Muscle Bimbo Ch. 12

Alex's heart pounded in her chest as she stared in horror at Ashe, slowly swaying in a deep trance. It was like the ground had opened up underneath her, leaving her falling hopelessly into despair. How could it have all gone so wrong so fast? Alex could see that Winter, standing next to Ashe, was still talking, but the blood pounding in Alex's ears was deafening. She was experiencing so many different feelings all at once. Fear. Confusion. Anger. Guilt. Despair. This was all her fault. If only she hadn't been late, Ashe wouldn't have had to face Winter alone. What she supposed to do now? Alex wanted to run, but she knew she'd never be able to forgive herself if she left Ashe in Winter's clutches. But if she stayed and fought, did she even have a chance? Ashe had succumbed to Winter's hypnotic skills, and Alex had no doubt that Ashe was stronger-willed than she was. Maybe Winter had just been toying with her, all along, like a cat playing with a captured mouse, able to sink its fangs in as deep as it liked whenever it grew bored. Maybe there was no hope.

But she had to try, Alex told herself. She wasn't going to run. She had to try and fight for Ashe, just like Ashe had fought for her. Still, that just begged the question: how? How was she supposed to fight? She and Ashe had only had one advantage going for them, the advantage of surprise, and now that was gone. After the way Winter had manipulated her for so long, Alex struggled to believe that she could outwit the cold-hearted, smirking goth girl. What did that leave? Alex looked down at herself, and then at Winter. Maybe there was a way. Maybe all these muscles Winter had made her build were good for something. Alex had never been in a fight in her life, but from all the exercise she'd done she knew her body could stand up to a reasonable amount of punishment. Compared to her, Winter looked incredibly small and fragile. Tapping into her own anger at everything Winter had done to her, Alex clenched her fists and started advancing down the corridor towards the goth girl.

"Not so fast," Winter said calmly. She took a step back, and Ashe stepped forward to place herself directly between Alex and Winter, her expression still completely blank. Alex tried to step to one side, and then the other, but Ashe carefully mirrored her movements to ensure she never had a clear shot at Winter. Alex let her fists unclench as she realized Winter had instructed Ashe to act as a bodyguard - or perhaps a human shield.

"Coward," Alex growled, her choler rising. "Why don't you fight your own battles?"

"I don't know what you mean," Winter answered smoothly. The amusement in her voice only made Alex more eager to punch her in the face. "If anyone saw us now, all they'd see is you assaulting me inside my own home, and my friend here bravely defending me."

"She's not your friend!" Alex yelled hysterically, tears of frustration welling in her eyes. "What have you done to her?"

"She and I simply had a small chat. She was so upset at first. So angry. But I managed to help her see things my way." Winter pressed her body against Ashe's back, and reached a possessive arm over her shoulder to caress the punk girl's limp, unresisting body. "Don't you think she looks happier this way?"

"Let her go!"

"Or what?" Winter rebutted immediately.

"Or I'll... I'll..." Through her near-panic, Alex thought as hard as she could to come up with some kind of credible threat. "I'll walk right out of here and I'll start telling people exactly what you are and what you've done!" It was a bluff, but Alex somehow managed to make it sound convincing.

Winter simply arched one of her eyebrows. "And you think anyone would believe you? Silly Lexi."

Alex bristled at being addressed by that name, but she resisted rising to the taunt. "I'll make them believe me." In truth, she had no idea how she could possibly hope to persuade anyone that her story was genuine, but she couldn't back down from her threat now.

"I doubt it," Winter retorted, but then the goth girl smiled. "But perhaps it doesn't need to come to that. How about we play a simple game? If you win, I'll happily let you and your friend go, and I give you my word that I will never cause you another moment's trouble."

Alex's eyes narrowed. Her first instinct was complete disbelief, but she couldn't detect any hint of dishonesty on the part of the goth girl. Her absolute confidence, however, was deeply unsettling. "And if I lose?"

"Then you will both be mine," Winter answered simply.

Filled with trepidation, Alex weighed the pros and cons. On the one hand, her gut was telling her there was no way she should go along with anything Winter was suggesting. On the other hand, she didn't see that she had any other choice. She had no leverage, and no position from which to negotiate. She couldn't fight Winter, and if Winter called her on her bluff then she'd be even more screwed. Alex didn't trust Winter, but if there was even the slightest chance that Winter was being sincere, it might be the best chance she had. At worst, it would give her more time to think. Alex sighed. "What game?"

Winter's smile widened. "I'm so glad you've decided to play. It's really very simple. You have to try and wake Ashe here up, using only your words. No touching, only talking. If you wake her up, you win. If, however, you fall into trance first, you lose."

"First?" Alex asked, confused. "You mean, while I'm trying to wake her up, you'll be trying to hypnotize me? That's not fair!" Alex already feared what might happen if Winter whipped out the pocket watch she'd used to hypnotize her before.

"Oh no, not me." Winter's smile grew even wider. "I will simply be an innocent spectator in this little game. The one trying to hypnotize you will be Ashe."

Alex blinked. "What?" As far as she could tell, Ashe was just a mindless puppet right now. How could she possibly be capable of hypnosis?

"You heard me. I know she might seem a little slow-witted right now, but surely that's all the better for you? Unless, that is, you don't think you can win."

"I can win," Alex shot back immediately. She had to make herself believe it. She had to believe that she could reach Ashe.

"Good," Winter said approvingly. "For my part, I promise I will not interfere. I will neither attempt to hypnotize you, nor attempt to keep Ashe in trance. Do you agree to those terms?"

Alex couldn't shake the feeling she was being tricked somehow, but after a few long seconds of thought, all she ended up saying was: "Fine."

"Wonderful!" Winter clapped her hands once, excitedly. "Well then, go right ahead. I'll let you take the first shot."

Again, Winter's unshakable confidence had Alex doubting herself, but she thrust her doubts to one side in order to focus on the task at hand. She looked at Ashe. Her friend was just standing there, swaying slowly from side to side. Her arms were hanging limply at her sides, and there was no trace of personality or emotion in her face or her body language. It hurt Alex to look at her. It hurt her to know that her friend had been reduced to this, all because of her. But she knew there was no time for self-recrimination now. She needed to save her friend. How was she supposed to snap her out of trance? Alex didn't have the first idea. She was even more confused about how Ashe was supposed to try and hypnotize her. How was that possible? Alex wasn't sure Ashe could speak, let alone hypnotize anyone. There was clearly something about all this that Alex was missing. But she couldn't keep tying herself in mental knots forever. Winter was looking at her expectantly. She had to just give it her best shot.

"Ashe," Alex began uncertainly, doing her best to pretend Winter wasn't standing right behind her friend. "I'm sorry. I messed up. I shouldn't have been late. But it's OK, I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna get us both out of this. Just like you did for me, OK? So just listen to me. You just need to, um, focus on my voice, and... um, can you even hear me?"

"Yes," Ashe replied, taking Alex by surprise. "I can hear you."

Alex hadn't really been expecting Ashe to say anything, but what really made her falter was Ashe's tone of voice. Whenever Alex had heard the punk girl speak before, she'd always seemed a little high-strung, or a little anxious about something. Now, it was as though all that tension and stress had simply vanished. Ashe sounded more relaxed than anyone Alex had ever heard in her life. There was such blissful ease to her voice her words were almost slurring together, and she was speaking at a slightly higher pitch than normal. She sounded like she was in heaven. The worst part was, Alex could remember all the times she'd spoken in a voice like that, when she'd been under Winter's control. Hearing it again, even from another person, made her body shiver uncomfortably.

"OK. Good." Alex tried not to let her discomfort show on her face. She didn't want Winter to know she was getting to her. But what was she meant to say next? Alex tried to remember the way Ashe had talked to her when their positions had been reversed yesterday. Out of automatic concern, Alex asked: "How are you? Did she... hurt you?"

"Oh no." To Alex's horror, a broad, vacant smile spread across Ashe's face. "I feel, like, totally amazing."

Alex's blood ran cold at hearing the all-too-familiar bimbo-speak come out of her friend's mouth. After another moment, Ashe let out a silly little giggle. It filled Alex with horror and put her on edge so bad it was taking everything she had not to turn tail and run. If Winter had managed to do all this Ashe in just a single morning, what hope did Alex have against her? All of a sudden, now that Ashe was smiling, the punk girl's face didn't seem so blank and empty anymore. It was worse than that. She was wearing the same dumb, airheaded bimbo expression that Alex knew best from seeing it on her own face in the mirror. It was as though seeing it on Ashe was pulling her back. All the memories of what it had been like came back in a rush. They were horrifying, but unfortunately for Alex, they were far more than that. They were exciting, carefree, happy, and incredibly, incredibly hot. It took Alex a long moment to find herself again. She wasn't going to run. She was going to fight. She was going to save her friend. As scared as she was, she was also angry. That was something she could hold on to.

"What the fuck have you done to her?" Alex snapped at Winter.

Winter laughed, her eyes sparkling with delight. "I'm sure you know exactly what I've done to her. Do you like it? Doesn't she seem happy this way? Of course, I didn't have time to give her the same makeover I had you get, so she doesn't exactly look the part. At least, not yet."

"Fuck you," Alex spat.

"I wonder, do you think she'll look good as a blonde?" Winter's voice turned sing-song and taunting, and she reached over to idly play with a strand of Ashe's hair. "I haven't decided on her name yet. 'Ashe' is out of the question, of course. I think 'Ashley' could work, but maybe we could go sluttier."

"You can't. You can't!"

"Well, that's up to you, isn't it?" Winter stepped back away from Ashe again. "Don't you think she's the one you should be talking to?"

"Shit," Alex muttered under her breath, cursing herself for letting Winter distract her. "OK. Ashe. Listen to me. I want you to, um, just look at me, OK? Keep looking at me. Look into my eyes." She thought furiously to try and remember all the things Winter had done to her when she'd hypnotized her. She hated that she had to think that way, but this was Winter's game and she wasn't going to win unless she at least tried to think like her. "I'm going to wake you up, nice and easy. Right now, you're in trance. Your mind is at zero. I'm just going to count up from zero to five, and as I count, you'll feel your mind rising up out of trance and waking up on the number five. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Ashe said blankly, giving Alex a small gleam of hope.

"OK. Ready?" Alex took a deep breath and starting counting. "Zero. One. Feel yourself starting to take the first step towards wakefulness. Two. Your mind starting to rouse and become more active. Three. Your thoughts returning to regular rhythm. Four. Ready to wake up. And, five. Wide awake now."

Nothing happened. Ashe remained standing there, just as she had been before.

"Are you awake?" Alex asked tentatively.

"No," Ashe replied. Her voice, still flat and empty, sank Alex's hopes.

"Shit." Alex sighed.

"You didn't really think it would be that easy, did you?" Winter put in.

Alex ignored her. She still had a couple of ideas left. As sudden as she could, without warning, she screamed "Wake up!" as loudly as she dared. No reaction. Then, equally suddenly, she clapped her hands together as loud as possible. Ashe didn't even blink. Winter laughed softly.

"Why can't she wake up?" Alex asked out loud, more out of frustration than in expectation of an answer.

"Not can't. Won't," Winter replied simply.

"What?" Alex had no idea what she meant.

"Have you ever heard it said that you can't use hypnosis to make someone do anything they don't want to do?" the goth girl asked. Alex nodded. "It's not exactly true. There are all kinds of tricks you can use to make people want to do almost anything, given enough time and skill. That's what I did to you." Alex bristled, but didn't interrupt. "But there is some truth to it. Making people do things they don't want to do is an art. It's manipulation. If you're too crude, too direct, the mind can be quite resilient to suggestions against its own wishes."

Stressed and terrified as she was, Alex struggled to make sense of that. "You mean... she doesn't want to wake up?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Without waiting for her to try, Winter turned to the hypnotized punk girl. "Ashe, don't you want to wake up?"

Ashe let another little bimbo giggle that sent a chill down Alex's spine. "No way."

"Why not?" Alex demanded, her sense of discomfort growing even stronger.

"It, like, feels good," Ashe answered vacantly. Alex frowned.

"How the fuck can what she's done to you feel good?" she burst out.

"Don't you see?" Ashe asked. For the first time, Ashe's eyes became focused, and Alex found herself looking straight into them. She was searching for what was left of her brainwashed friend, but all she could see was a vapid bimbo. "It's just, like, so nice. I don't have to think any more. Everything's so simple. Just gotta let Mistress do the thinking for me."

Hearing Ashe call Winter 'Mistress' made Alex want to throw up. "But this isn't you! This is just what she did to you, against your will. Don't you care?"

Ashe just kept smiling. "So, like, who am I? What's so great about me?" Alex blinked, surprised, and found herself leaning in. As much as she hated it, there was something inexplicably compelling and pleasant about Ashe's relaxed, carefree tone of voice. "You, like, barely know me. Maybe I look tough usually, but I'm like, sad and anxious all the time. It's so lame. This is way better."

"H-how can you say that?" Alex whispered, appalled. "No, no! This isn't you! This isn't the real Ashe!"

"Isn't it? Look at me." Alex looked. She looked as deeply as she could into Ashe's wide, empty eyes. "Don't you, like, see how happy I am?"

What Alex saw in Ashe's eyes silenced any retort she might have had. Ashe was happy. Her friend was happy. Alex realized she'd never seen Ashe that way before. Sure, they'd only really met a few times, but still, it was surprising. She'd seen Ashe nervous, anxious, aroused, confused, determined and worried, but never happy. She looked so incredibly happy, with that silly, vacant grin on her face. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world. Unbidden, a question popped into Alex's head: why couldn't she be that happy?

"Don't you wanna be as happy as me?" Ashe asked, reading Alex's thoughts with unnerving accuracy. "Doesn't it look nice?"

Alex found herself nodding. It did look nice. It was nice. Alex could remember how it felt. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to admit it, but under the circumstances trying to deny it just felt silly.

"Before, everything was like... so confusing," Ashe continued. Alex didn't interrupt, although she wasn't really listening anymore. She was too preoccupied staring into Alex's eyes. They were so deep. Why had she never noticed how deep they were before? "I was all, like, stressed out about every little thing." Ashe giggled. It was a pretty sound. "It sucked. Y'know?"

Alex found herself nodding again. She smiled a little smile to herself. It felt silly nodding when she didn't even know what she was agreeing with. She was too distracted with Ashe's beautiful, beautiful eyes. Maybe she should listen to Ashe instead. But no, she reminded herself. Ashe was trying to hypnotize her. Listening to Ashe was a bad thing. She should do something to distract herself instead. She should just keep staring. She didn't want to get hypnotized.

"But now, it's like... all my thoughts are super light and fluffy." Ashe giggled, and Alex gave a slight laugh along with her. It was just a natural response. "And, like, apparently I don't have to make any hard boring decisions any more."

Alex decided she could let Ashe talk as long as she wanted. Winter hadn't put any time limit on their game. There wasn't any harm in it. Alex wasn't even listening. She was just losing herself in Ashe's eyes, and thinking about what a hard time she'd had since yesterday. Ever since Ashe had freed her from Winter's control, everything had been so difficult and complicated and stressful. It was no wonder she was so tired. Alex felt completely exhausted. Unfortunately, staying awake was another thing she had to do.

"You remember, don't you Lexi?" Alex was so tired she didn't even notice that Ashe had used that name for her. "How much better it used to feel? It's totally great, right?"

Alex still wasn't listening. She was just thinking about how easy it had felt before, when she'd been a bimbo for Winter. She'd been failing at school and she'd been putting herself through a punishing exercise regimen every single day, but somehow it had all felt completely effortless. Why was that? Maybe it was because then, it hadn't been her choice. It hadn't been up to her. That horrified her, of course, but maybe sometimes it was easier to cope with things when someone else took control away. That made sense to Alex, but it confused her at the same time. Wasn't free will meant to be good for her? It was, she told herself. It had to be. But then why had getting her free will back suddenly made everything so hard?

"Don't you want to go back, Lexi?"

Didn't she want to go back? No. No, of course she didn't! The shock of thinking about that snapped Alex out of her reverie. Going back to being a mindless bimbo was the last thing she wanted! Giving in to that temptation - why did it suddenly feel so tempting? - would betray everything about how hard Ashe had fought for her. All of a sudden, Alex became conscious of the way Ashe was influencing her, and realized how perilously close she was to falling into trance. Her whole body felt weak and heavy. Her head was growing fuzzy. Her eyelids had become so heavy she was desperate to let them fall shut. Alex needed to snap herself out of it. She realized that looking into Ashe's eyes was sapping her willpower, but when she tried to peel her gaze away, she found to her horror that she couldn't. She couldn't move. She couldn't look away. She could shut her eyes, but she somehow knew that if she did that, everything would be lost, and so she was straining with every fiber of her being to keep her eyes open. Alex felt so helpless. Was this it? Had she already lost?

Her dismay must have registered her face, because from off to her side she heard Winter's distinctive, dainty little laugh. "Oops," the goth girl said.