Altered Ch. 03

*All character engaged in sexual activity are over the age of 18, in case it's not obvious or mentioned.

*This story contains some scenes of nonconsent and mind-control.

*This is a long story intended to span many chapters, please go back and read the previous chapters or else this won't make a lot of sense. If you are looking for a quick fix this probably won't be for you. This story gets violent and reads like a jumbled mess that is my mind. I hope it's at least entertaining.

*Thanks to Alwaysready64, HellCat_Sundry and ACTRaiders for their help editing this because we become blind to our own mistakes.

*******

Tanya's tears started flowing then, and I noticed some scrapes along the right side of her face and bruising under her right cheekbone.

"You took our ride," said the lady in black in a kind of annoyed yet not surprised tone, "I knew we needed more men." She turned to the mercs. "Grab some gear, we are going to have to hoof it to the coast from here through the hills."

"It's a good ten miles through rough terrain, Cruella," I said, she just ignored me.

The lady in black still hadn't given her name so I figured I'd keep using Cruella until she did.

"We will have to camp out overnight, they might set up roadblocks so we will have to hide out for a few days while things cool down," Cruella informed.

They stripped me of my weapons and my pants; my shirt and hoodie were cut from my body since I was cuffed, and the guy with the knife made sure to 'accidently' cut me a few times along the way. I couldn't move a muscle to protest or even flinch when his blade cut the skin of my bicep and across my chest. There was no blood but the searing pain was intense, thankfully it only lasted a few seconds.

We were led back up into the hills and the trail was rocky and full of sharp rocks that you barely notice until you have to walk over them barefoot. Cactus littered the landscape and there were a lot of blackened brush and burnt out yucca, they must have had a wildfire recently. The brush was a beautiful mixture of black and green as the new growth was overcoming the ashes and cindered husks of the old.

I saw a discarded emergency blanket but no signs of my grandfather, it looked like George came through for me and got my grandpa to safety.

After a five-mile hike through a windy path that cut around obstacles - like huge swaths of cactus, yucca, and steep cliffs - we made it to a peak of the hills. On the peak was a large flat rock about twenty meters long and ten meters wide that stuck up out of the ground about two feet and stuck out of a ten-meter cliff about three feet. This was where me and my grandfather would camp using nothing but rolls of blankets and some canteens.

The peak was really a plateau that stretched for miles and next to the rock was a small pond. Usually when we came up here the water would have long been evaporated in all the heat, but it was still early summer and they had gotten a lot of rain this year. I have only seen the pool a few times in my life since I would normally come during the summertime. I used to skip stones across it as a kid. Its familiarity beckoned me like a homecoming. I longed to go back to that time when hiking this trail was enjoyable, peaceful and didn't have the burden of killing 20 men on my conscience. I worried that I could never feel that kind of peace again and fell into a depression.

Grandpa used to say that the flat rocks were more comfortable than his bed and if not for the rattlesnakes he'd sleep there every night. The orphanage dogs, just like the children, loved my grandfather and he would often take them with him on his outing into the hills. I think it was his calm demeanor, he seemed to be a gentle soul around unspoiled souls and I never wanted to see him any other way. He told me a story once how he woke up one morning with a rattlesnake in his bedroll. He said he simply reached down and flung it away. It must have gotten cold in the desert at night and it just wanted to snuggle up to him for warmth, he would say. My grandfather was a pacifist and wouldn't even kill a snake if it bit him; he was full of contradictions that way.

Thinking about him filled me with dread, he was in bad shape when I left him and I had no idea how he was doing. I fantasized that the snakes would curl up with one of the mercs or give Cruella a big kiss as they slept, but I knew not to count on a snake. The sun was setting by the time we reached the rocks and they decided to set up camp there for the night.

The path to the rock was a five-mile hike but as the crow flies (cf) it was probably only two miles from the orphanage and another 15 miles (eight miles cf) to the coast. There was bound to be an investigation into the orphanage since the orphans had to have gotten help by now. Since there were dead bodies, illegal automatic weapons and two helicopters parked nearby with two dead pilots, I'm sure they would be investigating for days. The highway would have roadblocks set up in both directions. Mercenary killings from drug cartel wars were commonplace around here, so the investigation would likely focus on them. There wasn't much they could do since they only had dead bodies, I doubt any of the mercs had ID on them and I bet they filed their fingerprints off too. I suspect the police would just chalk it up as another unsolved gang war. The hills weren't likely to be searched as it would be assumed that either the survivors escaped in a vehicle or everyone was dead, it wouldn't make sense for them to be on foot. At least that's what I believed that the mercs were hoping for, but they still didn't want to tempt fate so there was no campfire and they had a good highpoint sniping advantage over the trail leading up to the rock.

As I walked up to the rock, I was suddenly filled with hope. I recognized an old discarded pocketknife that I once threw away when I was a kid. The casing had broken but when I told my grandfather he got angry at me, he believed he could have fixed it and my grandfather hated waste. It was one of the few times he was mad at me for something that wasn't religious.

It was off to the side of the path up to the rock. I faked a stumble so that I could step on it. Since I was barefoot, I was able to grip it in my toes as I walked over it. I was hoping and praying that the mercs didn't notice. When they slammed the rifle butt into the back of my head telling me to sit down, I flung the knife in a nearby bush. They ordered me and Tanya to sit down so I made a point to sit next to the bush.

Tanya was thrown into me and told to sit down and shut up. They wouldn't let us talk to each other and there was one guard watching us at all times. However, they did allow us to lean against each other.

There was no fire but the mercs did have some Sterno cans to heat up some MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) which they used to torture me, they could tell that I was famished. The fighting and healing took a lot out of me and my hunger was starting to make me rave. They did give me some water that they spit in, so, not all bad guys. They tied my knees together, then my ankles, then bound my arms to my body.

One of the mercs brought out a night-vision rangefinder and was periodically looking for anyone on approach up the trail. The other kept watch on us. Cruella looked tired; I'm not sure if it was the mind control that took a lot out of her or maybe she was pulled out of bed in the middle of the night to do this mission and was just sleep deprived.

"If you leave her here, I'll go with you with no resistance. If you keep her with you I know you'll kill her at the first opportunity so that's just going to motivate me to escape," I said.

"You were designed to be clever, so don't be clever. I can still control you," Cruella said, "Don't try anything or you will live to regret it." She looked mischievously at Tanya, "I could make you do things to her... or even have her do something to herself. I know what you are capable of, probably even more than you do yourself. No, my dear, I will be keeping her as my ace in the hole."

Tanya started moving her handcuffed hands up my legs, "I'm not doing this," she said with a horrified tone.

I spit on my leg, and to my horror Tanya leaned forward, tongue extended, and lapped it off me. She pulled my cock out and started massaging it to hardness. She started rubbing her cheeks, nose and chin lewdly all over the head and base. Tanya looked horrified. Her tongue came out of her mouth and she licked the base of the cock, like she was using a sponge to clean it. My cock started twitching in pleasure. I closed my eyes and after a minute of continued molestation, Tanya pulled away from me and started crying.

"Get the point? Now just imagine what I could do to you both. I could rape her with your body... if you fuck with me, you WILL fuck her."

"Ok Cruella, I get it."

My cock was still hanging out of my boxers.

One of the mercs came over and said, "Let me help you with that,", he proceeded to step on my cock and mash it in with his boot.

I wanted to say how ineffective his technique was, but all that came out was cries of anguish as my cock was mashed to a pulp. I passed out.

I awoke to my cock feeling invigorated and it looked really pink and super-sensitive, the slightest breeze tickled the skin and it felt like I was fucking the air.

"Oh, thank god!" I thought. I was worried that would be the one thing that I couldn't heal.

I looked over at Tanya, she was slumped forward with her knees pulled up to her chin. I purposefully fell into her, almost knocking her down.

"Sorry," I said and leaned close to her ear I whispered, "Cry on my shoulder."

I sat back up quickly before the guard decided to fuck with me again. Tanya looked at me confused, then I looked at her and spoke with my eyes that she didn't hear me wrong. She shed some crocodile tears and leaned into my shoulder.

I leaned my head against hers and whispered, "There's a knife behind me in that small scrub," I nodded my head as if I could gesture towards the bush. "Inch your way over to it and see if you can hand it to me." Tanya was merely cuffed in front whereas I was hog tied and couldn't move; the mercs really didn't consider Tanya a threat anyway, so even if I could move it would probably be better if she got the knife.

It took more than a half-hour of shifting and she had to fake falling over to get the knife as her hands were cuffed in front of her. There was no way to hand the knife off without the guard knowing, so she lightly tossed it so that it fell behind my back. I leaned down and made as if I was going to try to sleep and I wiggled around as if I was trying to get comfortable. After five minutes, I finally had the knife in my hands. The blade was dulled from years of weathering and rusting but I was still able to cut my way through my plastic cuffs after what seemed like an hour of slow struggling. With the guard keeping constant watch, I had to be careful not to move very much, also my arms being bound to my body didn't allow me to change angles so it was a struggle even with my increased strength.

Once my hands were freed the ropes were relatively easier to cut through. My feet were still bound and there was no way to cut them without the guard seeing, so I waited patiently for the right moment. I decided to get some sleep, maybe after I woke in half an hour he might think I was still sleeping and I could get him while his guard was down.

Tanya laid her head on my chest, using me as a pillow and she cried herself to sleep. I comforted her as best I could. I didn't sleep for another half-hour...

*******

I was crying in her arms, my head resting in her bosom.

"It'll be OK Ant, I promise."

"B..but she was controlling me like I was a puppet, Natty."

"You're going to be ok, Tony, I promise. I'll take care of you."

I hated the name Tony, she was the only one I would allow to call me that.

"How did you stop her, Natty?"

"I am a telepath like her, I know how to guard my mind against her tricks."

"Like Jean Grey? I thought telepaths weren't real..."

"Yeah, well there's a lot of things people would have you believe was not real."

"Ohhh... can you show me how you do that?"

"You're not a telepath, Ant. I'm not sure how I could describe it."

"Why?"

"Do you know how to describe to a blind person what it's like to see?"

"Yes."

"OK, how would you do that?"

"I was watching this YouTube video on echolocation..."

"Wait, what? You're six, what are you doing watching YouTube? I know you're smart for a six-year-old but there's stuff on there a six-year-old shouldn't be watching."

"Well you know I don't sleep, so what do you think I do all night?"

"I don't know, read?"

"I read every book in the house, I'm a speed reader. I go on YouTube to learn things."

"OK, OK, go on..."

"Like I was saying, I saw this video on echolocation and this guy was teaching blind people to find objects by making loud clicking sounds, the sound would bounce off of objects and they would be able to tell if there was an object in their path by its echo."

"OK, but how does that help explain sight to a blind person?"

"Well it doesn't explain it, but if I showed them how to use sound to locate objects then I could explain there is another sense that does that for them but infinitely better."

"I see, hmmm. OK, I guess I can attempt to tell you how it works like that."

I leaned over and pecked her on the cheek.

She looked back with a slight blush and continued, "OK, my love... hmm, I guess the first thing you have to do is to be aware of your power."

"How do I do that?"

"It's like being aware of your skin, your eyes, your nose... you are aware because you pay attention to what they are communicating to you. Your ears tell you about sounds, your nose tells you about smell and your eyes about light, even your skin tells your body whether you are in pain or pleasure. However, like your eyes have to open your eyelids to see, so too do you have to open your third eye's lid... so to speak."

"So, do you have a third eye or something?"

"I guess, it's what people call it anyway. It's not sticking out of my body like all of my other sensors. It's trickier to get what it's telling you. You have to pay attention to it to make it work, unlike hearing or feeling or seeing where you are always actively using them, your third eye could stay closed your whole life unless you try to open it or it gets bigger."

"What does it tell you?"

"It will show me thoughts, streams of consciousness, and energy surrounding objects."

"What can you do with it?"

"Well just like you can make sounds as well as hear them, you can manipulate the thoughts and energy around you, but just like you learned to speak, you need to learn how to properly manipulate the energy also."

"How do you stop other telepaths from manipulating you?"

"It has a lot to do with training, like if you hear a car horn honking before you cross the street, you'll look to see if it's honking at you first, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So, you have to train your mind to look for disturbance in energy around you. After a while, it becomes instinctual."

"OK, but once you detect a disturbance, what do you do?"

"I couldn't explain that to you in one day, it takes years to learn all of the different techniques. However, there is one thing that all telepaths instinctually know."

"What?"

"If a big guy came up to you to kidnap you what would you do?"

"Yell and scream maybe..."

"Exactly, I can do the same thing telepathically, I can sort of yell and scream. It works especially well against weak telepaths since they have to concentrate to be effective; if you are not trained to defend against it, then it can be painful not just distracting."

"Will you be here for me next time, Natty?"

"Yes, my love, I will be keeping my third eye on you and I will protect you, even if it costs me my life."

She pulled me closer and kissed me on my forehead...

*******

I woke with a start, these ARE memories. The more I thought about my past the more it just didn't make sense. I knew they were fake because they were too perfect. But the familiarity of Natty was haunting, I now knew for sure that Natty was Natalie Isabella Romanov. Now my other dreams were starting to make sense. Natty was my babysitter, and she was a natural psychic. She protected me against a neighbor that was trying to manipulate my memories. Her family was killed and she almost was too in an 'accidental' fire. She was orphaned, she must have been adopted. They wiped my memory of everything up to when I was six and replaced my memories with fake ones. The only question is, how am I remembering if my memories were truly wiped?

I remember she used to love that we had similar names, although it was her first name that matched my middle name. All those dreams over the years weren't just dreams, and I needed to remember them all, I needed to find my Isabella, my Natty.

I pretended to be sleeping and watched the guard through the cracks of my eyes. I noticed that he was a smoker and - as expected - he got the urge to get up for a smoke. He was pacing back and forth, looking back at us every few minutes to make sure we hadn't moved. As soon as he turned his back, I would lean down to make a cut. It was a dangerous game because he was very random in his movements. Once I thought I was caught but I faked like I was just moving around in my sleep and he thought nothing of it. After my ropes were halfway cut, I was able to snap the rest through pure force.

I needed a way to quickly subdue my guard. I looked for some sort of weapon, the best thing I could see was a large rock between me and him. He was ten yards away so I would have to be fast and I couldn't be stealthy at that speed. I waited for a good opportunity to pounce. I saw his cigarette was halfway done so I would have to act soon, one way or the other, because once he sat back down he would be able to see my cut bindings. He finally turned his back to me and I leapt to my feet and ran at him, my arm sweeping low to grab the 30 lb. rock on my path to him. With a loud guttural growl, I came down at him with my boulder. He turned towards me, raising his gun and although he got off a shot it went wide and my boulder crushed his forehead, snapping his head back. He was left with his head permanently looking behind him. I grabbed the gun from his hand and quickly fired it into the other merc. Before I could take out Cruella, my mind seized once more and I stood still.

She looked shocked and worried and I knew she was running out of options and her control of me was waning.

"You're dead bitch. Do what you want but you can't control me forever. You'll get tired. You won't be able to keep your concentration up for long. You need to sleep and I doubt you can make me move and move yourself at the same time. There's no way you're getting me out of this desert. When you flinch, you're fucking dead."

She truly looked distraught and knew I was right. She had me throw the rifle off to the side then she quickly grabbed the other merc's weapons and pointed it at me.

"What good will that do you? You can't kill me; your bosses want me alive. If you don't kill me, I'll just heal myself," said Cruella.

"It will slow you down and it will hurt like a son of a bitch, besides, I can kill her too," she said menacingly. "You couldn't just listen to me, could you? I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson."

Tanya got up, walked over to the lady in black and picked up a knife off one of the dead merc's bodies. I was shocked; I assumed that the lady in black could only control one person at a time but I was still held in place as Tanya came closer to me, knife outstretched. She stuck the knife in my gut and pulled it free, there was no blood and other than my skin being cut there was no penetration. Tanya looked worried and tried to stab me over and over, the knife plunging down like she was trying to fuck me with it. The pain was excruciating, but once again it seemed to only be cuts to the skin, so I just stood there and took it. My skin was on fire, I felt a need to throw up. I needed to find a way to fight her control.