Synopsis: Six friends get together for their quarterly reunion. When one of them claims to have become a master hypnotist, things take a turn for the unexpected.
The Kissing Factor
(by S.B.)
6 — “We’re All Made of Stories...”
Body covered in cum splatters, facial muscles caught between expressions of pure delight and absolute disgust, Kabir looked like an erotic surrealist painting, one that Gloria was about to share with the world.
“Hilarious!” She chuckled. “Who shall I send it to first? Natasha, right? I’m sure she’ll love seeing her boyfriend in such a predicament.”
Kabir flinched, the trance stupor swirling in his mind, compliant words eager to once again drip from his wet lips. However, at the same time, a small part of him wasn’t sure if everything he had agreed to before was a real expression of his innermost feelings of surrender, or simply an elaborate illusion to keep him sedated and more easily pliable. As the erotic rush subsided into agonizing frustration, Reason spoke louder than hypnosis. At great cost, he sat upright, looked at her, and mumbled:
“Please don’t.”
“Speak up, boy. I didn’t hear you.”
“I beg you... please, don’t do this.” He repeated, fingers twitching.
Gloria laid down the phone on her lap and crossed her legs. “Beg? You call that begging? Don’t make me laugh! Begging is something intimate, it comes straight from the heart and makes you choke and sob when the words crash into one another. You don’t know how to beg, Kabir! I’m not really sure you know how to do anything right, but you will learn. I promise you you’ll learn.”
“I...” His right arm squeaked like an automaton in need of oil. If only he could get up...
“See? You’re fighting again, clinging to meaningless words and feelings that will never get you anywhere. There’s no ‘I’. There will never be an ‘I’ for you again. That’s why you need the extra humiliation. You need this to accept your place in my world from now on.”
“Fuck, Gloria! You’ve done enough already!” He spat. “It doesn’t have to end like this.”
“Who said anything about ending? This is only the beginning. I have so many ideas. You’ll hate most of them at first, but you’ll come around to my way of thinking. Now, where is Natasha’s number, anyway?”
“Please... what can I do to make you change your mind? I’ll do anything if you just let it go...”
“Anything, huh? You shouldn’t use that word if you’re not prepared to accept whatever consequences come from it. Are you sure you want to stick to that?”
“Yes... what do you want?”
“Shut up.”
“Huh?”
“Shut up. Zip it. Keep your words to yourself. If you don’t know how to beg a Goddess yet, then I require silence. Complete and absolute. If you say another word until I give you permission to speak again, I’m releasing the video. Is that clear?”
Blood boiling, Kabir bit his tongue and nodded. He had bought himself some time, but would it be enough? He didn’t know. He didn’t recognize her anymore. The Gloria that happily threatened him with fetish blackmail and talked about femdom brainwashing as if it were the most natural thing in the world was not the same person whose company and friendship he had learned to appreciate. The woman sitting in front of him was something else, a succubitch in red, and there was no telling how much more dangerous she could be.
“Good. Now listen carefully. Since you’re a so-called writer and all, what is the most important thing in a story going forward? It’s not the characters, it’s certainly not their physical characteristics, but rather conflict. Conflict is the primeval force that drives any narrative. If everything is fine and dandy and remains that way as the story goes by, things become boring, predictable. The last thing you want when writing something is for that to happen to your ‘plot’. If there are no surprises waiting in store, then why should anyone be willing to invest more of their time in seeing it through? Does this make sense to you? Nod once for ‘yes’ and twice for ‘no’, please.”
Kabir shook his head a single time. Of course, it made sense. It was Storytelling 101. Every single one of his humble attempts, especially the flawed ones, were anchored on that basic principle. That didn’t make her exposition any less awkward, though. Something else was going on, another trap in the making. He took a deep breath and promised himself not to get embroiled in her saccharine words again.
“Glad you agree. And yes, I know what’s on your mind right now. What does this has to do with anything? It’s simple, really. As a writer, I’m sure you’ll also agree that we’re all stories, too. Every one of us has an internal plot that unfolds as our connections grow and our thoughts intersect with one another. Each additional experience is a new act in our story. Some people learn from them, adapt and evolve, and we call that ‘personal growth’. Others never learn and let the opportunities pass them by. Instead of seeking conflict, they shun it, run away from what’s exciting and then build walls around themselves to justify all the things they didn’t do when they had the chance to. Sounds familiar, Kabir? Aren’t you full of wasted opportunities yourself?”
He nodded two times. What a load of horse-crap! While it was true everyone had regrets in their lives, he would admit nothing that would give her more leverage in the current situation. Seizing the bliss of silence, he let out a sly smile. “You’re not getting inside my head this time, G.” He thought.
“No, huh? Okay, if you’re going to choose the lie, let me tell you a theory of mine, one that makes more sense the more I think about it. I think that everything you’ve been spewing about consent between you and Natasha is one of those walls, a story you told her time and time again until she believed it to be true. I think you tell yourself that all the time as well because you don’t want to face the alternative that you’re way more deviant than you admit. Natasha never wanted to be hypnotized. It was you who convinced her of that. Natasha never imagined herself becoming someone else. You planted that idea in her. Every time you put her under, you add another layer to your story, another secret desire of unlawful domination which you then use to program her further into becoming a mindless, obedient thrall. You’re not innocent, Kabir. You’ve never been innocent. Hell, you’re even worse than me, isn’t that right?”
Two nods again, furious head jerks that could easily turn into two punches if his muscles weren’t so stiff. “Easy now,” he mumbled to himself. “She’s just trying to get you mad. Don’t let her, you hear? Just relax...”
“You may deny all you want, but you’ll agree it’s true. We need more conflict, something else to drive our story forward, and Natasha’s amnesia is just so convenient... the perfect excuse for your dark sexual escapades. When she’s hypnotized, you control the narration, you change everything she sees, hears, and believes. You can even alter her memories, just like you did when you made Alana into a living, breathing entity inside her mind. And guess what? So can I. Whatever you don’t believe in right now, will be exactly what you always thought to be true. Doesn’t this sound just right?”
“You are out of your mind! How the fuck can you even say something like that?” He cried out, immediately regretting his outburst when she kicked his deflated cock.
“Thank you for not respecting my wishes, Kabir.” She smirked and picked up the phone again. With a single tap on the screen, the video file spiraled across the Internet. “Just remember you brought this upon yourself.”
“God damn it!”
“I think we can leave him out of the equation. The conflict is on, Kabir. The question is: how are you going to fix it?”
“What’s to fix?” He muttered. “When Natasha sees that, she’ll...”
“... freak out and with good reason. I mean, I would do too if I had a boyfriend and suddenly found out he was cheating on me with one of her closest friends.” She replied, nonchalantly.
“But that’s not what happened at all!”
“True. You know it, I know it, but that’s not how she’ll it when she opens the video. She’ll only get half the story, and the lack of context will make everything burn. However, there’s still one chance for you to save your relationship. You just have to take it.”
“What chance?”
“Come on!” She patted his left cheek. “You know the answer to that. What do you do when a scene in one of your stories isn’t up to your liking?”
“I rewrite it.”
“Exactly. You do it as many times as it takes until everything fits the way it should, right? Natasha will be pissed at you and she’ll be pissed at me too, but she doesn’t have to stay that way for long.”
“You want me to make her forget?”
“It would save everyone a lot of tears, Kabir. And then you two could keep on having fun.”
“That’s sick.”
Gloria moved next to him and kissed him in the forehead. Another wave of dripping euphoria shot through his brain.
“Is it? Are you sure about that?”
“Yes! There’s no fucking way I’m going to...”
Gloria brushed his lips, slipped in a bit of tongue. It swirled on the inside just long enough for his jaw to loosen up, uncontained fury slowly descending into soothing acquiescence.
“You were saying?”
“I’m... not going to hypnotize her on account of this!” He gasped.
“But you already do it all the time...” She kissed his neck. “Natasha doesn’t need the pain this will bring her. She doesn’t deserve it, and neither do you. It’s for the best, my dear.”
“No. I’ll... I’ll explain what happened... and so will you.”
Gloria covered her mouth with her left hand to suppress a more vibrant laugh. “Awww... it’s so freaking adorable to even hear you suggest that. No, Kabir. That’s not what will happen. That would be such a lame resolution to this wonderful setup I created for your story and we would be right back where we started. That’s not fun. Not fun at all. My idea is better. You will do as I say.”
“No.”
She ground his chest and pulled his head straight into her sultry lips. The mesmeric exposure exploded on his skin in the form of countless lipstick impressions.
“Say ‘no’ to me again, Kabir. I dare you! The more you fight, the more pleasurable this will become. The more you resist, the less you’ll want to do anything other than what I command.”
“You will not have me!”
“Oh, but I already do.” The barrage intensified, honeyed temptations clouding his judgment. “I’m already inside your thoughts and even the words you now utter have been placed there by me. Slavery works best when they don’t know they’re slaves, but I need you aware right now. You need to be fully conscious of what you’re about to do for me before you forget.”
She kissed his right earlobe gently before moving on to the left. It was almost affectionate, one step closer to the real thing. “Remember what you learned before and follow once more. Follow me because we’re not equals. Follow me because it is right to do so. Follow me into the oblivion of independence. The only need that consumes you is the drive to please, to lose yourself hoping you’ll keep me appeased. You’ll do it because that’s the way this story goes until I decide to shake things up again. The darkness in me wants to be unleashed. The darkness in you will see that it is sated. Subdue Natasha for me, sweetie. Control her like you so eagerly wish to put a smile on my lips. She must remember none of this. She won’t. Say it!”
“I...” He drooled as their saliva intertwined, unholy fluids putting an end to all resistance.
“Say it, Kabir. That’s an order.”
“Natasha must forget.” His head slumped.
“Yes, she must. And so must you. This has been quite the thrill but we both need our beauty sleep so while the drug does its wonders on your receptive little mind, you are to accept a couple more suggestions because they’ve always been true. This never happened. It’s all been like a wonderful erotically charged dream whose fragments will linger inside your brain long after you wake up from your hypnotic slumber. I’m just a simple Chemistry teacher, no way for me to play tricks with your mind... When Natasha looks you up for explanations, you’ll have no clue as to what’s going on, but you’ll do your best to straighten things up, anyway. She’ll probably want to talk me too so call me if she doesn’t, first. If she pushes too hard, trigger her so she calms down and then call me. Call me and I’ll meet you guys to see it all go down. When I’m in the room, and not a moment sooner, you’ll feel compelled to hypnotize her again and erase all of her memories of the video. This compulsion will only grow stronger and stronger the more you try to fight it, so don’t push yourself too hard. If you do, there’ll be nothing but excruciating pain. I don’t care what you have to do to achieve your goal, but you will force her to forget while I watch. Those are your instructions and you will obey, won’t you, slave?”
“Yes, Gloria.” He slurred, eyes on the ceiling, spirit floating in entrancing anesthesia. “It will be as you say.”
“That’s a good boy, but you’ll be even better.” She kissed him one last time on the tip of his nose in pure jest. “Sleep now. Sleep and dream. Sleep and forget. We’re all made of stories, but I’m the one writing yours now. What comes after will be even more entertaining”
Kabir’s vision fluttered as it was drawn to the encroaching darkness. His dreams were surprisingly peaceful, despite spending the rest of the night in a semi-catatonic position on the sofa.
And then morning came...