HOSTEL
Chapter Thirty Three — I Can Fix This
“Deeper and deeper, slave. Just the sight of my pendant is enough to send you into a deep, obedient trance.”
“Yesss… so deep. Sssslave…”
“If you’re going to come with me, I want to program you with some failsafes. You’ll obey without question.”
“I will always obey Mistress without question,” she droned. “Always obey without question. My mind belongs to Mistress.”
“It does. And your hot body, too.”
That brought a faint smile to her dazed, placid face. “Yesssss. Belongssss to you…”
Rebecca didn’t need the pendant to put her girlfriend under, but for what she was planning, an extra hypnotic focus wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it was so hot to watch the beautiful girl melt before her eyes like this. “Deeper and deeper. See only my pretty pendant. Hear only my soft, pretty voice. You can do that, can’t you?”
“Yessss… only the pendant. Only… your voice…”
The pendant sparkled under the harsh bathroom lights. Spin. Flash. Spin. Rebecca found herself captivated by the reflections it created. She wondered, just for a moment, what would happen if she surrendered to the pendant herself.
Then she remembered that Alice had done exactly that to her. Her gaze hardened.
“You love me, don’t you?” Sparkle. Flash. Spin.
“Yes, Mistress. I’m yours. I love you.”
“No,” she said, surprised at how ugly the word sounded. “You worship me, slave. Say it.”
If anything, the harsh tone only made the girl submit more quickly. “Yes, Mistress. I worship you.”
“You’ll do anything for me. Anything.” Spin, flash, sparkle.
“Anything.”
“Anything to protect me. Anything to serve me. Anything to protect my… my possessions. Including Celeste. She belongs to me, just as you do.”
The brunette accepted that without question, much to Rebecca’s relief, and to an equal extent, much to her horror. “Yes, Mistress. Anything.”
“God, I hope I don’t fuck this up.” She gave the pendant another spin. Flash, sparkle, spin. “I did, before. With Emily. I never told anyone. I put her back together and… I used to think it was because I could do anything, but I’m scared that I won’t be able to fix you.”
Flash, sparkle, spin. The pretty girl in front of her watched it with her empty, dull eyes. She was so, so beautiful. Rebecca thought of her staring at someone else’s pendant, or into Alice’s brainwashing machine. Something that would take her away, maybe even make her into another Olivia, a mindless slut lying on her back, begging for another cock to fill what could never be filled.
“But I don’t want to lose you. So here goes, okay?”
“Yyyyessssss…” It was barely a word. Barely a whisper. Celeste was as deep as she’d ever been. It was this or nothing.
“I’m gonna keep you safe, Celeste. Keep you locked away inside that brain until it’s safe for you to come out. I know you trust Alice, but I don’t. And I know you know that, but… shit, I’m just talking to myself.”
A little trickle of drool escaped from the corner of Celeste’s mouth. Rebecca reached for a hand towel and gently dabbed the girl’s mouth. Her hand, and Celeste’s eyes, never left the pendant. “We’re all hypnotists here. Celeste, Alice, me… any of us can win this fight. But it needs to be me.”
Flash. Sparkle. Spin. The brunette was so beautiful. So sweet. Rebecca had dragged her into this, pulled her under, kept her under. And now she was gambling with the girl’s mind. Not that there were many other choices. “Okay. Slave. Listen to me. You will do anything to protect me, to protect Celeste. So when I say the words ‘you will always be my shining star’…”
Snap.
Rebecca opened her eyes.
No, she realized. Not Rebecca. Not that Rebecca. That Rebecca was very deeply asleep, deeper than Christmas, deeper than anything in the world. Sleepy, peaceful Rebecca, a pretty leaf swept from its branch by a stiff October gust and sent spinning to the ground. Floating, twirling, coming gently to rest far below, leaving behind-
“Mistress.”
Celeste sank to her knees, eyes wide and worshipful. “I’m here for you.” Long brown hair spilled over her left eye, covering it. The eye twitched, but the brunette resisted the urge to brush away the offending follicles. Her hands remained on her thighs, and her gaze—even if only one eye—focused only on one thing. “I await your commands, Mistress.”
Mistress Rebecca. She looked down at her devoted slave, amused. She made a mental note to praise Celeste for not bringing her out to play the moment they’d reunited at the airport. The wait must have killed her. But that was what she loved about the brunette the most. Celeste was a devoted girlfriend to Rebecca first and foremost, and a devoted thrall to her Mistress only after Rebecca’s needs were fulfilled.
She wrinkled her nose. The air smelled of hot tea and arousal. The tea was from the steaming mug on the end table; she could guess where the other scent was coming from. Time to give my slave what she wants most. “Stand, slave.”
“Yes, Mistress!” Up popped Celeste, as if powered by springs hidden in the carpet. “I obey!”
“Shhh! Don’t…” Mistress giggled. Celeste was so, so eager. It was so cute to watch. “The neighbors are going to think we’re both weirdos.”
“Yes, Mistress. Not that I care, Mistress. You’re all I care about. What do you want me to do next?”
The gleam in her hazel eyes hinted at what she wanted her Mistress to suggest next. Rebecca could hardly deny her that. “Strip for me. Make it slow. Ignore the chill in here. You’re feeling so, so hot right now.”
“Yes, Misssss… uhnnnnstresssss…” Her entire body shuddered as she tugged at her thick brown sweater, Rebecca’s gift to her in Berlin. Her faded t-shirt followed, its edge catching on the underside of her impressive boobs before coming free.
Mistress whistled. Her slave had gone lingerie shopping. “I love the color, slave. You look amazing.”
Celeste’s blush nearly matched her underwear. “Thank you, Mistress.” She reached behind her back, wiggling her hips seductively as she undid her bra. “I’m so glad it pleases you. I live only to please you.”
“You live for lots of things, and you know it.”
“Of course, Mistress.” She wiggled her hips just so, slowly and sensuously, a snake dancing to an invisible horn. “But that’s my favorite one.”
Mistress unbuttoned her shirt. “Rebecca went with electric blue undies today. She knew she was getting lucky tonight.”
“Of course, Mistress. You’re both so smart and sexy!” Celeste bent over and pulled down her jeans, giving Mistress a great view of her ass. She gave it an extra shake, like a bunny rabbit. “I have to be honest, I don’t know how we’re going to get any schoolwork done. She’s just… you’re just…”
“Freeze,” Mistress commanded, and the brunette did just that, ass high in the air, arms and hair dangling.
She slipped off the couch and ran a hand over her helpless toy’s butt. “You’re already so wet for me, aren’t you?”
“Mmmm. Yes, Mistress. I want you.”
“In a moment, I’m going to snap my fingers.” Mistress gently unhooked Celeste’s bra. “And when I do, your mind will go blank.”
The brunette moaned before continuing. “Yessss, Mistress.”
Should you be talking if I froze you? Whatever. “You will be consumed by lust.” She leaned closer, brushing hair aside until her lips touched Celeste’s ear. “Consumed by lust, slave. You will become passion itself. And you give yourself completely to it.”
“Yessss…” Celeste wasn’t about to wait for the finger snap to begin. Her breaths were ragged, hungry, excited. “Yesssss… I underssstand…”
“Surrender to me, slave.”
She snapped her fingers, and a sweaty, beautiful whirlwind quickly pushed her into the bedroom.
“That was fun,” she said, even as her muscles protested otherwise. Rebecca needed to start working out more. Build up those arm muscles, so that the next time Celeste suggested that position, she’d be ready for it. I should have asked for dumbbells for Christmas.
Celeste looked at her with dreamy, star-struck eyes. “I’m so glad you had fun, Mistress. That was so fucking hot. I’ve been dreaming about doing this for weeks. Being your slave is like…” She exhaled, sharply. “You’re so fucking amazing, Mistress.”
“I bet you did more than dream about it.”
“Maybe. Probably. Yeah, not gonna lie. Let’s just say I kept the door to my bedroom locked at all times. My parents probably heard the moans and chose to say nothing, bless their souls.”
Mistress wrapped her arms around her lover, squeezing her and then relaxing, smiling as the brunette sighed and went limp in her embrace. “I like that you’ve been hypnotizing me with massages, slave. It’s a win-win.” Her hands slowly explored Celeste’s lovely body, wandering over her tits and down her stomach, breaking off now and then to feel a thigh or cup an ass cheek. Celeste purred as she did so. “Did you learn that from an episode of your spy show, too?”
“Nah. Stories.” Celeste rolled onto her back, her eyes still dreamy, her attention focused on the ceiling. “They have lots of sexy mind control stories online.”
Mistress laughed at that. “They have everything online, slave.”
“Of course, Mistress. Sometimes I like to read them and imagine you… you know. Doing those things to me. Hypnotizing me, brainwashing me, making me your puppet. Just another beautiful girl, mindless and helplessly under your control.”
“Mmm. Is there a story where a hypnotized girl goes out for ice cream?”
She shook her head. “Not one set in January.”
“Fine. Stay here in bed with me, then.”
A huge smile. “Yes, Mistress. I obey.”
They cuddled for a while, saying nothing, as the clock in the kitchen ticked off the minutes. Mistress had nothing on her schedule. She allowed her mind to drift, grateful for the opportunity, knowing that moments like this would become less and less common as the new semester picked up speed. Rebecca would be too occupied with homework and studying to concede any time to her secret alter-ego, and Celeste was certain to have a full plate of her own to handle. God, we’re about to become the most boring couple in the world.
Boring, but safe. And together. That was the most important thing. Neither of them was slaving away in a European brothel, blank and empty and sucking cocks to fill Alice’s coffers. Neither of them was… fuck, that poor girl… Olivia, or whatever her new identity was. Mistress thought about her a lot when she wasn’t busy playing with her beautiful thrall. Where she was, what she was doing, and whether she was enjoying her life. Not that being happy made things better.
Or did it? Rebecca was oblivious and happy. She had everything she thought she wanted. Things were better for her, and they were going to stay that way, all thanks to blissful ignorance. No memories, no regrets.
“Can I confess a secret?” The brunette yawned and stretched, pressing her body against her Mistress.
Go ahead, Mistress thought, before correcting herself. Celeste wanted more than that. She wanted to obey. “You may, slave.”
“Mmm.” The response was exactly what Mistress expected. “Sometimes, when Rebecca asks me to do something… I’ll, uh… I’ll pretend that she’s giving me an order, like you would. That I’m not just getting a mug from the cabinet because that’s what normal people do, but because she’s controlling my mind. Making me get her a mug. And I’ll whisper ‘yes, Mistress’ under my breath. It makes me so horny.”
“She’s going to think you’re a crazy sexpot, slave.” She gave the girl a loving squeeze and a kiss on the neck. “Also, mind control table service is, like, the least sexy thing ever.”
“Yes, Mistress. But no!” She snickered and stuck out her tongue. “No no no, I draw the line at mind control waste management. Hauling trash to that smelly dumpster is never going to be in one of those Internet hypno stories.”
Pfft! Mistress tried to hold in her laugh, but it sputtered between her lips. She buried her face in Celeste’s long brown hair. “You’re cute. Why are you always so damn cute?”
“Anything for you, right? And anything for Rebecca, too. Talk about a win-win. I’m living the dream!”
“Yeah, I guess…” Mistress paused, recalling the very sad face that looked back at her the last time she said what she was about to say. “Ugh. This was fun, but we should probably put Rebecca back in the driver’s seat again. She deserves some cuddle time too, you know.”
“I know.” Celeste rolled away from Mistress, until they were facing each other on the bed. She made that face. “Can we make a schedule or something? I can tell Rebecca that every Sunday I’m going to give her a massage.” Her eyes lit up. “Or! It can be more than just once a week! Like every couple of days? Probably not every day, though. That would be weird.”
“Whenever it seems right, slave. Remember, you’re not mindless for a reason. I trust you to make the right decisions.”
“Yes, Mistress. I… oh, fuck. Shit! I forgot to tell you!”
The sad face vanished, replaced by something closer to shock and alarm. Celeste’s hand darted out from under the covers and gripped Mistress’s arm tightly, surprising her. “Emily! Fuck! I have to tell you about Emily!”
“Emily?” Her clit buzzed, a faint reminder of feelings not quite buried. Mistress knew deep down that they’d never be fully buried. Not only did Rebecca harbor a forgotten crush on her old roommate, but there were also the sweet words that Celeste had whispered into her drugged, helpless ears. You love controlling us. You love controlling our minds. Controlling our minds… controlling…
Mistress owed her existence to them.
Rebecca didn’t remember anything about that morning, but Mistress would never forget a single moment. The tangle of limbs and hair, tongues against clits, a chorus of soft moans, the look of utter surrender on Celeste’s face as she closed her eyes and came. The brunette’s skill in bringing Rebecca right to the edge of her own amazing orgasm, only to have Emily finish the job…
Emily, mindless and obedient. Beautiful and blank. Ready to service her Mistress, her tongue eagerly lapping away as Mistress closed her eyes and squeezed her tits. Or maybe Celeste could handle that part, Mistress sitting in the brunette’s lap, Emily below them, kneeling like a proper slavegirl, her soft brown eyes seeing nothing but the task before her, her mind switched off except for one single circuit, the one that echoed obedience with every heartbeat. With every mind-melting flick of her tongue.
I love controlling beautiful girls. They were going to Australia, weren’t they? She could track down Jessica, take her out to lunch, lead her into a deep, relaxing trance again. She could watch those beautiful blue eyes dull and close, while her other two slaves slumped in their seats, completely overwhelmed by the sound of her sexy hypnotist’s voice. “Deeper and deeper. Obey me, and only me.”
No.
Emily was the girl in the rain, a killing machine driven by rage and brainwashing. That was what controlling minds got Rebecca in the end. Nearly killed, and at the hands of the girl who loved her more than she loved anyone else. Mistress shuddered. Her leg throbbed with phantom pain. She could almost feel the damp, slimy pavement beneath her.
“What about Emily?”
“I think someone’s messing with her head.”
The shuddering returned, more intense than before. Of all of the bad responses, this was one of the worst. Still… “That’s not… you know, I don’t want to be all ‘no, you’re wrong,’ but mind control? Emily? Here on campus? And it’s not you or me doing it to her? That’s gotta be some crazy long odds, slave.”
“I know. That’s why I don’t think it’s anyone here on campus. Or anyone in town.” Her hazel eyes were deadly serious. “I think it’s Alice.”
Rebecca kissed Celeste again. “This is it.”
“Yeah. I’m super fucking nervous.”
“Don’t be.” She climbed into Celeste’s lap, putting her hands behind the brunette’s head and leaning in until their lips touched. “Remember, Celeste. You will always be my shining star.”
“Mmm. Yes, Rebecca.”
“Good. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Rebecca!” Alice’s stern rebuke startled them both. “Behave yourself, dearie! I dare say you’ll get enough of that when you get home!”
“Sorry.” Rebecca did as she was told.
“Elizabeth will be down in a moment with another dose. It will take about ten minutes to really settle in, and then we can begin.”
Rebecca feigned indifference. “I guess we have nothing but time, don’t we?” She ran a hand through her girlfriend’s hair. “Isn’t that right?”
Her eager slave looked up at her. “Yes. Of course.”
Elizabeth appeared at the door, holding a vial in one hand and a syringe in the other. Rebecca bit her lower lip. This was it. The worst part, she realized, was the knowledge that whether she succeeded or she failed, she wouldn’t remember doing either.
“Oh, dearie, don’t look so glum!” Alice herself was anything but glum. “In a few hours, I’ll be out of your life forever.”
Mistress grabbed the edge of the bedsheet and drew it up to her neck, a reflex left over from childhood, when the thin cotton shield would protect her from the boogeyman. She didn’t feel quite as shielded now. “Alice? No, that’s… it can’t be that,” she lied. “She promised to leave us alone if we gave her what she wanted.”
“But we didn’t.”
She drew the sheet closer to her chin. She wanted to tuck her head beneath it and wait things out in the semi-darkness of her bedroom, waiting for Celeste to kiss her and tell her that she’d been wrong, that it was all a mistake, that Alice was still over in Berlin and safely out of the picture forever. “I was wrong, Mistress. You were right. You’re always right about this stuff. I love you so much. Wanna go get a pizza?”
“But we didn’t,” Celeste said again. Her face matched her tone. “We tricked her. At least in part. Besides, you’re the one who said we couldn’t trust her.”
“I don’t trust her even now, baby, but how would she even know? Emily doesn’t know about us. Rebecca doesn’t even know. And I know you’re not blabbing about it. What we lied about only comes out in our bedroom, between the two of us.”
“I know. But… Rebec—Mistress, I just have a really bad gut feeling about this. I just know. I know that look. That brainwashed, ‘I am under your control’ look. That’s been Emily, ever since I moved in. Someone’s been reprogramming her mind, and their control is getting stronger. Do you remember her telling Rebecca and me about going back to Berlin?”
The curtains parted, and Mistress remembered. The suddenness, the lack of anything remotely resembling logic about it, the dull look in Emily’s eyes. Rebecca wouldn’t notice that now, not after what Alice did to her. To her, Emily was just a girl who suddenly wasn’t making any sense, a flighty ditz making plans on the fly, changing them at a moment’s notice. But Emily wasn’t that kind of girl. Emily was the kind of girl who memorized the subway maps and train shed-u-alls months in advance. Emily wasn’t the type to trade entire continents on a whim.
“I don’t think Rebecca picked up on it, because she doesn’t remember what hypnosis looks like,” said Celeste, reading her Mistress’s mind. “She got really upset. She doesn’t understand why Emily is acting this way.”
“Yeah, I remember that now. Fuck. She did sound really tranced out, didn’t she? Like someone…”
Celeste nodded. “Like she’d been programmed.”
“Maybe she’s just tired?” Mistress soured on the words even as she said them. This wasn’t the time to play Devil’s Advocate.
“It wasn’t just today, either. I didn’t tell Rebecca this, but when Emily and I first went shopping for those boots of hers, she started telling me about how she’d lost the other pair in Berlin. And you could just see it in her eyes then. Hear it in her voice. The same tranced-out look. It’s like you can see her brain trying to fill in all of the missing gaps that Alice left out, trying to invent a plausible reason to go back to Berlin. And then we had lunch today, and it was ten times worse!”
“But why the hell would Alice want to drag her back to Germany?” She looked down, surprised to find the bedsheet draped loosely over her chest. At some point she’d let go of it, although she’d never be able to recall when. “Alice has plenty of other girls under her control. Probably more than ever, now that we’re not…” She sighed, feeling the guilt settle in her stomach. “I mean, we didn’t stop her. She’s still doing what she’s doing.”
“Because she wants Emily, that’s why. Because she wants what she wants, and she’s used to getting it. And because she thinks that she can get away with it. And if she does know about us, about the real usses remembering everything, she’ll use Emily to get to us.”
Mistress said nothing for a minute. “I don’t think,” she began, “I don’t think that ‘usses’ is a real word.”
“Mistress, come on! I’m seri—“
“I know, I know! Bad joke, bad joke! Fuck.” She exhaled, trying to draw the anger and fear out of her body. It helped, a little. “So have you tried hypnotizing her? You still have the keys to her brain. Why didn’t you drop her into trance to see what you could pry out of her?”
“I’m not allowed to hypnotize Emily, Mistress. Not without your explicit permission. Remember? Rule number one, practically. ‘No messing with Emily.’ That’s why I hypnotized Rebecca instead. I knew you’d know what to do. You always know what to do.”
Then she said the words that Mistress dreaded the most.
“I knew you could fix this.”
Edwin was having a fantastic day.
It was gorgeous outside, for one. By now everyone had taken notice of the change from grey skies to blue, and the park was bustling with activity. From his bench, he could see half of Berlin strolling about, taking in the winter sunshine and the warm temperatures. He thought of Mandy, sitting alone on the balcony, barking orders into her phone or sucking down another cigarette. They’d grown apart these last few months, ever since…
Ever since Alice. Ever since they’d let that bitch and her American minions make fools of them both. Ever since Alice planted the bombs in Mandy’s mind. He knew he was probably being too cautious—the bombs would stay dormant as long as he left Alice alone—but deep down inside he was afraid. Afraid of his own wife. Afraid of what she could do. Afraid of what she might do.
Mandy picked up on the fear, but not the reasons why. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her the truth. It didn’t take long for them to drift apart.
“Well, Mandy can stew all she likes,” he said to the sparrows that circled his bench, edging closer with each circuit, darting forward and leaping backwards as they built up their courage. He rewarded the boldest of the lot with a chunk of bread, and the rest came rushing in for their share. “We’re going to have a nice day, aren’t we? Sorry, that’s all I’ve got. No more.”
He stood, scattering the little flock in front of him, and brushed the remaining crumbs from his jacket. “Let’s have some fun.”
She placed her magazine on the bench and reached for her phone. “Hallo, Weber!”
“It’s time to obey, Sandra.”
The park dropped away, leaving only blackness and The Words behind. “Yes, Master. It’s time to obey.”
“Look up.”
She did, even though there was nothing to see.
“There are three men standing in a group across from you, near the fence. Do you see them?”
The park returned, or at least the part of the park that contained the three men, the fence, and everything between her and them. Blackness lapped at the edges of her vision. “Yes, Master.”
“Walk up to them and unzip the front of your catsuit until they can see your tits. Blow them a kiss and thank them. Then you will remember where I am sitting, and you will join me on my bench.”
Catsuit? The thought flared up and faded before she was even aware of its existence. “Yes, Master.”
The call ended, which meant it was time for Sandra to put the phone back into her purse before carrying out her instructions. She did so, carefully plotting the quickest path between her and the Men by the Fence. Their backs were to her, and her orders were to walk up to them. She decided on a semicircular route that would allow her to approach them from the front.
The bench disappeared the moment she stood up. She took a step, then another, growing more confident in her balance even as her heels struggled with the uneven pavement. More steps, faster now, her long legs quickly covering the distance as the blackness swallowed everything behind her. Her hand drifted to her chest, her fingers toying with the zipper she found there.
“Yeni bir is bulmam gerek!”
Turkish, she thought, before the blackness swallowed that, too.
She expected them to notice her long before she got close. Most men did. But they were so engrossed in whatever they were discussing that by the time the tallest of the three men finally looked in her direction, she had already set herself into a model’s pose, one hand on her hip, the other slowly tugging at the zipper.
“Na,” she purred. She didn’t let go of the zipper until it reached her belly button. The world around her fell silent as the men, by now hypnotized by the scene in front of them, quickly forgot all about their conversation.
She had one more task. She licked her lips, once, again, making sure that she caught every bit of them with her tongue. The tallest Turk shifted uncomfortably, sputtering half words, trying to act cool, trying to look at her tits and not look at the same time. His companions were not nearly as subtle. One of them elbowed the other in the ribs. They stared, and stared some more.
“Danke, Jungs.” She had both hands on her hips now, leaning forward and pushing her chest out. “Ich hoffe sie gefallen dir.”
“Uh… um… ja?” The man in the middle began looking around, scanning the bushes behind the fence, searching for hidden television cameras. “Sind wir im Fernsehen?”
“Ciao,” she said, blowing them the promised kiss. It scattered them into atoms, wiping them from her existence, taking the trees and the fence and the path with it. Blackness rushed in to fill the void. She spun on her heels, faintly proud of herself for not toppling over this time. A good slave is always improving, the Voice reminded her. She could always do better. Be better. She would be better, next time.
A path appeared in the blackness, hovering over the abyss. She followed it back to her Master and his bench. To her surprise, it was just a few feet from her own. Her bag, and with it her phone and wallet, reappeared before her glazed, empty eyes. Master watches over me, she thought, before the blackness washed that away as well.
“Zip up your catsuit, Sandra,” he said, after many minutes had passed. She did so, enjoying the way it made her feel. Closed. Surrounded. Hidden. Protected. Master watches over me.
Only if I obey.
She smiled. That was easy. Of course she would obey. And so she’d always be protected. She’d always be safe and warm in Master’s voice. She reached for the zipper and gave it a full, confident tug upwards. “Yes, Master.”
“This is better than I’d even guessed. I wonder what else I can make you do? Eat a bird?”
Her eyes fell to the ground. A nervous sparrow darted away from her feet.
“No, no! Don’t eat the birds. Look here. Look at me. Listen to my voice.”
She did, and the blackness took away everything else.
His lips curled into a wicked grin. “Let’s try stealing something.”
“Surprise!”
Emily stepped back from the door and clapped her hands together. “Eeeee! Booze and pizza! How did you guys know?”
“Come on.” Mistress stepped into the apartment and let Celeste squeeze by her with the pizza. She grabbed the doorknob to keep the door from slamming shut, knowing that Emily would approve. Well-trained. I’m a well-trained Mistress.. “What else are you going to eat on a crappy cold night like this?”
“Hero, heroooooo!” Emily pranced around her living room, arms waving in time to the song in her head. She fell backwards with practiced ease into Roger’s enormous brown easy chair, legs splayed, laughing as she brushed the hair from her face. She yelled at the ceiling. “Celeste! You’re my hero, too!”
“I know!” A series of clangs and thumps followed. “Em, where are your napkins?”
“Paper towels, cabinet next to the sink!”
“Danke!”
Mistress set her six-pack on the coffee table and drew two bottles from it. She handed one to the redhead, along with a bottle opener. “Speaking of German,” she said, waiting patiently for Emily to return the opener, “I bought the good German beer this time. This one’s brewed in a castle, apparently.”
“Tease.” Emily motioned for Rebecca’s bottle, then cracked it open with a sudsy phisshh “Did I tell you that Roger got me tickets to the Ren Faire? I’m going to dress up and everything. This is what happens when you date a history major, kids.”
Mistress laughed. She raised her beer. “To sexy boyfriends and girlfriends?”
Clink. “To all of us fine, hot, sexy people! Speaking of, Roger should be back soon. This mid-winter semester thing is really kicking his ass.” She frowned. “I know he doesn’t mind it, but I feel guilty sitting here on my ass all week eating pizza while he’s working. I’m like that lazy housewife who watches soap operas all day.”
“Yeah, but I bet you’re better in bed than a 50s housewife.”
Emily’s eyebrow darted up. “True. Very true.”
Celeste emerged from the kitchen, three plates expertly cradled in her arms. The smell of fresh pizza filled the air. “Okay, guys, it’s not New York pizza, but it’s pretty good.”
Emily’s eyes were as wide as her plates. “Look at you, waitress girl! Where’d you do your time?”
“Diner.” Celeste reached for one of the remaining beers. “Never again. Oh my God, it was so gross and greasy. My car smelled like french fries for the rest of the time I owned it. My boyfriend at the time refused to sit in it. Nope, nope nope nope.” She shook her head and swigged her beer. “Mmmph. Anyway. This beer is brewed in a German castle, apparently.”
“So I heard! I’m gonna track it down when I go back to Germany.” She set her bottle on the table and folded her hands. “You guys aren’t mad at me about that, are you? Going to Germany instead of Australia?”
“I’m sorry, Em.” Mistress folded her hands, trying to put the redhead at ease by matching her pose. “Reb… I just was really looking forward to that trip. It’s not going to be the same if you’re not there with us. You’re my wing girl!”
“I know, I know. But you have a new wing girl, and… and I…” Her tiny hands came apart and back together again as she squirmed in her chair. “I just… I just want to… go? It’s hard to explain.”
“Then come with us to Australia, and go to Germany later. It’s not like it’s going anywhere. Those castles have been there for like a thousand years. One more’s not going to… Em, are you okay?”
The redhead did not look okay. Her hands drifted to the sides of her head, cradling it as she closed her eyes. “Yeah, I just feel dizzy. This is a strong beer.”
Mistress nodded to Celeste, who leaned forward. “What do you want to see in Berlin when you go back, Emily? Rebecca and I got to see a lot of the city. We could recommend a couple of places. There’s a really nice hotel in Mitte that we stayed at.”
Emily’s hands dropped into her lap. She raised her head and looked straight at Celeste. “There’s this old hostel in Berlin,” she said, her voice flattening as she continued. “Lucy Severn talks about it on her Instagram page. It’s so peaceful and quiet. The beds are so soft and comfortable. She had a wonderful time there.”
“Soft and relaxing?” Celeste slowly moved to the edge of her chair. “Like you could fall into them and never come out? That sounds so nice and wonderful.”
“Yeah. It just sounded so cool.” The redhead’s eyes were increasingly glassy. “I could spend a whole week there, maybe. Then go out and see some of the museums we missed.”
Now it was Mistress’s turn. “Maybe go shopping, too?”
“Shop… ping…” She sagged. Her head swung lazily from Celeste to Mistress. “Yeah. I’d like to go shopping. I should go… shopping.”
“It’d be so relaxing, wouldn’t it.”
A dreamy smile. “It would.”
“I bet. So relaxed, Emily. So very relaxed. Drop her.”
Before Emily could respond, Celeste reached for her hand. “Deep sleep, Emily. Deep sleep.”
Emily jumped back in surprise. Awareness began to flow back into her features, only to drain away again just as quickly. Her eyes fluttered and slammed shut. “Whaaa…uhnnnn.”
“Okay.” Mistress rose to her feet. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”