Tricks before Treats Ch. 01

Author's Notes:

Happy Halloween, readers! This is another short series meant for Halloween, although not quite on schedule. But hopefully, y'all will enjoy it!

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Alice Welch headed to the costume room when she had done her ghostly makeup. She had been working at this haunted house for the last two weeks while it was open for the short duration for Halloween and in her mind, it was the perfect job. She was very grateful to her friend who had suggested she try her luck as a scare actor at the haunted mansion across town. Although they kept a regular team, each year, the owner of the haunted mansion would hire a different lead actor for the year's theme. Alice Welch had been surprised when she was hired on the spot. In this place of less than five thousand, job prospects were few and competition for part-time jobs was fierce. It was why many young people left for the big city. Alice couldn't blame them. She wanted to leave too, but her parents needed her. Both of them held two jobs to pay for the bills, and she was supposed to look after her younger brother, Jimmy. However, this Halloween, she managed to convince them to let their neighbor watch over Jimmy while she went out to earn some extra pocket money.

And it paid well, better than she expected. Even though she was a newbie scare actor, Mr. Romero, the owner of the haunted mansion, had trusted that she would be able to do a good job. He had outdone himself this year. He was the head of the annual Halloween festivities in town, as well as the brilliant mind behind each year's Halloween's theme at the mansion. This year, it was about a reclusive but beautiful young lady, Lady Amanda Wright, who committed suicide in the mansion a hundred years ago and had been haunting it ever since. Rumors had it that she was driven mad by her family, and in turn, drove all those who came into the house mad as revenge. Alice played Lady Amanda Wright, who wandered the main hall of the mansion. She was the first person to greet the visitors, supposedly meant to scare them out of their mind. Then the visitors would proceed through the different rooms of the house -- being treated for their 'madness' in a psychiatric hospital, made to go through a doll room full of all Alice's previous victims, faced with the prospect of being imprisoned in the secret rooms of the mansion and finally, an escape from the haunted mansion through the garden.

"Hello, Alice. Having a nice day so far?" Lily asked as Alice entered the costume room. "You look every bit the suicidal ghost you're supposed to be."

"Hey, Lily." Alice greeted cheerfully. "It's been a good day. You?" She liked Lily. Lily was a bit older than her and had been working for at this haunted house since it opened. She created each year's costumes and they were every bit as professional as performance costumes. And the best thing of all, the costumes were tailored to the individual actors and they were allowed to bring the costumes back when Halloween was over.

"Good, good. It's finally Halloween."

"The last night." Alice said, slightly morose.

Lily grinned at her. "Well. The magic doesn't end if you keep believing in it."

The haunted mansion opened its doors two weeks before Halloween when the sun set, and closed when the clock struck twelve on Halloween night. It was too bad that it didn't stay open for a few more days.

"We're expecting huge crowds tonight, so be alert. Hope you had your coffee before you come tonight." Lily gestured to the pot on the table before going to get Alice her Lady Amanda Wright dress. "If not, help yourself to the coffee pot. I just made it."

"Thanks. I will. You're an angel." Alice went over to the table and poured herself a mug. Tonight's coffee tasted a tad more bitter than usual. Alice doctored it with some milk and sugar.

"Here you go, Alice." Lily said when she finished her coffee, handing her her costume. It was a drop-waist dress in the softest black silk, a pair of long gloves up to her elbows, strings of pearl necklaces, a beaded headband, four-inch heel black pumps.

Alice loved her costume. She was glad that she would be able to bring it home. Every time she put on the dress, she felt as glamourous as those women who actually lived a century ago. The silk felt cool and slick against her skin. It made her feel sexy. Seductive. She brushed a hand across her breasts, her nipples hardening into beads. They seemed more sensitive tonight. She always left her bra inside her locker, because she liked the way the material felt against her breasts. It felt scandalous to go without her bra in the haunted mansion, but it was dark anyway so she wasn't afraid anyone would really notice.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and grinned broadly. If she wasn't wearing her make-up, she would look beautiful. As it was, her skin was extremely pale, dark shadows framing her eyes made her look as though she hadn't slept for decades, and the red mark around her neck stood out prominently, evidence of her suicide. Her lips were painted blood red, as were her nails. She definitely looked ghostly.

Mr. Romero was standing in the main hall when she took her place at the top of the stairs. It was something he would do each day before the mansion was opened, a little ritual of his. Mr. Romero would talk to Alice during that time, and despite showing him for a short duration, she didn't think she had ever met anyone as knowledgeable and imaginative as him. She had learned that he created all the contraptions in the mansion himself and it was what he did for the rest of the year -- preparing for the two weeks of Halloween. Frankly, Alice suspected it was only a hobby to him, because there was no way he could maintain the house and its crew on only two weeks' earnings. But there was no way to ask without sounding rude.

Besides, Alice had a slight crush on him and didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.

"Alice, you make a beautiful ghost, as always." Mr. Romero turned to her with a small smile on his lips.

Alice blushed. Mr. Romero was much older than her, a ten-year age gap between them. But Alice found him incredibly attractive. Mr. Romero always appeared in a suit which was, accurately, in fashion a century ago. His pale golden hair would be brushed back and styled. His patrician features and sharp cheekbones belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine, and his blue eyes seemed to melt her knees when he spoke to her. Most of all, he had a scholarly demeanor to him which she liked the most. Born the intellectual one in a house full of sports fanatics, she often found herself the odd one out. She suddenly found herself disappointed that she wasn't going to be seeing Mr. Romero after tonight.

"Thank you, Mr. Romero." She smiled at him. He always made her feel incredibly young, and when he spoke directly to her, it made her pulse race.

Mr. Romero looked out to the foyer. The doors would open in a minute. He took a step towards her so he was standing next to her. "Tonight's a little special, Alice. I've got buses bringing visitors from nearby towns so it'll be more crowded tonight. Do you think you can handle that, sweetie?"

Alice shivered as Mr. Romero held her gaze. Her breath caught. "Y-yes, sir. I'll do that, Mr. Romero. Promise."

"Good girl."

The two words spoken in a low voice sounded incredibly sexy to her. It made her want to clench her thighs together. She saw Mr. Romero said something else but three loud chime of a bell rang through the audio system of the mansion, signaling the start of the night. It also meant she couldn't hear what Mr. Romero was saying.

"What did you say, Mr. Romero?" she asked just as the front doors of the mansion opened. A group of eight appeared, eagerly walking through the doors, waiting to be spooked. Alice's task wasn't difficult. All she had to do was make scary noises at the visitors when they reached the top of the stairs and then disappearing behind the large stone gargoyles who stood guard on both sides of the stairs. Overhead, a corpse of Lady Amanda Walker would swing down at the visitors, scaring them into running towards the next room. Most of the fear factor would be accomplished by the light effects and decoration through the house. Even though she had seen the house in broad daylight, some of the props looked so real it made her frighten.

"I said, I think you might have some trouble handling the crowd tonight." Mr. Romero enunciated clearly.

Alice was caught by surprise when Mr. Romero clasped a hand over her mouth and an arm around her neck and began pulling her behind the towering gargoyles. It was pitch black in the main hall by now, which meant the group of visitors couldn't really see past where they were guided to, and both of them were now hidden by the statue. Alice was in too much shock to struggle. Her first thought was that Mr. Romero had something he wanted to tell her but wanted to do it in private. But she soon realized that it was a stupid assumption.

"Hush, sweetie, I'm going to let go of you but be good and don't make a noise, alright?" he spoke into her ear so she could hear her above the creaks and moans coming through the audio system. His breath sent made her involuntary shudder through her.

Alice nodded obediently. In her mind, she was still unable to reconcile the polite scholarly Mr. Romero with the strong man who was assaulting her presently. She could only see the glint of his eyes as he towered above her. The gargoyle was behind her and the sharp edge of the platform it was sitting on pressing sharply into her back. She was aware that visitors were streaming in, walking up the stairs. Would they notice them?

"Mr. Romero. What are you doing? I've to go out now." she whispered.

In the flashes of light, she caught sight of his face, contorted with perverse lust. It wasn't an expression she expected to see on his face. She pushed against his chest, but he was unmovable. Caught between Mr. Romero and the stone gargoyle, she found herself trapped.

"You're not going out there, Alice. We're changing things slightly tonight," Mr. Romero said. He touched her face so gently, like a lover. But his hand soon trailed down to wrap around her neck, a silent threat which need not be spoken. "When you came for my interview, I realized just how perfect you're for the role of Lady Amanda Wright. You see, she was a little whore too. Like you, she like to walk these corridors without wearing a bra."

Alice gasped when Mr. Romero touched her breasts through the dress. It was cold in the mansion, and her breasts were chilled into hard nubs. Mr. Romero were able to find her stiff nipples easily, pinching one of them with two fingers while holding her in place with a forceful grip of her neck. She had to suffer his touch. The knowledge sent a tendril of arousal through her.

Still, she remained clear-headed enough to know what he was doing to her was wrong. "No, Mr. Romero." Alice said as she raised her arms to push his away. "You can't touch me like this."

"Do you think you're in the position to tell me what to do, Alice?" Mr. Romero asked.

His hand tightened around her neck, cutting off her supply of air. Alice choked, her struggles intensifying. She kicked out with her legs, but was quickly subdued when Mr. Romero slid his body between her legs and shifted so that her legs were spread before him. The four-inch heels which Alice had loved so much until now was a disadvantage. Alice's balance was precarious. She had to lean back against the stone gargoyle so she wouldn't topple over. However, it would also allow Mr. Romero a free pass over her body. When her efforts to free herself subsided, Mr. Romero allowed her to breathe again.

To her horror, Mr. Romero slipped his hand into the low vee neckline of her dress and pushed it down a shoulder, exposing one of her breasts to the cool air. "You're so beautiful, Alice. I knew you'll look good in this dress."

"No, please. Mr. Romero, you can't molest me like this." Alice whimpered when his lips closed over the heated flesh of her breast. This tongue flicked over the sensitive nub of her nipple, sending a shiver down her spine. She raised her hands to push his head away but the tightening of his hand around her neck made her froze. "What do you want, Mr. Romero? Please let me go."

"Are you sure?" He asked in a low whisper. "Because I think you're enjoying what I do to you."

Alice flushed red. "That's just my body's reaction. It has nothing to do with you."

"Funny. I thought it had something to do with the aphrodisiac Lily put in your coffee just now."

"What?" Alice froze.

"There's something I forgot to mention when you apply for this job. Each year, the leading actor of the ghost earns a little treat from me personally. But in order to get this treat, they'll have to go through a series of tricks. It all happens on Halloween night, when the wild and crazy happens." Mr. Romero laughed, his breath hot against her breast. He licked her nipple and blew on it, making her whine. "Why do you think I hire a new ghost each year? Don't you ever wonder what happened to last year's ghost?"

Alice's mind felt like soft cheese as she tried to assimilate the information Mr. Romero just told her. She couldn't deny that Mr. Romero was doing wonderful things to her breast. Each time he sucked on her nipple, her sex convulsed and ached needily. But she wanted nothing to do with whatever Mr. Romero had in store for her. It was obvious now that she had stumbled into a trap she had no idea of. Lily, and possibly the rest of the employees here, might all be aware of what Mr. Romero did each year.

"I quit, Mr. Romero. I don't want this job anymore. I want to go home." She intended to sound determined but her words came out in a breathless plea.

Mr. Romero clucked his tongue. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid the contract you sign obliged you to stay until you've gone through all of the games. You should've read what you sign. If you're good, little Alice, you'll be able to leave tomorrow morning. If not," he chuckled, "you might have to stay a while longer. Now, be a good girl and listen to me if you want to go home. Put your hands behind your back."

Alice found herself obeying, her hands clutching tightly to the base of the gargoyle statue. This thrust her breasts out, as though they were inviting his touch. Mr. Romero chuckled, reaching for the zip on the back of her dress which allowed him to lower her neckline and bared both her breasts. Her pearls of her necklace felt cold against her chest.

"Nooo, Mr. Romero," she begged in a low whisper as he touched her pink-tipped breasts and was humiliated when both of them puckered up instantly. It was disgraceful. It was humiliating. Good girls don't get aroused by the touch of strangers. Sure, she did know Mr. Romero, but only in an employer-employee relationship. She certainly didn't expect Mr. Romero to abuse her this way, especially in public.

"You're enjoying this, don't you? You're trembling like a leaf. Are you getting wet between your legs? Should I check?"

Alice shook her head and tried to clench her thighs together but Mr. Romero's body prevented that. "No. I'm only feeling like this because of the coffee."

Mr. Romero nodded in commiseration. "That's true, Alice. Keep telling yourself that." He took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked on it hard. Alice cried out, but her noise was easily lost in the eerie music from the sound system. "Feel this, Alice, feel how I nurse on your breasts. You have beautiful breasts, Alice. It's a good thing you don't like to wear a bra. You should leave them constantly available for anyone who wants to touch them. Would you like that? Having strange men molesting your breasts? Suckling on them like a child?"

His words were having a strange effect on her. The strange feelings stirring in her body and the eerie lights flickering around them were putting her into a trance. Her body reveled in the pleasure, her arms wanted to wrap around Mr. Romero's head and bring him closer to her. Her clit was throbbing now, and her sex longed to have something inside it. She stared at the large painting of Lady Amanda Wright hanging up on the wall beyond Mr. Romero's bobbing head and now realized that it had her face. It creeped her out, especially because it was bloodstained.

A cold breeze to her thighs made her realize that Mr. Romero had pulled her dress up to her waist and was beginning to tug her panties down.

"No. Don't do that. Please, Mr. Romero." Alice didn't want to lose her panties. She was afraid of what he would do next after he removed them.

Still, she didn't put up more than a token protest, knowing she had no choice but to follow Mr. Romero's plans tonight. He was in charge, as he always was, of the creepy thrills and scary effects behind the mansion, of everyone within the mansion. Mr. Romero's thumb grazed her slit through the soft material when she tried to move his demanding hands away. He found her clit and pressed a finger on it. A damp spot appeared in the crotch of her panties, evidence of her arousal. When Mr. Romero took his teasing hand away, her hips rose in search of more stimulation. But he didn't give her more, at least, not now.

Mr. Romero drew her panties down her legs and made her step out of them. Alice obeyed like a marionette, her eyes hazed over. Mr. Romero lifted her onto the gargoyle platform, bending down to rummage through the obtrusive black bag at his feet. She hadn't even noticed it until now. He had set the stage for her and all she had to do was to follow his directive.

The bag contained all the tools Julius Romero needed for this part of the room. He had placed it earlier in the day when he surveyed the mansion to ensure none of the props needed maintenance. He took out a pair of handcuffs and secured Alice's wrists with it, locking it with a hook at the back of the gargoyle he had inserted for that particular purpose. It kept her hands out of the way and left her body free for him to play with. Then, he raised her legs up onto the platform, securing them with more cuffs and hooks. He acted fast, before Alice's mind woke up from the sexual haze and realized what was happening. It wasn't his first rodeo, after all. He had plenty of experience in taming unwilling young women until they gave him what he wanted at the end. Despite Alice's initial reluctance, he was sure she would change her mind in the end like the others.

Julius Romero was excited. It had been a year since he had his hands on another woman. The last one had provided him plenty of fun even when Halloween was over, but he had to admit it was not really the same without the cheer of festivity.

Julius Romero didn't know when his sexual inclination got twisted. Perhaps it was the sight of all the skimpy costumes that the girls liked to wear when Halloween came around, as though it was the perfect chance to let their inner sluts out. Or perhaps the first time he felt a girl's breasts was during a trip to the haunted mansion with his girlfriend when he was sixteen. It might also be the wild romp he had with one of the visitors who had left the haunted mansion when he worked at a Halloween theme park a few years later. The fear had made them wet, acting like an aphrodisiac, lowering their inhibitions. He slept with more females at the theme park, even arranging a few scares of his own to spice up his sex life. Then, he bought the mansion and changed it into a haunted house and that made everything extremely convenient for him.

Screams pierced the air behind them. The group of visitors fled from the swinging figure into the next room. Julius Romero didn't allow them to interrupt his work. The next group of visitors entered down the foyer. They walked up the stairs, creeped out by the the numerous photos of Lady Amanda Wright staring down at them from the walls. A few of them even moved. At an appropriate time, Alice was supposed to appear at the top of the stairs, the light shining down at her as she waved at them. Then, the light would go dark except for all of the glowing faces in the photos. A blood-curling scream followed, and when the light turned on again, they would see a flash of a body hanging from the top of the grand foyer. From there, the second door would open, and visitors could move on to the next part of the mansion.