Bottle of Lust | ONC 2024

Chapter 1

My head pounds as I look around the room I ended up in after being pulled through some vortex. I stand up and almost lose my balance on the even cloth-covered ground. I try to make sense of it all, but my mind is still fuzzy from being stretched and twisted here. Whatever room I'm in is completely made of red opaque glass. I take a deep breath and look around, taking in the strange surroundings. There is no end to the room. The walls bend and warp around me in a complete circle, with no door to escape. I look up towards the ceiling, but It flutes into a shadow I can't see past.

It seems unlikely, but maybe I'll find a hatch under this endless mass of fabric.

I dig through the yards and yards of purple silk to find a bottom when my fingers graze more cold glass. I pull the fabric to the side and realize I'm trapped in a completely glass room with no escape.

A commotion from outside my room grabs my attention and has me swim through the silk to find out what's on the other side. I reach the other side and try to peer out. The view is too obscured to see the room I'm in, but I can see that I'm sitting on what looks like a table. My heart leaps out of my chest.

I'm in a bottle. I try to stay calm, but I know I'm in trouble.

"Good morning, professor." A muffled voice says from the other side of the glass. It sounds far away, just within hearing distance, but as small as I am right now, the person could be just a few feet away, and it'd feel like yards. "I didn't expect you in so early."

"I had a special project." A loud, deep voice replies, making me jump. The profound, sophisticated tone sounds all around me. I can only assume it's the professor.

"Oh," the other replies as I try to stand up and get a better grasp of where I am.

A professor? So, some school? Have I been reduced to a lab rat?

Giant dark figures move around the outside. The only closet to me must move out of the way of a window because more natural light seeps its way into the bottle.

"What if I told you that a love potion wasn't a potion but a person?" The professor asks. His shadow shifts, and a large wrist comes into view, making me jerk back.

"I'd say, what the hell are you talking about?" A higher-toned male voice replies.

"I found what I was looking for," the professor says. He grabs the bottle, shadowing the inside before jerking it up.

I'm set tumbling around the purple scarf, making me feel less like a goddess and more like a Disney rendition of a genie in a bottle.

The professor makes it worse by shaking the bottle, sending me crashing against the hard side with a dehumanizing ping, like a bug in a jar.

"A love potion?" The stranger asks when the professor stops shaking me. "I mean love person. In a bottle?". The man chuckles. "What piece of love do you have in there? It's toenails?"

"No." The professor's voice turns maniacal. "I have all of her in here. Shall I show you?"

"Sure, why not?"

My gaze darts to the top of the bottle. A deafening squeak echoes off the fall. I throw my hands over my ears before the loud pop, and I'm sucked through the top. It feels like I'm being pulled through a black hole, bending, squishing, and manipulating my body in ways it should never be manipulated. In my full form, I'm tossed onto a dusty wooden floor. The force makes me stumble forward before I gain my footing.

My heart pounds against my chest as I try to vanish from the mortal realm, but nothing happens. It's like my powers have been drained from my body.

Without a glance at either man, I bolt for the door, determined to get out of there one way or another. I get halfway across the cluttered room before I'm snapped back by something wrapped around my neck. My feet jerk out from underneath me, and I crash to the ground, choking and gasping for air.