Bunk Beds -- Chapter 14 free porn video

CHARACTER LIST: Loren: 5'6, longish dark hair. Small A-cup naturally. Discovered she's female. Cindy: 5'2. Asian. A-cup. Hair that goes halfway down her back dyed blue. Rebellious, but self-conscious. Karen: 5'10, athletic build. B-cup. Long blonde hair sometimes kept inponytail. Pragmatic. Jenna: 5'6. Perfect hourglass figure. DD cup breasts. Optimistic, detail- oriented, and logical. Beth: 5'4. Top-heavy, a few pounds extra. The nerdy apple of Loren's eye. Dark Gale: Eccentric goth girl interested in the paranormal. Landlady Dee: Dark skinned. Taller than Loren's male body. Cold and foreboding personality. Zeena: 5'8: Fire magic user. A running joke in the character list section that doesn't actually appear in the story. PREVIOUSLY, ON BUNK BEDS: Loren had to attend a party while in Jenna's body. Jenna tried to stuff all the facts about her friends into Loren's head so that she could successfully pass as Jenna without too many questions. Despite her best efforts, however, Loren got super drunk by accident, and screwed it all up. Luckily, Jenna's friends appreciated the new found wild side to Jenna. The Land Lady, furious at their attempt at fighting her with bureaucracy, switched their breasts in the dream world. When they woke up Jenna had Loren's A-cup breasts and Loren had Jenna's DD cup breasts. The story resumes immediately afterwards, on the day of the final switch. Chapter 14 I crossed a leg and then uncrossed it. I was completely restless and couldn't sit still. I knew that tonight would be the final night of body-switching before the bunk beds - I don't know, hibernated? Had full bellies? Something like that. And unless we were to give up Beth, which was not going to happen, I was going to be rendered infertile forever. An attempt at crossing my arms failed as I wasn't using to having breasts - especially not ones this big. A part of me was really happy to have them. I think, deep down, this was something I had always wanted. But I didn't want to come about them this way. These were Jenna's breasts and she was still crying in her bed after waking and finding them gone. It felt sort of like I stole them though I knew it wasn't my fault. Jenna took being in my male body worse than my other roommates. She has my old breasts now, which had grown to an A cup and always gave the illusion that I was a little pudgy despite my otherwise slender frame. To her, it must look like a part of her body had gone backwards in time. It was probably going to give her bad Deja-vu to the time she was in my body. It probably made her feel less feminine, too. Not those small breasts weren't feminine, of course, but they were more subtle than what she had grown accustomed to all these years. Come to think of it, I'm not sure how feminine my old breasts were. They weren't masculine but they weren't exactly a woman's - maybe her natural estrogen would fill them out. I hoped she would still be able to breast feed someday. My thoughts were interrupted by Karen waking into the room with a towel slung over her shoulder. The aforementioned towel was the only thing that could be described as clothing that she was wearing. I watched her put the towel down on a chair at the kitchen table, get some cereal, some milk, and eat breakfast. Eventually she caught my stare. "What? I put a towel on." "I appreciate it." I joined her at the table but didn't really say anything. She was studying me, though - and not just my new breasts. "You alright?" She asked. "No, I don't think so." "I didn't think so." "It's just, you know, tonight's the last night. If we don't come up with something then we let the land lady win." "I don't know what to tell you," she said between bites of cereal. "There are no easy answers here. I don't even see any hard ones." "Yeah. That's the crux of it," "Crux," she said snorting. "Maybe you should talk with Beth." "Beth is taking this worse than I am. She didn't want to talk." "You should do something. You're practically shaking." "Yeah." "You know, if you're that restless, maybe you should go to the gym with me." The gym? There was an odd suggestion. "That doesn't sound relaxing," I said. "Seems a little strange, maybe. But it can help you work off stress and get your mind working sharper. There are benefits beyond just the toning of muscles in exercise, you know," Karen said. "I have read about those sorts of things before. Science backs it up." "And you know, if you break a workout routine, your body starts to feel all skuzzy. Come to think of it, you've actually worked out a few times this week already. Maybe your body wants more?" "Could be," I said. "You should come with me," Karen said. I agreed. Cindy walked into the room at that point dressed in a tank top and some cotton shorts. "Where ever you're going, take me with you. I can hear Jenna crying through the walls and Beth is little miss moody. I want out of this place." Both Karen and I laughed a little. "You gonna work out, too?" Karen asked. "Shit no. But I'll be happy to sit and read a book if it gets me out of here." "I get you," I said. "This apartment feels almost haunted. There's just this sense of dread welling up here." "How are you going to work out, though?" Cindy asked me. "I'll probably speed walk on the track. Go as fast as I can go before the asthma kicks in." "I was wondering more about the logistics of your giant tits," she said, staring at my chest. "Oh," I said. "I guess I need a sports bra?" "Hate to break it to you, champ, but Jenna usually wears two." "What!? That's insane!" "You're the one that loved big boobs. Now you get to live with them." *** The exercising went much worse than I had anticipated. I was out of shape when I was in high school and I've only deteriorated since then. I got tired and out of breath before the time Karen and I had allotted was up. I definitely needed to do this more often. I also needed to look into getting some sort of prescription inhaler to help with the asthma. That, and I needed to get the strongest sports bra ever made. I'll have to check to see if the engineers at NASA have ever made athletic supporters. As I walked by a lounge area I noticed Cindy sitting on a couch so I took a seat next to her. She didn't look up from her phone and her long blue hair hid her eyes and her face. "I need to come to the gym more often," she said. "People have knocked my high score on the pinball machine off the top ten." "There's a pinball machine here?" I asked. She motioned with her head. "Over there. It's one of only three pinball machines in town that I know of. And I've completely lost my touch." "I'm pretty out of shape, too," I said. "I suppose those giant knockers don't help you any." "Not in this area, no." She sighed, and looked me in the eyes. "So you're serious? About this whole girl thing?" "Yeah," I said. "At least, I'm pretty certain. This transition has been a long time coming for me, even if I wasn't fully aware of it most of the time." She didn't respond. In fact, she looked a little sad. "Err," I stammered. "Is that okay?" "I guess so. You'll make a fine woman." "Do you have a problem with this?" "No," Cindy said. "I'm dumb. It's just, I liked you as a guy. You treated me better than any other guy even though I must be pretty weird to you. And I'm dumb. Because I'm lonely, and I guess I kinda had this idea that maybe you and I could be girlfriend/boyfriend." There was a pause. "I'm sorry," I said. "I don't think that's ever going to happen. Or could work, actually." She laughed. "I know. I've always known you and Beth would end up together somehow. And I suppose that you being a sort of back--up plan for a boyfriend isn't exactly a flattering is it? Like I said, I'm dumb. But I guess seeing you as a woman puts an end to that stupid fantasy. I'm not into girls." "Yeah," I said, not knowing what else to say. Before I even knew what was happening she had her arms wrapped around me in a deep embrace. "Promise you'll still be my friend, okay?" She asked. "Of course." *** Underboob sweat is a thing. And so is regular sweat. I had enough time to take a quick shower, change into my work clothes, and ride back to the apartment with Karen and Cindy, and then head off to work. I wasn't exactly thrilled about having to shower. But we were here early enough that I hoped no one else would be there. That way I wouldn't start a riot or anything. I put my workout clothes in my locker. I seemed to be the only soul present at this misbegotten hour. I had to pull out a piece of paper with the combination that my roommate picked out when she was in my body and had switched me to the women's locker room. I laughed softly - -even the story of how I got my gym locker was ludicrous. Would my life ever sound not ridiculous when summarized? I steeled myself for the scary part. There weren't any separators or curtains in the shower area but there was space for a towel bar. So I could wrap the towel around my waist on the way there and nothing would be scene, hang it up quick, and then shower. If I heard someone coming I could angle my stance to put my butt in their direction as they walked by. Maybe. It was a weak plan, but the thought made me easier. I chose the first shower head available, hung up my tower, and got to washing. Felt great on my skin - really refreshing, to get all that sweat off. I imagined that I could hear my skin glistening. After taking a moment to enjoy the feeling, I quick started the shampoo process. The shower head next to me turned on. My heart nearly stopped. "Hey," she said, over the sound of two active showers. It was Karen. "Hi," I stammered. "Have a good work out?" She asked as she started to clean herself. "Sure," I said. "It'll do you good." And so it was just two of us showering next to each other, naked. It was so...mundane. Nothing sexual. Nothing scary. Just two girls going about their business. I couldn't tell if it was shampoo in my eyes or the warmth of the thought made me tear up. "I'm glad you feel comfortable naked around me," I said, after some time. "Psh," Karen laughed. "I felt comfortable naked around you back in high school." I blushed as I remembered Halloween our junior year. Karen had changed right in front of me and I had been mortified in the most darkish way possible. I cringed. "I'd forgotten that," I admitted. "I'm glad that you feel comfortable naked around me. That's a pretty big deal. You usually wear a swim shirt to the pool." I laughed. That was true, too. "And back then, I was only trying to hide A-cups," I said. "I'll need a Victorian onesie to hide these girls." Karen laughed. As we walked away from the showers another college aged woman entered into the area. She smiled at us then looked down to avoid eye contact - but froze, and her eyes bulged. It was at this point I realized that in the lightness of the moment with Karen, I had become too comfortable. I only had my towel slung around my shoulders. "Oh - you're so brave!" She said to me. "I mean, not to like bring attention to you, but - never mind." She blushed profusely and quickly walked by. "That could have gone worse," I mused. "If it had gone worse, I would've stood up for you. Maybe even brought out some of my old-school tomboy whoopass." "Thank you, Karen. That means so much to me." I almost cried - and I didn't have enough estrogen in my system to blame it on that. *** For work, I had two choices: Either commit to wearing breast binders for my XL breasts or come up with some lie. I decided the easiest lie was that I bought a super padded bra and super breast forms. I didn't like lying like that but it sure was easier than explaining all of the stuff going on with those damn bunk beds and my land lady. The red-headed girl that usually worked the front - Hana - gasped cartoonishly loud when I walked into the door. She ran up to me without breaking eye contact with my breasts. "It's a Christmas miracle!" She said. "They're beautiful. Did you get implants?" Not only had she drawn the attention of the few college aged patrons of Veritable Varieties, but she had drawn the attention of the other staff members. Manny rushed to the scene clad in enough baseball paraphernalia to constitute an advertisement and Greg walked out of the kitchen despite being in the middle of drying a plate. "Jesus wept," Manny said. "Yeah, so, uh, I should probably explain these," I said. "Yuh-huh," Manny agreed. "I decided that until I get on hormones I'll just wear a super padded bra. And I got these breast forms to put in my bra, too." Hana started playing with my breasts and I squirmed in response. "They're so realistic! I really feel like I'm feelin' up a busty chick!" She said. "Yup. Very realistic," I said. "Okay, okay, everyone. Now that we've got Lauren's tits out of the way, let's get back to work." I sighed a sigh of relief, put on my apron, and got to work. *** During my lunch break I checked my crappy old phone. I had a text message from Beth: "I want you, Lori. (You needed a pet nickname.) I want you in your body as you have it right now - no changes. I want your body to be against my body. I've realized I want you more than anything else in life. Hurry home today." "Never seen anyone blush from reading a text," Greg said dryly. Shit. Was I blushing? "Uh," I said and tried to think of something to say. But nothing came to me. "So, tell us then," Greg said. "You just get an order for a booty call?" "I think I might've," I said, nodding. "Who's the lucky girl?" "My girl - well, she's not my girlfriend. She's a roommate and an old friend. And how do I say this politely?" "She wants to bone?" Greg offered with a chuckle. "She's in the mood," I said. "Well, lucky you." "This is going to be a long work day," I said. "Actually, I'm going to just get back to work. I need something to do." Greg laughed. *** When I got back to the apartment I noticed my roommates sitting at the dinner table. There was a sort of cloud of depression hanging over them. Right. The first part of the final body swap was happening tonight and our landlady was going to destroy the magical essence of my last remaining testicle if we didn't let her have Beth's body. Which obviously, we weren't going to do. But there was the possibility that the land lady could do something else terrible to us, too. I brushed those thoughts aside and went straight to Beth's room. I found her lying on her bed in her fanciest underwear, looking at her phone. She smiled when she saw me. "Shut the door. And lock it," she said. "Sure thing," I said. I met her on the bed with an embrace and then a kiss. The kiss was followed by a series of kisses in which we experimented with the different shapes we could make when we put our lips together. The pleasure receptors in my lips had never reacted like this before. It was a symphony of physical sensations. To my surprise, Beth snuck a hand up my shirt and fumbled with the clasps on my bra. I took off my shirt and she slipped the bra straps off my arms, freeing my breasts. My nipples looked like two jumbo pieces of Dots candy. She cupped her hands around my breasts and massaged them up and down, letting her fingers lightly brush against my nipples with every pass. I closed my eyes and moaned softly. Beth pulled me down and then we were both on our sides on the bedsheets. While keeping a hand on one breast she threw off her shirt and let her own breasts out of their confinement. Arms wrapped around me and she pushed her breasts against my breasts. While I was trying to process all of this, she leaned in, and kissed me some more. As our encounter became more and more intimate, I realized that we weren't having sex. No - we were consummating our love. The symphony of sensations and feelings was something beautiful, and something special. It was something that could only ever belong to Beth and I. This moment that we were sharing - building - together was ours. And nobody eles's. *** After the most mind-blowing orgasms we'd ever had, we laid in bed, together, in an embrace. Our labored breaths slowed down, and eventually they were long and restful. "I'd say that was a dream come true," I said, "but it was better than any dream I'd ever had." Beth laughed. "Yeah. Me, too." There was only the rise and fall of our breasts "Lori," she said. "Can I call you Lori?" "Sure." "Lori, I want to be your girlfriend. But I think it's not fair to ask for commitment from you." I scoffed. "Why?" "Because this is the last day I'll be in this body." "What? No, we're going to - " "I called the landlady, Lori. I'm surrendering. Tonight she's going to come over here and we're going to switch bodies. And we're never going to switch back." My heart froze. "No," I said. "I can't let you do that." "It's my decision," she said, sternly. "I've seen you guys trying to help me, and I've seen you get your body mutilated. Now I have to do something for you. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't." All the heat my body had just obtained drained away from me in an instant and my insides froze over. "I don't think I can -" "Lori, this is my decision. This is my action." There was a kind of resolution in her face I'd never seen before. "I know all the things you've been doing, you've been doing more out of love for me than for your own good. And both people have to sacrifice in love. I love you, too, and this is my sacrifice. I want you to still have the option to have children." Tears formed in my eyes but I said, "Okay." I rolled onto my back on the extra-large pillow the two of us were sharing. My brain was a buzz with the absence of thoughts as we laid in complete silence. "If it doesn't feel too weird for you, we can still try dating, afterwards..." "Yeah," I said. "That's if you're still attracted to me." I thought about it. The Land Lady had a pretty nice body, and it was kind of hot that she was seven or eight years older than me. I didn't mind her being black - I love women, in general. Any color will do, if I have a connection with the girl. And I definitely had a connection with Beth. The Land Lady was always stiff and domineering in her clothes and her postures - I tried to imagine her looking shyer, and dressing more like how Beth does. I could kinda see it. "I'll miss your boobs," I said. Beth laughed and swatted one of my nipples. "Ow!" "It was kind of fun being a dumpy nerd who had tits so great that they made popular girls die on the inside. You'd be surprised how many of the cheerleaders were A-Cups," she laughed. I held her hand. "I guess you and I are going to get a pretty harsh crash course on white privilege. Especially you." Beth looked pained. "Fucking society." I couldn't imagine what it would be like for her. Really, I couldn't. We came from a smaller town before moving to this college town. Cindy was the only person of color that I hung out with regularly in school, and while I'd had a few black classmates, I was pretty ignorant about that sort of stuff. I'd probably have to do a lot of work and learning, too. Society puts terrible prejudices inside you when you aren't looking, and when you aren't prepared, they pop out. "I'm going to have to trade all of my paper work and ID and stuff with her," Beth mused. "I hope she has all the right identification for me." I broke down crying at this point, and so did she. We pressed our bodies together again, but not in a sexual way. No - we were trying to give each other strength while also drawing on each other's strength. I suppose this must be what lovers do in their darkest hours. "Hold onto me," she whispered, "And never let me go." "I won't," I promised. *** There was a knock at Beth's door. "Yes?" Beth asked. "Uh, we've got a visitor," Jenna said. "Two, technically. But one in particular. I think you ought to come out." "She's here, then," I murmured. We reluctantly broke our embrace. We both put on some pajamas, though neither of us felt like dealing with bras at the moment. And there, waiting for us in the living room, was our Land Lady, Dee, sitting by herself on the couch. Dark Gale was present, too, leaning against the wall and talking with Cindy. Dee noticed Beth and looked up with a self--satisfied smirk. "I'm glad you finally saw the light and decided to surrender," she said. This caused all of my roommates - and Dark Gale --- to whip their heads in Beth's direction. Beth nodded. "That's right. I agreed to let her have my body." My best friends started to speak at once with various protests, but Beth silenced them with a hand. "I know, it probably sounds crazy to you. And you probably want to try to talk me out of it. But I have to do this. I can't watch Loren suffer in my place any more. I love her. And it's my time to make a sacrifice for her." Jenna looked sullen; Cindy had her arms crossed against her chest and a scowl on her face; Karen's eyebrows were both raised and tilted in anger; Dark Gale had a hand in front of her mouth, apparently in shock. The land lady's smile had only grown wider. She laughed long and loudly. "My plan worked perfectly," she said. "From the very start, this is exactly what I wanted to happen. Once I saw your body, I knew it would be mine. And when I saw you and Loren together at my office that day you tried to get out of my lease, I knew Loren was the key. I could tell you two were hopelessly in love." "Really?" I asked, surprised. "How?" Dark Gale demanded. "I doubt you even have a heart!" "Well, I did, a long time ago. And I've lived thousands of years. The spark of lovers is always the same - there's nothing really unique about it, as much as everyone would like to think. And I realized I could put Loren in jeopardy to get Beth to submit to my demands. It made things so much easier for me, really. Thank you, Loren. Thank you for being your regular, stupid, hapless self." I balled my fists and fought to keep my anger inside. "Don't talk to her that way." "Her?" Dee asked. "I thought I detected a whiff of the Sapphic from you. No wonder you're attracted to him. He is rather girlish." "No," Beth said. "If we're going to do this, you're not going to insult my love, or any of my friends. No more gloating, and no more insults, understand?" "Alright. I can agree to those terms. But first, I have to ask - the goth girl. She doesn't live here, does she? If she does I'll have to raise your rent fifty dollars a month." "I'm friends with Loren and Cindy," Dark Gale said. And then turned to Karen and Jenna. "And the others too, I hope." "Whatever," Dee said, with a roll of her eyes. She fished a book out of her purse. "Well, I go to bed around ten pm, sharp. Carry on with your precious little lives until then." Beth took my hand and led me back to her room. My roommates weren't far behind. "So what's the real plan?" Dark Gale asked. "Yeah," Karen said. "Let us in on it." Beth shook her head. "This is the plan. Things have gotten too far out of hand. I'll let her have my body, and she'll leave Loren's alone." "She's serious," Cindy said, half shocked. "Yes, I am," Beth said. I squeezed her hand. "Uh, if you need us, we'll be in Beth's room," I said. And I hoped that they got the subtle hint that we didn't need them and wanted to be alone. Beth and I shut the door and laid down in the bottom bunk together. *** In those last few hours, we didn't speak. I laid my head on her chest and let it rise with each wistful breath she took. I'd never been in a relationship before, but I couldn't help but feel like this was what it felt like when a relationship ended. Well - it wouldn't end. I knew my love for Beth would continue, and I knew her love for me would continue. But a new chapter was going to begin, and new beginnings were always preceded by an ending. When the clock flashed to 9: 59, I looked at Beth, and her eyes turned towards me. We kissed, and held hands. There was a loud wrapping at the door. We sighed, in unison. Beth got up and reluctantly opened the door. The Landlady was in a pretty simple white night gown and looked as pleased as could be. She put her purse down on Beth's' desk and then climbed up to the top bunk. "Good night, children. Sweet dreams." "Do I have to leave, then?" I asked. "I guess you could sleep with her if you wanted," the land lady said. "If there are two people in the bottom bunk, the top person gets to choose which consenting body, if any, to take." Whew. I had wondered if such a scenario would have the three people fusing together or some weird shit like that. "Just no sex, please. I have a regular sleep schedule and get headaches when it's disrupted." I watched in silence as Beth took a pill with a glass of water. It was a sleeping pill so strong that she usually would cut into thirds and only take the smallest bit. But tonight she took the whole thing. It wouldn't be long until she fell asleep. As I held onto her as tightly as I could until I could tell she had fallen into a deep sleep. Her body was warm, but she wasn't with me anymore. I rolled over onto my back and stared at the top bunk. Here I was, in bed with the girl of my dreams. And we were so close to having the relationship I?d dreamed about since I met her. Hell, my boobs were a dream come true. Everything I wanted in life, at the moment, was so close to me. But just out of my reach. Why did we have to rent the apartment with cursed bunk beds? Or through the agency with an ancient being who swapped from one body to another through the ages? Why I couldn?t Beth and I just be able to be together and be dumb, young, and in love? Was that all too much to ask? And why did I have to be born in the wrong body? Why did I have to be born into the wrong body and be unaware of it for so long? I?d missed out on so much time. Why couldn?t I have just been born a girl? Something was building up inside of me ? something I?d never really felt before. Or at least never as strongly as this. My heart was beating fast and my face was flushed, but it wasn?t a sexual thing. My fists balled up tightly of their own volition and I couldn?t coax them back into a relaxed state. What was this feeling? And why was I so god damned helpless? I stood up and turned to look at the land lady. She was asleep and she looked so damned happy. Like maybe this was the best sleep she?d ever had. Here was the reason why Beth was going to lose her body and why Beth and I couldn?t be together. I wished I could take a knife to her throat. I surprised myself by the thought. I?m not the violent type. I doubt I could do it. And if I did, I?d probably go to jail forever and she?d just use some crazy evil magic to torment us. No, there was nothing I could do. There was nothing I could do. Rage. That?s what the feeling was, I realized. I was so fucking angry. It was starting to rewire my brain and change how I thought. It?s a shame I couldn?t at least bop her on the nose. How does one deal with such intense anger? Maybe I should get a drink of water. I turned, but paused when I noticed her purse on the desk. I took it with me and quietly made my way to the couch. I wasn?t thinking clearly, but I was letting my anger lead me, and I was certain there was a solution hidden inside the purse. I poured it out and looked at what was in it. No money. Some make up. A key ring with like twenty keys on it. Hmm. Keys. These were probably keys to her office. Even if she was an ancient evil, she did live here in the modern world. She probably came over right after work. Actually, since she was a land lady, she might even have an apartment in the same building so she didn?t have to go far. I could use these, keys, and... Steal stuff? No. That would not quench my anger. But I could use these keys. I could use these keys, and... Burn her fucking building down. Down to the ground! And then throw the ashes up in the air like confetti! Yeah. That might quench my anger. I had a can of gasoline in the back of my crappy truck just in case it ever ran out. And we kept a lighter in the kitchen drawer. I had all I needed.to commit arson. So after a quick stop in the kitchen I was in my truck and driving speed limit towards the Proteus Real Estate office. After all, it would be embarrassing to get arrested while on my way to commit a misdemeanor. Or was it a felony in this state? Guess I?ll find out later. I had been putting off getting my shocks replaced for too long. My tits bounced anytime the road was less than perfectly level, which was about half of the time. Perhaps I should have worn a bra for my turn to the dark side. I parked legally, and started looking through the key ring for a likely suspect for front door king. One key was beautifully crafted ? it had all sorts of stylish flourishes and nuances. It was pretty much a work of art. Unfortunately, it did not prove to be the front door key. The seventh key I tried let me in. The office still felt wrong. Well, not so much wrong as supernaturally right ? the place was just too freaking normal. Looks the like the answer to that little mystery would be lost in the fire. I started spreading a trail of gasoline through the main lobby and then lead the trail into her personal office. There was a second room that had a photocopier and some filing cabinets, so I spilled a liberal amount of gasoline there too. After filling in the last area, I walked back to the front of the building. I took out my lighter. Maybe that evil bitch had won the battle over Beth?s body, but I was going to send her a signal written in flames: Don?t fucking mess with me again. I held the lighter in my right hand with my thumb on the button. I was going to show her. Just one press of the button, and... I sighed. I couldn?t do it. What the hell had I been thinking? Arson won?t get prevent Beth from losing her body to that monster. It was just useless destruction. I wasn?t that kind of person. I glanced at the gasoline around the floor and sighed. I wouldn?t be able to clean it up, of course. But that evil bitch would probably use it as an excuse to make insurance pay for a new carpet or something. I sat down on the couch in the lobby and looked at my hands. One of them was still clutching the lighter and the other was still holding onto the key ring. What on earth was that extravagant key there for? It wasn?t for the front door, and I hadn?t seen a safe around anywhere. What could the landlady treasure so much that she?d actually pay for a custom key? The only place I hadn?t searched thoroughly was the main closet. Even with a light on it didn?t look very promising. But this was an extra wily landlady. Maybe the back of the closet was actually a fake wall, or a doorway. I stepped into the closet and my right foot bumped into something. Looking down, all I noticed was a slight bulge in the carpet. Huh. I moved the boxes around until I could lift up the carpet from one corner and see what was underneath. A part of the floor was a wooden door with a handle and a keyhole. My heart started to race a little. But I?d already committed burglary at this point. I figured I might as well go a little further, right? Once the hatch was unlocked, it revealed a stairway squished between grey-brick walls that went down into total darkness. Okay, so now I was going in deep. It occurred to me that anything could be down those stairs ? demons, space aliens, Tupac --- anything. But maybe I could find a way to save Beth. So I tried to steady my breathing and I kept one hand braced on the wall as I started my descent. There were no lights. I counted my steps, and there were more than a hundred. At first I thought I?d hit a dead end, but I felt around and discovered a door handle. My breath was out of control at this point. I?m not exactly the brave sort by nature and my nerves were on edge. But I entered the room. Without any light, I could make out the shape of a furnace in an otherwise normal basement, albeit small. But when I turned on the light I saw that tit was not a furnace. No, it was some sort of high-tech metal capsule standing about eight feet tall. I?d never seen anything like it before. My first instinct was that it was some sort of UFO or personal space ship. There was the outline of a shape on the front that hinted at a door, though I could see no handle. When I pressed my hand against it, it sprang to life. I?m not certain where the lights had been before, but they sparkled across the machine in every color. I?m going to have to dive into Star Trek terminology to explain things here, but a holographic image appeared in front of me. It looked like a series of pictures with simplified figures ? sort of like what you see on safety labels. Or instructions. The first image was animated, and showed a person breathing. Next, the image showed a person unlocking a hatch and the next few images replayed my discovery of the machine in the form of little icons. Step 6 was to put my hand through the doorway, and Step 7 was to take another deep breath. When I pushed my hand on the doorway the outline of metal, the doorway simply disappeared. The capsule didn?t seem to have anything inside it except more sparkling lights and metal walls. So I stepped in. The capsule?s door snapped back into existence. I held back my panic and tried to see if I could open the door again ? but I couldn?t. That?s when I heard the hissing sound. There were holes in the floor of the machine that hadn?t been there before, and a pink mist started to fill up the chamber. I couldn?t keep my head above the rising mist for very long. So, in defenses, I held my breath. But a person can only hold their breath for so long. The pink mist invaded my body the moment I gasped for air. I could feel it filling me up on the inside. Ah, shit, I thought to myself. I?d always wondered how I would die, but somehow, I?d never imagine drowning in some weird alien fog as the way I?d go. Sorry, Beth. Sorry I could be your heroine. I felt my eyes roll back into my head, and --