At the Sound of the Bell Pt. 02

The second instalment of a three-part tale of mind-control, deception and revenge told by the three women most affected by events. All participants in sexual activity are over 18 years old.

Chapter 1: Sophie

It took a few days for my new piercings and Pegasus tattoo to settle down after my trip to London and I found myself spending almost as much time at Katie's flat in Chesterham than I did at home. We were starting to form a very firm friendship that seemed to go way beyond the amazing sex we had. A couple of weeks before I had never thought of making out with another girl -- now I was practically living with one.

I had also taken the decision to quit my college course and go full time at the Huntress. If things were panning out the way they seemed, I'd be getting a lot more work there, so it was a logical decision. It hadn't gone down well at home until I had convinced them that they had seen potential in me and that I had been promised a managerial role within a year.

Of course, I didn't elaborate as to what kind of potential they had seen.

Once I was able to touch my more delicate parts again, I was soon back in action and found myself with some other new challenges on my hands. They broke me in fairly gently; a few nice little quickies with established and well trusted clients here and there and some gentle girlfriend type experiences. My first reviews were not exactly Oscar nominations, but I was doing pretty well for a little newbie.

Amanda had been conspicuous by her absence for a couple of weeks when Katie rushed over to me one Monday night in the middle of bistro service and I was summoned to the Penthouse. Amanda ushered me to a comfortable seat in the living area. "It's ok, the rest of your shift is covered. I'd just like a chance to talk with you. Sorry I've been busy since you joined us - but better late, eh?"

Sitting down opposite me, she poured a glass of wine and held it out to me. She raised her own glass. "So, a belated welcome to Pegasus, Sophie. I think you have a great future here." She proceeded to purr over my new additions, praising me lavishly for the clit ring. Then I noticed her gently touching her torque and wondered what tonight's assignment would entail.

I took a sip of wine and tensed a little. Amanda smiled. "It's off for now. I want to meet the real you for a change."

I gave a little laugh. "Given what I've done these last few weeks, I think you have seen the real me. I think I have for the first time as well." I pointed at the torque. "How does that thing work?"

Amanda held it up as if appraising it for the first time and shrugged, laughing herself. "No fucking idea."

I narrowed my eyes. "So, you just... found this mind control thing lying around when you were discovering a hidden tomb like Lara Croft?"

Laughing again, she paused to light a cigarette. "Not quite, though it would be a nice tale! No, dear Sophie. My husband runs a very large and very successful electronics company called Hunter Enterprises. Don't bother yourself if you haven't heard of it. They do a lot of work for the US and British military, so it is all very hush-hush. As a result of his - but mainly other people's - cleverness, they gave him a Knighthood and eventually he was made a Lord."

She gave me a sly look. "And by default, I became a Lady - though few that know me well would ever say I act like one!

So anyway, a few years ago, some clever boffins in his team came up with something they called Pegasus -- a way of influencing people through enhanced thought-waves. Something about those thoughts flying on invisible wings, hence the name. Obviously, its intended use was military. Can you imagine being able to tell an entire army to put down its weapons and they immediately comply?"

She held up the torque. "This is the amplifier."

Knowing what I now knew, I held up my wrist and rattled the bangles.

Amanda nodded. "Yes, the bracelet is the receiver. It also has a few little built-in... shall we say 'safety features', as I believe Katie explained to you. The problem is that we can amplify and project the thoughts quite nicely. But of course if there is no receiver, there can be no compliance. You can hardly ask an enemy army or rioting mob to kindly put on very expensive platinum bracelets so they can be controlled, can you? So in the end, Tony's research stalled somewhat. I came up with the idea of using it as I do now and the rest is a significant part of my history."

I looked at her levelly. I had made my decision to join Pegasus of my own free will but it didn't mean she could get away without explaining her motives properly. "Hard to make an army do it, but a damn side easier to stick one onto a nineteen-year-old village girl and turn her into a whore."

She bit her lip. "Touché, Sophie." She took a drink. "But the bracelet, though it can exert control, also just amplifies the base thoughts that are there in your pretty little head. It is very cleverly designed to break down any natural barriers -- any inhibitions. Think of it as an automatic ice-breaker -- that first little drink at a party that makes you feel all tingly and moist at the thought of what is to come.

Think about this, my dear. I barely had to use it for Jack or Herr Hendrik. Yes, I gave a push to make you kiss me -- to smoke so sexily in your solo performance the other day. These were things I deeply wanted to happen and was able to make sure they did happen. So I'm afraid..." She shrugged again and touched her necklace.

"But the rest of your solo gig - I barely had to push to get you started, but most of what came after was straight from the hyperactive little mind of the wonderful Miss Sophie Annabel Lawrence."

I sat open mouthed and pointed to her torque. "What -- no touchy-feely on that thing?"

Amanda pulled on her cigarette shaking her head. "A little to start with, but the rest was all you. Every bit of it."

I was incredulous. "Ok... kissing you and smoking on the blanket - you did that. But whipping Katie? That couldn't have all come from me. You must have been..."

She nodded her head. "Yes, I gave you a little push to kiss me as it was your first time with a woman. At the start of your solo gig, I just told you to lose your inhibitions, which you did. Once I had told you to spank Katie, I was too busy with both hands when you were pummelling the living crap out of her to do anything further with my necklace!"

I felt a little lurch in my tummy. Surely it couldn't all have been me? Amanda must have been pushing harder than she was letting on. Then I remembered the last time I had beaten Katie with her hairbrush. There had been no Amanda there that time, but I had still gone just as hard.

There were a million questions buzzing through my addled little brain. "But Amanda, I don't understand. I just seem to do those things without thinking. I can't stop myself. Honestly? You weren't making me? I mean -- does that thing really work, or is it just a form of auto-suggestion?"

Amanda looked at me levelly. "Let's try something, shall we. I assure you that I am not doing anything at the moment to influence you in any way. Sophie, if I asked you to pull up your skirt and show me how you like to play with your new clit ring, would you do it?"

There was no doubt in my mind. "Yes, I would."

"Why?"

I thought for a moment. "Because I loved what I did in front of you and Katie. It was a revelation that I could do something like that. I was absolutely ecstatic that I could do something that turned you on so much. So, yeah -- any time you want to see me in action, just ask!"

Amanda nodded, smiling slyly. "Ok, point taken -- and don't tempt me, young lady!" She sat upright. Ok, a while ago you said you had never taken coke before, did you not?"

I swallowed hard and nodded mutely back at her. What was coming next?

"Let me show you the power of this thing, Sophie. Let me prove it really works. I promise I won't take this all the way, but it will let you see what it is capable of. I almost exclusively use this thing in an erotic or sexual connotation - but just to prove I can make you do something completely anathema to you..."

My heart was pounding as she touched her throat. "Sophie, open the box and take a nice big hit for me please darling."

I found myself being pulled by an unseen force as I opened the box and took out a small silver spoon. I was screaming at myself to stop but was utterly powerless. A few seconds later, I was holding the spoon to my nose, one finger covering my left nostril. My hand was shaking so much, the powder was falling back into the box.

I was just about to go for it when Amanda took her hand from her throat. She sat back. "I am not that nasty, Sophie. But now you see what this thing can do..."

Relieved, I let the powder fall back into the box and sat back myself a little breathless. "Thank you for not making me do it." I dropped the spoon and flicked the lid shut, shuddering inside.

Amanda shook her head. "Been there kid, wouldn't wish it on anyone."

I had said it before I registered it. "Katie?"

Amanda closed her eyes tight. "Silly girl. I just hope she learns before it gets too late." She sat silently for a moment, then went on. "Anyway, that's the power of my little toy, and I assure you that my control of you in the last few days has been minimal -- as I said, just pushing you in a certain direction here and there."

There was a look in her eye that made me think that there was something left unsaid and I felt more than a little uneasy. I believed her to an extent, but I still thought that there was no way I could do some of the things I had done without some sort of control.

Then the thought hit me. If Amanda wasn't controlling me, then who the hell was?

I wanted to ask her -- to delve more, but something seemed to stop me. Was I being inhibited in some way? All I could manage was, "Why do you do it?"

Amanda patted the sofa next to her. There was no torque involved as I sat next to her and folded into her embrace. Her kiss was long and tender and I reciprocated every move she made. Within a few moments we were lying entwined on the sofa, hands gently exploring.

At last we broke off and she looked me in the eye. "Why? Because I can, dear girl. Quite simple. I've always loved power and control; it is such an aphrodisiac. I can be extremely persuasive, but this little gadget takes it to another level. I came to an arrangement with Lord Anthony. Our hotels always offered guests something a little... extra, shall we say? All very discreet and very naughty. But I wanted more -- I always want more and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I fucking revel in it, Sophie. I have been utterly and completely addicted to sex for a very long time and this little device has allowed me to fulfil some of my wildest fantasies."

She hitched up on one elbow as we lay together. "My husband is a lot older than me. I am a what some would call a trophy wife - just a tad older than you when I married him and he was in his forties. I was a wild child as I am now a wild older woman. I did some soft-core modelling and lived a high life for a while. I had some offers to do porn as the internet started to take off and I probably would have done it if I had not met him. As a successful businessman he could downplay my modelling stuff, but hardcore -- not a chance unfortunately. He was always quite happy for me to indulge myself in whatever way I desired. Sometimes he joined in and often he was doing things on his own. We gained a very large and very... let's say, 'intimate' circle of friends. When Hunter Enterprises boomed, we decided to move into hotels and started a small chain of upmarket, boutique places around the globe where our friends and others could indulge their every fantasy."

She ticked them off on her fingers. "London, Amsterdam, Singapore, New York, Berlin, Melbourne, Paris. When they came up with Pegasus, they needed a testbed. Our hotels were already offering unique perks and I felt that with the Pegasus technology, we could take things to a higher level. We were so successful that when I suggested to Tony we find another little place to do up to become our flagship, he agreed."

She waved her hand around the room. "And two years on, here we are. My little pet project -- The Huntress @ Long Morton. Some of our friends always reckoned I was a predatory huntress, so the name was a given!"

Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "So beneath the genteel, opulent and sophisticated veneer of our little country hotel, we have a seething den of iniquity in which any fantasy can be indulged." She chuckled. "For a price of course!"

I felt it was time to say something. "So you recruit girls like me to help make these fantasies come true then?"

Amanda looked at me askance. "Heaven's no, dear girl. You recruit yourselves! We merely take what we consider will be suitable candidates and... well, give them a little encouragement. A little push in the right direction. Just a little Pavlovian reaction to the sound of the bell. In Pavlov's case, he realised dogs salivated at the sight of food. He rang a bell when food was put in front of them. Soon they salivated merely at the sound of the bell."

Smiling, she held up her necklace once more. "This is my little bell. I just touch it and think hard, and my willing victim salivates - but in a much more intimate place!"

I took hold of the short sleeve of my uniform blouse and lifted it to reveal the Pegasus tattoo. "And this -- a sign that you own me? You own Katie and everyone else that is branded?"

Amanda sighed deeply. "Not a brand darling - a sign that you are one of a band of very special people. Sophie, I can promise that if you fulfil the potential that I and Katie see in you, in a few years you will be a very wealthy woman and will have had adventures that very few could even dream of. Yes, I will make you do things you do not want to do -- maybe you will occasionally hate them; and yes I will get off in the knowledge that it is me that is forcing you to do them." She paused. "But I can also guarantee that you will have some utterly mind-blowing experiences along the way. And not just sexual ones."

She was right that she was persuasive and she was definitely winning me over, but there was something else I needed to ask her. Something that had been eating away at me since I had come on board. "Why me, Amanda? I'm just an ordinary country girl. You could choose anyone -- models, porn-stars, experienced hookers. Why skinny little Sophie Lawrence from a tiny village in the middle of nowhere? Why not my friend Becky for instance? She's drop-dead gorgeous but she handed in her notice last week."

Amanda laughed. "Good question. We have all those sorts of people in our employ. Some spectacular girls and boys, some of whom have indeed had a long and distinguished career in adult entertainment and the oldest profession. But we also have very many so-called 'ordinary girls' like yourself and Katie. It is just that you are not as ordinary as you think. A lot of clients want girls next door; they revel in the apparent innocence - but with a nice little edge that gives them a huge surprise and a huge turn-on when things turn nasty! Believe me, the demand is there and you will be a very sought-after asset to Pegasus! As for your friend, once she settled in, sadly we just never saw her as potential - and as you may have noticed, we are very good at spotting potential! A little helping hand from Katie's necklace and she decided her talents lay elsewhere."

I looked at her for a long moment. "Ok -- I believe you. I'm very scared, very excited and I still don't know where this is all going." I touched Amanda's torque. "I don't know if I hate that or not." I fingered her bracelet. "Or this."

I lowered my head. "In a very short time, I've done things I never would have thought I was capable of." I was silent for a long time as it all flashed by in a whirlwind.

Amanda put a finger on my chin and lifted my head to face her. "And?"

I took hold of her finger, eyes closed, and kissed the tip. My voice was a barely audible whisper. "I'll give it everything I've got, Lady Amanda Hunter, I swear."

Amanda stroked my hair softly. "Oh Sophie, you are so lovely. Now, dear girl -- since I have you all to myself at last, am I going to have to use this gadget on you to make you fuck me like you fucked Miss Winters the other day or will you do it of your own free-will?"

Relieved I now knew some of the truth, I relaxed. I ran my tongue across my lips. Katie had told me how much she loved being with Amanda and I couldn't wait to sink into her soft curves and voluptuous breasts. "Do I get to whip your ass first?"

Amanda got up and took my hand grinning malignly. "Fuck off -- I get wet watching Katie do it, but no fucking way."

I reached out and touched her necklace. "What if I took this off you and forced you to?"

She grinned. "Go on, I dare you - try it!"

I followed her into the bedroom. "Maybe someday."

Amanda stopped dead in her tracks. "Sophie, I have no doubt that one day you will wear one of these. As you have seen, Katie has a smaller one and she has earned that right."

She picked up a double-ended strap-on from the bed and handed it to me. She slipped off her robe and threw it carelessly onto the floor as she knelt on the edge of the bed, her buttocks towards me. She looked back at me over her shoulder, her dark hair hanging down over one eye.

I hitched up my skirt, wriggled out of my panties and fitted the strap-on. I moved slowly towards Lady Amanda Hunter and began to earn the right to wear a silver torque.

As I left to go, Amanda gazed up at me. "Thank you, dear girl; that was quite marvellous."

I assumed the Penthouse was soundproofed given the noise she had made. It may have been marvellous for Amanda, but it seemed she wasn't too bothered about her new lover getting off. Just another little indication that no matter what else happened, she was in control. It was going to be another long, frustrating walk home with wet panties in my bag and I got the impression that Amanda quite enjoyed the thought of that.

As I got to the bedroom door, she stopped me. "Oh, what I am I like with my memory! All this chit-chat and naughtiness and I just completely forget! See you tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. You'll need a suitcase -- enough for the weekend. Taxi will pick you up at eight-thirty sharp."

I looked back at her in astonishment. "Eh? What? I-"

She cut me off, stretching out like a cat. She purred and her hand went to her throat. "Can't wait to see you make your first video!"

I leaned on the doorpost and felt a little thrill run through my already aroused body. "Ooh, a video! I can't wait either! Hope it's a naughty one!"

"Oh it will be, dear girl -- it will be!"

"So why the suitcase?"

Her tone was nonchalant. "Haven't got the facilities here darling, so it's back to the London hotel for you."

Then she threw in a little bombshell that had me reeling and fighting down sheer elation.

"Then I have... what shall I call it? A little 'welcome present' for you. A little thank-you for agreeing to join the best club in the world! By the time you are back here, you'll be a new woman and I assure you, there will be some of your bucket-listers ticked off!"

As usual, any attempt at a reply was cut off as she gave me one last instruction. "Sophie -- I realise that you have not achieved orgasm and that you are in a high state of arousal. So when you get home..."

I smiled, hoping what Amanda asked me to do would be very naughty indeed. "Yes Amanda?"

In reply, she looked at me sternly. "Do not -- I repeat -- do not touch yourself in any sexual manner. You will wait until you hear from me. Do you understand?"