The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Edward got himself lost within the touch of Elaine’s lips to his own.

To him this kiss felt like a dream. When she lifted away, she was giving him a nearly worshipful gaze. One of those delicate hands of hers was stroking over his chest while the other arm held her up. He’d noticed Prudence had brown eyes, but now he clearly saw the color of Elaine’s eyes to be turquoise with streaks of lighter blue radiating out from her pupil.

Though he would have a hard time identifying cup size himself, when his hand moved over her chest to feel the gentle curve of her breast he’d found she was ever so slightly more than his hand covered. She let out a gentle moan with his touch. As he played with her nipple the way her shoulders pressed up and her head turned displayed her sensual response.

To the side Lexi and Prudence were sharing a deep tonsil diving kiss with each other, their hands wandering over each other’s shape as were his own on Elaine. They moved as though mimicking his love making. Elaine’s black hair fell over his face as her head dropped. She was moving herself into a straddling position on top of him, leaving him certain the hand she was moving between them was trying to find his protrusion and provide guidance into her wetness.

His fingers moved her hair aside. Now he could see her face. He watched her seriousness as she leaned back a bit, placing his organ at the tip of her opening. Her eyes closed and she pressed backwards to impale herself on him. She was panting with excitement before he was through the initial opening. The soft tissue was so wet already he slid in without resistance, though tight on his manhood.

“Ellie,” he whispered, “are you on the pill?”

She moaned as she pressed herself deeply onto his cock, stretching herself out until he could feel the hardness at the back, her cervix. She tried to move so his tip would rub around against that firm enclosure.

“Implant,” She moaned out her response.

He pulled back and thrust upward into her hard once, liking the warmth of her grip around him. There was a wet slapping sound as he bottomed out inside her.

“Oh,” She helped by rocking up and back down firmly against his organ, “isn’t permanent, however you want,” she moaned out with her movements.

“What I want,” he thrust into her again, catching on to the rhythm she was getting underway, “is you to cum for me.”

He instantly felt fire from the words he spoke sear through her mind as though lightning had struck. Her body went rigid and her back arched violently, with her head flung back as she held onto him for dear life. She seemed to be trying to force his cock even further beyond where he already was into her. Her head rocked left and right and she grunted hard. The entire time he found himself riding along with her inside the explosion from within her body.

Elaine collapsed against him, her sweaty form against his chest while his cock still kept her sex pinioned to him. He could feel her heat radiating to him but he was not done himself yet. He was grunting as he tried to keep pumping with his own raging hunger, she was wrung out but trying to help.

“I want you to cum again Ellie,” he whispered at her ear. “I love what it does to you.”

Helplessly her body shook violently again. “ooh,” she grunted out between her teeth, “god...” she flung her head back again, back arched pressing her chest against his as she did, almost pulling him out of her while she reacted. Her breath started to come in fitful gasping sounds and he pushed in again, his seed flowing into Elaine’s inner vault. He clenched his teeth now. The surge pulsed for more than a few moments.

When his breathing settled he realized the limp sweaty body atop him was unconscious. Elaine passed out during her second release. He wrapped his arms around her and held firmly so she wouldn’t fall to the side. His limp organ slipped from her while he kissed her shoulder. The sounds from the side told him Lexi and Prudence were letting go too. He couldn’t look without moving Elaine’s head. He did not want to disturb her while she dozed to recover.

The bed stopped shaking next to him. Rasping breathing came from both women. He so wanted to see their faces. He adored the look on Elaine’s face beyond reason when she had cum. He knew very well already the beauty of Lexi’s orgasm face. He had yet to see Prudence’s. There was movement from that side and a bare Prudence came into his field of vision smiling at him.

She gave him a light kiss, “what have you done to Ellie?” she whispered. Her hand ran lightly through the black hair to expose Elaine’s face. Elaine’s light red lips were parted slightly, her eyes closed and cheeks pink from her exertions.

“Let her cut loose it seems,” he whispered back. Inside he had gently been running the tendrils of his thoughts through Elaine’s mind. The controlling constructs were so intense. He hadn’t expected how deep they reached. Unexpectedly, he continued to feel her internal emotions through the connection.

“Think you can do that to me too?” Prudence had mischief in those big browns of hers. She touched her velvety lips to his again, then kissed Elaine’s cheek lightly. “Take care of my sister. I’ll take care of your other girlfriend. For now. My turn soon.”

“Sister, huh?” he whispered back to her. She just smiled again and stood. He continued to hold Elaine with concerned affection. He ran his fingers down Elaine’s back. How had he not registered she had such a strong command trigger in her mind sexually? The way the tendrils of his thoughts were touching inside her was as close to a mental caress as he could manage.

She let out a small moan.

“Are you back with us?” he asked.

“mmmm.” The eyelashes flickered to expose the turquoise hue he’d just become acquainted with. “master?”

“Edward would be fine, love.”

“Uh uh.” She said despite being told otherwise.

Her thoughts displayed an inner sense of being owned but the emotions he felt through the connection were more powerful in another way, different from being controlled. There was more than a simple mutual pride they shared about each other. There was an underlying feeling from her that he was a rescuer more than an owner. He didn’t know how claiming her made him a rescuer, but he drew s unique pleasure from her belief she was his property.

She lifted her head and looked at the other two women. To his surprise they had settled in next to them, Lexi with her legs crossed lotus style and Prudence with her head in Lexi’s lap. Looking at him. With one of her glowingly radiant grins.

“I thought you and Lexi were . . .?” he murmured without realizing he said it aloud. Elaine turned her head to look at them too. She was quite content and exhausted at the moment. Elaine slowly slipped off his chest to the other side, letting out a contented sound as she did.

Prudence got to her knees again. She saddled up next to him and rubbed her soft warm cheek against his own somewhat gravelly one. She emitted a purring sound. There was a wee bit of predatory desire in the way she did so.

The pressure against his arm from her chest was enticing to him. He found he wanted a taste of those nipples as she hummed with her pleasure. She appeared to be amenable to the idea. It wasn’t going to happen yet though.

Her hand found his flaccid bits between his legs.

“Oh, this simply will not do,” she uttered. Lexi let out a small girl giggle.

Prudence’s fingers kneaded his organ lightly with the wetness still there from the mingled emissions from him and Ellie. Her head titled slightly, as she considered the bloom at the tip and the little opening in the end.

Lexi slipped off the bed and around to the other side. Prudence looked up at her while giving his organ more massaging, then lowered her head so her lovely pink lips pressed lightly against his sensitive flesh. He felt her tongue glide along in a slow stroke.

“mmmm,” whispered Prudence. “I’ve always wondered what Ellie tasted like.”

Lexi let out a slight titter but slid onto the mattress next to Elaine, not joining Prudence at the moment but instead warmly embracing the semi-conscious girl. Elaine let out a contented welcoming sound but didn’t move.

With his root gripped in her hand, Prudence opened her mouth to engulf the end. She managed a couple of inches in with her tongue moving around the thickness past the head, sending a wave of warmth to rise in him. His hand found her hair, and drew back the tresses blocking his view of her face.

She looked so solemn while sucking on his cock, so focused. Her checks drew in a bit as she tried to build suction then bulged a bit again when she blew air over him in a way that made a bit of sound. Lexi let out another giggle at the sound.

He was becoming stiff again. Prudence was pushing him into her mouth as much as she could before gagging a bit. It looked as if she had experience pushing that envelope because she kept trying to get it past the gag point. He made a fist in her hair, just holding as she moved, as much to sense her motions as to do anything to control them.

She lifted her head to capture his eyes with those brown eyes of hers. She kept pumping his organ slowly as she did.

“Do you think you can get me off as wild as Ellie did?” she asked. It wasn’t a challenge to him, just a query if she could hope to enjoy it as intensely as her best friend did.

“I’d love to be inside you, Pru, but there’s a difference with Ellie.” While he spoke she’d slipped one leg over him to straddle his form.

“Because you’ve claimed her, ownership like?”

“Ellie can’t cum unless told to. Even not being touched, she cums instantly if told though.”

Prudence rubbed the tip of him over the wetness between her thighs, her face showing a mixture of lustful hunger and thought. He took hold of her hips and just held her as she moved, again not guiding her, but feeling the rocking motion her torso was producing. She let out a raspy groan from the rubbing.

“So,” she closed her eyes while moving, “claimin’ just,” she paused, opening her eyes again as she pushed down just a touch on his tip. He so longed to thrust up into her, but was letting her take her time, “gave control to you.”

“You little tease,” he pulled down on her hips. Her eyes flew open wide as she felt his thickness push within. His cock slid easily in until her outer lips were against his base.

“Oh yes.” She didn’t so much exclaim it so much as she let go with a groan of desire. “to be able to cum like that...”

He rocked her back and forth a moment, then rolled them to the side away from Elaine and Lexi, who were watching with interest. He lifted himself with his arms, but pinned her to the bed with his cock. He looked at her eyes, intensely, and started to pump into her with slow measured effort. She found herself unable to hold still as well, the sinuous form of her body making the steady response into a building force.

“yesss,” came spluttering from her mouth as her head did the sharp motions side to side, “make me yours, take me as your own.”

Edward did his best to speed the movements he was driving into her with. She was like a glove around him. He was merging himself within her sweet spot. The growing fierceness feeding his hungry desire. It would be so easy to reach in to take her mind as Ellie was claimed.

Instead he focused himself on giving her the raw pleasure of making love as best he could. Something more than simply being fucked. She let out more sounds, her hands clutching to his arms which still held him up so he could see her. He watched the way her tits moved with a bounce as he pummeled in and out. The nipples were delightful and he so wanted to suckle on her.

Her body gave in before his did, gripping him tightly, eyes clenched shut, she let out a very solid grunt. “gggggddd.” Then she froze up and held in place while he was still rushing in and out of her opening with his rhythm. He drove deep into her one more time and felt the flood of his cum fill her within. He kept at it until three or four solid pulses of release rushed to the inside of her depths.

“oh that feels wonderful,” she whispered, feeling his seed inside her. “Yes lover, hold me.”

He lay atop her heavily, feeling limp. She wrapped her arms around his chest to hold him close. Prudence felt his weight on top of her body and felt merged with him even after the completion of the act. She kissed him firmly.

When she let up kissing him she spoke.

“You know that’s a form of claiming me too, right?”

“mmmmm,” he responded. She was now running her fingers through his hair. Her short fingernails scritching his scalp made him shiver. He slowly drew out of her sex and lay to the side of her, still holding her with his right arm.

She kissed his shoulder.

Lexi crept over and kissed him too. “That was wonderful.”

“Hi there,” he said. She kissed his ear, then nibbled at it a bit.

“You are welcome to claim me that way, any time,” she said.

“I have,” he responded, “and will. Again.”

Prudence chuckled. He felt a hand against his arm and realized Elaine had come over to join them all in the pile.

“We have to go shopping for a bigger bed tomorrow,” said Prudence.

The other members called him The Mad Russian.

He found it amusing. Mostly he didn’t care what they called him. He avoided spending a great deal of time with them anyway. A couple of them tried to attach the nickname Rasputin to him. He was Mikhail though and meant to continue using his own name. So he let it be known Rasputin was unacceptable.

After the meeting at the club though it was determined someone should look into just what happened to Ferguson Carter. Mikhail had volunteered to look into that.

If there women were anywhere in the path of where Fergie had been, he left a trail. Fergie was the sort, in Mikhail’s opinion, who had to touch everything he saw as even mildly desirable. All he had to do was find the women along his path the last day of Fergie’s life to get a visual of what the man had been up to.

Mikhail had the devil’s own time not playing with many of the women along the way. Fergie did tend to find at least a few really hot women to molest and Mikhail’s libido was itself prodigious. He was slowed by a few instances he chose to take a few moments to enjoy.

He found women and men both who had seen the man as he moved around in his last day with the ability. With a little snooping he could feel a contact in people Fergie had made, the fingerprint of someone who tended to be careless what effects he left behind. Mikhail was normally unconcerned himself but he tried to cover his trail. Just so others wouldn’t figure out what he did or who it was leaving a touch behind.

Eventually he got to Holly’s and found a memory in Bubbles of Fergie’s collapse. Until then the only touches he identified had been Fergie’s. In Bubbles he found something different. He didn’t find a specific unique identifying aspect.

What he found was Fergie had distracted Bubbles with a mental illusion of some woman flirting with him. The illusion had burst for unknown reasons. With Fergie present, the illusion should have lasted far longer. Indications why it stopped were completely missing. There was also Bubbles peculiar not quite right stroll to where Fergie lay unconscious. There seemed like some editing happened, though there was an absence of personal touch to distinguish the action. It was the best he could discern from Bubbles’ mind.

Mikhail wondered why Fergie survived whatever this encounter was. The other missing club members were turning up as corpses. Clearly Fergie had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. For an instant he wondered how strong another telepath would have to be so as to delete someone’s power. Mikhail felt a faint touch of fear thinking he volunteered to seek a threat beyond his own capabilities.

While he hadn’t wanted a companion on this part of the investigation, he thought now he ought to ask for one. Club members generally did not cooperative with each other one on one, but this was unique. He was starting to think it might require a buddy system for safety purposes.

The bartender also seemed to have a bit of mental editing about where Fergie fell. As did the waitress. He started trying to collect mental images of who else had been there that night. He wanted to scan all of them to see if any of them remembered any single unusual individual Fergie might have been interacting with.

From what he could read in people’s memories so far, there were two women with Fergie but they left when he collapsed. That could have been Fergie losing control, or it could be someone decided to take his women. That could have been done from a distance and since he couldn’t find a memory of anyone other than Fergie talking to the two women, he’d have to sit down with them specifically to get better answers. He seriously doubted they could be found.

Meanwhile, he really better reach out to someone at the club and tell them this part of the investigation would require a couple members cooperate together away from the club. He didn’t like the idea much. He believed in his own ultimate autonomy. Butt his practical sense said he needed backup.

“Thorn,” the woman’s voice said.

“Mathers,” he responded. He did not turn away from the folder Captain Harris had given him for the most recent body they’d received.

“Been a while.”

“Missed you too.” He flipped one of the pages. “I didn’t mean to find a serial killer but it sure looks like this may call for tying a bunch of murders together although they seem to lack pattern. Most of all, I would like to know how this one,” he tapped another folder, “was pegged for a gambling collection gone wrong instead of one in our series.”

“Why’s that?”

“The only thing to support the gambling as a motive is the statements he played a lot of poker. But if you look at it, he tended to win and had no debts to anyone. That we know of, anyway.”

“Did the detectives assume it was about cheating?”

“The notes aren’t good. They simply rushed to close it. They were doing so after arresting another gambler who confessed too readily. It’s odd. Why? Because a couple weeks later it was discovered by the assistant DA the man confessing had an alibi the entire time and was still willing to go ahead with the confession.”

“What? No, really?”

“Yeah, he says he even remembers doing it.”

“The cops get a lot of false confessions from people who get in the habit of confessing.”

“Yes. This isn’t one of those. He’s not a chronic confession type. This guy, I don’t get it.”

“Are you and I going to get a chance to go out for dinner this trip?”

“Well, that’s an abrupt change of subject. Of course I want to spend time with you when we get the chance,” he replied, turning to look at her. “I’m delighted to see you. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clearer.”

Samuel walked up to the door to St. Agnes looking for a wheelchair. There were a couple just inside the automated sliding glass door. He took the handles of one and started steering it out the door with him.

“Those are for patients,” said the man in scrubs by the door.

“I’m helping someone to come in. You can come along to help,” Samuel answered him. “The car is in the lot.”

He pointed towards the sedan where Susan was sitting.

“Okay, I’ll be glad to help,” the man said. They walked the wheelchair over to the car. “Your wife?”

“No, see?” he pointed to the back seat where Polly was waiting. “We came across this young woman walking around. She’s obviously pregnant.”

“Don’t you know her?”

“She says her name is Susan. She’s supposed to be in school but thinks it’s six months ago. I thought it best to bring her to a doctor.”

“Interesting. Another amnesia case. A woman this time.”

Polly had gotten out of the car and opened the door for Susan. “What do you mean, another amnesia case?”

Samuel got the wheelchair in place.

“I can do this myself,” Susan was able on her own to move to the wheelchair, probably didn’t need one but Polly had insisted. Far be it from Samuel to disagree with his life partner and mental symbiote.

“Yeah, we’ve had a run of young college age guys show up lately with amnesia.”

“Oh?” said Polly, “Where are they now?”

“There’s a better facility for the amnesia thing in Columbus, we end up sending them there. It’s weird, they’ve all been guys who aren’t local. Not the kind of thing you’d expect. I’ve heard the doctors talking about it.”

“I’m more concerned this young women get the care she needs and someone contacts her family. I really just couldn’t leave her wandering the street,” said Samuel.

“Come with me, we’ll have someone look at her. It’s not like she’s an emergency but I bet the people from the ER could give her a look.”

“Sure. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Hi there Susan, what’s your full name?” he asked the woman in the wheelchair.

“Susan Laramy,” she smiled up at him, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Adam Smith, and before you make fun of me, yes, it’s really Smith.”

“But you’re not an economist. Is this a good hospital?”

“My father thought it was funny, it seems. St. Agnes is a great hospital. Our doctors are good at helping pregnant women. Where’s the father?”

“I don’t know who the father is. I can’t remember anything after the party.”

“What party?”

“At the sorority,” she said. “The place was very busy and I had been tending bar. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“Do you have family I can call?”

“You can call my parents, I’m pretty sure they’ll be shocked and upset I’m pregnant. Unless they already know. I wonder if they know.”

“I’ll be glad to call them, see about getting them here. What school do you go to?”

“UCLA,” she answered, “Dad was excited I’d be close to home.”

He didn’t react. He wasn’t the right one to tell her she was two thirds of the way across the country from where she remembered last being.

“It’s a good thing someone brought you here.”

“Yes, I should thank whoever it was, do you know who?”

“I,” he paused, looking around quietly, “don’t know where they went.”

He was confused. He knew someone brought her in. He couldn’t remember who. Maybe the security cameras saw it. Later he would tell them he simply could not remember her showing up.

When he did, the cameras turned out to be blank during the time of her arrival. Everyone was dumbfounded.

“Where do you guys get this shit,” Sandi said.

She was in what a one time been a K-Mart parking lot. The men she was talking to were next to an ugly old VW van that had seen better days. She almost wondered how they got into the lot without busting the axles.

The two men had heavy beards, wore camos that were out of place in an urban environment, along with holstered pistols at their side. They weren’t exactly in great shape either. She doubted either of them would still be standing if they had to run twenty yards.

The door on the side of the van was wide open and there was a small arsenal of weapons inside. Mostly they looked like they could have been legal across the counter, but she could see how serial numbers had been obviously removed on a couple of them.

“Friends.” The first man said. “We have friends.”

She picked up a hunting rifle they had brought. “I could get this from a normal store.”

“But then someone could trace you. That’s why you called us.”

“I told you the Remington. Where is it?” She was scowling and he showed no signs of giving a damn.

“You ain’t got enough money. I told ya if you want it, it’s really pricey. It’s ten large to begin with. You want it? You’ll have to part with fifty. They ain’t exactly fallin’ off’a trees. You’d still hafta get ammo too.”

“Fifty? You must be expecting alphabet soup at your place.”

“We aims t’ be ready, is all.” He replied. He didn’t seem the least ratted at the idea. Her feeling was he was pure bluster about that. She could probably take down both of them bare handed.

“Tell you what. I’ll give you fifty but you throw in enough ammo to practice with and use it in action, plus the scope, and ? I hope you have a flash suppressor for it.”

He looked surprised. “You gots fifty?”

“Look Snuffy Smith, if you can get that and a couple more items, I got a fair amount of green. But no one sees it unless I get what I need.”

He looked disgruntled a moment, then eyed his partner who nodded to him.

“Okay, but we’ll have to go get it. Before we go, what else you need?”

“Mmm. A dozen poppers would be good too. I’ll spring another ten for them.”

“We got some extra of them, um, thermite grenades if you want any of them.”

“I don’t intend to burn anything down, thanks all the same.” She had thought of doing so before but there were too many other businesses near the target. Others would be harmed without cause.

They settled on another place to meet later in the day. Sandi did business with these particular militia nuts before. The only use she had for any of them was their ability to acquire weapons she’d need. She’d never offered so much before, so it was natural for them to think she was unable to pay. They would just have to get over that idea. It seemed likely at some point she’d have to kill a few of them to make it clear she was deadly too.

Her sister wouldn’t need to know if it ever happened.

“The shooting at the library is part of this killer’s list. Do you think a rape might be the reason for the killer’s break?” Thorn asked Mathers.

“It might be. Our witness is hardly reliable. All she described was being raped, then hearing the gunshot, and seeing someone holding a gun who told her the guy wouldn’t be a threat anymore,” the behavioral analyst said.

“She wasn’t terribly clear in the description of the shooter. Could be male or female, was tall enough, yet short enough to be either. She didn’t get their ethnicity or clothing detail either. She said damn little to identify the shooter, but showed a lot of delight her rapist was dead.”

“What are you thinking?” she said. “There aren’t any complaints of rape outstanding against the victim or other two shooting victims. The remaining two we may have identified appear to have no criminal history either. Rape is under reported though.”

“The killer’s comfort range seems to cover much of the city too. Is it a hunting ground or is it a matter of opportunity? How would the shooter know to find the rapist in the library? Was that just an interruption after the rape or was the killer looking for the man already?”

“The other two killings we think belong in the victims group were killed by different methods. Does our killer have an MO?”

“I have a list of another eight that might be more of our killer’s victims. The method used being unique in most of them. I’m close to ruling one of those eight out.”

“Why?”

“It was a woman. All the rest are men,” he pulled a folder out, “Someone named Jessica Hanover. The way the case was closed abruptly is why I pulled it out. If we’re looking for someone killing rapists, we could rule her out as a victim of our killer.”

“Let’s keep her on the list. It may be she witnessed something. Are any of the other cases within the same time frame?”

“It isn’t the time frame I’ve been selecting for, but no, none of the other deaths seem tied to the date she was killed. We haven’t exactly narrowed down anything to connect them well other than the three shootings we’ve gotten. The others do fall into being odd from lack of family or not being full time residents here.”

“We don’t exactly have any strong criteria for connecting others to our shooter. It’s just patterns of cases being closed too abruptly tying them together. Oh, and that little thing about a dead body. To pick nits that is.”

“Dead is dead. I’ve gone through every killing in the city for the last five years. The ones obviously not part of the closed way too fast pattern I’ve excluded. That allowed me to pare it down to a dozen. The four of those I already excluded were pretty straight forward with a fair number of witnesses.”

“We need a connection between the five we have so far to see if these others have anything to tie them to our shooter. The closest we have so far is the rape and that’s nebulous.”

“Don’t forget the thing about how quickly the cases get closed. If that’s actually a factor to identifying our killer, either the killer is law enforcement, or has a partner who is.”

“You think we should be looking at what the detectives were doing when the killings happened?”

“I thought about it. But it seems unlikely. The closed cases generally have different detectives. The entire homicide squad would be in on it. So unless we have a better reason to go that way, I think we’re forced to treat it as a remarkable coincidence. For now.”

“Maybe we should go interview the witness who we do have?”

“Let’s do that. Give me a moment, I’ll meet you out front.” She turned and left the room.

He neatened up the files. He straightened up his shirt collar and tie. Maybe they’d go for dinner after doing the interview.

“You look as though you need sleep,” Polly said to Lexi. Lexi was dressed in a white men’s t-shirt and some boxer shorts. Polly was making the connection a little slower than usual.

“mmmm, It was not a night with a great deal of sleep,” Lexi let Polly and Samuel in. “I’ll let everyone else know you’re here.”

Polly set herself down in the gathering room. Samuel slipped off to the throne room. Lexi bounded back in happily. Lexi’s childlike joy gave Polly a smile.

“I gather you and Edward had some time for romping about together.”

Prudence walked into the room with a bounce in her step too. She was dressed only in one of Edward’s shirts and grinned at Polly while she headed for her bags. Then Edward walked in with Elaine clinging to his arm with another childlike bounce to her. She too wore only one of Edward’s shirts, with a glow about her. Elaine looked at Edward adoringly.

Polly’s face fell.

“EDWARD!” her jaw was agape a moment, “what have you done!?”

He blinked a moment. She hadn’t been around for the discussion so she must be assuming the worst.

“Prudence, Lexi, please tell her I didn’t force Ellie to let me control her.”

His aunt looked at Elaine. Edward could feel the thought probe from his aunt guided at Ellie and slapped at it gently, “Please Aunt Polly, some of the triggers in her mind could leave her without a mind at all.”

“You took her with your ability!” she said accusingly. “She’s an innocent and not one of us!”

“Aunt Polly, I’ve been trying to clear the things left in her head by,” he couldn’t bring himself to say the name today, “She wanted to be rid of him. I can undo it, and today was going to. So we could talk about how it affects her. I will do it now if you like. She told me she, well she wanted very intensely to be free of the other man.”

“Miss Polly,” said Lexi, “it’s true. She asked him to.”

“I’m to believe you were all gamboling about with her last night by her own choice when clearly her will has been suborned?”

His uncle re-entered the room during this exchange.

“Wait, what’s going on here?” he was confused by the tone of his wife’s voice.

“The boy has used his ability to control Ellie here,” his wife responded, “though he and Lexi claim it was at her own choosing.”

“It was,” Prudence added in, “It was an accident at first and he put it back but she implored him to do it again, so she’d be no longer directly under Dean’s influence.”

“What’s this about undoing it?” Polly asked. Samuel, having missed part of the discussion was confused.

“Undoing it? Oh.” Samuel was catching up still.

“Give me a moment,” said Edward, who looked at Elaine, “be at peace Ellie, I know what I felt too.”

He slipped quickly into where he’d changed out the connections to Dean yesterday. It bothered him to do this but he had insisted he would do this when they talked yesterday. He did not want damage to the wonderful person underneath. He’d come to care for her, wanting her spirit to feel safe with him. He might enjoy the possession of her. Still, he did not want her personality smothered.

He drew his arm from her and stood back a step before letting the change slip through.

“If she was touching me as control went back the way it was she’d be hurt.” He chose to explain rather than leave it unsaid. He knew Prudence was aware of that. Samuel might know, Polly might know but certainly Lexi did not understand it completely.

Elaine stood with a tear running down her cheek. Edward saw this but feared touching her and causing pain to her. He felt distressed. Lexi went over to hug Elaine. Prudence looked at Edward, then at Elaine, and she too started to pool up a bit.

Polly had a disturbed looking puzzled appearance to her expression. Samuel folded his hands together in front of himself as though waiting for an explanation.

“Aunt Polly,” said Elaine, with a tremble, “I asked him to. I pleaded with him to. It’s the honest truth, he did not lie to you.” With that Elaine grabbed up her bag and dashed down the hallway.

Prudence had grabbed a few bits of clothing and headed back towards the bedroom. “I’ll be right back.”

Lexi looked at Edward and he shook his head, “No, let them talk. Ellie has to be sure she wants what we did. You know that.” He turned to his aunt. “Aunt Polly, I suspect it wouldn’t hurt for you to talk to her. You either trust me or you don’t. I’d prefer you did, but honestly, I’m an adult now and have been very careful with my abilities. I’m going to the kitchen to get some coffee started.”

With that, Edward walked out of the room too.

Polly and Samuel looked at each other for a moment, then Polly got up to walk to the bedroom too.

“So,” said Lexi with a wry smile, “What’s the weather like out there?”

Samuel chuckled.

Jacob walked over to Jonathan at the bar. Vanessa was with him. They both looked grim.

“Jake, Vannie, something new happen?” he asked. He put down the bottle and glass he’d pulled out for a quick drink.

“Isn’t it early for that?” Vanessa asked.

“I’m anticipating a very painful and dreary day.” He grinned at Vanessa, “sure you don’t want one?”

“Nope. I have other more urgent things to do.”

“Ingraham.” Jacob crossed his arms, “is a problem now.”

“Hal? What about Hal?”

“He turned up at the hospital. We’ve been watching for new bodies to turn up but instead, he did,” answered Jacob. “Just like Fergie. Once is possibly a medical problem, twice sure seems like it has to be some enemy’s action. The Russian says there’s some oddities about where Fergie had his episode as well.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone who has been killing our members be doing this thing to remove the personality and power from other members?”

“Mikhail asked a similar question, requesting we start doing buddy system on investigating. Vanessa is with me for now.”

“So you want me to go with someone specific?” Jonathan envisioned being asked to work with Melody. Not his idea of anything like a buddy system. She would be poison.

“I’m going to see if I can get in to see Ingraham. You need to go join the Russian. Oh, and, it seems someone dropped off one of his playthings, the pregnant one. Same hospital.”

“There’s a lot of mixed messages in that. Is it possible there’s two groups after us? One killing, the other trying to take over the territory for mental powers?”

“I don’t know about the second. You’d think they’d approach us and negotiate if it was about territory.” Jonathan hadn’t thought of that possibility. “Whoever is killing our members has attracted the attention of the FBI. There’s a couple agents wandering around poking their nose into the deaths. I doubt it can lead them to us.”

“But there’s always the chance the government may come knocking at our door to ask about members,” added Vanessa. “Some members are already talking about relocating for their personal safety.”

“I doubt that’ll work out for anyone. Some one needs to make sure the members know we either stand together or we’re all in trouble,” said Jonathan. “If someone gets any of us to talk to them, they could end up with details about all of us. We have to work together to stop this.”

“I agree. Anyone who tries to flee needs to know we can reach to anyplace they go,” said Jacob. “Besides, I already want to rip someone’s guts out. They do not want me mad at them too. No one should be able to do this to me. Us, I mean,” he added quickly.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ll call the Russian and join up with him. I’ll call you in a few hours to see to it you’re still with us.”

“Not funny Jon,” snarled Jacob. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“Let’s make sure it goes where we want then, ya think?”

“You get your part done,” he looked to Vanessa, “we’ll do ours.”

Ellie sat with Prudence at the moment. Lexi looked a bit confused as though she wanted to comfort both Ellie and Edward just now. Samuel and Polly were in the kitchen arguing a bit, or, at least having stronger words than expected. Polly had gone in to talk to Elaine, coming back out an hour later. Then she dragged Samuel into the other room to talk.

Elaine had returned with her arms around herself as though holding to stay warm. Her look at Edward was woeful, her eyes dropped towards the floor quickly.

“Are you okay, Ellie?” The furrow in his brow was apparent across the room.

“No mmmmm,” she stopped. “I think it will all be okay though. You’ve been strong for all of us. Just keep being you.”

“As long as we’re all together, I think we can deal with anything,” added Lexi with a smile. Prudence patted Lexi’s arm lightly.

“Damn optimists, trying to ruin all the fun of pessimism.” Samuel grinned at the door to the kitchen. Polly came in behind him and they sat.

“So what was all the arguing about,” Edward spoke, “Me and Ellie?”

“Goodness no. Though, your aunt seems to think you need to be very cautious how you treat Ellie. Mostly because it’s apparently more intense than we thought it would be, trying to release her internal bonds. And she wants to stay yours it seems, so you have to be really careful how you manage that.”

“Then what was all the back and forth in there about? It’s not like you were arguing about where to go for dinner.”

“No dear,” Polly said, “It was whether we wait for Bart or talk about our experience this afternoon at the hospital.”

“What experience?” asked Prudence.

“I want to talk to Bart about this, but Samuel pointed out it might be unrelated to our current issues. By happenstance, if you can imagine, a bunch of young men have been turning up amnesia victims.”

“That doesn’t sound coincidental,” Edward looked at his uncle, “why isn’t that a piece of the problem we’re dealing with?”

“I say it’s an extra puzzle,” Samuel responded. “We have the Fire Eaters, then we have someone killing their members off. Hardly a positive thing given it will attract the law enforcement community’s attention.“

“Now we have people losing their memories? Who would would do that? What purpose could it possibly serve?”

“It might be related to everything else somehow, but it hardly fits. Think a moment about the way the killings have been covered up.”

“Covered up? How?”

“The body we saw dropped off out on the street at their club. Someone was practically screaming out for the message to be ‘I’m killing you off and you can’t stop me’ to them. Yet the news reported the body was found elsewhere. Then there’s the thing with Dean, we know he was murdered but they wrapped that killing up as gambling related.“

“So you don’t think it’s either the killer, or the club doing the brain drain thing?” Edward was confused.

“With the killer versus the club, the club appears to be sanitizing the killings in a way not involving deep amnesia. They just arrange for the cops to find the corpses with unrelated evidence. With the guys suffering from a mind wipe, all the young men involved are ending up at the same hospital. Granted, there’s only a few in the city to take them to. But? why the same one?”

“That’s bound to call attention to the city sooner or later. It’s clumsy and advertises the ability is here in this city,” said Edward, “I get you now. It’s like asking to have the witch hunters come down on us. You don’t think either the killer or the club would want that.”

“Right,” his uncle responded.

“But why not? The killer seems determined to call attention to the club people.”

“Why isn’t the killer sending the police the information more directly then? The killer obviously knows about our psionic abilities. They’d expect a cover-up from the club. From what we know now, there are at least four of them dead. Plus Bart saw someone eyeing their front door, who may well be our killer.”

“Oh, one more thing no one has been talking about,” Polly added in, “You left one of their members alive, as Bart will this morning. They’re going to start wondering just what in hell is going on in addition to their members being killed.”

“So you wanted to wait to talk about this because ?” asked Elaine.

“Because Bart may have seen this before,” answered Samuel, “Or, more to the point, in questioning the target last night, he may know something we don’t.”

He’d dropped Ingraham off at the most convenient hospital. It just happened to be St. Agnes. He had not learned yet about the amnesia cases turning up there recently. Without knowing, he was adding one more to the list the hospital had been keeping.

He did notice the usual measures in place for hospital security. He was able to circumvent them in his own usual way. By tapping into one of the staff to turn off cameras. A little adjustment to the memory of those people who actually saw him meant it would be pretty damn near impossible to identify who left Ingraham behind.

There were more than the usual compliment of police at the building though. He got curious about why. It was just due diligence to him, covering his backside just in case. It amused him to learn Samuel and Polly had dropped off the pregnant woman here too. A little more poking around meant he learned about a young woman named Anise who had been brought in after being raped. Which in the moment might seem like a normal criminal event in a city the size of this one, it was a screwy coincidence.

What triggered deeper interest was the rapist had been shot by a third person who then disappeared. The police seemed to think this shooting was tied to another one recently. He sat in the parking lot for a few extra minutes to learn more details when he found a sergeant asking the young women be held a little longer. That would not be unusual if they were expecting the detectives to come question her again. Yet it seemed the FBI were involved somehow.

He considered trying to tap into the young lady to see what happened. There were a lot of police turning up while he gave the idea thought. Somehow dropping off Ingraham had triggered some reaction from the hospital involving the FBI too. How, he didn’t know. So far anyway.

His cell phone, an old flip phone, was not very good for text messaging. Dialing a number in the two-one-two area code, he waited and was rewarded only with one of those leave your message after the beep voices.

“Hello, please call me back when you get this. It’s Robert. I may need you to help with someone.”

He ran his fingers through his partially gray hair. He figured he had done this for far too long. He’d been lucky rather than skillful in recent times. He did get a list of names for members of the Fire Eaters from the Ingraham, but already five of them he knew were no longer an issue. This Ferguson Carter fellow had been handled by Edward already for instance.

Was there some reason he’d need more help for this? Where would he go this time? The local talent pool was either all members of the families or this wild talent problem. Unless he drew on even more people from elsewhere.

He had to give more thought to the number of people they had yet to handle at the Fire Eaters. He had one other thought. The people involved were a little peculiar. Maybe they’d best be alerted to was happening. Maybe he should warn them. He decided as much as he didn’t want to, he’d best do so.

There was a singular advantage to being able to make other people do things for him and then removing the action from their memory. Anonymity was easier with the people who traced telephone calls. He never actually needed a burner phone doing this little trick.

He found the doctor for the woman who had been raped. Tapping in briefly he had the doctor pull out a cell phone and enter a text message on it. “Hurricane, Ohio, CDC request, Wyatt”

Once the text was sent, the doctor was made to erase the message. If anyone did find the text in the records, there wasn’t enough information in the words to make out anything other than a request the CDC look into something here.

Ticking off the list of people involved and organizations snooping around the city, he wondered if he should just have Edward and his lady friends go on an extended vacation. Edward had some skill though and he didn’t want to lose a potential resource.

It simply was messy. One of those times he supposed where complex was necessary.