Dark Explorations

(Alice POV)

It was officially my birthday. I watched with anxiety as the clock hit 12:00 AM of May 11th 2026. I was officially twenty-one, give or take a few hours, and I was a nervous wreck. The party was later today and I still felt completely emotionally unready for it. More pressing though, was Venus’ makeover. She told me to be ready by midnight and that she would give me the exact location to come from. She was being surprisingly nice to me. I didn’t know if it was because I was volunteering to be her dress up doll or what, but it made me on edge.

To prepare, I’ve been in the real world for a couple minutes now. I ate a quick meal of frozen chicken nuggets and waited patiently now to hear from her. I didn’t have my own phone. Any device I touched became my device so the apartment’s tv was good enough to wait for communications. I couldn’t help but nervously pace around and wait. I couldn’t figure out something to distract me so I left the tv off. The black screen kept reflecting my appearance and every time I saw myself I wanted to just run away again.

No, I can’t do that. I needed to be strong. I want to actually try this time. I want to eat chocolate cake with Alan. You can put lipstick on a pig for a day and never show yourself again if it goes poorly. And if it goes well? We’ll figure it out then. The screen on the tv came on and I saw the signal for a notification from Venus come through. I touched the screen and warped inside of it. Now as code, I found the electronic message and read it.

Venus: All clear now! Come on out!

I traced her message and found her phone and exited from it. The size of the screen has never been a problem for me. I prefer televisions though because it makes the exit easier. Their mounted surface prevents stumbling or faceplants. Exiting from phones doesn’t give that level of ease. I found that issue the moment I breached the surface of Venus’ phone and found myself facing directly upwards towards a glass ceiling. The midnight sky was perfectly dark with the indoor lights destroying any stars visible. I lost my balance and ended up falling directly on my face as I hit the ground.

“Oh my god! Alice, are you okay?”

The familiar latin accent spoke above in a tone mixed with both laughter and pity. She was doing her best to not laugh in my face as I tried my best to get back up. I found myself looking up at her and her beautiful smile. Venus was tall, around five feet eleven with a mature aura to her body. She wore a red cropped t-shirt which had the logo of a sports team I wasn’t familiar with. It exposed her beautifully slender midriff while paired with a tight pair of jeans which hugged her ass in a way which made perverts drool. Hung over her shoulder was a tiny leather bag which matched her outfit perfectly. Her long coffee-colored hair had this beautiful wavy texture to it as it fell behind her ears and reached to the middle of her back. A single red flower was pinned in her hair right by her ear. It all perfectly matched her tan body which seemed to reflect the lights in a beautiful caramel color.

I couldn’t help but blush seeing her. I wasn’t attracted to women, but Venus had that appearance which could make anyone admire her. You couldn’t help but envy her beauty and fear it if your boyfriend or crush was close enough to see her. It was almost enough to ignore her most prominent feature. Her face was simply beautiful with lashes perfectly curled and a beautiful red lipstick shade which matched her cropped shirt. The makeup on her face felt almost non-existent with its skill and application. It seemed to say, ‘that is just how naturally beautiful I am’.

Most individuals would probably only ever see that. The contract provided to me allowed me to see what she could hide from everyone else though. There was an odd edge around the perimeter of her face, a line of stitches applied so carefully they seemed to perfectly mix with her appearance except upon closer inspection. You could see it as well around her lips, eyes, and nostrils as they held it down and gave it a natural appearance. That wasn’t her face. That face was a mask. One that was skinned from another person’s face and applied to cover her own. Despite the haunting silhouette of the mask, she wore it beautifully and caused myself to wonder if I could wear one with the same grace despite not having a contract to assist me. She smiled warmly with what seemed like genuine care in her expression.

“I’m sorry, Alice. I should have set my phone down to make your exit easier.”

“I-I-it’s alright…”

Her voice was the opposite of her words and appearance as she stifled a laugh as she spoke. Her mouth turned coily at its edge into a smile at my embarrassment. I managed to push myself upwards and finally look around at the empty building we were in. It was two stories with the second story visible from the ground floor and connected by a long hallway. I recognized its layout as the classic American mall shape.

“W-where are we?”

“Ross Park Mall, in Pittsburgh.”

I was a bit taken aback by that fact and she chuckled at my confused expression.

“Don’t worry. I handled any security before your arrival. I also stole the keys so we’re free to shop as we like.”

She pointed upwards towards a large lighting fixture on the roof. It took me a moment to realize that it was not a planned part of the building and rather had been put up recently. Its frame was primarily constructed from the body of an overweight male in a blue security uniform. He was hung upside down with his feet nailed to the roof and wires going up his pants leg and into his body. His arms had been forced into a T-pose as a metal frame had been nailed along the length of his body to maintain his posture and shape. On each finger were singular white Christmas lights which lit up from wires which had been run through his skin like secondary veins. His eyes were wide and hair stood up from the shock even through the upside down pose. I watched as his eyes moved towards me and tried to blink for help, only for the static electricity running through him to cause him to twitch his face involuntarily. It was impressive craftsmanship and par for the course with what I expected to see from Venus. She was an artist and one whose preferred canvas was the human body. This man would probably survive a majority of the night, but the nerve damage he suffered from the wires in his skin and the blood draining to the head from remaining upside down would probably kill him.

I looked back towards Venus and found her inspecting me. She circled me and examined me like a game hunter. Her slender arm reached out with ruby colored nails and flowed through my hair and examined it. I flinched at her touch, but she didn’t seem to care. She backed up from me and I could see her judging eyes showing disapproval towards me. I felt my body shiver and struggle under her gaze and instinctively try to hide myself behind my arms. She hummed disapprovingly.

“Our first priority needs to be cutting this mop on your head.”

I found myself reaching for my hair unconsciously and feeling it. It was thick, long, and tangled. It probably has been two years since my last hair cut. I found myself nodding understandably.

“Y-yeah, are you able t-to?”

Venus smiled and motioned for me to follow her. There was a hair stylist in the mall and she opened up the store with the master key she had. She flicked the light switch by the entrance and the large room came to life as the overheads showed off the many stations for stylists and products for sale. Venus walked towards a chair with a sink where the headrest would normally be. She motioned me to come and sit down. I did as she asked and laid down, tilting my head back into the sink and pooling my hair into the cauldron. Venus turned on the water and began to soak my hair.

“You really need to shower, Alice.”

I could see her shake her head in disapproval as she began to rinse my hair and take some shampoo to it. Her hands were soft and gentle, but I couldn’t help but get goosebumps at the touch. I hadn’t felt another human’s touch in seemingly forever, yet here I was letting Venus wash my hair. I felt my face grow hot as she worked and part of me wanted to run away due to embarrassment. Her criticism stung and I tried to argue.

“B-but I don’t smell…”

Venus shook her head.

“It’s not about smell. It’s about cleanliness. We’ll have to cut most of this off, because it’s so matted and knotted.”

I looked away from her as she tried to lecture me. I hadn’t thought of that. She grabbed a comb and began to pull at my hair in an attempt to salvage it. I gripped the chair’s armrest and screamed out as she painfully ripped at my raven hair. Its balled up tangles felt like it was being ripped off my scalp as she attempted to tame its ugly shape. I tried to ask her to stop, but she ignored me and kept at it while she shampooed what she could. When she was finally finished, she grabbed a towel and allowed me to dry my own head. I was relieved to finally have her stop and was reminded of when my mom would brush my hair when I was young.

Venus wasn’t done with my hair though as she motioned me to follow her to one of the many stylist’s stations. It was a simple cushioned seat in front of a mirror. I hopped into the seat and was greeted by my reflection. My wet hair was straighter than it had been despite large twisted clumps throughout it. My face was still sunken and a bit of shame rose in me as I was forced to look at myself. Venus opened her leather purse and pulled out a pair of scissors and began to work on my hair. She didn’t even bother asking my opinion as she began. It was like I was just her model or doll as she worked as she pleased. Most of my hair fell to the ground as large knots that couldn’t be removed were cut away. The entire process took nearly an hour. Throughout the time, she kept questioning me.

“So tell me about this ‘friend’ of yours.”

“Well… his n-name is Alan.”

“So it’s a boy. Where did you two meet?”

She gave this knowing smile which accused me. I wanted to shake my head or defend myself, but with the scissors so close to my face I couldn’t muster the courage to.

“I-I found him on the internet. He made a v-video about me.”

This caught Venus’ attention and she stopped working momentarily to look in the mirror at me with a shocked expression.

“A video? Is he some kind of influencer?”

“Y-yeah, a small one. He makes c-crime content. He covered m-my hackings.”

“Oooo! So how did you reach out to him?”

“I-I d-didn’t. H-He made a v-video about S-Sofia and was a-able to see through the c-contract’s p-protection. T-The boss a-asked me to w-watch him and u-use him to h-hunt down R-Roxane.”

Venus gasped as she began to work on my bangs.

“Wait! Is this the boy who was added to the protection clause?”

I blushed as she spoke right next to my face. She smelt sweetly from her perfume and her soft latin accent gave me shivers.

“Y-yes.”

Venus backed up and gave me a look of concern. It felt far more genuine than her usual suspicion-filled emotions.

“Are you sure he’s not manipulating you?”

I shook my head. I was confident in this answer and no matter how many warnings from Morgan and others, I knew Alan wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t seduce me just to get my help escaping. It’s not like I could even help him that much.

“N-No, h-he’s not. I w-watched Alan. He b-barely talked to women outside of S-Sofia and m-me. He’s n-never flirted or tried to be r-romantic with anyone. He d-doesn’t even know m-me well. To him, I’m j-just Sofia’s friend or ally.”

Venus seemed to think about my answer for a moment.

“Do you want to be more? You wouldn’t ask for a makeover if you didn’t.”

I was about to answer no, but stopped myself. That was a lie and I know it. I wanted him to acknowledge me and be as obsessed with me as he was in his video about me. If I could tell him, I’m sure he would be. But how do I tell him? I didn’t know. Maybe I wouldn’t have to. Part of me hoped that if I showed up looking my best tonight then he could recognize me. Something would click and he would realize it. I wanted to hear him compliment my skills and knowledge. Hear him obsess over how my brain worked like he did with Sofia and Roxane. I wanted to be more than just his stalker or roommate, whatever he thought of me as. I found myself unable to answer and could only look towards the ground. Venus gave me a pained smile and grabbed my shoulders as she spoke next to my ear.

“Listen Alice, men are carnal creatures. They can be intelligent or emotional, while still being single-minded in their pursuit. If you pursue this man, make sure you stay in control. Never let him have the final word and always leave him wanting more. If you let him have any power, he’ll use it to run wild until you have to put him down.”

I could only nod a response. I didn’t know if to believe her. Alan wasn’t like that, but I had never seen him romantic or sexual. He would sometimes masturbate at night before Sofia moved in, but it was never to any online material for me to watch. It seemed completely out of character for Alan to be like the kind of men Venus spoke of. Morgan advised similarly to avoid getting close all together due to his gender. Was Alan really predetermined to be such a patriarchal creature? I found myself unable to swallow that pill.

Venus let go of my shoulders and went back to work. My long hair coated the floor as I could finally see the shape that Venus was looking for. It was a chin-length bob with soft messy edges. My bangs were kept long and she gave them a side-swept look to them that covered part of my left eye. A stubborn lock of hair curved upward from the crown of my head, giving the otherwise simple hairstyle a slightly awkward charm. When she was finished, she backed away and cleaned the hair off her scissors.

“Voilà! Far better now. I hope you agree.”

She was right. I touched it, almost not able to believe the change. My skinny frame seemed suddenly to be much lighter and my appearance seemed to lose part of its haunting quality that gave me chills by seeing it. For the first time in a while, I felt an emotion other than disgust or shame upon seeing my reflection. There was more to my mind as I saw myself with short hair for the first time ever.

“T-thank you, V-Venus.”

She gave me a cocky smile and in her sweet spanish accent coily teased.

“We’re far from done. If you’re going to knock out this Alan, you’ll need new clothes, makeup, maybe even pierced ears. I want to see how much we can do to make you beautiful.”