The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Three months later.

“Home sweet home.”

Rebecca stepped through the sliding doors and into the terminal, resisting the temptation to stop and admire the individual stories that were unfolding before her very eyes. A family in mouse-ear hats next to a small mountain of luggage, tanned and exhausted. A young man nervously pacing back and forth, his fist tightly clutching a bouquet of purple flowers. Two girls sitting on wire-frame chairs in front of a boxy coffee kiosk, chatting and laughing as they killed some time.

“Excuse me,” came a gruff voice behind her, and Rebecca sheepishly realized that she’d given in to temptation after all. It was hard to resist, she admitted, especially after such a long gap between adventures. It felt like years, not weeks, since she’d last been here. Then again, everything felt like years, not weeks these days. At least since-

“Miss? Excuse me!”

Rebecca turned red. She hated being the roadblock. “Oh! Sorry! Let me just get out of your way here.” She marched herself over to a row of windows and sat down on the edge of a thin steel-and-black bench. Luggage carts and rolling suitcases swerved dangerously close to her feet as she went back to reading the human stories that presented themselves to her, one by one, sometimes in glimpses and sometimes for a few minutes at a time. She loved all of them.

The college girls caught her eye again, and she smiled. They looked happy. They reminded Rebecca of herself, a young college girl ready to explore the world, with a heart full of excitement and a head full of dreams. She’d been that girl many times, and if her luck held up, she’d stay that way well into old age.

Hell, Emily was already starting to talk about going to Australia.

Her pocket vibrated. She pulled out her phone, expecting an incoming call, but it was only a text message. She studied the screen and nodded. Her thumbs did the rest.

I understand.

The phone went back into her pocket as she considered her options. The coffee smelled good. There was an even nicer coffee place on the other side of the hall, near the escalators to the baggage claim. Or, she could always chat up fun-looking college girls, killing time until…

No, you have to get going.

She shook her head. There was no time to chat up cute college girls. She was on a mission, and timing was everything. She lifted herself off the bench and headed down to baggage claim.

“You’d make a good secret agent, Colonel Sanders.” Emily leaned over and rested her chin on Rebecca’s shoulder, briefly turning Rebecca into a two-headed monster. “You wanna know why?”

“Because I’m suave and sexy? Because I can kill people fifty different ways with just my foot?” Rebecca kicked off a flip-flop and watched it sail end over end. She wiggled her toes, then dug them into the warm sand.

“No, because you have the eyes of a hawk. I see you checking out that girl! She’s hot. You should go talk to her! Or, you know, kill her with your feet.” Emily detached her head from Rebecca’s shoulder and returned to her own beach towel.

“Ha! Just go and talk to her. Yeah, I wish I had your courage, Em. When I go up to girls I get all weird. I never know what to say.”

“Who cares what you say? You’re cute, you’re nice, they’re either into you or they’re not, right? You have to go after what you want! Otherwise, what’s the point?”

“You’re right.”

“And? Get off your butt and go talk to her!”

The girl stood, showing off a pair of long, tanned legs. Before Rebecca could even think about doing the same, the girl turned and waved to an incoming party of friends. She hugged one of them, laughing as he hoisted her off the ground until her pretty legs dangled beneath her. Rebecca sighed. “Dammit.”

She thought about how easy it could have been. How easy it used to be. Show them the sparkly pendant, give it a little twist, talk them down into a deep, relaxing trance, opening their minds to everything Rebecca could ever want from them. She watched the girl frolic with her—boyfriend? Lover? Flirt of the day? Jealousy washed over her, spoiling her mood. Her hand fell to her bare thigh, feeling for a pocket that didn’t exist, and a pendant that had long since gone to the thrift store.

“Oh well. Fishes and oceans and all that.” Emily rolled onto her back and stared up at the hot August sun. “Hey, when we go to Berlin in the fall, you’re gonna meet so many hot girls, you know? I’m going to take you to all the clubs, and we’re going to get shitfaced and do things we’ll remember forever. Kay?”

Another sigh. “Yeah, okay.”

The girl was stunning. Even from a distance, her form obscured by her long black overcoat and by the crowds milling around Baggage Claim 7, Rebecca was struck by just how beautiful her target was. It was the kind of girl she’d always hoped to find sitting in the seat next to hers on a long international flight, someone who could bond over inflight movies and tiny bottles of wine until they swapped numbers as the plane taxied to the terminal. The kind of girl who turned heads everywhere she went.

Rebecca’s head wasn’t turning now. It remained locked onto the girl as she stepped away from the baggage carousel and leaned against a nearby pillar as she made a phone call. She tapped her boots against the tile floor as she waited for someone on the other end to pick up.

She looked lost, and alone, and confused. Easy prey, a fish waiting to be scooped up by the first hawk to fly overhead.

Rebecca, now a hawk herself, moved closer.

“Crap. Come on, pick up. Pick up!”

The girl stared at her phone, willing it to make a connection in spite of the low bar count. It caught, briefly, like a tired old motor, ringing twice before disconnecting again. She frowned, then glumly stuffed the phone back into her bulging carry-on and looked around. “Where do I go next? Ground transit… ground transit…”

Rebecca, hovering just behind and out of sight but not earshot, took this as her cue to move in. She emerged from behind a pillar and covered the remaining ground between them, catching up to the brunette just as she began to head towards the exit doors. She tried out her friendliest tone of voice. “Can I help you, miss? You look lost.”

The girl turned to meet her. “Oh! A helpful stranger! Wow, and here’s me, a pretty girl lost and alone in the big city!” Her hazel eyes danced like fireflies. “Can I hop into your car, so you can drive me out into the woods and kill me?”

Rebecca smiled, pursed her lips, then broke into an enormous grin. “You didn’t think I’d really make you take a cab all the way to my apartment, did you?”

The brunette’s smile was, if anything, even bigger than Rebecca’s. “Ahem. Our apartment, Miss Sanders. My name is on the lease and everything!”

“You look good,” Rebecca ventured. It felt like the right thing to say.

“I probably look like crap. You look good. You look like every dream I’ve had for the last two months. With… you know. More clothes on.”

“Yeah. So Emily drove, she’s… um…” You have to go after what you want! “Oh, the fuck am I doing? Holy shit!”

Rebecca rushed forward, arms wide, scooping Celeste into them and closing behind her. She squeezed as hard as she could as Celeste laced her hands behind Rebecca’s head and pulled her in for a kiss. The other passengers from Celeste’s flight collected their bags and gradually drifted away, some brushing past them as they gazed into each other’s eyes, lost to the world, ignoring every rude bump and muttered complaint. The crowd soon faded away, making their way to the taxi stands and the CTA, until only Celeste’s pink roll-on was left on the belt.

It circled again and again until the belt itself came to a halt.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here. For real. In my arms and… well, here!” Rebecca wrapped one hand around Celeste’s waist and pointed to the sliding doors with her free hand. It was cold and blustery outside, fleets of cars and buses mingling under steel skies. “Welcome to the Midwest!”

Celeste peered through the doors. “The sun does come out eventually, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but then it gets hot, and you decide that you hate the sun. Then it goes away and we all miss it again. It’s a bad relationship.”

“Good thing I have a backup relationship, then.”

They had some time to kill before their ride arrived. Rebecca led Celeste to the escalators, mostly to get away from the cold fluorescent lighting and the low ceilings, but also because she wanted Celeste to experience the excitement and bustle going on upstairs. As she planted her feet on the escalator, an odd thought drifted into her head. Stairs. More fucking stairs.

“Rebecca?”

“Huh?” She looked behind her. Celeste was looking at her, head tilted in curiosity. “I said, is there a place to get coffee up here? I got Dunkin before I left Albany but I’m still pretty wiped.”

“Oh! Yeah, I know just the place!” She blinked, trying to remember what had just hijacked her attention so completely, but whatever it was had already moved on. Not that it really mattered. What mattered was that Celeste was finally here. With her.

Now it was their turn to be the two happy college girls at the airport coffee kiosk.

“So? Where’s the official document?”

Celeste dug into her carry-on. A pair of headphones spilled over the side and fell towards the floor, arrested only at the last moment by their cord. Her boarding pass and an empty plastic bottle soon followed.“Wait… wait for it… shit, I just had… ah! Here! Check it out!” She presented Rebecca with her prize, a piece of paper folded in three. “Tah dah!”

Rebecca knew what it was, but she pretended to be surprised as she took the paper and carefully unfolded it. “Dear Ms. Sherwood,” she began. “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Business…” She looked up, her eyes narrowing as she eyed her girlfriend over the top of the letter. “This can’t be right. I guess they’ll take anyone these days, huh?”

Whap. She giggled as Celeste’s purse swatted her arm, sending the letter spiraling to the floor. Their flimsy wire-frame table shook appreciably, causing little brown drops of coffee to hurl themselves over the sides of their mugs. “I just wish we had more than just one semester together. Maybe we can both fail all of our classes so we can get another year?”

“My parents would have me publicly executed,” said Celeste. She bent down to scoop up her scattered belongings. “But there’s always grad school! Let’s go even further into debt, right?”

Celeste’s headphones had also come free during the brief melee, coming to rest on Rebecca’s shoe. She reached for them, laying them on the table next to Celeste’s half-eaten sandwich. “Your headphones, madame.”

“Danke!” The brunette stuffed them back into her bag. “That’s German, by the way. I told you I’d remember at least a little of it.”

“What else do you remember?”

“Guten morgen, ja, nein, bitte, Mitte, mein girlfriend’s hot ass, um… that’s about it.” She winked and blew Rebecca a kiss. “Accounting 310 ate the rest of it. Along with my fucking soul.”

Rebecca pushed her chair closer to Celeste, until their legs were nearly touching. She picked up the headphones and pressed them into Celeste’s hand. She placed her own hand over the top and lost herself in the brunette’s beautiful eyes. “I hope you remember a lot more than just ‘danke,’” she said, her voice low and breathy. “If not, I can help you recall some of the finer details.”

“I’d like that.” Celeste leaned in, the tips of their noses lightly brushing against each other. “You can help me over and over and over again.”

Rebecca sucked in a sharp breath. “I never thought today would come. I wish I’d come out to Troy more than once. I wish I could have seen you more, but… but you’re here now and we’re here and I’m babbling right? I’m just so excited that I can’t—“

Lips. Those lips. Those wonderful lips, soft and wet and warm. They were especially eager as they met Rebecca’s in a passionate kiss. The headphones fell back to the floor as their hands reached for more important things. Her sex burned; her whole body burned. She began to think about where the nearest bathroom stall was located, and whether she could fit both Celeste and her bags inside of one. Maybe the handicapped stall is big enough to-

“EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee!!!!”

They both heard—and instantly recognized—Emily’s happy squeal. The redhead emerged from a group of confused tourists and charged forward, arms outstretched, her boots scuffing the floor as she took dozens of excited half-steps. “You’re here! You’re heeeeeeeeeeeere!”

Celeste rose from her seat in time to meet her, and the resulting collision sent them both stumbling off-balance into a nearby table. Thankfully, it was empty, and Celeste used it to regain her footing before she was swept into another enormous bear hug.

“You’re here! You’re really here! Eeeeee! C’mere, sexy pants, gimme a proper hug.” Emily squeezed tightly with a happy “mwaaa!”

She finally released her captive and turned to face Rebecca. “Sorry, Colonel Sanders. It took forever to find a parking space. And then I really had to pee. And this old lady in the next stall was… anyway, hi Celeste!” She bounced eagerly from one foot to the other, her long red hair covering her face. “So! We’re all together again, just like old times! And you too are right back to where you left off. So, also good! What’s next? Are we eating?”

The two girls looked down at their half-eaten sandwiches. “I’m sorry, I wanted coffee and then the sandwiches looked so good,” Celeste said, looking guilty. “Maybe we can go out on the town tonight? Get some good food then?”

“I have a plan.” Rebecca pushed her chair back. “First, back to the new apartment, get you all settled in. Second, I take you to Lou’s for a real deep-dish pizza. Third, I kick Emily out of the apartment and we make the neighbors hate us.”

Celeste laughed at that. She looked to Emily. “Are you okay with that?”

“You both owe me, obviously.” Emily seemed perfectly happy with anything and everything. “I do wanna hang out with you! I barely got to see you in Berlin. And Rebecca’s been talking non-stop about you ever since!”

“Well if somebody wasn’t obsessed with castles,” Rebecca snickered, “and spent a whole week away from her best wing girl…”

“…you’d have spent your whole time with me, and you never would have met Celeste?” Emily took an exaggerated bow, her hair flying over her head. “You’re welcome!”

Rebecca looked at Celeste. Celeste looked at Rebecca. Rebecca stifled a snicker, and when Celeste did the same, she began to laugh. Happy tears welled in her eyes. Her laughs were loud enough to catch the attention of those passing by, and their stares only made Rebecca happier. This—a beautiful girlfriend, a loyal best friend, a cup of good coffee and a not-so-good-sandwich—this was her airport story.

The three of them left the terminal arm-in-arm, laughing and bubbling with excitement.

Celeste placed her bag next to the front door. It wobbled for a second, then toppled over with a loud smacking noise that echoed through the largely empty apartment. “Is this it? It’s… um, huge! But empty. But huge!”

“It’ll look nicer once we get furniture.” Rebecca walked through the living room and down the hall, flipping on light switches as she went. “There’s an Ikea in Bolingbrook… maybe we can start there?”

Her voice trailed away as she ventured further into the apartment. Celeste trailed behind, peeking into the bathroom and a hallway closet before coming to a stop at the bedroom door. She let out a happy yelp as her eyes widened. “Oh!”

Rebecca grinned. “I may or may not have gone there already. You like?”

Celeste sniffed the air. “You bought my favorite candles and everything.” She frowned, suddenly concerned. “Rebecca, how much did you spend on all of this? I… I can pay my share of it! Just let me know what it costs and… and… mmmmmm… kiss me again. You know I like it when mmmmh mmmmm…”

Rebecca pulled away, leaving behind a dazed and very happy Celeste. “Remember that night we splurged on the big fancy hotel? I remember every last little bit of that night, right down to the sheets. I want to think about that room every night. I want to think about us in that room every night. So I figured, what the fuck? Gotta splurge sometimes.” She kissed Celeste again. “You were magical. The whole thing was magical. I’ll never forget it, ever.”

Celeste reached for her, taking her arm before falling backwards onto the bed. Rebecca followed suit, giggling as she bounced and rolled against her lover’s body. “So, question,” said Celeste, running her hand through Rebecca’s hair.

“All ears.”

“Are we going to build a replica of the bar where we met, too? Have a sexy little beer hall girl serve us giant mugs until we start making out and singing 80s tunes? Because I want to always remember that, too.”

Rebecca pointed to the door. “There’s a second bedroom, so…”

“So I have a place to crash on girls nights out?” Emily hung from the door frame, her head tilted sideways. She grinned, two rows of perfect teeth and bright pink lips. “Hey, about that… Do you guys mind if I bail on you tonight? Roger wants to check out some indy film at the Tivoli.”

“It’s cool.” Celeste sat cross-legged on the huge bed. Her gentle expression quickly put any gnawing guilt on Emily’s part to rest. “I’ll need a lot of time to settle in. Maybe we can go shopping together?”

“Yeah, that…” her pretty brown eyes became unfocused and distant. “That would… be good.” She blinked, hard, following it with an annoyed snort. “We’ll drop Colonel Sanders off at school and then go bankrupt ourselves. Australia can wait a few more months!”

Celeste tilted her head, pondering something. Finally, she let it out. “Hey, why do you call her Colonel Sanders? Is Rebecca—”

“Ugh, no, no no no…” Rebecca groaned. She reached for Celeste, who giggled and squirmed out of reach. “This is a secret we are not divulging!”

“What? Were you addicted to fried chicken at one point? I feel like there’s a story here.” Her hazel eyes twinkled. “And I want to know it!”

Emily was clearly eager to divulge everything. “So,” she began. “When Rebecca and I first met, she—”

“You’re dead to me,” Rebecca frowned.

“—she was studying hypnosis, and she was pretty good at it. So someone whose name rhymes with ‘Mem-ily’ may or may not have encouraged her to turn people into chickens at frosh year parties. Chickens, fried chicken the Colonel… you get the picture. Colonel Sanders. Besides, it’s funny!”

“Yeah, and I got into trouble!” Rebecca gave her friend both middle fingers. “And…”

“And?” Celeste looked at her.

“And it was pretty funny. But I made a promise and I stuck to it, Emily! How many times have I hypnotized anyone since freshman year?”

A loud sigh. “Zeeeeerooooo.”

“Mmm hmm. And it’s gonna stay that way, no matter how many times you bring it up.”

The redhead threw up her tiny hands. “Okay! You two win this round! I’m just saying, it was pretty funny. Have you ever been hypnotized, Celeste?”

“Actually,” Celeste laughed, “I used to be into hypnosis my freshman year, too. I got really good at it, but I grew out of it. Just a phase, I guess.”

“It figures. You two are like… peas and carrots.” Emily rolled her eyes. “I gotta get new friends.”

“You’re a great cook, Rebecca. That was awesome!”

Rebecca patted the arm of her secondhand sofa. It responded with a creaking noise that didn’t sound particularly good. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Oh?” Celeste prepared to flop onto the two open seats, but Rebecca waived her hands and mouthed no. She settled for a gentler approach. “I know that you’re smart, and funny, and that you used to turn people into chickens in HEY! Tickle…”

“You bet I’m gonna tickle you! And I know exactly where you’re vulnerable!” Rebecca’s fingers found their mark, and the brunette shrieked and giggled as the sofa continued to creak beneath them.

“Okay, wait wait WAIT!” Celeste backed away until she was perched on the far end of the sofa. “I’ll never mention it again, I promise.”

“That’s what Emily says every time she brings it up!”

“But I’m not Emily. C’mere.”

Rebecca obliged. She rested her head in Celeste’s lap and gazed into the brunette’s eyes, feeling satisfied. The roast chicken and wine churned happily in her stomach, sending little alcohol-fueled endorphins to her brain. “I love you.”

She held out her hand, fingers making a slow dance in the air. “I think I’m going to switch to business school when I graduate.”

“No more psychology?”

“It just doesn’t feel like my thing anymore. Maybe I’ll come back to it.” Her fingertips brushed against Celeste’s soft, warm skin. “But not right now.”

The brunette lowered her head until they were close enough to kiss. “Let’s take this into the other room.”

“Look into my eyes.”

Celeste obeyed. “I thought you didn’t hypnotize people anymore?”

Hazel, with little flecks of gold that made them sparkle, even in the dim light. Rebecca stared into them, hopelessly spellbound. “I think… you’re the one… hypnotizing me.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

Rebecca kissed her on the lips, then moved on to Celeste’s neck and shoulder blades. She pressed herself against the brunette, intertwining their legs, enjoying the substantial heat their eager, sweaty bodies were generating. “Only…” kiss “…the ones…” smick “… I love…”

“More. Keep… going.” Celeste panted, her body quivering with every kiss. “This feels so… so fucking… nnnn…. fucking good.”

Rebecca said nothing. She buried her face in Celeste’s ample cleavage before moving to her stomach. Her hands roamed the brunette’s body, desperate to touch every square inch of her, greedily reaching for the girl’s ass, her tits, her hair. Each gasp for breath filed her nose with Celeste’s scent.

“I need… need… oh fuck…”

They were both panting now, exhausted after so many rounds of lovemaking, each of them so eager to experience the things and sensations and touches that had, for months, been relegated only to their sexiest dreams. They came again and again, each joyous explosion just a prelude to the next, bigger one. Rebecca placed her hands on the mattress, palms down, her head hovering over Celeste’s chest. She kissed and licked the right nipple as the brunette moaned happily.

“Don’t…”

Rebecca looked up, worried that she’d worn her girlfriend out. Their eyes met, and she fell back into those glimmering golden pools.

“No, don’t stop. That felt so good. I’m so fucking horny right now, Rebecca. I dreamed about this allllllnnnnnnnnnnnyessssssss…”

Rebecca went back to work, moving from one breast to the other, wishing for a second tongue and a second pair of lips. Beneath her, the brunette shuddered and cried out as another incredible orgasm tore through her.

By the time they fell into a deep, exhausted sleep, they’d both lost track of how many times they’d gotten each other off. More than enough, and that was all either of them could ever dream of.

“No. Never.”

“You keep saying that, but I know you’ll give in. It’s inevitable. Just let it happen.”

“I mean it,” she said, tucking her legs under the covers and crossing her arms. “You can’t make me do this.”

He stripped down to his boxers and stood at the foot of the bed. “You can’t resist my charms. Every day you’ll succumb just a little more, until you’re ready. I put that little seed into your head and now, it’s grooowwwwwing…”

“Gah!” She made a face. “I have the song stuck in my head now, thanks!”

“Gonna see you therrrrrre!” He danced for her, slipping out of his boxers as he wiggled his hips. The hungry look in her eyes encouraged him, and he wiggled in the way he assumed male strippers did. “C’mon, you know the words!”

“See you there! At Ye Olde Faire!” She stuck out her tongue. “I’m really going to the Renaissance Festival. Holy shit. You’re like some kind of mind controller, Roger.”

“It’s a Ren Faire, babe. We use magic spells and potions.”

He moved to the side of the bed and stood over her, his manhood not far from her lips. She fought the urge to suck him off right then and there. Dork or not, Roger was hung. She moved her legs and felt the pleasant ache between them radiate up through her body. Ren Faires were well worth the price, if it meant getting filled by Roger’s cock every night. Not that she’d ever admit it to him. “Okay, okay! Go buy some tickets before I change my mind.”

His eyes brightened. “Really? You’d do that?”

“Magic potions, right? I’m helpless. No wonder I’m fucking you, you sly dog! Go hit the shower while I go shop online for some sexy low-cut thing to wear.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “You’re gonna love it, I promise. It’s like a second Halloween, we all dress up and goof around and drink wine until we barf.”

She sat up, wrapping a sheet around her naked form for warmth. “I always have fun when you’re with me. C’mere and kiss me, Lancelot.”

He kissed the top of her head, then lifted her chin so that her lips could meet his. The resulting kiss was long, lingering, and left Emily more than a little woozy. It made her horny as fuck, and she only reluctantly allowed him to head for the shower instead of pulling him into bed for another round. She ogled his bare ass all the way to the bathroom. Holy shit, I fucking love this guy.

She leaned back, once again pleased that she had purchased the extra-soft sheets and pillows to replace Roger’s thin, dorm room-quality bed set. Little by little, she was civilizing the boy. With any luck, by summer they’d be ready to get their real first apartment together. Just a little place at first, just to get away from campus and the overpriced, battered student apartments that came with it. Someplace quiet and… grownup. They were all getting a little older now, and it was getting past time to move beyond colleges and dorm rooms and cheap booze.

And Rebecca! Emily rested her hands on her stomach and smiled. Reluctant Rebecca, prone to following her roomie’s lead, was now the one taking all of the first steps. Convincing her girlfriend to move in. Encouraging Emily to take a look at grad schools, even if her chosen major was still an open question. Building a new life for herself. It was as if she’d gone to Germany one girl and come back as another.

I should check her apartment for pod people. Maybe that was why she asked Celeste to move in. Another pod person for the growing army of mindless drones. Join us, Em. One of us! One of us! One of-

Her phone broke her out of her horror-filed daydream. She patted the thick sheets in search of it, coming up empty more than once. Frustrated, she resorted to diving beneath the covers and tracking it down by its telltale glow. She found it by the foot of the bed, propelled there by her feet, probably while she was engaged in more important business with her boyfriend.

Bzzt bzzt

The number looked off. There were more numbers in the display than there needed to be; it had to be an overseas call, probably someone from Russia trying to scam a little old lady into handing over her bank account. She emerged from beneath the comforter and wrinkled her nose. No way I’m falling for… shit. What if it’s from Germany? I have to take that call from Germany.

She debated on whether to answer or not. Overseas calls were expensive, and she didn’t want to pay to hear someone yammering away on a wrong number call, or have her data stolen. But I have to take that call from Germany. Something to do with one of the places she stayed in during the castle tour, the little village inn near… which village was it? She shrugged. One of them, anyway.

She tapped ‘answer’ and held the phone to her ear. “Hi, this is Emily!”

“Sleeping Beauty wakes up.”

Her eyes glazed over as the words melted all of her conscious thoughts. Blank and obedient. Listen only to his voice. Listen and obey. Always obey. “I awaken and obey.”

“Are you alone, Emily?”

She slowly turned her head until she was looking through the bathroom door. Tendrils of steam wafted into the room. Roger loved his long showers. “Yes, I am alone.”

“Give me an update.” The voice was cold, hard, short. Commanding. “Do you have enough money?”

“I have saved six hundred and ten dollars,” she droned. “I obeyed my commands and told everyone that I am planning a trip to Australia. When I am awake, I will believe this. When I am asleep, I will remember, and obey.”

“Good girl.” The voice sounded annoyed, and in a hurry. “How much is the ticket to Berlin now?”

“I must check every night. There was a fare for eleven hundred and seventy dollars last night. I…” Her brown eyes fluttered. “I will buy a ticket, but… I can’t. Not yet.”

“Hey Em? Did you say something?” Roger was calling to her. The hiss of his shower filled both rooms. “Em?”

She heard him, but said nothing. Roger was unimportant. She needed to obey the voice.

The voice agreed. “Tell that person that you are fine, and you are just making a quick phone call.”

“I’m fine,” she parroted. “I’m just making a quick phone call.”

“Buy a dress that shows off your boobs!” Roger laughed. She heard him slide the shower curtain back into place. He began to hum a tune. The tune didn’t matter. Only the voice mattered.

The voice spoke again, and became her entire world. “I’m really disappointed in you, Emily. I need you to get back to Berlin as soon as possible. Did you ask your parents for extra money?”

“Yes. They told me to pay for the trip myself.”

“Goddammit. What?” The voice became soft and distant, and Emily strained to hear it. Needed to hear it. “No, Amanda, I’m busy with something right now, okay? In a minute!”

The phone felt good against Emily’s ear. She closed her eyes as she waited to be told what to do next. Her eyes slid closed, and she felt herself melt into the soft, warm blankets. A sleepy, peaceful, utterly placid slave, her mind and body both primed to receive commands, or other, larger, harder things.,,

“Are you still there? Emily?”

“Yes,” she replied, her words slipping from her mouth without emotion. “I will listen and obey.”

“Good girl. You need to find a way to save up more money quickly. Stop going out with your friends. Tell them that you need to spend more time studying, and less time partying. You will remember that saving money in your trip account is for a good cause. You will purchase the ticket to Berlin the moment you have the money to do so. Understood?”

The commands slid themselves into the appropriate slots in her brain. “Yes. I understand.”

“When I hang up the phone, you will wake up and remember this as a wrong number.”

“Yes.”

Click.

She blinked. Why am I holding my phone? “Fucking wrong number. Dammit.” Hadn’t she just said to Rebecca that she was going to change her number? Too many spam calls from overseas? And yet here she was actually answering one, virtually guaranteeing that ten more would soon follow. “I’m such an idiot sometimes!”

More steam poured through the open bathroom doorway. “What was that?”

“I’m just talking to myself, nosy boy!” She rolled her eyes. Roger could be so, so over-attentive sometimes. “You’re gonna be late for class. It’s almost ten!”

“Nah, if Professor Sherman doesn’t like me showing up late for class, she can eat a bag of dicks. I’ll be out when I’m clean!”

That was a bluff, of course. Roger Thorpe was rarely, if ever, late for class. On the first morning of their first class together, she had found herself sitting three rows above him in an otherwise empty lecture hall, fascinated by the cute, curly-haired boy who was as eager to start Anthro 100 as much as she did.

At the next class, she sat in his row. Then the row in front of him, then right in front of him. Eventually, he got the hint.

Her mind turned to thoughts about the day. Roger had class from ten all the way through four, with only small breaks between lectures; the dreaded ‘stack’ day, the result of an accelerated winter break timetable. Emily, on the other hand, had no obligations for another nine days. Eight, counting the pre-lab introduction class. She intended to make the most of them.

A day out with Celeste Sherwood was in the cards. She liked the brunette; they had a lot in common, and saw much of the world through the same eyes. Her devotion to Rebecca was beyond sweet. Maybe I can shop for a new phone and a few outfits for spring semester? Celeste only had that one suitcase with her. Unless she was mailing herself clothes from home—a possibility, but still—she would need a shopping trip of her own sooner rather than later.

Emily nodded to herself in agreement. That was absolutely the best plan for the day.

Before that, though, she needed to make a call.

Her index finger poked at the screen, typing in more numbers than normal. Emily didn’t notice. The more she looked at her phone, the less aware she became of everything else, even her own hand, until suddenly she was sitting bolt upright with her phone-tapping hand resting in her lap. She couldn’t remember moving. Or who she was calling.

“Why hello, dearie!”

Alice’s voice was a slow-moving tsunami that washed over every worry and every thought in her sleepy mind, carrying them down into the bottomless darkness. It left behind nothing but a blank, compliant emptiness. Emily’s eyes slid closed. Her free hand moved from her lap to between her legs, idly caressing her sex as she waited for the question she knew she’d be asked. The reason why she was on the phone in the first place.

“Do whatever makes you happiest right now, Emily, as your mind opens to me again. So very relaxed and peaceful.”

“Yes.” Her hand moved a bit faster. “So relaxed. So horny.”

“You called right at tea time, dearie! It is so good to hear your voice again.”

It wasn’t a trigger, but Emily felt compelled to respond as if it were. “I hear and obey.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. A series of clattering noises and the hiss of rushing water passed through the phone, Emily’s ear, and her unresisting mind. “Don’t mind me, Emily! Just cleaning up after a long day!” The background noises ended, and Alice’s voice became louder and more distinct. “Now, what do you have to report?”