Figuring Things Out with Sabrina
“Ah, I just had a few questions for Miss Sabrina, if that’s okay.”
Cynthia looked at me for a long few seconds, glanced towards Sabrina, then shrugged. “Take as much time as you need, and come inside.”
This was the Headmistress? She didn’t seem that strong to me. And if she didn’t have psychic powers of her own, I bet I could…
…command her to yank that plain black t-shirt out of the way so I could get a good look at those massive tits. Fuck, how was she so perky at that size? Perkier than a girl half her age, but even bigger than Wicke’s. I imagined how her nipples would look. Would they be thick pencil erasers? Or maybe the Headmistress was shy—inverted nips and all. It’d be fun to coax them out from their hiding spots as she bit her lower lip and breathily moaned out my name.
Or maybe I wanted to take a spin on that fat ass of hers. I hadn’t missed those wide, child-bearing hips. Fucking slut—wearing those tiny little shorts. She was practically begging to be bent over and railed; I bet she wasn’t even wearing any panties. She needed a man, a real man like me, to take her in hand. I’d grab her by the jaw, squeezing her cheeks together so she’d pucker up those lips for me to claim them. Conquer them. Conquer her. Transform her from the mature, powerful Headmistress into just another slut for my cock, a pet who existed only for my pleasure, a cunt—
A memory flashed before me. First day in class. Swaggering up to the front of the class, a dumb grin on my face.
“You know… you’d look cuter than any other girl in here wearing one of these. And you didn’t say the partner had to be another student.”
Only I was seeing it from an outside perspective, watching the rabbit hopping over to try and bully the lion.
<And I was being nice about it.> Okay, so not a memory so much as a warning from Sabrina about what had happened the last time I’d thought about taking on a teacher.
So instead of making a pass at her, I followed after her into Sabrina’s apartment. There wasn’t much of a jump in quality compared to the one they’d just thrown me into, but it was much more lived in, with dim lighting, comfortable looking furniture, an overflowing bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, and plenty of blankets on the couch they must have been sitting on, the big screen television paused in the middle of the movie.
“C’mon. We can talk in my office.” Sabrina said, leading me past the living room as Cynthia retook her seat on the couch. Once the door closed behind us, she frowned at me.
“Yeah.” Two sharp fingers thudded into my chest and pushed me back against the wall. “Try to mess around with her, and she’s going to think it’s my fault. That I’m… what, a bad role model or something?”
“You encouraged psychics to brainwash other students on the first day of classes. You’re a horrible role model.”
Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, because a boy scout like you would never, ever consider doing something that dirty. Right?.”
“Well…”
“Keep in mind, I can read your mind like an open book,” she added.
“Well…!”
She folded her arms under her chest. “Well…?”
I walked past her and took a seat on the couch she kept in the cozy office. “Yeah. I don’t know.”
I honestly didn’t know what to say to her. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized… this is why I’d walked into the lion’s den. Sabrina was the only person I knew who I could talk to this about.
“It’s… fun. Exhilarating. Being in someone’s mind. Overpowering them. That… connection you have.” I looked over at Sabrina. “The one I had with you, in our training. I’ve been with a lot of women since I came here, but that was different. We were…”
She smirked, shook her head, then dropped onto the couch hip-to-hip beside me, one arm thrown around my shoulder. “I know. Little girls can’t compete with a literal mind reader.”
“Yeah. Kind of. But… but then when I came out of it and I saw what happened to Yang. I’ve never felt so angry in my life. So… righteous. I wanted to kill Terry for what he did. It was unforgivable to me. But… but how is he any different from me? How can I say I’m any better than him after what I tried to do with you?”
“Well, technically, what you’re trying to do with me. Whatever trap you laid is fuzzy, but I can still feel it deep under the surface,” she remarked casually, as if it wasn’t an attempt to subvert her free will and enslave her.
“Fine. Trying. I’m still in the process of attempting to do something horrible, even if from the way you’re talking about it, I’ve as much of a chance at success as a feather blowing away a hurricane.”
“Well, maybe if it was a really big feather…” Sabrina let out her throaty laugh, squeezed me closer towards her. “Okay, okay. I can tell this is really eating you up inside, so let’s see… it’s hard to put into words. What we did in the mindscape, if I’m reading your memories right… we both had fun, right?”
“Well, I had fun…”
“Jeez!” She threw her head back. “This is why I’m telling you, you need to read more minds. But here. What does this feel like?”
Sabrina lifted the arm she had around me and pressed the tip of her index finger against my forehead. There was a warm pulse…
And immediately, my stomach clenched. My heart stopped. “What did you… fuck!” My voice cracked, and I realized there were hot tears running down my cheek.
“Shhh… shhh… you’re okay.” She pulled me into an embrace, her chin on top of my head, my face buried in her shoulder. “That was a touch of emotion projection. Betrayal, specifically. Might have been a touch too intense on account of that rat bastard being… nevermind. The important thing is, these are just feelings, so just let yourself experience them. Here comes fear next.”
“Wait wait wait—”
Cold sweat. Couldn’t breathe. She was so much more powerful than me. She knew what I’d done to her. She was going to… going to…
“You’re fine, you’re fine.” Sabrina rubbed my back. “Nothing’s gonna happen. These feelings aren’t real. Let ‘em pass. Take some deep breaths.”
I tried to do just that, but it took longer than I would have liked to calm down. “What the hell was that for…?”
“Betrayal. Fear. Those are the most fleeting and intense, but there’s plenty more. Humiliation. Misery. Hurt. Frustration. Despair. Relax, I’m not going to show you any more tonight.” Tonight…? “The point is… when you’re a psychic like us, when someone else is feeling these things, you should be feeling them too. Especially if you’re getting close to them.”
I wiped the water from my eyes. “So… what. As long as I make them happy, it’s fine?”
“Now you’re getting it!”
“But what if I made them happy doing something they hated? What if I made them betray someone they were close to, or… or…”
“That’s the thing. Right now, I could make you into my bitch. A totally braindead stud that spends all night licking my feet. And you’d smile and laugh and love every moment of it.”
I gulped, hoping she wasn’t about to give another practical demonstration.
“...but! I can manipulate your mind, but the core inside of you is going to remain untouched. The more I make you act against your nature, the more negative emotion builds up. We call it Stress with a capital ‘S’. And the worse you feel… the worse I feel. And it’s not something you can’t get away from, either. Psychic control means you need to mix your energy up with theirs, and those negative emotions will come in through the link.”
“Huh…”
I sat there and digested the idea for a long moment. I couldn’t hurt someone with my psychic powers without hurting myself. But if that was true…
“I didn’t feel anything negative in the mindscape with you. Is that because it wasn’t the real world, or because it was a fragment, or…”
Sabrina gave me a punch in the arm. “Come on. Give me a break! Being in control all the time is such a hassle. Sometimes, you just want to turn your brain off, relax, and do what you’re told.”
“Huh.”
Just like that, my pants were feeling tight.
“You’re not a bad kid.” Sabrina used her fingertips to mess up my hair. “But you’re not that good either. You’re young and confused. You’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna cross lines. But… I think you’re gonna turn out alright.”
I tried to smooth my hair back down with one hand. “Gee. Thanks.”
“And if you don’t, well, maybe I’ll just slice out the naughty parts right from your brain.” Sabrina laughed, but I still had no idea if she was joking or not. “So. You good?”
I let out a long sigh. “Yeah. Really, thank you. You’ve given me a lot to think about, but I’m feeling a lot better.”
“Good. Oh, but moving on. Your friend, that fire-type? She was radiating out with stress. You were right to get mad for her sake.”
My shoulders felt lighter in that moment, but it only lasted for an instant. “So then Terry really is hurting her.”
“Dummy.” That earned me another punch on the shoulder. “That kid only knows how to splash water around. Didn’t you sense anything about Yang when you were throwing hands with her?”
I thought back to the arena. She’d been almost mindless back then. She hadn’t spoken to me. And… her eyes had been glowing pink. Sabrina’s control gave others purple eyes. Mine was red. Yang had been under the influence of a psychic with a pink energy signature.
“Interesting. So you see it as glowing eyes.” Sabrina mused, still reading my thoughts. “So find whoever it was that has that ‘pink’ energy, and then you’ll find whoever it was that really needs to be taught a lesson.”
“You don’t know who it is?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Didn’t recognize the signature, so all I can say is that whoever did it, they’re new to the school like you. You should ask her yourself.”
“I… should.” With my head cleared up, I felt like I was ready to speak with Yang again. I stood up from the couch… and Sabrina yanked me back down. “...what?”
“Hey hey. Before you go, there’s something in my head I think you forgot to take with you, riiiight? I’ve got that fuzzy block on my memories, and I’m just dying to feel it from my own POV instead of second-hand shadows from your surface thoughts.”
“Ah. Right. I just need to siphon the…” I stared back at Sabrina as she licked her lips in anticipation, staring right back at me like we were about to kiss. Or go further. “Actually…”
I smirked at her. “If you’re that curious, we can always make new memories.”
Sabrina closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. I could feel a surge in her arousal. “Good answer.” She shook her head, then stood up. “Now get the fuck out of here. If I keep Cyn waiting any longer, she’s going to start pouting at me.”
I clenched my teeth. For a second there, I thought she was going to get on her knees for me.
“Oh, now don’t you pout on me too. If you want some more one-on-one training, I’ll arrange it. But you’ve been asleep a long time. I think there’s someone else you ought to speak with more than me.”
She had a point. It was still early in the evening. I ought to go and see if I could talk to… who, exactly?
There was that mystery girl inside the pokeball. I should talk to Terry too, ask him about Yang. I hadn’t spoken with Yuna and Faye since the move.
Who was I kidding?
I needed to see Yang immediately.