HOSTEL
Chapter Seventeen — Double Booked
For once, the buzzy neon sign above Club Trabant felt comforting, a sign of home and normalcy, and Rebecca paused to admire it. Who could have guessed that the girl who barely let herself be dragged into this backwater club would soon be its owner? Not to mention the owner of a whole lot of other things. It occurred to her then that things like fixing the buzzy neon sign were also on her list of new responsibilities, now that Alice was too brainwashed to take care of them.
She pushed through the doors and into the depths of the club, enthusiasm only slightly dampened, and found nothing but an empty room. The bar, the dance floor, the rows of tables and booths… all empty of life. There was the back room and the bathrooms, of course, and a little office upstairs that Alice used but which Rebecca had never seen. There could be people in those places, but it seemed odd that Alice would send such a jaunty text without being present to welcome her. If there was one thing that Alice loved, it was greeting people.
“Hello?” Her words carried the slightest hint of an echo. “Alice? Peter? Anyone? Hello?”
Is it closed? Why wasn’t the door locked? Maybe Peter is out back having a smoke. She walked behind the bar and pulled down a bottle of whiskey, setting it on the polished wood surface. A quick search produced a tall shot glass no spirals at the bottom of these, and she helped herself to a generous shot from the bottle. She was the owner, after all.
She slapped the empty glass on the bar with a satisfied “aaaaah,” hoping that the exaggerated sound would bring someone into the room to investigate. Instead, her eyes finally fell upon the sheet of notebook paper tacked to the low wall that divided the booths from the dance floor. Curious, she left the whiskey behind and investigated.
Rebecca dearie,I hope this pleases you, mistress! Your new employee should be arriving shortly. She’s certainly ready to work hard for you, if you catch my drift! Had to step out for a moment. I await your further commands.
Alice
Boop boop. Boop boop. Boop boop.
A phone. A ringing phone. Where the hell is there a phone in here? And who the hell calls a bar at this time of day?
To her slight surprise, she easily traced the sound back to its source, tucked behind the bar in a little alcove. She shrugged and listed the receiver. “Hello?” Oh crap please don’t answer in German please don’t answer in German!
“Hey Rebecca!”
Celeste’s cheerful voice filled her ear. The words did little for her lips, which continued to twist in puzzled curiosity. Why would Celeste bother to call her at the Club instead of reaching her on her cell phone? Unless the Russian girls had somehow snapped out of their trance? Or oh shit Alice was somehow working free of the ropes in her mind?
Before she could respond, Celeste continued. “Hey, guess what? Alice isn’t here, and two customers just showed up. A man and a woman? Could you find Alice or… I guess, come up here?”
“Oh,” she said under her breath. Inside, her stomach untwisted itself. “Um… should we just tell them that the hostel is full tonight? That’s easy enough.” Turning away guests who were not young, beautiful, and female was probably an annoyance that Alice had to deal with on a regular basis. There was absolutely no way that Rebecca was going to let anyone else book a room for the night. For five minutes, for that matter. Being the boss meant taking on the risk of being arrested if the whole thing came crashing down—say, from the testimony of two nosy tourists who poked their heads into the kitchen at exactly the wrong moment.
“I could do that,” Celeste agreed, and Rebecca silently thanked Alice for hooking her up with a girlfriend who shared a brain on things like this.
“Be extra rude, too. I know Alice wouldn’t approve, but I don’t want them coming back.” Or telling their friends about us. She made a mental note to give Celeste an extra passionate kiss as soon as she walked into the hostel. “Love you, Celeste. You’re amazing.”
“Love you too, Reb—”
Boop boop.
“Celeste? Celes—hello?” Annoyed, she tapped the headset against the edge of the bar, hoping to knock a loose wire or switch back into position. Instead, the banging seemed to make things worse. Booosh booosh, it crackled, the pops stinging her eardrums. Booosh booosh.
“Stupid Commie phone lines.” She placed the headset into the receiver and stuffed the entire thing back into its little alcove. Celeste hadn’t bothered to call back, so presumably she was shooing their unwanted guests out of the neighborhood. She thought of her sweet, pretty, girl-next-door girlfriend rudely mouthing off to the couple, and smiled. Then again, they’d both enjoyed the smutty words that poured out of Celeste’s sexy mouth while they made love on the kitchen floor.
She eyed the phone. A quick call, a few magical words, and Celeste would be helpless to resist. Then again, a quick call, a few whispered promises, delivered hot and heavy in hushed, excited tones, and Celeste would be banging down the doors to Club Trabant of her own free will.
Perhaps they could bring in Emily again. Beautiful, mindless, obedient Emily. Her hands on Emily’s breasts as she pressed against the redhead’s eager, dripping cunt. The soft whimpers she would make, begging Rebecca to keep going, unable to think of anything but pleasure and obedience, while Celeste watched them both and waited for her chance to join in. She would use a trigger on her girlfriend then and there, watching the light drain from her beautiful hazel eyes, before ordering her to bring Emily to orgasm again. Then, they would-
“Hello?”
The front door opened, and a figure stepped inside. Rebecca sheepishly withdrew a guilty hand from her jeans and watched as the figure drew closer. It moved slowly, head leaning forward, reminding Rebecca of a treasure hunter exploring a cave. A deep, dark, hypnotic cave, one which the Lara Crofts of the world would never dream of escaping. Rebecca wiped her hand against her pants, brushing against her pocket to assure herself that her pendant was still there.
The figure passed directly under one of the overhead lamps, revealing her to be a young woman. Rebecca felt her heart rate double.
She patted her pants again. “Hello,” she called out, waving her arm until she caught the girl’s attention. “I’m Rebecca. I’m the owner. Um, co-owner,” she added, grudgingly. She made a mental note to have Alice sign over the appropriate paperwork.
“Grace,” said the woman. She was close enough to Rebecca to be recognizable now—a pretty face framed by shoulder-length blue hair, and a matching blue scarf tickled the bottom of her chin. She smelled like perfume and cigarettes. “I’m the new bartender. Figured I’d come in a little early. Is Alice here?”
“She stepped out for a moment. Are you American? You sound American.”
“Canadian,” said Grace. She struggled with the zipper on her jacket, her head bobbing up and down, shifting between Rebecca’s face and the jammed piece of metal. “You think I would be better at coats, but I left when I was eighteen. Ottawa’s boring.” She finally mastered the zipper and draped her jacket and scarf over a nearby chair.
Rebecca bit her lip. The young bartender was gorgeous, shapely and athletic and dressed to highlight every single glorious curve.
“Erm,” she stammered, aware that her eyes were still eagerly taking in the sight in front of her. “Yeah. Anyway, the bar…”
“Ha! You look like my customers, boss!” Grace flashed a happy, knowing smile. “The boys all love buying drinks from me. Jeez, I can’t figure out why.”
“I love your hair,” Rebecca offered, although she loved far more than that. Celeste was going to get spectacularly fucked when she got back to the hostel.
“Yeah, well…” Grace’s attention was focused on the bar. “I think I got everything down. Peter showed me most of the ropes, and Alice filled me in on the rest. She… asked me to tell you something, come to think of it.”
“Alice asked that?”
“Yeah, I guess it’s an in-joke or something? She made me memorize this little poem. It goes ‘roses are red, violets are in France, when I finish this poem, I will go deep into trance.’”
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Alice is weird like that. Do you have any questions for me?”
The bartender ignored her.
“Grace?”
“Yes, mistress.” Her voice was flat and even. “I am deep in trance. I await my commands.”
Rebecca thought back to the little note Alice had written to mesmerize Celeste. Finding new ways to trigger her subjects was, apparently, as much of a hobby for Alice as finding new ways to bend wills to her own. To my own. Now freed any need to behave, she resumed her study of the new employee’s physique. “Have you ever modeled, Grace?“
“Yes, mistress. Nude modeling and clothed. I was fired for screwing the photographer. By his wife.”
“I want you to model for me.” She pondered her options. Having the girl strip naked in the middle of the club wasn’t the best of them. “Let’s go upstairs to the office for a minute.”
“Yes, mistress.”
“Compliance will be rewarded.”
“Yes.” The entranced brunette fixed her gaze on Edwin’s jaw, her dull eyes watching his words as much as hearing them. “Compliance will be rewarded.”
“You will obey me in all things, Celeste.” He tucked the device back into his coat pocket and admired his handiwork. The girl had only struggled briefly before her mental barrier utterly collapsed. “Who do you obey?”
“I… I obey Rebecca.”
“No, Celeste. I’ve hypnotized you. That means that you must obey me, not Rebecca. You will forget all about her and think only of me. Obey.”
“Yes. I must obey.”
“Which do you prefer, Edwin?” Behind him, Amanda was carefully circling the entranced Russian girls. “The tall one or the short one? I can’t decide.”
He held his hand in front of his face, encouraging Celeste to hear none of the words he was about to speak. “The tall one has nice tits. That’ll sell better. The other one will make a nice house slave. She looks submissive enough.”
“She will be, when I’m through with her.” Without warning, she jammed two fingers into Yulia’s mouth, prying open the girl’s lips and peering at her like a dentist. “I don’t like her teeth. They’re crooked.”
“Fine, then erase her and reprogram the other one. It’s all the same to me.”
Amanda finished her examination. She faced them, placing one hand on each forehead. “Girls, your minds are empty of all thoughts and desires. My will is your will. You will go immediately to your hotel room and gather your things. Don’t bother checking out. You are to head immediately to the address I’m going to give to you.” She pressed a card into Yulia’s hand. “Go and obey. Understood?”
“Understood.” they responded in sleepy unison.
Edwin returned his attention to Celeste. He passed his hand in front of her placid, slack face. “You can hear me again, Celeste. Who do you obey?”
“Rebecca,” she responded immediately. “I obey Rebecca. Only Rebecca.”
Edwin slapped his knees in frustration. The brunette don’t move an inch. “Dammit. This Rebecca girl is good. I’ve been trying to change her channel and she won’t respond to me at all. Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca, like it’s burned into her brain. ”
Amanda closed the front door behind the exiting Russians, and joined Edwin. She looked down at him with disdain. “That’s because you’re lazy, Edwin. Here, get out of the way.”
Edwin reluctantly scurried back as Amanda took his place. “We should just kill her outright, Mandy. I don’t like this at all. She’s dangerous. She took out Alice—”
“And soon she’ll be working for us. Do you really think we’re going to throw away someone like that? If we get her, we get Alice. Who’s going to stop us after that? We’ll run this town. Now here, watch the expert.” She sat down and faced Celeste. “You. Girl. Listen to me. You will obey Rebecca.”
“Yes. I obey Rebecca.”
Edwin opened his mouth to complain. Amanda shook her fist and pointed to the ceiling. “From now on, when I speak to you, you will hear Rebecca’s voice. Whatever I say will sound to you as if Rebecca were saying it to you. My words are Rebecca’s words. My voice is Rebecca’s voice. And whose voice do you obey?”
“Rebecca’s voice.”
“Good. Now fondle yourself until you cum.”
Her hand fell to her crotch. “Yes, Rebecca.”
Amanda rose from her chair as the brunette began to moan. “It’s as easy as that, Edwin. Now we just have to wait for our prizes to arrive.”
“I’ve never actually been up here,” said Rebecca as she locked the door to Alice’s office. Privacy was the least of her concerns—she could trance any woman who wandered inside, and Peter was certainly accustomed to mindless shenanigans in his club. Not to mention the fact that the thin door was unlikely to hold back the very loud sounds she planned on making. Old habits die hard, though. “Hey Grace, do you—”
The bartender rushed her, shoving her backwards until they both crashed against the flimsy door with enough force to make it rattle in its frame. For a moment, Rebecca imagined them spilling onto the staircase and down into the club, landing in a broken tangle of limbs. Imagine explaining that to the emergency room! Then Grace pulled her away from the door and into a long, passionate embrace, punctuated only by soft moans and long, sloppy kisses.
“Clothes… off,” Rebecca gasped, tearing open her jeans and yanking them down to her ankles. She pressed a toe against the heel of her shoes, but they were laced too tight to simply slide off. With a groan that was part excitement and part annoyance, she bent over and desperately pulled at her shoelaces.
Grace, lost in trance, had no such troubles. She mechanically removed each item of clothing, dropping each in the exact same spot. Shoes, shirt, bra, panties… even the tight leather pants, which Rebecca had assumed would be a challenge to remove quickly. The blue-haired beauty’s soon stark naked, her fair skin already starting to glisten with sweat. “My clothes are off, mistress.”
“I can see that.” Her right shoelace was being stubborn, and she resorted to jamming her free foot against her shoe heel and prying her other foot loose. She kicked the obstinate footwear for good measure. “Help me out of my jeans, slave.”
“Yes, mistress!” Grace was on her knees instantly, crawling forward on kneecaps until her head was pressed against Rebecca’s sex. She carefully lifted Rebecca’s right leg an inch and pulled the jeans free, then followed with the other leg. “I have obeyed, mistress.”
I have to program Celeste to do this. “You know what to do next, Grace. You’re right there.”
Even in trance, Grace was able to smile. Her face was full of lust and blank at the same time, an odd combination that Rebecca immediately forgot about as the bartender began to blow on her skin, followed by gentle kisses along her thighs, arriving shortly at her pussy. Rebecca moaned happily, her hands tracing the curves of her breasts.
“You’re… mmmm, that’s perfect… you’re good at this.”
Grace had to withdraw in order to respond, and Rebecca whimpered as cool air replaced Grace’s warm, soft skin.
“I am good at this, mistress,” was her reply. She gazed at Rebecca with devotion, a supplicant waiting to be ordered.
“Keep going.”
“Yes, mistress.”
Rebecca closed her eyes. Grace cycled between soft kisses and darting tongue licks, flicking her clit until Rebecca’s moans threatened to spill out onto the street. Everything melted into a dizzying maelstrom of pleasure and groaning happiness, with Rebecca at the center of it all. When the mesmerized bartender placed her hands on Rebecca’s ass and blew another kiss onto her hot, quivering pussy, she came, gloriously so.
“I have obeyed, mistress,” said Grace, and Rebecca came again.
“We run a very special operation here, Grace. You’re lucky to be a part of it.”
A dreamy, dazed smile. “Yes, mistress. I am lucky. Thank you for making me your obedient slave, mistress.”
Rebecca held the entranced girl’s chin in her hand and gently kissed her on the lips. The girl moaned and shuddered in response. “Remember, you’ll only cum for me when you’re deep in trance. When you’re awake, you’ll pretend to be free and independent. The better you are at it, the more I’m going to fuck you at the end of your shift. Understood?”
Grace’s eyes rolled into her head. “Yesssss… please, please fuck me, mistress.”
“Calm down.”
Grace bolted upright. “Yes, mistress,” she said. The sleepy muttering was gone; in its place was the confident and obedient cadence of a fanatical soldier. “I hear and obey.”
“Whenever you see this symbol,” Rebecca said, holding up one of the marked Euro notes for Grace to see, “ you will immediately fall into a deep hypnotic trance and remember your orders. What are those orders, Grace?”
The bartender’s eyes widened as she stared at the note. “I will look at the row of bitters. I will select the brown bottle with the silver label. When I am not in trance, I will assume that this is a bottle of bitters that I am unfamiliar with. When I am in trance, I will place two drops in the marked glass, and give the glass to the person who showed the symbol to me. Then I will awaken and forget.”
“Very good, Grace. When you are not in trance, who do you serve?”
The girl’s gaze hardened. “Abso-fucking-lutely nobody, that’s who. I didn’t bust my ass all over Europe to be some dickhead’s submissive little trophy wife. When I get enough money, I’m going to open my own place, hire some hot girls to run it, and retire to Portugal.”
“And when you are in a deep, obedient hypnotic trance, just like the one you’re in now?”
“I obey only you, mistress.” She lowered her chin to her chest and looked at Rebecca through fluttering, upturned eyes. “My mind and body are yours to command.”
“Good. And when you go home at the end of the night?”
“I will remember only what I am told to remember. As soon as my head touches the pillow, I will fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. When I awaken in the morning, I will fantasize about you and masturbate until I cum. My submission to you will deepen with every passing day.”
Rebecca climbed down from her stool. “I think my work here is done for the night. Do you know what time Peter shows up? I keep thinking that he’s going to pop through the door any second.”
“Peter told me that he arrives an hour before opening. Maybe less if he needs to buy smokes.”
Oh, Peter. I may have to show you my pretty pendant and install a better work ethic. “Okay, that’s fine for now. As soon as I walk out the door you will wake up, and start getting ready for your shift.”
“Yes, mistress.”
“Is Alice up at the hostel?”
Grace’s blank stare darkened. “I… I don’t… I don’t remember, mistress. Please forgive me. I only remember being here with you.” Her lips quivered. “I’m… I’m sorry, mistress. I can find her… please… let me find her for you.”
“It’s okay, Grace. I’ll find her myself. Forget that I even asked you that question.”
“Okay!” Sad Grace vanished. “I am ready to begin my shift, mistress.”
Rebecca gave her a pat on the shoulder, enjoying the way her touch passed instantaneously through the bartender’s tight, fit body. It was like watching a huge line of dominoes fall one by one, a speedy line of pleasure that left her new slave gasping for breath. “Okay, Grace, I’ll check in on you later tonight.”
“Thank… thank… whew. Thank you, mistress.”
By the time Rebecca arrived at the hostel, Grace was wiping down the bar and grumpily wondering when Peter was going to show up.
Things were cooling down again in Berlin, and Rebecca hustled down the street, trying to keep the warmth of the club wrapped around her body for as long as possible. She reluctantly came to a halt when faced with a red light. No passing cars, but plenty of Berliners ready to glare at her the moment she placed a foot in the street. She impatiently bounced on her heels, one eye on the light and one eye on her phone. Texts were during in with a vengeance; to her annoyance, most of them were from earlier in the day.
Colonel Sanders! Where you at, sexy wing girl? I’m bored. Gonna get coffee, text me!
Dearie, it’s Alice. I’ve got quite the news for you, mistress.
Alice again! See me in my suite if and when it pleases you, mistress.
I miss you already, baby. I’m checking out your ass as you walk down the street. :—)
Rebecca, it’s Emily. Do you want to go to the bar tonight? Come by the hostel when you get this message.
“I hate you,” she mumbled, wishing that a stern talking-to would cure her phone of its tendency to hoard texts for hours without telling her. “We’re in Germany. You’re supposed to be efficient. E-ffic-ient.”
The texts were old enough to make responses a waste of time, but Rebecca had plenty of it at this point, and she indulged herself.
Alice. Where are you?
Emily. Deeply hypnotized now. You will obey.
The light changed. She was halfway across the street when the phone buzzed again. Yes, mistress. I am hypnotized. Will obey.
There were all sorts of texts that could follow that. Telling Emily to collect Celeste, stripping naked—or perhaps the other way around? Have them work themselves into a sweaty frenzy, the better to have them pounce on her like the pretty bartender?
She breezed through the thinning crowds, head down, consumed with her sexy evening plans. By the time she looked up, she was at her destination.
“Rebecca! Eeeeeeee!!!!”
The brunette was in her arms before she could even close the lobby door, a mass of eager arms, wet lips, and shining strands of hair. She placed her hands on Celeste’s hips and drew her in tightly. “Mmm, you’re hot to trot tonight. My little love slave!”
“I’m always hot for you, baby. Did you find Alice?”
Rebecca shook her head. “No, I…” She paused, unsure of what to say next. I made out with a beautiful slave and now I’m about to do the same to you seemed to be the obvious choice, as it was nearly a given, but the words refused to coalesce into an actual spoken sentence. Her mouth felt dry, and her tongue pressed itself against her teeth. “I… um…”
Am I guilty?
Why would I feel guilty? Celeste belongs to me. Grace belongs to me. I can fuck anyone I want. It’s what they want, too.
She looked into those hazel eyes. Joyful, content, eager, hungry eyes. Eyes that would never care how many other girls Rebecca slept with. Eyes that would turn pleading as they begged Rebecca to let them join in a threesome, or moresome, night after night. Eyes that would close and sleep with just a word from Rebecca’s lips.
Eyes that followed Rebecca through the hall on the first day of their enslavement, hoping Rebecca would stare back at them. Eyes that gazed into hers as they made love, as they snuggled on the U-bahn, as they walked through the park before finding the Russians.
Full, wet lips pressed against hers. “Mmmm… I take that as a negative, then?”
The real Celeste would care.
She laced her fingers behind the brunette’s head and pulled her girlfriend in for a deep, soul-stealing kiss. Their noses touched and tickled each other, until Celeste reluctantly pulled away to scratch hers.
“I got rid of that couple,” Celeste said, wrapping herself around Rebecca’s body again. “Hee! I have a problem saying no a lot of the time, so I just let my mind go blank and let your suggestion take over. It was like watching myself in a movie. A really snarky movie.” She placed Rebecca’s hands on her breasts. “It’s so hot being your slave, Rebecca.”
Even through the sweater, Rebecca could feel Celeste’s hard nipples and her quick, excited breaths. She felt her body respond in kind. “I tranced Emily on the way over here,” she said, leaning in to whisper into the brunette’s ear. “Let’s go get her and have some fun.”
“Mmmm…” Celeste placed her hands on top of Rebecca’s and pressed against her chest. “Maybe later? Emily and I have a surprise for you in the basement.”
“Is it free candy? Free candy in the dark basement, kids, no worries!”
“Russian candy, maybe. I deepened their trances and had them watch the spiral program. They’re ready to be programmed now. And then Emily came in with three of her friends, and I dropped them all with one of Alice’s triggers. They’re ready, too. More slaves for you, mistress.”
“I like the way you think, slave.” She kissed Celeste on the forehead while the girl squealed with joy. “Let’s—oh shit, wait. Something I have to do first.”
“Uhnnn… what… what is it? I have a flight tomorrow.”
“Hi!” Rebecca put on her best Alice imitation. Minus the dearie, though. Never the dearie. “You’re Lauren, right?”
The girl shook her head. “Laura. I’m sorry, you woke me out of a dead sleep. Is there something wrong?”
“You’re in a deep hypnotic trance, Laura.”
Laura’s eyes flew open as her head snapped upwards. “I am in a deep hypnotic trance, mistress.”
“I need you to get dressed and man the lobby desk for me until I get back.”
“Yes, mistress. I hear and obey.”
“That was mean.” Celeste bounded down the hall towards the rear stairs, twirling to face Rebecca and grinning. “She’s got a flight tomorrow!”
“So she misses it, and I spend a few more days deepening her submission to me.” They reached the stair door, and Rebecca hefted it open. “Ooops! And you know the best part?”
Celeste slipped by her and began to descend. “What?”
“She’ll gladly pay us for the extra nights she has to spend here.”
“I think I created a monster.”
Rebecca passed her on the stairs, taking two at a time, the clack of her shoes sending echoes skyward. “You created your mistress, slave. And you will enjoy every minute of it!”
She received a sultry smile in response.
“Yes, mistress. Every. Single. Minute.”
To Rebecca’s surprise, the cellar door opened without a sound. Someone—almost certainly Alice, because who else would be down here—had come by and oiled or greased the thing. It swung wide and tapped the wall with a light thud. Inside, Rebecca could make out the soft glow of their trusty mesmer-vision set, and a scattering of chairs left over from the previous session. But something was missing.
“Um, Celeste? Where is everyone? No one’s down here but Emily.” The redhead stood alone in the middle of the room, next to an overturned chair, apparently very deep in trance. Whether that trance stemmed from Rebecca’s earlier text message, or from the monitor, or from Celeste was probably irrelevant. She was clad only in pajama bottoms and a bra, as if the trance had overtaken her while she was getting ready for bed.
The brunette peered into the room. “Huh. That’s weird. I could have sworn I saw them all go down the hall towards the basement. And Emily’s here. Where’d they go?”
“Emily?” Rebecca waved her hand. “Em? Where are the other girls?”
The redhead didn’t respond.
“Did you trance her? Or was that me?”
“She was in a light trance when I left her. She was supposed to take her friends down here to be brainwashed.”
They stepped into the room, mindful of Alice’s advice about avoiding the headache-inducing screen. Rebecca placed a hand on Emily’s shoulder and shook it gently. “Hey, Em, are you okay? Listen to me and obey. Tell me where the girls are.”
“They’re fine.” A man’s voice, so out of place in the hostel that Rebecca assumed at first that she was hearing something coming out of the monitor. But as she turned around she found herself staring at a middle-aged, heavyset man in khaki pants and a light jacket, his hands jammed into the jacket’s pockets. Behind him stood a woman about his age and height. They eyed Rebeca with bemused suspicion, and suddenly the basement seemed very, very small.
“Your Russian friends are in good hands, too,” he said, stepping forward until he was only a few feet from Rebecca. She felt a warm body press against her side, and looked over to find Celeste huddled against her. They held hands.
“This is a private business,” Rebecca said, hoping to sound as forceful as possible. She wished like hell that she was the kind of person who carried a gun. “You’re trespassing.”
The words had little effect on the man, who sneered and narrowed his eyes. “So are you, aren’t you?”
“Get out. Celeste, get out your phone and call the police.” She crossed her arms. “You two have five seconds to get out of here.”
“Celeste will do no such thing,” said the woman. She was standing just behind one of the lights in the ceiling, and its glare hid her from Rebecca’s view. “Celeste, drop your phone on the ground and step on it.”
“Yes, Rebecca. I obey.”
Before Rebecca could stop her, the brunette tossed her smartphone onto the dirty floor and brought her boot down on it with a crunch. She added a second stomp and a twist for good measure, shattering the screen into a spiderweb of broken glass.
“Celeste! What the fuck are you doing?”
Celeste turned white. Her mouth fell open in shock, and she stepped away from the crushed phone. “I don’t… Rebecca, I don’t know! I had to. I just… I had to.”
“Go upstairs. Run.”
“But Rebecca…”
“Now!”
Celeste didn’t hesitate. She planted her boots against the floor and took off running, covering most of the way to the cellar door in a matter of seconds. Just before she passed the threshold, the woman called after her. “Celeste, freeze.”
She came to an instant stop, trying and failing to move her arms and legs. “Rebecca! What’s happening? I… I can’t move, please!”
“Emily, you are made of steel,” said the man. “Hold Rebecca and don’t let go.”
“You little bas—argh! Em, no! The—” She shook like a wild animal, trying to throw off the arms that clamped around her arms and chest like heavy ropes. She tried kicking out, but Emily has anticipated her actions and took a wide stance with her feet placed away from Rebecca. The few blows Rebecca scores seemed to have no effect on her, anyway. “Emily! Listen to me and OBEY! Let… ungh… let me fucking GO!”
“She can’t hear you, Rebecca. The man stepped closer, being careful to stay out of range of Rebecca’s legs. “She’s completely under my control now.”
“Your girlfriend, too,” the woman added. She casually made her way to the cellar door, where a frozen Celeste watched her with terrified, pleading eyes. The woman placed a hand against Celeste’s forehead. “Deep sleep. Drop deep into mindless sleep.”
The brunette’s eyes rolled up in her head as she tumbled to the floor. The woman stepped over her prone body, straddling her fallen foe. “I told you she was an idiot, Edwin. Just look at her. Tricked by her own best friends. You stupid girl. You really just walked into a basement without even thinking of what might be lurking down here?”
Rebecca gave up on struggling. It would only hurt Emily, who would sooner break her own arms than break the programming that now encircled her mind. She let her body go limp in Emily’s powerful arms. “What the fuck do you want,” she said, fighting the rising dread that was forming in her intestines. You know what they’re here for, Rebecca.
“You’re prettier than I thought you’d be,” said Edwin. Like Rebecca, he seemed to relax now that the initial adrenaline rush had passed.
The woman took an awkward step forward, her shoe catching on a loose fold of Celeste’s sweater. Stumbling, she covered the remaining distance between herself and Rebecca in an embarrassed fury. “You can let go of her, Emily. If she tries to escape, you will throw yourself from the roof. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
Emily’s arms opened wide, and Rebecca scurried loose.
“Look, if you’re here for Alice…” Rebecca rubbed her sore arms. “I don’t know where she is. She’s probably down at Club Trabant.” A thought occurred to her, and she acted on it. “I can take you there. They know me there, they’ll let me into Alice’s office with you.”
Edwin snorted as he choked back a laugh. “Not all of us are dumb enough to march into a trap, Rebecca. Amanda and I have been watching you. We know all about you and Alice. The club too, for that matter.”
Amanda reached for Rebecca’s cheek. “You’re going to lead us to her soon enough. But only after you’ve been thoroughly reprogrammed. Then you’ll happily hypnotize her again and turn her over to me, before submitting to my will as my personal slave.“
There was no way out. The girls in the hostel would never hear her shouts from down here, even if they had enough free will to do something about it. Whatever they did to Celeste and Emily, they were about to do to her. She looked up at her best friend, stock-still and mindless, and wondered what it would be like to be a robot.
I can tackle her. Punch her, knock her out. Dammit, Celeste! I need you now! Wake up!
Edwin reached into his jacket. Rebecca cringed, expecting him to pull out a gun or a knife. Something to threaten her with while they held her down and did whatever they needed to do to hypnotize her. But the object in Edwin’s hand wasn’t a gun or a knife. It looked more like a cell phone.
I can definitely tackle him. Maybe get behind him, kick out his legs, wrap my arm around his throat. She tensed her legs and waited for him to make a move. If she was lucky, she could have him on the ground before Amanda could do anything. ”Free Emily and Celeste or I crack his neck! Do it now, bitch!”
“Just watch the pretty lights, Rebecca.” He cupped his device in his hand and held it up for her to see. For her to watch.
For her to surrender.
Maybe if I keep my head down annnnnn…. nnnnnnnnnnn
“That’s right. Watch. Watch the lights.”
Rebecca tried to move her legs, but they wobbled instead. Her mind was filled with wet cement. The colors were so beautiful. Cascading colors, a waterfall of them, sparkling and shiny like the waterfalls in Argentina, dragging her down, down, down… over the edge, falling and spinning and running low on air, everything going black as she sank deeper and deeper. The roar of the waterfall increased, filling her ears, filling her thoughts, erasing the room and everyone in it. There was only the pretty, sparking waterfall.
“Come to me,” said the waterfall.
She took a step forward. She needed to be inside. Inside the little grotto behind the waterfall, safe and peaceful and quiet, just beyond the shimmering wall of color. Just beyond.
“Come to you,” she droned. “Come to you.”
She took another step forward.
Around her, the room plunged into darkness.
“I can’t see anything,” said the waterfall. “What the fuck? Amanda?” It began to bob and weave before snuffing out altogether.
“Come?” Rebecca reached into the void where the waterfall, her beautiful waterfall, was supposed to be. She felt only blackness. “I… I can’t…”
Then a hand wrapped itself around her wrist and pulled, hard.