Butterfly Fetish

Shock sprinted through the darkening woods, the bag on her shoulder bumping against her hip. The clouds in the sky earlier that evening hadn’t been unusual, but halfway into the forest they’d busted open in a heavy rain. She’d figure out a way to explain the wet clothes when she got home, but that didn’t make the cold experience pleasant. Hopefully it would stop before the return trip.

Leaving the currently useless lamp on the ground inside the tree, she kicked off her soggy shoes and waited uneasily for her eyes to adjust, ringing out her hair and skirt. In the thick gloom, a dull purple light emanated from the tunnel she used to enter and exit the nightmarish casino. If she didn’t know better, it would have looked like an illusion. Moving cautiously to crouch in front of it, she called, “Oogie? I talked to Lock and Barrel.”

A pause, and then, “Are they with you?”

The voice sounded so close in the darkness that it startled her. “No… You never said to…”

“Then why are you dawdling up there? I’m hungry.”

Without another word, Shock scrambled into the tunnel, dragging the bag behind her. She pushed the refurbished rope ladder over the edge and descended carefully before looking around. The jagged shapes and silhouettes of the torture devices were all she could see. Taking a few steps forward, she opened her mouth to call out for him again. What came out was a startled squeak when he grabbed her shoulders from behind and leaned around her to look at the bag.

“Is that it?” He asked eagerly.

Barely after she ducked out of the strap, he pulled it from her hands. “I didn’t have a lot of time today, so…” But he didn’t seem to be listening, exploring the contents of the bag. Two dead snakes, a jar with a few of the big spiders from Finkelstein’s attic, and two flambéed dragon tongues left over from dinner. He made a pleased sound and she relaxed. Shock cast a habitual glance at the room behind her, half-wondering how he’d snuck up on her. Probably never would figure out how someone as large and loud as him could be so stealthy when he wanted.

“Well?” His voice cut through her thoughts.

“Huh?” She look up and saw him standing next to the pop-up table on the roulette wheel, watching her. The dead snakes were on top of it, in a heap next to the bag.

He scowled. “What did they say?”

“Oh.” She absently rubbed her arms as the room sucked any lingering warmth out of the water in her clothing. “They said- Barrel said he misses being able to do whatever he wants, but living with Jack and Sally is ‘cushy,’ so he can deal with it.”

“And Lock?”

“That’s… uh… I don’t think Lock would be content either way, honestly…”

Oogie’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“It’s…” ‘Please don’t shoot the messenger’ took on a new level of meaning here, didn’t it? “He has authority issues. I mean, if he found out you’re alive, I don’t think he’d tell anyone, but… I don’t think he’d help. And he might even try to keep me away. He kind of freaked a little that first time, with the…” Realizing she might be blabbering too much, she stopped. For all her nervousness, the Boogeyman looked nonchalant about the answer. He tossed the dragon tongue into the air, caught it in his mouth, and swallowed it whole. Or whatever passed as swallowing for him.

“You look cold,” he smirked.

Wrinkling her brow, Shock followed his gaze and realized he was staring at her nipples. With an indignant whine, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Pervert.”

He laughed. “If that bothered you, you wouldn’t keep coming here.”

When he gestured to her, she moved closer, blushing a little. At this range, she could almost see the activity under the burlap. That always happened when he ate. It brought to mind the image of a colony of ants or a swarm of flies crawling all over a rotting corpse.

Once she was close enough, he put his hands on her hips. “You’re wet.”

“It’s raining.”

“I know. There’s a tunnel over there that floods when it rains.”

“Well, I hope it stops soon. I’d rather not walk back in it.”

“Stay until it stops, then.” As he spoke, he gathered her skirt up around her waist.

Her eyes darted to the rest of the food on the table and then back to him. “I thought you were hungry,” she smirked.

“Nothing better than the tasty little morsel I got right here.” He pulled her dress over her head.

Shock giggled awkwardly. When he wasn’t trying to scare the piss out of her, he could actually be rather charming. At the same time, she couldn’t get too comfortable. Coming from him, it could easily be more than a metaphor. He kept her dress draped over one arm, but his free hand stroked the side of her face. As she leaned into the touch, it moved to the back of her neck, up into her hair, and grabbed a fistful. He pulled her head back until it just barely started to hurt. Shock bit her lip and looked up at his face, but his gaze was somewhere below her neck. Her dress slid into the crook of his elbow as he tapped his chin. “What?”

“Just gettin ideas.” The snake’s head darted out and tickled her cheek with its tongue. “Wait here.”

He stalked off to a dark corner of the lair. Shock rubbed the goose bumps out of her upper arms. “Can I ask you a question?” She called after him.

“Shoot, babe.”

“Why don’t you go outside?” In the following silence, she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her. “Oogie?”

“What?”

“Why don’t-”

“I heard you the first time.” He materialized, carrying a rope, a chain, and a small box instead of her dress. He left these objects on the table next to her bag. “I said you could ask me a question. Never said anything about answering it.”

Grabbing her arms, he turned her back to him and wrapped the rope around her elbows. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “Why not?”

“Cause it’s none of your business.”

A hard jerk cinched her elbows together and she made a pained sound between her teeth. It yanked her shoulders back and forced her chest out. Seemed like almost every time she came down here, she discovered a new way she could bend. “What are we playing?”

His arms closed around her, pulling her into a backwards embrace. “Nothing tonight, babe.” A dark chuckle rumbled in her ear. “No games, no tricks, no rules. Not in the mood.”

“Then what are we doing?” The new turn of events worried her. Was he mad at for some reason? He didn’t look or sound mad…

“Cutting to the chase.” The chain went around her throat and he locked it at the nape of her neck. Bending her back over the raised panels, he threaded the chain underneath them, wrapping the extra links around his fist, and pulled tight. Not tight enough to strangle her, but she wouldn’t be sitting up any time soon. Her lower half, he pinned with the rest of his body.

They’d barely begun, and Shock could already tick off body parts that would hurt in the morning. The tightness around her neck, in her shoulders, her chest… Even as each breath became an effort, she clenched her fists and bit her lip. Oh, yes… She wanted to kiss him so badly, but she knew she wouldn’t get one. Not yet, anyway. Instead, she tried to see the contents of the small box.

Oogie pulled out a long needle and held it up. Green and purple light winked off the tip. “Best not struggle, honey.” He lowered it slowly and pricked the underside of her breast.

Well, sheesh, after everything else, she could handle being poked with- She gasped as the metal broke skin and slid in a couple inches. As she watched him pick another pin and position it an inch or two to the left of the first one she realized, with growing trepidation, it would be a long evening.

By the time he’d finished the grid of pins on one breast—the one sideways through her nipple had elicited a cry—and moved on to the other, she was shaking and searching very hard for a distraction in the shadows above her. She’d tried closing her eyes before, but that had only made it worse. Trapped her inside herself with nothing to do but feel what he was doing.

“Make such lovely little pin cushions, don’t they?” He grinned.

Shock swallowed hard—not easy with the chain around her neck. Don’t look, don’t look… After he finally inserted the last needle into her flesh, she felt his hand trail down the flat plain of her stomach instead of reaching for another one. A breath puffed through her clenched teeth. Each pin was its own little fire that combined with the others to make her skin scream. His hand left her stomach and ghosted back and forth over the needles, making them pull in a subtly painful way. “Ah… ah…” she cried, twisting to escape.

His hand brushed past her solar plexus and followed her ribs around her side. Suddenly, it dug in, and she jumped, laughing impulsively because it tickled. The sound quickly turned into a hurt squeal as the laughter shook her chest. His expression went from one of mild amusement to one of absolute delight.

She barely had time to think, Oh, shit, before he let go of the chain and tickled her with both hands. The half-witch writhed on the table, alternately laughing and screaming. “No! …nonono… stop! Please, stop! Please…” she gasped whenever she found the air to get any words out.

“Can’t be too bad if you’re laughin,” he teased.

“Please!” She shrieked again. The laughter was an entirely involuntary reaction and it hurt like hell. When he finally did decide to stop, it took her a minute to realize it. As the vicious sting settled back to a dull throb, she opened one eye, and then the other. “Please?” she said in a much quieter voice, giving him a pained and helpless look, hoping it would kick off his libido.

“Mercy? From the Boogeyman?” He laughed and pulled her up by her hair. As he forced her head down until her chin touched her chest, Shock squeezed her eyes shut again. “Look,” he hissed.

“No,” Shock whimpered, barely more than a formed breath.

“Look!” This time he gave her a hard shake.

Gasping, Shock opened her eyes. Actually seeing what he’d done, knowing she was looking at herself, added a sick weight to the pain.

“Aw, don’t tell me you’ve lost your stomach for it.”

His grip shifted to her neck and she was grateful for the change of view.

He kissed her, too quickly for her to really enjoy it, and then bent her over the table. She yelled and resisted to keep him from pressing her onto the needles. “Then there’s one of my favorites.” Holding her down with an elbow, he wrapped a fist around her fingers and reached for another needle. “Proof that an old classic never dies.”

Shock cried out when she felt the sharp tip against the skin under her nail. He hadn’t shoved it in yet, but she knew exactly what he was talking about. “No!”

“No? Again?” A chuckle. “You’re a real broken record tonight, babe.”

“Oogie, seriously, please,” she begged, with an edge of panic.

“Ah, serious, now. ‘Cause when you’re serious it makes all the difference.”

“I’m begging you, don’t!” Her voice cracked.

“You get so worked up. I just wanted to hear you scream…” He released her hand and put the pin back in the box. She made fists to protect her fingers, but she let out a sigh of relief. “You know what you’re gonna do, now, though?”

“What?” She asked with a quiver in her voice.

“You’re gonna give me a little show.” As he spoke, he untied her arms.

Instead of asking she waited for further direction. Oogie turned her around and scooped her up like a child, with one arm behind her waist and the other under her bottom. She leaned her upper body away to spare her tits from further irritation, but didn’t protest. The Boogeyman plopped into a sitting position, leaning back to rest his elbows on the lip of the wheel. Straddling him, Shock paused, watching him watch her. What did he want? She leaned forward and shimmied out of her panties, watching for his reaction. He smiled. Forcing herself to return the expression, she rocked against him, exaggerating her movements to turn them into a full body undulation. She tossed her hair. Ran her hands up her body, behind her neck, and stopped with them on the back of her head. Giving him a show, she hoped. The wet heat in her pelvis mingled the stinging soreness in her breasts. Shock bit her lip and whined.

“Lovely,” Oogie smirked, watching her abused tits shake and her stomach ripple. “I’d say you earned your reward.”

One of the tentacle-like appendages curled under the chain still around her neck and pulled until Shock found herself kneeling over his face. The serpent tail pressed hard between her garden gates, slithering up over her clit. “Nn…” Shock braced her hands on the cavern floor, wincing, gasping and squirming as he ate her out. His tongue started cool, but warmed up quickly inside of her. The places it could reach, the texture of the scales… In short order, he had her moaning out loud.

After her climax, she went limp and slid back down his chest. She straddled his stomach, panting with her face hidden behind a curtain of hair. He grabbed one of the needles and plucked it out, releasing the pent up bead of blood behind it. “Very good.” He plucked out another one. “But I wouldn’t expect any less from my favorite toy.”

She wished he’d pull them out faster, but decided she was lucky that he was ready to stop at all. Her eyes flicked up to his face. “You know you’re a sick individual, right?”

He chuckled without looking at her face. “You love it, sweetheart. You know you do.”

An awkward silence fell as she waited for him to finish the removal, broken only by her occasional whimper. After that, time to go. Hopefully the rain had stopped. She rolled off to one side and looked around for her panties. As she crawled over to fetch them, she could practically feel his eyes on her swaying hips and rear. Sitting back on her heels, she looked over her shoulder. “Where’s my dress?”

He answered with a long, unreadable look. Then he got up and went toward the section of the lair he’d disappeared into earlier. Shock bit her lip and stood up, still holding her underwear in one hand. Should she ask what was wrong, or should she wait to see if he said anything?

When he returned, the damp fabric hung over his arm. “Next chance you get,” he said, “I need you to ‘borrow’ some things from Dr. Finklestein for me.”

“Like what?” She pulled her dress over her head and then stepped into her undergarment.

He waved the question off. “Tools, scraps, books, anything you can get your hands on.”

She almost asked why, but decided he probably wouldn’t answer. Maybe he was simply bored. She hoped he wasn’t hatching some wild plan, if only because she didn’t want Oogie getting hurt. “Okay,” was all she said. He’d laugh at her fears if she voiced them, if not get pissed at her for having so little faith in him. At the top of the ladder, she noted that at least the rain had stopped. She grabbed her shoes from the inside of the tree, fought the lantern until it sputtered to life, and made her way into the cold night.

XXX

Early next morning, Shock couldn’t think of anything better to do, so she decided to pay a visit to Finklestein’s place. If she couldn’t get inside, at least she could poke through the maze-like scrap yard in front of it. Outside Jack’s house, she found Barrel sitting at the foot of the stairs with his chin in his hands. She nodded to him and started toward the gate, but he jumped up and followed her.

“Hey, have you seen Lock today?”

“No…” The grin on Barrel’s face clearly indicated he was leading her somewhere. No longer obligated to speak to him, she thought about giving him the brush-off. Before he could lure her into some stupid trap. Then again, they hadn’t done anything to her yesterday. Or since they found her on the hill, really. “Why?”

“Where were you yesterday evening?”

“Went out for a walk.” She looked at him sideways. “I repeat: Why?”

“In the rain?”

“Barrel…”

“Right, well, you missed all the fun. You were right, about Jack and Sally figuring out who clogged up the fountain.”

“Did Lock get in trouble?” Shock asked, interested now.

“No, better than that.” The half-ghoul moved closer to whisper conspiratorially in her ear. “Jack complimented him on his creativity, especially since he couldn’t figure out how we did it. Then him and Sally started talking about some time that she poured fog juice in the fountain.”

The half-witch looked disappointed. “How is that better than Lock getting in trouble?”

“Jack approved of Lock’s prank. Don’t you understand what that means?”

Considering that Lock probably wanted to get in trouble, it was pretty funny. “What’s he doing now?”

“He’s locked in his room all worried that we’ve lost our touch since we’ve been here.”

As they entered the square, she noticed some kids splashing around in the gooey fountain, laughing while their parents watched. Backfired indeed. “Huh… Well, it serves him right.”

“For what?”

“Being a jerk to me for the past four or five years. You know perfectly well. You were there for most of it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Barrel honestly looked confused. She wanted to pop him on the head. “The glue in my shampoo bottle? Tying all of my shoes together? Opening the lids on my bug jars? It took me days to catch all of those noisy crickets, and a spider ate the moon moth that I’d raised from a caterpillar.”

“Oh.” He rubbed the back of his head, looking at his feet. “Eheh, yeah, we didn’t think that last one through all the way… But we used to do things like that to each other all the time. What’s the big deal?”

At the time, she had not been in the mood for fun and games. It had all been a painful reminder of the way things used to be, and the very thought that they could act like nothing had happened had made her sick. If they weren’t going to be supportive, they could have at least left her alone. All she did was scowl at the half-ghoul through her hair.

Barrel went on talking. “Seriously, what? It was the only way we could get your attention, if we could ever even find you. Lock picked on me just as much as he picked on you. And what are you so pissy about? I’m the one who should be giving you the silent treatment. I tried dozens of times to get you to help me get revenge on Lock, and you always said-”

Shock could see the dump in the distance, and he was still following her. Putting her fingers to her temples, she said, “Would you shut up and leave me alone?”

He stopped walking and put his hands on his hips. “Yeah. That.”

The only reason she also stopped was because Barrel stood in her way. Even if Oogie had said she could do it on her own time, she wanted to bring him a present tonight. She didn’t need Barrel following her around asking questions. She crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

“I thought that after yesterday you might have gotten over whatever bug crawled up your butt and would want to hang out or something.”

“I’m busy right now, I’ll talk to you later.” Brushing past him, she kept walking.

“Why can’t I come along?”

“Because you talk too much.” She did turn around, though. “Why don’t you go bother Lock?”

“I told you. He’s in a bad mood, and he won’t talk to me either. Please? I’ll be really, really quiet. You won’t even know I’m there.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “But one word out of you and we’re done. Got it?”

Barrel nodded enthusiastically, hurrying to catch up. To his credit, he upheld his end of the bargain, though he watched her with puzzled curiosity. She’d left her bag at the lair, much to her annoyance, but her sturdy companion carried anything she handed off to him without complaint. Not hard to see why Lock always had him in tow.