You have to resist this lamia’s influence, you have to break free of her grasp. There’s no one else to help you, but you can look out for yourself and escape. You struggle in her rising coils and pull your head away, but you can’t break her hold or escape her luscious kiss.
She ends the kiss and giggles. Before you can move you stare back into her intoxicating eyes. Every pulsating color numbs your thoughts, directs you to her. You’ve got to break eye contact and shake her colors out of your head or you’ll never escape. Your sight feels locked to her, as if she has more control over your body than you. You direct all your willpower to turning your head, every thought directed to looking away.
So focused on looking away you are, you forget why you wanted to. Her eyes are stunning, enchanting, rippling pools of beautiful color. You wanted to look away for some reason, but you can’t imagine why. You can only turn your head halfway, as if hooks embedded in your mind keep you transfixed. She slips the end of her supple tail behind your head, pushing you back to stare straight ahead at her.
“Why are you trying to look away?” she asks with a laugh. She squeezes your face in her soft hands, her strong coils tight around your shoulders in a snuggling, ensnaring hug. “You like staring into my hypnotic eyes. I said I’ll keep you safe from danger. I just need your complete, constant attention for a little while longer.”
You stop turning your head and let her direct your gaze. That’s right, she said she’d look out for you. Your eyelids droop. You just need to give in, and she’ll keep you safe from danger.
No! You open your eyes wide. She’s the danger you’re trying to resist. You struggle in her coils weighing you down immobile, but she squeezes tight, compressing you in her grasp and holding you completely still.
She’s a dangerous lamia. She could squeeze the life out of you right now!
But she isn’t. She won’t. She cares for you. She wants you to feel good. She wants to protect you.
No, she’s taking over your mind. She’s squeezing you tighter into her dominating grasp. She’ll be able to do whatever she wants to you.
That’s not so bad. She’s embracing you so firmly, so comforting. She’ll keep you safe, you just need to give in and follow her every word.
Your mind flails between resistance and surrender. She squeezes her tail around your neck, and you gulp. Awareness of the danger you’re in returns, but her hypnotic spell overwhelms you one last time. She wraps her tail close around your neck and strokes your face as you sink and are subsumed into her complete, engulfing embrace and total control.
You smile as she squeezes you, body and mind, into secure comfort. You’re safe in her grasp. She’ll keep you safe. You don’t have to worry about danger as long as her ample coiling tail enfolds you in her heavy embrace.
You submit to the lamia. You never have to worry or wake.
With a rough thump and a heavy drop you wake. You’re shaken in the coiled grasp before falling onto a branch, and you snap awake from your reverie. A thick, scaly tail lies around you in loose coils. You frown and blink, half-awake as your thoughts blinker. It feels like something’s pulling you back to sleep. What happened?
“You have just made a serious mistake, my friend.”
You look up. The lamia corners a panther at the end of the branch. She threatens him, while he seems to be trying to explain himself. Something’s familiar about him. You try to remember what happened earlier. You wanted to look out for yourself. You were going somewhere. Someone was protecting you. You were following the lamia. She smothered you in hugs and kisses.
Your mind is telling you two versions of events. What’s real, and what’s false?
-39a The lamia is your friend. Maybe even lover, or she’s just very affectionate, which is nice. You were settling down to sleep when this panther tried to attack you.
-39b No, wait, the panther is your friend, isn’t he? This lamia tried to alter your mind, alter your memories. Now she’s threatening him! Maybe you should help him?
Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 