The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

I’m back on stage and my band is with me. I never realized how much this meant to me until I lost it. All those nights dreaming of singing as countless fans sang along with me are fulfilled all over again with each song. My blood pumps faster every minute. I feel breathless but like I could sing forever. My body is covered with sweat, which is why we saved that song for last.

Every time we play together, I feel a little more connected with my band. Nikki’s hard impatient craving riffs guide my dance as much as the beat of Leigh’s drums. My heart beats with the thump of Heather’s bass. Tasha’s keyboard whispers its secrets into my hips and coaxes them along.

Stronger still is the effect the crowd has over me. Each scream, each voice singing along off-pitch or off-key makes me feel more craved. They want me. They need me. Some girls in the crowd even have silver and purple dyed hair.

Nothing makes me soar like this.

It’s hard to really care about anything else. This is my world. This is my life. This is my reason for everything. I might not be Nina’s slave anymore, but I’m still a slave to the crowd. I can feel their eyes undressing me, following my curves as I move from one side of the stage to the other, and I might not have my mist entwined with each of them, but I can feel their minds weaving me through new fantasies and old ones.

I’m only eighteen but I’m loved and worshiped like a goddess. It’s probably bad how much I need it. I can feel their adoration fueling me like a drug. Right now more than anything in the world I need their screams. I need their desire. I’ve never felt so alive. My first concert under my own control is going perfectly.

The crowd begs for two encores. Nikki throws in a riff from “Freebird” to end the night. Charity. It feels more like they’re donating the audience to me, but I won’t complain.

Either way it’s free.

“I think you sounded better than ever tonight, Sylvia! My timing was off. I doubt many people noticed it. If anyone calls it a bust, I’ll blame me.” Leigh’s timing being off is a ridiculous thought, but hanging out after a show insulting your own performance is good enough conversation.

Tasha, the actual native, knew about a nice little pizza place not far from the concert hall for us to have a celebratory dinner. New York understands what pizza should be better than any place on Earth. I’ll have to invite Sarah here after we make up.

“Leigh, you were a maniac back there. If you were off, it was only because your insane speed was making your arms threaten to burst into flame.” Heather smiles brightly and continues after swallowing a big bite, “Though that might explain why we were on fire. Really, was it just me, or was that the best any of us have ever played? I mean seriously, we’ve never sounded so . . . Legendary? If that doesn’t get us signed, nothing will.”

“Oh we’ll get signed. After Dianne’s boss helped us get the paperwork done so our second single was released independently . . . We’re getting crazy radio play. We’re a hit. We’re fucking superstars and none of us are even twenty.” Tasha grins from ear to ear. Her voice trembles with excitement even though she’s not saying anything we don’t already know. Hearing it again still feels amazing. Our dreams are coming true. Nina Corvi was a temporary setback. Some day, ten years down the line after touring through the whole world, selling trillions of songs, it might be fun to pay her a visit just to remind her how much she helped.

I mewl and swallow my own mouthful before responding. “We are. We really are. I can’t wait to play in my hometown again and this time be aware of it. I think that made a really big difference. Nina made it sound like she could control us body and mind and not affect our sound. I think she was wrong.”

Nods fall all around the table. That bitch tried to steal our souls and twine them up in pretty music. Did she really think that wouldn’t hold us back? It didn’t hurt her wallet by any means, but now she’ll be in jail for a long, long time.

Tasha grins triumphantly after swallowing a piece I don’t think I could fit in my mouth. That girl can eat and eat and not begin to look it. I wish my powers required a high metabolism. “Well, you know what comes next, right? We gotta write some new shit. Corvi’s people write some good stuff, but we can do better. Gotta give her one thing, I never practiced so hard before in my life. While we’re better now than before, can’t say that hurt any.”

“Not at all. So, new music, new representation . . . Anything else we need new?” Nikki is remarkably quiet. She’s not simple by any means, but she’s usually a firmer presence.

I shrug. “I can’t think of anything else. Maybe threads and wheels, but we’ve got the cash sitting around for that.” It’s hard not to say new girlfriend. Dianne is less than lovely to be with lately. She doesn’t like how much I have to practice, or how much I go out on the town wearing a short skirt and a top that shows my tits. I haven’t slept alone since we hooked up. I haven’t woken up alone. I’ve barely spent any time at all alone, and she’s bitching that I have a career and a hobby. I knew it wouldn’t last.

Cash won’t get me a new girl, but I’m not really worried about that. My music will. New rule: no dating victims. It’s like a doctor dating a patient. You just don’t do it. According to Mom, it’s illegal.

“Then it’s decided! Symphonic Nebula is gonna work on beating the sophomore jinx!” Leigh holds her glass of soda high before downing it in one long triumphant gulp. “And to parties where that would have been alcoholic and knocked me right on my ass!”

Everyone laughs, but Nikki’s laugh is fake. Everyone can tell. We spent way too much time together. Even though we no longer have the bond of enslavement, we’ve seen and felt each other too much to fool easily. We practically lived as one unit. When Nikki breathed out, I breathed in, and when Leigh sneezed, Heather was there to wipe her nose. Tasha breathed in? I breathed out.

I nudge Nikki with my elbow and whisper into her ear. “Wanna duck outside for a second?” She nods. Taking a deep breath I put on a big forced smile. “Gonna get some fresh air, be right back!”

Nikki follows, a lot slower than usual. She rubs her lips together once we’re outside, frowning. I have absolutely no idea why. Dianne didn’t exactly jump at the idea of a three-way, but we were expecting that. Nikki wasn’t very happy that I went running into a jewelry store with exploding glass, but she agreed it was what I had to do.

She’s not normally moody like this. I look into her eyes and raise an eyebrow. She sighs and leans back against the pizzeria. She’s just a bright little beacon of sunshine tonight.

“Come on Nikki, what the fuck is wrong? We put on a great show. We put on an amazing show. You probably did the best of all of us.” It’s not a lie for her benefit or an insult to me. She’s so great to sing to. She’s amazing, and she’s been working on her vocals even if she hasn’t said anything about it. “If I did something wrong, I want you to tell me. If someone else did, tell me anyway. I’ll give ‘em a little taste of celestial wrath.”

Nikki grabs my shoulders. Before I can do anything more than whimper her lips are melting against mine. Her arms move around me, holding me tight. Mewling I slide my arms around her, pressing closer as I kiss her back. She knows how much I miss Aurora. She knows I’m with Dianne. Her lips feel so good.

Her lips part and pull mine open, uniting our tongues in the shared space of our mouths. My eyes melt shut as I moan into her mouth. Nikki’s body feels so firm as I grind harder into her, feeling the sweet friction of her familiar curves. I rake my nails down her back, pressing my hips as hard against her as I can, and then a little harder. She feels so good to grind into. She’s smooth, but so solid. She’s always so warm. Being close to her makes me feel like I’m melting into a fire.

She grabs me and pulls me into her arms. I moan as she carries me into the alleyway between the pizzeria and whatever the hell is on the other side. I don’t care. I just know it feels so hot when she grinds me against the wall and nibbles on my neck. Her mouth is so hot on my neck. My whole body feels so hot, but without her touching me I can vaguely feel how frozen I would be out here in the cold.

“Nikki . . . we should . . . Mmmmm we should talk about this a little more, don’t you . . . mmmm think?” Her lips are wet against my neck. She’s making me so wet. “Not that it doesn’t feel soooo good but—”

“—I want you, Sylvia. I want you so fucking bad.” She presses her lips into mine again, fiercer than before. Just as I start to kiss her back, her mouth closes around my lower lip, nibbling and suckling. I can feel her hard nipples grinding into me. Her touches are more insistent now than they ever were under Nina’s control. I’ve never felt her touching me under her own power. “Every time you got close to me on stage, I wanted to rub against you. I wanted to touch you. When you sing, you’re a goddess. No, you’re always a goddess. I fucking need you.”

She trails kisses down my neck,and into the star cut out of my top. My heart is pumping so fast it reminds me of Leigh’s drumming. My eyes don’t want to stay open, falling half-closed, and feeling so fuzzy as her hands pull up my top. “Nikki . . . Fuck . . . We’re in public . . . outside . . .”

Lips close around my aching nipples one at a time. I bite my lip in an effort to not scream, but fail. The air is so cold on my body, but her mouth makes me feel like I’m in the center of the sun even with the pizzeria against my half-bare back. Her hands roam over my thighs, stroking, rubbing, each little touch making them tremble more. I wrap my legs around her, grinding tighter before clawing my nails through her scalp.

Nikki moans and looks into my eyes. Before she can speak I cover her mouth with mine, kissing her with the raw passion her touches brought to life. She trembles against me as a little of my power slides from my lips.

I break the kiss and feel my cheeks flushing even more than they already were. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mea—”

“Mmm don’t apologize. I love how it feels. It feels so hot. It feels so good. You always made me feel so fucking hot.” Her hands rub up under my skirt and squeeze my ass. “In fact, use a little of that power and you can make me cum without us getting any more indecent . . . probably should be careful, cameras and things . . .”

She pulls my top back down and kisses my lips. I kiss her back as I melt more of my power into the kiss. I focus as much of it as I can on pure pleasure, pure sensation, begging, pleading, not on fuzzing away her mind. I don’t want to mindfuck Nikki. I just want to fuck her. I want to feel her. I want to be with her. I claw my hands down her back and grope her ass, kneading, fondling, and force my power into her body at the same time.

Fucking in an alleyway, fully clothed, is so amazingly hot. She kisses me harder, moaning as I force silver and violet bliss between her legs. I can feel the pleasure coursing through her almost like it was her hand forcing chrome and amethyst into me.

Grinding, squeezing, kissing, it doesn’t last long in reality even if in perception the touching lasts for decades. When Nikki’s toes curl, mine curl too and we collapse into a pile of wet flesh in the alleyway. She holds me tight against her. Through the wispy connection the power of my fading nebula grants I can feel her thoughts still free-flowing. I know Sarah and Valerie used their powers on each other, I even caught a glimpse of it once when I woke up in the middle of the night, but it feels good to know I can make a woman feel extra good without frying her thoughts even temporarily.

Though to be fair, I don’t think either of us are thinking very well. I know all I can think about is Nikki. She’s so sexy. She’s so gorgeous. She wants me. She understands me.

“I need you, too . . . I need you so fucking much. You don’t care about Aurora, and you . . . you understand how I feel about being Nebula and . . . goddess you’re so . . . Mmmm how do you stay in such good shape? Your body is just so athletic and sexy . . .” I press my lips into her neck and squirm closer. She moans.

“And you’re so soft . . . warm . . . Mmm you might not be able to physically overpower me, but I admit, it gets me going that you don’t need to. If you wanted to, I’d be putty in your hands. I’d be putty at your feet.” She kisses me, a featherlight kiss to my lips, and I kiss her back on her cheek. “And . . . it’s not that I don’t care, it’s . . . I understand how you feel? You’re so pure, there’s no way it’s anything that’s wrong. It’s . . . who you are. It’s who she is. That doesn’t bother me. Just like it doesn’t bother me that you’ve got a desire to save the world, no matter what that does to you.”

Flushing even more, I kiss her neck again and bury my face against her. “Family thing . . . And that means a lot to me. You, mean a lot to me. I’m so sorry for what I did to you, when I started using my power I just started remembering what I did to you when she told me to, and I—”

Nikki presses a finger against my lips and shakes her head. In her eyes, even more than through my power, I can feel understanding. I can feel her forgiveness. I can taste intimacy with her that I’ve never felt with anyone other than Aurora. It doesn’t feel better, it just feels . . . different. It’s a good feeling. It’s unique enough that it’s not borrowing from memories of my sister, but similar enough that it’s a feeling I remember very fondly even when it’s new.

I’ll have to break up with Dianne. There’s just no other way this can go. She doesn’t want to share me, and I don’t want to share me with her any more anyway. With Nikki . . .

“Think you could teach me how to play the guitar naked?” I grin and rub my nose against hers. She rubs back, kissing the tip with a little laugh, and I trail my fingertips along her arms, squeezing them softly .It’s so strange. Aurora was stronger than Nikki when she was metal, but her arms never actually felt strong like this.

“You bet. It’ll kinda be a shame to feel those yummy fingers of yours get callused, and you’ll have to trim your nails a little more . . .” She pulls one of my hands up to her mouth and kisses along my fingertips slowly, starting at my thumb. She wraps her lips around my pinky after it’s kiss and suckles just enough to make me tremble. I think she could make anything feel good. “But no one’s ever complained about mine. Fuck. Pizza is probably cold. Think everyone else has already figured out I took you into an alley to screw around?”

Giggling I nuzzle into her chest to hide my face. I almost forgot we were just on the other side of a wall from well . . . everyone. That should not make me want to fuck her again just to see if they come out to see what’s happening. Definitely shouldn’t.

I shake my head and press my lips into her neck. “Nah. Maybe. I don’t know. I just know . . . I should pull away so I can use my cell, call Dianne to break up with . . . Wait, did I invite her to the concert and then totally . . .”

“Yes. You invited her, but you never actually even talked to her. I don’t think it’ll be a very hard break up.” She kisses my lips and gently baps my nose. “I feel bad for doing that, but you two weren’t very serious anyway. But you ever pull anything like that on me, and you’ll have to sizzle me up to calm me down. I might act a little devil-may-care, but I have feelings.”

“I know . . . and I feel bad about that, even if Dianne and I really weren’t working out. Honestly I just needed the shove.” I kiss her lips very softly before fluttering my eyes cutely. “But that made me hungry again . . . wanna go see if they left any more for us?”

“If they didn’t, then I’ll get us a very personal extra large.” She winks and pulls me up to my feet. Our hips rub, and our eyes lock. I squeeze her hands in mine. She smiles. This feels like a much better fit.

A week goes by in a flash. Dianne broke up with me over a voice mail. Luckily neither of us had anything at the other’s apartment. Her boss still helped us work out a contract. We’re signed to another New York label, Prism Records, and it’s a pretty sweet contract. Being with Nikki means I get to be with my girlfriend while we’re working out our new material. Our first new song is pretty much done except for finishing touches.

Nebula has had a rough week, and that’s who I am right now. Not that Nebula is a big change from Sylvia, but Sylvia wouldn’t be in some nameless blonde girl’s hospital room checking up on her.

“You still haven’t been able to figure out who she is?” I really need a better outfit for when I’m Nebula, but I don’t want something like Sarah or Aurora would wear. For one, I don’t see the point in wearing a mask with hair and eyes like mine. “I mean, did they burn her fingerprints off? Can you use dental records?”

“Her fingerprints only help if she has a criminal record, Nebula. Also, dental records aren’t usually a good thing to try getting from a comatose patient. We’re working hard as we can, and so are the police.” Her doctor is nice enough. He calls me Nebula though he has no need to give me that courtesy. He does know my real name. I think he respects that I put myself at risk to stop her and then tried to help her as soon as I found out she was hurting. “Her condition is stable at least. She’s in no real danger, but she suffered some extreme psychological trauma. There was a very potent cocktail of psychotomimetics in her system. It’s not surprising she isn’t waking up, but as soon as she does, she’ll be fine. We’re calling in a specialist since our resident . . . let’s just say while her body is fine, her mind has gone through hell.”

I wish that surprised me. I saw those drugs pumped into her body. I felt how she felt. She was so horrified and confused. Wherever they took her, they did a real number on her. I wish she wasn’t my only lead. Pamela hasn’t had much luck, either.

I sigh and kiss my fingertips before pressing them to Screamer’s forehead. It feels bad to call her that, but at least it means I’m not referring to her by her hair color. That feels a little worse. “Thanks for being so open with information. I know I don’t have any legal right to know any of this, but whoever did this needs to be stopped and this fell in my lap. Is there any way I can help her? I was able to reach her through my powers when she was in the mall. I could try—”

“No offense, but this needs to be handled delicately. She’s been unconscious for a long time. Your powers might help, but they have just as much of a chance to strengthen whatever is keeping her that way. I respect that you feel a need to help her, but you can help her most right now by letting us do our jobs.” I don’t like sitting around doing nothing, but I can respect what he’s saying. “Your mother says hello, by the way. Since Doctor Raine has experience with similar cases I contacted her and you came up. She’s very proud of you.”

“Thanks . . . You swear, if she wakes up, you’ll call me, right? Even if I have to wait in the lobby while you make sure she’s okay, I want to know as soon as she comes to.” When the band goes on tour, if she hasn’t woken up yet, I’ll have to find another local heroine to take over for me. I at least have to make sure she’s safe even if I can’t stop who did this to her. She’s probably got a lot of useful secrets in her head they’d like to get back.

The doctor nods and smiles warmly as he sets the clipboard back at the foot of her bed. “I promise. You can stay a little longer, but I need to check on another patient. It’s always a pleasure to see you, Nebula.”

He leaves, and I can’t help but wish I’d taken after Valerie a little more. I love my music, but doctors get a different kind of worship that I’ll never get. They save lives. Then again, I’d like to think good music makes life a lot more worth living. That’s gotta be worth something special.

I sit in the chair beside her bed and stroke her hair very softly. She looks a little older than me, pretty, in a very soft, cute sort of way. I know I was told not to, but I let just a little of my power dance from my fingertips as I pet her hair. The sooner she wakes up, the better I’ll feel. I don’t think her doctor was lying, but I want to be sure she’s okay now. Valerie always told me that you can never be completely sure about anything. The fact that what was in her head scared a mentalist doesn’t surprise me.

It creeped me out too.

“Come on sweetie . . . wake up for me. It’s a lot easier to protect a girl who can move of her own volition . . .” I let a little more power flow, being very careful to control every word I let myself say while it does. If any of those drugs are still doing anything to her, I don’t want to make it worse.

“Nnnn . . . Nebula . . . Nebula . . . No more treatments . . . No more, please . . . I want to think . . . Don’t want to be like the other girls, don’t want to only do what you say . . . Nnnn . . . stop, please, doctor . . .” Her voice is so much different now than before that at first I don’t realize that it’s the blonde talking. She sounds timid like a little girl that’s been punished a little too much. “Don’t call me that anymore . . .”

I reach down and grasp her hand in mine. Her fingers curl tight, holding tightly even before I let any of my powers flow. When I do, she grasps so tight I have to bite my lip to stop myself from whining.

It’s so strange, but I can feel her so much easier this time. Maybe the bond I made was longer-lasting than just that once. I can feel her emotional struggle as though it were my own. I take a deep breath, focusing on the feelings that I know aren’t mine. I know I’m not feeling timid, small, or afraid. I know I’m not grabbing her hand half as tight as she’s grabbing mine.

An image of that red-heeled doctor adjusting her glasses slams into my mind almost hard enough to send me falling out of the chair. When I try to think about that image, about the way I felt the image, I can hear something in her mind whimpering.

I close my eyes and fall into it.

We’re in school but it’s not like a normal school. There are only girls, girls wearing very short skirts, high socks, and low-dipping tops. Screamer and I are both wearing the same uniform. The colors are a pale blue and a soft pastel pink. They don’t do much for me, but it’s hard to particularly care.

Screamer stares faithfully at the front of the class. Everyone does. Their eyes are all so glassy. They’re all squirming. So am I. Something is so hot, so sexy, about being in class. It’s hard to say what it is without saying everything.

The door opens and a woman walks into the class. Teacher. She’s dressed in a long black skirt and a tight black blouse, her short black hair a perfect match, right along with her black-framed glasses. She stands in front of the whiteboard and lifts up a dark blue marker. I’ve never felt so much anticipation.

“Good morning class . . .” Her voice is like a hand in a silk glove stroking my slit. I moan along with everyone else. It’s hard to think about anything that isn’t her. It’s so hard to do anything beyond watching her. “Today’s lesson is very special. You’re all doing so very, very good on your studies. But some of you are still resistant. Some of you still think it’s okay to hold out a little. That’s fine. You’re not graduates yet. No one expects you to be perfect. Not yet. You’re all well on the way.”

We moan in unison. I know my hand isn’t the only one moving on its own between my legs. I’m not wearing panties. Good girls don’t wear panties. Good girls don’t let anything get in the way of obedience. Good girls are obedient. Of course I wouldn’t be wearing . . .

It’s so hard to think. Screamer moans and my hand moves a little faster. I’m here for her, but I can’t remember why. She’s not the teacher. I’m in class to listen to the teacher. I’m in class so I can obey the teacher.

We all moan a little louder as the pen squeaks a path along the whiteboard. I can feel the pen pressing along my own mind. I can feel it pinning down places that want to think, writing new things into them. I sigh and picture gorgeous calligraphy wrapping through my brain.

“This, is what you are.” The word “Slave” is written on the board in big bold letters. “Slaves. Hot, wet little slave girls without a thought in your heads. Nothing matters besides being a good slave. That’s the only way to pass my class, and you all really want to pass my class. It’s the only way to get into the more fun classes. There are so many more levels to go. You can never be too well taught. You can never be too deeply programmed.”

My thighs are so slick. Her words make me feel so dizzy. They’re so true. Slaves. We’re all slaves. We need to pass. We have to pass.

Screamer whimpers beside me. It’s not a happy whimper. “Neb . . . Nebula . . . What’re you doing here . . . you were never with me in school . . .” She sounds so confused, but I’m not sure why. I moan and look into her eyes. Maybe after class we could obey the teacher together, just me and her on our knees at Teacher’s feet. “No . . . You aren’t supposed to be here . . .”

I don’t respond. I can’t respond. I have to obey the teacher. She doesn’t pause, she just writes more on the board, and I whimper and shake until she’s done. “This . . . Is what you have to do. It’s simple. It’s what you’ve been learning how to do since you got here. All of the drugs, all of the lessons, all of the one-on-one sessions . . . It’s all to do this.” Bigger letters. O. B. E. Y. Obey. It’s such a hot word. It makes me scream and it makes my hand move faster. “You’re all slaves. Slaves obey. Say it.”

“We’re all slaves . . . slaves obey . . .” I whimper, knowing some part of that is wrong, but I can’t resist. Screamer does. Somehow she doesn’t say it. I rub my fingers against my clit, thighs clenching as I struggle to keep my eyes open. I feel so hot. I could cum any second, but I want to wait until she tells me to. I want to obey.

School is perfect. School teaches me to obey. I need to obey so I can do more fun things. Obedience is perfection. I want to be perfect. I want to help make the world perfect. I want to make the world obey.

I feel so out of control. Those blue words are so much stronger than anything I’ve ever thought. Have so much deeper of a meaning than anything else. They’re my reasons for being. I need to be a slave. I need to obey. The Doctor has been giving me such good medication. I always take two of the blue pills, then three of the red ones at lunch. I always obey Teacher. I always cum and feel more obedient. I always obey.

“Nebula . . . Nebula, these . . . these aren’t real . . . This isn’t . . . this is just a memory, you weren’t here. I know it now I . . . Nebula!” Screamer stands and I ignore her. Everyone ignores her. She even knows it. She’s terrified, but there’s nothing she can do.

“Now class, contemplate this. The future will be about obedience. Every position in the world will require only one qualification. Obedience. There will be no suffering. There will be no free thought. There will only be obedience. You will help make that future a reality. Orgasm, class, and feel that reality coming true for all of you at the same time.” I scream and obey. There’s not a pause between her words and when my body obeys.

I fall out of my chair, screaming, howling at the top of my lungs. I will bring this beautiful new future, I will . . . I will make everyone obey . . .

Screamer is standing over me. She starts to say something and everything shifts . . .

I’m strapped to a table. It’s cold. Metal. Needles are in my arms. The IVs are blue. I know Mommy told me about something blue before. I can’t remember what it was, but it was bad. It was really, really bad. It starts to pump into me, but it doesn’t hurt. It burns like a hot kiss on a cold day. It makes my clit throb.

The longer it pumps, the weaker I feel. It’s hard to remember simple words. I can’t think of what I should be thinking. It’s so quiet. I feel so . . . so quiet . . . silent . . .

“Treatments make good girls even better. You’ll need these at first, then you can just take your medication and you’ll be fine, but you don’t want to miss a dose. You might start feeling dizzy. You might start thinking.” The doctor with the glasses and the shoes is talking to me, but I can’t see her. Her voice makes me so wet. She’s the one filling me with blue. Blue means obey. Everything means obey if she says it to me.

Music plays around me. It sounds like something from a travel video. It’s soft, happy, and calm. It makes me feel open. It makes me want to be explored. It makes me want to obey.

Fingers rub over my body. They knead at my breasts and stroke between my legs. They touch and grope and squeeze but don’t linger. Hands wearing gloves. It’s hard to make the connection, but it feels like . . . the word isn’t rubber . . . or plastic . . . or leather . . .

“The prescription is special for every girl, so you won’t want to share. You’ll always want to take it with a small snack. You’ll always want to obey.” She laughs. Goddess, her laugh is such a satisfied laugh. Satisfying her makes me groan and clench. “This treatment is almost over, then we can work on getting you more accustomed to school life. You’ll be living in our little boarding school until you’re ready to be an outpatient. I look forward to that. You’re very promising.”

“Nebula!” Screamer’s voice cuts through the music, and my reverie. I groan as I feel the needles pulled out of my arms. I whimper and try to struggle in the restraints. I want them back. I want more blue. “This is . . . This is what happened to me, this isn’t happening to you! Wake up!”

What she’s saying should matter more. I groan and shake my head. The restraints are gone. We’re in a dorm room. We’re sitting curled up together on the bottom bunk. I can’t stop myself from touching her. She’s so pretty. Her eyes look so scared. If I make her be a good slave, if I make her obey, she’ll feel better. She deserves to feel so much better. I lick my lips and look into her eyes.

She shudders and pushes me away, shaking her head madly. “No! Nebula, you’re not one of those girls that . . . You tried to help me, you . . . When I broke free from here, was in the mall, don’t know how I got there, just wanted something pretty, wanted it to be mine, and you . . . you calmed me down . . .”

“Mmmm don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just another student.” I wrap my arms around her and press my breasts against her arm. “I just want to help make you feel better.”

“That won’t make me feel better, Nebula! You need to break out of here. You’re a heroine, one of the good people, not one of the students! This isn’t real! This isn’t real! None of it is real!” Her voice gets louder and louder. When she starts to sob it makes my ears tingle. “Wake the hell up, please!”

Her pleading scream is so loud I fall back. I fall out of a chair again even though I was on a bed.

Or she’s on a hospital bed, and I just slammed my head onto a hard tile floor. Ow. Fucking ow. I . . . I’m not a student? I’m a heroine, I’m a singer, I . . . Screamer . . .?

She’s sitting up in her bed, looking down at me with wide frightened eyes. I smile and give her a thumbs up. Doctors, nurses, security, they’re all around us. “Glad . . . glad you woke up. I’m gonna take just a little bit of a nap right now if nobody minds. You should put some carpet down . . .” With a groan I nuzzle into the floor and flutter my eyes. The world grows darker and I feel myself start to curl into a ball as it goes perfectly black.

“Oh . . . good . . . you’re waking up.” An increasingly familiar voice is the first thing I hear when I come to. Wow. That felt totally normal, just passing out and then waking up. I’m going to start sounding too much like Sarah. “You hit your head a little hard on the way down. I was worried about you.”

“There’s an old joke in my family that says none of us can tell an interesting story of our lives without mentioning passing out. I wasn’t one of the people it applied to, until recently.” Rubbing the side of my head really hurts. Fuck. I wonder why I didn’t pass out from the impact. Maybe it had something to do with the shock. “Scr-. . . You’re awake! Sorry, I kinda . . . fucked up. I was trying to help you out. When I stopped your little tantrum in the jewelry store it felt like someone had dome some pretty horrid stuff to you. I wanted to try helping.”

Her cheeks are adorably red. That really did backfire. I was trying to get some information or help her out, not get caught up in whatever they did to her. My arms still tingle where the needles were. I know when Sarah was Patina she used some blue “pharmaceuticals” to enact justice, but I can’t remember the name. I bet whatever they used on my timid friend was a lot more concentrated.

Damn. Mom is going to find out about this. Valerie always admitted to using her powers in ways she wasn’t supposed to in an attempt to help people. She was also prone to apologizing for me if I did something due to poor impulse control I doubtlessly inherited from her.

Screamer, or whatever I should call her, is now sitting in the same seat I fell from. It might be a different room, but it doesn’t look like it. “It’s okay. You were trying to help, and frankly if it was much longer they said they’d have had to resort to measures like feeding tubes. Modern medical science can apparently keep a tube out of someone’s nose for only so long. And it’s okay you almost called me Screamer . . . My real name is Melissa Carol. My friends always called me Missy.”

“Nice to meet you, Missy. In the dream . . . shared mind state . . . whatever we did? You called me Nebula. You can call me Sylvia, too. Heroine, singer, all-around klutz apparently.” I try cupping my bruised head and wince. “Still sorry. I hope that you’re feeling better. You look a lot better. It’s nice to see you smile, really.”

“Thanks . . .” She blushes more but smiles wider too. “So apparently I’m in New York . . . I’d graduated . . . college . . . and I was on my way back home when a woman offered to show me a bright new future. I was confused at first, really confused, and then when I looked closer at the pamphlet and started reading over it more closely, started listening to her . . . well for some reason it seemed like a really good idea to follow her. I couldn’t tell you where she took me, but when I started I was in River City.”

Wow. Sarah has a friend from River City, Lacie Frasier or something. That’s all the way in Oregon. Wow. “If you need help getting back home, I can pay for airfare. After you talk to the police anyway. I know there might not be a lot to tell them . . . or me . . . but I’m really concerned. It looked like they’d gotten a lot of other girls there. Things like this that are already that big are pretty bad.”

Missy nods and I bite my lip. This might be something I grew up hearing about, but most people never thought there was any truth to things like the enslaved supers working for Chronos, or the Dust rings, or the full story of the Argentum Project.

At least most people don’t know all of the story for the last of those.

Smiling weakly I lean out of the bed and reach for her hand to squeeze it comfortingly. “I’ll be there the whole time. If you want, I’ll even escort you back home. That means I might need to crash on my couch for a couple days while we get you some tickets home, but I don’t mind. No one is going to hurt you like that again, and there’s no rush at all. You can stay in the Big Apple as long as you want. No one is going to do anything like that to you again. I might be bad at inadvertently linking my mind with others, but I’m not all that bad at protecting good people or stopping bad people.”

Thankfully she looks a little better as she squeezes my hand back. At least they were gentle with her even if what they did was horrible. Sarah told me of some operations she stopped that used far crueler methods.

Nikki might need some convincing that taking care of Melissa for a few weeks is a good idea, but I know she’d come around. Then again, she went through what Nina did too and she’s been amazingly supportive of my heroine career even knowing it could potentially come between me and a performance. Then again, a heroine did save her mind. Maybe she’s keeping that in mind.

“I might want to stay here for awhile . . . but I do want to go back to River City. I have friends there that must be worried sick about me. I don’t know how long they had me there . . .” She smiles sadly and stares down at my hand. “I remember some of the things the doctor said, about my friends, about . . .”

“They’re waiting for you. I bet another day and they would have flown out here to pick you up and carry you home.” I squeeze her hand tight. “A woman did very, very similar to me. I’ve been in New York about three . . . maybe four months, and not even a full one of those has been under my own power. It’ll get easier. You’ll recover from this. I know you will, and when you leave to go back to River City, you’ll have my phone number in case anything happens. Even if I’m across the country, I have connections. I’d hunt you down again if I had to.”

They aren’t really my connections. They’re my mother’s connections. Sarah would be more than happy to use them with me, so it’s really a non-issue. I need to talk to Sarah. I just can’t get past the guilty feeling.

Missy’s smile is so radiant. Her power would be nice to have around, but she doesn’t belong here. I don’t know if I really belong here, but this is where the opportunities are for what I want. That means I have to be here until I can make my own opportunities elsewhere. It does feel great to have been here and in the right place to save her when she needed it.

Enough people have special powers, I’m sure I’ll eventually make another friend that has them and wants to stick around. There’s no reason to think even if Missy leaves that we can’t still be friends. Anything is possible.

“Thanks, Nebula . . . Sylvia . . . You saved my life. I don’t think they would have killed me, but it really wasn’t my life anymore. I’d just graduated, was looking forward to being all highly employable . . . There was a guy I was hoping to hook up with . . .” She squeezes my hand again before pulling hers back. “I owe you everything, but now that you’re feeling better, at least better enough to wake up, it might be a good idea for me to start trying to talk to the police. I never got anyone’s name, other victims, or administration, but I might still be able to help.”

Knowing that this scheme is coast-to-coast is a lot of useful information. I wish I was an artist in some physical medium. I’ve seen those people. I could make them recognizable to the world or something more useful than spreading awareness and singing. Oh well. I happen to love singing.

I hop out of the bed and wince as my head starts to pound. Damn. I really did hit the floor pretty hard. Maybe I should be a little more careful.

Sarah never wore a helmet, but maybe I should consider it.

I open the door and motion out slowly. “After you, Missy. You’ll be the woman of the hour. If you want to, I even know a woman that could get you on TV.” She lights up at that, and I grin. Damn, that’ll make Pamela even more happy. I make a note to myself to call her as soon as all of the interviews are over. Another important story like that will probably give her a boost.

I follow her out and close the door behind me. Now that she’s awake, I can lock a lot of worry behind that door and I never need to look back.

The interviews went nicely. When all was said and done she took my cell number and let the police set her up with a free hotel room that had plenty of police surveillance around the place. I admit a little part of me was hoping we’d get to spend more time together, but the fact that she wants to have time alone and feels safe is very encouraging.

Nikki wanted to spend tonight talking to her family back in California, so I’m all alone. That doesn’t bug me too much. It only bugs me enough to feel pouty. When it gets late enough I’ll probably call her anyway and see if we can’t cuddle.

For now, I’m sitting on my couch, arms wrapped around my knees. Missy has Pamela’s number, too. I hope she calls. If not, at least I’ll give her an interview one-on-one about the situation. A bright new future . . . I wonder what the hell these people think they’re doing. A school setting makes me wonder if these are somehow the same people that my mother hired to melt Sarah down for her. The auctions stopped, in Midas anyway, but the organization was a lot more than sales.

Heather, Leigh, and Tasha aren’t answering their phones.

This leaves me very few options. I can watch TV. I can listen to music. I can sleep, but it’s only ten. If it’s ten here that means it’s only seven in California. If it’s seven in California, that means Aurora is still awake.

My fingers itch. I know she’ll still have her old cell phone. I know she’ll answer. Nikki would understand. I wouldn’t even need to tell her unless something special came from it, right? Even still, I get the feeling she meant it when she said she’d enjoy being sandwiched between us. So even if I did talk to her, maybe it could still wind up a good thing . . .

I stop resisting and grab my phone. Her number is in my contacts, but I dial it from memory anyway. Besides, maybe she’s heard something about the people doing this. Didn’t Christina say that she had some dealings with The Syndicate? I don’t know who they are, but maybe they’re involved.

It rings once, then twice, then . . .

“Aurora Whitner’s phone! She’s a little uhm . . . busy at the moment, can I take a message?” My blood turns cold. In the background I can hear what sounds like Aurora struggling and whimpering. My empty hand turns into a fist. “Hello? Is there anybody there? Hey, should I just hang up?”

The woman has a sexy voice, but not seductive or dark enough that I can convince myself Aurora is in danger and needs my help to save her. Aurora is with another woman. I should have known that she would find someone else. I found someone else, but I still hoped that she’d hold out for me. Why would I think that? How could I be so selfish? I mean . . . I was the one who suggested we see other people and now I’m upset that some girl picked up her phone?

“Come on, say something, she’s going to be angry with me if I hang up her phone. She’s reeeally been a bad girl lately though, showing up late for work, neck just covered in hickeys. She’s been wearing scarves and thinking no one can tell!” Her voice is so playful. It’s so strong. It sounds like it usually says things that sound a lot smarter.

Aurora is definitely laughing and pouting in the background. I can picture the scene way too easily. Aurora and some girl on a bed somewhere in California, fighting for control of the phone.

I hang up and turn my phone off before throwing it into the couch. I grab my keys and lock the door behind me as an afterthought. If only I could lock away those worries. Apparently I do still love Aurora enough to feel painfully jealous.

“Hey Sylvia, I just got off the phone, you have great ti-mmmmph!” As soon as she opens her door, I kiss her lips as hard as I can. She stumbles back and I push the door shut behind me, locking it without a second thought. Nikki’s eyes bulge. She pulls away from me, but her heart isn’t in it. She’s posed as to pull me closer, even if she’s acting like she wants to get away. “Sylvia?”

“I need you. Now. Remember our little discussion about how you could break me in half but I could melt you down to your knees?” She nods. I reach up to slide my fingers through her hair and kiss her again. I melt so much of my power into her that she screams as much in pleasure as in shock. I can taste her arousal shuddering through her, her nipples tightening, her thighs trembling, her pupils dilating, and her mind softening.

I don’t hold back this time, raking my power as much as my nails down her back before pushing her farther into her apartment using my body. She still feels so firm and strong against me, but that strength doesn’t mean a lot without something driving it.

She whimpers when I grab her shoulders and push her hard onto the couch. She whines when I pull up her top and rake my nails along her bra. Her nipples are already so hard. I straddle her hips and pull her forward so I can reach behind her and unhook her bra. As soon as it’s open I push her back into the couch with my lips. She moans into the kiss, and moans as my hands slide under the cups of her bra to knead my power into her breasts.

This is so wrong. I’m practically raping my girlfriend, but at least I’m making damn sure she’ll love it. This isn’t anything she wouldn’t want. I didn’t make her get off the phone.

I break the kiss and give her nipples a hard twist. She screams as I stare deep into her half-open eyes. They look so glassy, so lost, so . . . hot. I grind down against her and lean forward to moan into her ear. “I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to fuck your body, and I’m going to fuck your mind. I’m not going to do anything bad, but oh am I going to do a lot.”

My top, and then my bra, fly across the room. I grind my chest into hers, letting my power flow out from all of my body at once. I mash my lips into hers and rake my nails down the curves of her sides and along her thighs. She whimpers and shudders as her eyes melt shut and her body glistens with desire. I nuzzle into her neck and inhale her scent before I start to tug off her pants, and then mine.

“This will be one of those nights where you don’t do a lot of thinking, but you’ll remember every moment of this. This isn’t like with Nina, this is . . . mmm this is going to be a lot more interactive, and a lot less instructional.” I hood my eyes and moan as I clench my bare thighs around hers. She’s already so warm. “Start sucking, mmm we’ve got all night.”

I push my nipple between her lips and let my power flow. Her eyes are glassy and empty, but her moans are still full of passion. Her lips suck so perfect.

I grab her nipples tighter and give another firm hard twist. She sucks harder when she moans and her sharp gasp feels so good. This is going to be a very, very fun night. These three months might not have been perfect, but fuck do I love living in New York.