At the encouragement of a friend, I decided to share this particular one with you. The whole thing has been rewritten by me, so it's not exactly an AI story, but some elements were created with the help of AI. I hope to get back to my main story series soon, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this silly little diversion.)
The Struggle of the Streaming Sisters
"Come on, Bella, I don't want to watch that. It looks scary," Katy protested, looking at the thumbnail for Dark Dreams on the TV screen.Bella sighed. Her sister was such a baby. It was hard to believe they were less than two years apart. In fact, looking at them, it was hard to believe they were related at all. The difference between them was apparent at a glance.
Katy was a sweet and sensitive girl who loved to look cute. In Bella's mind, the problem with Katy was that she never outgrew her "princess" phase. Bella could never understand how Katy could stand the teasing she must surely get at school for her pink sundresses, hair bows, and ballet flats. That night, she wore only an oversized t-shirt long enough to cover her knees.
Bella didn't try as hard to look cute, but she couldn't help it. Behind the petite girl's mischievous smirk lived a girl who loved chaos and danger. As soon as Bella was old enough to have any input on how she dressed, she favored dark colors and metal studs. Her hair was dyed black (as a compromise with her parents from her first choice of blood red) in simple pigtails. She was dressed in a red tank top and ripped black jeans.
"It's not that bad," Bella retorted, "Come on, Katy, I promised Tyler I'd watch this episode tonight so we could talk about it at school…"
"That's what you said the last time I let you pick a movie," Katy answered, "It was horrible. It gave me nightmares. I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't handle anything scary… please, can we just watch Forest Saga? I know your friend Tyler watches that too."
Bella covered her face with her hands and groaned. "Ugh, that show is so boring…"
"Ah, come on, you don't mean that. It's got drama, romance, action…"
"It's got talking animals, witches, and castles," Bella retorted in a deadpan voice as she shifted position to rest her chin on her hands on the armrest of the couch she was on, "It's one tiara away from being a princess movie."
"Give me a break, it's fantasy-adventure," retorted Katy, "Look, if we spend all night arguing about what to watch, we won't get to watch anything."
Bella grumbled, but she knew Katy was right. If she asked her parents to intervene, they would take Katy's side. Their parents tried to be fair, but they couldn't help but be slightly biased toward the sister whose taste in movies and shows was "age-appropriate."
"Age-appropriate" was not exactly the phrase Bella would use to describe Katy's usual diet of fairy tales and pastoral slice-of-life cartoons that she indulged in whenever she didn't have to compromise with Bella. As unhappy as Bella was about watching Forest Saga, she knew Katy was compromising by suggesting it.
"Fine," Bella answered with a sigh, "I guess you're right. It'll give me something to talk about with Tyler tomorrow. Like how lame his taste in shows was before I got him into Dark Dreams."
Katy selected the show with the remote, and in a short time, the orchestral theme song filled the air. Both girls settled in to watch. Bella had flopped across the couch with her elbow on the armrest and her head resting on her head. Katy was sitting in the armchair with her knees hugged to her chest.
Bella did her best to enjoy herself. She had to admit the show wasn't that bad. It had some intense moments and cool monster designs. In fact, one moment was downright terrifying, or at least it could have been. An innocent villager was captured by the bad guys, taken to a spooky underground temple, and strapped to an altar so she could be sacrificed to their dark gods, her body remade as an undead horror.
Katy was literally at the edge of her seat while that was going on. She was pale, and her eyes were wide with concern. Bella had to roll her eyes about that. The few intense moments the show had were spoiled by the overall light-hearted tone of the show, and Bella knew that it wouldn't allow anything truly dark to happen to a character like that. Sure enough, the woman was saved when some of the robed cultists turned out to be the heroes in disguise.
Bella finally had enough when the action scene ended, and two of the heroines had a moment alone together. She knew what was coming next. An awkward semi-romance that was just vague enough to not offend religious viewers with just enough of a relationship tease to excite the fangirls and more than enough touching and bare skin to excite the boys. Bella excused herself and walked to her room.
"Do you want me to pause it until you get back?" Katy called out after Bella.
"Don't you dare," Bella answered over her shoulder.
Once Bella was in her room, she exchanged her jeans for a pair of more comfortable pajama bottoms. She stared at the open door of her closet, seeing the many leather belts hanging there, and thought about how much they looked like the straps the cultist used to secure the woman in Forest Saga. Some of them were even punched along the whole length of the belt and could be made as tight as the wearer wanted. Suddenly, she Bella a wicked idea. She gathered up a collection of belts under her arm and crept back into the living room.
Katy was still cooing over the "touching" "romance" scene. The room was dark, with the only light coming from the TV. This made it easy for Bella to sneak in. Then, when the moment was right, she attacked, tightening a belt around the wrists of Katy's clasping hands.
"Bella, what are you…?!" Katy cried in surprise.
Bella ignored her and continued tying her up, tightening belts around her calves and ankles and pinning her arms to her torso. "This is for your own good, Katy. You've been living in your happy baby fairy world for too long. It's time you got a taste of what you've been missing out on."
"Bella, this isn't funny. Let me go right now."
Bella wasn't worried about Katy making noise. The two of them were the only ones in the house. But she couldn't let her sister spoil the episode of Dark Dreams with her constant whining. So she stuffed Katy's mouth with a fingerless glove and tied it in place with a pair of her fishnet stockings.
Finally, Bella was free to enjoy the show. She picked up the menu and scrolled over to Dark Dreams. Katie sighed, and slumped in her chair, resigned to her fate for now. Dark Dreams was a psychological horror anthology show where each episode had a different story. This week's episode was about a woman who was checked into a mental hospital after being liberated from a prison camp in a fictional Southeast Asian country.
Bella was immediately hooked, and even Katy seemed somewhat intrigued about where the story might go. Then the reality of the show's world began to unravel in that oh-so-sweet Dark Dreams style. There were thrilling flashbacks to the horrifying torture the woman experienced in the camp and scenes of abuse at the hospital she endured in the present time. Then the two settings started to blur, with characters from the hospital inexplicably appearing in the prison camp flashbacks and vice-versa. The whole time, it was impossible to tell what was real and what was in the woman's mind. Then there were hints that instead of being an innocent aid worker like she claimed, the woman may have had ties to human trafficking gangs, making Bella wonder if she was now facing some afterlife justice or an elaborate revenge scheme from her former victims.
Bella had no idea what was going on, but that was part of the fun of Dark Dreams. It was creepy, dark, thrilling, and everything she loved in a show. Unfortunately, she had been so absorbed in figuring out the convoluted plot that she hadn't checked on Katy in a while. The poor girl was ghostly white. She was trembling terribly and sobbing, her t-shirt sticking to her sweaty body. Bella immediately felt a pang of guilt.
"Fine, I'll stop the show," Bella muttered, and did, "Wouldn't want to have to explain to mom and dad why there's a big smelly wet spot on the arm chair…"
Bella stared at Katy for a little longer. "Come on, don't look at me like that. It's just a show…" Bella protested. But a part of her knew she had gone too far. Katy wasn't used to disturbing ideas and imagery the way Bella was. "Ok, look… I know what will make you feel better. I'll get you one of the stuffed animals from your room… and then we'll go back to watching Forest Saga, ok?"
Bella turned the lights on in the living room as she left her younger sister alone. Bella knew she had messed up. Once Bella was upstairs, she had a sudden impulse. Instead of going to Katy's room, she went to her own room and dug in her closet until she found Moonshadow. Moonshadow was a stuffed unicorn Bella had owned for a long time. When the girls were little, Bella used to bring Moonshadow to play with Katy's stuffed animals. Bella figured that seeing Moonshadow again after so long might make Katy happy.
When Bella returned to the living room, Katy was nowhere to be found. Bella saw the pile of belts on the floor and realized that Katy had slipped her bonds. Bella hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Katy? Hello? Look, I'm really sorry. Please don't call mom and dad…"
But at that moment, a pair of strong arms wrapped around Bella. Bella may have liked to dress and act tough, but the skinny girl wasn't much good in a fight. Even though Bella was the older sister, she was no match for Katy, whose body was in good physical condition from years of gymnastics and dance classes. "Come on, I wouldn't do that to you, sis. I've got something better planned."
Bella decided to cooperate with Katy, not that she had much choice. Katy dragged Bella across the room and sat her on the couch. Bella was willing to let her sister have her revenge if it meant keeping their parents out of it. Katy had brought several rolls of long satin ribbon from her room. She began to expertly bind her sister, tying her wrists and ankles and then wrapping her from neck to ankle, fashioning plenty of pretty bows along the way. By the time she was done, Bella had looked like a Christmas present, wrapped up in ribbons of pink and purple. "You look beautiful. Now, it's my turn to pick the show."
Bella smiled weakly. She tested her bonds, marveling at how strong the frilly ribbons were. Bella had thought she was playing along with her sister's game, but she now realized she was really stuck. "Ok, Katy, you got me. I'll be a good prisoner and watch Forest Saga with you until mom and dad get home."
Katy grinned mischievously and picked up the TV remote. "Sorry, Bella, but the time for that has passed. I'm not sure I can handle something as intense as Forest Saga after everything that's happened to me tonight."
"Then what…" Bella asked as Katy scrolled through the shows. Her blood suddenly ran cold as she recognized the bright, happy color palette of Katy's selection. "Oh no… no, please!" pleaded Bella, her eyes widening with fear and her stomach dropping, "Please, Katy, I hate that show so much. Please don't make me watch Squeakers and Purrs. That show's for babies. Like, actual babies."
Katy giggled. "It always puts a smile on my face, and that's just what I need after my sister played just a cruel trick on me."
Bella whimpered and struggled in her bonds. "Ok, fine. But… don't make me watch it with you. Just stuff me in a closet or something. Please, I'll do anything." Squeakers and Purrs was a silly cartoon about a school attended by both tiny anthropomorphic mice and human-sized anthropomorphic cats. It starred a pastel-colored trio of mouse-girls and their cat-girl friend. The show didn't become popular until Bella was well out of its target demographic, and she always hated the constant noise, the grating voices, the annoyingly catchy songs, the saccharine dialogue, and the sanctimonious lessons about kindness and tolerance.
"Sorry, Bella, I hate to do this to you, but your show is going to give me nightmares for a week. It's only fair that we share in that. Besides, if there's one thing that's become clear tonight, it's that you could really use some lessons about kindness and tolerance."
"Katy, please, I'm begging you! I'm sorry. I'll never make you watch anything scary again. Please, have mercy!"
"Boy, you really don't like this, do you?" Katy teased, "I guess it's a good thing you have Moonshadow to comfort you." He patted the stuffed unicorn on the head. She stepped away and returned a short time later. Bella's nostrils were overwhelmed with an artificial peach scent. "I've got another friend for you, though. Recognize her?" She held up a fist-sized stuffed mouse with pink fur and a peach-colored dress. "That's Peaches N' Cream from the show." Without warning, Katy shoved the toy into Bella's mouth, muffling her. The thick peach scent emanating from the toy made Bella feel light-headed immediately.
Grinning wickedly, Katy pushed the play button. The sound of the show's bouncy intro song began to play.
“MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPHHHHHH!!!!” Bella screamed in helpless agony.
excellently done!
