Halloween in college was different, it turned out. No help from her parents, difficult to go anywhere but a thrift store, no money or desire to buy anything complicated.

Her best friend, Kelsey, was a sophomore, and had done the whole process before. Kelsey had introduced her to drinking, too… and fraternity parties, and weed… Kelsey knew her way around a lot of things and seemed to love sharing everything with her.

So it should not have been much of a surprise when she approached Miranda one night in her dorm.

“What are you gonna be for Halloween?”

“Oh, I dunno. Haven’t gotten there yet. Do you already have plans?”

“Yeah, I wanted to hit up Jimmy and his friends. Also, he’s making a booze run that night so we’ll have our vodka.” She winked, and Miranda gave a small smile. Miranda liked her quite a bit but the two were really opposites; Kelsey was fun and adventurous and energetic, and like a perfect cliche Miranda was boring and embarrassingly inexperienced. With a lot of things.

Not the least of which being Jimmy, but that’s an entirely separate story.

The two of them worked surprisingly well together as friends, enjoying each other’s company and banter. And Kelsey took pride in being a “mentor”, as she liked to refer to it. Miranda usually preferred the term “bad influence”.

Miranda was curious about Halloween; Kelsey clearly already had everything planned out.

“Well, what were you thinking of being?”

Kelsey giggled and looked at her without skipping a beat.

“Brainwashed.”

Something felt like it took the air right from her chest and held her by the pussy.

What the fucking… Nope, no time to even begin to analyze why that statement from her best friend – a girl –

She swallowed everything.

“O-oh?” Her tongue felt thick.

Kelsey nodded and played with part of her hair.

“Yeah, like a Manchurian Candidate type thing! Easy costume, you know?”

Kelsey tried to steady her voice for a joke.

“So when you wake up, you’ll try to kill someone?”

“No, silly! I’m a girl.” As though that explained it.

Miranda shrugged at her. Kelsey gave that warm, oh-you’re-so-cute-when-you’re-clueless smile.

“Haven’t you seen Mean Girls? Halloween is an excuse for girls to be sexy,” she explained. Miranda was starting to feel dread and arousal in the pit of her stomach.

“Uh huh…”

“Well I was thinking,” Kelsey said, “we could do a sort of joint costume? Where you had the trigger for me – I’ve got this queen of diamonds card, like the movie – and some time during the party you’d show it to me!”

Oh god.

“And when you’re… triggered?”

Kelsey winked. “I want to keep that to be a surprise! But it’ll totally be hot.”

Miranda wanted to hide, or curl up, or beg to ask what it would be. She stayed silent and nodded and forced a smile.

Before she could even think.

“Alright, sure.”

Kelsey beamed, so upbeat, and reached into her pocket to fish out… a playing card, extending her hand to give it to her.

Miranda took it with trembling fingers.

Queen of diamonds.

Kelsey was talking and she sounded so excited, but Miranda wasn’t hearing her. When she left for the night after a few minutes, Miranda… Miranda masturbated.

–

How could she be doing this? How could she want this? This sick, hot little fantasy she barely even knew was there was something she began to obsess over.

The internet told her there were a lot of people who shared her desires. Stories, pictures, even audio files with the intent to… brainwash… unwitting listeners into… mindless drones…

Her brain stuttered over the thoughts. It took every ounce of willpower not to try them out. Miranda wanted to leave fantasy as fantasy.

And yet it felt impossible with the looming thought of Kelsey going wide-eyed and blank at the sight of that card in just a couple days…

But it wasn’t real. This wasn’t real. This was just a Halloween costume.

…of a girl, losing her will and self at the sight of a card…

…she didn’t even know what Kelsey was going to do when she was triggered…

She fumbled with her belt and pushed her hand down her pants for the second time that day.

–

She swore off masturbating after the crippling guilt that came from that last orgasm. This was her friend, not some porn. It was ridiculous to think about her like this.

She didn’t even know if it was wanting to see Kelsey like that, or if she was jealous that it was Kelsey instead of her.

Regardless… she shoved those thoughts down inside of her, and the tingle that went with them.

Kelsey was her best friend. They’d go to this stupid party, get drunk, get it over with, and everything would go back to normal.

As long as she didn’t think about this anymore, in that way, she would be absolved.

The two had decided to grab a late dinner at the dining room, so Miranda grabbed her bag and headed to Kelsey’s room.

The door, usually open, was shut.

“Kelsey? You there?”

No answer. Was she taking a nap or something? Jeez, Miranda had told her how over sleeping would ruin her for class the next day –

When she knocked, the door pushed open, not having been fully closed.

“Hey, Kels–”

She stopped short. Kelsey’s computer screen, facing her, was taken up by a whirl of color, spinning ever inwards, and Kelsey… was staring at it, headphones over her ears, wordless, not even noticing her.

Her heart almost fucking stopped.

Miranda bolted. Shut the door behind her. Walked briskly back to her dorm room. Closed her own door.

– sitting staring blankly dripping at the spiral –

Her pussy throbbed helplessly at the image burned into her brain.

– brainwashing herself –

No. No, there was no way. No way this was real. This was absurd. She felt like she was going to be sick, she was so fucking turned on.

A knock at the door allowed her no time to process, again.

She considered not answering it, but she had already gotten up to open it.

Kelsey.

Miranda almost moaned, or screamed.

Kelsey smiled triumphantly.

“Well, well, how the tables turn,” she said, “usually you have to drag me out of bed!”

…She literally hadn’t heard or seen her.

Miranda was dumbfounded. She didn’t know if she was relieved, or terrified, or…

“I- I knocked but you didn’t answer.”

because you were busy –

Kelsey frowned, confused. “Well that’s odd. I’ve been in all night. Oh well. Ready for dinner?”

Shaky, Miranda nodded, and tried to forget about the girl she saw in front of that computer screen.

The girl she had dinner with was the same old lively Kelsey, babbling on about her professors and homework and the party Miranda had missed last night.

She got back to her dorm.

The party was tomorrow.

Queen of diamonds sat innocently on her desk.

Miranda masturbated.

–

The next day was a shaky blur. She wondered if it was all some disturbing dream. But every memory was so vivid, each time she even approached them they consumed her with shame, fear, guilt, craving…

7 pm came. It was time to go.

Kelsey wasn’t dressed in anything terribly revealing, just her usual party fare. A tight black tank, skin-hugging jeans, and heels. Miranda wore a nice sweater. She wondered suddenly if Kelsey was going to strip.

…In front of everyone, mindlessly revealing more and more skin, mouth hanging open as she –

Please, she begged her brain. Please stop.

“Ready to go?” Kelsey grinned wickedly at her.

She nodded.

This was it. They bundled up for the walk – it was a chilly October – and Miranda wanted desperately to forget to bring the playing card but ended up shoving it with clammy hands into her pocket.

They trekked across campus to Jimmy’s dorm. Kelsey told him that most of Kappa whatever would be there too and that the party was definitely going to be lively.

When they arrived, the small room was packed and almost everyone was in costume. Some of the guys were dressed as members of the football team, others had animal head masks (an amusing, if odd fad on campus recently) and one was a toilet paper mummy, with material he had surely gotten from the dormitory bathroom.

Miranda watched her sidle up to Jimmy for a flirtatious hug. She smiled a little to herself. Kelsey never changed. Even brainwashed.

God.

If she was drunk this might be easier, so the two of them hit the bottle of vodka until the room was spinning.

“You need to show me the card.” Whispered in her ear. Setting her on fire.

“I’m scared,” she confessed quietly, drunkenly.

Kelsey grinned. “Why? It’ll be soooooo fun…”

Did she really not know? Or did she know and… no… There was cluelessness in her words… but such a drive behind them…

You’re going to go away, she wanted to say.

I’m scared that I want to see that, she wanted to say.

I’m scared that I want…

But Kelsey was up to something else.

“Hey guys,” she announced, slurring a bit. Miranda wanted to slap a hand over her mouth but sat frozen.

“Guys. Can you guess my costume?!”

The room focused on them. Blood thundered in Miranda’s ears. She wasn’t listening to the shouts and guesses. No one knew but them.

Kelsey gleefully told them all that they were wrong and kept looking sideways at her. Expectant.

“Here’s a hint,” the girl said, and stared at Miranda.

Fuck. Goddamn it… There was no time left… she was so drunk…

She pleaded with her eyes, but Kelsey only flicked her gaze to her pocket.

It’ll be over soon…

She pulled out the card, trembling, and flashed it in front of Kelsey’s face.

The smile fell. The girl’s eyes glazed. Time slowed down. Miranda’s cunt screamed. Her heart pounded.

Kelsey looked her squarely in the eye, but her gaze was focused behind her.

That look was so, so fucking hot.

“That’s this slut’s trigger,” she murmured, toneless.

Miranda wanted to die. This wasn’t happening. The room around them was hushed and tense. She tried to ignore them. God she was going to explode…

She rose almost mechanically and walked towards her. There was whooping and cheers in the room, a bunch of drunk frat boys wanting some lesbian action, and it looked like they were going to get it but god, they had no idea what was going on here, no clue why Kelsey was so fucking silent as she came in to touch – her – shoulder – and – lips –

Warm, feminine breath on her cheek, lips dragging towards her own, and Miranda was dead frozen too, terrified and turned on… Mourning the loss of her friend but so blazingly attracted to the automaton in her place… Wanting so desperately…

Her lips were so soft and so hot and she moaned and the room faded away even as the cheering reached a crescendo.

“K-Kelsey…” You can stop this now, stop the act, PLEASE –

“Kelsey is gone,” the girl whispered, and kissed her again, and Miranda damn near came on the spot.

She had never wanted anything so badly in her life.

The moment seemed to last forever, and when Kelsey pulled away, she looked at Miranda with the most empty eyes, and smiled.

“I’ll make you a drone too,” she breathed.

Miranda choked, cheeks on fire, pussy throbbing.

“H-how…”

Because…

Because I…

“Kiss me and let go of your will…”

Her eyes nearly rolled up, the room forgotten, the cheering unheard.

All that mattered were those lips and that brainless, blank girl that they were attached to…

Miranda leaned in…

…and gave in…

…and forgot.