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artoflinguist · 12 days ago

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Haunted House

I wrote this last year but never posted it, so today seems like a good time for it. James belongs to @starliight-musings.

Content: Adult men flirting, some knife play. Not quite NSFW, but suggestive.

Word count: 1223

"What do you think?" Henry asked, looking at the haunted house and the line outside. "Wanna try?"

James gave him a skeptical look, which made Henry decide that yes, they should go inside.

They had considered staying in for Halloween, but when the doorbell rang at James's place and they opened it to see a bunch of costumed children, plans changed. Instead of a night on the couch, they had gone to a restaurant, and then wandered the streets for a while. When they passed a seller, Henry had bought them some last-minute costumes - a flimsy silver halo for James and a pair of devil's horns for himself.

"Who knows?" he whispered in James's ear as they stood in line. "Maybe they find a way to scare the scary doctor."

James huffed a breath, and pushed Henry forward as the line moved. "Or maybe you'll be the scared one," he said.

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Henry said as they reached the door, and paused so he could pay. "Don't you know, fear is an excellent aphrodisiac?" He took James's hand as they walked inside, standing with a small group, waiting for the tour to start.

It was a good thing it was dark, or Henry would've been a little embarrassed about people seeing him getting excited by this. They walked through a cramped, smoke-filled hall, with actors sometimes grabbing at them through hidden slits in the walls.

"I need a volunteer," their guide said, and a young woman stepped forward. The guide opened a door and immediately hands grabbed the girl and pulled her inside, the rest of the group following. It was a trial, although the setting was very old-fashioned one. Henry was feeling vaguely jealous at the girl as she was sentenced for being a witch, and then brought in chain to the next room, where there was a display of tortures, complete with actors, and the "witch" was tied to a pole, which seemed like a strange punishment for a witch.

"What do you think?" he asked James as they watched a man in a body-shaped cage, hanging from the ceiling.

James nodded appreciatively. "I want one," he said, and Henry laughed. Maybe he should get James one of those for Christmas.

Another dark, cramped hall, another call for a volunteer. This time it was someone who had to shoot a paper cutout of a werewolf for them to pass. Henry groaned against James's shoulder as the guy missed his third shot. Pathetic.

Henry wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but James seemed stressed. "You okay?" he murmured as they entered another cramped hall.

"I'm fine," James grumbled, and Henry gave his hand a squeeze, but didn't say anything more.

"I need another volunteer," the host said, looking over the crowd. "How about you, sir? An angel down here in the darkness?"

Henry could feel James's hand tense, and took a step forward. "How about a devil instead?" he offered, and the host smiled at him and let him enter first.

"There you are," a man in a white doctor's coat said, waving him closer. Interesting. "Did you think you could run away from me? Not such a fascinating subject as yourself." He shook his head and pushed Henry into a chair and tied his hands down with belts attached to the armrests. "I will enjoy making you scream," he said, and pulled a curtain closed, hiding them from the crowd.

The host started telling the story of a mad scientist and the horrible experiments he did on his subjects, while the actor playing the doctor showed Henry his array of plastic knives, silently asking if he was okay with the big knife. Henry shrugged and nodded. Not a creative choice, but fine.

As the host ended her story, the Mad Scientist flipped a switch, and a light turned on, projecting their shadows onto the curtain. He moved his knife as if to cut Henry, and pushed a button to play a scream. That wouldn't do.

Henry twisted in the chair. "No, no, please," he said, gasping dramatically. It didn't take long for the actor to grin and play along.

"Oh, my dear little victim," he said theatrically. "I do love it when you plead so prettily for me." He raised the knife again.

Henry whimpered, imagined it was James standing there, with his scalpel instead of that stupid plastic knife. "Please, let, let me go," he said.

The actor chuckled. "But I like it more when you scream." He moved the knife down Henry's torso and Henry cried out, breathing heavily as the actor put the knife away. He but a hand on Henry's chest as if to reach inside, and Henry wiggled and moaned, playing it up, and wondered if James was enjoying this as much as he was.

"Oh, I like you," the actor said, stroking a hand over Henry's hair. "Maybe I should keep you for a while. It would be such a waste if you died so soon."

"Wait, what are you-" came the host's voice from the other side, and then the curtain was torn open, James standing there, a furious look on his face, his eyes dark. Oh, yes, Henry thought. That was exactly what he needed to make this better.

James took one look at the plastic tools and dismissed them, instead taking out the penknife he always brought. He tore open Henry's shirt and used the knife to cut his undershirt. The knife was flat against Henry's skin and they were both breathing heavily.

"Now what?" Henry murmured, a challenging glint in his eyes. The actor finally seemed to get over his shock and pulled the curtain, the host trying to usher the crowd to the next room. James pushed the knife down harder, trailing it down Henry's chest, not quite breaking the skin, but leaving a red line.

"Please," Henry whispered, not sounding as frightened as he'd meant to. He was sure security would be called and they would be thrown out any moment, and he wanted to make the most of it.

James moved the knife to the side of his waist and made a shallow cut, letting the blood come to the surface. He swiped a thumb over it and brought it to Henry's mouth, making him lick it clean.

"Please," he said again, his hips bucking off the chair, but James pushed him back down.

"Not yet," he said, knife trailing down Henry's cheek. "Not until I say so."

*

James didn't say so before security came. They apologized insincerely, and got a cab, in a hurry to get home. Henry could barely keep his hands off James. He liked this game. Maybe they could play it again, in James's basement.

The thought was probably insane, but then, after staying together after James pointed a gun at him, and then seeing the dead body hanging from the ceiling in the basement, it was far from the craziest thing he'd done. At least, it wasn't at the top of the list. Probably. James pulled at his hair, and Henry moaned, earning them an annoyed look from the driver that they both ignored.

When they got in the door, Henry hesitated. "Upstairs or downstairs?" he asked.

James pushed him to the floor. "How about right here," he said.

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artoflinguist · 6 months ago

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