Page 55 of Across Space and Time

Jack gave him a reassuring smile back before heading out of the little alcove and back into the main hallway. Despite the area being fairly cavernous and made of mostly stone, sound was dampened pretty well, because Jack almost walked right past the first alcove that held one of the masked guests and two of the boys Hugh recognized from the champagne room. Both he and Jack stopped to watch in morbid fascination.

A few feet away, one of the masked guests sat upon a padded bench. His skin was a horrifying shade of burnt red, and Hugh realized that instead of arms and legs, his appendages had turned into some sort of squid-like tentacles, and more protruded from his back as well. Between his legs knelt one of the boys who was fellating him eagerly, his eyes half-lidded and drowsy. His ass cheeks were spread wide by two of the tentacles, and another boy knelt between them, devouring his hole with his tongue as he grunted. Hugh could see that one of the tentacles was lodged deep inside the boy’s rectum, pulling back before thrusting so deep, it was a wonder that the boy was not screaming in pain. Whatever drugs had been in their drinks were obviously very effective at blocking out any pain. At least, for now. Anthony had mentioned how badly he had hurt after the last party. Hugh wondered if he had had something like that happen to him. Would any of these people remember what happened to them the next morning? Or would they just wake up with bruises and pain and no idea what caused it? The thought made him sick to his stomach.

This was the first transformation he had seen other than the viscount, and it was fascinating and horrifying at the same time. A human body, warped into something vile. ‘God-like’ was how Adam had described it. Turning someone into their darkest desire, the cruel face they couldn’t show society. And, he suspected, this was probably one of the milder depravities Eden had to offer, if the viscount’s cannibalistic rage was any indicator of the grotesque tendencies the members exhibited.

The masked creature suddenly looked up, and Hugh could see that, instead of a mouth, the man had a nest of squiggly little tentacles that draped over his upper lip and chin like a living mustache. Somewhere beneath the tentacles, his mouth curved into a lipless smile. “Ah, Jack,” he said in a voice that sounded like gravel scraping over ocean rocks. “Would you care to join us?”

Hugh glanced over at Jack. Jack glanced back at him and gave him a pointed look, narrowing his eyes. Hugh quickly adopted a dreamy, half-lidded look. Jack glanced back to the man and smiled politely, letting the light from the gas lamps catch his pointed teeth. “No, but thank you!” he said, a bit more enthusiastically than Hugh felt was probably necessary. “Since I have not been here before, I am seeing what wonders this cavern holds.”

The tentacled man laughed, and the sound made Hugh’s bones feel like they were grinding together. “Of course, of course. Feel free to come back if you’d like. If your little pet there is any good, perhaps I’ll give him a try.” The man’s mustache tentacles quivered, and Hugh felt like he had been plunged into icy water. He knew Jack wouldn’t let anything happen to him, but even just the threat of being unable to stop someone from abusing him like that was horrifying, let alone by a creature who was transformed from human into vileness incarnate.

Jack let out a soft laugh, then nodded. “Well, I shall leave you to it,” he said, waving his hand before starting off again, and Hugh hurried after him so as not to have the rope pull him.

They passed by another alcove that was empty, but the one after that was unfortunately not. One of the boys was locked into a strange contraption that held his legs bent and spread obscenely wide. There was the whirr and click of something mechanical, and Hugh realized that it came from some sort of clockwork device that was pistoning back and forth. There was a large phallus on one end of it, and the phallus was thrusting in and out of the boy’s stretched hole as he moaned and sobbed softly. Hugh couldn’t tell if he was enjoying it or not.

Another of the boys was on his knees sucking on a large prick. There was another next to his face, and he was stroking that one with his hand. The man that they were attached to was large and looked almost like a sort of bull, with horns protruding from his forehead not entirely unlike Jack’s. He was watching the boy on the machine with rapt attention, stroking the hair of the boy between his legs. Hugh realized with a start that the boy between his knees was Anthony. At least he knew where the young man had ended up. He wanted to run over and pull Anthony away from the monster, but he couldn’t. Perhaps once the other man was done with him, Jack could take Anthony with them to keep him out of the others’ hands for the rest of the night.

Adam suddenly came around the corner. His teeth and his eyes under the gold mask had returned to normal now as he gave Jack a friendly smile. Hugh quickly turned his eyes away from Anthony and schooled his face into a dreamy blankness. “Ah, Jack. How are you enjoying yourself?” Adam asked.

“Quite a lot, Mr. Adam!” Jack declared. “Everything I have seen is quite intriguing.”

“The sorts of pleasure and chaos you are looking for?”

“Indeed,” Jack replied with a chuckle. “It is so nice to encounter peers of similar mindsets.”

Hugh had to admire Jack’s ability to lie about the horrors they were witnessing even as he felt sweat break out on his own bare skin and his stomach whirl like a hurricane inside of him. He felt Adam’s eyes on him, and he let his eyes blink heavily. He had heard that voice before. But where? The gold mask kept him from seeing Adam’s full face, and he was having trouble placing it. He felt the man’s eyes roam over him, and he wished he did not feel so exposed, literally or figuratively.

“And how is your toy for the evening? Doing what you wish?”

“Oh yes,” Jack replied. “I’m still getting my bearings, but I wanted to ensure I got this pretty one.”

Adam nodded, smiling a serpent’s smile under his mask. “If you need any suggestions, I am sure some of the others would be willing to help you. And please, do explore. There are so many vices to be had. You certainly do not have to limit yourself to one.”

“Most appreciated,” Jack said, nodding at him.

Adam smiled wider. “Well, I’ll not keep you from your fun.” He stepped aside, and Jack walked past him. Hugh kept his eyes half-lidded and lowered to the ground, feeling Adam’s gaze on him the entire time. He didn’t move or speak again until they were well away from that tunnel.

“That was Adam? The Duke’s son?”

“Yes,” Jack said.

“I know I’ve seen him somewhere before,” Hugh said with a frown.

“Really?” Jack asked in surprise. “Where?”

“I don’t know,” Hugh said, the feeling itching inside of his skull like a rat trying to get out. “I’m sure it will come to me.”

Jack kept moving, out into the main alcove where the table still sat with its discarded clothing around it, though the plates had been cleared. Jack frowned at the other tunnels branching off of it. “I have no idea which way to go or where anything is. What are we looking for?”

“I don’t know,” Hugh admitted. “Evidence of who these people are and what they’re doing?” Thus far, everything they had seen was disturbing, but it wasn’t necessarily illegal. The prostitutes had been given the option of leaving earlier. The drugged champagne was certainly dodgy, but there was no evidence to bring any sort of charge against anyone once it was gone from the drinker’s system. “We don’t know that these creatures are the ones attacking people in the street either. They might just be really fancy perverts, which isn’t a crime as far as the law is concerned. Even my sergeant being involved isn’t necessarily unlawful, unless there is actually something illegal happening.”

Jack nodded and started down a tunnel he thought he had seen the Duke enter into. “We’ll keep looking,” he said, then lifted his head in surprise. “I smell food.”

Hugh sniffed the air too. “So do I. And not apples either.”

“This way,” Jack prompted, and Hugh followed him down the tunnel until they reached another archway.

The largest table Hugh had ever seen was stretched across the room. It was covered with platters and dishes, some of which were already empty, but others were piled high with any and all manner of food. Hugh recognized various meats and fruits and cheeses, but there were a number of things he couldn’t even begin to identify. But that was hardly the most interesting or disturbing thing in the room.

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