Note, just to be very clear: this is the second (and final) part of my story "Seeing is Believing", not a stand-alone story.
"You love the crystal. You want to stay here. You like to be here. You want to be like Linda." The words floated in Kristen's mind. She stared dully at the crystal and struggled to think. She felt completely spaced-out.
"Yes, Linda," Doug said. Kristen wondered what he was talking about. "She has been training you," he went on.
Oh. That.
Now she remembered. They were talking about training for... about training - about some kind of training... The thought seemed to slide away from her.
"She's done a good job, too." He dangled the crystal and it flashed again. Kristen lost track of his words.
"You are being hypnotized." It was Doug's voice, but the words just seemed to float in her mind, coming from nowhere. "You are being hypnotized, like Linda. Remember how Linda looked when you came here, when you came into the kitchen."
Oh yes, she remembered. She would never forget that sight - Linda standing stiffly at attention, staring at nothing. It was crisp and clear in her mind.
The crystal flashed, and the image vanished, like a popping soap bubble.
"You are being hypnotized by the crystal. Each time the crystal flashes you go deeper into hypnosis. Each time the crystal flashes you go twice as deep as you were the last time."
Kristen felt woozy, and then realized she was swaying slightly back and forth. It was almost impossible to think. Her mind was just - blank. Was that... because she was being hypnotized? Wait, hypnotized?
The crystal flashed.
"You are hypnotized now, just like Linda. The crystal has hypnotized you. You know it has, because you saw Linda. She has been hypnotized by the crystal, and so have you. Yes, it's hard to believe, isn't it, but you saw it and so you can believe it. Seeing is believing, I always say."
There was a pause. Then the crystal flashed.
Kristen was losing the struggle, she felt. Her mind stayed blank all the time now, with nothing in it except Doug's words.
"You are hypnotized now. I will wake you up soon. I will say
awake
, and snap my fingers. When I do, you will wake up out of hypnosis. Then the crystal will flash and you will fall back into hypnosis, instantly. You will fall back twice as deep as you were before you woke up."
Kristen simply stared at the crystal which hung in front of her face. She didn't try to think about Doug's words. There was no point in even trying. She didn't know if what he was saying made sense, or not. It just was, right there in her mind.
"Awake," Doug said, and she saw him raise his hand and snap his fingers.
Snap - with a jolt, she jerked back her head. She was - awake? Yes. Which meant... she had been asleep? No. It meant she had been hypnotized.
Doug lifted the crystal slightly, and Kristen found her eyes drawn to it. She opened her mouth to speak. The crystal flashed.
Kristen was hypnotized again. She forgot what she was going to say, but she felt a fleeting twinge of frustration that she hadn't had the time to say it. It had been important, maybe... The thought drifted off somewhere in her blank mind, and she stared at the crystal, mouth open.
"You are deeply hypnotized and going deeper with each flash of the crystal. You have seen Linda. You want to be like Linda. To be like Linda, you have to be very deeply hypnotized. You can be very deeply hypnotized, because you have seen Linda who is very deeply hypnotized. And - seeing is believing."
Snap. Kristen blinked awake and tried to focus on Doug, who was standing a meter or so away, holding the crystal aloft. His words seemed to fade slowly in her mind, or into it.
"Gng," she said. Her mouth was dry.
"Yes," Doug said, grinning and nodding. "Indeed." The crystal flashed.
"You are very deeply hypnotized now, but you need to go much deeper. It is time to go deeper. When I wake you up, you will put your arms along your sides and then keep them there." Snap.
Kristen shook her head. That was a mistake, it made the whole room spin and twist. She held it still and the dizziness went away. She realized her arms were pinned at her sides.
"Uh," she said.
"Quite so, dear." Flash.
"You are very deeply hypnotized, and you are assuming a posture of hypnotized attention, like Linda. You want to be like Linda. You can be like Linda. You will be like Linda, once you are deeply hypnotized and standing at attention. You've seen her, deeply hypnotized and standing at attention. You can do that to. You believe you can. You know you can. You've seen Linda. When you wake up, you will raise your chin and look straight ahead, but focus on nothing."
Kristen didn't believe or know anything. She was hypnotized. She felt hypnotized. She felt blank and empty and unable to move or think. She stared at the crystal while Doug's words floated in her mind.
Snap.
Kristen was awake, but she felt groggy and dizzy. To combat it, she raised her chin up and stared at the far wall. She tried to avoid focusing on anything in particular. The crystal hung to her left, still in her field of vision. It flashed.
"You are very, very deeply hypnotized now, Kristen. You are almost as deeply hypnotized as Linda. You want to be like Linda. When I wake you up, you will straighten up as much as you can and you will arch your back and thrust your chest and your ass out." Snap.