"How the fuck are you doing this?" she demanded, her voice cutting sharp with rage and fear. She could feel it, her legs weren't responding to her anymore. The realization crawled down her spine like ice water. Controlling someone's body wasn't possible. Doing it with just words was even more absurd.
Yet here she stood, rooted to the floor like a statue.
Once she reached the center of the room, she tried again. Step toward the door. Pivot. Anything. But nothing happened. Her feet stayed planted, completely unresponsive, as if someone had poured cement into her joints and let it set.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as she stared down at her own trapped legs, a cold sweat breaking out along the back of her neck.
She didn't know what to do. Then a far more terrifying thought surfaced. She had screamed. Why hadn't anyone rushed in? She knew Emma was downstairs. It hadn't even been an hour since she came upstairs. What confused her even more was that if Emma was truly downstairs, she should have noticed him entering this room. Did she just let him walk in like that? What the hell was going on? Either this was really some twisted dream like he kept saying, or something was very, very wrong.
Her eyes kept darting toward the door, desperate for someone, anyone, to burst through. She could sense Isaac's malicious intentions hanging in the air like a knife waiting to drop.
Isaac caught her desperate glances. He settled onto Emily's bed with casual indifference, reaching over to grab the bag of chips from the nightstand as if he owned the place.
"Expecting someone?" he asked, crunching on a chip. "Don't bother. No one's coming to help you."
"I saw Emma downstairs," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "And from what I can tell, she probably saw you come up here. With how loud I was shouting, she might have realized something is wrong. She might have gone to report to Miss Victoria."
"Really?" Isaac tilted his head with mock curiosity, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "Are you certain about that? Please, try to remember exactly what happened when you got home. Did you actually see Emma, or did you just assume she was there?"
The question hit her like a punch to the gut.
She knew she had seen Emma downstairs. Clearly. She had even talked to her. But Isaac's calm, unwavering certainty was worming its way into her mind, making her doubt whether any of this was actually happening. And that made no sense at all. What if this really was just a dream, like he kept saying?
"Am I losing my mind?" she whispered, the words barely audible. Then she shook her head sharply, muttering under her breath, "Nothing about this is normal."
Isaac continued eating his chips, watching her with a detached amusement that was far more terrifying than any open threat. Here he was, sitting on her friend's bed, treating her terror like some late-night entertainment. 'I wonder how long it will take to have an effect..., he thought, munching slowly. The book hadn't explained why it worked so quickly on Victoria, so he had no baseline to compare.
Within a minute, a strange warmth began spreading through her body. It started from her stomach, slow and subtle, a pleasant tingling heat that radiated outward like ripples in still water.
At first, she thought maybe it was just adrenaline from the fear. But the sensation grew stronger, shifting into something else entirely.
The warmth drifted lower, curling deep into her hips in a way that made her breath stutter.
Her brows knitted together as a flicker of confusion cut through the fear.
"Huh? What's going on?"
She shifted her weight instinctively, but the movement only made the heat sharpen, blooming deeper in her core. The sudden spike made her inhale sharply, her palms pressing against her thighs on reflex. She didn't even realize that part of her body was moving again, freed from whatever restriction Isaac had placed on her. She was too focused on the alarming thing happening inside her.
"What the hell... why is it getting worse?" she whispered, the unease coiling tight in her chest.
She didn't understand why her body felt like it was heating up from the inside out. Each second made it more intense than the last. Nothing about this sensation made sense, and the confusion only fed her growing fear. Her thoughts scrambled desperately for something to cling to, anything that could explain what was happening to her.
Then her gaze landed on the empty can sitting on the nightstand.
"Did... did that drink do this?" she whispered, horrified.
Her insides coiled as the heat spread faster through her veins, pulsing with every heartbeat. She looked at Isaac with wide, fearful eyes before forcing the words out.
"What did you give me?"
Even as she said it, her breathing had already turned heavy, her chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven gasps. She looked like she was barely holding herself together, as though one more wave of whatever this was would send her collapsing to the floor.
Another surge of warmth tore through her, sharper than before. Her knees buckled slightly, and she had to lock her legs just to stay upright. Her chest heaved rapidly, her body tightening in ways that made her skin crawl. It suddenly felt like the room had tilted beneath her feet. And worse, she could feel the heat clouding her senses, smothering her thoughts like a thick fog.
"Answer me!" she demanded, her voice cracking. "Why is my body reacting like this?"
She couldn't understand it. Her mind was full of fear and revulsion, yet her body was betraying her in the worst way possible.
Isaac kept the same neutral expression throughout her outburst, observing her like a scientist studying a lab rat. After a long moment, he nodded to himself, as if he had just solved a puzzle. 'Roughly thirty seconds to take effect. Perhaps even faster than Victoria....
"What kind of sick drug did you give me?" Jade yelled, her voice trembling with fear and confusion. Beneath it all, there was a rising, unwilling arousal that made her want to disappear entirely. She could feel it slowly corroding her mind, eating away at her ability to think clearly.
With a slight sigh, Isaac slowly stood up from the bed and walked over to the laptop on Emily's desk. The screen showed a paused movie. He minimized it and glanced at the clock in the corner of the display. Since Emily didn't have a wall clock in her room, this was the only way to check the time.
"Almost five minutes already..." he murmured, a faint hint of amusement in his voice. "Looks like my time with this one is nearly up."
There was no worry in his tone. If anything, there was a quiet note of satisfaction.
His gaze drifted back to Jade. She was trembling visibly now, her face flushed a deep crimson. Between the heat ravaging her body and the fear gnawing at her mind, she was barely keeping herself upright. Watching her struggle gave him a certain thrill, one he hadn't expected to feel. Ending things here might be a little disappointing. He hadn't really planned to go this far, but for some reason, he loved the way things had been playing out. Especially from the start. The way everything felt so completely under his control.
Thinking back to what he had done, the way he had commanded her with nothing but his voice, he couldn't help but marvel at the sensation.
'So this is what real authority feels like…
Through all of this, Jade hadn't noticed the faint glow in Isaac's eyes. A mix of slight gold and dark red, it pulsed quietly behind his irises like embers in a dying fire. Even if she had looked directly at his eyes, she wouldn't have seen it. The Book had made that clear. Humans couldn't perceive anything tied to an active ability.
Yes, Isaac was currently using an ability. And not just any ability. This one was special.
Out of all the abilities he had acquired so far, [Voice of Absolute] was the newest. And it had instantly become his favorite. Yes, the cost had been brutal. Ten full PSP for a single ability. But watching Jade obey his every command without the slightest hesitation made the price feel laughably small.
Power like this was worth far more.
The details of the ability played through his mind with sharp clarity, the Book's words as vivid as the moment he had first unlocked them.
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DETAILED ABILITY DESCRIPTIONS
VOICE OF ABSOLUTE, Command Through Conviction (PRIDE)
Mode of Acquisition: The Bearer must first rend a strip from the Pride page and consume it wholly, whereupon the ability becometh bound to their essence and may be called upon at will.
Mode of Application: Once the ability is learned, the Bearer needeth only focus their will and speak with absolute conviction. A faint violet glow appeareth in their eyes, visible only to them.
Effect:
⇏ When the Bearer speaketh a direct command with total conviction, targets with Intelligence lower than the Bearer's find the order nigh impossible to resist.
⇏ The target's mind compelleth them to obey the Bearer's spoken commands for the duration.
⇏ Worketh best when the Bearer truly believeth in their right to command.
⇏ Createth temporary but powerful mental compulsion to follow orders in weaker minds.
Activation and Duration:
⇏ Mental focus and conviction triggereth the ability.
⇏ Effect lasteth exactly 5 minutes from activation.
⇏ The Bearer may end the ability early through conscious effort.
⇏ Violet glow in eyes persisteth while ability is active.
Limitations:
⇏ Can only be used once every two days (48-hour cooldown).
⇏ Can only be used on two people for that day. Even if the day passeth and only one person was targeted, it shall not work if thou dost attempt to use it on another person.
⇏ Only affecteth targets whose Intelligence is lower than the Bearer's.
⇏ If the target's Intelligence equaleth or exceedeth the Bearer's, the ability faileth completely.
⇏ Requireth direct verbal communication. Written words carry no power.
⇏ The Bearer must speak with genuine conviction for maximum effect.
⇏ The target may resist if the command goeth against their deepest moral convictions.
Warning: Overuse against the same target may breed suspicion. Even controlled minds may question later why they obeyed so readily.
Thus Speaks the Book: Let thy voice carry the weight of absolute authority, but remember that power without wisdom breedeth rebellion.
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