The Hornometer
by Mudak
Caitlyn slept late the following morning. She was awakened by the sound of her mother calling her. “Caitlyn! Phone!”
She turned over a few times, looked at her alarm clock, and recognized that it was time to get up. She picked up the telephone in her room. “H-hello?” Her voice betrayed the grogginess she still felt.
“Happy belated birthday, girlfriend!”
“Tara! When did you get in? How was your vacation?”
“It was good. Would’ve been better if I’d been with someone other than my folks, ya know what I mean?”
“Yeah.”
“So, how was your birthday?”
Caitlyn started to giggle under her breath, trying to stay quiet as she fumbled for the right words.
“Spit it out, Cait. It’s not every day you turn 18.”
“Well, I, you know, Jason, well, he...”
“He what?”
“He, well, he took me out for a picnic on my birthday and then he gave me ... he gave me this beautiful necklace and then...” Caitlyn paused, remembering what had happened next. She thought that Tara could probably see her ear-to-ear smile through the telephone.
“Don’t tell me you...”
“We did!”
“But I thought you said you weren’t...”
“I know, but, you know, I just suddenly felt that, well, he was rubbing my back and then... I just said let’s do it.”
“You mean you ...”
“Yes! He’d actually promised he wouldn’t say anything for my birthday.”
“Wow!” Tara paused to find the right words. “Welcome to the dark side! So... Do you have any thoughts about, well—”
“Dancing the nude horizontal tango? I just wish you’d talked more about it, ya know? If I’d known it felt that good, I wouldn’t have paid as much attention to my sister.”
Tara felt somewhat taken aback by this. She’d always been respectful of Caitlyn’s discomfort with matters sexual and generally didn’t feel comfortable talking too much about her own exploits. “Don’t say that,” she chided her friend. “Everyone’s ready at different times. Sometimes I wish I’d waited.” This was the truth; Tara certainly didn’t begrudge her friend for wanting to wait. “I guess when it’s time, it’s time, huh?”
There was a brief silence, broken up by Caitlyn. “I’d like to see you sometime. When do you think you might be available for a little get-together?”
“Hmmmm. I don’t have anything planned tonight. Do you have anything special in mind?”
“Nothing really. You know, just hang out. Show off the necklace Jason got me. You know, that kind of stuff.”
“Sounds good to me. You wanna stop by my house after dinner?”
“Um, tonight’s no good for me. Tomorrow night?”
Tara paused for a minute. “That should be all right. And doesn’t Club Andromeda have its weekly teen dance night tomorrow night?”
“I think it does.”
“Then I think I know what we’re doing tomorrow night. Why don’t you come over here around 7:30 tomorrow?”
Caitlyn agreed. “I’ll see you then.”
“See you tomorrow.”
Both young women hung up the phone. While Tara wondered why Caitlyn had suddenly decided she wanted to have sex with her boyfriend, Caitlyn found herself wondering if Tara didn’t need some “loosening up.”
She thought about it for about ten minutes, put on the necklace that contains the hornometer, and decided that she needed to speak with Mr. Erasmus. “Samantha, I’m going downtown! Would you like to come with me?” She called downstairs.
Samantha didn’t answer. Instead her mother called back up the stairs. “She went out about ten minutes ago, dear. Is everything all right?”
“It’s fine, mom! Just wanted to see if Sam might have wanted to join me in a short shopping excursion.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just a few blocks from the bookstore.”
“I’m not sure where Sam went this morning; she said she didn’t have to work today.”
“Thanks anyway, Mom. Do you want me to have her call you if she turns up before we come home?”
“If you could.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Caitlyn walked out the door, got in her car, and took off for the Erasmus Jewelry store.
After a short drive, she arrived downtown, parked her car, and casually walked into the jewelry store.
Behind the counter was a woman, probably in her late 20’s or early 30’s, who smiled broadly at Caitlyn before she lowered her eyes and recognized the necklace she was wearing. “How do you like the necklace?”
Caitlyn smiled and responded, “I like it. My boyfriend gave it to me for my birthday last week. Not sure why, but I felt the need to come in here and check out other things you guys sell.”
“All right. Are you shopping for yourself or a friend?”
“Um, I’m, uh, um, I, er ...” Caitlyn wasn’t sure why this question made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
The girl behind the counter saw Caitlyn’s unease and decided not to press the issue. Instead, she smiled warmly and said, “Let me call my husband. I’ll bet he can help you.”
Using the desk phone by the cash register as a two-way intercom, she pressed a button and spoke into it, “George? Can you come up here please? There’s a customer here who needs your help.”
“Be right there, Molly.”
Caitlyn let out a weak giggle and said, “Thanks,” half-swallowing these words in her breath.
After a few minutes, George Erasmus came into the store from the back, looked at Caitlyn, and said, “What can I do for you, my dear?”
As had already happened with Molly, Caitlyn gave a series of verbal pauses without actually saying anything. George, trying to suppress his impatience, reached into his pocket and pulled out the controller he used to reprogram Caitlyn’s mind and thoughts. When he pushed a button on the controller, the crystal on Caitlyn’s necklace glowed a bright green. Caitlyn stopped speaking and just stared blankly forward.
George Erasmus spoke calmly, but with a somewhat sinister intonation. “So, Caitlyn, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”
Caitlyn paused and, in a monotone voice, responded, “My friend Tara has come back from a family vacation.”
“Would you like her to work with you and your sister at Slippery When Wet?”
“Yes, Mr. Erasmus.”
“Do you think you can get her to put on your necklace?”
“I’m not sure, sir.”
“That’s fine. Would you like to get her a gift you know she’ll wear, then?”
Caitlyn closed her eyes. After a short while, she opened her eyes. With a determined look on her face, she responded, “yes.”
“Does she have a boyfriend right now?”
“She’s in-between boyfriends.”
“If that’s the case, what do you think about selecting one of our gems and then having them sent to her from an anonymous secret admirer?”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Do you have any money, or would you just like to work off the cost on your own time?”
“I’d like to work off the cost,” Caitlyn responded, knowing full well what this meant.
“I’m glad to hear that,” George chuckled. “Why don’t you pick out what you think she’d like.”
Caitlyn turned towards the glass cabinet containing all of the different manifestations of hornometers. After a short while, she looked up and said, with an air of certainty, “The earrings.”
“Very good. How soon should we deliver them?”
“I’m going out with her tomorrow night to a dance club.”
“Then Molly will deliver it tomorrow. Please write her address down on this card.”
Caitlyn leaned forward, picked up a pen, and did as she was instructed. While she was writing Tara’s address, George was programming the earrings to work with a key-fob controller.
“Now, Caitlyn, I’m not sure if you realize what must be done.”
She flashed a puzzled look on her face. The jeweler continued, “I’m sure you understand how to read your friend’s arousal level, and I’m sure you know how to adjust it in the first place.” He slid the controller across the counter, placing it just next to the tips of her outstretched fingers. “What you may not know is that, if you raise her horniness level to 20, you can unlock additional powers within the jewel itself. A level of 20 is unsustainable, so if you don’t lower her arousal level manually after she starts having sex, it will be quite difficult to calm her down. But I need you to bring Tara up to a 20 before the night is through tomorrow. Do you understand?”
“I understand, master.”
“Good. I will have these earrings delivered late tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, master.”
Caitlyn’s master casually placed the earrings in a box and placed them next to the cash register, moving Tara’s address card out of sight as well.. “On the count of three, you will wake up, feeling refreshed and unaware of anything that has just happened. You will be nearly ready to leave my store. One .. Two ... Three.”
Caitlyn glanced down at the jewelry case in front of her. Mr. Erasmus asked, in a friendly, salesman-like tone, “Is there something I can help you with, my dear?”
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
Caitlyn looked around a little bit more and casually left the store without buying anything.
Once she was far enough away from the store, George called up his friend, Nick Tilton, the owner of the Slippery When Wet nightclub. “Looks like you’ll be getting a new dancer soon.” Erasmus let out a low chuckle, pleased with the way his device was getting the attention it finally deserved.
The following evening, after dinner, Caitlyn pulled into Tara’s driveway, walked up to the door, and knocked. After a short wait, Tara opened the door, struggling to catch her breath.
“Is everything all right?” Caitlyn asked, showing some concern that Tara was breathing heavily.
“Yeah. I was just finishing getting ready and ran down the stairs to get you.”
Surveying her friend, Caitlyn smiled, “You look fine.”
“Actually, there’s something I’m trying to decide. Maybe you can help me. Hang on a sec.” Tara ran back upstairs, returning a few moments later with a small jewelry box. “Take a look at these.”
“Those are pretty. Where’d you get them?”
“Dunno. A girl from a local jewelry store delivered them to me today. Said they were sent by a ‘secret admirer.’” Tara couldn’t suppress a giggle at the sound of these words.
“Really?” Caitlyn joined in the giggling. “Do you have any idea who it is?”
“No clue. Might be Darren. Sometimes I get the feeling he’s staring at me, but he tries not to let me think he’s staring.”
“Maybe.”
“At any rate, do you think I should wear these tonight?”
Caitlyn wanted to answer immediately, that she should, but decided to mull it over first. “Let’s see. Whether it’s Darren or somebody else, would you want them to see you wearing these earrings?”
“Do you think that’d send a signal that I’m interested in knowing more about who it is? I mean, ew, what if it’s Fred?”
“Well, Fred’s a creep no matter what you do with these earrings. So... If you wear them, and your admirer sees you, you might be able to find out who it is. If your admirer doesn’t see you, then you’re no worse off. If you don’t wear them, you might not know if your admirer’s watching for you one way or another. So I guess the real question is, do you want to know who your admirer is now?”
“What would you do?”
“I’d wear them. Worst case scenario, I’m no worse off than I am now. Best case, I find out who my admirer is and make a choice from there as to whether I care.”
“All right. I’ll wear them.”
Caitlyn said nothing, but smiled broadly. Master will be pleased, she thought. “They look nice,” Caitlyn remarked as Tara put on the earrings.
Soon thereafter, the two teenage girls had taken their seats in Caitlyn’s car and were on the way to Club Andromeda to take advantage of their “under 21” night for dancing and generally having a good time.
After a short wait to get in the door, the two girls paid their cover charge and stepped inside the cavernous nightclub. Yelling over the sound of the music to be heard, Caitlyn gestured to a nearby table and said, “I’ll get us a couple of drinks. Why don’t you take that table over there?”
“Okay!” Tara yelled in response.
Keeping an eye on her friend from a distance , Caitlyn estimated that Tara had been wearing the earrings for about ten minutes, so another five minutes ought to do the trick. By the time she returned to the table with their Cokes, she figured, Tara’s earrings would be ready to go. Which meant, of course, that Tara would be ready to go.
She bought two cups of Coke and casually strode back to the table where Tara gave off an air that said, without words, that she was waiting for something to happen, but didn’t want to be anything other than observer.
“No shortage of guys here,” Caitlyn remarked as she set down the two drinks and took a seat opposite her friend.
“Nope. That’s a good thing, too.”
“Yup.”
“So... D’you do anything fun on your vacay?”
Tara let out a sigh. “I wish. It was kind of a drag to be out with my family, ya know?”
“Yeah.”
“There were a few cute guys, but they were all either too old or involved with someone else.”
Caitlyn looked into her friend’s eyes and then into her purse. “I think I hear my phone ringing.”
Rummaging in her purse, she found the controller for Tara’s hornometer. She pressed the ‘measure’ button and the display promptly reported that her horniness level, on a scale of 1 to 20, was 8. Caitlyn knew that she had to do something about this, and quickly increased Tara’s arousal level to fifteen.
When Caitlyn sat up, she smiled sheepishly at Tara. “Either I missed them or it wasn’t my phone. Sorry about that.”
There was a distracted look in Tara’s eyes as she responded. “About what?”
“Oh, nothing.”
By this time, Tara was looking around, as if actively seeking someone out.
“You expecting someone?”
“What? Oh, no, Caitlyn. Sorry. I’m just... I don’t know what I’m thinking about.” After a brief pause, Tara continued. “Whaddaya say we go out on the dance floor?”
“Why don’t you go? I’ll just sit here and watch.”
Tara furrowed her brow. She would have preferred it if Caitlyn had agreed to come along, too, but she wanted a guy and if Caitlyn didn’t, well, that was her problem.
Tara stretched and found her way between dancers until she saw a circle of people dancing, eight people, evenly mixed girls and guys. She looked at one of the girls and gestured for permission to join the circle. The girl nodded, and Tara lifted her hands in the air, twirling.
She scanned the faces of the guys in the circle. It didn’t take long for her to decide she wanted the guy with wavy brown hair and chiseled jawline. She moved closer to him and placed her hands on his shoulders as the music picked up speed.
Caitlyn noticed this and decided it was time to check Tara’s arousal level again. It had dropped to 14, but, Caitlyn thought, not for long. She quickly brought her friend’s arousal level up to 19 and stopped.
Tara, feeling the effects of the gems in her ears but not knowing it as such, started to grind more closely into her dance partner’s leg. Stretching up, she whispered in his ear, “What do you say we find someplace more ... private?”
The guy acted somewhat confused at hearing this, as he was not accustomed to women being so forward with him. He tilted his head at her and mouthed the words “are you serious?” to her.
Tara licked her lips and nodded. She ran her hand up the side of his leg, over his chest and down his arm, with her hand coming to rest in his. She gripped his fingers tightly and escorted him off the dance floor towards the restrooms.
As the two of them disappeared behind the entrance into the men’s room, Caitlyn raised her friend’s arousal level to 20. Caitlyn walked to stand outside the entrance to the men’s room, listening for the familiar sound of two people satisfying their most basic, carnal needs.
Even with the sound of the loud music piping throughout the club, the sound of Tara moaning was audible to anyone standing near the entrance to the men’s room. Caitlyn looked at the hornometer and lowered her friend’s arousal level to 19, following the instructions Mr. Erasmus had given her.
A small crowd of people gathered outside the men’s room, tittering and giggling over what they knew was happening inside; nobody dared go through the door for fear of appearing overly interested in the activities going on inside.
After about fifteen minutes, Tara’s yowls of pleasure started to subside. In the silence that followed, most of the people hanging around outside the door started to disburse. Caitlyn giggled when she heard one girl tell another girl as they walked away, “You could say someone had a ball here tonight.”
Caitlyn decided to return to the table she and Tara had shared. She checked the hornometer and noticed that Tara’s level was high, but moving downward. It currently registered at 13.
A few minutes later, Tara rejoined Caitlyn at the table. Her hair was somewhat messier than it was earlier in the evening and she kept re-adjusting the waist on her skirt.
Caitlyn decided to play dumb. “Did you have fun on the dance floor?”
“You could say that.” There was a lilt in her voice.
“Oh? Did you meet someone?”
“Well ... yes and no.”
“What do you—”
Caitlyn couldn’t finish her sentence because the manager of the nightclub approached their table. He was in his late 30’s, stout, and balding. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Caitlyn seemed taken aback by this. “But... why?”
“Your friend here.”
“What did I do?” Tara asked with a shocked look on her face that echoed of a righteous indignation.
“Let’s just say that women aren’t allowed in the men’s room and we’ll leave it at that.”
Tara and Caitlyn looked at each other and then back at the manager. There was a long, uncomfortable silence as this guy stood there, staring at them. He broke the silence with, “Do I need to call the bouncers over here?”
Caitlyn shook her head. “No. That’s all right. Let’s go, Tara.”
Begrudgingly, Tara agreed.
Once the two girls reached the parking lot, Tara spoke. “Sorry about—”
“Don’t be. You had a good time there, right?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Good. So, um, is there anywhere you’d like to go now?”
“Actually, there is this one place.”
“Good! Let’s go!”
Caitlyn got behind the steering wheel and drove across town to Erasmus Jewelry. As they parked in front of the store, Tara couldn’t suppress her incredulity. “A jewelry store?”
“Yeah. You’ve got to check this place out.”
“Um. All right.”
As the two girls stepped into the store, George Erasmus casually took his place near the cash register, smiling broadly. “Hello, Caitlyn! How are you tonight?”
“I’m good, Mr. Erasmus. I’d like you to meet my friend, Tara.”
“Hello, Tara. Those are lovely earrings you’re wearing tonight.”
“Thank you.” Tara looked suspiciously at her friend.
The jeweler rummaged in a box behind the counter and stood up, smiling broadly. “I see, Caitlyn, that you’ve done well.”
“Thank you.”
“Caitlyn! What’s going on here?” Tara felt increasingly uneasy at this situation, although she couldn’t explain why.
“I’d just like you to come work with me, and Mr. Erasmus got me my job.”
“Where’s that?”
Mr. Erasmus smiled. “Before you find that out, I need to make sure you’ve got the aptitude for the job.”
“What’s that supposed to ...” Tara’s voice trailed off as Mr. Erasmus pushed a button on the heretofore concealed remote he had picked up from the box. Her earrings glowed a bright green and she stared blankly forward.
Mr. Erasmus answered her unfinished question. “We need to modify your mind. Please follow me through this door. Caitlyn, would you care to watch?”
“I’d like that, Mr. Erasmus.”
Mr. Erasmus smiled and led both Tara and Caitlyn to the room where, within the next half hour, Tara would be naked, on her knees, and ready to join Caitlyn and Samantha in their work at the Slippery When Wet nightclub.