A Descent Ch. 01.1

Teenage angst had always gotten the better of me, for both good and bad. I had always been a curious person, trying to push the boundaries of what my world was and what people wanted me to be. Sure, it got me in a lot of trouble but it left me with some stories to tell.

My earliest memories seemed mundane enough compared to what other people have described growing up. I do not recall being exceptionally gifted at anything and was not more of a precocious child than most. This all changed when my father brought home two things, a home computer and an AOL free trial compact disk.

At first, I didn't understand the point of it, after all my Nintendo could play games and I saw zero value in this thing called "Excel" but that quickly changed. Immediately after the soon to be banal phrase "You've got mail" rang through the speakers my curiosity was peaked.

What I discovered was unfathomable in my pre-adolescent mind. The entire world opened up to me and I could explore every thought, concept, and idea in detail at my own pace. The concept of communicating instantly with multiple people was especially a breakthrough. While I spoke over the phone before, it had always been to people I knew outside the digital realm. Now I could communicate with people from all walks of life at any point of time.

Needless to say, I was on the computer all the time. My parents were concerned at first until they started noticing changes in my school work and work ethic. So much so that my parents actually installed another phoneline for exclusive use of internet, it was the 90s after all. I quickly rose to the top of my class and things seemed to be going well in their minds, at least until puberty started.

At the age of 13 I began to become interested in girls with full force. While internet porn was available and I knew how to circumvent my parents' restrictions on the computer, my primary focus was girls my own age, girls I actually knew and could interact with. This led to near constant use of AIM and while my school work did not suffer, I started engaging in undesirable behavior like sneaking out at night and lying about where I would be going.

These teenage infractions eventually did cut into school though but not the quality of my work. I began to occasionally make plans with a sweet heart or two after those school bells rang to go off-site in more excluded areas, away from the prying eyes of adults. I simply got the assignments from my friends, filled it out, and continued with my business. A few days here and a few days there was no big deal but as I reached my senior year of high school the senioritis really set in. In the second semester, which had 90 days to it, I missed 45. I even made honor roll for both quarters but that mattered very little when the principal called my parents and I to inform me that due to my absences I would not graduate and had to be held back.

This was by far the worst moment I had yet to experience up to this of time. I had gotten accepted to a few top-notch schools but I was unable to defer my admission when the reason for my deferment was discovered. To make things worse, I was now on everyone's radar and could not galivant around like I had once done. My parents also were not at all too happy about having my future derailed over such a stupid situation. They gave me a list of things I would have to do to remain living with them and for them to continue supporting me through this and college. I had to work summer job and when school started again I had to join clubs to guaranteed that my hands were always busy.

Man, mowing lawns every day in the summer heat was brutal but it did give me surprising time to think. I had to think of any way to get out of the situation, or at the very least adapt the current situation to become more tolerable. This led me to the source of all my knowledge and cleverness, the internet.

We had, at this point, switched to broadband and a wide variety of options opened up to me but I wasn't quite sure how to best capitalize on it. I eventually found a better part time job selling CDs via catalogues. These were mostly "books on tapes", educational CDs, language learning CDs, and self-help CDs. While these were sold elsewhere, my commission derived from the money that the company would have spent on advertising.

Things were going better. I found a niche selling CDs, mostly to my neighbors and family friends, I was making slightly more money (but nothing absurd), and I got to enjoy a lot more of the A/C. Everything was pretty much the boring summer days until I decided one day out of the blue I read an article online. It was discussing the placebo effect on stop smoking CDs and how the whole thing was a waste. There was nothing unusual about this in itself but I had recently sold a set of CDs to my mother's friend/coworker, Karen, that was meant to help you control your cravings through relaxation therapy.

I also knew that Karen had been quite vocal about how she was able to stop smoking in a relatively small amount of time, and attributed her success to her daily listening of the CDs. My curiosity was piqued and I decided to investigate whether this was true or not.

After ordering the CDs myself I did what any self-respecting millennial with a computer would do, I ripped it onto my computer. I did listen to it but didn't really seem to be anything especially special. Upon further dissecting of the audio I found something rather odd. Embedded within the wavs was a track that I had not noticed before. After tinkering around with it I found that it was voice in the extremely low registers repeating itself throughout the entire CD saying, "You do not need to smoke, you feel great when you are not smoking and listening to this CD, you want to continue listening to this CD and not smoke". It just kept repeating itself over and over until the last track of the last CD where the voice repeatedly said, "to continue not smoking you need to buy the next CD".

I was baffled. I heard of hypnosis before but never really thought much about it. I looked over the other tracks on the CD and found that it was all created to set a person in a relaxed, suggestive state and then implant those suggestions. It became so obvious why Karen would have gone from smoking $20 dollars a week in cigarettes to spending $50 bi-weekly on these CDs. I looked into some of the other CDs I sold and found similar messages hidden away. At first, I wasn't entirely sure what to do with this knowledge but a light bulb clicked on and I knew. If all these CDs were doing was implanting ideas into the person's head, why don't I cut out the middle man, make the CDs, and sell them myself.

Karen was my first guinea pig, I simply told her I did not get the new catalogue yet but knew a way to get the next edition of CDs, Napster. The Mp3 I took from the internet was indeed a relaxation recording but I had implanted the same message that Karen was listening to before, save for one detail. I added into the repeated phrases, "and you can always trust Malcolm" (my name by the way). I burnt the disk, gave to her and only charged her $40 for them.

A couple of weeks later, Karen came back looking for the next edition. She still hadn't smoked but I still did not know if that was my doing or the original CDs'. I decided that I would see if she did indeed trust me. I asked her, "how long have you been nicotine free?" She said that it had almost 6 weeks. I told her I am sure she wouldn't need any more CDs and she had been cured of her smoking habit. She was clearly thinking about it but her head was nodding and her mind quickly agreed with her body. I still wanted more proof so I devised a test that would prove whether my recording worked or not.

I burned a CD with a list of dub-step fresh out of London and told her, "You're going to love this music, trust me." I didn't want to push my luck any further and honestly the CD did not contain any other hidden message in it, at least not any I placed there or was aware of. She gave me some money for the CD and I didn't think much of it until one day at dinner my mom was complaining about the god-awful music Karen was listening to at her house. She couldn't make out why there were all these weird rhythms and unusual skipping of sounds. She was clearly describing dub-step though she did not know the term for it.

I felt like I had won the lottery but had to act like nothing had happen. After diner I did the happy dance in my room and set myself to freeing myself from busy work for low pay. I already had a small but steady flow of customers seeking a variety of CDs, a near infinite access to any sort of recordings, and knowledge on how to connect the two together in a way that would be to my benefit.

I was able to repeat my success with several other people and soon was able to give up the CD catalogue entirely. I never really deviated too far from the suggestions I'd given to Karen but each was tailor-made for the customer. Thanks to having the trust of my customers always, I was able to add a few more suggestions such as suggesting that, "you listen to the recording in private or with headphones" and that "Malcolm was a great guy." I never tried to take financial advantage of anyone and did make sure I provided the product the person actually asked for. This eventually required me to hide my IP address and use a variety of file-sharing platforms. In fact, I always charged less for the CDs than the catalogues ever did.

Eventually my parents asked me to make a CD for them, one of their favorite oldies' mixes. I did as I was asked but couldn't help myself and saw an opportunity to make my life a little easier. I had wanted to go out to some of the end of the year parties going on before all my friends went off to college but was stuck with a 10:00 pm curfew. I added the suggestions that they could trust me and then explicitly stated that I was old enough to not have a curfew. A few weeks passed and then I had an opportunity to act. On the 4th of July, one of my buddies was having a kegger at his house, conveniently while the rest of his family was visiting relatives in the next state over. Given all that had happened with school my parents would never allow me to enjoy myself so thoroughly.

I approached my mom, the stricter of my two parents, and asked her if I could go out just this one time. To even my surprised she said "yes," and didn't bat an eye about it. Needless to say, I had a great time, at least as much of it I can remember. I woke up and drove home expecting a "talk" when I arrived for not coming home at all that night. There was a talk, just not what I was expecting. My parents sat me down and told me that they thought they had been overly harsh in my punishment and that I shouldn't have a curfew anymore, just as long as I took care of my responsibilities and did not abuse their trust.

It was undeniable now; my recordings had worked and were able to suggest things that went against their own will, rather than something they want and needed help with. Several angels and demons instantly appeared on my shoulder at this point but one was just a little louder than the rest. You see, before the whole school truancy issue came to light I had a rather busy social agenda. I was no virgin by my senior year and had had a steady string of dates. The girl I was talking to just before everything went down the drain was a fellow senior named Katya Petrov. She was a gorgeous first-generation Russian living in my neighborhood whose parents just happened to strongly disapprove of me. They were over protective of her, never allowing her much free time or a social life. The truancy issue gave them all the reason to forbid contact and Katya, being somewhat submissive in personality, was not in a position to go against their wishes.

This was something that stuck with me, not only because I never got to explore Katya much in any way, but also because her mother told her I wouldn't amount to anything. Katya's mother was having the same issue with smoking as Karen and I just happened to have the trust at my parents at the time. I recorded a new CD set just for Katya's mother and then made a suggestion that perhaps Mrs. Petrov could benefit from this to my mother. Needless to say, I told her that it might be best not to use my name.

This specially tailored CDs started off slow, it started with establishing my trustworthiness, and built on that trust to insert several suggestions with my voice that the listener would start to find me attractive. Additionally, the CDs made suggestions would encourage fleeting thoughts of a sexual nature. She would establish a fantasy with a mystery man who would eventually dominate, (both metaphorically and literally), her fantasies. She would need to find an outlet for these fantasies, either through masturbation or sex with her husband. The more time went on and the less she smoked, the more these fantasies would emerge. Eventually the sight of me reveal the mystery man being myself.

I didn't want to alter her opinion of me in anyway. I wanted her feel exactly the same and to develop a masochistic sensation when she interacted with me. I also didn't change how she felt about her daughter seeing me, only her sexual fantasies/urges and her level of trust for me.

The CDs were off shortly after they were made and I was sure they reached their target. I waited a couple weeks before I even tried to make my move. I wanted to make sure the suggestions were good and implanted. When I did move, I waited until a Saturday afternoon, when I knew Mr. Petrov was off golfing, Katya was off enjoying the summer, and her mother was home by herself. I brought my unused catalogs and went straight up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

When the door open I was greeted with the sight of Mrs. Petrov. She was a blond, about 5'9, curvy, and had full breast. As she opened the door, she looked extremely annoyed, scowling at me and somewhat rudely asked, "what do YOU want?"

I said, "Mrs. Petrov, you won't regret talking to me and I understand how you feel about me but why I am here has nothing to do with your daughter. I am selling a variety of CDs, my mother mentioned lending you some and if I could have a moment of your time you will be more than satisfied with what I have to offer."

She hesitated for a moment said, "fine you can come in for a minute but don't get too comfortable."

I just said. "I wouldn't dream of it."

She seemed a little disheveled but walked rather proudly as she led me to the kitchen. "You have 5 minutes", she said still rather annoyed. I showed her the catalogs, breezing over some topics and highlighting others, like the anti-smoking CDs that I had heard she listened to.

"The CDs my mom gave you were the first set of a multi-volume series that helps develop not only a resistance to smoking, but also helps you focus your attention on other pursuits." It didn't take much convincing on that sale. I then covered some "learn a second language" CDs. You see, Katya never learned Russian due her parents wanting to grow up as an "American" but as time went on she was becoming a bit of a black sheep amongst the family due to the language barrier. Katya, being an American girl, had little interest in the subject. In fact, the only thing Katya really liked Russian was the group Tatu. I said, "You know with these CDs you could also buy some Russian pop music and present it as a way of getting a greater appreciation of the music. She scowled for a moment, but then saw the wisdom to my words. She then nodded and gave the slightest of a smile.

I had her sign the order forms, "Anna Petrov" she wrote, and then I reached out to shake her hand. She reached out to take it and as I began to apply some pressure I swear I could of hear a soft moan coming from her. She then looked around. I played along and said, "excuse me I must have held you up long enough, I am sure you have something important to get to." I gathered my things, got up and left. She followed me to the door where I turned and wished her a good day also mentioning, "I will come back on Monday to deliver the CDs you ordered."

I went straight home and had to plan my strategy for the long game. The anti-smoking CDs were largely a continuation of what was in the first set, except now it redirected all her thoughts on smoking to me, specifically my cock. She would fantasize about it erupting in cum, she would dream about it and would remember ever little detail as she woke up in a cold sweat groping at her husband. She would fantasize about literally worshipping it. I also added that she would need some relief from this desire and either had to masturbate or have sex to alleviate the desire. Eventually masturbating would not be as satisfying and she would need to have the real thing. I am not sure what Mr. Petrov thought about all this but I am sure he was the momentary beneficiary of this.

As for Katya's CDs, I was less certain about the suggestions. I added the standard trust of Malcolm, and the somewhat addictive nature of the CD's themselves but I only added that she would periodically think about me when she was by herself.

Midday on Monday I returned to Katya's house. As I expected Mrs. Petrov was home alone, what I didn't expect was her appearance. She was never slovenly but it was clear that she was dressing to impress, wearing a high waisted pants, a tucked in tight sleeveless blouse, and well-groomed hair and makeup. This time she greeted me warmly and brought me to the living room. We sat down next to each other on the sofa and I laid out the different things she asked for on the coffee table. As I was explaining these things I changed topics mid-thought and said, "You look tense, is your shoulders bothering you?" She looked quizzically at me but I persisted, "You know I just learned a great massage technique that could help your shoulders and back, here let me show it to you." I immediately got up and around the sofa before she could protest and gently started massaging her shoulders. "Oh, wow you are tense. I can imagine how uncomfortable it must have been to not had any release of all that tension."

She just leaned forward a little and moaned a, "hmmmm," of utter falling into relaxation.

"You know I have some great massage music available to purchase, perhaps Mr. Petrov and you could give each other massages." She just groaned in agreement. The massage lasted for another few minutes and I noticed her hand, which started resting on her knew and drifted up her leg, before I abruptly stopped. I then said, "Well I should be going, I don't want to over stay my welcome. I know how you feel about me."

She looked up, worry like a deer and headlights before she realized what I meant, saying, "I think I misjudged you, you're a fine young man." This would follow with subconscious licking of her lips.

I said, "true, but I am not sure Mr. Petrov would feel the same way."

She quickly said, "Oh non-sense, he just doesn't like boys that try to steal his precious baby girl away from us."

Smiling, I asked, "So you're fine with me seeing your daughter then?" Conflict arose in her face as to what was likely a collection of sexual fantasies collided with thoughts of her daughter within her mind.

"You can come see her here, just finish your massage." I complied with her wishes.

Eventually she her shoulders were like jelly, without any ability to tense up, though I am sure the tension just shifted to other parts of her body, since she was quite audibly moaning out load by the end of the massage and her hand was gripping the upper part of her thighs. I asked her when Katya would be free and she quickly and methodically revealed her whole calendar that was meticulously planned out to leave Katya without any idle hands for the devil to play with. She would be free on Friday from 1pm onward. When I asked about her husband, she licked her lips and said, "just leave him to me."