Chapter 15

"You enjoyed that didn't you?" Charles said with a smile, gazing across at Connie.

"Of course I did!" replied Connie boldly, giving Charles a grin. Then her cheeks went red and she blushed and looked away. Then in a half hearted voice, she sheepishly whispered, "It was still wrong."

Charles said nothing in reply. Instead he took a long sip of his cola, gazing thoughtfully at the girl who was sitting before him.

Charles and Connie were sitting in the main food court of the Sunnyvale Mega Mall. They had left school after the incident in the library, so that they could get some fresh air and think about what they were going to do next.

Charles had remained silent during their walk to the mall, keeping his thoughts and reactions to himself. In a way it had made Connie happy, for her mind was filled with conflicting thoughts.

Truth be told, it had been the first time that she had ever touched another woman and while it had felt fantastic in ways that were indescribable, Connie still felt guilty for abusing someone who had no choice in what was happening to them. That and the fact that she had done it so soon after having been abused herself, made her feel twice as guilty and ashamed. And she had done it, knowing that it was wrong to manipulate another person.

Still Connie told herself, it had been an experiment and a necessary one. The fact it had felt great and it had turned her on didn't matter. What was important was that Connie had learned thing or two about this power that she now possessed. One thing filled her with both hope and confidence. With it she might be able to clean up the mess that Clyde had made. Yet the other thing ... it filled her with fear. What Connie had done with Ms. Reed had filled her with passion and desire. For a moment there in the library Connie had been so aroused that it had scared her. For the first time in her life Connie had felt unbridled sexual desire for someone else. But it was scary feeling desire for someone else, especially when you had the power to take without asking.

As a esult, Connie had been pleased when Charles suggested that they leave the school and head to the mall. After all, what better place could a young, slightly confused teenage girl go and hide from confronting her emotions than at a mega mall. At least, that had been the plan. Now, there with Charles, Connie started to have second thoughts.

The reason Connie was having second thoughts was because the mall was dead. Sure the stores were open and there were employees doing their jobs, but that was about it. There were no gangs of kids skipping school and hanging out. There were no window shoppers and there were very few real shoppers either and those who were shopping, simply came in and got what they wanted without doing any browsing and then left. It was really depressing to see.

Of course Charles came to the rescue. Seeing the mall and how it was affecting Connie, Charles had suggested that they get a drink in the food court. Connie had agreed, and now they were sitting across from each other, sipping on colas. After a minute or two of silence, Charles had broken the ice with his question.

"What we did bothered you," Charles asked in a very serious voice, "didn't it?"

"Yes," Connie replied softly.

Charles put down his drink and reached out and took Connie's hand. He squeezed it tenderly as he continued to speak.

"You know," Charles said softly, "you really shouldn't let this bother you."

"But it does," Connie declared firmly, glaring into Charles' eyes as she spoke. "After all, what makes us any different from Clyde, if we go around abusing people for our own pleasure?"

"We're not abusing them!" Charles protested, "at least not maliciously. What we did with Amy and Ms. Reed today were experiments that needed to be done. Perhaps we didn't need to go as far as we did, but I certainly didn't do it for pleasure or to harm anyone. Besides, the experiments told us something important. It told us that regardless of how normal we get the world to be, when we interact directly with someone, they will be our slave, and when they do something for us, it will because they have to obey us."

"Then how are we ever going to have a relationship with people?" Connie asked, glaring sternly at Charles as she spoke. "We will never know if they love us or not, and I'll always wonder if I'm a good person or not."

"You are a good person!" declared Charles with conviction. "You want what I want, a world back to the way it was before Clyde, and you're willing to work towards that with me, regardless of how long it will take. As for knowing if someone loves you or not, well ... you could try what I did with Anna."

"What did you do with Anna?" Connie asked, her face softening as curiosity and hope rose within her.

"Well," Charles said, giving Connie another mischievous smile before continuing his tale. "I went to her place last night after my experiment in the park. There I asked Anna and her sister, and their mother a few questions. I asked all three of them the same questions, and each of them gave me their answers. I asked them to think to prior to yesterday morning and I asked them if any of them had ever thought about me sexually. Only Anna answered yes. Then I asked if any of them had ever thought about going on a date with me. This time both Jennifer and Anna said yes. It was those answers that made me pick Anna last night to be my lover. Now you could do the same if you wanted and hopefully you'll find someone who says yes. Your other option is to ask someone who is still normal!"