Elysium: The Chair

"Blue Rhythm Records," Mary finished. "I thought he looked familiar. I remember when his father used to come here not so long ago. Your friend is a handsome one."

"Yeah, do me a favor and don't remind him," I scoffed. "Guy's got a head big enough to have its own gravity."

"And he pulled you boys here, I suppose?"

"Yep. But I can't say I'm disappointed."

I turned to face Mary. Talking to her was exciting and new, but felt like chatting with an old friend.

"How do you pull this off?" I asked her. "I mean you took a hotel and turned it into a nightclub, a rave party, a beach resort... and everything else."

"Rooms are still open for reservation," she said. "Technically it's still a hotel. And a beach resort in the summer. We just added a little spice to the place. People need somewhere to let themselves go, and have the comfort of knowing they can stay the night. We can't accommodate everyone that visits, but we still do our part."

"That was a pretty good idea," I said nodding. "My friends and I got rooms downstairs. But, I mean, how do you hold it all together?"

"We have quite the checkbook, Tate," she said blowing a plume of smoke over her shoulder from her pursed bottom lip. "And I'm in bed with the right people."

I smiled.

"Maybe local authorities like that we say... keep the guns off the street," Mary explained. "If people are here, they're not out there doing the same things in public. That could be a tiny plus."

I swirled the whiskey in my glass and took a sip. I couldn't even feel the burn now. Looking out at the tables, I spotted Freddie with his arm around one woman, while another was sitting in Andy's lap. Even Michael seemed to be enjoying himself. It was hard to believe that I was having drinks with the key architect of our great time. I thought about our conversation earlier.

"What about all the rumors?" I asked.

Mary blinked. "I thought that's what we were talking about? The notoriety."

"I'm talking about... the uh, suites?"

I saw something change in her eyes.

"What about the suites?" Her glossy lips closed on the butt of her cigarette, her unblinking eyes watching me closely.

I dared to lean closer. "Well, people say there's like, special rooms or something, different from the lower floors. Rooms that have to be reserved through you, and you only."

"Is that what they say?"

I prodded further. "Supposedly, you can get whatever you want, do whatever you want in the suites."

"Now that does sound intriguing." Mary sipped her martini. "What would you do with such an opportunity, Tate?"

I studied her. It seemed almost like she meant to make me an offer. She certainly hadn't denied the rumors. I shook my head.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Just sounds like a fantasy to me. Too good to be true, you know?"

Mary uncrossed her legs and leaned so close that I could taste the sweetness of her perfume. She placed a hand on my thigh. It was like being touched by a goddess.

"I know exactly what you mean." Her caramel smooth voice was hushed and slow, but excited. "That, Tate, is why I make it my business to make fantasies come true."

I stared at her. Something stirred inside of me. Was it fear? Uncertainty? Was I nervous? Or was I glad?

"So... it is true," I said. "You're like a genie?"

Mary laughed her melodic laugh.

"I've never thought about it like that," she said, still chuckling. "But yes, I suppose I have a knack for giving people what they want most."

I blinked. "Well... what all can you do?"

"What is it you want?" She asked in kind.

There it was again. She wanted me to make a request. I could almost see it there, peeking out from the darkness of her eyes. Behind my own swirled a glowing blue fog, where a body rolled and swayed.

"So you could do anything?" I asked the question as though I were skeptical.

Mary stared at me quietly. A pair of blue eyes haunted my mind. I started to really wonder. Could it be that simple? I would give anything for that feeling again, and more.

"Give me her. The girl that performed at stage three."

She blinked at me and grinned. "Delilah?"

"Is that too much?"

Mary laughed and flicked her ashes. "It's not the usual request. You must have been quite taken with her."

I sighed. "I feel like an idiot."

"Not at all," Mary said. "Lilah has a way with people, that's for sure."

"I've never seen anyone like her. The way she moves is unreal. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. She's like a drug."

Mary smiled. "Some of our people have taken to calling her Dollface. It fits her well I think."

"Yeah, it does." Lilah's sad innocent face flashed in my mind. I recalled her delicate eyelids that opened so slowly, as if careful not to let tears slide out. Great blue discs stared back, dreamy but focused on a world I couldn't see.

"She's... perfect. Like you built a beautiful woman in a lab somewhere. And the way she dances...."

Mary nodded. "A marionette. Whatever master pulls her strings is divine indeed."

The booze must have gotten to my head. My mind was a fog. Hues of blue and pink flashed behind my eyes. I blinked hard, but she crept forth like a silent predator. Heavy breasts hung beneath her. Large spongy nipples brushed the stage. There was an ache in my body. I wanted to grab her and crush her in my arms, too feel her against me.

Those big mesmerizing eyes gazed back at me....

"C-can you do it?" I asked.

Mary shrugged. "She hasn't done private shows in quite a long while."

"I don't want just a show."

"Honey, you don't understand," Mary said. "Everything Lilah does is a show."

She snubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray. For a minute, she stared out into the sea of tables tapping her long nails on the bar. I licked my dry lips, watching her and awaiting her answer. Finally, she leveled a serious gaze at me.

"Maybe I can pull her strings," Mary said. "I'm warning you though. Suites are costly, and Lilah won't be cheap either."

"It's not a problem," I said quickly. "I was in a crash not long ago. Wound up with a decent settlement."

Mary sipped her martini. Her eyes seemed cold but burned at the same time. She flashed me yet another perfect smile.

"Before you leave tomorrow, come see me at my office. Ask for Mandy at the bar downstairs. She'll be expecting you. We'll make the arrangements.

****

The Chair

****

What the hell was I doing?

It had been weeks since our night at The Ballroom and I still hadn't found the answer. There had been plenty of time to turn back. Not a day went by that I didn't think of Elysium. I still couldn't believe I was standing in that room.

My bag still lay on the huge bed with satin sheets. I hadn't touched it. Standing alone near the finely crafted footboard, I was unsure of what to do. The guy had shown me in and told me to wait. Would Lilah come walking through the door?

I rubbed my shaking hands together and took a breath. It felt like my inside were frozen. I'd never done anything like this in my life. Mary had the money. I'd paid for what was to come. For sex. I couldn't stem the tide of shame that ebbed inside of me. I could call it what I wanted, but I was paying for sex like some pitiful lonely guy.

It wasn't that simple though. I had to do it. Her spell was too intoxicating and I needed release. Several times I'd laughed at how fucking ridiculous that was, but it was no less true. It was like Lilah had mind fucked me but not let me climax. I'd seen her curves in the ink I etched into people's arms at work. Her eyes stared back from every mirror like a ghost. Her body writhed behind my eyelids when I closed them at night.

I glanced around the luxurious room and wondered how it would go. It certainly didn't seem like a room I would find Lilah in. It had a classical kind of feel to it, like the room had been pulled from the previous century. Aside from that, it didn't even look like a suite. Was I supposed to undress? No, maybe not. I wanted that to happen with Lilah. Besides, I didn't want that Simon guy to come back and see me butt naked on the bed. Or would it be Lilah?

I ran my hand through my hair and tugged at the strands between my fingers. Just thinking about her body being close to mine was making my heart turn flips. I had to be kidding myself. There was no way I had the endurance for a sex vixen like Lilah. What the hell was wrong with me? I'd never been like this for any girl! I felt like an addict without a fix.

Scanning the room again, I saw a decanter on a table against the wall. Fumbling for the tumbler I poured myself a generous amount of the liquor. I could smell the stuff even before I raised the glass to my lips. Two sips was enough to make me cringe. I felt its fiery trail as it hit my stomach like a bomb. I took another draw of the alcohol then paced the room.

Already my skin had grown warm but the nervous chill hadn't melted away. Still, I breathed a little easier. I squeezed my eyes shut and let my mind go blank. No guilt, no worry, no nerves....

But her face was still there. Big eyes and great round nipples stared back at me.

I shook my head and looked over at the bed. I needed to freshen up. For some reason, I couldn't see my bag. My eyes wouldn't focus. I saw the satin sheets, but they slid away when I tried to stare at them.

I took a step forward and nearly fell to one side like the world had shifted beneath me. I blinked but my vision grew foggier. I opened my mouth to speak, to say anything, and managed only a gasp. Too heavy. I was too heavy.

My legs folded and the world flew away. It only felt better when my eyes closed.

****

My eyes opened but I could not see. Darkness was everywhere. I was sitting down, that much I knew. Slowly, my brain tried to pull everything together.

When I tried to move my arms, I realized something was wrong. I pulled, but my wrists were tied behind the chair.

Panic seized me. Looking around frantically to no avail in the dark, my mind began to spin like a top. My chest heaved as my breathing became erratic. I tried to extend my legs but found that my ankles were tied as well.

I jerked forcefully, trying to move the chair. It didn't budge the slightest bit.

"Shit!" I gasped. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

I bucked wildly in the chair. I could raise my hips to an extent, and my knees were able to move side to side. But I was strapped in. Twisting my wrists, I could feel the tight leather on my skin. When I squirmed in the chair, I realized two things. The chair itself was metallic, and was cold where it had been absent the warmth of my body. I noticed this because I was completely naked.

"Oh, fuck."

The words hissed across my trembling lips. My flaccid cock rested between my bare hairy thighs. I was stunned. What the fuck was going on? I tried to recall what had happened in the room. I was in the suite. Was it the drink?

"Hello!" I screamed.

My voice didn't carry far, but echoed loudly. I must have been in a small room. There wasn't the smallest shred of light. Dread was wrapping its cold fingers around my neck. I was losing it. I could hardly breath. I jerked one more time with all the might I had. It was useless.

I tried to calm down. Taking steady breaths, I let my naked body relax. I started to sift through my thoughts, the memories of my conversation with Mary, and the rumors my friends had talked about. Something Freddie had said so many weeks ago came to mind.

He had mentioned people disappearing at Elysium.

"Let me out!" I screamed to no one.

Fear and reality began to set in. I started to honestly wonder if I would die soon. I couldn't believe it was happening, or how stupid I had been.

A sound boomed, two quick and heavy beats of a drum. I froze.

Then came three more drumbeats, decreasing in tone.

Light and sound exploded all around me. There was a humming bass beat, throbbing like some warped moaning alarm. The heavy drum pounded slow and hard beneath it. I heard a scratchy whine, like screen static, synthesized and laid atop the throbbing baseline like some hellish remix.

Colored lights swarmed the room, rich purples and glowing pinks. Green lasers flickered and panned about with mechanical precision. I could see the room I was in. Even with all the lights, much was still hidden in the darkness where their tendrils did not touch. I couldn't make out the exact origins of the lights, but I could see that the room was mostly bare, just four walls and my chair.

I was frozen in the metallic chair, marveling at the display of lights that flickered, swooped, and pulsed to the booming music. The throb of that bass was enough to rattle my head. I could feel the vibrations in my teeth. The music had a deep foreboding tone. It sounded like it was squeezed through the teeth of some giant groaning machine.

There was movement in the corner of my eye. My head snapped around. I could barely make anything out in the flickering gloom.

Lilah stepped into view.

She had walked around the chair from behind me. I couldn't see her face yet but I knew it was her. Several of the lights chased erratically after her pale form, never quite settling on her body. She stepped slowly in front of the chair, her back still turned to me. Lilah was taking the stage, I realized.

My heart sailed. Relief flashed in my head before fluttering away into nonexistence. I squinted, desperate for a better look at the phantom that had haunted my thoughts for so long. Sweetness surfaced on my taste buds. It was like another cherry had been tongued into my mouth.

The lighting settled in the room as the hushed voice moaned the first verse of the deafening song. In the eerie purple and pink glow, Lilah twisted gently to the tune. Black curls bounced down her shoulders. I traced the smooth crevice of her back from her shoulder blades to the flare of her hips. Her every curve glared with color in the neon lights.

The trance had already set in. I had planned to talk to her, flirt a little maybe. I was hardly able to blink as the music brought her to life.

With every pulse of the bass tone, Lilah's round ass swung like a pendulum, her long legs twisting like snakes on tall platform heels. Her movements flowed like hot caramel. The revealing outfit and fishnet stockings she wore burned a bright green or yellow under a blacklight glow. The bands around her uppermost thigh appeared so snug that they caused her ass cheeks to bulge. From where I sat, it looked like Lilah was wearing a neon one piece bikini of some kind. It clung to her ass and wound around her sides, so tightly it looked painted on.

My cock was stirring, nodding and growing to the beat of Lilah's music. Just looking at that ghost white body in its skimpy neon adornments awoke an ache deep inside of me. Reaching for the unseen heavens with both hands joined over her head, Lilah spun slowly, propelled my her snaking abs and thrusting hips. When at last she faced me, her eyes were closed. I saw only her glowing yellow lids.

My dick jumped and I had to shift in my seat when I saw her breasts. The things were larger and more perfectly round than any I'd ever seen in my life, but wobbled and swayed beneath the tight bikini as she danced. My knees opened and closed as I struggled to gain control of myself. I pulled against the leather restraints on my wrists, not in any conscious attempt of escape, but rather straining just as my hard shaft was between my thighs.

All at once, strobes fired from the corner of the room as the bass and drums fell away. A freaky snapping of guitar filled the air. Lilah's big eyes flew open. Those haunting blue discs were aimed directly at me, piercing through me and swallowing me further into her spell. The voice was now high pitched, creepily mocking that of a child's.

"Then I got my wings and... I never even knew it... when I was a worm... thought I couldn't get through it...."

Oh, those candy apple lips! They pursed and puckered seductively as Lilah mouthed the lyrics of the song. Her eyes glowed forth from beyond the blinding flashes of the strobes. Green fingernails pricked and pinched her flesh in places as she caressed the gentle slope of her stomach to the flat of her crotch.

I was zombified. My mouth hung open, yearning for a taste. My eyes burned but I could not blink and miss even a split second of the show before me. All that moved was my throbbing cock, which bobbed below in plain view. I'd seen sultry strippers and drop dead dancing vixens in clubs before. None compared to the glowing woman writhing before me.

The music returned to its pulsing bass groan. Lilah stepped closer. It was almost too much to handle seeing her body come toward mine in the pink and purple blacklight glow. I could see the points of her nipples under her neon bikini. Somehow, the fabric stayed glued to the swells of her flesh without any straps or strings.

Lilah reached up with one hand, then another. Suddenly, her body lifted gently into the air. She was floating before my eyes, twisting slowly like a wisp of smoke.

How the hell was she doing that? I searched the darkness overhead and found my answer wrapped around her pale arms.

Chains!

I hadn't seen them before. Black chains dangled from the ceiling. They were everywhere. Lilah held herself suspended in the air right in front of me with such ease. There wasn't the slightest sign of struggle on her lovely face, yet her abdomen rolled and twirled while her closed legs gently fanned the air like the tail of a mermaid.

Her bright blue eyes looked down on me. Her curled lashes fanned the air slowly. The woman floated like an angel, but eyed me like a devil. Lilah lifted her legs up before her, her knees bent while her pelvis rocked and twisted. I shuddered when her knees split and her thighs spread wide. I could see her tight mound beneath the bikini in the glowing blacklight.

My fists clenched as I watched. My cock seemed to pulse with the music. I could feel my heart pounding almost painfully in my chest. I didn't care about my nudity. I wished I could rip free of my restraints and stroke myself to Lilah's dance. I wanted to show her how hard I was, how much I wanted her. I worried how much longer she would keep me restrained.

Suddenly, the song changed and there was the most hideous grinding sound, like the squalling of tires and the shredding of metal on blacktop. It was the interlude to the new song. The beat slammed into gear, yet another bass driven thrumming jam.

Lilah's platform heels came down hard in time with the beat, slamming into place on the armrests of the chair. She was standing above me, twisting and snapping her ass from side to side. I was shocked at the impossible way she balanced herself on the small metal arms of the chair.

Her milky smooth legs were right in front of me. The fishnet glared brightly over her flesh. Looking up, my breath was stolen by the luscious sight of her crotch just above my head. I could even see the plump bottoms of her ass cheeks jiggle as her body snapped and swayed to every violent pounding of the drums. I writhed in my chair. I felt like I had a gaping hole inside of me, a craving that so badly needed sating. Sweat had formed across my brow.

Lilah squatted. She held her back straight and flipped her black curls over her head. I groaned loudly, but I couldn't even hear myself. I could only watch while she shook her huge round breasts. They bounced from side to side. I didn't try to understand how that was possible in such a tight bikini.

Until she was tearing it away.

I blinked against the lasers and the brilliant purplish glow. Lilah's green nails dug through the glowing material and pulled it away from her flesh in long strands. A piece snapped away and she flung it aside.

"... make us feel so hollow... we love... in vain, narcissistic and so shal-low...."