The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

It was a massive structure of brick and stone, thick ancient looking ivy and vines trying to envelope every corner, towering spires reaching skyward. There was a sense that this was a place time forgot, when maybe the reality was more this was a place time wanted to forget. The assemblage of towers and rooms mashed together in a frantic mess of shocking angles and twisting towers, a design that either was the result of madness, or intended to result in that once seen. This was a place nobody chose to be and yet once there, the choice may no longer be available.

Cecilia crept close to the old stone wall, ivy partially obscuring her disturbingly tired face as she peered around the corner. Her breathing came in rapid, panicked huffs and she darted her eyes so rapidly from side to side, her head was beginning to pound. Leaning out just barely into the morning sky, the girl scanned the property. There were weeds and overgrowth that spread as far as she could see, the once meticulously maintained yard looking like a jungle now. Cecilia only wondered how many predators stood between her and the end of this jungle.

Sinking back up against the wall, the girl closed her eyes, trying to build up the nerve she needed to leave the comfort of the shadows. Her only way out of this nightmare had to be through that yard. It was the only place left. All her friends were gone, they’d tried other routes and she’d heard their screams.

Looking around the corner again, Cecilia grit her teeth and took off, scampering low to the ground, her already tattered dress becoming more so as she dove into cover next to what once may have been a large hedge. From beneath it, the girl looked away from the imposing structure she’d just escaped. The thick weeds and heavy morning fog made it difficult to clearly make out but she felt positive there was a path somewhere ahead. She’d seen it before in the upstairs hall, through one tiny crack she’d managed to find in an otherwise sealed up fortress. There was an old and most likely forgotten path leading away from this place, away from this horror that had claimed all her friends.

She could still picture them all, clearly in her mind, their smiling faces when Tim had decided to sneak into the old mansion. Sure, she’d thought, sounded like innocent fun. The place had been empty forever, who knew what abandoned treasures they might find inside. That had been before, she now thought, before all of her friends fell into whatever evil and manipulative things dwelled here.

Leaning back and pressing into the mass of overgrown hedge, Cecilia looked at her tattered dress, the one Tim had tried to rip from her. Whatever was in that horrible place had done something to him. He’d been one of the sweetest guys, never even making inappropriate stares, much less putting his hands on her. Now her dress was torn, her heaving breasts barely contained, and Tim was gone. Whatever happened to him, she’d been fortunate enough to escape. Still, sitting there in the cool morning air, the girl could never forget his screams.

Dashing out from the hedge, Cecilia gathered momentum, hurling herself up and over a small rise in the yard. She landed with a wince-inducing thud right on her ass and lay back staring up into the sky. Her breathing was still labored and looking down she realized one of her breasts was now exposed, having simply fallen out through one of the many torn segments of a once delicate and attractive dress.

All night, she thought, all night her friends had been trapped inside that place. At first it wasn’t so bad, but panic quickly set in when they all realized they weren’t alone in that house. There was someone else there and they weren’t of good intentions. Somehow they’d gotten separated and that was when they started falling prey to whatever was in that place. Several screamed alone, most screamed in pairs, but not her. No, she thought, silently reaching up to tuck her breast back into cover. No, she had been lucky, and now she was close to escaping, she had to be.

Sitting up, the young girl looked around suspiciously. Every room they had entered, every hallway they had travelled, they all looked perfectly ordinary at first. But something was wrong, something was terribly wrong in every one of them. Something was waiting in the shadows, waiting to grab hold of them and consume them in a powerful grip that never wanted to let go. Even now, she felt the presence of something sinister in the very shadows around her. What would it be this time, she wondered? She’d seen it all in the last series of hours, she’d seen just how devious the mansion could be. What would it throw her way now?

Crawling underneath some overhanging branches, the girl reached the path she’d seen before. This was it, she thought, staring off into the morning light. This was her path to freedom, it had to be. She carefully pulled up into a standing position and glanced back over her shoulders. Nobody was there, nothing was there, she was free. At last, she thought, she was free.

Trudging down the path, her feet were cut and scraped by the rough stone pebbles. If only she hadn’t lost her shoes when escaping Tim. He’d been so forceful and demanding in what he expected of her. He only expected her to lay back and accept what he would do to her. Now, she only replayed his scream as she’d escaped. His scream that joined all her other friends. And they weren’t screams of pain and horror, that was the worst part, she now thought. No, Cecilia realized, they were screams of passion, orgasmic cries of complete bliss.

The path was long and narrow, several overgrown plants closing in at times, creating a small winding maze of natural walls, the girl stumbled by. Her feet were really getting sore as the gravel continually ate into the flesh of her heels. She limped noticeably and felt lightheaded and dizzy as she finally saw something ahead. It was a gate, she realized, an exit from this evil place.

The girl felt her eyes begin to water as she reached the wall, a stone structure of such height and imposing menace that prisons would find it too much. Her head ached and was slowly spinning. She looked down at the ground and noticed the small trail of blood she’d left. Her feet were bleeding and it strangely didn’t hurt anymore. In fact, she thought, she was beginning to feel really good.

Adrenaline, she told herself, it was the adrenaline finally kicking in for a second go through her system. Cecilia looked up at the gate and nearly cried. It was sealed shut, long ago locked and cut off from the outside world. What really sent a chill up her spine was the small message painted in bright red over the surface of the iron door.

‘Reading this sign after dragging your heels, your mind is no longer in charge of what it feels, take some time, enjoy your rest, when you return to the manor, experience the best’

“NO!” Cecilia gasped. “NO, this can’t be another one, not another one.”

The girl nearly collapsed to the ground, her body throbbing in a dull feeling that was quickly beginning to sharpen. Her breasts suddenly felt fuller and more delightfully aroused, she thought, trying everything to ignore the feelings washing over her. Looking down at the gravel, the girl noticed the strange green tint to the pebbles, there was something on them, some kind of paint or chemical. Her mind began to feel like it was falling asleep, even as her body found new life and her vision sharpened.

The screams of her friends left her thoughts and Cecilia began to laugh, a loud echoing shrill voice that carried over the quiet jungle landscape. Her hands flew up to her young breasts and groped them strongly, caressing her flesh in a way she longed for anyone else to do. Shredding her dress from her body, the girl quickly worked herself into a furor, thrusting one hand down into the juncture between her legs and pulling on her nipples with the other. Her laughing dwindled into giggles which faded into low moans.

Somewhere far overhead, a morning raven flew off, calling out and breaking the peaceful silence. Its cry was followed by another one, a more frantic one, a young girl’s screech of pleasure from the yard below. Cecilia wasn’t herself anymore, at least not the old boring girl she’d been before, she thought. No, now she was different, better, and floating her hands across her body, she finally saw what Tim had seen. She had to hurry back to the mansion, she had to hurry back to Tim and her friends. They’d surely want to do all kinds of things to her, now that she’d finally had her eyes opened to what her true purpose was.

Many years later...

The library was dimly lit, dusty, and very old. No windows were to be found in such a large musty room, only endless shelves of tattered old books that reached from floor to ceiling. There were five doors spread out across the four walls, all currently shut, their rich mahogany surface barely holding any gloss after years of neglect. Above, the coffered ceiling rose up more than twenty feet. Were one to look closely enough, they might see subtle hints of old and almost forgotten murals decorating parts of the plaster. Below, in the center of the room, spread out among the ornate and once lavish furniture, were thirteen bodies. Slowly, those bodies began to stir.

“What the hell, my head?” one man said, raising his head and looking around the room.

It was dark, darker than he’d have expected considering where he last remembered being. Had he passed out, he questioned, rubbing gently at his temples? Looking around he noticed several other men all slowly pulling themselves up, none looking even remotely familiar, and worse still, none looking like they had a clue about where they were anymore than he did.

“Who are you, where are we?”

The man turned to his left and saw a beautiful young asian girl propping herself up on her arms. She looked scared and somehow hopeful as she stared at him, her eyes big and dilated in the dimly lit room. Next to the girl, another one nearly as young looking slowly seemed to be coming around.

“I’m Doug, and I... I really don’t know where we are. I just woke up here.”

As the man shifted over and helped the young girl to her feet, they both looked at the blonde who was staring up at them slightly panicked. Across the center of the room, another voice rang out, a sharp, shrill demanding tone that only added to the frustration and confusion quickly rising within the group.

“Where the hell are we, who the fuck are you people?” A buxom blonde woman around the age of thirty suddenly shouted.

“Look, I don’t know anymore than you, but please don’t freak out okay?” A nearby man close to her age said, calmly, trying to reassure the woman as he glanced over the group, desperately looking for any sign of a familiar face.

“Listen, whatever the fuck your name is, I am Paula Kelly Northway and nobody tells me what to do or not do. Now where the fuck are we?”

The man lowered his eyes and tried to avoid directly looking the woman in her face. He was used to being treated with contempt by attractive women and this lady certainly qualified there. He looked out over the rest of the room, trying to get a feel for the place and who was in it. The fiancee who basically ran his life, the woman he’d been with when he last closed his eyes, was nowhere to be seen.

“Hello, where are we?” The demanding Ms. Northway pushed.

A part of the man cringed at being bossed around. He’d been that way most his life, whether it was at home or in Iraq. Contrary to his stature and his past occupations, he wasn’t exactly the dashing hero-type and speaking out was never his finest quality, least of all in a situation like this.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything. It’s just I think everyone here is in the same situation. I don’t know where we are or who any of those in this room are but we should remain calm. My name’s Paul, by the way.”

Paula looked down her nose at the man only giving a tiniest hint that she appreciated his focus. She never was one to show how she actually felt, choosing instead to hide behind her attitude. Sighing and folding her arms, she turned to look over the others.

“Are you okay Megan, please tell me you’re okay?” One girl said, frantically shaking the form of another.

“Huh, yeah I’m fine, sheesh let go. You’re shaking my brain up. What’s the big...” The other girl said, her voice falling silent as she looked around.

“What happened?” She said much more quietly, managing to sit up.

Megan looked around the room, her vision clearing, trying to take stock of where she was. There was little light but what she could see were others looking no less confused than herself all getting up off the floor. Turning to the voice who’d shaken her awake, she saw her big sister Colleen, a rather terrified look beginning to creep over the girl’s face, her normally confident expression distorted and covered with anxiety.

“What happened?” She repeated, reluctantly allowing her sister to help as she stood.

“I don’t know. I just woke up a minute ago and all these people were around. I’m... I’m really scared Meg, I thought you were hurt or something.”

Rolling her eyes, the younger sister stepped away from Colleen. “I’m a big girl now, I don’t need you always thinking you’re supposed to rush in and save the day. I can take care of myself.” Looking around, she paused. “This is disorienting though.”

Megan looked over to where one frantic woman appeared to be bitching non-stop to a surrounding group of guys. Others were in similar states of frustration, anger, or just plain fear.

“Are you two okay?” A male voice said from behind both girls.

Colleen and Megan turned sharply, staring right into the face of a ruggedly handsome man. He wore a long coat and had unshaven growth on his chin indicating he hadn’t shaved in a day or so. Megan tightened her eyes, noting how young the man was and immediately burning with suspicion. Putting aside their situation and her previous worries, the girl rather quickly snapped at him.

“Who are you, did you bring us here?”

“Megan, stop that. I’m sorry for my sister here, we’re just concerned right now. Yes, I think we’re fine. Do you know where we are?”

“No idea, last I remember I was driving through a hard storm in the early morning hours before dawn. I drive professionally and was on my way upstate to a new client. Anyway, I was tired and the road was dangerous so I pulled off onto the shoulder to get some sleep. Next thing I know, I wake up here listening to panic.”

The man extended his hand and smiled, just the barest hint of perfect teeth. Colleen reached out and lightly took his hand, her own suspicions hovering just beneath the surface, as Megan folded her arms and stood back.

“I’m Colleen, this is my little sister Megan.”

“Stewart, my friends call me Stew. Why don’t we see if we can figure this out? This place looks old, feel like taking a look around?”

Both sisters shared a similar expression, wary but wanting to trust this young stranger as they headed off towards some of the shelves bordering the room.

Not too far away, another pair of girls began a heated discussion, neither looking like they wanted to agree that maybe things were a little beyond their control.

“What I’m saying is wherever we are, there has to be a logical reason for all this. Maybe this is some kind of fraternity prank, you know we wake up here all confused and have to play along with some stupid game or something. It’s not worth panicking about, we’re okay after all.” A slender young woman said, her head raised up, looking at the surrounding towers of dusty old books.

Opposite her, a younger girl with beautiful brown hair falling just around her shoulders, stamped her foot and folded her arms even more tightly.

“If my father finds out about this, he will be so pissed off. Nobody does this to his little princess, nobody!”

“Calm down, just think things out. Do you have a cell phone, why don’t we see if we can find our way out, just be rational.” The other girl said, her black bobbed haircut shaking slightly as she looked over at the tall spoiled-looking girl.

“My cell phone is not here, don’t you think I’d be smart enough to use it already if it were, duh! And they can’t do this, they can’t just kidnap me from my sorority house and put me in some dank dark place. That’s against the law, my rights were violated and I want someone held responsible.”

The girl was clearly refusing to accept that this world she’d woken to didn’t exactly revolve around her and what her pretty little head wanted or thought right. The other young woman she heatedly swapped words with approached and tried to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Listen, it’s okay to be scared in this situation. I’m afraid, it’s no big deal, but if we just stay calm and think things through, you know use our brains not our emotions, we’ll get through this.” She smiled and tried to put aside what she thought of the girl. “I’m Carolyn, by the way.”

The younger girl looked every bit as bitchy as she had the whole time, but managed a short and not overly sweet response. “Rebecca, and I’ll thank you not to shorten or make up some stupid little nick name. My name’s Rebecca.”

“Has anybody checked the doors?” One man said, a rather flustered looking woman still leaning in over his shoulder, looking like a nagging wife.

“They’re locked, I checked them when I first got up, they’re all locked.” A flustered girl said from between two guys her age. She appeared to be taking comfort from the two young men being with her, but even though there seemed a familiarity, none looked like they were exactly old friends. They were a rather oddly joined group, consisting of the mousy-looking college age woman and a couple of guys whose features made their exact age hard to distinguish. One was chiseled and athletic, the other quite the opposite with a chubby almost nerdy appearance.

Turning to Paula, the man shrugged his shoulders, trying to avoid simply staring at her lovely curved figure and incredibly generous chest.

“Well Paul,” She started, really exaggerating the attitude of her comment by spitting out his name. “Why don’t you be a man and break down the damn door? You are a man aren’t you?”

“Of course I am, but I mean...”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Stewart said, walking over by the pair. “These doors are pretty thick, very solid. You’d likely just ruin your shoulder if you tried.”

Paula glared at the younger man who dared instruct her on what was and wasn’t possible to get out of this place. “And just what makes you so sure?”

“I used to work construction, I know quality work when I see it, and whoever built these doors built them to withstand a lot of force and nothing short of a battering ram will get through without a key or something.” Stewart said, Colleen and Megan still trailing behind him, a rather suspicious glint in each of their eyes indicating they weren’t simply impressed with his knowledge of the place. They’d somewhat silently agreed between the two of them that maybe he was trustworthy, maybe he wasn’t. But keeping a close eye on him was safer than going off on their own

Paula lifted her nose up in the air as though every one of those around her were so beneath her they shouldn’t even be able to see her face. She glanced over at Paul and rolled her eyes.

Across the room, Rebecca, not to be called anything short, was again stomping her feet and beating on the bookshelves next to the door they’d just tried.

“What the hell, this is so wrong. This just doesn’t happen to someone like me, let me out!”

Carolyn shook her head, her own overly logical and controlling personality failing to even come close to the rather bratty girl she’d somehow partnered up with. Rubbing her head, the woman looked across the room. Somehow, even in situations like this, people found others to cling to. One man stood almost bowing down as another woman even more bitchy than Rebecca gave him some sort of lecture. Another rather handsome man was looking at the shelves, two younger girls tagging behind him like loyal pets. Near the center of the library, an asian and a blonde stuck close to another young man, none of them speaking, actually looking a little relaxed with the whole situation. And leaning against a door opposite herself was an intelligent looking young woman alongside an athletic boy and his chubby looking friend. This was an odd assortment of individuals, she thought, and thinking logically nothing really made sense. Why were they all here, was this some sort of terrorist plot? What possible connection could they have, there clearly had to be something she wasn’t seeing?

“What are you looking at?” Colleen asked, walking up and brushing her hair back as she leaned in close to Stewart. He smelled nice, musky and comforting like a man. She hated to admit but it made her calmer just to be next to him, even though her sister’s initial suspicions and concerns were absolutely reasonable. They really didn’t know this guy, and trust was not something to just hand over.

“These books, have you seen any of the titles before?” He answered.

Colleen and Megan both looked at the shelves. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of books in this place, and all of them appeared very old, most having titles she hardly could make out without rubbing the layers of dust away. Taking one off the shelf, she squinted in the dim light and tried reading it.

“Captain Tommy?” She questioned. “Never heard of it?”

Megan held up another volume, not nearly as thick. “This one’s called Bimbos and Trains, that’s pretty weird don’t you think?”

“That’s my point,” Stewart said, holding up a couple of volumes he’d removed. “Here’s one called Calving Signs, and another called The Jilliad. If you flip through, there’s some seriously wild shit in these books.”

Colleen looked confused, wiping away dust from another title. She took the book from the shelf and flipped it over. It wasn’t as thick as some of the others and simply had the words ‘Energy Gulp’ in large gold script scrawled across the soft fabric cover. “So why does that bother you?” She asked, looking over at Stewart. “Just what is it you know that you aren’t telling us?”

“I don’t know anything, at least not any more than you. And as far as bothering me, it doesn’t really. What bothers me is that every one of these books has similar themes in one way or another. They all seem to involve someone losing control. Read just a few sentences in any one and you’ll see.”

Stewart turned and randomly selected a book from above his head. “This one is called Shoes to Fill,” He said, flipping it open and reading a few lines. “And you don’t even want to know what those shoes do to people. Put it this way, more than just the shoes get filled.” He said, clapping the book shut. “Also, I’ve never heard of any of these authors. They have books that appear pretty old and yet I don’t even vaguely recall ever hearing their names mentioned.”

Looking at the exchange between Stewart and her older sister, Megan again rolled her eyes. She was doing like she always did, acting friendly and maybe even a bit flirty with this guy just so she could use him to help protect her helpless little sister. Well she wasn’t helpless anymore, the girl thought, she was grown up and she could take care of herself. In fact, she thought, if acting like she were the least bit interested in this guy would get them out of this situation safely, then she could play along as well.

“I’ve only been to the library on campus,” Megan said, emphasizing the word ‘campus’ to show her maturity. “And I don’t really recognize the authors either.” Standing close to her sister, she kept her eyes thin with distrust but made sure the handsome young stranger looked her way. “Some of the names do seem familiar somehow, like I’ve heard them mentioned somewhere before.”

Colleen interrupted her sister, stepping in between her and Stewart. “You think these authors have something to do with us being here?” She laughed, the sarcasm in her comment dripping from her voice. She normally wasn’t an overly sarcastic person but given the situation, it was better than doing what some of the others in the darkened room were doing, complaining, cowering, or quietly sinking into panic.

“Look I know it sounds crazy. I don’t know, it just seems strange, that’s all.” Stewart said, really giving it some thought. Although he didn’t want to scare the girls he seemed to be slowly earning the trust of, he couldn’t help but wonder why a bunch of strangers all ended up locked in a room filled with books like these. It did nothing to comfort him when he saw how attractive most in the group were.

“Hey, I found flashlights!” Doug said, looking down in the open drawers of a large end table.

Everyone rushed back to the center of the room and grabbed for the flashlights, old metal numbers looking right out of the past. Doug simply jumped back, making sure he had one for himself and the two girls he’d been getting to know. Their names were Tiffany and Sarah and they both attended separate schools in the state. Being students as they were, each was dressed in typical revealing attire, the kind of clothing that said ‘I’m mature but still a young girl’ and something that Doug hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off of. The way he had things figured, he was stuck here for the moment, why dwell on that when there were such nice sights to focus on right next to him. It wasn’t exactly like Doug had girls like these two usually clinging nearby for his protection and comfort.

As the others all began scanning the shelves and floor with their flashlights, seeking any sign of a phone or possible key to open a door and leave this place, Doug went and sat back next to the girls. He thought back to where he’d last been, climbing through the local nature trails in his hometown. He’d just reached the peak when the storm struck, flooding his path with leaves and debris. There was nothing else he could do at the time but seek some shelter. Unfortunately, he only remembered tripping and falling. The next thing he knew he was waking up here, somewhere inside and away from the rain, but now struggling with an entirely different type of storm. But on a much lighter note, he now thought, the scenery around him now wasn’t that bad, especially using the flashlight to really look the two girls over. The blonde was about as close as you might get to a living sex doll, and well asians, who doesn’t like asians?

“Here you go Deborah.” The rather athletic and outgoing boy said, handing her a flashlight.

“Thanks, thank you very much Rick.” She said quietly, lowering her eyes away from the fraternity guy.

As she turned back to the door and began checking the seams with the light, Rick stood protectively behind her while the chubby looking boy seemed more interested in something he kept hidden inside his pocket.

Across the room, Paul shined his flashlight up and across the large bookshelves towering above him. Having been in situations that seemed hopeless before, and feeling as though he might be the oldest man in the group, he felt obligated to stay calm and focused. Suddenly he stopped and went back over where he’d aimed the light. His mouth opened in shock and confusion and for several seconds he stood completely still, wondering if anyone else saw what he did.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Paula said, pressing in beside the man.

“Look, look at that.” Paul shouted, pointed up where his light was, high on one wall, close to the ceiling.

The others all turned and looked where the one lone man was pointing his flashlight. Their eyes displayed identical expressions of shock and for the first time since they’d all stirred awake, the entire group was silent.

High on the wall of books, nearly twelve feet above even the tallest of their heads was a large painted message, written in blood red, the paint still oozing down over the bindings of the novels that filled each shelf.

“What’s that mean, Stew? You seem to have an idea about everything in this place.” Colleen asked, standing beside him, her arms folded in tense anxiety.

“I have no idea, I really don’t,” Stew said, feeling each sister study him suspiciously. “But it can’t be good.”

Deborah, standing among her strong protector and his chubby companion, stared straight up into the painted message, the overweight boy expressing himself for the first time. “That looks like something right out of a horror movie.”

“Yeah Vic, but not a slasher, one of those overly thinking, high effects movies you see all the time now.” Rick responded.

The message was clear and yet not so clear, the words making very little sense unless the meaning behind their being there was known.

‘Together or separate, YOU will choose. Escape the TRAPS or YOU WILL LOSE!’

“Lose what?” Paula questioned sharply, her bitchiness not overshadowed by the frustration that only grew with every passing moment.

Suddenly a voice, muffled and slightly nasally rang out from some unknown source above. Several of the frightened people in the library below shined their flashlights up, finding a small rusted looking metal box with wires leading off from it. It was an intercom, they realized, an old-style box you often saw in places like Alcatraz or old military forts.

“Attention all, welcome to my home. I must assume by now that you’ve discovered your predicament. Some of you may have even taken time to enjoy my collection of tomes.”

The voice was slightly distorted by static and surprisingly sounded very much like Vincent Price, but the emotion and control behind those words was never clearer. This wasn’t a friendly voice. The entire group gathered together, huddling in the center of the room, flashlights frantically pointing all over as the disembodied voice drifted down from above.

“This is my library, many have found themselves here, many more will in the future. But today is your day, my lucky thirteen, the rats for my maze. You are truly experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity. In precisely thirteen minutes, the five doors leading out of this room will open. When that occurs, you all will face a choice, a basic decision of trust.”

Down below, the group began looking around, staring into the panicked eyes of fellow rats for this maze as the man put it. Trust was definitely not something in abundance, nor was patience as several individuals huffed and stomped their feet.

“Most of you come from different backgrounds, having few things in common. You each have your strengths and weaknesses. Tonight, we will see just how those strengths and weaknesses come into play in my humble mansion. I do not doubt you all wish to leave, to get back to your perfect little lives, your own little petty existence. The choice you face is basic, trust one another and work together, or divide into however many groups you want and take your chances. Maybe one or more of you is not who they say they are, maybe they all are, maybe I’m lying when I tell you there is only one exit from this mansion, maybe I’m not. You will need to decide for yourselves.”

“What’s he mean?” Megan whispered to Colleen, looking around at the others.

“I think he’s trying to break us up, cause us not to trust each other.” She replied, looking over at Stewart.

“This mansion is entirely cut off from the outside world, there are no phones and all windows have been sealed shut. Each of the five doors in this room lead to different parts of the estate. You take a chance when choosing any of them. Throughout the mansion are traps, designs so clever they may live on in your nightmares forever. These traps, whether they be games, challenges, or tests of skill, all are here for one purpose. They will rob you of yourself, take that which nobody else can claim, your very minds. Though my methods may vary, and you may experience far different outcomes, you likely will have a different personality when or if you ever manage to leave this place. Some of you, I dare say, may have vastly different bodies, an added bonus to go along with your minds.”

Several of the girls gasped and looked around at the surrounding doors in the dimly lit room.

“You may get out, maybe one or more of you will be lucky and reach the exit, probably not. One thing is certain, whichever of my rats reaches the exit with their mind fully intact can claim victory. Otherwise, enjoy my mansion and have a pleasant stay.”

“I guess you know what we have to lose,” Paul said, looking sheepishly over at the finally silent woman. “Our minds.”

As soon as the static fizzled away from the overhead speaker, a rather frenetic discussion broke out among the group, several of the men clearly not trusting of the others. For the most part the women remained quiet, Carolyn again trying to reason with Rebecca about how this was a problem that should be thought through.

“Everything can be worked out by thinking, just stay with me and keep your head. He was probably lying about everything, nobody can change your mind and your body.” She said to the younger girl, who by all appearances wasn’t going to give up the position that she was always right.

The great Paula Kelly Northway seemed incensed that she was having to deal with such a situation but simply rolled her eyes and grabbed Paul. “Come on, I may have little choice in the matter, but at least I know you aren’t some serial killer.” She spat out. “You’d have to be a real man for that to be true.” Even saying this, anyone watching could see the woman secretly enjoyed being around the man who she dismissed as such.

Soon enough, everyone had managed to split into five groups, all poised at different doors, waiting to leave this place. Stewart, the ruggedly handsome young man stood alongside sisters Colleen and Megan, their eyes flashing only conditional trust, based almost exclusively on the fact that of the group, he was the one they’d spoken to the most. They pulled away just a bit as he wrapped them in his protective arms, focused on leaving this place and acting however they needed to ensure that happened.

At another door Paul stood beside Paula, their eyes each showing completely different emotions, his more of fear and concern, hers of pure spite.

Directly opposite them, way down at the opposite end of the library, Doug stood between Tiffany and Sarah, each girl looking only a little nervous, mostly comforted by their male companion. Together the three had a different theory about all this. Perhaps it was their youth or maybe just the reality-television culture of their lives, but they’d decided to approach this predicament with a positive attitude. Maybe it was all some sort of contest, maybe if they gave a decent performance and stuck together they’d end up winning or something. The key thing, Doug said, ogling the curvy assets of both his asian and blonde companion, was to stick together.

At one of the side doors, Deborah stood alone for a moment, Rick, the image of young masculinity smiling as he joined her, while again Vic settled his bulk against a nearby shelf and seemed intensely focused on fumbling with something from his pocket. When the three came together, they also seemed only slightly interested in the door and focused much of their appraising stares at the mousy, yet distinctly feminine form they each stood beside.

Finally, the last door was covered by Carolyn and Rebecca, both looking confident that they were correct in their decision and sharp wit and high intelligence would free them from this place.

The Vincent Price-like voice returned and boomed down from above. “Decisions are made, wrong or right, let’s see what my traps do on this night.”

With a loud and piercing creak, all five doors swung open and the thirteen trapped individuals split off into their separate goals, each one still holding onto a thin string of hope that maybe they’d still be themselves when they left this place, if they left this place.