Everyone in it is 18+ and everyone outside should be as well. This is a short section which does not get a numbered chapter because David is not in it.
Spellbinders Saga
By Arthur N. Owen
Volume II: Double or Nothing, Interlude — Raised Stakes
Kelly Stone stepped off the bus. Her professor for her afternoon class had cancelled today’s lecture, meaning that she was completely free after lunch. She had decided to take the opportunity to get more information about Malcolm Masterson. David had always been reluctant to speak about their unseen “boss”, except when warning her off of certain actions. Kelly figured that only another primary asset could give any information about Malcolm that she didn’t already know. However, the only primary asset she was aware of, besides David himself, was Dr. Schrieber. She knew that the doctor had a low opinion of her-Kelly suspected that Diane Schrieber would be hypnotizing her clients into bed even if she weren’t programmed to do so, thus she shared Malcolm’s view that Kelly was a liability waiting to screw things up.
That brought her here, to downtown Los Angeles. Kelly knew Malcolm’s full name, and David had mentioned his ownership of jewelry boutiques. A little research had resulted in the Master-Pieces Jewelers chain, the nearest of which she was about to enter. She was filled with more terror than when she had snuck into Paterno’s office to find incriminating information-even ignoring that Malcolm’s abilities (as far as she’d been told) made Paterno look like an amateur motivational speaker, he did this for a living, while for Paterno it had only been a side gig. Kelly looked at the massive store, with thousands of items on display. Every last one of them was probably rigged with some kind of hypnotic snare. That Kelly’s grandmother had given her a passing knowledge of precious stones probably helped little. That the ‘king’ of this lion’s den was unlikely to be around didn’t make it any less risky.
There appeared to be four employees in Master-Pieces. Three of them were pretty girls a bit older than Kelly, two on the floor and the third at the register. The fourth, who looked to be as old as Holly, was likely the manager. From David’s descriptions, Kelly guessed that only the most senior staff were primary assets, who were actually aware of Malcolm and his demands. Anyone else involved in the enthrallment was just programmed with an algorithm of actions to take, not really aware of what she was doing.
Kelly went up to the older woman that she presumed was the manager, whose nametag read “Juliette”. “How appropriate”, she thought. “Excuse me, are you the general manager of this store?” Kelly asked,
“Yes, I am.” she said.
“Good, because I need a word with you in private.” Kelly said.
“I can’t imagine what that word would be about.” said Juliette. “You are clearly not dressed for an interview, and even if you were, Miss...“
“Stone. Kelly Stone.”
“Kelly Stone, thank you. I don’t recall your name on the list, and interviews were yesterday.” The manager continued. “If this is about a product in the store, any of the other employees could help you. I suppose that this could be about a return, but you don’t have one of our boxes on you.”
“What I want to discuss is about your boss.”
“I don’t have a boss, unless you count Mr. Masterson himself.“
“Trust me, I do.” said Kelly. “He’s my boss too, after a fashion.“
“So you come from another Master-Pieces location and want to transfer?” asked Juliette.
“No, I work in his other enterprise.“
“Mr. Masterson invests in a number of other businesses. You will have to be more specific.”
“That he’s got fingers in other pies, I have no doubt. The business I’m here about is the one nobody knows about, even if they’re involved!“
“The only business here is jewelry” said Juliette, pretending to be confused. “Just look at how exquisite this necklace is,” She pressed a button out of view and the tiny display lights on said necklace started to move back and forth, making their reflections in the necklace move in the same way (every lit display in the store could be activated as such to hypnotize a customer). “Look how pretty it is as it catches the light...”
“Don’t bother, lady.” said Kelly, annoyed. “I’m locked down.”
“You win.” said the miffed manager. Using specific terminology meant she was in the know. “Let’s go talk.”
They went to Juliette’s office. Kelly sat down across from the manager’s desk. “I’m assuming you have some kind of hypno-trap built into the room?”
“Several, actually.” said Juliette. “Master-Pieces stores process more thralls than any other business Master owns.”
“You must be very proud.”
“I am proud to serve Master well. You don’t seem to be, though.“
“To be honest, I’m an asset in name only. I work for the primary asset who was never enthralled, and neither was I.” confessed Kelly.
“To be honest, a lot of the primary assets I am aware of do not believe Master would allow someone into such a position.“
“And therein lies my problem.” said Kelly. “I’m on probation, and I have no idea if I’m pulling David up or down.
Suddenly, Juliette’s expression went blank. Then her voice took on a flat, yet somehow menacing tone. “Hello Kelly. You have triggered programming in Juliette that I placed in her. This is an algorithmic recording set to activate in case you tried to circumvent David to get information on me. Juliette, for all intents and purposes, is not home, and will not remember anything from this point forward. Follow instructions and she won’t remember you were here at all beyond updating me.”
Kelly was shocked. It was like the woman was possessed (which probably wasn’t that far from the truth). “Have I fucked up by coming here?“
Juliette/Malcolm said “No. I admire your initiative to try to ask for help without getting David concerned. You may ask any questions, and I will try to answer. However, if Juliette does not know the answer, this recording is unlikely to either. This includes my current rating of yours and David’s progress. Once you are out of questions, tell her ‘I have no further questions’ and leave the store. Her programming will do the rest.“
“Did you set up any other puppets to answer me?“
“There was no need. You don’t trust Dr. Schrieber, making the manager of the nearest Master-Pieces the most logical target.”
“Is it true that David and I are your first employees in control of our minds?”
“Your status as an employee of mine is debatable, but he definitely is.“
“What other businesses do you use as collectors?”
“Aside from every Master-Pieces, there are spas, Hooters, a talent manager, it’s associated modeling agency, a few other therapists, school counselors, and assorted medical specialists. You will not get specifics, so you can’t try to sabotage them.”
“Man, you really do plan for everything!”
“This is a criminal enterprise, after all. I’d be a fool not to.“
“How many women do you have in your power?”
“That question is unanswerable. Even if I were the real Master, the true number would not be known. I doubt you’d believe it anyway.“
“Fair enough. WHY?”
“Why what?” asked the mind-controlled manager.
“Why enthrall all these women, most of which you’ll never meet, let alone fuck?“
“BECAUSE I CAN AND BECAUSE I WANT TO! Next question.”
That last statement scared Kelly more than anything else. It was the only emotion Juliette had shown since becoming Malcolm’s mesmerized mouthpiece. Even if Malcolm couldn’t control her actions in real time, she wouldn’t put it past him having a security feed of this office. “What would the protocols have been for my fate if David hadn’t intervened? I kinda know the answer but I want to hear it from you. You know what I mean.“
“David accidentally poached you, making him the one at fault, so you should have been returned to Professor Paterno with an apology. If, as David implied, he would not have accepted the contrition, we would have gone to war. There is no doubt in my mind that I would have won that war, but it might have ended with significant trauma among his and my thralls, possibly even David. Once Paterno was off the table, you should have been enthralled to ensure your silence and compliance. After that, what happened to you would be up to David.”
Kelly knew all this from reading the welcome packet, but David had always glossed over her hypothetical fate except when trying to keep her in line, and he was always sympathetic when discussing it. Hearing about the potential shattering of her life in such emotionless, clinical terms was even more terrifying than the outburst. Up until now, she didn’t realize how much David had put himself out there by keeping her free, and how much he was risking. Whatever plan David had for a last-minute way to raise their standing, she’d follow with as much hesitation as if she were enthralled. “I have no f-further questions.” she stammered.
“I hope this has been enlightening.” said Malcolm via Juliette. “Juliette’s programming will erase your presence from her memory so long as you are out of the store in two minutes. I would say ‘please come again’ but I doubt you’d do so for a good long while.”
“No shit, Sherlock!” said Kelly, already heading for the door. She moved as fast as she could out of the store without drawing attention. The last thing she wanted was to be brought back to a manager who had just forgotten she existed. Fortunately there was a bus back to Berkeley less than five minutes after she got to the stop, three blocks away from Master-Pieces.
Half an hour later, she was back at Berkeley. She ran back to the Tau house and plopped down on her bed, shuddering, ignoring Monique.
“Well, we’re too close to finals for this to be about échec. (Translation: failure) He didn’t dump you, c’est exact?” Monique asked.
“Non. We’re good.“
“La famille?“
“They’re fine too.”
“Then I probably don’t want to know, do I?”
Kelly hugged her friend. “No, you don’t and it’s better that way.”