The door clicked.
Zlayke was hardly ever surprised anymore - but the next three seconds seemed to go by at an unimaginably slow pace.
That sounds like a door key, it thought. Weird.
Wait...
Oh, this was unbelievable. It was so entranced with this prisoner - so shady, so angry - that it dug right in. That was out of character.
It had been too long since Zlayke had administered a thorough, lengthy tickling. But still - it had remembered to block this room in the motel computer... uh, right? Flagged as unavailable because of the fictional plumbing renovation?
To the tickler's complete surprise, the door opened.
A twentysomething guy with long black hair fumbled in, swinging some bags and a laptop. Quite alone. Hmmmm.
He looked at the bed - and froze in his tracks.
Feathers and brushes were still in midair - Zlayke had been that amazed. This was a first. Forgetting to block the room, and now another man stood there, gaping...
Backing up.
Now, for obvious reasons, time sped up something fierce.
Zlayke barely made it to the door in time.
The intruder's eyes scanned the room quickly - almost coolly. He didn't tense up, like nearly all of the scraggly hyenas did. His new "host" was completely intrigued by the look that came over his face. Oh, yeah, dude. The next few hours were definitely going to be even more fun than Zlayke had expected.
Not fear. Or a sadistic grin...
He looked angry, too - but not like the furniture mover strapped to the bed did, still panting. The new guy seemed more irritated.
Instantly, he lost that arrogance when the door closed and locked behind him. Didn't he, though.
It was time for some bondage - right now. Exploring and testing could go on for as long as Zlayke wanted. It grabbed his arms, snatched up a spare bandanna, and dug in a toy-box for a pair of handcuffs.
He was gagged and cuffed before he could get a decent yell out. Let's see - for now, one of the pillowcases could serve as a hood...
The unseen warden had years of experience at this - getting its captives under control.
Okay. No, make that super-okay! Even as it forced his arms behind his back and trapped his wrists, the neuroelectrical output just shouted that he was a keeper. This stronger synapse-firing was either there, when a typical dude was touched, or it wasn't. Working joes kicked off these kind of "brainwaves" only when their sensitivity was worth enhancing. Time and attention paid off. Subtle "wiring" like this party-crasher had was why tickle-sentences had grown longer, and why some poor slobs were hunted down again and again.
They either had the gift, or they didn't.
Zlayke had a rep for being unusually curious and patient.
The first captive had no idea how lucky he was.
All of his knots were loosened. He started pulling immediately, but Zlayke figured he'd take a good fifteen minutes to get both hands free.
It hustled the man who'd actually rented the room and his bags out to his car. According to the insurance card in his wallet, it was a new Mitsubishi. There was only one in the lot, a late-model Galant.
He was blindfolded and driven to the customized room where the mover would've ended up, about two hours from now, if Zlayke hadn't been interrupted. No other human saw him leave or roll down the frontage road.
About fifteen minutes after they left, it pushed his car into an old garage stall...
Oh, yeah. Now this was gonna work even better.
He squirmed in his hogtie, yelling into the gag...
This abandoned motor lodge had worked just fine for three other "guests" of Zlayke. Solar panels recharged all of its toys. So many fun things were battery-operated these days.
The grass all over the property was at least a foot high, and the dust inside the other rooms was so thick that apparently a lot of time had passed since anyone had come here voluntarily.
The fence was sound. A gas station, with walls and ceiling that had apparently been crumbling for decades, was the only other building around. It was a good two hundred meters south...
In room 26, near the middle of the old motel, Zlayke's captive was relieved of the makeshift blindfold so he could watch the door slam.
This was very spur-of-the-moment. Switching targets on a whim was rookie stuff. There was a certain exhilaration...
The room had been all prepared for some ticklish slob anyway. Zlayke felt a cheerful urge to make the surprise guest pay for his rudeness. Discovering what had been going on in his room was really gonna cost him. At least a week, just packed full of amusement -
Zlayke remembered the response from his skin when it had first grabbed him. So promising...
Okay. at least two weeks.
It pulled off his blindfold.
He looked around, completely stunned.
There was a new mattress under his back. Chains and manacles hung from the ceiling, foot-stocks were close by and could be put to use at any time, and about a dozen boxes held food, water, vitamins and all the "moisturizers" he could need. The closet had old sliding doors, which were currently hiding several more toys until his keeper revealed each of them. Some of the animals laughed wildly when they first saw a tool that promised wild delirium, and this dude might throw Zlayke some involuntary praise like that...
A big mirror was on the wall past his feet. It was newer than the rest of the furnishings. He'd already jumped when he first saw the leather restraints spreading his stripped body across the bed. All efforts to pull a limb up from the mattress or roll at all were completely unsuccessful.
Zlayke filled up a pair of dark brown pigskin gloves, and had one pick up a wide black marker.
When he noticed the pen floating away from him, the captive paused for a few seconds in his epic battle with the straps.
Deliberately taunting him with a slow pace, it had one glove pull the cap off the marker, and the other went to the mirror.
At the top - well over the reflection of his frightened face - his tickler wrote out a message.
N O B O D Y
KNOWS
It added a smiley-face with a wild, toothy grin.
"This is really happening, isn't it?" he said to the mirror, eyes huge.
Zlayke capped the marker, and had a glove toss it away...
One of 'em gave him the shaka hand gesture.
Then they turned, and cruised right down to his feet.
"Hang loose," he muttered. Nervous laughter popped out next. He immediately made himself shut up. Worried, blown away by what had happened to him since he used the room key he'd paid for...
Amazed at the sight of gloves pausing right over his anchored toes. They looked full. Full of muscle.
It was jazzed by this prisoner. Let the suspense build, just a little, and see what he comes out with next...
"What are you gonna d-" he said to the gloves, and shook his head quickly. "Yeah. Next I'm gonna say you can't d-do this."
Zlayke had never bagged a guy before who chose to fight the denial before the very first tickle.
The guest of honor took a deep breath, and eased it out slowly. "Hidden away real well, the straps are snug, and you've got ten fingers ready to start on my fuckin' ticklish feet." He nodded quickly - there was that irritation again. "Ten, to start. Shit."
Happier than it had been all day, Zlayke suddenly decided on an affirmative reply that was bound to get another entertaining reaction. It floated a pack of Camel shortys to the bedside table.
"Well, of course," the captive complained. "I can't really say no, can I? I don't smoke, not since trade school. But that's about to change... Whatever you want. Ain't got no choice here. You're gonna tickle me -" He seemed to run out of words just then. He gulped. "And then some. So perfectly screwed." He snorted once. "Hey, got any weed? Guess I'll find out. All kinds of surprises comin'... from the magician who brought a new mattress out to this old motel, dammit."
Zlayke lifted two more gloves from the top of the dresser. As it pretended to pull 'em over hands, the captive groaned softly. He stared as they both pointed at the message it had written on the mirror.
"Wow," he sighed.
Lubed fingertips made that first, confirming contact with his heels.
He hissed and squirmed and tugged. Reflex.
When he looked at his feet again, the new pair of gloves were poised over 'em too. Fingers curled - ready to grip and squeeze and creep, confirming what he'd already figured out.
"Aw, no, no, no." Gritting his teeth. Yeah, he was fighting not to confirm, by hooting and cackling, what he and his kidnapper knew. "And this dump is far away from anybody else, isn't it? I... I am so screwed!"
Chuckles oozed out. He had no way to stop them-
Its new arrivals took hold of his arches.
The first pair began tracing all around each heel.
"I cuh-can't get you to sss-staaa-hee hee heeee huh huhhh naaaaaww hah aaaah hah hah aaaah hah haaah hah hah haaaaah!"
His tickler was absolutely filled with satisfaction.
"Stop," he squealed again. Took another breath. "But you're not gonna stop. Of course not. I can't t-take this, when it steps up. Goes wide. Except you know better. So fuckin' good at what you do that I'm in for the full ride. Like I never even imagined. Dammit. Don't..."
Well, obviously he'd caught his breath again. Zlayke filled more gloves.
Zlayke eased one pair of firm hands under his knees, parked another set just over his gut - like the hands of an angry piano player. The last four took their places, ready to pet his neck and throat.
The plaything was cackling already. His voice wasn't anywhere near as loud now.
One by one, its gloves started to crawl -
After a quick breath, he was laughing silently. Too overwhelmed to roar or shout. It was excited to have gotten him to that point already.
Vigorous, involuntary mania.
It was so easy to make him wild - and it worked every time.
Dawn was still a good three hours away.
29feb08