The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Cedric

I stumbled into Echelon’s atrium like a man possessed, my boots leaving mud tracks on that fancy polished floor. Three days. Three fucking days I’d been out there, sleeping in my truck, pissing in bottles, and chasing down every lead on that license plate. I stank like a septic tank explosion and looked worse—hadn’t shaved, barely ate, just burning with that desperate fire every parent knows when their kid’s in danger.

Duncan was talking with Salvador by the entrance, both of them looking all official and shit. They both froze mid-sentence when they spotted me. Their eyes went wide as dinner plates.

“Jesus Christ, Appleton,” Duncan said, wrinkling his nose. “You look like—”

“Where is she?” I cut him off, my voice hoarse from not enough sleep. Didn’t have time for pleasantries or whatever the hell Duncan was trying to say. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

“Cedric, there’s something you should know—” Duncan started, but I was already in his face.

“WHERE. IS. SHE?” Each word felt like gravel in my throat.

Duncan sighed, rubbing his forehead. “They’re in Gabriel’s office.”

I didn’t wait for more, just pushed past them both. My heart was hammering in my chest. They found her, they actually found her. Part of me was relieved, but another part was pissed as hell. Gabriel went after my little girl without even telling me? What gave him the right?

I stormed through the corridors, people jumping out of my way. Didn’t know if it was my size or my smell doing the job, didn’t care either. When I reached Gabriel’s office, his secretary, Alva, jumped up from her desk.

“Mr. Appleton! You can’t just—” she protested, but I was already shoving the door open.

And there she was. My Olivia. Sitting on the edge of Gabriel’s desk, not tied up, not screaming for her “master” like I expected. Just sitting there, looking a little anxious when she saw me, that same look she used to give me when she was twelve and broke one of Sarah’s china plates. Gabriel was behind his desk, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, jaw clenched tight.

I didn’t think. Just crossed the room in three strides and pulled my daughter into my arms, crushing her against my chest. The tears came then, hot and sudden, soaking into her hair as I kissed her forehead.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you, baby girl,” I choked out. “Everywhere. I thought—I thought I’d lost you.”

She hugged me back, and it felt like the world started turning again.

I turned to Gabriel, still holding Olivia with one arm. “You should’ve fucking told me,” I growled. “I went to see that piece of shit Sheriff, ready to sell my soul to get her back. Let him bring me on a tour of his airfield, licking his fucking boots so he’d give me information. And you know what that bastard told me? That you’d already made a deal with him. That you already had the info on the fucker who took her.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Bumped into Miles at the gate on my way in. He told me how you went in during the night. Didn’t think I deserved a phone call?”

Gabriel leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “You’re welcome,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Besides, phones are dead, if you haven’t noticed. We thought it was now or never.”

I hesitated, my anger deflating like a punctured tire. With a heavy sigh, I hugged Olivia again, breathing in her familiar scent beneath the antiseptic smell of the institute.

“Thanks,” I muttered to Gabriel, the words tasting bitter in my mouth. “For getting her back. I mean it.” Still pissed, but I wasn’t raised to be ungrateful.

That’s when I noticed it—Olivia’s eyes flicking toward Gabriel, just for a second. A quick glance, checking in with him like she was making sure she was doing the right thing. My heart started hammering against my ribs, a cold sweat breaking out across my back.

I pushed her away slightly, holding her at arm’s length. “Wait a minute. Why isn’t she trying to get back to the asshole who claimed her?” My voice was steady, but my hands were shaking. “She should be begging to go back to him right now.”

Gabriel’s smirked nervously, a tic making his cheek jump. “Turns out, if a claimed woman finds out her owner is dead, it breaks the bond. Unclaims her completely.”

Relief flooded through me, followed immediately by shock as the implications sank in. “You killed him?” The words came out in a horrified whisper.

“I didn’t,” Gabriel said, waving his hand dismissively. “It’s a long story. Someone else did. But yes, we unclaimed Olivia.”

I looked back at my daughter, gratitude washing over me despite the horror of knowing a man had been killed. This is where we were now, murder as mercy. But something still wasn’t right. The way she kept glancing at Gabriel, the attentive tilt of her head, the eager-to-please posture. It was exactly how Wendy looked at me now, constantly checking, always seeking approval.

“Is she...” My mouth went dry. “Is she still unclaimed?”

Gabriel leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head, looking like the cat that got the cream. “Don’t worry. I instructed her to be here for you.”

For a moment, I just stood there, my brain struggling to process his words. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Then it clicked, and white-hot rage exploded behind my eyes.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” I lunged across the desk, hands outstretched for his throat. I was going to kill him, right there in his fancy office with his fancy fucking smirk.

But Olivia moved faster than I’d ever seen her move, placing herself between us. Her face was set in that stubborn expression I knew so well—the one she’d worn when she was sixteen and I’d tried to ground her for staying out past curfew.

“Dad, stop it!” Her voice was firm, determined. “I won’t let you hurt him. Back off. Now.”

I almost pushed her aside. Almost raised my hand to her. The impulse was so strong it terrified me, and I staggered backward, collapsing against the wall and sliding down until I was sitting on the floor. My little girl—my Olivia—was protecting him. Protecting the man who’d stolen her mind.

“Are you okay?” she asked Gabriel as he stood up, straightening his shirt, still breathing hard from the scare.

“I’m fine, Olivia. Thank you.”

“This is about Wendy, isn’t it?” I said, my voice hollow. “This is fucked up, Gabriel. This is fucked up.” I looked up at him, suddenly exhausted. “Why? What do you want from me?”

Something changed in Gabriel’s face then. The smugness faded, replaced by something raw. “I want my wife back.”

A harsh laugh escaped me, surprising even myself. “I can’t give her back to you. Unless you want to kill me so you can claim her yourself?” I gestured toward Olivia. “Just like you can’t give me my daughter back now.”

Gabriel sighed, running a hand through his hair. I saw real emotion there: frustration, pain, maybe even a hint of regret.

“At least now you understand how I feel about Wendy,” he said quietly. “Now we both have to live with this. Now there’s balance—not just you having complete power over my wife. Even if you never intended to mess with her, with me, with our marriage... you could have. At any moment. You could have indulged.” He glanced at Olivia, guilt flashing across his face. “I took no pleasure in doing this, but I had to protect myself. Protect Wendy.”

I was too tired to stand, too drained to throw another punch. “You better fix this,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “You, Ramona, Phoebe—all your brilliant scientists better fix this mess fast, because if you don’t...” I let the threat hang in the air between us, unfinished but unmistakable.

Gabriel collapsed back into his chair, rubbing his face with both hands. “I want you to get Wendy to be here for me again, like before. And Olivia will be here for you. That’s the deal.”

I opened my mouth to argue that Olivia wouldn’t really be here for me, she’d just be doing what he wanted—but the words died in my throat as I realized this was exactly what had been driving Gabriel crazy about Wendy. The irony was like acid in my gut.

“See?” Gabriel said, clearly reading my thoughts on my face. “You get it now.”

I looked up at my daughter, standing beside Gabriel like a loyal soldier.

“Fine,” I said finally, forcing the word out through clenched teeth. “I’ll instruct Wendy to be back with you. However you want.”

“Thank you,” Gabriel said, his relief evident in his voice, then nodded toward Olivia.

She came to me then, kneeling beside me on the floor, her hand on my arm. “Dad, it’s okay. I’m still me.” Her voice was gentle, so familiar it hurt. “I’m still your daughter. Nothing’s changed that.”

I looked into her eyes, Sarah’s eyes, and saw both my little girl and this new person she’d become. Both Olivia and not-Olivia. Just like Wendy was both Wendy and not-Wendy.

“Please,” I said to Gabriel as I struggled to my feet, my body feeling twenty years older than when I’d walked in. “Please don’t hurt her.”

Gabriel’s face was solemn. “I won’t hurt Olivia. I would never do that. You know that.”

“I’m not talking about Olivia,” I said, my voice breaking. “I’m talking about Wendy.”