Teaching Her a Lesson Pt. 13

Isa said, "Remember, we stick to the script. No improvising. And we don't know if he'll be alert enough to listen while we write, so don't take chances. I still have to keep him safe and out of jail. So keep your tongue in check. You can make all the comments you want later when he's back to normal, but for now, we stick. to. the script. All right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's get to it already." Candy pulled the cap off the pen and forced it into my grip. I shifted my vacant stare a few degrees. "Can't believe this piece of shit gets off this easy."

"It was your idea, Little Miss Can't Cause Him Trouble. Now are you ready or not?"

"I'm ready.

"OK then." Isa leaned into my field of vision. "Mr. Canon, can you hear me? Mr. Canon?"

I waited a moment, then gradually made eye contact. "Yes," I murmured. Yes. Good. Like you're half-asleep. That's how they'd sounded, right?

"You see that paper, that pen in your hand?"

"Yes, Candy."

"Don't ever call me Candy," she snapped. Isa gave her a long-suffering look, but Candy wasn't having it. "My name isCandace. Not Candy."

"OK, Candace."

"Good. Now write at the top of the paper, 'I will not do anything sexual with other people.'"

My jaw clenched for a moment, but I tried to pass it off as simply swallowing down the drool puddling in my mouth so I could reply. "All right."

Neuter me indeed. I wrote the words as directed, and once given the order, got to work on the next ninety-nine times. Those fucking bitches! Here I was, primed to have the kind of sex life other men didn't even dream about, and they were going to have me pounding my pud in solitude for the rest of my days! I couldn't believe them. How could they do this?

Really, though. How? Not just the cruelty of it, but... drugging me! How?!

I had plenty of time to think it over as they went to the living room and filled time playing on their phones. Candy started knitting after a while. I thought I saw them looking over sometimes, but I kept my eyes on the page, writing slowly but doggedly.

How had I let it come to this? Yes, I hadn't made them actually write their commands down, but considering that Abbie had been transformed by a single exposure to sarcastic commentary, that couldn't be it. What, then? I'd told Candy explicitly to never do anything to disrupt my plans or cause me trouble. So how could she...

Well actually...

Hmm.

Had I ever told her I planned to fuck those girls every chance I got? Yes, I'd walked her through that little sex ed lesson, suggested I might have her do another, but I supposed as far as the letter of the law was concerned, she wasn't disrupting any formally stated plan by preventing me from doing it again. But obviously I'd planned on having a threesome with her and Isa tonight, hadn't I?!

Well, no. Technically, I supposed, that had beenher plan. In fact, she'd been so excited about it that I'd not even had the heart to modify any of it. I supposed she could cancel her own plan without my say-so without actually running into a Serenex wall.

But as for causing me trouble...! No getting around that, was there? She'd drugged me against my will! Yes, she was using the Serenex to keep me from "preying" on any more students. Where had she been with this voice of restraint last week when we were nearly caught? That would have been her golden opportunity to...

Son of a bitch! To keep me out of trouble.

It was plain I'd been much too careless with her commands. After all, we were both of us teachers.Keeping students out of trouble usually meant preventing them from acting on all those idiotic and self-destructive impulses of theirs. How could I have been so stupid as to think she'd flipped the switch from horror at being coerced into playing sex ed sex games with Abbie to wanting to borrow Cassie for fun of her own? She'd known what I wanted to hear all right, and she'd played me like a fiddle.

At least until the tenth time she'd demanded I try her Serenex sauce.

"Atta boy," said Candy as she inspected the pages. "All right, now write 'I will never use Serenex or Serenex knock-offs on anyone ever again.'" She guided me through the first line word by word, then set me off on the path to a hundred. Shit -- the sentence was even longer than the first one, and my hand was already cramping up.

Still, I didn't miss the clue.Serenex knock-offs, she'd said. Was that what I had? Was that why we hadn't been able to find any evidence of these mind-altering effects in our research? Questions for another day, when I once more had the upper hand.

Once they were satisfied I was hard at work and once more returned to the living room to pass the time, my thoughts turned to Officer Barbour. Candy, I supposed I understood. She could justify this as a means of keeping me out of trouble for good. How was Isa justifying this, though?

I'd made her my protector, instructed her to keep me safe and preserve my freedom. One might be able to twist this bullshit as protecting me from myself, I granted. Same with safety and freedom, if one narrowly interpreted freedom as solely remaining clear from legal consequences of my actions. Perhaps to a cop, simply not being locked up was as free as it got. Not how I'd meant for it to be interpreted, but I hadn't meanttell me the whole truth to force Cassie to share every inane and unfiltered thought in her head, either. That might explain why Isa hadn't gone with the tase-and-spray option, too. It would be easier, but less safe. If Taylor had fallen on her face instead of her shoulder, that incident could have gone from frightening to life-threatening in a hurry.

So maybe this level of deception, that goddamn mystery gravy, madesome sense at least. Still, what I couldn't wrap my mind around was the happiness clause. There simply wasn't any way one could think that tricking me, drugging me, ending my sex life and stealing my Serenex would make me happy. The command had to have been working, right? She'd been so free with her nudity, seemed so preoccupied with pleasing me. Had that all been an act? My capacity to read body language seemed to dull when the body was gorgeous and naked, it seemed. I thought back to what they'd discussed earlier, about seducing me into giving up the Serenex. Not how someone who was trying to make me happy would describe it at all. But that made no sense. I'd seen her standing there slack-jawed beside Megan and Cassie when I ran into my yard that day! She'd sat while I programmed her and Megan for hours, glassy-eyed and barely responsive...

With the same exact expression I'd had when they found me, supposedly full of their bullshit gravy.

Cassie had never sprayed her at all! Damnit, and I'd never been direct enough to make sure of it. Isa had a thorn in my paw since she'd gotten involved, always judging and trying to take charge. Then she'd played me, waiting to see what I'd do and if a more drastic response were merited. I guess making Megan my plaything had been just the sort of thing she'd feared. She'd covered her contempt well when I'd been nattering on about this morning's locker room orgy, but evidently the real time reminder of my sexual relationship with Taylor had been enough to knock her out of character -- that must be why she'd suddenly gone taciturn. And sure, I'd given Taylor a hundred copies ofMr. Canon can do anything he wants to me, but often as not, she'd been the one initiating towards me! That crap had been purely consensual!

Hang on, my relationship with Taylor Stern was consensual?!

"Holy shit."

My hostesses' heads whipped in my direction. "Did he just say something?"

"Is it wearing off already? It's barely been an hour!"

They rushed over. Shit! I kept writing, eyes on the page. "Did you just say something?"

My mouth opened.No. I left it open. They hadn't used my name. Play the part. "Canon?CANON," Isa barked in my face. "What did you say just now?"

"What... say what?" I mumbled.

"Is he..." Candy leaned down in my face, waved a hand. I finished my line, then glanced up. "Are you faking this? I swear, if you are fucking with us right now..."

Isa was thinking the same thing. Of course she was! I'd used her own play against her. "Watch him. I'm getting the taser."

"Isa..."

"Watch him."

My blood ran cold.Keep writing, Canon!She wouldn't. She couldn't! Right? If she could incapacitate me, she would have already and skipped the charade. It had to be true. I could hear her footsteps clomping up and down the hall, the march of a petty authoritarian. No way. It was a bluff. She--

She walked into the room, taser in hand. "Set for stun, Mr. Sulu." She pressed a button; it sparked menacingly.Don't look. Don't fidget. Don't cry.

Don't piss yourself.

And suddenly, right as I began to worry I was going to do all of those things, possibly all at once, a voice bubbled up from beneath the scar tissue grown over my own Serenex-corrupted brain.

I am not a pussy.

My bladder settled. Damn straight.

Isa knelt down beside me. The twin prongs of the taser dug into the top of my leg. Then they went higher. Higher. They didn't stop until they were pressed with uncomfortable firmness against my scrotum.

"Now, dear boy," she said in a voice that only sounded more dangerous for how quiet it was, "this is your last chance. Admit that you're putting us on, or I'll fry every last sperm in your rapey little nut sack."

I will never use Serenex or Serenex knock-offs on anyone ever again, I wrote. Twenty-two more to go. Fuck this bitch if she thought I was going to let a little electric shock take me down.

"One..." She pressed harder. My balls issued a silent condemnation of the tightness of my jeans. They had nowhere to go.

"Two..." She peeled back a safety cap over the trigger.Bring it. You won't get the satisfaction of a scream.

"Last chance." She peered at me this way and that. "No? Nothing? Suit yourself."

A line of drool leaked out of the side of my mouth.Kiss my ass, Barbour.

"Isa...!"

She eyed me hatefully. For a moment, I really thought she might do it anyway. But I just kept writing. If she shocked me, I'd get back up and keep writing once I could. That weapon gave her no power over me. Not like my weapon did over them. I was in control here. Or I soon would be. Here it came...

The taser pulled back. "Fine. Just write faster, you sack of shit."

________________

They bought it. Four hundred palm-scorching lines later, those two drank my wine with shit-eating grins on their faces, toasting to their own cleverness. No more sex; no more Serenex; a much more direct order to obey any future commands they gave me; and, to my surprise, even a command to save up twenty-five grand each for Taylor, Abbie and Cassie and donate it anonymously. Restitution, great. Evidently I'd been so stupid, I'd not only failed to get these women's assistance in stopping my blackmailer, but I'd added new payments to the list.

There was no way of telling time from where they'd left me, so I waited for them to start wondering aloud when I might shake it off before doing so. I took my time, looking around and mumbling incoherently for a few minutes before regaining real consciousness, much as the others had when I'd dosed them.

"So how do you feel?" Isa asked.

"I'm not sure. Tired. What... what happened? Did we...?"

"No, we didn't. Do you want to?"

"Yeah," pressed Candy. "We're crazy super horny. Do you wanna fuck our brains out, stud? Threesome time, yeah?"

"No," I said quickly. "I won't do anything sexual with other people." I made a face like the suggestion grossed me out.

The two of them laughed openly and shared a high five. "That's too bad, buddy. We were really looking forward to it."

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just not interested in anything sexual. Not with other people, anyway." Someone send me an Oscar.

Both of these cats looked like they'd eaten a dozen canaries. "Hey, do me a favor and stand up."

I stood up. "Like this?"

"Yeah, that's it." Candy snickered, the wine and the power both keeping her nice and giddy. "Dance for us."

"Oh. Um, sure?" God, I felt stupid. A necessary evil, to be sure, but there was nothing for it. She still had that taser on the table beside her. I wasn't about to dive for it and see if the trained cop was quicker on the draw than me, with a hand so sore I doubted I could make a fist if my life depended on it. I was a bad dancer at my best, but I managed to juke and wobble, like someone who was coming out of a near coma would. Isa put a stop to it before long. She howled with laughter, reducing it to mere giggles for just long enough to instruct me to take the pen on the table and try to write the word "moron" on my forehead."

"We should have him do 'rapist' instead," suggested Candy. "Oh! Or 'child rapist.'"

"No, we don't want to have anyone see it and find out about everything. I can't let him take that risk."

"Spoilsport."

By then I'd already made my effort, trying my best to channel Cassie's nonchalance at casually chit-chatting during activities that ought to be warping her fragile teen mind. "How's that? Legible?" I asked. The tingles from where the pen had scrawled lingered on my forehead.

They differed in opinion, but agreed it was good enough.

"All right. Now it's moment of truth time. Into the kitchen, asshole," ordered Isa. The two of them followed me in. I thought of the big gob of drug-laden potatoes in the trash and hoped they'd buried it under their own leavings. Isa's arms were folded behind her back; I didn't know if she had the taser with her or not.

Candy squeezed past me and opened a cabinet next to the microwave. The lower section contained a spice rack, its contents neatly organized save for a few bits still sitting out on the counter. The upper shelf held cooking sprays, wooden skewers, baking soda, a plastic bottle of honey shaped like a bear, and, buried in the back, my canister of Serenex. She had to stretch to pull it down, but she managed.

The two of them drew close, pinning me between them right up against the sink. I read the room. They'd gotten what they needed out of my Serenex, neutralizing me completely. Nothing left for them to do now but deprive me of the rest of it. Shit, these bitches were going to make me do it for them, weren't they? Of course they were. The ultimate test of loyalty. Put a weapon in my hand and make me prove I was too broken to use it to save myself. Now I had no doubt Isa was holding that taser.

Shit! I wasn't sure I could afford more, even if I could find the dealer again. Plus if it was indeed some diluted knock-off, who knew if the chemical mix would be just right again. No, I couldn't let this happen. Even if I wanted to be rid of the stuff and just enjoy what I'd already gotten for myself, I couldn't.

After all,I will let Abbie use my Serenex whenever she wants. She couldn't very well use the stuff if I poured it down the drain, now, could she? My mind raced.

"What's that doing up there?" I asked cautiously. It was hard to sound casual under the circumstances.

Candy held it low, nozzle pointed at the ground. "We used it on you during dinner, dumb-dumb. The special gravy recipe? Grandma really did dig on mushrooms, but I thought I'd sub in Serenex, see how you liked it. Now you're our bitch, Canon. Your days of molesting those girls are over."

"Oh. Is that why I don't want to do anything sexual with another person now?"

She tapped my nose. "Maybe not so dumb after all. Now if I handed you this, what would you do with it?"

Spray it right the fuck in your eyes, I thought. "I don't know. I will never use Serenex on anyone again, that's for sure. Hide it somewhere, I guess."

"Hide it?" Isa asked behind me. She was still looking at me with that same suspicion she'd shown when she'd nearly tased my nuts. "I thought you said you were never going to use it."

"I'm not!" I made a face, like the idea was incredibly distasteful to me now. "I would never."

"So prove it," Candy said. Eyeing Isa, she put the canister into my hand. I looked down at my old friend, then back up at my new enemies. The taser was out now. "Spray the rest of it down the sink. Show us you mean it."

Fuck. Could I spray them in time? Probably, except Serenex took time to take effect, and 50,000 volts of electricity did not. I'd hit the floor, drop the can, and if they had brain one in their heads, they'd spray it down my throat before they succumbed. Then it would all be over, and those commands would be real. Worse. Next time, they wouldn't stop at mere pragmatism. Yes, there was a chance Isa was bluffing, that my orders to keep me safe would stay her hand, but I wasn't about to gamble it all on the efficacy of the same brainwashing that had left me open tothis.

There was nothing else to do. I directed the nozzle into the sink and pressed the trigger. Damnit! I had to do something before all of my Serenex -- Abbie's Serenex! -- was gone. The can was still heavy, not so different from when it had been full in fact, but every passing moment that its sepia contents sprayed down the drain, it was growing lighter. Each second that went by was hundreds of dollars gone, a world of opportunity squandered. If I didn't come up with something soon, I'd have no choice but to roll those dice after all.

The women seemed content to watch. Soon, I would be disarmed, and for good. If I didn't hatch a plan better than "YOLO!" then I was doomed. The amazing sex I'd had that afternoon would become a bittersweet memory. I thought of Taylor and her indignation that I hadn't fucked her before we left the locker room. She was never going to let me hear the end of it.

Actually, no. She was going to call me a loser, a fuck-up, a pussy, and then she'd graduate and I'd never hear from her again.

Almost as frightening, I would have to face that fate I'd warned these women of earlier this week. What would happen if Serenex compelled me to let Abbie use my canister whenever she wanted, but there was no more canister to be used? What would my brain even do? My hand shook at the mere thought of it.

As a stall tactic, I released the nozzle to flex and shake out my hand. It actually was pretty uncomfortable squeezing down right now. Isa nudged me almost right away. "Don't fuck around, Canon. Keep spraying."

I frowned. "I am. My hand just hurts is all. I guess you guys had me write a whole bunch, huh."

"So use your other hand,moron." She smacked the taser against where the word was written on my forehead.

"Ow! I'm on it, I'm on it, geez!" I shifted to my left, paused again. "Should we be doing this in a ventilated area? I don't want to--"

She pressed the prongs into the back of my neck. "Three. Two--"

I sprayed. Great. I'd bought myself another thirty seconds, during most of which I'd been too distracted to think. Nice work.

It was half-empty before my brain came up with anything. "So I guess you guys are going to try to fix the girls, right?" I asked conversationally.

"We already did," Candy snapped. "You can't do anything to them any more."

"No, I get that. But I mean, it's not all me, right? Like, what are they going to do when I cut them off? Abbie's sort of... volatile."

"We'll figure it out."

I kept spraying. The smell was becoming intense; I turned on the water to rinse it down, and even that small gesture was nearly enough to make Isa jerk suddenly. Yeah, no way I was going to spray her before she took me down.

"Sure. I was just thinking it'd be a lot easier to fight Serenex with Serenex. For you, obviously. I'm done with the stuff. I'll never use Serenex on anyone ever again."

The girls shared a glance. My heart pounded. The canister was so much lighter now. "Maybe... maybe he's got a point," Candy said guardedly. "I'm not afraid of the Stern girls, but--"