Unfortunately, Joseph Clayton noticed it, too. His eyes narrowed. "What's all this now?" he demanded. He took a step closer.

This is it, I thought. And deep down inside me a tiny, barely kindled flame of hope died.

At that instant, however, Danielle made her decision. She darted forward, dodging the corner of the coffee table and leaning down, ripping the small device from Lena's frozen fingers.

"Paralysis Protocol!" Clayton snapped. His voice was cold and hard as ice.

Danielle's lithe young figure, all pale skin and pale pink lingerie, vaulted over the couch in a smooth movement, her legs tucked up like a parkour gymnast. The woman barely slowed as she landed with catlike grace, coiled back on her haunches as the tall, grey-suited man took a stumbling step back.

"What—?" he started to demand.

Then, like a striking snake, Danielle launched herself forward. She ducked under the man's grasping arms and jammed her ex-boyfriend's taser into the principal's ribs.

There was a crackling, buzzing sound.

"Aaaagh!" Clayton's body convulsed once and then he tipped backward like a felled tree, fists clutching at nothing and groaning through clenched teeth.

The dark-haired woman pulled back and punched again with the weapon. Again the sound. Only this time, in response, the man's groan was weak and his body flopped back limply.

I blinked. My mind was moving slow. "Danielle..." I managed to mutter as she crouched over Clayton's prone form. "How did you...? You watched the— Oh..."

As the truth sank into my brain, some small part of my mind did a very unprofessional victory dance in my boss's direction.

"You're not talking to Danielle right now," Raven said, and her bright white teeth flashed my way in a cheeky grin. "But..." she purred. "Who knew that I'd sooo enjoy roleplay?"

* * *

Some part of me must have known what I was doing.

That's what I mused on as I slowly regained the ability to marshal my thoughts. My body still felt clumsy, slow to respond, but that was only to be expected. I'd been hit with enough mental tranquilizers to take down a metaphorical rhinoceros.

Raven was humming to herself as she took the ropes we'd used to tie Harrison last night and wound them around Clayton's wrists. The principal's tie was used as a gag. Even tied up, his words were still dangerous.

I watched, slowly figuring out what it meant to think clearly again. I was still untangling what had happened. Maybe it was just a sliver of my subconscious, but it seemed to me that a part of Mitch had still been calculating, still been calm and collected while the rest of my mind took a vacation to Trance Town. Or whatever I should call it when my trigger word punches me right in the IQ. I had sent Julia to play with Danielle, after all. And I knew that that was the only surefire way to bring out Raven.

Ah well. Maybe I was a genius. Maybe I'd just gotten lucky. I would believe it either way.

I'm not sure exactly how it worked, but after several minutes Lena and Harrison seemed to regain control over their own bodies, as well. Maybe once they saw Clayton out of commission their minds could no longer justify following his command.

Or maybe not. Really, don't ask me to explain. I'm not any sort of expert.

As soon as I was able, though, I stumbled out of the room in search of Julia. It didn't take an expert to know that I had some explaining to do.

* * *

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Thank you so much for reading the twelfth chapter in this series — Bimbo Builder Academy. (And Chapter 13 already finished and available if you know where to look!)

I really hope you enjoyed it, and if you did then please rate and comment. It means the world to me and even if I don't respond to all my comments, please know that I read every one. When I feel like my work doesn't matter, I come back and am reminded that wonderful people out there really are reading what I publish.

You can find me elsewhere online if you want to get early access to stories (multiple weeks ahead of Literotica). If you're going to be spending a lot of time alone this coming month (what with the virus and all) I hope that reading these stories gives you a little entertainment during long, boring stretches of time.

Lots of love, and I'll see you soon for my next publication!!!

JC