Following Her Dream Ch. 07

"I need you to do something for me Rachel. I need you to forget everything that happened since Friday that involved my program. I need you to forget everything about the program. Forget everything I did to you with the program. Forget everything we did together with the program. No more memories of any of these things, no more triggers, forget it all. As far as you're concerned, you had a normal weekend."

***

Rachel tried to stifle her yawn with the arm that had been propping her head up when the credits finally appeared on screen. Her other hand laid comfortingly along her friend's stomach. She looked down at Janet, soundly asleep on her lap, the dim light from the tv illuminating her face with a soft glow.

Rachel smiled warmly at her friend, appreciating the peaceful look on her face. It was a look that brought relief to Rachel.

She argued the merits of spending the night on the couch with her, if only to avoid potentially disturbing Janet by getting up. She sat there silently for a few more minutes, the DVD looping back to the main menu, before deciding to take the risk.

Reaching down, Rachel cradled Janet's head carefully in her hands as she twisted her body out from under her. With almost practiced dexterity, she deftly placed a pillow where she once sat, slowly and gently lowering Janet's head onto it. When Janet made no indication of stirring, Rachel straightened up, proud of her accomplishment. With one last delicate move, she pulled the blanket up past Janet's shoulders. 'Good thing she's a heavy sleeper', Rachel mused.

Turning around, Rachel picked up the remote to shut their devices off. She made her way across the room and towards the hallway, staying on her toes and carefully avoiding the creaky spot on the floor. Entering her room, Rachel closed her door quietly before turning on the lamp next to the bed.

'I feel like I lost a friend today.' Rachel wondered whom Janet was referring to when she said that. The two only shared a few friends, and Rachel couldn't see how any of them could have done something to affect Janet in such a way. She'd like to ask the girl, but wasn't sure if she should pry. Maybe Janet will tell her when she was ready.

Whomever it was, Rachel was sure to get back at them for making Janet upset. How anyone could do that was beyond her. While preparing for bed, she began thinking of all the girls she wished it was, just so she could have an excuse to slap them. The idea left her chuckling. Every girl she despised began running through her head, even if they didn't know Janet.

Dressed in her pajamas, Rachel crawled into bed. She arranged her pillows so that she could comfortably relax with her back against the headboard, wiggling her body to get into the perfect position. Satisfied, Rachel reached over and opened her nightstand drawer, pulling out her diary. Grabbing her pen, she flipped through the pages to find the latest entry.

A small square of paper slipped from the diary. 'What the fuck?' She picked it up. It looked to be the same kind of material used for receipts. Rachel turned it over, noticing a phone number written on the other side. She looked for any other markings, finding none. She studied the number. It wasn't one she recognized. With a look of confusion, she placed the paper on her nightstand, returning to her diary.

Rachel returned to the page the paper fell from. She scanned Sunday's entry, the contents unrecognizable to her. She went back a day. Looking closely at the words, she scrutinized key letters. There was no mistaking it; it was definitely written by her, but she had no memory of writing them.

She flipped through more until she found the first familiar section, dated Thursday. "Three whole days," she muttered. Rachel tried to think of what had happened over the past three days. She had a strong sense that it had been a normal weekend, but when she tried to recall any details, the days felt blank. Her last concrete memory was coming home from class on Friday. After that... the only thing that came to mind was that she had a normal weekend.

Rachel closed her eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of her nose. 'I must be tired', she thought. She shook her head before glancing back at the foreign words. They remained unchanged. "Crap".

Through equal parts morbid curiosity and apprehension, Rachel began reading the first offending entry.

***

Friday, 5/20

Technically writing this Saturday morning.
No way I could have written last night.
Not after what happened! My arms are STILL sore.
Don't even know where to begin with today.
Mistress made a thing.
A program of sorts, on her tablet.
Don't know how it works,
but it can make me do things. Feel things.
She somehow made a device that she can control
people with. Like, actually control.
First she made me call her mistress.
As is evident, I can't even write her name.
Never knew she was such a perv.
I admit I was pretty mad about it. Whatever.
After what happened later, I can forgive her.
Weird thing is, that could be her program talking.
She made me okay with what she had done to me.
I'm aware of that, too, and yet I'm not bothered.
Spooooky.
And then she did the toothbrush thing. Her 'apology'.
I don't think words could ever describe what happened.
It was like every orgasm I've ever felt, but
combined into one in the span of... I'm not even sure
how long it lasted. Too bad it seems to be a one time event.
Just thinking about it... Gotta go entry done! <3

Saturday, 5/21

No matter how hard I tried,
I just couldn't satisfy myself today.
Nothing can compare to last night.
That's not to say things were... bad...
But they certainly don't compare to last night.
I'm just left trying to chase after memories.
Mistress left her tablet here.
I tried using it, but couldn't unlock it.
Damn password.
I just wanted to scratch this itch, since I had
nothing else to distract me.
Mistress was out of town most of the day.
Had an argument with her when she got home.
She said she's worried about what she did to me.
Doesn't like how I'm reacting to her program.
I tried explaining to her that I'm fine.
She can be so thick-headed.
It feels so good, so what's the problem?
I'm still not so sure she believes me.
Anyways, Mistress promised she'd use
her program on me again tomorrow.
Don't know what she plans on doing,
but if it's anything like last night's surprise...
Have fun, Tomorrow-Rachel! <3

Sunday, 5/22

Janet sure knows how to get a girl worked up.
Oh yeah, she finally fixed that 'Mistress' thing.
She took me shopping, after using her program on me.
She made me a passenger in my own body.
And it felt SO GOOD.
Janet made me feel so good.
The girl at the store was so speechless, it was amazing!
The look on her face.
I think she wrote her number and put it in our bags.

Rachel glanced warily at the paper on her nightstand before returning to the diary.

I managed to hide it later, before Janet noticed.
Maybe I should call the girl up some time?
Anyways, back to Janet, and what she did for me. <3
When we got home, she told me that I would feel
everything that she felt, and then some.
And then she started masturbating, right in front of me!
She was so cute, and she drove me so wild.
She woke me up and I couldn't help myself.
I wanted her so bad.
I think I might love her.
But... she's only doing this for Melanie.
Tomorrow we're supposed to meet with my teacher.
Janet's going to use Ms. Gilio to get to Melanie.
I don't know what to do.
I promised I'd help her.
I just don't know what will happen with us after that.
Do I say something? Do I stop her?
Why does she want Melanie over me?
Either way, tomorrow should be interesting.

Rachel was left dumbfounded, refusing to believe what was written in her own handwriting. There's no way something so fantastical could happen, not when her weekend was so normal.

This had to be a prank. Janet found her diary, and wrote in it as a joke. Rachel felt betrayed at the invasion of privacy. Except... Janet wasn't one to pull pranks. Not even failed ones. Plus, Rachel couldn't see how Janet could forge her penmanship so convincingly. It was spot on. There's no way that Janet...

'I think I might love her'. Rachel kept returning to that one line. She ran her finger over the words. Janet was her friend, nothing more. She never had any kind of further interest in the girl. She enjoyed her company, and cared deeply for the her, but that was it. Completely platonic.

She read through the pages again. The details sounded just as absurd as before. If it was true, and Rachel felt dumb for actually humoring the idea, that meant Janet had actually created a mind-control device. What if her confusion was a result of the device? Did it malfunction, or was this Janet's intention?

She once again tried to recall what happened over the past few days, but it was a normal weekend. She was as sure of that as she was of her name. No, there had to be some other answer. Maybe she didn't remember anything that happened because it was such a normal weekend?

She thought back further. She remembered details about other days. She went to class. She went shopping with Janet. 'I think I love her'. She even remembered what she cooked Thursday night. She tried to think of anything that she ate the past few days, but it was a normal weekend.

Rachel was growing frustrated. She glanced at the paper on the nightstand again, studying the number. She considered calling it, but couldn't work up the courage. She caught sight of the time on the clock, shocked at how long she had stayed up reading her diary.

She read the entries again. The dichotomy of her normal weekend and the insanity of the words on a page, and their implications, were making her head spin. She dropped the book on the bed and steadied herself against the backboard.

Rachel heard a creak coming from the hallway. Her eyes focused on the door to her bedroom. Silently, she reached over to turn off her light. She remained fixated on the door as she adjusted to the darkness.

After some shuffling, she finally heard Janet's bedroom door close. She placed her diary back in the drawer, not wanting to turn the light back on to read it.

Sliding further under the covers, Rachel adjusted her pillows before placing her head atop them. She brought her knees up to her chest as she lay on her side. She glared at the nightstand that contained her diary, almost afraid of its contents, afraid that what was written could be true.

Rachel continued her attempts to resolve the entanglement her mind found itself in until she grew too tired from the ordeal and finally fell asleep.

***

She awoke with a start. Her dreams were plagued with the passages of her handwritten words. She dreamt of Janet controlling her. 'I think I love her'. And in her dreams, she loved every minute of it.

Rachel cursed at the memory. She cursed at the whole situation. She brought her diary back out, staring at the front, not wanting to open it. She wasn't going to open it again. She wasn't going to give it anymore thought. It had to be fake. All of it. So what if she had a normal weekend. It's not like that was a bad thing, she argued.

She jumped at the soft knock on her door.

"Rachel, are you in there?" Janet called out.

She should just ask Janet about it all. She could confirm it was a joke and the two of them could laugh about how ridiculous it all was. A mind control program... like such a thing could possibly exist. No, it was fake, and Janet was her friend. She was certainly not someone who would go about controlling others. Everything in the diary had to be false.

Rachel got up from her bed, closing the empty drawer of the nightstand. She would show the entries to Janet. She could use a good laugh. She made for the door.

"I'm heading off to class. I have to stop by Ms. Gilio's office afterwards, so I'm gonna be home a bit later than usual, okay?"

Rachel stopped in the middle of the room. 'Janet's going to use Ms. Gilio to get to Melanie.' That's what it said in her diary. How did Janet know about Ms. Gilio? Rachel was certain she never mentioned her teacher to her friend, though she wasn't exactly confident in the reliability of her memory at this point. If it's true Janet couldn't have known about Ms. Gilio, then the only explanation she could think of would be... Rachel didn't want to admit it, but perhaps there was some credence for what was in her diary.

Her resolve was shattered. Rachel's mind once again became a torrent of conflict. She shook her head. She couldn't think straight. What had Janet done to her? What was she planning on doing? How could Janet -- sweet, innocent, wallflower Janet -- do the things detailed in her diary?

Rachel became aware that she hadn't responded yet. She feared Janet entering her room if she didn't say anything. "Okay. Have fun," she called out to the stranger behind the door.

She waited until she heard the front door close, and then she waited some more. The situation was wearing her down. She decided she needed to get her mind off things.

Hastily dressing for class, Rachel cared little for her actual appearance at the time. She made her way to the front door, stopping in the hallway. She tapped her finger on her leg. 'Fuck class'. She turned around to grab the slip of paper on her nightstand.

The phone rang once. Twice.

"Hello?"

A girl's voice. Rachel didn't recognize it. The feeling was becoming tiresome.

"Hello?" the girl called out again with a twinge of annoyance.

"Um...," Rachel began. She wasn't sure what she could say that wouldn't make her sound like she was crazy. "I... I found your number."

"Congratulations. Here's your reward. It's the sound of a phone hanging up."

"Wait! Wait... I think you gave it to me? Over the weekend." There was a pause. Rachel wondered if the stranger actually did hang up.

"Oh! The girl at my store, with her weird friend?" Her tone changed completely, now sounding sweet and friendly. "I didn't think you were going to call back."

"Yeah, um... can we meet up, in person? Are you free right now?"

"Ooh, straight to the point. I like that," the stranger purred. "Sure, just stop by the store at anytime."

"Where... exactly was that again?"

"You were just here a few days ago. Do you not remember?"

"It's... complicated."

Rachel hung up the phone after she wrote down the address. She was apprehensive about meeting this person; she didn't know how implicit she was in everything. However, she may be able to give confirmation to what exactly happened during her normal weekend. Had Janet done the things described in her diary, or was Rachel actually slipping into some sort of insanity? As she left the house, she wasn't sure which option was better.

***

Violet Desire. Rachel read the unlit neon sign that decorated the store front. On the door, another sign was illuminated, advertising that the store was closed. She tried to look through the tinted windows from a distance, not wanting to approach the building. She checked the address, verifying it was what she wrote. She crumpled the paper in her hand, stuffing it into her pocket.

Rachel approached the door, knocking tentatively. Part of her hoped no one would answer, that she had just misheard the girl and wrote down the wrong address. She stood next to the door awkwardly, trying to avoid being seen by other people. There was little to block her view from her surroundings.

Within short order, Rachel heard the sound of the door unlocking as it opened before her. A green-haired girl appeared in the entrance.

"Oh," she exclaimed. "I thought you were the other one." The girl looked Rachel up and down, causing her to blush. "Not exactly dressed to impress... well, come on in." She stepped to the side, opening the way for Rachel to scramble through, thankful to be off the sidewalk.

The interior was dark, the lights turned off. The only source of illumination being whatever filtered through the mostly-opaque windows. Rachel looked around, feeling anxious. It wasn't exactly the kind of place she expected to have a conversation.

"So, did she send you over here, or does she allow you some freedom to do what you want at certain times?" the stranger asked nonchalantly. She walked past Rachel towards the other side of the store.

Rachel jumped slightly, almost forgetting the stranger was there. "I'm sorry?"

The girl stopped next to a door near the back, turning to face Rachel. "She said you were into role-play. Was that not some sort of owner-slave scenario you two were doing the other day?" She looked a touch disappointed.

"Look, this isn't exactly the location I had expected when I asked to meet up...," Rachel proclaimed, furtively glancing at the shelves around the store.

"That's why we're going to my room upstairs. I live on the second floor. You coming?" She waited impatiently on Rachel.

The door opened to reveal a set of stairs as Rachel followed the girl up. At the top, they walked through another door that led to a small studio. The walls were painted a dark blue, with no windows in sight. A single light in the center of the ceiling was all there was to brighten the room.

The green-haired girl led Rachel over to a couch in the corner, kicking a few scattered clothes out of the way. She gestured for Rachel to sit.

"Sorry, I'm Rachel. I didn't catch your name."

Looking displeased, the girl responded. "Violet. I must have misunderstood, why are you here again? Because I thought this was a hookup."

Rachel's eyes went wide with shock. "What? No!" She watched the girl plop down on the other side of the couch, sighing.

When nothing was said, Violet turned to Rachel, gesturing to indicate she was waiting for her to continue.

Rachel had never felt so uncomfortable in front of someone before. She desperately wanted to just get up and leave, but that meant returning with no answers. She didn't want to go back without something. "I was hoping you could tell me what happened the day you met my... friend and I."

Violet thought back to that day. She remembered how the girl entered the store, with Rachel following behind her. The look on Rachel's face, the way the girl pulled her along, drove Violet wild. The memory was a stark contrast to the person sitting next to her currently. "Why?"

"Because I can't remember a single thing about that day," Rachel responded, a look of determination showing in her eyes.

Violet's interest was piqued at Rachel's statement. Her rough demeanor relaxed. While she may not get what she expected out of this interaction, she did admit there was something interesting about Rachel. She decided to humor the girl.

"The two of you came into my shop to buy some sex toys." Violet closed her eyes, imagining the scene from memory. "She was leading you around, like a doll. You didn't speak, didn't move, unless she moved you." Violet purred.

Rachel stared in shock. Her diary... Violet's testimony basically confirms that part of it. That means... "she actually did it..."

"What did 'she' do?", Violet asked, bringing Rachel's attention back to her. "I think it's only fair you tell me what's going on."

"I think Janet made an actual mind-control device," Rachel explained, almost trying to convince herself of the idea, still unable to actually believe it.

Violet studied the girl in front of her carefully. "How do you know?"

Rachel went through everything that happened. She told Violet about how her last memory before her normal weekend was coming home from school on Friday. How she recalled Janet crying over a lost friend Monday night. How she went to go write in her diary, only to find entries in her handwriting that she didn't remember. She went over the contents of those entries, and how Janet somehow knew about Ms. Gilio. How she was going to use her teacher to get to her crush, Melanie.