Content Warning! Some fowl language and derogatory names.

While Lenora and Tyrone’s life was sailing at a nice but busy clip, the same couldn’t be said for Valerie. She was still with Shane, but there was no heart or soul to the relationship. More and more, she was called on to babysit Allen, who made her nervous. His mental state seemed to be getting worse and worse as was his obsession with Lenora.  Getting Lenora and wanting her to stay with him was all he talked about.

When she tried to talk to Shane about it, he simply brushed her off and told her it wasn’t her job to psychoanalyze him. “He’s my brother, and I know him best,” he said curtly one day.

“But don’t you think he should be back on his meds? I mean, he’s lost complete touch with reality.”

“Don’t even go there, Val. Just do what you’re told, nothing more, nothing less,” Shane said, glaring malevolently at her.

Valerie ran an agitated hand through her hair and heaved a heavy sigh. “I can’t do that, Shane. I’m outa here, so don’t argue with me about it this time.” How many times had they gone round and round like this? Valerie figured it was too many to count.

With cheetah-like speed, Shane grabbed Valerie, who felt the prick of a needle in her arm. Almost immediately, Valerie felt herself go numb. The world seemed to melt away; a fog of unawareness surrounded her, and she remembered no more.

It had been a while since Shane had needed to drug Valerie. He knew how to get whatever he needed for a given situation, and the stuff he’d gotten to subdue Valerie was top of the line. It served several purposes; it kept her from being able to Wolf Out and turn on him, it made it so she was unable to remember what she did while under its influence, and best of all, it caused Valerie to be super suggestible so Shane could plant commands and false memories in her head. It kept Valerie under his control perfectly, which he needed in order to carry out his plan.

Shane’s plan was to kidnap Lenora and bring her here for Allen. At first, he never imagined pulling off something like that. In the beginning when Allen started raving about getting Lenora, Shane thought he’d forget about it in time and move on to something else. To his chagrin, it never happened, and Allen’s obsessive need to have Lenora multiplied by the day. When Shane started seeing Valerie, it seemed that she’d be the perfect accomplice to help him due to who he was and because of some deep-seated resentment toward her family.

However, it turned out that Valerie was both an asset and a liability. He’d hoped for her willingness to cooperate but knew he might not be able to bank on it. For extra insurance, he sought out an old witch whom he paid dearly in order to obtain the potion he’d been shooting Valerie up with over the last few weeks. When Valerie began to balk at watching Allen whenever Shane needed and threatened to leave, Shane blessed himself for having the foresight to have the backup plan to coerce Valerie to do his bidding. To carry this out, Shane needed Valerie, willing or not.

Nabbing Lenora would serve two purposes for Shane. Not only would it keep Allen occupied, but holding her hostage and tormenting her would be sweet revenge on her for dumping him the way she did. Instead of getting rid of her after he’d had his fun, she booted him simply because he was still legally married to that cunt Debbie. Well, he’d taken care of his whore of an ex wife, he was in the process of taking care of Lenora, and he’d eventually fix that bitch Crystal, too. No one yanked him around and got away with it.

Shane studied Valerie closely, watching for the potion to take full effect. “Are you with me, Landgraab?” Shane asked in a mocking voice once Valerie’s eyes glazed over.

“I am here,” she said in a flat monotone.

“Good. Now, you will go to Lenora’s house tomorrow at 10 AM. When she offers you something to drink, you will slip the contents of this packet I’m going to give you into her drink when she is not looking. You will finish your drink and go through the social niceties of a friendly visit. After that, you will leave and come straight back here. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Repeat my instructions,” Shane commanded.

Valerie did, reciting them verbatim.

Shane slipped a little packet containing a small amount of white powder into Valerie’s hand. “Put this in your drawer and don’t forget to have it on you before you leave tomorrow. Once you put that away, come to bed.”

“Yes, Shane.”

Shane was rough with Valerie in bed as he always was when she was stoned like this. While under the potion’s influence, she never resisted him, but her motions lacked any kind of enthusiasm. It wasn’t much fun for Shane to bonk a rag doll, but at least he knew he dominated her in every way now.

Valerie awoke early the next morning feeling as though her head was being pounded on by a jackhammer. She groaned and rubbed her temples. “What a bender!” she grumbled. “How much did I have to drink last night?”

She furrowed her brow, trying to remember where she’d been and what she’d drunk the night before. Trying to remember caused another burst of pain to shoot through her head, and a wave of nausea made her gag. She made it to the bathroom just in time as her stomach revolted and discharged its contents.

A shower, then coffee was what Valerie needed. After standing under the hot water until she felt relatively human, she staggered to the coffeepot where she filled a mug with the sludge Shane must have made earlier.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Shane smirked from where he sat at the kitchen table.

“Fuck you,” Valerie grated out. She just wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit today.

Shane just laughed. “Look who’s hung over. We sure had a blast at that bar last night .You really tied it on, babe. You were sexy as hell, too, until you passed out and I had to drag our drunk ass home and put you to bed.”

Valerie frowned and scratched her head, unable to remember any of it. “I’m going to visit Lenora today. She’s been after me for a while to come over,” she said absently as she lowered herself onto a kitchen chair. It unnerved her that she couldn’t recall the events of the night before.

“Good. You should get out,” Shane said easily. “Have fun.”

Just before 10 AM, the strange fog engulfed Valerie again as, unbeknownst to her, the hypnotic command Shane planted began to be carried out. Valerie quickly dressed, took the packet from her drawer, and retrieved her car keys. Later on, Valerie would not remember the drive to Lenora’s, the visit, or the drive back to Shane’s.

Upon arrival, Valerie’s smiling sister-in-law invited her inside and ushered her over to the small tea table. “Oh, Val, I’m so glad you finally decided to visit. I’ve missed seeing you. Here, let’s have some tea, shall we?” Lenora poured them each a cup of tea, then arranged the accessories prettily on the table.

“Sorry,” Valerie said dazedly. “I’ve been…busy. Tea sounds good.” She preferred coffee, but she enjoyed the tea Lenora liked to serve. It was strong and full of caffeine, which was what she needed this morning.

“I can relate to that,” Lenora chuckled. “Sometimes, though, a break and a rest is in order. Now, just make yourself comfortable, and I’ll go get more tea going.”

Everything was a blur to Valerie. Everything around her had a flat one-dimensional quality about it, even Lenora’s soft singing from the kitchen. Her eyelids felt so heavy,and she would have given her right arm to just lay her head on the table and sleep.

The next instant, Lenora was shaking her shoulders. “Valerie, sweetie, wake up before you fall out of your chair.” Lenora was gently slapping Valerie’s wrist and rubbing the back of her hand. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get ye over to the sofa for a lovely nap, all right?” She leaned over to slip her arms around Valerie to help her to her feet.

Valerie jerked and shook her head, trying to clear it. “I’m…I’m okay. It was just a late night. Tea and conversation will help.”

Valerie lowered her eyes as Lenora studied her. “Are ye sure, Val? Ye don’t look well, not well at all.”

“I’m fine. I’ve just been a little tired lately. Really, I’m okay.” Seeing the love and concern in Lenora’s eyes nearly undid Valerie. Lenora was always so easy to talk to, and Valerie wished she could just pour it all out to her. With Lenora’s empathic and psychic abilities, she would know just what to say and do, but Valerie knew she just couldn’t do that. Shane wouldn’t approve, and Valerie would, once again, feel like the failure waste of space she was. Besides, there was something urgent Shane wanted her to do, and she was compelled to obey; that something didn’t include crying on Lenora’s shoulder about her useless life.

Lenora slowly went back to her chair. To Valerie, Lenora seemed reluctant to let it go, but thankfully, she did. “All right, then. Let’s just see how ye are after some tea.” She looked critically at the table and made a huffing noise. “Och! I forgot the lemon! I’ll be right back.”

As soon as Lenora was in the kitchen, Valerie reached into her pocket for the small packet of powder. With slightly trebling fingers, she emptied the contents into Lenora’s teacup, poured some steaming fragrant tea over it, and swirled it a few times, being careful not to dribble tea onto the tablecloth. Shane said the powder would dissolve quickly and was tasteless and odorless, making Lenora unaware that something extra was in her tea.

By the time Lenora came back with some lemon slices, Valerie was back in her chair and sipping her tea. “I went ahead and started,” Valerie told her sister-in-law.

“Fine,” Lenora smiled and picked up her own teacup to sip delicately at it.

As they sipped tea and nibbled on scones, Valerie made friendly conversation with Lenora. They talked mostly about music, Valerie’s guitar playing, and Lenora’s books. “Tyrone and I want you to come for dinner this week. The wee ones are dying to see you as well. It’s been a while, and they miss ye.”

“That sounds nice. I’ll call you tomorrow after I figure out my schedule a little more,” Valerie said.

Just before Valerie left, Lenora hugged her tight. “i love ye, Val. We all do, ye know.”

“I…thanks,” Valerie said, blinking back tears. Lenora was one of the sweetest, kindest people Valerie knew. Having such an abundance of that kindness extended to Valerie when she didn’t deserve it nearly shattered her. She had to get out of here…and fast. “I love you, too.”

Valerie hurried to her car and drove back to Shane’s as instructed. “It’s done,” she said, pressing the empty packet into Shane’s hand. Valerie had no way of knowing that her actions would begin a perilous chain of events. She wouldn’t even remember having a part in what was about to befall her family.