Paradise

"Congratulations!" James continued reading aloud to his wife. "'You've won an all-expense paid trip to Paradise. Where you can put your feet up and just relax.' Yo baby, check this out! Literally all you have to do is just show up and you're in a $20,000 raffle!" James finished reading the pamphlet before plopping on the couch. "You think you can get that much time off from work?" His wife Debbie jokingly asks as she walks into the living room. James looks over his shoulder with a smug look on his face and answered, "Baby it's a weekend trip. Worse comes to worse I will call out of work on Friday. Plus, the program is on its last evaluation anyway, so they'll be fine." James and Debbie packed their bags and flew out to Las Vegas, Nevada that Friday for their luxurious vacation.

Upon arrival they see a woman in a black fitted suit with fiery red hair kept up in a bun that was hidden under her flat cap. She was holding a sign with their names on it looking aimlessly around the airport. Debbie is the first to notice as she grabs James' hand and drags him through the crowd. "Here we are!" Debbie yells waving with her free hand. "Mrs. and Mr. Gonzalez." The woman greeted them formally with a nod of her head to Debbie and an open hand to James. James embraced the greeting with a firm handshake.

"You want to make sure you got the right Gonzalez. You know there can be like fifty of them in this room alone." James nervously jokes around with the chauffeur before feeling a smack on the shoulder by Debbie. "Oh, don't mind him. Not even a dad yet and those jokes just spill out his mouth." said Debbie letting out a chuckle. James rolled his eyes at his wife with a childish smile across his face. The chauffeur stood there patiently for the interaction to finish before interacting with the couple once again. "This way to Paradise please."

The couple was driven through Sin City in a sleek black Cadillac, stopping at a place or two to snap some pictures and get a bite to eat. On their way out of the city Debbie notices a look of concern make its way across James' face so she asks, "You good baby?" James grabs her hand and responds with a nervous smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm good. Didn't think this place was out of the city. It makes sense though since we obviously didn't see it when we came out here for your birthday."

James noticed the chauffeur watching them through the rearview mirror, but she speaks up before he can say anything. "Don't worry Mr. Gonzalez. We are only three and a half hours west of the city. I can wake you when we get there if you like?", said the chauffer in attempt to calm James’ concerns. James nods and thanks the chauffer as Debbie lay her head on his shoulder. Hours later their nap was interrupted by the clearing of the chauffeur's throat. "Welcome to Paradise."

James and Debbie open their eyes to see a fortress sitting at the end of a bridge in the middle of a lake in the desert. James looks around in disbelief and yells, "Where the fuck are we?!" Debbie shoots a glare at James. "Like I said, we are only three and a half hours west of Las Vegas Mr. Gonzalez. This is just a tribute to the Amazons and the seclusion of a serene atmosphere of course. Inside is where the real paradise is."

Their vehicle pulls up to the gate where two women with AR-15's walk up to the windows on both sides. James squeezed Debbie's hand as the chauffeur rolled down the back windows. "Names for the raffle please." James caught off guard stuttered his response, "J-J-James and D-Debbie Gonzalez ma'am." The two women looked at each other through the windows and chuckled before backing up and patting the vehicle on the hood twice. The women walked back to their posts and the gates open all at the same time as if it were orchestrated on a stage.

They drove through the gates just to be surprised once again. "This is more like it." said James as he put his arm around Debbie. Beyond the entry of the fortress gates, they see lounge bars in pools, a beautifully manicured golf course, ornate trees decorated with colorful exotic birds as they make their way to Paradises central building. It was an unknown oasis to the world that only James and Debbie were privileged to enter. As James and Debbie pull into the central building, they are instantly greeted with roses, partnered with glasses of champagne. The chauffer opened the trunk and the bellhops immediately grab the visitor’s luggage and carried it off. The doors of Paradises central building slid open in harmony with curtains that laid gently over the handle of the door. With no attention to their surroundings, their eyes scanned the colorful entry and all the hidden treasures that caught their attention as they were led to their room.

James and Debbie start to unpack their things and James can't help but shake the uneasy feeling. "You don't think this whole thing is just a little bit weird? Like, you only see females working here. I mean more power to you, but still." Debbie scoffs and responds, "No silly, you're just thinking too much into it. Let's go do something fun while there is still light out?" James smiles and pulls a racket out of his bag and gives it a twirl. "You game? Loosen up from all that sitting before we relax?" Debbie smiles and nods her head before smiling and throwing a tennis ball at James.

Later that afternoon, James and Debbie are playing tennis on a court by the pool. James accidentally hit the tennis ball hard enough for it to go over the fence and bounce next to a gentleman laying out by the pool. "Oh shit, my bad. I got it babe." said James running off without a though. "No! Baby don’t....", yelled Debbie, but not loud enough for James, or anyone else to hear. The closer James got the weirder the situation looked. The towel he thought the gentleman was laying on was just a rectangle painted on the ground. It also looked like there were thin rods holding his arms and legs in place like he was a clay model posing.

"Ughhh, hey bro. You good?" James asked as he slowed his pace to a walk. He can now see that the guy’s blistering skin seemed to be glued to the floor and as James came around to look at his face the man's eyes shot back and forth like a man looking for a way out. His mouth was stitched shut and all James could hear were the moans coming from the man in front of him and someone's footsteps behind him getting closer, and then James fell into darkness.

James awoke in a jail cell with a small boy sitting in front of his cell. He was dirty and holding his knees to his chest with his face buried in his legs. "Hey bud, you good?" James asked the little boy. The boy looked up and smiled but said nothing in return. "Well shit. Ummm, you able to bring me the keys and we can get out of here?" asked James, but this time he got a response. The boy got up and bolted out the room.

James grumbled under his breath and started pacing back and forth trying to think of a way out of there. Out of nowhere the little boy returned with keys in hand and shushed James before running back out the room. Confused and overjoyed, James quickly unlocked the cell door and ran into the next room without thinking only to be blown away. It was a room filled with multiple security monitors showing different couples being watched that were all labelled by the female companion’s name.

His eyes shot from screen to screen seeing some men having the best time of their lives to some living in torment. James could not bring himself to look at the screen labeled “BREEDING” covered by a black veil. James scrambled to find anything useful. First thing he came across was a black book that entailed all the other Paradise fortresses across the world that had donations from actresses to politicians. Shortly after he found cell phone laying around under some papers and a briefcase full of bundled up bills sitting on the floor.

"What do you mean he seen another visitor? What is the fucking point of having rules if we don't follow them!" James hears an angry woman making her way to the room. James quickly closed the briefcase and dials 9-1-1 then hides the phone behind some cabinets. "What the fuck? Get that thing back in its cell." James' head shoots up to see two giant women barrel his way. He tries to fight back, but he is easily overpowered and all he could do was cry while he was drug back to his cell like a child throwing a tantrum. Shortly after exhaustion took over his mind and sleep soon to followed.

James is suddenly woken up by sirens blaring past him. First thing James notices is that he’s lying on the bundles of cash he seen in the briefcase that sat above his head. The case sat open, upside down and bare. “Ahhhhhhhh!” A scream came from the trunk of the vehicle sending James’ eyes into a frenzy in realization he cannot move, and the vehicle he’s in is the same Cadillac as before. More sirens disappear in the opposite direction while James starts to cry as the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness fills him. “Ohhh Mr. Gonzalez, you’ve awoken earlier than I had anticipated. Well, needless to say you and your little friend have won the $20,000 raffle and another all-expense paid trip to Paradise. Enjoy.”