The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Light and Shadows: Dark

by J. Darksong

IV.)

I drove along silently, letting Metallica’s Bleeding Me wash over me, courtesy of Jenny’s CD player. I found it slightly ironic, listening to the lyrics, thinking they matched up only too well with the thoughts running through my head just now. Techna, or Megan Tanner, in her civilian persona, was a wonderful girl. She was very beautiful, very sweet, loving and attentive, and sexy to boot. She was had one hell of a submissive streak, and combined with my own rather dominant persona, I found myself enjoying her company far more than I should have. To be fair, she enjoyed it too, or so she said, though afterwards she wasn’t even sure WHAT she so thoroughly enjoyed.

It was probably better than way. Some of those acts were probably illegal in Paraguay.

Still, it worried me just a bit. While I certainly enjoying being with her as a lover, I didn’t feel any real attraction... any spark, beyond the purely sexual. She was definitely a Super Freak... but not the kind of girl to take home to mother. And... as much as I personally enjoyed it, that damned winged avenger on my left shoulder had returned with a vengeance—after the fact of course—to torment me with guilt. After all, what kind of person takes advantage of another person like that, a naive young girl, highly emotional after the rather traumatic episode at the court house? She was utterly smitten with me, muscles and all... and while I appreciate the sentiment, while I liked her a lot... I didn’t feel LOVE for her. Which only made the guilt worse.

Still, there was no one to blame but myself. I’d sown the seeds when I given in to a whim and taken her and the other girls back to her house for fun and sex. Now my conscience was poking me with the thorns I’d unwittingly grown. I can admit to being a bit lonely, wanting to have companionship from time to time. What sane rational person DOESN’T want or need to be around other people from time to time? That said... I wasn’t in the market for a girlfriend at the moment... and certainly not for my own deeply devoted, brain-blitzed SLAVE!

I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, Jimmy, are you freaking nuts?!? Any red blooded man (not to mention a lot of women) would KILL to have their own beautiful, sexy, submissive slave at their beckoned call, eager and willing to please in any and EVERY way their Master/Mistress commanded. Well, pal, that’s fine, in a two-dimensional five-by-seven world of online make-believe and fantasy, but in the REAL WORLD, attachments like that come loaded with problems.

The biggest one, just off the top of my head, would be how to keep my little gremlins from mauling her on a regular basis every time we got together.

I tried to put the issue out of my mind, at least for a while. I’d promised to give her a call in a few days, to see how she was doing. I’d also promised to talk to Shinobi about possibly mentoring her a bit. I couldn’t help but smile at that. Knowing Aunt Roni, she’d have Megan so busy training that the poor girl wouldn’t have the time or energy to even THINK about me. Give me a bit of breathing room to sort out my feelings a bit.

Though, come to think of it, it IS kind of evil to putting Aunt Roni on the poor girl, even if it will make her a better heroine. Oh, well.

A few miles away from the River City town line, I pulled to a stop in front of the railroad tracks. A loud train whistle sounded in the distance, and I took that moment to reach over and switch CDs while I was waiting for the Amtrak to pass by since I was basically parked anyway. I shuffled through my collection, then frowns slightly. My sister had apparently left her Evanescence CD in with mine since the last time she’d ridden with me. Shrugging, in the mood for something a little different for a change, I slid it on, and let the randomizer pick a song. I was honestly hoping for Bring Me to Life, but My Immortal, my least favorite one, came up instead. I sighed deeply, rolling my eyes upward. I mean, really, why bother with a randomizer, anyway? I was Mr. Bad Luck himself, after all. Depending on Chance to give me what I wanted was ALWAYS just an exercise in futility. I reached for the button to change songs, but at that moment, across the train tracks, I saw her.

Her. The girl of my literal dreams. Pale white skin, green eyes, jet black hair, the whole ball of wax. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!

She sat on a motorcycle, wearing a white blouse with blue jeans, and wearing a red jacket, and I suddenly remembered the girl staring at me across the street back in Redburton the day before. My eyes widened in recognition, and she grinned, shrugging, as if to say Well, hi stranger, fancy meeting YOU here! I put turned off the engine and opened the car door, needing to cross the tracks and talk to her, face to face, to speak to this girl who had been haunting my dreams from as long as I could remember. Unfortunately, it was about that time that the Amtrak I’d nearly forgotten about chose to streak forth, separating her and I by several tons of fast moving steel. I nearly yelled out my frustration at that point... at being so close and yet so far away that it was cliché.

Dammit! And who the hell travels by train these days anyway?!?

But alas, by now you know what happens when I let my anger and frustration get the better of me.

A sudden loud TWANG sounded from further up the track... the unmistakable sound of breaking or shearing metal. Frustration turned to horror, as several pieces of the train’s... I dunno, front part... whatever, blew, raining out all along the tracks like metallic confetti. Which, I would guess, was not a good thing. I expected the train to grind to a stop, barring me from my unknown dream girl just for spite... but no, instead of stopping, the stupid thing actually SPED UP! As in, helter-skelter, rip-roaring, out of control, end of Back to the Future 3 crash, sped up! And unlike that box-office smash, this train wasn’t going into an empty canyon, it was heading into my city!

Well... shit.

“SHIT!” I yelled, reaching for the cell I carried in my back pocket, and pulling out... nothing. Oh yeah. Right. The girl in the park. “SHIT!” I yelled again, slipping back into Jenny’s front seat. I couldn’t even tell if my dream girl was still standing there on the other side of the road or not, but I knew I couldn’t just sit there and let the train just keep barreling headlong down the tracks. Wasting a few precious seconds trying see through the passing cars whether she was there or not, I turned the car around with a sigh and headed off after the train.

Wait a second. What the HELL am I doing? I asked myself as I sped along the road at eighty miles an hour. What am I supposed to do about a speeding train? I’m not faster than a bullet, speeding or otherwise. I can’t leap tall, short, or even derelict knocked down buildings in a single bound. And I sure as hell ain’t more powerful than an out of control locomotive! Not that I had a lot of choice in the matter at this point. I didn’t take a cell phone with me, and I didn’t have enough time to search around for a pay phone to call home. I suppose I could just yell out as loud as I can ‘til my voice gives out and hope that mom’s super enhanced hearing picks it up, I thought glumly.

No. It was up to me. I caused the problem, and I was the only one around to try and solve it. Just exactly HOW I was going to solve it, I didn’t have a clue. How does one stop an out of control train? Huh. Might as well ask, how do you stop a rhino from charging?

The road I was taking ran parallel to the train tracks for the most part, but the closer I got to the city limits, the more the road started to diverge. I was barely holding pace with the runaway locomotive as it was, and having to swerve off on a tangent then head back every few miles was making me lose ground. “Dammit!” I grunted, considering my options.

Jenny was my car. She was my baby. I’d built her up from the ground up, with all the tender loving care of a real parent. I loved to drive her fast and hard, but always with care. As the asphalt road began to turn towards the left, I sighed inwardly, begging her silently to forgive what I was about to do. “Sorry, baby,” I said with real remorse, as the train’s caboose passed me by. Sighing deeply, I opened a small panel on the dashboard, and pressed a bright red button. “It’s the only way.”

When dad and I built Jenny, he thought it fun to install a few ‘optional extras’, just in case disaster struck. Which, knowing his son, was probably a very good idea. A high powered turbine engine in the back of Jenny roared to life, and I held on tightly to the steering wheel as our speed immediately doubled. I have better than average reflexes, not quite superhuman, but inherently better than a normal human beings. Which was a good thing to have when driving a heavy steel rocket across grass, gravel and dirt at a hundred and seventy miles per hour. Jenny was put together well, balanced perfectly to stand up to these crazy speeds without so much as a shimmy... on asphalt. On grass and gravel, however, it’s a totally different story. I’d been surprisingly lucky so far to have relatively flat level ground to drive on, but I knew it only took one pothole, one little divot of uneven ground, and we’d be—

Oh, fuck. I just HAD to use the work lucky, didn’t I?

I don’t have ‘spider sense’ per sae, but I did feel a tingly feeling, like ice sliding across my spine, just before I noticed the rather sizable dip up ahead. I didn’t have time to think, didn’t have time to react even. I was acting, moving before I even knew what it was I was trying to do. By now, I was almost neck and neck with the front of the train again, close enough to see the engineer... who—OH FUCK—was slumped over against the window, his head down, and eyes wide and glassy. My hands had let go of the steering wheel. The seat belt was undone—whether it’d broken, or released, or whether I’d pulled it apart myself, I had no idea. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the front right wheel dipped, pitching the car forward at a weird angle. Jenny bent forward, still being propelled forward, but no longer in a straight line. I moved forward, twisting as I did, a scream welling up in the back of my throat as I closed my eyes, and raised my hands to cover my head.

Jenny was airborne.

And so was I, actually, though I was no longer inside Jenny. The cold blast of wind stung my face as inertia and gravity flung me... well, not so much as where I WANTED to go, as it was where I had been originally heading anyway. Flying, or free falling, whatever, at the same speed the train was traveling, I hover just a few inches above it for two whole seconds, long enough to wonder at the sheer physics of the maneuver I’d just completed, long enough to briefly consider the sheer mathematical probability of being flung clear from a car crash into such a position.

And then I slammed down hard against the roof of the locomotive, getting the wind knocked out of me.

Thankfully, I managed to wrap my hands around the edge of the second car and hold on tight to keep from being swept back. Recovering a bit, I crawled my way forward, towards the engine car. Yanno, if this hero gig doesn’t work out, I thought dimly, sliding down between the cars, I think I’ve got a career as a stuntman. Pressing my hands tightly against the edge of the roof, planting my feet against the front of the first passenger car, I pushed.

And pushed.

And heaved.

And strained and, finally, FINALLY, I felt the train push apart from the engine... and promptly slam back together. Magnetic coupling?!? You’ve gotta be kidding me! I don’t have time for this! Indeed, we’d just crossed into the city limits, and were about two minutes from the end of the line. I was strong enough to separate the rest of the cars, but I couldn’t KEEP them apart enough to fight magnetic attraction and momentum as well. Force equals mass time acceleration, and this train had accelerated out of control, and it had a hell of a LOT of mass. My only chance of pulling this out now would be if the electrical control system failed.

Where are those damned gremlins when I actually NEED them...

Hmmm.

Well... it’s worth a try, I suppose.

Focusing on the magnetic locks, I let loose all my anger, my frustration, my insecurities—all the things I usually tried so hard to keep in check, and yelled as I heaved again with all my strength. A red haze settled over my vision, and a loud roaring sounded in my ears. The pressure was intense, inside and out, and I knew I was out of time. This wasn’t working. I had failed. Everyone aboard this train was totally fucked... because of me.

Because of me.

About that time, several things happened at once, most of which I didn’t find out about until later. Apparently my evil little gremlins of chaos and destruction decided to come through in the clutch after all. At the last possible second, the train’s entire electrical system shorted out, disabling the magnetic lock. At the same time, the brakes misfired—luckily, in this case, causing the passenger cars to decelerate, slowing them down to safe speeds again. Without the cars holding me up, I swung away from the engine, floating in mid air for a moment as I lost my grip. A split second later, the engine care EXPLODED, separating into a blast of fire and flame, and deadly metal shrapnel. Time did that slow down blurry thing again as I rocketed through the heart of the explosion, and for a moment, I could swear I saw her...

Her. My dream girl... floating in the center of the blast, her dark hair shipping fiercely, her arms outstretched to catch me as I fell, to cradle me and comfort me as I spiraled into the blissful darkness of oblivion...

* * *

There’s an old saying about pain. Pain is good, because if you can still hurt, it means you’re still alive. Personally, I think that saying sucks. All things being equal, I’d rather wake up alive without the pain. But, well, beggars can’t be choosers.

I opened my eyes. Well, one of them anyway, the right one was covered in gauze and bandages, along with most of my chest and forearms. I groaned softly, looking around, licking my lips. White, sterile room, electronic monitors... I was in a hospital.

Well, that figured, didn’t it?

“Ach, yer awake, lad. Good. You had me worried for a bit.”

My father. Right. Of course he’d be here. I shifted position slightly to my left, and his worried face came into view. “Hi, dad. How long... was I out?”

“Two days,” he said with a deep sigh. “You were quite a bit worse for wear when ye arrived. Yer ma and Katie were here for a while... we all took turns sitting at yer bedside. I finally sent them back home this morning to get some sleep. Heh. Yer ma will be upset that you waited ‘til she left to open yer eyes.”

“How...” My throat was still a bit raspy, so dad offered me a glass of ice water with a straw. I leaned forward and took a sip. “Thanks. Who called you? How did you find out what happened... where I’d been taken?”

“We were there, lad,” he said gravely. “Your mother and I. We were on patrol in the area, when we got word of a runaway train. We were set up a few hundred yards from the end of the line, wondering how exactly we were gonna stop the blasted thing without hurting all the passengers in the process. Then, we noticed some damned fool crawling around outside the train slip between the cars and uncouple them.” He snorted. “Turns out the damned fool was you. I used my suit’s retro rockets to slow down and stop the passenger cars, while you mom went for the engine. Too late to stop the crash, but she managed to swoop down and snatch you up in the middle of the explosion.”

Mom? She... caught me? So that figure floating, reaching out for me just before I blacked out? It wasn’t my mysterious dream girl, it was Omega Girl, moving in to shield her wayward son from most of the damage. Heh. No wonder I survived. Now I really felt lousy. My first real attempt at something heroic, and not only did I fail miserably, my MOMMY had to come and save me!

“Incidentally son,” my dad said with a slight twitch of his lips, “if ye wanted to ride a train so badly, you could have at least tried riding INSIDE it.”

I grinned despite myself, then winced at the pull on my facial muscles. “Ugh. Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much.” I took a deep breath. “So... did the passengers... were they...?”

“They’re fine, lad. A few bumps and bruises from the wild ride, but no one seriously hurt. The only death was the engineer, and from the autopsy they performed on his remains, it seems he had a heart attack and died instantly. That’s why the train went out of control.” He looked me square in the eye. “I know you, son. The reason you tried such a damned fool stunt was that you thought YOU were responsible... that your bad luck caused the train to go out of control. But you know, Jimmy, you’re NOT the cause of every bad thing that happens in the world! Trying to stop that train was daft!” His expression softened. “...and verra brave. You saved those passengers’ lives, son. I’m verra proud of ye. You acted like a true hero.”

I scoffed. “Hero? Me? I don’t think so. I only got involved anyway out of guilt, like you said. If I were REALLY some kind of hero, like you or mom, or even Katie, I would have stopped the train BEFORE it crashed and exploded in a million pieces! And I certainly wouldn’t have ended up like THIS,” I said, gesturing awkwardly at my bandaged self.

Whatever dad’s comment would have been was cut short as the familiar form of Dr. Boardman entered the room, checking me over briskly. “Well, well, young man,” she said crisply, “you are certainly doing much better now than when you first arrived. I just got back the latest blood work and wet reads on the x-rays taken earlier this morning.” She shook her head in amazement. “You certainly have your mother’s recuperative abilities. You know, when you came here two days ago, you had twenty-two broken bones, including a cracked skull, and a concussion to boot. As of this morning, all of the breaks have set, and are nearly finished mending. You no doubt still have a few cuts and bruises, but I wouldn’t be surprised if even those were gone by this afternoon.”

Huh? Twenty-two broken bones? I felt achy all over, sure, but not that bad. Interesting... “So, does this mean I can leave the hospital now?”

“I’ll sign you out in another hour,” the Doctor said, moving to the door. “Give me a chance to finish up on the paperwork, and I’ll send down an orderly to wheel you out.”

I nodded, then turned to dad as she left. “Well... I guess this was a learning experience for us all, then. Guess we now know I’m not practically invincible, like mom.”

Dad shook his head slowly. “Your mom is hardly invincible, son. She’s a bit tougher and more resilient than most, true, but she’s had her fair share of hospital visits as well. And before you go getting down on yourself about what happened, you need realize, son, that none of us are perfect. We’ve all made our share of mistakes... but the really lucky ones live long enough to learn from them.” He smirked, glancing towards the far center. “And maybe make a few friends along the way. Looks like you have quite a few gifts from well-wishers, for a self-professed loner.”

I smirked. “Uh huh. And how many are from you and mom and Katie?”

“Only the big one in the middle. All the rest are from your friends at that Internet Service you work at.”

I smiled slightly at that, in surprise. It was only a part-time gig, internet troubleshooting and consulting, which I usually did over the phone rather than face to face... for obvious reasons. Still, the other computer techs seemed to accept me as a fellow ‘geek’ even if I did look more like a jock. I was actually kind of glad to know I had been missed.

Or, maybe I’d just gotten a bigger bump on the head than I’d thought. I noticed a flower filled vase apart from the others, by itself on the shelf at the far right.

“Who sent that one, dad?” I asked, pointing. “You know, the white vase with the sunflowers?”

“Sunflowers?” he said, frowning slightly. He blinked, spying the arrangement, picking up the attached card. “That’s strange. I don’t recall this one being here earlier... maybe someone came by while your mom was still here.” Reading the card he said, “’To my Dark Hero. Sorry you are feeling under the weather, I hope this little piece of sunshine will brighten your day. Get better soon.—A Friend. P.S. See you in your dreams.’” Huh. That’s a wee bit cryptic, don’t you think?”

Now that got my attention. Those flowers... they had to be from her She must have come to visit me while I was unconscious! But... dammit, couldn’t she at least have told me her name?!?

“Hmm. What kind of friend doesn’t sign his or her name when leaving a present?” Dad wondered aloud, mirroring my own thoughts. Sighing, he shook his head. “Maybe it’s one of the train passengers, too shy to let you know who she is. At any rate, son... looks like you have a secret admirer.”

“Yeah,” I said softly, pondering the strangeness of it all. “Looks like.”

((end))