A Battle of Minds

This is the second chapter of a story mainly situated in the mind control category. I recommend reading the first chapter, but for those that do not want to do so here is a short summary:

The new school year did not start well for 18 year old Laura: First she breaks up with her boyfriend Daniel without ever having planned to do so, then her mathematics teacher Mr. Seger dies, and finally, she starts experiencing strange memory lapses. After a while she realizes that someone is controlling her thoughts and actions in some way, and she suspects her classmate Martin and a mysterious golden locket he is wearing. With time, however, Laura learns to resist, and after the end of the school year she finally defeats Martin. Laura believes to be free now; the only thing left for her to do is destroying the locket. Just then Mr. Seger, whom she believed dead, suddenly appears and turns out to be the true owner of the locket – Laura's ordeal has only begun.

I hope you enjoy this story, and I would be very happy about comments. The story takes place in a fictitious small town in Eastern Germany in the late 1990s. As in that time school took 13 years in Germany, all students in this story are 18 or older.

~~~

Dark are the waters of Lake Leskow, as it lies quietly beside the Grünenberg forest. The night sky is covered with clouds, the moon is not shining. Only the street lanterns in the small town of Leskow, on its Western shore, shine dimly in the night. These lanterns, however, are fighting a lost struggle against the darkness enveloping lake, forest, and town. Their orange glow is swallowed by the darkness. No reflection brightens the waters of the lake.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blows over the lake, waves ripple its surface. The trees in the forest start swaying in an ancient dance, forgotten by humankind. It seems, the wind was all they have been waiting for, and now they wake up from a thousand years of sleep, they raise their voices in a song of rustling leaves. Then the waves of the lake are hit by the first drop of rain, it bursts on the surface of the water in a small explosion. Another drop follows, and another one. The rain drops are heavy, and soon the sound of falling rain fills the forest. But no one can hear it; it is too late in the night. Leskow is asleep, even the last guest of the little town's pubs has returned home and gone to bed. And who would want to be outside in this type of weather?

Suddenly, however, something is stirring at the edge of a small, hidden bay at the Southeastern shore of the lake. Some tiny movement that is not due to the wind. A bird flies up from the scrubs under the trees, fleeing from an unknown danger, though the rain is covering up all other sounds.

A moment later, a figure appears. A human figure, a man, though barely visible in the shadow under the trees. He stands motionless at the shore, staring out over the lake. He looks almost as if he is thinking about something. One of his hands is closed, forming a fist. Then, however, he slowly opens the fingers, one by one, and for a moment something bright glitters between them – a shining piece of metal, a precious piece of jewelry, that he is holding in his hand.

He remains silent a few more moments, and then his voice tears through humming of the wind, through the dripping of the rain. He says only a single word, a name, but he shouts it out loudly, so it echoes over the waters of Lake Leskow:

"Laura!"

***

Laura stared at the monitor of her computer.

"It was awesome! I had a great time with you! See you next week. Thomas."

She did not know what to make of this mail. It was addressed to her, it was in her email account, but what did it mean? Which Thomas had sent it, anyway? There were four boys of that name just in her class, and many more in the whole school. The address of the sender gave no indication which of them it might have been, and she had never been more than loosely acquainted with any Thomas. So what was he referring to? What had been awesome? Was she, without knowing it, dating this Thomas?

Laura massaged her temples. It was five o'clock in the morning already, and she had not succeeded in finding anything that made sense. She had no idea what was going on in her life. The last thing she could remember were the events of a warm August night. Now it was the end of October.

She had woken up about three hours ago. After sitting up with a start, disoriented and scared, she found that she was back in her own bed, in the room that had been hers since her childhood. Everything looked normal, as it always had; the room was neat and clean: She always kept it that way, since her earliest childhood. Her shelves were filled with books, her school bag was stored in a corner, and her computer stood on her desk.

Laura had awoken like this before – but something was different this time. 'Not again!' – Those words echoed through her mind the moment she woke up, as if they were coming from the past, as if she was not thinking them now but had thought them a long time ago. And there were other words there, words not spoken by herself, but by Mr. Seger, her old math teacher. Words that she seemed to have heard only minutes ago, though in fact they had been uttered back in August, out in the forest, by the lake: "You can't resist me."

The window to her room was closed when she awoke, and it was warm and comfortable in her bed, but Laura could see the outlines of trees outside, in the dark. She could see that those trees did not carry any leafs anymore. It looked cold outside, it was fall. After understanding that many months had passed since that day she met Mr. Seger at the lake, she left her bed and ventured out into the kitchen, searching for a pile of old newspapers that her mother kept to place them at the bottom of the garbage can when necessary. She needed those papers to find out as much as she could about the months she had lost, any trace that could indicate what her former teacher was up to. Of course, the newspaper pile was not very complete and her search did not render many results. There were a few articles about a recent series of strange robberies, for example another one in the museum of local history, similar to the one that had happened during the last school year, but that was it.

And there was one more article that interested her. Laura tore the page out of the paper, to keep it for future reference. Now, sitting at the computer, she unfolded it again and again to stare at the accompanying photo. The article itself was short; it was concerned with the Leskow Castle Festival end of September. No, it wasn't the article itself that made her stomach turn: It was sad of course, a reminder of the horrible events of the past year, when one of the participants of the diving contest had drowned. The photo accompanying it, however, showed this year's winner. The fact alone, that the diving contest was still taking place, would have been enough to make Laura feel sick, but it was worse: On the photo, the lucky winner was receiving his victory kiss – from her. She had no idea why she of all people had been elected "princess". Probably it was Mr. Seger's doing. But why? Why was he doing all this? His reasons did not seem any clearer than Martin's motivation last year to win the diving contest, and to even commit murder in order to win.

Apart from this, Laura had not much success with the newspapers. Finally, she returned to her room, searched her school bag with even less success and in the end switched on her computer, drumming her fingers impatiently on the desk while the machine took its time to get started. She read through all her Emails, but there was nothing she could make sense of. Only this mysterious email by a guy named Thomas. Just one sentence, no information. Laura moved the mouse to the reply-button and clicked. "Thomas", she started typing. "It might sound strange, but ..." She hesitated. What could she write? How could she make him understand, when she didn't even know who he was? And what use would it be, if he replied later in the day, or maybe even only in a few days, when she would surely not be herself anymore? For another moment, Laura let her fingers rest on the keyboard, trying to come up with any words that could express the strangeness and horror of her situation. Then she put her hand back on the mouse and logged out of her Email program without finishing the reply to Thomas' mail.

She decided to have a look through her school backpack next. It was neatly packed, which was not unusual for Laura. She had never been one to just throw things into or out of the bag, she liked finding everything easily, and crumbled paper or ear marked books annoyed her. One by one she pulled out everything in her backpack, books and notebooks, and quickly went through them, but with no result. Her notes from class seemed normal and complete. There was a math test from the past week, she had received top grades. The signature told her that her math class was still being taught by the elderly woman that had been called back from retirement after Mr. Seger's supposed death.

While Laura looked at the test, amazed that she had passed it so well, since she could not recall ever learning about this type of calculations in class, she suddenly remembered the small voice recorder that had helped her to find out more about Martin in the previous year. Where could it be? She carefully returned the books into her back, and started pulling her desk's drawers open. Eventually, she found it on top of one of her book shelves, next to the handbooks on journalistic writing her parents had given her for Christmas last year.

Laura turned the little silver machine over in her hand a few times, before she finally switched it on and held it to her mouth. "Hello, hello!" she said, feeling slightly silly. Her voice sounded weird, and for a moment she worried whether her parents might hear her. Then she realized that even if they did, they would not think anything of it. As far as they were concerned, their daughter had been with them all the time throughout the last months. She turned the dictation machine off again, and then pressed on play. "Hello, hello!" her voice sounded back at her. So it worked. Good. How long the batteries in there would last was another question. She had not replaced them since she last had used it. She just had to hope they would be fine, Laura decided, as she turned on the recorder and placed it in the front pocket of her back pack.

A look out the window, into the sky, which was already turning from pitch-black to a murky gray, told Laura that it must almost be time to get ready for school. She guessed that Mr. Seger was still asleep, and that this was the reason she had managed to wake up, and stay awake for so long. However, once he realized what was going on, he would surely regain his control over her. Laura had no illusions about that. Would he know how long she had escaped him? Would he guess that she was trying to find out what he was up to?

It might be better if she went back to sleep. Maybe then he would not realize she had been awake. And she felt tired, her bed looked enticing. After a moment's hesitation, Laura crawled back under the covers, feeling her body warm up – she had not even realized that it had been quite cold in her room until now. Sleep came over her quickly, but just when her eyes closed Laura was overcome by the familiar sensation of everything around her growing dark and pulling her down into an abyss, extinguishing any thought from her mind.

***

Thomas stood at the gate to the school yard and watched as Laura approached. He was standing there since early in the morning, waiting, and when she finally appeared, made her out from far away. Her slender form and her red hair were unmistakable. The closer she came, the faster became the beat of his heart. In a moment he would smile at her and say "Hello!" He braced himself for that moment, taking a deep breath – but the Laura passed him without looking up. She seemed deep in thought.

Thomas sighed and followed the girl into the school building. As he walked behind her, his eyes were fixed on her exquisite little behind, whose forms were clearly visible in the tight Jeans she was wearing today. Fleetingly the thought passed his mind that she had never worn this type of sexy outfit before the start of this school year, while now she always offered him and the other boys quite a view. In fact, until a few months ago, Laura had been one of the quiet, shy girls; almost conservative in her manner and way of dressing. Of course, she had always been pretty with her long hair, shining in a soft tone of red, and those big blue eyes, but back then she was too introvert to really catch the eye. Apart from that, she had been off-limits in those days anyway, after all, throughout most of the last few years she was Daniel's girlfriend.

Well, but Daniel had graduated by now. And the two of them, Laura and Daniel, broke up more than a year ago, much to the whole school's surprise. And the surprise grew, when Laura suddenly started going out with Martin, a dislikeable and boring guy from her class.

He, Thomas, with his constant struggle against acne, with his innate lack of coolness, his too skinny body that seemed unable to build up any muscle, had seen no chance to ever end up with a girl like Laura. However, if this was impossible for him, it was absurd to think that Martin would stand a chance. In fact, it seemed absurd that any girl, not just a pretty one like Laura, would ever want to go out with Martin, Thomas thought. He still could not figure out what she had seen in him.

Then, of course, Martin had this strange accident and was now, almost three months later, still in a coma. The doctor's were out of ideas in what concerned him – at least this was what Thomas had heard. No one knew what exactly had happened to the guy, and apparently there was no medical reason for him to be in a coma, but that's what he was.

Either way, it must have been tough on Laura. In fact, it was shortly after Martin's accident that she changed her demeanor so radically. Almost as if she had become a different person. She started dressing sexily, almost provocatively, and started hanging out with people who according to most of Leskow were "the wrong crowd". And suddenly there were rumors about her in school. She would do almost anything for money, that's what was being said. Strangely enough, despite all this, Laura's grades improved a lot, especially compared to the previous year. And her best subject now was mathematics – something that apparently surprised all those who had known her for a while.

With a sigh, Thomas tore his eyes from the view of Laura's ass, as she continued down the hallway: He had reached his classroom. He entered, and sat down at his usual spot, just in time before the bell rang. Laura would be late for her own class, it seemed. But what did he care. It was not her punctuality he was interested in. While the teacher started talking about something or other, Thomas preferred to let his thoughts run to the previous day – and to those aspects of Laura he

was

interested in.

Finally he had managed to get a "date" with Laura. After weeks of worry what she would say when he addressed her, it was surprisingly easy, almost as if she had been expecting it. She took the words out of his mouth, told him she had been thinking they should meet up for quite a while now, and suggested for him to come to one of the girls toilets after class, where she would be expecting him. He was hardly able to spend attention in his classes all day, waiting for the afternoon, when most students and teachers would be at home. He walked back and forth through the different hallways until they were empty, checking the time again and again. Finally, he sneaked to the girls restrooms. He had never entered them before, and they seemed to him like a strange and mysterious world, a wonderland, to which he until now had been denied access. Among the usual, not particularly pleasant odors he believed to make out the fragrance of feminine secretions. In front of his inner eye he saw the restrooms populated with hundreds of girls, all pulling down their knickers in the little cabins. He believed he could still here an echo of their voices and of splashing streams of urine...

Of course, the room was empty now; he stood there alone, in the girls bathroom, feeling a bit out of place and nervous. Most of the doors to the different booths were closed – one was locked even, a little red square was shining underneath the door handle. Hesitantly, Thomas walked towards this door, stood in front of it, waiting, not daring to knock.

Suddenly, he heard the clicking sound of the lock; saw the little square under the door knob change from red to green. Then, the door was pushed open from inside. Inside the small booth, in front of the toilet, stood Laura. Wearing tight jeans, as usual, and an even tighter sleeveless shirt. Her pullover, which the cold had forced her to wear during the school day, was now crumbled up on top of her backpack, on the floor. It was obvious that she was not wearing a bra under that tiny excuse for a shirt. Her soft red hair was hanging into her eyes, and Laura pushed it to the side with a slow movement of her hand, before she gave Thomas a mischievous smile.

"Come in!"

Thomas entered the booth. It was small, especially now that they were two people inside. He was very close to Laura, he almost touched her, could feel the warmth of her body, hear her breathe. Suddenly he realized that never in his adult life had he been that close to a woman – unless he counted the occasional hug from one of his aunts.

Laura's breasts were clearly visible underneath the tiny shirt; even though the light in the cabin was only dim, Thomas could make out her nipples. He felt his cock twitch at the sight. Slowly, he raised one hand; his fingers carefully touched her left breast. Even through the material of her shirt they felt better than anything he had ever touched in his life.

For a few moments, Laura let him proceed at his own leisure, and then she took his hand and decisively pushed it underneath her shirt. Thomas added his other hand, and for a few minutes he forgot the whole world around him, as he concentrated only on the divine feeling of Laura's breasts under his hands – the first breasts he touched in his life, apart from the time when he was a baby. They were beautiful, those breasts, round and firm, not huge, but bigger than Laura's slim figure would have made him expect. Her skin was smooth and soft, her nipples small and hard.

Laura just stood there, silent, unmoving, while he played with her breasts. Finally, however, she took his hands into her own again, pressed them against her breasts one more time, and then moved them to the side.

Thomas would have liked to continue for a while and half protested when Laura pulled away his hands – but her mischievous grin told him that she had more things in store for him. And she did not disappoint him: Laura pulled her tiny shirt over her head, and now he had a free view of those perfectly shaped globes. Her pale skin was glowing under the lamp's light; it looked as soft and smooth as it had felt; its color creamy and even. Laura's nipples were rock hard now, and it seemed to Thomas that they were pointing directly at him.

Then Laura knelt down on the tiles of the floor; her face was now at the height of Thomas's crotch. While looking down at her, taking in the view of her breasts once more, this time from above, Thomas noticed how close her face was to his manhood, which was already straining with all its might against his trousers. Those trousers seemed much too tight all of a sudden, like a prison – but as soon as this thought occurred to him, he saw Laura pulling down the zipper to free his cock.