Five Days: Day Four
Day 4: Stephen & Kerri
For the first time in four days Stephen didn’t wake up to sex. He didn’t really wake up at all since he had never really slept, just nodding off here and there before jerking himself awake. He was still in his clothes from the day before, his back propped up on some pillows on his bed. Kerri was wrapped around him. She had slept the whole night like that, clinging to him.
When he had found the man in his apartment, violating Kerri’s mind, he’d seen red. He’d never been so angry. He’d immediately reached out and snapped the connection. That had been stupid. Suddenly severing the connection could have seriously hurt or even killed her. The same for the guy, but Stephen didn’t really care about that.
So, when the guy had pushed past him running out of the apartment he didn’t immediately follow. He’d checked on Kerri. He lightly touched her mind. It seemed fine, her mind had simply shut down to protect itself and would awaken when it was ready. He didn’t force it. Better to let her mind take care of itself than risk doing more damage to her.
So, he had carried her into his bedroom and tucked her under the sheets and turned to chase after the man. As soon as he turned and started to get off the bed, Kerri whimpered. Her brows creased in distress and her hand twitched towards him. Stephen settled himself back on the bed and she shifted till she was clinging tightly to him, her head nuzzled into his chest, still asleep. That was how they spent the rest of the night.
Kerri awoke in her favorite place, her head against Stephen, her body pressed tightly to his, and his arms around her. Then she remembered.
She remembered Master coming and forcing her to become a slave again. Forcing her to undress and get on her knees and beg to be punished. Worse, a part of her wanted to be punished. She remembered seeing Stephen step through the door. She had never seen him looking like that before. She could only describe it as pure rage. Then she remembered nothing.
Her eyes came open and she saw Stephen looking down at her. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
Checking herself over both mentally and physically she answered “I feel OK, but what happened?” Stephen told her what happened. Kerri thought about it for a few minutes. “He just made me his slave again. Some part of me just accepted it, ‘yes that’s Master of course I must obey’ but most of me wanted to rip his eyes out. Then I felt such a pressure to obey that I couldn’t stop myself.” She was openly weeping now “I never want him to be able to do that to me again!” she declared “I thought the memories of my time were supposed to make me stronger, it just seemed to make it easier for him”
Stephen sighed. It was time. Time to tell her the whole truth. The truth he had known since he had first seen the pieces that her subconscious had surfaced. “They aren’t integrated,” he told her, speaking softly. “There is a conflict between them and the rest of you.”
She furrowed her brow in a manner that Stephen thought was adorable “What is it?” She asked, confused.
“Those pieces, at their core, have a master. Right now that master is the prick who was here last night. The rest of you doesn’t acknowledge any master.” he answered, wondering if she would understand what that meant.
“Can’t you…I don’t know, remove the master from them” she said waving her hand vaguely in the air.
“I can’t. Like I said, having a master is core to them. If I tried to remove it would shatter those pieces and likely the rest of you too.”
She thought about that. “So if you can’t remove the master from them…” She suddenly sat up straight looking at him angrily “YOU CAN’T EXPECT ME TO BECOME HIS SLAVE!”
“NO!” He quickly replied. “Having a master is core, but not who the master is. You can have anyone you want as a master.”
She looked at him suspiciously “You want to be my master” she stated.
He blushed. “No. I just don’t see any other way to protect you.” he whispered looking down, not able to look her in the eyes..
Kerri looked at him. Thought about what it meant. “Do it”
Stephen looked up shocked. “Are you sure? Do you understand what this means?”
Kerri reached out and took his hands in hers. “Yes, I am sure. This will actually solve a problem I was trying to figure out yesterday.”
Stephen looked confused, “What problem?”
“Never you mind, it will be gone in a few minutes anyways.” She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. “I’m ready”
Stephen looked at her closely, searching her eyes. She looked back and he saw no doubt, no hesitation, just trust. He nodded and closed his eyes and reached out to her mind. He slipped in with no resistance. He’d done it so many times now it was becoming second nature to both of them. This time instead of looking for her, he looked for something different. He looked for Master. It took a bit because so much was still in fragments, but he got it. The towering arch-type of Master. The one who must be obeyed. He could see where it still overlay her image of the guy he’d fought last night. He could feel the terror and hatred she felt for him. Stephen needed to change that.
Holding onto the image of Master, Stephen reached out for her image of himself. He found that quickly. All her memories of him were complete and he was on her thoughts at this very moment. Stephen was surprised at what he found. He assumed she liked him and maybe cared for him, but what he saw was love. Deep and complex and tightly woven into her view of him. Also trust and not just a little sexual desire. He was so taken aback that he didn’t do anything for a couple of moments. Then he really looked inside himself and admitted he felt the same way about her. Then it was time to start the hard part.
He needed to push the image of master and himself together until they merged and were one and the same. At the same time he needed to pull out the image of the other guy and separate it from master. It was like trying to force two things to occupy the same space. It felt impossible and pulling out the Asshole was like ripping apart steel. Stephen sweated but bit by bit it began to work. The connections to the Asshole tore and the image of master began to merge with his. Then he was done. The image of master and himself were one and the same.
Stephen paused to catch his breath. The hard part was done, now came the delicate part. The image of master was connected to those parts of her that her subconscious had raised up and connected to her, now the rest of her needed to accept master. Stephen very gently reached out and slowly began to tie them to master, to bind them together.
This part took longer. He had to go slow, one mistake and it would shatter and her consciousness would unravel and she would be gone forever. When he was finally done he looked her over. It worked. The pieces had all integrated into one seamless beautiful psyche. He nearly wept at the beauty that was her mind. Instead he reached out with his power and began to build a shell. An impenetrable shell that would prevent anyone, even him, from influencing her mind again. It would accommodate her mind as it grew and changed. But it would never stretch or thin or crack.
Satisfied Stephen opened his eyes. Kerri was looking at him with a huge smile and tears running freely down her cheeks. She said one word “Master!” and then threw herself at him, knocking him back against the mattress, covering his mouth with hers in a deep and long kiss.”
For Kerri it had been odd. Stephen just sat in front of her with his eyes closed. Nothing seemed to happen. After a while she noticed his breathing deepen like he was exercising and sweat started to form on his forehead and his brows furrowed in concentration. Then Kerri began to feel something, a little notion in the back of her mind made itself known. The idea grew and started to insist on itself. Kerri thought about it, considered it. It seemed right, it seemed true, it seemed so blindingly obvious that she wondered how she had ever not known it. The idea expanded and enveloped her. She loved the idea and it brought a smile to her lips and tears of joy to her eyes. It infused her. When Stephen opened his eyes, she decided to test the idea out. “Master,” she whispered. That felt so good she just had to kiss her Master.
It took Stephen quite a bit of effort to get Kerri off of him as it seemed she intended to permanently fasten her lips to his. Eventually he managed to get out a strangled “Kerri stop get off me”
And she did. She stopped kissing him and trying to get him out of his clothes and sat up on the bed next to him. “Yes Master” she said simply.
Stephen looked at her. She was sitting there, smiling happily, looking like the same Kerri he had gotten to know over the last couple of days. She also seemed to be waiting for him to do something, like a puppy waiting for a command from its owner. He slowly got up to a sitting position too “Are you OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine Master,” she smiled, reaching out to touch him, stroke his arm, and hold his hand.
“You seem…different,” Stephen prompted.
“I am,” she replied, scrunching up her nose thinking of the words to describe what she was feeling. “I’m still me, I’m still Kerri, but I’m also Master’s slave and everything that goes with being Master’s slave. And that feels right. It fits. That doesn’t make sense does it?”
“I think it is going to take time for me to get used to this,” he said, shaking his head.” Then he got up and off the bed. “We’ve got a lot to do, we should get something to eat.”
“Yes,” she agreed “and the first thing Master needs to do is claim his slave.” She moved around till she was leaning back on her elbows, her legs facing him with her feet on the bed and pulled wide, putting her pussy on full display for him.
“Ummm…what?” was the best response that he could muster.
Kerri simply said “Master has a new slave. He needs to fuck his slave to claim it.” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Stephen just looked at her. She was serious, he could tell that. He still hadn’t processed that she was really his slave. That she was fully ready and even expecting that he would use her however he wanted. He’d never thought about something like that before. He was surprised that he found the idea arousing and his cock was quickly getting hard. Without another word he started unbuckling his pants.
When he was undressed he started to climb on the bed next to her. He reached down with his hand and could feel the heat coming off her sex before he even touched her. She was wet already and he easily slipped two fingers inside her. She moaned and squeezed her thighs together, to trap his hand in her. He began to curl his fingers and she moaned again in encouragement. He quickly found her g-spot and picked up the pace. She began to buck her hips and grunt. She cried out in ecstasy, arched her back, and Stephen felt a gush of fluid pour out of her and soak his hand.
She was panting, catching her breath. His need was too great to wait for her to finish coming down and his cock felt like iron. He mounted her and pushed in. She closed her eyes and moaned as he slid into her slick hole. Her legs wrapped around his back and pulled him into her deeper. He groaned, she groaned. He began to thrust at a furious pace. He couldn’t slow down, he needed her. As fast and hard as he thrust she was using her legs encouraging him faster and harder. He didn’t last long and came furiously in her. She kept her legs locked around him as he shudderingly emptied the last of his load. As he caught his breath she reached up one hand behind his head and pulled him down to her mouth.
They kissed for what seemed like forever and then she relaxed her legs freeing him and let his head go. He pulled back to look at her. She was smiling up at him, blue eyes twinkling surrounded by a halo of hair so blonde it verged on being white. “Thank you Master”
Stephen rolled off her. “I should be the one thanking you for that, and you don’t have to call me Master.”
She sat up and stretched her gorgeous body. “Of course Master.” she said with a sly grin.
Suddenly she frowned as a thought occurred to her. “Master, when you first told me about mind controllers, you told me that sometimes they get bored of their slaves and get rid of them. You…you won’t do that to me will you.” she said in a vulnerable little voice, looking down at her hands which were clenched tightly on her lap.
Stephen was surprised by her question, and also by how deeply afraid of the answer she seemed. Once more Stephen noted that it was going to take some getting used to this. He was responsible for her now. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder. “No, I would never get rid of you, and even if I wanted to I can’t do that anyways. That’s no longer possible.”
She looked at him with questioning eyes, “What do you mean it is not possible?”
Stephen explained how he created a shell around her mind that no one, not even he could penetrate. Not only could he not sever her ties to him, but no one else would ever manipulate her mind again.
She kissed and hugged him tightly, “Thank you Master!” She was so happy. Not just at knowing she will always be Master’s slave, but also in the assurance that she never had to worry about anyone touching her mind again. She let go of him and stood up. “OK, I should get breakfast started.” and she turned to leave.
Stephen grabbed her hand, stopping her as he too stood. “You go get cleaned up and dressed, I’ll make breakfast.” he said.
“But Master…” she started to protest, but Stephen cut her off.
“The movers will be here soon to empty the apartment and I don’t want them coming in and finding you naked.” He said. Then he smiled “Besides I like my bacon a little less black”
Her eyes narrowed and she held a finger in front of his face. “Fine, but I am taking a cooking class when we get to…” She stopped. “Hey where are we going?”
Stephen laughed. “We never had a chance to make plans when I got back with our new IDs last night. We just need to find someplace where we can relax while we make some longer term plans. Where would you like to go?”
She thought about it. “Someplace warm considering my clothing ‘allergy’.” she said “Oh! And near water. I still want to try swimming.” she said brightly.
Kerri was still smiling as she started to get dressed after her shower. She hadn’t been able to stop smiling. She couldn’t help it. Master had claimed her. He had also protected her mind from anyone fucking with it again. It also ensured she would always be Master’s slave. She was his slave and that was everything she wanted in the world. It was strange. Kerri thought that she should have some concerns or reservations, but she didn’t. It just was. Another thing she didn’t even have to think about. For the first time since Master awoke her in that motel room she felt whole. She felt complete
Kerri chose a Sage Green Tassel Mini Skirt. It had a high, fitted and darted waist that flowed seamlessly into an A-line skirt with a double tassel trim. It was so cute in Kerri’s opinion. She paired it with a tight white t-shirt with cap sleeves that followed her curves outlining the swell of her breasts. She finished off the look with a pair of three inch white mule slides. She put on some light mascara and lip gloss and ran a comb through her still damp hair. She looked at herself in the mirror, perfect she thought.
She skipped out to the living room and into the kitchen. It was empty. There was a pot of coffee with her cup next to it, but no other sign of breakfast being prepared. Confused, she went to Master’s bedroom, which was empty. So was his bathroom. Kerri checked his office last, empty. She stood there chewing on a strand of hair thinking what he might be doing, feeling his mind pull at hers. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew where he was going and what he was planning. She just didn’t know what she could do about it. She noticed a business card on the desk next to his laptop. She picked it up and looked at it. She made her decision and picked up the phone on the desk and dialed the number on the card.
Day 4: Agents Mathias & Kenny
Agent Mathias did not sleep well. He kept tossing and turning, unable to get the case out of his mind. The whole previous day had been a waste. Eventually shortly after 4AM he gave up and got out of bed. All he was going to accomplish if he stayed was to wake his wife.
Sitting on the couch in the living room in his boxers and t-shirt, he spread out the files from the case and started going through them. First, the picture of the blonde man, identity unknown. For the last two years some shit had been regularly taking women and psychically remodeling them into nymphos. The mousey little man in the picture had been identified with four of the victims. That made him a “person of interest” in FBI jargon. It made him the “prime suspect” in Mathias’s mind.
Next up, the missing persons report for one Miss Kerri Reynolds. Filed ten weeks before by her mother. 5′9″, blonde, fit, and beautiful enough to be a model. Last seen two weeks before walking across campus back to her sorority house. Why did it take so long to file the report he wondered, making a note to follow-up on that.
He moved to another picture of Kerri Reynolds. In this one she was doing a great impersonation of a porn star in the bathroom of Siren. An exclusive nightclub with $25 cocktails. He grimaced and turned that one over so he wouldn’t have to look at it. He had a daughter just a few years older than her. It disturbed him to think about it.
Next he picked up a picture of a young, dark haired man. Despite the DMV’s best attempt he still managed to look like a decent enough looking guy. Stephen O’Connor, a consultant, whatever that was. Young, wealthy, and attractive he arrived at Siren with a group of friends. A short time later he entered the restroom where Ms. Reynolds was putting on her performance.
After that, all the security cameras got turned off and no one knew why. Then Mr O’Connor and Ms Reynolds left the club without anyone seeing them, even the valet who would have had to retrieve his car. His car was seen running a red light several minutes later with Ms. Reynolds hanging out the window showing her assets to the world. Apparently she hadn’t gotten enough public exposure in the bathroom earlier. He picked up and glanced at the photo from the traffic light before putting it back down in a pile.
Then, they apparently took a room at a cheap motel. Although there was no evidence of it since the security cameras were again mysteriously turned off and the manager had no memory of either of them. The next morning the cameras did show that Mr. O’Connor went out and got them coffee and donuts for breakfast. Mathias looked at the photos taken from the motel security video showing him coming back with their breakfast.
Presumably full from their breakfast they then spent the afternoon buying Ms Reynolds a whole new wardrobe. Mathias picked up one of the many pictures they had gotten of the two shopping at boutiques. This was from their first stop. They were both wearing the same clothes from the night before. When they came out Ms. Reynolds had changed into a new outfit one of the female agents described as “totes cute”. She also opined that if Mr. O’Connor wanted to take her on a shopping spree she would be happy to go. Mathias understood. The total bill was north of five grand. He’d be lucky if he could afford to buy Molly a scarf in one of those stores.
After that…who knows. Apparently they both went back to Mr. O’Connor’s apartment and became involved in an intimate relationship if his partner’s insights were to be believed. And he had no reason to doubt Kenny’s abilities there.
So what was this mysterious Mr. O’Connor about? Was he just just some horny creep taking advantage of a brainwashed young girl like they’d seen with some of the other victims in this case? Was he a mind controller who somehow took control over her from the creep who fucked her up in the first place. His partner said that he couldn’t sense any power in O’Connor. Did that mean that there was none or that he could somehow hide it. He made another note to ask about that. He’d never heard of it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.
If he wasn’t a mind controller, what was going on with all the security tapes that kept getting turned off? What made all those men delete their pictures and go home? Why was Ms. Reynolds no longer behaving like a jackrabbit on viagra.
He sighed. He was just about to start over again when Molly came into the room pulling her bathrobe tight around her. “You’re worrying about the case aren’t you?” she said as she sat down next to him on the couch.
“I’m sorry I woke you. I came downstairs so I wouldn’t disturb you.” he apologized.
“I can never sleep unless you are in bed with me,” she said. “Too many years laying awake worrying when you were out on a stakeout or working under cover or something you wouldn’t tell me about.”
Mathias sighed. He generally tried to not bring his work home. He didn’t want her worrying about the shit he dealt with. He forgot, just being married to a cop brought its own special worries.
She picked up the picture of Kerri from the missing persons report. Thankfully she hasn’t seen the other pictures of her. “She’s pretty.” She said, “She doesn’t look too much younger than Kathrine. I don’t know what I would do if one of the kids were missing. I’d be beside myself with worry. I don’t think you would be able to get me out of the police station until they found them.”
Mathias thought about that. “You would do that wouldn’t you.” He picked up the missing persons report again. You certainly wouldn’t wait two weeks to report it to the police, he thought. Tomorrow he needed to go speak to the parents. “Thank you dear.” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “You just gave me the inspiration I needed to know what to do next.”
“Well,” she said standing, “With that taken care of and since both of us are awake early, why don’t we go back to bed?” Her eyes twinkled and a naughty smile crossed her lips. She reached down with one hand to take his and guide him up, while using the other to undo the belt on her robe.
Standing Mathias smiled a lecherous grin at his wife. “That’s the best offer I’ve heard in a long time.” He said while she led him back to bed.
It was now approaching one thirty and Mathias had decided that was the high point of his day. Kenny and he were just leaving their third interview for the day. The first had been the slightly tipsy for 11:30am former Mrs Reynolds, who was mostly interested in making sure her ex-husband had to keep paying child support even though their daughter was missing. Then they met Mr. Reynolds and the current Mrs. Reynolds. He was primarily interested in making sure he didn’t have to keep paying his ex-wife child support with their daughter missing. The current Mrs. Reynolds seemed primarily interested in what color beamer hubby was going to buy her, and didn’t seem to have a single thought about her step-daughter. Their last interview was with a group of sorority sisters who mostly seemed concerned about how they were going to keep their sorority’s standing without the queen-bee Kerri Reynolds.
Mathias was beginning to understand why O’Connor might think that Ms. Reynolds decided to take the opportunity to ditch the whole lot of them. Of course, nothing they told him about Kerri Reynolds had painted a very flattering picture of her either.
All in all everything they said was a colossal waste of time. What they remembered however, was another story. The interview with the former Mrs. Reynods had gone more or less as expected when you interview an alcoholic narcissist. Surprisingly she had revealed that two FBI agents, one male and one female, had been by the previous day asking similar questions. Initially Mathias thought they might be O’Connor and Reynolds, but her descriptions didn’t match that. Kenny agreed, her memories were not of those two. In fact he said, her memories of the male agent looked like they belonged on the cover of a romance novel. She had the barest of memories of the female agent.
They decided to push on and meet the father. After they came out Kenny confirmed they had been interviewed by two FBI Agents. Just not FBI agents that matched the previous Mrs. Reynolds view. Kenny said Mr Reynolds saw the male agent as a strong manly man like Cary Grant. The female agent, he just saw as a huge pair of boobs with no other details, The current Mrs. Reynolds had a clearer image of the female agent. She saw a strong, powerful woman in a pants suit with a short haircut. A powerful woman and a real ball buster. She thought the male agent looked like Tom Cruise, but taller.
Now they were leaving the third interview. Mathias prompted his partner “Well?” He asked
Kenny sighed, “same as the others, all different.” he replied.
Mathias thought about that as they got in their car to drive back to the office. “So you’re telling me he was able to keep five different illusions up and running at the same time? I admit I am not the expert, but my understanding is even keeping one illusion running would take all of a psychics concentration. But the bigger question is why. Why go to all the trouble of running different illusions for all these different people. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would certainly be simpler to just use the same image. I know that much”
Kenny grunted, “I don’t think he was running active illusions. I think I finally understand what he is doing.”
Mathias waited, his partner didn’t make guesses. He would need to wait till he had worked it through to his satisfaction before he shared his thoughts.
Eventually Kenny spoke.”I think he isn’t controlling minds. I think he is implanting…ideas? Like, “this person is what you think an FBI agent looks like” And then he lets the person’s mind fill in the details. That’s why everyone has different memories on what they look like. That’s why the little asian girl just now thought they looked like Moulder and Scully”
Mathias tried to process that. He didn’t really understand how psychics did what they did. Ultimately he understood he was a blind man trying to understand what the color red was. “Could you do it?” he asked.
Kenny mulled it over as they walked. “I think I could learn to do it with practice. If he is doing what I think, it’s very subtle, very sophisticated. It would be too easy to just overwhelm the mind. You need a great deal of control. I wonder how he learned it?”
Back at the office Mathias worked on a BLT sandwich his wife had packed him that morning. Making him a sandwich with bacon and not low fat turkey and some green weeds was a sign of how much stress she thought he was under. She was always going on about his cholesterol. And she was right too. About his cholesterol, but also about the stress. He was right back where he started this morning with no idea what to do next.
As he finished the last of his sandwich his telephone rang. He wiped his mouth, and answered it. There was only one person he would have been more shocked to have call him. He listened to what the voice said, wrote down an address, said “OK” and hung up.
Fifteen minutes later he and Kenny walked into a coffee shop around the corner from Mr. O’Connor’s condo. He noticed the person he was meeting immediately. Everyone in the shop was noticing her. She was sitting at a table stirring sugar into a coffee as they approached. She had shoulder length platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a clingy t-shirt that highlighted her impressive chest. She had a green mini skirt on with her legs crossed displaying a dangerous amount of tanned leg. Her every movement seemed sexual. He felt like a dirty old man just watching her sip her coffee. “Ms. Reynolds” he greeted her simply as he pulled out a chair and sat down across from her. Kenny likewise pulled a chair over so he could sit next to his partner facing her.
Mathias caught a grimace of distaste flash across her face when he said her name. “I’m not..” she started, then collected herself, “Just Kerri, please.” she stated.
Mathias looked at her, “You’re not what I was expecting.” he admitted.
She smirked at him “You were expecting a cum slut who couldn’t think beyond getting filled with cock?”
“I wouldn’t have put it that way myself.” he replied, feeling his face heat up. “But yeah, essentially.”
She smiled. “I was, I got better.” was all she said.
“You mean Mr. O’Connor did something to restore you to your old self.” Mathias probed.
She shook her head, “No, I am not who I was, but I am myself and that is enough for me.” She turned suddenly, fixing her blue eyes on Agent Kenny “And you can stop that. It isn’t possible any longer.”
Mathias could guess what happened. Kenny had tried to probe her mind, couldn’t, and she had felt it. “He shielded your mind too.” he said.
“Yes,” she said with a smug smile. “No one can touch it again.”
Matthias wondered how true that was. He knew even the best shields had holes and could be shattered by a strong enough psychic. Her voice sounded confident though.
Suddenly Kenny spoke. “He also made you his slave.”
Her eyes momentarily sparked with anger at his partner. “Yes,” she admitted. “After I asked him to do it. But that’s between him and me and not why I asked you here. I’ve been thinking about you since you visited the other day. I presume the FBI isn’t just interested in some college girl who was fucking in a club bathroom, even if a missing persons report had been filed. If that was all there was to this you would have told her parents she’s been spotted and was alive. I think that this is part of a bigger case. I don’t think I am the first girl this has happened to and you are looking for the asshole who is doing it.”
Mathias sat back. This girl was remarkably intelligent and perceptive. He nodded. “Over the last two years we have over a dozen girls who went through something much like yourself. They disappeared for a period of time and then showed up in public acting in a similar manner as you did at Siren. They haven’t gotten better though. In four of the cases the same man has been seen with the victim. We believe he may be the person responsible.”
Kerri described the suspect perfectly. Mathias had to control his excitement. This was the biggest potential break they had ever gotten. A victim who could describe the suspect. “What can you tell us about him?” he asked eagerly, getting his notepad out.
“Oh, I am going to do more than that.” she said, holding him with her big blue eyes. “I am going to lead you right to him, right now.” and with that she got up and started for the door.
It took a second for Mathias to process that. Then he had to jump up and rush to catch the girl who was already out the door.
She was standing on the sidewalk looking around “Which one is your car?” She asked when he got to her.
“Wait” he said, getting in front of her as Kenny came up behind. “What do you mean? You know where he is? Tell us and we will handle it”
“We don’t have time for this. You can either drive me and I’ll explain on the way or I’ll walk there and you can follow me. Your choice.” She waited tapping her foot with her arms crossed under her breasts thrusting them out at Mathias even more than they already did.
Mathias glanced at his partner. Kenny just shrugged his shoulders. Great, so helpful he thought. “OK fine,” he finally managed, “It’s the black sedan over there.”
They got in, Kerri sliding into the backseat. As soon as he pulled out she started giving directions like she was a general ordering troops, just expecting they would obey. Mathias thought this girl was used to people doing what she told them. After a bit Mathias started to get annoyed. She’d send them one way and then backtrack almost the whole way. He was about to say something when it dawned on him. “You don’t know where you’re going. You are honing in, trying to triangulate a position.”
She nodded before telling him to take the next right, “I can feel Master. The closer we get the stronger it gets.”
Kenny turned and looked at her, “It’s because you’re his slave. There is a connection…a bond between you. I’ve never seen it work from a slave to a master before. Normally only the master to his slaves so he knows where they are at all times.”
She nodded. “I don’t know any of that. All I know is that I can feel him.” She was quiet for a moment and then said “Last night the Asshole came to the apartment and attacked me. He tried to put me under his control again. It almost worked but Master stopped him. I’d been knocked unconscious so he stayed with me. He was pissed though, and wanted to go after him. When he disappeared from the apartment today I knew where he had gone. I don’t know how he knew where to go though”
“He likely snuck in a tracker on him.” Kenny said. “Works similar to your bond. Tricky business sneaking something like that into the mind of a psychic undetected, especially if they have shields,” his voice carried real respect and admiration for the last part.
Mathias looked at the girl in the rear view mirror. She just shrugged her shoulders “Whatever, you’re the expert. Now pull over and stop, we’re here.” She lifted her arm and pointed with one slim finger at a dilapidated looking single family house. The neighborhood had been homes for working class families at one time. Now they were mostly rentals for transients by absentee landlords whose only care for the property was that the rent was collected each week. Even in the general decay of the whole street, the house she was pointing at stood out. The paint wasn’t so much peeling as gone. The front porch sagged so much as to constitute a hazard to anyone standing near it.. Half the windows were broken. The rest were boarded up. The grass was high enough to hide small animals.
The three got out of the car. “Stay here.” he told the young blonde. She just looked at him. “Fine, but stay behind us. We don’t know what the situation is.” WIth that they all approached the front door which stood wide open. Mathias and Kenny drew their guns and peered inside. No one was in the living room.
Just as they were about to announce themselves a voice called out “It’s OK, we’re in the kitchen. There is no danger.” Mathias recognized the voice. It was O’Connor.
Kerri tried to rush past them but Kenny held out his arm blocking her. She just crossed her arms again and gave them a withering look that conveyed her frustration at what she considered needless caution. Mathias glanced at Kenny and Kenny nodded back. They proceeded towards the kitchen cautiously. They did not lower their guns.
The kitchen reeked of spoiled food. It was a grimy mess that hadn’t been cleaned in weeks if not months. Stephen O’Connor was casually leaning against the fridge wearing a dress shirt and suit pants that looked like he had slept in them. He also looked like he just ran a marathon. His hair was soaked and he had huge sweat stains under the arms.
On the ground a few feet from him was the blond person of interest. He was kneeling slumped over and didn’t seem to be reacting to anything. Kerri dashed past Mathias and Kenny and checked over O’Connor to make sure he was OK and satisfied he was, wormed her way under his arm, gave him a quick kiss and laid her head against his chest. He in turn hugged her posessively all the while keeping his blue eyes on Mathias. “You can put your guns away, he’s not going to hurt you.” he said addressing the agents.
Mathias shot him a look. “I’m not going to hurt you either.” he said, smiling that slick smile of his.
Mathias glanced at his partner and put his gun away. He walked towards the suspect while Kenny covered him. He lifted the man’s chin. His eyes were open, and unseeing. His mouth was slack and drool was coming from the corner. Mathias reached into his pocket and took out his flashlight. The suspect’s eyes didn’t react at all when he shined it at them. “What’s the matter with him?” he asked Kenny.
Kenny looked at the man. “He’s gone, he’s not there.” he said, sounding shocked.
“Can you fix it?” he asked, turning to look at Kenny.
“Fix what?” Kenny exclaimed. “I told you he’s not there. There is no higher brain function at all. It’s like whoever he was never existed.” He turned to look at O’Connor his face white with terror. “What did you do to him?” he asked.
O’Connor simply looked over at Kenny cooly. “I don’t know what you are talking about Agent Kenny. He was like that when I got here.”
Mathias jumped up “Now look here you little shit! I want to start getting some straight answers out of you.”
“Really Agent Mathias? You’ve solved a missing persons case. She is an adult and has told you she is fine and has no intention of returning to her prior life. You have a suspect in custody, who, though having suffered a complete mental breakdown, is probably going to let you close dozens more cases. Maybe more because there is a girl in the basement that still has her memories of who she is and what has been done to her. Be gentle with her, he was not. Lastly, there is no evidence connecting me to illegal activity at all.” He paused, “Take the win Agents”
Agent Mathias let his finger drop. O’Connor was unfortunately right. He had nothing to hold either of them on. There is nothing to stop an adult from walking away from their family and friends. Even if she didn’t seem willing, there was nothing they could do to prove coercion by O’Connor. The worse they could charge him with was what, trespassing for being in the house. He was sure O’Connor had a thousand dollar an hour lawyer on retainer. The charges would be dropped before he finished processing his intake.
“You could come help us. None of the other girls has made the slightest recovery. You did something to help her.” Mathias said with a wave of his chin at Kerri. “The FBI can use more people with your talents too,” he said waving at his partner who had put his gun away. “It’s not that bad”
“Oh really?” he questioned sardonically. He turned to look at Kenny. “Agent Kenny, want to drop your shields so I can see what little controls and triggers have been implanted in your mind?” They stared at each other for a few seconds. “That’s what I thought. Agent Mathias, are we free to go or are you detaining us?”
Agent Mathias just waved them towards the door. They moved as one, the girl looking like she never planned to leave the nook of his arm. “Oh, one more thing O’Connor…”
O’Connor turned and looked back over his shoulder at the agent. “Yes, Agent Mathias?” He inquired.
“If you ever show up on my radar again, I’ll have your ass.”
“Understood agent. I have no intention of ever showing up on anyone’s radar ever again. With that the two walked out of the house.
Agent Mathias turned back to his partner and the suspect, who still hadn’t moved. “Call the techies and let’s start getting this mess processed.”