Is it a cliche to so dislike one’s step-mother so
much? It was a question that had troubled Becky from
the beginning. She wanted to like her, to be happy for
the sake of her father. But, it was so difficult…
In a roundabout sort of way, it was her own fault. She
was the one who suggested to her father it was time to
take a brave step out and find himself a potential
mate. Ever since her mother’s death nearly ten years
ago, the two had lived alone together, completely
devoted father and daughter. But, now that Becky was
truly growing up, she began to sense a certain
loneliness in her father’s life, and felt guilty about
keeping him all to herself. So, she encouraged him to
take a shot at the world of modern dating. She felt a
little hypocritical, being so shy and reserved to have
attracted much attention from the boys at school, but
it was easier being a cheerleader for him than
herself.
* * *
Things then went very quickly. Too quickly. He’d met
Leonora at a club -exactly what kind Becky could never
discern, though she knew it wasn’t a bar or other sort
of nightclub. What she did know, even before she’d
heard her name, was the effect this person had on him;
heard through her father’s quiet refrain, ‘I’m in
love’.
It was easy to believe that he was, given the abstract
way he went about his day to day life after that.
Perhaps he really was consumed with thoughts of this
enigmatic woman, but Becky’s instincts were telling
her otherwise. But what did she know?
Not long after, Leonora came to their house to visit.
Becky put on her best face, but for her it was an
uncomfortable evening. Leonora proved to be a slender
woman of unusual height, her dark russet hair long
enough to nearly reach her waist. Her eyes were
without doubt her most unsettling feature. They always
seemed to be only half-open, as if she were very
sleepy, or harbouring secret thoughts whenever she
looked at you.
She was very quiet and soft spoken too, even more so
than Becky. Yet her daddy would jump at her every
word; get her coffee, raise the heat, give her a neck
rub -he’d do it without pause. Becky felt a tight fist
of resentment form in her stomach, but she kept her
opinions to herself, watching their interplay from the
couch, arms folded.
Leonora stayed the night too, which Becky didn’t give
any immediate thought to until she was lying in bed
drifting off to sleep. A number of misplaced sounds
began to intrude on her consciousness, highlighted by
a truncated woman’s cry. She realized that they were
making love. No, ‘making love’ was too polite a term.
For the noise to be able to filter down the short
hallway like that, they could only be having fierce,
animalistic sex. Becky turned over in the bed, trying
to put it out of her mind, but it was impossible to
ignore. This was the first time she’d heard the sounds
of two people… doing that, and was unconsciously
straining her ears to hear every exclamation and
squeak of the mattress. She could imagine her father
locked in that woman’s embrace, Leonora lying beneath
him, her legs wrapped around his lean back as he
fucked her. This internal pornography, along with the
faint but very real sounds drifting into her bedroom,
made Becky very wet between the legs. No matter how
aroused she got though, she steadfastly kept her hands
pressed beneath her pillow, refusing to masturbate to
her own dad’s sexual escapades. Having finally lapsed
into sleep, she was plagued by embarrassing erotic
dreams, most of which she mercifully forgot by the
time she’d awoke the next morning.
* * *
Then came the marriage. It was to be a civil ceremony,
with no family or other guests present. On hearing
this news, Becky broke into tears, clutching at her
father’s shirt as she begged him to reconsider. To
have been engaged after barely a month!
He let her have her rant, then hugged her, stroking
her hair. He calmly explained that he loved Leonora
very much, and it was natural that they should want to
share their lives together, and that Becky would
always be his very precious daughter no matter what.
Becky allowed herself to be mollified by his words,
but in her heart she still felt something was bitterly
wrong. In this brief span of time, she and Leonora
hadn’t shared more than a few brief sentences -and now
she was to be her step-mom.
* * *
“You can’t stay away forever. You’re not old enough
yet to go live out on your own.”
“I know,” Becky grimly agreed.
Both were dressed in their pajamas, Becky seated
cross-legged on the floor on the sleeping bag, Sheila
perched up on the bed. Ever since Leonora had become
Mrs K. last week, Becky had taken advantage of her
small circle of friends to sleep over to avoid being
at home.
“It could be you’ve got the wrong angle on this,”
Sheila told her, “Have you considered how much alike
you two are?”
“What!?”
“I know what you’re like, Becky, especially around
strangers. Hell, you even clam up whenever you’re
around Darren, and I know how you feel about him.”
Becky blushed at the mention of his name.
“From what you’ve told me, she sounds every bit as
quiet and stand-offish as you. Maybe you should try
and meet her halfway.”
Becky didn’t think she was like Leonora at all, but
perhaps she was right about the other point.
“If only it didn’t all happen so fast,” she mumbled.
“Ah, a whirlwind romance,” Sheila sighed, lying back
on the bed. “Can’t really blame them. If she hadn’t
got to him first, I would -and you don’t want me as
your step-mom, trust me.”
“Sheila!”
“Kidding, just kidding,” Sheila laughed. “But, you
have to admit your father is hot. It’s no surprise to
me she wanted to get that ring on his finger as soon
as possible.”
Somehow that explanation didn’t ring true either.
Still, Becky had been so on guard against this
newcomer she hadn’t made much effort to try and get to
know her.
“She is part of the family now,” Becky acknowledged,
folding away her glasses for the night. “I suppose I
really should try harder.”
* * *
Taking a deep breath, Becky opened the front door, her
school bag slung over one shoulder. Her father
wouldn’t be home from work yet, which meant the only
other person in the house would be… her.
She found Leonora seated at the kitchen table, idly
flipping through a magazine. She looked up as Becky
came to stand before her.
“Um, miss… er, I mean, Leonora,” Becky awkwardly
began, “I wanted to apologize for not doing this
sooner, and to properly welcome you to the family.”
She held out her hand to Leonora, who smiled as she
rose from her chair. Ignoring the offered hand, she
instead took Becky into a tight, warm embrace, holding
the girls’ head to her shoulder.
“I knew you would come to me,” Leonora murmured. “Your
father was right about you.”
Becky blushed, unprepared for this sudden flash of
affection.
“Wha… what exactly did he say,” Becky asked.
“That you’d come to feel about me the way he does.”
Wouldn’t count on that, Becky thought, keeping the
sentiment to herself.
Leonora drew back a bit, one hand brushing against
Becky’s cheek as she studied her face. She was her
father’s daughter alright, though the resemblance
wasn’t immediately obvious. Her hair was a similar
colour, very shiny and cut at the shoulders, but was
less blonde than her dad’s. Behind those big round
glasses her eyes were a rich shade of hazel, her
eyelashes naturally thick and long. There were the
barest trace of freckles across her nose and cheeks;
no doubt they were quite rampant back when she was a
child.
Becky grew noticeably restive under Leonora’s
exploratory gaze.
“I have something for you,” she finally said, reaching
into her waist pocket. “Something to welcome you into
my own family.”
“Er, ‘your’ family?” Becky repeated, frowning.
“Mm hmm.” Leonora held up a thin gold chain necklace,
featuring a single inch-long crystal. It looked to be
a translucent white, though from an angle it also held
a purple hue.
“Is that quartz, or amethyst,” Becky wondered aloud.
“Neither of those,” Leonora replied, reaching around
to hook it at the back of her neck. “It’s a
‘meditation stone’. I make it a point to give one to
everyone who is special to me. I’ll show you how it
works later this evening.”
“Oh. Well, thank you very much,” Becky said, gingerly
fingering the stone that now lay draped close to her
chest.
“Your father should be home soon,” Leonora said,
finally retreating from Becky’s personal space. “He’ll
be happy to see you back.”
“Um, nice to be back,” Becky said, not entirely
certain it was.
* * *
Head propped on one arm, Becky sat at her desk,
picking her way through her homework. Having spent
nearly half an hour on a single page, it was clear her
spirit wasn’t really into it. Pushing her notebook
away, she gave a tired sigh, her fingers gravitating
to her new piece of jewelry. Holding up the crystal
pendant, she wondered if her father was right, if she
ever would come to accept Leonora in the way he
wanted.
“It’s not like I don’t want you two to be happy,”
Becky whispered, “but…”
“Ah, I did say I would show you how it worked, didn’t
I?”
Becky nearly leapt out of her skin at the sound of
Leonora’s voice behind her.
“Don’t get up,” she said, laying a hand on Becky’s
shoulder. “It’s better to do this sitting down.”
“You scared the daylights out of me,” Becky
complained. “Shouldn’t you knock first?”
“We’re all family now,” Leonora said, “You’ve nothing
to be afraid of.”
Replacing Becky’s hand with her own, she held up the
meditation stone at eye level for them both to see.
Becky shifted uneasily, Leonora’s breath prickling
against her neck as she leant in close.
“Um, you know, I don’t mean to sound inappreciative,”
Becky said, “but, I don’t really believe in all that
new age stuff.”
Leonora gave a small chuckle.
“That which is true doesn’t require belief, any more
than you need to believe in gravity to keep your feet
on the ground,” she explained. “All I’m offering you
is piece of mind.”
“Piece of mind, huh.”
Although the edge in Becky’s voice was unmistakable,
it was softened by her growing distraction -her
attention fixed on the crystal Leonora was dangling
before her. It caught the light in a most unusual way,
shifting from translucent to indigo as it rolled over
the back of Leonora’s long fingernail.
“It’s not going to hurt to try,” she said, “all it
takes is a little bit of trust. Your father trusts in
me. Don’t you think it would be best to lay aside
those hidden suspicions?”
“I…” Becky caught herself, not quite willing to make
that admission. It was true, though, that it would be
a lot better if she could trust this woman at some
level, if only for her father’s sake.
“Good girl,” Leonora coo-ed, moving slightly behind
her. “It’s a very simple meditation, I assure you. It
will require very little effort on your part, only
your concentration on the crystal. Let it be the focal
point of your vision, and soon it will be the focal
point of your entire consciousness. For now, remain as
you are, sitting comfortably, your breath growing
deeper and more relaxed.”
Right from the start she could feel Becky resisting
her. This only caused her to smile. The reed which
does not bend will simply break; and how delightfully
fun it is when they do.
“Meditation is a way of cleansing your mind of
unnecessary worry and stress,” Leonora explained,
deliberately pacing her words. “Even consciousness
itself can be a burden. I will allow you to place
those burdens on me, as you continue to breath slower
and deeper.”
“Are you trying to put me to sleep,” Becky mumbled.
“A very special kind of sleep,” Leonora replied, “a
meditative trance, in fact. When it’s over, you’ll
barely remember a thing, but your mind will be clear
and you’ll feel much better. Now, no more questions.”
Rubbing the gold chain between her fingertips, Leonora
set the small crystal gently rotating, back and forth.
The shifting of white and violet colours created a
subtle strobing effect on Becky’s vision.
“No thoughts, no fears,” Leonora continued, “only the
steady rhythm of your breathing, and the sound of my
voice in your ears. The muscles in your body are
relaxed, all the tension melting away in a steady
flow. No thoughts, no fears, no feeling; only the
steady rhythm of your breathing, and the sound of my
voice…”
As Leonora continued to intone, Becky began to feel
the effects of those words. She really could feel the
tension within her draining away, as if it were an
invisible force flowing out of her from the ends of
her fingers and toes, leaving her slack and
increasingly numb. Some part of her mind reacted with
alarm that she should be slipping under like this, but
it was drowned out by the insidious repetition of
Leonora’s voice, and the flickering crystal stone that
consumed her attention.
“You are now very close to the edge of sleep, like a
heavy weight pressing upon you it becomes harder to
resist,” Leonora told her. “It is my voice leading you
down into that darkness. You have no fear of that
sleep, for I will be there with you, my words acting
as your guide. The weight grows heavier still,
enveloping you like a lead blanket. You are powerless
to resist, the need for sleep far too strong to ignore
any longer.”
Behind her glasses, Becky’s eyes had become humid,
glinting with the reflected light from the crystal.
She was too far gone to even be aware of the thin
trail of drool that had begun to creep from the corner
of her slack lips. By degrees her conscious will had
slipped away, and she only felt the oppressively
urgent need for slumber.
“Listen very carefully,” Leonora said, her volume
dropping close to a whisper. “When I repeat the words,
‘sleep now’, you will do exactly that. Becky, listen
to me… sleep now.”
Remarkably, Leonora didn’t have to repeat -Becky had
broken; she was asleep.
Leonora gently dropped the crystal pendant back to
Becky’s chest. Tilting her head, she looked into the
girl’s half-lidded eyes. The pupils were widely
dilated, just as you’d expect to see on someone under
the influence of psychotropic drugs -or a hypnotic
trance.
Leonora allowed herself a smile, never really doubting
she’d succeed. If anything, Becky had been a very easy
mark -much like her father.
“I could even believe there’s a genetic link to
hypnotic susceptibility,” Leonora thought out loud, “I
wonder…”
Leonora wiped away the smear of saliva that had crept
down from Becky’s mouth.
“Can you hear me, Becky?”
“Yes,” she replied, voice dull and flat.
Leonora moved to stand beside her, leaning back
against the edge of the desk, arms crossed.
“You must answer all of my questions honestly, Becky,”
she instructed, “You have no reason to hide the truth.
Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Leonora paused, studying the girl’s face a moment
before continuing.
“Do you like your new step-mother very much?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Are you jealous of her?”
Becky’s brow furrowed, as if she didn’t quite
understand.
“No… no, I don’t think so.”
“Hmm.”
She was rather hoping for a ‘yes’ answer. Given how
long the two had lived together on their own, it
wouldn’t have been unusual for Becky to feel
possessive of her father. Perhaps she wasn’t being
entirely honest with her feelings. She definitely
needed a more feminine influence on her life.
“Becky, how many friends do you have?”
“A few.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No.”
“The shy, quiet type, of course,” Leonora remarked,
taking in Becky’s mode of dress. Probably slept in
pajamas too.
“I used to be just like you,” Leonora said. “A little
mouse of a girl. What you need is a little self
confidence.”
Becky remained staring into space, Leonora’s words
simply washing over her.
“Is there any one boy at school you’re really
attracted to,” Leonora asked, “someone in particular
you’d love to go out with?”
“Yes. Darren.”
“I see. Just how much do you like this Darren person?
Do you have masturbatory fantasies over him?”
“Yes.”
“The irrepressible libido of the teenage girl,”
Leonora smirked. “Do you ever talk to this boy?”
“No.”
“Thought not,” Leonora nodded. “Well, I think it’s
time we changed that. Listen to me very carefully,
Becky. The next day at school, you are going to talk
to this Darren. You will do so with every confidence,
without fear or hesitation. What’s more, you will do
everything you can to make those sexual fantasies come
true. You will show and exploit your body to him,
letting him know exactly what you’re offering. About
the only thing that can match the libido of a teenage
girl is that of a teenage boy. Do you understand what
I’m telling you to do, Becky?”
“Yes,” she replied flatly. “I will talk to Darren
tomorrow. I will use my body to get him to sleep with
me.”
“This is going to work out very well, I promise you.”
In fact, Leonora had no idea how it would work out.
Left to their own devices, a subject could interpret a
post-hypnotic suggestion any number of ways. Leonora
was excited to see what the eventual aftermath of all
this would be.
“You’ve been a very good, very obedient girl, Becky,”
Leonora said softly, “and when you awake, you will
feel very good about yourself. You will have no
conscious memory of what we talked about while you
were asleep. You will only feel comfortable, warm and
safe. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Leonora leant forward, lifting the meditation stone
from Becky’s chest once again.
“Now, one last thing,” she said. “Whenever you see me
holding this crystal, and you hear me speak the words,
‘sleep now’, you will return to this state of sleep.
This crystal, and these words, ‘sleep now’. Do you
understand?”
“Yes.”
Leonora took a deep satisfied breath. Though she hid
the fact, she was also very aroused, as she often was
during these sessions. But, it was time to put this
brief experiment to an end.
“Now, pay attention to the crystal,” Leonora told her.
“Keep your eyes fixed upon it, never waivering. Listen
to me, as you feel the weight of sleep gradually
lifting from you. Your body feels lighter and lighter,
and your mind clearing and coming into focus. When I
say the words, ‘awaken now’, you will again be awake
and aware, free of the burden of sleep. Still rising,
everything becoming clearer and listening to my
words… awaken now.”
Becky reacted as if a starters pistol had gone off,
her body jolting as she came awake. Blinking wildly,
she was startled to find Leonora now standing beside
her rather than behind her.
“My gosh,” she muttered, taking off her glasses to rub
her eyes.
“You’re feeling alright,” Leonora asked, letting go of
the crystal pendant.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Becky said, her voice betraying some
surprise at the fact. Firstly, she never really
expected to go under at all. Having done so, she was
just as startled to find that the meditation had done
everything Leonora had promised; she felt very
relaxed, and quite happy in an abstract sort of way.
“We’ll, I’ll leave you to your work then,” Leonora
said, catching her off guard by giving her a peck on
the cheek. “Don’t stay up too late. Good night.”
“Um, yeah, good night…”
Closing the door to Becky’s bedroom, Leonora found her
husband standing in the darkened hallway, waiting. His
face showed a certain degree of anxiety though he said
nothing.
“Everything’s fine,” she assured him. “It went well.”
She stepped closer, laying a hand against his chest.
“I told you we’d all end up as one happy family,
Gregory. And we will.”
He nodded solemnly.
“Go to the bedroom and undress,” she ordered, “I’ll
join you presently.”
Mutely, he moved off to obey.