Alana possesses me, forcing me to become a thought in my own head.

“How does it feel to hold yourself hostage?” I mock

“It feels good, Atjani. I only wish you were inside me, instead,” she mocks back.

I listen to my own lips speak Alana's words. She calls out to my resistance friends. It sickens me. Somehow, she had observed me enough in our little conversations to pass off as Atjani Kelsever. I feel my body move against my will, closer and closer, to the building near me.

Alana's eyes were covered by her hair and mine by the top of her head. It was the reason she adjusted herself, moving up with me as I pressed her arm into her back. I thought I was in control and I wasn't. She had been moving with my arm, when I pushed it up behind her back. I felt duped. I could only hope that one of the others would catch on. They had to see the silver liquid in our eyes. It had to be obvious. It wasn't. Everything was hidden. The truth of my situation was hitting me hard in the gut. I feel Alana tilt my head slightly upwards. I catch glimpses of the other resistance fighters. They weren't catch on. We take another step toward the building.

“Atjani. What are you doing?” I hear a voice call down from me from one of my comrades.

“I'm going to take her in this building. Get some vengeance,” I hear myself reply.

“We need her alive Atjani! What are you doing! Atjani? Atjani!”

Before another moment passes, Alana moves my body quickly. I feel myself drag her into the safety of a nearby building. A door shuts as I close it unwillingly, with my hand. I move back to the center of the room and wait. I feel the chills of other tempests. They had returned. A single command kills all my friends.

“I'm done with them. I have what I want,” I hear myself say.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I listen to a gunfight that consumes the outside streets. I hear my resistance friends cry as tempests rush in and force them to slit their own throats. Dust from the ceiling falls on us, from a few thrown grenades. I stand in shock at the noises, until Alana speaks to me again.

“How does it feel to be the puppet?,” she smirks with a whisper. Her words were like thoughts in my head. I was confused and intrigued.

“Feels great.” I shoot back sarcastically.

It sickened me to hear her talk to me in my own head. It made me want to vomit. That wasn't what bothered me, though. I thought about what Alana had said.

“What do you mean you have what you want?” I ask.

Alana laughs. I could hear myself laughing softly with her.

“What do you mean you have what you want?” I repeat with rising anger.

There's a silence as Alana enjoys re-positioning herself inside me.

“I want your memories, Atjani. We will crush the resistance with them. Don't worry, I have a little side plan for you.” I feel Alana smirk. It was me who was smirking behind her head. I could smell her hair, just like she could smell her own. I wanted to fight back.

“No bandanna? Who's the lucky man?” I mock inside.

Alana smiles. She makes smile along with her. I hear her whisper harshly inside me.

“You are....”

I watch as Alana runs my hands down her body and legs. My own fingers pry inside the tops of her boots and around her miniskirt. I didn't plan on doing it. She was making me. I hated Lam Lathi scum and I now I was just their puppet. I feel the mockery within me. Alana speaks again to me, inside.

“Don't temper me with your hate, Atjani.” Alana mocks. “I'm giving your hands the last pleasure they will feel for a long long time. You are my hostage now.”

At that moment, several Lam Lathi soldiers barge into the room. The Broken Sun was all around me. The soldiers smile as Alana forces me to stare at them. They aim their guns and Alana releases me from her grip. I had fallen for her trap. I was a slave to Lam Lathi. The whole thing was a setup.

I mutter to myself and try to hide my thoughts. I was a failure and I lost a friend along the way. I think about Melinal and then about my future.

“What gives?” I think.

At least the Neandelerians were safe from this bullshit.