Candice was late for the first night of the college haunted house. “House” might not have been the right description, seeing as they had taken over a small, disused factory on the edge of town for the event, but it wasn’t her worry as she nervously entered the backstage area. She had been waiting all year for this night, and had lobbied hard to get a role in one of the wilder areas, the Kitchen Krew. But her tardiness may have put that all in doubt. Car trouble meant she had to scramble for a ride that got her there a half hour later than intended.

Bella, the floor manager for the event, seemed to pay particular attention to her in rehearsal, and she was eager to prove her worth. Candice spotted her manager finishing up with the Morbid Maids and ran over, but Bella waved off her excuse. “I didn’t hear from you, so I put someone else in your place in the kitchen.”

“Oh, rats.” Candice had been looking forward to playing the Psycho Chef. Her spirits dropped as she looked forward to a night of ticket-taking or policing the parking lot.

Bella gave her a tap on the shoulder with her clipboard. “Now, now, none of that. I do have one other slot, but it means working a solo room in the basement. You up for it?” Candice nodded enthusiastically. “Okay, we have to work quickly. Follow me.” Bella walked to the stairs at a fast pace, Candice almost running to keep up.

“Shouldn’t I change first?”

Bella talked as she walked. “Costume’s in the room. You can change down there.” They went down the stairs and across the basement, passing several groups putting the final touches on their acts, to a heavy-looking and partially-open fire door. Someone had spray-painted RADIOACTIVE in a neon scrawl. Candice followed Bella inside.

The large storage room had been little changed from how they had found it. Stacks of rusting steel barrels adorned with stickers proclaiming ACID and TOXIC half-filled the place. Bare bulbs dangling from the high ceiling gave a stark and patchy light. One barrel in particular stood out, obviously newer than the rest and placed alone at the center of the room, its black sides and lid stenciled in gold paint, DO NOT OPEN.

Bella walked over to the barrel and put her hand on the lid. “So, here’s the deal. The theme is Toxic Barrel Monster. You get in costume, then you get in the barrel. The lid has a hinge, swings open and closed. When someone comes in the room, you wait for them to peek inside, then you pop out and give ‘em a good scare.”

“Oh.” Candice tried to not show her disappointment. She had hoped to be acting with a bunch of other people, really working the crowd. Now, she was going to be a glorified Jane-In-The-Box. Barrel. Whatever. “Sure, I, guess I can do this.”

Bella smirked. “Don’t look so excited. Come on, let’s get you dressed. This is your outfit.” She reached behind the barrel and into a box, drawing out a black neoprene surf suit. “There’s booties and gloves to go with it. And, of course, the mask.” She dropped the suit back in the box and handed it to Candice. “There’s a spot behind those barrels over there where you can change. Leave your stuff back there, too. Hurry up!”

Candice took the offered box and went behind the barrels to change. She disrobed and put her things in the box before unfurling the pitch-black surf suit. It was made of a thin-gauge neoprene and slid easily onto her petite frame. Luckily, it seemed, it was also her size. She found the booties and slipped them on her feet, then the gloves. She was covered from the neck down, snug and stretchy. There was also an open-faced hood, which she slipped on before stepping out for Bella’s inspection.

“Hey, wow! Fits you great!” Candice found herself blushing a bit at Bella’s approval. “Here, tuck in the hood, under the suit.” Before Candice could respond, Bella had stepped closer and unzipped her suit slightly, then tucked the neck of the hood under that of the suit before supping it closed once more with a firm tug. She then gave the suit the once-over, tugging and rubbing in various places while Candice silently stood still, feeling the warmth of the moment build a bit. Bella seemed not to notice as she finished.

“Okay, let’s get that mask on you.” Bella walked over to another barrel and picked up a shiny bundle sitting on its lid. “I hope you like it, because I made it myself. See?” She held it up for Candice’s approval. It looked like a gas mask but with red glass for the eyes and a strange, bulbous protrusion where the filter would go. “It has a special voice box, so when you yell, the mask lets out this loud, scary moan. Here, let’s get it on you.” She held it open and held it up for Candice to put it to her face.

Candice hesitated, noticing what looked like a deflated black balloon where her mouth would go. “Uh, Bella, there’s something in here.”

“Eh?” Bella gave things a quick look, then nodded. “Yeah, that’s how you make the noise, That goes in your mouth. Kinda works like a kazoo. You’ll see.” She held the mask up again. Wanting to be a team player, Candice leaned forward and opened her mouth to accept the slightly bitter-tasting intruder. Bella wasted no time in fitting the straps of the mask over Candice’s head and tugging them tight to fit the mask snugly.

Bella looked into the lenses of the mask. “Everything OK? Try breathing a bit.” She watched as Candice slowly drew in and exhaled a few times. “Good?”  Candice nodded. “Good! Okay, now we’ll get the voice thing set.” She reached up and squeezed the bulbous protrusion of the mask a few times. Candice let out a squeal as she felt the flaccid intruder begin to expand, filling her mouth.  Her hand came up to grab Bella’s wrist, but her boss swatted it away. “Hang on, almost done.” With a few more pumps Bella finished, leaving Candice gagged. She let go of the bulb and Candice’s hands shot up to find a release valve, but there was none. She looked at Bella and in a combination of fear and anger shouted at her, but the mask muted her own voice and instead let out a deep moan. She stopped, surprised, and shouted again, once more producing a loud, deep moan.

“See? Pretty cool, huh?” Bella was smiling at Candice’s obvious approval. “Here, come over here. Have a look at yourself.” She took her encapsulated actress by the hand and lead her to a nearby, well-cracked mirror. Candice was amazed at her reflection. Looking back at her was the Barrel Monster, an ebony silhouette from a nuclear nightmare. After a long moment of inspecting herself she nodded as her mask let out a moan of approval.

Bella was pleased. “Ha, I knew you’d like it!” Candice cocked her head slightly at that. How could she know that if this was a last-minute change? But Bella was leading her back over to the barrel. She lifted the lid and pointed inside. “See that stuff?” Candice peered in to see a thick, shiny black liquid filled the lower third or so of the barrel. “That’s liquid latex. We’re using it to represent the chemical that mutated you. When you get in, scrunch down and get a lot of it all over you. It’s thick and will drip in this really cool way. Then, when you pop up, it will drip off you and you’ll look like you’re made of it.” She looked at her watch. “Shit, ten minutes to open and I’m not even dressed yet. Oh! Almost forgot the buzzer.”

She reached down behind the barrel where the box had been and produced a ziplock bag with something black and shiny in it. “This is how you’ll know when someone comes in the room. There’s a motion sensor pointed at the door. The buzzer is connected to it via Bluetooth. Here.” She pulled out of the bag what looked to Candice like a pair of rubber panties with a large bundle at the front. Bella held it open for her to step into. “Well, I didn’t want you to get bored while you waited, and it will sure get your attention! Come on, step in.” Candice sighed and shook her head, which came out as yet another plaintive moan, and put one, then another foot into the underwear. Bella pulled them up and, with slightly too much care, made sure they were properly seated.

“Okay, time to get in the barrel.” She grabbed a small wooden box and set it next to the barrel. “Step up, then in. Easy, now. Give me your hand.” Candice took her hand and slowly stepped up, then in. Her foot sank into the liquid latex up to her knee, the other soon followed. She stood in the waist-high barrel as Bella put the box back where she found it, and realized she would not be able to get back out without help.

“See over there?” Bella pointed to a corner near the door, where a red LED could be seen winking. “That’s the camera. Someone will be watching the monitors at all times. If you run into any trouble, just stand up and wave at it with both arms. And we’ll have our security walking through every few minutes and the guides will know to check in with you here and there. Now, scoot down.”

Candice went down on her haunches and let the liquid latex cover her legs and waist. She noticed a hole in the barrel near the top and pointed to it. Bella nodded. “There are holes all around the rim to let in fresh air. And yes, there are filters in the mask. I wouldn’t put you in a barrel full of this stuff without them. I’m not crazy, you know.” She gave a wink as she reached behind the barrel and stood the lid up on its hinge. “I hope you’re not claustrophobic”, she said with a smile as she closed the lid. With a final tap on the lid, Bella was gone.

Candice was alone in the dark, the excitement of anticipation mixing with the apprehension of her predicament. The sound of her breathing echoed around her in the confined space of the barrel. She focused on it, used it as feedback to take control of her self. Soon her breaths were coming long and slow, the rhythm nearly putting her in a trance state. The suit was getting warmer, in turn heating the latex in which she sat, reducing its viscosity. She slowly moved her hands through it, working it up her arms and over her waist to give herself the dripping mutant look Bella has asked for. She felt its weight as it dripped down her, combining with the slickness of the neoprene so that her hands glided across her chest, down her waist. She found herself fogging up in arousal.

Her reverie was rudely interrupted by a voice shouting down the hall. “Okay, people, we’re opening the doors! Get ready!” A moment later her crotch erupted in strong vibrations that made her squeak in surprise. Someone must have come in the room and set off the buzzer. A moment later, Bella lifted the lid of the barrel. She was wearing a white lab coat as part of her Sexy Mad Scientist outfit. “Comfy?” she asked with a peculiar smile. Candice nodded and tried to reply but only moaned as the mask answered for her. “Have fun!” Bella said with a laugh as the lid slammed down.

The next few hours were something of a blur for Candice. She would listen for the sound of guests entering the room, but more often than not it was the vibrator between her legs that let her know of a new group’s approach. Despite her best efforts it caught her by surprise more often than not. Her subsequent moaning and clanging around in the barrel had the unintended benefit of freaking out those members of the tour group that came in first. Candice would then hear the nervous laughs and chatter of the group, muffled by her hood and mask, before the tour guide gave his or her spiel. Usually it would be their guide who would make some loud pronouncement as a cue. Each was a bit different. Some told of lost experiments, others warned of escaped mutants or attacks by alien goo. A few would do the “gather round, folks” shtick to get the crowd close up and ready for a good scare. All the while the constant mulling about of the group would keep Candice’s panties humming merrily, working her into quite the foggy frenzy before she would leap up with a clang of the lid flying off and a wild yell (her mask turning it into a menacing moan) and reach out as if to grab the nearest person. Once or twice she succeeded in getting a grip on some burly boy or careless girl, sending them screaming for the door with a black handprint on their forearm. Her act was going over well.

In between groups, she would close the lid on her barrel and re-coat herself with the liquid latex. It quickly spread all over her costume. She was covered from the shoulders down in it, black on glossy black. She found herself scooping up more and more, the feel of it running down her body a pleasant distraction while she waited for the next group. It was after the eighth or ninth group (she’d lost count) that the suit, the heat and the vibration overwhelmed her to the point of climax. As the group ran out the door, she fell back into her barrel, a moaning, quivering mess, so out of it that she forgot to close the lid and the next tour guide had to improvise in the face of her decidedly languid next emergence.

About two hours in she got the buzz for yet another group, but was surprised to see Bella was at her barrel, peering in from the half-open lid. “My, look at you! Having fun?” Candice nodded as her mask moaned for her. Bella laughed a bit. “Good! You’re certainly making an impression on the guests! Love the hand prints, by the way. It’s really freaking them out, they think they’re infected. Okay, we’re going to give you a little break time, fifteen minutes or so, all right?” Candice nodded and moved to get up, but Bella shook her head and kept her in place by resting a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, no, hun. We can’t let you out, not now. You’ll make such a mess. I’m afraid you’ll have to take your break right here.” Candice’s protesting squeal was turned into another moan. “I knew you’d understand. Okay, take a break. I’m sure you’ll find a way to amuse yourself.” Another knowing look, and then Bella dropped the lid a bit loudly. Candice wasn’t sure she heard her laugh as she left.

Candice fumed a moment before once again closing her eyes and bringing her breathing back under control. Sensory deprivation was combining with the heat and tactile overload of the suit and its liquid latex coating to heat her up again. Her hands drifted, one gently kneading her breasts while the other lazily drifted into the latex pool in which she sat to trace the seam between her legs. The tempo increased until her buzzer kicked in from someone entering the room, and the barrel rang with the repetition of moans emanating from her mask as she approached, then crashed through her climax. The release left her drained, leaning to one side against the barrel wall as the aftershocks sent tremors through her.

The blissful mutant was unaware that she had an audience. Bella had left the room to check on other things, then come back in time to see the barrel shaking, a series of familiar moans seeping from inside. The sight and sound of it elated her. “Oh, it’s working perfectly!” she thought with glee. She waited for the moans to lessen, for the barrel to stop moving, all the while resisting  the urge to slip one of her own rubber-gloved hands into her waistband. There was, after all, a security camera pointed right at her. Can’t have the crew watching the boss pleasure herself.

The entire Barrel Mutant setup has been created by Bella for Candice after the boss had noticed her actress was taking an interest in her but was too shy to act on it. She had planned to pull Candice aside on her arrival and tell her the scheduled actress was sick, then plead for her to fill in. But Candice’s late arrival made the switch even easier.

Bella was rather inventive in her bedroom tastes. But, she had no idea how adventurous her mousy, petite friend would be. The barrel and suit were her test to see how Candice would take to some of her more exotic tendencies. From what she could see and hear, Candice was taking to it like a duck to water. Now, as she watched her barrel-bound captive come down from her second climax, she lifted the lid and reached in, lifting Candice’s face with a gentle palm under her mask, meeting her gaze.

“Oh, my. Looks like my little mutant is really enjoying her job, isn’t she?” Candice, surprised, looked at her in exhaustion and burned with shame mixed with elation. It was a long moment before her eyes hooded and she nodded slightly. Bella could only smile all the more. “I’m so glad, because there’s a lot more ahead.” She produced a bottle of spring water from her jacket pocket, opened it, stuck a straw into it. She pulled a plug from the side of the mask and maneuvered the tip of the straw into it. “Go ahead, hun. Suck. You need it.” Candice drew in a mouthful of water, then another.

“Okay, not too much”, Bella said as she withdrew the straw and replaced the plug. “Can’t have you peeing into your suit. That is, unless you want to.” She put the bottle behind the barrel before caressing Candice’s head and shoulders. Candice hummed pleasantly, which once more drew moans from the voice box of the mask. Bella laughed. “There’s something fun about hearing you moan with my voice. Maybe next time we’ll have you record a few of your own moans. You like that, hun? Want to do it again?” Candice nodded enthusiastically. “Good, me too. But, we have to get through tonight first, right? Okay, back to work! See you soon!” She stood and slammed down the lid of the barrel, cutting off the moans within, then did a little dance in front of the motion sensor before leaving to oversee the rest of the haunted house.

The rest of the night was a bliss-filled blur for Candice. Group after group set off her buzzer as her suit glided over her skin, teasing her as she writhed in the darkness of her viscous prison. Her waves would crash three more times before the night’s end, the last leaving her unresponsive to one group as the guide lifted the lid and the crowd wondered, as one dude put it, “what was the deal with the sleeping gimp in the mud”. The guide made a sour face and shook her head at Candice as he let the barrel lid close with a clang, but Candice was beyond caring.

There was a long and much-needed pause before her buzzer went off again. Candice shook her head slowly and wailed into her mask in exhaustion, but as before it came out a moan. The lid lifted, and Bella was staring at her charge with admiration. “So, was it good for you, too?” She laughed a bit in glee. “Wow, you were fantastic! Everyone has been singing your praises. I have to say, hun, you were born for this. Feel like getting out of that? Or, do you want some more time to, uh, collect yourself?” Candice managed a weak shake of her head. “All right, then, let’s get you out of there and cleaned up. Here, gimme your hand.” Bella was glad she had kept her surgical gloves on, as it took both hands to get Candice standing on her feet. The exhausted mutant stood shakily, grasping the lip of the barrel for support as the liquid latex dripped off of her. Bella pulled out a pocket screwdriver and turned a recessed knob at the front of the mask. Candice sighed in relief as she felt the gag deflate, and worked her jaw as Bella loosened the straps and peeled it off her face.

“Oh, that’s better. Do you still have that water bottle?” Bella handed her the bottle, which she drained in two gulps. “Ahh. Okay. Woah. That was one hell of a night. They liked it?”

Bella nodded enthusiastically. “They loved you! A lot of people were really freaked out by you. But they enjoyed it… almost as much as you did.” She gave Candice a knowing look.

Candice gave it right back. “You planned this for me, didn’t you?”

Bella went red with nerves. “I did. Yeah. I wanted you to have a fun night. Figured it might break the ice. Did you like it?”

Candice just stared at her a second before laughing heartily. “Jesus, Bella. You could have just asked me out for a drink!”

“I can do that right now, if you’re not busy.”

“…yeah, I could use some cocktail therapy. Right after you get me out of this barrel!”

They both had a laugh, and Bella grabbed the box they used earlier before helping a somewhat unsteady Candice almost slide over the barrel lip and out to freedom. Candice turned slightly to expose her back to Bella. “Would you do the honors?”

“Sure.” She reached for the zipper, then stopped. “Uh, slight problem here.”

“What?”

“Well, the liquid latex got into the zipper. All that dipping in and out of it built up quite a layer. I can barely see the zip, much less move it. I can’t open the suit.”

“What!? Bella, get this thing off of me!”

“Hang on, I’ll need to go get some tools. Hold on a sec.” Bella ran out into the hall, setting off the buzzer once more and nearly sending Candice to her knees. She returned a moment later with a prop wheelchair they had used in the Asylum room. “Here, sit. I’ll go and see what I can find.” She nearly pushed Candice into the seat and drew the safety straps across her chest, arms and legs. “Don’t go anywhere!” she said with a grin as she ran out again, giving Candice yet another buzz.

It was several minutes later that Bella returned empty-handed. “Okay, here’s the deal”, she responded to Candice’s raised eyebrow. “Most everyone else has gone home, and there’s nothing I could find that would clear the zipper. I have solvent at home that will do the job, so you’ll have to come home with me, right now.”

Candice groaned. “Was this also part of the plan?”

Bella smiled as she picked up the mask. “No, I’m improvising. Open wide.”

“Wha-? Mmmph!” Candice was taken off-guard as Bella fed the gag into her  mouth and strapped the mask to her face. A few quick pumps and the gag was inflated once more. Bella stepped back and enjoyed the sight of her moaning, latex-covered Barrel Monster writing helplessly in the straps of the chair.

“Oh, don’t be that way. I’m just protecting your modesty. We don’t want anyone to know you were the horny little monster in the basement, do we? No, that’s my secret.” She went behind the barrels and retrieved the box with Candice’s clothes, setting it on Candice’s lap. “Here, hold onto your stuff. I can wheel you into the back of my van from the loading dock. Then, it’s a short ride to my place, and I’ll get you out of your play suit, so we can have that drink. Now, I have to go get the van, so you can sit… here.”

She turned the wheelchair and placed it directly in front of the motion sensor. Gliding her hands over the shoulders and breasts of her captive, she leaned in and kissed her on the neck. “I shouldn’t be too long.” She went to get the van, leaving her wriggling charge to a chorus of buzzing, squealing and prerecorded moans, wondering how Candice would feel if she switched places with her tomorrow night.

30.10.16