Heather stood off to the side of the examination table, dressed again in the clothes she was wearing when she had arrived. She barely remembered taking them off, and remembered nothing of what had happened from there. Yet she felt a sense of euphoria, a gentle feeling of well-being through her entire body and mind.

When Nyssa stepped in front of her, she smiled at her Mistress.

Nyssa smiled in return and cupped one of Heather's cheeks. Heather closed her eyes and uttered a slow sigh of contentment.

"I know everything you do now, my pet," Nyssa said in a low voice. "Every little secret you have is now mine."

"I wouldn't keep secrets from you, Mistress," Heather said, her voice soft yet urgent.

"Yes, my slave, I know that now. You've been a good pet to your Mistress." Nyssa stroked her cheek once.

Heather drew in her breath as she felt her pussy and her nipples tingle in reward. "Thank you, Mistress," she moaned.

Nyssa withdrew her hand. Her slave looked to her expectantly.

"It was quite clever," Nyssa said after a moment's pause. "Very clever indeed. I didn't see it at first. I had assumed you simply had a very strong will. But that wasn't it at all."

Heather gave Nyssa a quizzical look but said nothing in comment.

"She gave you a Gift," Nyssa explained. "You were only beginning to learn to use it. She placed it in your head. It was very powerful magic. Even I cannot remove it completely. I will have to be content with making it serve me instead. Eventually."

Dimly, Heather was aware of what Nyssa was talking about now. Her lips parted briefly, and in that instant she felt as if something had gone dreadfully wrong. It did not last long, but Nyssa saw it immediately.

"And even now it tries to fight. It tries to resist. It will take me some time to tame it. To completely make you my slave."

"I-I already am your slave, Mistress," Heather said, her voice quavering.

"No, not totally ... " Nyssa trailed a finger along Heather's arm. Heather shuddered as her nipples hardened and throbbed. "But enough for now. Though ... the next thing I ask of you is something you may have trouble with."

Heather moaned as Nyssa drew her fingers down around Heather's hip. The pleasure was enhanced by her own thoughts of obedience. "I'll do anything you say, Mistress ..."

"Always remember, slave. I reward good behavior." Nyssa slid her fingers around one thigh and to Heather's crotch. "I reward it very well ..."

Nyssa flicked her finger. Heather mewled as she came. Her desire to have Nyssa command her grew stronger until it became a need in and of itself.

Nyssa paused, then pressed her hand more firmly against Heather's crotch. Heather's orgasm continued softly, making her pant. "Feel the pleasure, my pet. This is yours when you obey."

"Uhhhn! ... y-yes Mistress ... I will o-obey ... please tell me what you want ... "

"I want Jason."

Heather's eyes flickered open. "J-Jason? ... what ...?"

Nyssa removed her hand. At once, Heather's orgasm faded and died. Heather uttered a small whimper as the pleasure vanished from everywhere in her body at once. She felt as if a chill had descended upon her.

"I want Jason," Nyssa repeated, turning her icy gaze on Heather. "He's the only one that can stop me."

Heather cringed under Nyssa's gaze, the chill becoming a heart-stopping arctic cold. "S-stop you, Mistress? But ... but he's not ..."

"You see, my pet? Even now that tiny corner of your mind I cannot completely breach tries to resist. It tries to protect him. But you, slave, you will not protect him."

Heather swallowed. "I ... I w-will not protect him ..."

"He's going to run, isn't he? He's not going to come to me when I call him? I can see it your mind already, don't lie to me."

Heather was panting as she struggled. "Y-yes ... yes, he ... h-he wants to run ..."

"But you're going to stop him, my slave. You're going to do as your Mistress commands."

Heather gave Nyssa a forlorn look but said nothing, biting her lip.

Nyssa could see the struggle in Heather's mind, and now she knew the reason why. Heather's desire for her little sister had been planted there. It had not been her own fantasy, but something someone else had instilled in her. Nyssa did not know whether this was simply a side-effect of the precognitive Gift she received or if there were some other purpose in mind.

In either case, it was very clear: someone already knew of the Darkness and had enlisted four teens to help fight it. Her lips curled into a wicked smile. Were four teens. Now only one, one that would be hers soon enough.

But first, Heather was going to need some added incentive.

Nyssa stepped behind Heather. Heather's breath grew short and her heart began to pound. She shuddered when Nyssa's hands alighted on her shoulders. "You're going to do as your Mistress commands," Nyssa purred into Heather's ear.

Slowly, her hands slid down and around Heather's body and cupped Heather's breasts. Heather uttered a soft but shrill cry as she came almost immediately from the touch.

"You're going to obey your Mistress."

Nyssa tweaked her nipples. Heather staggered, gasping for breath, as her pussy throbbed.

"Oh yes ... you feel the pleasure, don't you? ... It will get more and more intense as you think about submitting to my wishes ..."

Heather moaned loudly, her body quaking with lust. Her cunt convulsed with the strength of her continuing orgasm. Each cry from that hidden corner of her mind to resist was met with an equally strong scream of a need to obey.

"But that's not going to be enough is it? Not quite enough ..."

"M-Mistress ... p-please ... uhhhnn! ... c-can't think ..."

"I don't want you to think, slave. I want you to obey. And here is what will make you obey ... your little sister Melinda."

"Uhhhn!! ... Uhhh! ... wh-what ... ohhh ..."

"She's your slave now. She's your toy. But she still has a mind. She has her memories and her own little desires ... I can change that ..."

Heather squirmed and writhed against Nyssa, her pussy still pulsing with almost unbearable pleasure. "Uhhn ... what ... no ..."

"I can empty that little mind of hers ... completely ... totally ... she's be just a fucktoy ... nothing else ... she'll eat, sleep, and please you, but nothing else ..."

Heather squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She tried to wall off her mind against the overwhelming sexual pleasure, but it was in vain. The only thing that was nearly as strong was the horror she felt at the idea of Melinda being nothing but a mindless, empty shell.

"You don't want that. You want her as your slave, but you don't want her mindless."

Heather let out a scream, half in pleasure, half in terror.

Nyssa relented and pulled back. Heather moaned and fell on all fours, panting wildly as her orgasm finally abated. Nyssa stepped around her such that she was looked down at Nyssa's feet. "Now, my pet. What will you do for me tomorrow?"

Heather had to pause to catch her breath. "D-do ... t-tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. I cannot wait any longer. He is a threat to me. Now ... what will you do for me, slave?"

"I-I'll ... I'll make sure he comes to you, Mistress ..."

"Will you fail me?"

"No, Mistress ..."

"Because if you do ..."

Heather whined and tears dripped from her eyes. "P-please no ... don't m-make her mindless ... I-I won't fail ... I'll do as you say ... I'll obey ..."

Nyssa slid a foot forward and let some of Heather's tears splash on it. She slowly smiled. "Stand up, slave."

Heather immediately rose to her feet, still panting lightly.

Nyssa touched Heather's cheek briefly. Heather flinched, and then uttered a soft, mewling sound.

"A little added incentive, my pet," Nyssa said in a sultry voice. "You're going to stay just a little horny until you do what I wish of you. Not even your slave will get you off until you finish your task. Then I will allow you to cum."

Heather felt exhausted, both physically and mentally. The little bit of resistance in her mind was overwhelmed. It could not stand up against what Nyssa had put her through, and now it was kept at bay by the waves of pleasure washing over her from her pussy, and the need to seek sexual release. This was just one of the all-pervading thoughts in her mind, that release would not come without obedience.

The other thought, the one that made her shiver, was what pushed her over the edge and into total submission. She had to protect her little sister. As much as she desired her as a sex slave, she still loved her as a sister.

"Yes, Mistress," she said in a steadier voice, her eyes filled with devotion and loyalty. "I will do as you wish."

Nyssa nodded slowly, smiling in satisfaction.

Yet ... something was still not right.

She had the uneasy feeling that Heather was still keeping something from her. That tiny corner of Heather's mind where Mara had placed the Gift had not been completely breached. She could sense it, she could see that there was something inside of it. It was possible it might have lifted a thought from Heather's mind when she was being enthralled and thus kept it out of Nyssa's reach.

If Nyssa knew the right question to ask, Heather would eventually be compelled to speak this hidden truth. It would be forced to yield rather than have Heather suffer for disobedience. But what was the question?

There was nothing more maddening than wishing an answer when one does not know the question in the first place.

It did not matter. It would weaken eventually. She had sensed it straining to maintain itself against the intense emotion that had flooded Heather's mind earlier. Nyssa had hoped that would break it utterly, but it proved too hard to crack. It would have to be worn away slowly over time.

It would not stand up to her. It was no threat to her losing control of Heather, Melinda, or Richie. All it meant was that she would have to expend more energy than normal to maintain it.

Jason was brooding silently as he and Cassie walked into the cafeteria together. Cassie couldn't stand the quiet between them and spoke up first. "They didn't do too bad for their first time."

Jason waited until they approached the serving line before speaking again. "It could have been better," he said simply.

"Well, it was their first time. This was just a dry run anyway."

"Becky's too timid. The only reason she could tell us that Heather had been to see the nurse again was because we had already told her that. I doubt she got within twenty feet of the nurse's station."

"She said she was in a hurry to get to her next class."

"Cassie, I specifically scheduled her for the time slot where her class was practically right next to Nyssa's door, and it was right at the time I estimated Heather would be finishing up with the nurse, assuming Nyssa calls them back in the same order that they were originally taken."

Cassie nodded absently. It had been Jason's idea to have them observe Nyssa's office in turn as they changed classes, just as a dry run for Thursday. Unfortunately, it was the only dry run they would get.

"I'm sure she'll improve with time," Cassie commented.

Jason lapsed into silence again until they had paid for their lunch and headed over to a table. "Yeah, I know," he said sullenly. "I'm just not sure we have a lot of time to get her up to speed."

"Ned did really well."

"With Ned, I'm more worried he'll go too far," said Jason as they sat down. "He's so gung-ho I half-expected him to storm Nyssa's office like it was the Bastille."

"Don't you have anything good to say?" Cassie said crossly.

Jason paused and stared at her.

Cassie sighed. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Sorry I'm being such a sourpuss."

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Jason stared down at his food. His appetite was rapidly waning. "I'm feeling a little lost, Cassie."

Cassie tentatively laid a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Melinda?"

"Melinda. Heather. Richie." Jason shook his head. "I feel like I've lost control of everything. I feel like I've lost them."

Cassie squeezed his shoulder lightly. He raised his head and looked at her, his eyes shimmering.

"Cassie, has there been anything in your dreams at all that could tell us if this is permanent?" Jason pleaded. "Anything at all?"

"I wish I could, Jason. I mean ... I do get a sense of time urgency from these dreams. But I can't tell what that means." Cassie paused a moment. "Look, Melinda told me that you guys were constantly put in and out of control at the House, right?"

Jason nodded.

"So then that means the control can be lifted. Someone can be freed from it."

"Yeah, but only if the controller wants to do it. If you're the one being controlled, you can't do anything against it. What you're saying is that we'd have to get Nyssa to release them."

Cassie paused a moment before turning away, stricken. "Jason, what do you want from me?" she asked in a choked voice. "I wish my dreams were more detailed. I wish I had these answers, I really do."

"Hey, it's okay, I ..."

A few tears slid down Cassie's cheeks. "I j-just feel that for the first time my dreams are actually useful and now it's the opposite problem. They're not good enough."

Jason draped an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, it's okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

Cassie looked at him, her eyes still wet but hardening as well. "It's frustrating, Jason. I feel like I'm on the verge of something with these dreams. In that last dream with Nyssa, the one where she was talking to the Darkness, I think she was a little worried."

"Worried? You didn't mention this before, unless ..." Jason's gaze narrowed. "Don't tell me this just because you think it will make me feel better ..."

"Well, maybe I am, in a way, but it's the truth."

It was, however, a stretch. The emotions that Cassie felt in a dream like this came to her in such a rush that it was often hard to sort them all out. It sometimes took her days of thinking about them and writing them down in her journal before she understood everything.

Her journal! She was surprised that this was the first time she had thought about her journal in what seemed like a long time. She had not been keeping it up. There was too much else on her mind and too many other things to do for the Harbingers.

And yet, even then, it could take up to a week for her to completely interpret a dream. They simply did not have that sort of time. She was afraid to tell him this for fear that she would be thought of as useless again.

"Cassie, are you sure of this? If she's worried, then maybe we're having an effect on her. But if she's not, we have to figure out something else to do."

Cassie felt her heart pounding. She briefly hated him for doing this to her. He was making his actions hinge on her dreams. She tried to conjure up the imagery from the dream again and what she had been feeling while it was happening. She tried to let herself experience all the emotion of it. Yes, it was there. Or she thought it was there. She wasn't completely sure. Her instincts told her she was right. Her intellect told her she could be wrong.

She decided to go with her instinct.

"Yes, I'm sure," Cassie said, her voice slightly hollow. She took a deep breath and repeated with more confidence, "Yes, I'm sure she was feeling nervous. We could be having an effect on her."

Jason looked intensely thoughtful for a few moments. "Cassie, this Thursday, there can't be any failures. They have to find all three of the new ones that will be taken."

Cassie nodded quickly. "We'll try."

"And this Friday, they can't miss stopping even a single one. They have to stop all of them, Cassie."

Cassie nodded again, more slowly. Something was bothering her about the way he was talking. "We won't be able to watch for the ones taken Friday, then."

"Right. You'll have to concentrate on the one batch."

"Or divide them up? Concentrate on only two Friday so we have time to ..."

"No. Stopping three at once will be a much more powerful message to her. Handing her a complete failure like that may be the edge you all need."

Cassie shivered as she realized what it was that bothered her. "Jason, why do you keep saying 'they' and 'you'?"

"I need you to come by my locker after lunch. I want to give you the list of addresses and the rotation schedule."

Cassie's eyes widened. "Why?"

Jason hesitated. "Just in case."

Cassie groaned. "Jason, don't do this to me!"

"What?"

"Don't try to put me in charge!"

"I'm not! What's there to be in charge of? You all know what you're supposed to do. The only thing that I have that you don't are those two items I mentioned."

"But you're talking as if you expect to be taken!"

"Look, I'm not going to be taken. Calm down already," Jason said, exasperated. "But if I have to leave the school to stop it, I might not be able to get that stuff to you in time. "

"But ..."

"No buts! You can read a printout as much as I can. You know how to read a map. You all can figure out who goes where. It's not that hard, Cassie."

Cassie had to pause to take a few deep breaths, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Now you see why I didn't want to be considered the leader of this group. It makes you all think I'm indispensable."

"Jason ... are you sure ... are you absolutely sure that she can't go after people she's failed to get the first time?"

"I don't know for sure. All I know is from observation. I have a good feeling about it. Just like I have a good feeling that she doesn't know that you or Ned or Becky or Diane can see auras ..."

"Diane can't."

Jason paused. "Yes, right. She's so enthusiastic about wanting to help I forget that sometimes. But she doesn't need to in order to help stop someone. You already know who it is by then. The point is, I don't think Nyssa knows."

"Unless Heather's told her. Or Richie."

Jason was silent for a long moment.

Cassie looked sheepish. "Please tell me you thought about that already ..."

Yes, he had thought about it, and it had worried him. If Heather and Richie were in her thrall, it stood to reason they would be compelled to be truthful with her.

Yet no one had gone after Cassie, Ned, or Becky. Even if they could not be taken again, surely Nyssa could order any of her slaves to put more conventional impediments in their way.

"It doesn't matter," Jason said flatly. "We don't have any alternatives. We have to continue on and just hope that things don't quite work that way."

Cassie nodded slowly. She glanced down at her lunch. Now she had lost her appetite as well.

Nyssa smiled wickedly as she traced a single finger down Richie's back, watching him tremble and strain against the inside of his pants. He tried not to show it. He suppressed the moan, biting his lower lip instead. Nyssa had let some of his real personality show through when in her thrall. She found it amusing.

"Now, my pet," Nyssa cooed in his ear. "You would not keep any secrets from me, would you?"

"Uhn ... n-no, Mistress," Richie said in a strained voice.

"You would tell me anything I would want to know ..." Nyssa slid her hand over one of his ass cheeks and squeezed gently.

Richie moaned. "Yes, Mistress ..."

"You will let me see every thought ... every feeling ... every desire ..."

Nyssa stepped in front of him and lay her hand against the bulge in his crotch. Richie shuddered as he rose and hung just short of release. Richie had no words for her after that.

"Remember ... I reward your obedience ... I reward it very handsomely ..."

She slid her hand lightly over him.

"Uhhhnn ...!"

Richie's hips jerked as he came. Yet no sticky warmth filled his briefs. It would not do, Nyssa mused, if he were to mess himself every time. Instead, his throbs did not produce, but the pleasure was no less intense. She pressed her hand against his still rock-hard member, and his orgasm continued and intensified, until each throb made his cock pulse and jump.

"Don't hold anything from me, slave," Nyssa said, her voice soft yet intense. "Feel the pleasure overcome you ... you can do nothing against it ... let it consume you, my pet ..."

Richie had far less of his own willpower than Heather had. Having come of his own choice to Nyssa had helped with that. Almost immediately he lost himself, and at once every bit of Richie's mind lay open to Nyssa.

Except one.

It was the same. One tiny bit, tucked away in the subconscious, bearing the same hallmarks as the one she had found in Heather. It even possessed a Gift as well, yet it had not manifested. The veil of protection around this one was weak compared to Heather's. Nyssa's lips curled into a smile. This one's apathy towards his ability had helped in that regard. Now, Nyssa would penetrate it and ...

Nyssa blinked. Her eyes went wide and she staggered back from him.

Richie's orgasm slowly abated. Swaying slightly, he moaned as it faded. In his mind, the veil reformed around that hidden corner of his mind.

Nyssa had trouble believing what she had seen. She had seen his Gift, the one that had not yet manifested. It was something that had not been seen in a very long time. It was potentially as dangerous as it was powerful. Or it could be totally useless to him. There was no way of telling for sure now.

It lay untapped, but through no fault of Richie's. It was being held even from Richie's own psyche. And with good reason, considering Richie's attitude and mindset even before his fall to Nyssa. Yet, why give one such as him something like this in the first place?

Nyssa reached once more into Richie's mind. It was protecting itself again. Yet before it had retreated fully from her, she sensed something else. It, too, had a secret. Just like the one in Heather's mind.

However, she did manage to glean another useful bit of information.

"So ... Melinda is Jason's girlfriend, is she?" Nyssa purred.

"Yes, Mistress," Richie replied, his voice still breathy from his climax. "They really have the hots for each other."

Nyssa smiled and brushed hair back from Richie's forehead. Richie smiled and shivered at the touch. "Are you enjoying your little fucktoy, my pet?"

"Oh, yeah, I really am, Mistress," Richie said with a grin. "She's really hot."

"Very good ... and you wish to keep her, don't you?"

"Hell, yeah!"

Nyssa chuckled in amusement. "Then you'll do as I say? You'll obey me?"

"Of course, Mistress. What do you want me to do?"

"Very simple, my pet. Stop Jason from leaving school tomorrow when I call him to me."

Richie hesitated only a second. "Can do, Mistress," Richie said with an impish grin.

Nyssa saw the hesitation. It was much less than Heather's had been. Richie would be easier to mold. That little corner of his mind would fall to her faster. She gave it a few days before she knew its secrets. It was already struggling against her.

A few days. That was all she needed. A few days time and her plans would be secure. Even then, she had a backup plan. If Jason somehow escaped her, she still had the seeds she had already collected. She would simply need to use them earlier than she had intended. It would make the energies erratic, but at least Haven would be pleased.

As soon as they entered their shared bedroom, Melinda immediately shed her backpack, placing it dutifully under her desk, and then slipped out of her clothes with eagerness and anticipation. Behind her, she heard the bathroom door close behind Heather.

She felt a moment of disappointment. Sometimes her Mistress would come up from behind her when she was undressing and play with her breasts. Now she would have to wait before gaining her Mistress' attentions.

Melinda padded over to Heather's bed and climbed into it. Already her nipples were two pert little bumps on her young mounds, and her pussy glistened with moisture. She spread her legs so that Heather could see that she was nice and wet, that she was still Heather's good little girl.

A few minutes later Heather emerged from the bathroom. She smiled softly at her sister as she approached the bed.

"What do you wish me to do for you, Mistress?" Melinda asked in a husky voice.

Heather sat down on the edge of the bed and cupped one of Melinda's breasts, squeezing gently. "Just lie there for the moment, baby sis," she said. She played with Melinda's nipple.

Melinda closed her eyes and uttered breathy moans. Her legs quivered and spread wider on the bed. "Uhhn ... that feels so good ..." she murmured.

Heather smiled. "That's the idea. Getting nice and horny?"

"Oh God, yeah ... uhhh ..."

Heather squeezed Melinda's breast harder, kneading it carefully with her fingers. Melinda mewled in delight, trying to rise from the bed to press herself into her sister's touch more. Heather took a deep breath, feeling her pussy tingle madly with desire and need. She let it go with a forlorn sigh.

"Keep getting horny, baby sis," Heather said in a low voice. "The hornier the better."

"Uhhnn! ... ohmigod! ... uhhh! ..."

Melinda writhed helplessly, her hands curled into fists. Her whole body trembled. The blanket grew damp under her where her arousal trickled down from her pussy. Heather turned herself more towards Melinda and grasped both breasts. She flicked her thumbs at the nipples until they throbbed. Melinda's breathing grew ragged.

As her Mistress had ordered, Melinda grew more and more lustful, her body's need climbing. Desire rose into her mind, temporarily washing away any other thoughts she had. Her eyes glazed as nothing but pleasure and the want for release filled her consciousness.

Heather watched the transformation come over her baby sister's face. Her own smile faded just a touch. This is what Melinda would be like as a totally mindless thrall. She would look like this all the time, not just when she was very aroused.

Heather withdrew her hands.

Melinda shuddered at the sudden halt to the stimulation. She fell limp on the bed, though she continued to quiver at the intensity of her arousal. Her pussy felt so very hot, far more than she ever remembered it being, even in anticipation of Jason. She longed for Heather to touch it, but she expected that this would not come until she was to be rewarded for pleasing her Mistress.

Lucidity slowly returned to Melinda's eyes as she looked up at Heather. "How do you ... wish me to ... please you, Mistress?" she panted.

Heather looked down at her for a moment, eyes clouded.

"I'd love to lick your pussy, Mistress," Melinda moaned, her body trembling as it triggered her own desires again. She thought about Heather cumming in her face and moaned again more deeply.

"Not today, baby sis," Heather said quietly, running a hand gently down one of Melinda's thighs.

Melinda's lips parted as she looked up at Mistress with concern. "But ... how will I be your good little girl, Mistress?"

"You still are. You're a very good little girl."

Melinda giggled, delighted at the praise. "But I haven't done anything for you yet. I haven't made you cum."

"You won't be able to today, Melinda. I have to do something for Nyssa first before she will allow me."

Melinda hesitated a moment. She blinked rapidly, as if what Heather had just said was not something she could immediately parse. Even Heather was not quite sure why she had said it or what had made her want to. Surely she did not need to share her reasons with her slave.

Finally, Melinda asked, "What do you have to do for her, Mistress?"

Heather hesitated a long moment. "I just have to help her with something, baby sis, that's all," she said, smiling. "You really don't need to concern yourself with it."

At first Melinda took this as an order, and her thoughts on the matter began to fade. But something in the back of her mind, in the same hidden corner that Nyssa had seen in both Heather and Richie, managed to spark an independent thought that made it to her lips before the Darkness could extinguish it. "Does it have something to do with Jason, Mistress?"

Heather stared at her for a long moment.

"She asked you to do something with Jason," Melinda said. Her tone was casual, as if she were announcing that the sky was blue, but the fact that such a statement came to her at all was a sign that she was resisting her Mistress' control.

This triggered the proper response in Heather. "Be a good little girl for me, baby sis, and masturbate slowly."

Melinda could not resist the command for more than an instant. Already her mind was anticipating the pleasure that she would receive at being obedient, and she smoothly reached a hand down between her legs, sinking her fingers into her wet folds.

The struggle in her mind lasted only a moment. The hidden corner of her mind had no real power over Melinda's thoughts. It was easily swept out of her consciousness and back to huddling in its recessed corner by the pleasure that rolled in like a thick, obscuring fog. Melinda shivered with delight, both at the pleasure rising from her pussy and from her simple obedience to Heather. Quickly her mind dropped into a state of total bliss.

"Slowly, baby sis," Heather said as she tweaked one of Melinda's nipples. "Very slowly. I want to enjoy it as much as you do."

Melinda closed her eyes and moaned deeply, her head lolling to one side. She panted hard at the pleasure coming from both her pussy and her breast. Her eyes opened a crack as they were turned towards Heather. They were glassy and devoid of thought.

Heather paused and removed her hand from Melinda's breast. Melinda did not seem to notice, her fingers squishing loudly into her soaked cunt. She uttered a string of whimpering moans as she slowly rose. With a smile that was more tender than desirous, Heather placed her hand lightly along Melinda's head and slowly stroked her hair.

"I'll do what Nyssa commands me, baby sis," Heather breathed. "I have to. And you'll be okay. Like Mom said. You'll be safe. We'll both be safe."

Melinda did not appear to hear, her body continuing to writhe helplessly in self-administered pleasure until Heather commanded her to stop. Like a good slave should.

The tender moment passed. Heather's smile grew more lustful. "Louder, baby sis. I want to hear your pleasure. I want to hear you being a good little girl for me."

As Melinda's voice rose, Heather grew satisfied and quite aroused at her slave's obedience.

Like a good Mistress should.

"Has she asked you to do anything yet?"

Richie sighed and rolled his eyes at the question simply because it was an automatic response. His mother had been asking him this every single night since she found out what he had done. She was intent on calling him out on his claim that Nyssa would ask nothing of him.

Now that Nyssa had indeed asked something of him did nothing to change his attitude. He found he had no compunction to follow his mother's orders. Lying to her would not mean disobedience to Nyssa in any way, so it was something he could do freely.

"No, mother, but I hear she's having tea and crumpets with the Queen of England tomorrow and wishes me to partake of it with her," Richie replied in as snooty a tone of voice he could muster.

Richie actually prided himself on finding a new wiseass response each night, just to see how far he could push his mother. He figured that there was little Sandra could do to him without worrying about incurring the wrath of Haven, or whatever it was.

Each time his mother would simply sneer at him and leave. This time was different. After a moment's pause, she said flatly, "You're lying."

Richie frowned. "Huh?"

Sandra stepped more fully into the room, folding her arms. "What did you tell her you would do?"

He was still staring at her, thoroughly nonplussed.

"Answer me!" Sandra shouted.

"I don't have to answer nuthin'!" Richie said indignantly.

"And what the fuck gave you that idea?! You think you can just do whatever the fuck you feel like in this house, is that it?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Mom?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Richie! Ever since you screwed around with that ... that school nurse, you've been acting like you're the freaking king here or something!"

Richie snorted and grinned.

Sandra's eyes widened and she stomped over to him. "What the hell is so funny?"

"It wasn't the nurse I fucked, Mom, it was my teacher," he said, dissolving into laughter.

SLAP!

Richie abruptly fell silent, staggering back from his mother. He gaped at her in astonishment, his hand on his cheek. When it came away, there were several long red marks on his face from his mother's fingers.

He tried to say something to her, but no words would form in his head that could convey what he felt at that moment, for he was not even sure himself. It was as if the Darkness had fallen away for a moment, and he was looking at his mother like he would have before everything had happened with the House, before he had been let in on the terrible secret that was the Darkness.

"Don't you DARE talk about it like that!" Sandra screamed. "Don't treat it like some fucking JOKE!"

Richie finally found his voice, but it was one of confusion. "What??"

"You took someone's fucking free will! And you're treating it like you just won the FUCKING LOTTERY!"

"A what? A lottery?" Richie's face hardened, his eyes blazing with anger now. "Yeah, that's right, Mom. A lottery. A big fucking lottery. And I won the fucking jackpot."

Her teeth bared, Sandra lifted her hand as if to strike him again.

Richie jumped back. "Stop it, Mom!! I did it because of what you said to me! Control or ..."

"That wasn't me talking!" Sandra cried. "I thought you had understood that! I never thought you'd actually follow that advice!"

"Look, why are we arguing about this, huh? I already did it. I already went for it. It's stupid to talk about it now."

Sandra slowly shook her head, staring. "You just don't get it."

"I get it just fine."

"No, you really don't. I bet you think this is still something you can just stop doing ... no, wait, you can't, can you? That's the real tragedy, isn't it?"

Richie furrowed his brow. "I don't understand you."

The anger started to drain from Sandra's face. It was quickly replaced with pity. "No, you don't. You can't. You have to obey her. That's how it is."

"Yeah, that's how it is. But look what I get."

Sandra laughed humorlessly.

"Oh yeah? How the fuck is it any different from you?" Richie shot back.

"I'm not enslaved to any one person, Richie. I was smart enough at least to avoid that."

Richie snorted. "Yeah, you're just a slave to fucking."

Sandra briefly gave him a hurt look, but she recovered quickly. "Look, we're not here to talk about me. I want to know what she asked you to do."

"And what are you gonna do if I don't?"

"At least now I know she asked you to do something."

Richie frowned and cursed under his breath. "Okay, fine, you know. Big fucking deal. I still don't have to tell you."

Sandra paused a long moment. "Yeah, you don't," she finally admitted in a more contrite voice. "But maybe you'll tell me anyway."

Richie narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Sandra sighed. "I don't know, Richie. Maybe so I can know how badly you've fallen. Maybe to give you a chance to gloat. You'd like that, huh?"

Richie opened his mouth and then closed it again. There were tears shimmering in his mother's eyes. He truly didn't feel like gloating. He simply knew that Nyssa wanted him to do something for her and he had to obey her.

He paused a moment. His thoughts of obedience to Nyssa had sent a shiver of pleasure through him. His cock hardened in his pants.

"Mom, she doesn't want me to hurt anyone, if that's what you're worried about."

Sandra sighed. "That's not very reassuring, Richie."

"Huh? What the hell do you want from me then?"

"Tell me, Richie. Is helping her enslave someone considered hurting anyone in your little world?"

Just as she finished her sentence, Sandra blinked in surprise as she stared at her son.

"Look, I don't know what she wants with him, okay?" Richie said. "She just doesn't want him to leave the school, that's all."

"What was that?" Sandra demanded suddenly.

Richie looked askance at her. "Huh?"

"The look in your eyes just now ... you ... you had a doubt, didn't you?"

Richie frowned. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

But Sandra would not hear of this. She practically pounced on her son, grabbing his shoulders before he could scramble away from her. "Please, Richie," Sandra begged. "If you can resist this ... i-if you can warn him ... please do it."

Richie just stared at her for a long moment. Several emotions flickered across his eyes during that time. Yet what he ended with was the one he started with: the little thrill he felt when he thought of pleasing Nyssa, and the rewards he would likely reap as a result.

He smiled at her as his cock became hard. Sandra's face fell and she backed away from him as if burned.

"Um, sure, Mom," Richie said in a calm voice. "I'll do that."

Sandra's face fell. She swallowed and sniffled once. She tried to set her face hard. She opened her mouth but closed it again after a short pause without saying anything. What was there to be said?

There was no way out of enslavement to a single person. Such control was total and unbreakable, unless at the whim of the controller. And it was rare that one who was a controller would voluntarily give that up.

And yet ... Sandra had seen resistance from her son. Brief. Momentary. Fleeting. But it had been there. Her mind raced. Should she allow herself some hope? Or would that be too dangerous? Would the Darkness sense that and quash it in her? Or worse, make her do something to help her son in whatever plans Nyssa had for him.

"Anything else, Mom?" asked Richie.

Sandra just shook her head, carefully controlling her expression. "Nothing. Not a thing, Richie."

She turned and slowly left the room.

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