Wednesday — Three Days Until the Rematch

The afternoon came in no time at all, and my thrall met me as planned. “What do I need to do, Nate?” Mikayla asked. I pulled my bag open and handed four devices with the pawn insignia to her.

“I want you to go into the session and act normally, but sit near the door. When everyone has their eyes closed, get up as quietly as you can and open the door for me. Then I want you to place one device on each woman in the room. I’ll be helping as well so we can finish quickly.

“Understood!” Mikayla said with a cheerful smile, elated at the prospect of enslaving her friends.

I leaned against a nearby wall and pulled out my phone, doing my best to look inconspicuous. Soon enough a flow of women in exercise gear began filtering into the room, chatting about class, parties, classic college stuff. The last to enter was Mikayla, donning a flattering low-cut tank top. She flashed me a reassuring smile as she walked in and shut the door behind her. I waited anxiously for about ten minutes until the door silently slid open and Mikayla beckoned me inside.

I stepped in to find eight women, each sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed. Not knowing how long they’d be meditating, I nodded to Mikayla and we each pulled out our share of devices. I placed mine first, not even allowing the woman a chance to gasp before her body began twitching and fell slack. Then I applied a device to the next woman. Then the next. Soon enough, both Mikayla and I had placed all our devices and every woman in the room was slack-jawed and immobile.

Pulling out the headset, I began speaking to the room. “Everyone, stand and face me.” At once, all of the women stood and stared blankly at me, including Mikayla. Realizing the headset wouldn’t differentiate my targets, I ordered Mikayla to wait for me outside. As soon as she left I returned my attention to the remaining women. “I want each of you to come to my dorm room at 5:00 today. You will not question why and go about your day as normal until that time.”

After giving them my room information I issued a final command to go about their session as normal and ignore my presence. Moments later the eight women returned to their meditation. To my own shame, I found myself checking some of them out while they were oblivious to me. I kicked myself for my impulses, leaving the studio and instructing Mikayla to come to my room later as well. Feeling a conflicted sense of relief at having my pawns, I left the building.

On the way out I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I was filled with reflexive dread, momentarily worried that it may be another video from Evan. To my relief, I saw a text from Sophie telling me to come to the Chapel as soon as possible. I hurried over, my footsteps echoing throughout the typically quiet space. I turned into an adjoining room to see two women in full habits knelt over on the ground, the devices glowing blue in the back of their necks. Beside them stood Sophie, beaming with pride. “There we go! Just what you wanted!”

My eyes widened. “Sophie, you said you were going to get some of your friends.”

Her smile gave way to confusion. “Yes, and?”

I gestured wildly to the women on the ground. “These are nuns!”

Sophie’s smile returned. “Yeah, and they’re my friends!”

I buried my face in my hands. If I wasn’t already going to Hell for what I was doing, I absolutely was now.

“Ugh, fine. Whatever. Both of you stand up.” The nuns stood and faced me. One was taller than the other, with a sharp, attractive face and a slim build. The other was shorter, but curvier, with a round, dark face. “What are your names?”

The tall woman spoke first. “I am Sister Desiree.”

I looked to her companion, “and I’m Sister Maria.” Although the habit covered their bodies, I couldn’t help but appreciate their figures. These were some beautiful women we’d lost to the Church.

I gave them both the same instructions I gave the meditation group, then left the room with Sophie. “Did I do a good job, Nate?” She asked with an optimistic twinge to her voice. As annoyed as I was at first, she did technically do what she was asked. I had my bishops, and it was all thanks to Sophie. “Yes, you did. Thank you, Sophie.”

She broke out into a beaming smile. “Of course, sir!”

Sir? I didn’t tell her to call me that.

Later that evening I had everyone I enslaved in my room with me. Thirteen people in a single dorm was a little crowded, but the headset gave me excellent crowd control capabilities. I quickly gave the meditation group and the nuns the same rundown I had given Mikayla and Sophie, securing their cooperation for the upcoming match. Having twelve women listening to me with rapt attention was a first, and was admittedly more than a little bizarre, but I tried not to let it go to my head. After getting everybody’s contact information and instructing them to respond to me immediately, I dismissed the crowd, leaving me alone in my room.

Not long after they left, I laid down on the bed to get an early night’s rest. Knowing that Evan’s cheer squad would wake me up early meant I had to get to sleep as soon as possible. Good sleep was critical for brain function, and I was gonna need every damn neuron. Rolling my head onto my pillow, I heard my phone ding. This time, I knew it wasn't Sophie. I begrudgingly picked up my phone and confirmed a new video from Evan had arrived. I needed the intel, no matter how unpleasant watching it would be.

The video opened this time with just Evan in the frame. “Good evening, Nathan. I’ve been hard at work preparing for our match on Saturday. In fact, I wanted to show off my latest pieces,” A nude figure suddenly entered the frame. I quickly recognized her as Malia, the captain of the swim team. “I know you have a history with Nathan here, is there anything you want to say to him, pet?”

Malia smiled, kneeling beside Evan as she spoke. “Hi Nate!” She said into the tinny phone mic. “I just wanted to let you know how fucking amazing Evan’s dick is. Seriously, chess isn’t the only area you don’t size up!”

Evan stroked her silky black hair and caressed her dark skin gently. “Lovely, thank you Malia for so kindly agreeing to be my rook. Would you like to meet my other one as well?” The camera panned over, showing another nude figure covered in tattoos and piercings. I recognized her from around campus, but I didn’t know her name.

“Hey there Nate! We haven’t actually met, but from what Evan tells me that’s probably for the best. Looking forward to watching him show you how a real man does it,” the woman said before falling to her knees at Evan’s side.

“This is Luna, by the way. I know she doesn’t have as much of a personal touch as the rest of my pieces, but I chose her for a reason. Look forward to it! I hope for your sake you’re building up your own roster, cause I won’t accept playing with an incomplete set.” Malia and Luna flanked him on either side, both giggling and caressing Evan’s torso as he spoke. “I’m gonna have to cut tonight’s video short, I’m afraid. I’ve got big plans that’ll take a bit of time to prepare. See you soon, Nathan.” Evan signaled to the person behind the camera and the video cut off.

This video elicited more confusion than the rage of the previous videos he used to taunt me. See, I did have a history with Malia. We had a class in our first year and got along well, so I asked her out at a party. She turned me down, but she was very gracious about it. We drifted apart after that, and I hadn’t thought about her in ages. However, the tone Evan had in the video made it seem like he thought he was stealing my one true love from me. Why would he…

Denise. I had told her about asking Malia out a long time ago, but we only ever talked about it once. Evan must have probed her about me really intensely if he was able to dredge that incident up, and for what? To throw me off my game? To disturb and taunt me? Because it definitely wasn’t working this time. His mind games seemed to be growing more and more desperate, to the point of dragging seemingly every woman I had ever interacted with into the fray. I eyed my laptop on a nearby desk. Evan wanted to dredge up the past? Well, two could play at that game.

I hadn’t gotten the chance to watch the replay of my match with Evan before now, but I needed to analyze my win. If there was something I did that really threw him off I could adapt the strategy for our rematch. Watching the game back was difficult, knowing what my victory would end up costing in the end. Every careful move I made in the recording unknowingly set me on a path to destruction. It was like watching someone prod a sleeping bear with a stick. Regardless, I did get something useful out of the rewatch; I figured out how I won.

It was a fluke. No, that wasn’t quite right; it was because Evan blundered. For the first half of the game he seemed bored. He was probably so accustomed to easy wins in these regional tournaments that he didn’t expect a challenge. As a result, he didn’t plan his moves far enough ahead to compensate for his opponent, and because I practiced my ass off and studied his strategies before the tournament, I was able to catch him off guard and counter his haphazard plays. By the time he realized he was in trouble it was just barely too late to catch up.

On the one hand, it was good to know that my hard work paid off and allowed me to get the advantage. On the other hand, this spelled doom. In a serious, head-to-head match Evan could out-compete me. That wasn’t just his shitty taunting, he was the better player. If I was going to have any hope of winning I needed a real strategy. I needed to prepare like I’d never prepared before. I needed a miracle.

The video came to an end as I checkmated him and won the game. The moment hurt to watch, I’d rather have just let the maniac win and avoided this nightmare. But instead I watched myself steal the crown. I watched as Talia, Abby, and Denise rushed over to celebrate with me. And for the first time I saw Evan’s reaction in full. He simply stared, wide-eyed at the chess board before turning his gaze to me and my friends. I watched as his face distorted from shock to a cold, uninterrupted stare. I realized he wasn’t just looking at me. He was looking at everybody.

I watched as Mom and Sandy came by and hugged me closely. Evan was still staring. A cold chill ran down my body as I came to a sudden realization. He knew what my family looked like. I panicked, there was no question he would target them if given the chance. I took a few deep breaths as I rationalized the situation. He got most of his intel from Abby and Denise, and while they knew my mom and sister they didn’t know where they lived. Still, I needed to do something to protect them. But what?

The bag of devices caught my eye. He couldn’t take them as pieces if I did it first… And I know I wouldn’t mistreat them while they were under my control… But…

No! How could I risk losing them by wrapping them up in this game?! Maybe I was a shitty enough person to risk that with Mikayla, Sophie, and their friends, but I could never do that to my own family! Regardless, I needed some way to get them out of the line of fire. I texted my Mom asking to stop by the house tomorrow. She lived in town with Sandy, so I should be able to get them both out of harm’s way. As long as I was quick, I could protect them.