Slug Academy

Autumn glared at her nails, studiously refusing to look at her parents. The black nail polish she had applied had almost dried, but there was a spot on one of them that looked off. She blew on them and fanned out her fingers in the hopes they would dry faster.

"You should be excited to be given this chance," said her father in his grumbling monotone. "Your mother and I went to great lengths to get you accepted."

She redirected her glare to encompass her parents. "I was doing just fine in my previous school. I don't know why you think I would be excited to lose all my friends and start from scratch. Shit."

"Language, young lady," said her mother, looking serene with her hands folded.

Her lustrous, black hair was wrapped up in twin buns, as it always was. Her mother took care of herself meticulously, spending at least an hour each morning to get ready for the day. Her father certainly seemed to appreciate the care she took, but Autumn suddenly found herself annoyed at the perfection.

She far preferred her t-shirt with a graphic celebrating her favorite metal band, grungy cut off denim shorts with a studded belt, and chunky boots. The dresses her mother wore were so boring!

"I attended Limax Academy finishing school when I was your age, and look how that worked out for me. I found a loving husband." She reached a hand out and squeezed her husband's hand.

He turned and laid his other hand over hers, sniffing one of the buns in her hair. "Your mother is right, we would never have met if it hadn't been for Limax's outreach program. They arranged everything for us."

Autumn groaned. She didn't want to go to a school for fashionable ladies. They'd beat the goth right out of her, turning her into their idea of proper marriage material. She firmed her mouth. Too bad. They could try their worst, but she wasn't going to change to suit them, and that was final.

"Ah, we're here," declared her mother, gently pushing her father back into his seat. She patted his shoulder, giving him a loving look.

The chauffeur climbed out of the limo, opening the door for them. Autumn sighed and followed her parents out onto the sidewalk. They meant well, but they were being overbearing again.

Shined metal rails on the gates made the school look more like a prison than a place of learning to her. "Limax Academy - We Make Young Women Into Ladies," was the tag line, written in cursive.

The gates were currently open, a stream of young women wearing the same uniform streaming inside. She already felt out of place. They would probably make her wear that dreadful two piece polyester outfit once the induction ceremony had been completed.

Even stranger, all of the girls had their hair done up in the same way, in two buns, just like her mother. Some of them had shorter hair than others, but otherwise they all looked the same. Her mother must have never lost the habit. She shrugged. Probably another strange part of the school uniform.

She turned and hugged her mother, who gave her a warm kiss on the forehead. "Follow their lessons to the best of your ability," she demanded, squeezing her arm.

Her father stood there, stolid. She gave him a short hug, and he patted her on the back, uncomfortably. "They're top rated," he said, belatedly. "You know I can't say no to your mother."

Indeed, he couldn't. In all other matters, by all accounts he was a tough customer, able to run a multi million dollar chemical business with flair. However, she had never seen him stand up to her mother. In their household, Alexandra ruled with an iron fist.

It wasn't that she nagged him all the time, no. Instead, there was a solid core of inevitability that always brought him towards her desired outcome, like an intense gravitational pull. He simply wouldn't deny her anything she wanted.

Which is why she had ended up here. She gave him a slanted smile. "Don't worry, I'll survive."

She turned and tucked her hands into her pockets, looking down at the ground while she followed the sidewalk up to the school. She didn't like goodbyes, and she didn't want to look like a grade schooler in front of anyone else.

Fortunately, the bell from the school's intercom rang before she could get hopelessly lost. The voice came muffled from all around her. "All students report to the gymnasium for the induction ceremony."

A hand pressed against her side, and she looked up, taking in another student who was sharing the walkway with her.

"Hi!" the woman said, overly bubbly. "I've never met you before, are you new here?"

She had golden brown hair, done up in dual buns, just like her mother. She wore the school uniform, a short sleeved top paired with a skirt, dark navy blue with white pinstripes. The hair that was not done up in the buns had been pinned to the top of her head with a red bow. She must be an upperclassman.

"Yes," she replied, morose. If everyone at the school was this cheerful, she was going to lose her marbles pretty quickly.

"Nice to meet you!" replied the student enthusiastically. "I'm your student council president, my name's Phoebe!"

She extended a hand, which Autumn took reluctantly. Autumn's lips twisted into what could be mistaken for a smile. "I hope I'm not breaking the rules with my current outfit," she said.

Phoebe looked her up and down. "Very punk goth, I like it! Nah, this is your first day, you're not expected to follow any of the rules yet. They'll issue you a standard outfit once you've been integrated."

She took Autumn by the hand. "Come with me, it's time for induction! We don't want to be late!"

Bemused, Autumn let herself be led, not feeling like bucking the system her first day. Phoebe greeted other students as she passed, who waved back at her and Autumn. She felt like a rock star just by following Phoebe around.

It probably wouldn't last. Autumn didn't have many friends, due to her brooding moods. She figured it probably wouldn't be any different here, but at least for now she was enjoying the attention.

They rapidly approached a large brick building, blue letters on the side spelling out "Gastropod Gymnasium," with a stylized figure of a snail in bronze sliding over the top of them. Hardly the image of athleticism.

Phoebe whisked her inside, past the entrance to a row of tables set up at the side of the atrium. "Here you are," she declared. "You need a name badge to start with. A registration packet will be in your room that you can fill out later. You will also find your school uniform there, but you can pick that up after induction."

Autumn accepted the name tag from one of the assistants, pinning it to her chest above a cute, tiny skull on her t-shirt.

"Cutey-death, right?" asked Phoebe, smiling at her shirt.

Autumn raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, how the hell, I mean, how do you know?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm a big fan," she replied, forming a heart with her hands in the same way the band usually did while on stage. "We should hit up a concert some time, I'm looking forward to their new single."

Autumn lit up. Maybe this school wouldn't totally suck. "No way!" she replied. "Yeah, absolutely!"

Phoebe ushered her through a large set of double doors. "Why don't you come up with me to the stage?" she asked. "I have to make the announcements at this ceremony, and I think it would be cool if you came with me."

"Okay," replied Autumn. "Will it be okay with the school?"

"Oh yeah, not a problem," said Phoebe airily. "Nobody's that strict on the first day, and I'm the one who makes sure the rules are enforced around here anyway, so if you're with me you won't have any problems!"

That made Autumn feel better, but being on stage in front of everyone was still making her nervous. She wasn't going to back out on a potential new friend, though. She had precious few of those.

Phoebe led her over to a series of wooden steps that led up to a platform at the front of the room. She concentrated on her feet, the loud murmuring of the crowd make it difficult to hear.

At the front of the stage was a single microphone on a round base. Next to the base was a storage box with folding covers. At the rear of the stage was a series of seats, already filled with additional students. These must be the other members of the student council. They looked similar to one another, sharing the bun hairstyle and navy blue uniforms.

She gave them an uncertain smile and slid to the rear, out of the way, hoping that she wouldn't get too much attention. Phoebe walked up to the front, confidence beaming from her frame. "Welcome back to Limax, everyone! It's the start of another wonderful year!"

The murmuring died down, the upperclassmen cheering and clapping. Autumn peered out at the audience, surprised to see that there was an even mix between new and old students in the crowd, the new students obvious due to their lack of school attire. What seemed odd to her was that the new students were not grouped together in clumps, as she had expected.

"As you entered the gym, you were handed a name tag and assigned an upperclassman to be your escort." She pressed her hand against her own name tag. "My name is Phoebe, nice to meet you!"

She waved at the crowd, who waved back. She seemed to have a force of personality that attracted others like a magnet.

At least that explained the distribution of upperclassmen. Since she had been accosted by Phoebe, they obviously hadn't seen the need to assign her a different upperclassman.

"Welcome, everyone, to our annual induction ceremony! The upperclassmen will be assisting you today to find your new place at our school. We have a lot of fun here, and we know you will, too!"

The upperclassmen doing the paperwork outside entered the gym, latching the doors closed behind them. They stood at attention, their arms crossed.

At first, Autumn didn't see this as cause for alarm, curious to see what induction would involve. Phoebe flipped open the storage container at her feet with her toe. What was being stored in there? It looked like it was filled to the brim with some sort of liquid.

"Scientists of the world love to state that us, humans, are the highest form of life on the planet," Phoebe began. "They might be astonished to find that they are wrong."

"In fact, if the highest form of life decided it didn't want lesser forms of life to know about it, there would be no way for us to know that they exist. Unless they want us to. Or unless they are assured that they have complete control of those that do know."

She reached into the container and retrieved a long, slimy flesh-like tube. In her hands, the tube expanded like an accordion, the entire length about three feet long. Each end had a rounded mouth with a sucker like protrusion, opening and closing several times a second.

The crowd made a sound of disgust at the squishy noises the creature made as Phoebe handled it. She lifted it high into the air, displaying its translucent skin to everyone. "This is a juvenile," she explained calmly. "It is not yet mature, however there is little that is needed for it to become an adult."

She pressed her hands around one of the suction cup ends, rolling back the flesh to reveal the interior. "Inside, you can see the internal stinger and boring mouth. It is quite intelligent, as you can see. In my hands it is as malleable as a piece of jello, but when it senses a host, it attacks aggressively."

She continued her speech clinically, ignoring the gasps and cries from the crowd. Some of the attendees had turned and were trying to escape, but the upperclassmen restrained them, forcing them to continue watching the presentation.

"Once one of the ends attaches to a host, the boring mouth grinds its way inside the fastens its body on top." She gently pulled out a tendril at the center of its mouth. "The mouth parts expand, working their way inside to form a mechanical attachment. The tendrils grow, spreading inside the host until they assume full control. At that point, the creature is considered an adult, as the slug cannot be removed without damaging the host. Not that the host wants to remove their master at that point, anyway."

The crowd was recoiling, many of the more athletic ones doing their best to get away from the upperclassmen. Some of their attempts were successful, but for the most part, they were held successfully. Those who did manage to get away found themselves trapped by the guards at the doors.

Phoebe continued, ignoring the panic spreading like wildfire. "Two masters usually attach themselves to one host, one of them attaching the male end, with the other attaching the female end. In this way, they always have a full set available for reproduction. Biologically sound."

Autumn was seriously wigged out by the speech, her eyes fixed to the slimy slug moving in Phoebe's arms. When Phoebe let go of the mouth part, it snapped back into place with a wet squish. She shivered, terror seizing her mind. She needed to get out of here. Now.

She turned to leave, but several sets of arms wrapped themselves around her body. The rest of the student council had left their chairs to restrain her. "Oh, there's no escape," said one of the girls. "Phoebe chose you, so you get the pleasure of being converted by us. Besides, the back doors are locked, too. Every contingency has been taken. Our masters are quite thorough."

"Shit, let me go," screeched Autumn, a thrill of adrenaline lending her strength. The tangle of limbs was still more than sufficient to lock her down, however, no matter how much she struggled.

Phoebe continued her speech, ignoring the scuffle going on behind her. She laid the worm over her shoulders, wearing it like a scarf. It wiggled around, snuggling up to her neck. "Now that you know the bio mechanics, it's time for you to meet your masters," she declared.

She pressed a rocker switch on the floor with her shoe, a gap opening up in the floor of the gymnasium, revealing a swimming pool below. Dark shapes moved just below the surface, raising the level of tension in the room. Several girls shrieked as they fell in, long, thick tubes rolling over their bodies as they were pulled under by the slug creatures.

Struggling girls on the floor were forced to tread carefully lest they be thrown into the pool, which was writhing with thousands of the slugs. Many of them failed, losing their footing with generous splashes. Others were tossed in by upperclassmen to meet their strange fate.

It felt like the struggle lasted for several minutes to Autumn, but the upperclassmen were working together, and the new girls weren't. Any remaining resisters were overpowered and thrown in with the slugs.

She was forced to watch in horror, struggling uselessly as all of the new pupils succumbed to the slugs. Phoebe approached her, a second slug sliding through her hands. Her eyes had a strange affect, almost looking green in the overhead lighting. If that was the influence of the slugs talking, or something else, Autumn couldn't say.

Autumn closed her eyes as Phoebe pressed her body in close, the strange warmth of one of the slugs sliding over her belly.

"Once you've acclimated yourself to your masters, I'm sure we'll be the best of friends," Phoebe declared, kissing her on the lips.

The rest of the student council chuckled, one of them whispering into her ear. "The masters feel so good, you'll never want for companionship."

Another contributed. "I want to fuck all the time now, the masters make me so horny. Maybe later you'll spend some time with us," she hissed.

Phoebe stood and smiled at her proudly. "I only get to convert a new pupil once per year," she said. "You should feel honored that you have been chosen to be the one."

"It's not a fucking honor to have your brains eaten by slugs," she cursed. "Fuck all of you."

"I'm sure you will," chuckled Phoebe. "Just not today."

She reared up and set the slug in her arms on the left side of Autumn's head, staring at Autumn as the other end of the slug flowed down like a slinky. There came a sharp pinch on her skull, and a warm flowing sensation, but nothing else.

Phoebe gathered the second slug from around her neck, shrugging the tube over her shoulders as she flipped it in her arms. The creature's skin looked almost cerulean as she plugged the second mouth into the right side of Autumn's skull. This, too, elicited a sharp pinch and a warm sensation.

"Your masters look so cute," declared Phoebe, blowing her a kiss. Autumn bared her teeth, growling and snapping like an animal.

Phoebe laughed at her. "There's no reason for you to resist. The job is already done. It's all downhill from here."

Autumn realized she was correct. CORRECT. Her thoughts were already starting to wander outside her control. She wasn't sure why she so happy to be here. HAPPY.

She blinked and shook her head. That couldn't possibly be correct. CORRECT. These were horrible monsters that had been attached to her head, and their tendrils were swimming around her brain pan.

With each passing moment their influence was spreading inside her. SPREADING. They were latched onto her like parasites, growing inside her until they were in control. GROWING.

Why did that thought seem so arousing now? She shouldn't be aroused at being turned into a slug puppet. AROUSED.

She gritted her teeth, moaning at the warmth that was spreading throughout her brain. It had taken her too long to recognize what was going on. The aliens were emphasizing her good thoughts to bring them to the forefront of her mind. To make her concentrate on what they wanted her to think. To make her think the right thing. RIGHT.

She focused on nothing at all, wondering if that might be a valid form of resistance. The others had let her go, her body relaxing into Phoebe's arms. Phoebe carried her over to a chair, sitting her down in her lap. She stroked her arm, pressing her nose into Autumn's cheek. "I haven't had an underclassman to play with for some time since my last conversion graduated to the outside. I'm so glad you were selected to come here."

Autumn made a slight noise, refusing to acknowledge her thought lest she give the invaders something to latch onto. She watched the transparent skin of her masters sliding upwards, contracting as the slug pressed more and more of its body into her skull.

They were living inside her. They shared this living space now. All three of them called the body known as 'Autumn' home. HOME.

Shit, her mind was wandering. She tried to let her thoughts go again, but Phoebe was stroking her hand against one of her breasts, crooning. The stimulation was drawing her farther outside of her self imposed bubble, making her aroused. AROUSED.

Shit, the masters could use this, too. She peered out over the stage, hoping to distract herself from what Phoebe was doing to her body.

The splashing in the pool had stopped, leaving it filled with an acre of bodies floating on their backs. The masters had linked up with their hosts. LINKED. As they merged together, the new slave bodies moaned, whispering the bold words the slugs echoed inside their brains.

The most popular words were OBEY and SUBMIT. Autumn found herself echoing the words inside her own mind before she caught herself. There was so many ways for the masters to command them, it was impossible for her to avoid them all. COMMAND.

Her view was shifting already, and she knew it. It was inevitable. No matter what kind of resistance she could come up with, the masters were in control. They had bonded to her head, and they could command her to do whatever they wanted. CONTROL.

She took in a deep breath and let it out, savoring the faint pleasure of Phoebe's touch. It wasn't so bad, being controlled by the masters. They would give her a purpose. PURPOSE.

They commanded, and she would obey. OBEY. It was useless to resist, when obeying made her happy. HAPPY.