Blow Your Mind Pt. 10

Thanks for the feedback so far, much appreciated. I want to give everyone a heads up on this one, there is a lot of non-sex stuff in this story because of the situation. While I want to be sure that aspect is included, I simply couldn't skip over this stuff. If someone where in this situation, there would be a LOT of figuring out to do, and to hand wave it would be lazy work in my opinion. So a heads up for you.

PART X

"What the hell did I do?" Brandi whispered to herself.

"That's Kory's voice. It's not a memory and it sure as fuck isn't some skill. It's Kory's voice and it sounds like it's, shit what, alive? Sentient? Conscious?"

Brandi swallowed and shuddered. "Jesus, what have I done? I ripped her out of, of HER!" She looked down at Kory's body and shuddered again.

"Good God, I didn't want this! What the hell am I? I just ripped a human's SOUL out of their body!" Brandi said as she felt herself beginning to panic.

"NO! Focus Brandi! Fucking get it together!" She snarled at herself. She forced herself to take several breaths slowly and get herself back under control. "That's it Brandi, that's it. This is a time to think and think very carefully."

Brandi took another long breath and then nodded. "Right. First, shower. I stink of sex and feel nasty. Then I need to get dressed and get the hell out of here. No one is expected, but I can't take the chance of someone coming by. Fuck. Can Kory hear me thinking? No, probably not, I can't hear her, only when I connect to that other desk. It's active somehow, but it's, cripes, blocked off somehow. Shit I had better be careful changing back to me, last thing I want is for Kory to hijack me and turn me into her! Fuck, how am I even going to work this?" Brandi muttered softly to herself. She felt better doing that than thinking it.

She got clean quickly and dressed fast. She looked around and saw Kory's laptop. She grabbed it, and then saw the coke on the mirror. She tapped it into a small bag. "Kory said this was synthetic, which means this might be more than just coke reacting with me. I need to have it examined. Shit, how do I move that on a plane?"

After checking around a bit more and being annoyed that she had not been able to really scan Kory for information she decided she had swept the room thoroughly.

"Now, what do I do with you?" Brandi said with a shudder as she looked at Kory's body. "God, those eyes, like a doll, empty, dead. Christ what a mess. Then again, I was going to leave you a fucking vegetable anyway since you were too fucking dangerous to let alone so this is just another way of doing it. Shit."

Brandi thought for a bit. "I could dump her body where they were going to dump mine. Fuck. And I have three other veggies lying around this house. God what a mess."

Brandi stood up.

"Okay. New plan. Time to ditch Megan." Brandi thought. She went into the garage and pulled Megan's still unconscious body out of the trunk and laid it next to Joe's body. Brandi had a bad feeling that Joe was likely dead, but she didn't want to find out and left the hidden body alone. She then looked out the front window. Aside from the car in the garage, there were two other cars out there. One she knew belonged to Frederick. But the other one, a regular Ford sedan which was nice but plain and normal, was what her memories said was a "dumper". A car, owned by a shell company, that could be abandoned after one use and then automatically reported as stolen due to a hidden hack in the Illinois DMV computer. It had a full tank of gas and all she needed to do was get the keys from a ring on the wall by the door.

"That will work. I think I need to have some time to myself anyway and a long drive will do fine." Brandi thought to herself.

Brandi then accessed her memories of the others and went back inside to gather some things. First, in one of the upstairs guest rooms Brandi found her stuff and her clothes she had packed for the hotel room. Then, Brandi went downstairs and found about $15,000 in loose cash in the room Big Joe had been working in along with a bunch of that coke Kory had been talking about. She took a good sample but made sure not to take enough to get busted for intent to sell. She then grabbed Kory's laptop. Looking around, Brandi cased the whole house room by room using her skills as a safe-cracker and burglar from Brenda. She had a feeling that there was something else to this place and she didn't want to leave anything behind if it could help her later on.

After some looking she found a small wall safe in one of the guest rooms. She disabled the alarm and opened it with little trouble. Aside from $10 K in cash and some bonds, she found a fake passport and driver's license, and a portable hard-drive.

"Looks like one of Kory's emergency stashes in case she ran into trouble. Hopefully this hard drive has dirt that I can use to make sure nothing comes after me." Brandi thought.

Brandi swept the house once more and after one last look at Kory's body, she got into the car and drove off. She did her defensive driving instructor proud and she was damn sure she had no tails of any kind as she headed west out of Chicago. She drove west for a while and then cut south along the Mississippi towards St. Louis.

The entire time she did her best to ignore the other "desk" in her head. Each time she mentally touched it, she would get a "Hello?". Each time the reply became much more panicked and Brandi could hear some real fear in Kory's voice.

"Shit, I wonder what this must be like, is it dark? Is it like a dream? God, what a mess." Brandi sometimes muttered. By the time she had reached St. Louis she had a plan in her head.

She checked into a nice hotel and then used her burn phone to make a call.

First she sent a text with a number that indicated she was in another form, and then a number that indicated mission success, and then a number that indicated she had a problem that she needed to talk about now.

After getting an acknowledgement on all three Brandi called.

"Yes." Mr. Case said.

"Good to hear your voice boss. Bottom line is that a genius woman was actually the puppet master in the situation. The client was targeted as a show of power to keep her minions in line, nothing more or less. Tell them to wait about a month or so and they should have no issues doing business other than the usual crooks."

"Excellent. I was beginning to get worried this one might be too tough for you. But you came through."

"Nothing is too tough for me boss. But we have some complications. The woman had me for tea and wouldn't let me go. I was able to duck out and I was able to beat her and four of her friends in cards. Full clean outs on two, and two I had to lights out. He might be really hung over, but the other one is certainly hung over."

There was silence on the line for a bit. "How are you?" Mr. Case asked after the pause.

"I am currently fine, but there is another complication. I'm not good with talking about this over the phone, but I have to address a problem I currently have with how well this woman makes tea. I am currently on a driving tour along the Canadian border and will need about two weeks to work it out."

Brandi was glad they had worked out some codes for situations like this. She had thought this a bit much, but as it was another thing to memorize and keep track of and the fact you could never be too careful she had gone along. What Brandi had told her boss was that aside from why the client had been targeted, he would be able to do business in Chicago. She had been captured but had been able to escape and had neutralized anyone involved with it via mind wipes, by knocking them out, and killing someone. She had also told her boss she had some issues with her abilities, she was working on it, but needed two days. She was moving south, but slowly and would try him later after the two days.

"I understand. Do you need one of my friends to stop by?" Meaning "Do you need me or some of my agents to help you?"

"No. I might in a couple of weeks, and I may need the cleaning service once done with the tea. But I will advise once the next tea party is done." Meaning "No yet, give me two days. I may need someone to clean up after me."

"I very much hope that you and your friends don't make too big a mess. I'd rather not have to use the cleaning service if possible." Meaning "I really hope you don't have to have me send someone to clean this up, it's not good business to do that."

"Me too. Talk to you soon boss."

Brandi sat back and sighed as she hung up. She ordered room service, two very large meals and a bunch of appetizers, and ate everything. She sighed when she was done.

"No helping it. I need to, well, talk to Kory."

Brandi sat down in her bed, relaxed as much as she could, closed her eyes and reached out to the other desk.

"Kory?"

"Who's that! Please! Talk to me! Where am I?" Kory voice replied in a very panicked tone.

"Kory, listen. LISTEN! Okay, there you go. What can you see? What can you feel?" Brandi asked.

"Oh God! You can hear me! Thank you! I'm, oh Lord, I don't know where I am. I feel like I'm dreaming but I know I'm awake! I can't really see anything, it's like I'm in a bubble, everything is distorted and shaded! I can hear things, but they are all distorted! Like when you have a mic on in the computer during video chat!"

"You can hear me fine?"

"Yes! I can! Please! What happened to me?"

"Hold on, I am not sure completely but I will try to help you. But first off, you are Kory right? As in Cute Kory?"

"Yes, that's me! The hottest stripper in Chicago!"

"And also the head of the criminal underworld using various mob bosses, union leaders, corrupt officials, cops and the DA as your puppets to control everything while making it look like it's the DA or a Police Captain?"

That caused a pause.

"Okay, bye bye." Brandi said.

"Wait! Fuck! Yes! Please, don't leave me! Yes, that's, damn it, yes that's me." Kory's voice sounded deflated and defeated.

"That was easy. Is being cut off that bad?"

Brandi felt a mental shudder through her connection. "Its horrible! It's like time is all fucked up! How long have I been here? It feels like a few seconds and a hundred years all at once! Fuck me, please don't leave me alone like this!"

Brandi shuddered herself. "Fuck, that doesn't sound fun at all. Cripes, if only that bitch hadn't resisted so fucking hard." Brandi muttered. "Shit, I wonder if she heard that? I wasn't focusing on saying anything through the connection."

"Brandi, did you hear me?"

"No! God! Is the connection failing?"

"No! Damn it, sorry, no. I'm trying to figure out how to talk to you. Okay, let me try something."

"I wonder if I can let her, uh, access, I guess, access my senses, see what I see? Shit, I wonder if she will try to take control? Hang on." Brandi focused on the connection.

"Can you tell when I am connected? Even when I am not talking?"

"Yes, somehow. It's like, uh, it's like the screen clears up a bit, things are brighter, clearer? Focused? Yeah, focused."

"Okay. I'm going to try something." Brandi said and then cut her connection. She counted to five and reconnected.

"Don't go! Please!" Kory was screaming when she hooked back in.

"I'm back! Calm down!"

"You bitch! Don't do that! Please don't! It gets so dark in here!"

"Alright. Sorry about that, I needed to know if you were telling the truth. You are way too smart to not be careful around."

Brandi felt like Kory sniffed a bit and then felt a bit of pride. "You think so?"

"You took over the Chicago underworld and the only reason you got caught is because of a freak situation. Yeah, you are pretty damned smart."

"What exactly IS the situation? Okay, hold on. Who are you? I don't recognize your voice but you sure know a whole hell of a lot about me, almost like you read my mind. I can have your name. Please?"

Brandi was going to give her a fake name, but then sighed. "Fuck it. Kory, we may be together for a bit, so yeah, I'll give you my name. I know that Kory is yours, even if the spelling is different, so Kory, I'm Brandi."

"Brandi. Well, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but well..."

"Yeah, I get it. No hard feelings about that. It's been about 24 hours since this happened."

"A full day? Man, It could have been decades or ten minutes from how I can tell."

"What's it like? How does this feel? Can you feel?"

Kory was silent for a bit. Brandi could tell she was much calmer now that she was able to talk to someone and had an idea about how much time had passed. Brandi frowned mentally as she could feel that Kory was beginning to wonder about how she could escape.

"Damn it, she is going to be a problem unless I can figure out what to do." Brandi thought to herself. "At least I have to actually work at communicating, it requires a bit of effort to communicate and keep the link going. That means me slipping is a bit harder to do."

"Kory! Don't fucking play with me or I will cut you off and leave you cut off. How does this feel? I need to know so I can figure out how we are going to do this."

"When I'm cut off it's like a combination of a bad acid trip and being completely cut off from any sensory stimulation. You know how sometimes you close your eyes in the dark and you swear you start seeing weird colors of black after you have kept them closed for a while without thinking of anything? I used to do that as a kid sometimes, and it's like that only everything is twisted and feels wrong. Like I'm not where I am supposed to be."

Brandi felt that shudder again. "I feel like I'm disconnected. If you were a ghost, this would be what you would feel like I bet."

Brandi thought a moment. "Okay, I am going to try something. I want you to tell me what happens, I'm not cutting the connection, it will be something else."

Brandi took a breath and then while holding the connection she opened her eyes.

"Hey! I, I can see! I can see a, door, white wall, dresser, mirror... MEGAN?!?!"

"No, not Megan." Brandi replied out loud.

There was a pause. "I heard that. I, I HEARD that!"

"Okay, hang on." Brandi eased back on the connection and Kory instantly spoke up. "Hey! I can't see anymore!"

"Hang on Kory, I'm trying to see how this connection works. How did you see? Was it like your normal vision?"

"Uh, no. More like a TV screen. Like a step removed? You know?"

Brandi focused on the connection again and she heard Kory let out a relieved sigh. "There, I can see again. Yeah, it's like I'm watching through someone's eyes by way of a camera in their eyeballs, it's not ME seeing it through my own eyes, it's me seeing it with my eyes watching something else."

Brandi made a mental nod. "Okay, let's try something else." She thought. "Kory, how about now?"

Brandi focused her mind on the connection and making it a strong as possible. There was a pause and then a low sob.

"I can feel. Sort of. I can tell I'm sitting on the bed, I can vaguely feel the comforter, I can smell coffee, vaguely. I can feel the clothing but it's like there is a layer of thin paper between my skin and the clothing. I can see like I said. Fuck."

All at once Brandi felt pressure on the connection. It was like something was trying to force its way along it. Brandi immediately shoved it back.

"Ow!"

"What were you trying to do?" Brandi asked.

"Ouch. Damn that hurt. I was trying to, uh, well, feel things? I was trying lick my lips, or Megan's lips, or your lips?"

"You were trying to take control?" Brandi asked in a cold voice.

Brandi felt panic in the connection. "No! I mean, son of a bitch, I don't know what I was trying to do! I'm trapped in this Tales from the Far Side situation and I was trying to see if maybe if I could connect to something I could wake myself up! I am hoping this is a dream, or a nightmare more accurately, but I am really sure I'm not dreaming and the idea of going back on this weird trip is scaring the hell out of me."

"Okay, I get it Kory. I think this connection only works one way though. I felt your push and then felt the reaction. It didn't hurt me much. I have to focus to keep the connection, I wouldn't try that if I were you as you might force a disconnect. And if you force it, I don't know what will happen." Brandi smiled to herself as she lied. She didn't want Kory trying this again because she wasn't sure what would happen. Right now, she was Kory's gatekeeper and she intended to keep that position until she could figure out what to do.

She felt Kory's shudder and fear. "Good, fear is my ally here." Brandi thought.

"I understand, I won't do that again."

"Good. So you can sense things, but through a filter, when I focus on a connection. Okay, so we know that. Now, how do you feel? Hungry? Tired? Weak? Strong?"

"I am not hungry. It's weird, but I feel like I just had a meal. I'm a bit tired, like I feel my body, uh, our body, crap, the body has been up a while."

Brandi tapped her lip. "Huh, that's almost exactly like how I feel. I guess our minds are synched to my body's physical situation. I just ate, and even though I drove a lot I'm not really tired, more excited. That is useful." She thought.

"Um Brandi? I have to ask something. I'm looking at Megan in the mirror. I mean, it's her body to a T, even down to the little spot birthmark on her neck. But it's not her. I mean, she, her, um, you know SHE isn't here with us is she?"

"No, well, not how you are thinking anyway. I, uh, I'm really good at disguises."

"Bullshit. No one is THAT good. You are nearly an exact copy of Megan from what I can see. Shit! YOU were Megan at the house!"

There was a pause and then Kory giggled. "Damn, you were fucking good in bed!"

Brandi blinked and then giggled and then laughed out loud with Kory joining her. Brandi caught her breath after a bit and said "Thanks, and yes that was me. That's kind of an odd thing to say given the circumstances."

Kory snickered again. "Yeah, well, I think normal went out the window about 24 hours back and won't be back anytime soon. So can you tell me something Emerald?"

"Sure, I...fuck."

"Ah Ha! Got you! You were Emerald too! Damn girl, now I REALLY wished I had recruited you! Or is it Lucinda?"

Brandi sighed. "Both if I want to be. Fuck, I need a drink."

"Me too. Any chance you can hit the minibar and see if we can share a vodka and tonic?"

Brandi thought about it and then shrugged. "Sure, although I prefer scotch myself."

"Bit of a manly drink."

"Yeah, but I started liking it after this one guy made a move on me and I wrapped him up so badly he literally tied himself up, fell over and broke his nose." Brandi said as she got up.

"Really? That's funny. How did it happen?"

Brandi told Kory the story, minus some of the details as she poured the drink. Kory was giggling and laughed out loud when Brandi got to the broken nose part.

"Damn girl! I would have loved to have seen that. I know what you mean about how transparent some of these players are."

"Yes, sometimes it's too easy. Well, here is a Vodka and Tonic, let's see how this works. Cheers."

Brandi sipped the drink and focused on the connection. She felt the vodka burn down her throat and then Kory let out a sigh.

"Oh, that is just what I needed."

Brandi sipped again and nodded. "Yes, I think this was a good idea. You can taste it? Feel it?"

"Yes. It's not as potent as it could be, I saw how much you put in and it's a bit stronger than I normally have, but it feels a bit watered down to me."

Brandi thought a moment. "Funny, now that you mention it, it does taste a bit weaker than I expected. Hmm, I wonder if having you in my head has something to do with that?"

"Maybe, the alcohol has to effect two minds? Wow, that could be useful." Kory said.