The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

I checked my watch for the umpteenth time, cursing silently. Gaetano was long overdue. I knew what this meant, yet i fought the realization.

I gazed along the dim backalley. Derelict brick warehouses lined the narrow cobblestone street. The glass of their high windows had long since dissappeared and now only black holes remained, like the unblinking eyesockets of a burned out skull. A storm was coming and already a sharp wind howled around the old cranes and chimneys that towered over the rundown docklands, silent witnesses of better times, long ago.

The moon was mostly obscured by clouds and i could only vaguely make out the small pub on the far end of the street. As far as i could tell, no one had left the building since my mentor entered almost an hour ago. Gaetanos dissappearance could only mean two things. Firstly, that our prey was in fact here. And secondly, that it was cornered, desperate. Or perhaps just tired of hiding.

I had felt no psychic shockwave, nor any other sign of a mental battle, yet i didn’t dare to reach out with my mind to investigate. Our foe was ancient and cunning. He would be expecting this.

My orders had been clear: Stay on that street and call for reinforcements if anything goes wrong. Laughable. It would take at least 13 hours for reinforcements to reach this godforsaken russian backwater. No, i was alone. And after four long years of hunting, i was not going to allow him to escape again.

Countless times my mentor had reminded me not to face the enemy until my apprenticeship was complete, yet i knew i was more than ready. I had trained for over a decade for this moment, had honed my mental and physical skills, spent innumerable hours in study and prayer. Tonight i would earn myself the right to become a full fledged hunter or die trying.

I approached warily, melting with the shadows. It had begun to rain and despite my heavy stormcoat i felt cold. I could see shadows moving behind the pubs tinted windows. I had two spare mags for my compact submachine gun plus three incendiary grenades. I knew i might have to kill everyone inside to cover my traces.

I had almost reached the pub, pausing in a filthy house entrance to check my equipment once again. The wind carried fragments of slow, strangely discordant music to my ear. I realized that i was afraid. I had to control my feelings lest he sensed my fear to use it against me. I swallowed hard, concentrating to decelerate my heart rate. I would do this.

The heavy wooden door was just on the other side of the street but the way over felt like an eternity. I prepared my mind. I knew, the mental assault could begin the very moment i walked through that door.

Two more steps. My gloved hand lingered on the worn, cast iron doorhandle for a moment. I knew my life was going to change, one way or the other.

I entered.

The pub was dimly lit, consisting of only one room, fogged by the cigarette smoke that hung heavy in the air. A battered grammophone played in a corner. Behind the bar, Adrej Bakunin hummed silently in tune to the song, while absend mindedly polishing a glas. The song was called ‘The Wolga boatmen’, one of his favourites, a melancholic shanty about pride in the face of suffering and hardship.

He put the glass away and went on to wipe the bar. It was a quiet evening and there weren’t many drinks to serve. A couple of dockworkers were guzzling away their money on vodka, playing cards, mainly keeping to themselves. The two square built men at the table near the door were another story. They were huge, baldheaded brutes whose faces were covered with deep scars, telltale signs of lives of violence.

They were mercenaries he knew, guards of the extravagant gentleman in the backroom. The men reeked of trouble, nervous, constantly glancing towards the door as if afraid of something. He didn’t want to imagine what those heavily armed giants were afraid of.

There was a creaking noise as the door opened. Andrej raised his thick black eyebrows in alarm. In the door stood a tall, slender girl, perhaps in her early twenties. She was beautiful, with pale skin, high cheekbones and dark brown hair that was pinned in a bun. Her almond shaped eyes were big and brown, but there was a dangerous sparkle in them.

His eyes traveled lower and he immediately knew that the girl was trouble. She wore a midnight black battle dress, combat boots and kevlar body armor, her long coat doing litte to hide the bulky automatic weapons concealed beneath it. A sword was strapped across her back.

“We are closed...” Andrej began.

“I have no business with you bartender.” She cut him off, “I am here for the man in the backroom.” Her russian was almost perfect, with a barely discernible accent.

The brutish guards slowly pushed back their chairs and stood up. One spoke. “Drop your weapons. Now.” His voice was extremely low, an almost primeval rumble. A hush fell across the room. People backed away.

To her credit the girl didn’t flinch, slowly lifting up her gaze to look at the man who had spoken to her. “Sit down if you want to live though this.” Her voice was almost a whisper.

The left guard stepped forward. The girl flicked out her arm and stabbed him in the face. The man recoiled slightly and then dropped to the floor, his face covered in blood. A surprised murmur went through the bar. They had barely seen the girl move, let alone produce her sword.

With a roar the other guard lunged at her, lashing out with a bladed knuckleduster. The young woman rolled to the side, avoiding her clumsy opponent. It seemed madness for her to take on such a huge man in closed combat, yet she easily ducked unter his punching fists, rotating into a reverse roundhouse kick that shattered the mans nose with a nasty crack.

The onlookers gasped in shock, not believing what they were seeing. These mercs had a reputation around here, as deadly fighters and ruthless killers. You just didn’t fight that, not unless you were insane or suicidal.

The mercenary howled in rage and rushed forward with a speed that defied his physical bulk. He threw heavy punches towards the girl, each one strong enough to shatter her bones, but she was too quick, his punches hitting nothing but air.

The man drew a heavy combat knife, stabbing wildly at her pivoting form. The girl caught his arm, straightening it by yanking on his wrist, before bringing up her right fist. The mans elbow snapped the wrong way with a noise that made Andrej wince. The merc revolved at the hips and punched the girl hard with his other arm, sending her flying across the room.

She summersaulted in mid air and bounced of a table, sending an empty beer bottle flying towards the mans head with high speed. It hit his right brow, shattering from the impact. She controlled her fall and came up in a roll, bringing up her sword in the process. But the merc hadn’t pursued her. The girl realized her error when the man brought up a bulky gun. Andrej could see her eyes widen.

She brought her sword up in a salute. The gun roared and a flash of lightning illuminated the bar. The shot bounced off her blade, sending sparks flying in all directions. The man shot again and again the girl parried, sending the bullet riocheting into the ceiling.

“Impressing.” Despite his injuries the mans voice was cold as ice as he moved his thumb to the selector lever. “Lets see you do that on full auto, bitch.”

The girl lowered her blade, giving the slightest nod to her opponent. She knew that she was defeated. Andrej held his breath as she closed her eyes. Strangely the shot never came.

My surroundings began to blur. The music began to deform and distort until it stopped completely and all i could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat. I concentrated, focussing my energy. Very slowly my vision returned, even as my eyes remained tightly closed.

I was still in the room but all colour seemed to have been drained out of it. Time had stopped and the man in front of me was little more than frozen statue, his gun raised, a look of triumph on his face. This was my mental representation of the room, little more than an afterimage. I looked at the merc. His mind was a barely visible sphere of light, pulsing inside his grey, almost translucent body. The light began to flicker as i reached out at it.

Spears of searing energy left my mental representation, tearing into the mans mind. I had to be quick. Up close, his mind was a chaotic amalgam of a thousand different colours, swirling and dancing around each other without discernible order or cause. These were psychic embodiments of his feelings, desires and fears.

There was something else as well. Swirling wafts of black mist driftet through his mind, tainting some colours, suffocating others. It was obvious that someone had fiddled with his thoughts. I had no time to investigate. I concentrated hard, isolating and dispersing the colours that representated his attention and awareness.

It was an easy and effective approach. His mind would slowly recover, but until then all information concerning the outside world was being shut out, unable to reach his brains higher integrating centres. The man was effectively trapped blind, deaf and mute in his own body.

I was about to return to the real world when i noticed a strange, barely visible distortion in the corner of my eye. The far wall began to fade, revealing a rift of darkness. I knew this was impossible, as the room i was in was merely a construct of my own memories, created by my mind to simplify the navigation in this mental environment.

Cautiously i moved forward, gazing down the rift. It was dark and limitless and a dull red glow suffused the darkness far below. It seemed like the fabric of reality itself was cracked in this place.

Suddenly the room began to shake violently. I lost my footing, barely avoiding stumbling into the black fissure. The room began to bend and distort as if under assault by powers of monumental proportions. Out of reflex i tried to hold on to a nearby table before realizing the futility of my action.

I mustered all my concentration, desperately trying to return to the real world. In front of my eyes the room seemed to disintegrate. A moment later the world turned black.

I awoke with a maddening headache. I tried to lift my head but was stopped by a piercing pain in my flank that almost made me cry out. I was lying sprawled out on the floor, the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. There were voices around me, arguing in what seemed to be a heated discussion but i couldn’t make out any clear words. I tried to open my eyes but my leaden eyelids refused to cooperate.

Someone turned me onto my back. Gloved hands began to roughly frisk my body. I lashed out with my mind in blind anger and was rewarded with a cry of pain. The ground began to vibrate as heavy boots raced towards me. Something hit my head hard. The world turned black again.

I awoke groggily. Cautiously opening my eyes, i realized with alarm that i was not in the bar anymore. With a silent curse i noticed that i had been stripped of my equipment and found myself clad in a robe of fine blue silk, which clung to every curve of my body. With a start i realized that i was naked underneath. The robe was sheer, almost translucent and the feint outlines of my nipples and even my pubic hair were visible.

At least i felt no pain and the taste of blood in my mouth was gone. How long had i been asleep?

I sat up slowly, looking around with wide eyes. I had never seen such extravagance and luxury. Huge corinthian colums of black marble connected the mosaic covered floor with the high ceilings, which were covered in masterful frescoes depicting scenes of impossible debauchery. Exquisite paintings, mostly oil portraits of aristocratic, powerful looking men lined the walls, bathed in light by a pompous chrystal chandelier.

I sat on a rosewood caned setee with a lush, wine coloured upholstery, not far away from an ornate table of polished ivory. The table was set for two persons with precious chinese porcelain ware depicting naked bodies entwined in impossible positions. On polished silver platters were outlandish dishes that i did not recognize.

I noticed that, instead of a window, an aquarium was embedded into the far wall of the room, alive with plants and tropical fish, glittering in all colours of the rainbow. There was only one door. It was huge, ornate and lacking a keyhole, or a doorhandle for that matter.

I grittet my teeth. The bar had been a trap and i had walked right into it. Now i was here – wherever here was—and by the look of things i wouldn’t be leaving until someone came to get me. I paced around the room nervously, trying to avoid looking at the perverted paintings and frescoes.

There was a statue in the corner of the room, half hidden in the long shadows cast by the towering colums. It portrayed an odd, strongly built man with a flat nose, large pointed ears and long curly hair, streaked with leaves of wine. Only now i realised that he was naked. His...genital was huge and erect, pointing towards the ceiling like a raised spear.

I glanced around, somehow afraid of getting caught. Having spend almost my entire live in a convent, i had never seen a man’s...thing. Of course i knew that penetration was a vital part of the human reproductive cycle but now that i saw this hugely veined appendage i could scarcely believe that it was supposed to fit inside a woman.

I had once touched myself down there, years ago in a in a moment of weakness. I had quickly stopped back then, too afraid of the weird feelings that coursed through my body, afraid of the repercussions should my sinfull behaviour be discovered by the canoness. I had inserted a finger at the time and remembered that it barely fitted inside of me.

I reached out with my hand, slowly tracing it along the length of the statues member, feeling the smooth hardness of the stone, the thick veins that run hidden just below the marble skin. Only now i realized that my nipples were getting erect, now poking visible little tents into the fine fabric of the robe. Ashamed i noted that my vagina was beginning to lubricate, preparing my body for the sins that might follow my peccable thoughts.

Quickly i broke away, forcing my thoughts away from the offending effigy, cursing at my weak flesh for turning against me.

I caught my reflection in the glass of the aquarium. My lips were pursed in a frown and my eyes looked clearly worried. I had to regain control of my emotions if i was going to get out of this alive.

I knew i was probably only alive to be questioned or tortured. Or both. Strangely that prospect didn’t frighten me. I didn’t make it this far by giving up so easily. A metallic click interrupted my thoughts. There was a sound like gears grinding together. I turned.

The gate was opening, its jaws screeching and moaning as they gave way to the darkness beyond.

The corridor behind the door was dark and the light of the chandelier seemed to be swallowed by the blackness. There was movement. Someone was approaching. After a second i could make out the dim silhouette of a man, tall and broad shouldered. Slowly he stepped into the light. His demeanour was confident and i immediately felt his power.

At the same time alarm bells began to ring in the back of my mind. There was an undefinable sense of wrongness radiating from the man, a feint aura of alienness that caused cold shivers to run down my back. I could trust my instincts enough to know what this meant.

This was a demon, an unclean spirit of old, darkness incarnate. It meant that the time had come to do what i had trained for. I had waited long for this moment.

I have to admit that the man was attractive. He had a tanned, masculine face with strong jaws and piercing blue eyes that twinkeled curiously as he scrutinized me. His cropped hair was flecked with grey and a light stubble was visible on his cheeks. I returned his look. There was no room to hide weapons in his expensive italian three piece suit and he did in fact seem unarmed if one didn’t count the oddly adorned walking stick he was carrying. His overconfidence would be his doom.

“Welcome to my parlour.” His voice was deep and resonating, but strangely there was no threat in it.

“Said the spider to the fly.” I remarked dryly.

A smile began to spread on his face. It seemed genuine, friendly even. “Indeed. You would do well to remember that old poem while you are my guest.”. Again there was no threat in his voice but i found his calmness to be very unnerving. “Please have a seat, let us dine together while we talk.”

“What do you want from me?” i spat. If my reply insulted him he didn’t show it.

“What i want? Wasn’t it you who came to find me? I guess i should be the one to ask why you are here”.

“’You know what i came for.” I snarled, my eyes never leaving his.

“Your weapons made that quite obvious.”

“I don’t need weapons to kill you. We are alone in this room, what is going to stop me from slaying you right now?”

The man merely shrugged. “Absolutely nothing. But then again you probably want to know what happened to your elderly friend.”. He smiled at me. “And of course there is the fact that you are in a room with no exit.”

“Maybe you underestimate my determination. Maybe i would gladly give my life to rid the world of one more mind raping abomination.” I could barely hide the anger in my voice now.

The man pulled back his chair and sat down, straightening his jacket while doing so. Strangely there was an almost sad expression on his face. “A true fanatic. Ready to die for the cause of her masters. Mind rape would surely fit as a description here, don’t you think?” He shook his head. He seemed ancient to me in that moment.

Again he indicated to the chair opposite his own. “We will talk about this later. Please, sit down.”

“Spare me your bullshit! Tell me what you want before i decide that killing you right now isn’t such a bad idea after all.” I replied mockingly, still ignoring his request. There was a short moment of silence.

“SIT DOWN. NOW.” His voice was powerful and booming, slicing through my mental defences with ease. I hadn’t fully realized how weakened i was until now. The compulsion to obey immediately manifested, soon becoming almost too strong to bear. He had caught me off guard. I knew i was making a fool of myself, a concentrated look on my face while beads of sweat were forming on my forehead.

I felt his eyes on me, regarding my like one might observe a rare kind of animal. Finally, after a few moments i decided to yield to his command. Let him enjoy his little victory, i was going to be more careful now. I walked to the table and sat down across from him.

I felt relieved immediately, as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. He simply smiled at me, pointing to a nearby silver platter. “Quail in a puff pastry shell with foie gras and truffle sauce. Please, help yourself.”

“And if i refuse, are you going to force me to eat too?”

“Oh please, what kind of person do you take me for?” He chuckled.

“You are a monster! A walking blasphemy, a sin against creation!” I spat, angry to be mocked.

“Then so are you!” he laughed, “Taken from your parents to work as a murderer and assassin, killing off your own kin!”

“I was found in an orphanage in Romania. Do not presume that you know me!”

He sighed. “And you really believe that? You are a powerful telepath girl, but young and naive. Maybe you were an orphan already when your order found you, but it is far more likely that they made you one. Your kind is far to valuable for them.”. He opened a wine bottle, filling two glasses with the rich red fluid.

“Chateau latour 1961, one of the best. You should try it” he offered.

“I don’t drink.” I replied tightly. His friendliness was making me uneasy.

“Yes i know, “ he sighed “nor do you smoke. You don’t listen to music, you don’t go out, you don’t even have friends. And with 26 you have yet to feel the warmth of a a mans embrace.”

“I live for the cause” i spat, caught of guard by his intimate knowledge of my personal life. “I liveto protect others from monsters like you!”

“Is that what you tell yourself when you are alone in the confines of your convent’s cell, castigating yourself for your non existant sins? The people who stole your life are the real monsters. The people who robbed you of all your possibilities, robbed you of your destiny. I am not your enemy. Right now, i am the only friend you have in this world.”

“Oh, so you are my friend now? I guess i have nothing to fear then.” I sneered. I had to remain focussed. They had trained me for this, warned me of the sweet lies and promises i would have to resist when the time came.

“Allow me to be frank” he began, sipping on his wine “the chances for you to survive this night tend towards zero.”

I did not wait for him to finish. In a fracture of a second i had picked up a knife from the table, sending it with high speed towards his eye with a flick of my wrist. But nothing happened. The knife hat stopped in mid air, hanging frozen above the table as if suspended by invisible strings. I gasped with confusion. He hadn’t even flinched, merely looking at me expectantly.

“What...that is not...possible! Your powers only encompass living things..” I stammered. Suddenly it dawned on me. There was only one explanation. I looked around, barely managing to hide my awe.

“All this isn’t real?” I tried to concentrate, to return to the real world but i wasn’t exactly surprised when nothing happened.

“No, it is not.”,he replied matter of factly, dabbing his mouth with a napkin.

“This can’t be a mental projection. Everything is so..real.” For the moment it was hard to keep in mind that i was sitting eye to eye with the enemy. I was inside a mental projection, yet everything seemed so alive and vibrant. I could feel the heat of the candles, smell the food on the table. Everything, from the shadows on the walls to the movement of the fish was perfect.

He bowed curtly. “It took me millenia to achieve this grade of detail.” “Yes, you heard right, millenia.”, he continued, having seen my raised eyebrows. “I live in your world for quite some time now, having inhabited various bodies during that time.”

“You steal the bodies of innocents!” i cursed, the flames of my anger blazing up again.

“I don’t steal. I purchase. My hosts entered agreements with me. They did so freely and benefitted greatly from doing so. Only when they don’t keep their part of the bargain i come to collect.”

“This is wrong. Unnatural.”

“Isn’t it entirely natural to strive for immortality, even as a human being? Isn’t that why your kind worships god? Paradise and the promise of eternal life?”

“Blashphemer!” I spat. “Why do i have to listen to all of this? Why can’t i just wake up?”

“Because you are under the effect of a powerful sedative.”

“Oh great. And where am i? Where is my body?” I snarled.

“Right now your body is strapped onto a table in a rundown apartment complex, not far from where you collapsed. I have considered to meet you in person but i find this setting far more pleasant. You would probably just be embarassed, considering the fact that in the real world you are naked.” He chuckled.

“Oh don’t look at me like that, my men found quite a few hidden weapons on your body.”

I could feel my face turning red. “You are lying.”

“Am i? You don’t have anything to be ashamed of. I know that you have never seen another woman naked but i can assure you you are perfectly normal.”

“Lies.”

“Your body is slim and well muscled. You clearly work out a lot. I can see the outline of your abs. Cute smallish breasts. Tiny pink aureolas with big nipples. A prominent birthmark on the inside of your left thigh. And you don’t shave your privates.”

I was beet red now. “Stop it! What do you want from me?”

“You begin to realize your situation, don’t you?”

I just stared at him, left speechless by the predicament. I was trapped in his world, with no way to get out.

He got up, opening the door with a swipe of his walking cane. “Walk with me, while we consider your options.”

I got up hesistantly. “Where are we going?”

He just smiled at me, but now it was the broad, lupine grin of a predator. I wasn’t going to reveal my anxiety to him. Warily i stepped through the door.

“Welcome to my realm.”

My vision blurred for a second. The first things i noticed was that there seemed to be something wrong with the floor. A moment before my bare feet had been standing firmly on the cold marble floor and all of a sudden the ground felt warm and uneven. I felt wind on my face and a vaguely musky smell entered my nose.

When my eyesight normalised, i found that i wasn’t standing in the corridor behind the door. I was standing on a beach, my toes half buried in the coarse black sand. Turning around, i saw that the door behind me was gone. Instead the beach continued behind me, running along the curved shoreline as far as my eye could see. The water was almost purple and i noticed that the musky, almost sexual smell came from the strange ocean.

Curious i approached the water. Something was not right with the ocean although i couldn’t place my finger on it. Then i realized what it was. A small thing and yet so wrong. The waves weren’t rushing onto the shore and breaking, the water was moving back and forth, left and right without any visible reason, or order to it.

There were strange shapes moving in the water. There were bodies. Men and woman, stark naked were crawling and slithering around each other, their limbs entwined in vile sexual acts. I could hear their voices, calling me, taunting me, beckoning me to join them in their orgasmic pleasure.

Their calls resonated strongly in my head and i wondered how it would be to just drop my robe to join them and feel their caressing hands and tongues on my skin while..

I was pulled from my thoughts by a strong hand that grabbed my arm to pull me backwards.

“This mental realm is an unutterably vast and hazardous place, a place of ancient dangers and perils unknown to your kind. In this endless domain breed things more obscene, terrible and deadly than anything your human mind can imagine without shattering your sanity. Knowing this, you would do well to stay close to me.”

I scolded myself for my lack of willpower. Here i was, being saved by a demon, the very enemy i had sword to destroy. I knew i had to survive, to play his game until the time came to act. I knew it fell to me to perform the sacred duty of my order and i would not falter.

He led me along the shoreline and up a line of shallow, grass covered hills. The sun burned hot on my skin. It was a vast, swollen fireball, deformed and no longer spherical, glowing with a vicious pink fire under a cooling crust of black rags that looked like mould infecting its granular skin.

The emerald grass of the hills was soft like silk, caressing my legs and feet with thousands of pleasant strokes. In fact it seemed almost to have a life of its own, the tiny stalks moving back and forth as if breathing, bending towards my naked feet like a million hands, extended to rub and stroke against me.

A single dot of red caught my attention. Stepping closer i saw the most beautiful flower human eyes had ever witnessed. Its lush blossom glittered in every colour of the rainbow, a picture of pure, singular beauty in this alien place.

I knelt down in the long grass, bending down to stroke its petals. A wonderful intoxicating smell wafted from its center and i could not resist bending down to smell it. My mind fogged, lost in the musky smell of the flower.

Only when a big hand nudged me did my senses return. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as i realised my situation. My face was buried in the flower whose petals were spread widely open, my tongue extended to lick at its engorged center. I had sunk on my hands and knees and the caressing stalks of grass had reached up, caressing my nipples into hard little nubbs.

Further down they had found their way under my sheer robe and were stroking and caressing my privates. I gasped as i felt them knead and rub my swollen clitoris, unprepared and unaccustomed to the accompanying sensations. I mustered all my willpower to get up, furious at the demon for leading me here and even more furious at me for being so weak. I didn’t dare to look into his eyes.

His voice was calm and almost fatherly when he spoke. “Wolves of the mind prowl and hunger beyond the veil of physical reality. They roam this realm in many disguises to prey upon the weak minded. Everything your eyes can see seeks to harvest your mental energies, your pleasure to be exact.”

“My pleasure?” I mumbled, trying to arrange the almost transparent robes in a way to hide my swollen sex. “You have probably noticed that i am a pleasure demon. This“ he said, indicating to the surrounding land “is the realm of pleasure, one of many realms our kind inhabits. Your kind.”

“My kind? I don’t see any humans around here, let alone demon hunters” i smirked, feeling my resolve slowly return to me.

The demon stopped, turning to look at me with his hypnotic blue eyes. “It is not wise to mock me girl. Your humanity is not set in stone.”

“What are you talking about?” i demanded menacingly, annoyed with his cryptic talk.

“I am offering to free you from the shackles of your order, to elevate you beyond the legions of human cattle that neither want nor care for your protection. I am offering you a life of thrill, something to drown your boredom in excitement and deafen you with the wild beating of your own living heart.”

“And turn my into a demon in the process? I think not.. I am pure and untainted, and i will not be turned from the lord! I would rather kill myself. And take you with me!”

With a howl i threw myself at him. I had not forgotten what the mind can create in this realm and in the blink of an eye a gleaming sabre had materialized in my hand. I sliced at him but he evaded my strikes with unbelievable physical speed. I swung again, placing two perfect deathblows that in some way missed altogether.

To my left a shadow moved, almost undiscernible. A hard blow hit my skull, taking me of my feet. I tried to pull myself up but before i could react his mind entered mine, effortlessly shattering my defenses .

“Enough.”

I could only watch helplessly as he imposed his will on me. Panting i sank to my knees in front of him, my head bowed. He stepped closer, towering above me with his powerful built. I knew, here and now i was hopelessly outmatched. He grabbed my robe, ripping it away from my body in one savage motion.

I could feel the wind on my exposed skin, making me even more aware of my nakedness. I heard myself whimper as the strange grass took advantage of my kneeling position, immediately resuming its fondling between my legs.

His deep voice was now reproachful and stern. “I am very patient and sympathetic to your situation but i will not tolerate your blatant disrespect any longer. You will be punished for this in time. Right now i hold absolute power over you.”

He reached down to lift my chin up, looking deep into my eyes. Although none of this was real i could feel his physical power. He was easily strong enough to crush my skull in his hand, but right now his touch was soft and careful, gently stroking my cheek.

“I could consume your soul right now, condemning you to an eternity of darkness. I could lock your mind away in your own body, turning you into a drooling idiot to be raped and abused by the wardens and fellow inmates of your mental asylum. Instead i am offering you a new kind of freedom. You are an incredibly powerful telepath, the most powerful human i have encountered in over four centuries. You have an almost unlimited potential. If you work hard you could leave the shackles of your mortal flesh behind to rise far in our hierachy, enjoying more power than you could possibly imagine.”

I was shivering now. I wasn’t easily frightened, but the surreal situation, the unbidden sensations coming from my traitorous body and the shock from his mental assault had pushed me to my limits. He smiled at me, softly stroking my hair. It was a small gesture of empathy, but for one so unaccustomed to human affection as me, it created even more conflicts.

On the one hand i enjoyed his gentle stroking, finding it to be calming, my confused body yearning to embrace him, to enjoy the protection of his strong arms. On the other hand i knew who brought me here, who was to blame for my conflicting emotions. I knew who my enemy was. The conflict almost tore me apart, almost bringing tears to my eyes.

In the end i was thankful when he stopped, extending a hand to pull me firmly to my feet, laying the tattered robe around my shoulders.

“Be unconcerned. It won’t be me who decides your fate, girl. It will be you. Only you decide what path lies adhead of you. If you are as pure as you claim, there is nothing to fear.”

We went to more portals, passing through realms that couldn’t differ any more from each other. We went through cities drenched in blood, thousand screams echoing between the ruined walls, the air wet and heavy, reeking like a slaughterhouse. We went through ruinous towns, devoid of human live and yet filled with whispering voices, where strange things lurked in the shadows, following our every step, tasting and basking in my fear.

I can not recall through how many portals we passed, but beyond each avaited a new form of maddness. He told me that each realm was home to a certain kind of demons, each one concerned with another aspect of the human mind. He told me of the hierarchy, reaching from demonic plants and wildlive, over slaves and servants up to the archdemons itself.

Soon, my host began to talk more freely, introducing himself as Adramelech and i have to admit that it was a pleasure to talk to him and learn from him. I began to realise how dangerous he was. He was brilliant, his mind charming, spirited, precise and imposingly knowledgeable.

We talked of politics, ethics theology and history and his learning was tremendous, exceeding mine by lightyears. He could quote extensively from holy scripture, philosophy and poetry, his scholarship easily surpassing that of even my mentor. After a while he began talking about the supernatural, telepathy and demons and about the differences between the human and the demon mind.

I was eager to learn, to experience the secrets and machinations of our enemy firsthand, barely believing my luck. It was impossible to tell how long he led me through these worlds, wondrous and hellish at the same time, but i almost found myself dissappointed when we finally arrived in the room i had awoken in.

I had not forgotten his words of me not surviving the night and turned to face my host. “And what now?”

He just stood there for a while, staring deep into my eyes as if contemplating.. “Now you may go.”

I looked at him quizzically, somhow expecting him to revoke his words. “Just like that?”

He nodded slowly. “Just like that. Unless you wish to see me again.”

I wanted to laugh out loud but managed to hide it. There was almost something hopeful in his voice and i was determined to use that to my advatage. “What of my mentor?”

“His soul will stay here.”

“And you expect me to come back under these circumstances?”

“No, probably not. But maybe we can reach an agreement. I promise to release your master, with no knowledge of what transpired here. In the meantime you vow to to consider my offer of joining me. I will meet you after seven days to hear your decision.”

I looked at him incredulously. This was almost to good to be true. Not only would my mentor be allowed to escape unharmed, but Adramelech would come to our world to meet me. I chuckled inwardly as i pictured his face the moment he realized that he was being expected by more than a dozen demonhunters of my order. His capture would be my ultimate triumph, my ticket to the status of a full fledged hunter.

I nodded at him, careful to hide my glee. “So be it. I accept your offer.”

He stepped closer, producing a strange object in his right hand. It consisted of six hinged plates, made from a black, partly transparent material that i didn’t recognize, set with precious red gems and held together with an circlet structure of dark metal. I realized that it was some sort of collar. Obscure runes covered its surface and i saw small fragments of text that seemed to pulse and shift below its surface.

He stepped closer to me, his hand extended. “You will wear this during the time of our agreement, as a sign for our pact. As long as you wear this collar, no demon will harm you and i will be able to find you after the seven days have passed.”

I took the offered collar hesistantly, not liking the symbolism involved in wearing a collar. I had expected it to be cold but strangely enough it seemed to radiate heat as if alight with an invisible inner fire.

He nodded encouragingly as i brought the the collar to my neck. It closed with an audible hiss. It took me a moment to realize that something was wrong. The heat coming from the collar increased, soon becoming unbearable. There was a sharp pain in the back of my neck as i felt something sharp and metallic pierce my skin.

A burning sensation began to spread through my body, as if pure acid was flowing through my veins. The pain was almost unbearable and i felt myself sinking to my knees, my consciousness slowly fading away.

The last thing i remember before sinking to the ground were his words.

“Seven days.”