Butterfly Fetish

Two weeks passed. Lock continued to keep to himself, which meant that Shock found Barrel grinning at her every time she turned around. While somewhere deep inside it made her happy that things were settling into a resemblance of the old normalcy, the pain in her legs reminded her that it was at the expense of nights with Oogie. It didn’t make it any harder to pilfer Finklestein’s belongings, though. In fact, she almost considered Barrel’s help a stroke of luck. She never would have gotten any of the books Oogie wanted out of the library if the half-ghoul hadn’t busied the doctor with endless streams of questions about his latest projects. And he did all of it while sticking to the original stipulation of hanging out with her: keep your mouth shut. She didn’t know what Barrel made of the things she did, but he never pried and that was all that mattered.

Also, more than a month after his miraculous reappearance, the Boogeyman continued to lay low. He hadn’t even pursued the subject of Lock’s current state of mind beyond it being part of the reason why she didn’t show up every day. All of his conversations with her remained brief and superficial, though. If he had a plan brewing, he probably wouldn’t tell her, and his new interest in reading seemed unusual. Some of his choices in subject matter puzzled her, too. For instance, she wouldn’t have pegged him as the sort to read True Fairytales, which was basically some kind of field guide about unicorns, fairies, and the like. Then again, looking around the casino, it was entirely possible he’d run out of things to do with his hands and simply sought alternate forms of entertainment.

On this visit, she didn’t wait until she reached the bottom of the ladder to call out, “You know what I heard today? I think you’ll find it amusing.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Jumping the last foot or two, she followed his voice. “Valentine’s day is tomorrow.” She found him against a far wall, sitting in a chair formed primarily of the natural rockwork. A book sat open on a flat rock next to him.

“And what does that have to do with me?”

“I overheard Finklestein talking to the witches about casting a glamour on Jack and Sally for their vacation to Valentine Town. They’ll be gone until the fifteenth.” A week ago, she might not have said anything, but she really wanted to know what—if anything—he was up to. If she had any bait to get him talking, she’d try it.

“Really… That is interesting…” He thought for a moment. “What are the two boys doing?”

She hadn’t expected him to go that route. “Uh… Barrel was babbling about some big plan Lock had for a trip to the human world. I kind of brushed him off, so I don’t know details…”

“But they’re gonna be gone, too.”

“Sure, I guess. Why?”

“Got something to show yah.” He gave her a sinister smile. “But we’ve got other business to take care of first, don’t we?”

The girl hunched her shoulders. “Yeah. I know.” Rising from the chair, he put a hand on the back of her neck and steered her toward the roulette wheel. Not that she resisted. Long ago, she’d learned the best thing was to get it over with quickly. At the rim, he stopped and made a gesture with his hand. A shadow that made Shock shiver passed over the area. When it cleared, the wheel’s center had opened to reveal the hot, glowing pit.

He shoved her to the ground and pressed a button with his foot. The panels rose underneath her. Though she covered her face with her hands, she stayed put. “And how many days was it, babe? One?”

Trembling, not looking at him, she shook her head, sending ripples through her blue-black hair.

“Two?”

She peered at him through her fingers. “No, sir,” she mumbled. No use lying. Oogie knew exactly how many days. He just loved dragging these things out.

“How many, then?”

“Uh,” she swallowed hard. “Three…”

Laughing, he used her throat to push her down, rather hard. Her head made an audible sound on impact. “Such a long time. Are you getting tired of me? Or do you like the punishment game more than you let on?”

“No! I- I told you… Barrel…”

“Aw, I’m just jerkin your chain, sweetheart. I know you’re mine.”

He walked away, but Shock didn’t sit up. Oogie may have left her unbound, but only because it made him happier when she laid still and bore it of her own accord. She turned her head because of the pain in the back of her skull, though. His. In the Boogeyman’s mouth, it sounded like a promise and a threat. Like she’d sold her soul.

She waited, hands crossed in front of her chest, fingers twiddling in her hair, knees up. Then he returned to her line of sight, and she could see the metal rod in his hand. The end of it glowed red. Shock squeezed her eyes shut, gritted her teeth, and parted her thighs, causing her skirt to slide down across her hips.

“Eeny, meeny, miny…” He laid the hot metal across the inside of her left thigh.

“Aahh!” It wasn’t only a cry of agony. She also did it to block out the sound of sizzling flesh she was so often sure she could hear. Even after he picked up the searing object and moved it to her other thigh, the first burn continued to sting, adding its heat to the second and making her arch her shoulders. By the time he made the third burn, water squeezed from the corners of her eyelids and her nails dug red crescents into her palms. Her last screech trailed off into a sob as the hot poker finally lifted. “Shit,” she cried softly, covering her face with her hands while she sucked in air. It fucking hurt. Every time. She hoped she’d get used to it, but she probably never would. Oogie grabbed her wrists and pulled her into a sitting position. Hugging her fists to her chest, she threw her head back as her legs complained at the pressure of sitting up.

He chuckled, pulling her off the table to stand in front of him. “Hurts, huh.” His arms encircled her and he hissed, “Maybe this time you’ll remember to show up when you’re supposed to.”

Her head fell forward and she buried her face in his chest. “I tried. I swear I did.”

“Obviously didn’t try hard enough.” Using her hair as a handle, he tilted her face up. “But enough about that.” He wiped a tear off her cheek with his other hand. “I made something new I can’t wait to try out.”

Shock swallowed, trying to get the hitch in her breath under control, even though he probably loved it. “I- I brought something…”

“Did you?” Keeping a grip on her hair, he rubbed and fondled her breast through her shirt.

“In my pocket,” she said, holding his gaze. Without breaking contact—eye or physical—he found his way to the pocket by touch and reached inside. The Boogeyman only looked away as he brought the vial up to eye level and examined it curiously. “Anti-venom,” she smiled.

“Hm…” The corners of his mouth curled deviously. “How many doses?”

“Two, I think. Maybe three.”

“Way to party, babe,” he laughed. “Come on.”

Still with a fistful of her hair, he guided her out of the circle of rib-like columns. His pace didn’t falter as they moved into the ever-present blackness. Blind and limping, she stumbled more than once. The true dimensions of the cavern remained unknown to her. Shock grabbed his arm; afraid he would let go and leave her floating anchorless out here. If his hold had allowed, she would have searched behind her for the dull light they’d left behind. Maybe he forced her to face the dark because he knew she feared the shadows that clung unnaturally to the air. Even when the purple and gold lights snapped on around her, those shadows flowed away reluctantly. Like displaced water forced out of a cup. So preoccupied, she almost forgot to see what he wanted to show her.

Metal twisted, bent, and woven into an ominous frame, like a rack. She’d seen a picture of a wooden one in a book a long time ago. She’d held onto it for a couple days because it reminded her of Oogie. Until Jack strongly urged her to put the book away and go outside. She never did find it again. Burlap arms closed around her from behind and she leaned into him, mesmerized by the light glinting off the edges. Like a moth and a bug zapper.

“Well?” He purred in her ear. “What do you think?”

“How long did it take?”

“Three or four days.” He helped her step up into the device and locked in her wrists. Before he secured her ankles, he took her shoes.

Her smile was an odd combination of nervous and cynical. “I think you should consider going outside once in a while.”

“I think,” he began, and then pulled a lever. Gears turned and the chains tightened. “You need to watch your boundaries. Especially considering the position you’re in.”

Shock flinched. Her bonds weren’t painfully tight, but they weren’t comfortable. “I was joking.” Being stretched out like this made breathing difficult.

“So was I.” When he stepped back in front of her, he held a shiv made primarily from a shard of scrap metal. “But you’re still afraid of me, aren’t you?” The flat of the makeshift blade traced the side of her cheek to her neck. “I like that.” Just the tip slipped under the neck of her dress, following it to the center point. “I love that.” Then a hard, downward jerk slit her dress open all the way down the front. Shock gasped, trying to cringe away so he wouldn’t cut her. Oogie walked behind her and reached up to cut open her sleeve. “And I’m gonna spend the rest of the night reminding you why you’re still afraid.” He sliced through the other sleeve and her dress fell away.

“But I… I need to get back. Before someone looks for-”

“Who’s gonna do that? Huh?” The sharp metal pressed against her jaw. “Sally and Jack are gone. The boys have their own plans. Who’s left to come looking for you?”

A rock settled in the pit of her stomach. No more dipping in and getting out when things started getting too messy. He wouldn’t untie her after a few dozen minutes. He wouldn’t pull out the pins, put away the scorpions, or anything like that. This was it. The long haul.

He chuckled. “No answer for that, huh?” The shiv left her throat and followed the plain of her stomach toward her hip. “Like I said: you’re mine, sweetheart. I’m gonna run you ragged.”

She jumped at the sensation of the chilly metal slipping into her underwear to slice it away. Her panties fell in a heap with her dress. “I can take it,” she bluffed.

“Is that so?” He grinned, stepping in front of her. “I doubt that. I’ll break you in an hour, two tops.”

Shock shivered, but her eyes shone. A game. It gave her an idea. One she was sure he wouldn’t be able to resist. “Wanna bet?”

He tilted his head and raised one eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”

“I want you to answer my questions. With straightforward answers, not the avoidant, monosyllabic ones.”

He rubbed his chin. “What’s in it for me?”

She had to think. “I’ll stay down here for twenty-four hours and I won’t argue about it.”

“If I can make you beg for mercy in two hours or less.”

“Right…” Her conviction wavered when she heard him say it that way, but she kept her ground.

He cackled. “You’ve got yourself a deal, babe.”

His laughter sent a chill down her spine and she gulped. But what could he do to her, really, what with Lock and Barrel abandoning him? It wasn’t like he could-

The lights went out. Every light in the lair. It happened so abruptly that the transition pulled a gasp from her throat. The shadows rushed eagerly to fill the void, angry at being banished in the first place, making the air heavy. Her heart picked up pace in her chest, but she resolved not to give in that easily.

She heard the snake hiss before she felt the fangs sink into her neck. More bites followed, pain flaring in her chest, her back, her inner thigh, her wrist, her calf… She wasn’t sure how many bites, or even where Oogie himself was… The wave of hot prickles washing her skin away from her nerves felt all too familiar.

“You’ve got a lot of guts, Shock, challenging me like this.” The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. “Knowing everything I’m capable of. Hell, I could start cutting things off. Fingers, toes, hands, feet… You’d beg me to stop pretty quick.”

Light pressure rippled across each part he listed off. Shock shuddered. “You could, but you won’t.” The strange pressure wrapped around her and she felt something like a hand over her pounding heart. When he spoke again, the voice came from right behind her and she couldn’t help jumping.

“Think you’ve got me all figured out. Well, you’re half right. But not for the reason you think. Why rush when I’ve got two hours?”

The shadows hugged her tighter, and she felt more of the ghostly hands—for lack of a better comparison—grabbing all over her. Whimpering, she twisted, ignoring the poison pain in her joints as she tried to shake them off. They crawled up her legs in invisible waves and rippled across her sex like they were trying to get inside. Shock clenched her thighs together as best she could and tried to scream. Oogie’s tongue in her mouth, down her throat, cut the sound short. She squealed when he pulled her closer, but the sound almost made her gag. Her heart beat harder and her legs relaxed as something that might have been him or might have been the darkness—or were they different?—dug roughly between her labia.

Her whimpers turned into moans and her struggles became the squirms of arousal. The snake tail stayed in her mouth, either playing over her tongue or plunging so deep she choked. Add the ever-present tingle of venom and the inability to move, and she didn’t think it took her long to reach a peak. Time didn’t have much meaning at the moment, though. His tongue withdrew, the ghostly fondling stopped, and she sucked in air. She realized she couldn’t sense him nearby anymore and thought about saying something, but couldn’t, either because the silence felt too heavy to disturb or because of the encroaching sense of disorientation.

A sharp sting across her backside, accompanied by the crack of the impact on her flesh, interrupted her thoughts. The second time he hit her—across her chest—she yelped. It felt like a whip or a switch, but she couldn’t tell in the dark. She was almost relieved. While the beating was merciless and brutal, it wasn’t close to the worst thing he could do. The peculiar effects of the poison added an extra burn to each welt, but she tried to focus on her goal instead. Moisture beaded at the corners of her eyes as he continued to rain blows upon her. By the time he stopped, her echoing cries took a while to die off. Hot and cold flashes caused her to alternately sweat and shiver. In the absence of immediate sensation, she also realized she felt dizzy and a little nauseous. “Thought you had worse in you,” she mumbled, head lolled to one side.

“I already won. I’m just killing time until you realize it.”

“What are you…?” Her body felt like a lead weight and her head felt like a balloon.

His hand settled over her shuddering heart. “The faster it beats, the faster it spreads.” He chuckled.

It took a minute for her to catch on. Hanging here and deprived of the visual cues, she’d almost forgotten. “The anti-venom…”

“You don’t get that until the game ends.”

“But…”

“Two hours,” he said, pressing the shiv to the underside of her breast. “I keep hurting you. If you can last two hours without asking me to stop, you win.” He dragged the blade across her skin. “At this rate, you won’t be conscious in two hours.” He made a cut along her rib cage. “Can’t tell me to stop when you’re unconscious, can you?”

“But…” Shock forced herself to ignore the tickle of flowing blood and the urge to pass out. “Game’s only s’posed to be two hours… so…”

“You never specified that. I said all night, or until you beg me to stop. Remember? Course if you die, the game ends by default… but I’d still win.”

“You… you can’t…”

“What? Let you die? Con you on the rules?” He cackled. “If you expected anything else, I’ve gotta say I’m disappointed.”

She should have known better. She really should have known better. “I don’t wanna die…”

“No?” He cut her. “Better say the words quick then, princess.”

Maybe he was bluffing, but testing him was not worth it. “Okay… Okay, I give…”

“Give what?” The blade sliced through her skin yet again.

“Oogie, please…” What did he want to hear? What… “You win!”

“My favorite words,” he purred.

Shock clung to consciousness until she felt the prick of a needle in the side of her neck. Then she went limp.

A/N: Anti-venom: safe sex for the Oogiephile. Or at least as safe as sex with the Boogeyman can possibly be…
By the way, I promise that “true fairytales” thing is building up to something evil.