Awakening

Michael's eyes fluttered open, and he was met with a wave of disorientation. His head was pounding, and it felt like there was a war going on inside his mind. He sat up, wincing as the room spun around him.

"Michael!" his mother's voice called out, followed by his father's, "Aren't you going to school today?"

Both voices felt like it was spoken with a loud dangerous speaker right into his ears.

Michael groaned, covering his ears to block out the loud noise. He fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as it seemed to writhe and twist above him. The fan overhead appeared to be growing bigger, its blades spinning with an otherworldly speed.

He closed his eyes, trying to recollect what had happened. The last thing he remembered was going to the school lab, and then walking home afterwards, feeling tired. But what had happened after that?

Forcing himself up, Michael stumbled to the bathroom, where he brushed his teeth and washed his face. He sighed, gazing at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes looked like they were bulging out of their sockets.

A loud knock on the door made him curse and wince. He poured more water on his face, trying to shake off the lingering fogginess. He opened the door to find his mother standing there, a look of concern etched on her face.

"Holy cow, Michael! Have you been drinking this early in the morning!" she exclaimed.

Michael's gaze drifted to his mother's hair, and for a moment, it seemed like the strands were writhing like snakes something out from a Medussa. He cursed, closing his eyes to clear the bizarre image. When he opened them again, everything was back to normal.

His mother smiled, oblivious to the strange things that was happening to her son. "Go take your bath, dear. The food is ready, and it's almost time for you to head to school. Unless you want to call in a sick day?"

Michael nodded, still feeling a bit off-kilter. "Okay," he muttered, closing the door on his mother's concerned face.

As he began to prepare for school, Michael couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off. The strange visions, the pounding headache...he was going crazy and he believed it had something to do with what happened to him at the lab yesterday.

Few minutes later, after he was done with preparing Michael moved downstairs, his feet heavy with the weight of his own confusion. He joined his parents for dinner, but the conversation was stilted, his mind elsewhere. As he ate, his mother asked him how school was going. Michael replied monotonously, "It's fine."

His mother frowned and looked at him. "What?"

Michael looked up, his eyes locking onto hers. "You asked me how school was."

His mother's expression turned puzzled. "I didn't say anything."

Michael's gaze shifted to his father, “Surely she asked me how school was going right now, come on.”

who shook his head. "You didn't hear her ask you anything, son. She hasn't said a word, you know how she is with talking while eating."

Michael's hand drifted to his hair, his fingers raking through it as he tried to process what was happening. Was he going crazy? The room seemed to spin around him, the voices of his parents fading into the background as his mind reeled with the implications.

His father's voice cut through the haze, "Son, what's wrong?"

Michael's eyes snapped back into focus, his gaze locking onto his father's concerned face. "It's fine," he muttered, pushing his chair back from the table. "I have to go. I need to be at school early."

He **** himself to eat a few more bites, his stomach churning with anxiety. His mother's voice followed him as he grabbed his school bag and made a hasty exit. "Michael, what's wrong? You've been acting strange since yesterday..."

Michael didn't answer, his feet carrying him away from the house as if driven by a mind of their own. He walked to school, his head down, his eyes fixed on the pavement.

He was crazy, that now is certified: there was no doubt whatsoever. The voices, the visions...it was all too much.

As he turned a corner, a squirrel caught his eye, its tiny body darting through a hole in the fence. The sound of its chirping seemed to blend with the hum of the bees flying overhead, their squeaking noises weaving together into a different sounds that threatened to overwhelm him.

These sounds were tiny, there was no way he could have been able to hear all this if he wasn’t loosing it.

Michael's hands flew to his ears, his fingers closing around the earbuds in his pocket. He jammed them into his ears and raised up the volume, letting the music stop the sounds going off in his head.

*****

Michael sprinted through the school corridors, his feet pounding the floor in a frantic rhythm. He burst through the doors, his eyes fixed on the lab which he knew held the answers to whatever nonsense it was he was facing right now.

Hell, he needed answers, and he knew they lay hidden within those walls.

He grasped the door handle, but it refused to budge. Locked. Michael's face twisted in frustration as he spun around, his eyes scanning the empty corridor. That's when he saw her - a cleaner, her eyes fixed on him with an unnerving intensity. Her smile seemed evil, like something that was aware of the situation he was passing through right now, it was a knowing smirk that made Michael's skin crawl.

He raised a hand, rubbed his forehead and, just as he tried to open his mouth to speak the cleaner vanished into thin air. Michael's eyes snapped wide open, his mind reeling. What was happening to him?

He looked around to find the woman but just then a hand tapped him on the shoulder and he jolted, turning around in fright.

“Fucking Christ, Mich…” James groaned.

Micheal looked around, still searching for the woman.

He turned around to find James staring at him, a look of concern etched on his face. "Dude, what's going on? You've been standing here for ages, talking to...no one."

Michael's gaze drifted back to the spot where the cleaner had stood. "Did you see her?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

James shook his head. "See who?"

Michael's shoulders sagged. "Never mind." Maybe he was seeing things. Maybe he was losing his mind.

But then, a spark of anger ignited within him as he turned back to the lab door. "Fuck this," he muttered, his eyes blazing with determination. "I need to break this."

The words had barely left his lips when James's hand shot out, slamming into the door with a loud thud. Michael's eyes widened in shock and just as he wanted to speak, James hit the door again and again till Micheal had to step in. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded.

James stumbled back, his eyes wide with fear. "I...I don't know," he stammered while looking at his hands. "Something took hold of me. This wasn’t me Mich, this wasn’t the fuck me.”

Michael's gaze locked onto James's hands, his mind reeling with the implications. It was him. He had done this. His thoughts had controlled James's actions.

James turned around, looking around frantically before he turned and ran as fast as possible towards the direction of the classroom.

A few moments later, Michael went into class himself as he continued to feel the fungus growing inside him, changing him. He saw everything differently now - the way the light reflected off the windows, the sounds of the students' whispers, the thoughts that flitted through their minds.

The next person to fall under Michael's influence was Emily, a shy and introverted student he had secretly crushed on. As his spores infected her, he felt her mind merge with his, her thoughts and memories becoming his own.

Emily was thinking of going home and spending the day alone, lost in her own little world. She loved playing with her toys, she had a vibrator, different dildos and she had bought a recent one which got delivered just yesterday.

She can’t wait to get home and use them. Always the shy ones Micheal thought. Her mind was filled with lustful images, but outside you won’t know she knew anything about sex.

Michael was fascinated by her thoughts, and he reached out with his mind, testing the limits of his control.

"Remove the band from your hair and the hair strand from your hair," he thought, his voice echoing in Emily's mind.

Without hesitation, Emily reached up and removed the band before she brushed the strand of hair behind her ear. Michael was stunned - it was working. He was controlling her.

Next, he told her to scratch her hair. Emily's hand rose, her fingers digging into her scalp as she scratched. Michael watched, mesmerized, as Emily acted out his every thought.

What next Micheal thought. What next. Something crazy, how strong can this mind control go?

“It’s hot in here, remove your bra.” He thought.

Without a moment hesitation, she reached a hand underneath her polo and unhooked her bra. Dropping the red garment on the table.

“Woah…man that looks hot.” Pete said and the few other men in the class laughed.

Immediately, the connection between them broke as others talked about what Emily did. Emily's eyes snapped back into focus, and she looked around, confused.

She glanced down at her hand, and her face went bright red as she saw the bra on the desk. She quickly got up, picked it up and ran out of the classroom, leaving Michael stunned and horrified by what had just happened and what he made her do.

A few moments later, Michael stood up, his heart still racing from the shock of what he had just done. He followed Emily out of the classroom, trying to know what was going on with her.

As he followed her footsteps, he watched her make way into the women’s bathroom and paused. Instead of going in he stood outside, his mind still connected to Emily's.

Then he heard her thoughts, her emotions, as she struggled to process what had just happened.

At first, she was angry and shocked, wondering what had possessed her to remove her bra in class. But as she washed her face, her mood shifted. She started to laugh, an excited laugh.

"Maybe the guys loved what they saw," she thought, a sly smile spreading across her face. "Phil's eyes were definitely on me. Maybe it's not so bad being a little foolish."

Michael's gaze remained fixed on the bathroom door, his mind reeling with the implications. Emily wasn't just a victim of his control; she was a willing participant. She was enjoying the freedom, the thrill of doing something reckless,

As the school bell rang, Michael turned to face the sea of students pouring out of the classrooms. The lots of thoughts was overwhelming, a never-ending tidal wave of emotions, desires, and fears but instead of fighting it he allowed it to grow, allowed himself to dive into it.

Michael's eyes gleamed with excitement as he contemplated the so many possibilities that presented itself. He could manipulate them all, bending them to his will. The thrill of power coursed through his veins like adrenaline.

Just then, a hand touched his shoulder, snapping him back to reality. He turned to find Emily standing beside him, a concerned expression on her face.

"Why are you standing there?" she asked, her voice low. "You're not some kind of pervert, are you?"

Michael smiled, his eyes locking onto hers. "No, I was just waiting for someone."

Emily's gaze narrowed. "You look a little weird. Are you okay?"

Michael nodded, his smile growing wider. "I've never felt better."

*********

Author note

Hi everybody, this is a new branch that will be both higher quality and have longer chapters. They will be around 2k each and I'm aiming of having around 5 chapters a month made. To make this possible i will be posting advanced chapters on patreon that will be probably 3 chapters ahead at least.

I have 4 more that hopefully will be done in approximately 1 week, so I and I will then post one more chapter here and the remaining 3 on patreon. For now I will be growing the backlog on patreon so it is maybe 20 chapters ahead by posting 4 there as they get done and 1 here.

The reason for this is that this branch will be write by a ghost writer so I have to pay for those chapters myself. I do this becouse I want to expand this story and my other stories hopefully in the future too beyond what me by myself can do on my own. I write slowly and inconsistent and it can be months between chapters sometimes. So this for me is a way to both provide consistent chapters and work at my own pace on my own branches and stories. This is a trial thing I'm doing and I will evaluate in a few months maybe how it's going and if I can keep doing it from a financial position. So of you like this branch and want to see more of it please support me on my patreon as that will make it possible both to continue doing it and maybe even providing even more chapters every month if I make enough from that.

I want to strike a balance there I can make it profitable while at the same time creating more chapters for you guys.

This system may also make it possible to let you guys to vote on paths or the direction of the story. This is not a guarantee as of now but I'm open to the idea at least.

I hope you will enjoy this branch and any future ones I create as well.

See ya.

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