The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

The Sheriff and her Deputy had done enough preliminary groundwork as research that they knew where they wanted to go, and who they wanted to interview. They had asked around town, they had observed, they had remembered what Kara had told them; and paying close enough attention to the new Haigure Shop they had been advised of, had given them an idea of the key players, or at least, the people they first wanted to speak to.

They had observed the shop, from outside, well enough over the course of a few days to know who worked inside it and where they might be found in the town of Rosedale. There was Mrs. Cromwell; and Mrs. Connelly; and her 18-year-old daughter who still lived at home.

She did not work in the shop, nor had they yet seen her enter it, but they had seen Mrs. Connelly walk, sometimes after a shift, to the high school to pick her daughter up; they had noticed she wore a leotard in the same style as the store’s two employees; and this had made them curious to speak with and question her too, to get a better idea of what the store was all about, to suss out if it was really a threat as Kara had said.

They were also quite interested in speaking to Mrs. Chase, because they’d seen Mrs. Connelly go over to her house more than once and stay there for a few hours; and they had noticed, when they’d seen her, that she also wore a leotard; so they wanted to speak to her, as well. Four leads to start with was pretty good, Bethany thought; and they hoped to speak to each one of them before their interviewing process was over.

Bethany had felt a slight pang of guilt in watching Rosedale citizens going about their lives, not knowing they were being watched; particularly she felt guilty for those times that the watching had happened after the Sheriff’s office hours, when she’d watched in the late afternoon as Mrs. Connelly had gone to pick up her daughter; or when Mrs. Connelly had gone over to Mrs Chase’s house. If someone had been watching her, Bethany, they might have thought she had a fixation with Mrs. Connelly.

But she had justified it to herself; Kara had expressed to them that whatever this threat was, it was high priority, and as active as Mrs. Connelly was, going to and from houses, if this truly were a threat, it seemed possible she might be a vector of it, so it had made sense to follow her. It had yielded useful information in the end, so Bethany could forgive herself for being a little unethical.

So on Wednesday, Bethany and Ashley left the Sheriff’s office together. They closed the door, locked it up and put a sign on the door— gone on Sheriff’s business; with no time of return indicated, so they could be out indefinitely for the day without having to worry about it. Rosedale was a slow crime town; hardly anything nefarious ever happened there and it was so rare that the Sheriff’s office close, Bethany thought the town’s citizens could get by for the day. At least, that was how she justified it to herself. She had a pretty clear conscience about doing it, which was what enabled her to proceed.

They had gotten up bright and early on Wednesday morning, before the opening of the shop; before either Mrs. Cromwell or Mrs. Connelly even left their houses for it; both Bethany and Ashley had gotten a good night’s sleep the night before, so they were well-prepared for what was ahead.

Under other circumstances, they might have split their task in half, one taking one house’s interview, and the other taking the second’s; then meeting up again to go to the third house together. But they had agreed, and Bethany still thought it had been the right conclusion— what they were looking into was so important that they didn’t want to overlook any important detail, in any of the interviews they did; so they wanted two sets of eyes on everything. Thus, they would go and do all interviews jointly, even if that meant things went a little more slowly than they otherwise would have.

Still, to be slightly more efficient about what they were doing, they were going to the house that had two interviewees in it, as opposed to either of the houses which had only one; the Connellys’ place.

It was only 6:30 in the morning when they knocked on the Connellys’ door; but Bethany knew the Connellys’ to be early risers; where Mrs. Cromwell and Mrs. Chase were a bit later to get up on a quotidian basis.

As expected, Mrs. Connelly answered the door promptly to their knocking, nor did she look tired when she reached it.

“Mrs. Connelly,” Bethany said. “Do you have a little time to speak to us about your volunteer position at the Haigure Shop? And does your daughter?”

Mrs. Connelly lit up, as if she had been waiting an incredibly long time for someone to ask her just that question. “Please come in,” she invited. “Of course I do! And so does Lily, I’ll get her down here with us too.”

They both followed her inside, to the living room, and each took an armchair; both Bethany and Ashley took out their notepads and pens; both still preferring what was older and low-tech to what might be faster and high-tech. They could literally compare their notes after; they would miss nothing, with two sets of eyes to dedicate to what they were doing in seeking what they sought. At least, that was their agreed upon hope.

Mrs. Connelly and Lily returned. Lily sat on the couch between the armchairs.

“Actually, as it turns out, the two of you aren’t my first guests today,” Mrs. Connelly said, still standing. “Mrs. Chase came over for coffee early today; would you like to speak to her too? I could tell her to leave her mug on the table and to come in and join us?”

Bethany and Ashley shared a look. To find not two but three of their interviewees there, at their first stop, was luck they could not have hoped for.

“Yes,” Bethany spoke up— her professional habits keeping her in her training well enough not to let her overeagerness shine through. “Please tell her to come in.”

Mrs. Connelly nodded once and disappeared back towards her kitchen; then returned from it with Mrs. Chase; both the older women sat on the couch, next to Lily.

“Do you have any questions for us, Sheriff?” Lily Connelly asked brightly, once everyone was sitting.

“I’d just like you to tell me, in your own words, how you feel about the new Haigure shop, and its role in your life,” the Sheriff replied, in as patient of a voice as she could invoke.

Mrs. Connelly spoke first. “I love it,” she said; she had no training to abate her eagerness, she spoke so fast she practically leapt upon the final syllable of the Sheriff’s speech. “I love having something to volunteer at, something to give me purpose, to direct my time towards. And I really believe in what the shop stands for. Happiness, peace, the promotion of well-being. And, well, Sheriff, if I may be frank— the celebration of pleasure, of feeling good in one’s body and pleasuring in it. Pleasuring in being embodied.”

Mrs. Connelly had said little but her meaning had been clear enough— that the act of having a body, of being inside one and using was an act worthy of celebration, that simply experiencing it with focus was a way of doing this, and something that could give pleasure. She had clearly spoken simply of it because she understood it on a level that was so intuitive.

Bethany thought of Mrs. Connelly’s description again… Pleasure in being embodied. When described that way, what Mrs. Connelly spoke of sounded almost beautiful.

“Mrs. Chase,” Ashley prompted for her, while she herself was still reflecting on what she had last heard.

“I don’t volunteer at the shop so I can’t speak to that,” Mrs. Chase said. “I just go in and take part in the sessions they hold. But I enjoy that very much; there’s something wonderful about being together with a lot of other bodies, moving together— knowing the way you move is giving you all better health; helping you all improve together. I really do believe in what Haigure stands for too— but it benefits me more than I serve it. I admire both Mrs. Connelly and Mrs. Cromwell for being of such service to it.”

It was a different answer; different in character just as Mrs. Chase was different as a woman… Bethany felt as if she was staring at a string of indecipherable text. In here, there was supposed to be a threat, but though she tried and tried to read it, it would not surrender its secrets… she could not see the threat.

Here were two women devoted to self-improvement; and devoted to helping other women find it too. What was there to fear? The method might have been a little unorthodox… and judging by how revealing the leotards were when they were worn, the Sheriff knew that she herself would never want to wear one of her own… but she found nothing worthy of judgement or rebuke. Certainly nothing worthy of censure or arrest.

Perhaps the third interviewee could shed more light on the so-far illegible text. Bethany turned to her. “And you, Lily? What do you think of it?”

“I really believe in what Haigure stands for too, Sheriff,” Lily chimed. “Like Mom, and Mrs. Chase. I like the way it makes me feel good in my body, too— like Mom said first; but Kara’s mom is also right, when it makes me feel so good in my body, I know it’s benefiting me. It feels good but it’s doing something that’s good for me too. And I’m glad it’s catching on at my school, so all my classmates can feel as good-feeling as I do all the time. And can be helped the way I’m being helped. So that they can enjoy being in their bodies like I do.”

They spoke of the thing like it was more than an exercise regimen— like it was more than a self-help method. They spoke of it like it was a way of life, with something that was nearly religious fervor. They had said no words so extreme; but it was all in the words they weren’t saying, or had not yet said.

Lily’s last words hung around them; there for them all to sit with and reflect on. Ashley raised her eyebrow; a characteristic action Bethany knew well. “And the leotards help with this? They’re an important part of it?”

It was the kind of question that Bethany herself wouldn’t have thought of— but it made her glad she’d brought Ashley with her— to fill in the blanks that she couldn’t see for herself. To rectify her blind spots and ignorances. It was why they made such a good team.

“Oh yes,” Mrs. Connelly said, emphatically. “Haigure is all about transforming your mindset for the better,” she began. “And when I wear my leotard, it reminds me of everything I’m learning, all the new strategies for better perspective, and that just makes it feel so good against my skin. Isn’t that true, Lily?”

Lily nodded eagerly. “Yes, Mom. You said it perfectly.”

Mrs. Chase nodded but said nothing.

They were keeping their answers simple and easy to understand; or there was some deeper mystery they didn’t yet want to reveal. Bethany could feel her suspicion becoming engaged— she still didn’t see the threat, but they spoke so quickly, seeming reluctant to give away anything of real substance. They were holding back, and Bethany wanted to know more.

Or could her curiosity be traced back to some other purpose…?

She sat still poised with her pencil in hand, not quite setting it to her paper— there was nothing threatening, or even that strange in anything either Mrs. Connelly or her daughter, or Mrs. Chase had said so far. Was this the threat for which Kara had so fervently warned her? For which she had stumbled desperately into her Bethany’s office, and begged help? She sat quietly for a minute, looking closely at first Mrs. Connelly, then next her daughter, and finally Kara’s mother. She was trying to see if there was anything she was missing, anything she was overlooking.

They all looked happy, and good-natured. Patient, waiting for further questions, but more than thrilled to be speaking with their interviewers. There was not so much as a shadow, not one dark look— not a glint in an eye.

While she sat looking, for the moment none of them were speaking, so what surrounded was mostly silence.

There was only one sound. That sound was ambient, background, sometimes tinkling— clearly, Mrs. Connelly liked keeping music playing in the house in the mornings.

The music was easy to tune out; but even only half-listening, Bethany found she liked it a lot. Or had it been all the time, and she’d only been tuning it out until just this second, for some reason? The music was peaceful, the kind of thing one would listen to meditating; or while trying meditating— naturally conducive to relaxation. It was nice to have on in the background. It should have alarmed Bethany, maybe, that she hadn’t noticed it until now, or that it seemed to be having such a tangible effect on her.

But listening now seemed to give her that heavy feeling which she typically associated with taking a nap; those rare times she did on weekends to try to make up for the fact that she sometimes didn’t sleep all that well at night. She couldn’t sleep here; now; but she was very aware of her eyelids, their weight, raw weight in keeping them up. Very aware of the warmth starting to seep into her body; nothing of this alarmed her, though she thought it possibly should. The warmth was touching even her erogenous zones… was this what Mrs. Connelly had meant when she’d spoken of being embodied leading to pleasure… that phrase had seemed to stick in her mind… and thinking of wearing a leotard now… it was still embarrassing, but this time part of her was curious— waking up, rolling over, looking… she… wondered.

All of this was temporarily distracting her from her interview though, and she was just in the process of trying to rouse herself when the front door of the house opened— and the fourth interviewee they were going to seek next, to their luck, presented herself. Mrs. Cromwell had just come in.

“I was just coming over to help you two ladies get where you’re going this morning—” Her eyes caught on the Sheriff and the Deputy. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Sheriff… or you, Deputy. And Mrs. Chase, I didn’t know you’d be here either.”

“We were just asking the three of them about Haigure,” Ashley said. “Would you like to add anything to the conversation?”

Bethany was, not for the first time, grateful for Ashley. She was an excellent second in command, and made up for the inherent personal failings and flaws of her number one; Bethany had still been sitting there, coming back from her brief reverie, but Ashley had already gotten herself to the point, moving things forward as they needed to be moved.

Mrs. Cromwell looked thrilled at the invitation. “Of course. I really believe in it, you know. I’m the one who opened the store; I was only lucky enough that Mrs. Connelly here was so kind that she offered to volunteer and help out at the store. It saved me having to hire on any other staff. And of course we always enjoy having Mrs. Chase as a participant in our group sessions.”

Bethany had at last caught up to what was happening after drifting away for a moment. “What led you to open the store?” Then she thought of something else to add. “Where do you get the leotards?” Kara had seemed to view them as something sinister; and for the moment, their origin was as yet unknown.

“Haigure came into my life,” Mrs. Cromwell said, plainly, as if this could somehow be explanation enough. “And it made me so happy; it made my body feel good all the time—” Mrs. Cromwell hadn’t been present for the earlier part of the interview, so she couldn’t know it, but she’d just spoke of it in the same way as the others, going on about body sensations, especially where those sensations were pleasing— Bethany didn’t miss it, she noted it mentally, but didn’t take the time to write it.

Mrs. Cromwell continued speaking. “—filled me with the most wonderful emotions. I just wanted to share it with everyone I could. That was why I opened the store. As for the source of the leotards, I get them directly from the person who makes them. She gives them to me no charge; she believes in what Haigure stands for too, so she just gives them to me. The store makes a good profit since there’s nothing expensed in acquiring the product. I don’t run the shop to make a profit, though. I would do it as a free community association, if opening a store hadn’t worked out. I believe in spreading its message that much.”

There was zeal in Mrs. Cromwell’s face; it had been there, too, when Mrs. Connelly and when Lily had spoken; and when Mrs. Chase had spoken too. They all believed fervently in Haigure, clearly. Religious fervor had been the right term, before, when Bethany had thought of it. It was a way of life for them all; it would be the same with probably all exercise group participants, and all store clientele. Choosing these four as a cross-section had been right; it seemed to have given them a pretty useful general understanding of what was going on.

The four of them were enthusiastic about the store, about its group events, about their leotards— about the mindsets that apparently went with them. Likely anyone else in town also wearing a leotard would be the same.

Bethany still wasn’t seeing the threat. It hardly was a threat, nor a danger to others, to believe strongly in something, especially if that something was a particular kind of self-improvement. Haigure didn’t sound so bad to her… she had a vague positive impression of it when she reflected on it, actually. Surprising— considering she had spent almost no time thinking about it before doing this interview.

There was something niggling in her mind, though— something that disrupted that resting sense of peace, that positive appreciation. Mrs. Cromwell hadn’t named a name— hadn’t explained exactly who her source was. And she had neither explained how Haigure had come into her life. Like with the others, she seemed to be holding something back, speaking only simply, in small-details.

Or Bethany was longing more deeply for greater information on these things for personal reasons than she even had before. It didn’t discomfort her to think so— there was something personal going on here, for her, she couldn’t deny that anymore… but did she really secretly wish she could be wearing a leotard herself?

How could she want something so much that she’d barely known the existence of a day before? And really, it would be improper… to wear a leotard instead of her work uniform… but it seemed that, maybe at least a little… she did.

Bethany looked more closely at the four women, now all sitting on Mrs. Connelly’s couch. It was wide enough to accommodate them all. There was something about the way they held their bodies there, as they sat. None of the four of them were completely still; each one seemed to shimmer, and waver in place; a slight, near-imperceptible shake in each one; as if something had to keep them moving all the time— they were constantly shimmying in their leotards… and those leotards were revealing things, the Sheriff was just noticing in more detail, or was perhaps allowing her to look… Mrs. Connelly’s breasts— Mrs. Cromwell’s breasts, Mrs Chase’s breasts… all sets were nearly revealed by the leotard’s strips of fabric; sitting, their vaginas were shown by their leotards’ bases— the way they were shimmying; it was almost like there was something unbearable they had to bear, something constantly touching them, playing at them, and it was so powerful they couldn’t sit still while it did… Bethany felt a tickle of something when she thought that. She didn’t know why.

“Do you want to be more specific?” Bethany asked. “About how Haigure came into your life? About exactly who is making these leotards for you, free of charge?”

Mrs. Cromwell smiled, and shook her head. “No, I don’t think I do want to. It’s just after 7 am; Mrs. Connelly and I need to go get the store ready for the day, and Lily has to be ready for school. And I’m sure Mrs. Chase also has places to be and things to do.”

Bethany understood the cue well. Ashley seemed to understand too. “We can finish our interview here,” Ashley assured them all. “Thank you, we’ll be on our way.”

Sheriff and Deputy went outside together. “Where next, Sheriff?” Ashley asked.

Bethany was still feeling a bit drowsy. The tickle had not entirely departed from between her thighs. She shook her head to make herself focus. “I didn’t hear anything alarming, certainly nothing criminal, though I did notice a few details we can discuss later. But I think, based on what Kara told us, if we want to find something actually threatening, we should consider going onto the Rosedale University Campus… if we want to find something more substantial. From what she said, it sounded like whatever allegedly nefarious activity was more concentrated there.”

Ashley nodded; she was good at picking up Bethany’s slack, making up for her deficits, but Bethany was the one who often had insights and impulses that led to the very heart of a case.

The two of them made quick progress to the Rosedale campus; there was certainly more to see there; freestanding speakers spaced out, placed everywhere outside; the music they were playing was pleasing to the Sheriff… like something she had heard before, though she couldn’t quite remember where, or when. And everyone, almost every last person, was wearing leotards.

They came down further along an outdoor walkway— at that point, there was a small, outdoor ampitheater, not empty. At the base of that, so down the slope from them, was a girl with red hair, standing talking to another group of girls; these figures were the only ones not in leotards that the Sheriff or the Deputy had so far seen.

They approached, to get themselves close enough to hear. The figures didn’t notice them.

“—thanks for your interest in joining our takedown group. We need all the help we can get; I’m glad you found our group’s message, and that you were able to find today’s rotating meeting location. We can’t be careful enough— take these earbuds, put them in right now— and we’ll get you to come to our next meeting and then we can further plan.”

The redheaded girl held out earbuds to each fully-dressed girl in the group that faced her; there were probably five girls around her, and she had a set for each.

The girls put their earbuds in their ears; then just… stood there… the redheaded girl looked at them, as if she’d expected to see this happen; surveying a known outcome. She’d expected them just to stand there… but there was… a little of that zeal Bethany had seen before, coming onto their faces.

Everything was interrupted then; apparently the meeting location hadn’t be so secret, as the redheaded girl had seemed to believe. A group of girls in leotards had spotted the redhead, and they charged her— one of them held a leotard in her hands, and the others were running the redhead down, chasing her out of the amphitheater; the five girls with the earbuds were not chased— just stayed standing there—

No time to waste, Bethany and Ashley together chased after the running group, and having caught up to them, Bethany drew her gun, and so waved them off with it; Ashley helped the redheaded girl up from where she’d fallen on the ground. If they had not gotten there in time, the group would have held her down and forced the leotard onto her.

Here, finally was something actually threatening— something bordering criminal but— where was Bethany’s shock? Where was her natural distaste for crime? She could see some of the threat Kara had warned her of her— but she felt very at peace about it. Somehow, she still wasn’t worried about it at all.

“Thanks,” the girl said, as Ashley helped her up. “It gets pretty dangerous around here these days.”

“I see that,” the Deputy said; her voice was kind— but that placidness that Bethany felt seemed written on her face too.

The girl looked at them. “You’re the Sheriff and Deputy from in town, right?” She was up to standing now.

“We are,” Bethany confirmed.

The girl withdrew two pairs of earbuds. “You better take these, then; to protect yourselves— and we— the group I’m representing— we can explain later.”

Bethany hesitated; there was something about what she’d seen that was bothering her. The music; the things that had been said in the interview… the way those five girls had stayed standing, still and staring… as if these earbuds would not protect but do something else…

But Bethany just felt such peace inside… and part of her, even if it feared some unknown effect, already seemed to want that effect— wanted to take the chance.

She took the earbuds; Ashley did too.

Once they were in Bethany’s ears; she recognized it as the music that was all around; that she’d heard all day, but louder— it wasn’t only making her sleepy this time. It was making her feel erotically charged in a clear way.

She listened… close enough… to know what she had to do. She and Ashley should go back to the office. They didn’t have to worry about anything anymore. They could listen for just a while… until they were ready to go to the Haigure store in town, and get leotards of their own.

The takedown group were all together, in someone’s empty dorm room. None of them had had the heart to go out that day; the surrounding onslaught was just too much.

The only person they were missing was Jaime; she’d gone to check the meet-up spot for any new recruits. For the moment they were all sitting in silence. Kara didn’t know how the rest of them were feeling, but she herself was just a bit shaken up; more than a bit. That thing that had opened up inside of her the evening before when she Alexa had fucked— for there could be no other word for it— was still there. That craving inside belonging only to her, coming only from her, that part of her that seemed to genuinely want Haigure. That got turned on at the thought of it.

Things had felt a little weird between her and Alexa all day, since then. And even now the takedown group was sitting in silence.

That was the state they were in when the door came open, producing a flushed, and panting Jamie who looked like she’d run all the way there.

“Jamie,” Jessica exclaimed in alarm; there were so few of them, it seemed they were all genuinely coming to care for each other.

“Were there any new recruits at the meetup spot?” Kara asked. She still cared about the others in the group, but they weren’t as bad as she was. She had a lot of self-loathing for herself now; now that she knew what kind of person she really was, and what she was holding inside. The others were clean, not like her— they didn’t have it inside, like she did; even Alexa was better and she had been the one dragging her down.

Jamie shook her head once. “No recruits, and I waited a while. But I think some of our enemies might have found us out, at least this time— we’ll change the meetup spot tomorrow— a Haigure group chased me. They would have stripped me down and forced me into a leotard. I was lucky to get away. I outran them.”

“It’s getting more dangerous all the time,” Zoe said, shaking her head. “That’s why we all decided to stay put in here today; the other dorm-mates are out and we can all stay here safely the entire day through.”

Jamie nodded, looking relieved. She came to sit down on the floor with some of the others; Kasumi, Alexa, Zoe and Kara were all down on the floor. In Kara’s opinion, she didn’t deserve a proper seat. Jessica was the only one sitting up on the sofa; now with Jamie, there were five down and one up. Once Jamie was sitting, she seemed to breathe easier.

They might all have settled into silence then, but the door opened once more.

The ones who came through this time were completely unexpected arrivals; it was Barbara— and in all the craziness of the past few days, the pain of losing Rose… Kara had forgotten Barbara, her other closest friend, her other oldest friend… she’d forgotten that Barbara was still free and unconverted, and even now, she was clearly still free: she was wearing regular clothes, not a leotard.

The second figure, and there were only two of them, was someone Kara didn’t know as well. Isabel— Kara knew she was on the swim team, and didn’t know much else about her. They weren’t personal friends. But Isabel was wearing real clothes, too— so the appearance of the these wasn’t frightening— or it wouldn’t have been, if they didn’t both look like they’d seen an awful terror.

“You’re all against Haigure, aren’t you?” Barbara asked urgently.

Every member of the takedown group had sat up much straighter at this unforeseen development.

“We saw your posters,” Isabel said.

“And I knew the group had to be associated with Kara,” Barbara said, looking to her. Isabel shut the door behind them. “I remembered when you tried to warn us— before Rose came over to the table and started talking Haigure up, all those days ago.”

“What’s happened?” Zoe asked— her voice was urgent.

“We want to be against Haigure now,” Barbara said; she got down on the floor facing the takedown group— lowering onto hands and knees first, and then settling back on her haunches.

Isabel got down a bit more gracefully, but she sat herself next to Barbara facing the takedown group in the back of the room, too. “We saw— it was terrible—” this last was not spoken but sobbed in one escape.

“Barbara’s in the science club,” Isabel said— she seemed more composed than Barbara. “Another member of the swim team is in the science club and on the swim team too— Kiari— and so Barbara usually comes to watch our swim practices, so she and Kiari can go work on science club one on one after; or sometimes call impromptu science club meetings afterwards; so I see her a lot, we get along.”

The takedown group leaned forward, all listening intently. Isabel was clearly only getting started.

“So she came to swim practice today, like always, and she was sitting watching on the benches—” Isabel swallowed. “But something was off right away— when our swim coach came out, she wasn’t wearing a swimsuit, she was wearing one of those leotards, and she’d set up one of those standing speakers in the pool room that are set up all over campus. That weird music was playing out of it that makes you feel so… so…”

Despite her better composure than Barbara’s, Isabel seemed at a loss for words. But Kara knew how that music was, though she could no longer hear it herself; just thinking of it now, slipping into the swim team’s minds, into Barbara’s mind too, slowly corrupting them… it was quintessential part of the invasion’s spread, and Kara thought of it now— and felt her underwear dampen. She was getting wet just thinking of it— subliminals whispering in minds, changing them.

A few of the other takedown group members shifted uncomfortably, too. Was she not the only one, then, who was so sick inside?

Alexa spoke up. “That was what it was like for me,” she said. “I just showed up to track practice, one day, and our coach was in a leotard and she had all those speakers put up… and leotards for everyone.”

Kara couldn’t even entirely be alarmed by the look she saw in Alexa’s eyes when she looked. She looked longing, wistful… as if she wanted to be at that track practice again, hearing the music— not barred from it by the earbuds that were protecting her, even if she resented them now for her own reasons.

Isabel seemed to find language again. “She told us all to stand and do stretches for a while first,” Isabel went on, her voice starting to waver; she was shivering— Barbara was too.

Kara swallowed, trying to swallow down her arousal— imagining all those slim swim team girls stretching their bodies out by the side of the pool, as the subliminal brainwashing pounded their skulls… imagining the coach in her leotard, getting pleasured by it— rewarded by it— as she held the leotards for the team and watched— Kara’s pussy was throbbing now, and she clenched her thighs together to try and stop it.

There was too much heat there— she almost needed to touch— but she was among friends, they didn’t want to see her like that, not as a sexual being— but they all looked uncomfortable in the same way… and Barbara, who had to actually see it— it looked like it was even worse with her. She looked more flushed than Isabel, but she was shivering too.

“The music made me feel strange, while we were stretching,” Isabel said. “Getting all stretched out… preparing our muscles… I felt something in my mind was getting ready, too… and my body… there was more than just a glow of exercise in it. It was glowing because I…”

Isabel swallowed. “I was getting turned on.”

“It had to be the music,” Barbara echoed. “I noticed feeling that way around campus too, and I felt it there when I was watching. Like I just wanted to… touch myself.”

There was heavy breathing in the room all around; and everyone was so caught up in the story, it seemed, that they didn’t care about propriety anymore.

Kara felt her hand creep; it had found her softness, her wetness, and she could not have held herself back with her other arm— she started stroking at herself with alternating fingers. She couldn’t look from the two storytellers, but she had a feeling the rest of the group was doing the same. They were all breathing heavy in the same way… now they must all be touching themselves in the same way as they watched the story be told.

“Once we were done stretching,” Isabel said; she was sweating now. “The Coach said that we were going to change the team uniform. We weren’t going to wear swimsuits anymore. We were going to wear leotards.”

It was a new flame of passion in Kara’s secret place. She doubled in lubrication and her fingers found a way to scramble faster; and the pleasure was like the pleasure from the previous afternoon. Taking her to greater heights than she’d ever seen— but wrong. So wrong.

And so better.

There were other slapping noises; Kara dared to look; she was too caught up in the pleasure now for anything to shake her from it.

Yes, they were all masturbating, looking desperate like she felt— Jessica, Zoe, Kasumi, Jamie— Alexa; Isabel’s mentioning the leotards directly had only made it hotter. It was horrible to think— one more space invaded, more people lost to Haigure… but so, so undeniably hot. Kara masturbated harder, unable to hold back; her whole body moved with every breath; they raised her up and dropped her down, and the pleasure under her hand kept improving.

“Then Coach ordered us all to strip naked there, on the pool deck.” Isabel shivered again. “I knew it was wrong… it shouldn’t be happening… but my mind was just so foggy, and all I could think about was how erotic it would be to get naked because I was ordered too—”

Kara and some of the others gasped, only getting more worked up still; the story was getting more arousing; and so were they…

“I tried to fight,” Isabel nodded to herself. “I could still think, a little, if I really tried, but the music seemed to drown out every thought in my head. The others seemed less able to fight than I was— they all got naked, right when the Coach said to, just stripped out of their swimsuits right there.”

Kara pictured it— the entire swim team, all those beautiful lithe and sleek bodies getting naked. It was almost enough to make her come, but something seemed to be holding her back, something in her mind, and she didn’t know what…

“Then Coach walked around, and started passing out the leotards.”

The takedown group cried out their pleasure as one as the concept connected to their six separate touching. Kara felt a faceless member of them now— she was only the pleasure; the same as the others.

“All the naked girls put them on,” Isabel added; her fingers had finally crept beneath her waistband, and Kara watched as though hypnotized as her fingers rippled under her soft pants, moving beneath to touch her; when she looked to Barbara, she saw her pretty obviously touching herself under her skirt, too.

Isabel’s voice was a bit breathy as she spoke on— a little more hitching, while she was touching herself. “As soon as they were wearing them they all seemed to…” her breath stuttered; she convulsed a bit against her own hand. “Orgasm,” she got out.

“But Barbara was still there,” Isabel said, almost in disappointment. “She came running down from the benches, and took me by the arm, pulled me out of there.”

“Then we came over here.”

The story was over; the magic was gone; Kara felt disappointed and she knew the rest of the group must have, too. She knew what it would have taken to come. She’d needed to hear about Isabel stripping naked— putting on her own leotard— needed to hear Isabel tell her how good the thing felt to wear.

But of course that would have been impossible; because Isabel was here telling the story, not in a leotard.

They all reluctantly, a bit abashedly, stopped touching themselves.

“Well,” Kara said, the one who found her voice first. “We’re glad to have you both join us.”

Jessica was next to speak. “Your idea from yesterday, Kara… we need to infiltrate one of those group meetings. If there was some way one of us could blend in…”

Jamie had carefully, quietly slipped two sets of earbuds, one to each new members. She’d said nothing— only tapped the earbuds in her own ears by way of explanation, and Barbara and Isabel were slipping them into their own ears.

“The swim-team’s suits aren’t that far off,” Isabel volunteered. “I could get one for somebody, and they could wear it in to wherever you’re trying to infiltrate. With some science club help… I would have asked Kiari to adjust it to make it look closer, but… we still have one science club member… we still have… Barbara… Kiari’s— lost—”

The sadness came through— maybe sadness enough to make Isabel cry— but it was a good suggestion.

“Me,” Kara said. “We can get the swimsuit ready, then I’ll wear it— I’ll be the one— I’ll go—”

She hated herself enough now she didn’t care what risks she took.

“We’ll get the suit ready then,” Isabel said, and Barbara nodded.

The others looked relieved; they may all have found a sexual interest in Haigure, but the rest of them seemed afraid of getting too up close to it. They lacked the bravado that Kara had; had had when she used to only be a reporter.

Kara nodded. “I’ll get in to tomorrow’s meeting.”

“We’ll go get everything ready,” Barbara said; the entire takedown group stood. “And we’ll have it for you tomorrow.”

But Alexa spoke up before they could quite leave. “You’d better make enough swimsuits for all of us. I know Kara likes being the hero; taking the risks; but this is too risky. If Jamie’s near escape from the Haigure chasers has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t afford to go off on our own anymore. If we’re infiltrating the meeting tomorrow, we’ve all got to go in together.”

The others all looked like they regretted the idea of having to go into the meeting after all; of having to face Haigure up close as they had not wanted to before, however tempted they all might have been by it personally.

Kara couldn’t argue with Alexa’s comment. No one else seemed able to, either— so in answer to this silence, Barbara spoke again. “I’ll make enough for all of us, then. All 8.”

All 8— Barbara and Isabel didn’t know about Steph and Selina, and Kara almost spoke up to ask for 10. But then she preferred the alternative— she owed them the alternative. They spent all day long trying to avoid getting drawn in to the Haigure meetings at their school It wouldn’t be fair to make them attend one after hours; and even if all 8 of them went, this was still more dangerous sabotage even than they’d done before, when they’d used their guerrilla tactics around campus. It was better to leave this spying just to the 8 older members; there were other ways Steph and Selina could help.

“All 8,” Kara confirmed, and the takedown group meeting was disbanded.

Steph and Selina were tired after yet another schoolday. As they had reported to Kara the day before, they weren’t even bothering to go to classes anymore. They were just spending their days dodging places they were supposed to be and avoiding the leotard wearers who seemed to be encroaching from all sides; hiding under stairs, lingering in bathrooms when they could find ones empty, and not in use by fucking faculty members or students. Sometimes those fucked in hallways instead and left the bathrooms empty.

But it was exhausting staying on the move all day and there seemed fewer hiding spots each time; they felt like the last two students, maybe even the last two people in the entire school who hadn’t been converted.

With the earbuds they didn’t have to hear the music anymore but they had to see, see all those leotards and find the things inside themselves which liked them. Kara had comforted them and Steph had thought of it all day. It wasn’t their fault, they couldn’t blame themselves... but it was hard for Steph to accept herself, anyway, knowing that she responded to the annihilation of the others she saw, and the symbol of that annihilation, that ending of freedom— the leotard. The fact that seeing it made her wet... it said nothing good about her.

They had reached Selina’s house and were just ready to go inside; but Selina was the first one to freeze. There was a light on in the front window. Selina had her own key, she was always supposed to be the first one home, the one to let herself in. Her mother worked until later; she shouldn’t have been home at this time.

Steph had been living there a few days long enough to know the rhythms of the house. Selina didn’t have to explain her thought process at all as she crept along the window and looked in through the glass, past the wispy white curtains. Either her mother was home and something was wrong or someone had broken inside. In a low-violence town like Rosedale, the former seemed more likely. And the former was more frightening, at least in Steph’s opinion; probably in Selina’s opinion too, if the speed which bore her to the window could be admitted for evidence.

She gasped at the window once there, but Steph had followed, and saw the same sight in the same moment— Steph’s own mother was in there— and her heart lurched, she missed her, hadn’t seen her in days— and Lily Connelly was beside her, their lost friend. She and Selina didn’t talk about it but Steph knew they both missed her so much too— she had been like a sister to both of them. Kara was her sister in blood, but Selina and Lily had been her sisters in friendship— and to have lost a mutual sister in what felt like a permanent loss. It had been too painful for them to speak about, even with each other, the only two people who could really understand the situation. They were the only two who knew what it had felt like to be three friend-sisters before; but it had been too painful to talk about.

And now, Steph’s mom, and Selina’s and her’s lost sister in friendship were both sitting on either side of Mrs. Green, each petting the skin of one arm... and Mrs. Green was wearing a leotard.

“Mom!” Selina exclaimed, starting forward in place and then seeming to restrain herself before she ever moved out of her standing step. But she hadn’t been able to stop herself speaking, and all three faces in the window turned to look back at them.

Steph understood— Kara had made it clear to her. If Mrs. Green was converted, it wasn’t safe for them in Selina’s house anymore. They needed to follow Kara’s backup plan— they needed to go on campus to stay in Kara’s dorm room with her. She was the last safe person— that was the last safe place— they had to run, get a taxi, and get to Kara’s dorm.

Steph was pulling on Selina’s arm but she wasn’t moving— frozen in shock and Steph couldn’t blame her, she remembered what it had felt like to come in and find her own mother like that, wearing a leotard— and she herself was not allowing her mind to contemplate the implications of their discovery, but Steph had a similar streak of something that was in Kara... this was a crisis, they needed to act, she knew what they needed to do, she just needed to get them to do it... just needed to remind Selina of their combined need for getting to safety.

There were only two faces in the window now. Where had the third one gone? Lily, Mrs. Green—

Steph’s mom.

She had snuck out around the back while they’d been standing here and she was behind them now, a firm arm linked through each of theirs— dragging Steph the way she’d used to, to get her away from danger, to get her away from playing with dangerous things when she was younger, to get her out of deep water, to pull her out of traffic. No explanation, only necessity and moving swiftly to respond to it. Doing what she needed to drag Steph to safety.

She was dragging Steph in to danger now.

Or when Steph and Kara had been more that age and had fought frequently— she had sternly pulled them apart when those fights had teetered on the brink of becoming physical. The way she was pulling Steph felt motherly, parental, and called back a hundred memories to Steph’s mind. And she was too strong as she pulled them into the house and to the front room— neither she nor Selina could pull away— and her heart was twisting in her till she felt sick. She still felt like a teenage kid sometimes, and not the young adult she now was. She’d been in the habit of getting a hug from her mother every day— then, all so suddenly she’d had to give up seeing her mother forever, and Steph missed her.

And even now as Steph’s mother retook her place on the couch and sat down beside the others, Steph ached to hug her, though she knew how dangerous it would be. Especially in the surrounding hopelessness of her situation— seeing more and more people fall to Haigure at school every day, and with nothing she could do to stop it— Steph longed for a mother’s comfort, and had no kind of mother to give it to her.

And after being on the run so long that day Steph was tired; constantly having to move around the school to keep from being caught. After it all, she’d just wanted to come home with Selina— she’d been thinking home was still safe— and sleep off the exhaustions of the day. The idea of having to run... of having to take a taxi all the way to Kara’s campus, and get through all the Haigure there... safely, somehow, and it would take a miracle— just to reach Kara’s door— it was so far to go, and she didn’t want to venture— she just wanted her mother but it would kill her freedom forever if she went to her.

“We were hoping the two of you would be home soon,” Lily spoke first. “We stopped in to see your mother this morning after you’d already left for school. I skipped going today because I knew it was more important for me to be here helping.”

“It’s so good to see you, honey,” Mrs. Green said to her. Selina was so faded in color by fear, and didn’t say anything back. “Good to see you too, Steph. Your mom, and Lily, here, they showed me how wonderful these leotards really are. They spent a long time telling me about them... feeling me up all over... and finally they got me into one. I don’t mind speaking frankly; it’s the best sex I’ve ever had, wearing this thing, and it’s sexing me all the time.”

Selina looked like she was silently crying. She couldn’t speak— Steph would have to be the one.

“We’ll never wear them,” she snapped at the three of them. Hearing Mrs. Green speak, and show what that thing had done to her, how it had killed her freedom forever, it had given Steph the energy to resist again; to face the crisis. It had made her angry enough for that.

Even if it had turned her on a little too.

“We’ll never put on leotards of our own,” Steph insisted. She took Selina by the hand. “We’re leaving here and never coming back— we’re going to a safe place— and you’ll never see us again,” she finished, with a flourish, and tugged on Selina’s arm.

Selina started to go with her; but at that moment two parallel cries rose up. They could only be termed mothers’ cries of loss; they had reached with their hands as they’d cried out, too, and their faces were imploring.

“Don’t leave, baby,” Mrs. Green begged. “I love seeing you every day and having you in my house. I would miss you too much. Please don’t go out of here!”

The imploring had caught them, both Steph and Selina, and for now they could only listen.

“It’s not hypothetical for me, sweetie,” Steph’s mom said to her, with a twisted mouth, as if she were more resigned to the pain, had grown used to living with it. “I miss you and your sister so badly it hurts. Please don’t leave again. Come back to me. Both of you, stay with us. We care about you, we want you. Please stay.”

“How can we stay?” Steph said incredulously. “You’ll make us one of those— you’ll make us— into that—”

“I miss you both too,” Lily jumped in, cutting off Steph’s faltering objections. “You’re my best friends, and you’ve been running away from me. Avoiding me. We all grew up together and now I never see you. Don’t let things stay this way. Let’s all be close again, spending all our time together again, the three of us, like we always used to. Please.”

Selina just shook her head. “We’re leaving... we don’t want to be like you...” She sounded less definite than Steph.

“But what we are is not a bad thing!” Steph’s mom insisted. “Haigure is a beautiful, wonderful thing. It makes you feel good, all the time. It makes you happy. We just want to help you two be happy, because we love you! As mothers... or as a friend. Everyone in this room only has your best interests at heart. Please, girls. Let us show you.”

Steph was breathing hard. She was breathing hard in fear, and she was so afraid. They were stuck in her, staring threat in the face, looking at danger. There was no way to get help, and no way for them to get out. No way to get to Kara, to run quickly enough, or at least quickly enough to hear more motherly cries which could pull a daughter’s heartstrings hard enough to make her freeze in place... it had happened once already and now their mothers knew it would work. How could they ever possibly get out of here?

Steph wished for the first time that Kara had made a different decision. She wished so badly, now things had turned out the way they’d gone, that Kara had just brought her and Selina on campus to stay with her. Kara could have protected them as Mrs. Green couldn’t because she truly knew the threat. It would have been cold, it would have been hard for Selina to except. But if things had gone that way instead, they both could have been safe in Kara’s dorm instead of staring down almost inevitable failure.

They were staring down.. because their three enemies— and despite all professions of love, it seemed to Steph important that she classify the three of them as enemies in an attempt to bolster her resistance— their three enemies had not advanced on them yet. They had not even gotten up off the couch. Steph and Selina were breathing heavily, but the enemies were breathing hard too... flushed in arousal.

Steph knew a little how that felt.

It was how Steph felt all day at school. It was still in her now, underneath her fear; she was wound too tightly and too much after having to watch so many people at school in leotards walk past her. It was like that every day, but today in particular, it had felt a bit too much to handle. They just exposed the bodies of the people who wore them so much; their breasts, the lips of their vaginas, their buttcheeks. It was basically like watching people walk around naked all day long, while also having to keep oneself unaffected, while also having to avoid the naked people because they were dangerous... Steph’s sex drive was in high gear but there was so much going on at once in this situation she barely felt like she could take it anymore.

And now, her mother and Selina’s mother— and Lily, though they’d seen her in her leotard before. The three of them were wearing there leotards, and exposing their bodies. Steph didn’t want to see but she couldn’t keep her eyes away. Mrs Green’s breasts were round and full; her nipples peaking out through the fabric; her thighs looked smooth; almost edible, for someone who was into things like that... Steph’s own mother— her breasts were a little bigger than Selina’s mother’s, and her entire body was a little curvier; but her nipples were just as visible through her leotard, and the way those leotards sat right against their bodies— her mother’s body, Selina’s mother’s body— it was completely pornographic, so explicitly erotic, and Steph didn’t know where it came from in her, but she had to admit, absolutely had to— that both their mothers looked sexy.

It had to be some combination of the bombardment of sexual images she and Selina were having to see every day in school; or on occasion around the town, though the town of Rosedale had not quite caught up to its high school in vector speed. Steph had learned all about vectors, like that in biology— the thought came to her at random— if she did give in, and wear a leotard too, and look as sexy as her mother in it— would she ever learn anything again? Would she ever remember anything that she had already known?

Why was she asking these questions of herself now, thinking of things as if she was saying goodbye to them, as she watched her mother breathing in her leotard? Was her mind trying to make excuses... or was it trying to come to terms with something that had not quite been properly fought yet?

Their mothers had two extra leotards with them, because of course they did. And there had been so little substance in their argument, but Steph was feeling particularly susceptible to be swayed. Selina looked the same way. Maybe it was how they had all pleaded so fervently... or maybe it was hearing that last description of how positive Haigure would be, how good for them... or having to see people in leotards in school all day and run from them... or watch them get amorous with each other. Or something else in Steph’s mind which had mysteriously gotten into there... or the building arousal of hours or days. But suddenly she had just had enough. She was sorry, to Kara, she was, but she really had...

“I give up,” she sighed. “I’ll wear it.”

“So will I,” Selina agreed with resignation. Though Steph’s giving up had basically guaranteed hers, since Steph was a little bit the stronger one.

Both their mothers stood, and brought their leotards over to them. They helped them put them on in a way that felt very parental. And then Steph and Selina were Haigure too.

It was as good as their mothers had promised— and better— the earbuds had come out of their ears, somehow without them taking any action to make it happen; and all the arousal they’d both been feeling all day— Steph imagined Selina felt exactly as she did— it was satisfied by the feeling of the leotards on their bodies; there were so many good feelings in their bodies now; and the leotards were making all of them, not just Steph and Selina, but all five of them in the room— the leotards were making them all feel good now, and they had to express those feelings together to feel more of them. Bodies found bodies and touches came naturally; the five of them kissing, groping, stroking, touching, feeling… rubbing leotards against leotards, skin against skin. The five of them all having sex together and the pleasure so communal Steph had a hard time knowing who she was in it. But she didn’t care anymore. Everything just felt so good. And feeling that way was all that she could think about.