Darknet Game

by Grant Hunter

  ‘Always useful.’

  ‘You also have nice friends, Ms. Quinns.’

  ‘Like Jen?’

  ‘For example. Did you know that I have known Jenny since she was born? Her mother, moreover. She used to work for me at the time.’ His eyes seemed to be shining when he said that.

  I shook my head.

  ‘What a beauty she was.’

  ‘Did they meet here?’ I asked.

  Dreamily, Jack Willow stared at a photograph on the wall. I followed his look. It was a black and white photograph of something that looked like a circus tent, only there were tables set everywhere. At the top dangled a woman in a transparent costume upside down on a trapeze.

  ‘My first club. At the time innovative, new, The place to be. I bought the circus and turned it into a night club.’

  I looked carefully at the trapeze and saw that there were more women on the pictures. The second with outstretched arms. In the right corner there was a large cage with a woman in it.

  ‘It was a marvellous time. And yes, that woman in the cage is your girlfriend’s mother. She looks like Jenny, don’t you think?’

  In the meantime I was relieved the waiter appeared. I nodded at him and he removed my plate.

  ‘All those women are married to actors. Some have world-famous children. Do you see that woman on the left that is hanging upside down?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Her son plays in Super Space Runners. Jessica herself gave performances in my night club. As I said, I know people, and more importantly: people know me.’

  Just when I wanted to ask if Jessica herself had played in a movie my mobile phone went off.

  ‘Sorry, Mr. Willow.’ My face blushed.

  ‘No problem. Feel free to check the message.’

  The waiter came back with a measured step and put a plate down. It foamed and there were grass stems and flowers on it. It looked more like a mystical garden than as something edible.

  ‘Ah, Richard has made a masterpiece, don’t you think?’

  I kept my mobile ‘phone out of sight and opened the message.

  ‘Nasty whore. You think you’re safe on that ship, but I’ll get you though. You can’t hide from me.’

  ‘What is wrong? You look like someone has died. Is that it?’

  Mr. Willow leant over and touched my hand. A tremble went through me and immediately I withdrew my hand.

  ‘It’s... it’s nothing.’

  ‘I know quite a lot about people, Ms. Quinns, and I can see you are lying. Maybe I can help you?’

  Without saying anything, I passed my cell phone to him, with the message still open. He looked at it carefully.

  ‘How long have you been threatened?’

  I shrugged.

  ‘I don’t let my employees be threatened. I can fix this problem.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Of course! Have you received more messages from this person?’

  Then it hit me that there was something very wrong.

  ‘I... I had another phone. But this is a new number. Well, the number I got from Joy. And this morning also a bunch of roses came and...’

  ‘Take a deep breath. Slow down darling. Are you saying this is a new number?’

  ‘Yes. It was from my landlady, she had this phone lying about.’

  ‘I’m going to look into it for you. And when you’re leaving, I’d like to send someone along. We have our security here. I take good care of my staff.’

  I giggled nervously, because it was not at all so funny.

  ‘What a mess.’

  ‘Ah come on. Nothing that a Willow cannot solve.’ He pointed with his fork as a sign I should eat the weird salad on my plate.

  ‘As soon as you’re done I want to show you something.’

  ‘Shouldn’t I start work now?’

  ‘Work is such a terrible word. We call it fun.’

  I smiled but didn’t bother to ask further.

  ‘You have an irresistible smile Ms. Quinns. I want to show you something below deck.’

  ‘Below? But…’

  ‘You seem surprised?’

  I nodded and chewed my last mouthful of foaming garden. It tasted like sweetened seaweed, brackish in a soft way. Only in the mousse, or in the foam, there was a strange taste that I could not recognise. Something with a nut taste, with a touch of peppermint.

  ‘I don’t let everyone below deck, but I feel that we have a special bond,’ Jack said. He stood up, grabbed my hand and pulled me up. The waiter just stood there, but Jack Willow handed him my mobile phone.

  ‘Our new employee is being harassed. See if we can find out where this message came from.’

  The waiter nodded and before I could protest Jack drew me along.

  22

  The staircase was illuminated by Christmas lights that lit up like stars in the dark corridor. They were at most eight to nine red upholstered stairs.

  I followed Willow like a sheep to the last floor and then found myself in a long corridor, the same as on the deck above it. Only it was very gaudy with wall mirrors and the low ceiling was covered with small lights. I passed a woman who gave me a friendly greeting; she was dressed as Snow White.

  ‘Everything to your liking, Roxy?’ he asked.

  ‘Couldn’t be better, Jack.’ The woman winked at me, than turned and disappeared towards the stairs.

  ‘Isn’t she pretty?’

  ‘Unusual fashion sense,’ I said.

  Jack laughed, than opened the first door to the right and immediately a pink light changed into blue. In the middle of the room there was a dance pole. Above, on the ceiling, hung a disco ball. Flashing rainbow colours.

  Jack Willow tapped on the wall and then a bed dropped down, which had been hidden behind a panel.

  ‘This is a room for private performances. You needed to know what is possible. Do you see that red curtain there and the stage?’

  ‘And?’

  ‘The day before yesterday, we carried out a performance of Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.’ He started laughing loudly. ‘The wolf was hilarious, you should have seen it.’

  I could imagine something, but I preferred not to, so I just smiled a little. Jack Willow continued unperturbed.

  ‘It was such a great success that Roxy is now our fairy-tale figure on demand. It’s a new trend.’

  ‘But Snow White?’

  ‘Yes, you can’t imagine how many men like their role as a dwarf. It’s sometimes like a movie set. Min is playing Lara Croft today and I saw Jiu Lin come along as Alice.’

  ‘Alice in Wonderland?’ I asked nervously.

  ‘No. Alice from that other horror movie. Evils United, never seen it?’

  ‘I’ve heard of it.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter anyway. What do you think of this room?’

  ‘It’s great.’

  He walked to a panel next door. ‘This is the most beautiful thing about this room: You think it’s a big mirror wall, right?’ Without waiting for a reply, he pressed a little button. The wall became transparent, so the room next to it was visible.

  ‘Wow.’

  ‘They can be filmed from all sides. Everything is allowed, nothing barred. We are available to provide all the possibilities in here.’

  He pointed to the mirror ceiling, the cameras in the corners and the translucent wall. ‘It’s just what they want. Net X is showbiz darling, and we provide it!’

  I was stunned an realized that if Mr. Willow had not shown me all these things, I would never have known that this ship was so high-tech.

  In the other room, now visible through the mirror, a chubby woman walked in. I recognized her from the party. She wore a skin tight, gold glitter trapeze outfit, giving her full figure extra emphasis. In her hand she held a rope and when she pulled it a naked man with rabbit ears on his head, came through the door.

  My mouth fell open out of amazement when I saw that the woman grabbed a bunch of carrots from a fruit basket in the corner of the room and threw them
on the ground for the man.

  ‘That’s one of our regular guests. As you can see he has very special requirements.’

  I put my hand in front of my mouth to hide my nervous smile.

  ‘Ah, Ms. Quinns thinks it’s funny? That’s good, we like fun and also love humour. It is an important ingredient for the Net X. Everything for the entertainment of our customers.’

  I couldn’t hold back a high laugh when the man crawled over the floor and used only his mouth to eat the carrots.

  ‘Another thing to remember. We never ask what and why our clients want to do things. We give pleasure, entertainment to the ultimate, and as realistic an experience as possible. Everything you see here remains within the web of Net X.’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘There will be people you might recognize. Politicians, pop artists, actors, artists and everyone of any significance. If they knew about this talk, it would be a problem for everyone. That is why we have an important rule here...’ He looked at me intensely and I felt a strange warmth flowing through my body. ‘... and therefore everyone here makes a commitment.’ He pointed at the cameras in the corners.

  Restlessly I shuffled back and forth. I didn’t want to be here and I didn’t want to hear what he was going to say. We had crossed a line and now I felt like it was too late to run away. I wondered where it had gone wrong and why I felt so helpless.

  ‘Err, sorry, Mr. Willow. I feel... I do not know... I do not think I err...’

  ‘Please call me Jack.’

  ‘OK, Jack.’

  ‘Why are you so tense? Here let me help you with that.’ Jack turned around. He somehow just got too close to me, but I couldn’t move. I just stood there, frozen.

  ‘Shush, say nothing... just look.’

  I followed his look to the other room.

  ‘We never do anything anyone doesn’t want,’ whispered Jack conspiratorially. ‘Everything we do is because we want to do it.’

  ‘Because we want to do it ...’ I whispered along and my knees trembled.

  Jack stood so close to me that I felt his warmth through my clothes. I didn’t show any emotion, but kept my eyes sharply focused on the spectacle in front of me. It was almost as if I was part of it myself. As if it was happening to me and I couldn’t resist.

  ‘Frank comes here especially because he knows he can live his wildest fantasies. Without anyone condemning him. Without his friends looking down on him. At last he can be himself. Absolute freedom. Isn’t that what we all want?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe!’

  ‘Just look at him. Doesn’t he look happy?’

  Jack leant even further towards me and whispered in my ear: ‘All your desires… I make them true, Naomi. I only ask you to do it willingly.’

  He put an arm around me and I didn’t resist. On the contrary. Fascinated I stared at the two figures behind the mirror and I just closed my eyes when Jack kissed me on my neck.

  ‘It’s not wrong if you want it,’ he whispered.

  ‘M-Jack, I...’

  ‘You’re excited, Naomi and I feel you want it. We condemn nothing here. Just let yourself go...’

  Everything about me felt weird, weak. My head was light and my neck tingled on the spot where Jack had kissed me. I didn’t know if I liked it or not.

  ‘What do you think of this private performance?’ Jack slid his hands slowly up, under my white dress. ‘They can’t see you, but you can see them. Do you like it?’

  ‘I... I don’t know,’ I stammered.

  ‘All your dreams. Let me make them come true. You just have to want it.’ Jack eagerly caressed my breasts with his hands. I stiffened as he touched my nipples.

  ‘Don’t do that,’ he whispered. ‘Relax. Here. This will help you.’ He took a pill from his chest pocket.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Your golden ticket.’

  I grabbed it and turned it around in my fingers.

  ‘Naomi, I only want you to do things that you really want. But this will help you. It’s brand new and very exclusive. Try it.’

  ‘I err...’

  ‘A thousand each, sweetheart. But for you this trip is free.’

  Before I had thought about it, I put the pill on my tongue and swallowed it.

  ‘Well done. Now wait a second and let the feeling come over you.’

  My head glowed with excitement and my whole body trembled with pleasure for what was to come.

  ‘What do you dream of?’ Jack whispered and I suddenly moaned loudly when he touched my nipple.

  ‘I want you to fuck me!’ I said. But it was like someone else spoke.

  He laughed. ‘Wonderful, Naomi. Just let go. You can do whatever you want. You decide and nobody needs to know about it.’

  I moaned deeply and rubbed my hips against Jacks body, as I felt the sensation of his tongue in my neck. I felt good. Especially when his hands touched me everywhere. Nobody needs to know, echoed it through my head.

  ‘You are ready, Naomi.’ He grabbed my hand and took me to the bed.

  ‘W-wait...’ I stammered. For a moment the haze was leaving my head. I wondered if it was my imagination that the camera lit up when I sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. Jack let go of my hand.

  ‘You will get everything from me that you want. Nobody needs to know about this.’

  ‘What about that camera above us?’

  ‘Forget that thing. It’s your shyness that makes you have a problem with being filmed. Not because you don’t want to, right?’

  I didn’t know what to say. He was right somehow, it wasn’t even that I didn’t want to; it was more like I was trapped in a transparent web from which I couldn’t escape. There - at that time - I should have stood up, run away and never have to come back. But instead I stayed on the bed. I could not take my eyes off the spectacle behind the mirror wall. I wanted to be happy and I wanted to feel loved. Nobody needs to know, I thought, and I laid back.

  Jack leant over me. ‘Good girl. How do you feel?’ Even before I replied, he slowly loosened the zipper of my dress.

  I wanted to say that I felt heavenly, as if there were no boundaries, and that everything was beautiful. Everything was perfect and how it should be, but the words did not come, so I only nodded and threw the loosened clothes off me and pulled down my string.

  ‘Damn, you look good Ms. Quinns.’

  ‘You like it?’ I laughed and pulled Jack close to me as I let myself go.

  23

  ‘My driver will bring you home,’ Jack said, while he was putting his clothes on.

  ‘Great,’ I answered.

  I felt nauseous. Indeed I would prefer to go home and sleep, but I looked on my watch and shook my head.

  ‘I’ve only been here for two hours. Shouldn’t I start working?’

  He grinned, sat on the side of the bed and put a hand on my shoulder. ‘You’ve already done that. And wasn’t it fun? You know Quinns? Not everyone is made to work hard, and you – you are not a workaholic. You are self-aware and you need to show your father that you can take care of yourself. I will make that dream come true for you. We will not ruin your beautiful soft hands. I am offering you this unique opportunity as an animated girl. You decide your own hours. You decide what to do and who you do it with.’

  ‘B-but...’

  ‘Just think about it.’

  He stood up, reached into in his pocket and pulled out a pile of banknotes. ‘Here. Buy yourself a nice dress and some shoes. Go to the hairdresser. Spend it with pleasure. You deserve it.’

  I somehow felt dirty.

  ‘Do not have regrets, Naomi. You gave me pleasure, now I give pleasure back. This is how it works.’

  Slowly I put my hand up to the money and grabbed it.

  ‘N-No... I...’

  ‘Don’t. You feel worried because you had fun as well. Now the effect of that pill is wearing off, you start to feel ashamed again, but you don’t need to.’

  My hands were shaking while I was staring
at the money. I could do so very much with it. And all that for what? An experience that I myself had enjoyed?

  ‘Well, OK,’ I said softly.

  ‘Take a look around the ship and feel totally at home here. If you don’t feel like doing that, Jules will take you home.’

  ‘But I’m on my bike.’

  ‘It will be safe here. There is no one who would dare to steal from me.’

  ‘I believe that.’

  ‘Excellent, then it is settled. Jules will pick you up again as well, I take good care of my staff.’

  ‘Thank you Jack.’

  He smiled and stroked my cheek. ‘No one will find out what has happened here. Go shopping tomorrow and call Jules if you decide to come by to tell me what you want to do. You can always work in that clown’s suit as a waitress if you prefer.’

  He picked up the white uniform from the floor and gave it to me. Then he walked to the door and pressed a button. The viewing wall immediately became a mirror again, leaving only the room to see.

  ‘Sorry, Naomi. I have to go. You can stay and sleep here if you like, otherwise knock on the door of the last cabin – at the very end of the hallway.’

  ‘Thank you for the money!’

  ‘You should thank yourself. You enjoyed it, right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Smiling he disappeared through the door and I put on my white uniform and walked slowly out the room. My body was still burning and sweating and I felt uncomfortable when I knocked on the last door of the corridor.

  ‘Come in,’ sounded a hoarse, feminine voice.

  Nervously I pulled the door open and immediately I smelled the sweet musky perfume. This room was different from the luxurious room that I had come from. There were tables and a couch and a flat-screen TV on the wall. It looked like a company canteen. There was a red-haired woman sitting on a couch and I recognized Goldie right away.

  ‘There is a draft coming in, my love. Close that door behind you, will you?’

  ‘Of course. I err, I’m looking for Jules.’

  Goldie laughed out loud. I wondered why.

  ‘Jules will be here any second.’ She pulled a bag of white powder from her bra and shook it back and forth in front of my nose. ‘Come and make yourself comfortable.’