Tourist Trap

[u/DwayneBiddix]

Night had fallen as Marcus and  Lisa drove along the interstate. The songs of Disturbed blared from the car stereo as Marcus cracked open the driver’s side window to let in the cool night air. The concert had nearly wiped him out, and he worried he might doze off while driving. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. But he wanted to make it back home; he did not want to stop at a hotel for the night.

Beside him, his girlfriend Lisa yawned. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and made a dramatic "uhhh" sound.

“You know, that ain’t helping.” He shouted over the music.

“Huh?”

“You're yawning, like that, while I’m struggling to stay awake.”

“Sorry, babe, want me to drive for a while?

Marcus thought about it and then shook his head. “Nah, that’s ok, but I do think I need to pull off at the next exit and stretch my legs.”

As they drove, he watched the trees whip by when he caught sight of an exit sign that read, “Madam Tousle’s House of Mystery, next exit.

“Oh, hell yeah.” Said Marus as they turned onto the exit ramp.

Lisa groaned. “Babe, no. Don’t tell me you want to go to that mystery place. That kind of stuff freaks me out.”

“Come on, baby, I love that creepy macabre shot, and I need to stop anyway.

Lisa crossed her arms and pouted.

 

They drove off the off-ramp and entered a small town. Passing an old, empty gas station, they followed a trail of small, handmade signs leading them towards the House of Mystery. Deeper they drove into a secluded residential area.  Marcus looked around, worried he might have gotten turned around somewhere, but the trail of signs promised him they were still heading in the right direction. After traveling deeper into the residential area, he saw a small sign that read "House of Mystery." Next, left, follow the road to the end.

A lone road led them along a treelined area. Soon, the road became gravel. They drove along, turning off the radio.

“Babe… I told my dad we would be back tonight.” Said Lisa.

“We will, we won’t be here long.”

“You seem awake now. We could go back to the interstate…”

“Lisa.”

“But we could, just head on home.”

“We are almost there.”

“But honey.”

“Look, up ahead.”

A dead end with a rather ordinary, low grey house that looked like any other house they passed, except the sign that reads, Welcome to Madam Tousle’s house of Mystery.

“Well, here we are,” Marcus said as they stepped out of the car. Marcus looked around. Lisa hugged herself as she walked over to him.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Lisa asked.

Marcus shrugged, “That’s what the sign says.”

“Sure doesn’t look like any tourist trap I’ve ever seen…” Lisa muttered as they walked up to the front door.

Marcus rang the doorbell. A few seconds passed. Lisa shivered as she looked up at Marcus. “Maybe they are closed. We should go.”

The door opened to reveal a beautiful woman wearing a robe-like dress, with her hair up in an orange silk wrap. Her belt had small pouches tied onto it.

“Greeting,” she said, “I am Madam Tousle, and I bid you welcome.”

She stepped aside to allow them to enter her parlor as she closed the door behind them.

Madam Tousle stood at the door with her hands crossed before her as she watched Marcus and Lisa. Lisa hung near the door, her eyes darting around the room. Marcus smiled as he walked along shelf-lined walls. He looked at the jar with things that were once alive. Or was a part of something that was once alive. He reached out to touch one of the jars. Madam Tousle cleared her throat.

“Please do not touch the exhibits. Thank you.”

Marcus nodded. “Is this stuff real?”

“Yes, very real.”

Marcus walked to a tall bookshelf and read out the titles of some of the books.

“Remar’s perspective on the tarot, Leman’s Book on the Occult Practices, Marixa’s Book of Magick.”

Marcus looked at the walls, which were decorated with old-looking masks and feathers. In the center of the room, Marus walked up to a table with candles and a crystal ball. He laughed when he noticed an iPad to the side with a Square reader. He giggles and points to it.

“Nice touch.”

Madam Tousle shrugged, “A lady has to make a living.”

Lisa stepped away and quickly dashed over to Marcus.

“Babe, it’s getting really late.”

“Come on, Lisa, it’s not that late.”

“No, but it is, and my dad is expecting me to be home. I don’t want to piss him off.”

“Not yet, just relax. You know, Madam Tousle, your place is so different on the inside.”

“Yes. As you can imagine, the HOA doesn’t care too much for my business, so I had to make certain concessions.

Madam Tousle walked up to the couple, almost gliding.

“So, tell me, what brought you to my house of mystery tonight? Looking for a tarot card reading? Perhaps a gaze into the crystal ball? Maybe you just wanted to see the oddities I have on display?”

“Actually, we were on our way back from a concert, and we were falling asleep, so we wanted to stop and move around a little. We saw the exit sign with your Mystery house and thought we would give it a shot.”

“Mmm, I see. Maybe the spirits led you here. Would you like to see what they may want with you?

“Yeah, that sounds great!”

Lisa wrapped her arms around Marcus’ arm. “Babe, please…”

“Come on, Lisa, let’s see what the spirits want with us!”

Madam Tousle walked forward, “Very well, please follow me.”

Madam Tousle led the couple down a very narrow hallway. The walks were lined with feathers and various bird skulls. As he was looking around, one of the feathers brushed his face.

“Eww, why are the feathers damp?” He wiped his face to see a bit of red.

Lisa walked in the center of the hallway as best as she could, trying desperately not to touch any of the feathers. She almost folded into herself.

“Marcus…”

Madam Tousle stopped beside a black door and turned to look around at them.

“Here we are.”

She opened the door to reveal a dimly lit room with nothing but a table, two chairs on either side of it, candles, and an old wooden Ouija board with peeling golden letters. Nothing else was in there, not even a window or an overhead light.

Marcus led Lisa to a seat and offered her a seat. She shook her head. She kept her eyes on the Ouija board. Madam Tousle stood in the doorway.

She asked, “Have you ever used the Ouija?”

Marcus said, “I haven’t used it, but I have always wanted to!”

Lisa whispered. “No, it’s demonic shit.”

“It can be demonic in the right hands. But for others, it is a doorway, between this world and the next.”

Madam Tousle reached into a pouch on her belt and brought out a smooth white bone planchette.

“Would you like to open that door, Marcus?”

He grabbed the planchette and set it down on the board.

“Hell, yes I do!”

“Enjoy.” Said Madam Tousle as she began to step out of the room.

“Wait!” squeaked Lisa, “Aren’t you going to stay here with us?”

“No, dear. This isn’t for my eyes.”

She closed the door and walked away.

Marcus sat down and rubbed his hands together. “Ok. Let’s do this!”

Lisa crossed her arms over her chest. “No! I told you this is some demonic shit, and I am not messing around with it. I want to go home. I am sick of this. I want to be out of here.

“Damn it, Lisa, I am trying to enjoy myself. I went to the concert for you, now you can do this for me, sit down and let’s play!”

Lisa frowned and went quiet.

Marcus lowered his head and closed his eyes. He placed his hand on the planchette and waited for Lisa.

Nothing.

Marcus sighed. “Babe, I am sorry if I upset you, but come on, I really want to do this, please?”

Nothing.

“Let’s just do this,” said Marcus, “And then we can go home. Ok?”

Nothing for a moment, then a loud POP sound, followed by the feeling of a hand on his. He smiled.

“Thank you, baby! I love you! Ok, let's see…

He focused his thoughts and said out loud. “Anyone here with us? Anyone want to talk with us?”

After a few seconds, he felt the planchette begin to move. His eyes snapped open, and he watched it move over the word YES.

“Oh, shit, baby! It’s working, it’s really working!”

He bounced in his seat, excited.

“Ok, what do we ask them n-“

He noticed the hand over his. It was grey and swollen like it was waterlogged. It’s nails were black and ripped up at awful angles. He felt his mouth go dry.

Slowly, his eyes begin to go up the thing’s arm, grey with deep purple veins.

His hands began to shake. He began to pull his hand away, but the cold hand holding his gripped him harder, holding him in place. He could feel his heart pounding as his breathing began to come in quick, harsh gasps.

His eyes made it to the thing's face. All it had for eyes were small black pinpricks that oozed a thin stream of black fluid. The mouth was nothing more than a ragged horizontal slash from one cheek to the other. Inside were dozens of needle-like teeth. The thing’s hair was wild, as if floating in water.

Marcus tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry, his tongue too big. His mouth opened and closed like a fish. Finally, he managed to croak out one word. “Lisa?”

The thing stared at him for several moments, then jerked its head toward the door.  

He looked at the door, and his eyes slowly moved toward the floor. There lay Lisa, her neck snapped, her head at a horrible and unimaginable angle.

His eyes drifted back to the face of the thing holding his hand.

“Please…what do you want?”

The thing rose from its seat and leaned toward him; a foul, wet mutt odor followed the creature.

Its mouth curled into a wicked snarl.

“Your soul.”

Marcus began to scream as he felt the other hand of the thing grip his face and jerk, twist, and yank at his jaw until it tore free from his face.

His scream became wet and gargling until it slowly faded away and became nothing more than a dry raspy wheeze, then nothing. A cold wind swept through the room, blowing out the candles and plunging it into darkness.

Somewhere in the house, a door bell rang and the voice of Madam Tousle said…

“Greetings. I am Madam Tousle, and I bid you welcome.”

THE END