The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

12:21 AM

Dr. Ivey Parkinson sighed deeply, hands clutching the mug of hot coffee, staring intently into the steam. Clad in only the police issue blanket one of the officers had given her, and the torn ill-fitting shreds of clothing she’d carried from her escape, she was thankful for the meager warmth it provided. She closed her eyes, remembering again her fright-filled rush to freedom...

Bursting through the doorway, breathless, expecting the brainwashed puppet of Dr. Thorton to rise up any moment and shoot her behind... forcing her sore, abused muscles to continue working, making her legs continue to send her forward, despite the pain of naked bare feet against uncaring asphalt... wandering from street to street, looking for a payphone, or a police car... desperate for someone, ANYONE, to help her, torn between fear of being accosted in the wrong side of town in her current condition—tired, weak and naked—and the overwhelming need to just STOP running, to wait for help to arrive...

And it had arrived. A motorist, nearly wrecking from the sight of a near-naked woman half stumbling across his path, had called the police. Luckily, a black and white was already in the vicinity on traffic watch; three minutes after the call, Officers Jim Rutledge and Laura Roberson were on the scene. Shaken by her experience and exhausted from her panicked flight, Ivey managed only a single word, “Thorton” before she collapsed into Officer Rutledge’s arms.

That had been twenty minutes ago. By the time the ambulance and the rest of the police precinct arrived, she had recovered enough to relate what had happened. Chief Barrows had stood by, a worried grimace etched into his face, listening as her story wound down. When she had finished, he’d ordered a dozen of his men back along the route she’d said she followed to check every warehouse and plant within a two mile radius. Then, saying nothing, he’d simply stood there, watching her, as she sat there, drinking coffee, trying to cope with what had happened to her.

After a long silence, she sighed, and turned to face the Chief. “Do I really look so bad, Chief Burrows?” she asked. “The way you’re staring, I’d think you’d never seen a person in such a state.”

Edward Barrows shook his head. “It’s not that, doctor,” he replied grimly. “It’s more accurate to say I’ve yet to see anyone that escaped lunatic’s got his claws into that came back looking so relatively... unscathed.” His frown deepened. “Mentally, that is.”

Now it was Ivey’s turn to frown. “So, what you’re saying is, you’re wondering why I’m not acting crazy... urinating or defecating in public, or screaming at inanimate objects or... or howling at the bloody moon? Look at my clothes, my hair, my BODY! In case you didn’t hear me before—”

“Yeah, I heard you alright,” Burrows interrupted, waving a hand. “You escaped by using mind control on one of Thorton’s already brainwashed victims.”

“I took advantage of the one tiny opening I had and used it to escape,” she countered. “You weren’t there! You didn’t see what he did to those poor people... what he turned them into! Believe me, Chief... the only reason I’m not one of them is because he didn’t have time to get to me—”

“He had you for over a week, Doctor.”

Ivey’s eyes widened. “A week?” she repeated, disbelieving. “You... you can’t be... an entire week?”

“Eight days, if you count today,” the Chief remarked soberly. “He’s had more than enough time to mess around with your head. We’ve seen his handiwork; we know his agenda. This guy doesn’t make mistakes. If he did, we would have caught him a long time ago.” He crossed his arms, staring at the distraught doctor. “So, Doctor, how is it that he made the colossal blunder of letting you escape unharmed?”

12:27 AM

The phone rang.

Ralph Stockwell glanced over at the phone, and groaned inwardly. “Just when I thought it was going to be a quiet evening,” he muttered, putting his book down. “At this rate, I’ll never get to read the end of Jamie and Claire.”

His co-worker, Angelo, merely shook his head, and returned to his newspaper.

Ralph answered the phone. “Cable-Two, after hours dispatch service. Ralph speaking.”

“Tweedle, dee-dee.”

Ralph gasped softly, his facial muscles slackening, his eyes going wide and glassy. The voice on the phone spoke to him for a few more moments, and he nodded obediently. After a moment, Angelo glanced over at him.

“Well, who is it?”

Ralph lowered the receiver. “It’s for you,” he said in a low monotone voice. “Personal call. Sounds like Freida.”

“Freida?” Angelo replied, reaching for the phone, the thought of how strange his friend had acted and sounded immediately forgotten. “Hey, baby! Good to hear from you... but you KNOW you’re not supposed to call me at work. I—”

“Tweedle, dee-dumm.”

Angelo’s face likewise lost its animation, going still. The voice on the phone spoke again for several moments, with Angelo nodded in agreement, before hanging up. The two workers stood there, staring mindlessly into space, until several moments later, the door buzzer sounded. Angelo turned slowly to face his co-worker. “Answer the door.”

Obediently, he walked down the hallway to the main door, and, using his passkey, opened it. A beautiful young woman, dressed in a trench coat, hat, and dark glasses, stepped inside, a package clutched under her arm. Patting the man idly on top of the head, she spoke. “Good boy, Rover. Now, lead me to the control room.”

Barbara followed the obediently mindless thrall down the hallway, glancing about the station appreciatedly. Reaching the control room, she took the package and handed it to Angelo. “The Master says to load that tape and put it on continuous 24-hr playback. It is to run on all channels, all frequencies, and that you two are to hold this facility against any and all attacks. Let no one interrupt the feed.” She frowned, as the two men stood motionless. “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Mistress,” they replied in unison. “We understand.”

Barbara sighed. Sometimes it freaked her out just how deeply enslaved some of her Master’s agents were. They seemed almost like life-like mannequins or something. Still, even as it freaked her out, she felt her pussy moisten slightly, knowing the complete and utter control Dr Thorton had over them... the same control he wielded over her.

Turning to leave, she paused at the doorway. “Oh, nearly forgot. The Master says that he is pleased with his two little mutts, and that he rewards you for your hard work by letting you enjoy yourselves... like the stupid little bitches in heat you both are.”

At those words, the two men suddenly sprang to life. A wide smile widened across their lips, and Angelo, quickly putting the tape into the machine, slid down his pants, dropping down to all fours on the floor. Ralph, likewise, removed his own pants, hands stroking his cock into readiness as his co-worker raised his ass teasingly into view.

Barbara shook her head, disgusted, and turned back down the hallway, as loud grunts of pleasure filled the air. Before their insertion into Dr Thorton’s little menagerie, they had been extremely straight-laced, heterosexual men. A smile worked its way onto her face when she remembered meeting them the first time, being propositioned by them at the bar she and the good doctor had gone to. Masculine, and macho, they had all but pushed her Master aside, boldly telling her she needed to “dump the old man and come along with us and we’d show you a good time.” Before the night was over, however, Dr. Thorton had shown them how good a time they could have with each other, whether they wanted to or not.

Outside, she waited at the front door as the black car pulled up in front of her. She slid inside, and nodded to the driver, who handed her a cell phone. “Everything’s going according to plan, Sir,” she replied sweetly. “Your little tape should be hitting the airwaves as we speak.”

12:51AM

“Well, what did you find?”

Sergeant Jackson shook his head. “Sorry, Chief. We found the old plant just where Dr Ivey said it would be, but it was abandoned. We combed the area but there was nothing there, and no clue as to where he’s disappeared to.”

“Dammit!” Chief Barrowed fumed, hands clenched tightly. “How the HELL could he slip away so quickly?” He glanced at Ivey Parkinson, who merely stared down at her feet. The Chief sighed. “Okay. We know he WAS here, if nothing else. I want the entire area cordoned off, and send in the crime lab to sweep the place. If he left so much as a strand of hair, I want it found and tagged.” The sergeant nodded wearily and went back to his men.

Ivey laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I’m very sorry, Chief. Believe me, if I knew any way to track him, or had any idea of where he was, I’d tell you. But I just don’t know anything more.”

“Yeah. Well, at least you managed to get away. That’s something.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s nearly one o’clock. Come on, Doc... I’ll give you a ride home. You’ll probably want a nice hot shower and a warm bed.”

Ivey nodded without complaint as the older man led her to his car. They rode along in silence for a long moment, the psychologist staring idly out of the window. Personally, she felt defeated. It was her job, her mission, to bring Dr. Thorton in, to get the man some help. And yet, so easily, he had captured her, tortured her, did... well, things she couldn’t even remember, to her. Even her escape, she now realized, had been part of his plan. She’d thought she had outwitted him, only to figure out that he had LET her go.

Damn. He’s NOT God! she thought furiously. He’s not infallible. He makes mistakes just like everyone else. We just have to be ready to take advantage when he DOES make a mistake. She sighed softly. But it would help if we had at least some idea of what he was up to!

Staring out the window, she gasped in surprise, as the answer literally stared her in the face. “Chief! Stop! Stop the car!”

“What?”

“STOP THE BLOODY CAR!!”

Tires squealed as he slammed on the brakes. Before he could even ask what was wrong, Ivey was out the passenger side door, and running back up the street, towards a group of people standing outside a department store window. Cursing loudly, Ed followed her quickly, one hand automatically going to his gun.

“What in the hell is this about?” he yelled, breathlessly, reaching the crowd.

Ivey turned and pointed, to the large TV display in front of the main window. Edward frowned, then his eyes widened as recognition struck him. The sound was muted, from inside the store, but barely loud enough to make out the words of the broadcast.

“...is a special news bulletin, a Channel Zero exclusive,” Jacob Thorton replied in a credible imitation of Walter Cronkite. Dressed as a TV anchorman, he sat at a news desk, glancing now and again at the sheet of paper in front of him. “Dr. Jacob Thorton,” the picture of the doctor flashing on screen behind the speaker, “has issued a message to the entire city at large. He claims to have developed a method of bringing madness to the city’s entire population with a special device he has created. In a true, Channel Zero exclusive, our own roving reporter, Barbara Waa-waa, is on the scene. We switch over now to Ms. Waa-waa.”

“Geez! Is this for real?”

“This guy must be some kind of crackpot.”

“What in the hell is this all about?”

“Shhh!” Chief Burrows hissed. “Quiet. This is important.” He glanced over at the doctor, who merely shrugged. The scene on the television shifted again, showing Dr Thorton, dressed differently, standing next to a woman he recognized as the first person abducted several weeks ago. He leaned forward, focusing his attention on what was being said.

“...true then, Mr. Thorton, sir?” the lovely young blonde ‘reporter’ asked, looking wide-eyed with shock and awe. “Have you truly developed a process that will turn all the people in our major metropolis into a city of deranged lunatics?” She seductively fluttered her eyelids at the demented doctor, who frowned, taking a step back.

“Er, um... yes... actually,” he replied, turning to face the camera. “Somewhere in this city are several multi-phasic microwave transmitters, set to a very specific frequency. At exactly midnight tomorrow, they will activate, sweeping this city... and most of the neighboring suburbs, of course... with a powerful, concentrated burst of microwave energy. This energy will disrupt certain nerve impulses in the human brain, causing irreparable damage, rendering the population at large, insane.”

“Truly, a titanic undertaking, doctor,” the reporter replied, nonplused. “Tell me, doctor, do you like my dress?”

Dr Thorton blinked. “Um, I think you are missing the big picture her, Barbara.” Staring at the camera again, he scowled. “By this time tomorrow, your lives as you have known them will be gone forever! This is not a joke, nor is it a bluff.” He smirked. “I have already given you all a demonstration of my power... on the District Attorney during his press conference!” He laughed evilly. “Now the only words you’ll heard from Mr. Kent with any regularity will be, ‘I went poopy.’ And in a little less than 23 hours, every one of you will be infinitely worse off!”

“I see, Doctor,” the blonde replied bubbily. “But I must confess. I am a bit shocked as to why you decided to tell everyone your plans this way. I mean, why announce your plot over the airwaves when anyone, and I mean, specifically, the police, could be watching you right now? What if they are searching the city right now looking for your devices?”

“Because, that’s precisely what I want them to do, Barbara,” Dr. Thorton announced. “I want them to spend all their time and energy searching, looking for my devices, trying to find me and stop me. After all, they’d done such a GOOD JOB tracking me down so far.”

Chief Burrows growled low in his voice. He grabbed his radio, preparing to call the office and have the dispatcher relay instructions to his men to begin searching.

“But, it will do them no good,” Dr Thorton continued. “Not only have I taken very special care to secret a number of these devices about the city, some hidden, some in plain sight, I also included a number of dummy machines... non-working copies, just to add to the confusion. And confusion is what I want!” He snarled. “Anarchy. Panic. Rioting in the streets! The police can choose to spend their time chasing me, or trying to find all my devices, or they can try and calm the panic this broadcast will cause, and maybe even lead the population in a frenzied but organized evacuation of the city.” He smirked. “But they won’t be able to do all of these things, not in the time they have left.”

“My, doctor,” the reporter said with a smile and a flourish, “it appears we are all doomed!”

“Well, there IS one chance,” the doctor admitted. “There is one person out there that KNOWS where and how to find me. In fact, the whole of my plan hinges very tightly on her NOT figuring out what’s going on... not until the very last second.” He chuckled softly. “Frankly, I don’t think she has it in her to do what it takes to stop me. But, well, there you go. There is a chance, and it’s better than fifty-fifty.”

“Well, thank you very much, doctor, for this truly FASCINATING interview,” the blonde said with a wide smile. “This is Barbara Waa-waa, for Channel Zero News. Back to you, Walt.”

“Damn,” Chief Burrows scowled, walking away from the store window. “Shit. He’s right. When word of this spreads, there is going to be panic. I can’t spread my men thin enough to search for Thorton AND keep the peace at the same time.”

Ivey said nothing for a long moment, wringing her hands. Then, with a sigh, she turned back to the Chief. “What about... I dunno... the National Guard? Could you have the mayor make a call to the governor and have the Guard come in to help?”

The Chief turned to face her, then. “That’s an idea. I actually asked the mayor to send out a call for Guard help last week just after you were kidnapped, but he couldn’t authorize such a use of federal help just to track down one escaped lunatic. Well, if he’s seen or heard this broadcast maybe he now realizes just how serious this situation really is.” He frowned, rubbing his chin. “But what did Thorton mean just now, about one of us knowing where and how to find him?”

Ivey closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “He means me,” she said finally. “It must be. The escape. You said it yourself... he let me go for a reason. Everything he did to me over this past week... all the stuff I can’t remember... somewhere inside my mind must be the key to stopping him.”

1:45AM

Jacob Thorton lay back on the bed, sighing deeply. His chest was bare, his shirt tossed in the corner. His hand went reflexively to the scar near the left middle of his chest, touching the scar, one of many, but the most recent. He closed his eyes, briefly, and saw, as he always saw, the face of Rudy Miller, the psychotic patient that had taken him hostage more than a year ago. He saw that evil, amoral smile crease his lips, heard Rudy’s unabashed laughter, and felt the blows strike him again and again, even as he tried to talk Rudy down, tried to make him see reason.

“Reason?!?” Rudy had cried, taking the silver letter opener from the doctor’s desk. “Life is not about reason, man. Life is anarchy. Life is pain. Life is about working yourself down to a nub just to get ahead, only to have THEM drag you back down! There is no past, no future, man. There is only the NOW! There is only Chaos! Love, hate, pain, pleasure... what’s the difference?” He walked menacingly over the cowering doctor. “You’ve tried to help me, doctor. I know you have. And I appreciate it. But now, I am going to fuck you up. I’m going to hurt you,” he said, driving the blade deep into the flesh of his side, “going to totally fuck you up.”

And he proceeded to do just that. Over the space of more than two hours, he beat, and stabbed, and tortured the doctor, and his secretary, Jane, continuously, until the police managed to subdue him. Too late to save poor Jane’s life, Dr Thorton, nevertheless lived through the experience. Carried out on a gurney, bleeding, his body wracked with pain, he had looked up at Rudy in passing. “Why?” he’d asked him plaintively, trying to make sense of the incident. The patient had merely smiled at him, enigmatically.

“For the very best reason of all, man,” he replied, as the police led him away. “For no reason at all.”

The door opened, and he opened his eyes as his “assistant” entered. “Is everything ready as I’d asked?”

Barbara nodded, biting her lip. One hand was behind her back, and frowning, Jacob sat up. “Well?” he prompted, when she stood there silently. “Is the device ready or not?”

“Y... ye... yes Sir,” she replied timidly, taking a step back. “B... but Master... I mean... isn’t there some other way? Do you really have to—”

Moving before she could react, the doctor backhanded her savagely, bloodying her lip. Barbara, wide-eyed, stood there, stunned for a moment, then groaned in pleasure, her cunt dripping. “Ohhhhhh ggghhhaaaddd... please, Master, again?”

“No. Not again. Now give me the device.”

Pouting, licking the blood from her lip, Barbara took her hand from behind her back, and handed the small electronic component to him. “I just don’t see why you have to do this yourself,” she said sullenly. “Why not let one of the other slaves do it? Or me? You know I’d die for you, Master?”

Jacob seemed to consider for a moment, then shook his head. “Nahh. Maybe later. No, this is something I have to do myself. Beside, Babs, you knew how this would end. I told you from the beginning, back when you were a sweet-faced, little captive, still struggling to grow into the depraved, amoral, deeply devoted slut I made you.” He sighed, shaking his head. “It’s the way of the world. The circle of life. The fruit of the Loom... um... no.. wait, that’s a television commercial.”

Barbara merely shook her head. She had agreed fully with the doctor’s mad scheme, taking great pleasure in helping him fulfill his wishes in all things... except the last and final details. He was looking for a last, final showdown, a “fight to the finish” with the only mind he even considered a peer, Dr Parkinson. All well and good, in her mind, to see her Master destroy the snooty little bitch and put her in her place once and for all. But doing it THIS way... in a way that would mean his own—

“There,” the doctor said, rebuttoning his shirt again. “All done. I take it all of the units we placed are now active and fully functional?”

“Um, yes, Sir.”

“Good. Very good.” Sitting back down on the bed, he patted it gently. “Well, since we have at least another eight hours before starting the next phase, we might as well spend it enjoying each other.”

Barbara’s doubts drifted away, vanishing in the wave of lustful devotion that swept over her. Sliding easily out of her clothes, she all but leaped into the doctor’s bed, shaking her soft, plump ass, begging him silently to use and abuse her. A soft sigh of satisfaction drifted from her at the first hard slap. Somehow, she just couldn’t think dark thoughts about the future with her Master punishing her sweet little ass.

2:16AM

“Are you sure about this, Doctor?”

Ivey, after a quick trip home, now freshly showered and redressed, nodded nervously. “Yes, Richard. It’s the only way. You heard the broadcast. We have until midnight tonight to stop that madman, or the whole city is doomed. I’m the one that has the clue, the vital information, locked away insider her. This is the best chance of getting to it.”

She sat in one of the police interrogation rooms, her hands clutched lightly together in her lab. Richard, a friend and colleague from the institute, had agreed to come down and help with her plan. Moving to the far end of the room, he pressed PLAY on the tape player, filling the room with the soft soothing sounds of white noise. Moving back to the table, sitting down across from Ivey, he started the metronome, its steady click-click-click augmented by a pulse of light, interrupted on the downswing of the mechanical pendulum.

“Just relax, Ivey,” Richard intoned softly, staring directly into her eyes. “Just let yourself drift. You already know how this works. Just relax, and let yourself go. Let yourself go deep.”

Practiced in self-hypnosis, Ivey took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The noise, Richard’s voice, and the click-click-click seemed to meld together. She sighed, feeling herself relax. She closed her eyes for a moment...

...And woke with a gasp, pain burning from her cheek, and her shoulders, as the familiar face of Chief Burrows peered anxiously into her own. He was shaking her, holding her in a death grip released only long enough to rear back, as if to deliver another stinging slap to her face.

“DOCTOR PARKINSON!!”

She flinched, whimpering, clenching, expected the slap, but instead Burrows loosened his grip. “Is that you, Doctor? Are you awake? Really?”

“Yes!” she gasped, pulling back, angry, shocked and confused. “What the hell is all this about?!? Dammit, Richard, what’s going—”

Only to fall silent as she found Richard, restrained by two other officers, sagging limply. He, and the other officers, were covered in blood. His eyes were wide and glazed, and he seemed to be mumbling softly under his breath. She could just barely make out his words. “Need to cut, need to cut, cut, cut, cut...”

“Jeez-Louise!” she breathed, covering her mouth. “What... what happened?”

Chief Burrows, saying nothing, grabbed her by the arm and led her out of the room. Glancing up, she saw to her surprise that the time was now 4:28AM!! Two hours had passed?!?

Walking into the room adjacent from the interrogation room, the Chief gestured to the TV in the corner. “Luckily, we decided to tape the session,” he explained brusquely, flipping it on, “to analyze later, in case we missed any minor details that might be useful later. I guess it was bad luck that Detective Murphy decided to go grab a cup of coffee and a smoke after a few minutes when it seemed like this might take a while. Besides, you said you wanted it quiet, no interruptions.”

The tape began to play, and Ivey watched in fascination as Richard led her through a short, brief, induction. She watched her own face grow slack, watched her eyes flutter, then close, her head dipping forward, after only a few seconds. Then, Richard spent the next several minutes taking her deeper, and deeper. Listening to his words, she nearly found herself drifting again... until she saw herself stiffen suddenly.

“...insert key...” her own voice came clearly through the television speakers.

Richard stopped his induction, stepping into the camera’s view, peering down at Ivey from the side. Her eyes were still closed, and head was down, but her posture, and body language, bespoke incredible tension.

“...insert... key...” she said again.

Insert key? Ivey thought wildly? What key? I don’t remember any of this.

The mesmerized girl on the tape uttered the words once again, but before Richard could think how to respond, she shuddered and opened her eyes. “Damn,” she said, letting out sigh, “I guess that didn’t work so well. Thorton must have put a block inside my head in case we tried hypnosis.” She paused, as if thinking for a moment. “I have an idea, though. Let’s try it again, one more time, Richard. Okay?”

Ivey shook her head again, stunned. That’s me. But... it’s NOT me. I don’t recall any of it... nothing from when I closed my eyes, till... till being slapped away and shaken like a rag doll!

The tape continued, but it was obvious to the two watching now that something was wrong. Richard moved back out of the camera, and began speaking again, using the same induction, but this time Ivey stared straight ahead, a small little smile on her lips, mouthing the words back as well, repeating them aloud. Several minutes passed, and Ivey’s voice grew stronger and firmer, then, abruptly, she sat up, placing a hand on the table, and turning the metronome around. Facing Richard.

“...not going too well, is it, Richard?” her voice came through clearly. “It’s probably because you’re tired. After all, waking you up in the middle of the night this way, just to help me, help me relax... relax... and you sleepy and tired yourself... woke you up from a good night’s sleep and you, so tired, so very tired... and I appreciate it so much, you helping me... helping me by trying to make me relax... relax... trying to help me... relax... trying to... relax... and it would feel so good, so good, to just rest for a bit, rest... and relax... let your eyes close... oh just for a moment... to close them... so tired... so very tired... needing to relax... to relax... and let yourself drift...”

Chief Burrows fast-forwarded the tape for a bit. “Basically, Doctor, you went on like this for a little while, and then you started giving him... ideas.” Pushing play again, he sighed.

“...when you were a little boy, you LOVE playing with paper, and crayons, and scissors, didn’t you, Richie?”

“Uh huh,” he replied back in a soft, slurred voice.

“And your FAVORITE thing was making paper dolls, wasn’t it?”

“Yeeahhh...”

TV-Ivey’s eyes seemed to flash with each swing of the lighted metronome, casting an eerie glow. “You loved it... the way the scissors CUT and CUT away at the paper, a snip here, a slash there... CUTTING away what wasn’t needed... SLICING away the ugly... and revealing the PRETTY underneath... and oh, so much FUN, Richie... so much fun! How good it feels to CUT away the bad, the ugly... and reveal the pretty inside and underneath... so pretty... so good...”

“Yeeahhh... soo pretty... underneath... feels so good...”

“Sooo good,” TV-Ivey repeated. “Better than you’ve felt in a long time, Richard. Better than you’ve felt, since your wife Carol left you... leaving you for another man... someone handsome and young... leaving you because you had become OLD and UGLY to her...”

On the TV, Richard was trembling, his hands opening and closing. Ivey, watching and listening to herself on the TV felt utter shame and horror. Casual friends at best, Richard had confided to her in passing that he was seeing one of her colleagues about the divorce and the evil... sadistic... THING Dr. Thorton had placed inside her mind had used that one small detail, that simple fact, to twist Richard’s mind, playing on that one weakness to force the otherwise strong, steady, rock-solid man to try and destroy himself.

“Wouldn’t it feel soooo GOOD,” she said softly, sliding over a pair of sharp scissors to him across the desk, “to be able to CUT away all the UGLY... to make yourself PRETTY, so PRETTY.. so Carol would love you again... so EVERYONE would love you... and you could be HAPPY... just like before... all by CUTTING away...”

“Yes...” Richard had said, taking the scissors. “Cutting away...”

The Chief turned off the tape. “That is what happened,” he said gruffly. “Thorton put a booby-trap in your head. Try to access any of his secrets, and you go psycho, taking the people around you with you.” He shook his head. “Dammit. We NEED to know what Thorton has planned, but damn if I’ll put any of my men through something like that again.”

Ivey nodded idly, deep in thought. “The problem is... we don’t know the ‘key’ that I was asking for while in trance. It’s obviously some kind of password... some kind of code.” She grabbed the remote from the Chief. “We need to watch the tape again. Maybe we can get some type of clue what the key is.”

Reluctantly, Chief Burrows returned to his seat. “Alright. Maybe you’re right, and we’ll get lucky. But I’m calling in a few more officers as casual observers... and just be warned, Doctor, if you so much as twitch the wrong way, I’ll tazer your ass!”

The tape revealed very little, and after the thirteenth time watching it, Ivey felt both a deep admiration for Thorton’s genius as well as a great hatred for the man himself. Shaking her head, she started to turn off the feed when one of the officers yelled out, “Hold it!”

Everyone turned to face him. “Did you see something, Tibbits?” Burrows asked.

“Maybe. Go back again, to where she first drops off, just before she starts muttering to insert the key.” Ivey rewound to that point, and started the tape. “There. See? Right there. Look at her body... just ignore what she’s saying, and focus on what she’s doing.”

The other officers nodded, murmuring, but Ivey merely shook her head. “I’m sorry, I must still be missing it. What are you talking about?”

“This, watch.” Detective Tibbits started the tape, pointing to her hips. With the sound turned down, Ivey noticed the motions her body was making. Her posture, until that point, had been still, relaxed, but straight, but at the point where she began mutter that cryptic phrase, her legs parted, and her hips moves suggestively forward and back. Ivey felt herself go red.

“Not so sure what the key IS,” Tibbits quipped, “but we sure as hell know where to insert it.”

“That’s enough, Detective,” Burrows growled. “Okay, I want this room cleared. Now!” The officers, muttering softly, glancing knowingly back at Ivey, exited the room. Chief Burrows took a long deep sigh, and turned to face the embarrassed doctor. “Okay. I know this is really awkward, Doctor,” he began, “but as you yourself said... we’re running out of options here. We need to know what you know about Thorton’s plans... Doctor, I hate to have to ask this of you, but...”

“But, we have no choice,” Ivey finished. Her face was bright red from embarrassment; she had always been a proper girl, not a prude, but reserved, sexually. Since taking on the Thorton case, she had been stripped naked, experienced her first lesbian encounter, and run through the city streets scantily dressed. All of which had been beyond her control. Now, she was being asked to humiliate herself, willingly... not only expose herself, but to allow herself to be physically violated while she was helpless in trance. There’s no other way, she told herself.

“Well,” she said after a moment, “I suppose the best choice would be to, um... try again, and slide something... er... in-n-nnnside me... and see if it works.” She sighed, brushing back a loose strand of hair. “He’s very smart, and there’s no way of knowing what he’s prepared, but he also wants us to find him. He seems to be spoiling for confrontation, so I have to believe that the answers we need are inside my mind, if we’re brave enough to look.”

Walking back down to the interrogation room, starting the metronome again, she glanced over at the Chief. “I can put myself in trance,” she said after a moment, “but I’ll need someone to... umm...”

“Insert the ‘key’?”

“Yes,” the doctor replied, blushing even deeper.

“Hold on a second. I have an idea about that.” The Chief of Police left the room, returning a few minutes later with a small wooden chest. Blushing slightly himself, he opened the chest, revealing several different assorted dildos. “Um... we confiscated this as evidence in an under aged prostitution scheme a few weeks ago. They’ve since been cleaned and sterilized, so you don’t have to worry about anything.” Ivey looked stricken. “I was just figuring it would be a lot easier with one of these... ahem... tools... instead of using my... well... ummm...”

Ivey swallowed and nodded. “Let’s just get this over with, and hope the sadistic bastard didn’t add any MORE unexpected surprises.”

Dropping back into trance a second time was even easier than before. To Ivey, it seemed like she had just closed her eyes when they opened again. Awareness of her body returned, and she found to her further humiliation that her pants and panties were down around her ankles. The seat underneath her ass was wet, and her vagina was sore. She wondered idly just what had happened, then decided she was probably better off not knowing.

Thankfully, the room was empty, aside from the Chief, who sat there, staring at her intently. “So?” Ivey asked after a moment. “Did I say anything?”

The Chief shook his head. “Nothing. You just... zoned out for a minute, moaned a few times, then came out of it just now. Did you remember anything differently now? Did it do... well... anything?”

“You can bet your sweet BIPPY it did, Inspector Closeau!”

Ivey gasped, jerking to her feet, whirling around. To her left, leaning idly against the wall, stood the very man they were looking for! Dr. Thorton winked at her, calmly rubbing his nails idly against his jacket. Ivey jerked back, nearly tripping over her chair in an effort to put distance between them.

“Dr. Parkinson?” the Chief asked, frowning. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“What... what’s WRONG!” she all but exploded. “He’s... there! You and your men... just let him walk right in here like this—”

“Calm down, Doctor,” the Chief said, gripping her by the arm to stop her wild flailing. “Dammit, calm down, and talk to me here! WHO just walked in? Who did we let inside the precinct?”

“HIM!” Ivey yelled, pointing straight at the grinning doctor. “Dr. Thorton! He’s right THERE!”

Chief Burrows walked to the door and glanced outside. “I don’t see anyone outside, Doctor. I’m a little worried at the way you’re acting just now.” He turned from the door and walked back towards her—and through Dr. Thorton—to stand before her. “Dr. Parkinson, you need to let me know right now if you’ve become a danger to yourself, and this investigation.”

Wha... what th... Ivey thought, shaking her head. He walked right through him! Like he’s a ghost or something...

“No, no, no, you dunce!” Dr. Thorton admonished her, “Not a ghost! And here I thought you would be a worthy challenge...”

“Dr. Parkinson?”

“When you inserted the key, so to speak, you unlocked the answers you were looking for, alright,” he snickered. “Me! Actually, I’m not the REAL Doctor James Thorton at all, I’m more of his.... shadow? Yes, shadow... that will work nicely.”

“Dr. Parkinson!”

“You see, I’m a combination of the information and instructions the REAL Dr. Thorton stuffed in your brain, and that vivid, overactive imagination of yours. I thought it would be much more fun to present the answers you need to you in a more... hands-on, personal way, instead of having you instantly remember it like something you’d always known, just simply forgotten.”

“DR. PARKINSON!!”

Ivey blinked. “Chief! No, no, Chief, its okay, it’s okay! Really! I... I know what’s going on now.” The older man stared hard at her, dubious. “Let me try and explain what’s happening.” Taking a deep breath, she relayed back what the ‘shadow’ had told her. The Chief listened intently, shaking his head at the end.

“So, you’re telling me that after he scrambled your mind, he put HIMSELF in there? That we basically unlocked a version of that... that PSYCHO, inside your head? And you’re saying that its alright?”

Ivey shook her head. “Listen, sir, this is as weird for me as it is for you, believe me... but there is nothing.... malicious about this shadow, other than its annoyance factor. I’m still me, still fully in control of my facilities—”

“Except you’re seeing and hearing someone that’s not there,” the Chief pointed out.

Thorton’s Shadow sighed heavily. “Wow, he sure is quick on the uptake. It’s no wonder he and his Keystone Cops couldn’t catch me!

Ivey sighed wearily. “Be that as it may,” she said to both of them, “we are running out of time. If this apparition can help us catch the REAL Dr. Thorton, I am inclined to at least give it a try.”

“Fine.” The aged policeman sat down across from her. “Okay... so... for starters, where do we find him?”

Thorton’s Shadow rolled his eyes. “As if I’d make it THAT easy for you! I can’t tell you where I am, right now... but I can tell you where I’ve been.” He smirked. “After all, that’s the REAL question you should be asking, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I have to agree,” Ivey said softly.

“What?”

“The Shadow says he won’t give us that information... it would be ‘too easy’, as he put it. Besides, its not really what we need to know right now. What we really need to know is precisely where we can find all of the devices he’s hidden.”

Chief Burrows opened his mouth, then closed it. “You have a point, Doctor. Okay, we’ll play it your way for now.” Moving to the door, he opened it and yelled, “Somebody bring me a damned city map!”

6:32 A.M.

“No! Please! PLEASE, Doctor! Don’t do it!”

Jacob Thorton laughed insanely. “Oh, no, my dear. Beg all you like... but I am going to do it. Nothing is going to stop me from KILLING YOU NOW!”

“NO! Master, please! PLEASE!! DOOOOONNNNN’TTT!”

Without any hesitation, Dr. Thorton pressed the small red button on his controller. Barbara let out a blood curdling scream, while the demented doctor laughed and laughed and laughed.

Music filled the room, and colors flashed across the television monitor. “I’ma Wario... I’ma gunna vin!!” the yellow clad villain announced as he crossed the finish line. A first place icon appeared over his head, and his victory music soon filled the room. Jacob dropped his controller onto the floor, pumping his arms wildly in the air.

“YES! YES! YES! First place! First place!! Hahahaa! IN YOUR FACE, BABS!”

Barbara, nearly in tears, turned away, sulking. “You cheated.”

“No, I didn’t!” Dr. Thorton insisted. “They give you the red and blue shells for a reason, you know?”

“But... you didn’t have to blast my guy when I was right at the jump!” she insisted. “You made him fall all the way down into the pit! I went from first to last place!” The on-screen Mario character shook his head, then vanished with a puff of smoke, replaced by a ‘Game Over’ icon.

“Well, Barbara, dear,” the old man replied, stroking her cheek, changing her frown to a smile once more, “I wanted to win. Haven’t you seen that move, Talladega Knights, or something? You can’t have two ‘Number One’s’ you know... if you did, that would make eleven.” He chuckled. “Besides, I’m the villain! Of course I was going to win with dirty tricks!”

“You’re right, Doctor,” Barbara said brightly, “I should have known that. C’mon, let’s play again!”

“No, sorry, sweetie,” Thorton said, glancing at his watch. “It’s six-thirty. Time to get up and get going. Today’s the big day!”

Walking over to his wardrobe, he glanced at the different suits hanging up. “Hmmm. I dunno, Barb, what would you suggest for this morning?”

The brain-damaged beauty glanced from suit to suit, frowning. “Hmmmm... well, Dr. T, I’d say we go with this one.”

Jacob blinked. “THAT one? Why on earth should I pick THAT one?”

“Oh, but its simply GORGEOUS!” she gushed. “And you’d look so handsome in it too!”

Dr. Thorton pulled the pink bunny suit from the closet, considering. While a rational mind might have discounted such a suit immediately for the sheer lunacy of wearing such a suit (not to mention wondering what such a thing was doing there in the FIRST place!) or the fact that it would attract too much attention, Dr. Thorton eventually shook his head no. “Barbara, what are you thinking! It’s MUCH to warm right now to wear fur! I’d be sweating like a pig in a microwave in less than a minute!”

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t think of that. In that case, try this one.”

Dr. Thorton smiled evilly. “Yes, good choice. I think that one will do nicely.”

9:47 A.M.

Nash Tervais sighed deeply, shaking his head. Peering through the magnifying lens at the circuitry in front of him, he scowled. Carefully, he pressed his voltmeter to a pair of contacts, glanced at the reading, and cursing loudly, pushed his equipment away.

“Problems, Nash?”

Glancing up in the craggy face of his superior, the technician nodded grimly. “I don’t know what to tell you, Chief. It’s definitely a high powered transmitter of some sort. Whether or not it will disrupt your brain and make you nuts, I can’t say. Whoever designed this thing was either a genius... or a lunatic.”

“Likely a little of both,” Chief Burrows grumbled. “Okay. We’ll have to go with the assumption that these devices are real, and that Dr. Thorton really can carry out his threat. Shit! There are more than a hundred of those things marked on the map, and we spent the past five hours just digging up the four of them we sent you to work on!”

A group of officers sprinted by the room in a dead run, the sound of the dispatcher leaking in through the closed door. “Damn,” the Chief groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. There go three more of my men out on riot duty. Fuck Thorton and the horse he rode in on for doing that damned news broadcast! I’ve got the entire city’s police force and the fire department divided up between trying to keep the peace, and trying to find these damned sonic bombs!”

“Shhh!” Nash hissed, pointing to the room behind them.

Edward bit his tongue. Inside the small alcove, Ivey Parkinson moaned and groaned fitfully, twisting in her sleep. A bare pink foot slipped out from beneath the covers, jerking lightly, as if she were kicking, or trying to run from something in her dreams. The Chief looked away. He pitied her for what she’d endured, and what she was enduring even know.

I don’t know a rat’s tit about psychology, he thought grimly, but I DO know that son of a bitch. Considering everything he did to District Attorney Kent in less than a day, I shudder to think of what he did to that poor girl’s mind. She may THINK she’s still in control, that everything’s okay for the moment, but I think its only a matter of time before what that bastard did to her starts to have an effect.

“Hey, Chief.”

Burrows turned back to his technician. “Yeah?”

“You know, I just had a thought. There are more than a hundred of these things out there, right?”

“Yeah, give or take. Dr. Parkinson marked every device on a wall map of the city. Hell, half the damn thing is stained red now.”

“In other words, way more than we could find and defuse with current manpower, right?”

“That’s about the size of it. “What’re you getting at?”

Nash frowned thinking. “Have you ever tried to use your cell phone in a hospital?”

“What the HELL does that have to do with anything?!?” Chief Burrows exploded.

“SHHHHHH!!” Nash cautioned again, pointing towards the sleeping woman. “I’m trying to make a point,” he whispered a moment later. “They won’t let you use a cell phone in certain areas of the hospital, or on an airplane, right? Why?”

“Well, because it causes interference, naturally,” the Chief hissed. “Everybody knows that! I still don’t see—”

“But that IS the point, Chief!” Nash cut in. “They don’t just interfere with the signal, they interrupt, block out, and in some cases, overwrite the signal the machine is supposed to receive. A cell phone is basically a microwave transmitter and receiver, just like the Doctor’s devices. I was thinking... if we can’t get them all, at least we could clear out as much as we can, and set up some kind of jamming signal for the rest of the town... at least until we can get the rest of the disarmed.”

Slowly, a smile slid across the old man’s face. “Damn. That’s brilliant, Nash. Brilliant! What would you need to set up a jamming signal to block out these cursed things?”

“Well... basically, we just need a big radio transmitter. Dr. Thorton took over the TV station at the edge of town to do his little broadcast. All I’d really need to do is play around with this device a bit more, see if I can nail down its frequency a bit more, and then commandeer the TV station’s transmitter to send out a jamming signal.”

“Alright. Sounds good. We now have a backup plan in case we can’t find Thorton before midnight.” He sighed in relief. “Get your gear, and whatever else you need, and head out to the TV station right away.”

“Yes sir!” the technician replied, gathering up his tools.

Chief Burrows sighed deeply. This may just give us a fighting chance. Dr. Thorton might be an evil genius, but everyone makes mistakes. My mistake was underestimating you way back in the beginning when you first escaped. That mistake cost us dearly. Since then, we’ve fallen for every damned one of your twisted little tricks! You’ve teased, you’ve taunted, you’ve called us ‘Keystone Cops’, for crying out loud! Well, fine. You think we’re all stupid? Good. We’ll use it to our advantage. You won’t expect us to think of trying to jam your signal, will you, Doctor? We’re all too stupid to think of that one, eh? Well, Doc, you’ve hit us all with a nasty little surprise or two over the past few weeks... I think its time we hit you back with one of our own.