Then

“Lizzie, c’mon, it’s not worth it,” Claire pleaded, chasing after her friend.

Lizzie’s jaw was set determinedly, her deep blue eyes fixed on a figure in the near distance. “She’s been treating you like shit for months, Claire, enough is enough,” she hissed.

“It’s really not worth getting into it with Tara! It’ll just make things worse - she’ll make my life even more horrid, and she’ll pick on you too...”

“I’d like to see her try,” Lizzie snorted.

With a burst of effort, Claire managed to overtake her friend and dodge in front of her, forcing her to halt her stride. “I know you haven’t been here long, but you’ve gotta get used to Tara being Queen Bitch,” she said desperately. “She has been since she was twelve. No-one’s gonna topple her - you’re only gonna end up getting in a fight with her, and I guarantee you’ll be punished worse than she is. You don’t wanna end up having to move schools again, do you?”

“If it happens, it happens,” Lizzie shrugged. “Worth it to stand up for a friend.” Claire blushed, unable to conceal how moved she was by her new friend’s loyalty, even though she was still deathly afraid of antagonising her lifelong nemesis. Taking advantage of her moment of disarray, Lizzie slipped round her and took off at a much faster pace than before, her long legs soon carrying her far away from Claire.

She crossed the park that adjoined their secondary school, soon reaching the table where Tara and her ‘inner circle’ of four or five similarly vapid girls sat eating their lunch. Several more ‘pledges’ to the ersatz sorority Tara had created hovered nearby, eager to carry out any little task the tyrannical teenager could think of in the hope of being accepted into her group. Lizzie was almost impressed - Tara was clearly charismatic, and possessed great persuasive and manipulative skills.

Of course, even she had limitations. She was only human, after all.

Claire watched from a distance, unwilling to get any nearer for fear of provoking Tara and her pack of bimbo hyenas. Her eyes widened with horror as Lizzie came right up to Tara and started talking to her. Claire couldn’t hear the words, but she could see Tara’s face scrunch, repulsed at the mere presence of the lanky, shaven-headed goth. To Claire’s surprise, though, Tara allowed Lizzie to step closer, lean towards her, and whisper something in her ear.

Suddenly Tara’s expression changed, from one of perplexed distaste to wide-eyed shock. She stood, slowly and shakily, prompting her band of acolytes to hurriedly get to their feet as well. Lizzie stepped out of Tara’s path as she began marching across the field - directly towards Claire.

She gulped. This couldn’t be good. Lizzie had obviously pissed Tara off, and now she was coming to enact retaliation against Claire, clearly well aware that the two were friends. But it was strange - Tara didn’t look angry. And she didn’t have the same vindictive smile she usually wore when she was about to deliver some vicious verbal abuse. If anything, she looked scared. In fact, as she drew ever closer, with her friends flocking behind her, Claire could see that Tara was actually trembling.

Finally reaching her, Tara stood directly in front of her and locked eyes with her. “I - I’m sorry,” she stammered.

Claire was sure she’d misheard. “Um... pardon?” she squeaked.

“I’m sorry,” Tara repeated, and then her words started to pour out. “I’m sorry I’ve been so awful to you for all these years, Claire. I was jealous of how smart you are, because I know you’ve got a bright future, and mine is going nowhere. You should be the one running things around here, not me. I should be your bitch, not the other way round.”

Tara’s friends looked just as astonished as Claire was. But their collective shock rocketed to new heights when their undisputed queen dropped to her knees in front of her victim. “I’m gonna prove how sorry I am, and then I’m never gonna mess with you or anyone else, ever again,” she babbled, and then dove face-first onto Claire’s shoes and began to lick them like a hungry dog.

Claire let out a peal of hysterical laughter, unable to believe what she was seeing. Tara’s friends’ expressions ranged from aghast, to mortified, to worried, to amused. But none of them had the same fearful reverence in their eyes that they did before. In a single minute, Tara had lost all their respect.

None of them looked back at Lizzie, who stood a short distance away watching the scene unfold. None of them were smart enough to realise who was really responsible for Tara’s humiliation. But Claire did. And so did Tara, judging by the terrified glance she shot over her shoulder as her tongue ran over rough shoe leather.

Claire’s eyes met Lizzie’s, and in that instant she saw they were no longer the rich blue of lapis lazuli - they were a blazing, fiery red. Just for an instant. Then they were back to normal. But Claire had seen enough in that moment, and she could also see the grin Lizzie still wore. The wide, vicious grin of a predator.

In that moment, Claire finally knew who her friend was, and what she was capable of. And she knew that neither Tara, nor anyone else at this school, would ever mess with her again. Or anyone close to her. Claire smiled herself, realising how lucky she was that the new girl had taken a shine to her.

Because there was a new Queen Bitch in town. And now Claire was in the inner circle.

***

Now

Lizzie stood in front of her mirror, fully naked in her demon form. Her eyes roamed over her reflection, admiring her curves, running her tongue over her long fangs, tracing a talon over her nipple, cradling her cock in the palm of her other hand. She did this often, enjoying how powerful she looked, knowing how egotistical it was to be turned on by the sight of herself, but utterly undeterred by this self-awareness. She appreciated bodies of all kinds, and she was proud of hers.

While her father - and her siblings, from what she’d heard - had more traditionally devilish appearances, her form was different. Instead of the ridiculously enlarged muscles they possessed, hers were of a normal proportion. Her body was lithe and graceful, that of an athlete rather than a circus strongman. And her equipment was of a more reasonable size, too - large, certainly, but not obscenely so. Her skin was not crimson and smooth, but emerald and scaly - though her eyes, her talons, and her shorter-than-average horns still gleamed red.

Her father had sometimes called her a ‘lamia’ - from what she understood, that was a kind of lizard-demon that had long since passed into myth. He’d suggested that she’d adopted such an unusual, reptilian appearance because of who she was on the inside - that it reflected her spirit, her soul (or whatever demons had in place of a soul). It certainly felt much more suited to her than the standard demon form, and she was grateful for it. Besides, why would she want to be like anyone else? She always preferred to stand out from the crowd.

There came a light knock at her door. “Lizzie, love, you ready?” called the voice of her roommate, Sinéad. “Show’s gonna start soon.”

“Give me two minutesss,” she replied, her gaze lingering on herself for a few seconds longer. She wasn’t worried about Sinéad hearing her sibilant demon voice - she’d heard it before, after all, plenty of times in the couple of months since they’d first met. By now, she was conditioned well enough never to pay it any mind.

With little concentration, Lizzie shifted back into human form. Her horns retracted into her skull, her cock and balls shrank and slid back inside her, her cunt reopened, her skin smoothed over and changed colours back from green to pale pink, and her height diminished by almost a foot. She took another moment to admire her nude human body, which radiated almost as much power as her other form.

A few minutes later she exited her flat, dressed to kill in tight black latex trousers, a sheer black top that showed her black bra, black boots and a black leather jacket. (She had a colour scheme, and she stuck to it.) Her friends scurried behind her, Sinéad among them. They soon reached the student union bar, staking their claim at a large table near the stage area. Lizzie’s eyes began to dart around the bar, seeing who else was there.

“Looking for another lost lamb?” Kelly chuckled. “The last rescue was such a success, after all...”

“Do you guys do that a lot, then?” the ‘rescue’ in question, Chloe, asked with a bashful smile. “Like, sweep someone up in the SU and just, add them to your gang?”

“Lizzie does,” Molly giggled. “She’s sort of been collecting us.”

Lizzie grinned. “Well, how could I not? I just hated seeing each of you sitting by yourselves, all lonely and sad. I had to do something about that, I couldn’t help myself!”

She got a mixture of laughter and grateful smiles in response, as she cast her eyes over her little entourage. It was true enough that she’d spent the last two months approaching lonely-looking girls in the student union and ‘recruiting’ them into her company of friends. What none of them realised, or remembered, was that they hadn’t had any say in the matter.

Not that Lizzie imagined they’d have protested too much. After all, she’d given them a community, a sense of belonging, and an opportunity to change and grow. Each of them were very different from when she’d first met them (Chloe less so than the others, since she’d only known them for a week and a half), but none were unrecognisable from who they’d once been. When she was just starting out learning how to use her powers, Lizzie had gathered friends around her in the same way, but she’d been unable to resist the ego trip of turning them all into carbon copies of herself - same clothes, same hairstyles, same mannerisms. It got so drastic, so obvious, that her father had stepped in to undo most of their conditioning, while her mother had moved her to a different school to avoid discovery.

Having learned from her early mistakes, Lizzie now preferred simply to lower her friends’ inhibitions and shame thresholds, allowing them to become more themselves without fear of judgement. Molly was a good example. Lizzie vividly remembered seeing her for the first time, sitting alone in a corner of the SU while her roommates abandoned her for the dance floor. She’d been wearing baggy jumpers to disguise her plump body, sipping a glass of lemonade, and looking thoroughly miserable, until Lizzie had sidled up to her.

Cut to tonight, and Molly had learned to let go, and to make the most of her appearance, persuaded by Lizzie to see herself as curvy rather than chubby. She’d switched from jumpers to a corset that showed off her magnificent rack, ditched her spectacles in favour of contacts, put electric blue streaks in her dark hair, and replaced lemonade with blue WKD, which she was necking eagerly. Lizzie had also set her up with Kelly, who was sitting close beside her, groping her thigh under the table. No wonder Molly was in such an excitable mood.

“Not tonight though,” Lizzie said, answering Kelly’s question. “Tonight, I just wanna kick back and enjoy the show!” But I reserve the right to change my mind, she added silently, smirking to herself.

Of course, she didn’t just swoop in and improve people’s lives for sheer altruism, taking nothing in return. Far from it. She was a demon, after all, not a fairy godmother. As she lifted her vodka and Coke to her lips, she said casually, “Guys, who am I?”

“Queen Bitch,” they chorused dutifully, Chloe only a second behind the others as she had to gulp down her mouthful of cider first.

Lizzie licked her lips. “And who are you?”

“Your obedient sluts!” they cheered, before turning to give each other quick kisses. Lizzie grinned triumphantly and rubbed her legs together - the power trip from using her friends’ triggers always made her so wet...

“I thought this thing was supposed to have started by now,” Sinéad sighed, acting for all the world as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn’t had her tongue in Chloe’s mouth a moment ago. (Because, as far as she knew, she hadn’t.) She checked her phone clock. “Yeah, it’s two minutes late...”

“Wow, a whole two minutes,” Lizzie teased. “How dare they keep us waiting for so long? I’m falling asleep in my chair here...” Sinéad grinned bashfully and rolled her eyes.

The door next to the stage (although it was really little more than a platform) swung open, and Lizzie and her friends sat up a little straighter at the sight of the gorgeous young woman who emerged. She wore a black blazer over a black corset, fishnet tights, and gleaming dark red high heels. A black top hat encircled by a red ribbon sat atop a luscious head of blonde hair that fell past a pleasingly round face and plump red lips. Both hands were clad in black satin gloves, and one held a microphone, while the other stroked the skin of her chest in a move that could be perceived as unconscious, but may well have been deliberate, given how it drew attention to her ample bosom. Her most striking feature was her eyes - they were light hazel, but under the stage’s spotlight, they seemed to sparkle gold.

This was the woman they’d all seen in posters stuck up around campus. She was the evening’s entertainment - a popular stage hypnotist who had performed in dozens of student unions across the country over the past year.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” she said into her microphone, her voice unexpectedly deep and husky. Then she grinned salaciously at the crowd and winked. “Especially ladies!” There were a few hoots and cheers in response. “I am Aislinn Gold, the Shining Vision.”

Lizzie suppressed a snort. Bit full of herself, she thought, smiling wryly. The irony of her, the self-declared Queen Bitch, mocking the hypnotist’s self-aggrandisement was not lost on her.

“Thank you for coming to my show tonight,” Aislinn continued. “Who would like to be my first brave volunteer, and come up here to fall under my hypnotic spell? I would remind you all that my suggestions can be a little... lewd...” More hoots and wolf-whistles from the crowd. “So anyone who comes up here would need to be comfortable with that. I won’t get you naked, but I will play with eroticism and arousal. Of course, if you feel the overwhelming desire to get naked under the influence of hypnosis, that’s your call.” She smirked, and cast her gleaming eyes over her audience. “So again, I ask... who among you is brave enough to be hypnotised to do some naughty things, in front of all these people?”

As the hypnotist’s gaze landed on the table occupied by Lizzie’s group, Kelly’s hand shot up. Her friends were not surprised by this. They’d all been eager to come and see the act, but Kelly had been keen to be a part of it since the moment she’d read the ‘volunteers will be asked for’ sentence at the bottom of the poster. Kelly had never been hypnotised before, but she had a ‘try anything once’ mentality - at least, that’s what had been coaxed out of her by Lizzie over the first few days of their friendship. Before that, she’d only wished she was brave enough to try anything once.

Aislinn registered the sight of her nearest volunteer, the table of friends surrounding her, and the curvaceous girl sitting so close to her that they could only be a couple. Her grin grew wider. “You, definitely,” she chuckled, reaching out and pointing commandingly at Kelly with a gloved finger. “Come on up here, cutie!”

Kelly gulped with surprise - she clearly hadn’t expected to actually get picked. She glanced plaintively at Lizzie and then Molly, as if asking for permission. Both of them nodded, smiling encouragingly. Lizzie felt a flutter of pleasure - she hadn’t missed that Kelly had sought her permission before that of her girlfriend. It wasn’t unusual, but it gave the young demoness a thrill every time.

As Kelly darted over to the stage, Aislinn quickly selected another young woman from elsewhere in the room, a tall redhead by the name of Orla. She then focused her attention back on Kelly and began chatting with her, asking her questions about her course, her hobbies, her girlfriend. Aislinn was so good at what she did that only someone with experience in such matters would have noticed her constant eye contact, her steady tone, the way she had taken Kelly’s hand and was almost imperceptibly stroking it - all trademarks of a covert induction, tactics to gain rapport with a subject and capture their complete focus without them even realising. To the audience - even Lizzie, Molly and the others, who were watching Kelly intently - the two women were just having a casual conversation, and the show hadn’t started yet.

So when Aislinn said, “Sleep,” and tugged on Kelly’s arm, and the brunette’s eyes instantly dropped shut and her head lolled forwards, the SU was filled with gasps of surprise. Molly shot a look of amazement at Lizzie, who gave her a stunned smile. Even the demon was taken aback by the sudden induction.

The hypnotist turned to a wide-eyed Orla, who had been no better than the audience at anticipating Kelly’s drop into trance, and was now half-convinced Aislinn had some kind of magical power. Aislinn needed only to meet her gaze, rest a reassuring hand on her shoulder, talk to her in a steady, even tone for maybe twenty seconds, and then say, “Sleep,” and Orla, too, sank into trance. Both volunteers remained standing upright, swaying slightly from side to side, their heads hanging forwards, their arms limp at their sides.

“That’s right girls, drifting deep in trance,” Aislinn soothed her subjects, as she put an arm around Kelly and lowered her into a chair that had been set in the middle of the stage. “So relaxed, and peaceful, and focused. Listening to my words, letting me guide you deeper and deeper down. Nothing else registers, nothing else matters. You don’t need to pay attention to anything else - just my voice, and how wonderfully entranced it makes you feel...”

Lizzie’s eyes flicked back and forth from Orla, swaying on her two legs like a sleepwalker, to Kelly, slumped in her seat. She licked her lips, turned on as usual by the sight of women being helplessly controlled, her arousal not at all diminished by the fact that it was someone else doing the controlling.

Aislinn had the two girls count down from ten to one, and then chant, “I am completely hypnotised.” They both spoke in sleepy mumbles, their words only clear to the audience when the hypnotist held the microphone close to each of their faces.

“Very good girls. Continuing to sink deeper and deeper, oblivious to everything around you. And from now on, you only listen to my words when I’m making physical contact with you - otherwise, you can just drift and not hear or notice anything, feeling so, so good.” Aislinn placed one hand on Orla’s shoulder, the other holding up her microphone. “Orla, dear, count down from ten again, but not out loud this time - just in your head, where only you can hear it. Then think, ‘I am completely hypnotised’. Then count down again, and repeat the mantra again. Do that, taking yourself deeper and deeper, until I say otherwise.”

Orla’s lips began to twitch and move, as if speaking, but no sound came out. Nodding with satisfaction, Aislinn walked over to Kelly, crouched beside her and took her hand. She held the microphone between the two of them, so it would pick up both their words.

“Kelly, my love, you know you can trust me and tell me anything,” she said, glancing back out to the crowd with a mischievous smirk. “It’s perfectly safe to open up. There’s just you and me here. Just you and me. Isn’t that right, darling?”

“Yes,” Kelly murmured, the gasps, laughs and cheers of tipsy audience members not disturbing her at all. She couldn’t even hear them. As far as she was concerned, she and Aislinn were indeed the only two people in the room.

“Wonderful. Now tell me, Kelly - have you ever been to a strip club?”

Even in trance, that question embarrassed Kelly enough to make her blush. “No,” she replied.

“Would you like to?”

“Yes,” she admitted, her blush growing even more pronounced. Whoops and cheers from the audience.

“Well, you’re in luck,” Aislinn purred. “I’m going to take you to one right now. When I snap my fingers, you’ll wake up and find yourself in a private room in a strip club, and in front of you is a stripper giving you a lap dance. There’s no-one else in the room, just you and her - and you’re free to enjoy her, and express your pleasure, because she’s the only one here, and she likes to see how horny you’re getting. You can’t see or hear anyone else. You’re not even aware of me - but when I speak to you, a part of you listens to me, and responds to what I say. Do you understand, Kelly?”

The hypnotised girl mumbled her assent. Grinning wickedly, Aislinn instructed her to count backwards and repeat the mantra in her mind until she heard the snap. Then she stepped back over to Orla and placed a hand on her shoulder again, telling her to stop counting.

“Orla, when I snap my fingers, you will become a sexy stripper. You love to be seen and enjoyed - to flaunt your gorgeous body, and know you’re turning others on. It turns you on to turn them on. You especially like it when someone’s paid for a private room with you, because you know that means they prefer you, your body, your dancing, to anyone else’s. You’re the hottest girl in the club. So when you awake to find yourself in a private room, just you and dear Kelly here, you’ll give her your sexiest routine, and love to see her getting horny, and get hornier and hornier yourself...”

Orla sleepily nodded her agreement when prompted, and then confirmed she understood that Aislinn could talk to her and give her more instructions without her consciously hearing them, just as with Kelly. The hypnotist then stepped behind Kelly’s chair, raised her hand to her microphone, and snapped her fingers. The snap echoed from the speakers and throughout the room.

The two subjects woke with a start, Kelly jerking upright in her chair, her gaze instantly falling on Orla. The redhead brushed her hair out of her face, revealing a confident smile and smouldering eyes. As pounding music began blaring from the speakers, she stepped in front of Kelly and began dancing without hesitation, hips gyrating, hands roaming over her clothes. Kelly stared up at her, biting her lip lustfully, a hand reaching down to rub the growing bulge in the front of her jeans. Bending forwards, Orla thrust her ample butt in Kelly’s face, grinning cheekily back at her over her shoulder. Still, neither of them noticed the cries and wolf-whistles from the crowd - Orla’s attention was on her dance and on Kelly, while Kelly’s attention was entirely on Orla.

Lizzie shot a glance at Molly, curious to see her reaction to her girlfriend receiving a lap dance. Far from being upset or annoyed, Molly was staring open-mouthed, breathing heavily, very obviously aroused by everything happening. But then, that made sense to Lizzie - it was far from the first time Molly had seen Kelly hooking up with someone else, and she’d always got off on it. Not that either of them remembered any of that.

As the two hypnotised girls grew hornier, their lingering inhibitions continued to dissolve. Still presenting her swaying backside to Kelly, Orla slid her jeans down, exposing sumptuous buttocks clad only in a thin scarlet thong. Leaning in to Kelly’s ear, Aislinn told her that she was holding a handful of cash, and she eagerly slid the imaginary banknotes into Orla’s thong, taking the opportunity to fondle her arse as she did so. Pulling her blouse off over her head, Orla turned and sat in Kelly’s lap, legs wrapping around her waist, arms embracing her neck and upper back, chest inches from her face. Moaning with desire, Kelly reached around and groped Orla’s butt as the hypnotised redhead continued to dance on top of her, rubbing over her lap.

“Amazing, girls,” Aislinn chuckled. “And when the music stop, you will drop back into a deep trance for me, and in your mind you’ll begin counting and repeating your mantra once again.” Just as Orla undid the clasp of her bra and started to remove it, Aislinn nodded to the nearby sound technician, and an instant later the music was abruptly cut off. Orla slumped bonelessly on top of Kelly, whose arms fell limply to her sides. Their faces came to rest on each other’s shoulders.

“Very good, both of you! And when I snap my fingers one more time, you will wake up, back to normal once more, remembering everything that happened, feeling teased and toyed with.” Aislinn winked to the audience, and then snapped her fingers. Kelly and Orla jerked awake, blushing furiously to find themselves a tangle of limbs on the chair. Giggling, Orla scrambled to her feet and slid her bra back over her jiggling tits. Then she leaned in to whisper something to a very flustered Kelly.

“Give our incredible subjects a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen!” Aislinn encouraged the mob of watching students, who clapped and cheered in response. “Such good sports!”

Kelly and Orla returned to their seats, both still blushing but grinning wildly. “That was wild,” Kelly blurted, squirming as her friends gave her astonished, excited smiles. “I can’t believe I just did that...”

“What did that girl Orla whisper in your ear?” Chloe asked.

Kelly’s blush went even deeper. “Her full name, and to find her on Snapchat. I think maybe she wants to get together sometime...”

“Whoa,” Sinéad cried. “Watch out, Molly, she’s after your girl!”

“She’s got no hope,” Kelly promised her girlfriend, drawing her into a cuddle.

“I know,” Molly chuckled. “Still, seeing you up there, getting a lap dance from her... that was super hot. It’s amazing how well that hypnosis worked on you!”

Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t say ‘amazing’, exactly. I mean, it’s no great feat to get Kelly doing something for you - she’s probably the most submissive of the lot of you...”

Kelly pouted indignantly. Molly sniggered. “She does have a point, love. I mean, if I can boss you around, that’s gotta say something, right?”

“I - hey - that - OK, you might have something there,” Kelly admitted, grinning bashfully.

Lizzie turned back to the stage, staring intently at Aislinn, who was asking for more volunteers. “I’d like to see what she’d do with a real challenge,” she mused.

“Is that your subtle way of getting us to tell you to volunteer?” Sinéad tittered. “Because you totally should.”

“Yeah, go on,” Molly laughed. “I wanna see her mess with your mind, Lizzie! That’d be so wild...”

Lizzie raised her eyebrows as her friends continued to urge her. She shot another look up at Aislinn, who made eye contact with her. The hypnotist smiled seductively - almost hungrily.

Eh, why not? Lizzie decided, getting to her feet, taking off her jacket and hanging it over her chair. It might be fun to wipe the smile off her face...

Without waiting to actually be chosen, the demoness made her way up to the stage, whoops and squeals from her friends encouraging her. She didn’t for a moment think Aislinn could actually hypnotise her. Lizzie was no expert on hypnosis, but she’d done a little research in preparation for tonight, and from everything she’d read, the ideal subject was imaginative, compliant, and easily led. Kelly had been an exact fit - she’d always been one to go with the flow, to go along with the group for the sake of an easier life, since long before she’d met Lizzie. Even if she’d once been capable of resisting hypnosis, weeks of exposure to Lizzie’s power had significantly weakened her will.

By contrast, Lizzie was a natural alpha, for good or ill. It was part of being a demon. Though she was certainly imaginative, she’d always been stubborn, forceful - the one to lead, rather than be led. Besides which, she was immune to most forms of magical mind control, particularly by other demons. She couldn’t see why hypnosis would be any different. And she got a perverse thrill out of the idea that she was about to humiliate the master hypnotist on stage, in front of a crowd of drunk and increasingly rowdy students. She might even invite the humbled Aislinn back to hers afterwards, along with all her friends, for some consolation - and then turn the tables on her. Wait til Miss Gold sees what real power looks like, she thought with a smirk.

As she ascended onto the stage, the hypnotist was still grinning at her, blissfully unaware of the huge danger she’d put herself in by allowing Lizzie up there. Her eyes roved over the butch student, admiring her scant, revealing clothing, her shaved head, and her midnight blue eyes. “Well, who do we have here, so eager to come up and join the fun?” Aislinn teased, locking eyes with the taller woman. “What’s your name, love?”

The demon frowned a little at the condescension, but chose to let it pass. “Lizzie.”

“Is that short for something?” Aislinn’s expression didn’t change at all, giving no indication of whether the question was serious or not.

“Lizard,” she replied, deadpan.

Laughter reverberated through the bar, and Aislinn joined in good-naturedly. “Alright, Lizard - I take it from your rather... confrontational demeanour, that you’re a little sceptical of hypnosis? Even after what you just saw, with your friend’s little strip club experience?” The blonde woman’s eyes narrowed, though her grin remained in place. “Or do you just think you can’t be hypnotised? That you’re too strong-willed to succumb to my charms?”

Lizzie didn’t answer verbally, but her defiant sneer was all the confirmation Aislinn needed. She’d hoped the hypnotist wouldn’t twig her true intentions, but she supposed she must be a good reader of people, given her line of work. No matter. Lizzie liked the idea of Aislinn trying to disprove her resistance, employing all sorts of inductions and methods to put her into trance, all of which would fail, making her more frustrated and panicked each time, until she admitted defeat and fled from the stage and the jeering crowd...

“You’re quite right, of course,” Aislinn said casually. Lizzie blinked, taken aback. “Not everyone can be hypnotised, because everyone’s brain is wired a little differently. I’ve had my share of failures as well as successes... though lately, my ratio’s improved pretty drastically.” Her provocative smile hadn’t wavered for a moment, and neither had her glinting eyes, which were fixed on Lizzie’s. “But yes, there’s every chance you could be one of the lucky few able to resist my talents. I’m not sure how much you know about hypnosis, but the ideal subject is bright, and imaginative, and adaptable, and fairly easily led... but a big part of being hypnotised is actually wanting to be. If you don’t want to be, you won’t be - simple as that. Right?”

Still staring at her, Lizzie nodded absently. She’d been completely wrongfooted by this admission, and wasn’t sure if this was Aislinn conceding defeat or trying some kind of sneak tactic. She wondered where she was going with this.

“Right. So you don’t need to concern yourself at all about the prospect of being hypnotised, because it’s impossible. Laughable, even. I couldn’t hope to get ahold of your mind, to put you under my spell, to work my mischief on you like I did with sweet little Kelly. So there’s no reason not to listen to me, to just let me talk, and take in my words.”

Lizzie shrugged a little. Aislinn had a point. There was no risk here, nothing to be worried about, no danger in listening to her talk in that confident, even tone. After all, there was absolutely no chance she’d hypnotise her.

“I expect you’re used to doing the leading, not being led, aren’t you, Lizzie? From what I can see, you’ve got this little group of friends - all of whom, I’m sure, love and respect each other a great deal... but you’re at the centre, and they’re in your orbit. You’re the alpha, the dominant force, and they tend to do what you say. That’s right, isn’t it?” Lizzie gave another nod. “I wonder if you’ve ever thought about experiencing it from the other end - if you’ve ever pondered how they must feel, being led around by you, letting you make all the decisions for them, and not having to worry about choosing for themselves...”

Lizzie bit her lip. She had to admit, she was curious. She’d never been under mind control herself - obviously, since demons couldn’t control other demons - and a tiny part of her was attracted to the idea. Her thralls always seemed to get off on it (largely because she told them to, but still)... She loved being the one in control, having such total power over her friends - but if she was honest with herself, seeing Molly, Kelly, Sinéad and Chloe fuck and suck her and each other, made her imagine what it must feel like for them. Their minds lost in blissful submission... their bodies feeling such utter ecstasy... all those feelings and sensations and experiences remaining inside them, warming them from within and keeping their libidos simmering, even when their memories had been erased...

“Of course, you’re so strong, and so tough, and so dominant, that you’d never give anyone that kind of power over you,” Aislinn continued smoothly. “Just as you’d never give in to hypnosis. But it’s fun to think about, isn’t it? It’s fun to picture, to imagine, as you listen to me, and stare deep into my golden gaze... It’s such fun to think about that it’s all you can think about, clearing out the rest of your mind, letting yourself think only of those images of submission, of surrender... Knowing it’s safe to do that, it’s OK to stop thinking about anything else, to keep listening to my words and looking into my eyes and thinking of surrender... It’s fine to do all that, because you can’t be hypnotised...”

Lizzie nodded once again. She was really starting to enjoy herself. It really was a lot of fun to imagine herself submitting, being easily led and controlled, being forced to perform all the slutty submissive acts she’d compelled her harem of friends to perform... Although, in her mind’s eye, she was submitting not to her friends, but to Aislinn. She figured that must be because she was looking at Aislinn. The woman was quite stunning - so stunning, in fact, that it was hard to look away from her. Especially her eyes. And she’d got the patter down - her smooth tone of voice was easy to listen to, her words easy to absorb. Lizzie could well understand how easily people fell under her hypnotic spell. Her image of enchanting, commanding power must have translated into Lizzie’s subconscious, making her a dominant figure she could fantasise about serving and obeying... if only for this fun little mental exercise.

“That’s good, Lizzie. Feeling so good, enjoying yourself so much... Having a lot of fun thinking about submission and surrender, hearing me talk to you, gazing into my eyes... Not worried about anything I’m saying, because you can’t be hypnotised. Not worried about anything I might tell you, because you won’t be hypnotised. Not worried about doing anything I tell you, because you’re not hypnotised. There’s no reason not to listen, and follow, and do as I say, because you could never be hypnotised...”

Fair enough, Lizzie thought. She didn’t see a problem with that. She was feeling very chilled out and peaceful right now - and pretty horny, from all the sexy submissive imagery in her head. She was in a pretty easygoing mood right now, so she couldn’t think of a reason why she shouldn’t do whatever Aislinn asked of her. She couldn’t really think of anything much, if she was honest with herself. But she wasn’t worried. It wasn’t like she was hypnotised, after all. She couldn’t be.

“So when I count down from ten to one, and then tell you to sleep, you can drop into a wonderful, relaxed, open state, where you can listen to my words and follow my instructions so much better, not even consciously hearing or thinking about them. There’s no reason not to do that, no reason not to drop deep and sleep when I tell you to, because you’re still in total control, still a powerful alpha, still a dominant just dreaming of being submissive... You can sleep, and relax, and listen, and follow, and obey, because your mind is still your own. You’re not hypnotised, and you never will be...”

Lizzie nodded once more, or at least she thought she did. She could do that, sure. That was fine. She was totally OK with dropping into a nice, relaxing sleep when Aislinn told her to, when she’d finished the count that she’d just begun. Why not? It sounded fun. And it sounded hot, too, letting herself be open and obedient with this woman she’d only just met. It was exciting. It was sexy. It was daring, without actually being risky in any way...

“... Four, three, two, one...” Aislinn’s fingers made another deafening snap. “Sleep.”

And Lizzie dropped into a deep trance, safe in the knowledge that she wasn’t and could never be hypnotised.

***

She woke slowly, unhurriedly, enveloped in feelings of luxurious pleasure, finding herself lying on her back, bright lights shining down on her and spreading warmth through her. She stretched and smiled, her whole body tingling. She felt fantastic, although she wasn’t sure why. Come to think of it, she wasn’t really sure of anything - where she was, who else was there, or even who she was. She found it hard to care.

She could hear lots of people talking nearby, but couldn’t quite make out what they said. They sounded happy, though. One was louder than all the rest, a smooth, commanding feminine voice that instantly caught her attention. She wanted to get up and look at this person, but her limbs didn’t seem to be working properly yet - they waggled awkwardly in the air above her when she tried to move them, not going in the directions she wanted. Far from concerning her, she just found that funny, a sleepy grin spreading across her face.

Something caught her eye - a piece of string, hanging directly above her face - and she was suddenly fully awake, her eyes fixing on the dangling strand. She reached up for it, but her arms wouldn’t go that far, and ended up making pedalling motions in mid-air as she tried in vain to grab it. “Mrow,” she whined, pouting and lowering her limbs, her gaze still locked on the string even though she now knew it was out of her reach.

She could hear that loud, powerful voice again - whenever it spoke she stiffened a little, attentive, even if she couldn’t actually understand what it said. As the important voice spoke, the string lowered towards her, now much closer and more easily accessible. Her eyes lighting up, she swiped at it - but it darted out of her reach again! Mewling plaintively, she reached up towards it helplessly, her hands grabbing at the air. It never occurred to her to get up, to stand or even kneel up, so she could reach it.

The string lowered again, but was snatched away once more as she clapped her paws together, missing it by a fraction of a second. Again and again it went down and up, teasing her, making her swipe and grab at it, failing each time. She couldn’t understand what was happening, why the string was playing with her like this, not letting her get it. She couldn’t make sense of it. She could still hear those voices, laughing and cheering, and dimly wondered what they were finding so funny. Whatever it was, it sounded like they were having a lot of fun.

At last, the string vanished. Left to her own devices, she eventually figured out how to roll herself onto her front, and raise herself onto all fours, supporting her body with shaky limbs. Raising her head, she was stunned at the sight of a beautiful woman with long golden hair and glittering golden eyes, sitting on a nearby chair. She felt drawn to her - even more so when the woman spoke with that important, compelling voice.

Walking unsteadily on four legs, she approached the vision of radiance before her, nuzzling her face into her thigh. The next second, she felt fingernails scratching the back of her head and neck, and behind her ears, making her shudder with pleasure. “Mowwwww,” she moaned, falling to her knees as ecstatic spasms went through her. She didn’t know much, but she knew she loved scritches. And the lovely woman just kept giving her more and more, nails digging into and running across her skin, as that voice kept talking, saying things her kitty brain couldn’t translate. The lady kicked off one of her high heels and raised a stocking-clad foot to the kitten’s face, and she immediately moved towards it, kissing, licking and nibbling at it, meowing softly all the while, slipping toes into her mouth and sucking them lovingly. She purred as she felt a firm hand rub and stroke her back, while another reached down and tickled her under her chin.

The lovely lady said more unintelligible words as she eased her toes out of the kitten’s mouth. Placing one hand on the top of her head and keeping the other under her chin, she gently directed her forwards, so she was looking out at dozens of people sitting at tables in a big dark room, none of them illuminated in the same way as her and the woman she was beginning to think of as her owner. The hand under her chin suddenly moved up and tapped her forehead with an index finger.

“I’m a dumb kitty for Mistress,” she said casually, not even realising she was saying it, let alone comprehending the meaning of the words. She got more lovely scritches as a reward anyway, during which she got another tap on the head, right between her eyes. “I’m Aislinn’s helpless pet,” she blurted. Each tap brought forth another phrase, another mantra the hypnotist had slipped into her subconscious while she drifted in trance. “I’m weak and easily led.” “I’m totally obedient.” “I’m completely hypnotised.” “I belong to Miss Gold.” Not a word of what the kitten said registered in her mind, as she happily purred beneath the tender caresses of her owner, delivering more adoring kisses and licks to her toes whenever they were brought within reach of her mouth.

Until finally, her Mistress told her to sleep, and she sank back into trance in her arms.

***

Waking with a start, Lizzie blinked hard and wiped the sleep from her eyes, shielding her face from the blinding stage lights above her. A din of applause filled the SU - she’d dimly registered Aislinn telling the audience to clap Lizzie for being a good sport, but most of them were applauding the hypnotist for conquering such a resistant subject.

Shaking her head dazedly, Lizzie scrambled to her feet, staring thunderstruck at Aislinn, who triumphantly beamed back at her. What the fuck? the demoness thought. How the hell did she do that?!

Aislinn stepped closer to her, her expression seemingly becoming warmer and more genuine. “Thank you,” she said quietly, having lowered the microphone so it wouldn’t pick up her words. “That was the best show I’ve done in months. And I owe it all to you for being so defiant!” She grinned.

“You’re welcome,” was all Lizzie could think to say, still reeling from the experience. She found she couldn’t bring herself to meet the hypnotist’s eyes. What if she fell back into trance again? What if her resistance had been completely broken?

She climbed down from the stage unsteadily, rejoining her friends, who were too busy praising her performance, and raving about the novelty of watching their ringleader being turned into a submissive kitten, to notice how shellshocked she was. Aislinn wrapped up her show, receiving yet more thunderous applause, and went to get a drink from the bar.

A little while and a couple of drinks later, Lizzie was beginning to feel more like herself again. She couldn’t explain what had happened onstage, but she was sure it was a one-off. Whatever power Aislinn possessed, she had taken her by surprise. She’d be ready for her, or anyone or anything like her, a second time... once she found out exactly what ‘Miss Gold’ was. Slipping away from her friends for a minute on the pretence of going to the loo, she instead went to talk to the SU manager, soon eliciting details about where Aislinn was staying, with a little help from her own powers of persuasion.

An hour passed, and the group finally returned to Lizzie and Sinéad’s flat for quieter surroundings and cheaper booze. Once they arrived, Lizzie told her tipsy friends, “It’s time for my sluts to do a dance of demons.” At the sound of the trigger phrase, all four of them immediately turned to whoever was nearest and began to make out with them. Still standing, Sinéad pulled Kelly in for a passionate kiss, and the shorter girl responded by sliding her hands up her shirt and eagerly fondling her tits. Over on the sofa, Molly was nibbling a moaning Chloe’s collar bone.

Lizzie left her friends to engage in wanton acts of carnality, none of which they’d remember the following morning once they awoke, crawled out of each other’s beds, and got dressed. Normally she’d eagerly join them - her sexual stamina was unrivalled, and she had her pick of genitalia with which to bring pleasure to her friends.

But not tonight. Tonight, she had a more pressing appointment.

***

Aislinn had been back in her motel room for maybe three minutes when the door knocked. She’d been glancing around disdainfully at her shabby surroundings - it wasn’t as easy to ignore them when she’d had a few drinks. When she was sober, she could simply remind herself that she maintained her finances by saving on accommodation, which allowed her to buy sexy clothing and pretty jewellery. She’d had the importance of being careful with money drilled into her by her mother since a young age, and she was grateful for that - as popular as she was, stage hypnosis still wasn’t the most lucrative career in the world. She’d been hoping it would lead to something more rewarding, but no luck so far.

Sighing, she tottered a little unsteadily to the door, opening it to find a familiar tall shaven-headed figure. Her mood immediately improved. “Well, well! If it isn’t my sweet little kitty?” she teased. “Did you follow me home, my love?”

Lizzie’s jaw was set determinedly, her eyes cold and flinty. She barged into the room, pushing past the hypnotist, whose eyebrows shot up.

“Someone’s keen,” she sniggered. “I won’t pretend this is the first time one of my volunteers stopped by for a booty call, but I must say I’m surprised you did. Thought you’d be the type to try and play things off like you weren’t really hypnotised, or else pretend it never hap-”

“What are you?” Lizzie interrupted.

Aislinn blinked, confused. “Uh... stage hypnotist?” The taller woman’s baleful expression remained the same. “Was that not the answer you were looking for? Um, I’m a Libra? I’m Irish, but with splashes of German and Dutch from my great-grandparents?”

“You know what I mean.”

The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “I really don’t, sweetheart.” She was starting to sense some kind of danger, and it was rapidly sobering her up.

“You can’t be a demon,” Lizzie said thoughtfully, “because we can’t control each other. So, what then? A vampire? A faerie? A witch? That’s it, isn’t it - you’re a witch... All that stuff about ‘falling under your spell’...”

Aislinn snorted, turning to leave her own motel room out of sheer bafflement (and a hint of fear). “What are you on about, you nutcase -”

Before she could reach the door, it swung shut with a slam. Aislinn jumped back in alarm - the door seemed to have acted of its own volition, with no-one anywhere near enough to pull or push it. Slowly, she turned to face Lizzie again, nervously meeting her gaze.

“Tell me what you are,” Lizzie hissed. “Show me what you are. You’re not leaving ’til you do.”

Aislinn swallowed, trembling with adrenaline as dread filled her - as well as curiosity. She licked her lips and flexed her fingers, her body tensing like a coiled spring. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, b-babe,” she stammered.

Lizzie did a double take, and for a moment Aislinn thought she hadn’t heard her clearly.

Then, the most remarkable metamorphosis began.

Slowly, green scales began to spread across Lizzie’s skin. Two dark crimson horns began to protrude from her skull. She opened her mouth to show off her canines, which had begun to elongate into sharp fangs. Similarly, her fingernails were growing into long talons. Her torso distended beneath her diaphanous top, her physique growing more muscular. Her eyes were lit from within with a satanic red light.

The demon began to speak. “You will tell m-”

“Sleep!” Aislinn shouted at the top of her voice, her arm flying upwards as if throwing something at the monster before her, a snap like the crack of a whip echoing from her fingers.

Lizzie’s glowing eyes rolled back in her head, her body relaxed, and her head lolled forwards, as she sank back into hypnosis. Halted before it could finish, her transformation gradually began to reverse.

Aislinn’s golden eyes watched intently as the hypnotised hell beast turned back into a young woman. “What the actual fuck?” she finally gasped, her normally even and controlled voice filled with shock... and glee.