[Full disclaimer, I have never written a mind control story before, this was a challenge outside my usual comfort zone! Hopefully it works for you lovely readers and any feedback is always welcome to help me improve :)]
***
Violet slammed the flyer down on the table triumphantly. "I've got a new one!" She grinned and shifted her weight excitedly from foot to foot.
Troy glared up at her, his coffee cup frozen halfway to his lips. He took a slow sip, then deliberately positioned his cup back on its saucer, carefully placing it so the designs would line up, and steepled his fingers.
"Violet, darling, I say this with all the love in the world," he started. "You've got a weird-ass hobby."
"I know," Violet squealed. The chair slid towards Troy with a squeak as Violet threw herself down in it, dropping her bag to the floor. "Look, look," she pointed to the sleek black-and-white flyer. "This one's extra cryptic, they've gone the whole elitism route to make it seem exclusive and enticing."
"TrueYou", Troy read. "Come live your truest life." He looked at Violet over his glasses and raised a sceptic eyebrow. "Seems like the same buzzwordy nonsense all the other ones had."
Violet slid the flyer back in front of her and flipped it over. "Yeah, but you get a feel for these things - the dark colour scheme, the font, the absence of a website, the minimalistic location and timing info... I'm telling you, this one is going all 'secret society', except they go round stuffing these in random letterboxes."
"Honey," Troy took another sip of coffee, "you need a boyfriend. You can't keep going round to these random wannabe-cult introductory lectures."
"But it's so
fun
," Violet argued, slamming her hands down on the table. Troy frowned and rearranged his mug to line the designs back up. "I've gotten really good at asking the tough questions really innocently so I don't look argumentative. Plus sometimes they give you free stuff!"
"Aren't you worried about giving out your contact information to all these weirdos, though?"
"Nah, I never go as Violet Wilson, say hello to..." Violet waved her hands in front of her face and put on a mysterious air, batting her eyelashes. She raised her voice to a higher pitch and spoke as poshly as she could, pursing her lips. "Lady Evelyn Barton, Esquire."
"Lady?" Troy questioned.
"Yes, although Lady Evelyn Barton hides this fact when she mingles with commoners, you see, for she wants no special treatment." Violet held her head up high, looking down her nose at Troy.
"And 'esquire'?"
Violet nodded primly.
"Vi," Troy smirked, "esquire is a male title."
"Oh. Lady Evelyn Barton did not know this." Violet shrugged and slumped back down, her voice returning to normal. "Alright, so the full back story is still a work in progress, but so far beyond writing down her name and email on a sign-in sheet, Evelyn hasn't been called to do very much, so it's held up fine."
Troy rolled his eyes with a sigh. He knew when a conversation with Violet was a lost cause: she loved a good argument and refused to ever admit she might be wrong. He'd learned long ago to pick his battles with her - he'd successfully managed to talk her down from a face tattoo, so in contrast, this seemed like one to let go. "So, when is this super elitist meeting?"
"Saturday, at 3, why, do you want to come?" Violet positively buzzed at the idea, hovering over her seat more than sitting on it.
***
Violet showed up at the address indicated on the flyer. Alone, of course - Troy had indicated something along the lines of preferring to eat nothing but plain oatmeal for the rest of his life rather than attend one of these sessions. That was apparently the worst thing he could imagine, which had led the conversation down a weird path with Violet trying to one-up each worst case scenario he could come up with.
She'd decided to lean into the whole secret-society vibe and wore black skintight jeans, a black leather jacket over a white tank top, and large dark sunglasses covering half her face. She'd pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail, high on her head.
A deep breath, and Violet transformed into Lady Evelyn, smiling to herself as she reminded herself to drop the 'esquire'. She took out the flyer to double-check the address: she was in the right place. The building in front of her looked fairly nondescript - probably full of soulless rented offices and bland conference rooms.
Violet raised her eyebrows in surprise as soon as the revolving door spat her out in the lobby. Where she'd expected a sad, empty room, or perhaps a simple plywood table with a fake plant, she was confronted with a futuristic looking reception area. There were no visible lamps or lights, and yet the room was suffused with a gentle warm light.
A gleaming white desk stood in the corner, its geometric design confusing and drawing the eye somehow both towards and away from the woman sitting behind it. Violet stepped up to the desk, her heeled boots echoing over the marble floor, and she dug the flyer out of her back pocket.
"Excuse me," she cleared her throat, "I'm here for, uh..."
Violet trailed off, her mouth hanging slightly open as her eyes managed to settle on the woman behind the desk.
Woman
was too impotent a word to describe her. 'Goddess' might have come closer, and yet Violet didn't think that would cover it, either. Her eyes seemed to change colour, fading from green to brown to blue to purple, finally settling on a deep walnut brown when they met Violet's.
"Ah, the welcome session, of course," the receptionist smiled. "Walk through those double doors, second room on the right."
Before she knew what had happened, Violet found herself walking down the corridor, still clutching the black flyer in her hand. She glanced back to catch another glimpse of the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen, but the double doors had swung shut behind her and the reception was out of sight.
She took a deep breath in, shaking off the uncanny feeling growing inside her. Right, she'd done this dozens of times by now. In and out, ask some funny questions, then call Troy and laugh about it.
She repressed a smirk as she glanced around the room, drapes covering the walls and an ornate chandelier hanging in the centre of the ceiling, the deep and woody scent of incense permeating the air. She half expected to see a parade of robed and hooded cultists emerge from a concealed door in the wall.
What she hadn't expected was to see a single man standing in the middle of the room, hands clasped behind his back. Violet tried to make out his features, but try as she might, she couldn't seem to focus on any one thing for too long - though she could tell he was handsome. He was tall, but not too tall. He was wearing trousers of some kind, and a shirt of some sort. His hair was on his head, and he had a mouth, a nose, and two ears, of that much she was certain.
But his eyes... his eyes were the one feature she couldn't tear herself away from. They were the deepest black, or maybe green, perhaps brown? Definitely blue, when he finally spoke up.
"Welcome," his voice resonated deeply in Violet's chest. "Tell me your name."
"I'm Ev--Violet," she blurted out. Odd. She'd fully intended on introducing herself as Evelyn - she'd even thought about more backstory for her since her conversation with Troy.
"Good," the man smiled. "Now, Violet, do you know what we do here?"
She shook her head. The man started walking in a circle around Violet, who stood rooted in place, following him with her eyes.
"We reveal people's true selves. Who they are, deep down. Do you understand me?"
He stopped behind Violet and she shook her head again, unnerved at having lost sight of him but somehow totally unable to turn her body - or even just her head - to look at him. A twinge of fear coursed through Violet, urging her to get out, but his voice kept her frozen.
"You'll understand soon. Now, I think it's warm in here. Why don't you take your jacket off?"
Violet supposed she was kind of hot, and shrugged off her leather jacket. The receptionist appeared next to her and took it with a smile, retreating behind drapes at the far end of the room. The man walked back round to face Violet once more.
"I know you, Violet. I know the kind of person you are. You are a people pleaser."
