MIND CONTROL 7:
Seduction’s Assault
A short story by Alvin Atwater
Continued a little over one week after story six…
I finally got around to doing some Iyan research. The internet could only do so much, so I went to the library. To my surprise I did find one book, old as it was, and skimmed through it. I felt the pages would crumble just to my touch. Apparently this stood as the remaining translation of the Iyan culture. And so I gave up my Thursday evening. The teachers could scold me later for not teaching the test failures, losers –I mean struggling students. My second objective however, needed to be done.
Alex Romero, scrawny dorky slightly younger brother of Craig Romero conversed with two other nerdy science club members. My original intention wasn’t to spy of course but when they arrived an hour after I did, I saw opportunity.
I still couldn’t get over that scene a week ago: Morgan, Gemini’s pretty much evil cousin, and the two brothers trading items. Days later, they made another trade just as I walked by. What could the idiots be trading that make them operate in such an overdramatic way? Secret, out-in-the-open trade?
“What’s taking the mediator so long?” one of Alex’s dork-ucles friends said. Get it, instead of Hercules…never mind.
“She’ll be here,” Alex said. “And she’ll have the stuff.”
The stuff? What is he selling, drugs? I shrugged. Need to get out of the open. The second I found myself in the Fantasy Section pretending to look at books, nearly knocking down Alvin Atwater’s Fragment, she entered the door, dressed in a black shirt and skirt. Gemini. What was she doing here? She seemed to be looking for something or someone. I kept myself hidden. Sure, she’s my friend, sort of but also a pain in the ass.
Suddenly, my cellphone buzzed. I glanced down and read the text message…. from Gemini. It read: I see you. Someone tapped on my back. I spun. There she stood, smiling.
“Hi.”
I was baffled. “How? When? But…” I stopped. This was Gemini. When it came to her, the thought of Iyan cursed objects flooded my mind. She loved to use the “magic” on me. Strange things always happened around this girl.
She moved in so close that a familiar cold series of minty breath softly pounded against my neck. Before I could react, Gemini placed her hand on my chest.
“Matt, you’re a terrible spy. I spotted you within seconds of stepping in here.”
“I –I’m not spying,” I lied defensively. Gemini looked into my eyes. There was something different about her today. I couldn’t point it out but I found myself lost in deep pools of blue. She…was a million times sexier than ever. I leered at every curve on her body, her lip gloss, her hot chocolate brown hair, her chest. The amazing smell of her perfume tickled my nose.
I moved in closer. She did too. This would definitely turn into more than a make out session. Something about this didn’t seem right. My lack of control –that’s when it hit me. I stopped.
“Alright, what did you do to me?”
Gemini…looked as if she would fall apart. I turned before her sad face had the chance to manifest. She poked my back. When I spun, she revealed a bright pink diamond, the size of a lemon. Of course. But of all the Iyan mind-controlling gemstones, this one I’d never seen. There are four legal and four illegal Iyan crests of mind control, the illegals being created by a faction within the tribe with a mission to destroy its corrupt leadership.
“Let me guess,” I said as I did many times. “You stole that from the archaeology club. Anything else?” If you knew Gemini as long as I did then you’d know that she almost always had more than one Iyan item on her.
“Just this,” she said, revealing a deep-blue ring. “Allows you to run really fast.”
I turned my gaze back to the pink gem. “It’s Seduction.” A small smile quirked on Gemini’s lips. My eyes widened.
“You do realize that I was about to do more than just make out with you?” I said. That only seemed to amuse her because Gemini’s smile widened. The urges to touch her did not fade. I strained to control myself.
“I know,” she simply said. I felt myself being mesmerized by those incredible blue eyes of hers. It is only then I realized that I was dead wrong to compare Love and Seduction as I once did. Seduction should be renamed to Lust. Unlike Love which induced its victims with feelings of innocent (I be it false) love, Seduction injected the feeling of wanting to have –I shrugged away the thought. Control, Matt, Control.
“How do you undo the effects of Seduction?”
Gemini shook her head. “You can’t. Seduction works in a unique way, pulling out your deepest needs and desires and exploding it vastly. Its effects will fade as soon as you satisfy its power.”
My eyes were still wide at the end of that explanation. I took a huge silent whiff of Gemini’s perfume. And we were so close. I pulled her really close. She giggled.
“Take me,” she whispered. “Right here, right now.”
I strained, my heart beating fast, pushing the beast back into the cage. This was too bold even for Gemini. She planned to take this as far as she could, her girlish curiosity leading us somewhere…trouble?
I needed to get out of that gem’s range circle. I never liked being under the influence of Iyan magic. And only once had I manage to resist its mind control.
I decided to abandon my spy mission. I’d figure out a way to deal with Morgan some other time. Gemini was at it again, reeling me into her cat and mouse game. She being the cat of course.
“I’ve got to go,” I said bolting for the door knowing very well she’d follow. She was beside me in less than a second.
“Let’s go to your house. As much as it is fun teasing you, Kate wanted me to pass some info to you regarding that basketball team mystery you were working on last month. But this cannot be overheard.”
I nodded but then my focus went to Gemini’s body. She may not run track anymore but she stayed fit. Just then, my lips were on her neck. I stopped when I realized people were staring. Gemini had a triumphant smirk on her face, used to this much attention, unashamed about me doing this to her in public. I blushed hard as I pulled away and sped-walk toward home.
Some douchebag yelled, “Get a room you two! Geeze!” I wanted to smash an egg in his face.
I wasn’t the least bit surprised at Uncle’s absence. He’s hardly ever home. Gemini barged in like usual and made herself at home. Her relatives were still visiting and she rarely stayed at her own house. She plopped on the couch in a vulnerable position. The tease began. I fought with all of my might to not look in that direction. I knew if I did, I’d get an eyeful of the treasure that awaited beneath the skirt. It was a losing battle, Gemini pretending to watch TV. I needed to force her to retreat.
“So what did Kate want you to pass to me?”
She got up and headed to my room, motioning me to follow. I did, curious about this secret message. When I entered, Gemini closed the door behind me. I became very aware of her, my control pulling away from me. She saw that as an opportunity to test Seduction at its limits and got really close to me, so close to where I could smell her perfume again, feel her cold minty breath, feel her. My control weakened.
“Let’s finish what we started earlier,” she said softly. Uh oh. My control vanished but I didn’t move. Rationality still stood, barely. But…Gemini kissed me, again and again, moving to my neck. I tensed a little. I felt seduction release a plethora of its Iyan magic as I pinned Gemini to the bed and began my own assault of kisses –from her amazing lips to her neck to her lips again. She moaned as I kissed her neck again, harder, massaging my lips into it. I stopped.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
“Wait. We’re slipping into the wrong genre.”
She attempted to pull my shirt off but failed when I pinned her hands to the bed. Seduction radiated more magic. It all seemed to absorb into me, making me crave Gemini more. I began to move my kisses lower and lower. Suddenly my cellphone buzzed. That snapped me back to my senses, at least temporarily. I checked the text, Gemini watching me with a sly smile on her face. The text from Brandon read: Matt, you may to come back to the school and bring Hero with you. The Romero brothers even regret trading away Colorless.
Seduction’s effect shattered as cold blood ran through me. I recalled what Gemini told me about it, that it’s the worst of the four illegals, the most dangerous. Nobody seemed to know its abilities. You mean to tell me the Romero brothers had something like THAT and traded it away. I realized that Morgan now had it in her hands… Was that bad or…good? Not according to the way Brandon wrote in that text. I needed to triumph Morgan before she used it. Hero wouldn’t be very useful. What if the gem could injure its targets? Blow them up –who knows? I needed a –the idea hit me.
“What’s wrong Matt, you’re pale,” Gemini said. I showed her the text. She paled too, to my surprise. That meant that this gem was dangerous enough to impale fear into gem girl here. “We’re not going.”
“What? Why?” I said.
“Wouldn’t it be wise if we stayed here and as far away from that area as possible?”
“Normally yes but Morgan has that gem and she will come for me,” I explained.
“My cousin? Why would she…” she paused. “Oh no…she’s always held the longest and deepest of grudges ever since she was that shy little girl. She sort of liked you a lot back then so when you stopped coming over, she took it the wrong away and held that against you. Now that she’s back in town, bored, she’s –”
“This is stupid,” I interrupted. “But something’s going on at the school. Brandon wanted me to bring Hero.” Another text buzzed. “And this one says to bring you too.”
“I want us to get back to what we were doing before the interruption,” Gemini said, snatching my phone and putting it to the side. Seduction let out a pulse as if on que and just like that, I was back in its grasp. Gemini softly moaned as I kissed her belly. I brought the kisses high again, up to her gorgeous face, making sure I enjoyed the hell of her lips before going to her neck. The cellphone buzzed. Seduction’s lure shattered, allowing me to become myself again. The text was from…Rachael? How did she get my number? It read: Matt, help. Please.
I immediately pulled from Gemini and replied, I’m on the way.
I shot Gemini a cold glare. “Let’s go. And pass me Seduction please.”
“No,” she said.
“Gemini, they’re in trouble. And your cousin’s behind it.”
She flinched and then sighed. “Not until you promise that after we stop her, we’ll…finish what we started.”
“Yeah, whatever, now pass me the gem. We don’t have much time.”
She kissed me, heavily, and then surrendered Seduction. I helped her stand.
“Can we…become official?” Gemini said.
“Official?”
“Boyfriend and girlfriend,” she said, holding my hand. After all of this, I did NOT intend to say no. Come on people, even I’m not stupid. Slightly arrogant but not stupid. I knew what I was getting myself into though –gem girl could often be a handful.
I put Seduction into my pocket, kissed her of my own, full, true accord and said, “I think we were official a long time ago.”
“So? Don’t try to vague it.”
“Yes, we’re official,” I said and then kissed her again. She hugged tightly.
“Matt…I’ve always loved you. Like the way soulmates do.”
I didn’t answer, just listened and felt her. My girlfriend. Gemini. Her cellphone buzzed this time.
“Let’s go,” she said. “It’s Chelsea.”
“Shouldn’t we go to your place and get some ammunition. Or maybe call the cops,” I suggested.
“No, I’ve got plenty on me,” Gemini said. “And the cops would be useless. I don’t want my cousin arrested for her prank but I do want to beat her at her own game. Besides, I think I may be catching onto that idea of yours.”
That idea. Of course –and I felt even more confident it would work. Gemini and I hurried to the school, the early evening sky settling in around us.
“What was that message you wanted to pass from Kate,” I asked Gemini as we entered the front gates, holding hands. She paled.
“Kate said that the Romero brothers were always bullied by the captain of the basketball team. They were there the night of the championship victory party and –”
I blinked. “That ties them to the scene. But wait…they were using Colorless to create hallucinations?”
I thought about it. So the last illegal brand of Iyan mind control is basically forcing someone into insanity with illusions.
Gemini and I hurried into the school. The hall was empty except for one thing: Chelsea on the floor unconscious.
“Chelsea,” Gemini cried as we rushed to her aid. Her eyes were glazed over, a tiny amount of blood trickling from her nose. Fortunately, she still breathed. She just wouldn’t wake up. This was no illusion. I gave Gemini a look. She nodded. We put Chelsea in a nearby classroom, in a desk with her head down so that it looked as if she was simply sleeping, which…she kinda was. Gemini checked for any physical harm. None.
“Is there any parallel to counter Colorless?” I asked Gemini.
“None of the illegals technically have parallels,” she said softly.
“Great.”
“We only have what we have and that idea of yours.”
I nodded. I felt kind of bad just leaving Chelsea there. Well, not really. Rachael was the next find, same way, unconscious. We put her in a classroom too. We found Brandon next, peeking around the corner, pale.
“Hey,” I said as I tapped on his shoulder. He jumped, hand on heart, even paler if that was possible. “Sorry man, didn’t mean to scare you.” He simply fainted in response, a familiar trickle of blood oozing from his nose. “Hey!” I patted his face. No response. “What the hell is going on here?” I looked around the corner to see…nothing. Brandon on the other hand looked as if he watched someone or something.
“We’ve got to go,” Gemini said. “Morgan probably overused it on them. The brain can only take so much abuse.” We proceeded down another hall. “This is taking too long. I’m going to race ahead and see if I can find her.” She kissed me.
“Wait –this doesn’t feel right. We shouldn’t split up.”
My warning didn’t reach on time as she blurred off using that speed ring. I sensed a little irony in that for the ex-track runner.
Minutes later, as I tried to track Gemini’s trail, I heard some loud shuffling. Gemini yelped and then silence. I dashed around the corner to see a brown-haired girl wearing a cat mask standing beside Gemini. Morgan held two Iyan gems. A purple one I knew as Hatred and a glimmering clear one that I didn’t recognize. Definitely Colorless. Crap. She pulled off the mask to reveal the hot blue-eyed girl she was and smiled. Gemini’s eyes were glazed, her lifeless stare indicating Hatred’s influence.
“Morgan, this is childish,” I said. “Right now we could be playing video games, eating pizza, enjoying the company of friends. Instead we’re here. What the hell?”
Morgan just laughed. “That’s funny. Gotta remember to write that down.” She shook her head and then flashed Colorless. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would get the chance to hold this one. Watch.” My eyes widened as she stabbed Gemini in the heart with a butcher’s knife that materialized from literally nowhere. I tried to move, horrified –fear, shock, pain, and adrenaline raged within me, yet I couldn’t. Then in a blink of an eye, the knife vanished, Morgan stood in her original spot as if she never moved, and Gemini was fine. A wide smile curled across Morgan’s face. “Awesome, right?” My heart still raced –that illusion looked and felt so real. The sounds…. the smell of blood and death. “Anyway, I need Gemini here to beat you up.” I cringed when she tapped Colorless again. Five clones of Gemini appeared, each with that glazed look in their eyes. “Matt, if your brain believes them to be real, it’s going to hurt, a lot.”
“So this is what you’ve become, Morgan,” I said softly. She narrowed her eyes and tapped Hatred, its purple body shining in response.
“Make him worse than the others,” she barked. “Beat him up good.”
The clones with the real Gemini rushed at me. A sense of calm and disappointment flooded me as I looked Morgan in the eye. I started for her, effortlessly dodging the punches of each Gemini as they attacked one at a time. I wasn’t going to hurt her or let her hurt me. Both would probably make her sad face manifest. Morgan’s eyes widened, unable to understand how I easily dodged her little attack drones with barely any effort. Hell, I didn’t know how I did –time just seemed to slow down. She tried to make more illusions come for me: monsters, animals, the works. And I still dodged them with ease. Morgan tried to run but I grabbed her arm, pulled out Seduction, and tapped it. She blushed furiously, gasped, and then fainted. Morgan was still shy and…mislead by her own thought process. Or just wanted attention. I would ask Gemini to talk with her later.
The monsters, Gemini clones, and all the other illusions vanished. I walked to a window with Hero, Seduction and Colorless in my hand, opened it, and launched the gemstones as hard as I could into the empty parking lot. To my surprise, they shimmered rapidly and there it was: an explosion. Two illegals and a troublesome legal reacted. They won’t be missed.
I turned around. Gemini rushed into my arms.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried.
“You’re fine,” I said. “Let’s just make sure everyone gets home safely.”
The thought of how I dodged the clones and the monsters still rang in my head. I shoved it away.
I’m pretty sure there are more Iyan items out there to ruin my life. Gemini became my girlfriend but I was certain that she wouldn’t stop her gem-obsessed ways. Maybe slow down. I’d influence that.
Her whack family is a problem though, to make even shy Morgan convert…but don’t we all have weird families. Even if only a few members are crazy.
So that’s it people. Colorless is gone. At least I hoped. Nasty little gem. I doubt even Gemini would use it –the way she paled made it look as if it made her skin crawl.
Well…she and I –we’ve got quite a way to go. Only stars to reach for.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
