Thorn could only watch as the intruder put on her performance outfit, her eyes narrowed into a ferocious glare. Kneeling on the floor of her dressing room, stripped down to her lingerie, and bound hand and foot with duct tape, she was helpless to prevent her rival from assuming her identity, presumably to ruin the Hex Girls' latest concert.
The intruder and Thorn knew each other quite well. They were rivals on the goth band circuit and frequently competed against each other in band battles. Thorn almost thought she could consider this girl a friend, but now....
"Oh, don't give me that look," said the intruder, reaching down to touch Thorn's cheek.
"Fmm ymm!" Thorn cursed, twisting herself away to avoid her captor's unwanted touch. "Lmme gmm, Shnnmn!"
Thorn's captor was Shannon Vale, and the two were quite similar to one another. They were the same age and had very similar tastes in music. Shannon was the lead singer and guitarist of Widow's Web, and went by the name of Veil. The rivalry between the two bands was presumably a friendly one, but it seemed that Veil had different ideas about what constituted a friendly rivalry.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you, I just need to out of the way until the competition's over," said Veil, walking over and picking up a black wig that looked just like Thorn's hair. "I'm gonna go out there and give a slightly subpar performance, just enough to put you guys in second place so that our band can win for once. Then I'll come back and untie you... or send somebody else, depending on your attitude."
Thorn let out a cry of protest, lunging forward at Veil, twisting furiously in her bonds and voicing her disapproval through her tapegag.
What the hell is wrong with you? shouted Thorn. You know that's not gonna work, my bandmates are gonna sniff you out from a mile away! You can't fool them and you can't fool the fans or the judges!
Veil didn't understand a word of what Thorn was saying, but she knew it had to be an angry objection to her plan, and she rolled her eyes and put the wig on before turning back to Thorn and leaning in.
"Look... we really need this win, okay? Fang's been going through some shit lately, her boyfriend left and she's been losing sleep working on our music, and Moon... well, you know what Moon's been through, right?"
Thorn looked away from Veil, determined not to be guilt tripped into thinking that any part of this was okay.
Moon's mom has cancer. I heard, we donated all the proceeds from our last concert to the GoFundMe. That doesn't make it right to fucking kidnap me, Shannon! You know Moon and Fang wouldn't approve either... right? They're not in on this, are they?
Veil could tell that Thorn was thinking hard about what she'd said, and gently cupped her chin, turning her head to make eye contact. Thorn tried to extricate herself from Veil's grasp, but Veil's fingers tightened, forcing Thorn to keep looking up at her.
"I know what you're thinking, and no, this is all me. They don't know anything about this, and I'm hoping you'll keep all this between us."
Yeah right, Thorn muffled. As soon as I get out of here I'm going straight to the police!
Thorn knew that it might be risky to admit that, considering her current situation... but as crazy as Veil was acting, she knew that Veil still saw them as friends, and didn't think that she was in any real danger.
"I'm hoping you don't, but that's your choice," said Veil. "I'm just trying to win this thing for my girls... I hope while you're in here, you think about that."
Thorn just kept looking into Veil's eyes, trying to show her that she wasn't afraid... and as their eyes continue to meet, she could see a slight blush forming on Veil's face. Veil released Thorn from her grip and began pacing around her, looking at every inch of Thorn's pale body in that lacy black lingerie.
"I gotta say, you look pretty hot all taped up like this," said Veil with a smirk.
"Whmmph?!" muffled Thorn, raising an eyebrow and looking at Veil with a bit of disgust.
"Yeah, I mean... I was never really into bondage, but now I can see the appeal..." said Veil, kneeling down behind Thorn and softly rubbing the pale soles of her bare feet. "Maybe a little massage will help you relax?"
Get the hell off of me! shouted Thorn, trying to scoot her feet away.
"Aw, you need to lighten up," Veil said, now tracing her fingernails up Thorn's soles and forcing an involuntary giggle from her. "See? Just relax!"
Thorn began breathing heavily as Veil stood up again, thinking about her own bandmates and how, if they couldn't tell that Veil was an impostor, that they might be in trouble.
"Lnmm... Dmsk..." muffled Thorn through the tape, looking up at Veil with some concern.
"C'mon, Thorn, I'm not going to hurt them or you," said Veil. "Even if they find me out, I promise, I won't lay a hand on them. I mean, I wasn't even all that rough with you, and you fought like hell, see?"
Veil pulled up her dress to show the ugly bruise from where Thorn had kicked her while she was being taped up.
Serves you right, bitch, muffled Thorn.
"Come on..." said Veil, kneeling down in front of Thorn and placing her hands on the girl's shoulders, prompting an immediate 'don't touch me!' from the bound and gagged goth. "Thorn, the thing is... I've always kind of liked you... and I know that this throws a real wrench in our friendship...."
"Ymm thmnk?" Thorn shouted, before scooting herself back, away from Veil. "LMMT MM GMM RMMGHT NMM!"
"Please, Thorn, try to understand..." said Veil, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on Thorn's taped lips. Thorn thought about headbutting her, but as Veil backed away, Thorn could see the genuine affection in her eyes, and couldn't bring herself to fight back, even if she was still extremely pissed off.
We are NOT friends, muffled Thorn, looking into Veil's eyes to make that very clear. Not anymore.
"I'm sorry, Sally," said Veil, using her former friend's real name as she removed Thorn's bat pendant from her neck and put it on herself. "I promise I'll untie you as soon as this is over... and then you can do whatever you want. Just... don't try to stop me, okay? I'm doing this for my friends. You'd do the same."
The hell I would! shouted Thorn, as Veil turned to leave the room. Come back here and untie me! If you leave, we're done! Do you hear me? If you leave, we're DONE!
Veil left the room, leaving Thorn bound and alone and as angry and upset as she'd been in her entire life. She let out a scream of frustration and began to struggle, determined not to let her bandmates be tricked by her friend turned impostor.
Luna, Dusk, I'm coming. No way are the Hex Girls losing to some psycho, no matter what sob stories her bandmates have. I won't let her win!
Thorn fought her duct tape bonds as hard as she could, hoping she wouldn't be too late.
*************
The story comes along with this picture :
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88777 ... chu2ouWRC0