The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Hu... wha... what? Where... where am I?”

Sabrina Cross yawned, stretching, glancing around herself in momentary confusion. She was standing in a white featureless room, completely white from floor to ceiling, and lit from some unknown everpresent light source. Moments ago, she’d been sleeping normally next to her dearest lover and slave, Eva Snow, cuddled up close after a particularly memorable round of blissful sex. Despite the relative boredom and monotony of being a prison inmate of the River City Maximum Security Detainment Center, she’d settled into something of a routine, spending her time reading, or meditating, living a quiet life, and enjoying her darling thrall’s frequent conjugal visits. Meant to be simple ‘evaluations’, allowed by Eva as her status as a board-certified psychologist, the blonde psychic had used her gifts to ensure that their time together was completely private... extremely enjoyable for the both of them. Sabrina had expressed some concerns, however, that eventually those in charge would get wise to what they were doing, and put a stop to her willful and living submission, thinking it a precursor to making some type of escape.

Hmmm... and most likely, from the looks of things, she mused, someone finally noticed and locked me away in... wherever this place is, she thought grimly.

“Good day to ye, Miss Cross,” a familiar male voice rang out, causing her to turn. Sabrina’s eyes widened, then narrowed in recognition. Her visitor stood just across from her, a tall man in a business suit, with dark hair sporting just the tiniest bit of grey at the temples. Even without his trademark armor, however, she recognized him instantly.

“Eugene Frasier,” she said in obvious distaste. “I should have known. I assume you’re responsible for me being taken from my cell into... this white brightly lit expanse of nothingness?”

Eugene merely tilted his head at her. “And, just where do ye believe we are, lass?” he asked, curious.

Scowling, Sabrina let out a soft sigh. “Answering my question with a question of your own, then? Fine... I’ll bite. I assume this is some kind of... virtual world,” she said after a moment. “Some high-tech version of fully immersive virtual reality. I’m most likely still locked away in my cell in prison... or at least, my physical body is, anyway.” She took a moment, glancing around, flexing her arms and legs, nodding idly. “I seem to have a full range of motion... and I’m actually dressed in my normal clothing instead of that stupid orange jumpsuit, so obviously this is some high-end technology. Your technology,” she amended, turning back to glare at him.

“Excellent. Verra sharp on the uptake as usual,” he replied nodding. “We are indeed in a virtual reality program I created. And as much as I hate to be a bother, I brought ye here today so that we could have a wee chat... about your situation.”

Sabrina sighed again, shaking her head. “Yes... well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. I kept saying that something like this would happen, but Eva was so sure that she’d covered her tracks...” Taking a deep breath, she looked him square in the eye. “Fine. Go ahead and punish me if you want. I’m already in prison, so there’s not much more you can do to me. But don’t blame Eva for any of this—as my obedient thrall, she was only following my orders and obeying my wishes. I don’t want her to suffer for my mistakes...”

Eugene grunted, glancing away. “My my... yer really something, lass... willing to take the blame for yer ‘significant other’ that way, even though she clearly chose to do this all on her own.” He shook his head ruefully. “Well, lass, ye need not worry in that remark. Y’see lass... I verra sincerely hate to tell ye this but... that wasnae Evangeline.” Sabrina blinked, frowning slightly. “In fact, NONE of what ye experienced was real.”

“What? What are you... no. No!” she stated, refusing to accept his words even as her clever mind latched onto them. “You’re trying to tell me that... that all this time... all of this was just an illusion? That Eva and I never... that she didn’t...”

“Lass, answer me this. How long do ye think ye’ve been locked up in here so far?”

The question brought her up short. “Well, um... seven or eight weeks, I suppose... a couple of months,” she said after a moment. “When you’re locked up in a windowless cell all the time, the days all tend to run together. Why?”

“Lass, ye’ve been here for more than thirty-three months.”

Sabrina gaped at him, stunned. “Nearly three years? No... there’s no way... it couldn’t have been that long!” she murmured, even as her mind raced, all the subtle inconsistencies she’d noticed but discarded coming back to her. The way her days just seemed to run together... how she’d been sitting, lounging one moment, then suddenly, waking up for breakfast... or watching TV, only to be getting ready for bed. Time skips... a loose collection of activities, of memories and recollections, things all woven together but with no direct connections between them. Which would only make sense if none of them were actually real... merely scenes placed within her mind as she slumbered on, heedless, locked into an unending virtual nightmare!

Eugene let out another sigh, walking over to her. “I dinnae ken if I can explain this,” he began, his tone catching her attention once more. “Not in a way that ye’ll accept... but, this was all done for yer benefit.” Sabrina huffed, rolling her eyes at that. “Aye, lass, I’m serious! This wasnae meant to be some kind of punishment or torment, but to give ye an easy idyllic life. To make yer time here as pleasant as possible. I always affirmed that I didnae think ye belonged in jail in the first place—”

“And yet, you were the one to send me here,” Sabrina snapped, arms crossed at her chest.

“True enough,” Gene conceded, “but only because there was no other way to contain ye! Ye were dangerous, lass! Ye proved that well enough in the desert! And so... jail,” he said, shrugging, gesturing about the empty wide expanse they were in, “or the closest I could arrange to after-school detention. And ye have to admit—I wasnae that bad a way to spend yer time incarcerated was it?” That brought a frown to her face. “And ye have to admit... had I not showed up here today to pull back the veil and open yer eyes, ye would have never even known! Ye would have continued on blissfully unaware, enjoying yer trysts with yer ideal perfect version of Evangeline and simply counting the days ’til yer release.”

For that, Sabrina didn’t have a ready response. It was true; had Frasier not shown up for this impromptu little ‘chat’ she might have never known anything was amiss.

“Fine,” she grunted flippantly. “Let’s say for a moment that I believe your BS... that this was all done ‘for my benefit’. Because I was a danger to myself and everyone else around me. So... what’s changed? Why are you suddenly here, disrupting my happy little fantasy? I was sentenced to four years, and according to you, it’s just a little shy of three years. So, Eugene,” she said, smiling deviously, “what is it exactly that you want from me?”

The aged Scotsman sighed, shaking his head, obviously flustered. Sabrina smiled inwardly, noting that despite being the one held captive, still held some leverage over her situation. The old man definitely wanted something from her. And, if she were careful, if she played her cards right, she might actually be able to negotiate a more favorable condition for herself in the process.

“To be perfectly honest, lass... yer not an easy woman to pin down,” he admitted after a moment. “The main part of keeping ye in suspended animation like this was to contain yer growing powers. I said it before—yer as powerful as Omega Girl, just not quite as stable. And my power dampening tech is having to work overtime just to keep you docile.” He scowled, shaking his head. “This prison is maximum security, aye, but it’s not impenetrable. There have been a number of jailbreaks recently, as well as an invasion from one certain criminal breaking into the prison. I was frankly concerned about what would happen if the power to your unit was suddenly interrupted, and you suddenly woke up to find that the last several years of your life were all a fantasy.”

“Yes, I would imagine so,” Sabrina remarked blandly. “I’d say I would likely be extremely pissed off to wake up and discover that fact.”

“Touche,” Frasier replied. “Nevertheless, there was more to this arrangement than simply keeping you sedated. Over the past few years, I’ve been researching your powers as well, studying your genetic makeup, and trying to get a handle on exactly how your powers work.”

“All the better to neutralize them when I eventually get out of here, you mean?”

But Eugene shook his head. “Not precisely, lass,” he said slowly after a moment. “In fact, is more the opposite.” He sighed deeply. “I came here today to make you an offer.” Sabrina raised n eyebrow at that but said nothing. “Basically, I am offering you your freedom... of a sort...”

“Meaning, there are strings attached,” Sabrina inferred, scowling. “Meaning it’s not really freedom at all, is it?”

“Blast yer heid, lass!” Frasier erupted, frustrated. “Do ye have to fight me on every single bloody issue? I’m damn well trying to help ye here!”

“No, you’re not,” Sabrina retorted, completely unmoved. “You are free to call it that... but what you’re doing is trying to assuage yer guilt over having me locked away here in the first place.” She stared at him for a long moment, as he growled, hands clenched tightly into fists... and for a moment thought perhaps she had overplayed her hand and pushed him too far. After all, he could simply depart, walk away and leave her there floating aimlessly in limbo... or just return her back to her cell. Neither option much appealed to her. But then just as she was about to apologize, he spoke up again.

“Tch... verra well,” he admitted grudgingly. “Ye have a fair point. Not that ye didnae FULLY deserve the thrashing ye received, or being locked away for yer actions,” he added with heat, “but I did promise ye to do my verra best to aid ye. And... I may have been... a bit lax in fulfilling that promise up til now. Aye... it has been nearly three years after all,” he said, glancing away.

“Let me guess,” she prodded him after he went silent for an extended time, “you were too busy working on some invention?”

He glanced back at her, sidelong. “Not specifically, no. I actually have verra little need or desire for inventing these days, what with my company being liquidated and all. Actually, it was more... ‘real-life issues’ getting in the way. Getting impaled through the heart was definitely a bit of a detraction,” he said blithely, as Sabrina blinked at him in surprise.

“Did you just say you were... impaled through the heart?!?” she asked. “Does that mean... are you dead, then? Am I talking to a digitized AI version of you?”

“Nae, lass, it’s the real me,” he said with a shrug. “As for being impaled... it took a wee bit, but I got better.” At her look of incredulity, he scoffed. “Really? Disbelief? Ye’ve had intimate relations with my WIFE, a veritable goddess from ancient Norse mythology. A simple thing like recovering from mortal wounds should hardly be outside the realm of possibility!”

Sabrina considered. “Okay... point to you on that one. So... let’s cut through all the BS then. Why are you here? What do you want from me?”

“I want to train you,” he replied simply. “To teach you how to better use your powers. Right now... as I said, yer locked up here because yer a danger to everyone around you. Your first action since gaining your powers was to permanently brainwash yer own mother into becoming your obedient sex slave. Granted, it was an accident,” he added graciously, “but since then, you’ve used your power to alter the minds of every attractive woman to catch your eye in the same way. And that’s not even mentioning your mammoth strength! Yer just as strong as my wee lass Lacie Ann—and somehow much LESS graceful than her when it comes to controlling it, particularly when you get angry.”

Sabrina grunted, a bit miffed but unable to argue the point. He was right. Indeed, the first several weeks of getting her powers had been a nightmare of learning to control her strength, of figuring out how much force to use without destroying everything around her. She’d been outside in the front yard when a breeze blew a whiff of pollen at her, and she’d sneezed... and blew the tree across from her over, literally uprooting it from the ground with her breath! Since then, she’d focused very hard on treating everything and everyone around her delicately, but every so often she would slip up and break or shatter something by accident.

Strangely enough, her loss of control didn’t seem to translate to her sexual ministrations. She’d cum vigorously, hundreds of times, without hurting or maiming her lovers, despite her enthusiasm. Although, she thought with glee, letting loose and giving complete control to her libido when she was with Lacie Frasier had been wonderful.. and extremely memorable, even if they had utterly destroyed the bedroom in the process. Frasier continued speaking, however, drawing her out of her inner monologue.

“I said it before, there, at the end, when we were facing each other,” he continued on. “I didnae think of you as a villainess. I saw ye as merely a scared little girl, someone who had gotten in over her head, and was in a bad situation.” Sabrina scowled, opening her mouth to comment, but he held up a hand. “And nae, lass, I’m not insulting you! I’m saying that I never for a moment thought of you as evil. Angry? Yes. Misguided? Perhaps. Arrogant? Aye, verra... but then again, I cannae fault ye for a sin that we both share now can I?” he asked in amusement. “My point is this. Ye have the potential to be so much more, lass... to do some actual GOOD with these powers of yours. And I can help ye. If ye’ll let me.”

I let out a deep loud sigh, yawning and stretching, not from exhaustion, but from boredom. “Um, guys?” I said, tapping my earpiece, “are you guys getting anything from your sections? ’Cause all I’m getting here is a whole lot of nuthin’,” I complained. I glanced at my watch again and groaned. “Four hours. Four damn hours of sitting here, squatting down on the edge of this roof, peering down at a bunch of buildings with absolutely nothing going on!”

“Yeah, yeah, I feel ya, Gwen,” Sunbeam remarked, sympathetically. “Still, it was kind of expected, yanno?”

I blinked. “Wait... what do you mean, ‘expected’? Why did you think today was going to be a slow night? Heck, we’d just started earlier and ended up stopping a guy going around robbing people and blanking out their memories.”

“Yeah, that guy,” Splash cut in. “William Biggs... or I guess we should say, ‘Big Willie’, huh? Still, he was more of the exception rather than the rule. Generally speaking, holidays tend to be pretty slow crime days.”

“Really?!?” I exclaimed, stunned. “How does THAT work? If anything, I’d think it would be just the opposite—that the crooks would be out in force, taking advantage of the fact that most people are relaxed and at home, and more vulnerable than usual.”

“Well,” Sunbeam replied after a bit, “I can’t really say for sure. I mean, it’s just what I’ve noticed here and there, and I certainly have no idea what goes on in the minds of criminals... but it just seems to me that it’s something of an ‘unwritten rule’ for most crooks, yanno? Criminals or not, they are still human beings as well. Maybe they celebrate the holidays as well? Or maybe it’s more of a weird ‘code of honor’ kind of thing. All I know is that most criminals tend to just lay low during the major holidays, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Easter.”

“Of course,” Splash chimed in, “that’s not to say that it’s completely peaceful and that there is NO crime at all. There are still a few rotten apples out there that could care less what day it is. Like our little friend, Willie.” She grunted, still obviously nursing a grudge against the guy that made her strip naked in public against her will. “Generally, if they’re out causing trouble on a major holiday, it’s usually either some real scumbag, with no moral compass, or some powerful supervillain who believes the rules don’t apply to him or her.”

I simply sighed at that. It made a strange bit of sense. It was kind of hard to think of the average criminal as a ‘good guy’ after having faced down any number of muggers, purse snatchers, would-be rapists, and attempted murderers, but even the worst of the worst would probably think twice about committing a violent crime on Christmas. Kind of like the way the prison system has its own standards, the way even serial killers and rapists will turn up their noses at convicted child molesters. Weird, definitely outside my mental wheelhouse, yet often true enough.

“Hang on,” Splash called in, grabbing my attention once more. “May have spoken too soon. I’ve got movement in the southern sector... uh-huh... yeah. Oh, and now we have a silent alarm triggered for the Wells Fargo branch bank.” Frowning, she peered through her special night vision goggles, zooming in on the figure delving around in the near darkness. “Huh. Okay... that’s weird. Got a positive ID on the perp. It’s Manx.”

“Manx? The Cat Burglar?”

“Yeah, it’s her. Or a really really bad cosplayer pretending to be her,” Splash added.

“Why do you say that?” I asked, curious.

“Well, for one thing, Manx is pretty well known as a top-notch industrial and technological thief. She works almost exclusively with high-end tech to STEAL high-end tech. Robbing a ‘mere’ bank would be considered beneath her. Besides that, she tripped the silent alarm. The Manx I know wouldn’t have made such a rookie mistake.”

“Whoa... looks like it’s a double-feature,” Sunbeam chimed in suddenly. “Just registered a silent alarm going off at the River City Gold Depository. And... oh man... even got a positive ID on the person inside as well.”

“Well?” I asked a moment later when she didn’t immediately continue. “Don’t keep us in suspense. Who is it?”

“It’s Pinnacle,” Janika remarked blandly. “She’s robbing the gold depository. I’ve got her stacking up gold bars into a small but sturdy transport near the western side of the vault.”

Okay, that was a definite shock. Pinnacle, aka Hannah Crenshaw, was one of us. Meaning, she was one of the city’s costumed heroines, and definitely not in the habit of breaking and entering, let alone trying to make off with a supply of the city’s gold. Something strange was definitely going on here. “I—uh... wow. Well, guys, I guess we can call this a triple threat,” I stated in disbelief. “I’m getting an alarm going off across from me at the City Diamond Exchange building. And if you think seeing one of our fellow heroes robbing the place was weird, I’ve got two uniformed policemen cleaning out the diamond displays one by one!”

By agreement, we all sprung into action. There was no need to state the obvious—mind control was in effect here somehow. Most likely, whoever was behind this was watching from nearby, coordinating the movements of his brainwashed puppets. So, the goal here was three-fold: stop the thieves from making off with their ill-gotten gains; take down the thieves, but gently, knowing that they were all helpless pawns being controlled; and finally, find and stop the evil mastermind pulling their strings.

If nothing else, the night was finally starting to get interesting.

It was simple enough to make my way down to the street and slip around to the back of the Diamond Exchange. Moving stealthily, I circled around, my senses alert and extended, scanning the area for any unknown surprises. I sensed and felt the two policemen, or rather police women, catching their scents, hearing their heartbeats, even feeling the ambient warmth of their bodies radiating nearby. I was completely on guard, tracking them easily without sight, as I made my way towards the insertion point they’d used to slip inside. Inside, it was just what I’d expected—the two police officers were busy cleaning out the display cases, stuffing various crystals into a pair of large canvas sacks.

“Excuse me, officers,” I said aloud, stepping out of the shadows. “But I’m going to have to ask you to cease and desist. I know they say a diamond is a girl’s best friend, but if you want THAT many friends, I’d suggest you try Facebook.”

Both women glanced up, turning to stare at me. I winced slightly, seeing their blank empty gazes. If it hadn’t been obvious before that they were being controlled, it was now. “We must take all the diamonds,” the first officer stated in a blank monotone, drawing her weapon, pointing it at me. “We will let no one stop us,” the second officer added, her own weapon pulled and drawing a bead on me as well.

Well. Shit.

“Shiiiiittt!!” I yelled, ducking down behind a display case as shots rang out. Well, I guess that answered the question of how they would react if someone tried to interrupt them from their assigned tasks. Fine. I wasn’t about to let these poor deluded souls use me for target practice. Extending my senses outward again, I tracked their movements as they began circling around to my position. A low growl escaped my lips as I moved, slipping down underneath and around the side of the case, still concealed by the shadows, before leaping straight up, latching onto the wall and sprinting upwards to grab onto one of the high ceiling struts. The officers, finally reaching my previous location, paused, glancing around in confusion.

Thankfully, people under deep hypnotic programming are rarely as creative and aware as a normal alert and awake person. When I dropped down lightly behind them a moment later, they were caught completely by surprise. A sharp blow to the head sent them both down for the count. That done, I tapped my communicator, to issue a warning to the others.

“Hey, guys, be careful. Whoever is controlling these women gave them commands to react violently to anyone who tries to stop them!”

“Yeah... thanks for oof! the heads-up,” Splash’s voice came through sounding strained. “Already figured that oooou—OOWWW! Out, the hard way,” she muttered.

“Splash? You need backup?” I asked, concerned.

“No... no thanks. Manx is being a bit irksome... but I’ve got this. How ’bout you, Sunbeam? Everything okay on your end?”

Silence.

“’Beam? Sunbeam, you there?”

When she didn’t reply, I got concerned. “Splash, I’m heading over to the Depository to check on things,” I announced, leaving the downed officers lightly restrained and the stolen diamonds where they’d dropped them. If things worked out, I could always come back to straighten things out later. “Finish up with Manx and head over when you get a chance!”

Naturally, we’d all spread out a bit to cover the financial sector of the city, so we weren’t exactly all situated next to one another. Nevertheless, I made the three-block sprint in record time, skidding to a stop a few feet away from the building. As anxious as I was to check on Janika, I was a bit put off by the sight of a strange, sharply dressed man standing next to an old van outside the building. Sure, it was still Halloween, but even then, you don’t normally find some guy dressed up in a three-piece tuxedo, completely with cumberbund, and top hat, standing next to a beat-up delivery van. Something about his costume tickled a memory in the back of my head, but I couldn’t quite recall it. Frowning, I began stalking quietly towards him, senses still alert for the first signs of trouble.

“...completely throwing off my schedule,” the man muttered softly to himself. Growling, he pulled out an expensive-looking gold-plated pocket watch from his pocket, opening it to stare at the watch’s face. “Hmph. She’s definitely late,” he grumbled before closing the watch again, letting it dangle idly from his fingers. He let out a deep sigh. “I suppose it’s possible that she ran into some trouble... what do YOU think, Miss?” he said suddenly, turning to face me, holding up the pocket watch.

I froze, surprised. “H-hey! Ho... how did you know I was there?”

The man chuckled softly, the dangling watch glinting softly in the ambient light. “What can I say, except that I am a man of many talents.” I raised an eyebrow, and he scowled. “Tch... fine, fine... I happened to set up a few wireless alarms around the area as a backup in case some sneaky little Superhero decided to rain on my parade. The point is that I got an alert that warned me that you were sneaking up from behind the shadows.”

“And forewarned is forearmed, is that it?” I asked, smirking. “Do you believe that knowing I was there gives you some kind of an advantage then?”

The man laughed, gleefully, watch continuing to twist and turn, glinting the light off its golden surface. “Why, of course! It has indeed given me an advantage over you... and has helped me ensnare you into my trap!” I blinked, eyes narrowing. “Silly little girl... you haven’t even realized it yet, have you... that your gaze has been captured by my golden pocket watch, the way your eyes follow and track its every movement.”

“Um... yeah? So?” I asked, still following the watch. “Is that supposed to... hypnotize me, or something?”

The man chuckled again. “Precisely!” he replied with obvious glee. “Every second that your gaze stays locked on my enchanted watch, your will is drained away a bit more... little by little... leaving you dazed and helpless... weak... and vulnerable... your mind open and ready to accept my control—”

BAAFFF!

“Ooowww! Aaahh! You... you bitch!” the man hissed, clutching his nose from where I’d punched him. “What the hell? You hit me!”

“Yeah, in the nose,” I replied archly, cracking my knuckles. “You were going on and on with your whole little spiel and didn’t seem like you were stopping anytime soon, so, yanno... I just hit you to shut you up.”

The man gaped at me. “B... but... that’s impossible! You should be a mindless zombie by now... an obedient thrall ready to accept any suggestion I throw at you!”

I shrugged. “Yeah... no. Sorry to disappoint you, pal, but hypnosis doesn’t really work that well on me. Not sure if it’s my own hypnotic talents that counter yours... or the whole ‘undead’ thing, with my brain working but not actually being technically ‘alive’,” his jaw dropped even lower. “or just the fact that I’m one badass bitch! Whatever it is, I ain’t complaining.” I smirked at him, crossing my arms at my chest. “So... you got anything else you wanna try, or would you rather be a good little boy and surrender now, and save yourself an ass whipping?”

Growling, the man drew back, planting his hands on his hips. “You... you insufferable wench! How DARE you! I am the great Somnulence! No one can resist my powers and talent!” He glared at me, his eyes flashing briefly. “I will bend you to my will, and make you submit to me!”

Yeah. Well, what occurred next was less a battle of wills and more of a one-sided slap fight. The man was pretty much every bit the bag of hot air that he showed himself to be. A lot of indignant yelps and cries of outrage... followed by a lot of simply crying when I began punching him repeatedly in the face. In the end, he finally surrendered, promising to break the hypnotic spell he’d placed over his little group of thieves. A wise decision, that... particularly when my two friends finally made their way over with their opponents in two. Both Manx and Pinnacle were more than a little upset at having been brainwashed and used to commit robbery under his orders. The two officers I’d stopped were likewise a bit miffed at having been caught in his web.

Of course, my dear Jan was perhaps the most upset of the group. “SOMNULENCE!” she hissed, having to be physically restrained from clawing the hapless hypnotist to shreds. “You... you... I’m going to make sure they bury you under the goddamn jail for this!” she yelled as the police hauled him away in handcuffs. Splash and I merely stood stoically back, waiting until the squad car drove off before addressing the obvious.

“So... Beam?” I began, again having to bite the inside of my cheek as she turned to glare at me. “I take it that you... er... ran afoul of Pinnacle’s hypnotic gaze when you went to stop her?”

“Yes,” she replied tersely, “and I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“It’s just... I mean, your costume,” I began, trying desperately not to laugh, with Tina already giggling softly behind her hand.

“YES! FINE! I admit it, goddammit!” Jan snapped, throwing her hands up. “Yes, Pinnacle got me! And she made me strip myself naked, just the way Big Willie forced Splash to strip earlier! Are you happy now? Payback for my laughing when it happened to her! Can we fuckin’ move on now?”

“Um, y-yeah, we could,” I said, breaking into giggles, “except I think you may need to check back in the Depository... I think you seem to be missing part of your costume!”

Blinking, Janika glanced down at herself, only to blush heatedly at the way her tits were free-roaming beneath her tight aqua-colored blouse. “Oh, fuck me,” she growled, turning on her heel, heading back towards the building while Tina and I just lost it. Far be it for me to complain about the girl going out without a bra, but considering the kind of activity we usually engaged in on patrol, I wouldn’t want her ‘girls’ to escape during a critical moment.

Or, perhaps we would. Would definitely make for one hell of a distraction.

Returning a few minutes later, she silenced us both with a glare. “Let’s get going,” she said simply after that, and in full agreement, we continued on to the next area of our patrol. Back atop the rooftops, glancing out over the cityscape, I couldn’t help but reflect back on the night thus far. All in all, things had gone fairly well. We’d stopped a number of different robberies, and prevented a local heroine and two police officers from ruining their reputations in the process. We’d done some good on this dark Halloween night so far, frankly more than I’d expected, considering what Splash and Sunbeam had pointed out.

“Heh. Not too shabby,” I said aloud as the sound of the Fifth Street Cathedral’s bell tower began to toll, “and it’s only just midnight. What do you say, girls? Wanna try and find at least one more bad guy to take down before we call it a night? We could head towards the dock. The waterways are usually a hotbed for criminal activity around this time of the night...”

“Oh, but there’s no need to go so far to track down someone truly wicked,” an unfamiliar female voice called out, causing us all to glance around in confusion. “It seems you’re in luck, my dears. Something wicked has found you instead!”

I gasped in surprise as my two partners suddenly collapsed, fainting away where they stood, like puppets with their strings cut. Whirling around, I extended my vampiric senses, searching in all directions. Nothing. There was no one around, no one up here, that I could sense. Or so I thought until I felt a hand brush my cheek! Whirling around, the sound of laugher rang out from all sides, I growled, furiously, eyes flashing scarlet.

“Damn you! What is this? WHERE ARE YOU?” I yelled out in challenge.

“Right behind you, dear!” the woman replied, tapping me on my shoulder.

Whirling around I stared, stunned, at a tall willowy young woman, with bright scarlet red hair, and emerald green eyes. She was... dressed in a dark purple dress... or maybe a robe? Belted at the waist, flowing all the way down to her ankles, she clutched a heavy old style broom in her left hand, while her right hand clutched tightly to the silver charm necklace hanging from her neck. And... the piece de resistance—atop her head sat a wide-brimmed pointy hat.

She was, in essence, dressed just like a witch.

“Oh my dear, you don’t know how happy I was to find you,” the woman stated, practically dancing in giddy delight. “An honest to goodness vampire? And on Halloween, of all things!” She laughed, a sound more akin to a giggling titter than a witch’s cackle. “Oh yes. This is indeed the working of Fate. You’re just what I need to bring my plan to completion!”

Growling, fangs extended, I snarled back. “Like hell! I don’t care what you THINK is about to happy here, Endora, but I’m no one’s pawn—huh?!?” I yelped, lashing out a hand to grab her by the throat, only to grasp air as the woman disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Dammit! What the hell?” I yelled as she reappeared an instant later a few steps away.

“Oh? I’m sorry, my dear,” the witch replied oblivious to my anger, “I apparently misspoke. I gave you the impression that you had a choice in the matter.” Her smile suddenly vanished, her expression harsh and stern. “Sdaillllal, fa rdairr, eln rairald!” she said, her voice strange and echoey. I blinked... feeling strange, my arms and legs suddenly heavy as if they were weighted down by heavy weights while moving through molasses. Suddenly a bit nervous, I tried to back away, thinking the prudent move here was to retreat, get the hell out of dodge, and call for help.

Only to find myself unable to move.

“There, that’s much better,” the witch said as if talking to herself. “Much easier this way. I’m using up a lot of power to do this... but hey, you have to burn a little if you wanna earn a little, right?” Nodding to herself, she turned her attention back to me again. “As for you, my sweet,” she purred, reaching out to caress my cheek once again, “there’s no need to worry. you and I are about to become good friends. Very good friends.” I grunted, struggling with everything I had to move, to fight, to lash out, yell, do SOMETHING... just managing only the slightest of twitches. My captor merely giggled again. “Now then, my dear... Dorminus vi!” she chanted loudly.

A wave of extreme exhaustion and fatigue ran through me, and my eyes fluttered, fluttered, then drifted closed as I slipped into darkness...