Point of clarification before you begin. Since this is a mind control story, with a lot of mental projection any dialogue with " " around it is spoken in the real world while dialogue with ' ' is in the mental or Astral plane.
I set down the phone, smiling to myself in satisfaction. Grace had finally called me, two days after our first date and I was surprised that she had held out that long. I had maintained a light psychic link with her and felt her struggle the entire time. There were actually times that she had dialed my number and hovered her finger over the send button just to cancel it. Also interesting, one time when she was on a stakeout in her Black Bird persona, she was remembering her 'dream' and manifested a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. I felt her shock, then fear as she almost fell off the ledge she was sitting on. Anyway, now I was going to pick her up tomorrow evening and we were going to a piano bar. I assume this is in reference to the blonde singer I saw in her mind earlier.
I knocked on her door and heard her call "Come in" so I stepped inside. The apartment was a lot cleaner than I remember from the last time, no dishes in the sink and no piles of take-out containers or other clutter. I heard her in the bedroom and felt her nervousness 'Fuck, I hope he likes it. Does it make my ass look big? Isn't that a good thing now?' she was thinking and I leaned against the counter with a small smile on my face. The door opened and she stepped out with a confidence that I knew she didn't feel.
She was wearing a black cocktail dress, spaghetti straps held up a cowl neck that showed cleavage that she could only be obtained by an impressive push up bra. The dress shimmered in the light and clung to her lithe body like a black latex cat suit. It came to mid thing and her long, tanned legs were bare into the black 4" platform heels she had on. Silver sparkled in her ears, neck and wrist and her hair was up in a loose bun with rhinestone studded combs holding it in place. The effect was like a starry night with a full moon shining and I nodded my appreciation as I slid my eyes over her as she stood there, posing nervously. I skimmed her mind for what she wanted to hear, but I already knew "You look incredible."
'He said it, just like I imagined it' she squealed in her mind, "Thank you, you look pretty good yourself" she said out loud.
I had seen what she wanted me to look like and made pains to match it close enough to meet the expectation without raising suspicions. Yes, it wasn't fair, but if I was interested in playing fair I wouldn't be swimming in the deep end of the alignment pool if you know what I am saying. I held out the flowers I had brought her, a simple bouquet of carnations and lily's, just like her father had brought to her mother on several occasions and heard her gasp in surprise.
"Oh thank you, they are lovely" she said as she took them from me and hunted around for a vase to put them in. She became flustered when she couldn't find one so I turned on the tap to fill the sink. "How about we leave them in here for now, I don't want us to be late." She smiled thankfully 'A guy finally gives you flowers and you don't even have a vase for them, great move Grace.' she berated herself as she lay them in the sink and picked up her purse.
After she locked the door, I offered my arm and laughing she slid her hand through it, resting it on my forearm as we moved to the elevator, her heels clicking on the hard hallway floor. 'Dammit, is he wearing Old Spice' she thought as she got a whiff of my cologne. "Is that Old Spice I smell?" she asked coyly.
"Yes, I hope you don't mind. It's a habit I picked up from my father, nothing else smells right to me." I replied. I knew that her father had worn this fragrance and watched in appreciation as her chest rose while she breathed it in. 'Fuck the third date rule, tonight is the night' she thought.
I drove the rented Mercedes to the piano bar she indicated and felt her anticipation rise as we approached the door. Nervousness mixed with a sense of petty satisfaction came off of her like perfume as we stepped in and were shown to a reserved seat. I held her chair then seated myself and looked around. The dark bar was lit by the candles at each table but on the stage, there was a small orchestra and the singer I had seen in her mind was in the spotlight. She was blonde, with her long thick hair piled up in a mass of curls on her head. Her hourglass body was emphasized by the sky-blue strapless cocktail dress she wore and I recognized the body image that Grace had manifested last time we were together. She strode confidently across the stage and her voice was pitch perfect as she sang in time with the piano. This can only be Song Bird I thought, and a quick scan of Grace's thoughts confirmed it. Danielle Von Meecham, lounge singer was the sonic voiced superheroine Song Bird.
Grace reached out to touch my hand, I could feel a spike of jealous concern from her as my gaze lingered on her team mate and apparent rival. I turned back to her with a smile "She has quite a voice." I said.
"Oh, you have no idea." She replied as she sipped at her glass of wine.
We spent the next half hour chatting about ourselves, well she chatted about herself, and I gave her the made-up persona that I was using this time. I had a lot of experience in making up false identities and it was all there, ID, Social media presence, even a few people who were on stand by to act as old friends or employers, and my perfect memory kept me from stumbling over it. I was just regaling her with a story from my last job when she looked up and I felt a hand settle on my shoulder.
"Grace dear, who is this?" I heard and I turned to get a face full of satin covered tit as Song Bird had quite deliberately leaned over to ensure that happened. I stammered an apology as I slid my chair back and she laughed a practiced laugh.
"Oh, don't worry sweetie, it happens all the time."
'Yeah, because you shove them in the face of any man within three feet of you, bitch.' I heard Grace think to herself. "Danielle, this is Benjamin, Benjamin Comber. Ben, meet Danielle Von Meecham."
I stood and offered my hand, she took it in that delicate, fingers only way of a sophisticated woman. I took the opportunity to do a deep dive into her mind, and pulled up immediately. Her mind was a maze of paranoia generated trip wires 'Alright, who the fuck is this guy?' she was thinking, while I saw a rolodex of faces spinning as she tried to recognize me. 'What is he after, does he know about us?' A slideshow of supervillains played out at high speed in one corner while in another there was an image of Black Bird sitting at a desk in a school girl outfit, Song Bird standing over her with a ruler lecturing her sternly 'and what have we said about strange men?'
'Fuck, where did all of this come from?' I thought, then I saw a network of lines disappearing from each paranoid thought down into the depth of her mind. They converged in a distant point in the darkness where a candle flickered. No, it wasn't a candle, it was a house and it was on fire. I pulled out, just picking up the basic info and threw up my own shields.
"Pleased to meet you Ms. Von Meecham, you have an impressive singing voice." I said as I released her hand.
