“Jeez, valet parking and everything.”  Ruby stopped her car and a man in a red uniform opened her door for her.  She slid her leg out of the car, exposing a long stretch of smooth thigh, the slit in her Jessica Rabbit dress going all the way up to her hip.  The valet watched as she gracefully climbed out of the car, nearly dropping the keys she dropped into his hand because his eyes were otherwise engaged.  “Try not to scratch it,” she said in a sultry voice.  She blew him a kiss, flipping her long red locks as she turned and walked away, swaying her hips provocatively, keenly aware of his eyes still watching her as she made her way to the door.  Ruby loved Halloween.

Colby Black’s Halloween parties were legendary.  The one event a year where the reclusive heiress invited people into her lavish mansion to party until the sun came up.  To receive an invitation was a huge honor.  A servant bowed to the redhead before he opened the door for her.

“Thank you,” she said, brushing past him and entering the mansion.  She could hear house music coming from deeper within the mansion, and the huge foyer was filled with other guests, standing around and talking in various costumes.  Ruby made a quick scan, not seeing anyone she recognized.  More so, she was checking out the competition.  Colby’s parties were rumored to have games, and she could only assume there would be a costume contest.  So far, there was no competition, certainly not from the scantily clad angel who was glaring daggers at her.  Ruby held her head high as she strutted past; conscious not only of the angel’s jealous stare but the gaze of the guy she was talking with who’d dressed as a boxer to wisely show of his chiseled abs.  His eyes were glued to her ample chest while she walked up, and he was no doubt watching her ass as she walked away.

The music got louder as she walked into the ballroom.  There was a DJ set up in the corner, and in the opposite corner a bar, every square foot in between filled with people in costume dancing under the strobe lights and disco balls hung from the chandeliers.  Ruby made her way to the bar.  “Vodka martini,” she said.  When the bartender slid her drink across the counter to her, he slipped something under her glass.  She thought it was a napkin or a coaster at first, but she saw that it was a small, square envelope.  Taking a sip of her martini, she opened the envelope.

Congratulations.   Come to the wine cellar.

She flipped the card over, but the back was empty.  She reread the note, running her fingers over the words.  Even through her gloves, she could feel the embossed, elegant script.  She looked for the bartender, but he was at the other end of the bar, already serving a Harley Quinn.  So many Harley Quinns tonight, each one uglier than the last.  A thin smile crossed the redhead’s lips when she noticed that the other girl didn’t receive a note with her drink.  Alright, she’d play.  Drink in hand, she went to look for the cellar.


“It’s locked.”

The short girl in the Tinkerbell outfit looked in surprise at the blonde in the tight nurse’s uniform that rivaled her own costume in just how short the skirt was.  The nurse took off her white cap and pulled out a manila note, waving it in front of her.  Tinkerbell pulled out her own note from where it was tucked down her top.  “Do you have any idea what this is about?” Tinkerbell asked.

“No, someone just slipped me an envelope on the dance floor,” the nurse replied, putting her note back in her hat and putting it back on her head.

“Same, someone bumped into me in line for the bathroom and pushed it into my hands, and then disappeared into the crowd.”

“Is this the wine cellar?”

They both turned to see the stunning girl in the Jessica Rabbit costume saunter up.

“Did you get one too?” Tinkerbell asked.

“We think so, but it’s locked,” the nurse said.

Ruby ignored the fairy completely, turning to the nurse.  “Is that what you’re telling everyone so they give up and leave?” Ruby asked.

“Whoa.  See for yourself,” the nurse said, stepping back.  She watched with a smug smile of satisfaction as the redhead tried the door, the handle refusing to budge.

“Sorry,” Ruby said quickly.  She didn’t mean it, and the other two knew it.  Her competitive edge had an immediate effect on the other two.

“I’m Lilly, by the way,” the nurse said, turning to Tinkerbell, holding out her hand.

“Olive,” the fairy said, shaking her head.  Neither acknowledged the stunning redhead.

“So it’s going to be like that?” Ruby asked.

“You’re the one who came in with attitude,” Lilly said.

Ruby gave an exasperated sigh.  “Name’s Ruby.  Whatever.  So you have any idea what this is about?”

“No, we were just saying, all we have are these notes,” Olive said.  “Where’d you get yours?”

“Bartender,” Ruby replied.  She eyed the other two up and down.  They were both hot, not as hot as her, but their costumes both accentuated their charms.  She still felt confident that if it was a costume contest, she had it in the bag.

“Hello.  Is this the wine cellar?”  Two more girls stuck their heads into the room.  The one who had spoken was another redhead (to Ruby’s annoyance) dressed as Daphne Blake, complete with the purple minidress and green scarf.  Her companion was a short, dark skinned girl in a short blue dress, with blue ivy leaves wrapped around her dress and a crown of them in her wavy hair.

“It’s locked,” the other three said in unison.

“Well I’m sure that’s the first challenge.”  They all turned to see a brunette dressed as Princess Belle in her elegant yellow ball gown come in from the other room.

“Have you been to one of these parties before?” Ruby asked, glaring.  The newcomer’s dress wasn’t nearly as sexy as hers, but she had to admit it was good and looked authentic.  With her luck the people judging the costume contest would all be old gay guys and she’d lose to a Disney Princess.

“No,” Belle replied as she walked up to the door, examining it.  “But I’ve heard Miss Black likes to play games at her parties.”

“You two get notes too?” Lilly asked the other two newcomers.  

“Yes,” the Daphne said.  “I’m Lydia, and this is Meena,” she said.  “And this is our first Colby Black Halloween party too.”

“I’m Lilly, and this is Olive and Ruby.”

“And you are?” Ruby asked the princess.

“I’m in,” she said confidently.  She opened the door, and tucked her bobby pins back into her perfectly styled hair.  “The name’s Blaine.”

“You pick locks often?” Olive asked, raising her eyebrows.

“When I need to,” Blaine replied.  “Did you have a better idea for getting in?  Besides, it’s not like we weren’t invited,” she said, holding up her card.

“Can’t argue with that,” Ruby said.

They found no light switch at the top of the stairs leading into the dark cellar.  Olive’s and Lilly’s costumes didn’t leave any room for the girls to bring their phones, but the others quickly whipped out their cellphones and shone their lights down the stairs before the six of them descended into the cold, dank cellar.  They quickly found themselves pressed close together, as they made their way through the wine racks.  Even with the four lights illuminating around them, it was creepy, and they were jumping at every little perceived noise, and shushing each other.

“What’s that?” Lilly whispered, pointing.

“Where?” Lydia asked, trying to point her light where the nurse was pointing.

Lilly snatched the phone from her and pointed it between the wine racks.  The light cast fragmented shadows onto the wall behind it, and as they walked in a tight huddle closer, they could make out metal bars, glinting as they reflected the light back.

They edged towards what they quickly discovered to be a barred door to another room.  A dark shape stood in the center of the room.  The girls crowded against the door, pressing their phones up between the bars to try and illuminate the room.

There were several sharp gasps, and one of them, though none would admit to it, uttered a high pitched scream.

There was a girl standing in the center of the room.  She looked up, squinting into the four lights shining on her face.  She was dressed as the Black Swan, the black feathery leotard and tutu, complete with the elegant tiara and black paint over her eyes.  She stood on one leg, balanced en pointe, her other foot pressed into her opposite thigh, her arms held high above her head.  As they looked closer, the girls could see thin ropes binding her arms together and suspending her from the ceiling, keeping her on her toes.  More ropes held her other leg in place.

The girl made a muffled moan into the black tape wound tightly around her head over her lips.

“Oh my god,” Ruby breathed.  “I think that’s Colby Black!” she whispered.  She couldn’t be sure, she’d only ever seen pictures of the rarely seen billionaire, and with the make up over her eyes and the gag over her mouth, it was hard to tell.

“Hey!  Do you need help?” Olive called, trying the door, only to find it locked.

The ballerina hung her head again, not moving or responding in any way.

“Hold on, we’ll get you out of there,” Lydia said.  “You, lock pick girl,” she pointed at Blaine.

“It’s Blaine,” she said, lifting up her dress as she crouched in front of the lock.  “Give me some light,” she said, handing her phone to Olive.

“What if this is part of the game?” Ruby asked, putting her hand over the lock.  The other five gave her an annoyed look.

“We’ll ask her once we get her out,” Blaine said, brushing Ruby’s hand away.  Her tongue flicked out and rubbed along her lower lip as she worked, delicately maneuvering her bobby pins.

“Hurry up,” Olive hissed.

“Don’t rush me,” she hissed back.  “Damnit,” she swore as one of her pins snapped in the lock.

“What do we do now?”

“We have to get help,” Meena said.

“Again, what if this is part of the game?” Ruby asked.

There was a pregnant pause.  “What if the game was to lure us down here to end up like her?” Blaine asked.

This possibility settled over the six girls for a second, before they all made a simultaneous dash for the stairs, pushing and shoving each other in their haste to get out of the cellar and back upstairs to the party.

“Someone should stay down here with her,” Lydia suggested as she reached the stairs, looking up in relief at the light coming down from the door.

“Screw that, I’m not staying down here alone in the dark,” Olive said, pushing past her and running up the stairs, two at a time.  “You stay if you want.”

None of them wished to stay alone in the dark, and they practically climbed over each other to get up the stairs as fast as they could.  They all stopped once at the top and in the safety of the kitchen storeroom, looking around sheepishly as they adjusted their costumes.  They all felt a little silly, freaking out like that, but at least they’d all done it together, and each girl seemed to recognize an unspoken pact that they wouldn’t bring it up.

“Alright, now what do we do?” Lilly asked.  “Call the cops?”

“What!  No!” Ruby said.  She smacked Meena’s phone out of her hand as she saw the girl starting to dial.

“Hey!” Meena shouted.

“The cops will shut down the party.”

“Enough about the stupid game Ruby,” Olive said.

“Well, maybe she’s right.  Let’s not call the cops just yet.  No sense in causing a panic, especially on the off chance that this is part of some game,” Blaine said.  “Besides, there’s no cell service here anyways,” she said, holding up her phone.  “Let’s just get one of the help, get them to check it out.  I’m sure they know about the game, and if there’s cause for alarm, they can call the cops on the landline.”

The others nodded.  It was a surprisingly sensible plan coming from the girl who was picking locks.  They grabbed the first servant they could find, trying to tell them of their problem.

“What were you ladies doing in the cellar?” he asked.  He examined one of the notes.  If he knew what it was, his face betrayed no sign of recognition.

“Well, we were in the cellar, and we couldn’t find any lights down there, and we saw something, we were just wondering if you could check it out,” Ruby said, tactfully trying to avoid betraying too much information.  Some of the others shifted nervously at her decision to play it close to the vest, but none of them spoke up.

The girls all groaned inwardly as the servant flicked a switch outside the cellar door, and the lights came on descending down the stairs and into the cellar.

“Whoops.  Us girls,” Blaine said, giggling vapidly as the older man looked like he was doing his best not to roll his eyes.

They followed him down into the cellar.  They got antsy as they made their way to the barred door.  They all gasped, but for different reasons.  The girls, because the ballerina in the room was gone.  The servant, because the door was ajar.

“This is really supposed to be locked,” he said, rushing through the door.  The girls moved to follow him, but he shut the door in their faces.  “This room is to be locked because there are wines here older than your grandparents,” he said in a condescending tone, before he started to take a quick inventory.  The girls peered through the bars, looking for any trace of the captive ballerina, but the room was empty save for the racks of wine bottles against the walls.

“Out,” he said, coming out of the room.  “You all shouldn’t be here.”  He locked the door again, escorted them back upstairs, and then locked the cellar once more.

“Alright, so what was that?” Lilly asked once he was gone.

“I don’t know, but I found this tucked away in the wine racks.”  Lydia held up another envelope like the ones they all had gotten.  She smirked.

“Way to go Nancy Drew,” Ruby said.

“I’m dressed as Daphne,” Lydia snapped.

“Whatever.  What’s it say?” Ruby asked, reaching for it.  Lydia pulled it back out of reach and opened it.  The note inside was on the same nice stock with the same embossed, fancy script.

Find me.

The six of them studied those two words for a whole minute.  “Is that it?” Olive asked.

“Well if that’s not an invitation to explore a giant mansion, I don’t know what is,” Blaine said, rubbing her palms together.

“Best of luck,” Ruby said.  She turned and walked back out into the party.

“Where is she going?” Meena asked.

“Probably trying to win by herself,” Lydia said.  “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think we should stick together, at least for now.”

Meena and Lydia, unlike the others, knew each other, and Meena was quick to move beside Lydia, unwittingly creating a situation where the others felt like they had to choose a side; split up or follow Lydia.  Blaine took a step backwards and Lilly bit her lip.  Olive wavered a moment before she said, “For now.”

“Two groups then,” Blaine said.  “Three if you count Ruby, but screw her.  The detective and the two fairies, and me and the nurse.”  

Lilly nodded.  If it was a competition, she liked her odds with the girl with lock picking skills.

“I’m not a fairy,” Meena said.

“You’re not?” Blaine asked.

“No.”  She turned, pointing to her back, and her lack of wings.  “I’m Blue Ivy.”  Blaine, Lilly, and Olive stared at her blankly.  “Blue Ivy Carter?  Jay Zee and Beyonce’s baby?”

“Oh…  Right,” Lilly said.

“No no, it’s clever,” Olive said halfheartedly.

“It was my costume from two years ago when she was more relevant.”  She pulled out a pacifier, sticking it in her mouth.  “Babeh Blue Ivy,” she mumbled around the pacifier before taking it out.  “I didn’t get to wear it then, and I couldn’t think of anything this year, so…” she trailed off as she realized the others didn’t seem to care.  

“Yeah, so good luck,” Lilly said.  She and Blaine turned and left.

“It’s a good costume,” Lydia said, patting Meena on the shoulder.  “Unique.”

“I should have just come as black Harley Quinn,” Meena muttered.



Ruby went back to the bar, looking for the bartender who had given her the first note.  She was pretty could sure she could loosen his tongue and get another hint.  She could be, very persuasive.

“Hey there, big boy,” she purred, leaning over the counter, pressing her breasts together between her arms as she practically shoved her cleavage in his face.  “Remember me?”

The bartender’s eyes lingered on her chest before flicking up to meet her green eyes.  “You’d be pretty hard to forget, gorgeous.  What can I get you?”

She slowly drew her envelope out of the top of her glove.  “You wouldn’t be able to help me with this, would you?”  She batted her eyelashes.  “I’d make it worth your while,” she said, licking her lips.

The bartender looked around.  “My partner just went on break.  Why don’t you meet me in the coat room in twenty minutes?”

“I’ll do that.”  She blew him a kiss before sashaying off.



“Don’t you find it a little suspicious that Lydia just happened to find that second note?  I mean, did you see her looking around when we went back to the cellar?” Blaine asked Lilly as they climbed the stairs to the second story.

“You know, now that you mention it, is kind of weird,” Lilly agreed in a hushed voice, mindful of the costumed couples that had snuck away upstairs to make out while the party raged on downstairs.

“Why wasn’t little miss detective looking into the locked room like the rest of us?  Unless she already knew the ballerina wouldn’t be there.”  Blaine was checking the room as they walked along.  Most were bedrooms, already occupied, and they quickly shut the doors again, especially fast as they were invited to join what was already quite more than a threesome judging by the number of shapes under the sheets.

“You think she’s in on it?” Lilly asked.

“Would you have shared that note if you had genuinely found it?” Blaine asked.

Lilly thought about it.  The truth would make their little alliance moot, but she had a feeling the princess’ answer was the same.  “No.  I would have waited until everyone else gave up.”

“Mmhmm.”  Blaine opened another door, finding a massive library.  “This’ll do.”

“What is it?” the nurse asked, standing in the door.

Blaine pushed her from behind, shoving her into the room.  Lilly cried out, stumbled on her ridiculously high heels and falling on the floor.  The door slammed behind her.  The nurse scrambled to her feet and lunged for the door, but the handle wouldn’t budge.  “You bitch!  Let me out!” she cried, banging on the door.

Blaine broke off her other bobby pin in the lock, jamming it.  She dusted her hands off and walked off down the hall, humming “Beauty and the Beast.”



Lydia, Meena, and Olive made their way through the ballroom.  “You’d think the clue could have just been a little more specific,” Olive yelled over the music to her two companions.

“The best place to hide is in a room full of people in costume,” Lydia shouted back.

Meena tapped on their shoulders and pointed across the room.  They followed her finger, spying a girl in a black leotard.  The girls wove through the crowd, stopping in disappointment when they say it was a jacketless Black Canary and not the Black Swan they were looking for.

“Wrong bird,” Meena said, frowning.  

Lydia sighed.  Another false alarm.  She scanned the room again, her gaze drifting upward, her eyes finally lighting on a balcony coming off the second floor overlooking the ballroom.  “Bingo.”

“You see her?” Meena shouted.

“No, but I see a place we’ll have a much better view.”  Lydia pointed up to the balcony.

“Jinkies Daphne,” Olive said.  “You’re just finding everything.”

Lydia smiled.  “Thanks.  You two stay here, I’ll find my way up there.  Look for me, I’ll point her out if I see her.”

Olive looked at her skeptically.  “What happened to sticking together?”

“Unless those wings are real, good luck making it back down to the floor before losing her again in the crowd,” Lydia said.

Olive nodded.  “Go, we’ll watch for you,” Meena said.

Lydia gave them a thumbs up and pushed her way through the crowd.



Ruby just finished touching up her makeup when the bartender came into the coatroom.  She dropped her lipstick and mirror back into her purse, smacking her lips.  “What have you got for me?”

“Oh, I’ve got something for you,” the bartender said, loosening his collar.

Her eyes narrowed as they gazed down at the noticeable bulge in his pants.

“Yeah,” he said, winking at her.

“You have to deliver first,” she said.  Normally, she wouldn’t have been all that opposed.  She’d hooked up in worse places, and he was pretty hot, but she had more important things to do.

“Oh, I already delivered,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

Ruby pushed him back.  “What do you mean?”

“I gave you the note,” he said, trying to kiss her again.

“And now I need another.”

“I only had the one.  I gave it to you, the hottest chick here.”

Ruby forced herself to ignore the flattery for the moment.  “Wait, what are you talking about, you only had one?”

“Someone gave me a note, told me to give it a hot girl.  And I chose you.”  He pressed his lips over hers, and she roughly shoved him off.  “Hey, what’s the deal?”

“Who?  Who gave you the note?”

He shrugged.  “Hell if I know.  It’s Halloween.  Everyone’s wearing a fucking costume.”

“What costume?!” she asked, grabbing his shirt.

“Uh, I have no idea.”  She let go of his shirt, pushing him back.  “This isn’t going to happen, is it?” he asked.

“No.  No it is not.”

“Fuckin’ tease,” he muttered as he turned and left her alone in the coatroom.



Lydia would have loved to explore the mansion in greater detail, but she didn’t want to leave Meena and Olive waiting.  She moved quickly, jogging lightly when there wasn’t anyone around, slowing to a brisk walk whenever she saw anyone else.  She didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention.  The place was like a maze, every path she thought would take her to where she thought the balcony was ended up turning and leading her farther away.  Finally, she felt like she was where she wanted to be.  There was a lone door at the end of the hall on the left that had too lead out to the balcony.  She could hear the faint thrum of the music through the thick walls.  She started to jog again when she felt a sharp pinch in her butt.  She looked back, her eyes widening as she a dart sticking out of her left cheek through her short dress.  Lydia reached back and pulled it out, staring in surprise at the length of the needle that had pierced her, but she couldn’t feel a thing as she pulled it out.  A cool numbness was quickly spreading through her body, her legs wobbly beneath her.  She felt good, actually, light.  Peaceful.  Sleepy.

That feeling was momentarily shattered as she looked back over her shoulder where the dart had come from.  Her glands pumped adrenaline through her blood, combatting the tranquilizing quickly compromising her system.  She had to warn Meena and the others.

She turned and started back down the hall, forcing her shaky legs to move, one in front of the other.  The door looked so much farther away than it had a minute ago; it could have been miles away, a single point fixed in the distance in a sea of haze resulting from her tunnel vision.  But she forced herself to run.

The redhead stumbled just as she reached the door, catching the knob as she fell.  The door opened a crack, and the blare of the music was the wake up she needed to push herself up to her hands and knees.  She struggled to get out of the way of the door so she could open it, and she crawled through.  She could see the chandeliers hanging in the ballroom over the railing.  Meena and Olive would be watching for her.  All she had to do was pull herself to the railing, and she could get their attention, warn them.

She couldn’t keep her head up as she wormed her way across the floor towards the railing.  Her fingers reached out, grasping at the low wall separating her from the part below.  They climbed higher, desperately feeling for the top.

The tip of her middle finger found its way over the lip.  It stayed there for a second, curled over the edge, holding on, before it fell.  Lydia slumped on the floor before the railing, unconscious.

A silent figure crouched in the door, out of sight of Meena and Olive below who were looking up at the balcony, waiting for Lydia.  Two hands reached out and grabbed Lydia’s ankles, pulling the girl back out into the hall.  Her dress rode up as her prone form was dragged along, exposing her pink panties.  The girl dressed as “Danger Prone Daphne” was pulled into another room and rolled onto her back.  Her abductor made quick work of her, folding her into a ball and binding her tightly with thin white ropes.  Her green scarf was removed and retied, this time pulled tightly between her lips to keep her quiet when she woke up.  She was then lifted up and dropped into a trunk just barely big enough to accommodate the tightly bound damsel.  The trunk was slammed shut and locked.



Lilly had finally given up, her hands bruised from pounding on the heavy wooden door, her voice hoarse from screaming for help.  She sat in one of the heavy leather armchairs, flipping through a book.  She never was much of a reader, but there wasn’t much else to do.  She couldn’t believe Blaine had tricked her locked her in there like that.  Had she just wanted to get Lilly out of the way?  Had the idea about Lydia being in on the game been a ruse, and it was really Blaine who was playing the games?

She heard a creak.  The nurse sat up, looking around, not seeing anything.  She dropped the book and made her way back to the door.  “Hello?” she called.  “Can anyone hear me?  I’m stuck in here!”  She pressed her ear against the door, listening intently.

She didn’t see the bookshelf move behind her, and the faint thrum of the music through the door covered the faint rumble as a secret door slid open.

“Anybody!  Help!” she cried, banging the heel of her hand against the door.  “Please!”  Lilly let out a frustrated sigh and stepped back, preparing to try and ram the door with her shoulder.  She stopped, seeing the open secret passage.  “What the hell?”

She looked around, but didn’t see anyone.  “Hello?” she called again, her voice quieter, a part of her not really wanting anyone to answer.  She crept towards the passage.  It was dark, the light from the library only illuminating a few feet in of old, worn stone.  The nurse took a few steps in, squinting into the gloom, her arms held out in front of her, feeling ahead blindly as she made her way into the darkness.

Something coarse was thrown over her arms.  She screamed, trying to pull back, but a dark shape moved around her, pulling whatever it was up and over her arms.  She flailed her arms, now trapped in thick, rough sleeves, as the thing was pulled over her head.  She struggled and screamed as her arms were pulled across her body and strapped behind her.  Her short skirt rode up as a wide strap was passed between her legs, her tiny thong doing very little to protect her from the rough material as it was yanked up, pressing into her, and locked in place.  She kept screaming until a rubber ball was forced into her mouth.  A leather pad pressed painfully over her lips further muffled her screams, held in place by a myriad of straps going around and over her head and under her chin.

It took less than a minute for the nurse to go from being free to being trapped in a straitjacket and muzzled.  She whimpered as the light from the library disappeared when the secret door closed.  A hand grabbed her from behind and marched her through the dark, deeper into the passage.



Meena and Olive angrily rejected another pair of guys trying to dance with them, walking up behind the girls and grinding up on them while they watched for Lydia.

“Ugh.  Get lost,” Olive shouted.  The guys shrugged and moved on.  The fairy rolled her eyes and glanced again up at the balcony.  “Face it, your friend ditched us.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Meena insisted.  She knew Lydia wouldn’t leave her like that, but she was starting to worry.

“Whatever.  It was a dumb plan anyways.  We’ve been all over this dance floor, and no Black Swan.”

“Fine.  Let’s go find her,” Meena said.

“Go find her yourself.”

“But, we should stick together.”

“Nah, I’m done.  This whole thing sucks.”

“What if something happened to her?” Meena asked.

“She’s your friend.  Or are you just scared to go by yourself?”  Olive reached into Meena’s dress and found the pacifier, sticking it in her mouth.  “Is the wittle baby afwaid to go off by herself in da big scawy mansion?” she mocked.

Meena ripped the pacifier out of her mouth.  “You’re a real bitch, you know that?”

Olive just shrugged, and Meena stormed off.



Ruby had lured another of the catering staff into the coatroom.  The bartender who’d given her the note may have had good taste, but he was as dumb as a rock.  There were at least six of the original notes that had been passed out; it stood to reason that others on the staff might have been in on it too.  She could only hope that the tall blond server had a better memory than the bartender.

The redheaded bombshell cleared her throat as she came in to find a pirate making out with a Ghostbuster already in the coatroom.  

“Get your own room,” the Ghostbuster said, glaring at the more attractive girl.

“Take your skank and beat it,” Ruby told the pirate.

“Seriously,” the Ghostbuster asked as the pirate grabbed her arm and they left.  “Bitch!” she yelled after Ruby.  Ruby rolled her eyes.

“Psst!”

Ruby turned towards the coat racks where the noise had come from.  “Excuse me?”

“In here,” the voice whispered.

Ruby looked around, and then pushed her way through the coats.  She waded through row after row of closely bunched coats.  She felt like she was going to pop out in Narnia or something at any moment.

“Where am I suppommph!” She was cut off as a damp cloth was pressed over her mouth and nose.  She tried to pull back, but the hand clamping the cloth over her face came from behind her, and she couldn’t break free.  She tried to bring her hands up, but they got tangled in the coats.  The more she tried to pull free, the more flustered she got, unwittingly sucking in more and more of the soporific fumes as she panicked.

The server she’d asked to meet her came into the coatroom.  “Yo.  Jessica Rabbit!” he called, looking around.  He couldn’t see the shuffling coats as she struggled.  He couldn’t hear her muffled cries for help as she heard a potential rescuer, so close, but yet so far away.

The server sighed, checking his watch.  He’d give her another few minutes.

Ruby struggled to keep her eyes open.  The hand keeping the drugged cloth over her mouth slowly eased her to the floor.  She could see his legs under the coats.  She tried screaming one last time, but the music drowned out her muffled bleating.

The server checked his watch again.  “Figured it was too good be true,” he said, and turned and left.  It was not his night to get lucky with a girl who looked like Jessica Rabbit in the coatroom.



Blaine’s lock picking skills complimented her hobby as a thief.  She was no Disney Princess, but it would have been tacky to come to a mansion to rob it dressed as Catwoman.  Plus, she could stash so much more stuff in the princess dress.

The note had come as a surprise; a pleasant one when she found it would give her an excuse to look around the mansion with justifiable reason.  The bound and gagged ballerina had been intriguing, for sure, but let the other girls deal with that, so long as it kept them out of her way.

She made her way to a wing of the mansion that had been locked.  Her real lock picking tools had made it all too easy, and she’d gone from room to room, stealing little knickknacks.  Her neck and wrists were laden down with pilfered jewelry.  Blaine preened in front of a mirror, trying on a diamond necklace.  It looked damn good.

The thief froze as she saw something in the mirror behind her.  She slowly turned around.  “This isn’t what it looks like.”  One of her hands crept into her purse, her fingers wrapping around her stun gun.  Her eyes widened as she saw who had caught her.  “Does this mean I win?”

“This isn’t what this looks like either,” the Black Swan said, walking into the bedroom.

Blaine dashed at her, bringing out the stun gun.  She wasn’t sure what kind of game the Black Swan was playing, but she didn’t intend to find out.  Blaine was normally very quick on her feet, but the dress hampered her movements, and the other girl moved every bit as gracefully as the ballerina she was dressed as.

Pearls scattered across the floor as the Black Swan grabbed the princess’ wrist.  She forced her to press her own stun gun up into her cleavage and pulled the trigger.

“Unf!” Blaine exclaimed as 200,000 volts of electricity coursed through her body.  

The ballerina lowered her to the ground and took the stun gun from her, kicking it aside.  Blaine tried to recover from the shock, but her hands were already being bound behind her back, her wrists to her opposite forearm.  

“What is this?” Blaine finally managed to ask.  The other woman responded by stuffing a balled up cloth into her mouth.  

“I’m not done yet,” the ballerina said as she tied another white cloth tightly over Blaine’s mouth, holding the stuffing in place.  She pulled the princess to her feet and forced her against one of the posts at the foot of the bed.

Blaine struggled, grunting into her gag, but she was helpless to prevent the other woman from tying her to the ornately carved wooden post, securing her legs and body, ensuring she couldn’t go anywhere.

“They do look good on you,” the ballerina said, tilting the helpless damsel’s chin up so she could see the stolen necklaces.  “Too bad you won’t keep them.”  She turned and locked Blaine alone in the room to struggle.



“Hey, have you seen a girl dressed as Daphne?  From Scooby Doo?”  Meena was asking everyone she saw as she searched the halls of the mansion.  Most ignored her completely, a few simply shaking their heads.

“Have you seen a Daphne?  Purple dress, green scarf, red hair?”

“Yeah, a little while ago.  She went in there,” a girl dressed as a witch with a mask said, pointing towards a door.

“Thanks,” Meena said, moving on.  She opened the door, calling out for Lydia.

The witch followed her, slipping out of her robes as she walked.  She dropped the hat and took off the mask, revealing the Black Swan costume beneath.

“Lydia?” Meena called again.  Why would Lydia been in a bedroom?

She jumped as she heard the door slam behind her, and the loud click of a lock.  “You!” she cried in surprise, seeing the Black Swan standing in front of the door.

“Blue Ivy.  It’s cute.”  She reached down her top and pulled out a white cloth.  

“Are you, Colby Black?” Meena asked, backing away as the Black Swan advanced on her.

The ballerina didn’t answer, only smiling as she pulled out a small amber bottle, uncapping it and pouring it onto the cloth.

“Lydia?” Meena asked, swallowing nervously.

“Was that one Daphne or the nurse?” the ballerina asked.

Meena knew she should probably scream, call for help, but her voice caught in her throat.

“There’s only two left, I can take my time now.”

Meena backed into the bed, falling backwards onto it.  She finally found her voice to scream, but the other girl had already pounced on her, pressing the chloroform soaked rag over her mouth and nose.

“MMMMPH!”

“Don’t breath too much now,” the ballerina chided, pinning the other girl under her, holding her arms to her side.  She stroked her hair as she kept the drugged cloth over her mouth.  “Just enough to make you nice and pliable.”

“Mmmm,” Meena moaned weakly, her deep brown eyes rolling back.

The Black Swan snapped her fingers, pulling the pad away, letting the girl breath fresh air.  “No no, not yet.  There will be plenty of time for sleep later.  I want you awake.”

“Whuh, why- why are you doing this?” Meena managed to ask, her words slurring, her eyes struggling to focus.

“Maybe just a little more,” the ballerina said, pushing the cloth back over the drugged girl’s mouth, making her breath in more of the soporific fumes.  She slapped Meena’s cheeks lightly when she pulled the cloth away, bringing her around before she slipped off to dreamland.  Meena blinked sleepily, her mouth lolling open, but she couldn’t form intelligible words, only low moans.  The ballerina searched her, finding the pacifier.  “I love it when they bring their own gags,” she said, popping it into the girl’s open mouth.  

Meena was too weak to move when her captor got up off her.  She could only watch helplessly as the ballerina went to a desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a roll of clear tape.  She barely managed to turn her head to the side, letting the pacifier fall from her lips.

“Can’t have that,” the woman said, pushing it back into her mouth and wrapping the tape around her head, holding it in place.  Meena could only sob quietly as her captor set her up and started wrapping the tape around her body.  She started around her shoulders, winding slowly down, using the whole roll by the time she reached the damsel’s ankles, leaving her mummified in a clear cocoon, her blue dress and ivy leaves pressed and displayed, beneath the glossy sheen.

“One more to go,” the woman said as she positioned Meena in the center of the bed.  The girl squirmed a little in her cocoon and moaned, but even if she wasn’t still weakened from the chloroform, she wasn’t going anywhere.



Olive had to pee.  Badly.  She was wandering around, looking for a bathroom, finding long line after long line.

She tried not to fidget and dance as the current line she was in failed to move.  A girl in a maid costume at the front of the line banged on the bathroom door.  “Come on, hurry it up,” she yelled, trying the handle.

The fairy watched anxiously for a response.  After nothing happened, she turned, hoping to find another bathroom before the rest of this line gave up too.  Olive ducked out of the main floor, heading upstairs.  All the other girls that had gotten notes were wandering around the mansion, why shouldn’t she?

Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen any of them in awhile.  It was a big party, but still, their little group had some of the better costumes, she would have noticed them about.

Curiosity would have to wait.  If she didn’t find a bathroom soon, she was going to end up taking a piss in a potted plant.

Finally, she found a bathroom.  She barely got the top seat up in time, but she made it, sighing in relief.

The sound of the door opening again startled her.  “Occupied!” she cried out.

“Oh, sorry,” a voice apologized, and the door shut again.  She leaned forward, trying to look around the corner of the massive bathroom.  She could see the door in the mirror; the bathroom was empty.

She finished and got up, checking out the lavish bathroom in the mirror as she washed her hands.  “Man, rich people,” she said to herself, looking down at the elegant bathroom fixtures.  They probably cost more than her car.

“Yeah, rich people.”

Olive’s head snapped up as she heard the voice.  Her eyes widened and she let out a startled cry as she saw the Black Swan standing behind her in the mirror.

A thin smile crossed the ballerina’s face as she grabbed the fairy from behind in a chokehold.  Olive’s cry was stifled in her throat, and she grabbed at the arm around her throat, trying to pull her off.

Olive watched her face turn redder and redder in the mirror, her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.

“There’s nothing money can’t buy, Tinkerbell,” the ballerina said as Olive’s struggles got weaker.  “You’re going to fetch an excellent price.”

Olive made one last desperate attempt to free herself as she heard this, but it only sapped the remaining oxygen in her blood faster.  Her face was purple as she went limp in the Black Swan’s arms.



Colby Black stood in the center of the stage.  It was a special room, built beneath the mansion, only accessible by secret passages.  It really only got much use once a year, for a special, even more exclusive Halloween party.

“Ladies and gentleman,” Colby said, holding up her hands.  She was still in her Black Swan costume.  It went well with what most of the other guests were wearing; suits and evening dresses.  Everyone wore masks save for the hostess.  “I present to you, this year’s treats.”

The curtain opened behind her, and she stepped aside to let her guests get a clear view of the items on display.

“As usual, I will introduce all of tonight’s pieces before we start the bidding.  First up, we have Daphne Blake.  You loved her getting tied up and gagged as a cartoon; you’ll love her even more in the flesh.  And yes, she’s a real redhead.”

Lydia blinked as she stared out into the crowd, and they stared back, hungrily.  She’d been retied to a chair, still gagged with her green scarf.

“Next up we have the lovely Princess Belle.  She’s just looking for her Beast to take her home.  Fair warning, she’s proven herself to be quite the lock pick, so make sure you keep her on a short leash.”

Blaine was chained to a metal post, excessively so to the point that her yellow dress was barely visible under the layers of metal, heavy padlocks hanging all over her as if to mock her.  An iron muzzle was fastened around her mouth and locked in place.

“And we have a very naughty nurse who’s finally found herself on the right side of a straitjacket,” Colby continued.

Lilly was still wrapped in the tight canvas straitjacket and panel gagged.  Padded cuffs around her ankles were tethered to the floor, keeping her from trying to run.

“She may not be worth as much as the real Blue Ivy Carter, but I’m sure she’s much more fun.”

Meena squirmed in her clear tape cocoon, now also taped to another post to keep her still, crying and moaning into her pacifier still taped in her mouth.

“And this sassy fairy needs a good home.  Don’t worry, her wings have already been clipped.”

Olive hung suspended from the ceiling in a brutally tight rope hogtie.  She swung gently as she struggled, grunting and moaning into the thick knotted cleave gag tied in her mouth.

“And we’ve saved the best for last.  Yes, that’s two redheads this year, her hair color is all natural, just like those fantastic tits of hers.  Ladies and gentleman, Jessica Rabbit!”

Ruby looked up at the crowd, glaring daggers, drool spilling out from behind the giant red ballgag wedged between her full lips.  Her arms were trapped behind in a black leather armbinder and suspended from the ceiling, forcing her to bend over in a strappado.  Her breasts were almost spilling from dress in this position.  Her ankles were strapped to a spreader bar and anchored to the stage, leaving her with little options other than glare and drool and shake her tits.

“Shall we start the bidding?”