Chapters tagged mind control

by AliC

Chapter 40

As the girls went their separate ways, Hannah wanted nothing so much as to lick her wounds in private. Her performance had been miserable, the changes facing her were daunting, and her point total was so deeply underwater that she didn’t know how she’d survive the round. But it...

by AliC

Chapter 41

Megan walked alongside her brother as the trail wound down from the mountain at the center from the island in a comfortable, contented silence. She’d known Jake had wanted to talk, but had also never been much of a conversation starter in her own right. But the night air was balm...

by AliC

Chapter 42

AJ yawned as she stepped into the hotel’s main dining room, still wearing the boy shorts and tank top that served as her pajamas. It was a large, open space with a long central table built to seat just over a dozen people. And it was surprisingly full. For the first time since t...

by AliC

Chapter 43

It wasn’t until they were waiting on the train platform that Lindsey finally let go of Ryan’s wrist. “Does this take us to the village?” Ryan asked, moving to view a station route map. “The village,” Lindsey agreed, “And the beach, and a volcano observatory and something called...

by AliC

Chapter 44

If nothing else could be said for this wretched place, the showers were otherworldly. As she basked in the cascade, like she was standing in a warm, soothing rainstorm, Hannah completely lost all sense of time. Only the slamming of the suite’s outer door snapped her back to real...

by AliC

Chapter 45

AJ took a deep breath, her muscles bulging as she lifted the weights up one last time. Her breathing was more labored than she liked, the effort taking more of a toll that she’d have expected. As she struggled, a concerned face appeared in her field of vision. “Need some help?”...

by AliC

Chapter 46

Leah sat down to the tape recorder again. She hated the awkwardness of this ritual, but it was nice to talk to _something_, even if silence was her only answer. “Round one is in the books. And as we await the start of our second contest, everyone seems to be settling in.” She t...

by AliC

Chapter 47

Later, Farra (both halves of her) stood in her room, checking out the new outfits she’d bought for herself. Julie and Loretta had both been tremendously helpful in picking out clothes for her; Julie for her expertise in teen fashion (even if her daughter was something less than...

by AliC

Chapter 48

**Three Days Earlier** ---------------------- “Are you sure you wanna do this?” Lindsey asked. They stood outside the salon, in the narrow, cobblestone streets that made up the village proper. It was a beautiful town, in truth, though its total lack of inhabitants gave it the f...

by AliC

Chapter 49

As much as he loved his life in New York CIty, there was one thing from his youth upstate that Jake missed with all his heart; a simple, cleansing, ritual that, for all its near infinite access to nearly anything the human heart could desire, he simply couldn’t get in the city wi...

by AliC

Chapter 50

Jake slipped beneath the water, letting the weights drag him under to the stone floor. He’d tried breath control to submerge himself, but found he didn’t have the patience. But he’d seen videos of athletes using hand weights to do it and borrowed a pair of dumbbells from the lit...

by AliC

Chapter 51

_“Sweat it out.”_ That had been Exe’s advice the next morning when they met the next morning, both every bit as bothered as they’d been when they’d gone to bed. “You feeling any better than last night?” She’d asked Megan that morning. Megan shook her head. “If anything, I thi...

by AliC

Chapter 52

Exe watched from a distance as they gathered in the pool courtyard for the big announcement, still observing rather than engaging. The others came slowly, in pairs, then all at once as their little cliques who’d congregated elsewhere arrived as a unit. Exe knew she should have j...

by AliC

Chapter 53

In spite of everything, their age gap, the strange situation they shared, that he was supposed to be her ‘master’ now, and that he really didn’t even watch her show anymore anyway, Jake felt nervous as he waited in his room. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that a celebrity wa...

by AliC

Chapter 54

Leah lay on her bed in a tight silk robe, thinking blissfully about nothing. The afterglow remained, even after her guest had gone. _Elders, could I get used to this,_ She thought idly. Her phone rang, cutting through the stupor. She smiled, rolling over to the nightstand and l...

by AliC

Chapter 55

Jake stood at the balcony, watching the dark clouds at the distant horizon. They did not look good. He doubted they would be his problem, though. Callous, evil sadists the showrunners might have been, but they’d kept the island’s weather perfectly manicured so far. Still, he w...

by AliC

Chapter 56

Pressure Drop AJ stood and stretched. She was already feeling the warm buzz of a real good time encroaching. “I should head out,” She said. “Us girls are about to embark on our pre-challenge bender.” “Ah. Mind if I join?” Jake asked. “Might be kinda nice hanging out when I’ve...

by AliC

Chapter 57

Lindsey had slept badly. She was supposed to have spent the night at Jake’s place, but that rendezvous had been canceled by the sudden change in schedule. And she still had no idea what her challenge entry would look like. “Hey you,” Lacy greeted as she approached the others. T...

by AliC

Chapter 58

As it Was He met her at their favorite dive bar. It was the sort of place where you could order beer and shots at a discount, but where you’d get laughed out of the establishment for ordering anything more complicated than a rum and coke. The wooden floors were sticky, the opti...

by AliC

Chapter 59

An odd sensation. He was coming to, but _wrong_ somehow. He was in a plush waiting room, with long, comfortable leather benches that wound around a carpeted hallway, a pair of double doors at its end. He wore one of his nicest pairs of dress slacks, a pair of shoes that cost as...