You know that magic trick?
“Hey. Hey. Hey!” Lucia impatiently clawed at her neighbor’s arm. Uncle Nate, as her parents had introduced him years ago, sighed. “What is it now?” It wasn’t his fault, admittedly. He had been kind enough to let her use his shack as a practice room when her parents had been this close to banning her music practice due to the noise. They were normally all for the idea, but, well, if a nineteen year old wanted to really go all out with practicing her new songs that meant it was not exactly their kind of music she was making them listen to for hours on end.
Uncle Nate was surely not really a fan of what she considered to be interesting pop-music, either. But he was a good friend of the family and so had been happy to offer the shack as a solution. Now, however, he had to put up with a more than lively young girl rambling on and on about her favorite stars and their newest albums at least three days a week. Lucia often ended up staying somewhat late, rushing here as soon as she could. So he treated her to meals in exchange for her help around the garden, doing the dishes or the groceries. Small errands, that helped him all the same. And kept his opinion of her favorable, securing that ever important permission to use the shack.
Right now it wasn’t practice day, but rather she had helped him paint some walls in his home, the renovation being long overdue. After the work they had intended to eat, but when she’d seen him walk towards the kitchen she’d not felt like home-made. Thus, how they arrived at this point. “C’mon, it’s hardly more than twenty minutes by car,“ she made her case for why eating out was in her eyes much preferable. It wasn’t that Nate cooked bad. Not at all, in fact, his food was great. Which, given that he was living alone and could simply not afford eating out three times a day, was likely a bit of a pre-requisite.
“I’m hungry now. Not in twenty minutes,” he turned her down. “Really?!” She couldn’t believe it. A male adult in his late twenties, being single for as long as she knew him, resisted her pleas? She wasn’t exactly vain, but she knew she was looking charming enough with her Italian heritage, paired with her mother’s pert nose, full lips and most decidedly ample cleavage, the latter currently shoved against his arm to add some special incentive to her words. She didn’t dislike Nate. How could she? Given he had never complained about her music and even looked like close enough to a fashion model himself to have given her a few not so tame ideas before. Though, no matter how much just visiting him brought them to mind, causing her to be doubly thankful for the isolated practice-room in his shack, of course she would never dare act on them. But sometimes, like right now, for example, he just had this habit of not relenting in his decisions. Lucia was much more used to things going her way. If not by argument, then by other means.
He must have noticed what was going on in her head, because he gave her a long, pensive look before chuckling to himself. “Tell you what. We make a quick game. The winner can decide where we eat. It’ll be my treat either way, of course. Worst case scenario, you have to put up with getting home-made food, if you win we go and eat out. Sounds like a good deal?” “What kind of game?” “Nothing complicated,” he assured her, “You know that magic trick? The one with the coin behind your ear?” Of course she knew that one. Lucia gave him a cocky grin. “So I have to pull that one off?” If so it could be a bit disadvantageous. She was wearing only an old short-sleeved shirt, in case the paint got on her. But she could always remedy that by using the cold as an excuse to put on her jacket. And to pull it off only with her bare hands she’d definitely need to have practiced a lot more. But he shook his head. “Not quite. I’ll be the one doing the trick. Only I won’t just limit myself to coins. I’ll be pulling lots of things free from behind your ears, and you have to guess what. If you’re right three times in a row, you can decide where you want to eat. Still sound good?” “What do you mean, ‘lots of things’? Like candy, or buttons, or something?” Somehow she got the impression he was making fun of her.
He gave her a deep look that was making her shiver involuntarily. Something lurked in that gaze, calling out to her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer. But she was extremely sure she heard the sweet, sweet call of temptation. “How about I pull out something that’s a bit more complex? Like, let’s see... How about three rounds? First objects, then animals, and lastly,” there was that deep look again, “memories?” “Wait, so I have to guess it right a total of nine times? Talk about overkill!” “How about only the last round counts, or you win automatically after six wins in a row, whichever happens first?” That sounded good. But… “How are you going to pull animals out? Not to talk about memories?” To that he gave her a grin that she was sure could have had any other girl swoon. “You’ll see.”
He faced her, putting his left hand on her shoulder, locking eyes with her as his right hand rose up to a spot behind her ear. “You want to do this? Remember, if you can guess both objects and animals correctly, six times right in total, you win and we skip the last round. Alternatively, you can quit anytime and the worst that happens will be my home-made casserole dish for dinner. Sounds good?” She nodded. “Get on with it.” He corrected her gently. “You have to make the first move, remember? Guess what I’ll bring out, or it’s a point for me.” “Fine!” She made a point of rolling her eyes, feeling his hand squeeze her shoulder ever so lightly to steady her. “A coin.” He smiled, his fingers tapping the spot right behind her ear, massaging the spot for but a moment before coming back to reveal a shiny coin on his palm. “Next one?” “Yes.” Another squeeze on her shoulder, most likely without himself even noticing. She was really aware of the lurking something behind his glimmering jade-colored eyes and found herself enjoying these short moments of silently gazing at each other, game or not. She felt his caress behind her ear. “What will it be?” She thought but a second. The options were limited, after all. “Throat candy.” Confidence never leaving his face he brought out his hand, revealing the candy. “Number three?” “Yeah, sure!” the next squeeze went by almost unnoticed as she locked onto his gaze, more interested in the different emotions swirling within the deep green than the game. She almost thought to spot a gentle circling motion in his eyes, transferring into her head through that sensitive spot behind her ear. “Uhm…” He’d asked her something. What…? Oh, the game! “A coin!” For the first time since starting the corners of his mouth twitched, breaking his near perfect mask of indifference. “Correct.” He showed her the shiny disk, catching a glint of light from outside by accident. “Hey!” “Sorry. On with it?” “Yes, yes.” His hand was already back behind her ear, the tip of his index finger warm against her skin, when she reminded herself to ask: “So? How are you going to summon an animal this way?” “Not ‘summon’ them, we’ll do it just like before. Only this time instead of the object the animals on them are important. Good?” “Good.” Had there been animals on any of the stuff he had shown her? She didn’t know. But he wouldn’t lie to win, so there had to be. She felt insecurity grow, but as soon as she met his gaze that took a backseat. Damn, his smug confidence was contagious! The swirls were back in his eyes. She found that maybe he mumbled something, probably a cheesy magic formula for show effects. She didn’t even care to listen. “What animal?” She blinked. “Um… A dog?” He pulled his hand away from her ear, showing her the candy with a bee printed on the wrapping. “They are made with honey. Still good?” “Yes.” “Want to go on?” “Yes.” “Good.” As he asked her this time she took a second before making a guess for a chicken, only to be proven wrong with a cute dog depicted on the coin. But the third time would be good. He’d used the coin twice before. “How often did I use the coin before?” “Huh?” “Was it once? Or was it thrice?” She furrowed her brow. That it was merely his plan to confuse her, likely exactly because he knew as well as her that she’d else have a free win was obvious. But to her dismay she found his ploy working!. Twice was not an option. But he had used a candy before. So: “Once?” “What animal?” “Um…” it was an animal he had used twice before. Which could only be: “A bee!” His confident look stayed the same as he showed her the coin, and the dog that could be seen on it.
“Ready to go for another round?” She nodded a second before even remembering why they were playing again. “This time will be memories. Just like with the coin before, I’ll pull memories out from behind your ears. I’ll be pulling memories right out of your head and you have to guess which one I’ve taken. If you can guess right three times in a row you win. And if you can give me the right memory three times in a row you get your prize. Now, I’ll be taking the first memory. Good?” “Yes.” “Now, I want to help you out a bit. Because I’ll be taking a memory, so I can’t just show it to you like with that shiny coin before. So I want to help you. Please think of something for me, think of the things I showed you in the previous round. Please think of the things I used before, think of the shiny, shiny coin I showed you before. Think of how it looked, how it caught the light, how it shone the light into your eyes, how it glistened and was so glittery, so shiny.” She blinked, getting a bit tired as he rambled on and on about that coin and made her remember how he’d dazzled her with catching the light and—“Feel me pull that memory out of your head right now.” His finger interrupted its massage of the back of her ear, leaving her feeling a bit wobbly. She looked at the fist he held before her. “So tell me, what memory have I taken? Do you know? Don’t you know?” Lucia blinked, heavy, slow. “Um… I don’t know? I mean, I kind of know, but I don’t?” “That’s okay. That doesn’t matter, just try again. Let me just reach right into your mind again, right into your thoughts. Let me reach for the next memory. And just as before, I want to help you. Help you think of the memory I’m going to pick, the memory I’m going to pluck from your mind. Think about the next memory for me. Think about the memory of the dish I wanted to cook. Remember what I said, what I told you I’d cook. Think about how I wanted to cook a casserole dish for me. And feel me take that memory right out of your head now.” She felt as if something really left her head as he brought his hand before her face. “So, you don’t know what I’m going to cook, do you?” She nodded. “You don’t know.” “Yes.” “That’s fine. You’re still doing good. All you need to do is win the next round, right.” “Yes.”
Again his hand was behind her ear. “Let’s make it easier for you with the next one, really take a lot off of your mind with the next one. I’m going to help you again, help you think of the next memory for me, the next memory I’m going to take. Think about all those years of education, all those years going to school, sitting in class, talking with friends, doing homework. Think about everything you experienced that had to do with school, about the school, about schools in general. The very idea is still so present in your mind, so easy to think about it for me. For me to take that memory, all those memories. Right out of your head. Now.” He didn’t even bother bringing his hand between them. “Already you have no idea what I just took, do you?” Lucia nodded, feeling like her head was suddenly filled with thick, gooey syrup where… things should have been. She knew, felt how he had taken them, pulled them right out of her. But strangely enough, it didn’t feel like something she needed to be concerned about. Since there was no telling what he had taken. And she’d definitely know if he’d taken something important.
“By the way,” he smiled as if they weren’t just in the middle of an important bet, “what was the name of that teacher again? You know, the one you always found so annoying in school?” She frowned. “Like, what’s ‘school’? Is that a word your generation used for clubs?”
A friendly tap made her aware of how his fingers touched the sensitive spot behind her ear again and her eyelids fluttered under the comfortable feelings this caused. “That doesn’t matter right now, does it? You’ve got a game to win, after all.” She hummed something that might be a confirmation. She certainly felt like it was. “In fact, Lucia, go ahead and think about this game, this bet, what we both bet on, think about how often you needed to be correct to win, how often you still need to guess correctly. Really think about that as you feel me pull that memory right out of your head. Now.” She noticed how between glimpses of jade her eyes fell shut as something flowed out of her head, getting washed away in the pleasant circles his fingers drew behind her ear. “You’re doing great, Lucia. Only two more to go. After the next two rounds this game will be over. So really focus for me, focus your name for me, recall your name, Lucia. Try to hold onto the memory of what your name is, even as you feel my fingers pull your name out of your head, feel me pull the very knowledge that you ever had a name right out of your head. Now.” This time she noticed how something big flowed out of her, the realization making her groan just a little. But in the same instant she felt that syrupy sensation fill in the gaps and felt how even this missing memory lost relevance.
“Excellent.” The girl enjoyed the praise, even though she wasn’t sure what exactly she was being praised for. But his fingers massaging the spot behind her ear convinced her there was no need to think about that too deeply. Or anything else, really. “Good girl. Doing so well. And we’re almost finished, almost at the end of the game. So it’s really important you try your hardest right now, really try to guess the memory correctly to win. Now, let’s finish this with a big one. With the memory of a concept. The concept of deciding things. Of making decisions for yourself. Of having a will of your own, capable of thinking on your own. Already that is so hard, isn’t it?” “Yesss,” she slurred, hardly aware of how tiring it was to move her jar, to form words as she felt him reach into her mind, her eyes rolling back into her head as if to see what he was doing in there. “Really trying to hold on to the idea of having a mind of your own, of being able to think by yourself. Really bringing that concept to the forefront of your mind, the very same mind that you feel me pull out of your head right now!”
The girl swayed, leaning into his arms without any sign of awareness. She felt his hands steady her. They ran up and down her arms for a moment, before lingering on her tits. A warm buzz began to spread through her as his fingers gently mauled her soft flesh. The girl was vaguely aware he should not do that. Her body was not to be touched this way. But strangely enough, even though she knew, it did not stir anything inside her except even greater heat. Somehow, knowing he was doing something wrong and forbidden to her was just causing her breath to quicken, her heart to pump all that excitement through her system even faster. What else could she even do about it? He had not told her to do anything, so she didn’t. Even as he leaned in and stole a kiss, she merely waited for instructions, letting the feelings of flushed heat melt her into his arms passively. After all, she had not been told to do things beyond that. So she simply allowed him to run his touch over her lithe body even as his words reached her ears: “Now, then. I say we eat here. And I’ll make sure you get to eat your fill.” She saw his lips curl into a predatory grin, though she no longer had any thought left to care. “We still have a few hours before your parents expect you back home and I know a few things I’ll have you do for me to burn off those calories before then.” And quieter, almost slipping past her in a voice that slid right past her empty head into her guts, setting off a firework of giddy happiness: “Just like every week.”
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