her face lit up at the sight of her electric greyish blue eyes staring back at her, shrouded in a mane of springy curls.

"It's us!" she murmured, fixated on the charming little illustration. She wanted to keep it, to pin it to her backpack like a badge. The red outline of the tile she was holding matched her collar, and she knew that was no accident. The slots on the console had coloured outlines too, a red square slot above a red circular slot. Clearly the red-bordered square tile she was holding belonged in the red-outlined square slot, but rather than test the theory with her own tile, Ellen picked up Quinn's black-lined tile, with its unmistakable small sharp nose, blond ponytail and thin eyebrows, swiftly slotting it onto the console with a clack. She smirked as the console gave a satisfied beep.

"Wh- why did you do that? Why my one?!" Quinn squealed, appalled to see herself volunteered. Quinn nudged past Will, fumbling her fingers around the slot to try and pry her tile out of its socket but it was no use. It was locked in place, sliding slightly but not removable, magnetically held.

"Well, I wasn't going to test it with my own tile was I?!" Ellen said, her devilish grin affixed and enjoying the reaction. Meena made no attempt to suppress her sniggering. Despite her frustration, Quinn had noticed the lights had brightened slightly when the tile was placed, the thermometer icon on the touchscreens ticked back up, and she could feel the chill in the air had dissipated slightly.

Meena surveyed the larger assortment of circular tiles to the right of the console. Each was adorned with a black silhouetted icon. They didn't have a coloured border, and the objects they depicted were seemingly random. One was a drawing of a rope, another of an eye, a stiletto heel, a pile of pills... There was a set of about twenty tiles that had no apparent purpose. When Meena saw the tile for a dildo, she suddenly realised what they represented.

"They're like... sexual preferences." said Quinn from over Meena's shoulder. She hadn't noticed her watching, but now Ellen and Will's attention had been piqued too, still clutching the tiles with their cartoon avatars. A breathy silence hung in the air as they scanned the various fetishes depicted, some requiring a little deciphering. Quinn presumed the woman with a whip in her hand was a dominatrix. The eye icon perhaps conveyed a voyeurism fetish.

Another drop of the lights was accompanied by a gust of cold air, and Meena was reminded of the burning cold of the shower only a while earlier. Her teeth chattered and her mind screamed at her to do something to avoid yet another icy sting on her painfully hardening nipples. She snapped up her square tile and placed the assimilation of her face in the white outlined slot, acknowledged by a chime. It prompted Ellen and Will to action too, both slotting theirs in place. The thermometer scale on the touchscreens filled up one unit, then another, and another - rewarded once for each of the tiles they had placed correctly. Meena felt a comfort returning to the air steadily as some of the brightness was restored.

With the top half of the puzzle now solved, there was an empty circular slot under each of the four square-tiles depicting their faces. Ellen stared at the red-outlined circular slot under her likeness, asking "What does it want? Like for us to pick our own destiny?" She snatched up the handcuffs tile and turned it in her hand. It was smooth plastic like a domino, blank on the back. Relishing another opportunity to be wicked, she placed it in the black-outlined slot under Quinn's avatar.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Quinn shrieked, smacking away Ellen's wrist. A different bleep came from the console this time, like a computer error sound, and Quinn was relieved to find she could remove the tile.

Will was almost disappointed. The prospect that Quinn might be restrained was enough to make his dick solidify at full attention. Quinn covered the slot with her spare hand to prevent a repeat occurrence.

"See now we know," said Ellen in mock conciliation, "It's not about picking one at random, there's a game to it." In an act of good faith, Ellen placed the circular dominatrix tile in the red slot beneath her likeness. The regular chime sounded this time, more heat and light returning to the room.

Meena now understood. As little as she knew about Ellen, they had talked enough about her tendency to take control in the bedroom. She got off on it, the same way she got off on making social situations intentionally uncomfortable. She loved a power trip, and somehow the fiendish makers of this apartment knew that about her. In order to wordlessly demonstrate how she had solved it, Meena perused the tiles and picked the one that appealed most to her sexual proclivities. She slotted the circular tile with three swimming sperm in the white-outlined slot under her square tile. She was glad to have it over and done with, the warmth rewarding her as she deliberately evaded the look of cheerful surprise on Ellen's face. She pushed the bridge of her glasses up her nose and stood back with arms crossed.

The sight of the sperm tile sent a bolt of panic through Will, his balls tightening. Quinn did her best to hide her surprise, wanting to avoid attracting any reaction from Meena, who had a habit of masking her shame with unfounded anger. Quinn had experienced enough of that already. They all now understood the task, but Will and Quinn were left paralysed by the notion that not only did the apartment know their darkest secrets, it required them to share it.

After a while of inaction, the temperature dropped once and then again, the silence beginning to make Quinn uncomfortable. She could sense Meena's impatience, and reminded herself that nothing she had done to fight the apartment's demands had proved successful so far. So she cast her eyes over the remaining tiles, the obscene illustrations stirring an arousal in her belly. Trying to ignore the smell of her wettening sex, she found herself beginning to shiver, her fingers growing numb as she grabbed the stiletto heel tile. She always felt her sexiest in heels, but when she placed the tile it was rejected with another stubborn error sound. She removed it, wrinkling her nose, dismayed that she wouldn't be able to get away with such a tame selection. Next she tried the icon of a nurse uniform, as she had always liked the idea of role playing, but that was wrong too. It was almost a little embarrassing. Quinn was in her twenties, married and seemed to have no idea what she was into! She could feel them all staring at her, a mounting pressure on her to pick the right one.

In truth, she hadn't ever really tried most of these activities. Her husband rarely wanted to experiment, and she hadn't been with many guys before him, so all she had were her fantasies. Most of which were depicted before her, but represented little more than ideas she wanted to try in some indeterminate future. The only thing worse than her having no idea which tile to pick, was the sudden realisation that in fact there could be only one right choice. There was no questioning which of the icons sparked the darkest flame in her, entertained but disregarded in her fantasies for years. She had never told a soul, but knew that her internet searches and the online stories she revisited could surely be attributed to her, if someone technically-minded had the inclination. The thought sickened her, but still fuelled the fire between her legs as she slowly slotted in her tile of choice, a lewd drawing of a girl bent over with a cock impaling her anus. There was a small gasp from behind her, but Quinn was unsure who from, and couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with anyone, so stepped off to the side.

Will barely registered the rise in temperature or the attention of the girls moving to him as the last to go. The thought of Quinn and anal sex were fixed in his mind, it felt like a corruption of her purity just to picture it: so out of keeping with her usual ladylike manner. Quinn grew quickly impatient; not only at his lack of action but for the drawn out scrutiny of her own revelation. Desperate to move on, she seized the tile for feet and placed it in the remaining slot for him. His eyes bulged in surprise, words caught in his throat.

She shrugged at him, declaring, "You've slept with a lot of my friend's Will... girls talk." She couldn't even remember which girl had first told her, confirmed by others too, but she remembered her shock. It had a peculiar effect on her. Whenever he was over, she felt self-conscious about walking around barefoot. She started to notice him staring, a peculiar thrill washing over her when he did. She soon found herself walking around barefoot more often when he was around. On one occasion when both Quinn and Meena were padding around in pajamas, she noticed him giving Meena's toes more attention: snatched glances that he thought went unnoticed. She felt sheepish when her husband mentioned a while later that she had started to get pedicures more frequently. She hadn't even realised what she was doing back then, but now she had to fight from imagining her toes in his mouth. Thankfully her nipples were already hard from the cold.

"You lot are just full of surprises!" said Ellen cheerily, her curls dancing with her animated excitement. With all the slots on the console filled, the drawer slid mechanically closed. A new display flashed up on the touchscreens, their four avatars displayed, each beside an icon depicting their chosen fetish. At the bottom was some text:

'0 of 2 Selected'

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." Meena growled, raising her arms and raking her fingers through her hair. The dark silky strands splayed into thin curtains that quickly fell neatly straight. The lights dropped again by a shade, and the whooshing of air vents grew louder, making it clear that the threat of the cold was still present. Even before Quinn had seen what had happened, she knew how this would play out. Ellen lurched towards the nearest touch screen set in the wall beside the mouth of the hallway, and jabbed her fingers to make the selection quickly.

There was nothing she could do about it, and Quinn found a weariness creeping into temples at yet another unwinnable battle. The pang of hunger tugged at her, it had been hours since she had last eaten, and yet a deeper and more profound hunger consumed her. Lightheaded, she reached out to steady herself on the rigid back of the couch, letting it take some of her weight as she walked around and then sat on the other side of the sofa. Perhaps this really was the best way, if they played along they might be allowed out of here, but at what cost?

"For fuck sake, Ellen!" cried Meena, disappointed in herself for not having expected her friend's outlandishness, "What the fuck are you doing?" She was relieved to see she hadn't been selected, surprised to see that Ellen had selected herself and Will. Ellen stepped back proudly, arms swinging at her side as if she had just taken one for the team.

"Hey, you should thank me! This is by far the best option." said Ellen matter-of-factly.

Quinn chuckled under her breath. However maddening this all was, what was even more obscene is that Ellen was right: any alternative would have involved Will's sperm or Quinn publicly losing her anal virginity. Overcome with helplessness, the sick humour of their predicament seemed the only glimmer of positivity, and so Quinn let the laughter overcome her, a quiet exhausted sound that made her feel only slightly better. As it passed, she slumped back on the seat, bringing her hand up to massage the bridge of her nose.

For the first time, the TV in the living room area blinked on, the touch screens returning to the thermometer display. The television displayed Ellen and Will's avatars side-by-side as if it was a two-player video game. Under each of their avatars was a video, one was of a girl's naked bum being spanked on repeat by another girl, their faces out of shot. The other video was a man sucking on a woman's toes. Both clips played on repeat over and over, drawing all of them around the screen in fascination.

"Right, well it seems like we each need a volunteer." Ellen remarked, gesturing over to the other two girls, Meena standing just behind where Quinn was sitting, "I guess the fairest way is for you two to pick who goes to who."

"How diplomatic of you." Quinn snarled, rising to her feet and approaching Ellen with malice. Even though Ellen was a little taller, she seemed intimidated, her playful grin fading. "You've picked on me twice already, so let's just get it over with." Quinn said, surprised at her own forwardness. Afraid as she was, it felt good to have taken a little control. For a moment, it was a victory, before Ellen's elation returned.

"On your knees then." she spoke flatly, nodding down to the floor. Quinn drew a deep breath, summoning strength from the air and reluctantly lowering onto one knee, then the other. Her movements were slow and graceful, until Ellen shoved her down clumsily onto all-fours. Taking a cheek of Quinn's peachy bum in one hand, she squeezed it between splayed fingers, clawing into the soft flesh and then rubbing it. Quick as a flash, she drew her hand back and brought it cracking down with a smack. Quinn gave a small yelp, shocked not only by how sudden the motion had been, but how much it had stung, her skin tingling long after the impact.

There was a chirp, the temperature scale jumping up one unit with the lights. The spanking video on-screen now had five hand icons beneath it, one of them turning red whilst the ones after it remained white. As Ellen spanked her a second time, another of the icons turned red.

Will took a few steps backwards, sitting timidly on the couch as if unsure he would be able to watch. Meena observed him closely, noticing how he winced when Quinn was hurt. His thick cock bobbed between his hairy thighs, her tongue meeting her lips at the sight of the pre-cum dribbling from the tip. She ached for him, now more than ever she was desperate to have him take her. If he could just look at her the way he stared at Quinn, she would be satisfied. Just a lingering glance so that she knew she wasn't invisible.

Having been at so many house parties together, dragged to countless cocktail bars with Quinn's pompous entourage, how was it that he had bedded so many of Quinn's friends, and ended so many nights being trailed off by some art-obsessed tattooed temptress while Meena was left alone and unwanted? She had thought she had seen a flame of interest in him earlier as she emerged naked for the first time, and she was surprised by his lingering glance, scanning her body admiringly but pausing longest on her face. The only time she had ever allowed him to see her without a face full of makeup and he seemed taken by it. All the work she had put in to win him over, and at her plainest he had come closest to noticing her. She clung to that peculiar victory.

Bringing her hand down a third time, it was clear Ellen was not holding back, the beginnings of a red hot handprint forming in the spot Ellen had been sure to hit repeatedly. Quinn fought not to cry out, pursing her lips shut as the initial pain fizzled into a light burning sensation. She wished that Ellen would at least move her attention to her other cheek.

Ellen paused, "You doing okay princess?" bringing her arm back and then striking again hard, Quinn's ponytail bouncing wildly as she flinched, her tits swaying hypnotically back and forth, the nipples hard from the growing cold. Liquid formed at the edges of her eyes, but she quickly blinked it away. "Aren't you going to say thank you? I thought you were the polite one around here?" she goaded, again squeezing Quinn's plump little rear, being sure to press right into where her skin was tender.

Gasping from the pain, Quinn didn't dare attempt to say anything lest she give away her weakness. Worse than the humiliation was the throbbing between her legs as she found herself sickeningly aroused by her submission to this cruel stranger.

"Helllloooo?" Ellen teased again. She seemed intent to get a reaction before continuing her onslaught. Her hand slid swiftly down from Quinn's behind to grope between her legs, suspecting she would find it wet from the smell of arousal in the air. Quinn gasped as fingers met the shameful wetness of her entrance, Ellen rubbing into her little nub and sending much-needed relief through her body. Quinn shrieked, lifting a hand to try and stop the fondling but outmaneuvered by Ellen, who grabbed her ponytail with her spare hand, pulling it roughly as she pressed an elbow into Quinn's back. It sent her face-first into the wood floor with a soft thud. Clambering to push back up, Quinn had no control as she felt slick fingers invade her tight little hole, slithering between her pussy lips and down the slick cave, an animalistic grunt escaping her.