Twisty clicked closed the lighter in her hands, the last of the candles now burning. She didn’t know nor particularly care to know why an assortment of candles and a few lighters had been included in the hall’s arrangements. But, like everything else she had encountered in the last few hours, it smacked of deliberateness.

Since meeting Val and acquiring her current fetishized attire, Twisty had been moving near nonstop. She hadn’t had time to really think about much beyond the next few steps forward. Now, as she and her friends huddled around a few candlesticks, she had time.

Val could have eaten her when she found her wet and naked in the hall. Val could have caught her or Ember back in the rooms. And now she was tossing jackets and phones through windows and cutting the power like she was a villain in one of Scary’s stories.

Twisty chewed the inside of her cheek as she stared at the dancing candle flame, not really seeing it. The seemingly arbitrary time limit Val had given them was just as odd. Why do that, or any of this? What was the point beyond mere sadistic entertainment?

Maybe that was the point.

“Twisty?”

Twisty jumped, pulled from her thoughts. She spun around, coming face to face with Token. The Changeling seemed startled by her sudden movements and back away a step. Token coughed and folded his arms, apparently having now put on his letter jacket.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,”

Twisty shook her head. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but the corners of her mouth refused to turn upwards.

“It’s alright, Token. We’re all a little jumpy right now.” Twisty leaned against the table the candle sat on, again trying to create an air of casualness. However hopeless and pointless the effort. “You, uh, probably want your lighter back, right?”

Token waved his hand. “Nah, just, uh, hang onto it for now.” He coughed again. “I just, uh, wanted to apologize. For earlier. For not believing you.”

Twisty’s smile was a little more convincing this time. “There’s no need to apologize, Token.”

Token nodded. “Thanks,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, Xander said he was going to try and fiddle with the radio. Not sure if that’ll help any, but I thought you’d want to know.”

Twisty nodded, pushing away from the table. “Thanks. I’ll go see if he’s having any luck.”

Twisty picked up the candle and moved passed Token, heading for one of the other patches of light in the dark. The largest cluster of candles was in the middle of the hall, placed on the floor with Scary, Flare, and Ember sitting down among them. The rest were strewn rather haphazardly around. Twisty made a mental note to take the time to arrange them in a more organized fashion.

She soon crossed the hall to where Xander was standing. He was leaning over a table, fiddling with the radio sitting there. As she approached, she could hear quiet snippets of stations along with frequent bursts of static. Xander didn’t seem to notice her, too focused on his task. Twisty cleared her throat, making Xander tense up. Once he looked over his shoulder and saw her, he visibly relaxed.

“Hey, Twisty,” he said, turning back to the radio and fiddling with one of the knobs.

“Hey, Xander. Ah, Token said you were doing something with the radio here?”

Xander nodded. “Yeah, I think I remember hearing that there’s a way to send a distress signal with any old radio. I’m just trying to figure out how.”

Twisty nodded. “That’s good,” There was a rather long pause. “Is there, um, anything I can do to help?”

Xander chuckled, “I don’t suppose you have an instruction manual lying around?”

Twisty smiled. “I’m afraid not.”

Xander grunted. “Was worth a try,” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “You know what’s bothering me the most about all this?”

Twisty tilted her head. “What?”

“The wait,” Xander shook his head. “Right now we’re all jumping at our own shadows, waiting for her to come in here and…” he trailed off, adjusting the radio’s antenna.

“I don’t think she can get in here,” Twisty said after a few moments.

“How’s that?”

“She’s too big for the windows. And I doubt she could break down those doors with her bare hands. I think she’s waiting for one of us to go outside.”

“Might not have to wait that long,” Xander said, jerking his head towards the rest of the group. “They’re getting antsy over there. I can’t say blame them.”

“Neither can I.” Twisty sighed. “Let me know if you have any luck with the radio.”

“Will do,”

Twisty slowly made her way over to where the others were sitting amongst a dozen or so candles. As she approached, she could hear them talking in low voices.

“…word of some crazy fucking snake cunt.” Ember was saying.

“If the lights are out here, then they’re probably out everywhere else too.” Scary said, tapping a pencil against her notebook. “I can see alright in the dark, but what about the rest of you?”

“We have the candles, we’ll just take them with us.”

Flare shook her head. “She’ll be able to spot us from a mile away.”

Token spoke up next. “What about one of us goes out there with a candle and gets her attention?”

It was here that Twisty reached the group. “You’re not suggesting that someone acts as bait?”

Token shrugged. “Not someone. Me.”

Ember shook her head. “Come on now, Token. Stop with the crazy talk.”

“What’s so crazy about it? She goes after me and loses track of the rest of you.”

Twisty sighed. “Spitting up the group is just going to make us easier to pick off one at a time.”

“And staying together makes it easier to get us all in one go.” Token rubbed the back of his neck. “Look guys, I just can’t fucking stand sitting here waiting for her to-”

The sound of shattering glass cut through the air. Twisty turned towards the sound, seeing large shards of glass land and fragment just a dozen feet away. It barely registered for a few moments, the nearby candle flickering and being reflected by scores of broken shards. Rain fell on the glass, a stray drop hitting the candle and smothering the flame.

Twisty snapped back to reality and looked up. The ceiling of the hall, she hadn’t really ever looked at it before. It was too dark to see up there now. That is until a helpful flash of lightning lit up the sky.

There were windows on the roof. Tall, wide windows big enough to fit a dining room table through. And silhouetted in one of the windows was a serpentine shape.

Twisty felt a sudden sickness rise in the back of her throat. They had trapped themselves. She had trapped them.

“She’s on the roof!” Twisty shouted, snatching up one candles and rushing towards one of the doors.

“What?” she heard one of the others say behind her. It might have been Ember, but Twisty didn’t stop to confirm.

“Twisty, wait!” she heard Scary shout as more lightning split the sky. “Twisty, what about the roof?”

Twisty ran past a confused Xander and closed the distance to the door in the space of a few heartbeats. She slammed into the barricade they had made. Dropping the candle down beside her, she began pulling it apart. Or trying to at least.

Scary was the first to reach her side. “Twisty, what the fuck-?”

Scary stopped dead when Twisty turned to her. Maybe it was the look in Twisty’s eyes.

“There’s windows on the roof,” Twisty said, suddenly and acutely aware she was out of breath. “Val’s on the roof.”

The color seemed to drain from Scary’s face. She tossed away her candle and began pulling at the barricade. The others were only a few steps behind. They too began to tear into the barricade, pulling it apart with what felt like agonizing slowness as a third window shattered.

Twisty glanced to her left and her right. Everyone was there except for Xander. Twisty looked over her shoulder for him just as something large landed on the ground with a heavy thump.

Val uncoiled herself, her rising form lit faintly by the few candles still burning around her. Her eyes met Twisty’s and a grin stretched her lips. Val’s body tensed, but before she could spring forward, a tall figure crashed into her.

“Hurry!” Xander shouted, jumping back as Val recovered and swung a fist at him.

Twisty tore her gaze away and helped Scary pull another bench from the pile. Behind her she could hear the Xander grunting and yelping in pain. Beside her, Ember was swearing angrily, leaning her shoulder against a table and shoving it to the side. Flare threw a chair aside, Scary kicking another out of the way.

Twisty pushed the last chair out of the way and wrenched the door open. The hallway beyond was brightly lit, shining like a lighthouse into the darkened hall.

“Go! Go!” she shouted, physically shoving Scary through the doorway. Ember was a step behind her, but hesitated.

She turned and shouted. “Xander!”

Twisty looked behind her. Xander wall falling, his legs swept out from under him by Val’s tail. He landed heavily on his back, the blow knocking his glasses away. Val was soon looming over him, panting, with a smile plastered on her face.

And then from behind her, Token came running up. He jumped, landing on Val’s back and wrapping an arm around her throat. A look of surprise flashed across her face as the air was suddenly cut off. She jerked back out of the light, giving Xander time to stagger to his feet and move shakily towards them.

“Where’s-” he started to say, squinting, but Ember cut him off as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

“Fucking come on!” she shouted, pulling him through the doorway.

“Go!” Twisty yelled at Flare.

“Not without you!” Flare replied, moving through the doorway and pulling Twisty with her.

Twisty twisted out of Flare’s grip and moved to the door, looking back in the hall. Token stumbled into view. He looked up, his gaze meeting Twisty and he flashed her a strange smile.

Before Twisty could shout at him to run, before he could take a single step, a tail covered in green scales snaked out from the darkness. It wrapped around his ankles and pulled his legs out from under him. Token pitched forward, landing hard. He looked up, blinking away tears of pain, his eyes meeting Twisty’s once more.

And he was pulled into the darkness without a sound.

Twisty couldn’t move, couldn’t breath. She just stood there, frozen against the doorway, staring at where Token had vanished. Val suddenly loomed out from the darkness, low to the ground, her muscles tensed.

Twisty managed to react more on instinct than anything else. She pulled the door closed as Val sprung forward, stumbling back as the Lamia crashed into it. Flare was pulling on her arm and they were moving.

Flare might have been talking, but Twisty couldn’t hear over the roaring in her ears.

Token clawed desperately at the stone floor as he was pulled backwards. His nails scratched uselessly at the stone floor, the surface too smooth to get any sort of purchase on. He was suddenly whipped around, his ankles slipping free from his attacker’s tail. He tumbled over and over before finally coming to a stop.

He laid there, his world still spinning. A distant-sounding thud reached his ears, but he barely noticed it. After a moment, the world settled and he was able to tell which way was up and which way was down. He tried crawling forward, away from the thing in the room with him.

He didn’t get very far.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of pounds of fat and muscle were suddenly laid atop him, crushing him, squeezing the life from his body. Every breath he took seemed to be smaller than the last. The already dim hall was growing darker, his vision getting fuzzier by the moment.

And then, suddenly, the weight was gone.

Token took a deep, gasping breath of air, almost choking on it. He went into a fit of painful coughing that curled him up into a ball. It soon passed and he slowly uncurled, becoming aware that he was laying on his side on the ground.

He didn’t move for a time, his breathing slowly returning to normal. Thoughts trickled through his head. The storm, the glass, the big snake, crashing into her. He could hear the steady patter of rain as well as smell the moister. Glancing around him, he found the area dark save for three or four far away little spots of light.

Before he could get to his feet, he was forcibly rolled over onto his back. Something moved in the darkness above him. A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the face of the Lamia.

As the lightning faded, another, warmer light approached. Token looked to the side, seeing one of the few remaining candles being brought over by the Lamia’s tail. She placed the candle on the ground just out of Token’s reach.

The Lamia nodded to herself and turned her attention back to Token. It was the first time he had gotten a good look at her, only vaguely remembering that initial encounter in the hallway that now seemed like months ago.

She was naked. Starkly naked.

The Lamia brought up part of her tail, leaning on it as she stared at him. She seemed to notice where his eyes were focused. She smirked, seemingly amused.

“Hey there, sweetie,” she said casually, like they were two strangers sharing a café table.

Token remained silent, resolutely staring at her face.

The Lamia chuckled. “You know, I just wanted to say that I think you’re an amazingly brave boy. Jumping on me like that?” she shivered and grinned. “It gives me chills just thinking about it.”

Token blinked a few times, but otherwise just laid there.

The Lamia shook her head. “Hm, the strong, silent type? Come on now, sweetie.”

A few moments passed before Token finally spoke. “You killed my friend.”

Again the Lamia chuckled, shaking her head. “Did I now?”

“Yeah, you did,” Token growled. He made a move to get up, only to be firmly pushed down by the tip of the Lamia’s tail.

“I didn’t kill your friend, sweetie. I just gobbled her up is all.” The Lamia loving patted the section of her tail she was leaning on. “She’s quite alright, I assure you.”

Token’s breath caught in his throat. His jaw worked for a few moment before he found his voice. “What?” he managed to croak out.

The Lamia’s tail wormed its way beneath him, pulling his up. Token’s legs were shaky, his entire body was trembling. He stumbled forward, falling into the Lamia’s arms. And her tits. In spite of the sheer insanity of the situation, Token still felt himself blush. He tried to move back, only to feel the Lamia’s arms wrapped around him and hold him there.

“Mmm, well hello to you too,” she said playfully, her hand slowly sliding down his back.

“Laser Bright,” Token said, uncomfortably aware he was more or less saying it into her tit.

The Lamia’s hand halted on his lower back. “What was that, sweetie?”

She loosened her hug just enough that Token could crane his head back and look at her face. “Laser Bright, you said she-”

“Ah yes,” the Lamia chuckled, her hand leaving his back and her hug further loosening. “Sorry, I’m easily distracted around cuties like you.”

The Lamia brought part of her tail close. She took one of Token’s hands in her own and gently pressed it against the smooth, warm scales. It took a few moments, but Token felt it. Felt the shifting of something inside the Lamia’s body.

“It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced,” the Lamia whispered in his ear, her voice tickling. “It’s so soft and wet and warm. And as you can feel,” she chuckled softly “you’ll have some rather pleasant company.”

Token gasped and jerked his hand away from the tail as though it had burned him. He rounded on the Lamia. “You spit her out right fucking now!”

The Lamia did a mock gasp, pushing the tip of her tail against his lips like a shushing finger.

“Now, now, sweetie. There is no need for that sort of… language.” A thoughtful smile creeped across her lips. “Not yet, anyway.”

The tail pulled away, but not quickly enough. Token wasn’t even sure what he was thinking, or if he was thinking at all. He opened his mouth and bit down hard on the Lamia’s tail.

The reaction was predictable. The Lamia let out a sharp yelp of pain, her entire body recoiling and moving back.

Token barely had time to grin when he felt the Lamia’s tail slam into his side. The blow was strong enough to lift him off his feet and send him flying through the air. He crashed into something, hearing as well as feeling something crack from the impact.

He crashed to the floor, the pain from the landing barely registering over the pain in his head. It felt like his brain was going to split his skull open. Red-tinged darkness ate away at the corners of his vision and he soon blissfully passed into unconsciousness.

Val had reacted on instinct, lashing out at the source of pain. And by the time she realized what she was doing, her tail was already connecting with Token. She actually flung him into the air, sending him careening into one of the windows. The thick glass cracked from the impact and Token fell to the floor, laying there unmoving.

Val rushed over and scooped up the Changeling. His eyes were closed and his didn’t react to her touch. There was a nasty gash on the side of his head, oozing blood.

Mumbling apologies, Val checked his pulse and listened closely to his mouth. The Lamia let out a sigh of relief. His pulse was strong and he was still breathing.

Val cradled Token in her coils and arms, tracing one of his head fins with a finger. “Silly, silly boy. We didn’t even establish a safe word first.” She shook her head and carried him away from the window.

The hall was dark, even for her, but there was enough light for her to find her way around. Mostly, anyway. After what Jack had told her, Val was thankful she never had to endure the pain of stubbing a toe.

She slithered over to the row of theater seats, easing Token’s unconscious body into one of them. Val pulled a few napkins from a nearby table, wetting them down with a helpfully placed bottle of water. Murmuring to herself, she sponged the blood from Token’s head.

Tossing the bloodied napkins away, Val shook her head and sighed.

Spirits, was I always such a klutz? Knock out any more and I might as well go on a diet.

Val smirked and rubbed her forehead. She shouldn’t dwell. For all she knew, Cheerilee had woken up by now. And brave little Token here probably would too. Well before the sun rose.

Val gave the Changeling’s face one last tender caress before moving to rise up. She paused as lightning flashed through the windows, noticing something glinting faintly on the ground. Val pulled a nearby candle to her and moved the light to where she saw the glint. Laying there on the floor, in remarkable condition, was a pair of glasses. Val smiled and plucked the spectacles from the floor.

She rose up, properly this time, and cricked her neck. She moved to the door Twisty and the rest of her friends had fled through. She pried it open, squinting at the sudden light.

The hallway beyond the door split into no less than three different directions with a staircase leading up representing a fourth. A toothy grin spread across Val’s face.

“Einie, meanie, mineie, moe…”

Author's Note

Y'know, if Val wasn't a murderous, hedonistic psychopath, she probably be like a really cool aunt. One you could hang out with, talk about all sorts of things, and have kink sex with without it being weird.

Someone should write a whole story about that.

For realsies though, I'm wondering if it's worth it to slap a non-con tag on this story, what with all the lack of consent.