The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Time stopped.

They stared into each other’s eyes, not moving or saying a word as each waited for the other to break the spell. A petite woman in an oversized winter coat—Rebecca’s intended test subject—quietly slipped between them with an upturned hand and a mouthed ‘excuse me’ before disappearing into the night. Her exit, and the slam of the front door that followed, finally snapped Rebecca out of her stupor.

“Jessica?”

The nervous girl facing her transformed immediately, grinning and exhaling what seemed to be an enormous sigh of relief. “You remember me! Oh, I wasn’t sure that you would. Everything happened so fast and it was your first night in Berlin and all of that fighting and I’m going on like a madwoman, aren’t I?” Her hands kept repositioning over her body, searching for a comfortable yet natural place to land, before finally settling on her hips. “It’s nice to see you again. I wasn’t sure if I would.”

Those lips. That smile. Those eyes. “Of course I remember you! How could I forget?” Rebecca cringed. She’d said the quiet part out loud, and she struggled to recover. “It was a pretty wild night, that first night with you. And… you know, with me and Emily and everyone. At the club. I…” She paused, fully aware of how she probably looked at that moment. “Things are a little crazy here right now.”

“Oh! Oh, I can come back tomorrow!” Jessica clutched her little blue purse as its strap fell from her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were busy! It’s just that they told me at the club that I could find you here, and I didn’t want to leave town without seeing… can we talk for a moment? Do you have the time?”

We can do so, so many things. Let me show you. Just listen to my voice for a little while. My calm, relaxing voice.

Rebecca knew the correct answer, even if she wanted for all the world to be wrong. Celeste, Alice, and the basement awaited her return. She couldn’t keep them sitting down there for hours while she got it on with Jessica, no matter how much her body begged her to do so. “I…” she struggled to force the words out. “I don’t… well, I have a little time,” she finished, mentally kicking herself. A little time? You don’t have a little time!

Jessica flashed a winning, toothpaste-model smile that nearly made Rebecca forget all about the basement and the people in it. “Thank you, Rebecca!” she beamed. “I’ll keep it short. I promise.”

Rebecca motioned the beautiful Aussie girl over to Alice’s office, where Jessica perched on the edge of a padded stool while Rebecca nearly lost herself inside of a huge, old swivel chair. She pressed against the oversized seat cushion and wiggled herself into an upright position, feeling Jessica’s eyes on her body the entire time. Finally upright, she grunted out an opening. “How’s Phoebe? I’m really, really sorry about all of that. Emily can be… no, I take that back. We can be inappropriate sometimes.”

The brunette wrinkled her nose. “She’s… I’m not going to lie, we fought about it for a long while. She wouldn’t talk to me for two whole days. Just grunts and ‘uh-huh’s and ‘nothing’s wrong, Jess,’ as if that were that. And it’s silly, because I knew that she had a thing for girls! Maybe not for me, but even in the club, before we came up to you, I saw her checking out your friend Emily. I mean, she likes guys too… anyway, don’t let her get to you too much. She’s quite the drama queen. She was just so embarrassed…”

Another mess. Rebecca felt her stomach churn. Another mess created because of that stupid pendant. She resolved to chuck it into the river before heading home.

“…sat her down for a long talk, and then I think we came to an understanding? Mind you, she’s still pissed at you. If she even knew I was here, we’d probably be fighting about that all the way back to Melbourne.”

“I’m glad. I’m glad you guys worked it out, I mean. It was a stupid thing to suggest, and I never should have said it. There’s a reason why people stick to chickens and human bridges on stage.” She meant every word. Even after a week filled with hypnotizing, brainwashing, programming, and deprogramming other women, that first night still haunted her conscience. “Is there anything… I guess there’s nothing I can do, huh? I’ve done more than I should have in the first place.”

“Well, there’s one thing.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a lot of time, but if it’s quick, then maybe?”

Jessica took a deep breath. “I want you to hypnotize me.”

Jessica opened her sleepy eyes.

Her hand patted the mattress, searching in vain for the chirping little box that had interrupted her sleep. “Not again,” she briefly found herself thinking, before the memory vanished beneath a growing wave of annoyance. She was tired. So, so tired. Sleeping didn’t seem to put a dent into it these days. Her fingers curled around something chunky and rectangular and familiar.

“Hello?” Her voice was sleepy and weak, with a hint of curiosity. “Who’s this?”

“Your mind sleeps as your body obeys.”

The magical words slid like keys into her brain and turned. One by one, lock by lock, they freed Slave from her secret prison. The words told Jessica to rest, to sleep, to dream, and she happily surrendered to them. Drifting off into wonderful, deep sleep.

Slave didn’t need to sleep. Slave only needed to obey.

Before long, Slave would find herself standing in Mistress’s doorway, wearing the lacy blue lingerie Jessica didn’t remember buying, her feet wet and glistening from the dew. She always asked the same question as soon as the door opened.

“What is your command, Mistress?”

Mistress would guide her inside and close the door before kissing her passionately, her tongue darting past Slave’s teeth. Eager hands roamed Slave’s toned body before giving her ass a firm squeeze. This was yet another key used to unlock yet another door, and Slave would dutifully respond by saying, “My body is yours to use as you wish, Mistress.”

Her bra joined her panties on the floor. Those eager hands cupped Slave’s generous tits, caressing and fondling them until Slave was dripping wet. “You’re going to fuck me all night long, Slave.”

“I obey, Mistress.” Slave happily began to lead her lover towards the bed-

“You want me to what?”

Jessica blinked twice and quickly shook away the cobwebs. She blushed. “I, um… I want you to hypnotize me. Put me under like you did with Phoebe. It doesn’t have to be now. I just thought that at some point during your trip that you could? Tomorrow, if that works? Or…” Her eyes drifted to the ceiling. “You could, if… if you want to visit me in Melbourne, you could come and crash at my place, and I can show you around…” She drew her coat around her and rubbed her upper arms. “It’s really cold in here, isn’t it?”

“Alice promises that she’s going to replace all of the windows,” Rebecca said without thinking. Jesus, she has me well-trained!

“I guess.” The brunette turned a deeper shade of red. “It was a silly question, I know. It’s just…”

Rebecca attempted to lean forward, to get closer to Jessica, but the chair seemed to tug her back into its depths with every effort. She gave up and leaned back instead. The chair squeaked and groaned in response. “It’s not a silly question. There’s nothing to be ashamed of about hypnosis. It’s what I do, right? It’s what I want to do for a living, and it’s totally natural to be okay with being hypnotized. Even if some people like me can be jerks sometimes.”

Jessica relaxed, and Rebecca knew that she’d just taken a very heavy weight off of the girl’s shoulders.

“When you started to hypnotize Pheebs, I was watching you, and your crystal. And then suddenly it was like I wasn’t… there. Like someone just turned down the lights. Getting pulled under like that, letting my whole body go… it was amazing. I’d give anything to feel that one more time. Letting myself go, letting someone else take control for once.“

Rebecca’s thoughts drifted back to the basement. Celeste was going to start getting worried if she didn’t return soon. And Jessica, a hypnosis virgin, was hardly a good test subject for what they were planning. “Well, I’m sure that when you get back to Australia, you can find a therapist or a stage hypnotist who can put you under like I did.”

She battled the chair again; this time she emerged victorious, and rose to her feet.

“No, Rebecca!” Jessica jumped in front of her. “I don’t really trust them. I trust you.”

“You trust the girl who made your friend French-kiss you in the middle of a crowded nightclub?”

“Exactly.” Jessica closed the distance between them until they were only inches apart. She gazed into Rebecca’s eyes. “Because you feel bad about that, and you would never do it to me. Some things, you just know. I want it to be you, Rebecca.”

Rebecca felt entranced herself. The awful irony of having the hot girl of her dreams begging her to be hypnotized, at the one fucking moment where that was impossible… it was cruel and unfair. The universe was cruel and unfair. This beautiful woman with the perfect hair, the perfect tits, and the perfect blue eyes... Blue eyes that were gazing into hers, growing dimmer and duller with each moment…

Wait, what?

It seemed ridiculous. No one fell into trance that quickly, not even under Rebecca’s guidance. And yet the proof was right in front of her. Jessica’s eyes were already glazed over. Her eyelids were beginning to droop. Her chest rose and fell in smooth waves, and her arms hung limply at her sides. Like Penelope, she was falling into a trance all by herself, powered only by the suggestions inside her own mind. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis, she reminded herself.

She raised her hand, intending to snap her fingers and send Jessica on her journey back to Melbourne. The brunette ignored it entirely, choosing that moment to flutter her eyes in the sexiest way imaginable. At this rate, she would put herself into a hypnotic trance without Rebecca having to say or do anything at all.

Angels and devils perched on her shoulders. Sweet, angelic Celeste, begging her to put an end to all of this. Dark-haired, silver-tongued Alice, pressing her to bend Jessica’s unresisting will to her own. Before she could decide, her mouth opened and made the decision for her.

“Keep looking into my eyes, Jessica. Only my eyes. You’re feeling very, very relaxed. Very sleepy. So, so very sleepy.”

“Yesss…” Jessica slurred. Her eyelids slammed shut and only reluctantly reopened halfway. Her head wavered as she struggled to keep it upright. It was a losing battle.

“That’s right,” Rebecca continued. “You want to be hypnotized. You want to sleep. Sleep, Jessica. Listen to my voice, and sleep. Stare into my eyes, and sleep. Your eyes are so heavy, so heavy. Sleep. Sleep.”

It was all so unexpected, so amazing, so sexy, that Rebecca couldn’t be sure that it was even happening. Perhaps she was dreaming the entire thing. Perhaps she’d failed to hypnotize Alice after all, and the Irish mastermind was now using her fantasies to brainwash her into total submission.

“Totally relaxed. Submit to me, Jessica. Submit to my voice. My pretty, relaxing voice. Submit to sleep. Sink down into a deep, relaxing trance. Deeply asleep.”

With that, Jessica collapsed forward in a boneless heap. She landed against a surprised Rebecca, who instinctively held out her arms and embraced the brunette as Jessica’s full weight pressed against her. She managed to turn without falling and guided the sleeping woman into the enormous office chair. Jessica sank into its bottomless cushions with a soft sigh, one arm dangling over the edge like a fishing pole.

The dam finally broke, and Rebecca shuddered happily as she came.

“Hello? Yes, this is she. Who’s… yes. Yes. I hear, and obey. Yes. I understand. Yes.”

Her pretty blonde companion placed a concerned hand on her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay? You look… oh, you’re on the phone.”

She turned. “Petra, do they sell lazy muffins here?”

“I… mmmmm… yes. I hear, and obey.”

“Follow me and obey without question.”

“Without question,” Petra agreed. “Yes.”

They slipped out of the bar without another word.

“You will listen only to the sound of my voice.”

Jessica’s response was soft and dreamy. “Yes, Rebecca.”

“You’re exactly where you wanted to be, Jessica. I’ve hypnotized you. You’re in a very deep hypnotic trance. You will listen and… listen and obey.”

“I will listen and obey,” she agreed.

“Your mind belongs to me. Your body belongs to me.”

“My mind and body belong to you.”

“Stand up.”

Jessica grunted as she struggled with the chair, and Rebecca found herself grabbing the girl’s arms and lifting her to her feet. “It’s a terrible chair, I know.”

“Yes, Rebecca. Terrible.”

“Great… Look, I don’t have a lot of time, as much as I want to… so whenever you hear me say the words ‘deep trance, Jessica,’ you will return to this deep, hypnotic trance and obey me without question, understood?” There’s nothing more in the world I want to do but tear your clothes off and fuck your brains out, but… dammit!

“Mmmm… yesssss…” Without warning, Jessica shrugged off her jacket and let it fall to the floor. “I musssst… obey my misstresssss…” Her nipples strained against her tight t-shirt. “Obey only my mistress. As you command. Hear and… obey…”

Shit, she’s getting off on this as much as I am! “You know what? Fuck it. One for the road. Jessica, kiss me.”

Those deep blue eyes narrowed into sultry, sexy slits. “Yes, Mistress.” She closed the gap in under a second and threw her arms around Rebecca’s neck. She kissed Rebecca again and again, driven by mindless lust and whatever deep-seated fantasies she carried in the dark recesses of her brain. She grabbed Rebecca’s hands and placed them on her ample chest, rubbing their palms against her nipples as she moaned. “Fuck me, Mistress,” she breathed into Rebecca’s ear. “Command me to fuck you. I will obey. Must… obey.”

Rebecca broke off the kiss and stared into the protesting brunette’s eyes. Her pussy ached and throbbed with anticipation. Just a few simple words and the Aussie would be hers forever. A willing, obedient sex slave, the kind that she’d dreamed of ever since… since…

You’re feeling so tired, Emily.

“Yes. So tired. Deep sleep.”

“Your mind is blank and open to suggestion.”

“Yes, Rebecca. Blank and obedient.”

“Kiss me. Kiss me like you’re madly in love with me.”

“Mmmmm…. yessss….”

“Dammit.” She bit her cheek, hard, wincing as the pain brought her back to her senses, and did its best to cool the wildfire burning between her legs. “Jessica, stop. Stand at attention and obey my commands.”

Jessica stepped back at once and stood rod-straight, her chest thrust forward, her arms and legs glued to her body. She stared at a random point just above Rebecca’s head, eyes wide open and blinking only when she couldn’t keep them open any longer.

It was enough to send Rebecca over the edge again, and she paused to salvage what was left of her thoughts. I can jerk off to this later, I can jerk off to this later. “Listen up, Jessica. I’m going to give you some commands, and you’re going to obey them.”

“Yes. I will obey your commands.”

“Ooh, make her into a chicken!”

Rebecca felt a hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her skin as she wheeled around, expecting to confront an angry Celeste—or worse, a freed Alice. Instead, she found herself looking into the grinning, excited face of her best friend. “She’s under, right? Make her cluck like a chicken.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. Emily to the rescue, even if the redhead didn’t know it. “Are you always this way? Seriously? At least pick a different animal.”

“Fine.” Emily raised a finger to her chin, lost in thought. She snorted a few times, then lowered her hand. “How about an emu? Make her an emu! She’s from Australia, she’ll love it.”

“What…” she glanced down at the gorgeous Aussie. “I don’t even know what an emu does, do you?”

“They’re, like, big giant birds! They stomp around, all…” the redhead paused. “Shit. I don’t know what they sound like. ‘Awaaaannn, awk awk,’ or something.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible. And evil. Did I mention evil?”

“I’m not the one going around this place hypnotizing pretty girls left and right.” Emily crossed her arms triumphantly. “Are you going to make her squawk or not?”

A word weakly bubbled to the surface. “No.” Just the sound of it seemed to give her strength, and she tried again. “No, not this time.” Stronger still. “I’m not going to do that.”

“Well shit, you’re no fun tonight.” Emily’s face fell, and she looked genuinely disappointed. “Are you at least going to make out with her? I know you have the hots for her, and damn, look at that face! She’s got to be a model. At least she is on social media or—“

“I’m just going to wake her up.”

Emily threw up her tiny hands. “Fine, Buzz Killington, have it your way. I’m going to go get some coffee.” She turned and stalked off towards the kitchen, taking the time to cast an unhappy glance over her shoulder towards Rebecca. The clack clack of her shoes faded away, leaving Rebecca alone with her subject.

My mindless slave.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Not this time. Jessica, obey without question.”

“Yes, Rebecca... I will obey without… question.”

Goddammit, why do I have to have a soul? “In a moment, I’m going to snap my fingers. When you hear that sound, you will wake up. You’ll remember that I hypnotized you and put you into a very deep and relaxing trance. You’re completely satisfied by the experience.”

“Com…pletely… yessssss…”

“You’ll remember that and nothing more. A part of you will suspect that I erased your memory just now, and you’ll find that to be really, incredibly hot and sexy. You’ll have fantasies about this session, about being hypnotized. You won’t be ashamed of hypnosis ever again. When you’re back home in Australia, you’ll let someone hypnotize you if you trust them.”

“Yessss...”

“Hey Pheebs, it’s Jess.” The brunette pinned her phone between chin and shoulder as she rifled through her purse. “Yeah! No, I was out running a couple of errands.” She found the day pass she was looking for and headed into the U-Bahn station. “Yeah, just a few little things I had to get before we go home. Uncle John wanted… what? Oh, that would be amazing! Thanks!”

The reception faded as she reached the platform. “What? No, you’re breaking up. Okay. Soon! Okay, bye.”

She peered down the track, hopeful for the instant gratification of an approaching train, but found nothing but blackness. Disappointed, she dropped the phone into her purse and ran a hand through her hair. She felt silly. It was all silly. Lying to Phoebe about it only seemed to make it even more ridiculous. I can’t believe I came all the way across town to get hypnotized by a stranger. I’ve got a few roos loose in the top paddock, that’s for sure.

“Worth it, though,” she said, perhaps more loudly than expected. She glanced around in search of witnesses. The platform was surprisingly uncrowded. A young couple stood a few feet away, the boy cradling his girlfriend in his arms as they swayed back and forth, laughing and chatting. Jessica watched them with more than a bit of envy. Berlin was full of cute guys, and she had her pick of them, but club hookups were no substitute for a proper relationship.

Or a sexy hypnotist.

She blushed, and although the nearby couple showed no interest in anyone but themselves, just the hint of embarrassment—getting hot and wet about getting hypnotized, of all things—only made her blush even more. Rebecca made me do things and forget them. I’m sure of it. God, that was incredible!

A delicious, terrible thought crossed her mind, and with a mischievous smirk, she dug her phone out of her purse. There was a missed call—not a surprise, given the terrible reception on the platform—from an unknown number. She ignored it and pulled up a search engine instead, typing in ‘Hypnotists in Melbourne.’ Hee! She waited, and waited, eyes darting between the spinning ‘searching’ circle at the center of the screen and the weak signal strength bar at the corner. The latter soon proved too much for the former to overcome, and with a disappointed shrug, she tossed the phone back into her purse.

Better delete that search history, ha ha, she thought, as her train emerged from the tunnel and slowed to a stop.

“Emily? No.” Rebecca frowned. “Dammit, this fucking place was full just a couple of hours ago! I can’t believe that everyone… ugh. Just my luck.” Deep down, she knew that luck had nothing to do with it. The hostel was empty because all of the guests were currently spread out across the city, waiting to hear the magic words that would turn them into mindless slaves. That left only the girls who were free from Alice’s control. Celeste, Emily, and…

“Me? It’s got to be me. Check in on Emily, make sure she’s not freaked out by the Jessica thing, then go downstairs and have Celeste put me under. She did it before. She can do it again.”

She found Emily in the kitchen, clutching two mugs and looking guilty.

“I grabbed you some.” The redhead held out a steaming white mug. “Two creams, two sugars. At least I think that was creamer on the counter? Anyway, sorry I was mean to you just now.”

Rebecca took the cup. She took a sip and frowned. “Ugh.”

“I take it that wasn’t creamer?”

“No, no… I just like it black, that’s all.” She dumped the contents of the mug into the sink and reached for the carafe. “Don’t be sorry. I had some time to think while you were away, Em. I think I’m hanging up my hypnotist hat for good.”

“You? You, Rebecca Sanders?” Emily stared at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, no… Em, it’s just…”

“Drinking black coffee? Who are you and where is my Rebecca?” Emily leaned against the counter and held her mug in both hands. Tendrils of steam drifted up to her face. “Seriously, pod-girl, don’t feel like you have to give up hypnotizing people just because of me. I can be good! I promise!”

“It’s not you, though.” She took a long sip. Black and strong, just the way she liked it best. “You’re not the one hypnotizing me and making me do these things. When Jessica came into the hostel, I just… that was all me, not you.” She reached for a chair, but thoughts of Celeste and Alice crossed her mind again, and she relented. She really did need to finish things up and get back to them. “I guess I’ll still need to do it for class. Hypnotize people. But only in class! I fuck up way too much when I do it myself.”

“Maybe.” Emily placed her mug on the counter and stared into Rebecca’s eyes. “Maybe you just need a better subject, that’s all.”

“Bullshit, Em! I can hypnotize anyone, anywhere. I can make them do almost anything! It’s not the subject, it’s me. It’s what I tell them to do that is the part where I fuck it all up. That’s not going to change, so I need to do the changing.”

“I don’t think you understand, Colonel Sanders.” Her eyes never left Rebecca’s. “I think that you need a more willing subject. One who really wants you to hypnotize her. Someone who’s watched you do it a thousand times and always… wondered… what it would be like.”

Rebecca stared at her. Her mouth fell open. “You… you want me to hypnotize you?”

“Mmm hmm.” The redhead finally broke eye contact and flipped open a cabinet. She casually rummaged around before tossing a packet of oatmeal onto the counter. “I bet it would be fun. Honestly, I think it would be kinda hot, being hypnotized. Everyone you trance has that same ‘I’m gonna cum right now’ look on their face.”

“Yeah, but you hate hypnosis, Em.” That was the absolute truth; Rebecca was the very person who created that truth and planted it in Emily’s sleepy, suggestible mind. “I had no idea you even liked doing anything but making people into chickens.”

“Emus! We’re doing emus now!” She poured the packet into a bowl of water and opened the microwave. “Besides, who’s going to trust you more than your best friend? Who’s going to forgive you when you have her make out with a hot girl? Mmm mmm mmmmmmm…” She raised her arms and passionately embraced the air in front of her. “Oooh, baby. You’re so hot. If you could get me to do that? They should just give you a diploma right then and there, and save you all of those years of crushing student loan debt.”

“You. Are. Ab. So. Lutely. Impossible.”

“Am I? Or are you just not up to the task? Yeah, I threw down that challenge. Talk about chickens, Colonel Sanders! Bok-bok!”

Rebecca laughed. “Whatever. Next time we go check out a show, I’m going to hold you to this, and make you go on stage. I’m going to tell everyone how you swore to me that you wanted to be hypnotized so badly.” She pulled her phone from her pocket. “And then I’m going to record every second of it.”

Emily turned to her. “Oooh no. I only trust you. Not any of those other creeps. I want you to do it. Some things, you just know. I want it to be you, Rebecca.”

The redhead slammed the microwave door shut and hit the start button.

She padded down the rear stairs, her hand gripping the handrail tightly with each loud, echoing step. Her ears scanned the stairwell for any odd or threatening noises, but all they found was the distant rattle of the hot water pipes. No bangs, no footsteps, no laughter. Emily was probably the only guest still in the hostel, happily holed up in their room with a bowl of oatmeal and Celeste’s copy of The Fault in Our Stars. Everyone else was out on the town, waiting in the basement, or creeping down the back stairs like a fugitive.

Rebecca reached the bottom and paused, eyeing the door to the brainwashing room with suspicion. She’d been gone for longer than planned, leaving her girlfriend alone with a powerful hypnotist. What if Alice had been faking this the whole time, just waiting for them to drop their guard? What if…

Oh God.

What if Jessica was a planned distraction? Or Emily, for that matter? Two of Rebecca’s biggest unrequited crushes, both begging her to hypnotize them, to brainwash them into erotic slavery? What were the odds of that, especially given the timing? If Alice meant to tempt her, to lead her back to the dark side, she’d failed. If the goal was to keep Rebecca busy while Alice got her hooks into Celeste…

She attempted to ease the metal door open, but it creaked and groaned almost instantly, ruining any chance of surprise. Disappointed, she gave it a mighty shove until, with an ear-stabbing shriek, it swung into the room and banged against the wall. She peered inside, expecting the worst.

“Celeste?” The room was darker than before—Celeste must have turned off the overhead lamps at the center of the room. But there was no Celeste in sight. No Alice, either. She walked into the room, head tilted in confusion. A blue glow caught her attention, and without thinking, she glanced to her left.

Fuck! The monitor!

Someone had turned the thing on. Instinctively, she scrunched her face and pressed her hands over her closed eyes, turning away until she was facing away from the monitor and the lazy, irresistibly hypnotic spirals that emanated from it. “One. Two. Three.” She opened one eye, slowly, half-expecting to look straight into a second monitor or a mirror. Instead, she saw only crumbling concrete and stone, and opened both eyes.

“Celeste? Babe? Is everything okay?” She must have taken Alice back upstairs. “I’m sorry,” she added, even though by now she was certain that she was apologizing to an empty room. “I couldn’t find anyone and then I got caught up with Emily and… are you down here? Celeste?” She paused, afraid to say what logically came to mind next. “Al… Alice?”

She heard footsteps. The overhead lights blinked on, one by one, and she froze in fear. This was what happened in horror movies. They got you alone, and then they really got you. Alice had broken free. The monster was loose, and she was about to become the next vict-

“Hi, Rebecca. What took you so long?” Celeste stepped into the circle of light. “I was worried about you.”

She felt her body relax, but only for a brief moment. “Celeste! What happened to Alice? Why is the TV on?” She rushed forward, ready to take the brunette upstairs to safety. “Are you okay? Hey, are you okay?”

Alarm bells went off. This was a trap, and Celeste was the bait And here she was, about to bite the cheese and set everything into motion. She took a step back, just far enough to sense the presence of another person directly behind her. She closed her eyes and waited for the trap to spring.

“Of course we’re okay, dearie!” Everything is just fine. You’ll see.”