Part 1

  

"You know, I love you, but get out," she said. He barely registered those words with his feet up and arms resting on the coffee table.

Gripping the controller in his hands, he navigated his wizard around these angry crab-like monsters. He tapped a button, and a fireball lashed out across the screen, exploding on the other side of the map. Several of the monsters turned to ash and disappeared as vibrant numbers flashed across the screen.

"Just a second," he said.

Rolling her eyes, Mira stood with her hands braced against her hips.

This was what the other girls had been talking about. This was what they had warned Mira about.

Even knowing this, Duncan's girlfriend couldn't bring herself to say anything else. On some level, she probably tried to believe that she was being rational and calm. She was just waiting for her boyfriend to finish.

Less than two or three minutes later, he came to that save crystal, he tapped the capture button, and his progress got recorded by the system. He logged out, tossed the controller aside, reached up toward the ceiling, and stretched his arms as he stood.

"Sorry," he told her. "What were you saying before?" Duncan asked. He didn't look sheepish. Instead, he looked like a guy waking up from a reasonably pleasant dream.

Mira blanked, pressed her lips together into a frustrated pout, and watched her boyfriend. She still had her hands on her hips, and she thought about the ideology, those beliefs, and everything her friends would have told her. She could almost hear those women chastising her. Mandy would tell her that she had to be more aggressive and assertive. Tina would have said something understanding while reiterating that exact same point.

Mira could see how the world was changing. More importantly, she wanted to be part of it, didn't she? Wasn't she interested in following the Brightest Star?

Inhaling slowly, Mira did her best to keep her temper locked down. At the same time, however, she tried to think of what Evelyn would have done. It was surprisingly easy to think of her friend striding over to her boyfriend, slapping him across the face, grabbing him by his hair, looking right into his eyes, and stating something emphatic and undeniable like, "You are my boyfriend, and you know what that means. You know that means you belong to me. You are mine, and you will do as you're told. When I tell you that the apartment is mine tonight, you leave. If I give you permission to go hang out with your friends, you should enjoy that privilege. Because if I feel like it, I have every right to lock you in a dog cage, gag you, and leave you down in the basement. Understand, boy?"

Mira wished she could've been like that…

Fine, she told herself, she didn't want to be quite that aggressive. And yet, there was still something so intoxicating about this.

She had watched the videos, read a few of the essays, and met the other girls.

Evelyn and Tina were amazing. There were others in their clique, but Mira hadn't met them yet. In fact, she didn't know exactly how many of the women were in this group.

That was part of the point.

According to Tina, they were spreading through the city, but they were moving slowly and methodically. They were taking their time. More than that, no one in any group could get access to any kind of written roster or attendance record, which made Mira wonder if anyone actually knew just how big this organization was.

Did it even qualify as an organization?

Puffing out her cheeks, Mira took a step forward. She looked at her boyfriend. She tried to assert herself. She did her best to sharpen her charisma into one piercing lance as she stared back at him. "We talked about this. You told me that you were going to give me the apartment tonight. I'm having some friends over, and we are going to talk. No boys allowed."

"That was tonight?" Duncan asked. He glanced down. "I'm sorry, babe. I didn't really make any plans."

"That's not my problem," she wanted to say. Then there was that idea about locking him in a cage.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have a dog cage.

Still…

Mira wouldn't admit it aloud, but there was something intoxicating about having that as an actual possibility. Other women, in different essays on social media posts, had talked about what they did to punish, discipline, and control their husbands and boyfriends or brothers. Some of those pieces even talked about bosses or fathers getting owned and controlled by the women in their lives.

It was all part of the Brightest Star ideology. (Or maybe it was better to call it the Brightest Star Conspiracy.)

"Duncan," Mira finally relented. "You promised." Duncan's girlfriend secretly hated how all of this sounded like a negotiation.

If she wasn't a hypocrite, she would've been able to take control. She would've been able to issue commands while simultaneously expecting his obedience. And if he failed to live up to her exact standards, then she should have been free to punish him as she saw fit.

"You know, I can just hang out in our room and play on my phone," he suggested.

"No," she said, which sent a surge of pride racing up her back. "We talked about this. We made a decision. You are leaving."

He squinted at her.

At that moment, Mira didn't let herself worry about his feelings. They had talked about this. They had negotiated. She had been upfront and honest with him. Even if those points went against the Brightest Star teachings and ideology, she was still following those old rules.

"Fine," he said, raising his hands and heading back to the bedroom where he could grab his wallet, phone, and keys. "Just let me get my stuff."

 

Duncan disappeared down the hall. He walked past the bathroom and the closet before he shut that other door behind him. As he promised, he grabbed his stuff.

He also made a point of walking across the room and opening the window, despite the brisk November climate outside.

Even as he lifted the window up and secured it in place, he glanced over his shoulder at the door, almost like he expected Mira to check on him at any moment.

Of course, she didn't.

Parting his lips slightly, Duncan ran the tip of his tongue along the edge of his teeth as he asked those same questions from before. This time, he whispered them, "What are you girls doing? What are you even talking about?" As he uttered those sharpened whispers, he could feel the irritation climb up his throat.

It made sense.

His relationship with Mira was changing.

Just a few months before this, they had moved in together, and everything had seemed so amazing.

She was this perfect girlfriend. She was cute enough to be hot, but not so attractive that he had to worry about her attracting too much attention from other guys. Not only that, this was her first serious relationship, which meant she enjoyed cooking and cleaning for him. This was her first real chance to play homemaker, and she loved getting to show off in front of her single friends.

All of that had been amazing.

But then she started to change.

At first, she got distant.

After that, she started to meet up with these new friends. Who was Evelyn? What about that other girl, Tina? Then there were a few others she had mentioned, but he couldn't remember their names.

The first time Mira had told him that she was going to head out to a bar to meet up with this new crew, Duncan hadn't really cared. It meant he had the apartment all to himself, which meant putting on his headset, playing his favorite games, and shouting at other players all across the globe.

But then she came home, and there had been something distant about the way she looked at their apartment and at him. Not that she woke him up the next morning, and she leaned over, whispering, "From now on, you're taking care of the dishes and the garbage."

"Sure thing," he had muttered.

Once he realized what he had agreed to, maybe there had been that little hint of resentment somewhere at the back of his brain. Then again, Duncan had suppressed it fairly easily. This was their apartment, and they lived here together, and he needed to contribute. Perhaps it had been nice before, but he could adapt.

And then they had sex.

He thought they were going to follow their usual routine where they would kiss, and he would fondle her breasts, and then he would finger her until she came.

Instead, Mira had slid her hand into his hair, tugged, jerking his head back, so he had no choice but to look into her eyes.

"Go down on me," she ordered.

His brows had tightened with confusion.

Duncan liked to think of himself as a good boyfriend; he had gone down on her before. Still, it had been a relatively rare occasion, usually something she could enjoy as a present for her birthday or after some major achievement like a promotion.

That hadn't been a special night, but then she didn't give him any choice as she pushed his head down between her legs.

Because he didn't want to provoke a fight, Duncan had licked her pussy. He had done it just like before, or at least that was how it started…

After ten or fifteen full seconds, Duncan had started to pull away. That was natural, he thought. A guy could go down on a girl, but he didn't have to do it for very long. She was supposed to be satisfied. At the very least, he got her nice and wet, so he could pump his cock deep into her pussy as he showed her what he could do with his manhood.

But this time, Mira didn't let go of his hair. In fact, she had both of her arms extended with her soft palms braced against the back of his head.

She didn't let go. She wouldn't let him pull away!

He tugged once, then almost wanted to laugh. He tried again.

But then her voice called out, "Keep licking me. Keep licking me, boy!"

She called him a boy…

Technically, there was nothing wrong with that, especially because she had once complained when he grabbed her, picked her up, and said, "There's my girl!" When she had complained that it had been demeaning and infantilizing, he answered with something like, "Don't even worry about it, babe. Seriously, it's just a colloquial expression. I'm not referring to you as a kid or someone who's immature. It's just a word. If you want, you can call me a boy." He had shrugged, making it sound like it couldn't be a big deal.

But now she used that term, and he heard something else in her voice.

He kept licking her right until that moment when she came. Even though he had tried to pull away two or three times, she wouldn't let him withdraw. She kept his mouth pressed against her pussy.

Deciding it would be easier to just finish, he kept going. Maybe he opened and rolled his eyes a couple of times, but she didn't notice.

In fact, she was panting, her eyes closed as she arched her back and pushed her shoulder blades down against their shared mattress. With her legs spread in her heels, pushing down against the soft covers, she made those passionate sounds.

At first, Duncan had truly believed that they were just incoherent noises. On this night, she was giving into her animalistic urges, and maybe he was even proud of himself for injecting that kind of lust deep into her petite frame.

Only then he heard something else. Duncan was pretty sure she started to gasp, "That's right. You like that, don't you? You like being collared, don't you, boy? You want to be on a leash. Do you want to be my slave! I'm the Mistress, and you're the property!"

Mira's boyfriend strained as he did his best to listen, but maybe he had just imagined a few of those syllables. Maybe he had to put a couple of those ideas together. After all, there was no way his girlfriend would say anything like that.

She actively described herself as a social justice advocate. She was someone who believed that there were systematic inequalities spread all across the world, and she wanted to make things better. Whether it was a question of corrupted capitalism, tax law, governmental capture, or some other injustice, she always made a point of caring, and she did her best to make the world a better place.

Over the last few weeks, he had noticed more and more of those changes in her behavior.

She was getting more aggressive and more assertive. There were times when he would say something to her, and she would just casually contradict him, informing him that he was wrong. Annoyingly, she was usually right. But even when she wasn't, she never apologized. She wasn't willing to backtrack or to tell him that she had messed up.

And then the idea occurred to him…

Maybe it was her new friends. Perhaps they were the ones who were making her like this.

Duncan liked his plan of simply hiding in their bedroom. He could let the door crack open slightly "by accident." Then he could play on his phone while eavesdropping on everything they said.

Maybe those girls were trying to turn Mira against him.

It felt like a realistic possibility. After all, this boy couldn't explain how or why his sweet girlfriend would start to behave so differently.

He was distantly aware of the fact that some girls would go online, hang out on the wrong threads and read the worst posts, which would mess them up in one way or another. Apparently, this was a huge issue when it came to wedding planning. Girls would start doing "research," which would in turn raise their expectations, stress them out, ratchet up their anxieties, and turn them into monsters. The sweet, rational girls these guys had known would evolve into selfish brats who couldn't see anything beyond one event.

Granted, Mira and Duncan weren't engaged (not yet), but that same dynamic could happen in so many different ways.

But his girlfriend had kicked him out.

Technically, Duncan had agreed to leave for the evening. He was supposed to go to a bar, meet up with some friends, or head back to work, where he could go take care of a few different projects. It didn't matter, she said. He was free to do whatever he liked with his night, so long as he got out of the apartment.

Duncan headed back into the living room. There, he saw his girlfriend as she placed a plate of cookies down on the coffee table. She had put away his controller, and now she glanced up.

"Thank you," she said. That sounded nice enough, only then she added, "You can go now."

His jaw clenched, but Duncan smiled, nodded, and gave his girlfriend a hug, then a kiss, and he headed back outside. He walked down the street, passed his car, turned right at the first intersection, then right again. After that, he took two more rights to head back to the house with their apartment, built at the back of the structure. Rather than cross in front of the living room and those huge windows, Duncan let himself into the backyard. He crept across the grass.

With every step, he felt ridiculous; he felt like a burglar.

He climbed up onto the small deck, and he took those careful steps. He didn't want his girlfriend to hear anything.

Then he ducked down, only to slowly raise his head as he looked into the bedroom.

The light was still off, the window was still open, and the room was empty.

At this point, Duncan knew he had a choice to make. He could turn around, walk away, head back to his car, and find something to do. He could call up some of his boys, and they could go watch a movie, go drink, find an arcade, play some pool, or maybe go for a hike up in the hills. There were lots of possibilities.

But Duncan needed to know.

He grabbed the underside of the window, pulled it up, and climbed into the apartment. He landed silently, and then he made his way over to the door.

At that exact moment, someone knocked.

Mira had paced back and forth. She knew this was silly. She knew it was ridiculous. She knew it literally went against everything that the proponents of the Brightest Star ideology believed.

She was a young woman, she was capable, competent, and intelligent. She didn't need to feel embarrassed or uncertain about something as simple as a social occasion. Tonight, her friends were coming over, and they were going to hang out. They were going to talk, debate current events, and discuss various strategies.

Even so, Mira still felt like a kindergartener on her birthday as she waited for her invitees to arrive. At the same time, she kept imagining those worst-case scenarios, where no one would come.

Those insecurities whispered about how everyone might have decided that she wasn't good enough, smart enough, or cool enough.

Then there were the other possibilities: maybe she wasn't ruthless or relentless enough.

Up until she joined Evelyn and the others, Mira had always thought of herself as a "nice girl." She had never really liked that designation. Still, the label had followed her through most of her life. In elementary school, middle school, and high school, she had never been the most popular girl in school, but everyone seemed to like her. The teachers had always known that if they needed to ask for a favor, they could go to Mira. There was a new kid who needed to be shown around? Mira could do it. Someone needed to go to the office to grab some paperwork? Mira could handle it. Another student had made a mess in the corner and had already left? Mira wouldn't complain if the teacher asked her to help out "just this once" (but actually every time it happened).

She could become something else.

There was that one phrase she had discovered online. At first, she had balked because it sounded wrong, twisted, and immoral.

But now, after she had considered it and continued to read about it, maybe she had what it took to become a female supremacist.

Letting go of those doubts, she turned to the door right after she heard that first knock.

She opened it, and she saw three young women standing there on the porch.

"Come in," she said. "It's great to see you."

Evelyn and Tina walked in first. Coming down the street, there were several other young women. There was that redhead whose name Mira still didn't know, a cute blonde who was surprisingly shy, even if she looked perky and sweet, plus a girl with black hair, who wore these heavy boots and long jackets.

One by one, the different women came into the room, and they sat down.

"You have a great place," Tina said.

"Thank you. It's not a lot, but the landlord is pretty nice, and we've gotten really lucky with the rent," Mira said.

"Who's your landlord?" Evelyn asked. "A man or a woman?"

"He's a guy," Mira said.

"Then we know what should happen to him eventually," Evelyn said.

Mira swallowed.

If she was completely honest with herself, then she had to acknowledge that she had never really thought about that. Mostly, when she considered this new concept of female supremacy, she had thought mostly about her boyfriend and those personal relationships. Occasionally, she had considered what the hierarchy back at work could look like.

But Evelyn was right.

If female supremacy took over, then property would shift all across the economy. Mira wasn't even enough to think that she would just get a house for free or anything, but maybe that man didn't deserve to be a landlord. Maybe he didn't deserve to occupy that position of power, especially on the basis of simply owning some property.

"I wouldn't mind being his tenant, not if I could still hold the key to his chastity cage," Mira said.

Tina and a couple of the other girls clapped simultaneously. That boom of sound cut across the air, and it was almost enough to make Mira flinch. But then she smiled sheepishly.

"That's what I'm talking about," said one of the other Brightest Star members. That young woman pointed right at Mira. Then everyone was looking at her.

Mira started to blush; she couldn't help it. There was that biological heat racing up her chest, along her neck, and all the way to her cheeks.

But then someone else grabbed one of the cupcakes. "These look really good." That woman took a bite, nodded to herself, and grinned ferociously. "Even if I didn't already agree with our values, I'm pretty sure a cupcake like this would get me to join up."

A couple of the other women laughed.

After that, Mira offered to help people grab some drinks. She also announced that she was making tea. She had no idea whether or not that was a good choice, but she liked to think so. As an afterthought, she also announced, "I grabbed a couple bottles of wine if anyone wants any."

Multiple hands shot up into the air.

For the next few minutes, Mira was busy with her role as hostess. In the meantime, some of the other women were talking about the recap, Brightest Star, their beliefs, and what might happen next.

It was Evelyn, however, who came into the small kitchen with Mira. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Maybe you could take that tray?" Mira said, nodding to the counter.

"Absolutely," Evelyn said. She picked it up, but she didn't turn around or head back toward the living room immediately. "Mira, there's something you need to know. There's something you need to remember."

Immediately, Duncan's girlfriend tightened up. She couldn't help but feel that tension push along all of her extremities.

Before she could ask what she had done wrong, Evelyn walked over to her, nodded, smiled, and said, "You're here with friends. We all know how the world needs to change. We are all on your side."

"Right," Mira agreed.

"Breathe," Evelyn instructed.

Mira drew in a slow breath. Then she exhaled.

"Why are we going to win?" Evelyn asked.

Mira didn't have to think about that for more than a fraction of a heartbeat. "We're going to win because we are unified," she said.

When she went to her first official meeting, Mira had been skeptical. She had sat off in one corner with her arms crossed over her chest. At the same time, she had wondered whether or not these women were just wrong or if they actually qualified as genuinely delusional. On that night, Evelyn had addressed her main concern.

"Tearing down the patriarchy sounds like a lot. I know there are plenty of activists and protesters out there who insist that it's already happening, but let's be honest. It's not, not out in the open anyway. If you look around, men still hold most positions of power. Most CEOs are male. We've never had a female President. No matter where you look, most industries are still dominated by men. Even when women form the bulk of the labor pool, leadership positions are still occupied by males. Despite all of those advantages, the boys are still going to lose, and we are still going to win."

Almost entranced by that lecture, Mira hadn't interrupted.

Evelyn had promised her, "Men won't believe us. They won't believe in us. They won't see us as a threat. That's one advantage, but that's not why we're going to win. We are going to win, Mira, because we are unified. Will there be traitors here or there? Absolutely. Does it matter? No. There are lots of men out there who are smart enough to understand that female supremacy is the way forward. Maybe they are mature enough to embrace that truth. Maybe they tell themselves it is just a secret fantasy. But in actuality, most of the women will come together. We will have an unassailable majority, and we will have those boys on our side who are willing to surrender their rights because they already see how much damage the other boys have inflicted on society and the world. As long as we are unified, they won't be able to win. They're going to bicker among themselves while we take over. Some of it will be explicit and easy to see. Some of it will be public. A lot of it, however, is going to be covert. What you need to remember is that women are going to learn about female supremacy, and they're going to be just like you, Mira. They're going to start to understand that it's a realistic possibility. And when we eventually decide to strike, it's going to be far too late for those boys. They're all going to end up on their knees in one way or another. They can't see it yet, but they will. They will."

That one speech hadn't completely changed Mira's mind. But over the last few months, she had settled into this routine, and maybe she still had her doubts, but she wanted to learn from these other women.

Most of all, she yearned to see what her relationship with Duncan could be like.

"I'm serious," Evelyn said as she held that plate with the wine glasses. "Why are we going to win?"

"Because we have unity on our side," Mira answered.

"Exactly," Evelyn said. Then she turned around and headed back into the living room. "Ladies, it is time for us to begin!"

 

Duncan could only pick out little snippets of conversation, most of which he didn't understand.

It wasn't helpful that he was all the way down the hall. He also made sure that his bedroom door was only cracked open. With less than an inch of space, he couldn't see any of those women. The benefit here was that none of them would be able to see him, but he still couldn't hear as much as he wanted.

What were those girls talking about? What were they going to discuss at this party? He needed to know!

Somewhere deep down, Duncan understood that he was supposed to trust his girlfriend. Whenever that idea crossed his mind, however, he reminded himself that he could believe in Mira without actually trusting any of her friends.

One girl giggled and said, "It was so cute. He was down on his hands and knees and begging me. He said he couldn't take it."

"What did you do?"

"I showed him the key. I dangled it right there in front of his face."

"That's amazing! How did it make you feel?"

Duncan did his best to overhear the next part, but he couldn't pick out that specific conversation, not when another one seemed to get louder.

"I swear! He looked like he was on the verge of crying!"

"Just from a spanking?"

"It was exactly what he needed. And then afterward, everything was so much better?"

"I told you! I freaking told you! Didn't I tell you?" Then that same girl seemed to pause for a moment before she asked, "What was he like afterward? Like once you let him get up off of your lap, how is he behaving?"

"He was so cute! He was all obedient and super considerate. I swear, spanking him has been incredible for our relationship."

Those women were still talking.

"Do you think it's true? Do you think it's really true about Genevieve Hastings?"

"It might be…"

"But have you seen her statements? I mean, I kind of hate-watch her on social media, and she's always talking about traditional values. It's pretty clear that she's not on our side."

"Isn't that what makes it a conspiracy?"

Squinting, Duncan stared at a random spot on the floor. He tried to listen.

For the next few minutes, he couldn't pick out anything coherent or useful.

Those women kept talking, however, right until the moment when someone announced, "Ladies, it's time for us to begin."

The side conversations mostly stopped.

"To begin tonight, I want us all to give a round of applause to Mira. Mira, thank you so much for hosting us here tonight in your lovely apartment."

From his hiding spot behind the door, Duncan rolled his eyes. It was their apartment. But more than that, it wasn't especially fancy, yet these girls still insisted on tossing out those platitudes.

"It's no problem," Mira said. Then, with a little more enthusiasm, she added, "I'm happy to do whatever I can to help the cause."

The cause…

Duncan bit down. He inclined his head again, hoping to get a better angle.

"Thank you," said the first woman. He thought he recognized her voice, although he could've been wrong. She kept talking. "Tonight, I want us to start off with a broad topic. We're going to discuss the practical versus the theoretical. From there, we are going to think about what we can do to modify our relationships and prepare the boys." After a brief pause, Evelyn said, "Yes, Tracy?"

Duncan didn't get to see who actually spoke, but a young woman with a high-pitched voice quickly squeaked out, "I'm glad we were talking about this. To be honest, I've been thinking a lot about what we are doing and whether or not we have a chance of succeeding."

"We have a chance," Evelyn answered. "We have a very good chance, especially when we stay quiet and work together."

"That can't last forever though," someone else said.

"Why not?" Evelyn asked as she facilitated the discussion.

Even as he listened, Duncan still tried to figure out exactly what they were talking about. The conversations from before had been bizarre, but he still didn't understand.

Frankly, he had assumed that these girls were just going to giggle over their favorite social media stars, the influencers they hated, and maybe the most hated girls from their respective jobs. The conversations were supposed to be catty and obnoxious.

Realistically, Duncan had actually assumed he would need to retreat anyway. He would probably sneak out, if only because their conversation was supposed to be so boring.

Instead, it was incomprehensible.

They were talking about a cause, and they didn't know whether or not they were going to succeed…

He decided they were probably trying to save the rainforest or whatever, but those other girls had been talking about spanking, and another couple of young women had discussed a key…

"This movement is spreading, right? If it's spreading, that means there have to be men out there who are figuring it out. There have to be politicians or soldiers or journalists…"

"What makes you think they haven't already been compromised?" Evelyn asked. "What makes you think they haven't already been caught and trained?"

"Is that actually possible?"

Duncan wished he could've seen their faces. Then a really stupid thought popped into his head. Maybe this was some kind of role-playing game, or perhaps they were reading scripts for a play or something. He didn't think those were the right answers, yet anything seemed possible, especially because their conversation still didn't make sense.

"Think about the men in your own lives," Evelyn said. "This is good. This is the theoretical part. I'm serious. Take a moment. Think about them. Think about your brothers, your cousins, those guys you know at work, some of your male friends, your bosses, your fathers, anyone. Think of any of those men. If they were locked in chastity cages, how long would it take for them to break?"

"Guys aren't that weak," someone said.

Evelyn laughed. It was a harsh, quick bark of sound that made everyone else stop.

"Here is probably the greatest lie that men have been able to perpetuate over the construction of the patriarchy: they're strong. Whether they want to admit it or not, they are just people. People are social creatures. People have vulnerabilities. Men are no different. Not only that, these boys have grown up in the patriarchy, so that means they never learned any kind of realistic self-control. Just stop and think about it. Seriously, how many men have actually had to go for days or weeks without enjoying orgasms? How many of them could actually do it?"

"There have to be some," someone said. Maybe it was Mira who spoke up.

"Maybe," Evelyn said. "If so, that's fine. We can have a couple of exceptions here or there. But men, as a group, are susceptible to this kind of manipulation, and that's just the start. So many of the boys think they're powerful, but they don't realize just how brittle their authority actually is. These are the boys who are terrified of women because they remember what it was like back in preschool or kindergarten. They know that if a pretty girl came up to them and made a demand, they would feel the instinctive urge to obey. Deep down, they might not want to obey us. They might not choose it. Still, they can feel it."

"So there are lots of people who know about this? There are lots of men who know about it?"

"Some," replied the leader. "You probably shouldn't make many assumptions, but just look around this room. How many of you have already enslaved your boyfriends or your husbands? Tracy, don't you keep your boss in a chastity cage now?"

"I do," came the solemn answer.

"And has it helped his behavior?"

"It has."

Everyone was waiting once again.

Duncan really wished he could've seen that woman's face; he wanted to know whether or not she was nervously chewing on her bottom lip, or if she was smiling and basking in the admiration of the other girls in the living room.

Finally, she continued, "When I first got hired, it was pretty clear that he just wanted me for my looks. It was gross. I mean, I did the interview, and I took the corporate tests, and I proved that I could handle the job, but he just kept checking me out, and then he started flirting with me, and I didn't like it. But thanks to everyone here, I got the confidence to say yes to him. I let him take me out on a date. I let him bring me back to his condo. And right before we had sex, I told him that there was something kinky I wanted to try. I put him in one of the new electrified chastity cages. At first, he thought it was only going to last for a few minutes. That was five months ago," Tracy said.

An electrified chastity cage…

Duncan did his best to parse those various words. Theoretically, those terms were supposed to make sense, but he tried to string them together, and that was when he got really confused.

"And?" Evelyn asked.

"And he's been helping me. There are lots of men at our company. One by one, we are locking them up," Tracy said.

A hush seemed to follow over the living room.

"Don't get me wrong," said one of the women. "That's amazing, but are we really sure that they can go even farther? I mean, the boys are going to fight back at some point, right?"

"Maybe," Evelyn said. "Maybe not. But if you really stop and think about it, let's go back to that theory from before. Let's go back to my original question. Do you think you could train the men in your life? Now, think about what you can accomplish when you have women like us to help you. When we work together as a team, we can accomplish anything."

"I don't know…"

"It's difficult," Evelyn said. But then she stopped, and she was probably raising a hand or something. "Look, I don't want to make any promises, but we all hear things. You can go online and find out lots of information about the Brightest Star, especially if you know where to look. Our movement is spreading. Things are changing. We will tear down the patriarchy. We will remake the government. We will rebuild every business that stretches across this country. Everything is going to change. It might take just a few more months. More likely, it'll take years. But it is happening; it will continue to happen."

Even now, Duncan didn't really understand.

After all, he couldn't believe them.

"Mira, it looks like you have something you want to ask," said the leader.

"What happens if we're not sure we can do this? What happens if we don't feel like we're brave enough?"

"Which boy are you worried about?"

That was the moment when Duncan made a decision. He cracked the door open a little more, and he couldn't see anyone down the hall. At this angle, no one would be able to see him if he snuck just a few feet forward. Then again, he would be taking a massive risk. If any woman got up to go to the kitchen or headed down the hall to use the restroom, he wouldn't have anywhere to hide.

"It doesn't matter," he whispered. "It doesn't fucking matter. This is my apartment, and I don't care what those girls are talking about. They're probably just delusional." That last idea sounded good; it reassured him in a way he hadn't expected.

But even if he truly believed those points, Duncan still opened the door carefully, closed it silently, and crept down the hall, all so he could steal a glimpse of his girlfriend.

 

Everyone was watching her! Mira didn't know how to answer even as she stayed there at the edge of her seat with her knees clamped together and her elbows pressing hard against her flanks. She held onto the edge of her T-shirt, folding the fabric and rubbing it with her fingertips as she tried to hide that nervous energy bubbling up just beneath the surface of her skin.

Evelyn had just asked her a very reasonable question.

Without trying, Mira thought about her father, her brothers, her two sisters, and some of her cousins. She thought about the men back at work. Not only that, she flashed back to her teachers, both in college and high school. All of those different faces spun through her imagination. Those guys were all real; they all made her nervous.

It seemed impossible to believe that all of those guys could succumb and break.

The women involved with the Brightest Star offered so many different promises, and Mira wanted to believe them, but…

She thought of her boyfriend; effortlessly, she remembered Duncan, his handsome face, his strong shoulders, and that stubborn look he could get on his face when he decided to do something.

Mira got brave, looked around at the room, and realized something. Even as those flickers of embarrassment continued to burn along her cheeks, these women weren't here to tease her, mess with her, or embarrass her. They weren't a bunch of mean girls who wanted to make her feel like she couldn't possibly do this.

When she looked out at the blonde with the pigtails, that girl with the shining black hair, Evelyn, Tina, Tracy, and the others, whose names she couldn't quite remember, Mira understood something important: they watched her with hope in their eyes. They wanted to see her succeed.

That was why she took a breath, and she got up. She stood, and she said, "I'm worried about my boyfriend."

"What is it about your boyfriend that worries you?" Evelyn said. Those words weren't a challenge. She didn't intend to turn this into a confrontation or a competition. It was just a conversation between friends and allies.

"Please, don't get me wrong. I love everything we have talked about here. I love the community, and the sense of strength. I love thinking about what the world could be." Mira paused, pressed her lips together into a contemplative line, glanced down, then back up at that group of women. Together, they were a tribe, a pack, and a squad. They were one cell of a larger conspiracy.

Mira didn't know if she ever had anything like this before. She knew that there were lots of other women out there who had their cliques, or maybe they had joined the Girl Scouts, sororities, 4H, or some other wholesome organization. But now, Mira almost wanted to burst out laughing.

She had only discovered this kind of community as an adult, and what was their goal? Did they want to raise sheep, sell cookies, volunteer to help the less fortunate, or maybe clean up a local park? No. They had a different goal.

They intended to take over the world and subjugate the men who had behaved so badly for so long…

But as Mira rose to her feet and walked across the room, she knew she had to speak. She didn't know if she needed to delay the inevitable, or maybe she wanted to take a more comfortable position on a different side of the room. Either way, she was on her feet with her back to the hallway.

"When I think about the Brightest Star, I want to believe it's going to work. I need to believe it's going to work. But at the same time, I just look at all of history."

"This isn't about history," Evelyn interjected.

"No," Mira agreed after another second. "I guess it's not. I guess it really is just about my boyfriend."

"Do you think he's going to be stubborn? Do you think he's going to fight us? You don't think he would ever break."

"He's a man. Men are prey," one of the women said. (Maybe that was Tracy?)

Like the other women here, Mira actually loved that word. All too often, men thought of women as targets, meals, special treats, or simply objects to be acquired. It was harder for Mira to do it herself, but she did enjoy the idea of thinking of men as prey. The boys could be dangerous; they could be a threat. But they could also be taken and owned. Sometimes, it would require more work, but it was still possible. Then again, she still had that other doubt.

What if some of them couldn't be broken? What if some of them wouldn't accept this subjugation? What if they kept fighting? (Those kinds of questions weren't going to make her popular.)

And that was the problem, Mira realized. "I don't think he could be prey."

"Are you sure about that? Are you sure he couldn't be taken? Trained? Domesticated?"

Mira nibbled on the inside of her mouth. Of course, she had already asked herself those questions, but she already knew her answers wouldn't be popular, not here. The idea was supposed to be simple: men were easy. Men were easy prey; even when they argued, resisted, or fought back, they would inevitably break because they weren't nearly as strong as they claimed. Most of them had never been confronted by the full force of the opposite sex.

But if these women worked together, they could do it. They could turn every man into a subservient second-class citizen.

And yet, Mira still couldn't let go of her skepticism.

"I do believe that the Brightest Star can succeed, but I know there are going to be men who are going to fight back harder, and they aren't going to be easy. Prey? They're not just going to wander into their cages, and they're not going to let us seduce them or train them or trap them or trick them."

"What would happen if you tied down your boyfriend while he was asleep?" Evelyn asked. "Would he be easy prey then?"

Mira opened her mouth to answer, but she stopped because she heard something.

 

Easy prey? No way. No fucking way!

"You have got to be kidding me," he hissed under his breath, only to instantly regret those angry whispers when she stopped. She stiffened.

Duncan instantly told himself that there was no way she had overheard him. There was no way his girlfriend caught those words, especially when she always got nervous in front of others. Whenever they were at parties or group dinners together, Mira got quiet because she wasn't the kind of girl who asserted herself. She wasn't the kind of girl who liked to be the center of attention.

In fact, Duncan was still trying to understand how or why she could stand up in front of that group. She had obviously gotten nervous. That was why she rose to her feet in the first place. She had moved toward the hallway, and there had been that moment when he worried she was going to spot him, but she had immediately turned her back on the short corridor so she could face her new "friends."

Except now, Duncan just made a really dumb mistake.

He shut his stupid mouth, braced himself, and waited. Creeping down the hallway had given him the chance to listen to every word these women were saying.

And now he thought he understood. Apparently, they were trying to put together some conspiracy to enslave the men of the world.

The idea was absurd.

It was ridiculous.

It didn't even warrant consideration.

Even so, his heart still pounded in that second before anything else happened. He had just enough time to convince himself that she didn't hear him. He hadn't been that loud. It was fine.

Just then, his girlfriend turned around, glanced down the hallway, and saw him crouched right there.

Their eyes met.

She saw him.

She definitely saw him.

Ridiculously, he raised his hands, shook his head, and tried to pantomime that she needed to just get back to her stupid event with her dumb friends. They could talk about this later!

He was here. That jerk was here. She loved her boyfriend, but this was exactly what she meant. He was being so annoying. He had decided to hang out? Then again, she had watched him leave. That meant he must've snuck back in somehow?

Mira didn't have the answers, but it didn't matter because that one single fact remained: he was here.

Then she looked back at her friends, and she coughed to clear her throat. She needed a few more seconds to contemplate exactly what she was going to say or how she was going to respond.

"Mira, is everything okay?" Evelyn asked.

These women watched her, and Mira was so tempted to raise her right hand and pull it behind her back so she could motion for her boyfriend to escape back into the bedroom. This was her moment to be kind and nice and gentle. Maybe she could talk to him about this violation of her personal boundaries later, especially when he had very clearly agreed to give her the apartment for the night.

But then a different idea flashed from somewhere deep inside of her. There was that pulse between her legs, that stiffening of her nipples, and the dryness of the back of her throat. She coughed again.

At this point, her friend definitely seemed worried, yet only two or three seconds had actually elapsed. For this girl, everything had slowed down way too much, right until that moment when she made her choice.

"Ladies, I'm worried about my boyfriend. I'm worried about my boyfriend because I think he's stubborn, and there's no way we would be able to tame him."

 

To be continued…