Chapter 3

“Water!” cried Elizabeth. The words cracked her parched lips. She stumbled her way to the narrow stream. Ignoring her pained knees, she scrambled across the dry, rocky distance separating her from the water.

Plunging her face into the stream, she gulped it down, drinking until she thought she’d throw up. Her thirst sated for the moment, she rolled into the shallow water, letting the cool liquid soak her clothes. Pulling herself out, she collapsed on the bank.

Dehydration and heatstroke were staved off, but her problems weren’t over yet.

SUBMIT

It was always at the forefront of her mind. Urging, insisting she give in. She’d long since lost track of them, the others who escaped. Some, she’d seen captured, while the rest had scattered into the pitch black night. Elizabeth hoped they were doing better than herself.

It had been a tough battle. The Brotherhood was ready and waiting when they burst out the door. Although they had won the fight, or at least held out long enough to escape, she hadn’t been unscathed. Even now there were still thoughts floating through her head. Foreign thoughts, their thoughts.

Her phone was long since abandoned. Who could she call for help? Worse, she knew full well who she would call given the chance. In a moment of weakness, Elizabeth had almost done it, too. She’d come this close to calling before she realized what number she was dialing. It was a familiar one, a number she’d used many times before. The temple. The enemy occupied temple.

If she called, they would find her. Find her and catch her. Then they would capture her, take her back and make her a slave. Warp her mind until she wanted nothing more than to serve her masters, to obey and please them.

STOP THAT!

Elizabeth yelled to herself, trying to derail that line of thought. Not for the first time, she unfastened her pants and reached inside. Her pussy ached, and while it wasn’t as obvious now that she was soaked from the stream, her fingers found her slit moist and inviting.

That was how they operated. They used your own sensuality, your own arousal against you. They made you want it, want it in the worst way. They’d make you want to give in, want to be a slave, until you welcomed it. They made it seem like the hottest thing in the world, and you’d begin to fantasize, to wonder what it would be like to serve them, to have all your will redirected until you thought of nothing but obedience.

ENOUGH!

Elizabeth forced herself to stop, but she didn’t pull her hand away. If anything, she was more desperate than ever.

It improved after she came the first time, but she kept going anyways. Another two or three wouldn’t hurt.

Jessica Wei held up the two dresses, trying to make up her mind. She liked the red one. It seemed to cry out for attention, and she was definitely in a red sort of mood tonight. Still, the black one was sooooo cute. There were going to be a bunch of hot guys at the party tonight, which would catch their eye the best?

Ok, sure. If she just wanted some hunk in between her legs, all she had to do was jump in her car, pull up downtown, and have her pick of the hot young norms. Sometimes, though, she just wanted to get with a someone whose mind she couldn’t reshape with a thought.

That made these controller parties so fun. A room full of people just like you, where someone used to having their way with the world could actually sit down with their equals. Of course, there was also a dangerous thrill undercutting every moment of it. One slip, one false move and you’d be leaving the party a lot different than you arrived. Jess knew a couple people who’d wound up like that. Everyone did. At best, you’d spend the night on your knees and go home embarrassed the next day. At the worst ... Still, you had to screw up pretty bad to go that far, and what fun was life without a bit of danger.

Mmm ... Danger. The red one then. Red was a dangerous color.

The doorbell rang. Now who could that be? For a minute, Jessica was tempted to let it go.

The bell rang again.

Oh, bother. A quick peek wouldn’t take long. Jessica reached out with her mind, scanning to see who it was.

What the? Jessica had to look twice before she believed what she was seeing, but seconds later she was on the move, scrambling down the stairs into the landing below. Her bathrobe came undone, but that was the last thing on her mind right now.

“Oh my god, what happened to you, Lisa?” she said once the door was open.

Without the door there to lean on, Jessica’s friend stumbled forward. Jessica tried to catch her, but only managed to fall along side her. Lisa’s clothes were a mess, and she was caked with dirt. The musty smell of sweat and dirt suggested that Lisa hadn’t bathed in days.

“Come on, work with me here girl,” she said as she moved Lisa inside.

It took quite a bit of effort, but she got Lisa over to the couch. Jessica cringed as Lisa’s dirty shoes dropped mud onto her new sofa, but whatever, it wasn’t important. She shook her friend slightly.

“Lisa. Lisa honey, are you ok?”

Lisa groaned, opening her eyes slightly.

“Wha- what?” Lisa mumbled through cracked lips. Her mouth moved, and for a moment it looked like she was going to say something, but her eyes closed and she fell back onto the couch.

“Come on, stay with me Lisa. Damn it, you need an ambulance. I’ll be right back, hon, I’m just going to get my phone!”

“No!” Lisa’s eyes shot open, looking wildly about her. “No, they’ll find me.”

“What? What are you talking about, Lisa?”

“They’ll check the hospitals. You can’t let them find me.”

“But who?”

“Water.”

“What?”

“Please. Water”

Jessica shook Lisa again, but her fried was out of it. What was going on. She should go get help. It was just that, Lisa was always the level headed one. If she said someone was after her ... Did Jessica really want to that risk?

“You’d better hang in there, girl,” Jessica whispered softly as she went to get the water. The party was long forgotte. “I’ve got a lot of questions for you.”

“Holy crap, that’s messed up,” was the only thing Jessica could think to say once Lisa told her story.

“You hadn’t heard anything?”

“Not a thing,” said Jessica, “not even in the news. I looked up while you were asleep.”

“It wouldn’t exactly be on the seven o’clock.”

“I mean the real news. You know, online.”

“I guess they’d want to keep it quiet. But still, nothing?”

“Well, there was one thing. Some little blurb about a change in leadership. A new priestess after whatsherface stepped down. Can’t remember the name offhand. Alexis, maybe? Or was it Abby?”

“Alicia,” said Lisa.

“Yeah, that’s it, Alicia. She’s a bad guy?”

“You could say that. I fought her that night, barely made it out.”

“Bad then, gotcha. What are you gonna do?”

“I, um, I haven’t thought that far ahead,” Lisa looked a bit sheepish. “I have to tell someone, but-”

“But who, right?. Who won’t just go to Alicia, who tells them nothing’s wrong and they should mind their own business?” said Jessica.

“Pretty much,” admitted Lisa, “The worst part is, I’m not even sure who to trust. Alicia taught one of my classes. She seemed perfectly normal like two days beforehand. If she was with them, then who else? Anyone I talk to might be just another trap.”

“What about the Guardians?”

“Be serious, Jess.”

“Oh come on, why not?”

“I don’t know, maybe because they hate us?”

“Hate is a pretty strong -”

“No, seriously, if they could get away with it, they’d have wiped us out long ago, along with the rest of the ‘meddlers’.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Ok, fine. Maybe ‘wipe out’ was a bit too strong, but they still can’t stand us.”

“What about Derrick. At least give him a call. He’d listen to you.”

“We didn’t exactly part on the best of terms, in case you forgot.”

“Oh come on. There’s no way he’s still mad at you.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Oh come on, Derrick. Help me out here, for old time’s sake.”

“That didn’t count for much the last time we spoke.”

“I-,” Lisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath before bringing the phone back to her head. “That wasn’t about you, and you know it.”

“That doesn’t change what happened.”

“Come on, can’t you do anything?”

“Even if you are telling the truth, and god knows how I’d ever convince anyone, we wouldn’t do anything about it. We don’t involve ourself in internal politics.”

“Wholesale conquest is a little more extreme than ‘internal politics’”.

“Look, you said you were worried that someone was after you. You know there’s always a place for you here. You haven’t been forgotten, you still have friends here.”

“And the Temple?

“I told you, we can’t get involved.”

“You just want me to abandon them?”

“There’s nothing you can do for them. At least here you could have a fresh start.”

“No! Absolutely not. I refuse to give up on them.”

“Lisa, please. Think it over.”

“Goodbye, Derrick.”

“Please Lisa, take care of yourself, don’t do anything stu-”

The phone went silent. Lisa had ended the call.

“So, not good?” asked Jessica as she stood up from the sofa. Lisa nodded, fighting back tears, and Jessica put her arm around Lisa, trying to comfort her as best she could.

“I knew they wouldn’t help, but-” she broke down, unable to do much more than cry as a week’s worth of repressed pain came crashing down. She was all alone, everyone was gone. Who was she kidding, there was no way she was going to be able to save them.

“It’s ok,” said Jessica as she hugged her friend, “I’m here. It’s all going to be ok.”

It took a couple minutes, but Lisa pulled herself together. If they were gone, then it was all up to her. Somehow, some way, she would have to see this through.

Elizabeth curled up in the small cliffside cave, idly stroking herself as she took shelter from the blazing sun. Physically she was ok. The water did a lot to renew her strength. Her food supplies were low, but she wouldn’t starve. For the dozenth time, she blessed her foresight in grabbing them before she made her break.

If only her mind was in similar shape. The long walk had taken its toll, and while the compulsions refused to lessen, exhaustion weakened her resolve.

By the hour, it grew harder to keep her own thoughts separate. In the end, Elizabeth was forced to admit the ugly truth. If she stumbled on civilization this very second, the first thing she’d do is surrender herself to her mas- her enemies. She still had some control, some presence of mind. She understood why they were her enemies, and intellectually she didn’t want to be enslaved, but it wasn’t enough. More and more, she yearned to be taken and made into some man’s eager little plaything. Out here, in the dusty wilderness she was able to keep hold of herself, but given the opportunity, she no longer had the strength to resist.

It was time to do something. She’d hoped to escape first, but that didn’t look like it was an option any longer. More and more, it was clear that her only hope would be to trance and wipe away the taint of Brotherhood programming.

It was a terrible risk. The process would lay her out for at least the better part of a day, possibly several. Her dormant body wouldn’t require much food and water, but she’d still be pretty weak when she came out. Not the best situation in a harsh environment. Worse, she’d be a sitting duck until it was over. There had been no signs of pursuit recently, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there.

Her pussy clenched at the thought of being found. That settled it. Risky or not, her only alternative was to accept surrender. For all she knew, she was the only one to make it out of the temple. If anyone was going to go back and help them it would be her.

Still, she thought as her hand drifted back between her legs, another round of pleasure beforehand wouldn’t hurt.

Another one or three, that is.

“Oh hey,” said Jessica, “I thought of something.”

The two were seated in her living room, enjoying a cup of tea as they tried to think through Lisa’s problem.

“I totally know where you could get one of those Brotherhood guys.”

Taking a sip from the steaming mug, she looked more intensely at Jessica. So far, they’d been drawing a blank. The best Lisa could come up with was just to go online and tell anyone who would listen what had happened. That might hurt the Brotherhood, but it wouldn’t do anything for her captive friends.

“What do you mean, ‘get’?”

“I dunno. You said the traitors in the Temple were being weird, maybe if we nab a Brotherhood guy we could make him tell us something.”

Lisa thought about it. Jessica had a point. People wouldn’t stick their necks out to help the temple, but if there was a way to coopt people without stripping away their powers? That would be a serious game changer, one that would get attention.

If they believed it. It flew in the face of everything she’d been taught. Lisa would have dismissed it if she hadn’t seen the evidence with her own eyes. But if they had someone on the inside? Someone able to explain what had happened, able to prove it?

“Ok, tell me about him.”

“Stop picking at it”

“I’m not picking at it.”

The two were standing in a line outside the nightclub. It was a trendy place. From inside, they could hear the deep thrum of the bass as the latest hot new DJ worked the crowd. Lisa couldn’t remember his name, she’d never cared much for that sort of thing. Jess knew. She’d told Lisa earlier, but she’d forgotten. The important thing was that they’d find their quarry here.

Conrad Meyer, age 29. Longstanding Brotherhood member, but by all indications totally insignificant. Jessica kinda knew him through a friend of a friend. Apparently he was never up to much of anything in particular. He just whiled away his time in bars and nightclubs, using his power to pick up women. No one would miss him.

“Are too,” said Jessica, “Geeze, you’d think you never wore a dress before.”

“Not in a while, at least for this sort. I’ve been busy the past couple years.”

The plan tonight was Jessica’s, though Lisa couldn’t really think of a better one. Their target was known for bringing home women, and the two of them were certainly easy on the eyes. If they could catch his attention, getting him alone would be easy. He’d even think it was his idea.

To Jessica’s delight, that meant a quick flurry of dress shopping. Jessica had been more than happy to pay, which was good considering Lisa’s accounts were probably watched.

They were dressed to stand out. Lisa wore a slinky red dress with a plunging neckline. Other than a thin pair of straps, it left her shoulders and back bare, all the better to show off her honed athleticism. Jessica, on the other hand, wore a form fitting strapless minidress. Though it didn’t display as much cleavage as Lisa’s, the tight thin material clung to her like a second skin, showing the small yet perky breasts hidden beneath the material. The rather abrupt ending left her silky smooth legs on display, with the dress’s short length hinting at what lay just further up her thighs.

The trouble was, this was a trendy place. Pretty much every other girl in line was dressed up for a night out, and the sort of people that came here were used to standing out. Of course, Lisa and Jess had their own advantages. Advantages lacked by the others, but Lisa was loathe to use them. The idea tonight was to go as far as they possibly could through persuasion alone. They needed to get their guy out of here with a minimum of fuss, and that wasn’t likely if they resorted to their powers in the middle of a crowded room. At least, not against someone that could fight back.

Things weren’t hopeless. Without any false pride, Lisa knew that the two of them were beautiful. Granted, it wasn’t totally by accident. Almost every controller had a limited ability to mold their body, even if it was totally subconscious. Being able to sculpt one’s body in any particular direction was a rare feat, and not one that Lisa could accomplish, but even so, there were very few ugly controllers.

That aside, it helped that they were going after one particular person, one whose tastes they knew at least a little. They had planned their night around his tastes, not just in appearance, but mentally as well. At least some of the hesitance, Lisa knew, came from the decoy she’d wrapped around her mind. It was always a little weird, sharing her mind with thoughts and emotions that weren’t quite hers. Lisa was used to it by now, but Jessica didn’t have the advantage of her long training to grow accustomed.

Too bad. This was her idea, and they were never going to pull it off without disguises. They needed their target to accept them as they were pretending to be, a group of young underclassmen from the local college out for a night on the town. There was no way he’d buy that if a cursory scan showed them to be fellow controllers, and from what she’d heard, he wasn’t much interested in girls that could hold their own against him.