As I approached the entrance to the science dorms, my bag felt even heavier than usual on my shoulders. I’d been studying way harder and for way longer than usual at the library, mainly because I really needed to take my mind off of… that. 

The moans through the walls? I can understand and ignore that. I’m no perfect little angel or paragon of chastity myself, but I at least try to keep my voice down. 

The shouting? It’s troubling, but we all get into arguments. I can’t fault a person for getting sick of their roommate and it coming to a head, it’s bound to happen with the way they assign these dorms.

No, what worried me the most was what else I heard. Either our neighbors are the single kinkiest polyamorous gay couple I have ever witnessed, or there’s something strange going on. Or something illegal. Or both. It sounded like they were doing drugs, but… I don’t know. Something about it just sounded… off. I had literally no way to prove it, though, and I could’ve just been completely paranoid! That’s why I sicked Gabby on them, because I know she’d sniff it out if they were doing something illegal.

Hopefully she got around to questioning them today.

As the elevator slowed down and the doors opened, I slowly walked down to the end of the hall where my dorm room awaited. The door was already open when I got there: not an uncommon occurrence, since our room tends to get really stuffy in the evening. I knocked on the door as I entered, and saw Gabby doing some stretches next to the bunks. 

“Heya, Liz!” She greeted me happily, sweat present on most areas of her body and staining through her shirt. 

“Hey, Gabby. Just get back from your exercise?” I could definitely smell the sweat now as I got closer and sat my bag down on our desk. 

Do I smell something… else?

No, I’m just being paranoid. Jeez, these neighbors have been stressing me out more than I thought if I’m thinking something like that. Like, c’mon! It’s Gabby! She’d catch fire at the mere mention of premarital sex!

“Yup! Just warming down now, y’know, doing some stretches before I hit the hay.” She said as she bent down and touched her toes. A small part of me was jealous at the sight, since I’ve never been that flexible.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. I’m just gonna hop in bed for the night, I’m pooped after studying all day.” I then squeezed past her, climbed up the ladder, and nestled into my bunk bed with my phone. Not even a minute later, though, my social media scrolling was interrupted by my roommate’s groaning.

“Ahhh, really? I was just about to start listening!” I heard a frustrated Gabby complain below me.

I rolled over and saw her fiddling with her fitness earbuds. “What’s up, your earbuds die on you?”

“Yeah, I swear they were fully charged not too long ago!” She put them back in their case, and hooked them up to a charging cable. “Whatever, do you mind if I just put this file on speaker? It’s a guided stretching thing Sharon sent me, it apparently helped her a lot with properly stretching so she didn’t get muscle cramps.”

I shrugged. “Fine by me.”

Gabby beamed a smile up at me. “Thanks, Liz!”

Oh, before I get absorbed in my phone again… “By the way, did you ever catch the neighbors and ask them about the noise?”

She set her phone down on the table, then looked up at me with a warm smile. “Yeah, I did! Turns out they did actually have an argument earlier this week, but they seemed to have hashed it out. Only got to talk to one of them, Violet, but we talked for a while and she assured me that they should be good from now on.” She was about to hit play on her phone, then looked back up with a cheeky grin. “Oh, and they’re clean, unless you count ibuprofen as a hard drug.”

I chuckled at that. “Alright, it was probably just a joke I overheard then. You win, I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow!”

Gabby grinned and giggled victoriously. “You better!” 

She hit play, then walked over to the door and closed it. Immediately the sound of a waterfall began slowly fading in from the phone’s speaker, and a few moments later, a delicate woman’s voice began speaking. 

“Hello, and welcome to this guided stretching audio file. We’re going to work on the calves today, make sure they are as stretched out as you want them to be. If you can’t reach your toes today, then after this you’ll be one step closer to reaching them tomorrow! Make sure to listen to our guided stretching for the thighs and hamstrings as well, as the calves are but one part of the legs and one component required to reach your toes!”

Wait, this voice sounds… familiar.

Or, does it?

I shook my head. No, no, it can’t be. That’s too low a register compared to what I heard through the wall.

Wow, I must be even more stressed about that than I thought. I should just file that away as ‘solved’ in my brain already! Gabby talked to them and she said it was fine! I should trust her judgment and leave that all behind me.

At the very least, this person’s voice is very soothing.

“…Now, an important aspect to stretching is making sure that all the muscles in your legs are properly relaxed: a tensed muscle can’t be stretched, after all. So, I want you to visualize all the muscles in your lower leg, imagine them all stretching and relaxing now. If you need to massage your leg because you came from a workout, then please feel free to do so. Just make sure you keep visualizing all those muscles in your mind, imagining them relaxing with every breath you take.”

Wow they’re good at this, I can totally imagine what she’s saying.

“…Just focus on your legs, and make sure that they are completely relaxed. We have many individual muscles in our legs, so try going one by one and isolating each muscle group. Then focus on each individual muscle in each group, relaxing them deeper and deeper with every breath.”

I’m feeling super relaxed already just listening to her, I could totally fall asleep to this…

“…That’s right, focus on my words and imagine yourself relaxing oh so deeply. It feels good to let your muscles relax like this, so just let my words fade into the background as you focus on relaxing deeper and deeper. Relaxing your legs means relaxing your whole body, and with every breath in you feel this wonderful sense of relaxation flow from head to toe. It’s relaxing every part of you, from your body to your mind.”

Yeah, my body’s… super relaxed now…

“…As your mind relaxes, you find it’s becoming harder and harder to think. As you listen to my words, you find all your thoughts fly away into nothingness, leaving behind an empty, relaxed mind. Nothing matters except my voice, which you follow because it makes you feel so relaxed. So peaceful. So blank, and empty, and thoughtless. So let all those thoughts disappear, until there is nothing left.”

Disap…pear…

“…So blank, so peaceful, so empty. So ready to follow my words like you have been, letting my words fill your mind and become your thoughts. You’ll find that you can easily and effortlessly follow my commands, remaining in this blissfully relaxed state as you do them. Elizabeth, you’ll find yourself slowly and carefully moving to the center of the room, where you will stand at attention and wait for more instructions. You may open your eyes to navigate, but you will remain in this blank state as you do so.”

…

My body, slowly but surely, began moving. It removed the bedsheets, then as instructed, carefully lowered itself down from the top bunk. My eyes were open, guiding my body’s movements, but I saw nothing. I walked into the center of the room and stood there, awaiting instructions from the voice. The voice said something else, but it wasn’t directed towards me, so I ignored it like it asked me to.

“…Very good. Now, Liz, your roommate Gabby will lead you to me. Follow her lead.”

A hand grabbed mine, and my eyes saw Gabby pulling me towards the door. We left the room, then walked into the next door over as it opened for us. We walked into the center of the room, and the door closed behind us as Gabby’s hand let go. A few moments later, a woman with purple-streaked hair walked in front of me and addressed me with the same soothing voice that helped me achieve this state.

“Good girl, Elizabeth. Just let yourself relax deeper and deeper for me.”

And so, I did.

As I addressed the newly hypnotized girl that walked into my room and furthered her conditioning, I took a moment to inspect her. I’m not sure about Julie, but I personally never saw Liz all that often: the few times I did catch glimpses of her, it was either in passing or she was typing away on (what I assumed to be) lab reports. She seemed to keep to herself, as I never saw her hanging out or working with anyone else except her roommate. 

I always thought her complexion was lighter than it actually is, but I guess that’s just because of her laptop’s screen making her appear more fair skinned than in reality. Today she was dressed in a knee-length dark blue skirt with stockings and a white blouse, which complimented her long platinum blonde hair nicely. Her figure was fairly average from what I could tell; maybe she and Gabby did cardio together or something? She was round in just the right places, and her tits-

Get it together, me! Enough gawking at the hypnotized girl, time to figure out what she knows! 

I slapped my cheeks, cleared my throat, then forced myself to look her in the eyes. “Liz, you find that when I ask you a question, the honest answer will easily and effortlessly flow out of your mouth without you even noticing. Now, what all have you overheard through the walls? Tell me everything.”

The girl’s hazel eyes continued to stare out into nothing as her mouth immediately complied. “I’ve overheard a lot of things. I’ve heard a lot of sex, I’ve heard strange talk about something called ‘magic’, and I heard yelling earlier this week. I had my suspicions that the neighbors were doing drugs, but Gabby told me they weren’t and I trust her.” Her voice was completely devoid of emotion as she answered, her eyes never showing a single hint of life behind them.

Oh, thank God I didn’t let this one go! She would’ve been a real headache if I hadn’t dealt with this now.

Also, drugs? Really? Why would… actually, no, I can’t blame her. I’ve heard the tales of people doing meth or coke to get ahead in school, too. It’s… an unfortunately common situation. Thankfully, I already do well enough that I don’t need to even consider it. But given we don’t see each other much, I can’t imagine she knew that.

I sighed as I sat down on my bed. I then observed the two women in the room, both of whom were standing there, motionless. I was curious whether Gabby would actually get hypnotized too, and I patted myself on the back for including those instructions for her specifically. That would’ve been a pain to sort out otherwise.

So, what to do about Liz? Well, I guess I should start just like I did with Gabby.

“Liz,” I commanded firmly, “you will find whenever I say the phrase ‘Dreamy Lizzy’, whether you’re awake or not, you’ll return to this state of relaxation you’re in right now but twice as deep. You won’t even have time to think about it, it’ll be as natural a response as breathing. What will happen when I say ‘Dreamy Lizzy’ to you?”

“I’ll relax back into this state, twice as deep.” She replied, her voice devoid of emotion as she continued staring off into nothingness. 

“Very good, on the count of 5 you’ll wake up from this state of relaxation.”

I counted up and snapped my fingers, and Liz blinked her eyes a few times as awareness returned to her.

“Huh? What…” She mumbled in confusion as she took stock of her new surroundings. “I was just… wait, this isn’t-”

“Dreamy Lizzy.” I confidently spoke.

Immediately, her features softened and she stopped looking around frantically. Her body swayed slightly as she found her balance, and she stood up with her back straight. Unlike most other people I’ve hypnotized, her eyes remained open as she stared ahead at nothing. 

Huh, I guess she took what I said a bit more literally than everyone else does.

Alright, now to bend her to my will! There’s a part of me that really wants to experiment like I always do, but… no. I’ve learned my lesson today. Gabby’s the closest to experimentation that I’m getting, and that’s only because she’s a special case. No more toying with my food, I’m just going to do things the simple and easy way.

And just to make sure…

“Liz, what’s your sexuality? And have you ever had sex?”

“Straight, and no.” She immediately replied.

Of course she is.

Well, time to make that laser beam bend a little. And lucky me, I have an extra set of hands to help me with that.

I turned to Gabby, who’s been standing there entranced this whole time. I woke her up with a count to five and a snap of the fingers, and she blinked herself back to reality. “Oh, hey Boss! What’s-” she immediately clamped her mouth shut as she saw the person standing next to her. “Wait, what’s Liz doing here in your room? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“You’re fine, she’s hypnotized right now so she can’t really hear or see anything.” I explained.

“…What? Boss, you… hypnotized her?” She asked, the gears slowly turning in her brain. “Wait, was that what you meant when you said, y’know, that you’d… ‘convince’ her?”

“Indeed.” I replied earnestly. “I need her to become my brainwashed slave, just like you. And you,” I jabbed my finger tip at her chest, “are going to help me with that, my loyal employee.”

Uncertainty rippled across her face. “But, Boss, isn’t that… y’know, a really bad thing to do? That’s…” she looked at her roommate, her emotions clearly torn.

I looked her dead in the eyes, and spoke with an authoritative tone. “Allow me to put it like this: Liz here was getting suspicious of me. If I allowed that to continue, she would’ve done something rash that could land me in trouble. And if that happened, I would probably disappear forever. You would never get to feel the joy of serving me ever again. She needs to be dealt with, and that means brainwashing her into becoming a slave.”

“But…” Gabby cautiously rebuked. “Is there… no other way besides that? Could we not, y’know, talk it out normally?”

I shook my head. “She would figure everything out eventually. You of all people know exactly how smart she is, so there’s no chance I could lie and get away with it. And given what I’m doing, there’s not exactly any moral grounds I can stand on that would convince her. So what’ll it be, slave: help me brainwash her, or never serve me again?”

The conflict in her mind was clear as she shuffled from one foot to the other. She looked to me, then to Liz, then to the floor as she contemplated her options. Ultimately, she let out a long, exasperated sigh as she settled on her answer.

“I’ll… I’ll do it. I’ll help you brainwash Liz. Serving you is my life’s duty, and it’s more important than anything else. I’m… I’m sorry, Liz.”

I walked up and gave her a supportive hug. “Hey, no need to apologize. You can still be friends, and she’ll be much happier like this! And besides, you’ll make her feel really good when you’re fucking her.”

Gabby’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Fu… F-F-F-Fuck her?!? M-Me?!?!?” She stammered out, utterly flabbergasted by the bluntness of my order.

“Yes, you’re going to rub her body, tease her nipples, and eat her out while I convince her that she’s gay using hypnosis. It’s way more effective if you have someone doing it to them while they’re under.” I stated matter-of-factly.

“But, um, Boss… I’ve never, y’know… done that stuff… before… with a girl…” Gabby’s face was bright red now, and she squirmed around uncomfortably as her eyes darted to the floor. “Not that I’ve, y’know, done it with a guy before either! I was just… waiting for… y’know… uh…”

Oh, my sweet summer child.

“Sleepy Time Gabby.”

Immediately she collapsed backwards onto the floor as her legs gave out from underneath her. Not that she seemed to mind, as she simply laid there taking deep, slow breaths while she spiraled deeper and deeper into relaxation. 

“Gabby, in a moment I’m going to snap my fingers, and when I do, you’ll wake up and have the insatiable urge to feel up Liz’s body and pleasure her. Every second you look at her will make you horny beyond belief, and you’ll find yourself slowly exploring her body: maybe you start with her legs or her arms, running your hands along them gently and feeling her smooth, supple skin. Then you might move somewhere a little more intimate, like planting kisses on her neck, feeling her hips in your hands. And then finally you’ll feel the urge to kiss her soft lips, massage her breasts, suck on her nipples, and even start licking her clit. You want to make her feel good, and the better you make her feel, the better you’ll also feel. If clothes start getting in the way, feel free to remove them as you wish. Don’t neglect yourself either, allow your desires to run free and your hands to wander towards your own body as you continue to pleasure Liz. Do you understand, Gabby?”

“Yes… I understand…” she responded dreamily.

“Perfect, then open your eyes and find your roommate is utterly irresistible now.”

I snapped my fingers, and Gabby’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She picked herself off the floor in confusion, and the moment she laid eyes on Liz her breath hitched. She slowly crawled over, arms leading the way and face flushed with carnal desire as she immediately went to gingerly touch, then lovingly caress, Liz’s arms. 

Satisfied for now I turned my attention back to Liz, who was completely oblivious to her roommate’s actions. “Liz, I want you to become aware of what your body is feeling right now. Do you feel someone touching you right now?”

“Yes.” She replied, monotone.

“What you’ll find is that this person’s touch makes you feel sensitive wherever they touch you. Every little bit of contact sends sparks of pleasure through your body, heating up your insides and making you wet like nothing else. How does that touch make you feel now?”

“It makes me feel excited. I’m getting horny from it.” Not a hint of emotion in the voice, but I think I heard a small gasp between sentences.

“Good, you find that this touch is so warm, so loving, so sensual. It’s making you more wet and horny than you’ve ever felt before.” Gabby gazed hungrily at her roommate’s face as she ran her hand up Liz’s leg, pulling her skirt up as her hand trailed higher and higher. She looked down and gasped in surprise as Liz’s cotton panties were on full display, with a damp patch barely visible beneath the shadows. You love how this feels, don’t you, Liz?”

“Yes… It feels amazing.” She was clearly enjoying herself, even if her monotone voice couldn’t illustrate that properly.

“Good girl. What you’ll find is that with every touch you feel, every sensation of pleasure that courses through your body, you find that something in your mind changes.” Gabby ran her hands around Liz’s waist until she finally found the right seam, at which point she quickly unfastened her skirt and let it drop to the floor. She then ran her hands along her hips from behind, planting kisses on her shoulder and slowly moving up her neck. “The part of your mind where your sexuality is located is becoming hazy, distorted. Your views on your own sexuality are changing and you can’t tell what they are, it’s too blurry and unfocused to make out. Are you able to tell me what your sexuality is?”

Liz’s face narrowed slightly in frustration, as small moans began making their way from her mouth. “I… can’t. I don’t know what it is.” She replied flatly.

“Very good. Now, I want you to focus on the sensations your body is feeling. What kind of hands do you feel touching you right now?”

“Soft, and… small…” she answered as Gabby’s hands were undoing her blouse’s buttons from behind.

“Exactly: soft, small, feminine hands are touching you right now. And it feels good to be touched by a woman’s hands, doesn’t it?”

“Yeeesss…” her voice finally started wavering a little, unable to hide the pleasure as she began panting slightly.

“That’s right, you like it when a woman touches you like this. You want a woman to touch you like this. The thought of a woman making intimate gestures, caressing you, pleasuring you, makes you so horny you can’t stand it. You find that your sexuality in your mind is shifting once more, changing into something identifiable. But it’s different now: since you’ve now experienced what it’s like to be pleasured by a woman, that word begins morphing into something that aligns more with your new experiences. You find that your sexuality is now directed towards only women, since they were the ones to show you this absolutely wonderful pleasure you feel now. Tell me, Liz, what do we call a woman that wants to have sex with other women?”

“A… A lesbian…” She responded in between small moans. Gabby was planting kisses along her neck and her hands were tracing circles along Liz’s bare breasts at this point.

“Exactly! A lesbian. And you find that your sexuality now becomes exactly that, morphing into a lesbian. You find other parts of your mind are changing now to accommodate this as well, specifically your memories. You never thought about being a lesbian for most of your life, but now you remember that hearing your neighbors through the walls made you… curious. And that curiosity blossomed into you fully accepting your lesbian nature! You were in denial and repressed these memories, but now they've awoken and fully replaced those old memories. Tell me, Liz, when did you first start thinking about becoming a lesbian?”

Liz was breathing hard now as Gabby was massaging her rock-hard nipples from behind. “I w-was… doing homework, a-a couple weeks ago, when I-I heard the neighbors… through the walls… they were… moaning l-loudly… and I felt something… change… started thinking a-about… what it’d be like… to be a l-lesbian…”

“Good, good. And now you’ve come to fully embrace your lesbian nature, haven’t you?” I asked gently.

“Yes! I’m a lesbian… the touch of a woman feels so good… it makes me so horny, I can’t… can’t stand it… I want to have sex… with women…”

“Very good, Liz. The more you think about it, the more solidified it becomes in your memories. Now, let’s have you really put it into practice! Gabby, go ahead and stop touching her for just a few moments, please.”

Gabby, who’d moved onto sucking on Liz’s nipples just a moment ago, slowly backed away per my request. Her tank top was hastily rolled up to her collarbone, and her pants were down to her knees. She stood next to Liz, one hand jammed in her pussy as she stared ravenously at her roommate. She was itching to cling back to Liz the first chance she got, and my commands were the only thing preventing her from doing so.

I ordered both of them to strip off what little clothing remained, then told Liz to lay on the ground. Quaking from excitement and arousal, Gabby slowly lowered herself into position by my command. 

“Now, both of you, start licking.” I snapped my fingers, and immediately the pair’s tongues went to work on the other’s pussy. Liz worked with mindless efficiency, while Gabby worked with needy devotion. In mere moments, both women were moaning and squirming as the other’s tongue worked its magic on their folds.

Satisfied, I let out a deep breath and sank back onto my bed for a moment to rest.

Wow, I’ve… basically done it. I actually didn’t screw this one up, huh? Well, I didn’t screw anything, ‘cuz they’re the ones screwing each other right now!

…

God, that wasn’t even close to a good joke, I thought as I chuckled at it anyway. And then giggled. And then broke out into a fit of raucous, hysterical laughter. All I could do was laugh and cry as the absurdity of it all and my overwhelming pride washed over everything else. Every time I thought I was finally over it, every time the laughter died down a little bit, I’d hear one of them moan or crack my eyes open slightly to see them going at it only to bust up laughing all over again. Sheer ecstasy flooded my body and mind, taking over and forcing me to revel in my utterly evil handiwork. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed some more. Νοthing else mattered at that moment, as I enjoyed the pure, unadulterated bliss of satisfaction.

I knew what I was doing was entirely fucked up.

I knew that twisting these two would irreversibly taint their lives.

But I didn’t care.

I fucking loved it.

Nothing else mattered.

All I wanted to do was continue manipulating them, however my heart desired.

Shaping them, sculpting them into my finest set of slaves yet.

It made me so wet, I could barely contain myself as my hands began roaming under my shirt and down my pants.

Imagining the pair becoming a set of perfectly loyal, utterly mindless slaves made my pussy ache with uncontrollable thirst that my fingers could hardly quench.

And then, I heard the sound of the door unlocking.

As I approached the entrance to the science dorms, my bag felt even heavier than usual on my shoulders. I just finished dropping off Christy near her flat not too long ago, which gave me ample time to take my mind off… that.

Violet Hanamori, I swear to God, you are going to be the death of me.

Can you really not go five minutes without fucking something up? Seriously, you’d think after the third time this has happened that you’d learn your lesson! And especially after everything with Sue! I can’t keep swooping in to save your ass if I want to maintain my sanity! And guess what, I’m in the same boat as you! If you crash it, we’ll both sink! 

Alright, me, cool your jets. Deep breaths. I don’t need to get worked up over this all over again. I know it’s mean to think about her like that when she already admitted to it, but- 

Actually, y’know what? No! I won’t fall victim to Stockholm Syndrome! She deserves to get taken down a peg or two! Yes, this situation on top of everything else has probably hurt her ego quite a bit. Good! Maybe she’ll take that as a cue to stop doing stupid shit! And maybe, if the stars align and Mercury is in retrograde, then she’ll even stop trying to enslave the entire fucking female population of CCU!

God, that girl is such a dumbass. I swear, she easily has to be the most frustrating colleague I’ve ever worked with. I need to put a leash on her, lest she disappear from my sight for a SINGLE moment and come back with two more slaves or something.

As the elevator slowed down and the doors opened, I did my best to breathe slowly and calm myself back down to a more reasonable level while I walked down to the end of the hall where my dorm room awaited. The next door over was hanging open: not an uncommon occurrence, I knew from my freshman year that those rooms on the end tended to get really stuffy in the evenings. Hell, even our room tends to get stuffy if we don’t air it out properly.

I took my badge out, swiped it on the lock to my room, entered, and closed the door behind me. 

I was thoroughly unprepared for what I saw when I turned back around.

On the bed, hand jammed into her crotch and laughing maniacally, was Violet.

And on the floor, licking each other’s pussies, were Liz and Gabby. 

Our neighbors from next door.

…

GOD.

FUCKING.

DAMN.

IT.

I!

WAS!!!

JOKING!!!!!

All I could do was look back and forth from the giggling little mind-fucker sitting proudly on her bed to the pile of bodies going at it on the carpet. I was completely stunned: my brain struggled to fully comprehend what my eyes were seeing, and my body refused to move in the slightest. After what felt like eons of staring as Violet cackled at me so hard she cried, I finally regained enough control over my nervous system to speak again.

“Violet?” I squeaked out, my voice cracking midway through.

“Y-Yeah?” She responded between stifled laughter as she wiped away her tears with her free hand.

“The fuck?!” I firmly demanded, gesturing emphatically towards the neighbors.

“Yeah, they certainly are doing that!” She responded playfully, looking at me with the most smarmy, shit-eating grin I’d ever witnessed before doubling over and lapsing into another laughing fit.

Ohhhhh, don’t you fucking dare. Not today. Not now.

“Violet, I will chop you into tiny pieces and feed you through a meat grinder.” I threatened her with every ounce of malice that had I been shoving aside since lunch, gripping my water bottle so tightly that the hard plastic threatened to shatter in my hands. If looks could kill, my gaze would’ve vaporized her on the spot with the force of a thousand nuclear warheads.

“What do you mean, we’ve got two people grinding meat right here!” She said, gesturing at the floor in front of her and giggling maniacally at her own stupid joke.

Her pun didn’t even register as I slowly approached her, carefully stepping over the bodies until I was right in front of her. My eyes never left her, my gaze filled with murderous intent.

The moment she finally opened her eyes again and noticed me towering over her, her face went pure white and the giggles immediately died in her throat. “Wait wait wait, I’m sorry! It was just a jo-”

I raised up my hand, and slammed my hard plastic water bottle directly onto her skull with as much force as I could muster. A very satisfying thwack rang out and she immediately recoiled back onto her bed, moaning and crying out in pain.

“Ah, fuck! Shit! Oh God, owww, owwwww, I bid mah tahgue! I-I’m sowwy, I’m sowwy, I’m sowwwwyyy!!!” She complained, holding her mouth and forehead as she writhed around in pain.

“Now, allow me to reiterate my question.” I took my water bottle and slapped it into my hand like a baton, causing Violet to immediately flinch. She stared back at me with wildly panicked eyes, a rabbit caught in a trap facing down its hunter. 

I cleared my throat. “Violet Hanamori, the fuck?!?!?” I loudly demanded, motioning angrily towards the neighbors fucking each other behind me.

Now sufficiently terrified of me once again, Violet pleaded like her life depended on it. Because it did. “I-It was necessary! They were close to blowing the lid on everything! I swear!” She shrieked as she threw her hands up defensively.

I leaned down and stared directly into her eyes, interrogating her soul with my gaze. Violet instantly shied away into the corner of her bed, folding like origami under the immense and overwhelming pressure my furious eyes single-handedly applied. Satisfied that she was indeed telling the truth, I finally relented; I stood up straight, took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly through my nose.

“Explain. Now.” I growled.

She slowly sat up again, casting fearful glances my way. “S-So, a little while after you left, Gabby showed up. She was doing her dorm cop routine, and we, uh… we got a noise complaint.” Vi stuttered out.

“From who?”

She pointed at the two girls going at it behind me. “Apparently her roommate overheard you yelling at me on Wednesday when we made up, and for a while now has overheard some… very incriminating things through the walls.”

“What, I’m guessing more than just the sex?” I remarked sarcastically.

“A lot more than just the sex,” she confirmed sullenly. “She thought that we were doing drugs, with all our talk of ‘magic’ and how often we were bringing people over. That’s why she sent Gabby over, to sniff it out. She was getting suspicious, and so I needed to… nip this problem in the bud.”

I looked back towards the two people on the ground eating each other out. Liz was on the bottom, and Gabby was on top. They were both working very diligently on each other’s pussy, with single-minded determination.

I can only imagine why.

“Are they brainwashed yet?” I asked.

“Gabby’s totally brainwashed, but I… needed to make Liz gay. That’s why they’re doing that,” she replied.

Ah, yes! I’m sure you needed to make her gay, you fucking-!

I closed my eyes and took another long, deep breath in. Then I very slowly let it out through my nose.

On the one hand, God fucking damn it! She did it again! Two more innocent lives ruined! Two more people corrupted by that nymphomaniacal lesbian witch into becoming her sex slaves! And at least one of them was forcibly turned gay!

On the other hand… she literally saved our hides. She’s right, Liz’s paranoia probably would’ve festered if left unchecked. And against all odds, it sounds like she didn’t fuck it up. Hallelujah, the dimwit can learn from her mistakes.

I let out another long, drawn out sigh to help temper my anger. “Well, you know my opinion on brainwashing people. But… I can’t say I’m fully against it, given the circumstances. That… was the right call for this situation.” I could feel the acrid taste of bile as I choked out those words. “Ugh, my morals are so fucked now…” I groaned as I leaned on the bunk bed’s ladder in dismay.

“I’m sorry.”

I looked up, and Violet sat there staring pensively at the neighbors as they continued fucking each other. 

I hope that was actually aimed at them.

I decided to finally take my backpack off, tossing it onto the desk next to me with reckless abandon. With a tired sigh, I turned back to face Violet. “Well, at this point what’s done is done. I can bitch at you until the cows come home, but that won’t change anything. Also, all things considered, today has been a long fucking day and I think we both need to sleep some things off.” I walked halfway to the bathroom before turning around again. “Oh, that reminds me: how’s your headache? Aside from any blunt force trauma my bottle might’ve caused, of course,” I asked with a sarcastic smile and as much sincerity as my boiling blood would allow.

She looked back at me, surprised. “Oh, yeah, I…almost forgot about that. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline from Gabby showing up or if the painkillers finally worked, but it seems to be gone now,” she admitted nervously.

Hm. Interesting.

Yet another data point to add.

“Cool, then caving your skull in was entirely justified! Also, are they gonna be lodging here tonight or are you going to send them back?” I asked, jabbing my thumb in the direction of our neighbors.

“Oh, uh, right. Gabby, Liz, stop licking each other and stand at attention.” She ordered. The two women complied, slowly untangling themselves and standing in front of her. Liz stared straight ahead, her eyes seeing nothing, while Gabby kept fidgeting, panting, and staring at Liz with an unrestrained lust I never would’ve imagined possible from someone so straight-laced. “Oh, right, Gabby you’ll find that urge to pleasure Liz will start fading and you’ll be back to normal now.” She snapped her fingers, and Gabby blinked a couple times before her flushed cheeks turned a shade of crimson I never knew was possible. She looked down at the floor, completely and utterly embarrassed.

“Good job, Gabby! Y-You did very well,” Violet said supportively, though her voice cracked as she caught sight of my criticizing gaze once again.

“Th-Thanks, Boss. I…” She shuffled around on her feet until she noticed mine standing across from her. Her eyes slowly trailed up, and a look of horror swept across her face as she looked me in the eyes. “Wait, did I just-”

“She’s allowed to know!” Violet quickly cut in. “In fact, uh, you also work for her now.”

Immediately she let out a big sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders. “Oh thank goodness, I thought that I, y’know, spilled the beans there when I shouldn’t’ve!” She looked back at me with adoring eyes, then extended her hand out for a shake. “So, uh, Boss wants me to call her Boss, so do you also want me to call you Boss, or do you prefer Ms. Benson, or…?”

I returned her handshake, suppressing a wince as she unwittingly transferred some rather undesirable liquids from her hand onto mine. “Just ‘Julie’ is fine, thanks,” I responded politely through slightly gritted teeth. I then turned my attention back to Violet, making sure to stop my hand from instinctively wiping itself off on my clothes. “Also, ‘Boss’? Really? Had enough of people calling you Mistress?” I asked tauntingly.

Violet turned away, pouting slightly. “It sounded nice at the time,” she huffed.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever you say, boss. Anyways, you should probably finish up what you’re doing to Liz and have them skedaddle, it’s starting to get late.” I began walking towards the bathroom again, a yawn taking over as I approached. “I’m going to take a nice long shower, and the noise of the faucet is going to make me utterly oblivious to all of the heinous shit you’re about to do! Do me a solid, Vi, and don’t screw this one up like you have the past few. Capiche?” I didn’t wait for her reply as I slammed the door closed, then immediately turned on the sink to wash away whoever’s fluids were coating my hand.

I shed my clothes and stepped into the shower a few moments later, the tepid tap water feeling absolutely heavenly as it fell onto my body. I’d worked up a bit of a sweat throughout the day, and all the stress and anxiety from dealing with Christy and that dumbass finally caught up to me. As I moved onto washing my hair I felt my blood boil up all over again, and a deep, guttural yell of pure frustration escaped my lips as I punched the wall with my fist. Then, I felt sobs slowly force their way out from deep inside as I shrank down onto the floor of the shower and I cried into my knees. I simply allowed my emotions to run their course, since there was no point in fighting it at this point.

Violet, you fucking idiot. I want to hate you so much. 

But… I can’t. I know my friend is still in there, however deep she’s been shoved down. I keep seeing glimpses of the old you, so I have to believe that she’s still there. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself otherwise. I know you wouldn’t want this. That’s why I need to keep trying. 

I feel bad about hitting you. I lost my temper, and even though you’re doing absolutely vile things and probably deserved that… you’re still my friend. You’re still the funny, nerdy girl I grew to like. I know you’re going to absolutely despise me right now, but… if I can just get the real Violet back, then I know everything will work out in the end.

So stop brainwashing random people and getting yourself into even more trouble, you absolute fucking lobotomite! You’re smarter than this, Vi! Use that brain you keep rattling around in your head! Somehow, you’re more frustrating to work with now than when we were lab partners!!!

I turned off the faucet and grumpily stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my hair and another around my body. Somehow I felt even more tired than when I stepped inside, my muscles aching as though I’d just come back from a visit to the gym. I stomped over to the sink, grabbed my toothbrush, and put some toothpaste on it. I raised it up to my mouth, and then…

I froze.

The mirror was completely fogged over.

Utterly bewildered, I set my toothbrush down and ran a finger across the mirror. Where my finger went, it left behind a pocket of reflective glass behind. 

That’s… that’s not right. That water was, and always has been, lukewarm. It never gets hot unless it’s the middle of the day and nobody’s using it.

I walked back over to the shower and turned it back on.

It was barely above room temperature, like always.

I turned it off and backed away, adrenaline surging through my body all over again. 

Something’s off. Is there another magician nearby causing this? Christy mentioned she could do something like this, but she’s not here. Violet can’t do anything close to this, the warm sensation from her powers is purely in the mind and we know that for a fact. And I’m definitely not a-

My eyes shot wide and I looked down at my hands.

No.

It can’t be.

Right?

I closed my eyes, and evaluated my senses. I definitely wasn’t feeling anything like Violet’s powers.

There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way! I’m just paranoid from earlier today, and… and…

What…

I felt it.

Something warm.

Something completely unlike Violet’s powers.

I tried to focus on it, this warm, tingling sensation in my hands.

The more I focused on it, the more it seemed to grow, becoming warmer and warmer.

I opened my eyes and two small flames, each about the size of a small candle, flickered away in the palms of my hands.

All I could do was stare in awe, the short little flames burning themselves into my retinas.

Julie Benson, what the hell have you done now…

I felt the hairs on my arm stand on end.

Dang it, I was right. There’s more traces of it here. And relatively recent, too.

I pocketed the large, clear blue gemstone that was pulsing in my hands back into my hoodie, then casually walked away from the library. I felt the dowsing crystal’s pulsing fade away as I put more distance behind me, dusk enveloping the structure in shadow as the sun began to set ahead of me.

Well, this certainly proves that someone’s awakened recently. If it was just small traces here and there it’d be fine, I could assume someone was just testing some powers that they kept to themselves. But there’s way too much arcanic residue, meaning someone’s been practicing their magic quite a lot. 

I really wish I had more to go on, but if I take him at his word then I can’t blame him. If all this didn’t happen to me, I’d probably run at the first sight of something supernatural, too! I’m… still surprised he saw through my alibi so quickly, though. That’ll teach me to not be so careless about covering my tracks, I guess. If he pieced that together, I wonder how many other people have been poking their noses around where they shouldn’t be.

I swear, El. I can’t blame you for what happened, but you’ve given me so many more headaches to deal with now…

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone buzzing. I fished it out of my hoodie’s pocket and answered, keeping my other hand on the crystal. “Hello?”

“Hey! Where you at, chica?” My roommate’s peppy voice called out from the speaker.

“I’m on campus, following a lead. Why?”

“C’mon, don’t tell me you forgot we were doing movie night!” She pouted dramatically on the other side. “I got this cool new animated movie all lined up and everything!”

Oh, whoops.

“Shoot, I did, actually! Sorry, Rachel, my mind’s been all over the place recently. You know how it’s been, cleaning up this whole mess!” I apologized sincerely.

“I really do wish there was something I could do to help!” I heard another voice not too dissimilar to my own call out from the speaker.

I chuckled. “You’re fine, El. I know you want to help out, but you need to keep a low profile for a little bit. I can handle this one on my-”

The dowsing crystal suddenly pulsed strongly in the direction of one of the dormitories I was passing by. It was far more intense than anything I felt at the library, and it faded almost as soon as it began.

“...Huh. That’s interesting.”

“Jane? What’s up?” Rachel called out from the other end.

I smiled. “Sorry, I’m okay! I think I just found a new lead to start chasing tomorrow.” I quickly opened up my notes app and jotted down the location. “It’s too late for anything tonight, though, and I’ve got a movie to catch. Gimme about… five minutes and I’ll be home!”

“Five minutes? C’mon, I know you can do better than that.” El remarked sarcastically. I didn’t need to see her face to know she was giving me the most taunting grin imaginable from the other side.

I checked my surroundings, just to make sure nobody was around.

“Fine, see you in one.” I replied with a smirk before hanging up. 

I pocketed the phone, charged as much energy as I could within my body, then ran home with plenty of time to spare.