In the lounge, Bee and 'Elliot' sat on separate chairs with the latter adopting a very humble, reserved posture. The abrupt trembling of the house from seconds ago had rattled him impressively.
Bee looked 'Elliot' in the eye and the young man felt pressured by her gaze. It exuded a kind of twisted affection that made his skin crawl while also making him think he had grown a meter shorter.
"Do you love me, Elliot?" Bee asked while batting her eyelids furiously.
'Elliot' gulped down a lump of saliva. His dark hair was moist with sweat and his brown eyes couldn't help but try to find somewhere to look at that wasn't the deep inquisitory abyss hissing from Bee's pupils.
"Do you love me, Elliot?" Bee repeated her question without the slightest inflection in her voice.
'Elliot' knew he had to answer this time. He couldn't remain unresponsive forever.
While the other two monsters had left the room which made him feel slightly better, he was still in a well-oiled and heated frying pan being basted with terror.
'Elliot' had heard that ridiculous deal between Bee and Twist, after all. That boy wanted to cut him up and only Bee cared enough to stop him. With that as motivation…
"My... my name is Timian," he managed to squeeze out.
"What was that?" Bee asked as she tilted her head.
"My name... It's Timian," the young man said again.
He couldn't answer Bee's question. He thought answering with a 'yes' would make Bee feel like he was taking her for a fool and a 'no' would make her mad. Thus, he zagged.
Bee scratched her cheek.
"That's not right. I'm sure your name's Elliot. You must be tired from the long day we had. How about we go to bed?" Bee said as she stood up.
The young man whose heart had begun to settle couldn't help but shiver. He wanted nothing more than to scream for the lady who was approaching to let him go, but all signs led to that being an impossibility.
To his dismay, Bee moved so fast that he could barely understand where up or down was for a while, and then the next thing he knew, he was being prince-carried up the stairs in the mannequin beauty's arms.
'Kill me already,' 'Elliot' thought
*
A quarter of an hour later…
The sound of water spraying in the shower continued.
'I have to get out of here!' thought 'Elliot' as he sat on the bed.
He had been told to stay put while Bee went to take a bath. He sat on the large bed at the end of the bedroom while sweating like a fool. His heart almost burst out of his chest whenever he glanced at the door on the opposite wall: the exit. A careless impulse urged 'Elliot' to just rush over to it and escape!
Unfortunately, his mind dictated against all his bodily functions, keeping him still.
He recalled the speed he had witnessed the young boy, Twist, move when it looked like he wanted to fight his brother outside.
He couldn't forget the young man whom Bee had picked up in Red Biscuit City, Ess, who had flattened the entire city with his fingers. Well, it looked like he did.
'Elliot' wanted to live and yet this weird environment and atmosphere seemed to ooze of misfortune that guaranteed that he would lose his life sooner rather than later. This would likely come to pass even sooner if he tried something stupid.
'Calm down, you idiot…' he told himself and his eyes slowly scrolled around the room.
He hadn't really taken in the details of the bedroom because of his jumbled thoughts and emotions.
The room was quite lavishly designed. There was a mini chandelier on the ceiling and the walls were decorated with a beautifully patterned wallpaper while the grey tiling on the floor made the light from the ceiling even more vibrant.
There was a fancy-looking dressing table to 'Elliot's' right, and a giant mirror right beside it.
There was an open mega closet to his left which housed all sorts of clothing. ALL sorts of clothing.
'Elliot' shifted uncomfortably on the king-sized bed.
Everything in this room seemed normal, but then he recalled that there was one weird thing that had caught his attention when he first walked in.
'Oh, God…'
Slowly turning behind him, 'Elliot' saw the bajillion posters that were spread out from the wall to the ceiling above the bed!
Most featured popular stars... special kinds of stars of all genders either half-naked or stark naked; endowed or un-endowed; kinky or unkinky.
'Elliot' grimaced in horror.
He couldn't bear to deal with the depraved mess of a human who plastered so much of this stuff so openly. He had to get out here!
The sound of the running shower gave 'Elliot' an added percentage of courage.
Slowly, against screaming logic, 'Elliot' slid off the bed and tip-toed to the bedroom door which was rather close to the shower.
As he moved, his heart pounded, his mind trying to remind him of the possible dangers, but 'Elliot' soldiered on. He couldn't afford to be dissuaded.
Halfway through, he shook his head and turned to the window.
'Is that a better option? How would I drop down though?' he thought.
'Elliot' grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth. Everything that had happened in his life till now had not dissuaded him from thinking that life was a simple affair. That it was all easy as long as you had endless stacks of cash.
That illusion was eradicated at this moment.
Here was a problem that neither his or his late father's money could fix.
Initiative is what this problem called for.
As 'Elliot' was about to turn and take his chances with the window, though, the door to the shower opened wide and a lady with wet, waist-length reddish-blonde hair walked out.
The white towel she wore barely covered her upper thighs, and it mushed her ample breasts which glistened under the light. Water droplets trickled down every visible portion of her body, making them look... tantalizing.
'Elliot' gulped audibly.
He couldn't remember but… had this lady always had such a precise hourglass figure? Now that she looked so much like all the other women he had tangled with, he couldn't help but appreciate her details.
'Elliot' had never met such a perfect mix of extreme danger and daring sweetness.
"Were you getting too excited to wait any longer, babe?" Bee said as she walked up to 'Elliot' who took a step back.
Her hand clutched the part of the towel that held it up against her body. She unclasped it from the rest and the towel slid down.
'Elliot' wanted to look away!
He dreaded the consequences that would come if Bee's brothers were to be unhappy about him seeing their sister naked, but as the walking tower of testosterone he had become since seeing the stellar figure in front of him, he couldn't close his eyes. A true man of culture couldn't pass up this chance, even if it meant death!
Thud.
The towel fell to the floor.
This was it!
'Elliot' trembled as he saw... a bikini set firmly sitting on Bee's body.
Only Bee's flat belly, where the contours of her abs were visibly articulated by droplets of water from the shower, was emphasized.
The young man bellowed out airy disappointment and then remembered a second later the situation he was in.
'The hell am I doing?!'
"Oh, silly," said Bee as she tilted her head. "Did you think I'd show you my pumpkins and yams so soon?"
'Pumpkins and yams?' 'Elliot' thought in confusion before he was pulled back to the bed.
Bee laid him down and sat by his side as she began stroking his hair.
As she did so, 'Elliot' saw her draw a pistol from out of nowhere and lay it on a pillow.
His heart raced.
'What now?!'
"Don't worry. That's just for emergencies. Twist might come to disembowel you in the night," Bee said with an awkward smile, and then she blushed.
'Why is that getting you excited?!' 'Elliot' screamed inwardly.
"Now, how about I tell you a bedtime story, Elliot? I promise it will be good," Bee said, much to her captive's surprise.
A story?
"Once upon a time..." she began, and her voice nearly broke.
Once upon a time indeed...