2541 WORDS

Warning: this is a work of homosexual erotic horror. It contains dark themes including but not limited to rape, torture, slavery, kidnapping, and some surreal kinks. It does not include any bestiality, piss or scat play, or underage content. Please read responsibly.

Resting with his back against the unfathomably tall Labyrinth wall, Avi scrawled in his journal with the crude pencil that he and Lance had found.

Day 4

Lance and I have become almost entirely reliant on supply caches for food. Sebastian’s bread ran out pretty quickly, but fortunately Lance knows all the secrets when it comes to foraging.

Avi looked up as his new friend approached. “I’m going to refill my waterskin,” said Lance. “Do you want me to do yours?”

“I’m okay,” said Avi. “Mine’s pretty much full.” He returned to writing.

As soon as Lance was able to walk, he became pretty task-oriented, for lack of a better word. He immediately taught me the basics of life in the Labyrinth- “practical stuff,” as he liked to call it. Apparently, little rooms like Sebastian’s are called “sanctuaries”, though I much prefer to call them “hidey-holes”. It takes a bit of skill to find them, but Sebastian managed to find a few and gather some supplies from them.

Avi wrote down a quick list of everything they had found. Dried food that should last them a few days. A pair of waterskins, weird baggy things used to store water. A little case containing small tools, including the pencil. And last but not least, something Lance had been extremely excited about: a long amber stick, something Lance referred to as a “Torch rod”. He said that snapping it in the middle would cause it to glow brightly for days. Apparently, it was a very lucky find.

Lance returned shortly with a full waterskin. Lance had also shown Avi how to find water pumps, which were usually indistinct pipes sticking out of the wall in hallways and sanctuaries. “Ready to get a move on?” asked Lance, tying the waterskin around his shoulder.

Avi nodded. “Let’s go.”

It had been about two days since Lance had left Archive 3. Avi was amazed at how much of a recovery that Lance had made. He expected Lance wouldn’t be able to walk for at least a few days, but he seemed to be back to one hundred percent.

The two of them walked alongside each other as they progressed semi-aimlessly through the maze. Their goal (other than the obvious desire to escape) was to track down Jaden, or so they had agreed the previous day. Avi knew he wasn’t going to get as lucky as he had with Lance, but for Sebastian, he was willing to try.

“These dried fruits and stuff should last us a decent while if we ration it. We just have to pace ourselves,” said Lance. “We might find something better. The guys and I managed to find fresh food on occasion.”

“How does it stay fresh down here?” asked Avi.

Lance shrugged. “Haltus’ pure evil will, probably.”

Avi laughed. Fresh food would be nice, but obviously it wasn’t a priority. He fiddled with his pendant as he walked.

Neither of them had made any mention of the red necklace, in spite of the fact that it was the only piece of clothing that Avi was wearing. Did Lance recognize it? Was it something that Sebastian had only found after he and Lance had been separated? Maybe Lance had noticed it, and felt very strongly about Avi wearing it, but was too intimidated to say anything. Avi decided to break the silence.

“Lance,” he said, “Do you know anything about-”

“Hey, look!” said Lance, pointing ahead. Roughly a hundred meters down the hall was a set of wooden doors on the right hand side.

Avi looked at Lance and frowned. “Remember when you told me not to just go investigating random things?”

“I know. But this is different. It’s made of wood.”

“Wow. Wood. Nevermind, I guess. Let’s go recklessly check it out.”

Lance sighed. “We’re not going to do anything reckless. But think critically here. How much wood do you think there is down here? It’s a precious resource. Not something that the orcs or the incubi would have access to.”

Avi was frankly not at all following Lance’s logic, but he was powerless to stop the green-haired man as he wandered to the wooden door.

“I’m just going to peek inside,” said Lance, “it’ll just be a second. Might be some good loot inside.”

Avi was starting to see why Lance ended up captured. He stood behind Lance as he pushed open the door.

Looking inside the large chamber, Avi’s mind immediately drew comparisons to a cathedral. It was an enormous hall, stretching very far back from the door, with an elevated altar at the far end. Rows of pews lined the way between the door and the altar. Avi could sense the smoky-sweet smell of incense emanating out the main door and into the hallway.

“I don’t like this,” whispered Avi. “Let’s just keep going.”

Lance ignored Avi’s concerns. “Hey, check it out.”

Halfway to the altar, a tall, tanned man around their age was sitting in a pew. He seemed heavily focussed on the front of the room. After a moment, he stood up, and began to walk down the center aisle towards the altar.

“What is he wearing?” asked Lance.

Avi strained his eyes. There was some sort of metal belt wrapped around the man’s waist. He wondered whether it was some sort of underwear.

“Let’s get moving-”

“Excuse me,” said Lance loudly, cutting Avi off once again. “Can you tell us where we are?”

The man turned around, his mellow voice echoing throughout the chamber. “A safe haven, my friend.”

Avi could see the belt in its entirety now. The steel band on the waist connected to a small steel shell that sat snugly over the boy’s crotch. A chastity belt.

Lance stepped inside the room. “We’re looking for someone. A guy named Jaden, maybe this tall,” he said, holding his arm out as a rough indicator of height. “Have you seen him?”

“Maybe I can help you.” A different voice spoke from the left side.

Avi stepped into the room and looked to his left. He saw a tall latino man wrapped in a silky white cloak, in his late twenties or so. He was incredibly nicely toned, with a well defined six pack, and Avi noticed the lack of chastity belt over his hung cock.

“My name is Father Arlo,” he said with a smile. “Welcome to my church. Please, do not be afraid. I am not a villain in this Labyrinth, I am a protector.”

Avi didn’t say anything. But Lance persisted.

“Father, we’re looking for a friend of ours,” he said. “It’s so rare to find other humans in the Labyrinth. Do you think you could-”

Father Arlo raised his hand. “Yes, yes, I heard you. I’m sorry to say that I’ve never heard of this Jaden.

Lance’s face faded. “Oh. Thanks anyway.”

“Well, don’t give up hope. I have been in the Labyrinth for a long time, and I’ve developed some connections. Perhaps I might be able to help you two in your quest.”

“Anything, Father,” said Lance. “Anything that can help us track him down. Time isn’t really on our side.”

“Come with me. Let me treat you to a hot meal. You two seem like you could use it.”

Father Arlo turned around, and headed off to a door on the side wall of the chamber. Avi quickly grabbed Lance’s shoulder.

“I don’t like this,” he said again. “Something is off here. We need to go.”

“I don’t like it either,” said Lance. “But he’s not a monster. He’s just a guy. If we decide we don’t like where this is going, we can just leave.”

“We don’t know that’s going to be an option,” insisted Avi.

Lance sighed. “Avi, I know you don’t care about Jaden, but I do. I’m willing to take the risk even if it just gets us one step closer to finding him.” He turned to follow Father Arlo, and the two of them went through the door.

Avi was faced with the choice of waiting outside in the Labyrinth, or following them. He didn’t trust Father Arlo, but had absolutely no desire to lose track of Lance. He’d never find him again.

Lance and Father Arlo were both sitting when Avi entered the room. A large dining table sat between them. Avi took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the room: woodworked panels, side tables with ornamental vases, and a gorgeous silk tablecloth stretched over the dining table.

“Come on in, Avi,” said Father Arlo. A skeptical Avi took a seat next to Lance, across from the priest-like figure.

“So,” continued Arlo, “this Jaden person… Was he someone close?”

“A friend,” said Jaden. “We’d been in the maze together for two months. We met very early on.”

Arlo nodded. “Well, if you guys made it two months, I’m sure he is still out there. I’ve found in my time here that if you can survive for more than a week, you’re very likely to survive for much longer.”

“How long have you been here, anyways?” said Avi, raising an eyebrow.

“Nine years,” replied Father Arlo, blasé.

Avi’s eyes widened. There was no way that was possible. Before he could speak, though, two men entered the room. They were naked, carrying silver trays. Both of them sported chastity belts, identical to the other one that Avi had seen.

“Thank you, boys,” said Arlo as they set the trays down on the table. There were three plates of a delicious looking dinner: mashed potatoes, asparagus, roasted mushrooms, and a juicy steak. The aroma was heavenly, and almost immediately Avi realized just how hungry he actually was.

Lance began to eat as soon as he was given his knife and fork, but Avi still had questions. “What is it that you do down here, exactly?” asked Avi.

“I’m glad you asked,” said Father Arlo. “Like I said, this is a safe haven. Six years ago, with no hope in sight of escaping the Labyrinth, I set up this church for anyone to join. I would offer them protection, and in return, all they had to do was agree to ten years of chastity.”

“Ten years?” asked Lance, looking up from his food.

“After that, they’re free to remove their belts. But of course, no one has made it that far yet. Basically, I put the belt on them, and only I can remove it. But to deter them from leaving the church, the belt has to be blessed every sunday. If it doesn’t get blessed, then the lock seals itself, making the belt permanently stuck on them.”

Avi’s eyes went wide. “That’s… insane!”

Arlo just shook his head. “It’s consensual. Everyone is here of their own free will. I would never force anyone to do this. All of the men here just want protection.”

Avi lost his focus on the conversation after that. Whether or not it was consensual, this was wrong. He knew it.

The dinner mostly consisted of Lance and Arlo talking about Jaden, and it didn’t look like much progress was made as they stood up from dinner.

“Well, Lance, I will give this some thought. You’re welcome to stay the night if you like-”

Suddenly, the door creaked open. A young man, maybe eighteen, entered. He had light brown hair, fair skin, freckles, and was on the shorter side. Avi noticed he wasn’t wearing a chastity belt. “Father Arlo?”

The priest sighed. “Yes, James, what is it?”

“Listen… I think I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to go through with the baptism anymore.”

Father Arlo frowned. “Well, James, you’ve already signed the agreement. I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”

James shook his head. “No. I don’t want to.”

Arlo’s expression turned to one of annoyance. “James, we discussed this. You’re going to have to get rid of this attitude if you want to stay here.”

“He doesn’t want to stay here,” said Avi. “Just let him go!”

“Avi, this doesn’t concern you. James, if you don’t smarten up, you’re going to have to spend a day in the garden.”

“No! I’m not letting you seal up my cock, you perv!” James suddenly turned away, heading for the main door.

“Someone stop him!” cried Arlo. Before James could reach the door, two belted men grabbed him. “Take him to the garden. We’ll baptize him tomorrow.”

“Stop!” demanded Avi. He started towards James, but Arlo held him back.

Avi knew he could help James. He had the necklace, surely he could use it again. With a deep breath, he threw a punch at Arlo’s jaw.

Much to Avi’s disappointment, though, the punch glanced off at him. Arlo looked at Avi wordlessly, before grabbing him.

“Wait! Wait!” yelled Avi, as he was dragged over alongside James to the other side of the room. They reached a wooden hatch in the corner of the main hall. One of the belted boys flipped it up, and revealed a pit of writhing green tentacles.

“Welcome to the garden,” said Arlo, forcibly sliding the satchel off of Avi. “This is where I put guests who overstay their welcome.”

“Some fucking safe haven,” said Avi. He yelped as Arlo tossed him in the pit, with James following shortly after.

Avi struggled to find footing as the tentacles- thick, green, gooey things- felt his entire body up and down. It was almost pitch black in the pit, and Avi was disoriented. He quickly lost track of which way was up.

“Where are you?” yeled James’ voice in the darkness.

“I’m over here- AH!” Avi cried out suddenly as one of the tentacles teased his ass. Avi was a virgin, and had no desire to change that down here in the “garden”, but was completely helpless as the tentacle slipped inside of him.

“FUCK! FUCK! HELP!” screamed Avi, flailing about in the darkness. Despite the chaos, James managed to slide through the tentacles and wrap his arms around Avi for support.

“I’ve… I’ve got you…” said Avi. He thought he would be in severe pain, but it was more general discomfort as the slime lubricated the tendril inside of him. He wrapped his arms around James’ hips.

“I’m too short,” said James. “I can’t stand up. When I fall asleep, I’ll get pulled under.”

“Sleep? How the hell are you going to fall asleep?” replied Avi.

Suddenly, the hatch on the ceiling opened up. Avi’s heart sank as Lance was tossed inside as well.

Arlo’s voice rang out from above. “Maybe two days is too light on you. How about a week?” he said with a cackle.

Avi struggled to grab onto Lance. “Try to stand up!”

Almost immediately, the tentacles had found Lance’s ass. They wrapped themselves around his cock as he flailed, trying to grab a hold of something.

James cried out. Avi felt a hot stickiness on his stomach; James had just cum on him, the semen running down his body and onto his own now-erect shaft. He held James closer, trying to keep his head up high.

Avi’s heart was racing. A whole week here was unsurvivable. James was right; sooner or later, one of them would fall asleep, and it would be game over.