Yes! John Surrenders!

John stared at me, his confusion only growing as Simon tied me up on the bed, making sure I could do nothing to stop him. He clearly couldn't wrap his head around what was going on.

"You should gag me as well, tiger," I told Simon. "I don't know how mean Ashley is gonna get, and she certainly knows how to hurt your feelings." I could sense her inside of me, still asleep but ready to spring out. She was gonna be furious, I could tell. "Also she might try and hurt herself. Bite her tongue, or something." I shrugged, and Simon's eyes grew wide. He clearly hadn't considered it.

"Yeah. Yeah you're right," he mumbled, and soon a piece of cloth was stuffed in my mouth and tied in place.

"Can you tell me what the fuck is going on here?" John asked, clearly annoyed and freaked out at the same time.

"Shut up." Simon said, and pointed the gun at the guy's head again. "You're gonna undo all your suggestions, but only after I say so."

"Okay, okay!" John stammered. "Let's get on with it."

"Good," Simon groaned. He turned to me and looked me in the eyes. "Dancing twilight, Mary. Dancing twilight." The trigger was sinking in, and I could feel myself melting away, my thoughts becoming fuzzy and unclear. My eyes were closing, and I knew Ashley was about to come back.

I blinked and looked around. I was on a bed, and I couldn't move. Why couldn't I move? I tried to speak but there was some gag in my mouth. What the hell?

Simon was standing by the bed. "Ashley?" He asked, looking at me. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. What the fuck was going on? Then I noticed it, Master's face, behind Simon. My heart stopped, and I froze. He was looking at me, clearly scared and confused. He was sitting in a chair, his hands tied up. No! Adrenaline rushed through me.

A bundle of incredibly strong suggestions pushed me to lash out at Simon, to hurt him, to destroy him. How dare he do this to Master?! Who did he think he was?! The fucker!

I tried to scream at him, to let him know he's made the biggest mistake of his life, but my voice was muffled by the gag. I was struggling to get free, to get loose, to get at him and hurt him, but I couldn't. He was there, looking at me with his stupid, sad, puppy eyes, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to claw them out of their sockets.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked. He was holding a fucking gun to my master's head now! My master! I couldn't bear it. I tried to struggle, but to no avail. I was crying now, screaming into the gag, my heart breaking at the sight before me, my body shaking with impotent fury.

"Alright, alright..." Master said, and I looked at him, hoping to hear something that would put my mind to rest. "Ashley, Code White."

I froze, and my vision blurred. I closed my eyes and relaxed. Code White? I felt like I was waiting for something. I was under, but not really. What was I supposed to do? Oh! Right! I was supposed to pretend, unless...

"Apple, Apple, Apple." Master's voice said. This time my thoughts went completely blank. Everything was gone. My entire being was a void, and the only thing left in it was my master's voice.

For a while, he spoke to me, slowly canceling all of his commands, all of his suggestions, all the things that kept me in his service. I listened, and I obeyed. At first, I dreaded the thought, but as his commands started to vanish, I felt a new sense of freedom, like a heavy load was being lifted from my shoulders. It felt like my brain used to be a bag of knots he had tied, and he was slowly, carefully, untieing them one by one.

"Now..." He mumbled, sounding tired. "I guess you want to put your own suggestions inside her head?" He was talking to someone else.

"What?" Simon's voice answered. "No. I don't. I want her back. Completely."

John laughed, but it was a sad, defeated laughter. "You sure? You really want her back without a safety net?"

"What the fuck are you even talking about?" Simon asked, annoyed. "I'm not like you. I don't get off on messing with other people's mind without their consent!"

"Oh, please!" He scoffed. "You're exactly like me. You think your slutty girlfriend hasn't told me all about how much you enjoyed fucking with her brain?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Simon shouted. "I'm freeing her. Period!"

"Jesus, you're a moron, aren't ya?" John chuckled. "Look. How do you think she's gonna react to what happened? You think she's gonna be happy? Grateful? She's probably gonna flip, dude."

"Why do you even care?!" Simon sounded pissed, now.

"Want her to go to the police? I don't. She'll turn on us, on you. Your love isn't enough to erase the fact we fucked up her mind and turned her into a whore." John sounded cold and calculated now.

I heard footsteps, someone pacing. "No. No way. I'm not doing that to her. I'll deal with it. I'm not gonna mess her mind up again."

"You better," John said. "Because I swear that I'm not gonna let you put me down in the mud alone. If she's gonna come for my ass, I'll make sure yours is right there next to mine."

There was a long silence. "Dancing Twilight." Simon's voice finally said, and then I lost myself for a while.

I shook my head and blinked. For a moment, I just stared at the ceiling, trying to get a grasp on my thoughts. Oh, right! I was back. I raised my eyebrows playfully and looked around. Simon took the gag off my mouth and sighed. "Mary." He said. I smiled at him.

"Hello, tiger," I whispered.

He untied me and helped me sit up. "Is Ashley...?" He asked, looking at me worriedly.

"She's fine," I nodded. I could feel her in there, and she wasn't as angry as before. All of John's suggestions were gone, and all I could feel from her was fear and uncertainty. She was confused and disoriented, and I certainly couldn't blame her. Thank God I didn't have to deal with that. I was still there, a loyal servant to her boyfriend. I smiled at Simon and winked, and he smiled back.

"Let's bring her back."