The Wrong Side of Town

by Alden Odessa

  “No, but I feel like I should,” she said, “and this is where it gets weird.”

  I leaned forward as if this was the part of the story where it would get good.

  “I feel like I should, like I have memories, it’s just that they are a little ways away from me. Like, I’m just waiting for them to come to me, they are on the other side of this cloud I can’t see through.”

  “Like, you got hit on the head or something?”

  “Sort of,” she went on, “but I know that they are there. I just do not understand what they are.”

  “You’re not making any sense,” I said.

  “I feel like I was just born, but yet I had already lived.”

  Is it possible that she is a gamer? Or is there a possibility she just spawned as an NPC? That had to be it, the game was making new characters. But wouldn’t she be pre-programmed? If she was an NPC prostitute, wouldn’t she have some sort of back story?

  Every person I met, from a grocer to a whore to a pimp, they all seemed like they lived here, like they had a story of how they got here and what their life had been like. April made no sense. How long had this game been in development? How long had this world, this city, existed? It couldn’t be that long. On one hand, it would make sense that new characters were always being spawned to meet up with the demand; but in The Gallows? Why?

  Once again, it seems like every day, just when I start to get a grasp on what's going on, and the mechanics of the game, I feel like I get a new information dump I have to unpack. In fact, it feels less like an information dump and more like a mystery dump.

  I feel like the further I run down this rabbit hole with April, the more questions I will have, so I needed to find out as much as I could, so I could torment myself some more!

  “So tonight,” I said, “upstairs, when I first met you—”

  “The first thing I remember was waking up in the dark place.”

  “The Gallows.”

  “If you say so, it was just dark. There were noises, men’s voices. It scared me.”

  “You didn’t know where you were.”

  “I didn’t know who I was,” she said, earnestly.

  “How long was it before Betty and Bogo found you?”

  “I don’t know, a day?”

  “A day?!”

  “I don’t know, it was a long time.”

  “And you didn’t have any clothes when they found you, so you stayed there naked for a day or days? What did you do?”

  “I cried, it’s all I could do, I was scared.”

  “So when Bogo and Betty offered you a way out—”

  “I took it. Next thing I knew I was meeting you.”

  “And getting forced into sex with a bunch of people you never met before.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you come with them? Why did you come to the hotel?”

  “I had nothing, they at least offered food and shelter. Whatever I was getting into was better than what I had,” she said, looking down at her drink but not drinking it. “They offered safety. That sounded pretty good to me.”

  “And then a random guy put a dick in your face and told you to put it in your mouth,” I wasn’t asking her questions, I was making statements. I was just running through the night from her perspective.

  “Yes, I’m sorry about that, I just didn’t know what to do.”

  “You probably hadn’t even ever seen a dick before.”

  “No. No, I hadn’t, not that I can remember.”

  “And then women start licking all over you.”

  “It felt good, but I didn’t know what to do, so I just let it happen.”

  This was all explaining some things, her reservations, her fear. She was experiencing it all for the first time. Every time she saw something it was like the first time she saw that thing.

  “It must have felt like a lot to process, all at once.”

  “It was, it was a lot. And then—” she hesitated before she spoke again, as if she was hesitating. “You looked at me.”

  She didn’t have to say when; I knew. When I was beside her on the couch. She could see it in my eyes. I was fucking Stephanie, but I was thinking about her, and not just fucking her, but forcing her. Did she know that? Did she know to what level I was thinking of her.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “If that made you feel uncomfortable.”

  “It all made me uncomfortable but here’s the thing,” she explained, “I’m not unaware of what I have to do in order to stay here.”

  “Yes.”

  “I know that certain things will be expected of me if I want to stay with you and the other girls. I’m afraid of that.”

  “I can understand,” I said, generating as much empathy as I could.

  “I’m going from nothing to sleeping with men I have never met, for money, but I’m not doing it because I want to, I’m doing it because I have to in order to stay safe.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. This was true, she had to perform, I couldn’t afford to carry around dead weight. This was a business and the sooner I accepted that, despite my hang-ups about it, the sooner I would be out of here.

  “Behind my back right now, in the back of my pants, there is a gun,” I said, and then suddenly she tensed up and backed away. “No no no, don’t freak out, I’m not going to shoot you.”

  She relaxed a little. I found it strange that she was spawned with the knowledge of what a gun was and what it did.

  “I don’t want to use it, and so far I have not had to. I don’t want to shoot anybody. I don’t want to hurt anybody, but if one of these men came up to you right now, I wouldn’t hesitate.” She nodded her head, understanding. “I need you to know, that’s what I will do to protect you, but you also need to know that anyone in here could sneak up on me, kill me, and take what’s mine.”

  She looked at me with the utmost of attention.

  “I need you to also understand that what is mine, also includes you. Someday someone will try to steal you away and they may not treat you as well as I have. Ask Betty about her last guy.”

  “I’m understanding.”

  “In order to keep you safe I have to be able to afford protection. Like Bogo. I have to also keep them safe, and a place to stay and food in their belly. In order to do that, I have to earn.”

  “And,” she paused, not knowing how to say it.

  “Courtney and Stephanie cannot carry that load on their own.”

  “Everyone has to carry their weight.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And I’m not,” said as a fact and not a question. She was fully realizing what she would have to do.

  “I’m not here to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, or rather I will not force you until you are ready,” I said. “In fact, that goes for all the girls. I will not force any of you, everyone needs some time off, but I have to keep you all safe and I have to provide for you all.”

  “I will, in fact, I think I have before, or something like it. Whatever it was I was before. Whatever I was doing. This all feels, familiar.”

  I believe she is right, what she is feeling is her programming clicking in, but apparently there was a glitch, like her programming hadn’t been complete. I wish there was some sort of menu item that I could select to see what these characters' stories were. Or like a guide or walk through. More than likely, however, I wouldn’t have read them.

  I know what a bang-up job I did with the instruction manual that came with the game!

  I guess her back story starts now. “So are you going to join us?”

  “Yes,” she said, without hesitation. “I like the other girls, I like you, you have been very kind to me.” It was clear she didn’t know what had been in my head earlier. “I’m just nervous.”

  “We’ll ease you into it. What can I do to help you?”

  “Can it be you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, can the first person I’m with... can it be you?”

/>   22

  The April Resolution

  We walked into our room; it reeked of sex, even though I could see Betty doing her best to clean the place up with the supplies I had purchased. I had bought several scented candles and she had lit a few, just trying to freshen up the place. I wasn’t going to come within ten feet of that couch!

  That’s a lie, the second I walk in the door, I’m within ten feet, this isn’t that big of a space.

  I didn’t see the girls or Bogo, so I turned to my right and went to the second bedroom off the main space. The door wasn’t fully closed; I pressed on it and peaked inside. Bogo was in the corner, leaned against the wall, snoring. He had given up his bed to the two girls since there was no way that the three of them would fit in there together.

  Courtney and Stephanie were curled up together, sound asleep in the bed. I hope they had showered. They looked content, unharmed. They at least appeared to be sleeping peacefully. It’s the best possible resolution to their night. I saw the bottles of Champagne had been popped, but it looked like they passed out before finishing them.

  I just hoped that they were okay, and that I hadn’t pushed them too far on the first night. They were pros, I’m sure I’m making more of this than need be made.

  I walked back into the main room and Betty and April were talking, quietly. I asked for Betty to join me. For a second.

  “Tonight I will be having sex with April,” I said, being as frank as I possibly could. With all Betty and I had been through, the need for nuance was non-existent.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “I’d like for you to be there, or be close by, she feels comfortable around you.”

  “Sure, is there anything I need to do?”

  “I’m going to freshen up, get her ready, or at least talk to her. She knows what’s about to happen and she wants it to happen. She just wants her first night to be with me.”

  “Understandable.”

  “Thank you,” I said and went to the bathroom to clean myself.

  I walked into the bedroom partition of our room. Betty was talking to April. April was her usual stoic self, but she seemed to want to attempt to make this work.

  She stood up and walked to me. Betty remained on the bed and watched the scene unfold.

  April walked up and took off her clothes.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Just let it happen.”

  “If you don’t want this, it’s okay. I’m not going to throw you away.”

  “That’s why I want to do this,” she said and it was the first time she said something with a hint of confidence. She finished taking off her clothes, and she stood in front on me. I inspected her body, and it looked as good as I remembered it, or at least as good as when I fantasied about having sex with her. The lighting in the room, with most of the lights off, benefited her as well. The single lamp we had going in the corner left an accent of ambient light on her thigh. I rubbed my hand against it, her skin was just as tight as it looked.

  I stood there and looked at her body, with the soft white light of the lamp backlighting her. She looked good, and Betty had made sure she smelled good as well. They both knew what I also knew. This was April’s night, it was do or die for her even though I had made every effort to express that there was no pressure on her. Betty knew the reality of the situation. This was not her first Harem, she knew what was expected of girls.

  As much as I wanted to be different and play the game my way, the game was played the way it was played for a reason. This is all just part of the programming. Girls in this game were here to serve a purpose, and this was that purpose.

  We knew so little about April and I didn’t want to overwhelm her like we did that first night, which was only a handful of hours ago. It was too much; she needed to be broken in.

  Was that only just tonight? It seems like so long ago that Betty and Bogo brought the girls in, but it was just tonight, no wonder my health was so low, it felt like I had spent three weeks just living in tonight.

  April was obviously concerned. She didn’t know what to do; she didn’t know where to put her hands or how to react to me touching her naked body. I thought back to what our first encounter must have felt like to her; me putting my dick in her face, Courtney getting her to put her mouth on it. Then Stephanie pulling her down to the ground and putting her head between her thighs.

  I remembered the look. The look she gave me while I was fucking Stephanie and thinking about fucking her. I was thinking of what her pussy felt like, about forcing myself on her and making her do my bidding. My DOMINANCE had even taken a slight hit for not acting on this.

  I had felt sick afterward, like my own mind had betrayed me, trying to turn me into something that I was not.

  The sick and twisted nature of this game was, in turn, making me sick and twisted.

  I waited for her to touch me, but she was hesitant, almost like she didn’t know what to do or how to do it. So I helped her out by unbuttoning my shirt, taking it off and throwing it to the floor. I then kicked off my shoes and then my pants. I was now matching her nakedness in the pale glow of the lamp.

  I was already hard, her nakedness had caused that. I took her hand and put it on my dick. She gently stroked it without pulling. From behind I heard Betty ask if we wanted her to leave. April turned to her and said it was okay. April seemed to trust me, but she really trusted, and cared for, Betty, having her there would be a comfort for her.

  I leaned in and kissed April; she started to pull away and then relaxed and kissed me back. I took my hand and put it behind her head and kissed her harder but I could feel that she was not looking for passion here. She was too scared for that.

  April seemed to remember nothing about her life before last night and I couldn’t stop wondering if she had just been created. If the game really was constantly generating new characters. I would believe this if April hadn’t said she knew she had been here before. She knew what this place was, and she knew she had memories, just not what they were.

  I pulled back and gently led her backwards to lie on the bed. She lied there with me above her. She looked over to Betty. Betty took this as a cue. A cue that she was needed. Not for sex, but for comfort.

  I don’t know if it was for her own personal comfort or if she thought April wanted her sex as well, but Betty took off her clothes and got into the bed beside us. I was still not laying on top of April, just holding myself above her and to the side. Betty got up next on the other side and took April’s hand. We could both see the trepidation in April’s eyes.

  April had been convinced that she had done this before, but for some reason, right now, she was afraid of it. Having Betty there helped her as she grabbed her hand. Betty didn’t touch her otherwise. I think Betty had just taken off her clothes because that’s how harem’s worked. Or at least that was what my assumption of harems had always been. A bunch of naked women in your bed.

  As it turns out it’s true, but not in the way that you would have thought. I would not have pictured this happening twice to me in three days, being in a bed with a plain and ordinary woman, one that was nervous and hesitant, and not five buxom beauties, with giant tits and tight asses bouncing on my cock all night.

  The deck is stacked, but I’m playing my cards I guess.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yes,” said April, looking me directly in the eyes.

  “You can stop at any time.”

  “Okay.”

  I lowered myself down and over, so I was on top of her, but still I held my upper body up with my arm, so I wasn’t totally on top of her. Our groins were touching, but I was not yet inside her.

  I reached down with my other hand and grabbed my shaft, taking my dick just to the front of her opening as she spread her legs wider. I put the tip right to her sex and looked her in the eyes. “I’m going to take it slowly, okay.”

  She shook her head in a nervous fashion. Letting me know it was okay. I took my dick and
gently pressed forward. Betty started stroking her arm and watching the head of my dick enter April.

  April gasped slightly. I wasn’t sure if it was out of pain or out of pleasure or both. She took her arms and put them to my shoulders; she was pulling me closer to her. I looked at her face and there seemed to be pain there. I knew where the pain was coming from; she was so tight. I pressed into her, cautious and aware of the size of my cock. I pressed in just a few inches and she let out a small squeal.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, please. I want this,” she said.

  I pressed in a little further; I was a little over a quarter of the way in and it didn’t feel like I could go any further. I couldn’t believe how tight her pussy was. Was it possible she was a virgin? That made absolutely no sense. Who ever heard of a virgin hooker?

  I pulled my dick back and decided that we would work our way up to the whole thing. She closed her eyes and just let it happen. She wasn’t overly scared anymore and seemed at least somewhat enjoying it. I pulled my dick out to the tip and then pressed back in, each time I tried to work a little more in.

  It was so tight I would not need the whole shaft in order to climax. Her pussy felt so good. It was like it had never been touched before. Like I was the first cock to ever penetrate her. She groaned a groan of pleasure and pain mixed as I moved in and out. I was feeling the come getting closer. Her pussy was clinching my cock so tight I was getting increasingly turned on. I moved faster and started to care less and less about how it felt to her until I went too far and she gasped, but I was already too far along to stop, though I made a conscious effort to not press any further, there was no way I could slow down.

  Betty clutched April's arm, as if to tell her it was all right, she was safe. She was, wasn’t she? I wasn’t going to hurt her, eventually she would grow to like this. To want this.

  “I want this,” she said, between gasps as if reading my thoughts.

  I kept pressing forward about to come. “I’m going to come in you.”

  “Please,” she said. Wanting my come as much as I wanted to give it to her, or maybe she just wanted for this to be over.