Fuck all of these idiots.

Commander Beth Williams was not pleased as she stormed onto the command deck on her starship, sirens blaring.

She had been enjoying a new recruit in her chambers, teaching the straight girl how to properly lick pussy, and Beth did not appreciate being interrupted.

“Commander Williams!” the First Lieutenant squeaked, quickly straightening up and throwing her a salute.

“At ease,” Beth mumbled and looked over to the pilot. “Now, what do we have?”

“Well,” she started hesitantly. “They have us surrounded. Our shields aren’t going to last very long.”

“How did a bunch of space sharks get the jump on us?!” Beth snarled. “And how the fuck are their shitty lasers penetrating our shields?”

Another laser beam must have hit them as the crew stumbled, the spaceship rocking, lights flickering.

“Shields are down to 27%!” the pilot cried as she struggled to stay in her seat.

“Get us out of here now!” Beth ordered. “Enable FTL warp!”

“But we’re in a gravity well! It’s dangerous!” the pilot protested.

“And it’s even more fucking dangerous to stay here!” Beth snapped.

“Yes, Commander,” she sighed and set the coordinates. “Enabling FTL.”

The ship hummed as it gathered energy to make the jump.

A loud beep drew the attention of her Tactical Officer. “The laser sharks’ flagship has us locked on!”

“No shit!” shouted Beth.

The jump drive’s humming grew louder until it reached its crescendo, and then the ship—

—was wracked with explosions from enemy fire.

Beth fell and hit her head on a titanium deck plate, and her world went dark.

“Motherfucking laser sharks,” Beth mumbled groggily and sat up in bed, shaking off the weird dream.

The obnoxious ringing of her cell phone sounded like nails on a chalkboard in her current mental state, and she haphazardly reached around to search for it, fighting her head-splitting hangover.

“I’m never drinking again,” Beth groaned.

But she always did.

Eventually, she managed to locate her phone, but the ringing mercilessly continued as she fumbled with it.

“Oh, would you shut the fuck up already?!”

Finally, she was able to slide the button to accept the call.

“Talk,” Beth demanded grouchily.

“Hey, Beth! Long time!” Alyssa chirped.

“Alyssa,” Beth said, a simple statement, as she got out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen to look for some headache medicine.

“Look, I’d like to chit-chat, Beth, but this is an emergency. Katie’s in trouble, and I need your help!”

“...So?” she said indifferently.

“What do you mean ‘so’?! She’s in trouble, Beth!”

It was way too early for Beth to deal with this shit.

“How is that any of my concern?! The stupid slut disappeared on me! I don’t care what’s going on with her!”

Pain flared in her temples, making her wobble.

Fuck. Beth stopped and closed her eyes, holding the bridge of her nose. The shouting had exacerbated her headache.

This is all Katie’s fault.

“How can you say that? She was your girlfriend!” the annoying blonde whined.

Beth snapped. “How dare you appeal to my morals?! I know damn well you would’ve stolen her from me in a heartbeat if you could’ve. But you couldn’t. I beat you.”

“What do you mean that you—Look, never mind. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were this much of a fucking bitch!” Alyssa hung up on her.

“Fucking cunt!” Beth screamed and threw her phone across the room.

Shit. Fuck. Headache. Jesus.

Fucking Katie. Why should Beth care? Sure, she was a hot piece of ass and a world-class pussy-licker. But that was it. She was easily replaceable.

Beth tried to ignore the tug in her heart.

Everyone was.

Fuck all of these idiots.

That’s what Beth thought as she stormed into work.

Her morning hangover was bad enough on its own. But then she had to come early to work because her coworkers fucked up data and needed her to save their asses.

Why couldn’t they just learn not to be stupid? It’s not like it’s hard to be a financial analyst. If it were up to her, she’d fire the entire department.

Well, except for her. And Kelly, she thought as she looked over the redhead in question. Not because she’s competent. But because she was a natural with her tongue.

Once a straight girl with a boyfriend, Kelly was now Beth’s submissive in their frequent get-togethers since Katie disappeared.

Katie was the best pussy-licker Beth’s had, but the slut just disappeared without a word. It didn’t matter, though. She was replaceable.

Just like everyone else.

Kait—elly smiled sweetly as she caught Beth looking over at her. Beth’s scowl lessened slightly, and she tried to force a smile, but it likely ended up looking more like a grimace.

Beth intimidated most of her coworkers, not just due to her attitude; her steel gray eyes fit her cold personality perfectly, along with the brunette’s striking, confident pixie cut. Athletic with a toned body and sexy muscles, she liked being intimidating, and she’d have it no other way.

Kelly was an exception, though. Whether it was because she was dense or just equally pleasant to everyone, she’d never walked on eggshells around Beth.

“Morning, Kelly,” Beth mumbled and continued walking, her cubicle the final destination.

She really shouldn’t have seduced a girl who looked like Katie. Because sometimes, when—

Beth shook her head. She didn’t have time to think about her ex-girlfriend. Her gorgeous ex-girlfriend. Her intelligent, kind, energetic, gorgeous ex-girlfriend.

The same one who abandoned me like everyone else.

Beth slung her bag on her desk, pulling out her laptop along with a few pain pills.

She popped them in her mouth, swallowing them dry, and sighed.

If Beth was honest, she did feel a tiny pang of guilt for not hearing Alyssa out about Katie.

But it was Alyssa.

Beth had always hated Alyssa. She was way too close to Katie, always spending time together. They casually called each other soulmates, and maybe it was just some kind of joke. But it fueled Beth’s jealousy.

People always abandon Beth. And she wasn’t going to lose Katie to some fucking big-titted, blonde bimbo, even if she was Katie’s real “soulmate,” Beth scoffed.

Soulmates. What a joke, she snorted. There’s no such thing.

Beth booted up her laptop and logged in, instantly getting hit with dozens of emails from coworkers crying for her help.

Beth shut the laptop screen and held her head.

This was going to be a long day.

Beth Williams was exhausted.

It had been a twelve-hour workday with no overtime pay.

Her lunchtime rendezvous with Kelly in an empty meeting room was good, though. But she accidentally ended up shouting, “Yes, yes! Lick your Commander’s pussy like a good little recruit!” as she came on her sub’s face.

Kelly gave her a weird look after that.

Beth blames the laser sharks.

She made her way into her dark apartment, setting down her purse on the kitchen counter, before finally deciding to switch on the lights. She took a step back as she became aware of the two people in her living room, one sitting in her recliner and one on the floor.

What the fuck?

Beth’s first instinct was to panic at the unexpected intruders.

What should she do? Call the cops? Run?

She also had a gun in her purse. A long time ago, Daddy taught her how to shoot, and she’d been keeping up with practice at the gun range. Maybe she could—

“—to see you.”

Words spoken by a familiar voice cut through her panicked thoughts.

“Huh?”

“I said it’s nice to see you, Beth!” her ex-girlfriend Katie said cheerily.

“Hi, Beth!” the blonde bimbo said with a smile.

Sure enough, her intruders were Katie, sitting on Beth’s recliner, and Alyssa, sitting on the floor in front of Katie.

“Hope you don’t mind that I let myself in,” Katie said casually. “I still had a key here.” Alyssa nodded and waved.

Beth was in a bad mood, and it didn’t help that Alyssa was there.

“Of course I mind!” snapped Beth. “You were never invited!” She paused. “And what the fuck, Katie? I thought Alyssa said you were in trouble.”

“Oh, you must mean the same trouble you helped me with. Right?” Katie retorted.

“Just get the fuck out of my apartment,” Beth demanded.

“Now, now. Calm down. We need to talk.”

“Oh, now we do? After you apparently dumped me for your bimbo and wouldn’t return my calls?”

“Uh, right. Sorry about that.” Katie looked a tiny bit guilty. “But it wasn’t for Alyssa. It was because of something else. I’ll show you.”

Katie reached into her skirt pocket and took out a pendant.

“I don’t want to see some toy! I want you to leave,” Beth fumed.

“Oh, but it’s not a toy. It’s actually pretty neat.”

Katie held the pendant in front of her and let it gently swing.

“See, what happens is that looking at it swinging makes people suddenly relax, and relaxation is exactly what you need right now. So scared, panicked. We intruded on you, and you need to calm down to make rational decisions. Right?”

“I—”

Not waiting for her to answer, Katie continued. “And it feels so good to look at it swinging back and forth. Back and forth. And it never goes away. Not really. Because now this pretty pendant is in your mind. So you can always see it swinging.”

“But—”

“Shh, Beth. Just watch the pretty pendant swinging as you listen to my words. You want to let them fill you. Wash over you. And right now, I know you’re feeling a kind of sinking feeling inside. Aren’t you?”

“Sinking—”

“Mhm. That’s right. Just let yourself sink into that wonderful place inside, Beth. Sink deep for me.”

Just as her world went blank, Beth vaguely heard a distant voice say, “You shouldn’t have yelled at my pet and made her cry.”

Screw all of these people.

That’s what Beth thought as she rushed into work the next day.

It felt like she was the only competent analyst in the company.

Beth wasn’t surprised when she booted up her laptop in her cube and was spammed with help requests from her incompetent and/or lazy co-workers.

Beth sighed. It was going to be another long day.

As she went through her emails, she thought back to the night before when her ex-girlfriend Katie and Katie’s friend Alyssa suddenly showed up. That was so—

Fun. Beth had a friendly chat with them and that was all.

—surprisingly enjoyable.

Beth frowned. Wouldn’t it be weird for them to show up suddenly? And didn’t she hate Alyssa?

Oh well. After Beth finally settled down from her initial panic, she had a friendly chat with her old girlfriend. Even if she had her blonde friend with her.

They’d had their fair share of arguments when they were dating. Beth was extremely dominant, and though Katie wasn’t as dominant, she certainly wasn’t submissive. That incompatibility caused part of the friction between them.

Sometimes Beth would even give in, like letting Katie use Beth’s strap-on on her. And she was damn good with it. Not that Beth would admit that to anyone.

One of those rare times was the last time Beth had seen her in person.

Shortly after that, Katie became distant and answered Beth’s calls and texts less frequently. Eventually, Katie’s cell service was disconnected altogether.

Beth considered whether it was because of the fight, but it ended well. Their makeup sex had been amazing. And very much worth the fight!

Katie’s disappearance had hurt. It wasn’t the first time she’d been abandoned. After her last breakup, it took her a while to trust someone again. To let them into her heart. But she did. And that was Katie.

Beth knew she had a temper issue. But she was trying to work on that. And doesn’t she deserve love too? Happiness?

But after Katie, she decided: never again. She’d still take pleasure in having submissive fucktoys like Kelly—whose likeness to Katie was entirely coincidental!—but she’d never get into a committed relationship again.

Speaking of Kelly, lunchtime—their usual time to play—was approaching, but Beth wasn’t in the mood. She wasn’t feeling motivated, and being a dominant was hard work.

She wondered what it would be like to be on the other side. Never having to make decisions.

She shook her head. Where did that come from?

Anyway, she needed to cancel on Kelly and focus on work.

It was going to be a long day.

It’s tough to have so much responsibility.

That’s what Beth thought as she left work for lunch a week later.

She didn’t like how many decisions she had to make.

It was such a bother. So hard. She wished that—

Beth wants other people to make decisions for her.

—someone else could take care of her decisions.

Beth paused. Usually, she was confident. Dominant. But ever since she had a nice chat with her ex-girlfriend Katie and Katie’s best friend Alyssa, she’d felt weird.

But nothing strange happened, so it couldn’t have something to do with her feeling so—

Beth wants to be completely submissive.

Her eyes popped open. She knew something was wrong! Beth would rather die than be submissive. Someone planted that feeling in her.

Beth remembered poking fun at Katie for her silly little hypnosis hobby. It was all fake. Bullshit.

But maybe it wasn’t so fake after all?

Goosebumps on her skin made her shiver. The adrenaline surging through her easily overcame the clearly foreign thoughts in her head.

Beth had been gradually changing since Katie and Beth showed up a week ago. She could detect what was happening this time, but soon it would be too late.

She needed to do something. She needed answers, and soon. She needed to have it reversed.

Beth’s panic was preventing her from thinking clearly.

So Katie must have hypnotized or mind controlled her the other day, and then—

Beth had a fun chat with Katie and Alyssa. Nothing unusu—

Shut the fuck up, foreign thought!

Anyway, if Katie was making Beth more submissive, what else could she have done? What was her goal? Would she try to enslave Beth for some reason? Get revenge for some past fight?

What could Beth do?

Calm down, Beth. Don’t panic.

Don’t. Fucking. Panic.

Beth took a deep breath in and out. And again. Several times. And then several more times. And eventually, she felt somewhat calm.

She could do this. Now that she could detect the foreign thoughts, she could fight it. She was—

—walking from her car to the front door of a large house she didn’t recognize.

What the fuck was going on?!

Her heart raced. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t.

Deep breaths. Calm.

It didn’t help much, but she did notice she was carrying her purse. She had protection.

And that’s what helped.

Katie couldn’t wait to have Beth added to her—John’s harem.

After a couple of bumps in the road, there should be no problems this time.

Their initial plan was to have Aly—pretending to be Alyssa—lure Beth out under the pretense of Katie being in trouble. But Katie should have factored in that Beth would be angry at Katie for disappearing.

And the fact that Beth was a bitch.

That was Katie’s mistake. But when Beth made Aly cry? That was on Beth, and that’s when Katie decided to punish her before she even started working on her, making her straight for John.

Katie was watching TV with Aly in the living room, waiting for Beth to show up.

“Mistress, umm, may I ask a question?”

“Sure, pet.”

“Can you explain your punishment of Beth? I don’t fully understand.”

“Of course. So, you don’t remember this, but Beth and I used to fight all the time when I dated her. Sometimes it was because I wasn’t submissive, and she was extremely dominant. So dominant I have no doubt she’d rather die than become submissive.”

“Oh! So that’s why you...”

“Exactly,” Katie grinned. “I made her become progressively more submissive over the course of a week—bringing Beth’s worst nightmare to life—after which she’d be compelled to come over, so we can start with the real work.”

Aly laughed. “That’s so evil, Mistress! I love it!”

The doorbell rang.

“Ooh, I’ll get it!” chirped Aly as she jumped off the couch and darted to the front door.

As Katie got up to follow, she marveled at the energy her pet still had. She may have been brainwashed, but some things never changed.

We could brainwash her some more, suggested the darkness.

“No! I’m still not completely happy we brainwashed her at all. Even if—”

Katie’s whispered reply was cut off by a muffled sound, and the sound of something dropping on the floor, followed by the front door slamming shut. Dread coursed into her veins as she darted to the front door.

The sight that greeted her was Aly’s collapsed body beneath a panicked Beth. And in Beth’s hands was... was...

Gun!

Katie’s heart thundered as time seemed to slow. Her mind panicked as Beth aimed her gun at Katie in what seemed like slow motion.

It felt like a lifetime had passed by the time Katie finally had the clarity to react.

“S-Sink dee—”

But she was too late.

“Mouth closed or I shoot!” boomed Beth.

Katie’s mouth snapped shut, self-preservation winning out.

Beth looked panicked, hands shaking.

“W-What did you do to me?!” stammered Beth.

Katie opened her mouth to respond.

“Wait! No, shut up!” Beth took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll ask questions. You nod or shake your head. If your mouth opens, I shoot. Got it, bitch?”

Katie quickly nodded.

“Did you do something to me to cause me to be submissive?”

Katie paused for a second.

“I really will shoot you, cunt!” screamed Beth.

Katie nodded immediately.

“Did you do what you did to me when you let yourself into my apartment last week?”

Katie nodded, but saw the faintest movement from the body on the ground, so faint that Beth, too focused on her, wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Can you undo it?”

Just as Katie was nodding again, she heard clattering followed by a shout.

“Mistress! Now!”

Aly.

Time slowed again.

Now?

Now what?

Katie had a hard time comprehending.

Beth swung around reflexively in the direction of Aly’s voice.

Drop her, you idiot! the darkness screamed.

Clarity returned, and just as Beth pulled the trigger, Katie shrieked, “Sink deep for me!”

But over the sound of gunfire, her voice wasn’t audible, ears ringing.

Sure enough, Beth swung back towards Katie, the most obvious hint she didn’t, in fact, drop.

“Sink deep for me! Sink deep for me! Sink deep for me! Sink deep for me!” Katie yelled over and over, still barely able to hear her own voice, and doubting Beth’s hearing was any better.

After what seemed like an eternity, Beth’s gun dropped as her posture slouched.

“Sink deep for me! Sink deep for me! Sink deep for me!” Katie desperately continued, adrenaline pumping, her mind having not caught up.

She’s in trance now. You can stop! the darkness pointed out.

“Sink deep for me! Sink—” Katie finally stopped, her mind finally catching up.

Her legs almost gave out.

“Kn-Kneel! P-Put down the gun! Stay there! Never try to harm us again!”

Extremely deep in trance, Beth obeyed immediately.

And then it felt like a bucket of ice water was dumped onto Katie’s head as she remembered about—

Alyssa!

As Katie ran over, she noticed her soulmate’s body collapsed on the floor, arm bleeding.

“Oh my god! Alyssa!” she cried, kneeling on the floor, trying to stop the blood with her hands.

“Mistress. Mistress. I’m okay! It just grazed my arm. It really hurts, but that’s all! And my name is Aly now.”

“Still, I’m calling an ambulance!” Katie scrambled to find her phone, only to realize it was in her pocket.

She slid her phone out of her pocket and went to dial, but there was blood on her fingers. She looked around for a tissue to wipe her hands, when delicate fingers curled around her wrist.

“Wait, Mistress! It really only grazed me,” Aly pleaded. “A bandage will be fine. And we don’t want to deal with the cops.”

Katie paused, her panic still slow to recede. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Plus, I’m sure you won’t let the bitch get away with this,” Aly grinned.

“Damn right I won’t!” Katie said, determined.

She went to get her box of emergency aid from the bathroom closet and then returned to where Aly was still standing. After wrapping her wound, she led Aly to the living room couch to rest.

“Aly... you saved my life! If you hadn’t distracted her, she probably would’ve killed me.”

“I’m just glad I was of help, Mistress!”

Katie suddenly felt a pang of guilt for what she’d done to Alyssa, her best friend. Her soulmate.

A couple of times since Aly’s brainwashing, Katie noticed the spark in her eyes return for a few seconds, before dimming again. When that happened, Katie felt both relief that it might be reversible, and temptation to brainwash her more.

Katie should fix Alyssa and beg for forgiveness.

No! You shouldn’t! the darkness objected.

The darkness inside of Katie had revealed parts of her she never would’ve discovered otherwise. And for that, she was grateful. But this was Alyssa, damnit! The one she used to have sleepovers with when they were eight! They listened to bad music together in high school, and comforted each other when life was rough!

And as Aly, she’s never been happier! it argued.

Katie shook her head. She would have to deal with that later. She had something else to take care of first.

“Wait here for me. Okay, pet?” she forced a smile.

“Yes, Mistress!” chirped Aly. Despite being injured, she seemed as cheerful as always.

As Katie walked back to the entranceway where Beth waited, her panicked emotions gradually gave way to fury, her smile turning into a scowl, her rage igniting.

“Beth. Tell me what you were planning to do,” Katie commanded.

“I was going to interrogate you and make you reverse what you did.”

Bullshit! There’s no way that was all!

“And what would you have done afterward? Let us go?!”

“I... couldn’t let you do that to me again.”

“And how would you have prevented that?”

“I...” Beth’s brows furrowed. “I would have had to kill you.”

Kill.

The implications finally hit Katie.

She— The darkness was shocked. It wasn’t the only one.

She shot Alyssa! She was going to kill Katie! And that would have killed her baby!

Let me help! I’ll make the fucking bitch sorry she ever met us! her darkness screamed.

Katie let her fury, her rage, flow through her, encompass her, as any amount of compassion she had left died inside her.

Help me, my darkness. Do whatever it takes.

After all, it always knew what to do. She should’ve listened to it more. Embraced it more. This would have never happened if she hadn’t resisted it so much.

The darkness felt different this time. Usually, it manifested as a dark temptation, largely erotic in nature. But this time...

This time, it was personal.

Katie became fury.

Katie became revenge.

Katie became darkness.