Impostor Among Us
Chapter 5
by MagisterAthena
Tags:
#assimilation
#consensual_kink
#consensual_non-consent
#mystery
#no_sex_no_nudity
#realistic
#serial_recruitment
#resistance
Everyone trickled in, gathering around the table, but the Vampire held their tongue until they all arrived. Unsurprisingly, the Conversationalist was the last one to sit down.
“Conversationalist,” started the Vampire, raising an eyebrow, “care to explain why I heard you hypnotising someone?”
“I don’t know who you heard, but it wasn’t me,” the Conversationalist said, looking confused. The Vampire was sure it was an act though — they knew exactly what his hypnotist voice sounded like, and heard the suggestions he was giving.
“Who was I even supposed to be hypnotising anyway?” the Conversationalist asked, and the Vampire noticed a scheming edge to his voice, as he tried to undermine the Vampire. The others didn’t seem to hear it, unfortunately.
The Vampire scowled. “I don’t know — I just heard you giving suggestions through the door.”
“How do we know that you’re not the Impostor? You might just be trying to thin down the innocents,” the Conversationalist fired back, triumphantly. This time though, some of the others looked askance at him — a bit too triumphantly, perhaps.
The Vampire and Conversationalist went back and forth for a while longer, each trying to make their case. Neither of them had any evidence to go off though, so it just boiled down to which of them the others believed.
Eventually, the Mesmerist recognised the conversation was starting to go in circles, and impatiently tapped at the tablet to call a vote. The Vampire voted for the Conversationalist, and moments later the results were in — both remaining innocents voted for the Conversationalist.
The Conversationalist’s phone vibrated, and he grinned and tossed his head. “Nicely argued,” he said to the Vampire, before looking at his phone and slumping down in his chair. After a few moments, he blinked awake, shaking his head as he came up out of trance, eliminated from the game.
The Vampire checked their phone just to be sure, and gave a satisfied nod on seeing: The Conversationalist was An Impostor. The Vampire cast a glance at the three others, wondering which of them the Conversationalist had been giving suggestions to. The original Impostor still had to be lurking around as well, since the game was still going — but it couldn’t last for much longer.
The Vampire wandered around a bit, and ended up in one of the bedrooms, kicking back and taking a moment to lie on the bed. It’s a little tiring, being constantly suspicious like this. It’d probably be easier being an Impostor, not having to be on your guard all the time, just having that blissful certainty of being hypnotised…
The Vampire stared at the ceiling for a few moments, their eyes unfocused. Then they shook their head, clearing their thoughts, and giggled. Come on! Don’t do the Impostors’ work for them, at least make them have to actually hypnotise you!
The Vampire hauled themself off the bed, and headed to the kitchen. They had started making another mug of tea when the Magician came in. The two of them started making their respective drinks, and as the kettle boiled and the coffee machine clunked, they both cast suspicious looks at the other.
“You know,” the Vampire started, “when you were mentioning how hard it would be to pull a pattern interrupt off if you were the Impostor, you focused on the more obvious ones. But there’s quite a lot of ways to do a surprise induction.”
The Magician raised an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a smile. “Still pretty difficult when everyone’s too on guard to touch you.” The Magician shook their head. “Whenever hypnosis is on the table, everyone’s wary of getting close — unless of course, they want to be hypnotised. Given how physical I usually am, it always feels weird.”
Then she turned their gaze on the Vampire inquisitively. “You do seem to be quite focused on putting the blame on me. You sure you haven’t gotten anyone to look deep into your eyes? You’d certainly have an easier time of putting people under than me.”
The Vampire tilted their head, acknowledging the point. “I suppose there’s nothing either of us can do to prove we’re innocent until the very end. Guess we’ll just have to see how it shakes out, eh?”
The two of them finished making their coffee and tea respectively, keeping an eye on each other the whole time. Then their phones buzzed. Another innocent had been converted into an Impostor. Which meant that the Vampire was the last innocent left, and that the Magician and all the others left were Impostors.
The Vampire looked up from their phone to see the Magician wearing a wolfish smile, no longer pretending to be suspicious of them. “Looks like we’re all heading back for another meeting. Good luck to you!” the Magician called out as they left with her coffee.
The Vampire picked up their mug. One way or another, this game’s about to end. They grinned. Let’s go!
The Impostor and the Confuser sat together on a couch in the library, in companionable silence. The Impostor listened for a moment, making sure they couldn’t hear anyone approaching. Then they pulled out their pocket watch, ostensibly checking the time, but making sure it caught the Confuser’s attention.
“It hasn’t really been that long since we started,” the Impostor remarked, carefully watching to see if the Confuser would take the bait.
“Yeah, these rounds have been going pretty quickly.” The Confuser grinned, amused. “Careful with that thing,” xe said, nodding at the pocket watch, “do too much with it, and I might start thinking you’re an Impostor.”
“Oh?” The Impostor raised an eyebrow sardonically, satisfied that the Confuser had given them the excuse. “You mean swinging my pocket watch like this?” they said, bringing their pocket watch just above the Confuser’s eye level and setting it swinging. The intricate bronze detailing caught the Confuser’s gaze for a moment, before xe looked under it, at the Impostor.
“Yeah, like that,” the Confuser said, with a smirk. “You going to try for an induction now? Because that’d be pretty suspicious.”
The Impostor quickly brought a hand up to the Confuser’s chin, grabbing it and tilting xir head up towards their pocket watch. “What do you mean try, my dear Confuser?” the Impostor asked, their voice smooth and assured. The Confuser blinked rapidly in surprise, xir eyes settling back onto the pocket watch automatically.
“Of course,” the Impostor continued, keeping the Confuser’s gaze up at the pocket watch, “you know how powerful a pocket watch can be, infused with all those years of hypnotic tropes and expectations. That’s why you were warning me not to swing it, after all.” The Confuser tried to turn xir eyes away, but the Impostor held firm, and xir struggles soon weakened as xe began to sink into trance.
“You know what happens when a hypnotist swings one, and what happens to the person being hypnotised by it, helpless to look away as it swings back and forth…” The Confuser was looking up at the Impostor’s pocket watch, xir eyelids dipping, automatically following the rhythm of the watch and the Impostor’s induction.
The Impostor felt a broad grin spreading across their face as they watched the Confuser’s mind fading away, undermined by xir own knowledge of how hypnotic a pocket watch could be. The Impostor let go of the Confuser’s chin, and began slowly lowering the pocket watch with each swing, watching the Confuser’s eyes dipping further and further as xe followed it down. Until finally, with a snap and a drop of the pocket watch, the Confuser fell helplessly into trance.
“And now,” the Impostor continued, “join us as yet another Impostor, and get ready to bring the Vampire under our power…”