"So, who are you, pretty girl?"
"I'm Lisa. I told you that already, didn't I?"
"You did. But who are you really?"
And what did that mean, Lisa wondered. She considered heading back out onto the dance floor, to look for her friends. But the woman in front of her, who had moments ago introduced herself as Nadia, was just her type. Tall, dark and confident. They were at a mutual acquaintance's house party, and Nadia had walked right up to her as she had gone looking for another drink. Lisa didn't mind that at all. Between the low, purple mood lights and the numerous cocktails she'd had, she was feeling kinda flirty. She was happy to see where Nadia was going with this if it meant she might be able to go home with her at the end of the night.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"Well, Lisa," Nadia explained in a sultry tone. "Sometimes, we don't know who we really are. All of us have all kinds of confusions and misconceptions, and only once we strip those away do we discover who we really are. Don't you agree?"
"I guess..." Lisa replied. This was some weird flirting, but she'd seen weirder. And Nadia was definitely worth it. Lisa just adored the the taller girl's smooth, silky, jet-black hair, and felt like she could just get lost in her shimmering blue-green eyes. Not to mention her goth look. Lisa licked her lips. "Maybe you'd like to help me get rid of my... misconceptions?"
Nadia smiled a predatory smile. "I'd love to, pretty girl."
Pretty girl. Lisa struggled not to roll her eyes at that. It was so corny, but she had to admit the way Nadia rolled the phrase around her mouth was really sexy. "Well, maybe we should go somewhere a little more private," she suggested. She'd heard Emma had set up a couple of rooms upstairs for hook ups. At present, they were standing at one side of a packed room, with drunk party-goers constantly brushing past them. Along with the dubstep blaring over the sound system, it didn't make for the most intimate setting. Lisa was definitely a party girl, though, and the energy in the room was getting her going.
"There's no need for that," Nadia purred. "We can do it right here. Tell me, have you ever been hypnotised?"
"Nope," Lisa answered. "Is hypnosis even a real thing? I always assumed it was all kinda fake."
"Not at all," Nadia said, raising her eyebrows. "I've found it a very powerful tool for helping people discover their true selves. Would you let me hypnotise you?"
"Umm..." Lisa decided to play along. Hey, it might be fun. Maybe it was even a sex thing. "Sure, OK. What do I have to do?"
"That's easy. See my pendant?" Lisa noticed the light glinting off a silver chain around Nadia's neck. She followed it down with her eyes, and saw that there was indeed a large pendant hanging between the goth girl's considerable breasts. God, they looked good. Nadia was wearing a low-cut, faux-leather top fastened tight around her waist, pushing her large boobs together. Lisa realised she was staring, and blushed. She was meant to be looking at the pendant. It was formed of a series of intricate, twisting silver loops, with no clear ending or beginning. It was like a Mobius strip, Lisa realised, looping around infinitely, each side folding into the next.
"Yeah," Lisa said. "What now?"
"All you have to do is follow my instructions, pretty girl." Nadia's voice took on a different tone, low and flowing and seductive. It was really nice and relaxing to listen to, Lisa thought. She'd definitely get her to use that voice some more later on. It sent pleasant tingles right through her. "Follow my instructions, and concentrate on my voice. Concentrate only on my voice. Just let the music and all the other sounds recede into the background. That's it, exactly like that. Good."
Lisa was surprised at how easy it was completely focus in on Nadia's voice, until it seemed like it was the only sound in the world. Maybe she was more drunk than she'd thought.
"Now, turn your attention to my pendant. Right here, between my tits. It's OK, you can stare at them. I don't mind one bit." Lisa was too zoned out to feel any embarrassment this time. "But keep your eyes on my pendant. See how it turns in on itself, over and over and over again. Do you see?"
"I see," Lisa murmured.
"Good. Now keep watching." Nadia raised her hand and used a single finger to flick her pendant. That set the pendant spinning, rotating on the fixture that connected it to the chain. Lisa watched, enraptured, as it kept turning and turning, not seeming to slow down at all. It was mesmerising, Lisa thought. "Keep watching, as it spins. See how the light glints off it. Now I need you to watch even closer. Keep concentrating on my voice. Follow my instructions. I want you to look deeper, deep into the loops of my pendant, and see if you can find where they start. Or where they end, for that matter. Beginnings and endings are often one and the same, don't you think?"
"Yes?" Truthfully, Lisa was in no state of mind to properly think about such a question. But she could try and do as she was told, try and find where the pendant loops began. It was really hard, though, with the pendant spinning the way it was. Lisa couldn't keep track of any single point on it. Her eyes just sort of glazed over, and it got harder and harder for her to concentrate. Whenever she thought she was starting to hone in on a single loop, the light glinted off it's shiny surface in some new way, distracting her. If only pendant would stop spinning for just a moment. But it wouldn't.
"It's hard, isn't it?" Nadia asked. Lisa nodded absently. "But there's a trick to it. You see, you have to just really relax. Relax, like you're going to sleep. But instead of closing your eyes, just let them slip out of focus. My subjects always find that when they let their eyes unfocus, they can see something special right in the heart of the pendant. The place where it all starts and ends. Can you see it, pretty girl?"
"Maybe..." Now that Nadia mentioned it, now that she knew what to do, she was starting to see something within the entrancing loops and folds of the pendant. It was like a dazzling pinprick of light. No, it was a dark void. Definitely a void. Blacker than black. Nadia was still droning on, but Lisa couldn't really hear her voice any more. There was only the void. It seemed to her like the void was getting closer and closer to her, bigger and bigger, even though she was sure the pendant wasn't moving. Lisa was confused, but she was also pleased. Maybe if the void got closer, she'd be able to see where the pendant started. That must be it. This must be that trick Nadia had told her about. Lisa felt really happy at the prospect of being to fulfil Nadia's instructions. She just had to concentrate a little more on her words, and let her eyes slip even further out of focus. Just like falling asleep. It was so close now. So close...
"And... drop," Nadia said. At that, Lisa's mind simply shut off. The usual mixture of random thoughts and observations that constantly bubbled up in her consciousness simply wasn't there. She could still see the room around her and hear everything that was going on, but it all took on a distant, dreamlike quality. Yet when Nadia spoke, her sensual voice cut pierced right through her daze like the voice of a goddess.
"You're in a trance now," Nadia told her. "Do you understand that, pretty girl?"
"Yes," said Lisa, in a slow monotone.
"Excellent. Now, tell me who you are."
"I'm Lisa," Lisa intoned. "I'm a happy, bubbly party girl. I love to dress up sexy and get buzzed and go wild at parties, and hook up with other girls." She had no idea why those exact words came to her, but they came to her very distinctly. It was like they were imprinted on her mind. They were the absolute core of her identity, Lisa felt. They were who she was, summed up perfectly.
"I know," Nadia replied. "But tell me, pretty girl. Is that who you really are?"
"I... I don't..."
"Remember for me, pretty girl," Nadia said softly, powerfully. "Remember who you really are."
At those words, the whole world changed.
Lydia... or was it Lisa? No, definitely Lydia. Lydia felt the whole world become a indistinct blur, and when it reappeared it was all different. Then she realised it was actually exactly the same. Only she was different.
"I'm... Lydia?" she asked, uncertainly. She pulled her arms around herself instinctively. She didn't like parties like this. They were too noisy, and there were always too many people.
"That's right, pretty girl," said Nadia with a grin. Lydia blushed furiously at being called 'pretty.' She wasn't used to that. She wasn't used to any of this.
She never came to parties. Staying in her room and playing some video games was her idea of a great Friday night. But her roommates had finally worn her down and made her promise to come to a house party with them. Of course, they'd all vanished the moment they'd stepped inside, leaving Lydia hovering at the edge of the room, uncomfortably checking her smartphone for notifications over and over again. She'd been just about to leave when this amazing, beautiful woman—Nadia—had walked right up to her and started chatting her up. She'd felt just like a deer in headlights. She had no idea how to respond to Nadia's aggressive flirtations. Mostly, she just blushed and stared at her own feet, or at anywhere except Nadia's gorgeous body. She'd liked it, though. There was something intoxicating about Nadia's presence and attention, and before long Lydia had been happily hanging on her every word.
Then, Nadia had pointed out that she didn't look very comfortable at the party, and asked if she wanted to try something that might help her have a fun time. At first Lydia had refused, thinking she was talking about some kind of party drug. But then Nadia had explained that she was a hypnotist, and that she could probably hypnotise Lydia into feeling more relaxed and uninhibited, like the bubbly party girls she always envied. Lydia had been a little sceptical, but she found it impossible to say 'no' to Nadia. Then, Nadia started talking to her in that amazing, smooth voice, and made her stare at her mesmerising pendant, and then...
That had been hours ago, Lydia realised with a start. What had Nadia done to her? She was starting to remember. Nadia had made her forget everything about herself, even her own name. Then, she'd built her a whole new personality. Lisa, the confident party girl. And as Lisa, she'd danced the night away with complete abandon. Lydia turned crimson as she remembered the way she'd been grinding up against a couple of guys earlier. Had that really been her?
"Remember now?" Nadia prompted.
"I... think so," Lydia managed. She was still feeling a little disoriented. "Did all that really happen? Was that really me?"
