The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

When Richie marched towards the palatial manor, he held his head high and kept his shoulders back. He was a complete man, knowing there was a right thing to do and striding forth to do it. It didn’t matter that he had no idea how to do it. How to take Harper home. How to apologize for trading her for a fistful of magic beans.

The only thing he knew for certain was, he was here and he wasn’t leaving without her.

He hoped that didn’t mean he was forced to stay here.

This place was fucking weird!

The cloud-like soft earth gave way to rich loamy soil. A boardwalk path rested on top of the white-peppered black earth. Gardeners, waifish underfed women of timeless appearance gave him only passing looks as they pruned or fed a wild assortment of plants. The clouds were underfoot. How did they water them?

Richie didn’t ask.

He had a purpose and a destination laid out. The manor was a squared horseshoe shape, two-story wings flanked in the garden path. The primary hub was another story tall, with a round capped roof. Pillars flanked the front door.

Morwen had retreated with Harper that way. Richie jogged up to the doors.

They were locked.

“Ha!” He shouted, and banged on the door in frustration.

Nothing. He stepped back, down the steps. It was clear the gardeners came and went through doors at the corners of each wing. He jogged left and entered a service door, nearly bowling over a gray hair and eyed Japanese woman.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered an apology.

“Oh, don’t be,” she said, though quiet and raspy. “Down the hall, silver doors on the left.”

He nodded. She didn’t smile or show any sign of support or conflict. Richie was still overwhelmed by her emotion.

Her directions were good. The silver doors led into the main building. A grand hall with curling staircases up to a balcony. Dirty, from a kicking and struggling Harper, led straight through and under the balcony. Richie bolted in through the doors.

A grand feasting hall awaited him. Two long wooden tables on a stone floor. Windows opened to vast empty expanses of white cloudscape left and right. He saw a flicker of green on his left. A swash of brown and black appeared opposite the green. He turned straight ahead and met the dark eyes of Morwen.

“You’re the third man to ever climb up here,” she said. “And you’ll be the third to leave empty handed.”

“Richie!” Harper squealed gleefully. Morwen thrust Harper to the ground, but Harper simply laughed harshly back up at her.

“Harper and I will be together,” Richie said.

“No,” Morwen said. “You have been paid, your commitment to spoiling your wealth is no cause for me to restore ourselves.”

“I can’t believe I was worth Gabrielle Xu to you!” Harper giggled.

“Well, you were always the one with the hardon for her,” Richie said. “I just kinda liked that one song.”

“And you figured out how to get to me,” Harper said.

“Your adolescent affection is oh so entertaining,” Morwen growled, stepping her foot down onto Harper’s head and into the carpet. Richie began bolting down towards the dais where Morwen awaited him. “But this carpet eater is mine.” She laughed at her own joke.

“Get off of her!” Richie said. But as he reached Morwen, Morwen licked her lips and evaded his swing in a blur. Harper’s voice extended as she was ripped off the carpet, across the stone tile, until one of the tables was between Morwen and Richie.

“The beans are simply one of my products,” Morwen said. “You are outmatched. You are not ready for this confrontation. Go, leave and leave Harper with me.”

“What do you need Harper for?” Richie was breathing hard, seeing red. He clenched his fists and his teeth as he scowled and spoke.

“To tend the garden,” Morwen said.

“You have any number of gardeners,” I said.

“They expire,” Morwen said. “They burnout. I need freshness.”

Harper groaned as Morwen stroked Harper’s cheek. Richie expected Harper to slap the hand away. Harper didn’t make a move. Her eyes burned, but not as hotly as Richie expected to see.

“Find someone else! I grabbed a half dozen girls with your little beans. You know how well they work,” Richie said, his voice cracked. That made him square his jaw and harden his gaze. Morwen chose not to pounce on his moment of weakness.

“Half measures,” Morwen said. “You really think what Harper gave to you is a match for what you took from Oksana or Perla?”

It might be. Richie didn’t speak. From Caitlin or from Nat, it probably was. From Zita or Perla? He’d bet on it. From Oksana or Flo? He was afraid to ask. Morwen didn’t waste a second, she never saw his draining certainty.

“I’ll show you why I need the best. We are the breadbasket of… Well, to tell you would be unfitting. You’d cling to your shortsightedness and rage and make your silly demand again. I’ll save us time. Follow me.”

Morwen licked her lips again. The vibrant purple muted but hadn’t dissolved. Harper screamed and cursed again as they raced beyond through the doors at the back of the hall. Richie cursed and ran after them.

He ran fast. He ran hard. All of that pushing and prodding he had shared with Harper over their summer and fall, had paid off more in him than he had noticed. There was a kitchen in the back. Two women, faded and ageless, black and First Nations, made a stew of mushrooms and squash. It smelled rich and delicious, at odds with their empty presentation.

Richie only gave them the barest of glances. He rushed beyond the kitchen. Morwen had rushed up a staircase. Floors above Richie, Harper’s voice had stopped sounding impossibly stretched. He grabbed the rail and dashed madly to the open door at the top.

Morwen stood waiting, down along the rim of the roof dome. No rail protected them from the three story fall. The white cloud earth looked soft, inviting. Richie hugged the dome as far away from the edge as he could.

“Don’t drop her!” Richie growled.

Harper was on her feet now. Her bare feet clung to the edge of the roof. She dug her fingers into the meat of Morwen’s right arm. Morwen had a twisted fistful of Harper’s hair.

“She’s a big girl,” Morwen said. “Let’s not waste time. Manipulating time is only for seconds. My strength—”

Harper screamed as Morwen snapped her index finger from Harper’s hair. Harper swayed backwards.

“—could give out any moment.”

“You need her to tend your garden,” Richie said. “No need to bluff.” But he had stopped, a dozen feet away from Morwen and Harper.

“You expect that you’re less of a nuisance than Harper is a boon to me?” Morwen growled.

Richie didn’t. He saw something of bright rage in Morwen’s eyes. He could easily believe her. He forced a smirk. “I’m certain of it.”

“Look!” Morwen said, not confirming nor denying Richie’s smugness. She waved outwards towards the end of the white clouds. The rolling plains turned black. Veins of thunderbolt blue and magma red. The starless night sky that stretched overhead crumbled and sharpened as it hung overhead. “I feed them, so they don’t look any further to feed.”

Richie looked over the horizon. He stepped forward, toes at the edge of the roof. He did it to be in the same place as Harper. One look down, he felt the fear, but after climbing the beanstalk, it wasn’t looking down into infinity. His heart slowed down. The red left his face.

“Me and Harper are going to be together,” he said, turning towards Morwen.

“Harper and I!” Harper growled.

Morwen laughed. She saw Richie and Harper smiling at that. She scowled. Her laugh came again, forced and brutal.

“Give her to me,” Richie said.

“No!” Morwen shook her head. She gestured. “Do you have any idea what’s out there?”

“Giants,” Richie said.

“It has to be giants,” Harper agreed. She seemed calm, holding onto the roof with her toes and holding tightly on Morwen’s elbow.

Morwen screeched. “And do you know what giants do?”

“Grind bones.”

“Make bread.”

Morwen snarled again. “I am the only one keeping your stupid world from being overrun and enslaved!”

“Jack killed a giant with a spear,” Richie said.

“How many nukes does Earth have now?” Harper asked, snickering.

“It’s gotta be at least forty,” Richie said, matching Harper’s laugh.

“You have no idea what would happen!” Morwen said.

“Sure I do,” Richie said. “Me and my girlfriend would leave, you’d grow a fistful of beans and try again.”

“No.” Morwen dragged Harper and pushed her down to her knees. “Follow.” she barked and stormed forward beyond Richie. Richie stepped forward towards Harper who climbed to her feet. He opened his arm for a hug. She walked straight by him.

“Why?”

“Because she’d follow you that closely,” Morwen said, waiting at the door.

“Horseshit,” Richie said. “I could barely get her out for a run most days.”

“She wouldn’t go out at all for herself, for her mother, or for anyone else,” Morwen said. “Do you know how rare that kind of loyalty is?”

Morwen went back inside. Harper followed. Richie looked down. “Go around!” He shouted and rushed after Morwen. This time, the front doors hadn’t been locked. Morwen left them slowly swinging closed as Richie strode back out into the sheltered garden.

Harper was a step behind on Morwen’s heels. Harper was hopping and jumping in her bare feet as she stared with wide eyes.

Gabrielle Xu stood on the boardwalk. Her blue stage costume hugged her body as tightly as the spray on glue could hold it. That was why it was her last one. It was cut strikingly down from her throat to below her belly button. Her knee high platform boots were hardly made for climbing that beanstalk.

“Oh my god!” Harper and Gabrielle said together.

Richie stepped out.

“What are you doing here?” Morwen hadn’t been composed during her conflicts with Richie, but as she looked over the pop star, her forehead veins throbbed and her face paled bloodlessly.

“I came to see the fairy tale,” Gabrielle said. “Are you Richie’s girlfriend? The one who couldn’t make it? Harper?”

“I am—”

“She’s mine! Not Richie’s!” Morwen spat venom over Harper’s words.

“I’m taking her back,” Richie said. “I’m righting the biggest mistake I ever made.”

“This is the biggest mistake anyone could ever make!” Morwen said.

“Oh my god!” Oksana’s pathetic moan interrupted Morwen’s declaration. She was on her knees throwing up at the mouth of the beanstalk. “Oh my god!” Her face was greener than what she had climbed.

“I passed her. She almost didn’t make the climb,” Gabrielle said. “Hi Richie. You ran out on my show.”

Richie ignored her. He walked up and picked up Harper’s hand. “Face it, Morwen. You have to try again.”

“No! You have to go now!”

“Yeah!” Gabrielle said. “The hero climbed the beanstalk and now he gets the treasure.” Gabrielle jumped. “I need to know everything and—”

“Shut up, strumpet!” Morwen barked. Gabrielle’s mouth shut. Her shocked face began twisting into rage. Morwen grabbed a girl in a dress. Was her hair white from age or just that blonde? “Ilsa.”

Ilsa didn’t even need the words. She picked a rose from a bush, snipped it with shears and threw it at Gabrielle’s feet.

“Strumpet? What are you? Some ancient bitch that—” Gabrielle screamed as the rose thorn bit the white flecked black soil. Crisscrossing barbed vines sprouted up wildly around her and dragged her to the ground. Her dress was instantly ruined. Her skin was raked with red scratches. A half dozen dribs of blood welled along their lines.

“Oh my god,” Harper covered her face.

“You have her now,” Richie said. “You don’t need Harper.”

“I need to know the garden will be tended, no matter the willful idiocy of its gardeners,” Morwen said. “I have all of the respect, loyalty, and commitment Harper has for you. You can’t take her from me.”

“She still loves me,” Richie said.

“Love is never enough,” Morwen said.

“It… It has to be,” Oksana said, finally on her feet.

“Stay off the soil, Oksana!” Richie shouted, as Oksana approached the garden.

“Well, this was fun, wasn’t it?” Morwen said. “Harper, don’t let Richie touch you.”

Harper stepped back, placing Morwen between herself and Richie. Richie looked over.

“Don’t worry! I can drag her out of here!” Nat’s voice cracked through the air like a bullwhip. She turned the corner from the outside of the mansion at a run. Her grass stained sneakers kicked up the black soil into clouds. Zita stuttered and waited at the edge of the dirt on Oksana’s gesture.

“Miroko,” Morwen said, without looking. The Asian woman that had encouraged Richie as he had entered the manor, punched her fist into an unripe pumpkin. She scattered seeds in Nat’s path. Nat screamed, tripping over instant grown roots. She kicked and punched at the fat growing gourds that swallowed her left leg.

“Stop it!” Richie said.

“I tried offering you understanding,” Morwen said.

“Richie! Frankie came up before me!” Oksana shouted.

“Oh my god! Where is he?” Flo’s voice cut the air. She was at the edge of the manor with Zita now.

“I let him inside,” Miroko answered, but her voice was quiet, almost ethereal. No one reacted to hearing her.

“Face it,” Morwen said. “You’re outmaneuvered, outgunned, and outsmarted.”

“And as soon as you’re out-Harpered, I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Oh, nice word play,” Zita said.

“He can be clever sometimes,” Harper bragged.

“Stay still,” Morwen said. Harper froze with her mouth half-formed around the word ‘sometimes’. She snapped a pod of beans off of a stalk and slit it down the seam with the edge of her thumbnail. She dumped five familiar white beans in her hand. “Harper is mine and can never be yours again.”

She ran the beans across Harper’s skin. Richie saw the familiar colors, save for yellow, manifest on the beans. Morwen walked over to Gabrielle.

“What are you doing?” Her voice quavered.

“Leave her out of this,” Richie said. “I want Harper.”

“It’s OK, you can want her a little bit too,” Harper said, smirking. “Look at her tied up like that. It’s crazy hot, right?”

“Harper!” Zita huffed.

“It’s pretty hot,” Flo agreed.

“Ignore the idiots,” Morwen said, brushing Gabrielle’s hair, but it was hardened with product for her show. Morwen pulled her hand back and shook it clean with disgust. “Stay back or I’ll give horrible instructions to my Harper. There’s a good boy… Now, Gabrielle was it? I am simply fulfilling my promise to Richie, as he wasn’t man enough to do it himself.”

“What?” Gabrielle said, and Morwen caught Gabrielle’s mouth. Gabrielle snapped her jaw tight and Morwen howled, dragging back her thumb and sucking on it. “Virgin Mary!” She swore and kicked the dirt. “Halima!”

A bent-back brown woman brought over a small awkward shaped fruit and squeezed its juice over Morwen’s fingers. Gabrielle screamed when Morwen grabbed her face once again, this time snapping her jaw shut didn’t pinch Morwen’s thumb.

“Stop! Morwen, I don’t want her,” Richie said. “Anyone short of Harper isn’t good enough.”

“I’ll do better! I promise!” Zita shouted. Richie shot her a sad smile. He saw similar faces on Flo and Oksana. Nat, however, had a confident and understanding look on hers. He smiled at her. She blew a raspberry.

“Stay quiet, Richie,” Morwen said. Gabrielle twisted and groaned in her thorny prison as Morwen pressed the red bean deep into Gabrielle’s throat. A few more red weals grew under the twisting vines. Morwen held her hand in the woman’s mouth until she swallowed.

“And these four must go to waste,” Morwen said. “A shame. I can’t trust you not to waste more of my valuable time.”

“Oh my god,” Gabrielle gasped when Morwen’s hand was pulled from her throat. “Wow…” Her head was bent back and her smile was half drunk. Richie refused to reach her eyes.

“It’s not enough,” Richie said. “There’s gotta be someone else out there.”

“A half hundred, maybe, but are as young and hormone-ridden as you? Down to a handful. Who the girl knows what she has but the man doesn’t?”

“That’s gotta be the same number,” Nat said. “Guys are fucking idiots.”

“It goes both ways, honey,” Morwen said.

“Richie!” Frankie pushed out the side door of the palace. “Fuck! You were out here before? I already checked this fucking place! Hey Flo! Oh, you came up too. Cool”

His last note was for Oksana.

“Otthild,” Morwen said, not looking at Frankie. A skinny woman reached into a tree. Frankie cursed and threw a candlestick at her. She shrieked, quietly, and took the blow to the shoulder.

“What’s with all these fucking stupid bitches?”

“Frankie! Don’t… They’re not the bitches,” Richie said. “Morwen, stop Otthild.”

“For the moment,” Morwen said. Otthild held the strange fruit to her breast. “Take your little harem and go. Even with this brute, I still have you outnumbered.”

She gestured around the garden. There were at least thirty gardeners. There could be more in the palace.

Richie smiled as Frankie nearly tripped.

“Actually,” Richie said. “I have you outnumbered.”

“Did you have to pick a stupid one?” Morwen laughed harshly at Harper. Zita, Flo, Nat, Frankie, and Oksana were all spitting mad at Morwen. Flo and Frankie started towards her across the soil. She gestured, said two names: Otthild and Eloka.

“He may be simple, but he’s really pretty,” Harper said, grinning.

“As you can see, Richie,” Morwen gestured to the traps nectar and woods that now grabbed cussing and kicking Frankie and Flo, “Your little friends are just wasting my time. It’s time you surrendered.”

“Oh, Morwen,” Richie said. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty, for how stupid you are.”

Richie squatted down and whistled. He wasn’t sure whistling was the right action but it was nothing. The dirt scattered up from between Frankie and himself. Morwen’s eyes twisted wide as the first rat ran across the boardwalk. Richie scooped that one up in his hands. More and more were coming out from the dirt that camouflaged them. Richie stepped out onto the dirt.

“Kathrine!” Morwen said. The gardener nearest Richie was tending a grape vine. She squeezed the seed from a small green grape. In that time, Richie put the rat down on the leaves of some buried root-vegetable.

“Go on boys and girls, eat your fill.”

“No!” Morwen shouted. Rats scattered from Richie, he stood up and grinned. His eyes went to Katherine. She was about ready to toss her seed. “No!” Morwen gasped again. The power dying in her voice. Katherine seemed to take that as an order. Richie smiled warmly at her. He crossed the boardwalk and stepped towards Morwen.

“No! Please Richie! I’ll give her back to you!”

“Can you?” Richie asked, tilting his head. “If I take her now, what’s to stop you from swooping in and disappearing her in a few days.”

“You have to stop them and—”

Richie stepped right up to Morwen. She grabbed him with her right hand, the hand that had yanked Gabrielle’s jaw open. Still wet with the juice that gave her strength. “I’ll kill you!”

“And that’ll stop the rats?” he asked.

Harper jumped excitedly when Morwen dropped her hand. Harper skittered back three steps when Richie looked up to share the smile. He never managed it. Morwen still made it so Harper had to keep Richie from touching her.

“A solution is available,” Richie said.

“No, it’s the end of the world,” Morwen said. Richie picked up her hands.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Richie said, “I can stop them.”

“No you won’t,” Morwen said.

“So long as I trust you,” Richie said.

“And that’ll never—” She screamed, pushing off with her right hand as he mashed her left into her mouth. The smear of colored beans stained over the purple on her lips. Richie crashed to the ground. Frankie cussed and fought his nectar glue pit but couldn’t break the hold.

“C’mon bitch, swallow!” Harper laughed. All of the other gardening women were laughing as well. Morwen shook her head and reached for her mouth. Zita crashed into Morwen’s back. She pinned Morwen’s right arm on her chest. Oksana swept out their legs. A slap knocked her away, but the strength was in Morwen’s fingers, not her arms. She was struggling, ready to break Zita’s grip. Zita was stronger, more athletic, but she wasn’t trained in combat, in wrestling, in martial arts of any sort. It was a doomed fight. It was a doomed fight alone. Oksana and Richie climbed on Morwen. Richie sat down on Morwen’s elbow. Oksana straddled Morwen’s thighs. The witch was stuck.

“Ott—” The first name that came to her mind was cut off as Richie forced the smear back over Morwen’s lips. She wouldn’t stop fighting, twisting and bucking futilely in the hold the three of them had upon her. Richie narrowed his eyes and his fingers tightened closed on her nose.

The coughing fit she suffered trying to breathe in the beans didn’t get his hand off her lip and too much of the beans rebounded onto her tongue. His hand covered her mouth. She couldn’t breathe, even if he let her.

She had to swallow.

Her dark eyes met Richie’s. She couldn’t speak to beg for mercy. She watched his stern and impatient glare blossom into the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. From red, to blue, to purple, Richie held her breathless until she fell limp. She gasped monstrously as he pulled his hand away.

“It’ll be OK,” Morwen said. “We can be together until the end.”

“Return Harper to me,” Richie said.

“Harper, love Richie as much as you can,” Morwen said, giggling as she did so. She bit the inside of her cheek and blushed red. It was hard to see as the color from her choke hadn’t totally fled her face yet.

“You alright Zita?” Richie asked, getting up.

“I’m OK,” she said, breathing shallowly until all of the weight was pulled off of her ribcage.

Richie reached back and stroked Oksana’s cheek. “Thank you so much.”

He climbed up. Everyone who wasn’t trapped to the ground was coming closer. Except the rats, who gnawed and burrowed wildly in the garden. He whistled and tapped his feet. It took a bunch of whistles and a plethora of gestures to bring the rats into the circle around him. Zita finally climbed to her feet.

“Can I get off the ground?” Oksana asked, among shrieks as rats ran near her toes.

“Yeah, do what—”

Oksana jumped piggyback onto Richie and held tight. He reached down and grabbed her thighs.

“Not the way I planned to kiss my rescued girlfriend,” Richie said.

“I’m not against it,” Harper said, but she stepped away from him as he stepped towards her.

“Morwen!”

“Harper…” was all Morwen said in her daze.

Harper gleefully charged forward. Her hands shot into his hair as he leaned down and kissed her twice as hard as he had any of the girls he had collected with the magic beaks. She warmly melted against his chest. Oksana wrapped her legs around her. Harper giggled. Zita piled on the group hug.

“OK, I guess we gotta decide what needs to be done,” Richie said.

“The garden needs to be tended and the best of its produce sold to the giants, as you called them,” Morwen said.

“We know how to tend the garden,” Miroko whispered.

“We need someone to oversee,” Otthild added.

“Someone to watch for when more are needed,” Katherine said.

“Is it a hard job?” Richie asked.

“Morwen liked to think it was,” Otthild said. The laughter struck the gardeners once again. It was quiet and sedate.

Harper pulled Morwen to her feet.

“What can we take for ourselves?” Harper asked.

“First, we need to get everyone unstuck,” Richie said. “And, what do I do with… Holy fuck that’s a lot rats.”

“Rats can dig,” Katherine said. “Lay the seeds.”

“I don’t think they’re that well trained,” Richie said.

The looks he was given by all of the bean fed women told him that his intuition was stupid.

“OK,” Richie said. “Natalie first.”

Don was banging his phone off of his thigh. Part of him said he should rush over to Flo’s. Was Trevor OK? He had a message from her.

“False alarm, I misunderstood. Trevor’s sleeping like an angel.”

It was the only time when Trevor did anything like an angel. A text to Mary from Lilith, the babysitter, helped him calm down further. Frankie was still missing. Frankie was an adult. Don wasn’t his brother’s keeper… Accept, he was. Frankie didn’t have anything of his own. Still, Flo had left her job. She didn’t do that. Something didn’t feel right. He watched the police lights and sighed.

“I’m sure it’ll be over in a moment,” Mary said, but she was beside herself in worry. Apparently the entire venue was in a frenzy. The pop tart had disappeared. Maybe she had run off with some lesbian slut? It was all the rage these days. Darleen texted Caitlin again.

“I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be sorted out soon.”

“Caitlin doesn’t seem worried,” Darleen said. “She was in the car that crashed with Frankie. I’m sure if she had seen him, she wouldn’t be calm.”

“Did I apologize for Frankie?” Don asked.

“Don’t be silly,” Darleen said. “You can’t meaningfully apologize for someone else.”

“Right,” Don said. “Sorry.”

Mary didn’t listen. She didn’t trust Caitlin’s judgment much. There was nothing to do though. Wait until Frankie was found. Wait until the show gave up on Miss Diva Rock Star and Caitlin and Richie came out. Mary wasn’t paying close attention to Don or Darleen. She certainly didn’t see the young woman in the waitress dress walking straight up to her with a tray of coffees.

“Bless you girl!” Darleen said.

“Mrs Cowie?” Perla said, smiling for Darleen as she handed out the first coffee. Don accepted the one he had been offered.

“What? You’re Perla Alvarez?” Mary said, eyes narrowing.

“Um, yes. I was not so nice to your daughter in high school,” Perla said. “I hope I’ve grown out of that. Better friends now.”

“You’ll excuse me if I’m not warm,” Mary said. She looked down at the coffee.

“What’s this?”

“I got word from Lilith and Caitlin, apparently you were waiting for something to happen,” Perla said. “It was all I could do to help.”

Mary saw a genuine need in the girl. She accepted the coffee with a grumble.

“Do we know how long it’s going to be?” Perla asked.

“No, obviously, we—”

Lights went up along the doors of Centre 200. People out having a smoke or a breath of fresh air started squealing and jumping and rushing back inside.

“Something’s happening,” Don said.

“Back for the encore! Don’t wait up!” Darleen showed off the disgusting amount of smiling faces she received from her daughter. The next text came as a picture as the camera rolled by Mary’s eyes.

There was a picture, Gabrielle and Harper squeezing in close on Richie and kissing his cheeks. Mary was on her feet snatching the phone out of Darleen’s hands.

“Holy shit,” she breathed. She didn’t even notice the hot coffee that she had dropped over her shoes. “Oh my god, she’s OK.”

“Weird dress she’s wearing,” Don said, over his shoulder.

Blue and red lights flashed. A police cruiser rolled up in front of them. The window rolled down and the officer leaned out.

“Oh my god! Oksana!” Perla dropped the tray and rushed towards the backseat.

“Whoa, kid!” The cop shouted. Perla stopped. “Counselor?”

“Yes?” Mary asked.

“This woman was last seen with your client. She asked for you. Meet us down at the station?”

Mary nodded in answer. The cop leaned back to the steering wheel and took off.

“She was the one I thought was your daughter,” Darleen said to Mary.

“I know,” Mary said. “You following in your car, Don?”

“Of course,” Don said.

“Um, Mrs Cowie? Oksana’s one of those friends I mentioned and—”

“Get in, Perla” she said. “But I’ll have questions.”

The berries had done amazing work, cleaning up the rakes and scratches on Gabrielle’s skin. She took the stage, knowing that Harper, Caitlin, Morwen, and Richie were not far beyond the current watching the show electrified her. It was easily the most energetic and passionate performance she ever gave. The crowd was wild, despite the thirty five minute gap before the encore.

Her security team was watching her like a hawk.

Her fans were demanding her attention.

All she wanted to do was get off stage and into Richie’s arms.

She would. She had responsibilities. A European tour that would eat at her guts compounded by every moment and mile away from Richie.

He smiled at her. She knew she was in love. She got off stage.

“That was good, but that shit can’t happen again!” Jacob hissed in her ear. She hardly heard him. She walked out. Hugged, kissed, signed, and selfied for everyone.

“I will know where you are, and how I will get there,” he whispered into her ear. That was her promise. She couldn’t wait.

“What the fuck Zita?” Lilith grabbed her best friend. The beanstalk was gone. Like it had never been there before.

“Shh! Trevor,” Flo said, brushing back Lilith’s hair. Lilith nodded as Nat’s wet hands pinned Lilith’s elbows tight behind her back. Flo clapped a hand over Lilith’s mouth before the curse. “Shh!”

“What. The. Fuck.” Lilith said, low and rough.

“I promised Richie,” Zita said. She put her thumb, also wet like Nat’s hands, in Lilith’s mouth and pulled her jaw down. “You’re not gonna throw this one up.”

Lilith looked cross-eyed at the bean in Zita’s fingers. She twisted and looked at Flo.

“Is this what’s been making us all googly-eyed over Ri-snrrkt!”

Zita smiled as she pulled two fingers out from the back of Lilith’s throat. She warmly rubbed Lilith’s neck until she swallowed like a puppy taking a pill.

“Oh… I get it now…” Lilith said.

Mary waited, sitting with her hands on her knees as the front door opened and her daughter walked in. Harper. Hand-in-hand with Richie. Caitlin and another woman were a step behind them. Richie looked run hard and put away wet. He waddled for the tightness of his jeans.

“There you are,” Mary said.

“Hi Mom,” Harper said. “I’m sorry you were so worried.” She turned and beamed at Richie. “It will not happen again.”

Mary got up.

“Frankie hasn’t been found,” she said. “His abductee was vague and evasive. The police will be watching her. Do you know why he was so fixated on you, Richie?”

“Far as I know, he had a pretty intense crush,” Richie said.

“And he’s not one of your many many types,” Mary asked. “She’s with Perla Alvarez now.”

“Good, Perla will take care of Oksana,” Harper said.

“Good?” Mary said. “I believe I had to take a knife out of your bookbag in grade eight because of Perla Alvarez. You and your sister aren’t big on the forgiveness thing, Harper.”

“Get it from the best,” Harper said. Then her face fell. “Uh, sorry for scaring you. Again.”

“Who are you?” Mary stopped, eye to eye with Morwen.

“My name is Morwen Pembroke, Mrs Cowie,” she said, with a curtsy.

“Get out.”

“Mrs—”

Morwen looked straight into the finger that pointed at the door behind her. She looked to Richie.

“Mom, I’m the one who—”

Mary slapped her daughter.

“What?” Harper seemed shocked.

Richie stepped in front of Harper. “I’m as much to blame as Harper and—’

The sound of the second slap cracked the air hard. Morwen looked ready to pounce. Caitlin covered her mouth and stifled a laugh.

“If I hit a stranger, it can go to court. You two are family and know better. She’s not welcome in my home.”

“OK,” Harper said. She reached in and hugged her mother. “I’ll get rid of her. But, uh, do you have my phone? Richie can’t remember where it got to.”

“I’ll be calling whenever it’s horribly inconvenient,” Mary said, walking into the next room and picking the phone off the counter.

“I love you too, Mom,” Harper said.

“She’s still in my home,” Mary said.

“She won’t be for long,” Caitlin said, pushing Morwen out the door. Richie and Harper followed quickly after. Mary fell down into her armchair and cried. Relief, confusion, joy, and rage fought inside of her. She felt human again.

“Hi Mom!” Harper said, answering her cell phone on the step as they walked to Nat’s car. “Yes, I’m still alive. I’ll be over at Richie’s. I think their rat problem’s been solved.”

Harper laughed and hung up.

“I thought we were gonna bean her?” Caitlin asked, getting in the back. Morwen looped the car and waited until Caitlin leaned across and opened the door for her. Richie and Harper got in the front seat. “Mom too. You know I want my stepdad out of the picture and their friends now. An Oksana/Perla thing.”

“Yeah,” Harper said. “We don’t need the details, they’re our moms.” She pulled a bag full of beans from a pocket and dropped it into her cupholder. She reached over and squeezed Richie’s elbow. “After all, we got all of the time in the world to conquer it.”