Dyeification

Dani's limo pulled up outside the theater on Hollywood Boulevard, and already, before the door was opened, the sound of the cheering fans and clicking paparazzi cameras was deafening. It filled Dani with indescribable excitement. This was it. This was her moment. It wasn't her first movie premiere, technically. But it was her biggest - and most importantly, the first since her rebirth.

After a quick turnaround, the movie Dani had been filming with young starlet Bella Kennedy had made it to the silver screen. It wasn't a huge movie or a huge part - but Dani's growing fame had helped to raise its profile. A legion of adoring, queer, female fans had turned out to build hype for the film's release. From what Dani had gathered, they loved seeing her in the part of the villain.

Dani loved it too.

Grace, her ever-faithful personal assistant - and fuck-buddy - reached over and touched Dani's wrist. "You're up!" she said, smiling.

"You deserve to be out there with me," Dani commented. "You got me here, after all."

Grace laughed. "The red carpet is for the stars," she replied. "I'm happy with the back entrance. You'll see me inside."

Dani nodded, checked her outfit and makeup one last time, and, as the door to her limo opened, she stepped out into the limelight.

A wall of flashing lights rose to meet her like a wave. To most people, it would have been utterly disorienting - but not for Dani. She let the attention and acclamation of the crowd wash over her. She basked in it. She felt energized by it. The new confidence she'd gained as a dominant lesbian left her without doubt or hesitation, and instead of worrying, she knew exactly what people wanted from her: to give her adoration.

So she stood tall, graced the paparazzi with a smile and a wave, and let them.

Dani's outfit was going to make waves on Instagram and in fashion magazines, she had no doubt about that. She was wearing a casually-cut suit, with a blazer and loose-fitting pants that were both pure white. Her Doc Martens were white too, and under her blazer, she had on a pale tank top with a plunging neck that was almost invisible at a distance. It was a statement piece, and between the flashes of cameras, Dani could already see some of her fans swooning over it.

The best part was the way all that white, all that lack of color, acted as a blank canvas, perfectly accentuating all her dykiness. Her visible tattoos stood out all the more - Dani was especially proud of the way the yonic fruit tattoo on her chest peeked out of her blazer - and attention was naturally drawn to them, and to her other accessories. Dani had a set of asymmetric ear piercings, a lip piercing on one side of her mouth, and of course, the septum piercing she'd made out of her old engagement ring. Her fans loved whispering about that one.

The pièce de résistance was her newest item of jewelry: a bulky, gold-plated padlock hanging from a thick chain necklace around her neck. Her makeup was immaculate, two of her painted nails were clipped short on her right hand, and the left side of her hair was freshly buzzed. Dani looked every bit the perfect, glamorous, dirtbag dyke. She knew she was sure to turn heads - and perhaps, if she was lucky, bend a few sexualities.

After waiting and posing for a tasteful length of time, Dani started walking the red carpet. That, too, was effortless. She glided towards the entrance to the theater, rejoicing at the way every single head turned to watch her as she moved. Every few paces, she paused so she could give a little attention to the people who had turned out to see her - a wave, a selfie, an autograph, whatever they were looking for. Even a kiss, if a girl took her fancy. She loved the way that always provoked shrieks of glee and envy from the crowd. And at every turn, people were calling her name:

"Dani!"

"Dani, I love you!"

"Dani, can I get your autograph!"

"Dani, you're my idol!"

It felt so fucking good.

She wasn't the only celebrity attending the premiere, of course. A fresh cheer and a barrage of camera flashes soon caught Dani's attention. She looked around, and saw that the movie's true star had arrived: Bella Kennedy.

Dani's smile curled up into a wicked grin.

Even though she was young, Bella Kennedy was a consummate starlet. She handled the paparazzi's attention with practiced ease, and soon started making her way up the red carpet toward Dani. Dani waited for her to get closer before waving to her.

"Bella! Hey babygirl, you look amazing."

It was true. The dress Bella was wearing accentuated her killer body perfectly - but by far, the sweetest thing about seeing her was the way her cheeks turned a deep red when she noticed Dani.

That let Dani know that both of them were thinking about that night in the tattoo parlor.

Bella wasn't about to lose her composure in front of a crowd, of course. She recovered quickly. "Hey, Dani!" she called out, waving back. "You too! Wow!"

The two of them approached each other, and exchanged hugs and cheek kisses. The fans went wild for it, of course. Dani couldn't resist the temptation to push her luck.

"Why don't we give the fans a little photo op?" she whispered in Bella's ear.

Bella nodded, suspecting nothing, and put her arm across Dani's shoulder. The two of them pressed close to one another, facing the crowd of fans and paparazzi, posing and smiling brightly.

Until Dani's hand drifted down to rest on Bella Kennedy's ass.

Bella twitched, and let out a squeal that was mercifully drowned out by the roar of the crowd. It was only for Dani's ears.

"W-what are you doing?" Bella whispered.

"Don't worry about it, baby," Dani replied, smirking. "Just keep smiling for the cameras."

The starlet did her best - but Dani was close enough to see her face twitch and grow flushed, especially as Dani started surreptitiously groping her ass. To most people, it would just look like a little bit of affection between girls. Only Bella could feel the way Dani's fingertips were exploring her body.

"C... c'mon!" Bella protested, her voice turning high-pitched. "You... not here... ah!"

"Yeah?" Dani smirked at her, and carefully inspected the younger girl's face. Bella was blushing from embarrassment, yes, but there was something else tinging her cheeks: pleasure. And her eyes were shining with the submissive thrill of the moment.

She was enjoying this. That was all Dani needed to see.

"Hey, Bella." Dani groped her even harder, savoring the way the starlet's ass felt cupped in her hand. "How's it going with your boyfriend?"

Bella blinked, thrown off guard by the question. She cast her eyes this way and that. "U-um... it's... a-ah... y'know... f-fine."

Dani giggled and licked her lips. She knew just what that meant. "He's still never made you cum like I did, huh?" she whispered.

Bella gasped. "D-D-Dani!" she shrieked. But instead of pulling away, she started clinging even closer.

Dani let out a satisfied sigh. It didn't get better than this.

After a few more moments of sinful enjoyment, Dani pulled away from her, leaving Bella stranded on the red carpet, blushing and needy. Dani winked at her, as the younger girl looked longingly after her.

"I need to get inside," Dani called out. "But you should give me a call, after the show."

She didn't doubt that Bella would.

Stepping inside the theater brought Dani a moment of calm, away from the attention of the adoring masses. Inside was for staff and VIPs only. That calm was shattered, though, when Grace suddenly appeared on one side of her, dragging Dani away to the side of the room.

"Dani," Grace hissed. "We have a problem?"

Dani frowned. Grace looked ruffled. That wasn't like her. She didn't need to ask if it was urgent. "What is it?"

"It's your ex," Grace said bitterly, in a hushed voice. "Apparently, Cameron just showed up at your house. He's making a scene. One of my friends saw and gave me a head's up. He seems to really, really want to talk to you. And he's ranting about dirt. As in, blackmail."

"Fuck," Dani spat. They'd been prepared for this, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. Trust Cameron Haines to ruin the best day of her life. "What should we do? Call the cops?"

"Maybe." Grace sighed. "Making a scene is, like, way worse for him, but it's bad for you too. I'm ready for any dirt he might want to sling your way, but... it would be nice to get some advance warning. And you're the one he wants to talk to."

"You think I should go talk to him." Dani sighed too.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I do." Grace grimaced. "Sorry, babe."

Dani rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Grace. It's his." She glanced around. "OK. Bring a car around back. I'll go make my excuses. Let's get there quick."

***

The two of them drove through the streets of Hollywood in record time, pushing the speed limit at every turn. It wasn't long before they pulled into the driveway of Dani's house - and sure enough, there was Cameron Haines, Dani's ex-fiancé. He was hammering on the door with his fist but turned around when he heard the car pull up.

Dani and Grace both stepped out, and Dani glared icily at Cameron. "What do you want?" she said.

Cameron didn't answer at first. He took a moment to survey Dani's new look, swaying unsteadily. He looked drunk.

"Jesus," he grunted. "Look what you've done to yourself."

That was rich, coming from him. Dani knew his career had been flagging and, judging from his appearance, the lull had been taking its toll. Cameron's hair was a mess, his expensive clothes looked like they hadn't seen an iron or a washing machine in months, and he had three days worth of stubble on his face.

It might have been enough to make Dani feel sorry for him, if not for the look of naked disgust and contempt on his face as he stared at Dani and Grace. So instead, seeing Cameron like this just made her skin crawl. She couldn't believe this pitiful man was the person she'd once been ready to share her life with. It was even harder to believe that she'd let him share her bed.

Dani wasn't about to make that mistake ever again. Not now that she understood how incredible sleeping with women was.

"What do you want?" she repeated, tapping her foot pointedly. "Just tell me, before I go ahead and call the cops."

Cameron let out a bitter laugh. "Fine," he retorted. "Call them. I'd love to tell them everything I've got to say. I'm sure they'll be very, very interested."

"Jesus Christ," Dani hissed. "You wanted to talk to me, right? Fine. Come inside, and let's talk."

"Grace too," Cameron insisted. "She needs to hear this as well."

Dani looked over at Grace, who just shrugged. "Fine," she spat.

Dani walked briskly past him to unlock the door to her place. Cameron was grinning like he'd already won something.

"Don't want me making a scene, huh?" he needled. "I guess you wouldn't, given what you did to me."

Dani did her best to ignore Cameron's inane posturing. With Grace by her side, she led him into the front room of her house and turned to face him with her arms folded. She didn't want to let him into her space any more than was absolutely necessary. All Dani needed to do was let him rant until she knew exactly what kind of dirt Cameron imagined he had on her.

"Talk," Dani told him. "Now."

"Fine." Cameron's eyes were wild as he looked between her and Grace. "Danielle, I want to give you a real chance to set all this right. That's why I'm here. We can put an end to this... this farce. Right now."

Dani sniffed loudly.

"I'll take you back," Cameron went on, with an air of magnanimity. "I'll forgive you for cheating on me. I'll even try to be a better boyfriend this time around. We both know that's how it's supposed to be. Cameron Haines and Danielle Cartwright. Not... this. And you!" He pointed angrily at Grace. "You'll get out of both of our lives. And never come back."

"How generous to me," Dani scoffed. "Now where's the 'but'?"

"But." Cameron's smile turned nasty. "If you don't, I'm going public with my story. I'll spill all your secrets. Your image will be ruined forever. Everyone in the world is gonna know what really happened to you."

Dani's heart was pounding, but she kept her voice even. "No, they won't."

"I'll do it, Danielle!" Cameron growled.

"It would ruin you."

"I'm already ruined!" Cameron shouted. "Look at me! My career is in ruins. Parts are drying up, and when I can get an interview, all anyone wants to talk about is you, you, you!"

Dani barked a laugh. "I heard the reason you can't get a part is that you keep showing up late, forgetting your lines, and flipping out at the crew."

"Because none of this is fair!" Cameron screamed. "Of course I'm struggling with it. This is all wrong! It's a sick fucking joke. I'm the star! Me! Not you! You're the one who needs me, not the other way around!"

"That right?" Dani raised an eyebrow, and exchanged glances with Grace.

"Yes! It is!" Cameron didn't seem to realize he was shouting. "This can't be happening to me! Understand? It can't. It's not possible. I don't lose girls. I don't get dumped. I don't... it isn't right! It's a trick! It's her fault." Again, he pointed at Grace. "This... this snake! She seduced you, Dani. Don't you see? She got into your head. She's ruined everything! That's why I have to set it right."

Dani let him rant and rave. Despite his anger, she was actually becoming more relaxed. Cameron spilling his guts to a tabloid journalist wasn't going to go the way he thought. She and Grace already had plans. There would be some backlash, yes, but easy to spin in Dani's favor. It would be simple to paint Cameron as a jealous ex. A bigot. An insecure loser. It would destroy him.

Maybe, if a neighbor happened to overhear Cameron's shouting, Grace could persuade them to say something to a magazine. That would be the perfect little finishing touch.

"I've heard enough," Dani spoke up sharply, after getting tired of Cameron's voice. "And I don't have anything to say to you, Cameron. Get out. I don't care who you tell. Tell them I cheated. Tell them I was a shit girlfriend. Tell them I made you feel bad. Whatever you want. I don't care."

She was hoping to see Cameron lose his cool completely, or else run away with his tail between his legs. Instead, he just started laughing in a thick, bitter voice, his eyes wild.

"You... you thought I was talking about that?" Cameron cackled. "No. No, not just that. I'm talking about something much, much bigger. Something even you don't understand, Danielle."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Cameron?" Dani's patience was at its limit. "Just come out and say it, already!"

She glanced at Grace for support but oddly her personal assistant had turned as white as a sheet.

"Check your email, Danielle." Cameron whipped out his cell phone and tapped the screen a few times. Dani felt hers, in her blazer pocket, buzz. "Grace did this to you. She turned you into a lesbian. And I have proof."

Dani was immediately ready to dismiss his ludicrous claim out of hand, but curiosity got the better of her. She looked at her phone and saw a set of emails from Cameron, each with multiple attachments. She started looking through them, bit by bit, and a look of shock dawned on her face as the full picture of the past few months was revealed to her.

There were employment records, tying Grace to a number of prominent lesbians - Dani, her friend Dulcinea, and many more besides. Each of them had publicly been as straight as an arrow before hiring her, and had come out while she was working for them. That alone was suspicious, if not conclusive. But that was just the beginning.

Online accounts, all tied back to Grace, with a distinct presence in various hypnofetishist communities. Records of Grace attending hypnotherapy training courses. A huge library of screenshots, all featuring Grace speculating and theorizing about how to alter someone's sexuality using mind control. Some of them, especially the more recent posts, were describing a fantasy in lurid, unbelievably meticulous detail. A fantasy of turning a female celebrity into exactly the kind of person Dani had become.

After that, there was a set of professionally-certified waveform analyses of some of Grace's guided meditation files - the ones she had shared with Dani. Cameron must have downloaded some of them from her phone at some point. Waveform analysis showed, apparently, the clear presence of subliminal messages and low-frequency tones intended to lull someone into a highly suggestive trance. It sounded like science fiction, but it was all right there in black and white.

Then, finally, there were the photos and videos. They looked like they'd been taken by a private investigator peeking into Dani's windows with a long-range camera lens. They showed Dani, in various states of relaxation and trance - all with Grace standing over her, looking powerful and dominant. In one of the videos, Dani could see Grace's lips moving. Grace had been whispering something to her while she was in a relaxed trance. Dani wasn't much of a lip reader, but she could still make it out what it was. It was one of the many, many mantras she'd found herself dwelling on over the last few months.

Sex with girls isn't cheating. It doesn't count, when it's with girls. Sex with girls is precious. Sex with girls is important.

There was more evidence besides, much more, but Dani couldn't stand to look through it all now. Her head was already throbbing. Individually each piece was wildly circumstantial, but all added up together, it was incontrovertible.

Grace had hypnotized Dani. Grace had hypnotized her and turned her into a lesbian. Grace had changed her fashion sense, her public image, and her very sense of identity. It was all her. And it always had been.

Dani had been brainwashed into a dyke.

"G-Grace..." Dani turned to her personal assistant, desperate to hold on to the reality she'd been living in for months now. "Tell me it's not-"

The words died in her mouth. One look at Grace's face was all the answer she needed.

"You see?" Cameron reacted to Dani's shock with a satisfied smirk. "It's like I've been trying to tell you. This is all wrong."

Dani could barely hear him. Her ears were ringing with the sound of her entire life collapsing beneath her feet.

Being a lesbian had become everything to Dani. It was her identity. Her aesthetic. It was the thing that had given her the confidence to take control of her life. At this point, it was practically what she was famous for. God, all her fans... what would they think if they knew it was all a lie?

But even Dani's fans felt like a distant afterthought compared to what all this meant to her. Who was she, knowing this? Suddenly, everything on her body - the clothes, the tattoos, the piercings, all of it - felt unbelievably, intolerably fake. Dani wanted to rip and tear it all out of her skin. But if she did, what would be left?

Who was she, if not a lesbian? There had been a Danielle Cartwright before, yes, but Dani had spent so long getting used to the idea that her old, heterosexual self was little more than a facade. She wasn't sure she could go back to that. She wasn't sure she knew how.

She wasn't even sure of her own name.

"Come on, Danielle." Cameron extended his hand toward her. His face was full of self-satisfied magnanimity. "Let's get out of here. I'm sure I can help you get back to your old self. Your real self."

Dani nodded numbly and took a step towards him. What else was she going to do? She didn't want to go with Cameron, exactly. She hadn't forgotten all of his ugliness and pettiness. But she didn't have anything else. She couldn't stay here, with the woman that had brainwashed her. That was absurd.

Dani took another step.

"Wait," Grace said, quietly but firmly.