𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕪-𝕋𝕨𝕠: 𝕃𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕤

Morticia and Gomez tried to remain close, despite the whole damn country separating them, but Valentina snubbed their efforts on a consistent basis.

They wrote, they texted and called on the phone, and tried to contact her through the crystal ball so often that she always had a low-grade headache. Maybe they were looking to be friends after the break-up, but she had serious doubts that enough time had passed to make it so their outright obsession with her had died down.

Was it still ghosting if you broke up with your partner(s) first before going no contact? The question kept her up at night. Their relationship ended with a clean break, and yet she still felt unbelievably guilty.

And, of course, when you feel an emotion strongly enough, it manifests in any way it could. None to mention that she'd always had an overactive imagination.

She gave to have these dreams as dark and sticky as treacle. And almost every one featured her most recent exes in one way or another. Some, while still scary, were short and sweet. Others, well, were not.

Valentina knew she was in a world of hurt one night when she opened her eyes to find herself in a small room lit entirely from neon red lights along the perimeter. Nothing good ever took place in red rooms. It was cramped and creepy as Hell, with no windows and only one exit: a tall, thin door.

She was about to hurry over to the door and test to see if it was unlocked --which she doubted-- when it opened of its own volition and two familiar figures entered: Gomez and Morticia. But as soon as they stepped inside, the door closed and locked with an ominous click behind them.

That's when it occurred to her that she was all but naked. While both older teens donned their usual ensembles, she was wearing only her bra and panties. She was quick to draw her arms up to cover herself.

"What are you two doing here? What am I doing here?" She demanded in a Chihuahua-like bark.

Morticia gave her her trademark smile. It was cool and comforting and completely negated by the menacing grin of Gomez right over her shoulder.

"We're here to play. Don't you just love games, mom bébé?"

Valentina eyed her suspiciously. "If we're going to play a game, I'd like to be wearing more clothes... And be somewhere less creepy."

A hum and a shrug. "Now, where's the fun in that? Plus, escape rooms are always creepy. It's part of the appeal."

She cocked one brow before sweeping her gaze over the room interior. "Seems awfully bare for an escape room."

She'd gone to an escape room one (1) time with a group of older kids on Halloween, the very Halloween everyone her age unanimously decided that trick-or-treating was for babies. Even with a time limit after which the door would open and a walkie-talkie over which they could ask the person running it for hints, it was still pretty scary.

"That's what makes it different and special!" Gomez added. "Think Houdini but without the Chinese water torture cell..." Well, at least you wouldn't be tortured today. Small favors and all that.

"Exactly," Morticia drawled before holding up a hank of thick red rope, which seemed to sway and almost writhe in her grasp. "Instead, we're practicing Kinbaku. It originated as Shibari, a form of Japanese binding torture."

Uh oh.

"I know that it sounds scary, but it can be harmless and also incredibly aesthetically pleasing, if done right. Lucky for you, I've had plenty of time to practice on Gomez." Here, the boy's grin grew even wider, to Cheshire cat proportions. "So I've worked out all the kinks so far."

"I'm not sure I want to do that," Valentina muttered, uncertainty clear in her voice.

""Let's talk prizes, then! If you can escape my ties, we'll give you anything your little heart desires. If you can't, you owe each of us a kiss on the mouth. Deal?"

That caused her to stop and think. What did she want? More importantly, what did she want that Morticia and Gomez would be able to give her? She supposed she had plenty of time to think about it. Clearly confident in her abilities, Tish didn't press her for an answer right now.

"Okay," Val sighed at last, gradually letting her arms fall, letting them look their full. Their gazes were as palpable as a physical touch. "But if I get a charley horse or something, all bets are off and you have to cut the ropes!"

"Agreed," Morticia answered with a downright sinister smile, before advancing on her like she was a hunter and the other girl was a deer she didn't want to spook. "Now place your arms behind your back. We'll start with a chest harness and arm bindings."

Tish narrated almost everything she was doing, but Valentina was only half paying attention. She was more interested in testing her restraints than learning how they were applied.

"This is a dragonfly harness. It doesn't get much more elegant than this. Along with a stunning corset, it provides complete immobilization of the arms." Then, when it came time to bind her legs, "This is a spiral futomomo. It's easy to remember how to tie, seeing as it follows the flow of the ropes seamlessly. I like it better than the frog tie or the H-shaped futomomo."

All the while she worked, Gomez circled them both like a wolf, with the hungriest expression she'd ever seen on someone before.

It was only once Valentina was almost completely immobilized that she sensed something awry.

With each knot tied, there was a hissing sound that gradually grew louder and louder. And the texture of the rope wasn't like any she'd ever felt before in her life. Not exactly coarse, but rather... Scaly.

Sweating and shuddering, she craned her head to get a better look at the ropes wound and bound around her legs, just to confirm what she already knew.

The "ropes" that Morticia was using on her weren't ropes at all. They were snakes. Live snakes.

Her mouth fell open in horror, seconds before a shriek tore its way out of her. Where she was previously still and docile, she began kicking her remaining, unbound leg and screaming.

"Valentine," Tish admonished, like she was a misbehaving child. "Stop that this instant. I haven't finished my work yet!"

"Cariño," Gomez added, concern clear in his voice. "Be careful, they might--!"

That's when one of the snakes retracted his fangs from the tail of its fellow and instead sunk those two hooked teeth into the flesh of her calf.

Valentina awoke with an ear-splitting scream, lurching up in her bed. Naturally, her mother came running.

"Baby!" She cried, quick to take a seat on the edge of the mattress and cradle her daughter's tear-damp face in her hands. "Baby, what's wrong?"

She couldn't get a word out, could barely breathe. Her stomach was doing flips, threatening to evict her dinner, and her heart was beating a mile a minute. It felt like she was dying.

Her mother's mind caught up before her own did. "A nightmare, sweetie. It was only a nightmare."

And the more she turned the idea around in her mind, the more it made sense. Still, she clung to her mother until sobs stopped wracking her body.

"It seemed-- It felt so real!" She wept, only to be met with quiet hushing and fingers carded through her hair. At least she would always have her mother.