I rang the doorbell and took a step backwards. Only a few seconds later it opened and immediately the words starting pouring out of my mouth, tears running down my face.

“Angela, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know where else to go and I need somewhere to stay and I was hoping maybe you and Rob would be able to put me up for just a night or two and then I can be out of your hair and I’m so sorry for just dropping in on you like this but…”

“Rebecca?” Angela cut through my jabbering. “Come in, for goodness sake!”

Shortly afterwards I was sitting in their living room, a mug of coffee in my hands. “Ok,” Angela said, sitting down opposite me. “What’s going on?”

“Me and Mark had a fight,” I sniffed. “I mean a real yelling, screaming fight. We’re not coming back after this one. We’re done. We said stuff. Mean stuff. I mean, I did too but he… he was so cruel.” I fought back tears. “Really, really vicious... And then he kicked me out.”

“I always thought he was an asshole,” Angela said.

“You could have told me…” I muttered.

She smiled. “Not my place darling. You seemed happy enough.”

“I was. But we were getting worse. I think this was on the cards for a while.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like. We’ll get the spare room set up for you.”

“Thanks, Angela. This really means a lot to me.”

She smiled at me, and just for a second it was as though we were just college room-mates again. Angela Redbourne had been my best friend for over a decade now, and it pained me to think how little I’d seen of her recently. We’d first bonded over a mutual loathing of anyone trying to shorten our names. Angela hated ‘Angie’ just as much as I despised ‘Becky’ or ‘Becca’. After that we became pretty much inseparable for the entirety of college.

Now though, we lived a good three hours’ drive apart, and I’d only seen her once in the last year. I looked at her, an attractive, confident, ferocious, sophisticated woman, and wished I could be like that too. Angela had really lucked out; amazing skin, wavy chestnut hair, a high-paying, high-powered job, a big house, a handsome husband. It would have been very easy to be jealous of her, if she wasn’t such a sweetheart too. Angela had worked and fought hard for her happiness, and I couldn’t begrudge it to her.

“I really am grateful,” I said. “I hope you didn’t have any plans this weekend?”

Angela blinked. “We’re just going to have a quiet weekend to ourselves,” she said in a slightly distracted voice. “We’ve got a lot of housework to do.”

I glanced around the living room. It looked immaculate to me. “Ok, well, if there’s anything I can help with while I’m here, let me know.”

She blinked again. “Hmmm? Help with?”

“With the house work.”

“Oh. Yes, um, no, that’s fine, thank you.”

I glanced around. “Rob’s not home?”

She looked at the clock. “He should be back any minute. The traffic between the office and here can be pretty bad on Fridays.”

I nodded and took another sip of coffee. “And you guys… are ok?” Last time I’d seen her, Angela had told me that she and Rob had been arguing a lot too.

She smiled. “We’re fine. We went through a bit of a rough patch, but we went and saw a relationship counsellor in town, and she really helped turned us around.”

I smiled, even as my heart sank. Not that I wanted her to be unhappy, far from it. Just that even the idea of Mark agreeing to go to a relationship counsellor was laughable. “That’s great,” I said out loud. “I’m really glad you’ve sorted things out.”

“Yes, Dr. Mellors is a miracle worker.” Angela’s face had taken on that slightly distracted look again. “I highly recommend her.”

“Right, well, I think it might be a bit late for that,” I muttered. It was at this point that we heard a car pull up outside, and shortly afterwards, the front door opened.

“Hi honey,” Rob called. “Whose car is outside?” A second later he appeared in the doorway. He blinked as he saw me. “Oh, hi Rebecca.” He paused, and I could tell I still looked a mess. “Um, is everything ok?” He looked from me to Angela.

“Rebecca’s staying with us for a few days,” she said in a firm voice, giving him an eloquent stare.

He blinked again. “Oh? Oh! Of course, as long as you want. That’s great!”

“Thanks Rob,” I said. “Thanks both of you. I really am grateful, and I’m sorry I landed on you unannounced.”

“Well, you can hardly have expected to be kicked out of your own home,” Angela pointed out.

“True. Sorry Rob, I hope you hadn’t planned anything for this weekend either?”

Rob paused, his face going oddly blank. “We’re just going to have a quiet weekend to ourselves. We’ve got a lot of housework to do.” He blinked, and the life returned to his eyes.

“Um, ok…” I said. “Well, please just carry on like I’m not here. I don’t want to be a bother.”

He grinned. “You won’t be. I’m sure Angela will enjoy having you over. You can reminisce about college. Hey, Angela, how about you crack open a bottle of wine while I get changed, and then we can all relax.”

Angela grinned, and I got a brief flash of the fun-loving girl I’d known back in the day. “Great idea!”

Rob disappeared upstairs, and I was struck by a pang of envy. The first time I’d ever met Rob, I’d not liked him; he seemed a bit too ‘alpha male’ for me, brash and rather arrogant. Like Angela, he was a big cheese in his own company, some sort of financial business I didn’t really understand, and he was obviously a man who liked being in charge. However, I had soon come to recognise his warmth and humor, and he clearly loved Angela. He made her happy, and for that I could forgive him a lot.

He was also extremely handsome and quite a catch; I could see why Angela frequently got jealous of other women. I’d been on the other end of long late-night phone calls with her as she poured out her worries that another woman would try and lure him away, assuring her that Rob adored her, and that she was far hotter than any other woman for a hundred miles. In fact, seeing her again, she seemed more gorgeous than ever, looking toned and fit in a way I hadn’t seen since college. It made me feel even worse, given that I was still a red-eyed, dishevelled mess. I didn’t know, but I suspected it was Angela’s jealousy and suspicion which had sparked their recent problems. I was glad that they seemed to have got past it.

Angela returned with a bottle of rosé from the fridge, along with three glasses. She set them down on the coffee table when her phone suddenly started buzzing.

“Huh.” She picked it up, and glanced at the screen, frowned and tapped ‘answer’. She held it to her ear. “Hello?” Angela paused, listening. Suddenly, she froze. “Oh.” It came out as a little gasp, almost a sigh, and her whole body relaxed. Her expression softened from mild puzzlement into a dreamy, blank, almost blissful expression and she straightened. “Yes Mistress,” she said clearly. “This slut will obey.”

I stared at her, unsure if I’d really just heard her right. “Angela?” She ignored me completely, turning and walking towards the stairs, the phone still in her hand. As she reached them, Rob appeared in jogging pants and a sweater.

“What’s up?” Without answering, Angela held the phone out to him. He looked at her quizzically, but she just stared wordlessly at him. “Ok…” He took the phone from her and held it to his ear. “Hello?” Again there was a slight pause as he listened to whoever was on the other end. Suddenly he let out a grunt, his handsome face going blank as he stood to attention. “Yes Mistress. This slut will obey,” he said in a dreamy monotone, the front of his jogging pants suddenly tenting with a huge bulge that was obvious even from where I was sitting. Without looking at it, he ended the call and handed the phone back to Angela, who was standing motionless in front of him.

“Um… guys? What the hell’s going on?”

Without answering, they turned and both walked towards the door, their faces blank. I was beginning to seriously freak out. “Hey! HEY!” No response. Rob picked his car keys up from the bowl on the table by the door and the two of them just walked out.

I jumped up and ran after them in time to see them climb into their car. Rob started the engine and reversed off the driveway. Something very, very weird was going on. They looked almost… hypnotized? It was like something out of a bad movie. And what had they said? ‘Mistress’? And they’d both called themselves ‘this slut’?

Something very strange was happening to my friends, and I was determined to stop it. Without another thought I jumped into my own car and followed. I reversed onto the road in time to see Rob pull away and turn the corner. I drove after them and was soon trailing a hundred yards or so behind as they drove steadily away.

Maybe twenty minutes later we’d left town, heading out along the main highway. Suddenly their car turned right onto a narrow sideroad. I followed, and saw their tail lights moving away through the gathering gloom. I turned off my headlights, not wanting to be seen, driving with just my sidelights through the darkness. The road narrowed until it was a single lane lined with trees on either side, and I had to slow down.

The trail twisted and turned, and I lost sight of their tail-lights. I sped up slightly, then had to slam the brakes on as I suddenly found a wrought-iron gate looming out of the darkness in front of me. My car slid to a halt only a couple of feet from the gate, and I sat gripping the wheel, breathing heavily.

I got out of the car and peered through the gate. I could see a large house, almost a mansion, with a gravelled space out front. Rob and Angela’s car was parked outside the building, but there was no sign of my friends. I tried pushing at the gate. It was locked. There was a call button on a panel in one of the gate posts, but I decided that simply ringing the doorbell wouldn’t be a good move. Something very strange was happening, and I was going to find out what.

I started circling around the tall brick wall that surrounded the house. The trees around me made it seem even darker, and I swallowed and tried not to imagine serial killers or monsters in the darkness. The grounds of the house were obviously quite big, but eventually I came to a tree with thick branches overhanging the wall.

Taking a deep breath, I started climbing the tree, the first time I’d done it since I was twelve or thirteen. The tree was covered in lichen and moss, and I knew my clothes, already crumpled from my journey to Rob and Angela’s, were getting filthy. I didn’t care. I carefully shinned along the over-hanging branch and was able to carefully lower myself down, and then drop the remaining six feet or so, landing heavily on a soft green lawn.

It was only at this point that it occurred to me that there might be guard dogs, and that I wouldn’t be able to climb out the same way I’d gotten in, but it was already too late for that. It was getting darker and darker, but looking around, I could see a large, well-maintained garden, and up ahead the back of the huge house.

I started creeping towards it, trying to stick to the shadows. I could see that lights were on in several of the downstairs rooms, and I crept up onto a broad patio, trying to stay away from the lighted windows until I was right next to the house, half-crouching in the shadows.

“Ok Nancy Drew, now what?” I asked myself sarcastically. “I guess I’ll just make it up as I go along,” I muttered. Ok, so maybe I talk to myself when I’m nervous. Fear wasn’t going to stop me though. Something weird was going on; something strange was happening to my friends, and I was going to find out what it was and... what? Burst in and save them? Maybe I could gather some sort of evidence, and take it to the police? Assuming that a crime was even being committed, and the police believed me.

I took a deep breath. “Calm down girl,” I told myself firmly. “Just take a look, see what you find and take each step at a time…”

I could see light streaming out from a gap in the curtains of one of the ground floor windows, and I crept along the wall and peered in. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness after creeping around the darkened garden, and several more to work out what exactly I was looking at.

The room was opulently decorated, with a thick, dark red carpet, expensive-looking wall-paper and furniture that might well have been antique. In the middle of the room was a chaise longue, and a dark-haired woman reclined on it.

Looking at her, it was hard to judge her age; maybe late thirties or early forties. She was beautiful in a cruel, almost feline way, and I blushed as I realised that she was almost completely naked, a gorgeous body fully on display. The only things she was wearing were a pair of tall and incredibly shiny black thigh-high boots that gleamed in the light. I suddenly felt creepy and perverted, peering in at someone through their window like a voyeur. What was I even doing here?

Then I noticed that she wasn’t alone. I saw movement, and realised that someone was kneeling by the chaise longue, positioned between the woman’s legs, which is why I hadn’t seen them. I saw the gleam of shiny black material. I couldn’t see the person’s face, but from where I stood I could tell they were wearing some kind of fetish version of a French maid’s outfit, complete with lacey headgear holding back their chestnut hair as they buried their face in the woman’s crotch.

Chestnut hair… Oh no… The woman on the chaise was moaning, and I could hear her distinctly as she spoke.

“Mmmm… good girl… Very good girl…”

I let out a gasp as Angela looked up, her face flushed with arousal but still strangely dazed, her eyes glassy as her mouth widened into a vacant smile that looked bizarrely out of place on that normally-intelligent face. “This slut lives to please you Mistress,” she said in a dull but incredibly turned-on voice. I could see a shiny leather collar around her neck.

“What the fuck…” I breathed. Angela was straight. Super straight. While some other girls had fooled around experimenting with their sexuality back in college, Angela had always been rather grossed out by the idea. She’d been enthusiastically into guys her entire life, yet here she was eating out this woman. Was this some weird, long-repressed kink of hers? We’d always spoken quite openly about our respective sexual liaisons and our preferences in bed, and she’d never once so much as hinted at being submissive or into BDSM or anything.

Angela lowered her head again, her tongue extending out as her face went out of view again. The dark-haired woman’s head fell back and she let out a sound somewhere between a purr, a moan and a deep, satisfied chuckle.

I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing. Angela looked extremely turned on, and certainly seemed to be a willing participant, eager even, but she looked… well, hypnotized. Like something out of a bad movie. What the actual fuck was going on?

Then a door opened, and Rob came in. He was carrying a tray holding a glass of what looked like champagne, but that’s not what made me gasp again. Like Angela his eyes were glazed, his face fixed in a vacant smile. He was wearing even less than Angela; a pair of shiny leather shorts tightly encased what I had to admit was a seriously fine ass, making me understand another thing that Angela saw in him. It also did nothing to hide the sizeable bulge in-front. Around his neck was a leather collar like the one Angela wore.

He walked slowly up to them, carefully setting the tray down on a side table next to the chaise. The woman opened her eyes and let out another purring chuckle that turned into a gasp as Angela continued to pleasure her.

“Mmmm… good boy…” the woman purred as she picked up the glass and took a long sip. Rob seemed to shiver, and I could see his cock twitch inside the tight leather shorts.

“This slut lives to please you Mistress,” he said, his vapid smile widening.

“And you will…” the woman said. She reached down and grabbed Angela’s hair, pulling her up from between her legs. “That’s enough, Angie.” She glanced at Rob, an evil smile on her lips. “How does it feel, Robbie, watching me use your wife as my lesbian love-slave?”

He shivered again, the bulge in his shorts growing even larger, if that was possible. “It’s an honour Mistress,” he said in the same low, desperately horny voice. “We exist only to serve you.”

“That’s right.” She drained her wine glass in a single swig, then turned to look at Angela. “Go and fetch me another drink, Angie-slut, while I fuck your husband.”

Angela looked up. “Yes Mis…” She paused, a slight frown creasing her forehead. “I… uh…m…my husband…?”

The woman’s smile widened into a cruel grin. “Oh Angie!” she cooed mockingly. “I thought we’d dealt with all that jealousy. Perhaps you need a reminder?” She leaned forward, taking Angela’s chin in her hand and tilted her face upwards. The woman bent down, her face only a few inches from my friend’s as she forced Angela to gaze into her eyes.

Angela shivered and let out a whine of what sounded like pure arousal, her own eyes widening.

“Everything you have belongs to me,” the woman said in a low, seductive purr.

Angela twitched. “Everything I have belongs to you…” she whimpered.

“Your money, your house, your car…”

“Yes!” she gasped.

“Your husband.”

“Yes! My husband belongs to you Mistress!” Angela shivered, her hips bucking slightly, but she didn’t try and pull away from the woman’s grasp, or look away from her eyes.

“It’s only right that you let someone so much more beautiful and intelligent than you do whatever she wants with your husband.”

“Yes Mistress… Whatever you want…”

The woman released her, leaning back with a triumphant smirk. She held out the wine glass. “Well, slave?

Angela took a shuddering breath, her face flushed. Then she looked up and took the glass. “Yes Mistress, whatever you say.”

“Good girl.” She turned to look at Rob. “Get over here boy-slut.”

Rob, who’d been standing motionless watching the scene unfold, the vacant smile never leaving his lips, stirred. He moved closer as Angela stood up on slightly wobbly legs. The dark-haired woman smiled nastily at Angela. “Why don’t you get your husband’s dick out for me and get it ready for my use?”

“Yes Mistress. Of course Mistress.” Angela reached out and unzipped the front of the tight leather shorts Rob was wearing. Immediately, his rock-hard cock sprang out.

The woman took Rob’s dick in her hand, eliciting a shuddering gasp from him as she pulled him closer, standing to guide him down onto the chaise longue, and pushing him down onto his back.

She straddled him. “Why don’t you thank me for fucking your husband, Angie, then go and get me that drink?”

My fierce, ambitious, intelligent friend nodded, a simpering smile on her face. “Yes Mistress. Thank you for fucking my husband, Mistress.” She turned and hurried towards the door that Rob had entered by, while the woman lowered herself onto Rob’s manhood, making him moan with pleasure as his wife scurried from the room.

I stood there, stunned, shocked and, if I’m honest, kind of turned on. It was clear that my friends were being manipulated and coerced somehow, but I couldn’t deny the eroticism of the scene I’d just witnessed.  I’d unravel that later though, I decided. Angela was away from the woman, and if I could find a way inside, maybe I could get her to snap out of whatever weird mind-fuckery this woman had done to her.

I moved quietly away from the window, where I could already hear both Rob and the woman gasping and moaning, and hurried around the house. I soon came to a back door. I tried it, not even hoping that it would be unlocked. To my surprise, and with a stomach-turning lurch of apprehension, the door opened easily, revealing a utility room with washer, dryer and a load of cleaning equipment. On the far side of the room was a door, and I could see light filtering through the gap underneath.

I took a step forwards, my stomach flipping over again. I was going from trespassing to breaking and entering. Well, entering. Does it count if the door was already unlocked? C’mon, Rebecca! Focus!

I stepped over to the other door, took a deep breath and opened it very slightly. I peeked through the gap and could see part of a large and extremely posh kitchen, and I could hear movement, and the sound of liquid being poured from a bottle. I opened the door a little more, and found myself staring at Angela, the light gleaming off the PVC maid’s dress and the shiny leather collar.

“Oh, thank goodness!” I’d only muttered the words to myself, but Angela turned and looked at me. “Angela!” I hissed, “I’m here to rescue you!”

She stared at me, her face blank and her cheeks still flushed with arousal. “Rescue me…?” she said in that low, dreamy voice.

“That’s right,” I said, stepping forwards. “I don’t know what that woman did to you and Rob, but I’m here to put a stop to it. Come on, let’s get out of here!”

“Get… out of here?” She sounded baffled. “But… I need to take my Mistress her drink…”

“She’s not your “Mistress”! She’s… I don’t know who she is, some weirdo pervert who’s going to get flung in jail if I have anything to do with it!”

“No…” Angela said in her dreamy, soft voice, her eyes becoming even glassier, if that was possible. “Dr Mellors is a miracle worker…I highly recommend her…”

“Dr… Your therapist!?” I stared at her. “Your couples counsellor turned you both into her brainwashed sex-slaves? That’s… that’s fucked up!”

Angela smiled. “Yesss… she hypnotized us.” She put emphasis on the word, and I saw her thighs press together and her face flush even more. “I love being hypnotized. I love being obedient. I love being a slave. This slut exists to please her Mistresssss…” It was almost a chant, and I could imagine her being made to repeat the phrases over and over by the evil bitch in the other room.

“Well, that ends now! Come on, let’s get out of here!”

But Angela was turning away, as though she’d forgotten that I was even there. “This slut exists to please her Mistress,” she repeated, although I couldn’t tell if she was telling me or herself. She picked up the refilled wine glass and heading for the door. It twisted my insides to see that intelligent, expressive face so docile, those sharp, clear eyes so glazed with arousal and obedience.

“No, Angela! Come back!” I hissed, hurrying after her. I tried to grab her arm but she slipped through the doorway before I could get to her.

I looked through the door, and saw her walk down a hallway, the gasps and moans coming from the living room I’d seen from outside louder now. Angela walked gracefully down the corridor, carefully balancing the tray as the light gleamed off the porny outfit she was wearing. A small, furtive part of my brain registered just how hot my friend looked in the shiny, sexy gear, highlighting her stunning figure while the leather collar accentuated her throat. I thrust the intrusive thought aside angrily. Focus Rebecca! You can work through your dumb subconscious later!

As I watched, Angela stopped at a door and opened it. Immediately the moans of pleasure grew louder.

“Ah, there you -Ahh! are…” I heard the woman I now knew was Dr. Mellors purr. “Get in here, slave. Fucking your husband is thirsty work!”

“Yes Mistress. Thank you, Mistress,” I heard Angela reply in that horrible, dreamy, sexy voice. She stepped forwards out of sight. I was just wondering whether to move closer when her next words froze me to the spot. “Mistress, my friend Rebecca is in the kitchen. She says she’s here to rescue me.”