The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Olivia’s House

Chapter 17 — A New Kind of Game, and Taking Steps

I blinked, wondering for a moment where I was. The ground beneath my arm was rough timber, and the only scents that greeted me were of flowers. It wasn’t morning, the sun was barely on the horizon, and I quickly realised that I was almost fully dressed. Rolling over onto my back, so I could see past the flowers in front of my face, dropped me back into a world of pain. My most intense masochistic experience ever was still recent enough for the weals on my back to scream against their bandages at the slightest pressure, but even after a week of this I wouldn’t have sacrificed the memory to spare myself the discomfort.

I was in the middle of a forest, the memory came back. Jules had asked… something I couldn’t quite recall. They’d joked about hypnotising me, and once the idea was in my head I’d ended up literally begging to be made so helpless. That explained why I was waking up so horny, at any rate. Even if they hadn’t taken advantage of me in my moments of unconsciousness—and they knew I would have a problem with that—the knowledge of how helpless I’d been was enough to make me weak at the knees. I dragged myself to my feet, and tried to recover my memories of what we’d been doing. Out here, exposed in the near darkness, I felt so vulnerable. In a good way, of course.

The strangest thing was that when I looked in one direction, I could see a rainbow floating just a few inches above the ground. It felt like the kind of strange effect you get in video games, not something that should exist in the real world. Then again, it was outlining the only path out of the clearing, so I pretty much had no choice but to follow it. As I stepped onto the mysterious path, it rippled like a still pond with a stone dropped in it, and then gradually started to break up like some kind of mist. If this was some illusion embedded in my subconscious by the Royal Arch-Hypnotist, then either they were really, really good at descriptions or the artistic part of my subconscious was putting in overtime to draw this on my perceptual filters.

Royal Arch-Hypnotist? I couldn’t believe that phrase had even crossed my mind. But then again, Jules had suggested making me refer to them as ‘Your Highness’ if we ended up developing some kind of Monarch/slave relationship, so maybe that was something new in my mind as well. It was certainly different, and a lot more showy than anything Jim had even considered. I wondered how many different styles there were among the romantic hypnosis community; so far, Jim had been the only person with a free rein over my mind, and I’d kind of assumed that most people did it the same way. This was different, though I was quick to realise that I loved the feelings. I was even more determined now to find out Jules’s online name, and activate the post-hypnotic suggestion that would make them obey my—

I jumped off that train of thought in an instant, as I remembered the bet we’d made a few minutes earlier. If I could work out the name Jules used online, or say their full name to their face, then they wouldn’t be able to argue with anything I demanded. Just thinking about getting to that handsome, androgynous body made me so wet. Even if I couldn’t be sure if Jules was hiding a pair of tits under the shapeless sweater and loose coat, or a massive, Royal cock in their pants (or both, I guess, it couldn’t be entirely outside the realm of possibility), I knew I wanted them. I ran along the rainbow path, my short term memories coming back as each step woke me up a little further. I wasn’t doing so well at finding out their name, so Jules had offered me a hint. If I could beat them to the bar that we’d been assured was the finishing post of a Hunt race.

At the next junction, the rainbow road branched left. I could see it breaking apart underfoot with every step I took, visual effects much more impressive than any computer I’d seen, but I didn’t dare turn around to see if there was still a recognisable trail behind me. Another junction, and another, I followed the rainbow in the absence of any other directions. I had a rolled up sheet of instructions shoved under my belt, but as I was already off the route I knew they wouldn’t be any help. That’s why Jules had stopped to help me, I remembered at last. They didn’t want to concede defeat, but they still wouldn’t abandon me lost in the woods.

At the next turn I saw a running figure up ahead. It was Jules, I was sure, nobody else would be out jogging with such a heavy coat, even as the autumnal chill came ever closer to winter. I put an extra burst of speed into my steps, and ate up the distance between us. I could see the rainbow pouring off them like a cape now, a bizarrely mystical game of follow-the-leader. I wondered how the suggestions would change when I overtook them, but then the distance was widening again. Suddenly the rainbow road wasn’t an intangible road, but felt like I was wading through treacle. My legs were useless lumps of lead, and it was taking a conscious effort to make even a single step. Of course,having shown me the way back onto the course, they’d extract some penalty and stop me from using that advantage to win. It was entirely fair, if I’d been dumb enough to let them into my head.

The road remained difficult for only a few paces, but those steps seemed to take forever. I tried to catch up again, only to be pushed back by the same trick. I quickly realised that for now, I would have to let Jules remain one junction ahead of me on the path. There was no sense pushing it, because the resistance was in my own mind and would react proportionately to any greater exertion I put in. So I settled to following at a gentle jog, keeping as close as I dared while I got my breath back and refreshed my aching muscles. Then as the distant figure jogged through an archway from the dark of the woodland onto a twilit country road, the illusory rainbow started to fade away.

As we hurried back towards the city, there were only a few clues and riddles left on the guide leaflet. I could run now, though, and I’m sure as soon as Jules saw me closing the distance, they’d wish that they made the barrier last a lot longer. My legs were tired from the times I’d tried fighting against the rainbow, but I tried telling myself that fatigue was all in my mind. I wasn’t entirely sure that was the case, my muscles could easily have been fighting against themselves all the time, but the belief gave me just a little incentive to push myself faster, and harder.

It was only when we got to the junctions, and Jules was always a little quicker to puzzle out the clue, that their lead increased. And, of course, if I was close enough to see which way they’d gone, I could just follow without stopping.

…If that hadn’t brought the damn rainbows on my feet right back, and held me in place for nearly a minute while Jules got well out of sight. I didn’t try that again, though I did look at the sheet of instructions while I was still running, so I could go from a little country road to the cycle path that went alongside it without breaking my stride at all. Soon we were back in the town, following a tiny bridge over the city’s main orbital road so we didn’t need to stop for traffic. Then we were on red asphalt all the way to the finish line. The only clue left was a spectacularly complex one headed “final challenge”, telling us where to turn off this pedestrian street to meet all the others.

Jules slowed down to read the clue, I could see her in the distance pressing on at a walking pace, but I didn’t even read it. I could see Penny’s face in the window of one of the clubs up ahead, so I already knew this was where we’d be stopping for our celebratory drinks. I put my head down and hit the road with everything I had. Jules heard my ungraceful charge, I guess, and took off just as determinedly. Penny and Ralph and some of the others were hanging over the balcony now, cheering and waving us on. I’d be willing to bet not one of them knew what the stakes were for us, but there’s something about athletics enthusiasts that I recognised from school: Even if we’d only met them today, even if we were competing for last place among the group, they would always cheer on friends in a competition. I think most of them were cheering for both of us to win, not having any reason to pick one or the other.

The door was in sight, right beneath the balcony with our new friends on, by the time I finally managed to pass Jules. In the final stretch like this, pure running speed made all the difference. Even if I was out of shape, I could take on most students in a straight up sprint. Jules was better than I’d expected, but still I was first in to the hugs and cheers. Someone even bought me a beer, which I gratefully chugged despite not usually drinking beer. Running that far, even a light jog, was thirsty work.

It was only a few minutes before Penny asked why we’d been running so hard. I didn’’t know what to say, but Jules was right on it: “Private bet, who’d get home first.” The others seemed happy to accept that, and nobody even thought to ask what we’d been betting on.

* * *

“Thanks for the challenge,” Jules whispered a little later, as the place started to quiet down. “You really surprised me there.” I murmured a half-intelligible agreement, the hot breath so close on my ear driving me insane with arousal. I’d never imagined someone could have such an effect on me with such simple words, but with my mind it always seemed that the rules went out of the window as soon as I felt controlled and helpless.

“You’re…” I hesitated a little, trying to figure out how to phrase it, “You can make me do anything you want.”

“I probably could, you’re an amazing subject. Never forget how precious that is, and don’t give it away too easily. But I’m not going to take advantage of you, though I know that’s what you want.” I nodded eagerly, I didn’t even care what the others thought or what they could overhear. “I like making games,” Jules continued, “and playing games, where the everyday rules of reality might not apply. That’s what I use this for, I’m not really into having a slave girl. Then again, maybe if you can beat me next time…”

I smiled. I didn’t care if I was going to get the prize I wanted afterwards, the game itself was a kind of control I’d never experienced before, and I found it incredible. I might not be able to get any relief until we got home, but this was probably the horniest I’d been this term. I was just glad that I’d be able to get some relief as soon as we got home.

“Don’t let me forget, though,” Jules turned back and innocently rested a hand on my ass as they spoke, “I owe you some initials. JMC, you got that?”