Lauren

I couldn’t believe where I’d found myself. I didn’t ever think I’d be able to bring myself to do something like this without asking for Mistress’ approval. But a fight-or-flight response had activated in me after I had gotten that call from Valerie, telling me she was going to be visiting me in less than 24 hours and turning me into her thrall, and now I had come all this way with nothing but a backpack containing a few changes of clothes, my toiletries, and my meds, all packed up first thing in the morning over the course of 15 minutes.

It was 8 AM, the sun was already high in the sky, and I had no worries about Valerie following me up to the apartment door that I was knocking on. But I couldn’t help myself from looking over my shoulder. What if Valerie sent Cassie or Gail or whoever after me so they could hold me down and let Valerie have her way with me, just like Valerie had held me down…

No, no, it wasn’t good to think about it that way. Valerie had done all that for Mistress. Mistress’ will was sovereign over mine and everything She had had Valerie do was worth it. I had loved it, anyway, being handled gently but firmly by Her after I had submitted myself. She had gotten Valerie and I together, and I truly loved every moment I had spent with Her since I had become Hers. I was pretty sure I would’ve even if She hadn’t brainwashed me to think so. She was a kind and sweet woman and I was lucky to have Her as my girlfriend and my Mistress.

The door opened, and Emily peeked her head out, looking a bit haggard. She was peering around every which way with a sense of incredible paranoia. Her curly black hair was clean but a little unkempt and partially draped over her face, and she was wearing a black polo shirt from her job at a local grocery store. She had told me to get here at least 30 minutes before she’d have to leave for work, and I had.

“Hey Lauren,” she said, nodding with a forced smile in acknowledgement. “You don’t think Valerie had you followed or something, do you?” She was scanning the parking lot carefully and I couldn’t help but do the same. It was hard to think that I wasn’t being watched.

“No, no, it’s not like that,” I said. “I definitely don’t think our Mistress would encourage it.”

Emily let out an exasperated sigh. “I guess I can trust you on that. Come on in.”

I stepped inside, wiped my shoes on the mat, and put them on the shoe rack with her own. I’d never been over to Emily’s apartment myself. In fact, I’d only met her in person three times total: once when Valerie took her to our apartment the day she had saved her from her Goddess, once when she made it to our place for a board game night with some of our local friends, and the most recent time, about seven months ago, on the night that Mistress had taken me. We only really knew each other through Valerie, but I had known for a long time that Emily was my best lifeline in a situation like this.

“Hi, Emily,” I said, giving her an awkward hug that she accepted. It thankfully seemed like it was the appropriate gesture. “Thank you so much for having me. It really means a lot.”

“It’s no problem. I did it once for you and I’ll do it again,” she said. “But this time we’re not leaving the house at night under any circumstances. Only I can invite Valerie in, and that’s not gonna happen.”

I thought back to the night Mistress had taken me. Valerie had talked about how Emily’s apartment was feeling a little small, and she thought it would be a good idea to go back to our place since it was quite a lot larger and cleaner. But that had just been a trick to get us into a place where she could secretly invite our Mistress in. Here, I didn’t have any such capability. It made sense that Emily would want to be cautious, even if she had nothing to fear from Mistress personally.

“Alright,” I said. “That makes sense. But I do need to be clear with you that if my Mistress calls and tells me that I need to come out of the apartment, I’m gonna have to.” And of course I would. This was a matter of the relationship between Valerie and I that Mistress let us define ourselves, though She had helped spur it on, and if Mistress decided to assert control over that, I would easily accept it. I’d have no problem becoming Valerie’s thrall if it was part of my duties as Mistress’ thrall.

Emily gave me a withering look and said, “yeah, alright.” It struck me that if Mistress had taken Emily on the night She took me, I wouldn’t be staying with her now, most likely. I mean… maybe it’d still be possible, but I doubted that Emily would be anywhere near as paranoid and vigilant as she had become, way more than she had been back then. In some ways, it saddened me to see her this way. If she accepted Mistress’ love and Her fangs in her neck, she wouldn’t have to live in fear any more. But it was convenient…

Bringing myself here to begin with had felt difficult to justify. I was still a little scared that Mistress would be upset once She saw my letter, but on the phone last night, Valerie had only said that Mistress “would be there” with her, rather than that She specifically wanted to see me tomorrow night. If Mistress wanted to see me, She would call, I was sure. She was a good communicator and I’d always respond to Her call.

I sat down on the couch and tried to relax myself. It was going to be a long next few days… I didn’t want it to be any longer than it needed to be. Emily sat down next to me, a comforting look on her face with a hint of concern.

“You’re safe from her here as long as you need to be, OK?” Emily said, leaning forward to look at my face. “Can I touch your shoulder? Help you feel a little bit safer?”

It was probably a little hard to fully make out my expression behind my glasses, but I nodded, and she understood, and put her hand on my shoulder, patting it kind of sweetly and tenderly. She was making me feel really safe and secure in a way that few people could.

My phone was in my hands, and I considered calling Valerie back to try and hash this whole thing out. But it was light enough that she was probably asleep already, and I knew she’d see my note by nighttime. It was just gonna be difficult to stop myself from worrying and obsessing until then.

“You think it would be OK to put your phone down for a second?” Emily asked. “Let’s focus on the moment. Forget about Valerie for now.” She sounded pleading, like she wanted to forget about Valerie herself. I didn’t want to forget her entirely by any means, but I think I did get the point. She put her hand out for my phone, looking like she wanted to take it and put it on the side table next to her side of the couch, and I handed it over.

Emily held my phone in her hand for a few seconds, clearly hesitating…

And she threw it on the ground, stood up from the couch, and stomped on it with her foot in a single violent motion, striking her heel in with a startling kind of violence, shattering the screen in a way that I couldn’t personally repair at bare minimum, all before I could stop her.

“What the hell?” I screamed, grabbing Emily’s own shoulder. Her expression was one of righteous indignation and a kind of mad fury. I had never seen her this way before. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

But her expression calmed, and she looked back at me dead serious. I wasn’t the kind of person to actually violently lash out, but I was gonna need my phone back, and a pretty fucking good explanation.

“I think we’re both gonna be safer if Valerie doesn’t have any way to get ahold of you,” she said. “Not except on your own exact terms. It’s just not smart. I’m not taking chances again after last time.”

“Last time turned out fine, Emily, can’t you—”

“It didn’t, and I’m not risking it,” Emily said, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks. “And besides, this is gonna end with you going back to Naomi, isn’t it? I’ve seen her. She’s totally the kind of vampire who’ll just buy you a new phone, to prove how great a person she is and how much she actually really cares for you. Isn’t she? She’ll probably even get you a newer one.”

Mistress was sweet like that. I could hardly deny it. And now that the temptation to get in touch with Valerie prematurely was gone, I felt like I could finally relax.

Celia

Hannah sighed, holding onto my shoulder in a kind of quiet desperation as we sat in my car outside my house. We had just arrived back at my place after going to dinner with Naomi, and Hannah was about to either take her car and go home or come inside with me, but neither of those seemed satisfactory to her, so we had been stuck here for the last 30 minutes instead of going inside.

“I really just don’t know if—” she started.

“Hannah, honey, I have to,” I said, patting her cheek. “Jade deserves it. You know that, right? Keep in mind that even Naomi accepted it!”

“I mean, She didn’t say that so explicitly,” Hannah begged. She was looking at my front window, light shining out from inside, with dread and horror in her eyes. It was clear to me that she really thought I was gonna fuck over her girlfriend if I did this.

“Well, she knew what I wanted, and she could have stopped me if it was so important to her,” I said. “Given the kind of, uh, abilities she has, I’m gonna take it as implicit permission. And it has to happen anyway. I promised myself I would when we were in the restaurant, and now that I have the opportunity, I sure as hell won’t back down.”

Hannah groaned. “S-should, um, should I come with you? I’m gonna… Goddess, I don’t know if I could handle that.”

I gave Hannah a quick little kiss on the cheek. The goal here was hardly to make things more difficult for anyone. OK, maybe a little more difficult for Naomi, because telling Jade would give me a kind of leverage over her super secretive preferences. I didn’t really want to think of myself as having blackmail, but I couldn’t say it wasn’t convenient. It was defensive blackmail anyways, right? I wasn’t planning on forcing Naomi to do my bidding or anything. That was her go-to, not mine.

“Look, hon, if it’s gonna be hard for you like this, you should definitely go home instead, OK? Ask for some cuddles from Naomi or something. You deserve it. I get that tonight has been hard, but it’s gonna be better going forward. That’s why I’m talking to Jade.”

“OK,” she mumbled. “I love you, Cece, OK? Please don’t hurt my Mistress.”

I gave Hannah a big kiss on the lips and stared into her eyes. I knew she loved that kind of romantic eye contact; it wasn’t something she had the privilege of getting from Naomi most of the time, not without more drastic effects.

“I won’t. I promise,” I said. “I love you too, and I’m supportive of whoever you want to date. Just let me know right away if you meet any werewolves, OK?” I giggled.

Hannah nodded and said, “I will.” She squeezed my hand one last time before she stepped out of the car and walked over to her own, looking back at me with worry on her face. I wanted to prove to both her and Naomi now that I was right to trust Jade.

I got out of the car myself and unlocked the door. Jade was right where I expected her to be in our small townhouse at this time of night, sitting at her computer in the living room with her headphones on, playing her favorite first-person shooter Overlook with a couple of her other partners. She was a tall girl with brown skin and messy, straight black hair and glasses, wearing a green tank top with a brown cardigan over it and black pants. She liked to wear a lot of makeup even on days where she wasn’t going out at all. It was a really adorable thing about her.

Jade was too focused on the game to notice that I was even there at first, and I let her finish before bothering her. She was always up super late anyway and I didn’t want to get in the way of her night, especially with something that would be at least a little bit of a struggle to talk about.

When the game finished, she swiveled around in her office chair, and seeing me seemed like it scared her half to death. It felt like this sort of thing happened between her and I practically every other day.

“Celia!” she shouted, hand on her heart. “One sec, y’all, I’ll be back in five, probably. Start the next one without me.” She set her headphones down. “How’d it go, love?”

“Uh, it went OK, sweetie pie,” I said, giggling nervously. “You on mute?”

“I can be,” she said, clicking the mute button on Clamor. “What’s up?”

“Thanks. Might take more than five to explain, though.”

She nodded, waving her hand to indicate it was no issue. “That’s fine. I’ve been on for two hours, I could use a break. I’ll text ‘em if it goes on long enough to make ‘em worry.”

Jade stood up to give me a hug, and I hugged her back a lot harder and tighter than she was probably expecting. She had no idea how much I had needed this. I only let up when she started to gasp.

“OK, so here’s the long and short of it,” I said, leaving a few kisses on my girlfriend’s shoulder. “Hannah’s girlfriend Naomi is a vampire.”

Jade pulled away a little and looked at me with a little bit of worry, her arms still wrapped around my back. “What, like she just sucks all the energy out of the room?” She lowered her head with a bit of doubt, probably interpreting my high stress levels as coming from dealing with a really exhausting person. She wasn’t altogether mistaken.

“No, a real vampire,” I said. “The bloodsucking kind.”

Jade looked long and hard at me before responding, probably trying to tell whether I was joking with her.

“You’re serious?” she said. “Is she dangerous?”

I slumped down on my own office chair, looking down at my own lap. After tonight, I had no impression of how I ought to answer that question.

“I’d like to say no, but… I don’t know what to think of her,” I said. “I mean, OK. Hannah begged me not to talk about this with you, so I hadn’t, but I found this out because this other vampire—not Naomi—attacked me while I was visiting Hannah a week and a half ago. And she was gonna… well, she was gonna sink her fangs into me if it wasn’t for Naomi’s timely intervention.” I shuddered. After everything, I felt incredibly lucky to still be alive, let alone with my free will intact. I just hoped it would stay that way.

Jade walked over and rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. Her hand was weighing heavily on me. I felt so defeated, and it was a huge relief to finally tell her about all of this.

“Fucking hell. You’ve been having to hold all that in for a whole week?” she asked. “I don’t know how you always manage to stay so stoic, love.”

“Uh, yeah,” I moaned, trying to stave off tears. “Well, I didn’t like it, but Hannah’s so worried about upsetting Naomi, and I’ve gotta be worried about upsetting her too because she’s a terrifying super-sexy six-foot-three trans lady with superhuman strength and brainwashing powers and she’s been doing this for 200 years and it’s all fucked if I step out of line for a second, honey. You, me, Hannah, everyone, we’re all fucked.”

Jade looked paralyzed as I looked up. I was managing not to cry even though I wasn’t so sure that was a good thing. She was staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

“So… I’m guessing Naomi is, um, after you? She wants to drink your blood? And… she wants to make you her thrall or whatever?”

“Oh-ho yeah, she wants to drink my blood. That’s what all of this was about tonight,” I said. “But Hannah managed to talk her into drinking her blood instead. Nothing new for the two of them, let’s be clear. And she’s still after me long term.”

“So Hannah is Naomi’s thrall, I’m assuming? Has your whole relationship just been a pretense?” Jade asked, crossing her arms and starting to walk around. I knew how she got when things seemed rough. She wanted a solution to stop herself from panicking.

I groaned. “I was thinking the same thing, but if I wasn’t convinced that our relationship was genuine we wouldn’t be dating. Naomi’s just a… complication. Hannah’s her thrall alright, but I do think Naomi cares for her. She’s poly too, in her own weird way. They’re girlfriends. And Hannah, she actually came to Naomi willingly. I think that she needs therapy badly, but it seems like Naomi is giving her something kind of fulfilling, at least.”

Jade clapped her hands together. “Right. So Naomi was talked out of it tonight. Do you think she can keep being talked out of it?”

I sighed. “Maybe. I’d like to think so. Naomi’s, uh, got a whole complex about how she can’t trust anyone because people hate vampires as much as they hate trans people—yes, I know it’s a shitty comparison, trust me. But she is both of them, and I think if I can prove to her that neither you or I are gonna think she’s fundamentally evil just for that—”

“Oh god, that sounds like a nightmare to unpack,” Jade said.

“It is,” I said, nodding. “But I told her, and I hope you agree, that if she can show some fucking respect for your and my independence, then we wouldn’t have a problem. She, uh, hypnotized me and everything. Hoho, that was something, I’ll tell ya…” I shuddered, thinking back to the serene feeling that washed over me as the vampire had stared into my eyes. It was way too comforting to be trustworthy and fucking hell my girlcock was already hard over it could I just get ahold of myself?

“Uh, heh, what was that like?” Jade asked, with a hint of teasing that she seemed to be doing her best to hold back. After tonight, I was never gonna be normal about any of this shit again and it was probably showing in my expression and the trembling I was barely controlling. Now I completely understood where Hannah was coming from from every angle, even if I felt I needed to stop myself from succumbing to that feeling. The idea of giving myself up to Naomi and letting her take ownership of my body, mind, and soul did have its appeal…

“Well, uh, it was sure something…” I started. “But um, before we talk about any of that, the thing about thinking Naomi’s a bad person? And keeping her identity a secret?”

“I haven’t met the woman, but I’m hearing she didn’t hurt you,” Jade said. “And she sounds like she’s a complicated person in any case, and your metamour, so I don’t want to write her off. Sure, whatever! We can have a vampire in the polycule. Why not? I’ll go update the chart.”

She smiled, and I couldn’t ultimately say I was surprised that she sat back down at her office chair to open up the polycule chart she kept on her computer. But I wasn’t sure she was ready for how many branches off of Naomi she was going to need to add to be fully accurate…

“Don’t worry, love,” Jade said, looking over at me as she dragged an ellipse into place on the canvas. “We can work out all the tension from tonight together in just a few minutes.”

I laughed to myself. It was just like I had told Naomi — Jade was someone worth trusting.

Lauren

Three nights after I settled in at Emily’s house, I finally decided to reach out to Valerie.

In all that time, Valerie and Mistress hadn’t reached out to me, and they probably didn’t know where I was. I felt pretty guilty about that, and I worried about what Mistress would think. I really didn’t want to displease Her under any circumstances. I hoped that She’d eventually understand that Emily had broken my phone, so I hadn’t been able to return Her calls, despite what I had put in the letter.

Also, Mistress’ birthday was only a week away, and I had to reckon with the fact that I’d need to be there, regardless of whatever was happening with Valerie by that time. I was worried that as it was, Valerie was just gonna wait it out and get me at the party. I wondered if Mistress would be OK with that, though; it was Her day, after all, not Valerie’s — Valerie had already had her 28th birthday back in February, and Mistress had gone all out with celebrating, same as She did for all of Her thralls.

In any case, this was Mistress’ first birthday celebration since I had become Hers, and there would be nothing that would stop me from attending it. I was worried about being chosen for the birthday cake drawing while I was here, unable to see the group chat. The drawing was supposed to happen only the night before Her birthday, handled by Rachel, the longest-serving of Mistress’ thralls, but I’d need to be aware of any complications.

So I asked Emily to log in to Clamor on her computer, and reach out before my anxiety mounted any further. She had told me that my anxiety was the reason I shouldn’t reach out, that this was part of how vampires preyed on your thoughts, but I felt like my hands were tied at this point. This was my girlfriend we were talking about — as well as my Mistress. I couldn’t keep the two of them waiting for too long.

Emily insisted on hovering over my shoulder while I typed, though. She said that moral support was the most valuable thing that Valerie had given her.

<LovelyLaurie> hey valerie

its me

I decided to leave it at that until she responded, and Emily put her hand on my shoulder in a show of support and comfort. She had made hot chocolate for both of us since it was an unseasonably cold night for the spring, and she was insisting on taking care of me.

We had gone out to the grocery store for supplies yesterday around noon. Emily could’ve gotten groceries herself right after leaving work, she told me, but she thought that it would be good for me to get out. I had worn sunglasses hoping to disguise myself, but it didn’t seem like I was being spied on by one of Valerie’s thralls anyway. The only problem was that I didn’t know exactly what Cassie looked like, but I considered myself good at spotting suspicious people…

Other than that, we had mostly been hanging around, watching TV, playing video games… trying not to think about the inevitable confrontation with Valerie that was coming. She was putting on a show for my sake, but Emily was clearly taking this worse than me, and barely holding off a panic attack. Neither of us wanted to deal with the thing that had happened at my apartment again, only this time with someone who I really didn’t think I wanted to worship as a Goddess, unlike my Mistress Naomi who it was only rightful that I now belonged to.

I was determined not to let Emily into the line of fire. I didn’t think that Valerie would go after her anyway, but I hadn’t thought I’d need to worry about her coming after me this way, either. But this was an issue between only Valerie and I, just like I had written in my letter, not something that I would let put Emily at risk. And this was Emily’s home, a place that Valerie couldn’t enter without Emily’s permission. I wasn’t nearly comfortable enough here to be able to invite her myself — I was just a guest. Emily wouldn’t be forced to put herself at risk here by any means. Valerie didn’t have them.

No matter how much I tried to tell myself all that, though, everything became way too real as soon as I got a text back from Valerie.

<valerie_h> LAURIE!!!!

Oh Goddess

Oh Lilith

Where are you

As soon as I began typing a response, Emily began tapping on my shoulder.

“Think before you answer that, Lauren,” she said, staring at me with her big eyes. “You don’t have to tell her.”

I nodded, frowned, and thought for a moment before writing back.

<LovelyLaurie> i’m somewhere safe

i’ve been safe

you can tell Mistress that too

i lost my phone

just got on a computer where i can use clamor

sorry for not ever reaching out

it wasn’t really my intention

<valerie_h> Um

OK

Can I come and see you?

<LovelyLaurie> not right now val

i’m not ready

like i said in my letter

<valerie_h> Uhhhhh

When will you be?

I miss you, Laurie

Miss you so much

<LovelyLaurie> i miss you too

but you’re not like

apologizing

or saying you won’t enthrall me

etc.

i need something like that

before im even gonna think about seeing you in person

because you’re better than that val

and it’s eventually gonna happen

that’s what i believe

<valerie_h> I’m a vampire, Laurie!

It’s what I do

I drink humans’ blood and make them my thralls

It’s like

Normal for me

When I first got turned I was pretty much denying my nature

But you can’t fight nature

Mistress told me on the day I met Her that vampires are predators

It’s only natural we want blood from pretty girls like you

But we don’t even have to kill our prey

Mistress and I can take care of you together

And make you so happy

<LovelyLaurie> nature, seriously?

i’ve spent practically every day since i graduated high school fighting against nature

and WINNING val

Mistress too???

look at our big tits and stuff

<valerie_h> Oh Goddess sorry

<LovelyLaurie> i get its not what you mean honey

“nature” is super loaded anyway

the point is

there’s not some ingrained nature that you can’t deny

Mistress didn’t take emily

She didn’t take caroline

She didn’t take celia!!

you can sure as shit not take me

you’re almost a Goddess like Her right?

use the power you have to hold yourself back then

i love being your girlfriend

but i don’t want to be your thrall

<valerie_h> OK I

Might be misrepresenting Her words

I mean I didn’t get it when She said it back then either

I said She was just a parasite

But I get it now

I really am a predator

<LovelyLaurie> ok sure

let’s say you’re a predator

i mean it’s hot if Mistress says that!

and She really makes me feel like prey sometimes

but you know like a fuckin

lion or whatever

it doesn’t just kill every like antelope it sees

it’s selective

it doesn’t just go into a blind helpless rage

and we all know that Mistress can hold Herself back

<valerie_h> Look

I’m probably not explaining this properly honey

Let me give the phone to Mistress

<LovelyLaurie> ok

As Emily read Valerie’s last message, she seemed to instinctively cringe, crawling backward in the chair she had pulled over beside me, and said, “No, no, uh, Lauren, that’s enough Clamor, I don’t want you to—”

“I have to answer my Mistress, Emily,” I cut her off, swiveling the chair back around to meet the gaze of the scared woman. “Please, please, I don’t want to upset Her. I told Her I’d answer Her calls and I’ve already failed at that and frankly not done enough to try and follow through.”

She looked totally defeated as she opened her mouth to speak and said nothing for a few moments aside from looking down at her lap. But she did eventually look back up at me with a withering expression.

“I… I don’t want to fight, Lauren. If you have to answer her, go for it,” Emily finally said. “I’ve been there.” She gritted her teeth and continued, “But remember, you can’t invite her in here. I still won’t be enthralled again no matter what. Much the same as you and Valerie.”

I looked at the wall, where Emily had a sun-bleached map of the world hanging, worn by years of moves between houses.

“Well, I wouldn’t say never for me, I guess,” I said, feeling a drop of sweat trickle down my nose as my stress levels grew, even despite the cold weather outside. “I’m committed to hashing this out with Val, but if Mistress tells me that I should submit to her, I’ll do it. Then it’d be Her will, not just Valerie’s.”

“Yeah… you’ve said that, Lauren,” Emily groaned. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

I had said it, of course. I’d been thinking it since the first time Valerie texted me after being turned. But it didn’t seem likely that Mistress would do something like that. It was Her decision as always, but I knew Her pretty well after being Her thrall for six months, and everything She’d done since Valerie was turned pointed toward Her letting my girlfriend make her own decision about this.

I just wished that Valerie would drop this whole thing and acknowledge that it wasn’t actually inevitable, that our relationship fucking meant something to her, anything. For Mistress it was so different for both of us, since we hadn’t known Her at all before belonging to Her, so being Her loyal thralls was the foundation of our relationship with Her. Besides, being seduced by Her was really hot, I jerked myself off about it practically every day, and submitting myself to Her in an entranced haze was both the hottest sex I’d ever had and the best decision I’d ever made, one that was also inevitable because She willed it. Valerie and I had already built something very different together, an equal partnership built on mutual respect, and I didn’t really need another Goddess to order me around. One to worship was enough for me.

I mean, she would be talked out of this, right? She could be? Wouldn’t she?

I had to live as though she would.

But for now, I had to read Mistress’ message.

<valerie_h> Hello, dear.

This is your Mistress speaking.

Are you holding up well?

And where have you been?

I began to type a response, and I did it quickly — having been a writer since I was in middle school, I regularly reached speeds of 70 words per minute. But before I could hit the enter key, Emily forcibly grabbed my shoulder, rolling the office chair away from the desk and keyboard with me in it.

“What the—?” I hunkered down, screeching a bit as Emily stood from her chair to look at me with a kind of rage that reminded me of my Mistress when She was having a bad day. 

“Look at me for a second, Lauren,” Emily said. “How do you know that’s her? Naomi?”

“It’s how she writes—”

“From what I’m seeing, Valerie and Naomi type pretty similarly!” she shouted. “What if it’s just Valerie pretending to be her? Would you really know from four sentences? I don’t think enthrallment gives you, like, a psychic link.”

“It doesn’t!” I said, forced on the defensive. “But… Valerie wouldn’t do that. I mean, there’s no way that Mistress would approve of Her fledgling imitating Her.”

“You’re certain? Beyond any reasonable doubt, that if you send that message to her, with my address, that you’re not just sending it to Valerie?” she said, moving to meet my gaze when I tried to look away, serious like I hadn’t seen her since Mistress took me. “And I mean, consider that even if that is Naomi, you might as well be sending it to Valerie anyway! That’s still her account. And you think she’s gonna protect you? Against something like this? Fat fucking chance.”

I was drenched in sweat and stress now. I needed to find a way out. If… if that was Her, my Mistress, I needed to answer Her. I didn’t even want to keep Her waiting. But what Emily said did make some sense.

“My Mistress doesn’t have Her own Clamor account,” I said. “She just uses Morse to text all of us because it’s secure. She doesn’t trust Clamor. So She would be using Val’s account.”

Emily squatted down to match my height, putting her hand on mine softly, and said “Lauren, that doesn’t prove shit.” She spoke calmly, measuredly, without a hint of uncertainty, and I realized that she really was right on the principle of the thing.

“I’ll… I’ll put that message in the clipboard, alright?” I asked, motioning back to the computer. “And I’ll ask Her for something.”

Emily panted, closed her eyes, groaned with pain and fear, and nodded.

<LovelyLaurie> hi

is it really You Mistress?

how can i be sure?

i feel like i should have something more

because im worried vals tricking me

I hated writing every piece of that, even if Val really was tricking me. It would be a good precaution to take in that case, of course, but it would also erode even more of the trust I had for my girlfriend that already felt like it had considerably evaporated. I still wanted to believe that everything could be fixed and go back to the way it had been just a little over a month ago, before Mistress had been kidnapped. Some life changes, I could handle, but not this one… Val meant the world to me.

<valerie_h> Would you answer me on Morse, dear?

What has been happening?

You should respond to messages when I send them

I’ve been very anxious

<LovelyLaurie> i’m sorry Mistress…

i really genuinely would’ve liked to

but i told val

i lost my phone

i didnt even know i was texted

<valerie_h> What happened to it?

I will be sure to replace it, dear.

Emily was covering her face with her hands after reading that and letting out a loud groan.

“God fucking dammit,” she said. “It’s really her, isn’t it?”

“It does sound like something that my Mistress would say,” I said, giggling a little. She really was so generous with all of Her thralls. I hoped that there would be a woman working at the phone store when She took me so that She would really go all out and maybe fuck the both of us together. If it was a guy, She’d be a little disappointed and it’d be a 5-second, in-and-out affair without any embellishment. I wanted Mistress to get the full experience.

“Well, well, OK, this still doesn’t prove shit, Lauren!” Emily said, gripping the armrest of her chair tightly. “I mean, I might’ve guessed correctly, but Valerie knows what Naomi’s like a lot better than I do! She could just be copying what she thinks she’d say. Being really insidious about it.”

“Look, I’ll ask a follow-up question just for you,” I moaned. “But I need to answer Her sooner than later! And I know my Val wouldn’t do that!”

<LovelyLaurie> thank You so much Mistress

it got broken the day i left

i just

i know i can’t ask for a photo or something

but could You send a voice recording maybe?

<valerie_h> Lilith… I don’t think I realized quite how paranoid you’ve been.

I can’t say I understand it, but very well.

valerie_h sent file: recording.ogg

“Put on my headphones!” Emily blurted out, grabbing them off of the desk and throwing them onto my lap. “I’m not listening to that shit. I insist.” She stood up, walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, shouting, “Let me know when you’re done!”

A little annoyed, I put on the headphones and clicked play.

“Hello, Lauren. ▒░▒░▓▒▓░▒░▓▒░░▒░░▓▒, then respond to Me,” I heard. It was Mistress’ voice, her soft, silky, smooth, beautiful, seductive, amazing voice, unmistakable for anyone else’s even as Valerie’s voice had become near-irresistible as well. She had an old-fashioned sounding kind of Transatlantic accent, speaking in a mixture of old and new dialects, and… and it was compelling me. I had to obey. I was Her thrall.

“I am Mistress’ loyal thrall. My body and mind are Hers to use as She pleases,” I recited, succumbing to the trigger that had been spoken. There was no doubt remaining that this was Her.

Getting my bearings, I yelled back toward the bathroom, “All done!”

Emily peeked her head out a crack.

“What the hell was that? Some kind of… god, she put a hypnotic trigger in there, didn’t she?” Emily opened the door all the way to find me sitting in the office chair, the sound having flowed directly into my ears, the irresistible song of Her divine voice having flooded my eardrums in a way that it didn’t even when She spoke directly to me.

“She’d better not have activated your kill mode or some shit, I swear to god…” she mumbled, walking back to the desk apprehensively.

I giggled. “I don’t have a ‘kill mode’… at least I think I don’t. Really, Mistress could’ve done anything to me—”

“I know,” Emily interjected.

“—but She just made me recite my obedience mantra. It’s definitely Her. Only She could do that, I think. Maybe someone else if I really trusted them? Which definitely isn’t Valerie right now. And I’ve never been more sure it’s Her voice.”

Emily gave me a reluctant nod, and said, “Fine. I get it.”

Instead of sitting on the chair, though, she slumped down onto the carpet beneath her, splaying her arms and legs out in what looked like a stress-relief pose. I felt really bad for putting her through all of this, even though it was completely necessary. Mistress couldn’t be ignored.

But I was ignoring Her! She had ordered me to respond to Her right alongside that trigger, and I had to do it now.

<LovelyLaurie> Mistress

listening to You was so hot

i love Your voice

every time i hear it i just want to spend the rest of the day getting myself off

i belong to You

and You’re You

there’s no doubt left in my mind

<valerie_h> Good girl.

Then answer me, dear.

Where have you been and how have you been doing, and what happened to your phone?

Emily pulled her head off the floor and let out another moan of stress and fear.

“What are you writing?” she asked as I began to write, pulling herself up to be at eye level with the desk, craning her head up to see the computer screen. “No—no, don’t answer that, you don’t know that’s her, Lauren!”

“I have to, Emily!” I said, already writing my response. “It’s Her!”

She pulled on the office chair again and I jumped out of the chair, sending what I had written so far before falling to the ground.

<LovelyLaurie> i’m at emily’s apartment in amesbury

23 carriage ln

“No!” Emily screamed, as she pulled the router from the wall in the kitchen area, holding it in her hands, panting as her face turned red. “No!”

“I… I already told Her, Emily,” I said, laughing nervously. “The message was sent.”

“You… you’re bringing her here. Again…” Emily breathed. “I am not dealing with this again! I am not being put in this situation!”

She threw the router onto the tile floor of the kitchen, damaging it and probably destroying it, just like my phone. Goddess, she had become so unhinged! I was starting to feel a little scared.

“She’s… she’s not after you!” I shouted. “But she already knows we’re here! I can’t take that back any more than I could when the router was still in the wall…”

“Who cares if Naomi’s after me? Maybe you’re right. Maybe she won’t change her mind since that other time. But Valerie… Valerie’s gonna be here too. You realize that by telling Naomi, you told her, too, right? She has no reason to keep that from her, and it’s right there in Valerie’s DMs with you now. They both want the same thing. To fuckin’, make everyone love them with their stupid-ass powers. And… and they’re coming, Lauren! They’ll be here by the end of the night, I guarantee it! Can’t wait to not get any goddamn sleep!”

I looked down at the carpet, just the tiniest bit in need of cleaning.

“I know Valerie will come here,” I admitted. “I… I do wish that I could’ve just texted my Mistress on Morse. But… um, Emily, you didn’t really give me that option, when you broke my phone.”

Emily covered her face with her hand. “I guess it might have been a little hasty. Something where Naomi had her own account might’ve been smarter. I’m just a regular girl, Laurie. I’m trying to be security conscious and live my life one day at a time. Like Valerie told me I should.”

“Well, it’s done now,” I said. “It’s already night, and it’s not like we can text either of them back now, so we might as well wait for what comes next.”

It didn’t really matter how erratic Emily was or how many hasty decisions she made or what electronics she decided to destroy. She was my lifeline, well-chosen, and I’d be relying on her to the end.

Celia

Every day since the dinner — or really every night — I had been dreading getting the call.

I avoided bringing it up with Hannah or going to the hotel at all, because she would probably bring it up with Naomi if I did, and then the call would come sooner. That wasn’t a recipe for a healthy relationship, but then again, Jade was in the know now. I had her to lean on when I was stressed about what my super-evil super-sexy metamour was gonna do next. 

It was pretty surprising that she hadn’t even called me about what had happened with Jade after two weeks. Then again, I was pretty good at avoiding stuff that was stressing me out. Maybe Naomi was too… it was kind of hard to remind myself that she was still a person with her own idiosyncrasies and anxieties. Clearly, I had made her pretty anxious, which was probably good?

It wasn’t like Hannah and I didn’t go out. I just avoided broaching the topic of what Naomi was thinking about me, and Hannah seemed like she was making peace with that. I mean, she had stood by me at the dinner. Clearly she was in my corner here, although she had limited ways of expressing it. And the fact that Hannah wasn’t bringing it up with me probably meant that Naomi wasn’t bringing it up with her either.

When I did hear back from Naomi, it didn’t come in the form of a call, but rather a text. I was sitting on my couch at about 10 PM with my laptop on my lap, playing my favorite survival sandbox building game, Earthia, with Jade when I got it.

<Unknown> Hello, Celia.

This is Naomi.

Do I have the right number?

I kind of seized up before I could even think about answering the message. There was no way I could do this alone.

“Uh. Jade. Just got a text from Naomi,” I said. “Via Morse.”

She whirled around to face me, supportive concern in her expression that seemed to appear whenever Naomi and Hannah were mentioned since our conversation two weeks ago. Like I had told Naomi, I really believed that Jade wanted to coexist with her and accept her as part of the polycule. But that didn’t mean that her presence wouldn’t be straining…

“OK,” she said, twiddling her fingers. “You need me to close the world?”

“Might be good,” I said, nodding reluctantly. This was going to a be a whole fucking thing, wasn’t it?

Jade sighed, whirled back around, and saved and exited the game. Then she put her computer into sleep mode, stood up, and flopped down on the couch next to me, arm around my back. She made me feel a lot safer, even if we both had to contend with the fact that there was only so much we could do if Naomi really did want to bite me.

Then again, she couldn’t get in. According to Hannah, that thing about a vampire needing an invitation to enter a house was real, in the form of Naomi not being able to bring herself to do it otherwise, psychologically. I didn’t want to be put in a situation where I’d need to rely on something like that to not have the vital fluids drunk out of my veins, though.

“Can I see the message?” Jade asked.

“Yep. This is all I’ve got. I’m assuming that Hannah gave her my number.” I handed her my phone.

“OK,” she said, looking it over. “Well, look, it’s just a friendly reaching out, right? Maybe it’s not so scary.” She was clearly trying to rationalize rather than really believing it, but I always admired her optimism.

“Maybe,” I said. And then it felt like there was nothing to do but write a response.

<Celia Moon> Hey naomi.

What’s up?

God, was that too familiar or something? I didn’t really know her well regardless of any other aspects. All I could manage was to shrug at Jade kind of sheepishly.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> Hello, dear.

I trust you’ve been well the last couple of weeks?

Hannah seems to think so, at least.

<Celia Moon> I have been yeah.

How have you two been? haven’t seen her in a couple of days.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> Quite well.

Hannah is in her suite right now.

I believe she was playing the so-called “evil route” of that game Alpha Rune?

I disregard human notions of good and evil myself, you see, but I believe that Hannah considers this one rather disturbing.

I thought it best to leave her to it to preserve the atmosphere.

And she had been putting it off for some time.

<Celia Moon> Yeah i just read about it online even though we played the main game together.

A bit too close to home for my tastes.

Thanks for giving her some space too.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> Of course.

She deserves patience in all things.

“Shit, this is going pretty well so far,” I said, distantly aware I was probably about to look like an idiot for saying that.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> But I was messaging you because I’d like to come and see you soon.

At Hannah’s suggestion, I thought over my relationship with jealousy.

I think I could stand to improve myself in that area.

To better understand the sort of love my thralls have for each other, unfettered by their other partners.

That said.

I would still very much like to make you mine.

My birthday is on the 25th, one week from tonight. All of my thralls will be there.

I wouldn’t like you to miss it, darling.

And there it was.

“She’s seriously like that?” Jade asked, her mouth agape. “Two minutes of texts and she’s like ‘be my thrall’? This is just your second time talking, right?”

“Well, third,” I clarified. “Or like second and a half. When Valerie attacked me—”

“Oh, right!” Jade said, slapping her forehead in remembrance. I had told her the whole story. “Well, obviously that doesn’t exonerate—”

“It doesn’t make this normal,” I agreed. “But I guess that’s what you get from someone who almost never has to face any serious challenges in their life. I mean, most of the time.” I did want to acknowledge that she had been put in a cage and starved for five days. Hard to say that that wouldn’t have been a challenge.

<Celia Moon> Well,

I’m pretty much in the same spot about this that i was back at the steakhouse.

What if i came to your birthday party not as your thrall?

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> And I’d drink from you there?

That would not be practical, I’d think

“Is she that fucking dense?” Jade asked with utter disbelief.

I could only sigh and type a response.

<Celia Moon> Ok but what if i was not your thrall then or now or whenever?

And we could just be friends?

Metamours even.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> I have been celebrating my birthday this way for the last century and a half, Celia.

It was a practice that my thralls introduced me to.

I have always shared it with my thralls.

I’m a rather private woman.

Frankly, I have not even had the opportunity to celebrate my birthday with anyone other than them…

<Celia Moon> Then do you think it’d be a good idea to try?

Maybe?

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> I have been looking forward to my idea of things, darling.

I made up my mind before sending these messages

Do you understand?

<Celia Moon> Yeah i mean i understand what you’re saying.

But my answer is still no!!!

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> Darling, I

Lilith, this is frustrating.

Alright, I must admit, I am not accustomed to this.

Text messages are still something of a new technology to me, you understand.

I was not prepared for this sort of… hostility, I suppose.

“She’s only ever texted with her thralls, probably,” I said after looking over the messages. “She pretty much only does stuff with her thralls at any time for any reason, as far as I can tell. It… limits her capabilities, I think. She always gets what she wants, and if she doesn’t, she just tries to seduce the person until they cooperate with her. No idea how I can break through that…”

“That’s a hell of a complex,” Jade said. “I guess it’s good she can’t seduce you from here, right? So maybe you can leverage that somehow?”

I nodded, leaning against Jade while she wrapped her arms around me.

“I can certainly try.”

<Celia Moon> No particular hostility intended.

I’m just not gonna become your thrall.

We can just be y’know

Metamours.

Texting each other and being friends maybe?

Like,

Hannah told me you played Cubecrafter with her, right?

How was that? You like it?

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> I liked it reasonably well.

That game has a certain way of getting stuck in one’s head against all odds.

It was quite complicated.

Hannah built a very tall statue of me in the game. She put a great deal of work into making it a roughly accurate depiction.

She’s so loyal and loving.

Imagine what the two of you could accomplish together as my thralls…

<Celia Moon> Ok that’s nice

You see any movies recently? any tv?

I figured that if I kept her distracted enough I might have a chance. It was kind of like keeping up a conversation with my parents long enough to get them tired of talking and off of the phone, before they could say anything shitty.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> Hmmm

Well, there is Stephen Galaxy.

My Lauren showed it to me.

I felt slightly ridiculous watching a show for children, but it was very formative for her.

Actually, now that Lauren comes to mind…

Valerie here is sending text messages to her as we speak.

They’re girlfriends, you see, and Valerie very much wants to make her hers.

But Lauren is being very obstinate.

Much like yourself, Celia.

Humans like you are so apprehensive around my kind and I don’t understand it.

Don’t you realize that enthrallment is what’s best for you?

<Celia Moon> What makes you think that you know what’s best for me?

We’ve talked three times ever.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> It’s what’s best for all humans, darling.

Lauren, too.

She should know better!

She’s already been through this entire song and dance with me.

I’m trying to be patient with her and give Valerie time and space to decide what kind of vampire she is, but it’s perplexing to me. 

And rather frustrating.

Until tonight she had gone into hiding just to avoid Valerie, I believe.

And for what?

To deny herself the pleasure of enthrallment?

<Celia Moon> Well, look, naomi.

I don’t know all the details but you fuckin hated your begetter right?

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> I still do, even as he was buried two centuries ago.

There was a time when I would drink water just to piss on his miserable grave.

But that grew tiresome.

<Celia Moon> Ok

So you’re free of him.

That’s great!

Don’t you realize that you’re facing me, and Valerie’s facing Lauren, with a similar situation?

What if I get to the point where I want to piss on your grave too?

Jade and I were waiting with our breath held for her response. I was probably flying too close to the sun with that kind of comment. Then again, right now, Naomi had no way of getting to me.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> You wouldn’t!

I am not him.

I am far better, far sweeter than him.

I turned my fledgling as a last resort.

And I have always taken good care of my thralls without exception!

You will be housed.

You will be clothed.

You will be fed.

You’ll have anything you could ever want, large or small.

You’ll have no obligations other than serving and feeding me.

You’ll be delicious and deliciously submissive and you’ll help me take Jade, too.

Won’t that be lovely?

You two and Hannah hand in hand, singing my praises?

I eagerly await it.

“Uhhhh… is that right?” Jade said, suddenly terrified. She probably hadn’t expected to read her own name. “She hasn’t even fucking met me! She doesn’t know what I look or sound like. Or, you know, what my blood smells like. Does she know I’m fucking reading this?”

“I doubt it,” I said. “She just hears that there’s a queer trans girl like her and her mouth starts watering. I am so sorry, honey.”

I put my hand on her shoulder, wanting to protect my girlfriend, hell or high water. There was no way I was gonna let Naomi casually drag her into this.

<Celia Moon> Shut the fuck up!

And leave Jade out of this.

I don’t care how good you frame this as being.

I’m fine with just being friends and Jade is too.

We’re not exposing your secrets.

Just back off.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> I’ll warn you to back off yourself, darling, and keep your spurious comparisons to yourself.

I have dedicated my undeath to being anything other than what he would have wanted.

But I have little need to explain any of this to you.

Allow me to put it this way:

Come pay me a visit by let’s say the 23rd.

We can talk things out.

I’ll make things very comfortable for you, darling.

<Celia Moon> I can’t promise that.

<Naomi Hannah’s gf> Then I will have no choice but to have Hannah enforce my will.

She’ll come to your apartment along with me and drag you both out to see me.

But I would prefer not to reach such an eventuality.

I have been forced to make far too many compromises lately.

I want you for myself, Celia.

And I loathe relying on text messages.

This will be my last message. Come see me in person if you’d like to discuss further.

“What the fuck? What the fuck?” Jade said, holding her head in panic. I had been dreading this for what felt like a long time, too, ever since finding out about Hannah’s relationship with Naomi. It felt inevitable, and now the chickens were finally coming home to roost. Or the, like, bats or whatever.

I couldn’t let Naomi have Hannah betray me. At least working together, Jade and I would definitely be able to overpower her, but I didn’t even want to consider having to get into a physical confrontation with my own partner. It wouldn’t be Hannah’s fault, not really, but it would pretty much destroy everything we had together, and leave the two of us living in fear. Naomi would just send more thralls until she got what she wanted. I couldn’t live like that. I couldn’t make Jade live like that.

Giving myself up genuinely felt like a better option. This was how Naomi handled everyone, wasn’t it? It was how she’d been handling people for 200 years. It was probably how she had handled Valerie and Lauren, too…

I hugged Jade and kissed her on the lips, hoping it wouldn’t be one of the last times I’d do so of my own free will.

“Jade, I’m not gonna let her get to you. Not without your consent,” I said. “But you’re gonna need to be ready to update that polycule chart some more.”

<Celia Moon> Don’t send Hannah.

And keep away from Jade.

I’ll come myself if you do those things.

Expect me in the next couple of nights.

We can work things out.

My girlfriend and I looked at each other, forlorn. It was gonna be a long couple of days, and getting back to playing Earthia wasn’t sounding so simple.