Incursion
Chapter 4: Jan
Jan didn’t want to get out of bed on Saturday morning.
Which is a deceptive statement, because it implies that there were mornings when Jan did want to get out of bed. There generally weren’t.
Jan was a classic overachiever, having grown up in a classic “drinking town with a football problem” as the only child of the town’s only two Iranian-descended residents. (Though they had referred to themselves as “Persian” since Bush Sr. was in office. Similar to the way she’d started going by “Jan” in kindergarten because no one could pronounce Jannat.) Jan had been her high school’s valedictorian, captain of the swim team, president of the honor society and senior class treasurer. She was sent off to college with big expectations of taking an impressive course load, keeping a 4.0 GPA, participating in many extracurriculars, and then transferring to an Ivy League school by her junior year. From there, she’d enter an MD/PhD program to lead into a career in biomedical research, marry a nice investment banker and have lots of children for her parents to mind while she cured cancer.
Then came her disastrous first semester at college. She didn’t make the swim team, received virtually no votes when she ran for student council, and nearly failed molecular biology, squeaking by with the only D she’d ever received in her life. Which crashed her hopes of a perfect GPA, transferring, or attending any medical school in the continental US. She threw herself into the next semester’s coursework to the detriment of everything else, and when her grades were still mediocre she spent the summer alternating working as an office temp and hiding in her room to avoid her parents’ disapproving glares. Now, with her sophomore year in full swing, her grades were still lousy, she hadn’t joined any activities, and between losing contact with high school friends—how could she face them, anyway?—and not making any new ones, there wasn’t really much for her to fall back on.
(Though she had gone to exactly one party, last Halloween. Wore a corset and everything. Then she nursed a ginger ale for two hours while trying and failing to make small talk, got vaguely disgusted by the drunken frat boys, and decided it wasn’t her scene.)
The internet claimed that if you still managed to function, you weren’t really depressed. Which Jan found vaguely heartening, because if her parents were disappointed in her now, they’d disown her for seeing a shrink and going on “happy pills”. So every day, Jan contemplated just staying in bed until she died of dehydration, and eventually got up because it seemed mean to whoever would have to find her body and deal with it. And she’d sleepwalk through her classes, do problem sets in a daze, stare at the internet for a few hours, and then go to sleep and do it all again.
This morning was different in that there was an email from her chemistry TA, requesting a meeting at lunchtime.
Great. Probably to discuss something else she was failing at.
Ms. Draoi was on the phone when she came in.
“I think it spread itself too thin, too quickly. It’s definitely still spreading to additional host bodies, but not at the geometric rate you might expect. I’m not sure what that gets us, though. Yes, I’m actually on top of your idea, though I think it’s extremely unlikely to work and also morally reprehensible. Of course I’ll try it, because it’s still the best option, but I like to register opinions to remind myself of my humanity. I’ll talk to you later.” She motioned Jan to sit down.
When Ms. Draoi hung up the phone, Jan asked, “Is this a bad time? I can come back.”
“No, no, it’s fine. We’ve got a computer simulation of a viral infection running, and it’s not behaving the way our model predicts. Which on one hand is annoying, but on the other hand might mean a journal article that I can be the second author on. So, not so bad.”
“Oh. Good.” Jan shifted uncomfortably. It’s not like I’ll ever get any journal articles published.
“So, I get the impression you’ve been having some trouble in this class. Is everything all right? Problems at home, broke up with your boyfriend, maybe?”
“No, I’m…I’m fine. I’m just…I’m fine.”
The TA looked her over. “Okay, if you insist. The professor was concerned, because you seem awfully bright to be struggling with the material.”
Jan shrugged, noncommittally.
“Well, one of my best students from last semester does some tutoring for very reasonable rates. I can’t force you to do anything, of course, but I suspect you could really benefit from it. Her name is Amy; this is her contact info. Just stop by and talk to her today, okay? Promise me you’ll at least try?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to her.”
“Great, that’s all I needed to hear.”
Jan got up to leave, “You were really concerned about me? That was nice of you.”
Ms. Draoi pulled out her phone again and started typing a text, “I just do what I have to.”
Jan hesitantly knocked on the door. What am I even doing here? It’s not like there’s any point. I can’t study more than I already am. If I’m too stupid to learn something, having somebody smarter try to explain it isn’t going to help.
The door opened, revealing a buxom bond girl in a tank top and panties, wearing sunglasses. Behind her, Jan could see a mostly-naked boy sprawled on the bed, semiconscious at best. Oh, brilliant, Jan! You interrupted a hookup. Nice to see you can spread your sucky days onto everyone you meet.
“I’m sorry. Is this a bad time? Ms. Draoi said that I should come see you, but I don’t want to interrupt anything…why don’t I just go…”
COME IN.
“Uhh, sure, if you insist.” Jan walked into the room, trying not to look directly at the boy on the bed. “This seems like kind of an awkward time, though. I don’t want to disturb your, um, friend.”
HE IS EMPTY AND USELESS.
“Good for him, then? I guess?” Something was really weird about her voice. And this situation, now that she thought about it.
HIS BODY IS NOT USEFUL TO MASTER.
“That’s a shame.” Jan briefly had a second thought, wondering why what Amy had just said seemed perfectly normal.
Amy took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were like polished, black stone.
YOU WILL GIVE YOUR BODY.
Jan’s head swam. “I will…give…”
YOU WILL TAKE THE MASTER INTO YOUR BODY.
“Take…into…”
Jan swayed, and Amy’s superhumanly-firm grip was suddenly on her shoulder, forcing her to her knees. Amy rolled off her panties in one smooth gesture, and pressed Jan’s face into her pussy.
LICK.
Jan vacantly obliged, hesitantly licking at Amy’s slit, then more firmly as Amy’s hands guided her head. She flicked her tongue over Amy’s clit, around her lips and up into her channel. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Jan wondered if she should be feeling disgusted, or aroused, or really anything at all. But then, she answered herself, I haven’t felt anything in months. Why should this be different?
DRINK.
Amy threw back her head and came, and a gush of inky black fluid sprayed into Jan’s compliant mouth. Amy grinded her crotch against Jan’s face, making sure she sucked up every drop.
TAKE THE MASTER INTO YOU.
Obediently, Jan did.
Sometime later, Jan awoke in an unfamiliar dorm room, her mouth tasting like death and her clothes disheveled. What had she been doing here? She came to find that girl who was supposed to tutor her, and then…everything was a haze. Did she pass out? Nobody was here—maybe they went to find help? Or maybe the girl was so disgusted by me she just left me here. It’s not like I deserved help, if I was dumb enough to have an anxiety attack or something.
WHAT DO YOU DESIRE? Asked a tiny voice in the back of her mind.
Nothing, she thought to herself. I’m too tired to want anything. And I don’t deserve anything, anyway.
Jan picked up her bag and snuck out of Amy’s room, vaguely concerned someone would see her and think she’d been up to something, but mostly trying to avoid human contact altogether. She slinked back to her room, dropped her bag, and flopped listlessly on the bed. But oddly, the voice in her head that wasn’t quite her own kept asking her questions. Unbidden, her imagination started to weave dreams—strangely real dreams—in response to them.
DO YOU WANT TO BE DESIRED? Asked the voice.
Jan caught a glimpse of herself in the locker room mirror as Amy—blond, curvy, energetic, though still with those strange black eyes. She was wearing a tight black tank-top and tiny running shorts, leaving very little to the imagination.
A tall, well-muscled guy was in the showers. Jan could feel Amy’s desire with an odd sort of disconnect—the heat and wetness in her panties felt like her own body, but the emotional sensations were alien. Amy stepped into the shower entrance, paused for a moment, and waited for the boy to notice her.
He did a double-take, obviously not expecting her. “Uhhh…hi?” he said, trying to angle his body so as not to expose himself.
I NEED YOUR TOUCH. DO YOU DESIRE ME?
Amy’s voice echoed through the locker room and Jan’s mind the way it had back in her dorm room. Suddenly less interested in modesty, the boy turned, his member springing to attention and signaling the obvious answer. “Fuck, yeah!”
COME. TAKE OF MY BODY, GIVE OF YOURSELF.
The words carried far more command than invitation—if the boy had any will to resist, they obliterated it. He was on Amy like a tiger, tearing off her clothes and pulling her against him. Jan felt the boy’s eager cock probing Amy’s pussy as if it was pressing against her own; though Jan was a virgin, there was no denying what that sensation was as Amy drew the boy into her. She felt the cold tile of the shower against her back and water running down both of their bodies and Amy and the boy rutted like animals, thrusting with furious desperation. And when the boy quickly reached a climax, Jan felt the rush, the feeling of fullness as he gave her not only his cum, but a piece of himself for the Master to devour.
As the boy’s body shuddered against her, Amy looked up and saw two more boys looking into the shower. They started as they met her gaze.
JOIN US. TAKE OF MY BODY, GIVE OF YOURSELF.
Leading the first boy out of the showers by his rapidly re-hardening cock, Amy plunged her hand into the exercise shorts of the second boy, and seductively licked her lips at the third. Within moments, both of the new boys were bottomless, one with his cock in Amy’s mouth and the other in her pussy from behind. The original boy slumped below her, groping her tits with one hand and masturbating himself with the other.
I AM THE VESSEL. FILL ME WITH YOURSELF.
They did. The boys came at her command, and Jan gagged reflexively even as Amy swallowed a load of salty cum. Jan felt the otherworldly strength and vitality infusing Amy as she sucked away something vital from each of the young men. Then Amy rearranged them and Jan tried to writhe away as she realized what was being set up—one boy came from behind pressed his cock up into Amy’s tender asshole, while another came from the front and refilled her pussy. Amy’s body was slick with black ichor, the essence of her Master, but Jan felt the intrusion as if it was happening to her own inexperienced body.
Jan twisted and cried out as more boys entered, and at Amy’s command, they filled her holes and she fucked out their dreams and desires, a feast for the Master that left empty shells of young men littering the locker room.
Jan awoke with a jump, clutching herself and screaming, “NO!” Gasping and panting, she checked to make sure her body was her own and was unharmed. Then she felt something moving within her mind, a…smoothing sensation that washed away the pain and revulsion and left her usual lethargy. She slumped back onto the bed.
DO YOU WANT TO BE POWERFUL? Asked the voice.
Jan looked down to see someone’s skinny white legs in a very short skirt sitting on the lap of an older man in a suit—the lap of Dr. Harold, the college president! Though Jan’s impulse was to jump away and apologize, the girl’s body stayed confidently where it was, fingers running along Dr. Harold’s neck.
“Ms. Martin, I…this is all very improper.”
ALL IS AS IT SHOULD BE.
“It…yes, of course. Go on. My office is always open to students.”
LOOK INTO MY EYES. THE MASTER REQUIRES YOU.
The man’s gaze briefly fogged over as her met her gaze. “The…master… Of course. Yes. That doesn’t seem out of the ordinary.”
YOU DESIRE THIS BODY.
“I desire your body…” The president turned red. “Well, of course, you’re a very attractive young woman, but I’m a married man…”
YOU WISH TO PLEASE THE MASTER.
When Dr. Harold didn’t immediately reply, the girl unzipped his fly. What appeared to be a tribal tattoo on her arm sprang to life, the twisting black tendrils stretching into the man’s pants and wrapping around his cock. He gasped.
YOU WISH TO PLEASE THE MASTER.
“I wish…to please…you, master.”
ABOVE ALL ELSE.
His breathing came more rapidly. “The master comes first…”
THE MASTER OWNS YOU.
“Owns me…” Dr. Harold grunted, obviously straining against the teasing sensations on his crotch.
THE MASTER OWNS YOU. YOU ARE THE MASTER’S SERVANT.
“The master…owns me. I am the master’s servant…”
REPEAT.
“The master owns me. I am the master’s servant.”
REPEAT.
“The master owns me! I am the master’s serv…AHH!” Dr. Harold’s hips bucked wildly. The mass of shadows over his groin retreated slightly, allowing his cum to shoot onto the carpet.
YOU WILL DO ANYTHING THE MASTER REQUESTS.
“Anything…”
WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU WILL GIVE YOURSELF TO THE MASTER, AND YOU WILL TAKE HIM INTO YOU.
“I long for it…I long for the master to take me…”
UNTIL THEN, YOU ARE MY SLAVE.
“I am your slave…”
THIS IS WHAT YOU SHALL DO…
Jan shook off the vision. President Harold? What a weird thing to think about. What would she do, order him to change her grades? That wouldn’t help much when she got a job she couldn’t handle because it looked like she was actually smart.
DO YOU WANT TO BE FEARLESS? Asked the voice.
“Annie, what are you doing here?” asked the girl who opened the dorm room door. The sign on the door said “Melody,” which was probably the name of the mousy-haired girl with thick glasses and a distinctly over-caffeinated look. “I’m sorry I missed you at dinner yesterday, I’ve been working on this problem set for days. I think it’s almost done, though. I probably should have stopped for dinner, though. Low blood sugar makes it hard to think. I might have made up for it with too many donuts from breakfast. Oh, wait, since you’re an RA, should I not tell you if I took donuts out of the cafeteria? I’m sorry. Please don’t turn me in. And what am I thinking? I’m being a terrible host. Why don’t you come in?”
I WANT YOU.
“Oh, um. Thank you? I guess. I don’t really know how to answer that. I mean, I like you and all, but I don’t really swing that way and I really kinda technically have a thing with this guy, you know, the online thing I’ve talked about. And I realize it’s not really clear where that’s going and all but it still would feel weird even if I was into girls which I don’t really think I am. You know?”
I DON’T CARE. I WANT YOU.
“I totally understand. And I’m totally cool with it. I’m just not sure this is a good time. I think I have a headache or something. It’s probably the caffeine and not enough sleep. Are you getting a cold? Your voice sounds weird. Also, you don’t usually wear sunglasses. I don’t know why I just noticed that.”
KISS ME.
Melody practically jumped into her arms, wrapping Annie is a sudden and passionate embrace. Jan felt the warmth of her body, felt the unbridled strength of Annie’s desire for her.
After a moment, Melody broke the kiss. “I don’t know why I did that, but I felt like I wanted to when you suggested it and it seemed like a really good idea at the time but now I’m thinking maybe you were joking or testing me or something and maybe I shouldn’t have.”
Annie touched her hand tenderly to Melody’s cheek, and kissed her.
BE MINE.
Melody shuddered, and looked longingly at Annie. “I should probably shut up now, shouldn’t I?”
NO. YOUR VOICE IS PLEASING.
Jan jerked awake with a start. Something was wrong—that wasn’t supposed to end there. Why did it stop?
Hours passed in a dreamy haze, possibly a full day, though Jan couldn’t really tell. Visions came and went, of people and bodies and sex and hunger. Nothing she saw moved her; even the revulsion at the more extreme visions wore off quickly. So this was giving up entirely on emotion? It wasn’t really that bad, was it?
DO YOU WANT TO FEEL?
Jan said nothing, but something stirred within her.
AH.
Inky black sigils started to form on Jan’s skin, writhing and pulsing with a dull purple glow. They shifted, forming words in a language man had never spoken, spelling the Thing’s grown, complex thoughts into her mind.
YOU LACK THE DESIRES THAT FEED ME. YOUR MIND IS DAMAGED. I CANNOT MAKE A SPACE IF I CANNOT FEED. BUT I HAVE GROWN STRONG. I CAN FIND THE TINY DESIRE YOU RETAIN, AND I CAN REPLACE WHAT YOU LACK. YOU SHALL FEEL MY DESIRES.
In a purple flash, a dark spiral appeared on Jan’s forehead. Her vision went white as the Thing spread tendrils through her brain.
The Master had finally found a place where it could take something from her, and make space for itself in her soul. Drawing on the strength of the desires it had eaten already, it created substance for itself, spreading oily black ooze out and coating Jan’s skin. Jan felt the sensations lightly at first—a tickle here, a pinprick there—but they carried weight with them. Emotional weight.
Pleasure. Pain. Fear. Joy. Tiny spikes of emotion. What was happening?
A wave of shadow reared up and became a claw, which dove forward and dug into the skin of Jan’s thigh. The pain was…real. It hurt. When was the last time something really, genuinely hurt?
A thousand tiny fingers rose from the shadow mass and ran themselves down Jan’s neck, between her breasts, along her sides, across her stomach. The touch felt good. It made her happy. Really, shockingly happy.
Suddenly, a dozen more claws formed, and embedded themselves into the tender flesh that had just been caressed. Jan screamed. The pain was sharp, tearing, and…strangely joyful. The feeling of happiness—no, euphoria—was only amplified. She could feel the pain and enjoy it! She could feel it!
A swatch of blackness solidified itself into a tentacle, an inch think and distinctly phallic. Sensations of fear, anger and curiosity all rippled through Jan’s mind as she realized what it was, then she felt the shadow form strong claw-hands that gripped her wrists and neck, holding her firmly on the bed. More hands roughly grabbed her thighs, the claws scratching as they forced her legs apart. The unbridled fear, the anticipation was amazing. Jan had not felt it in forever, and she reveled in it.
Then, with a swift and sharp thrust, the tentacle was inside her. It felt like tearing—I’m probably bleeding, Jan thought absentmindedly, it’s my first time—but the pain was pleasure and it was the first pleasure she could remember feeling in so, so long. She wanted to feel this so, so badly. She wanted to feel this way forever.
And the Thing dug into that desire. The sigil on her forehead glowed, the tendrils in her brain grew firm, and the tentacle thrust into her pussy as the bestial shadow hands held her immobile.
YOU WANT TO SUBMIT TO ME.
“Yes, yes…please…”
YOU WANT TO FEEL MY PLEASURE FOREVER.
“Yes! Don’t stop! Hurt me…cut me, tear me…fuck me!”
COME. AND GIVE YOURSELF TO ME.
And finally, Jan did.
And when she got out of bed, she knew what she wanted to do.