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Horror** A BATTLE OF MINDS SERIES (Horror + Erotica) ** - Completed
The following story takes place in a fictional small town in Eastern Germany, sometime in the late 1990s. Due to the German school system of that time (starting relatively late, and leading until 13th grade for those who want to attend university), most students were 18 or older during their last two years of school. This is also the case for all school students in this story.
Please forgive my mistakes, I am not a native speaker of English.
This story is fictional. Any similarities to real people or events are a coincidence.
Again, Laura tried to get up, onto her legs, or at least onto all fours, trying to scramble away while she straightened up. Before she managed to come up, however, she felt a searing pain in her leg; as if a rough rope was tied around it tightly, pulling her back. And then, that very same rope was dragging her upwards by her leg. Another strong blow of wind let wet leaves and branches fly into her face, and made the cold cut like knifes into her rain-soaked skin.
In shock, she looked up: There was a very thin branch wrapped around her leg, tightening its grip in a snakelike manner, and pulling her up. The other branches of the tree stretched towards here, like skeletal arms, the twigs at their ends like long fingers taking hold of her. After just a few moments Laura was suspended up in the air, every one of her arms and legs pulled into a different direction by the branches of the surrounding trees. In panic, she realized that those same branches were growing thicker now, turning into strong logs. They were growing all around her wrists and ankles, so she was barely able to move at all anymore. Then the branches sank down again, the trees bowing unnaturally, until Laura's body was hovering just a little bit above the forest ground. The trees forced her to stretch her arms and legs far from her body, so that every bit of her naked form was completely exposed. The wood was hard and strong now, it was impossible for Laura to move, unless the trees wanted her to.
Martin stepped closer now, and Laura realized that the trees were turned towards him. They were leaning in his direction, as if they were bowing to him. In doing so, they were presenting him with her body, like an offering. He was standing right in front of her now -- normally, he was somewhat taller than Laura, but as the trees held her lifted slightly above ground, their faces were at exactly the same height. She could feel his breath. Laura wanted to move away, she did not like being close to him, but the grip of the trees was unrelenting.
"I can control more than you can even imagine", Martin said. Despite his attempt to look at her threateningly, all he could manage was a smug grin. "Everything is obeying me. And if you don't want to join and obey, you have to stay here in the forest until you die and rot."
And then, for the first time in almost two years, he stretched out his hands and touched her; going straight for her sex with his stubby fingers. Laura could feel Martin's breath accelerate; she could hear a moan of joy rising in him as he finally dared to touch her again. She saw in his face that he was drunk on his power -- not the power over the trees, or the people of Leskow, but the power he believed he had regained over her.
"I am not afraid of you, not anymore," she whispered.
Martin did not seem to listen. He started kissing her neck; while his hands went down to pull open the fly of his trousers. His fingers were shaking slightly with impatience. When he pressed his body against Laura's, she felt something burning hot against her chest: The locket was still dangling around his neck. The metal was hot, and it seemed to be alive -- throbbing and beating like a little heart. In panic, she tried to find the power emanating from it. If only she could find some kind of connection to the wretched thing, so she could take control and break Martin's influence on their surroundings, on nature, on everything around her. The locket's power, however, remained closed to her this time, as if the thing refused to be found by her mind. Maybe it knew the hatred she felt towards it. Maybe the locket realized that the only reason Laura was trying to use it was, because it was her only chance to get away. A memory of that morning by the lake, the morning after she defeated Martin for the first time, flashed through Laura's mind. The locket did not want to be destroyed. It would do anything to stay in use, Laura suddenly realized. There was nothing she could do.
Laura closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the locket, wanting to block out everything around her. She tried to ignore Martin's hands. It did not take long, however, before he pressed his stiff cock against her sex. No use. She could not find the locket's power. She could not fight back. As he slowly entered her, she knew that any attempt of defense was in vain. She kept her eyes closed; she did not want to see him, though she could not ignore the intrusion into her sex. He was not particularly big, it was not painful as he started fucking her in a slow, even rhythm. But even though he proceeded much less brutally than any of the men he had used to take her before, Laura felt a kind of disgust she had not experienced before -- comparable only to that moment, an eternity ago, when she had woken up and found herself under Martin, and thus learnt what he had been doing with her.
The trees moved gently, as if they were swaying in the wind, making her body meet Martin's in a mockery of a gentle game of love. Laura turned her face away from him, the only part of her body that she could move at her own will. Martin, however, did not try to kiss her anyway. His arms wrapped around her, one hand on her ass and another on her back, he thrust into her a little bit more forcefully now. Soon his breath got faster, he groaned and huffed, and did not even seem to notice the tears that were running down Laura's face. Laura was crying silently. The time something like this might have made her scream had long passed. Each time his body collided with hers, there was a slight smacking sound, its echo seemingly increasing in Laura's head as she could do nothing but hope that this new ordeal might be over soon.
This hope, at least, was not in vain: After only a few minutes Martin's body started shaking uncontrollably, his groans grew louder, blocking out all other sound, and he scrunched up his face in what seemed almost an expression of pain, as Laura felt the hot spurts of his load spilling into her.
***
Laura's entire body ached. The position, in which the trees were holding her now, was a much more comfortable one than during the first days; that was true. Also, Martin had started letting her walk around freely for a few minutes every day, so she could stretch her arms and legs. Still, Laura couldn't help but miss the cage in which she had been imprisoned for so many weeks. This here was something much worse.
She was completely exposed to wind and rain now (if the night was particularly cold, Martin brought some blankets or lit a fire near her; however, despite this, it seemed to Laura that she always either shivered from the cold or suffered under the burning heat of the summer sun). Worse than the weather was that she was now fully accessible to Martin, he did not seem to feel threatened by her anymore, and he took advantage of her helplessness regularly, often several times in a day. Laura trembled in disgust when she thought of his broad hands, kneading the tender flesh of her behind or her breasts. She had to fight back the urge to retch when she remembered the taste of his tongue in her mouth or the sounds of his pig-like groans when he came inside her.
Sometimes she could see Mr. Seger, as he was doing different jobs for Martin, maybe repairing the hut or carrying firewood; she could not always tell. And sometimes, for a moment, he seemed to look up, look towards her, and Laura believed to recognize a confused expression on his lined face -- but who could be sure at such a distance? Still, she started to call out his name every time she saw him, but to no avail. After a moment, the old teacher looked down again, continuing his work as if she was not there.
***
"It's me: Laura!"
Laura's voice easily betrayed the frustration she felt. Why would he not recognize her, why would he not wake up? The truth was that besides Martin, her former math teacher was about the last person in the world she wanted anything to do with. The thought of being close to him, of talking to him made her shudder in disgust -- but as it was, he was currently her only hope.
"You have to resist Martin! You have to take the locket away from him. The necklace he is wearing, you have to steal it!"
Mr. Seger looked up. His eyes seemed glazed over, distant. Laura was sure he was not fully under Martin's control anymore; there were small reactions when she called him, in some way she was getting through to him. But he was not fully free either. Looking up for a moment was not enough, he had to understand what was going on, and Laura did not know how to help him do that.
Suddenly the teacher took a step towards her. He hesitated, but he kept looking at Laura, his eyes clearer than they had been in almost a year. After what seemed like an eternity, he took another step, and another. The man's expression changed: The way he looked at her suddenly seemed hungry, greedy.
"Laura", he whispered.
It was not a question. He knew, he remembered. His eyes swept over her naked, helpless body, taking in what he saw. He looked at her like someone who just regained a long lost possession, assessing if everything was still in order. Slowly, the teacher moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue.
Relief and fear welled up at the same time inside Laura, neither emotion winning over the other for more than a few moments. Mr. Seger was awake, he was conscious! He remembered her. But revenge against Martin seemed to be the last thing on his mind just now. Maybe his mind was still stuck somewhere in the last year, maybe he did not even realize what had happened since.
Mr. Seger lifted one hand. He reached towards Laura slowly, carefully, until the tips of his fingers touched one of her breasts, then the other. He began drawing circles around her nipples, which automatically hardened under his touch. The teacher seemed completely engrossed in what he was doing; once again unable to take in anything else of his surroundings, though this time it was not the locket that left him enchanted. After a while his fingers started drawing a trail downwards, stroking along the soft skin of Laura's stomach, until they reached her sex. Laura had the impression he was checking whether she was still complete, or whether she was real.
Then, suddenly, Mr. Seger withdrew his hand, as if he had been burned, and he looked up. For a moment he stared right into Laura's face. Then his eyes wandered along her arms until his gaze reached the trees that were keeping her prisoner. His expression grew confused.
"What... What happened? Where are we? Why...?"
„Martin has the locket." Laura spoke quickly, stumbling over the words. She wanted to get it all out, before Mr. Seger became distracted again, or before Martin discovered that he had broken free. "We have to take it away from him. We have to destroy it."
Mr. Seger was still looking confused. His gaze wandered back to Laura's hand and feet. The trees grasp was as unrelenting as ever -- it was obvious that she was in no state to take anything away from anyone. The teacher remained quiet for a few moments, apparently pondering his options.
"Why should I?" he finally said, his voice surprisingly calm.
Laura could not suppress an exasperated sigh. This was driving her mad. Was she really the only being left with any hint of logic and moral?
"Do you want to stay under his control?"
"That's not what I meant," the teacher explained slowly, apparently searching for words carefully. He hadn't spoken in months, his voice sounded hoarse from disuse. "Why should I destroy the locket? Why should I help you? Why shouldn't I take back what is rightfully mine, take Martin's place? The locket obviously is even more powerful than I imagined -- and if someone like Martin can learn to control it, imagine what I can do with it! This world would never be the same again."
For a moment, Laura was speechless. This was worse than she had expected. What was there left to say? Should she try to argue? Try to appeal to whatever reason or sympathy might be left in Mr. Seger? Hadn't he just proven there was nothing human left in him to appeal to?
"I..." she hesitated. Then, taking a deep breath, she took a decision -- this was not about her own freedom or happiness. This was about the fate of the whole world. And whatever sacrifices she had to bring for this, it was worth it. "If you help me to destroy the locket then you can do with me whatever you want. I mean, not by force... not like before... I will give myself to you by my own choice."
Mr. Seger seemed to think this offer over for a moment, and Laura could tell she had struck a nerve. The teacher gazed at her, as if searching her eyes for a sign of honesty or lie. Laura returned his look as openly as she could. She did not like the offer she had made, of course not. But it didn't matter. What mattered was that Martin had to be stopped. Everything else she could address later. Finally Mr. Seger took another step toward Laura. He was standing so close to her now, that she could feel his breath on her face.
"Prove it," he whispered hoarsely, before his lips touched hers.
Instinctively, Laura wanted to move back, wanted to express her disgust and protest -- but she knew that this was her only chance. She opened her lips, trying to make them feel sensual and soft, let the teacher's tongue enter her mouth, and returned his kiss. She searched out his tongue with her own, and then withdrew it playfully, just to search it again the next moment. For a few moments, she allowed herself to be lost in the sensation of his lips pressed onto her own. She gave herself over to the warmth of his mouth, in the intimacy that only a kiss can create. During this short time, she was able to forget whom she was kissing -- and to her surprise another long forgotten face appeared in her memory: Daniel.
Laura could not know that Frank Seger also was thinking of someone else while he was kissing her. She did not know that his hands, while they seemingly tried to cover every inch of her body, imagined someone else's curves, the soft skin of another woman. Would it make any difference to her if she knew? Frank Seger was not planning on telling her. Laura was not her mother, but as things were, she was as close as he could ever get to the love of his life.
Laura felt the teacher's fingers reaching her sex, searching entrance. Without resistance, they slipped into her -- the thought of her ex-boyfriend, though she had not seen him in so many years, had aroused her. Though she felt like a traitor, she knew that this was the best way to convince Mr. Seger: As long as she kept thinking of Daniel, she could make the teacher think it was him she wanted. She just had to imagine that it was the tall, dark haired boy, who now withdrew his fingers and guided his manhood into her pussy instead. The girl pushed aside all feelings of guilt, along with the name Seger. Daniel, she thought, again and again. Daniel. The head of his cock slipped into her. Daniel. She pushed her hips forwards, as far as the trees allowed her, offering herself, wanting to feel him inside her. Daniel. Daniel.
Her eyes closed, Laura felt the cock sliding in and out of her. It was bigger than Martin's. That was good -- she vaguely remembered Daniel being quite well equipped. She had been surprised at his size during their shy explorations, though she had nothing to compare him too then. That had been during a time when she had still been almost as innocent as her parents would hope her to be. It seemed strange to her now, that there ever had been a time like that. Thinking of those days, she felt the warmth inside her increase, felt a desire that she always wanted to reserve for Daniel.
He -- don't think his name, Laura -- was taking his time, apparently relishing in the feeling of her pussy engulfing him, yet never entering her fully, never thrusting into her with the force she was waiting for. Without realizing it, she started rotating her hips, pushing towards him; trying to meet his movements. She needed more. He still did not start acting more forcefully, and Laura let out a low moan betraying both her frustration and her desire.
The sound of her own voice surprised her. It was hoarse and somehow reminded her of the sound an animal might make. Everything in her screamed for release, and all Laura could think of now was how to encourage him to really take her, to give her what she needed. The tension building up inside her had grown to an unbearable height, when finally, he answered her wishes. He picked up pace and force with such a suddenness, it almost knocked the breath out of her. It did not take more than a few, deep thrusts for her to be pushed over the edge, and it took all the remaining bit of Laura's concentration not to scream out the explosion of joy she felt at her release.
***
Laura saw Martin's approach already when he was still quite far off, and her heart started beating wildly. Mr. Seger had decided that he would hide near her, behind a few trees. There he would wait until Martin went to Laura, to enjoy her body while she was tied helplessly by the trees. This, they both hoped, would distract him enough not to realize something was amiss. As expected, Martin did indeed approach Laura this evening, as he did most other days. As always, the thin shorts he was wearing could only insufficiently conceal his arousal. He was clearly only focused on the girl suspended between the trees in front of him; his mind was devoid of any other thought. If Mr. Seger did not do any stupid mistakes, Martin would stand no chance, Laura hoped.
When the man she despised so much approached her, without saying a word, Laura could make out a motion between the trees, in the periphery of her field of vision. Mr. Seger was leaving his hiding place. They had to hurry, now. Their plan was for Mr. Seger to pull the locket off Martin's neck before he would have a chance to defend himself in any way -- they were not sure if Mr. Seger would be able to resist the locket's power anymore if it was focused directly on him. The second part of the plan was not something Laura had discussed too thoroughly with the old teacher: She hoped the trees might let go of her on their own, as soon as Martin was not in control of the locket anymore, so that she could help the teacher -- and make sure he stuck to their agreement. She suspected that the temptation of the locket's power would grow, as soon as Mr. Seger held it between his fingers. Still, if everything went alright, they would force Martin into the abandoned cage that was still standing on the clearing. It had become a bit rusty by now, but it was still strong enough. And then, once he was out of the way, they would try to figure out a way to get rid of the locket once and for all.
Only in the last fraction of a second, Laura recognized the big chunk of wood Mr. Seger was carrying. Then the heavy piece of wood blew down on Martin's head. Her wooden chains fell of at the very moment that her torturer sank down in front of her. As blood started spurting out of the back of his head, the trees dropped her down to the ground and then straightened up to their natural form. They stood tall into the sky, the trees. Their tops swayed innocently in the wind, as if nothing odd had ever happened to them. Martin, on the other hand, remained motionless on the ground.
It took Laura a moment to regain control of her arms and legs. She dropped down onto all four and crawled over to Martin's motionless body. When she was next to him, she got up onto her knees and took up one pudgy arm into her hands to feel his pulse.
"He is dead!" Her voice betrayed a mixture of relief and horror. "Why did you do that? We wouldn't have needed to kill him..."
She looked at Mr. Seger in accusation. Killing someone felt wrong, no matter, who it was. And she felt guilty, even if it hadn't been her who dealt the deadly blow -- shouldn't she have expected it, and prevented it somehow?
The old teacher was still slightly out of breath, as he towered above Laura, looking down on her. A few drops of blood were dripping down from the bat in his hand. They fell onto the ground and mingled with the dark dirt and a few rotten leafs. Laura believed to recognize a familiar sparkle in the teacher's eyes, an expression that scared her. It was not over yet. She turned away from Mr. Seger and took hold of the chain around the neck of Martin's lifeless body. It felt strange to remove the locket. She half expected Martin to suddenly come back to life, to defend his prized possession somehow. However, she could take the little piece of jewelry without any resistance.
She clasped the locket tightly in her hand. Again, it pulsated like a little heart. Warmth radiated from it and spread all throughout her body. Laura tried to ignore how comfortable, how familiar it felt in her hand. She knew what she had to do. When she stood up, Mr. Seger lifted his bloody bat again.
"Give it to me," he said hoarsely, his voice barely concealing his excitement.
Laura shook her head. "We had an agreement," she protested.
"Fuck that agreement. Did you really think I couldn't tell that you were just play-acting? I imagine you would have even kept that up for a while after you got what you wanted. You are one of these honest types, who like to be a martyr for the greater good... But I know that you will never truly want me, Laura. I am not stupid. And without the locket I will end up with nothing. But with the locket, the whole world is mine."
There was no hesitation between those last words and the forceful blow Mr. Seger aimed at Laura's head. To her own surprise, her body reacted before her brain registered the danger. She managed to duck away in the last second -- she was surprised at her own agility, after all she had been imprisoned for a long time, unable to move. It was almost as if someone -- or something -- had warned her. Something that didn't want her to get hurt. Something that had a different plan for the future than being in Mr. Seger's hands.
There was no time to ponder this, however, as Mr. Seger now jumped and threw the whole weight of his body onto her. He pulled her to the ground; his hand closed painfully around her own, pressing her fingers down onto the metal of the locket. The little piece of jewelry seemed to grow even warmer, as if excited about the fight. Laura kept her hand closed, putting the other hand into Mr. Seger's face to push him away. Her legs kicking at any part of him she could reach. He was stronger than her: He could pin her to the ground with his weight. Again, however, a strange instinct in Laura awoke. An instinct she had not known she possessed. It seemed to tell her exactly what to do, when to twitch away, how to gain momentum -- and soon she had wriggled herself out of the teacher's hold. Laura scrambled up to her legs and ran into the forest, without looking where she was going, but with the locket still hidden safely inside her hand.
Mr. Seger did not need long to get back up onto his legs himself and followed Laura in close pursuit. Being smaller and more agile, she had a clear advantage as she broke her way through the undergrowth of the forest. Yet soon she felt the long months without barely any exercise take their toll as her strength started leaving her and a painful sting in her side made breathing difficult. She heard Mr. Seger's heavy breath right behind her. The very next moment he bumped right into her, knocking her over. And in the need to protect herself from the fall, her hand unwillingly opened and the locket fell out of it, onto the ground.
The next moment, the teacher picked up the thing. With a triumphant cry he ran on until he came to a halt at the nearby shore of Lake Leskow. He looked around in apparent confusion -- probably he had not noticed the proximity of the lake while following Laura; in fact, she had not realized what direction she was running in either. Now, however, that she saw the lake, it occurred to her that his was the logical place to be.
Mr. Seger's hesitation as to where to turn gave her the time to catch up with him again. A few moments later she jumped at him, knocking him over just as he had done with her a short time earlier. Soon, the two of them were rolling around in the muddy water of the lake's edge, each trying to conquer the locket once and for all. They remained silent, while they did so, they did not scream -- only their breaths grew heavy.
For a while, it seemed like Mr. Seger might emerge as victor from this silent struggle. The hard physical work Martin had forced him to do -- carrying wood, repairing the house -- had given him strength and stamina he had not possessed ever before. It occurred to Laura, that she was fighting in vain. She stood no chance. And that meant that the whole world stood no chance. After all it wasn't only her own freedom she was fighting for. And that thought: That without her, the whole world was lost, gave her a new burst of strength and courage. She had no idea where inside her exhausted mind and body this new energy was coming from. She did not think about defeating her enemy anymore, but followed a choreography that she had not known she mastered. She fought blindly, instinctively, and somehow, suddenly, she had won, though she never knew how.
She was holding the chain in her hand, the fingers tightly clasped around it, the locket dangling down from it, touching the water. She could not see Mr. Seger anymore, and she could not quite remember how she had managed to fight him off. She noticed that the struggle had apparently carried them much further out into the lake: She was swimming, her feet where not touching the ground. Had Mr. Seger drowned? Had she pushed him down underneath the water? She vaguely remembered him trying to push her head down, and it seemed not unlikely she had returned the favor. And strangely enough, the idea of having murdered Mr. Seger barely touched her now. Had she not been upset by Martin's death, less than an hour ago? Even that seemed remote and unreal to Laura now. Why should she care? Hadn't Martin more than deserved to die?
Laura looked around. The surface of the lake was calm, stretched out like a dark mirror in front of her. Only her own swimming motions sent out a few small ripples. She decided to swim back to the shore to start and find out how to destroy the locket. It seemed that the thing knew what she was thinking. Or was she just imagining that it starting to pulsate more strongly? She lifted her hand with the chain up higher from the water, so the pendant was dangling in front of her eyes. It did look pretty, innocent; almost impossible to believe that such a small thing could have brought so much danger and grief. Maybe if she wore it... Laura quickly pushed the thought back out of her mind. She would hold it in her hand, swim back, find the biggest stone she could and crush the wretched thing. With a deep breath, she turned towards the shore.
Suddenly a strong tug on her left leg impaired Laura's movement. She felt that she was being pulled downward, into the deep darkness of the lake. Kicking her feet and desperately waving her arms, Laura tried to struggle free, but to no avail. Soon enough her head was under water, and now real panic set in. She had her eyes wide open, and the muddy water stung a little bit in them, as she turned down trying to see what was holding on to her.
The lake was too dark, she could not see. As her kicking and struggling grew less and less coordinated, she half believed she saw the pale hand of a dead Mr. Seger holding on to her. Of course it could just as well be some strange slimy water plant that wrapped itself around her leg. The light above her, indicating the surface, and the blurry round shape of the sun in the sky, grew more distant as her breath started running out. Laura felt that her body was about to give up, to stop fighting. Soon, there would be darkness in her again, and this time, for good.
Then, the instinct to survive surged through Laura, giving her new strength and clearing her mind. It felt as if it wasn't her who was drowning there. As if she was just watching and had all the time in the world to assess the situation, weigh her options. She knew what to do, it was the only possibility -- and it certainly was better than dying. And once she was certain of that, she knew she had to act fast -- she could already feel her mouth and nose open against her will, she tasted the muddy water of the lake.
"Now or never!" she thought, before with slightly shaking hands she lifted the chain carrying the pendant and managed to push it over her head, onto her neck.
***
The reeds growing in the shallower regions of the lake bowed in respect. The blades of grass near the shore lay down; even the tallest and firmest trees nodded their heads in adoration, as the Empress left the water. They leaned forward as she stepped onto dry land. The wind ceased to blow, lest the Empress might feel cold. She was, after all, entirely naked and her skin and her hair were wet. In the light of the setting sun, the water drops covering her royal body shone like a thousand diamonds. The evening turned her into a vision of beauty that her surroundings -- a little forest clearing by the lake, bathed into the last rays of the day's sun light -- could only dimly reflect. The Empress' chest was heaving fast, as if she had just run or been through a physically demanding struggle. On her chest, however, rocked by the rhythm of her breath, a locket snuggled tightly in between her breasts. It was a golden locket, brighter and warmer than the sun.
The Empress looked around. The world seemed changed, somehow -- everything was different from before. She was free. After so many years of struggling and fighting and wishing for her freedom, she had finally succeeded. But it was more than she could ever have hoped for. She was freer than she would ever have dreamt possible. She was freer than she had ever been in her life. Finally, she understood. She was not just poor little Laura anymore, a girl hoping to save the world by destroying a magic piece of jewelry. She realized now where her true destiny lay. The locket had shown her what she was destined for. There was a power emanating from it, surging through her body that made her feel anything was possible. And it was true, anything was possible.
She did not have to learn how to use the locket, like those others who had used it so crudely, so without talent. They had to practice, improve, and yet had never come close to exhausting the potential of the locket. They had seen it as a thing, as a means to their ends. The queen knew different. This locket was a part of her. It always had been. All the suffering she had gone through, all the hardships had just been because she had been separated from the locket. And because the locket had searched for a way back to her. Now, that she was wearing it, it became part of her, its powers were part of her mind, a new sense that had lain dormant so far. An ability that had a purpose in her, that only she could use for good.
The world was unfair and sad, but she had the ability to help. Humankind had driven itself deeper and deeper into doom during the last centuries; it was almost too late. But now she, the empress, was here to save it, just in the nick of time. Freedom was not good for most people, she understood that now. The freedom she had so much wanted for herself was a power that could destroy everything, if it was granted to everyone around her. Now, however, she could change it all. She, Laura, the Empress, could make it all better.
This is the fifth chapter of a six part story. I recommend reading all chapters, but if you want to read only this one, here is what happened so far: For three years, Laura has suffered due to a mysterious pendant that suddenly appeared in the small town of Leskow. First her class mate Martin controlled her with the help of the pendant, and then her former math teacher Mr. Seger did the same. In the end, Martin returned. Eventually Laura always managed to free herself and now has the pendant in her possession. Though her plan was to destroy it, she now decides to use its power for herself.
~~~~~
The waves of Lake Leskow splash gently against the shore of the perfectly round, small island. The brightly green grass on the island and the long reeds growing around it sway in a gentle breeze. The island lies right in the middle of the lake. On it, its outlines set sharply against the evening sky, stands a castle. Its delicate towers stand tall, their roofs sparkling golden in the evening light. The castle gives an almost surreal quality to the idyllic picture of forest, water, and setting sun. Like a page torn from a book of fairy tales.
Not far from the castle, at the shore of the lake, lies the small town of Leskow. On this warm summer evening, everyone in the town seems to be taking a small break: People are looking up from their daily work, to enjoy this scene of peace and beauty. Their faces rapt, their mouths open, everyone displays an expression of breathless admiration. All have turned towards the castle, which is bathed in a golden glow as the sun slowly sinks down behind the trees.
Were a stranger to walk into Leskow this very evening, he would surely join the citizens in their admiration, all the while wondering how happy they must be to have a view like this one in front of their eyes, every day of their lives. The stranger would not be able to stop thinking about how wonderful life in a town like this must be. He would feel envy for all those people living in such a tidy and quiet place. He would be amazed at the peace of the little town. There are no arguments ever to be heard in Leskow, everyone is content. The people of Leskow love their little town, they love each other, and more than anything else, they love their queen.
And the queen loves her subject. She loves the little town that she rules over. Every evening she steps out of her castle, stands at the shore of her little island, and looks over the dark waters towards Leskow, to the simple houses standing opposite her majestic home, bathed in the same golden evening light. Her most trusted servants surround her; they never step away from her side. The lake lies calmly in front of her, the muddy waters tamed. To the queen, Lake Leskow is the beginning and the end of all: She was born from this lake.
***
From the moment that Laura stepped out of the waters of Lake Leskow, the locket's chain hanging around her neck, she knew what she had to do. She did not have to learn how to use the little piece of jewelry; it was, as if all the skills Martin and Mr. Seger had acquired through practice and hard work throughout the last three years, were transferred to her automatically. The young woman and the locket seemingly became one; they belonged together. There were no questions for Laura anymore. Her own future, the future of the world, and her own role in it: All of it was a path she could see clearly laid out in front of her. All she had to do was step onto that path. And now, that she knew, she was more than willing to do so.
Now, the power of the locket was hers alone, and anyone who had taken part in making her suffer during the last years would feel the consequences. Of course, her true enemies had been Martin and Mr. Seger, and they were both dead, and thus beyond even Laura's reach. Everyone else, however, was still there: All those people the two of them had used to torture and humiliate her again and again were still living their safe and happy lives in Leskow. They would have to suffer now. She would take revenge on them, on all those young men from school, who had been coming to the forest on Martin's orders. For the rest of the town's inhabitants, however, Laura was planning to be a gentle queen, strict when necessary, but fair and loving.
Though she was still naked, Laura held her head majestically high as she strode through the forest, towards Leskow. The closer she got to the small town, the more people she met. Some of them were taking afternoon walks in the forest; others lived in the outskirts of Leskow and were working in their gardens. The people stopped their walks and their work as they saw her coming. They bowed their heads respectfully. Not one of them remarked on her lack of clothes -- in fact, not one of them seemed to notice. Once Laura had passed them, they followed her at a certain distance, awaiting their queen's orders.
Finally, Laura stepped once again toward the shore of Lake Leskow, but not in the forest this time. As she stood on the meadow next to the school, the whole population of Leskow gathered in a half circle around her. Vaguely she remembered standing at this very place two years previously, gazing out over the water: She had awoken for a few moments back then, but now it seemed to her like a long forgotten dream. This had not been her; this had been a different Laura. Now she was queen.
With a benevolent smile on her face, the queen turned around to face her subjects. The crowd stirred and moments later a young woman stepped forward, falling onto her knees in front of Laura. She lifted up a long, cream colored dress, presenting it to her queen. Despite its simplicity, the dress was exquisite and clearly expensive. There was only one shop in Leskow that sold such dresses, and Laura had always wondered who in town could even afford to buy anything there. After all, throughout most of her life she would not even have been able to buy a T-shirt in that shop, and she was by no means from a poor family. Now, however, as queen, she clearly needed dresses befitting her status. A queen can't be naked in front of her subordinates.
As soon as she had thought that, the people of Leskow turned away respectfully, allowing their queen privacy, as she with some difficulty slipped into the dress. The dress was really quite different from the jeans and t-shirt Laura was used to wearing. As she allowed her the people to face her again, the crowd gasped and then broke out in cheers of pride: They had a beautiful queen. Laura let her gaze wander from face to face. She had an appropriate dress now. She would need servants, too. And a castle.
The queen turned to the lake. She lifted both hands, pointing their palms towards the dark waters, from which immediately bubbles started to rise; at first a few, then more and more, as if the whole lake was boiling. After a few moments, the outline of something big appeared under the water's surface. Something was slowly rising up from the lake's bottom, like a huge animal or a submarine. The crowd, however, did not seem surprised or scared. Instead they started cheering happily, as the playful little rooftop towers, the jutties and arched windows of a fairy tale castle slowly rose out of the water. After a few minutes, the whole building stood on an island in the middle of the lake.
The castle and the perfectly round island appeared to be illustrations in a fairy tale, but there they were, they were real. The waves of the lake splashed soothingly against the islands shoreline, as if they had been doing so since the beginning of time.
Now, all the queen had to do was find a way to get to her castle. The waters of the lake were one of the few things that did not obey Laura's will yet, she had to cross them somehow. It only took her a few moments to find a solution: Along with the whole population of the small town, the members of Leskow's Rowing and Sailing Club were also present at the lake. The queen called them forward and sent them to get their boats. She would choose the best boat. For now that would suffice as an appropriate means of transport. Two young men, former classmates of Laura, were to be her rowing staff. Laura vaguely remembered that those two had enjoyed more than one intimate encounter with her the year before last, due to Mr. Seger's twisted plans. Thus it was just appropriate they would now have to serve her, she deduced.
As all the most urgent matters had been attended to, the queen ordered the two of them to transport her across the water, to her castle. Her other subjects could continue with their daily lives for now. After all, the town had to be kept running. The queen wanted her people to be happy; she wanted them to live good and normal lives. Of course, there were exceptions: All those young men and women who had visited the upper grades of Leskow's school along with Laura, and graduated sometime in the last few years, could not join their fellow citizens anymore. They had to follow their queen to the island.
Gathered in a luxuriously decorated entry hall, they waited motionless and in silence, while their queen rested. Eventually, when she had gathered new strength, the returned to them to decide who of the young people would be her servant from now on. The ones upon which this honor befell clapped their hands in joy, before they quickly hurried out of sight to start with their various tasks right away. Mysteriously they knew at once what had to be done to make their queen happy, without that Laura herself was required to spend more than a fleeting thought on those tasks. Others were not so lucky: They were sent down to the castle's prison cells. There was no trouble caused, they went there quietly and without protest -- after thanking their queen for giving them a proper and just punishment.
***
"Ready... Steady... Go!"
On their queen's command, nine young men jumped into the cool water of Lake Leskow. Their fluid motion was synchronized so perfectly, they appeared to be one body and one mind. Looking at their masculine, muscular bodies, Laura unwillingly let her tongue wander over her lips. For a moment, she was surprised at herself. Should she not feel disgust at the sight of any man, after all that had been done to her? Her body seemed to think otherwise -- Laura felt a certain tingling sensation, a certain warmth in her groin, at the thought of the strong arms of one of them holding her.
Maybe she should order one of the contestants to her room this night? Which one? This wasn't an easy choice... The queen decided to let luck decide. After all, this was a new era, she explained in the speech she gave to her people at the festival site. Any explanation was superfluous, of course. The people of Leskow knew that the queen was right in everything she did. Still, it felt good to put her thoughts into words: This was a new era, it was thus appropriate to alter the rules of the diving competition a little bit. The winner of the big event of Leskow's "Castle Festival" should from now on receive a little more than just a victory kiss. Just the thought of it made her heart beat faster in anticipation.
Every now and then, the head of one of the young men appeared above the water's surface, so he could catch breath. However, all nine of them gave their best. They stayed under water as long as they possibly could; searching the ground of Lake Leskow for the small box Laura had dropped into the water from a boat, hours earlier. It was an honor to win this contest, and an honor to give your best for Leskow, and for Leskow's queen.
The people at the lake shore cheered, the constant buzz of their voices rising and falling, but never breaking off completely. They had forgotten the accident, which three years ago had brought an abrupt end to the most important tradition of this festival. Laura did not think about it either. What was one dead man, who had perished years ago, against the joy of a celebration for her town? And at last the title "Castle Festival" had become one of true meaning -- the queens palace was towering proudly on its little island, its towers pointing into the bright blue September sky.
Laura did not waste her time wondering why she had been able to suddenly make a castle appear out of the lake. She did not care whether it had been there before, or whether she had created it -- she just knew that this castle was hers. She was sure that it belonged to Leskow, and that she belonged into the castle, as Leskow's queen. Maybe, somehow, all of this was connected to the castle festival -- in a way, it seemed to Laura, this castle was in fact what the divers had been looking for throughout the centuries. Year after year, during hundreds of diving contests, they had been searching the lake's ground for this castle, and for their queen.
***
"Oh! Yes!"
Never in her life had Laura come as strong as this day. For a few moments all darkness seemed to disappear, she saw bright lights even though her eyes were shut, and the castle's vast bedroom was echoing with her lustful cries.
As her orgasm -- the third of the night -- slowly ebbed away, Laura remained motionless for a few moments, her body limp, her skin shining with sweat, and her chest heaving. For those few moments, the world ceased to exist. Or, at least, to matter.
It took Laura a little while to find back into reality, to catch breath again and orientate. Finally, the queen opened her eyes. There was a face above her, the face of the surprisingly handsome young man, who had won this afternoon's contest. He smiled down at her, though his eyes seemed somewhat unfocused.
He was still hard inside her, but the queen had gotten what she wanted now. There was no reason for him to come; he would not know how to appreciate it anyway. As soon as Laura thought that, the man withdrew from her, rolling to the side -- for a moment, she believed to see something like disappointment in his eyes. She knew, however, that in fact he could not even know what was happening, what he had been doing.
The queen, on the other hand, knew. Her heartbeat was still not quite back to normal, while a wonderful heaviness was surging through her body, a calmness she had not known in years. This was surely one of the best ideas she had in a while, Laura mused. For the first time, she was not someone's toy. All she had ever known about sex was Martin's and Mr. Seger's perverted fantasies. All she had ever experienced were the things they forced her to do. Now, for the first time, her body was not an object used by others to satisfy their own needs. No, this time, she used the power of the locket for her own enjoyment. She had sex, exactly when and how and with whom she wanted. And it was better than she could ever have imagined.
Or maybe, Laura thought on, this was more akin to masturbation. After all, the man had not been truly conscious of his actions. Rather, he was just obeying her orders. Laura pushed away those thoughts. She had gotten good at this: There were many thoughts she was pushing away these days. Thoughts that did not befit a queen. Thoughts that brought complications to something that should be clear and obvious.
This was no time for this type of concern. What she was doing was nothing more than her natural privilege as queen. She would go on like this, every night from now on, the queen decided. There were many good looking young men in Leskow, and she would play with each and every one of them. That much, at least, the people of Leskow owed her. After all, she was their queen, and she had saved all of them from Martin's macabre plans -- whatever they had been.
Happily, Laura rolled to the side, and right away the young man beside her, who had remained quiet and motionless until now, put his arm around her, allowing her to snuggle up to his warm body. Within minutes, Laura was asleep.
***
It was the middle of November, already, but it was still as warm as an August day might be. The sun was shining down onto Leskow from a cloudless, bright blue sky. This glorious sky and this bright sun appeared above the little town every day, without fail. They seemed to illustrate the fortune and happiness of all people living here. The queen loved wandering through the streets of her small kingdom, followed by her most trusted servants. She loved seeing the smiling faces of her subjects, as they bowed their heads to their queen. No matter what they were doing before -- the daily tasks that had become the fulfillment of their lives -- they would stop, as soon as their queen approached, and kneel down at the side of the road.
"Thank you!"
The queen's eyes fell on a little girl. The child fell to her knees in Laura's path, her face lifted up in admiration. Laura's heart seemed to melt, as the child looked right at her from round blue eyes, not yet displaying the polite shyness all adults showed in front of their queen. The girl was beside herself with joy: She had dreamt of meeting the queen, of thanking her for all the kind things she did for Leskow.
"You may stand up", the queen said, her voice softer than usual, and the child stood up, but curtsied before her a few times.
"What are you thanking me for, my dear child?" Laura asked. She knew the answer -- still, she never grew tired of hearing those words.
"I thank you for being our queen. I thank you for allowing us to see you every day. I thank you for taking care of our needs, and helping us to be better people. I thank you for being allowed to be one of your subjects."
The queen smiled and patted the girl on her head, as the people gathered there on the street sighed in one voice. Then the queen continued on her way through town, without another word, while the child hurried back to her mother's arms.
***
His lips and tongue were soft, his mouth tasted wonderful, and he was a great kisser. She had made the right choice, the queen decided happily. She would spend this night with him, and she was sure she could expect an exciting night. The young man was only a few years older than her, with dark hair and beautiful brown eyes, his body well toned, but not exaggeratedly so. He was exactly her type. She did not know his name, but that didn't matter -- there was no need to address him.
For just a moment, it occurred to Laura that she could let go of her control over the man's mind. It was not unlikely that he would enjoy their encounter just as much as she did, if he was given the chance. Laura knew how to please a man; she enjoyed it, just as much as she enjoyed being pleased. Free will, however, was not good for the people of Leskow, or people in general -- that was one of the things the queen had finally understood that day, months ago, when she had put the chain with the pendant around her neck. And apart from that -- could she really be sure this man knew how to satisfy her, if left to his own means? If she stayed in control of his mind, she could at least be sure she got everything out of this night that she was hoping for. The queen stopped the kiss, and the man looked down at her expectantly, while Laura lay down on the bed. She shifted a little bit to one side, and then to the other, until she found a comfortable position, and opened her silk robe. Her figure was not as slim and girlish anymore as it had been back at the time, many years ago, when the pendant had first started turning her life upside down. She had grown up, matured, had become more feminine -- though these curves were newly acquired, showing the improvement in living conditions she had experienced in the last few months. However, though her figure was more rounded than it used to be, she was still far from having any weight problems. In fact, she could admit to herself without hesitation, she looked just about perfect now. The man would surely have agreed, had he been conscious of her nude presence right in front of him. He would definitely have enjoyed the feeling of her soft, smooth skin under his hands and the view of her perfectly shaped breasts, the queen was sure of that. However, she did not need his approval, not anymore. She knew she was beautiful.
The queen took a little cushion and placed it underneath her behind, making her hip tilt upwards a little bit -- that way, her sex was in easy reach for the young man, and that could only be to her own advantage as well. He got down onto his knees and arms in front of her quickly, stroking up the insides of her legs gently until his fingers reached her labia. He pulled them a little bit apart and then pressed his tongue at first right into the moist cave of her sex, seemingly savoring her taste, before the tip of his tongue wandered upward in between her lips, slowly, until it reached the little pearl that formed the centre of her lust. A tremor went through Laura's body as he let his tongue dance and flick there, and she uttered a low moan when his lips closed around her clit and he started sucking gently. The queen closed her eyes to be able to just enjoy, concentrate only on the sensation. The man's tongue was now moving up and down the little pearl slowly but with more pressure, and she could give herself fully to the feelings this caused. She forgot that all he did was just due to her unspoken orders. Soon enough, Laura's breath got faster, she pressed her feet onto the bed sheet to push up her hips even a little further, pressing her sex against his mouth, and little groans and moans escaped between her half-opened lips.
Finally, when the pressure building up in her body seemed too much to bear, just before Laura was sure she couldn't take it any longer, everything erupted into an explosion of lust that filled her out completely, made her body thrash on the bed uncontrollably. She heard her own cries as if from far away, pushed up her hips even higher and wrapped her legs around her lover's shoulders once she regained control of them -- she did not want him to stop yet.
Of course she knew he wouldn't stop before she ordered him to, but just now she did not think about such details, she acted purely on instinct. And those instincts told her she needed to make sure that he kept licking and sucking until the last wave of her release had undulated through her body. Only then the queen let go of him, allowed him to catch his own breath, while she opened her eyes. For a while, both of their chests were heaving in the same, fast rhythm, the room was filled with the sound of both sucking in air and the heavy smell of the queen's sex.
When the queen's breath calmed down, her head sank back into the cushions. She felt heavy now, tired, satisfyingly exhausted -- yet this was by far not the end of the night. She had more in mind. She just needed a few minutes to relax, to enjoy the afterglow before starting anew. Finally, she let the man lean over her, and he started kissing her again.
Laura could taste her own juices on his lips. The taste awoke a secret curiosity in her -- did other women taste the same? She vaguely suspected that she had been wondering about this before, but only now the thought managed to surface. Maybe she should call a woman to her bed one of these days. She was the queen after all, no one would think anything of it, what she did was always the best for her people. And, the queen continued the thought, there weren't many men left in Leskow, whom she hadn't spent a night with yet -- if she discounted those that were too old, too young, or just not her type, she would soon be forced to look in other directions, unless she wanted to risk boredom.
Enough of that for now! The queen pushed those thoughts out of her mind again -- there would be time to ponder those things later on. For now, she should just enjoy being with this man, not think about others.
As soon as she thought this, she felt his manhood against her sex, demanding entrance. The queen opened her own legs further; this was an audience she would surely grant. She felt him pushing her labia apart, felt his cock bit by bit sliding into her. Almost exasperatingly slowly and careful at first, but as soon as the queen considered urging him on, he picked up momentum and thrust into her with force. A low moan escaped Laura's mouth. How she had missed this feeling of being filled out completely. He had indeed been a good choice, he was a perfect fit. For a moment Laura allowed herself to get used to the sensation, then she let him start fucking her, first gently again, then increasing in force and speed, until the room was filled with the sound of Laura's moans and of flesh slapping against flesh. Everything was perfect -- his thrusts grew faster and slower, or deeper and shallower, just as Laura wanted it, and always in the right angle.
After a while she wanted to change position, and he obliged immediately. Their connection never broke, as they turned at first to the side, and then Laura got onto all fours, facing away from him. He followed all her movements swiftly, his cock buried deep in her pussy. Now, kneeling behind her, he continued to drive his cock into her, each impact pushing her closer to the edge. One of his hands rested on her behind, while the other one reached around, fondling her breasts, and then stroking downwards along her belly until he reached her sex. His fingers found the little pearl at its top, and he started playing with it, the same way his tongue had played with it before.
It didn't take long before Laura felt she once more was rising up on a wave of ecstasy that was close to breaking point. As she felt her release emanating into every corner of her body, she let him come as well, enjoying the sensation of his cock growing yet harder inside her for a second, before his hot seed spilled into her. He remained silent, while the sound of her voice echoed through the castle.
Laura needed a few moments to regain control of her body; then she rolled up in a fetal position on the bed and made him wrap his arms protectively around her, pulling her body to his, so her behind was pressed against his stomach. She fell asleep quickly, as every evening, and before she sank into a dreamless darkness, a vague memory appeared in her mind. The memory of other arms, which had held her once, and of a time when she had been happier, despite everything she had now...
However, when the first rays of the sun fell onto her bed the next morning, and she opened her eyes to see another brilliantly blue sky through her bedroom windows, she did not remember that memory anymore.
***
The weather changed exactly on December 1st.
It had been warm and sunny up to that day, even in November there had been barely any rain: In fact, it had rained just enough to keep the forest from drying out completely, and those few soft rains had only taken place at night time. Now, however, it was December, and December was the month of Christmas, after all. And what is Christmas without snow? Laura at least was always in favor of a white Christmas, and thus it cooled down considerably starting at the beginning of December. There were more clouds in the sky now, even if there were always a few spots of blue between them, and the leafs, which had turned colorful many weeks earlier, but miraculously remained on the trees, started falling down at last.
On the morning of the First Advent Sunday, the grass in the parks, in the forest and on Laura's little island was covered with a thin coating of ice -- the queen decided to wear a beautiful ice blue dress, studded with diamonds, whose sparkle competed with nature's white frosting. On the Second Advent Sunday, the first snowflakes danced lazily down from the sky. The lake froze, and soon the ice would be thick enough to carry a person. The boats, currently pushing their way from the island to the town and back through a narrow channel in the ice, would not be necessary anymore.
All over the town there were cutely decorated Christmas trees, the queen had them be put up during the first week of December -- this year's festive season was going to be the most beautiful one Leskow had ever experienced.
There was a little bitterness in Laura's heart, even though she looked forward to Christmas: All the people around her would not be able to appreciate the beauty she created for them. The bright eyes and excited faces of the children, the secretive whispers of their parents, all of this would be her own creation. Whenever she had time to think, it felt like a movie, like one of these surreal Christmas-Shows on TV. Laura threw herself deeper into the preparations, kept busy, so she would not have time to think. And if the queen was busy, so were the people of Leskow.
Every now and then, Laura missed company, a conversation, a friend. Of course she could speak to the people of Leskow, they were all her faithful servants, and they were all able to say interesting things, they could even be funny and entertaining if need be, as soon as the queen demanded it. Somehow, however, Laura missed arguments; she missed someone disagreeing with her, talking back at her. Sometimes she almost wished for some resistance, and if it was just so she could prove that she could overcome such obstacles.
Of course she could and would not give in to such impulses. Arguments, resistance, disagreement -- all those things were the root of unhappiness, and the queen wanted all people in the world to be happy. And at least for the people of Leskow, this wish had come through. The queen's reign gave their little world stability; thanks to her, their town had become the perfect place to be. What else could any of them wish for?
And once she was done here, once everything was running smoothly, she planned to help the rest of the world. That should be challenge enough, the queen told herself. Her work would only be done when no person in the whole world had to struggle anymore, hurt their head by having to think, to take decisions, to ponder problems. No one should ever again be unhappy, due to having taken a wrong decision or because of unforeseen events.
In a way, Laura realized, she envied the people of the world. She had fought to free herself of the pendant, yet now, that she was using the pendant for the good of mankind, she was the only one that could not reap the benefits. Back then, it had all been different. Mr. Seger and Martin used the pendant's power for their own benefit, they suppressed others. Laura, the queen, wanted only what was best for everyone...
All of a sudden, the queen stopped, torn out of her thoughts, and looked up. Something was not right. She had been walking down Leskow's main street, enjoying the fresh winter air. She looked around. Everything seemed exactly as it should. A thick layer of snow was covering the ground; the lights on the little Christmas trees in front of the shops were shining. The sky was bright and blue; now that enough snow had fallen, clouds were not needed anymore. What could it have been, that she had caught in the corner of her eye? Her brain had barely registered the disturbing sight, she did not remember what it had been, but something had to be amiss. Whatever it was, she could not find it anymore.
Finally, the queen decided to walk on. If it was so invisible, it could not have been important. Shrugging her shoulders, she took a first step, when finally, her eyes found what they had been looking for: Next to the big festival meadow, there were a few old-fashioned houses. Newly restored a few years earlier, their walls painted in soft pastel colors. One of the most beautiful sights in town, the queen thought, and she had taken care that these house were kept exceptionally clean. On one wall, however, half hidden behind another Christmas tree, there was some graffiti now.
Of course, graffiti a used to be a common sight in Leskow, and these houses had been no exception there. Their walls were tempting in their bright cleanliness and at their backsides, facing the festival grounds, one ran little risk of being seen at night. Throughout the last few months, however, the queen had all those colorful smears removed. She did not want her town desecrated by vandalism, and she doubted she could have overseen even one.
The queen stepped closer, walking around the tall Christmas tree. There it was. The writing on the wall looked fresh. It wasn't a colorful artistic name, written in a way that you could barely distinguish the individual letters, as there used to be so many in Leskow up until the summer. No, though this was also only one word, it was clearly a message, its contents more important than the look of the slightly disproportionate black letters.
"Freedom!"
The word touched her in a strange way, like a distant memory, a longing that she could not put into words anymore. Freedom...
Then the moment passed, and the longing was replaced by rage. The queen was angry. Who had dared to do something like that without her permission? Who was threatening her? She knew that this one word was a threat against her, personally. Someone was resisting. And that was what scared Laura most: Who was able to resist her? Who would ask for freedom; and freedom for whom? The people of Leskow were happy; she had ordered them to be happy. This one word on the wall was threatening everything she had built up. She had to find the culprit, right away.
The queen held her breath, as she let her connection with the pendant grow stronger, more conscious than it had been for months. As the little jewel was pulsating warmly against her chest, she could feel her mind reaching out to every single inhabitant of Leskow. She could feel the people's immediate response, could feel them expecting her commands. Was there any shady corner she had overseen? Any blind spot, any absence? Any resistance? No. The queen could feel every one of them. Leskow was hers entirely. But then, who had written that word on the wall?
***
The girl was 18, maybe 19 years old. Laura had only noticed her for the first time a few days ago: She wasn't sure what had made her chose this girl. Maybe it was her beautiful long, dark hair, maybe it were the soft, youthful features of her face, or maybe it was the fact that something about that girl reminded her of herself -- of herself a time long ago, when she had no idea yet of the future. A time in which she couldn't have guessed the trials that awaited her, or the greatness she was destined for. Suddenly, the memory of her own 18th birthday emerged in her mind. She had forgotten all about that day, but now, seeing this girl, she remembered all the excitement she had felt back then, walking through the summer forest to meet Daniel at the little clearing near the lake...
Daniel... Strange, that he was on her mind all of a sudden. She hadn't thought of him in a long time. Maybe the girl was to be blamed for that, too: Somehow, she reminded the queen not only of herself, but also of Daniel. She had the same dark eyes, a similar smile. In fact, her resemblance to the love of her youth was quite striking. Laura started going through the names of his many cousins -- Daniel was from a large family -- in her mind, to see if any of them fit the girl. As much as she tried, however, she could not come up with more than half of them. And did it really matter? This was not Daniel, sitting opposite her, but a beautiful young woman, the one she had picked to be her companion for the night.
The girl looked back at Laura, her eyes slightly glazed over, but her expression somehow expectant, and suddenly Laura felt compelled to cast her eyes down shyly. This was new for her as well. She had wanted to call a woman to her quarters in the evening for a long time -- she started growing bored of the men of Leskow -- but only today she was finally going through with it.
The young woman was dressed in a thick sweater; it was winter after all. Underneath, however, Laura believed to make out the curves of a very feminine body. A deep curiosity arose in her. What would she look like naked? What would it feel like to touch her?
Of course, Laura had seen more than one naked woman in her life, in the changing room before gym class, for example, or even at the nude section of Lake Leskow's beach-- but this was different. Back then, it had never occurred to her to grant any of her classmates or friends a second look. Now, however, she wanted this young woman to be naked just for her. As soon as she had thought this, the young woman stood up and started undressing, her movements much more elegant and seductive than Laura ever had managed. Laura grew more excited with every piece of clothing that dark haired beauty in front of her shed.
Soon, she could not contain herself any longer: Slowly, she lifted a hand, reaching towards the girl's breasts. They were shaped quite differently than hers, a bit more pointed, and the nipples were bigger and surrounded by very dark areola. Would they feel different too? A slight shiver went through Laura, as her fingertips made contact with the smooth skin. Fascinated, she stroked the girl's breasts gently, cupped the firm flesh. The young woman willingly stepped closer and leaned down to give the queen full access to the soft orbs. For a while, all that could be heard in the royal quarters was Laura's slightly elevated breaths as she explored the other woman's breasts first with her hand, and after a while, also with her mouth.
The girl's nipples rose, her body reacting to the queen's attentions, her breath, however, remained steady. Laura was sure she would react differently to a similar treatment; and she was longing now to try that out. She wanted to be touched in the same way. Thus, the girl helped her out of her royal dress, before she, in turn, started gently stroking and cupping Laura's breasts. The queen closed her eyes and sank back onto her bed, while the young woman started sucking her nipples, swirling her tongue around them.
Sure enough, Laura did not remain silent. Her breath became ragged and interrupted by low moans, as the girl, her mouth continuously at Laura's breasts, let her fingers slowly trail down along Laura's stomach, until they reached her royal sex. Soon enough the young woman's fingers found Laura's little pearl of lust, went lower, to dip into Laura's sex in search of moisture, before returning to the small button and moving over it in tiny circles.
As Laura's moans grew more urgent, her hips moving involuntarily, the girl's fingers returned to the entrance of her moist cave, gently pushing apart her labia to enter her...
***
The queen greeted the New Year with the most amazing fireworks the small town of Leskow had ever seen. The dark skies were lit up in the brightest colours, reflected a thousand times on the surface of the lake. To watch them, the queen stood alone on top of the highest tower in her castle. The cheerful explosions lifted her spirits: Had there ever been anything that beautiful?
The inhabitants of Leskow, on the other hand, went on with their daily business as if nothing was going on. Why should they get to watch the fireworks? Yes, they would cheer, if they were here. They would applaud and cry hooray in the most perfect manner. However, Laura had noticed that their cheers never reached their eyes. Those empty eyes made her sad. The queen knew that she was the only one in town who could appreciate the beauty of these fireworks, so she should be the only one who got to admire them.
A last explosion echoed over the lake, bathing the island and the closest houses at the shore in red and green light. And in this short moment that the darkness on the ground was lit, the queen discovered a lonely figure standing near the water. The shadow of a person at the public bath, standing on a jetty and looking out over the lake, seemingly completely transfixed by the fireworks.
The queen felt her heart beating wildly, and she was sure she was trembling in fury. Who was that? Who dared to disobey her orders? She tried to forge a direct link to the person down there at the shore, reaching out for their mind with her own. The pulsating locket on her chest seemed to match the rhythm of her heartbeat. The queen could feel all of Leskow's inhabitants, asleep or awake, linked to her mind. She searched, tried to filter out that one person she was aiming for. She could not find him. Not one person under her control was anywhere near the public bath. The person standing there was a blank spot in her mind. He was completely out of her reach.
"He has to get arrested!" she thought, knowing, that at the very same moment all of Leskow's policemen jumped into their cars to drive to the lake's shore as quickly as they could. The queen furrowed her brow. For another second, a remnant of the firework's explosions still echoed over the lake, then it was silent -- but the strange person still stood motionless on their place, looking out over the water. Looking, the queen suddenly realized with a chill, right at her castle; looking at her.
Then, suddenly, Leskow's main street was bathed in blue and red light again, as the sound of a police siren drew closer. For just a moment, Laura was distracted by the sound, looked away from the jetty as the police car stopped and the police men jumped out, ready to run towards the offender. When the queen's eyes returned to the lake, the stranger was gone.
***
"This is so much better than any porn could ever be", Laura thought. Of course, she had never actually seen any porn, nor even felt the wish to watch it. Still, this was better, she was sure.
One of Leskow's men -- she did not bother remembering their names anymore -- was lying in front of her, on his back. On top of him, straddling him and impaling herself on his manhood, was the beautiful black haired girl, who had become one of her favorites after that first night. And then, on top of her, another young man... The queen watched in fascination, her eyes glued to the girl's sex, as she saw the one man's cock thrusting into it again and again, while the other's manhood slowly, carefully, forced its way into her other hole.
It was nice to lie here, watch them, while leaning back on a wide, soft sofa. In front of the queen another young woman was kneeling, this one a blonde. Laura was almost sure she had been beauty queen at the castle festival once, a few years ago. Well, that meant she deserved the honor of pleasuring her queen with her tongue.
Laura did not dwell on the fact that all this was not too different to what Martin and Mr. Seger had done to her throughout the last years. In fact, the memory of these events was buried so deeply in her mind, she barely connected them to her own life anymore. No, that had been a different reality. This was different, she lived in a different world now, and so did the people of Leskow.
These people in front of her might not be aware of what was going on, on first view they were being forced to do things they might not have dared to engage in if fully conscious -- but the queen was sure they would enjoy every minute of it, if they could. Their lustful moans and cries sounded almost real, as real as the queen's own arousal that wiped any hesitation or feeling of remorse from her mind.
The rhythm, with which the two men pounded into the young woman, grew faster, their thrusts more forceful. While she watched the three of them, Laura imagined the feel of their well-sized cocks inside her own narrow caves, imagined to be in the girl's place. Yet, in some small corner of her mind, she was glad that she wasn't.
The air was thick with the smell of the woman's pussy and the two men's sweat. The queen could feel the arousal of the people in front of her. Or rather, the arousal they would have felt had they been conscious, was instead focused in her mind, on her body. In a way she was them, she received all the sensations they should be feeling, while she could remain on her throne and oversee everything. The combined sensations of those three sent delicious trembles up her spine, chasing any clear thought out of her head. Somehow, just for a moment, an idea appeared; inspired by the image in front of her and the groans filling the room, the queen suddenly saw a similar scene. This time, however, not only three or four people were involved -- but instead thirty or forty. Or maybe even hundreds of them?
Then the queen allowed the three people in front of her to switch their position: The girl now came to be on all fours, taking one cock -- the one that had been in her pussy before -- into her mouth, while the other man continued with his relentless assault of her asshole.
As she took in the view of those three, the queen forgot her ideas and thoughts. She only concentrated on the show in front of her, enjoying the sight of the one cock sliding in and out the tight hole, of the breasts of the girl swinging freely in the air in the same rhythm, and of the other cock being buried so deeply in her throat that the young woman's nose was surrounded by the man's dark pubic hair. All of this combined with the intermingling sounds of their groans and the slapping of flesh on flesh.
The queen stopped thinking about future plans, she let herself be carried away by the scent of sex in the air, while the eager tongue of the other girl swirled faster and faster on her little nub -- it soon all became too much for Laura, she couldn't drag it out any longer. Her own orgasm almost surprised her, overwhelmed her in its strength. She only marginally registered that the others came with her, even the girl that had been licking her, though she had not received any stimulation herself.
***
As February started, the queen decided that she had seen enough snow and winter for the year. As soon as she thought this, the weather turned better. By mid February it was so warm and sunny that the first leaves started to appear on the trees. Had one of Leskow's inhabitants suddenly woken up, they would certainly have believed that May was not far anymore.
The queen enjoyed the beautiful weather by taking long walks along the shores of Lake Leskow. She rarely went into town anymore, however: The people there, her subjects, and their never changing routines bored her. She preferred to be in the middle of nature, breathe in the fresh air, let flowers spring to life on the meadows and whither again within minutes, just to blossom another time afterwards. On her orders, nature prepared a red carpet of flowers for her, no matter where the queen turned her steps.
In the meantime, the inhabitants of Leskow had a lot of work to do: The queen had decided to let them restore and modernize some of the old mansions of the town, and build a few new houses of similar size, that her favorite ... she almost called them "toys" in her mind ... subjects could live in. This, of course, was just the beginning. She was planning on giving the little town a whole new face. Leskow was going to be the most impressive of all towns in the area.
The queen looked up. Without realizing it, her feet had carried her to the familiar little clearing on which Martin's hut was still standing. She was overcome by a strange mixture of emotions. This was the location of some of the worst moments of her life, the climax of three years of torture. She was free now, but the memories still made her tremble. And yet, there was something comfortably familiar to this place, some other, long-forgotten memories connected to it. Laura felt as if she was looking for something that she could only find here, though she had no idea what that could be.
The clearing lay peacefully in the bright sunlight, surrounded by tall trees swaying softly in a light breeze. The view of the small wooden house added to the idyllic atmosphere, grass growing tall next to its walls, smoke rising up from the chimney... Smoke? The queen's eyes, taking in the scenery in front of her, jumped back to the hut. Indeed, there was smoke coming out of the chimney. Nobody was living in the hut anymore, since Martin's and Mr. Seger's deaths. All inhabitants of Leskow were occupied on the construction sites for the new palaces, and she, the queen, lived in her castle of course. A small hut in the forest might look like a nice retreat, but it was by no means befitting for a queen.
There was no one in Leskow who could be living in the hut. No one had a reason to. Who then had lit a fire in its fireplace, though? Who was there, hiding from the tasks she had set all her subjects, from the work she had demanded all of them to do?
The queen tested the area with her mind, tried to feel some human presence in the surroundings with which she could build up a connection. There was nothing there, at least no one that she could put under her control. A suspicion rose in her: In some way, this had to be connected to the stranger she saw at the public bath a few months ago. The stranger who could suddenly disappear without her noticing, who was completely out of her control. For the first time in many months, the queen felt fear.
For a while, she stood undecidedly on the clearing. She considered calling some of her subjects: She wanted to enter the hut, and doing so alone could be quite dangerous. Without the locket's power she was just a normal person, she suddenly realized. And not even a strong person. Without the locket, she was nothing but a girl who had never even done a self-defense course or learned anything else that might be useful in the face of danger, nor did she carry any weapons to defend herself.
Laura's curiosity, however, was stronger than her fear. The queen did not want to wait until her servants were able to reach her -- they couldn't drive through the forest, and on foot even the closest of them might need another half hour. No, she would find out what was going on now and here. After taking a deep breath, Laura started walking toward the little house.
It was quite dark inside, and after she entered the hut, it took her eyes a few moments to grow used to that darkness: At first, she could not see anything. And then, before her eyes adjusted, a sudden blow against her chest made Laura stumble back out of the hut and fall onto her behind on the grass of the clearing. A shriek of intermingled panic and anger echoed through the forest: There was indeed someone inside the little house, someone who was on his way out, and pushed the queen rudely out of his way, with no respect for decorum.
He ran past her before Laura had fully regained her senses, and thus all she could see was a tall figure disappearing beneath the trees. She did not see the face of the slender, dark haired man, and the air around the clearing and in the forest were as void of any human mind for her to control as it had before. It was, as if he did not exist.
***
He did not return. The queen posted guards near the hut: Day and night they were hiding in the bushes nearby, but they did not see anyone. The fire in the oven had gone out long ago; no more smoke was rising up from the chimney. The queen herself searched the hut for any traces of the stranger's identity, but all she could find were a few blankets, a coat, and a few tins with food, obviously stolen from one of Leskow's supermarkets. Nothing, that indicated in any way, who this stranger was.
Standing by the window in her castle's greatest hall, the queen anxiously looked out over the lake. She stood here a lot, yet she barely saw the beauty she had created around her. She seemed unable to enjoy the warm spring air, the blossoming trees. All she could think about was this strange man.
Who was he? Why had he come here of all places, and why was she not able to control him, not even to trace him in any way? The queen withdrew more and more, rarely interacting with the people of Leskow at all. They still did all she ordered them to do, of course, even if those orders were unspoken. However, the connection she had with them did not feel comfortable and close anymore. It felt like a distance as growing between her and them, like they were of a different species. She barely noticed her subjects when she saw them, as if they were just part of the town's architecture, decoration, not really people. Who really cared if they were happy, or at least appeared to be? They certainly weren't in any state to care. They were under her control. That was all that mattered.
The town was quiet, for now. The old saying of the calm before the storm went through the queen's mind. Was there a storm coming? Was the stranger that storm? Again, the stranger... He just would not go out of her mind. He was a danger she had never been able to take into account. Was he able to destroy everything she had built up with so much hard work?
Who was he? And where was he? The forest had been searched on the queen's orders, several times in fact; no stone was left unturned, no blade of grass uncombed, and her guards were not only keeping watch over the hut, but also near all empty houses in Leskow. She even had got dogs set on the stranger's scent, with the help of the blanket she had found in the hut. To no avail, he seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Yet, the queen was sure that he had not left Leskow.
***
The queen decided to start the summer with a big celebration for the town. She did not really feel like celebrating, her mind was preoccupied with the stranger. This celebration, however, had been on her mind before he turned up. It was for the people of Leskow... and for their queen. Some mysterious stranger, no matter how uncontrollable his mind, would not spoil all of this for her. She, the queen of Leskow, and soon of so much more, would not allow him to destroy this new world she had created for her subjects, simply by his existence. No, the people of Leskow should be allowed to have some fun -- more fun than during those boring festivities that had taken place throughout all the previous years, the years they had lived without a queen. And she had her very own ideas when it came to defining "fun".
As all festivities in Leskow, this one too was to take place on the great meadow by the lake. Of course, the location had to be adequately prepared. The queen wanted the place to be more beautiful than it had been on any other occasion, she wanted this to be a festival whose memory the centuries would not delete. It was not necessary to put up tents, of course -- thanks to her locket, the queen could guarantee perfect weather for the occasion.
She wanted, however, enough light in the later hours of the evening. The lamp posts her subjects put up looked beautiful. They were made of old fashioned-looking wrought iron; they had been produced in Leskow, just for the festival. At first, the queen had considered trying to stop the sun from going down, slowing down the earth's turns -- but she realized that this might be too big a task even for her. She did not want to risk the disappointment a failure might cause her, nor did she want the uproar this kind of action would inevitably cause everywhere outside of Leskow. In the end, the lamps were the more elegant solution, lending the festival grounds a timelessly festive air.
*
Finally the day had arrived. Laura felt giddy. She hadn't been this excited in too many years to remember. On the festival site, there were hundreds of tables, laden with all types of food she could imagine, the best Leskow had to offer. Big barrels of beer and wine were waiting to be drunk. The people of Leskow stood on the meadow in light summer clothes, expectantly looking up to the stage, waiting for their queen to welcome them.
And they did not have to wait long. Dressed into a gown made of white silk and light as a summer cloud, she stepped onto the stage, towards the microphone. Thousands of upturned faces looked at her, gasped at the beauty of her appearance. The queen knew that none of those people gathered in front of her would really hear her welcome speech. It did not really matter what she would say. All she was doing here was to keep up appearances. After all, this day was supposed to be perfect. There was no reason to be nervous -- but strangely, she realized, that her hands were shaking a little bit. The queen took a deep breath, before she started speaking.
"My subjects, I welcome you", her voice thundered through the small town -- she startled herself a bit with the volume of her speech. "You have come together here today to celebrate me, to celebrate yourself, to celebrate this new era for Leskow, an era that you have had the fortune of enjoying for almost a year by now."
She let the people cheer for a while, taking a sip from a glass of water someone hurried to hand her in the meantime. Looking out over the applauding crowd, the queen sighed in relief. Her speech was going well; there was no reason to worry. She should do this every day. When eventually she grew bored of their "hoorays" and the applause, the queen continued her address.
"Leskow is now the happiest town in this world. It has been thusly for a year now. For a year, not one of you is lonesome anymore; no one is sad, no one gets sick or hurt in any way. You all know that this is my doing; you know that you are happy because I, your queen, am taking care of you every minute of the day. And today, finally, I will give you the opportunity to show me how thankful you are."
Then the queen graciously took a step towards her subjects. All faces turned up towards her expectantly, as she lifted her royal robes, revealing her naked body underneath. She vaguely remembered having read once, in her old life, of a queen or empress, who had all visitors kiss her sex as a sign of respect -- and that was exactly what she had in mind now for the good people of Leskow. At least for those she liked well enough.
All inhabitants of Leskow had to stand up in a row -- everyone over eighteen had come to the meadow, only the children and teenagers remained absent from the festival, for them Laura had set up a different festival site in a park at the other end of town. They could enjoy ice cream and cotton candy to their heart's content there; ride on merry-go-rounds or roller coasters. Her festival was not meant for them, today she only wanted Leskow's grown-up population to be with her.
Now, one after the other of the festival guests walked up onto the stage, to their queen: She had placed a small wooden staircase right next to it; it was just a few steps for them to reach her. Those men and women that had not found the queen's favor, because of their looks or because of the memories of old and less happy times that they evoked, were sent to the side. The others, however, all bowed before they pressed a kiss onto her sex, and then went to the side again, to make space for the next person awaiting their turn. Every now and then, someone appeared whom the queen particularly liked: Those people were allowed to linger a bit longer, their lips and tongues performing more than just a simple kiss.
It was especially at those locations, that the queen's arousal rose: Each new touch of her subject's soft lips, each tongue that she allowed to flick over her little pearl of lust, let her moan and crave for yet more. However, this was an official occasion; a certain protocol had to be kept. And since most of those attentions to her royal sex only lasted a few seconds, at most a few minutes, the queen could keep her reaction to the sensations in check. She did not want to reach her climax yet. This day was going to be a long one; the festival should be thoroughly enjoyed. This day, after all, was for the people of Leskow.
Leskow was not a big town. Still, there were quite a few inhabitants who met Laura's requirements; the ceremony took its time. Finally, however, every one of them had greeted their queen in the appropriate way. Now Laura allowed her subjects to enjoy a great buffet lunch. She needed this break, and a few choice pieces of meat that one of her servants brought her. The people of Leskow needed to eat as well: They would still need their strength this day, after all. For a while, nothing was heard at the festival meadow, other than the sound of chewing and a few content remarks about the quality of the food. The queen did not like mindless chatter, and thus her subjects ate mainly in silence. Once everyone had eaten and drunk to their heart's content -- or rather, the amount that the queen thought appropriate for each of them -- the people of Leskow put away their empty plates and without any hesitation started to take off the scant summer clothes they were wearing. They all commenced undressing at the same instant, following a secret command. Soon the whole town stood naked in front of their queen, their faces once more turned up to her stage in expectation. The queen smiled down at the naked townspeople. She had a special dessert in store for them.
The queen let her gaze sweep over the naked masses in front of her: Men and women, young and old, slender and sturdy -- well-built and less well-built bodies with tanned or pale skin, some with freckles; some entirely shaved and others hairy. A mild smile crossed the queen's face. They were all her subjects, and she loved them all, no matter what they looked like. Well, almost all of them. Still, she had to chose, and of course it would be unbefitting for a queen, if she was seen with anyone less than perfect. Thus, the queen selected the man and the woman most pleasing to her eyes. Two tall young people, with smooth, soft skin and shiny hair. The woman's breasts were perfect orbs, more than what was needed to fill one hand and yet just small enough to not look unnatural on her slender body. The man was muscular, but not exaggeratedly so, and he was -- this had been the queen's main motivation for choosing him -- very well endowed. Yes, she nodded to herself, as the two of them once more climbed the little staircase to join their queen on the stage. Yes, they are the best ones. Their first task was to take off her royal robes for her.
Then Laura stood naked in front of her subjects. Her pale skin was almost gleaming in the bright sun light, her soft curves showing the improvement her life had experienced during this last year -- though she was still slender. Instantly, the people gathered in front of the stage started cheering and applauding loudly. The man and woman she had selected out of the crowd were still standing on the stage, flanking their queen each to one side. The queen now allowed them to turn towards her, look at her royal body. Then she first pulled the man closer, kissing him tenderly to the cheers of her audience. After that she turned to the woman, who she kissed more deeply. This was the command the people of Leskow had waited for: They all turned to the people standing next to them, no matter whether they were close friends or even relatives, or complete strangers, and started exchanging fervent kisses.
The queen let go of the woman and went to settle down on the majestic throne that was standing on the stage. This seat had been built just for that day; it was decorated with gold and gem stones, and made more comfortable by silk cushions.
The man and the woman both stood silently where the queen left them, looking down to the masses below the stage. They watched the people kissing each other, and watched how a small sign of the queen let their kisses grow wilder, hungrier. Soon each of the people started to touch anyone they could reach, stroking their skin, searching for their sex. The people moved closer together, rubbing their skin against that of their neighbor; soon their bodies were glistening with sweat. No one seemed to care whether the recipient of their affections was a man or a woman, a friend or a relative.
The queen spread her legs, and the young woman on the stage turned away from the people. Instead, she knelt down in front of her queen and touched her lips to her sex. Laura could feel the warmth of her breath before the soft lips of the woman touched her and then parted. The girl's tongue found her queen's pearl of lust, circled it carefully, and then started flicking against it more resolutely.
A wave of pleasure seemed to crash over Laura. Yet it was only partly caused by the girl's skillful attentions -- rather, it was the view in front of the stage that made her breath increase: Everywhere on the meadow, the inhabitants of Leskow eagerly started to copy their queen. Hundreds of men were hiding their heads between the legs of whichever woman they found nearest to them, and just as many women were willingly accepting into their mouths whichever cock they had the best access to; and in just as many cases women were eagerly licking other women, or men receiving other men into their mouths.
Even though they were outdoors and a fresh breeze was blowing over the meadow, the air was heavy with the smell of sex and sweat. The heat rising up from the heaving mass of bodies was palpable, and the queen had difficulties telling where one body ended and the next one started. In fact, not even the people on the meadow themselves seemed to know or care whose body, whose arms or hands or breasts or pussies or cocks they were touching. Randomly they reached out for whatever parts of any other human they could reach, only driven by the desire to touch, to knead, to suck, to lick, to rub their own skin against human flesh.
While the girl up on the stage continued kneeling in front of the queen, licking and sucking eagerly, the young man stepped closer to her. Standing behind the kneeling girl, he reached for her behind with his large hands, starting to knead the cheeks thoroughly and giving them a well measured slap every now and then. Laura could tell that his hands were strong, and she saw tremors going through the girl's body every now and then. After a while, the man's fingers began searching for the young woman's sex, and soon started pushing into the warm, moist cave. Laura watched all of this, her eyes bright with fascination.
The young woman moaned against the queen's sex, but she did not allow the man to distract her from her task. She concentrated on the royal treasure, spending all her attentions to the little diamond on top, which she licked and sucked with dedication. She did not let go, even as the man's cock entered her in one heavy thrust, letting yet another tremor shake her body. The queen was sure to not only see this tremor, not only feel the girl's head vibrating against her womanhood -- but feel everything inside herself, as if the body of the girl was just an extension of her own.
For a while, Laura allowed the girl to stop the busy work with her tongue. She closed her legs and leaned back, letting the girl and the man concentrate on each other. She wanted to just sit there for a while, on her throne, watching the couple in front of her and the people around her, combining them anew, choosing people to do the things she wanted to see. Here, she let a woman lick her husband's cum out of another woman's pussy; there she created a sandwich with two recent graduates of Leskow's school and one of their former teachers. For a while she just gave herself into the enjoyment of watching the heaving mass of sweaty bodies, and breathing in the heavy smell of cum and female secretions in the air.
Then the queen opened her legs again and the girl, still on all fours, crawled back to her place. The man followed her, his heavy thrusts unceasing. The queen sighed in content, as once more she felt the touch of the young woman's warm and eager tongue. From her slightly elevated position on the throne, she also got a good view of the young man's cock, each time it appeared for a second, glistening with juices, just to disappear again between the girl's legs.
Along with their queen's lust, the arousal of everyone in the area seemed to rise. Everyone on the meadow was busy fucking, licking, sucking; faster and faster, wilder, less controlled, driven by an urge most people of Leskow might never have given into so completely had they been conscious. Body slammed against sweaty body, groans and moans filled the air with a strange music, rising up to a scream of thousands of voices. Laura felt her whole body and mind filled to the brim with a lust that was not only her own, but that of the whole town.
When she finally came, the whole town came with her. The force of thousands of simultaneous orgasms seemed to crash over her like a wave, carrying her along with a force she feared might tear her apart -- though at the same time, she did not care if it broke her.
***
While Laura was still struggling to catch breath again, she felt the cool touch of a small breeze on her skin, helping her to cool down. The people of Leskow around her did not need to calm down, they had started turning towards each other again, fornicating with whoever was located most conveniently. However, the heaving mass of flesh in front of her, the groans and the sound of flesh slapping against sweaty flesh, had suddenly lost its appeal for Laura. She felt distant, like none of this concerned her anymore.
The girl kept away from the queen now, knowing without words that she was not needed nor wanted anymore. The queen did not want to feel her eager tongue anymore, nor did she want any of Leskow's people touch her now. Instead, she let three more men climb up onto the stage, to take the girl at the same time, pounding relentlessly into her pussy, her ass, her mouth -- the queen knew exactly what they were doing, but she did not want to watch.
Laura wasn't sure exactly why she suddenly only felt disgust, instead of arousal. Maybe her own confusion had turned her off; the fact, that she had no idea about how to continue now. The problem wasn't the orgy that was still unfolding in front of her eyes -- it was obvious how that would go on. But after that? What would happen the next morning and the mornings after that? The queen had anticipated this festival for months; she had lived for this day. It was the symbol of her work for Leskow, it was the crown jewel in all the beautiful things she had wanted to give the town. And now the big day had arrived, she had proved that she could get the town's people to really do anything she wanted. She had shown that she had ultimate power. Shown whom? The people who continued to fornicate on the festival meadow, without thought or reason? They did not care. She had shown herself, proved to herself that she could do whatever she wanted to. And for some reason the result bored her.
As the queen sat on her throne, pondering those somber thoughts, dark clouds hurriedly made their way over the sky. What had been a beautiful day promised to turn into a stormy afternoon: Soon the clouds were turning the bright day intended for Leskow's festival into a gray one, hiding the blue of the sky and the warmth of the sun.
Clouds? The queen looked up in surprise. Her forehead wrinkled, as she stared at the dark gray front of storm building up there in the sky. She had not called any clouds. She did not want clouds. Nor did she want this strange wind that dried up the sweat on her skin and made her shiver from the cold. The people on the meadow did not mind, of course, nor did they seem to notice the first heavy drops of rain falling down on them. They went on, as the rain increased, falling onto their naked skin, onto the meadow, and onto their queen's nose, shoulders and hair.
Something was very wrong. The queen stared up at the clouds. They had to go. With all her might, she demanded them to withdraw, to let the warm sun rays through to Leskow again. The locket on her chest started pulsating, it grew warmer. She could feel the power emanating from it, and for a moment, the thick layer of clouds seemed to grow thinner. The dark gray of the sky changed into a slightly lighter shade. However, the clouds fought back, they resisted. The moment the queen relaxed the slightest bit, they returned to their place on the sky, determined to let rain fall onto the small town for as long as they wanted.
No. The queen shook her head. Those clouds could not have a will. They were inanimate objects and she had learned to control them so long ago, that it had become second nature. If they suddenly refused her orders, there had to be something else behind it. Another power, just as strong as her own, and giving its own orders to the clouds.
Yes, there was someone else. Someone else who was using a power like the one of the locket. The queen could feel it -- the moment she realized it, she felt a power that was present everywhere, fighting against her, fighting against the queen of Leskow. It had been there for a while, she just had not realized. And there was something else she felt, other than this ominous power. Suddenly the queen realized that all those weeks and months, since the beginning of the New Year, she was feeling a true human presence in her town: The presence of someone who had not lost his will and mind.
There was someone there, who was out of her control. Now that she realized this, the queen could feel him more clearly than ever before: The stranger, fighting against her. And he was just as powerful as she, the queen, was herself.
The clouds above Leskow grew thicker again, their gray turning into a dark metallic blue, and a low grumble announced the approaching thunder storm: This wasn't an ordinary storm, the queen knew. This was more than the collision of weather fronts. What was colliding there, above Leskow, was her and the power of the locket, and that other power, the stranger, the one who wanted to take everything away from her and from the town for which she had worked so hard.
Little pearls of sweat formed on the queen's forehead once again, this time due to exhaustion. She still stood on the stage without moving, yet she did not notice anymore that the people of Leskow continued fucking and licking and sucking each other as if nothing was going on.
Anyone looking at her might have thought she was lost in thought, staring into emptiness. In fact, at this very moment, the queen conjured more strength than she had ever in her life. Her brow furrowed, her face a masque, she tried to push the clouds away, to defeat whoever was defying her. The sudden bright light of a flash of lightning and the deafening grumble of thunder following the very next moment could not break her concentration. Yet, it was to no avail: The rain increased, and soon the festive meadow and all the naked people on it were covered in mud.
And then, suddenly, he stood there, on the jetty at the nearby public bath, exactly where he had stood the first time the queen saw him. From her elevated position on the stage she could just make him out. He stood motionless, just as he had that day when the queen had discovered him from the castle's window. This time, however, he wasn't looking out over the water but was turned inland. Despite the distance, he seemed to be looking right at her and with a chill the queen realized that his eyes were set right on her.
Laura's heart started beating wildly. For a moment she considered just running away or at least ordering some of her guard to come with her and protect her. However, she knew it would be of no use. If he could send this rain, rain she had not asked for nor wanted, then he would be able to use her own people against her. She had to face him alone. If she wanted to stay in power, once and for all, she would have to fight for it by herself. No one could help her with this. After a year as Leskow's queen, she had to prove herself worthy of her reign. Laura felt a strange excitement tingling through her body, an excitement that had nothing to do with the continuing orgy in front of her.
The queen took one more deep breath and then quickly walked towards the shore, to the jetty. Her arms pressed to the sides of her body, her chin pushed forward defiantly, the queen went to face her enemy.
The dark figure belonged to a young man. He was not much older than Laura herself. As he looked toward her, the wind pushed his black hair in and out of his face. Approaching him, the queen could make out his features more clearly. He was beautiful, more so than any of the young men and women in town, and for a second she felt a pang of regret that he was not one of those she could just call into her royal chambers at night. He was tall and lean yet muscular. His dark eyes were still half hidden under his hair, yet they seemed to sparkle. He looked tired, and angry, but there was also a strange joy in his expression as he stared at the queen, motionless. Only when Laura stood a meter from him, now as still as him and holding her breath, he opened his mouth. He spoke into the silence that was only disturbed by the distant groans of Leskow's inhabitants and the gentle splashes of waves against the jetty, his voice quiet yet clear.
"Laura."
He did not speak her name as a question or as a call for attention. His voice sounded gentle, like he was pronouncing a word that hadn't crossed his lips in a long time, and he was now trying it out, to see if he could still pronounce it, to hear whether its sound had changed or whether it was as comforting and familiar as it used to be.
For a few long moments, Laura did not speak, waiting whether he had anything else to say, but he remained quiet. Finally, more to break the silence than to truly say anything, she did the same thing he had done. She greeted him without any niceties, just by speaking his name:
"Daniel."
This is the sixth and final chapter of a story, which mainly took place in the "Mind Control" category. I recommend reading the other chapters -- but for those who do not want to do so, here is a short summary of what has happened so far: A strange locket has been influencing the fate of the small town of Leskow and especially of Laura, a young woman from this town, for several years now. At first, Laura was enslaved due to the influence of that locket, whose bearer can force anyone or anything to do his bidding, but eventually she managed to take possession of the locket. She crowned herself queen of Leskow and reached ever higher power, until an unexpected visitor appears in Leskow...
~~~~~
Everything is calm on the small clearing in the forest, near the shores of Lake Leskow. The town of Leskow, situated on the opposite shore of the lake, is quiet as well. The cobble stone streets empty, the windows dark. All people of Leskow have fallen asleep, most of them lying cuddled closely together on the big festival site right next to the lake. They are tired, but it is a relaxed and happy tiredness. The summer festival, organized for them by their queen, has worn them out. In their deep sleep, they do not know what is happening around them. They do not know, that this night their future will be decided.
The lake, on the other hand, is unmoved, unchanged. Its waters splash against the shore in little waves, uncaring of what the future might bring. The light of the moon is reflected by the water, as it has been throughout the ages. The lake continues its quiet existence; there might be people diving into its depths or islands rising out of them, those are minor changes. The lake has been here since ancient times, before this era and the one before. Its dark waters will continue to lie next to the forest, no matter what era comes next.
The going-ons of this night don't concern the forest either. It doesn't care what is happening in the human world -- even if those same humans cut down its trees, the forest remains uncaring. It does not know of future or past. The wind is rushing through the tops of the trees, rustling their leaves. The trees stand tall and unmoved, why should it be their concern that this very clearing is going to be the site of a battle?
Not just any battle, but the battle of the century: A battle that is going to decide not just the future of Leskow and its people, but the fate of the whole world.
No, the forest and the lake and the wind do not know of such things, nor do the people of Leskow. They are asleep on the meadow, or in their houses, if they still made it home, and do not know of this battle, though it is most of all their own fate that is going to be decided here, this very night.
***
"It's nice to see you again." Daniel was smiling. „And it is good to be back. I can see that a lot of things have changed around here."
Laura stared at him in disbelief. How could he talk like... like everything was normal?
"Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked, apparently drawing his own conclusions about her silence.
"What do you want?" Her voice sounded more nervous than she had planned, betraying the fast beat of her heart, rather than exuding the self-confidence that would befit a queen.
"What kind of welcome is that? Don't I deserve a hello, at least? But good," Daniel took a deep breath. "I am here to tell you that you have spent enough time playing queen now. It's time you let the town and its people be free again. And it's time you remembered who you are, Laura."
The queen felt anger rise up inside her. How dared he address her like that? Gritting her teeth, she tried to concentrate on remaining calm, on giving her face a lofty expression. Daniel's looked at her, his face open, friendly. His eyes gazed at her with the same fondness as so many years ago... How could he, after everything that had happened? For a moment, the memory of blood on the floor and a pale arm sticking out from behind a sofa flashed through Laura's mind -- and as if he could see the same picture, Daniel's expression grew darker. However, he continued looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. If she'd just ...
No! She would have none of this. He had disappeared out of her life, just like that. He had been gone for all those years, leaving her to suffer alone, and now he came back to tell her what she could or could not do? Was he trying to give her orders? Her! The queen!
„Laura does not exist anymore". Again, her voice did not fully obey her; it echoed shrilly through the forest. "Laura was weak, and stupid. They did whatever they wanted with Laura." She almost spit out her own name, and only now realized how much she hated it. This name, this word, did not seem to have any connection to her anymore. It did not belong to her, it wasn't her. "Laura is gone, she won't return, and you of all people can definitely not bring her back."
Daniel's eyes grew sad, though other than that, his face remained unmoved.
"Well," he said after a long pause. "If that's the way you want it... I wish you would find reason. I really wish we could do this in a sensible way. But if that's the way you want it..."
Without another word and without giving the queen a chance to ask what he wanted to say, Daniel turned around and left. For a brief moment, the queen considered sending some of her guards after him. Then she wondered if that would be of any use at all, or if it would just give him a chance to prove his own powers. She was almost sure that this was not the way to defeat him. No, before she decided on anything, she would have to think.
***
Leskow had changed. All the cheerfulness had been drawn from the little town. The sky was dark and cloudy; in the mornings, mist lay over the lake, the forest and the surrounding meadows. There was a tension in the air, no matter where you went, you could feel that something was about to happen. Nothing was as it used to be.
Of course, the people of Leskow went on about their daily business as always. They did it without a smile, however. Without as much as a word to each other, they did their work simply because they had to. The area around the festival site had been cleaned up within a few hours. The meadow itself, however, had been turned into a field of mud by the heavy rain: And it stayed so for several days, as a reminder of the great celebration. Other than that, no mud or dirt was seen on the streets, despite the constant drizzle of rain. Leskow continued being the pretty town it had become since the coronation of its queen -- and yet, everything was different now.
A few more times, the queen tried to push the heavy clouds away from the sky. She intended to let the sun shine through again, onto Leskow, and onto her island, hoping the bright warmth might give her the courage and happiness she was longing for -- but to no avail. She wasn't sure if Daniel's resistance was to be blamed -- after all she did not even know what kind of power he had -- or whether it was her own gloomy mood that was reflected in the weather. The queen spent hours of each day, standing at the window in her room on top of one of the castle's towers, staring out into the rain. Under the heavy clouds, the forest seemed as dark as her thoughts.
The queen thought about the future, she tried to think of strategies, of her own strengths and powers. Most of all, however, she thought of her opponent.
Daniel. Before seeing him by the lake, she hadn't thought of him in so long that she almost forgot he ever existed. And still, somehow, he had always been on her mind. Like a hidden thought, buried deep in her subconscious. A vague memory of times, when she was nothing but plain old Laura from twelfth grade, a nice girl, but quiet and not particularly noticeable -- and yet, somehow, she had been happier. Happier? No, how could she have ever been happier than now, that she had brought a golden age to Leskow? It was only his presence that upset her, that made her have these strange thoughts.
Daniel was a danger. He had to be stopped, if need be, he had to be destroyed -- with every minute she thought about him, the queen grew surer of that. However, this was not as easy as it sounded. Her power seemed not big enough to confront him. She had to grow stronger, had to learn to use the power of the locket even more precisely, so he would not be able to resist her.
Somewhere, deep inside the queen's mind, a small voice protested. The voice of a girl -- of the girl she had once been. This voice told her that she still missed Daniel. The voice of the girl wondered if Daniel might not be right in what he said. The queen, however, pushed those thoughts deeper into her subconscious. She was not that girl anymore; she would not listen to her voice. Maybe Daniel's sudden appearance even had its advantages, she pondered. Once she defeated him, she might be free from all that remained of Laura inside her. Maybe she could vanquish the last bit of weakness inside her mind. When she won the fight against him, she could finally be only the queen of Leskow, nothing else. She could make her old self disappear forever.
***
"Your majesty, one of your subjects has come to speak to you."
The queen turned around, surprise on her face. Once again she was standing by the window, staring out towards the dark sky and the churning waters of Lake Leskow, trying to ban all the unpleasant thoughts of the last days from her mind. A few ducks had appeared. Ignoring the horrible weather, they swam their rounds on the lake, and the queen had been watching them from her tower. The interruption, the voice of the servant tearing her from her observations, angered her -- and it took her a moment to fully comprehend the strangeness of this request.
Someone wanted to speak to her? One of her subjects? Her subjects were not able to want anything. They could not even think by themselves, unless she ordered them to want or think something. So why would any of them want to talk to her, when she, their queen, had no such plans for any of them?
With a mixture of rage and curiosity, she nodded towards the servant girl, who stood in the door frame motionlessly, waiting for her queen's orders. The girl in question had been her favorite servant for more than a few weeks by now, during daytime as well as at night. She was half a head taller than the queen, with long blonde hair she always wore down, on the queen's orders, and eyes, that most likely once sparkled each time the girl smiled. These days, of course, no one's smile reached their eyes anymore -- still, this young woman was surprisingly beautiful. When the queen found her, on the main street of Leskow, where she worked in a little shop, she had been surprised to not have noticed this girl before.
Now, however, as the weeks with this girl serving her were turning into months, she realized she was starting to grow bored with her. Well, replacing her servant was no big issue; she could attend to that later; first she had to see what it was about the person who apparently wanted to speak to her.
"Tell him to come in", she ordered.
Shortly after, the girl led a young man through the door into the small tower room. The queen, still standing at the window, once again turned around to look at her visitor. To her surprise, he looked vaguely familiar. Hadn't there been one night, many months ago, a particularly satisfying night...? However, there had been many nights and many men, so the queen could not be sure. She rarely bothered to remember the faces of the men and women she shared her royal bed with.
For a moment, the man just stood in front of the queen, silent, looking at her with what Laura believed to be scrutinizing eyes. Indeed, his whole expression was changed; he did not look as impassive as all the other people in Leskow did -- though the queen could still tell that he was not fully awake: He did not seem to find his surroundings strange, and he did not look scared. He just looked like he was being controlled by a different, somewhat more lenient power.
„What do you want?" the queen asked harshly.
"My master has sent me..."
"Your master?" Laura interrupted him -- though she already knew, who the man was referring to.
"My master has sent me", the man repeated, his voice steady, "to tell your majesty that she is requested today at midnight on the clearing in front of the hut. My master wants to speak to you. Alone."
After uttering these words, the man turned around, and before the queen could hold him back, he had left the castle, walking swiftly and full of confidence, his head raised high. The queen tried to search for his mind, make contact with him and get him under her own control, so she could force him to return. It seemed, however, that he was not part of her world anymore. She had not the slightest influence on this man.
***
Nervously, Laura glanced around. The trees stood motionless, the clearing was empty, and the little house at its edge looked dark and abandoned. It appeared that no human being, other than herself, had entered the forest of Leskow this night.
A sigh of relief escaped the queen. Her subjects had hidden well, the police men as well as her personal guards. Daniel would not be able to see them until it was too late. Still, even knowing that they were there, invisible in their hiding places, the nightly forest was somewhat creepy. It was quieter than it had ever been, reminiscent of an ancient time before the arrival of humans in this area. No, it was quieter than that: Even the animals seemed to have hidden away; no stir betrayed the presence of anything alive. It occurred to the queen that even the wind had calmed down. As if the whole world was holding its breath.
As the queen was standing on the clearing, waiting, a small cloud wandered slowly in front of the moon, and the night grew yet darker. Forest and clearing were barely visible anymore. Only when the cloud had moved on, and silvery light was reaching down towards her again, Laura could see him: Daniel was standing next to a tree, at the far end of the clearing. He seemed to be one with the darkness behind him. The queen could not remember any sound that might have hinted at his approach.
"You are here."
His voice was quiet, and yet it carried clearly across the clearing, reaching the queen like a whisper that was uttered directly into her ear. She shook her head slightly, to rid herself of the strange emotions this nightly encounter awoke in her. Before speaking, she had to clear her throat. When she addressed her enemy, she managed to do so in the imperious tone she intended.
"What is that important that I have to come to the forest in the middle of the night -- for you?"
"The past", Daniel replied calmly. "Your past, Laura. Try to remember who you were. Who you are. Try and be yourself again."
Again the queen felt rage rise up inside her, but the rage was mingled with a vague fear. She had to swallow hard a few times to push those feelings back down. Then she lifted up her chin defiantly and looked Daniel up and down. He was wearing old jeans and a torn shirt. As dark as it was, she could tell that his clothes were dirty and his hair unwashed. How could someone like him, scruffy and of no importance whatsoever -- how could he dare to give orders to the queen?
"I am myself", she answered in a cold voice. "I am the person I have always wanted to be. I don't know what past you are speaking about. I have no past that would be worthwhile remembering."
Daniel took another step towards her. The moon was still shining bright, no new cloud had come to cover it up again, and thus his face was now, that he left the shadows of the trees, bathed in its pale light. He had grown older, the queen realized, more mature, more serious. There was a deep sadness in his eyes that caused an unexpected sting in Laura's chest. She clenched the muscles in her chin, to shake off the sensation.
"Laura", his voice was pleading. "Don't you remember me at all anymore? Don't you remember us?"
The queen could no longer suppress her rage. She was shaking, as she turned around, facing the forest behind her and addressed her guard, whom she knew well hidden between the shrubs and bushes.
"Arrest him!"
She had meant to shout, but her voice came out strangely hoarse. It didn't matter, however. The moment she uttered the words, guards and policemen sprinted over the clearing, past their queen, towards Daniel. The silence of the nightly forest was torn by the sounds of their heavy boots, and a devilish smile crossed the queen's face. This was more like it.
Then, unexpectedly, it was silent again. Her men had reached a spot on the clearing that lay just in the middle between her and her adversary -- and there, they stopped dead in their tracks, apparently unable to move one step further towards him. Like bizarre sculptures, they had frozen in whatever position their bodies had been in, when they reached that spot. More than one stood in a somewhat precarious position, as if they were about to fall over, but so far, they were not even swaying.
"What's going on? Didn't you hear me? Arrest him!"
The queen's voice was louder now, not hoarse anymore, but shrill. She shouted at her guards -- though she knew that it wasn't her voice they obeyed.
At first, the men did not move at all. They remained frozen in place, many of them with just one leg on the ground, as if they had turned into stone in the middle of running. Then, however, very slowly, one took a step backwards, another followed, until all of them walked backwards, their motion growing fast. They were walking away from Daniel, back towards Laura, though they hadn't turned around as yet. The queen believed to feel her heart do a little jump of fear. What was happening? How could they manage to do something directly contrary to her orders?
Looking over the meadow, she could see concentration painted onto her enemy's face. A very familiar expression of focus. He was controlling them! He was taking them away from her, robbing their minds from her circle of influence! It looked like he was planning to send her own subjects after her, their queen!
The queen took another deep breath, controlling her anger and her fear. She had to concentrate as well -- if she wanted to stand a chance, she had stay focused on the issue at hand. And for the first time in months, she was fully conscious of her power, using it willingly to bring across her orders, rather than just relying on the fact that using the pendant had become second nature to her.
Sure, every now and then there had been occasions during which she was more aware of the pendant's power, for example when she was searching for someone's mind. Establishing a mental connection to people she had already found, however, urging them to do her bidding at every moment, had become natural. She didn't have to think anymore to do this. As her power had grown, this process had moved more and more into the background. People usually followed her orders without her even realizing she had given them. To the queen, controlling every inhabitant of Leskow was not any more complicated than breathing or seeing.
Now, however, she had to use all her inner strength to push against whatever made those men move back toward her. Little pearls of sweat appeared on her brow and she was shaking slightly, when finally they stopped walking backwards, and then, slowly, one by one, took a few steps forward again, toward Daniel.
His expression grew darker. His brow furrowed in concentration. Apparently he, too, had to use more of his strength now. He had to concentrate. The men stopped again, some of them took a few tentative steps backwards. Most of them, however, stood motionless on their spot, right in the middle between Daniel and the queen. Only the slightest trembling of their arms and legs indicated that they were still flesh and blood, rather than stone, and that they were exposed to an unyielding power. The queen wondered if the men might not get crushed by the onslaught on their minds, by the strength exuding from both her and Daniel. How much of this could a human brain take, without suffering some kind of damage?
Daniel seemed to wonder about the same thing. The queen and her enemy looked at each other, and then, at the very same moment, they stopped sending the group of men against each other. For a short moment, the guards remained on their spots, as if hesitating, unsure what to do at the sudden loss of orders to follow. Then they started swaying until they sank to the ground, unconscious. In the meantime, the queen and Daniel turned around on their heels at the same time, and each left the clearing into a different direction.
***
The streets of Leskow were empty, the town seemed abandoned. The queen was not quite sure how such a thing could be happening, but her subjects were disappearing one by one. Some remained, of course. Especially those men and women who were closest to the queen, her most trusted servants, did not attempt to abandon their hometown. Even they, however, sometimes stood near the shore of the lake, remaining motionless while looking out over the water towards the forest, as if they were listening to a voice calling them to the other side. As soon as their queen passed them, they trembled for a moment and then went on with their daily business, ignoring whatever was trying to draw them away from their hometown.
Too many others, however, had followed the call. Standing at the window in her room in the highest tower of the castle, the queen could sometimes see them. She watched them bathing in the lake, or walking along the shore under the trees, or wasting their time with other endeavors whose sense she did not understand. A few times the queen tried to call out to them -- with her voice and with her mind -- but to no avail.
Things couldn't go on like this. She could not allow her enemy to destroy everything she had built. She had to do something. Yet, the queen waited, she could not make up her mind. The truth was that she was afraid, though she kept telling herself that she, as queen, had no reason for fear.
As she watched the number of people on her side dwindle, however, Laura finally took up all her courage and went to face her enemy. She left her castle one evening, alone, without her guard. Somehow, it felt appropriate to be leaving the town at this late hour, alone, without anyone taking notice. She was the queen. She would solve this problem without their help: When the people of Leskow woke up the next morning, everything would be back to normal, as if he had never been there.
She didn't really know where to look for him, yet she was sure she would find him. Considering the large number of her subjects that had deserted their queen in his favor, she was sure her enemy would not even be hard to find him. He had to be hiding somewhere, after all, and the people he had called away from Leskow all were in the forest now, so the queen turned her steps there. He would not be far from those other people, she suspected.
The queen's heartbeat increased, as she entered the forest. It felt different there; something had changed since her last visit. The trees towered tall above her, swaying in a wind she had not sent over the area. Their branches and leafs blocked out what little evening light there was, and a cold breeze let her shiver in her silken dress. The forest seemed hostile, and the queen realized it didn't want her to be inside it. Laura felt lost; in fact, she did not feel like a queen here. She was a stranger, was entering someone else's areal without permission. Silent and ancient as it was, the queen felt like the forest defied her with every bit of its being. Behind each bush she suspected eyes that were watching her. The smallest sound made her jump. Still, she was alone. Neither human being, nor even an animal crossed her path, as she made her way through the forest.
Yet, the forest was not completely abandoned: Daniel was expecting her. The queen did not see him until she stood almost in front of him. Maybe it was the darkness, but the queen was sure she had not seen him even a moment before. As if he appeared suddenly, just in front of her eyes. He was sitting on a tree trunk next to the path she was walking on, smiling at her. His smile made anger rise up inside the queen again -- he dared to smile like that, as if they were friends, as if there was something between them and he was glad to finally see her again? He should bow to her, trembling in fear!
"There you are, finally", he said. It sounded like her visit was an event they had been planning for a long time, not a sudden decision of her own. Like he was expecting her just there and then, and had been waiting for a little while, because she was a bit late. He looked at her and kept smiling.
"I am here to suggest something to you. A treaty of sorts", the queen said. Her voice sounded steady and resolute, for once it did not betray the strange knots forming in her stomach, or the fact that her knees were suddenly trembling without obvious reason. Again, she pushed out her chin, to show her resolve even more clearly.
Daniel's expression grew weary, and he looked disappointed, somehow. "What kind of treaty?"
"Well", the queen started slowly. She regained control over her shaking knees and thus managed to take a few more steps towards him, until she towered high over him, looking down on Daniel and the low tree trunk he was sitting on. Daniel did not flinch or stand up to show his true height, nor did he even look up at the queen. "I think we should work together", she continued, as he was still staring down the forest path, in the direction she had come from. "Together we could soon be ruling the whole world. It seems your power is quite similar to my own."
Daniel sighed. "You don't get it, do you?" he asked her sadly.
"What am I supposed to get?" Despite herself, Laura was curious now. What was it that he wanted? She had wondered about this before -- with powers like his and her own, what was there to want? He could get anything, if he just used them right. Yet, he did not seem content with that idea.
"You have to get rid of the locket", Daniel's voice had grown beseeching. "You have to remember who you really are. It might help to remember me, remember us. Or, if that's not what you want, remember your parents, your friends. Just remember."
For a few short moments pictures flashed in front of the queen's inner eye, memories, and longing. Faces that were strangely familiar, smiling at her. Her parents. A childhood friend. Her and Daniel, together, walking through the forest hand in hand. Her eighteenth birthday. Then the familiar rage returned. The queen felt her face grow red. Her fists clenched, her teeth gritted, she fought to gain control over herself. When she finally answered, her voice ran shrill through the forest.
"Remember me? Remember the Nobody -- the Nothing -- that I used to be? Why would I want to go back to being someone everyone can take advantage of, someone who just does whatever she is told? I was born to be queen. I was born to change this town, once and for all. Why would I want to go back to being just plain old Laura?"
"Because that Laura is the person I love more than I could love anyone else", Daniel said quietly. "More than I could love even the most powerful queen in the world."
Laura felt a strange sting in her heart. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by the desire to sit down next to him, have him take her into his arms, hold her. But no! She was stronger than those desires. Those feelings were not worthy of a queen. She did not need someone else's arms; she did not need to be comforted. And what was supposed to be so special about this man? Why should she feel any preference for someone who did not want to serve the queen as he ought to, when she had so many loyal servants?
The queen stood unmoved, her arms crossed, her chin tense, her whole posture defiant. When she spoke, only a slight tremble of her voice betrayed the struggle that was raging inside her.
"If you really had loved me when I was still Laura, then you should be feeling the same for me now. You would have to love me as my people do, and you would not want to take away my locket. You would be happy for me, proud of me."
„I do still love you, Laura, even as you are now. And that is exactly why I have to destroy that horrible locket: Because I love you. If the thing is not destroyed soon, it will end up destroying you."
This time it was rage -- a much more familiar and comfortable feeling -- that made the queen's voice tremble. She stood as straight and tall as she could.
"You dare to ... You ... You will never get the locket. Only over my dead body. I will fight for it."
With another sigh, Daniel stood up. Unwillingly, Laura took a step back. He was about a head taller than her, and there was an unnerving confidence about the way he stood there, towering over her. Not defiant and angry, as she was. He was just... there. His voice, however, sounded even sadder than before.
„I had really hoped it wouldn't have to come this far, Laura", he said.
Then he lifted his right hand. The queen's eyes followed this movement, and she discovered a bracelet, sparkling on his wrist. With a start, she recognized the piece of jewelry: It was the same bracelet he had wanted to give to her -- no, to Laura, she corrected -- as a present. The bracelet he had offered her on her 18th birthday, on that fateful day so many years ago, in a different life. The bracelet that had caused their fight and subsequent break-up.
She had seen it again on his wrist after that, during the diving contest Martin had won -- but she had never gotten a clear look at the thing. It was simple -- narrow and not adorned with any gemstones, just a plain bracelet, but giving a soft silver glow that drew the eye. And -- the queen could feel it clearly now -- a strange power emanated from the thing. Not a soothing and warm force like the one her locket gave forth. No, this power was cold. Not overwhelming and ensnaring, there was something rational to it -- it seemed calculating and even brutal to the queen. The proximity of this power caused her to shiver, to tremble in fear.
Despite its simplicity, there was something breathtakingly beautiful about the bracelet; that much was true. Something, however, told the queen that this bracelet was the enemy of her locket, just as the man wearing it, Daniel, was her own enemy. She turned her gaze from the thing and looked up, right into her enemy's eyes. Daniel's face had now become dark and hard.
"Give me the locket", he demanded. His voice rang clearly through the forest; he spoke slowly, like a father addressing a disobedient child.
For a moment, the queen stared at him, her mouth open. Then she shook her head, pulled herself back to reality -- and realized that her hand had grasped for the chain on its own accord. For the chain that was hanging around her neck, the chain that carried the locket. She had already started to pull it over her head. The queen froze, stopped the motion, struggling to regain control over her own limbs. What was she doing? What kind of trickery was he using against her?
"Never!"
Before she could stop herself, the queen stomped her foot onto the ground like an angry five year old.
"Give me your bracelet, rather", she added in a demanding tone, letting all the power she could find in her mind flow through the locket, towards him, willing him to obey her order.
And to her surprise, she reached him: Daniel's hand trembled, and for the shortest fraction of a second, his expression mellowed. But apparently he had expected her attack. Within seconds, he managed to defy the queen's order and resist the power she was sending against him.
What was more: He returned the attack, sending an amount of mental force through his bracelet that almost knocked the queen off her feet, and took her breath away. She, too, however, was better prepared this time. Had she not been, she would be in his hands now. The thought sent a strange shiver down her spine -- quite different to the ones, the same thought would have caused her with anyone else, Martin or Mr. Seger. She shook off the sensation. She had to be on her feet, brace herself: Else his next attempt to gain control over her would be too strong to resist.
She managed to reflect his power, throw it back towards him. In her mind, the queen pictured him bowing in front of her, recognizing her superiority, and she put all her strength into making him do just that. Daniel did not comply. He sent his own orders towards her. For what seemed like an eternity, the two struggled soundlessly, without moving an inch, without that either was stronger than the other. Had someone seen them from afar, he would not have noticed anything other than two silent people, glaring at each other full of anger, but unwilling to attack. The effort, each of them was putting forth, was betrayed only by the pearls of sweat on their brow, only their wrinkled foreheads and thin-lipped mouths showed their deep concentration.
Suddenly, the queen's eyes widened, and a second later she jumped backwards. She managed to escape at the last moment: Without warning, a wide gash opened in the earth just at the spot where she had been standing, threatening to swallow her into its depth. In a mixture of shock and accusation she looked back up at Daniel. His face was blank, hard, without even the trace of an apology.
So he wanted to fight dirty. She could do that. The queen felt the all familiar rage well up inside her, and this time it was welcome -- it gave her the strength she needed. Her fury let heavy clouds gather on the night sky, obscuring the last bit of light that had reached the forest. Daniel was now nothing more than an outline in front of her. Not so much a person as a shadow, a vague and dark threat. And still he stood there motionless.
A low grumble announced the approaching thunder storm, heavy wind made the tree tops bow down. As the first bolt of lightning flashed down from the clouds, followed by deafening thunder, the queen could see her enemy's face clearly once more. It was pale, and no trace of his smile was left on it, only determination.
Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and another. Yet, as much as the queen willed them to race down from the dark clouds, towards her enemy, none of them got anywhere close to him. Somehow, Daniel managed to stop them all, divert them or change them into nothing but a flash of light. They just lit up the forest and with it his face, so that for the fraction of a second Laura could see him staring back at her, again and again. His face looked strange, and yet familiar in an unsettling way. Some of the lightning struck trees at the edges of the clearing, causing them to burst up in flames, or to be split in two, with each half falling noisily to the ground in a different direction.
The wind picked up, turning into a storm. It blew up dirt and leafs, letting them tumble through the air. As it increased in strength, it pulled out grass and smaller bushes. Finally, a wall of dust and leafs and destroyed tree branches obscured the queen's view of her enemy. Yet she knew he struggled to remain on his feet just as much as she did. The wind also carried the flames and smoke of the burning trees towards them. It made Laura cough and let her eyes sting. Blinking through the tears, the queen looked around. Only a few trees remained near her. She could barely recognize the forest anymore, and she only remained on her feet with the greatest effort. The wind was pushing against her, trying to make her fall.
The queen gritted her teeth, searching for yet another reserve of strength inside her. Her hair flew wildly in the wind, the golden clasps she had been wearing were long ripped out of it. Even her dress, her pale blue silken dress, began showing small tears as the wind relentlessly tried to rip it off her body. Clenching her fists, the queen fought back. Struggling, yet without moving an inch from her place. This was her kingdom, this was her specialty -- she would not let her enemy defeat her with her own weapons.
Yet she had to draw forth every bit of concentration she could find in her mind, before she finally managed to calm down the wind. Finally, it turned into a softer breeze, and finally disappeared. With it, the fires died down. The forest was silent now, that the roaring of wind and fire had gone.
As the smoke dissipated, the queen could see more clearly again. The night had passed, the first rays of the morning sun appeared at the horizon, shedding their red light on the image of destruction that surrounded the two enemies. The sun's color reminisced of coals glowing on the ground, the sole remains of what once had been proud tall trees surrounding the clearing.
The fight had lasted many hours. The queen, however, felt as exhausted as if she had been fighting for centuries. She could barely remember the details of the battle, and she had trouble staying on her feet. Her head hurt, and in this short moment of rest, she felt thirst burn in her throat. She could not go on much longer, it was too much. Yet, giving up, giving in to her enemy was out of the question. He wanted to destroy her, destroy everything she stood for, and take from her the very essence of her power. No, the queen thought. She had to find a way to end all this on her terms. She knew she could not get Daniel under her control. Each time she wanted to get him under the locket's influence he just seemed to be getting stronger. There had to be a different way.
The queen looked around at the remains of the forest. Some of the strongest trees of the area were still standing; they had resisted the onslaught of their battle. And a few of them towered right behind her enemy. Neither the storm nor the relentless flames had managed to harm those trees -- even though the flying ashes blackened their few remaining leafs. Their roots, however, held on to the ground, digging deep enough into the earth to resist the strongest wind. And their branches and twigs remained unbroken. This could work... Daniel stood a bit far from those trees, unfortunately, but if she could manage to distract him somehow...
"And why in the world, do you think, should I give you my locket -- to you of all people? Do you even realize how much you hurt me back when you just dumped me? On my birthday no less?"
The queen's voice rang through the silent forest. When Daniel heard her speak, his expression changed. He looked almost glad. Apparently this was a topic he wanted to discuss -- or maybe he was just as tired of fighting as she, the queen, was. He answered eagerly, and while he spoke, the queen took great care to keep her eyes locked with his, to make him think she was fully immersed in their conversation. Only her mind, unnoticeable for any outside observer, was concentrated on something else. She focused it on the trees at the far end of the clearing. Despite the queen's interested expression, Daniel's words barely registered in her brain. Only after several moments had passed did she understand what he said -- and then, it was already too late.
"You are the one who broke up with me, don't you remember?" he asked her. "You were mad at me for no reason. But it wasn't really you, you weren't being yourself. Remember when I found the bracelet? And I wanted to give it to you? You didn't want it; you wanted me to throw it away, to destroy it. I think the locket made you do that. It was already here then, hidden somewhere. I believe it was because..."
Bang!
The sound of the large tree's branch colliding with the back of Daniel's head echoed through the forest. On the orders of the queen, the tree had bowed over the clearing and knocked the young man over with a sudden strong blow. For a short moment, Daniel's eyes met hers. They were wide open, surprised -- and hurt, not only by physical pain. Then he sank to the ground slowly and remained there motionless.
Silence returned to the forest. The battle was over. The animals that had fled the fire, however, did not return. Even the wind had calmed down completely. If there had been a breeze, however, most trees did not carry leafs it could have rustled. The highway, whose distant roar could usually be heard on quiet days, seemed devoid of cars.
The queen stood quietly at her place, looking down on her enemy's body. There was no reason for her to speak, there was no reason for any sound to be heard, there was no one there, other than her and her enemy's lifeless body -- yet in the silence, it seemed, there was a lingering memory of Daniel's voice. The queen believed to still hear his words echoing between the fallen trees and the shredded grass and bushes. And this echo just made the silence stronger, more acute.
The queen stepped closer to her enemy. Still, he did not move, did not react to her proximity. The position in which he lay on the ground seemed strangely twisted and uncomfortable. As she looked down onto his motionless body, a satisfied smile curled her royal lips. The sweet taste of victory let her momentarily forget the destruction around her, her own exhaustion, the violence of the battle.
As the seconds turned into minutes, however, and the silence in the forest and Daniel's immobility prevailed, the smile froze on her face. The longer she stood there, the less Laura felt like the victor. Her heart started beating faster, as she took in the scene with different eyes: Like awakening from a bad dream, just to realize that the dream had become reality. As much as she stared down at Daniel, there was not the tiniest twitch of any of his muscles, or even a sign of a shallow breath. Did that mean he was ...? That was not what she had wanted!
Laura fell down to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks -- the moisture felt strange in her face, the sting unfamiliar in her eyes. She could not remember when she had last cried. Still, the pain was familiar. It wasn't the pain a queen would feel, but the pain of 18 year old Laura. The pain of a young girl who, an eternity ago, was sitting on her usual chair at school at that first day of the school year, trying to come to terms with having lost the person who mattered most in her world... No -- this was not like that horrible day so many years ago, after she had broken up with Daniel. This was a thousand times worse. Back then, at least, he had continued existing. Back then, not all was yet lost. A loud wailing sound broke through Laura's lips, sharing her pain with anyone who might be near enough to hear. She knew, however, that there was no one there to hear. She was alone.
Suddenly, without knowing why, Laura thought of her mother. Thought of her worried face when her own behavior started changing. Thought of waking up in the hospital and learning that ... This new pain let yet more tears stream down her face. Tears she had held back for too long. Soon, she was not sure anymore what exactly she was crying for -- too many memories, and all of them painful, flooded her mind.
Shaking, and unable to hold herself upright any longer, Laura fell forward, covering Daniel's lifeless body. His face was only a blur to her eyes, as tears obscured her view. Still, she believed to make out that his lips looked as warm and inviting as they had looked so many years ago. Or was it just the memory of his kisses that made her see them so clearly? Her heart was gripped by a longing that seemed to tear her apart. There was only one hope at a remedy: Slowly, carefully, yet unable to resist the temptation, she approached her face to his, covering his mouth with her own.
Then, however, a golden glow distracted her: The locket, hanging down from the chain around her neck, swung back and forth right above Daniel's face. For a few moments, Laura stared at it. Reflecting the light of the rising sun, the little piece of jewelry emitted a mesmerizing sparkle. It seemed to call out to her, taunting her, tempting her.
This stupid thing was at fault for all her misery! It had destroyed her life! With one firm movement Laura grabbed the necklace and pulled it over her head. Then she hesitated. What to do with it? On Daniel's wrist, the shining bracelet seemed to reflect the locket's glow. That bracelet was part of it too, she realized. And again, just as on her 18th birthday, so many years ago, Laura felt rage at the sight of the thing. A different rage, however -- a rage against herself and against the locket as much as against the bracelet. Rage against the magic that had intruded into the completely ordinary life of her hometown. Evil magic that had destroyed her life and taken the people she loved most from her. There was only one option, only one path she could take now.
Her hand shaking, Laura took the bracelet from Daniel's limp arm. For a moment she looked down at the two shining objects inside her hand -- one pulsating hot, the other very cold -- then she closed her fist around them and stood up.
Standing next to Daniel's lifeless body, Laura looked around in surprise: Only now she discovered that she was standing quite close to the shore of Lake Leskow. She did not remember them moving during their fight, leaving the narrow forest trail they had met on. But then -- who could know with a battle as violent as theirs, with a storm as strong as the one surrounding them? And now that she thought about it, they had been at the forest clearing at some point too. There were so many parts of the past night that Laura barely remembered; that were nothing more than a blur of wind and blazing fire and blinding fury.
The bracelet and the locket still clutched tightly in her hand, which was tingling slightly from the contrasting sensation of heat and cold, she walked slowly but unhesitatingly towards the water. Once she reached the shore, Laura pulled back her arm to gain leverage and throw the two wretched things as far into the lake as she could... With a quiet "plop", both pieces of jewelry submerged into the water at quite a distance from Laura and quickly sank down into the dark depths of Lake Leskow. Laura stared at the wide circles the lake formed at the place where they had hit the water. She never wanted to see either of those two things again.
For a few moments, she stood still at the edge of the lake, looking out over the water that was sparkling in the light of the early morning. Then she turned around and went back to Daniel. She lay down on the forest floor, barely registering that the grass was moist from the morning dew, she cuddled closer to his lifeless body and closed her eyes.
He was still warm; it was easy to imagine he was still alive. Laura almost believed to feel him breathe, to hear the slow beating of his heart. And then, causing her own heartbeat to increase, his leg twitched. And then his fingers, his arm. This was real! He was moving, stirring. Laura did not dare to open her eyes to look at him, as his arm slowly lifted and placed itself around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his chest. If this was just a dream after all, she did not want to risk waking up.
His other arm moved now too: As he held her close, his hand stroked up her back tenderly, until it reached her head. There, he took a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger. He started caressing her head gently, while she remained still, her head resting on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.
They remained lying on the forest floor for a long time; for hours, it seemed to Laura. But time was of no importance. Nothing mattered, as long as she was lying here, in Daniel's arms. She kept her eyes closed, concentrating on the rise and fall of his chest in the slow rhythm of his breath, and on his fingers playing with strands of her hair.
Steadily, the sun rose higher into the sky, warming the little clearing in the forest. Small waves splashed against the lake's shore, their sounds forming a peaceful song together with the slight breeze stirring the tree tops. Life had returned to the forest, now that the battle was over and forgotten. Laura could hear birds singing nearby -- and suddenly she wondered whether she had heard their song at all during the last months. She could not remember, but she was almost sure that they had been silent for a long time.
Daniel uttered a little sigh -- not a sigh of sadness or worry, but the kind of sigh a person might make when they are completely happy and do not want the moment to pass. His voice sounded as warm as the sunshine, as soft as the grass they were lying on.
Then, finally, before she could stop herself, Laura opened her eyes and lifted her head, so she could look at Daniel. Holding her breath, half expecting to find herself awoken from a wonderful dream and back to the cruel reality of a half-destroyed forest and a motionless corpse. But there he was, his eyes open and meeting hers. His hand had followed her movement; his fingers were still stroking her hair. Slowly, his lips formed a smile. He looked younger, less tired and less weary. All the sadness had gone from his eyes.
"Laura", he said. Just her name, nothing else. The sound of her name reminded Laura of something, of a different day, when he said her name in the same tone -- but her brain refused to draw the connection.
His voice was slightly hoarse, probably from lying there silently for such a long time. He lifted his head too, and suddenly his face was right in front of hers. Laura felt his breath, his warmth, felt her own heartbeat increase. A thousand questions formed in her mind, but the touch of his soft lips on hers made her forget them all. She only wanted to be with him now, here, in this moment. She just wanted to be happy he was here with her, without questioning it. If this really was nothing more than a dream, she never wanted to wake up again.
Their kiss grew more hungry, their tongues searching for each other, at first playing with each other teasingly, then more fervently, trying to hold on to each other. Laura could taste him, smell him, she felt his teeth occasionally scraping her lips as passion overtook him, she heard another one of his sighs -- and this time it was one of pleasure.
At the same time, Daniel's hands started exploring the curves of Laura's body. His touch was tender, almost careful at first, but like his kiss it grew more and more demanding. Despite this, however, his hands remained above her clothes; his fingers did not touch her skin directly, though Laura could feel the hunger with which he pulled her body against his own. It was her then, who first dared to grab a little corner of his shirt and pull it out of where it was tucked into his jeans. Carefully, almost shyly, she then explored his soft skin with her fingertips. This innocent touch seemed enough to make Daniel's breath go faster. His own fingers now also searched entry under Laura's shirt, though he only dared to stroke softly up and down her back -- Laura had the impression that he did not want to overwhelm her; that he wanted to give her the time to progress as slowly as she wanted.
After a little while, however, Daniel broke their kiss, so he could sit up and take off his shirt completely. She marveled at the sight of his strangely youthful body and his smooth, healthy skin -- he did not look like someone who had spent months hiding out in the forest. And he looked more like the 19 year old boy he had once been than like the man the past years had made of him. Daniel smiled at her expression of amazement, and she returned the smile.
When Daniel gave Laura a questioning look, she understood and nodded: She would let him help her out of her T-shirt as well -- for a moment it occurred to Laura that at sunrise she had still been wearing the expensive garment of a queen; that, indeed, she had not dressed with jeans and a T-shirt in years -- but this was just a fleeting thought. This was not the time and place to wonder about such details. Instead, the girl turned to the side, to give him better access to the clasp of her bra.
As the small piece of fabric fell to the ground, Laura turned back to him. He contemplated her bare upper body, an expression of rapt amazement on his face. To her surprise, Laura felt that this made her blush, and at the same time she enjoyed feeling his eyes on her and the marvel with which he contemplated her more than all admiration the queen's subjects had ever expressed. No one had ever looked at her quite like that. Like he could barely believe she was really there.
Slowly, almost hesitatingly and yet unable to stop himself, Daniel raised his hand to run his fingertips over her tender flesh. Laura put her arms around his neck, pulled him closer, back into a tight embrace. As they started kissing again, they sank back down to the ground, Daniel on top of Laura. She felt the touch of his skin against her own. She wanted to be as close to him as she could, feel his warmth as best she could, the reassuring beat of his heart, the weight of his body. Her hands moved up and down his back; hugging him and pulling him against her.
Automatically, her legs opened, inviting him to lie between them. Through the fabric of their jeans, she could feel his manhood against her sex. A strange feeling swept through her body: Joy, excitement, and also fear -- she was as anxious as eighteen year old Laura had once been, so many years ago, during a pick nick that had taken place on this very same spot in the forest. She felt as giddy as a young girl knowing that soon she would make love for the first time, with the boy who had been her first love, and with whom she planned to spend her life...
She felt like that Laura again. Like the young girl, who had been naïve but also full of hope -- and not anymore like the other, the grown up Laura, the queen. That queen, who believed to have passed through all life could offer her, who had seen the deepest and darkest sides of humankind, had disappeared. Her enemy, full of sadness and willing to fight for the freedom of the world, was gone as well. They were nothing more than two young people in love, lying on a small clearing in the forest, near the lake: They were only Laura and Daniel.
Daniel was lying on top of Laura, and she felt the weight of his body on hers. Not heavy and uncaring, like Martin. Daniel took great care not to hurt her, propping his body up on one of his arms. Feeling the warmth of his body was comforting, reassuring. After a while he turned to his side, loosening the tight connection between their bodies, to be able to run his hands along her smooth skin.
Growing more daring, he took advantage of the better access his hand had now to her breasts. He let his fingers explore the firm flesh, though his touch remained tender and the expression of adoration remained on his face -- just to crush his lips against Laura's again the next moment, overtaken by desire, rolling back on top of her body and instinctively rotating his crotch against hers.
Once or twice, his hands approached that same area. With shaking fingers he fumbled a bit on the fly of her jeans without much success. Then he let go again, running his hands back up her body, as if he was unsure of whether she would allow him to proceed. In a way, this surprised Laura: Hours ago, when she was still the queen, and he was still her enemy, she would never have thought of him as a shy person.
Now, however, it was not only Laura who seemed to be a different person from the one she had become in the last years -- Daniel, as well, behaved more like an excited and somewhat shy nineteen year old. It was difficult to see the weary and disillusioned man in him that he had been when the two of them met at the clearing mere hours ago.
In the end, it was Laura who made up her mind and reached for the fly of his jeans -- had he really been wearing those earlier? Those same old, worn out jeans that were so familiar to her, the ones he had liked best years ago, in their old life? She opened the top button with trembling fingers, before pulling down the zipper. Daniel helped her as she pushed the jeans down. Laura used her hands for this task as long as she could reach without getting up from the forest ground, then she went on using her feet to help him get rid of the superfluous piece of clothing. When that did not work anymore either, he sat up to take them off completely, and Laura got a good view of him, wearing only his underwear, which showed a very visible bulge. After a moment's hesitation, Daniel took off that last piece of clothing as well, and his manhood sprang proudly into freedom.
Laura had seen many of those during the last years, yet to her surprise the sight of Daniel's manhood made her blush again, made heat rise in her body. Now, that she saw him naked, that she knew what they were going to do, she felt excited and giddy -- and also a little nervous.
Daniel leaned back over her and kissed her. Then he helped Laura out of her own jeans. When she finally was lying completely naked in front of him, on the forest floor, shivering slightly despite the warmth of the morning sun, he remained sitting up: He could not help but stay like that for a little while, savoring that moment of looking down at her and admiring the perfect curves of her body, taking in the view he had been longing for, for so many years. Even though her expensive gowns, her jewelry and everything else was gone, the way he looked at her made Laura feel like she was the most beautiful woman on earth.
After a little while, he lay down again next to her and their lips met once more. After a fervent kiss, his mouth left hers to find its way along her neck -- feeling the vibrations of her throat as she moaned under the touch of his tongue -- and further down to her breasts. There, he stayed for a while, letting the tip of his tongue circle her nipples, finally taking each between his lips in turn, sucking on them, letting his tongue flick against the hardening buds, while Laura's moans of pleasure filled the clearing.
Then his tongue continued its journey downward, and Daniel moved around to settle between her legs. For another moment he sat up, and took his time to gaze at the object of all his desires, on his face an expression of adoration.
Then Daniel settled down as comfortably as he could, and slowly approached her pussy with his face. Laura could feel his breath, before she felt his tongue, exploring the area, parting her labia until it reached her most sensitive spot, tracing around it in circles that grew smaller and smaller. Then, finally, he flicked his tongue right over the little nub and Laura drew in breath sharply, while pushing up her pelvis, to make herself more accessible to his attentions. And Daniel definitely appreciated this -- he delved into his task even more eagerly.
This was different to anything Laura had felt in her entire life -- Daniel wasn't following her orders, he wasn't reacting to any little thought she had, but acting out of his own accord. Yet he was not turning her into his toy either -- he wanted to pleasure her, and not because he had to, but because this was truly his wish. This alone was more than Laura had dreamt to be ever possible in her life, and the knowledge that Daniel wanted to make her happy was more exhilarating than anything she had ever experienced.
The men and women with whom Laura had spent the nights in her royal bed in the castle had always done exactly what she wanted. Any motion of their tongues had been perfectly tuned to what Laura thought she needed at that moment. Direct touch or indirect, little or much pressure, slow, savoring motions or a fast flicking of the tongue... In a way, it had not been much different from pleasuring herself.
Daniel, on the other hand, had to experiment. He had to read Laura's reactions, the quickening of her breath, her moans, the involuntary movements of her hips, to figure out what she liked most -- and he was very eager to learn.
Sure, it had never taken Laura long to come when one of her subjects was giving her this kind of attention. Now it took her a lot longer to reach that highest point of her lust. In fact, every now and then, Daniel would pause at a moment when she just felt she was close; to shift his body a bit, to find a more comfortable position. Then again, Laura was not quite sure whether he might not be doing so on purpose, to keep her on the edge. More than once a certain frustration mixed into the lust of her moans -- and yet, she wanted this never to stop.
And then, when she finally came, her orgasm swept through her body with a force she had not been able to even imagine before. The explosion that shook her, seemed to wipe out all memories, all awareness, and when it finally ebbed away, only small waves making her tremble every now and then, Laura still needed minutes to open her eyes and remember where or who she was.
Daniel gave her the time she needed to catch her breath again, holding her tightly in his arms. Then he leaned over her to kiss her. Laura could taste her own juices on his lips, and as he crushed his body against hers, she felt the proof of his arousal hard and erect like an exclamation mark, pressing against the entrance of her sex. The desire to feel him inside of her, to take in his full length and become one with him, suddenly grew overwhelming, and again Laura lifted her hips involuntarily, as if to offer herself to him, to urge him to enter her already.
But Daniel took his time. For quite a while he kissed her, his kiss growing more fervent at times, then again becoming tender and careful. The tip of his manhood was in constant touch with Laura's expectant sex, but never quite in reach, teasing her, but not entering her.
Then, finally, when she thought she could not take this any longer, he started to carefully push. Her pussy took him in eagerly, letting him slide into the wet cave. As soon as the head of his penis was engulfed inside her, he paused again, as if he had met some invisible resistance. Laura rotated her hips, trying to get him to continue. But Daniel first kissed her one more time, before he entered her completely with one strong thrust -- and for a short moment a stinging pain cursed through Laura's body. She opened her eyes and looked at him in surprise. Daniel kissed her again. He held still now, waiting for the pain to retreat, and for her to get used to the feeling of having him inside her. Only when he was sure that she was ready, he started to move inside her, in slow, careful thrusts.
Never in her life had Laura felt so close to someone, so vulnerable and yet so safe. And never had she been as much just in the moment, without worrying about the past or the future. The world around her, the forest, her memories of the past years, her fears and her pride -- all seemed to disappear. The whole world consisted only of Daniel and of herself, nothing else mattered anymore.
***
When Laura awoke, she was still lying on the soft forest floor, Daniel's arms around her. He was asleep; his breath was steady and calming. Laura felt as if she had become years younger. She felt strong and happier than she had imagined possible. Everything was perfect. Well, not quite, she corrected after a moment: A few ants had found their way just to the place the two of them were resting. They were the reason she had woken up in the first place. Yet, this was such a small thing, and no reason to be any less happy. After all, there was no problem in waking up: No fear of the coming day, only the certitude that it would be another day spent with Daniel.
The feeling of happiness seemed to fill out every last corner of Laura's mind as she lay there with him, and it did not subside when they finally got up and got dressed, or when they left the forest, walking hand in hand, back towards Leskow.
The afternoon sun shone down on them from a bright blue summer sky. Some birds sang in the trees, and the smell of warm sand and slightly dry grass filled the air. So how could they not be happy, approaching an idyllic little town such as Leskow? Walking along a quiet road on the slightly crooked pavement, passing the neat little houses of the suburbs, wandering underneath trees that carried the green and cool shade of the forest into town. In the well-kept little gardens flowers were blossoming brightly, and people sat on their terraces with coffee and cake, enjoying the Sunday afternoon. The happy laughter of children climbing trees or sitting on swings competed with the chirping of birds.
True, the closer they got the centre of the little town, the more these idyllic scenes were disturbed by the noise of some cars, the sound of broken glass creaking under their shoes, or the view of graffiti on a wall here or there. But these things did not truly destroy the atmosphere. Rather, they added to it, made it real, made it tangible, Laura thought. This was not the perfect fantasy of a queen who had quenched all life out of the small town. This was what Leskow was like.
At some point, as they were walking along one of the busier streets in Leskow's suburbs, they passed a wall full of little posters. It was covered in several layers of bright pieces of paper that seemed to be sticking to all available spaces at this time of year. All the festivals and fairs and big shopping events had to be announced, after all.
On this particular wall, one colorful poster dominated. Laura had seen similar posters before, during the years of her youth: It announced the Leskow Castle Festival in September, the diving contest and everything else that was part of the big spectacle. An elderly couple stood in front of that poster, in deep discussion about the upcoming celebrations.
Walking by, Laura caught a few words that made her stop and listen. Daniel had caught on too, and they both stood there and listened, pretending to be interested in the text of a different poster that was announcing a big concert in the town's main church.
"Yes, my grandma always told me that legend, when I was little", the old woman was just saying. "Today barely anyone knows about it anymore, they don't even have anything about it in the museum of local history. I asked and I kept telling them that this is part of our heritage, but of course they won't listen to me..."
"So the legend says a wizard let the castle sink down into the lake?" the man interrupted her.
"Well, not just any wizard. As the story goes, he was a powerful man in this area, but his people were the queen's enemies. Yet, the legend says they had fallen in love with each other. Except, he still didn't agree with her reign. She wasn't exactly cruel, but she gave the people too little freedom. And when he could not get her to see reason in any way, he finally saw no other solution than to let her and her whole court and castle sink down into the lake. The legend says he disappeared on the same day, maybe because he could not go on living without her. But," the woman's voice grew excited, this seemed to be her favorite part of the story, "my grandma was convinced that they returned once every one hundred years, and that during their time back in Leskow the queen would always try to regain her old power, while the wizard would try once again to make her see reason. And their struggle can only be resolved when they recognize their love for each other."
The man laughed.
"That is a great story! Though I wouldn't put it past your grandma to have invented it herself. As far as I remember her, she had quite an imagination, didn't she?" The woman nodded in agreement, as the man continued. "And as far as I know, they never found any indication whatsoever that there used to be a castle here. Neither archaeological finds, nor any mention in old documents. I would suppose the festival has just been named after the legend, if your grandma hasn't come up with all of that by herself. Or they just needed a nice title for the celebration. Sounds much more likely than there being a real castle."
His wife nodded again. "You are right, I suppose. But I still like the legend. What's life without stories?"
Laughing, the two old people turned away from the poster and walked on, down the street. Laura and Daniel remained alone in front of the little garage wall. Laura took Daniel's hand and smiled up at him. He returned her smile, as they started walking on in the opposite direction of that the old couple had taken.
They continued their way towards town, where they knew that Laura's parents were waiting for them, probably preparing a nice meal for dinner -- it was their daughter's eighteenth birthday after all. And they still had a few days of summer vacation left before school started again. They were planning to enjoy those days as best as they could.
At night, Lake Leskow looks like a black mirror. Its murky depths seem unfathomable. Sometimes, the wind makes its journey across the lake: Then, small waves ripple its surface and the moon's reflection dances on those tiny curls of water. The moon's big moment never lasts for more than a few minutes: The wind brings clouds that hide it from view. The trees of the Grünenberg Forest reach towards the shore and stretch their branches out over the water. There is silence all around, interrupted only occasionally by the quiet whispers of the leaves or the cry of an owl.
At the South East, the lake is forming a bay, from which one cannot see the small town of Leskow, situated to the West of the lake. The forest is less dense here. A clearing right at the bay would make this spot ideal for swimming, if the shore weren't as muddy just here, and if there wasn't as much reed growing right at this place. As it is, on summer afternoons the families of Leskow prefer to go the "Beach", which is situated much closer to the town at the South Western shore. Of course, the sandiness of the beach is owed to the destruction of the turf by many hundreds of feet, rather than to it really being a beach. Still, the people of Leskow feel almost like at the sea side here. The small bay, on the other hand, is preferred only by young couples who appreciate mainly its isolation.
Right now, however, in the middle of the night during summer break, most young couples are in the only discotheque or in one of the two bars in Leskow gearing toward a younger crowd. Some might also have taken onto themselves the long ride by regional train to the capital, to escape the boredom of their small town home for at least one evening.
The little bay is quiet and dark; untouched by the existence of loud music, smoky heat, flashing lights and the drunkenness that characterizes the weekend for most of Leskow's youth. The reed is swaying softly in the wind. Finally the moon has free view of the bay for a few moments -- one cloud just left it free, the next one will reach it only in a little while -- and in its light something is sparkling in the reed: Something is stuck between its stalks. Something silver, seemingly precious. It might be a necklace or a bracelet.
The silence is interrupted suddenly, the sound of human feet disrupting the quiet night. The clouds quickly hide the moon again, and thus only the silhouette of a man becomes visible, as he marches straight towards the shore of the lake. He sinks into the mud a bit, but he doesn't seem to mind. In the dark, the metal object between the reeds isn't sparkling any more, one can barely see it. The man finds it anyway; his hand disappears into the dark, cool water, grabs the little thing hidden there just underneath the surface of the lake, and pulls it out. Again, the sound of his footsteps in the shallow waters disturbs the silence. He reaches the shore and breaks a few twigs under his feet. Then he is gone, and Lake Leskow is once again surrounded by silence.
In the meantime, somewhere in the little town of Leskow, a young man named Martin is drunkenly swaggering towards his home, while trying with all his might to forget that he has only two more weeks left until the start of the new school year.
***
Martin was not a good student, nor did he enjoy school. He did not enjoy any kind of effort. And since open protest against the tasks life set him would have been an effort too, his attitude made him reminiscent of a thick lump of clay that with enough strength could be forced into any chosen shape, but which would never look particularly elegant in it. It was not only his behaviour, but also his looks that made him seem like a heavy, formless lump.
From his elementary school years onwards, he tried to resist all tasks, like doing his homework or studying for a test, with a stubborn silence -- but only until it started seeming probable that resistance would be harder work than doing whatever was asked from him. He had to repeat the third grade. After that, he learned he had to avoid that kind of mistake, if he wanted to continue the comfortable life he had grown accustomed to. This realization was caused not so much by the beating he took from his father after he brought home his report card. Rather, it were the annoying tutoring lessons and longwinded discussions during which his parents asked him again and again to explain his opinion towards his own failure, that convinced Martin that too many problems in school would result in more work than doing his homework in the first place would have been.
Thus, from that day onwards, his performance was remarkable in neither a positive nor a negative way. Despite not being a dismal student, though, his incapability for independent thinking, abstracting the learned facts, or forming an opinion of his own, caused at least the more committed of his teachers to worry. Martin got through a conversation about this very topic with his sixth grade German teacher by maintaining a stubborn silence and nodding his head just at the right places. The teacher let him go, full of doubt whether her charge had understood her point at all and with growing insecurities as to how to formulate her worries in a letter to his parents. In the end, she refrained from any action she had planned to face this problem, and gave Martin a grade that was high above the one he would have deserved -- maybe due to the guilt she felt about her own lethargy concerning the issue.
Martin's parents urged him to go on with school after the compulsory ten years of education, and prepare for university studies, and even though Martin wanted nothing less than study at a university, he decided it was easiest to yield to their wishes. Thus it seemed probable Martin would graduate from 13th grade in a few years, even if his grades would be well below his class' average.
Martin hated sports, and you could tell just by looking at him. However, he took care not to gain enough weight to find himself on the receiving end of his class mates' teasing and bullying, or worse, to give his mother the idea that he needed a diet. As it was, he was not only slightly taller than the average for a boy his age, but also quite burly without actually being fat. The features of his face weren't unshapely or crude, but even less could they be described as fine -- to call him ugly would have been a gross exaggeration, which would not occur to anyone anyway since his face was much too uninteresting for that type of description. His hair was of a dark, muddy grayish brown, and every other month he cut it down with a razor to a length of just a few millimeters.
For many years Martin was not interested in girls, they were simply one of the many nuisances he had to face in the class room, and he ignored them as best he could. Only when he reached adulthood, he started realizing that he was strangely drawn to these creatures. He did not give himself in to any illusions, however. He knew that the girls in his school, or any other girls he might meet in town, did not like him. They seemed to never even look at him. Nevertheless, he did not concern himself with that too much. For the time being, he contented himself with the occasional magazine he bought at a kiosk, or, since he had reached his 18th birthday, with the porn section at the local video store. On a few occasions, he had a chance for a peek into the girl's locker room after P.E. class, and he took advantage of that opportunity. Afterwards, there was one girl in particular that he could not get out of his mind, a new and disconcerting sensation for him. He thought of her for many evenings while he was lying alone in his bed, and for a while the erotic magazines he was hiding in a nondescript box remained untouched, as closing his eyes and remembering her pale skin and red hair in the greenish light of the locker room was quite enough to give him the desired climax. Eventually, however, the school year was over, and not seeing her during summer break was enough to allow Martin to stop thinking of her.
While Martin was very far from being popular, he never had a lack of friends, since he easily integrated into groups as long as they did not ask him to think independently. He had a reputation of being pleasant company for all those who liked having both the first and the last word, since he never disturbed them with suggestions of his own. In order to not have to argue, he agreed with everything, participated in everything as long as it was not too much effort. At the same time, he wasn't noticeable enough to be missed, when due to a changed balance of power and influence in the school he switched into a new group of friends, nor was his lack of loyalty ever challenged. It was just the way he was.
*
The first day back in school after the summer holidays started with horrible news: Mr. Seger, the mathematics teacher, had suffered a deadly accident the previous evening. Silence gripped the room, and twenty six pairs of eyes were staring in shock at Mrs. Jadrowski, who had entered the class room about five minutes after the bell rung, to bring the sad message to the students of the 12th grade Basic Math Course II. Twenty six pairs of eyes -- but in the room there were twenty eight students.
Two students were not looking at her, two students sitting at the last table next to the windows. One of these two was Martin, who was gazing out the window, as he did so often, the other one was a quiet, red haired girl named Laura, who was looking down at her knees. It is impossible to tell what Martin was thinking of; quite possibly he was not thinking anything at all. At the very least, though, he heard enough of what was being said, to act appropriately and not be noticed.
Laura, on the other hand, was thinking of that fateful afternoon almost two weeks ago, on which she had broken up with her boyfriend Daniel, while they were having a picnic on the small clearing at the Southeastern shore of Lake Leskow.
*
The fact that this had happened on her eighteenth birthday of all days, only seemed to make matters worse. Maybe the high expectations both of them had harbored for this highly symbolic day had played their role in the unfolding of events which had lead to their dispute. Maybe the tension both Laura and Daniel had felt in the days upcoming to this event had needed an outlet, and the worst fight in their relationship had been the inevitable result. After all, on Laura's 18th birthday "it" was supposed to happen.
Laura's parents were conservative even for the standards of their small town home, and had made sure to ingrain in their daughter the idea that sexual encounters at too early an age might have unforeseeable psychological effects -- apart from the risk of getting pregnant. When, a little more than a year earlier, her relationship with Daniel had started becoming more and more serious, the girl had told him that under no circumstances would she agree to anything in this respect before turning 18 years old. Daniel was one grade above her in school and thus more than a year older. However, he proved to be the most understanding and patient boyfriend both Laura and her parents could ever have hoped for.
Laura's parents knew Daniel's family. Not well, but the way most families in a town the size of Leskow know most other families. Laura and Daniel themselves had not had much to do with each other, going to different preschools and elementary schools, until Laura started 7th grade and thus began visiting the same school Daniel was going to for a year already. In fact, though he had never told her, Daniel had started developing a crush on her since the first time he saw her on the school yard a few days into that school year, sitting alone on a bench with her nose in a book, as Laura had been very shy at that age and had needed a few months to make friends with her new class mates. Daniel, while not a shy person in general, had needed several years to muster enough courage to ask the red-headed girl out: If he had been patient since then, what did it matter to wait another year, until she turned 18?
The maturity of both of their behavior had not gone unnoticed. A few months before the appointed day, the trust of Laura's parents had grown so much that they allowed their daughter to go out until late in the evening, as long as she was with her boyfriend. When speaking to close friends, they already jokingly referred to him as their "son in law". Those who knew them well could deduct from these remarks that they hoped he might one day really become just that.
Still, even with their new freedom, Laura and Daniel held on to their promise. Up to Laura's eighteenth birthday they had not exchanged more than kisses, even though Laura had recently felt unknown urges awaking in her, making her desire greater intimacy with the boy she loved. Accordingly, both Laura's and Daniel's expectations for the afternoon of her birthday had been big. They had decided weeks beforehand that this should indeed be the day.
Laura did not want to celebrate her birthday with her friends -- it had been years since she had last thrown a birthday party, to her, such events were childish. Instead, she told her parents that all she wished to do was going on a quiet walk in the forest, just her and Daniel. It was the end of August, a warm and sunny day. Daniel had brought a blanket and a vast variety of food for Laura's birthday picnic, he knew her well enough to choose all her favorites. Thus, after slowly strolling through the forest for a while, the two of them sat down to eat by the shore of the lake, on the small clearing near the hidden bay on the lake's Southeastern end. However, Laura was barely able to eat anything at all -- there was a strange tension in the air. Finally they put the remainder of their picnic to the side, and started kissing so timidly; a passer-by would have thought this was their first date.
Laura was not sure what had happened after that. All of a sudden, they had been in the middle of a huge fight. Of course they had had their disagreements before, but not a fight like this. How had it come to this? Vaguely Laura remembered Daniel pulling a bracelet out of his pocket. He claimed to have just found it, right at the place they had chosen for their picnic. He wanted to give it to Laura. And then? For some reason, she didn't want the bracelet. She had been angry at him, an anger that consumed her completely, that blocked out all reasonable thought. She had accused him of the strangest things. Why? It felt as if she hadn't been herself anymore. Finally she had run off, left the forest, yelling that she never wanted to see him again.
*
A soft touch on her arm jerked Laura out of her thoughts. She looked up and into Martin's round face. He returned her look with his usual, indefinable expression. Oh, how she hated him -- Laura had felt a strong aversion against this boy from her first day at this school. It wasn't like her to feel this way, really. She was the type of girl that saw something good in everyone, and she certainly was not into bullying or excluding people. But she was sure that there was something wrong with him. It wasn't just that he was stupid and seemed to have no mind of his own, it was more. He scared her. It made her uncomfortable that he had touched her. Why was she even sitting next to him? She vaguely remembered entering the room, the whole class being present, and looking for a place to sit, but she couldn't remember choosing this seat. Maybe it had been the only free seat, she thought.
"Didn't you hear?" Martin asked.
"What!?" Laura's voice came out louder than planned.
"Mr. Seger has died. We can go home. Tomorrow there is a memorial gathering in the assembly hall, and then classes continue as soon as they can find a replacement."
Laura looked around. Mrs. Jadrowski was standing near the door and talking to a few students. They all looked sad and worried; one girl was wiping tears out of her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. The others were packing their books back into their bags silently and with serious expressions.
Shocked Laura turned back to Martin, many questions on her mind, but he was already halfway to the door.
*
The memorial assembly started at ten o'clock. It was scheduled to last two hours, afterwards classes would resume -- after all, the new school year had to get started at some point. It was loud in the assembly hall; the principal had to ask for silence repeatedly. He tried to remind the students that this was a memorial service, a moment to show respect. However, for about half the school's students, those who never had had any classes with Mr. Seger, this event was nothing but a welcome distraction in those frustratingly boring first days of school after the summer break.
Laura sat near the door in the back of the assembly hall and was once again staring at her knees. Today, she was wearing a dark knee-length skirt. Normally she preferred jeans, but today seemed to be an occasion to dress a bit nicer and at the same time, as the school was in mourning, to wear black. She had discussed the issue with her mother, and both had agreed that this skirt and a dark blouse were the appropriate attire for this day.
As the assembly started with a long speech by the principle, Laura grew unsettled. She had the strange sensation that someone was watching her. Searchingly, she looked around in the hall. She discovered Daniel about fifteen meters from her. After a few more reminders by the principal to behave befitting to the situation, the students in the hall finally quieted down. Daniel was looking to the front, apparently listening attentively. Laura believed to see that he was pale and had dark rings under his eyes. But that was nonsense, of course, he was sitting much too far away for her to notice such details. She turned away.
Listening to the voice of the principal, reminding his audience of the life and achievements of Mr. Seger, who himself had once studied at this very school, was wearing her down, and making her sad. Laura had liked Mr. Seger. He hadn't been young anymore, at least from his students' point of view, and at the same time he seemed to lack experience of life in the world out there -- but it was just that which was making his students trust him and feel close to him. Most of them had hardly ever left their small town either and although some occasionally tried to rebel, their teacher's old-fashioned conservativeness had been something reassuringly familiar to them. He was just like everything they had known from their childhood onwards.
Of course, Laura had never been particularly good at mathematics. However, since Mr. Seger had once been in the same class as her mother, he had greeted the girl with a friendly smile every morning when he entered the class room, and had been as lenient as he could be when grading her performance, without it becoming unfair to the other, more talented students. And Laura had shown her gratitude by studying all the harder. She was more interested in languages, literature and social sciences; however, she was well aware that the natural sciences and especially mathematics were just as important if she wanted to succeed in life. At least, that was what she had always been told, and willingly accepted.
...............................more updates are coming
