The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Where the hell is everyone going?” Stephanie Hayes said, watching out the window.

Without looking up from his video game her boyfriend replied, “Just some frat party or something.”

“Just some frat party? There must be a thousand people down there, and on the night before midterms start,” Steph said, looking down at the crowd passing beneath her third-floor vantage point.

Tom Ridley paused the game and set the controller down, joining her at the window. “Huh. Must be one hell of a party.”

Steph was chewing her bottom lip again, a sure sign of her thoughts. By now Tom could read her like a book—that’s what a year of sleeping together could do. Her short blonde hair framed an almost-elfin face—strong, high cheekbones, sharp nose, pouty lips—and he knew each and every expression that face could make. Most of them had been recorded in his omnipresent sketchbook, captured in pencil and ink and charcoal.

This was her ‘I wanna’ face, and sure enough, the next words out of her mouth were, “Let’s go see.”

Tom smiled in spite of himself. Here it was Sunday night and all he wanted to do was rest up for the upcoming exams, but he found himself nodding anyway, just like he usually did. “Sure, why not? It’s not like we’re getting much studying done anyway.”

She broke into a grin and reached up to kiss him, her lips lingering on his for a long moment. “Good. Too much studying is bad for you.” Steph reached down and poked his belly through the gray tee shirt. “Leads to this,” she said, pinching his small but growing gut.

“Maybe we should stay home,” he replied, reaching around her and pulling her close. “Work it off.”

“Maybe... after the party. C’mon, let’s go see. Could be fun,” Steph said, pulling away from him. She grabbed her jacket and opened the door, leaving Tom shaking his head, his half-erect cock softening as he followed. The things we do... he thought.

If anything, Steph’s estimate of the crowd’s size had been conservative, and just making it through the street was more difficult than during some of the home football games. Everywhere they turned people were laughing, red plastic cups in hand. Someone had turned on their overpowered car stereo somewhere, the bass thump rattling their chests rather than being heard. Couples danced close in the cool evening air, grinding against one another, more and more of their jackets and coats lying abandoned and forgotten on the ground.

“Jesus, Tom, can you believe this?” Steph said, winding her way around a couple who’d gone far beyond dancing, pawing at each other through their clothes, his hands on her ass, hers massaging his crotch. “Right out in the open, in front of God and everyone!”

“What’s wrong, babe? Feeling left out?” he replied, and gently ran his hand down the curve of her ass.

“No, I...” she said, then started chewing at her bottom lip again. “Let’s find that party.”

“Hate to break it to you, babe, but we’re in the party,” Tom said, spreading his arms out and turning around in a circle to illustrate his point. What the hell is in the drinks? he thought. Must be good... and illegal as hell, to make everyone act like this.

“Wait... over there,” she said, pointing at one of the houses that lined Fraternity Row. Hundreds of people were waiting in lines that ran almost a block down the street, all holding their own red cup. “No way that’s beer, campus cops would’ve busted this up in a heartbeat if it was.”

“Hell, I don’t know, Steph... but that seems like party central. You wanted to see... let’s go see.” Tom led the way through the crowd, dodging writhing bodies until they finally reached the front lawn of the frat house. As soon as they joined the nearest line someone slipped empty cups into their hands and continued on their way, giving those without one a reason to get in line. They watched the throng around them moving their bodies in time to that thumping beat, a titanic organism whose individual components pressed up against each other like they had been born that way but were just now rediscovering their proper place.

When they reached the front of the line, Tom and Steph were greeted by a smiling young man manning the keg who wordlessly filled their cups with a thick, dark brew. As they walked away Tom sniffed the pungent concoction and said, “What is this stuff?”

“That would spoil the surprise,” a voice said from the porch, and Steph and Tom looked up to see a blonde girl dressed in tight jeans and tee shirt walking toward them. “Try it... I just know you’ll like it,” she said, grasping their hands and raising the cups toward their mouths.

Why not, Steph thought, and tilted the cup back. The thick brew slid across her tongue, crept down her throat, hot and cool and sweet and savory all at once, blazing across her senses like nothing she’d ever experienced. Within moments her cup was empty and she looked at the blonde girl. “What... what was that?” she asked, licking her lips as she glanced over at Tom and his own drained cup.

“Told you you’d like it. Have some more... then follow me,” the girl said, turning and walking back up the steps.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Steph asked as the boy refilled her cup.

The girl turned back, smiling down at them, and Steph felt a pleasurable twinge between her thighs. “Call me Nat.”

As Steph and Tom stepped inside the frat house, the first thing to register upon their senses was the smell of sex hanging thick in the air. Every curtain was drawn and only a single lamp provided any illumination, but the resulting light was more than enough to reveal the details of the orgy taking place within. Steph gasped as she watched a dark-skinned girl deep-throating a heavyset young man on one of the couches, probably one of the football players, his hips thrusting up to her eager mouth, her hair matted with sweat. The girl moaned as the jock thrust once more and cried out, his hands tangled in her hair as he filled her mouth with cum. Steph watched the girl’s throat working furiously to swallow it all, her hands pumping him for every drop until he fell back against the cushions.

The girl slowly pulled her mouth from the still-hard cock, sucking at the tip for a moment before letting go and looking right at Tom and Steph. “Mmmmm...” she said, smiling a them. “Want a taste?”

Steph looked at her boyfriend, bewildered at what was happening all around them. Tom, as usual, tried to be a smart-ass about it: he rolled his eyes, as if to say, She sure better not be offering it to me. “Uh, no thanks,” Steph said, turning away.

“Too bad... it’s your loss...” the girl replied, and licked the underside of the cock from base to tip before taking it into her mouth again with a contented sigh.

Wherever Steph’s eyes wandered, there were people fucking. On a loveseat two girls were rubbing each other’s pussies, their fingers soaked with each other’s juices, tongues intertwined as they saturated the cushions with orgasm after orgasm. In the center of the room a busty brunette was on her knees, bent over a coffee table, unresisting as a skinny boy plowed in and out of her ass, both of them moaning with delight as the boy came and pulled away, only to be replaced with another hard, anxious cock. A redheaded girl rode her current lover cowgirl-style, pinching her nipples fiercely as he reached around and stroked her clit. Dozens of people fucked and sucked and fingered their way to climax as Tom and Steph watched, helpless to stop themselves or to run from this vision of perversity.

Tom and Steph watched as Nat walked around one of the couches, between a pair of pretty blondes who were standing, each one bent over and with a cock in her mouth. Without a word Nat looked over at them and smiled, forming each of her hands into the so-called ‘devil’s horns’ gesture, and pressed her index fingers forward, sliding one into each girl’s ass, using her pinkies to stroke along their pussy lips. The girls moaned around the cocks in their mouths, shuddering as Nat slid her hands back and forth, her eyes never leaving Tom or Steph as she did so.

Tom’s cock had long ago reached full hardness, and as he watched the scene before him he felt the tip grow damp, drops of precum oozing from the head and soaking his shorts, maybe even through his pants as the girls and the guys they were servicing screamed in simultaneous orgasm. He took another long swallow from his cup and, barely aware he was doing so, began to stroke himself through the fabric of his pants. He moaned softly, imaging he was one of the guys on the couch, the blonde before him, on her knees, letting him fuck her mouth again and again until her filled her throat with cum -

“Unhh... unh!” he grunted as he began to spasm, hot sticky cum filling his shorts as his eyes remained locked on the action, backing away as his brain retook control, realizing just what had happened. He saw a dark doorway and bolted, desperate to find a bathroom, a kitchen sink, anywhere he could clean himself up and wash the mingled cum and sweat from his skin. Steph yelled something as he plunged into the dark, forcing his way past the shadowy bodies that poked and grasped at him.

He found a wall, turned left and followed it to another doorway, this one bordered by light coming from the other side. Tom threw open the door and found himself in a small bathroom, and a moment later he had slammed it behind him and locked it. After another moment he heard the distinctive slurp of someone sucking cock and looked up to see a guy standing in the shower stall, thrusting madly into the mouth of another guy kneeling before him.

“Don’t mind me, fellas,” he mumbled as he unbuttoned his fly and pulled his pants and shorts down, amazed to notice his cock had remained rock-hard. He found a towel, soaked it in cold water, and began cleaning himself, shuddering as the wet fabric touched his flesh. He gently worked the towel down his length and around the head, trying not to stroke himself with abandon, hoping to keep it together long enough to maybe get the hell out of here... but why?

“No...” he muttered, looking at himself in the mirror, trying to shut out the sights and smells and sounds all around him, whirling through his mind. Behind him the standing guy grunted and came, the one on his knees slurping up as much as he could, his mouth filled to overflowing, and Tom decided it was time for an exit. “’Scuse me, fellas,” he said as he headed toward the door, pulling up his pants as he went.

A few steps from the bathroom the back door stood open, and Tom rushed out onto the large, enclosed (and thankfully empty) back porch. He gulped down the cool night air, hands on his knees, praying his hard-on would subside. Jesus, what the hell is going on here? he thought, his breathing gradually slowing back to normal, the rushing of blood in his ears now a dull roar.

“My turn!” someone shouted from the back yard, making Tom’s head snap up. Through the screen he could make out a cluster of young men huddled around a pale, curvy figure, a blonde girl on her hands and knees. One of the guys had grabbed the girl’s head and was shoving his cock down her throat; another was beneath her, letting her ride his member; a third was crouched behind her, his cock sunk all the way up her ass, letting the girl set the pace as she rose and fell on both cocks. Coiled around the girl’s ankles and wrists were thick ropes, anchored to foot-long tent stakes driven deep into the lawn. “Jesus —” Tom said, moving toward the door. This isn’t right, this is so very, very -

“Wrong?” a voice said from behind him. Nat’s voice, he realized, that same girl who had invited them inside this house what seemed like an eternity ago. “What makes this wrong?“

Tom remained still as Nat walked up behind him, the aging floorboards of the porch creaking with each step she took. Outside, the girl was gagging in the cock in her mouth, desperate to swallow it all as the gut came, pulled out and was replaced by yet another. “Poor Claire... it’s a pity we’ve had to tie her down like that, but she’ll wander off if we don’t. Besides, she’s got lots of toys to play with.”

Nat’s hand slid around Tom’s side, settling over his crotch, massaging the hardness within. “Don’t you want to play?” she asked.

“Yes... no... I don’t...” he whimpered, looking down as her hand worked quickly, unbuttoning his fly, sliding down his pants and shorts, allowing his purple-headed cock to stand proudly. “Mmmm... nice,” she said, sliding her fingers down its length, poking her head around to see her prize. “You should be proud.”

Nat’s fingers curled around the shaft, gently stroking him as he watched the gangbang taking place twenty steps away. “Yes... proud. Proud of your place... of your destiny. Proud of what you can do... and what is to come.” Her hand tightened and her pace increased, making him moan. Nat matched the speed of her hand to that of the cock sliding in and out of Claire’s mouth, stroke for stroke as he clenched his hands, wanting to grab her, throw her to her knees and fuck her mouth relentlessly.

A gentle laugh tickled his ear. “Is that what you want?” he felt echo in his brain as much as he heard the words.

“Yes...” he breathed, and immediately the hand was gone, leaving him alone in the dark. He spun around, saw a shadowy figure standing there, and grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her to her knees, grabbing her hair with both hands. With a grunt he pulled her mouth onto his cock, gasping as she began to work her lips and teeth and tongue as he fucked her mouth deliriously. For long minutes the porch was filled with wet sucking sounds, punctuated with moans and grunts as he came down her throat and began all over again, each orgasm driving him to fuck her harder. She swallowed every drop, never releasing her hold on him, never even coming up for air until Tom screamed, came yet again, and fell backward to the floor.

“I thought you’d like her,” Nat said from the dark of the hallway, stepping onto the porch. “Meet Megan... one of our more successful attempts. I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.” She stepped onto the porch and went over to his side, dropping to her knees as Megan slowly began to pump his cock again. Nat leaned down and licked his cock, savoring the cum still dribbling from the tip.

Within the pleasurable cradle of her cunt, the curio pulsed and the Voice spoke. Hungry?

Nat watched as Megan mounted him and began slamming up and down on his cock, their sighs and moans soon becoming screams as they began to cum once again. “I have another treat in mind.”

“Tom? Tom, where the hell are you going?” Steph shouted as her boyfriend fled the living room of the frat house and the orgy taking place there. He ran through a side door into a dark hallway, and by the time Steph reached it a moment later he had vanished from sight, lost in the black. “Shit,” Steph muttered as she followed, unable to see, feeling her way down the wall. Every few moments her hand found flesh, hot and sweaty; sometimes unseen hands groped at her and she shrieked as hands pressed against her breasts, her ass, between her legs, pinching a nipple, stroking her side, a grope, a tickle, a tongue quickly tasting the flesh at the back of her neck.

“Aaagh!” she screamed when her hand brushed against a round-headed shaft which left a wet streak as she pulled away. “Tom, where the fuck are you?” she wailed, backing up until she touched a wall, the comfort of sight only a memory. All around her came the sounds of a carnal smorgasbord—there, to her left, a rhythmic slurping noise, punctuated by low moans and heavy breathing—there, to her right, the thick slap of two bodies engaged in all-out fucking, their grunts in sync, rising in pitch as they approached a shared orgasm.

And there, right in front of her... a light, revealing a single door.

Oh, thank god, she thought, and sprinted across the dark space, what felt like miles and months of sex-soaked darkness finally traversed. She reached the door, twisted the knob and retreated through, slamming it shut behind her, leaving her in darkness again as she fumbled for the lock and turned, a deep click echoing as the bolt slid home. “Shit... shit... shit...” she whispered with every breath, heart hammering in her chest. A chill passed through her, and Steph realized that she was soaked, every garment she wore completely sodden with her own moisture.... and not just sweat.

Steph gasped as the cool air penetrated her shirt, worked down to the thin material of her bra and soaked through, sending a shock of cold right into her nipples, up her overdriven nerves and right into her brain. Every inch of her skin was tingling, a thousand pins teasing her flesh, made all the worse by the friction of wet fabric. “Unhh!” she cried as she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up over her head, flinging it away into the darkness. Her jeans soon followed, her shoes, undergarments, until she was nude, standing alone in this black space.

But she wasn’t alone after all.

From the darkness came a voice, low, deep, almost a growl: “Mmmmmmm...” Steph backed away from it, her heart immediately racing again as she wondered who was in here with her. Given the orgy outside, chances were good that whoever had made that sound was in no mood to talk... or to leave her untouched.

More sounds now: soft, muffled whispers, accented with long slurping noises and gasps and contented cooing. The scent of sex, so recently banished from Steph’s thoughts by terror, filled her senses, thick and sweet, crawling through her nerves and right into her mind. In that moment she was in high school again, in the back seat of Brad Haney’s Ford, letting him grope her tits through her shirt, crying out when he slid his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties and began rubbing at her pussy, unsure of what he was doing. She had taken his hand, slid hers on top of it, pressed it home just like the way she liked to touch herself, and cum in a flood, soaking both their hands as their tongues met and tasted each other -

“Oh! Oh! Ohhhh!“ she cried as she relived the orgasm, her thighs soaked with juice as her knees buckled and she slid to the floor, twitching as aftershocks jolted her body.

“Was it as good the second time? Was it better?” a gentle voice whispered, and Steph shuddered as a kiss was planted at the base of her neck. Warm skin and soft hair and slick sweat touched her, each new sensation magnified a dozen, a hundred times. “Would you like to do it again?”

And the orgasm crashed over her again, making her scream, her own hand pinching her nipple as she relived that warm summer night again in an endless moment. Steph cried out again, a wordless moan, and fell backward against Nat’s nude body. “Yes... very good...” Nat said, wiping the matted hair from Steph’s forehead, tasting the sweat and desire with the tip of her tongue.

Wordlessly three forms materialized out of the dark, shadows on shadow, and Steph barely felt their strong hands encircle her arms and legs and lift her off the floor. Motion, now, gentle acceleration as she was carried deeper into the dark. Heavy breathing. Quiet murmurs. Giggles. They carried her gently, a journey through the dark, nothing but sound and touch and smell, oh that smell of sweat and cum permeating everything, sweet like ripe fruit. At last Steph came to a stop and the hands which held her lowered her to a soft, silky bed, letting her go as they lay down beside her, wrapping their legs around hers, their hands moving over her whole body, teeth gently nipping at her flesh, tongues tasting, hair tickling.

To Nat’s eyes the dark was almost like daylight, shades of gray but perfectly clear. She watched as Julie and Tracy and Jenny writhed on the bed, Steph caught between them like some delectable treat. Nat smiled as Julie leaned down and bit Steph’s nipple, the girl’s moan a song to her ears, the sweat-slick bodies a symphony of sensation.

Within her the curio pulsed and began to rotate, making Nat groan. The Voice filled her mind as it said, Quite the prize...

‘Indeed,” Nat replied, looking on as Tracy moved down the length of Steph’s body, settling between her legs, wrapping her arms around the girl’s hips. Tracy looked up, right into Nat’s eyes, and the corners of her mouth curled up in a wicked smile. Then she opened her mouth and extended her tongue, it’s tapered tip easily finding Steph’s clit, wrapping around it almost like a tiny finger, moving in perfect sync with the electrical signals that fired down her nerves, driving her mad with pleasure. Steph arched her back, unable to life from the mattress, held down by the other two girls. Julie and Jenny each devoured a nipple, licking, teasing as Steph began to thrash beneath them, her latest orgasm long and deep.

Still Tracy’s tongue did not let up it’s ministrations, dedicated to bringing their latest member an unending string of pleasures. Steph opened her mouth, babbling actual words at first, then gibberish; by her eleventh—or was it twelfth?—climax, her only sound was a long, low, animal moan, her eyes glazing over as the orgasm never stopped, never paused, just kept growing with each touch and taste. She could not move, could not think now to save her life... but her life now was nothing but that eternal, unceasing cum, filling her brain and spilling over.

Give her more, the Voice said, and Jenny abandoned her place at Steph’s side, crawling astride her face, gripping the headboard with both hands as she sank down on to the eager lips and teeth and tongue, gasping as the girl tasted her cunt and drank her down. Julie was on her knees now, both of her hands holding the girl down as she came and came and came, bliss without end, hallelujah.

And then the Voice simply said, Stop.

Immediately the girls pulled away from Steph, juice glistening on Tracy’s face and between Jenny’s thighs as they moved to stand at the foot of the bed. Steph moaned, barely able to lift her head, whispering “Please...” as her Change continued, allowing her to see her trio of pleasurers-turned-tormentors for the first time. “Please... more...” she begged, reaching out her right hand.

More? the Voice whispered to her, dark and seductive. You want more?

“Yes... please...” Steph said, her nipples aching to be touched, her clit needing only a feather-light stroke to bring her to climax again and again.

Then you shall have it, the Voice said, and the trio parted to reveal Nat standing behind them, licking her lips as she gazed upon her latest prize. Steph’s eyes widened, not with horror but with desire, as from Nat’s slit a long, slick, black fang emerged, the curio curving up just as if it had always been meant to be.

Which, after all, it had.

Nat crawled onto the bed, the tip of the curio dripping black cum as she positioned herself between Steph’s thighs. She leaned down and kissed the girl, loving the mingles tastes of cum and sweat and pure desire. “Please...” Steph whispered again, and Nat thought, But of course, moving her hips forward, sliding the curio into the girl’s dripping pussy. Nat began to fuck her with long, slow strokes, feeling the curio change slightly, becoming rough along its top surface, enough to drive Steph over the edge as the bumps and ridges dragged back and forth over her clit. Nat’s hands found the girl’s hips and latched on tight, and she quickened her pace as Steph began to spasm beneath her.

Nat bit into her shoulder, drawing blood as she grunted, wanting nothing more than to fuck the girl’s brains out and gladly obeying that desire. In and out, in and out, over and over again as the curio glistened, slick with both their juices, the Voice singing in their minds, Cum, cum, cum for me... all of you, cum for me...

Across the campus, the thousands of Changing partygoers began to cum, a gestalt orgasm comprised of hundreds, thousands of unique components, each one experiencing their Change more intensely with each new convert. Cocks erupted with how white cum, spraying into eager, delicate cunts and willing, sucking mouths, pumped by hands and fingers, sliding between moist breasts, nothing but cum, cumming forever -

And, as Nat felt their pleasures echo within her, Nat realized that this was no vision this time, no sensory impression of the long-dead past. This was now, all this flesh for the feast.

All for Her.

Nat’s eyes went black as she came, flooding Steph with black cum, the Voice whispering to her as it pushed the multitude into the background. You’ve done so well, my child... my perfect vessel... but there is one last thing you must do.

“I know,” Nat said, wanting nothing more than to serve her master... and what better service than the ultimate sacrifice? “All for You.”

And within Nat the curio stretched, swelled, and ruptured, allowing the black cum within to flood through Nat’s flesh, every cell overtaken, every nerve impulse erased and written anew, coursing through her until it reached her brain. All for You... Nat thought again... and she was gone.

All was silent for a moment, the Changed mourning the loss of the first among them without needing words. Then, as was their destiny, they began to rejoice in the only way that mattered, knowing that the sacrifice was necessary in order to bring about perfection.

The Voice opened Her eyes and smiled, most pleased with Her new body. Tracy and Julie each took a hand, helping Her to unsteady feet, walking with Her, leading Her through the joyous throng that parted before Her like the waves before Moses, until they came to the front door. “So many...” She said with Her own voice, speaking aloud for the first time in so many ages. “So many...”

The door opened, and the Voice took Her first steps into a brave new world.

Some Time Later

The fire crackled gently in the cooling air, the tiny pile of sticks and brush slowly collapsing as the old man stared off into the distance. For a time he did not move, just watched the sun set over the western horizon, a stalk of grass clenched between his teeth, chewing it slowly, waiting.

He did not have to wait long. As the light continued to fade the glow of the fires below became clear, their flames visible even from so many miles away. Trails of black smoke rose thousands of feet into the sky, sprouting like flowers as far as his eye could see. He looked down at the valley below, saw the small town there sitting silently, abandoned long ago. Not here yet. Good. He reached into a battered leather bag on the ground beside him and removed a small telescope, bringing it to its full length with one smooth motion. He raised the scope to his eye and peered at the closest column of smoke, the details of the ground obscured by flame and trees and other obstructions but still clear enough to see the figures dancing around the flames. But too close. At this rate they’ll be here by spring.

We’ll have to move again.

A twig snapped behind him, and the man turned to see a boy of perhaps eight standing there, half-hidden behind a tree trunk. “Steven, what are you doing here? You know better than to wander away from the village.”

The boy did not look at the man, staring instead at the horizon. “What are they?” he asked, and for a moment the man envied the innocence of youth. For a moment, the man wished the boy would never have to learn the truth.

But the moment passed, and the man patted the fallen tree he was sitting on. “Come here, Steven. Your parents would be very upset if they knew you were here... so we won’t tell them. Okay?”

The boy nodded and sat, his eyes wide as he took in the view from the top of the ridge they called home. “Is this why we’re not allowed to come out of the forest?”

The man smiled in spite of his sadness. “You’re a bright lad. What do you think our people would make of this, all those fires burning every night, far as the eye can see? It would no doubt make them curious, especially the young. Just like you. And that would be the end of us all.”

At that, the boy’s face reddened. “It’s all right, Steven. We all must learn the truth someday.” The man raised his hand and pointed at the fires, sweeping his hand in a slow, wide arc from right to left. “And the truth is, all that used to be ours, the entire world. Just imagine the things we accomplished. We created civilizations which endured for thousands of years and spanned the globe. We healed the sick, fed the hungry, educated the masses, walked upon the moon itself...”

The man removed his cracked eyeglasses, wiping his eyes as the tears came again, helpless to stop them. “And then She came. She came and began to spread Her Word, building Her army. Her disciples began marching across the face of the earth, unstoppable as the wind or the rain, swallowing up everyone they touched. I was there at the beginning, you know. I saw the first days of Her reign. The chaos as Her Word spread like fire across the land, across the seas.”

He paused, considering his next words carefully. “Even now, Her disciples work to burn the world as it was, to purge the old ways and bury the past beneath layers of ash and dirt. That is what you see, what I come to gaze upon every night. Every year they come closer, moving further into these mountains. That is why we stay in the deep woods, why we conceal our fires, why we pray... for if they should find us...”

The man’s voice trailed off, and Steven looked up at him. “What will happen?”

“Meat for the grinder,” the man whispered, the memories of his view from the window of his office still sharp in his mind. “They’re always there, Steven, always serving Her, always bringing Her offerings. They build Her grand temples and perform the most terrible acts within... all to please their master, and that is all they will ever do. Their entire lives are spent either burning the old world to dust or finding untouched flesh to satiate her appetites... and that is just as She wants. To burn the earth clean. To make them forget who they are... who they were. Even now the cities and towns they haven’t yet reached have begun to crumble, falling apart with nobody to repair them. Our culture, our past, is gone, and all that remains lies with the few of us intelligent enough—or lucky enough—to hide. We take refuge in the wilderness, moving farther from Her temples, each time to a more inhospitable place. The tops of mountains, the vast snows of the north tundra, the tiny barren islands of the ocean. We survive, we hide... and we wait.

“Over time Her disciples will become like animals. They will forget how to read, how to speak, even to eat or drink. They will become unable to care for themselves, and they will begin to die in ever greater numbers. And a hundred, perhaps a thousand generations from now, when Her army has dwindled and become nothing more than a pack of beasts... Her power will fade. And so the last will take Her remains and go into the wilderness that the earth has become, and they will dig a deep hole and bury Her. And then they will wander off and die, and the earth will again be as it was before humans were here in the first place.

“Eventually, the few humans who remain will come down from the mountains, from the frozen tundra and the barren islands. They will begin exploring the world anew, and they will once again become great and powerful. They will learn all of its secrets and they will reign, secure in the knowledge that they are the masters.

“And, one day, ten thousand, fifty thousand years from now, a man will be digging in the earth. He will turn over a shovel of dirt, and he will find something that should not belong there.”

The boy spoke, his voice filled with awe. “What will he find, Father Carl?”

And the man once known as Carl Lyman, long ago a professor with a penchant for collecting odd sexual trinkets from across the world, looked down at the valley as something caught his eye. Flames had begun to rise in the town closest to their refuge, close enough almost to touch, and even with his aging eyes the man could see the naked figures setting the buildings ablaze, dancing as the black smoke rose in an offering to their master.

In that moment he knew that they did not have until spring after all, and he whispered, “The end, my boy. He will not know it, but he will be gazing upon the end of his world.”