Leon City Stories

30: The Sarah Games

Jenkins estate, outside Leon City

Sarah opened the sarcophagus and it hissed softly as oxygen flowed into it from under the lid. Immediately she could hear her two guests take a deep breath and start coughing.

“Welcome home,” Sarah whispered in amusement and threw the lid aside, which fell to the floor with a loud bang. Ava and Summer, who were still squashed in the sarcophagus, winced in shock. Ava in particular groaned loudly as the bruises from the abduction began to hurt.

“I hope you like your rooms. I've set them up especially for you, with the latest technology,” Sarah said, pulling out Summer's mummified body to drag her a short distance across the floor and throw her into the first of four cells. She did the same with Ava, but threw her into another cell at the end of the corridor. Sarah looked down at Ava briefly and pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket, cradling them in her hand for a moment.

“You know, Ava… you've been really unlucky. I was actually weighing up whether to just take Summer and ignore you, but something about your voice made me curious. You're no longer the little doe that ducks away when someone gets loud, are you?” Sarah asked and waited to see if Ava would move. But Ava neither nodded nor shook her head. She was so angry that her mouth was foaming and even deeper teeth marks appeared in the ballgag she was wearing, in addition to Summer's.

“Ho? Passed out?” Sarah asked, carefully cutting aside the bandages on Ava's face. Ava had opened her eyes and looked up darkly into the eyes of her captor. Sarah clicked her tongue indignantly and gripped Ava's chin with an iron grip.

“You'll learn to obey me… sooner or later I'll break you, like Summer!”

At that moment, Ava reared up despite her bound body, narrowly missing Sarah's head with hers as she stumbled back.

“I can see you don't want to talk,” Sarah said coldly, stepping back towards Ava to flip her over onto her stomach with a kick. She cut Ava's hands free of the bandages and stood up again.

“I was actually going to free you both so you'd be fit for tomorrow, but oh well. Have fun trying to get free. If you're not changed by tomorrow morning, I'll punish Summer,” Sarah said, pointing to an orange latex suit lying on the floor. It was reminiscent of the suits that prisoners would wear in jail, apart from the material and tight cut.

“Oh yes, and keep smiling, we don't want to scare the audience away,” Sarah whispered as she walked out of the cell. She pressed a button on the side and a glass panel rolled down and locked Ava in. All of a sudden, Ava could no longer hear anything except her own breathing. The glass blocked out any sound and a second later it went completely black and opaque. Where the hell has this madwoman taken us? Ava thought, sitting up and looking around her cell. Her new home was sparsely furnished, and Ava only now noticed that her cell also seemed to be completely upholstered in white latex. The floor was covered in it, the walls and even the ceiling gleamed brightly. There was a bed in the corner, which was also completely covered in it, albeit in black latex. The only things that didn't really fit into the cell were a sink, a toilet and a shower, as well as a large television, which was sealed behind a pane of glass. It was currently turned off, but Ava suspected it would become part of Sarah's sick game.

She wasn't lying. She really did help herself to the hotel, if Chloe and Cait's stories were true. It flashed through Ava's mind and she now noticed dark blue dots in each of the upper cell corners.

Cameras? Like I'm going to make an idiot of myself and dance to Sarah's tune. This is going to be the most boring video the world has ever seen. Ava thought and just lay back down on the floor and closed her eyes.

But… What about Summer?

Ava bit her lip and struggled to sit up again. She couldn't let anything… more happen to Summer and began to pull at the thick sticky bandages that covered her entire body.

And I'm still tied up underneath… great.

“Summer…” Sarah whispered and Summer flinched under the bandages while at the same time a chill ran down her spine.

“Thanks to Ava, we're already going to play our first little game. I'll loosen the bandages a little and you have to try to escape,” Sarah explained and carefully cut away some of the bandages on Summer's face and hands, ”The last one of you to escape will be punished.”

Summer looked at her fearfully, but didn't move.

She must have hidden cameras here again to damage our reputation afterwards or something. Summer thought and looked around, she could actually see small blue lights in the corners of the cell.

“Hey, watch out when I'm explaining something!” said Sarah, tapping Summer's head, ”Your goal is simple. Put that new suit on there before Ava does or be punished.”

Summer still didn't budge though, she knew Ava would never fall for such a stupid trick.

If we both don't do what Sarah wants, then… we'll both be punished, but… we'll… we'll get through this together! I firmly believe that! Summer thought.

“Have we become a bit stubborn again? It doesn't matter, I've got all the time in the world to put it right. Anyway, I thought I'd turn on some entertainment while you're lying here,” said Sarah and switched on the TV in Summer's cell. It lit up the room and Summer's eyes grew huge as she saw Ava struggling with her restraints as if her life depended on it. Most of the bandages were already on the floor beside her, and Ava was fumbling with her rope restraints.

“Oh, someone's busy. I actually told her not to start until I gave the signal, to keep it fair. Well, I wish you good luck, Summer. I'll see you later. Oh, and we'd better turn that off again. We don't want you watching later!” Sarah said in a honeyed voice, switched the TV off again and left the cell. A pane of glass lowered and Summer was locked in. She lay there for a second, watching Sarah until the pane turned black, then her eyes wandered up to the now switched-off screen and her thoughts turned to Ava.

How… how can you?

She rolled onto her side and her body began to shake. A tear rolled down Summer's cheek.

Ava …

 

Summer, I won't let anything happen to you! went through Ava's head again, this time after she had finally managed to free her legs from the ropes. Her whole body was sweating and the latex cheerleader uniform and the latex floor didn't make it any more comfortable. She rolled over the tattered bandages onto her stomach and began to untie her wrist ropes with her toes. An almost impossible task, but she had no other way of reaching the knots. Groaning, she had to start again and again when the strength in her legs gave way and she needed a break, but eventually she managed to undo the restraints. In the next step, she pulled the elbow ties down with her feet and stood up triumphantly. Ava opened the ball gag and threw it onto the pile of garbage she had produced.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered, looking up at the flashing blue lights, ‘I hope you enjoyed the show, you stupid fuckers!’ Ava cursed, giving the cameras the finger. She exhaled loudly and suddenly felt tiredness slowly overtaking her body.

“Probably way too late… six… seven o'clock?” Ava mumbled, looking at the orange suit, then at her bed and finally at her shower, ”I'm not going to let that get to me.”

She stepped into the shower and turned it on. The warm water flowed through her hair and washed away the sweat from her act of liberation. The latex cheerleader uniform that had been sticking to her skin for hours at least came off quickly. Ava was about to throw it carelessly into the corner, but she thought better of it. It was still part of Summer's gift and had nothing to do with Sarah. Once Ava thought she was free of the sweat, she hung the uniform up thoughtfully and looked at it for a moment. Her hands clenched into fists and she gritted her teeth.

“This is all my fault… from the beginning… but I'll get you out of here…” Ava whispered barely audibly and turned away. Her bed smiled back at her as her eyes grew heavier, but she still had a job to do. Ava dragged herself to the orange suit and pulled it behind her to the bed. It had no zipper and Ava frowned wearily at first as her mind tried to make sense of it. Eventually, though, she remembered that latex could be stretched a long way, and she slipped her legs into it without feeling much resistance.

“Mmmh must be from C&T too… I'll have to have a word with Celine about her customers,” Ava muttered, adjusting the suit as the thick latex settled against her skin. She noticed that the suit was a darker orange in a few places. Ava held up her arm to examine the dark orange rings around her wrists and upper arm, but she was already so tired that her head couldn't make sense of the information. She closed her eyes and simply collapsed onto her pillow. Her arms pulled the heavy latex blanket over her body as if of their own accord and seconds later she was asleep.

 

“Ava actually managed to free herself while Summer is still lying there,” Sarah commented on the camera footage and grinned mockingly, “Too bad you forgot something, Ava. Looks like Summer's going to be punished. And it's all your fault."

She typed a command into her computer and a flap opened in Ava's cell, from which special latex restraints slid out and remained where the suit had just been.

“So annoying! But now that they're both taken care of…” Sarah muttered and went to her website to change a few things. She removed Tea's name from the website and replaced it with Ava's, adding that two players had signed up from the start and that both were already excited to take part.

“Mmmmh, that should be enough for now… I'll create Ava's profile tomorrow,” Sarah said to herself and yawned loudly.

She got up from her huge computer, from which she could control her entire basement, and lay down in her cozy, warm bed.

“I'll let you get a good night's sleep… we all want to be fit for tomorrow,” Sarah said and closed her eyes. She licked her lips as she thought of the goldmine she had stumbled upon. She still had to prepare and set things up, talk to her contact at the LCPD and, of course, upload the videos, but when the time came, Summer and Ava would make her millions.

 

Summer was startled out of a fitful and uncomfortable sleep when Sarah knocked on the glass. She looked up at her captor and then dropped her head to the floor again. Summer had barely been able to sleep as the restraints kept waking her up, but at least the bandages had kept her warm. Sarah shook her head and tapped in the opening code on a control panel. The glass panel slid silently upwards and Sarah walked into the cell to kneel beside Summer. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“Summer, Summer, Summer. Unfortunately, you lost the first task and are being punished for it. But I won't be like this and I'll help you out of here,” Sarah said almost sympathetically, cutting the bandages from Summer's body and the ropes on her arms.

“You can do the rest yourself, can't you?”

Summer just nodded and looked up at Sarah, a little puzzled.

“When you've freed yourself completely, put on your suit and the restraints. Then you'll get food and this,” Sarah looked at her watch for a moment, ”Mmmmh let's say the afternoon program starts today for a change. So let's go! Hop, hop!”

Sarah left the cell and the glass panel lowered again in front of Summer and she was once again locked in her little latex world. Summer opened her gag and massaged her jaw, which had become stiff.

“Ow,” she mumbled and stood up, swaying. Her body was just as stiff as her jaw, and it cracked more than once.

“Owww,” Summer repeated a little louder as she dragged her body into the shower.

Afternoon program? Summer thought as she rinsed her hair.

Has Sarah come up with a whole plan for us now so that we don't get bored? She's definitely got something bigger planned, but what?

Summer looked up at one of the little cameras and turned away from it as she took off her cheerleading uniform. Just above her she recognized another one pointing right at her and Summer thought she knew the model. Sarah was able to watch her whole cell closely with these four cameras and see Summer's body from all angles. Summer swallowed.

“Definitely more effort than last time, and more cost… how did she pay for all this?” Summer muttered, trying to hide her body so the cameras wouldn't record everything constantly.

When she was done, she put on the orange latex suit and immediately recognized it as one of Celine's.

“Well, at least it's good quality,” Summer commented and couldn't help but grin for a second. Next, she put on the restraints. With latex-padded metal rings, Summer could see that there was more behind them. D-rings were attached to each of them, with chains running through them. She fastened the restraints to the dark orange markings on her suit. Around her wrists, upper arms and neck, as well as her thighs, ankles and waist. The chains didn't restrict her movement, but they rustled with every move she made, giving her the appearance of a sexy prisoner.

“At least this time no chastity belt or anything,” Summer said, inspecting herself as best she could. When she was satisfied, she sat down on her bed as hidden speakers came on.

“Good afternoon, dear participants, and thank you for your patience. Before we start, you have time to eat,” Sarah's voice said, though it seemed to be spoken by a computer, ”Summer, you have been given a penalty. Your food will be adjusted accordingly.”

“My food?” asked Summer, watching as a flap opened and a bowl of dog food emerged from where her suit had just been. Summer forgot for a moment where she was and what situation she was in as disgust and anger boiled up inside her, making her forget even Sarah's conditioning.

“Enjoy your meal,” the voice said as Summer stood up and stared at the food, stunned.

“Are you serious? Because Ava was faster than me, I get dog food? Sarah, are you kidding me?”

But neither Sarah nor the computer voice would answer her.

“Nope, I'm not eating that! You can forget it!” shouted Summer and lay down in her bed.

“Nope!” she shouted again, while the smell of dog food slowly spread through her cell and Summer's stomach began to growl.

 

“Good afternoon, dear participants, and thank you for your patience. Before we start, you have time to eat,” Sarah's artificial voice said, startling Ava from her sleep. She fell out of bed and lay there for a moment, breathing heavily. She tried to understand where she was, and when she saw the latex blanket over her and the glowing dots in the corners, she remembered. Gritting her teeth, she straightened up and cracked her knuckles.

“Then come out and play, Sarah, I'm sure we'll be able to have fun,” Ava called out confidently. Even if she wasn't wearing Greed, she had strengthened her body through cheerleading and even more after meeting Greed.

“Participant Ava didn't manage to get her suit on completely…”

“Please what?” asked Ava in shock, looking down at her suit and then at the floor where the cuffs now lay innocently on the ground.

“Contestant Summer is being punished for this.”

“Bullshit! The shackles and chains weren't there yesterday! If you harm a hair on Summer's head, then…”

“Contestant Ava has fifteen minutes to get ready and eat. If she doesn't make it within the time limit, she will be punished,” said the computer voice indifferently and Ava would have liked to wring her kidnapper's neck. At that moment, a flap opened near the restraints and a tray with a slice of bread, cheese and an egg on it came to a skidding halt on the floor. A second later, the screen flickered on and a 15-minute countdown began. Ava's anger immediately subsided as she realized she hadn't eaten in hours and had to hurry to avoid being punished herself. She knelt down and began to eat. If she wanted to beat Sarah, she had to keep up her strength. She looked at the shackles next to her, they were connected with chains, but Ava thought she saw that although they were all connected somehow, they would not restrict her movements.

“Mmmh,” Ava murmured thoughtfully as she chewed and wondered if there was a catch, but ultimately she came to the conclusion that Sarah held all the power for the moment. Reluctantly, she picked up the restraints and fastened them around her body. Now she knew what the dark orange spots on her suit were for, but it didn't fill her with satisfaction to have solved the mystery. Ava fastened the collar around her neck last, just as the last ten seconds of the countdown ticked down. When she reached zero, there was a sound as if she had given the correct answer on a quiz show.

“Congratulations, contestant Ava. Please sit down on your bed. The active live-stream will start shortly.”

Ava's blood froze in her veins.

“Live stream? Like, live, live? Like, all over the internet?” Ava asked in a panic, getting up from her bed and standing in front of a camera. She pointed at the blue dot and her chains began to rustle.

“Sarah, cut the crap! If you're doing this on the internet…”

“Contestant Ava has five seconds to sit down or she will be penalized,” Ava was interrupted by the computer voice, but Ava didn't even think about backing down.

“I swear Sarah, if you broadcast this on the internet, I will break this glass and drag you by your hair…”

At that moment, Ava felt a paralyzing pain as the restraints on her body sent electric shocks throughout her body. Her legs gave way beneath her and she fell unharmed to the soft floor. A moment later, the pain was gone and she gasped for air. Ava blinked up at the ceiling as she sorted through her thoughts, wondering what had just happened. She straightened up and looked at the restraints that were all over her body.

“Are the dark spots conducting electricity into the suit?” wondered Ava, gasping.

“Participant Ava has five seconds to return to her bed.”

Ava didn't need to be told twice. She'd been through a lot in her time as a superhero, and nearly being crushed by a giant snake was at the top of her list so far, but this pain had completely knocked her out in seconds. She crawled to the bed and sat down on it, breathing heavily. At the same moment, the TV came on, showing her and Summer.

“Summer!” Ava shouted and stood up again, as did her friend when they saw each other, but another electric shock, much weaker this time, made them both flinch and fall back onto the bed.

“Welcome, viewers,” said the computer voice, ”I am an AI named Sarah and I am the hostess of the Sarah Games. As you've probably already seen, these two lovely ladies are our volunteer participants! Please welcome them in the chat!"

A chat now appeared next to Ava and Summer's live pictures and both women blanched as the messages could barely be read with so many people writing something at once. Ava opened her mouth to say something, but a slight tingle on the back of her neck made her pause again.

“Since our participants are still a little tired from their arrival, I've decided that the first stream should be all about them and we'll start the first game a little later. But Ava and Summer are ready to answer any questions you might have. Just donate five dollars and ask your question. And don't worry, all answers will be answered truthfully by our contestants or they will be penalized, like this.”

The image switched to a camera from Ava's cell just as she jumped up and walked towards the camera. You could see her lips moving and she was angry just before her face contorted and she cried out and fell over backwards.

“Ow, that must have hurt and only because someone wanted more breakfast. By the way, that was only a fraction of the power our participants' restraints have,” she continued and Ava and Summer looked at their restraints, stunned, ”They conduct electricity through their suits and they can only remove the restraints with my permission, thanks to our special technology. I'm sure they're wondering what they've gotten themselves into! But I can promise you that you won't regret tuning in! I'll activate the Q&A session immediately. But remember, please only ask questions about our two prisoners! So, here we go. In three, two, one!”

Ava looked up at the TV, where she now saw another blue dot, apparently taking a close-up of her body as the chat exploded.

“Please, you have to…,” Ava began, but another shock immediately silenced her.

“Ava, if you say one more word unasked or say you don't want to be here, I will run both of your restraints at full power all night,” Sarah's real voice said as Summer's cell was shown nervously answering a question about her bright pink hair.

"Summer knows her duties and follows the rules. Do you still want her to be punished?”

Ava gritted her teeth and shook her head.

“Fine, then answer the questions and please… try to smile a little. Trust me, it will only do you good in the future,” Sarah's computer voice said and at that moment Ava was shown live and a question appeared on her screen.

“Hey Ava! You look fantastic in that suit! How does it feel?” asked a viewer called MissInform and Ava frowned.

“Um… thank you? And um,” Ava shook her head and opened her mouth to try and ask for help again when a message flashed up on her screen showing a scale of how strong the next electric shock would be. She swallowed and came to her senses.

“Uh, it feels… still unfamiliar. I haven't worn latex that often before,” Ava replied and the scale disappeared for the time being. She breathed a sigh of relief, but a new message immediately appeared.

“So you've worn latex before? Tell us about it!” asked Cop_Mommy and Ava immediately blushed.

“I um, there was an event at a fetish company that we attended. It was interesting,” said Ava and received an electric shock in response, which made her wince.

“Ohoooo? Wasn't that answer a bit short, dear viewers?” asked Sarah and immediately a flood of approvals appeared in the chat.

"Fuck, all right! I… I had to wear a latex Pokémon costume, a… sheep or something,” Ava said hastily.

“ That's it, and damn, Ava, that's pretty kinky, don't you think?” Sarah's computer voice asked and again there was agreement in the chat.

“Um yeah, next question,” Ava said, frowning as Cop_Mommy suddenly donated hit after hit and the messages flooded the chat.

“Can you two be hired for a private session?”

“Ignoring that, uh… are you two play partners or just friends or even more than that?”

“Do you both need a strict cop Dom Mommy, to make sure you stay locked up?”

“IGNORE THAT!”

Ava didn't know what to make of the news and Summer seemed unsure too as she watched the messages with a furrowed brow.

“I'll, um… pass this on to the game management and ask if they want to hire anyone else?” Ava asked cautiously, glancing at one of the corner cameras and scratching her head.

“Question for both of you. What other fetishes do you have?” Suck-ubus asked and Ava could see that Summer immediately started talking, but she only heard her quietly. When Summer had finished, Ava was shown again, but she hesitated to give an answer.

“I… am still quite new to the subject. Unlike Summer, I'm still quite new to the whole thing and although I've had some experience with latex and bondage, I'm also unsure what I actually like,” Ava explained thoughtfully, forcing herself to smile, ”I… I hope I can find out more about myself here.”

“Oh, wow, that's a statement! Do you think we can meet up when you're out? I'm sure I can show you a lot too,” asked Prince_of_Darkness.

“Eeeeeeeeeeee,” Ava started, not knowing how to answer the question.

“I… I'm sorry, I umm I'm not interested,” Ava said and not a second later she was hit with an electric shock. She jerked uncontrollably and almost rolled off her bed as her body tensed up.

“Ohooo, someone must have lied. Try again, Ava,” Sarah said, but Ava just shook her head, which gave her another shock.

“Wow, someone's being stubborn, come on, tell me you're interested in the prince,” Sarah said, ”unfortunately I can't give the money back, prince, but I'll try to get the truth out of her.”

A third time, Ava was run through by the electricity and fell to the ground. On all fours, she breathed as if she had just run a marathon.

“Too bad, too bad, Prince, she doesn't seem to like you very much!” laughed Sarah's computer voice and the chat roared with laughter.

“Question for both ladies. What were you doing before you got involved in this nice little game? What got you into this 'predicament'?” raven-rj asked as Ava sat back up and pulled herself onto her bed.

“We… are students,” Ava said curtly, and before risking another blow, she added, ”We're also cheerleaders and we love it. And why are we here?” Ava asked, looking up at one of the corner cameras before turning her attention back to the chat and even forcing herself to smile.

“We just wanted to have the ultimate experience. Bondage and latex, punishment and play. And of course we're not going away empty-handed either,” Ava added when she saw an instruction on the screen promising cash prizes. A complete lie, of course. A murmur went through the chat.

“Let's move on to the last question for today!” said Sarah, handing it to Ava.

“How long will you be streaming?” asked Curiokitty and Ava saw an answer appear on the screen for her, but she felt sick halfway through the message and took her own answer instead. She looked to the camera and looked deep into it.

“As long as it takes to beat Sarah.”

“Wow. What an announcement, my dears! Beat me? Well, that could be something, hahaha! Be that as it may. That concludes the first round of questions and we go into normal stream mode! Maybe the two of them will answer a few more questions if you are nice and donate diligently. But make sure they don't do anything bad. See you next time!” said Sarah's computer voice and Ava waved curtly at the camera as she fell back into her bed. She hoped that someone was sitting at home and would call the police now. Asking about them. Worried about them, maybe even knew them both.

“Please,” Ava whispered barely audibly and clenched her fist. Her arm began to tremble and her fingernails dug into her skin.

 

Summer looked at the screen with a smile, even after the official part of the livestream was over. Her eyes followed the messages in the chat and every now and then she answered a nice question from the viewers when she could. They all believed that Ava and she were here voluntarily. At least that's what Summer could tell. Of course she wanted to get home as quickly as possible, but she didn't know what Sarah would do with them if there was no way out. If just a little of the energy had been enough to knock Ava out like that, she didn't want to know what happened at one hundred percent. Summer shook herself at the thought and gave herself over to her sole occupation of reading the chat.

A message popped up with a donation and Summer read it for the livestream.

“Shinyfirefly says, 'Hey Summer, thanks for the great stream. You and Ava look really adorable!' Oh thank you, Firefly! I'm so happy you liked it. 'Are you two a couple?” Summer hesitated as first her face was shown and then the image switched to Ava's cell. Her friend wasn't paying attention to the stream at the moment and didn't even seem to be listening. Instead, she was doing press-ups, but that didn't lighten the mood in the chat. Some started cheering Ava on, others bounced their own push-up numbers until Ava occasionally said a number and all the viewers' mouths dropped open.

“We… a couple… no we're just very close friends and I'm deeply in her debt,” Summer explained, smiling weakly, until an electric shock made her buckle briefly. Gasping, she straightened up again and looked up confusedly at one of the corner cameras, as if to ask Sarah for an explanation, but she seemed to be preoccupied with something else.

“Sorry,” Summer mumbled and continued to read the other messages as the chat analyzed her lie in detail and made assumptions. In a slight panic, Summer saw loud hearts and both their names appeared.

“Guys, guys please. This… I… I mean… Ava and…” Summer stuttered and blushed. Another message appeared from Shinyfirefly.

“Oh, I'm really sorry, Summer. But don't worry, your secret's safe with us. And uh do you like cats?”

The hearts diminished in the chat and instead everyone was told to keep Summer's secret.

“Thanks guys,” Summer whispered and kissed the glass where the camera sat, causing the chat to explode again. It gave Summer time to think about what she'd said. Had she really lied? Was she lying to herself? Summer looked up as the picture changed again to Ava, who had just finished her set at 50. She sat up and raised an eyebrow as she read a new message from Subby_Girl.

“Hey Ava you're really strong! Can we get together so you can put me in a headlock?”

Summer saw Ava's mouth drop open wider and wider as she read the message, and she had to stifle a laugh as Ava simply shook her head and went to the sink to freshen up.

 

Sarah watched the screen transfixed as her bank balance continued to climb. She couldn't be overly happy about the money, however, as she could now see the danger she had brought into the house with Ava. She hadn't thought anything of it at first, as Ava was still as slim as before and didn't exactly look muscular. But apparently her looks could be deceiving, as she continued with the push-ups straight after a short break. Even the latex suit didn't seem to bother her, although she must be sweating like a pig underneath.

“She has noodle arms! How can she…?” Sarah asked, stunned, but thought better of it. She had been lucky with her.

If I had made a mistake when I kidnapped her or if I had really only taken Summer with me… Sarah thought. She didn't want to imagine what else Ava was capable of.

“One thing's for sure, that pane of glass will stay down forever,” Sarah muttered, ”But that might make some games a bit one-sided…”

A grin settled on Sarah's face as she slowly calmed down.

“That might make them one-sided… what if I…” she muttered, starting to adjust the upcoming games. For tomorrow's game, she already knew Ava would win, after all, she had a pool at home. That's why she only looked after the games afterwards. Before that, she started the first game quickly so that her viewers would throw even more money in her direction.

“Which of the two do you think the viewers like more?” Sarah asked with a grin, licking her lips greedily as she let her eyes wander over the screens.

 

Ava was taking another sip of water after her workout when a hidden door opposite the glass pane opened with a hiss. She tilted her head to the side questioningly and looked at the screen, which at that moment no longer showed the chat, but announced that it was time for the first game.

“Were you starting to get bored, Sarah? I thought we weren't playing today?” Ava asked, wiping her mouth.

“Participant Ava, you have 60 seconds to leave your cell and enter the blue circle. If you refuse, you will be punished,” Sarah's machine voice said and Ava raised her hands defensively to say she understood. She left her cell and entered the elongated room that was behind her and Summer's cell. Of course, all the walls, floors and ceiling here were also covered in latex and bounced slightly under Ava's step. The floor and the air in the room also felt warm and damp. All thoughts of this were swept away, however, when Ava saw Summer, who was already standing in a red two-step wide circle.

“She's letting us talk to each other?” Ava asked, walking quickly to her circle. She opened her mouth to greet Summer and ask if everything was all right, but a slight tingle on her skin silenced her.

Sarah probably wants to warn us not to say the wrong thing. Ava thought about it and said simply: “Hey.”

“H… hey,” Summer replied hesitantly and smiled bravely.

“You've really enjoyed the stream so far,” Ava noted as she placed herself in the middle of the blue circle.

“Y… yeah. I didn't think Sarah would let us do this and the people are nice,” Summer mumbled.

“Summer, I wanted to apologize to you about the punishment.”

Summer looked at Ava in surprise, but not happy or confused, but hurt.

“Um. Is everything…” Ava was about to ask worriedly when the light in the room dimmed and in the next moment spotlights were directed at them both. A screen flickered in front of them, where the 60-second countdown ended at that moment.

“Welcome, participants to the first game. Your task is simple. Don't be first,” Sarah's machine voice said, and Ava frowned as she thought of a race, but that didn't make sense. A second later, the chat appeared on the screen again and the viewers wondered what would happen now, just like Ava and Summer.

“And what does that mean, Sarah?” Ava asked aloud. In response, a pane of glass rose up around the two friends, enclosing them within the circle.

“So… no race?” Ava asked, looking at Summer, whose face suddenly went pale, ”Summer?”

Summer pointed forward at the screen with a trembling finger. Ava looked back to the chat, where both of their names and donation options were now popping up.

"Ten dollars for an inch or two and a half centimeters of sand. 20 dollars for 2.5 inches or 6.5 centimeters of sand,” Ava read aloud, not understanding as her eyes wandered over the other options, ”500 dollars for immunity? 30 dollars for a random amount of sand? Heat for 100 dollars? Cooling, water, pouring? Electric shocks? What…?”

But Ava fell silent when she finally saw the headline and an explanation.

'Quicksand game. Donate money to watch the participants sink. The contestant who is still visible at the end wins the first round. Donate as you see fit.'

Immediately, Ava's horrible memories of being victimized by quicksand came flooding back, and she definitely didn't want to repeat the experience.

“SARAH, GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!” Ava yelled, slamming her fist against the glass, but it withstood her attack. Instead, Ava felt a shock throughout her body that made her slump.

“FUCK!” she cursed, straightening up shakily as a message appeared that Prince_of_Darkness had donated a lot of money.

“You talk too much,” was his message and Ava's blue circle sank into the ground for a good twenty dollars. At the same time, fine light-colored sand poured out from the edge, covering her feet and eventually spreading smoothly so that it was level with the outer latex floor.

“Are you insane! You can't just…” Ava began, until her platform sank again, but this time the sand came from the ceiling and hit her head, throwing her against the glass.

“Ow,” Ava mumbled as she released her face from the glass. Her calves were now halfway into the sand and any attempt to pull herself out resulted in her sinking right back into it.

“What is this fucking sand?” Ava cursed, shaking her hair to get the grains out, “I swear, if you don't stop this right now…”

Ava fell silent as she looked to Summer, who was still standing leveled with the ground.

“You haven't gotten anything yet?” Ava asked, surprised, and Summer shrugged.

“I think the chat likes me more?” replied Summer and Ava's mouth dropped open, but she couldn't say anything against it. She even wanted Summer to be spared this experience. Ava gave her an encouraging nod and turned back to the screen. She took a deep breath and clenched her hands into fists again. There was a loud rumble as she hit the glass again.

“Is that all you got, you…” shouted Ava, falling silent for a moment to reconsider, but she had no choice, ”Motherfuckers!”

The chat came to an abrupt halt and Ava thought at first Sarah had stopped it, until suddenly a wave of insults came crashing in and donation after donation rattled in. Ava sank up to her waist in sand and ground all at once, but suddenly she stopped. Confused, she looked up as another message from Subby_Girl was displayed.

“Don't worry, Mama Ava, I'll protect you!”

“Mama Ava?” Ava asked open-mouthed as suddenly the rest of the sand that was meant for her poured into Summer's cylinder, burying her underneath. She shrieked in surprise and Ava struggled to turn through the sand towards her, unable to do anything about the avalanche of sand that was about to hit her friend.

“Oho, Subby_Girl must have dug deep into her pockets and given Ava immunity! All her punishments have been moved to Summer!” said Sarah and the chat began to rage. More donations popped up in the chat going against Ava, but they all ended up on Summer's side, who held her hands protectively over her head and was now as deep in the sand as Ava.

“Hey, leave her alone! Stop donating!” Ava ordered, but that didn't stop the audience as both cylinders continued to fill after her immunity. Both their breasts sank into the fine sand.

“Hey, I said…” Ava began, but Summer angrily cut her off as panic gripped her heart as she continued to sink.

“Ava, shut up already! You're only making it worse! Fuck, why is it getting so fucking cold all of a sudden!”

Hurt, Ava looked at her friend, who was apparently being further punished by her fans, making the sand cooler to torment Summer further. Even the sand seemed to harden with the cold, preventing her from moving. Ava didn't have time to worry about Summer anymore, though, as she herself grew warm from one blow to the next. As it slowly got tighter for herself, steam rose between the grains of sand, instantly driving sweat to her forehead. In addition, she began to sweat under her suit, and she grimaced in disgust. The sand squeezed between her skin and the latex, which didn't make her situation any better. Ava leaned her head back and prayed that none of the spectators would surprise her with the sand from above. Instead, she sank further into the ground until the sand was just above her chin. Ava took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Summer. I hope you get out of here soon! Ava thought as she heard a scream. She opened her eyes and looked at her friend, who was being buried by a huge amount of sand at that very moment. Not even a strand of her pink hair remained and Ava looked at Summer's cylinder in shock.

“Sarah! Get Summer out of…” Ava fell silent as an electric shock shot through her body, causing her to black out for a moment. She felt so dizzy that she didn't realize her cylinder had risen from the ground and released her. The sand had disappeared into the floor, and Ava crawled next to the colored circle and rolled onto her back. The walls seemed to be spinning and she could hear Sarah speaking in the distance, but she couldn't make out what she was saying.

“Fuck,” Ava groaned as her body recovered from the shock and her thoughts were slowly pulled back to the present, ”Summer!”

Ava blinked and rolled back onto her arms and legs, crawling towards the cylinder, which now opened as well, releasing Summer, who now stumbled out of her circle, coughing. Sand trickled down her body and she wiped her face.

“Summer?” Ava pressed out between her lips, but her friend didn't seem to listen to her, waved her off and went into her cell without another word.

“Participant Ava, go to your cell or be punished. You have 20 seconds.”

Ava didn't understand the words at first, until a slight pain appeared in the back of her neck when she only had 10 seconds left.

“ All right… all right!” Ava whispered and stood up, stumbling. She slid along the latex wall to her cell and fell into it unchecked. The door closed behind her with a hiss, and Ava's cell darkened slightly.

“Stream over?” she mumbled and looked at the screen, where the chat was still raging.

“Participant Ava has won the first game! A prize will be paid out to her account and she has earned a reward! Well played, Ava!” said Sarah's computer voice, causing Ava to frown. She doubted she'd see a dime of it.

“And what did I win for a reward?” she asked, straightening up with difficulty.

“Contestant Ava has won washing accessories! Use them to give yourself a really good wash!”

A hatch opened on her shower and several shampoos and soaps appeared. Ava looked down at her body, tightly encased in latex, and then up at one of the cameras. Her eyes half closed as she wished Sarah was choking on her money.

“Yeeeaaaah… all right,” she mumbled and stepped into the shower.

 

Summer coughed and little grains of sand flew out of her mouth onto the floor of the shower, where they disappeared down the drain. She hoped that this and all the sand that washed out down her legs would clog up Sarah's mansion.

“Competitor Summer, unfortunately you have lost. As punishment, you will be fed dog food again and a special livestream will be imposed, the viewers will now decide what happens to you!”

“Tell me something new, Sarah,” Summer whispered as the water flowed over her pink hair. Her thoughts were on Ava and whether she hadn't been a little too hard on her, but she had just been so scared and angry. Had Ava done that on purpose? Did she get the audience on her side so she'd be buried? Summer swallowed as she remembered back to the moment when she'd seen nothing but sand. Sand that filled her mouth as she began to scream. Sand that smothered her from all sides. Sand that squeezed into her body. Sand that froze her to death. Summer's legs began to shake and she slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. She braced herself against the wall with one hand while the other held her head.

“Contestant Summer, the viewers have voted. Put on your high heels and unzip the crotch area of your suit!” ordered Sarah.

“Give me a minute!”

“You've got a minute to dry off!”

Summer's mouth narrowed as she swallowed her frustration, fear and sorrow. She had no choice. Summer turned off the shower and grabbed one of the towels to dry her body as best she could. Then she picked up the high heels that were lying next to the now rancid-looking dog food. Her stomach growled, but she hadn't sunk that low yet. Instead, she put the high heels on and strapped them to her ankles.

“So what did you choose for me?” Summer asked the chat, but he seemed to be making a big secret out of it, ”All right, keep your secrets then.”

Summer didn't want everyone watching to see her crotch and pulled down the zipper hidden behind her hand. She was about to ask what she should do now when two footprints were projected on the white latex floor. Frowning, Summer stood on them and looked back at the chat, where the words “Now, now, now!” suddenly bubbled in.

“Now, what?” asked Summer, as at that very moment a metal rod with a dildo attached to the end shot out of the ground and pressed itself into her crotch. Although it was smeared with lubricant from top to bottom, the shock and the fact of suddenly being impaled by a dildo threw her off balance. Petrified, she looked down at the metal rod and only when her body screamed for air did she expel air through her teeth and draw it in again with a hiss. She was just about to start screaming about it when the dildo started to vibrate. Because it was so deep inside her, her eyes immediately rolled backwards and if she hadn't been fixed, she would have tipped over backwards. A pleasurable moan escaped her mouth as the pain and pleasure mingled in her crotch. Her eyes fluttered closed, her knees began to tremble and wanted to give way beneath her, which only pushed the dildo deeper into her.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuck,” Summer moaned, which ended in a croak. The chat began to rave and cheer. They had already expected a lot after the first game, but to be offered something like this, without censorship or an astronomically high price, had never been seen before.

“Contestant Summer is now in the hands of the viewers. They decide what happens to you now. Good night.”

Summer moaned only as a sign that she had understood, while she herself did not yet know whether she was in hell or heaven. The spectators definitely wanted her to have a good time and ran the vibrator up and down, making it difficult for her to think about her hopeless situation. Her eyelids fluttered open again and again until the vibrations started again, but during a break she managed to take a closer look at her situation. There were fewer viewers in the chat at the moment than before and therefore fewer people playing around with the vibrator. A timer was running down and apparently the viewers had to pay for it to go back up to 5 minutes. It was currently at three minutes. Summer looked down again and her arms, which had been hanging beside her like empty tubes, felt the metal rod that had drilled into her. Of course she knew what a one-bar-prison was, even if she hadn't tried one yet. Now she also knew why she should wear the high heels, supposedly they made sure you couldn't get out of them on your own.

“Let's test this theory,” she mumbled exhaustedly and reached for the pole, which was now slippery after a few orgasms. Summer still managed to hold on and pushed away from it, but with no play to gain height, she was stuck on the vibrator. The one-bar-prison was actually an impossible obstacle for her thanks to the high heels. Summer clicked her tongue and let go of the pole. She grimaced as the dildo pushed more into her again and looked back up at the chat.

“Hey guys… I… I'd like to be fit for tomorrow and I'm already starving… So I'd ask you to let me go in a timely manner,” she asked the chat. A few scattered assents appeared and sure enough, the metal rod disappeared from her crotch and sank into the floor, disappearing between the latex cushions without a trace. At the same time, Summer slumped down and crawled on her hands and knees to the flap that gave her food. The dog food was still there.

“Well… I'm not that hungry after all,” she mumbled and went to the sink to fill her stomach with water. Then she lay down in her bed. She watched the chat for a while longer, waving occasionally as the spectators said goodbye and wished her a good night. The light in her cell grew steadily dimmer until she was bathed in twilight. Summer didn't mind, however, and as her eyes closed she fell asleep. Still, a storm of betrayal, pain, jealousy, anger, but also love raged in her dreams.

 

Falenplaza, Leon City

Private investigator Phoebe Wynters blinked up into the sunlight between her red hair as her cell phone woke her from an unusually peaceful sleep. Her fingers fumbled over her bedside table until she found it and looked to see who was calling her.

“Ho. I didn't know Chloe could be up this early,” she mumbled, answering the call, ”Morning, Chloe! What gives me the honor?”

“M… morning, Phoebe. I… we need your help. I hope it's nothing, but if it is…” Phoebe heard Chloe's worried voice on the other end and she straightened up.

“Chloe, calm down, what's wrong?” Phoebe asked, putting her phone on speaker while she opened her notebook, which was also lying on her bedside table, ready to hand. She began to write with the pen that was lying next to it.

“Me and a few of my friends were supposed to meet at Ava's today, but she won't answer her phone. That's not like her and as you know in Leon City…”

“…that's never a good sign,” Phoebe added, writing down Ava and Summer's names, ”When did they leave or when and where was the last time you saw them?”

“Last night, at the Leon City Museum. We were celebrating Summer's birthday.”

Phoebe furrowed her brow and stopped writing for a moment.

“Chloe?”

“Yeah, I know. Of course they could be lying around hungover somewhere, but Phoebe, Ava's not like that. She always keeps appointments too and… the police won't do anything either. Only Caitlyn and her trainer wanted to help, but they can't search the whole town either. That's why I came back to you…”

Phoebe nodded.

“And that was exactly the right decision. I'm sorry. I'll take care of this right away. I'll have a look around the museum first and then come to Ava's house. Can you wait there?”

“Um, sure, but we won't be able to get onto the property.”

“We'll find a way. See you in a bit, Chloe,” Phoebe assured her.

“See you in a bit,” Chloe said and hung up. Phoebe threw aside her blanket, stretched and went straight to her closet to get dressed.

“JADE! I have to go. Our mutual friends are having problems and I have to squeeze them in. Can you manage the other cases on your own for that long?” shouted Phoebe, hearing murmurs of agreement from her couch.

“Do you need help?” asked Jade and a loud yawn could be heard throughout the apartment.

“I hope not,” Phoebe replied, ”But maybe if Caitlyn hears something on the street, you can investigate?”

“Sure, I'll text her,” Jade said again with a yawn as Phoebe, dressed in her suit pants and white shirt, left the apartment.

 

Phoebe's first stop was the Leon City Museum, and she was greeted directly by a scowl.

“We're closed,” the janitor said gruffly when he saw Phoebe climbing the stairs. He was wearing dark gray overalls and had a cigarette in his mouth as he tried to enjoy his break. However, Phoebe was about to ruin it for him.

“Excuse me. I was told there was a party here yesterday?”

His face darkened.

“Yes,” he replied curtly and blew a puff of smoke at her, which Phoebe waved aside.

“Could I have a look around there? There are two…"

“I'm not interested. Do you know how they left the museum behind? And I have to clean up all the mess!” he snapped at Phoebe, but she was completely unimpressed.

“I'm really sorry about that, but two girls are missing and I have to look for clues!” she said.

“Hey, I said you're not coming in here and if you don't leave right now, then…” he snapped at her as his face grew redder and redder with anger and he reached for Phoebe to push her away. But Phoebe skillfully dodged him and slipped past him. With a quick grab at his belt, she snatched his keys, ran through the glass doors into the museum and closed the door behind her.

“Excuse me, but I really need to see this. I'll be right back!” she called through the glass and made an apologetic gesture. The janitor stared after her, stunned, until he finally shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his cigarette.

“I don't get paid for this shit,” he muttered, rummaging in his pocket for his phone.

 

“So what do we have here?” Phoebe muttered and entered the ballroom. It was large and there was indeed garbage or old food on the floor here and there; she had imagined it to be much less bad and began to feel sorry for the janitor. There were also medieval torture and bondage devices everywhere, which made Phoebe frown.

“Were they having an orgy here? NO! I don't really want to know!” said Phoebe and began to look around among the torture instruments and the garbage on the floor. She didn't notice any drag marks, though, at least not from bodies.

“Wheel tracks through the trash,” Phoebe muttered, seeing four thin tracks from the front door, starting from the center of the room and stopping at the next room as well.

“Looks like a dolly stopped here,” Phoebe said to herself as she entered the center. It was definitely cleaner here than the rest of the room, except for the tire tracks.

“To do what? Transport something or someone?”

Phoebe looked up at the ceiling and noticed ropes there. Phoebe guessed that they had been there to tie someone up and suspend them. Jade had explained something to her here and there.

“Must know in Leon City!” she had always said after giving a lecture on bondage.

“Well, they were tied up… presumably, and what were they doing in the next room?” Phoebe asked and went there. In the room itself, she found two jackets and bags. A quick look in the wallets confirmed her suspicion that they belonged to Summer and Ava.

“So you really were the last ones here, but your money is still here, just like your cell phones,” Phoebe muttered, walking back out of the room when her foot bumped into something. She looked down and saw a book.

“My Summerbook?” she reached for it, but paused and put on her gloves before picking it up. With one glance, Phoebe knew straight away that Summer had a stalker, and a hateful one at that. She kept scrolling and saw that the messages were getting more and more disturbing and kept mentioning a plan to get rich again. With Summer's help, whether she wanted it or not. Phoebe took a small roll of tape from her bag and a tin of talcum powder. She poured some of it over the book and blew lightly on it. This enabled her to make some fingerprints visible on it and apparently two different ones. She secured both with the tape and put the book and the prints in the plastic bag to examine them more closely later.

“That's definitely a lead… or I'll have to have a serious word with Ava when I find them… though… the book said rich again?” Phoebe muttered to herself, looking at the tracks on the trolley again.

“Looks a bit like someone was hit by the cart? The tracks here are so blurred and…” Phoebe interrupted herself as the door to the room was pushed open and she faced the LCPD. Phoebe smiled weakly as the two officers groaned.

“Ms. Wynters? Again?”

“What can I say, I had to come in here to solve a case that the police aren't taking seriously again.”

“Yeah, come on, turn around, you know the drill,” one of them said and fished his handcuffs out of his belt. Phoebe rolled her eyes and turned her back to them before they walked towards her and snapped the handcuffs around her joints.

“Were you able to find anything exciting?”

“Maybe,” Phoebe replied as the two policemen manhandled her out and past an angry janitor.

“Then you can probably give it to our detectives right away so they can take a closer look.”

“Sure, after you've already decided that two young women just had a bit too much to drink and that's why they didn't come home.”

“Ah… this case,” said the one policeman who had handcuffed her, ”Ruiz and his rookie wanted to check on them. The captain didn't like it at all. But what can we say? The detectives are just working to capacity and can't take on any more cases only for them to turn out to be lying around drunk somewhere.”

“Is it the same in other places?” Phoebe asked as she was pushed into the car and the two officers glanced at each other.

“ It's Leon City.”

“Leon City,” Phoebe said, shaking her head, and the door slammed in her face.

 

Phoebe had been sitting in her cell for quite a while. She was pretty sure they'd already gone through her things three times and the looks she was getting from the other inmates in the holding cell weren't making her stay any more pleasant.

“Come on, what are you looking for? I've got a few things to do that are actually your job,” Phoebe mumbled to herself and nodded to a guard who had already looked after Phoebe several times.

“Officer Ferres, how are the kids?” she asked, but Officer Ferres didn't seem in a chatty mood and turned her back to her, ”Cheeky.”

She saw one of the officers who had arrested her come in at that moment. He pointed to her cell and it opened again the next moment.

“What, can I go now after you've stolen my whole morning?”

Both officers looked at her, annoyed, but Phoebe saw something else in their eyes.

Fear? Worry?

“The chief wants to see you.”

Phoebe blinked as if she'd misheard.

 

Less than five minutes later, she was sitting at an oval table with the Chief of the Leon City Police Department staring down at her. Phoebe had only heard of Chief Graves in the newspapers. An assertive and influential figure from Leon City, but one who prided himself on having broken up the slaver rings. Which of course didn't please Phoebe at all, as she had been the reason why the police were able to find Judy and the sadistic couple in the first place. Coincidentally, she came into this position just a few days before Phoebe's move. And after Phoebe had uncovered the biggest slave traders, Chief Graves took all the credit for herself.

“Can you take the handcuffs off me?” asked Phoebe, but the Chief ignored the question.

“Phoebe Wynters. The promising young detective who helped out a bit with some investigations.”

“Helped out more than a little.”

“I heard you were investigating a case of two supposedly missing girls?”

Phoebe nodded.

“They've since been found and are in excellent condition.”

“Excuse me?” Phoebe asked, confused, but once again Chief Graves simply continued.

“As expected, it would have been a waste of police resources to search for them. However, Ms. Wynters, I must warn you that from now on you may be more likely to take on the small cases or I will have you arrested for obstruction of justice.”

“Then you should start doing something about the kidnappings!”

“They've gone down since I've been in charge of the LCPD,” Chief Graves said calmly.

“Sure,” Phoebe muttered grudgingly.

“Do I have to leave you in a cell for a day?”

“It's fine… thanks.”

The chief looked at her for a moment before waving a guard in and Phoebe's handcuffs were removed and her bag handed over. She took a look inside.

“Cell phone… notepad… hey, I found a book at the museum, where'd it go?”

“Evidence.”

“For what crime? I thought the women were found?”

“Theft and burglary on their part, if you ask any more questions,” the chief said, standing up.

“Oh,” Phoebe muttered, her mouth forming into a thin line. At least the fingerprints were still there. Now she just had to check who they belonged to.

“Escort Ms. Wynters out and if I were you, I'd find another line of work, Ms. Wynters,” Chief Graves said as Phoebe was grabbed by the policeman's arm and roughly pulled outside.

Of course, Phoebe never dreamed of giving up her job as a private detective. Nevertheless, it was bitter when she had to walk from the police station back to the museum and then drive halfway across the city again to get to the more remote wealthy district where Ava's villa was located. Chloe was still waiting for her outside the mansion gate, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it as her eyes were glued to her cell phone. Phoebe saw that she was watching a live stream with her mouth open and didn't even notice that she was standing next to her car. It was only when Phoebe knocked on the window that Chloe was startled, put her phone down and got out of her old pick-up truck with an embarrassed face.

“Heyy,” she said sheepishly, which was so unlike her, and smiled uncertainly.

“Hey,” Phoebe greeted back, ”I'm sorry it took so long, but the police arrested me and said Ava and Summer had already been found?”

Chloe nodded and lifted her phone so Phoebe could watch the livestream.

“Yeah… apparently they, um, volunteered to be on this live show,” Chloe explained meekly, as if it had been her fault that Phoebe had been sitting in a cell all morning.

“What?” Phoebe asked incredulously and picked up her cell phone with a furrowed brow. Sure enough, she saw Ava and Summer lying in latex beds, apparently sleeping peacefully. Phoebe could see collars around their necks and chains running from them down their shoulders and arms until they disappeared under the latex bedspreads.

“Doesn't look voluntary to me,” Phoebe said.

“I thought so too, but…” Chloe mumbled and swiped her phone until she was on the main page of the stream. It explained that the participants had volunteered, who they were and that they could win big prizes.

“Chloe… did you know that there are people who don't speak or write the truth?”

“Wow, you think I don't know that too? But the stream… they could just call for help or beg to stop! Ever since I found the stream, I've been watching it closely. They haven't said a word about it! On the contrary, they're actually happy to be there!” Chloe explained, hurt and with trembling hands.

“I… I'm sorry,” Phoebe said, watching the interviews that had been uploaded to the livestream. Both women wore orange latex uniforms that stood out from their cells. Chains ran down their arms and legs like jewelry and at least Summer was beaming as she spoke into the camera, while Ava seemed a little more reserved.

“We'll just have to ask them ourselves. We just need to find out where they are,” Phoebe said, handing her phone back to Chloe and pulling out her own to call Jade.

“Yeah, hey Jade. Can you watch the livestream… yeah that one, give me everything you've got… Thanks and see you later!”

“And now?” Chloe asked anxiously.

“I'm going to check out Ava and Summer's room. If it's really voluntary, there must be something there that points to it. Like emails or letters, invitations to job interviews…” Phoebe said, ringing the bell on the huge gates to Ava's family mansion.

“Her parents are on vacation…”

“Oh yes, there was something,” Phoebe mumbled, rolling her eyes as she once again had to make her way into a property without being asked. What neither Chloe nor Phoebe expected, however, was for the gate to suddenly creak open and clear the way to the villa.

“Is… someone there?” Phoebe asked.

“N… no… not that I know of,” Chloe said truthfully, staring at the gate with her eyebrows furrowed.

 

However, it wasn't quite that easy for the two of them when the door to the estate was firmly locked. However, it was easy for Chloe to crack the door, which earned her a questioning look from Phoebe.

“I… didn't have a very law-abiding youth,” Chloe mumbled as she blushed, but Phoebe didn't ask any questions. After all, everyone had something they weren't proud of. Chloe showed Phoebe where Ava's room was and waited outside while the detective looked around the room.

“Nothing points to a fight. The bed's a bit messy, but they both slept in it?” she asked, spotting a brown and a pink hair on the pillows. Phoebe looked at the bedside table, where a laptop lay, a hairbrush and a silver metal necklace next to it.

“Let's see if there's been any correspondence. Hopefully she hasn't logged out of her mailbox,” Phoebe said, reaching for the laptop. A movement in the corner of her eye made her flinch, but when she looked around the room, there was nothing there.

“Hello?” no answer, ”Stay cool, Phoebe.”

She narrowed her eyes into slits as she switched on the laptop, but still glanced around occasionally. Someone was in the room with her, she could feel it on the back of her neck, but there was no one in the walk-in closet or behind the door. While she opened the mailbox, she took a quick look under the round bed, but there was nothing there either.

“Mmmmmmmmh,” Phoebe mumbled as she tried to ignore the feeling that no one else could be here.

“No emails… nothing in the trash either. Could have been taught,” she whispered to herself and switched the laptop off again before placing it back on the empty bedside table. She carefully picked up the hairbrush, which only had brown hair tangled in it, and took a fingerprint of it so that she could check it later. Phoebe stood up and was about to leave when she paused in the middle of the room. She turned to the bedside table one last time. The laptop and hairbrush were still on it as before, but …

“Phoebe, are you finished? Have you found anything?” Chloe asked, snapping Phoebe out of her thoughts.

“Not really. I'm going to head to my office and ask my source at the police station for a favor.”

“Do you need help? Should I…” Chloe said, but Phoebe interrupted her gently with a hand on her shoulder.

“Go home and look after Kim. I don't want it to end badly for you, like last time. I can handle this and get your friends home.”

 

“Hey Jade, were you able to find out anything else?” Phoebe asked when she got back to her office.

“Not really. I wish I was a bit better at my PC. But I was able to download the stream and analyze it. Very strange cuts between the two of them sometimes. And even when Summer smiles here, for example…” Jade explained, turning her screen to Phoebe, who was taking a closer look at Summer.

“Her eyes… scared? And Ava? Too? But not for herself…” Phoebe mumbled.

“You can see that?”

"Ava still has that spark of defiance in her eyes. Here,” said Phoebe, pointing at the screen.

“I don't see anything there.”

“That's why you're in charge of the background research.”

“Hahaha,” Jade laughed sarcastically as Phoebe took the fingerprints out of her bag and stuck them on a piece of black cardboard. She took a picture of both and sent them to Caitlyn, asking her to check them out and noting that one was probably Ava's.

“Now what?”

“Hope the trail is warm,” Phoebe muttered, sitting down next to Jade to watch the stream. They saw that they were both getting food, and the chat exploded with donations and praise for their bodies and the courage to do this live show. Phoebe couldn't take anything away from it, while Jade kept blushing and covering her face so Phoebe wouldn't see.

“Jade, these are your friends in captivity,” Phoebe reminded her.

“I know… it's still hot,” Jade mumbled meekly as Phoebe's cell phone rang.

“ Ya got rescued again,” Phoebe said, taking the call from Caitlyn, “Hey, shoot!”

“So my instructor pulled some strings and was able to find your fingerprints. One of them is unknown and is probably Ava's, as you suspected. And the other one…” Caitlyn fell silent thoughtfully.

“Yes?”

“The other one is from Sarah Jenkins. She died with her parents a few years ago, though.”

“A few years ago? But the fingerprint was pretty fresh, if you ask me.”

“Mmm… wait a minute. Summer said she was abducted by her. Why doesn't it say that here, or in Summer's case file?” Caitlyn asked her instructor, who mumbled something Phoebe couldn't understand.

“Caitlyn?”

“Why wasn't this noted anywhere? Wait, I… no access? Sir?”

Whispers could be heard on the other end of the phone.

“Phoebe, I have to go,” Caitlyn said firmly, and without Phoebe being able to answer, Caitlyn hung up.

“Um, ok?” Phoebe said, looking down at her silenced phone.

“No luck?” asked Jade.

“I don't know yet, but something tells me this is about something bigger than just them being kidnapped. Look up 'accident Jenkins' on the internet.”

Jade did as she was told and suddenly they were looking at report after report about the mysterious Jenkins accident that had claimed the lives of three people. No pictures of the family, but that they had relatives in the city.

“An inheritance dispute?” Phoebe asked as Jade was about to continue her search, ”Lots of money and an estate outside the city?”

“Do you think you'll find any clues there?”

“Well, yes. Better than nothing. That imprint couldn't survive all these years on the book. Sarah must have touched it recently.”

“And the book is where?”

“At the LCPD,” Phoebe said grudgingly.

“Hey, if you say so, I'll stop by and get it,” Jade said.

“Are you out of your mind? You're a good burglar, but into the police evidence room?”

“Yaaaah the way you put it, really not a good idea.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes.

“I'll have a look at the property, maybe… whoever inherited the house can tell me more.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“Always!”

 

Jenkins estate, in the mountains, outside Leon City

Phoebe looked around suspiciously at the huge mansion, which was even bigger than Ava's palace, and yet the house was run down and at least seemed abandoned. She glanced back towards the city. It had been a long drive up here into the mountains, but even if she couldn't find a trace of it, the view had been worth it. Phoebe only hoped that she would find another one soon. She let her gaze wander into the distance for a moment and took in the city's skyscrapers. Their gleam in the sun and the river that cut off the city and separated it from the forest. From the mountains, the city looked so innocent, but Phoebe knew that appearances were deceptive. She turned away and walked up three steps to the door of the mansion and rang the bell. She was immediately startled by the sound of a mighty gong that she was sure could be heard throughout the house.

“So there's power…” Phoebe mumbled, trying to look through the dusty and partially boarded-up windows to see if there was any movement behind them. Phoebe pulled out her phone and opened the livestream, where both women were talking to the audience. If they were really here, they didn't seem to have heard the gong. She watched for a while until she heard noises at the door and quickly put her phone away. The entrance opened a crack and a woman with long brown hair stared at Phoebe suspiciously.

“Hey, my name is Phoebe and unfortunately my car won't start. Could I…” Phoebe said, but was rudely interrupted by the woman.

“Then call someone from your phone. I'm pretty sure it's in your pants.”

Phoebe looked down and the outline of her cell phone was clearly visible through her trousers.

“Unfortunately, it's empty,” Phoebe lied, making a pained face, ”Can I make a quick call to your place, please?”

The woman rolled her eyes, stepped aside and opened the door.

“Thank you,” Phoebe mumbled with feigned shyness and stepped inside. A shiver immediately ran down the back of her neck. She had a really bad feeling when she entered the building, which looked like a haunted house. There was thick dust all over the floor, apart from the traces left by the mistress of the house. One look from Phoebe was enough to see that the young woman was visibly annoyed by her presence, but also that she had been through a lot recently. She looked like a beautiful butterfly that no longer wanted to fly around and preferred to crawl back into its cocoon. Her tousled hair fell down her back and onto a bathrobe that was far too big and wide for her and completely hid her body. Phoebe forced herself to smile when she saw him.

“You must be having a lazy day today.”

“It's cozy,” the woman just mumbled, ushering Phoebe into a slightly more comfortable room that seemed to be used sporadically. Phoebe sat down and was handed a phone by the woman.

“Call whoever you want, but stay here. I don't want to have to look for you later when your car is towed away.”

“Of course, of course, um just one thing, if I have to go to the toilet, then…?”

The woman looked like she was about to strangle Phoebe.

“Up the stairs, third door on the left,” she said curtly and walked out of the room. Phoebe thought she heard a squeak with every step she took. She didn't think it was the floor, however, but that the woman was hiding something under her huge bathrobe. Phoebe didn't call a mechanic, however, and handled the phone with such care that she thought it was a bomb. She pulled the powder out of her pocket again and sprinkled it over the phone so that fingerprints were visible once more. A quick comparison with the ones she had already taken confirmed her fears.

“It's her…” she whispered and flinched when she heard footsteps in the hallway.

“Excuse me, what did you say?” Sarah asked as Phoebe hastily wiped away the powder.

“I just said that the mechanic will take a long time,” she replied, waving her hand.

“How annoying,” Sarah said, handing her a glass of water, which Phoebe took willingly, but didn't dream of drinking. They smiled shyly at each other for a moment before the silence became unbearable and Phoebe at least pretended to take a sip, she cleared her throat and said, “Soooo you live here alone? Quite a large estate for one person.”

“I'm in the process of training a few suitable employees,” Sarah said curtly and sat down in an armchair opposite Phoebe. Phoebe couldn't help noticing that Sarah no longer looked annoyed, but like an eagle eyeing its prey.

“Really? Excuse me, but employees are quite expensive. Are you one of the wealthier people from Leon City? Should they know your name?”

“Probably not… and money won't be an issue any time soon.”

“Really?” Phoebe asked again and could have smacked herself in the head.

Very natural conversation you're having here, Phoebe! She exhorted herself, but Sarah didn't seem to mind.

“Indeed it is. The internet can make you amazingly rich if you know how,” Sarah said, her mouth contorting into a wry smile.

“Are you… some kind of model? From Only Clams or something?”

“Indeed I am. Would you like to see how I make my money?” Sarah asked, fiddling with her robe. Phoebe, completely caught off guard by this question, stammered: “Oh, that won't be necessary, I don't need to know what…”

“I insist,” Sarah said and stood up from her armchair, leaving her robe on the armchair. Instantly, she became the stunning butterfly again, emerging from her cocoon as she stood before Phoebe in a scarlet latex catsuit. It was sleeveless and black lines were drawn on it, accentuating her breasts and hips. Phoebe looked away hurriedly as Sarah took a step closer. Her hair was no longer messy, but looked deliberately wild.

“Oh yes, I see you definitely have the option. Um, if you don't mind, you could slip back into your robe and…”

“But it's so warm and I've been so incredibly hot since you got here,” Sarah said, reaching out to turn Phoebe's face back towards her.

“I'm sorry, I don't like… latex,” Phoebe mumbled, a little disgruntled herself.

“Why is that? Do you have allergies?”

“No.”

“Then you have no reason not to like latex. If you want, I could lend you some and you can join my livestream as a special guest?"

“I'm sorry, but I have to go now,” Phoebe said and stood up as she wriggled past Sarah. She walked straight towards the door, but heard footsteps behind her. Phoebe was just about to turn around when Sarah pulled a latex cloth over her face from behind, robbing her of her sight and breath. Surprised by Sarah's strength, she toppled over backwards and onto the floor with Sarah. The next moment she felt Sarah's legs wrap around her torso and at the same time she pulled the latex cloth deep into her face. Phoebe wasted no time in calling for help and just grunted into the cloth as she tried to free her hands from the leg clamps. But the latex of Sarah's suit was sticking to Phoebe's body, making any movement of her arms almost impossible.

“Phoebe Wynters? A lost traveler? No way! But it doesn't matter to me either. Soon you'll be just another servant who'll make me rich!” Sarah shouted manically and squeezed her legs tighter, forcing Phoebe's air out of her chest. The air escaped from under the latex cloth, leaving nothing behind except the rubber, which pressed into her mouth as she breathed in. Moaning, she became increasingly dizzy as she struggled for air and as the panic rose, she began to scream. Her lungs burned with every futile breath she took and eventually she blacked out and her body slumped in Sarah's grip. She held her for a moment longer until she was sure Phoebe was out of it and then laid her on the floor.

“You had to keep investigating, Phoebe Wynters… but a beauty like you will soon have to realize that your talents lie in my live show and not as a third-rate detective.”

Before Sarah took her new victim to one of the remaining cells, she gave her an injection that would keep her out of action for about an hour. Phoebe and her two other participants had to be properly prepared for the next game. She also had to write an entry for Phoebe so that no awkward questions arose. Sarah left Phoebe alone for a moment while she fetched all the necessary materials from the basement. She wasn't worried that Phoebe would wake up soon and get any ideas. As if she had all the time in the world, she came back with the trolley she had already used in the museum. On it was a large bottle of latex lubricant and a pile of latex in a dark pink color. This particular latex suit and a few more of the same kind were essential for the next game, and the audience would love it. First, however, she had to undress Phoebe. To do this, she simply took a pair of scissors and cut Phoebe's pants, shirt and underwear off her body. She put her glasses aside for the time being, as they would be a hindrance to the game. Sarah removed the earrings from Phoebe's ears and then put her hand on the metal ring around Phoebe's neck. It was smooth and there was no place where it could have been opened.

“What the… Phoebe? You must be a bit kinkier than I thought. I like this,” Sarah mumbled as she irritably turned the ring to find a hidden screw, but nothing like this was to be found. Shaking her head, she went to get a pair of pliers that would hopefully separate the metal from Phoebe's body, but she ended up disappointed. She squeezed the pliers and a loud PLING could be heard throughout the room as a piece broke out of the pliers, leaving the metal ring undamaged. Sarah blinked several times in confusion and considered getting another tool, but decided against it.

“All right, keep your jewelry then,” she said, opening the bottle of lube and smearing it liberally all over Phoebe's body. Normally these latex suits didn't need any, but it was still recommended for this particular one. Either because of the coldness of the gel or because Sarah kept touching her, Phoebe slowly woke up. She looked around questioningly, unable to move her head, until she saw the blurred face of Sarah standing over her, grinning.

“Well, awake again?” she asked as she placed the heavy latex next to Phoebe's legs. Phoebe wanted to get up, fight and preferably strangle Sarah, but her body didn't obey her.

“Not again,” she muttered, staring down her naked body at the pile of fuzzy latex next to her feet.

“Oh? You've been drugged before? Riiiiiiiiight! You tried to take down that slave trader, but you fell into her trap first. Lucky you were freed by the police. But things will be a bit different here. After all, I don't have to explain to you that you don't need to worry and that the effects of the injection will soon wear off. But I'm a bit surprised that you're already awake,” Sarah explained as she positioned Phoebe's legs and began to pull the neck opening of the suit over Phoebe's feet.

“I've heard that before and then I put the person behind bars!”

“Yeah, of course. By the way, why are you looking at me so crossly all the time?” Sarah suddenly asked, making Phoebe lose her train of thought with this stupid question, ”Oh! Sure, no glasses. What eyesight do you have?”

“Minus… 2.0,” said Phoebe, furrowing her brow.

“Ah, perfect!” said Sarah, beaming, wiping her hands on a towel and taking a jar from the trolley and opening it. Sarah fished around in it for a moment until her fingertip caught a contact lens and brought it close to Phoebe's eyes.

“WOW, WOW, WOW! Are you insane!” Phoebe exclaimed, squeezing her eyes shut. Sarah was not amused, but put the contact lenses aside again.

“Fine. Then you'll do it yourself, but don't do anything rash!” she warned Phoebe and pulled the latex suit further up her legs.

“Well, since I'm just dressing you anyway, I'll explain the rules here. This suit and the restraints you'll be wearing in your free time have electric shockers that can turn your life into hell. At the same time, they read your vitals and various other stuff. So… think about what you want to say in the livestream… I assume you know about that one?”

Phoebe nodded.

So that was how she forced Ava and Summer to be obedient, but… couldn't they still ask for help quickly?

“I'll warn you just once, in case you get any ideas. One, help, help me, blah blah blah, on the livestream and you'll be punished with the most intense pain you've ever experienced. Besides, my program cuts that out without a problem. So no one will get to hear it, so don't bother,” she explained, now stuffing Phoebe's arms into the suit. At the same time, Phoebe felt her feet being squeezed through a tight tube, interrupted only by belts, and she felt something heavy at the end of the suit.

“Answer the audience's questions nicely and just be part of the show, otherwise…”

“Will I be punished…”

“That's right, my dear. You really are very bright,” Sarah said, patting Phoebe's red hair gently. She now pulled up the suit, the last bit of Phoebe's neck, and pressed it under the metal ring while clicking her tongue. Only now did Phoebe realize what kind of suit she was being put into. Her feet slipped into a large fin and with a smacking sound they sucked themselves into it. To prevent the suit from slipping, the gel sealed it to her body and Sarah pulled the belts tight around Phoebe's legs so that they were pressed firmly together. They seemed to stick to the mermaid suit, so Phoebe couldn't dream of taking them off. Two of these belts were fastened around her thighs and three around her lower legs.

“Now this…” Sarah murmured and took a corset from the trolley, which she tied and lashed tightly around Phoebe's hips. It didn't take Phoebe's breath away, but it did make her hips thinner and gave her an hourglass figure. At the same time, Phoebe doubted that she could remove the suit without help. All that was left on the trolley was a futuristic-looking mask with four straps, two gloves that looked like flippers and the contact lenses.

“Almost ready. I'll take you to your cell now and put you on the livestream later so you can answer questions from the audience while Ava and Summer get changed too. I want you to put your contact lenses in as soon as you can move again, and your fins too. They'll tighten when they're on properly and believe me… you'll need both.”

“And the mask?”

“I'd put it on later if I were you,” Sarah said with a grin, pulling Phoebe onto the trolley and, with his help, into the elevator to take her to her cell in the basement.

Phoebe couldn't move for a long time and could do nothing but watch the livestream on the big screen. Summer and Ava were talking to the audience and by now they seemed to have more or less come to terms with the fact that they were prisoners.

“Or they've learned from the electric shocks,” Phoebe muttered, trying to move her hand, which was actually starting to regain feeling. Carefully, she straightened up and looked around. Nothing in the cell looked as if she could use it to escape. Maybe she could cut herself free with shards from the toilet or shower, but that wouldn't get her to the other side of the black glass.

Jade sees the livestream and will free me… for sure! Or she'll just report it to the police! Phoebe thought, but then she frowned.

“The police… mmmmh”

Phoebe looked up as orders appeared on the screen.

“Get dressed!”

She rolled her eyes and picked up the tin of contact lenses. It took her a few tries, but eventually she managed to put the lenses in her eyes and squinted against the cell light. Next, she put on the mask, but left it hanging loosely around her neck, and took the gloves. They would render her fingers useless and turn them into fins. They were, like the rest of her suit, a dark pink color, but had purple ruffles. Whether they were there to give her hand a larger surface area or simply as jewelry, Phoebe couldn't tell. She hoped that Sarah just wanted her to splash around in a little pool. She stuck her left hand in and managed to reach the end, where her fingers were pressed close together, but each had its own place, like a real glove. At the same moment, they tightened, pressing against her suit and sealing themselves. A little worried, she did the same with her other glove and looked at the screen again.

“Satisfied?”

She didn't get an answer, but apparently Sarah was satisfied when a few more warnings appeared about not saying the wrong thing and then a countdown. At the same time, a message appeared in the livestream.

“Dear viewers, we are now starting preparations for the next game. Unfortunately, Ava and Summer will be removed from the stream for the time being! Instead, a new contestant will take their places for that long!”

Ava and Summer immediately looked up in shock and were transfixed by the screen, which was now showing Phoebe. The viewers could see her cowering on the latex floor next to her bed, in a dark pink mermaid suit stretched tightly around her body. Phoebe opened her mouth to call for help, but stopped when she saw another warning.

“I can punish Ava and Summer too, if you want. These electric shocks could turn them into fish sticks.”

Phoebe swallowed and bit her lip.

Fine. I'll play along for now. Phoebe thought, even though she was sure Ava or Summer had been thinking the same thing yesterday.

“Hey, dear viewers, I'm Phoebe and…” a text appeared on the screen for her to read out, ”And I'm happy to be here. I was such a huge fan of the show that I gave it my all to be on it! I hope you can take me into your hearts, even though I joined a bit late,” Phoebe read out and almost threw up in disgust. Meanwhile, the chat was flooded with messages. Dozens of messages appeared almost simultaneously every second and Phoebe could barely read them.

“WHAT, YOU CAN STILL SIGN UP? WHERE!?!!?”

“Nice! Another beauty and in such an adorable suit to boot!”

“Ooooh did the little mermaid go into Sarah's net?”

“Red hair? Fuck yeah!”

“Oh Phoebe… Come on…”

“Finally a new game! All on Ava!”

“Where's Queen Summer gone?”

“Are the other two going to be mermaids now?”

Phoebe smiled nervously and waved her hand fin. She didn't know why, but the praise she received in the chat gave her a warm feeling. As if she had solved a case, a deep satisfaction slowly spread through her whole body. As if of its own accord, she began to smile as she received the recognition she always craved, until she remembered that she wanted to be praised for her achievements and not for her latex-wrapped body. Still, she put on a good face and started talking to the chat as the first donations came flooding in.

“Ohohooo, I like where this is going, but, what are you guys about to do?” asked Kingfisher_69.

“Um…good question,” Phoebe said, looking down her body, ”Maybe a hottub stream? I'm afraid I don't know yet.”

“How did you sign up?”

Phoebe was caught a little off guard by the question and didn't know how to answer it without being punished until she was prescribed a message, which she simply read out.

“Is that your natural hair color?”

“Yes,” Phoebe said curtly, stroking her head with her flippers and flipping her braided ponytail over her shoulder so the chat could see it better.

“What's that jewelry around your neck?”

Phoebe blinked and tilted her head slightly.

“Jewelry?” she asked, scanning her neck and only now did she notice the metal ring around her neck.

Did Sarah give me a souvenir? But why? Phoebe thought about it and felt it, but it seemed to be welded on and she doubted that she could take it off. She also didn't know how she had only just noticed it.

“Um… just a little something I was allowed to wear?” Phoebe said, unconvinced by her own statement, but the chat seemed satisfied and continued to ask.

 

An hour later, a hidden door to Phoebe's right opened and the screen prompted her to leave her cell. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled across the floor to the door. Glancing to her left, she saw that Summer already had experience moving like a mermaid on land. She was sitting on a large circle of red, the same color as her suit. Glancing to her right, Phoebe saw Ava, who seemed to be having as much trouble as she was and had been transformed into a blue mermaid. They both imitated Summer and crawled into a circle with her color. A little out of breath, they nodded to each other, while Summer and Ava seemed a little miffed with each other.

“Did you decide to join us?” asked Summer with a wry smile.

“Let's just say I jumped at the chance,” Phoebe said, which earned a shake of the head from Ava.

"You really are incredible. Are we getting any more reinforcements?” asked Ava.

“That's a good question. But let's just say you're really popular. Even among your circle of friends,” Phoebe explained, which made Summer blush and caused Ava to slap her flippers in front of her face.

A screen flickered in front of them and Sarah's computer voice came on.

“Welcome, Phoebe! I'm glad you've joined Summer and Ava. I'm sure you'll settle in perfectly and shine in your first game. It's simple. Swim to the other side of the pool and take one of three swim rings back to the start. The fastest one wins! But make sure you don't get lost on the way! We'll start right away, so please put on your masks.”

“Seems easy, doesn't it? Right?” Phoebe asked as Ava and Summer gave her a sideways glance.

“Oh, someone seems very confident,” said Sarah, ”I wonder if that will affect the betting. We'll see. The race starts in a minute.”

A countdown appeared on the screen while viewers placed bets. Phoebe hurriedly put on her mask and pulled it tight while Ava and Summer checked the fit of theirs. All three were surprised that they could breathe without any problems and hoped that it would stay that way in the water.

She wouldn't just throw us in the water like that, would she?… Would she? Phoebe asked herself as the countdown reached zero and suddenly the circles beneath them folded away. Chutes appeared, taking them a short way down and spitting them out into an underwater world. Bubbles rose up to Phoebe's left and right, briefly obscuring her vision as she looked around in panic. She held her breath out of reflex, but a moment later she dared to take a breath and was actually able to breathe underwater thanks to the mask. Only now did she look around and realize that Ava was going through the same thing as her, while Summer was already swimming away. Phoebe looked after her and her mouth fell open under the mask when, instead of a long empty pool, she saw a whole aquarium in front of her. Rocks, algae and even fish blocked her view of the other side of the pool. On closer inspection, however, Phoebe saw that the fish and probably the algae were artificial. She was about to nod to Ava when she swam past her and dived after Summer. Phoebe rowed with her arms and pushed off with her leg fins. She immediately cut through the water at an insane speed, but still couldn't catch up to Summer or Ava, who were much better trained than she was.

Fortunately, they both stopped in front of a cave that was densely overgrown with algae and apparently they didn't want to swim through it and looked for another way. Phoebe saw it as a chance to make up distance and darted in with a powerful stroke of her fin. It was dark, but she could make out blue dots here and there. Phoebe suspected it was the cameras that were recording her every movement and sending it to the stream. She squeezed through a gap and could see the exit of the cave. Light shone through a dense net of algae and Phoebe immediately swam towards it. She was a little too fast and hit her head on the ceiling of the cave. She felt some of the algae get caught in her mask, but her speed meant she couldn't slow down. Water penetrated under the mask and it was ripped off her head with a swing. Phoebe tumbled uncontrollably in the water and into more algae, which began to stick to her latex-covered body and wrap around her legs, arms and chest. Panicked, she looked around for the mask and only became more entangled, so that her left hand was pressed next to her chest and an algae pulled her right hand away from her. She could see her mask. It was hanging in the seaweed perhaps a step away from her, and bubbles were rising from it. The precious air she so desperately needed. As her lungs began to scream once more, she felt the back of her neck as all the cameras zoomed in on her predicament, capturing every moment with pinpoint accuracy. Phoebe reached out for the mask, but it didn't get far as the algae pulled it back and buried it deeper among the rocks.

NO! Come on, not again! Phoebe thought as her panic continued to rise and her body forced her to open her mouth. But she couldn't! She couldn't! Her fingers were uselessly trapped in the gloves and couldn't help her remove the algae. It was dark in the cave and she couldn't see well where one of them started and where it ended. She could only feel them wrapping tighter and tighter around her, pulling away from her mask. Her mouth opened and bubbles gushed out of it and when she breathed in, instead of air, there was just water everywhere. Phoebe's vision became hazy and the last thing she saw before her eyes closed was the pink mask swaying gently back and forth in the seaweed. At that moment, she felt something being pressed against her mouth and all the water disappeared from her mouth and suddenly there was air again! She greedily drew it in and opened her eyes. Summer had apparently spotted her between the rocks and swam back to save Phoebe. Her arm was inside a diving ring and she shook her head slightly as she held her breath and pushed her mask into Phoebe's face. Summer strapped it on Phoebe and skillfully dodged the algae. She plucked the mask from the seaweed and tied it around herself before helping Phoebe out of the seaweed and pointing in the direction she had come from. Phoebe nodded and swam away, heart racing, relieved that this hadn't been the end of her.

 

Summer swam through the thin gap and back to the start, where she pulled the ring off her arm and held it out to the camera. She had won, while Ava was still somewhere behind her and Phoebe would have almost drowned if she hadn't taken the shortcut through the creepy cave. A ladder descended into the aquarium and Summer laboriously climbed up it, where she was greeted by thunderous artificial applause. She took off her mask and smiled shyly as the spectators were handed their winnings and many others went away empty-handed. Immediately, a donation came in too, congratulating Summer and praising her speed.

“Thank you, thank you!” she said, waving her flippers at the cameras.

“Summer's winnings will be transferred to her player account and she won't be penalized! A thunderous round of applause please!” said Sarah's computer voice and once again the chat went wild. At that moment, Ava emerged from the pool and rolled up next to Summer. The effort was written all over her face and she sought to be close to her friend. Summer, however, was still not in the mood. She slipped away from her and accidentally hit Ava in the face with her huge tail fin, knocking her off her feet. There was a loud smack and Ava skittered across the wet latex floor until she came to a shuddering halt.

“Oh, there seems to be trouble in paradise! Finally some heat in the games!”

“No, that was a…” Summer was about to say, but her words were drowned out by the renewed applause as Ava held her face and looked hurt at Summer, then turned away.

“I wonder what punishments Ava and Phoebe will get for losing! You get to vote, my dears!” Sarah continued, as Summer slipped further away from Ava out of shame and anger over yesterday's events.

She started. Since I've been here, I've been suffering again and she… she has no regard for me, she takes advantage of me and fights me. Even if my fin attack wasn't intentional, she deserved it! Summer thought and crossed her arms.

“Ohooo! Ava, the spectators were so gracious with you! You get to spend the night in this adorable suit! With some exciting features to amuse the viewers, of course!”

Ava glanced at the screen so that viewers could see the large red mark that had appeared on her cheek.

“Yeeeaah!” she said unconvincingly, but a little electric shock from Sarah suddenly made her cheer with delight.

“Thank you, dear fans! I hope you're going to have a lot of fun with me!” she added, crawling back into her cell.

“And what do you think we have up our sleeves for Phoebe?” asked Sarah at the same moment as Phoebe climbed up the ladder. She took off her mask and spat water as they collapsed exhausted on the latex.

“Oh! You voted and you want a mermaid in your fishing net!” said Sarah, not giving Phoebe time to recover.

“Please what?” asked Phoebe and at that moment a net shot down from the ceiling and wrapped itself around Phoebe. She was lifted up and dropped the breathing mask back to the floor in shock.

“Hey, what are you doing? HEY!” Phoebe shouted and the net swung back over the pool. The rope suddenly slackened and dropped Phoebe and the net into the pool. A moment later, she was pulled back up. Phoebe coughed and cursed as she struggled against the tight mesh of the net.

“Oh, a new donation! It seems the spectators are a bit jealous of you, Phoebe! And down you go!” shouted Sarah and the rope eased off again. Phoebe disappeared back into the water and Summer looked worriedly over the edge, where she saw the detective wriggling.

“But we don't want to overdo it, do we, friends?” said Sarah and picked Phoebe up again. She spit out water again and took a quick, strained breath, this time with no intention of swearing.

“Summer, even though you've won, I'm asking you to go back to your cell. There's a good meal waiting for you there!” said Sarah, and sure enough, at that moment Summer's stomach started growling like a bear. She had been forced to eat some of the dog food this morning in order not to starve. That little bit had been enough to give her the strength she needed for the game, but nothing more. With one last pitying look at Phoebe, she turned away and slid across the floor back into her cell.

“Take off your uniform please, you've won the right to be human again!” said Sarah and Summer felt her gloves loosen so she could take off her flippers. She did just that, but hesitated over the rest of her costume.

“Hey Chat, do you mind if I stay your mermaid for a while? I… spent a while as a mermaid and I have fond memories of it,” she asked and immediately hearts and fish emojis popped up in the chat, making Summer smile, ”We get along!”

Summer winked at one of the cameras and crawled to her tray of food where warm potatoes, spinach and fish sticks were already waiting for her. Summer swallowed hard as she finally got some decent food back and shoveled it into her mouth while answering an occasional question from the chat.

“Wait a minute! Why do you have a choker like Phoebe's now?” asked one of the onlookers and Summer was taken aback.

“Choker?” Summer asked and felt her neck, where she felt a metal ring. It didn't have a clasp and therefore couldn't be removed.

“Um,” said Summer, looking at the screen for help, but she didn't get an explanation from Sarah.

“I just found it in the pool and thought it was beautiful. Maybe Phoebe lost it? If it really is hers, I'll give it back later,” Summer explained and continued to feel the ring to make sure it really couldn't be opened.

Well, maybe something new from Sarah? But when would she have put it on me? Summer thought about this and turned her attention back to the chat. The only friends she had in her cell and perhaps even in this prison. Ava had shown what a friend she really was when things got serious, and Phoebe had only proved how useless she was by being captured by Sarah. Not that Summer could talk big now that she'd been kidnapped by her for the second time and was apparently going to spend the rest of her life here. A plaything for Sarah, a cash cow that would be whipped every day. Summer pulled her legs in front of her chest and hugged her tail. Her expression became a little duller. She'd had fun being a mermaid again, but now that she was out of the water, she thought about what would happen tomorrow. Another test, and probably one that Ava would win. If Summer hadn't already had experience being a mermaid, Ava, who was stronger, faster, and had more stamina, would have completely edged her out.

“Hey… um… I think I'll go to bed for now. Have a good time and… good night,” Summer mumbled and heaved herself into her bed, where she put her blanket over her and playfully let her fin hang out and move so the chat wouldn't notice how she was really feeling. She was angry, hurt, betrayed by her best friend, doomed to play this devil's game forever! She clenched her hands into fists and began to tremble with rage. She gritted her teeth and her body grew hot as her breathing quickened.

 

Sarah sat at her desk, smiling with satisfaction at the success of today's game. So many new spectators who were willing to donate or bet money. Tomorrow she was going to have another betting game, where hopefully Ava would win this time, but even so Summer didn't seem to be doing well. Sarah wanted to destroy their friendship and break Summer. She had put on a friendly face for quite some time, but now? Sarah's finger hovered over the punish button as Summer said goodbye to the chat and crawled into her bed. She decided against it, however, when she saw Summer's vitals. The message from the computer made her smile.

“Well, is that finally the anger boiling up inside you, Summer? I thought it would take longer,” Sarah commented, but frowned as Summer's vitals continued to rise. Pulse, temperature and respiration shot into the red zone from one second to the next, and Sarah's computer immediately spit out a warning.

“Uh, please, what?” Sarah asked as Summer's body temperature reached 45°C and kept rising. She immediately checked to see if there was a fault in the system or if the room was getting too warm, but neither was the case, except that the room was actually getting warmer, due to Summer herself. Completely overwhelmed by the situation, she stared at the screen and suddenly a flash appeared in Summer's cell, there was a loud bang and from one second to the next none of the cameras or Summer's vital signs were sending a signal. Sarah stared open-mouthed at the black image in front of her, but was able to quickly switch to the other cameras before the whole world saw that something had just exploded in Summer's cell. Ava was shown, now looking nervously at the black pane of glass. There was another loud crash throughout the house and in the next moment Ava and Sarah flinched as a huge crack appeared in the pane, starting from the center and spreading out like a spider's web.

“What's going on?” Sarah asked pale and quickly switched to Phoebe before her audience saw this too. She herself looked at the screen, transfixed, and there was another crash. The glass pane shattered and Sarah's heart sank into her latex catsuit.

 

The first bang made Ava sit up and take notice.

Were the police finally going to stop this madwoman and get Summer, Phoebe and her out of here? She thought and turned to the glass window. The second bang made her flinch and freeze as a huge web of cracks formed on the pane of glass. She carefully backed away from it as all her alarm bells started ringing.

Boom!

The pane of glass shattered into a thousand pieces and Ava just had time to pull her latex blanket off the bed to protect herself from the shards. She slowly lowered the blanket and stared at a huge, empty face. In front of her, a slimy monster peered into her cell, its body only roughly resembling that of a human and considerably larger than one. Ava backed away from the monster and began to scream as its slimy hand reached into her cell. But with her heavy mermaid tail, she had no chance of escaping. The monster's arm extended and grabbed the tip of her fin. The slime grabbed her as if it were a vise and pulled Ava towards it. She tried to claw at the ground, but even if she hadn't had her fins on, Ava knew she had lost. As if the arm were a rubber band, it pulled back in a flash and pulled Ava with it, who smashed head-on into the monster's body the next moment. She was instantly stuck in the monster's slime and felt herself being slowly pulled into it.

“No, please! Sarah! Help! Someone!” she screamed, but no one seemed to hear her and the slime covered her mouth moments later, silencing her. Her head was stuck sideways in the monster, covering one of her eyes, the other looking anxiously back and forth, trying to find a way out. They tried to understand what was happening. The monster turned and walked down the hall to the elevator and out of the prison. Ava managed to catch a glimpse of Summer's cell as she passed, but there was no sign of her friend. Ava could only guess where she was now, and as she felt herself being pulled deeper into the monster, she had the horrible thought that she was now following Summer.

 

Phoebe was breathing heavily in the net after being pulled out of the pool again, and she was beginning to realize that Sarah's methods were effective in motivating her captives and making them compliant at the same time. She coughed a little from the water and heaved a grateful sigh as the net swung back towards land, only to be disappointed to find it heading back towards the pool.

“Haha, very funny!” she grumbled, quickly covering her mouth for fear of being punished, but nothing happened, ”Uh?”

Phoebe had no idea what that meant, but didn't want to push her luck and grabbed the mesh again to look for a gap as the net swung across the floor again.

“Can I go down now?” Phoebe asked hopefully, but the net swung back again. Phoebe rolled her eyes and suddenly gravity took hold of her again. She held her breath and splashed into the water. She hoped it wouldn't take too long this time when something caught her eye. A steel cable that sank past her, the end of which had snapped off. It only took her a fraction of a second to realize that it was her rope and that she was now being pulled deeper and deeper by it. Her eyes widened and she knew that if she didn't escape this time, she wouldn't come up again. She immediately tore at the net and looked for an opening through which she could escape, but it all looked the same. No way out, and the bubbles forming from the churning water didn't make her vision any better. Phoebe reached the bottom and looked up. The surface was only darkly visible, she couldn't estimate how deep she had really sunk, but it didn't matter as she could be in a paddling pool and still not get out of the net. Her fins continued to search frantically while her lungs screamed for the third time that day and she struggled not to open her mouth. Her head became cloudy and bubbles rose from her mouth as she let the air escape. And then she found it: a gap! She stretched her arms through it and pushed the rest of her body after it. Before her strength left her, she pushed off hard with her tail fin and rushed towards the surface, which seemed to be getting darker and darker. When she saw only a glimmer, her hands broke through the surface followed by her head and she took a saving deep breath that pumped new life into her body. She craved fresh air so much that she barely gave herself time to exhale and breathed in even deeper.

“I urgg, have to get out of here!” she croaked and swam to the short ladder that would take her back to the cell level. Coughing and breathing fast, she splatted on the floor.

If I get my hands on Sarah… Phoebe thought, but suddenly blinked in confusion. She had almost expected a biting comment to be thrown at her or for the chat to ask a stupid question, but none of it happened. She turned to the screen, but it only showed an error message.

“Sarah?” Phoebe asked aloud, but there was no answer. Instead, Phoebe heard a bang like a gun and then another and another.

“What the …?” Phoebe asked in horror, turning white as a sheet. She crawled back into her cell and saw that the black glass had been completely destroyed and the screen had gone out, as had all the cameras. Not wanting to waste any more time, she clumsily took one of the shards of glass in her right flipper and began to carefully cut her left hand free. She did the same with her other hand and then cut the rest of her latex suit off her body, starting with the thick belts. She groaned as she straightened up, her legs trembling after being pressed so tightly against each other for so long. Armed only with a shard of glass, she walked out of her cell. The other cells were just as destroyed as hers and she didn't know if she could be happy that they were empty.

“If Summer and Ava somehow escaped and Sarah shot them, then…” she swallowed and crept back to the elevator, which seemed to be broken, and took the stairs up. At the top, she saw a pistol, which she picked up, frowning. There was no way she was going to use it.

“Better to have and not need,” Phoebe muttered and opened the door a crack, her breath catching. Standing in front of her in the entrance hall was a giant gray slime monster. It had a human shape, but that was where it stopped. It seemed to keep melting away and then reassembling itself.

“What the… is that latex?” Phoebe whispered and heard a whimper from the monster. Only now did she see that it was pressing Sarah against the wall with one arm and the slime was slowly crawling up her head. At the same time, the monster turned its head unnaturally in Phoebe's direction. It had no face, only holes where its eyes would normally be, and a mouth that ran crookedly from one side of its face to the other. It grimaced when it saw Phoebe, sending a shiver down the back of her neck. Phoebe's hands began to shake, and she slowly raised the gun.

“Phoe… be,” the monster croaked, and Phoebe blinked.

It knows my name? She thought, and against all her instincts, she lowered the gun again.

“Yes… I'm Phoebe and you are?” she asked, while Sarah stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

“I… Gremmer,” the monster explained agonizedly.

“Gremmer… nice to meet you… do you… do you know where Summer and Ava are?” Phoebe asked uncertainly and immediately regretted the question as the monster squeezed harder and Sarah's head disappeared completely into his arm. Her legs kicked uselessly a hand's breadth above the floor and her feet slammed against the wall behind her, but it didn't help. The monster had a firm grip on her and would not let go.

“Sum… mer? Ava?” the monster asked and Phoebe thought she heard a growl as it spoke Ava's name.

“Yes! They are my friends!”

This time the monster didn't answer, but its gray slime flickered and became transparent, and Phoebe saw that both friends were inside the monster. Summer had her hands clasped in front of her chest, just below her neck, and was unconscious. She almost looked like she was praying or asleep. Ava, on the other hand, was awake and turned her head to Phoebe. She seemed to be stuck in slime in front of Summer and unable to move. Her arms were outstretched as if she wanted to hug Summer, but she couldn't make it through the sticky slime to her. Both women were still wearing their mermaid costumes and it flashed through Phoebe's mind that this was like something out of a fairy tale. The young mermaid princess who had to be rescued by her friend, trapped inside a monster. Phoebe's eyes met Ava's for a split second, then the transparency vanished again and changed to its usual gray.

“Ava… not a friend… Sarah and Ava enemy!” the monster rumbled as Sarah's struggle grew weaker.

She doesn't have much time left. I have to do something. Wait, Ava's not a friend? And what about Summer? Is she the cause of this? It flashed through Phoebe's mind and she hoped the next idea she had was her best option. She ran towards the monster. The corners of his mouth formed in surprise, or so Phoebe assumed. While its left hand was still holding Sarah up, who was now only twitching weakly, it swung its right hand out and sent it flying towards Phoebe. Phoebe's eyes widened as the arm bridged the distance between them in a fraction of a second, but she was lucky and just managed to dodge it. She leapt towards it the next moment and jumped into its chest. As expected, it hit Ava behind a thick layer of slime and pressed her back with momentum. At that moment Ava broke through a slimy barrier and crashed into Summer and the next she was hugging her friend tightly. Then… a deafening explosion that sent Phoebe hurtling back towards the stairs, spreading latex goo all over the entrance hall. Sarah slid off the wall, unconscious, and Ava fell to the floor with Summer in her arms. She trembled violently and hugged her tightly, while Phoebe stood up swaying and walked over to them. She gave each of the puddles of slime a wide berth.

“Are you all right?” Phoebe asked cautiously and crouched down next to the two friends.

“Could be better,” Ava murmured, wanting to feel Summer's pulse and temperature until she realized she couldn't feel anything through the fins, ”Can you?”

Phoebe nodded and released both women from their mermaid costumes. Ava checked her pulse again and nodded with satisfaction.

“Pulse and temperature normal. She seems to be fine.”

“What was that?” Phoebe asked as Ava gently placed Summer on the floor.

“Greed,” she said hesitantly, pointing to a cheerleading uniform that Phoebe hadn't noticed until now. It was in the middle of the slime and looked out of place.

“Please what?” asked Phoebe, but Ava waved her off when she heard a groan from the wall. She stood up and walked towards Sarah, who glared at her and tried to regain control of her body. She just managed to go wide-eyed when Ava suddenly stood over her and tried to raise an arm until Ava made a well-aimed jab at the side of her neck, causing Sarah to immediately pass out again.

“Sleep another round, you monster,” Ava muttered, walking back to Phoebe, Summer and the uniform.

“This is Greed. My… my partner. I don't know how he got here, since I left him at home,” Ava explained, carefully picking up the cheerleading uniform.

“You call your uniform, partner and Greed?”

“He's more than that. Greed is a shapeshifter. He can change into all kinds of clothes, but I left him at home on my nightstand. In the form of a metal necklace,” she said, turning to the uniform, ”Come on, you lazy piece.”

Phoebe's mouth fell open as the uniform fell around Ava as if of its own accord and changed into a pair of jeans and a simple shirt. Only now did she realize that it had also been the metal ring around her neck.

“I think I brought it by mistake,” Phoebe said and Ava frowned.

“How did you get in my house?”

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders.

“The door opened by itself, maybe it was Greed too?” Phoebe asked and Ava nodded in agreement when Greed confirmed it to her.

“And he was the monster?”

“Well, I can only guess, but I think it was him too… Greed reacts very strongly to emotions. I trained for a long time to form a team with him, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Summer, on the other hand…” Ava muttered, glancing at Sarah, ”Summer, however, was on the verge of insanity thanks to that witch. Greed thought he could go from you to her and then to me, but it didn't turn out that way. A storm of emotions was raging inside her. Anger at me, at Sarah. Fear and…”

Ava fell silent and took Summer's hand, squeezing it gently.

“And all of that seems to have overwhelmed Greed. I didn't know something like that could happen when you lose control.”

“But Greed is better now?”

“He's thirsty, but he should be fine, right?” Ava asked, and Phoebe saw her clothes tighten around her body for a moment.

“He's blaming himself… and worrying about Summer,” Ava said, stroking her hair.