Ally, back in her typical day-off comfort clothes and hair freshly dyed, speed walked toward her dorm's staircase to head down to the first floor. As much as she wanted to continue her streak of confidence she enjoyed yesterday, something was keeping her down today.

 

"Please tell me she paid it yesterday," she pleaded to herself.

 

She pulled her keys from her pocket - a little too quickly - scratching uncomfortably against her skin. Wincing, she inserted the key into the lock and twisted. Carelessly tossing aside the flyers, coupons, and other unwanted, undesired material, she found an envelope with her school's emblem in the upper left corner.

 

Ally pushed down the all too familiar chest pains as she tore the envelope open, pulling the letter out. 

 

She didn't get much farther than the words LAST NOTICE and 48 HOURS before she realized the painful truth: "I have to see her. I have to go home..."

 

 

 

After a long train ride, Ally's train finally pulled into the station. Letting the other passengers disembark first, she hopped off the train car and power walked her way north. Looking around, she realized that almost nothing had changed since she'd left home. Every house, every street, every tree looked exactly the way she remembered it. As she walked past the neighbours' home, she even heard the familiar bark of Cedric, the family's Burmese who, if you'll forgive the pun, was all bark and no bite.

 

As she saw the old house, it, too, looked exactly as she remembered it: whitewashed siding, bright red front door, immaculate lawn, and perennials planted in the gardens. As she walked up the front lawn, she saw her mother's hybrid parked in the driveway.

 

"At least I won't have to wait - I can just get it over with," she thought to herself as she let herself in through the front door.

 

As she opened the door, the scent of the air felt immediately recognizable: she knew the combination of Mr Clean, cat dander, and cigarettes anywhere...

 

"Hello...? Mom?" She called out, taking her shoes off, straining her ears to listen for any response as she did, but heard nothing.

 

Ally headed into the kitchen and found only Rosella, her mother's marmalade cat. Rosella looked up, disturbed out of her nap by Ally's sudden intrusion, and immediately sauntered to Ally in search of head pats.

 

"At least someone misses me," Ally thought to herself, scratching behind Rosella's ear.

 

Ally reached behind Rosella, helping herself to a banana hanging from the hook on the fruit bowl. As she stood there, banana in hand, staring at Rosella, she gasped as she found herself diving head first into flashback country...

 

 

 

Ally remembered being back in the kitchen, helping herself to a banana and petting Rosella before sneaking up to her room. Hangout time with her friends ran a bit late, and she didn't want to incur Cruella's wrath. As she crept toward the stairs, she heard an unfamiliar voice in the sitting room.

 

"I'm afraid it isn't good, ma'am," the stranger said, as Ally tiptoed her way into the pantry, leaving the door open a crack - not enough for them to notice her, but enough for her to eavesdrop unnoticed. "Your husband has been delinquent in payments, and previous attempts to discuss the matter with him have ended... poorly."

 

"Yes, my husband is going through a rough patch right now," Alicia said, solemnly, as she came to sit down opposite her guest, setting down a sterling silver tray holding a teapot, two teacups, cream, and sugar.

 

"We all have our rough patches, ma'am - "

 

"Please, call me Alicia."

 

"... Alicia, but people, even those with addiction issues, have to repay their debts in this world."

 

"Yes, and we're going to," Alicia replied. "It's just so hard, you know? When I try to deal with my husband, his mood seems to go up... and down..." she said, holding out her left hand, index and middle fingers extended, moving her hand up and down in time with her speech. "When his mood goes up, things get easier. I feel good, and I can talk about things. Then things go down," she continued, moving her fingers down in time, "and the fatigue sets in again. Every up and down just feels so draining... am I making any sense?"

 

"Yes, it certainly does," the stranger said, posture softening a little as he watched Alicia's fingers.

 

"What is going on?" Ally wondered to herself, watching intently.

 

"Yes, and every time the up comes around, I think things are getting better, only for the down to inevitably follow," she continued. Ally saw her mother still moving her two fingers up and down out of the corner of her eye, but that was secondary to the look on the man's face: his body had grown still, he had forgotten about his tea, and his gaze seemed to focus only on her mother's hand...

 

Ally turned her attention to her mother, who seemed oddly focused on the guest's face. More than that, though, her own gaze seemed... calculating...?

 

"Up... and down..." Alicia said, seamlessly moving her hand along with her continued speech. "And you know the feelings I'm talking about, don't you?"

 

"Yes," her guest said, his voice a little softer.

 

"Yes, of course you do, and since you're such a capable, intelligent person, you can easily understand what I'm saying, even feel what I'm describing, can't you?"

 

"Yes..."

 

Ally, meanwhile, kept her own breath as quiet and shallow as she could, unable to tear her gaze away. What was going on? Did she drug him? Is her mother some kind of witch?

 

"Yes, of course you can," Alicia continued, nodding her head as she kept leading him along. "You can feel your eyelids get a little heavier every time my fingers go down, every time I say the word 'down'. Your eyelids get heavier, and the fatigue spreads through the rest of your body as well..."

 

Ally watched, fascinated and in awe, as the man's shoulders slowly began to slouch. His breathing had become slow and shallow, and his part in the conversation seemed to reduce to just answering her mother's questions.

 

"Yes, that's right," Alicia said, goading him along. "And as I count down from three to one, you're going to feel those feelings intensify. The fatigue will grow stronger and stronger, until you just... sink... down... down..."

 

The man just nodded in response as his eyes seemed to grow even more blank than before.

 

"Three... feeling so tired now, George. Two... it feels so good to sink... One... drop."

 

Ally's eyes slammed closed as her kneeling body leaned into the wall next to her, suddenly relying on the wall for support. As her head landed against the drywall with an extremely soft thud, the realization of what had just happened caused her to gasp slightly and awaken again.

 

"Whoa! What the fuck was that?!" Ally thought, righting herself as quietly as she could.

 

Unbeknownst to Ally, Alicia's head cocked slightly at the soft sound in the otherwise quiet house, pausing a moment before continuing.

 

"That's right, George, embracing these feelings as you focus on the sound of my voice. You like feeling this way, don't you?"

 

George, slumped over, chin resting on his chest, nodded his head slightly.

 

"Yes, you like feeling this way, and you're feeling this way because you've focused on my words and followed along with what I have to say. So it only follows that it feels good to do as I say, doesn't it?"

 

"... yes," George mumbled.

 

"What the what?!!" Ally was completely beside herself. "What the fuck is going on right now? Has she done this before? Does she do this to me?!"

 

"Yes, that's right. It feels good to do as I say. Kiss me."

 

"Yes," George replied as Alicia leaned forward and met him most of the way. George leaned in, eyes still closed, tilted his head to the side, and gave Alicia a soft, tender kiss.

 

Ally's eyes flew open as she watched her mother openly kiss another man. "No words... just, no words..."

 

Alicia kept the barrage of suggestions coming, having George kiss her again and again. She even allowed herself the occasional caress of his chest as he did, exploring his surprisingly muscular body...

 

"Do you like my scent, George?"

 

"... Yes," he replied, each reply coming slower than the one before.

 

"Yes, you do. Would you like some more, George?"

 

George nodded again.

 

"Good boy," she said, unbuttoning her blouse, revealing her lacy powder blue bra.

 

She gently placed her hand behind George's head and slowly, tenderly lowered him toward her chest, letting him drink in her scent.

 

Ally's brain, meanwhile, had completely short-circuited. All she could do was watch, silent, dumbfounded, doing her best to process the scene unfolding before her.

 

After a few minutes of marking him with her scent, Alicia pulled George's head away and returned his body to its previous position.

 

"Now, George, you love nothing more than feeling good from doing as I say, yes?"

 

George nodded again.

 

"So when I ask you to do something, you would find a way to do it, wouldn't you?"

 

Another nod.

 

"Then George, when you go back to work today, I want you to find a way to make that debt disappear. You can do that, can't you?"

 

George's brow furrowed as he tried to internalize the suggestion.

 

"You can find a way, sweetie. No one needs to know. You're so smart and capable, I just know you can find a way to make this go away, can't you? Think back to all the problems you've solved in your life. This one seems so simple and manageable by comparison. See the solution come to life in your mind, now. You have a way to make that debt disappear. You can stop dealing with my husband's... episodes, and you can get your bosses off your back. It'll feel so, so good to do this, won't it?"

 

George paused for a long moment before giving another nod.

 

"Good, good boy. Now, when you wake up, you're going to leave and go back to work. Once you step out the front door, you will remember only having a positive experience in this house and having a productive discussion towards the debt being repaid. You can forget to remember being hypnotized, or you can remember to forget, whichever you like."

 

"Hypnotized?!!!" Ally's jaw dropped to the floor, unable to shut her mouth again for a few seconds. "My mother's a hypnotist..."

 

"And 1, coming up slowly. 2, feeling great. 3, wide awake."

 

George took a deep breath as he opened his eyes.

 

"Thank you so much for coming down here. Do you have any other questions for me?" Alicia asked as she took George's teacup, placing it back on the silver tray.

 

"Uh... no. No, I don't think so," George replied, clearly looking confused. "I think I have everything I need, Alicia. We know where to find each other if there's anything else, but I think I have everything I need."

 

"That's great!" Alicia exclaimed as she stood up and shook George's hand.

 

"Fuck!" Ally thought to herself as she gasped, suddenly feeling incredibly exposed from this angle. She knew it was already too late to get out of dodge.

 

 

She looked around frantically, and spied a 15kg bag of rice near the back of the pantry. As quietly as she could, she crept her way behind it and huddled down.

 

Seemingly safe for the moment, she focused on the sounds around her. Distantly, she heard her mother say goodbye to George at the front door, and closed it.

 

"It's almost too easy," Ally heard Alicia comment to herself. "Some people are just too weak to resist."

 

"Now, let's see about dinner," Alicia said under her breath.

 

"Shit!" Ally thought, trying to make herself crouch even smaller.

 

Light flooded into the pantry as Alicia swung the door open, retrieving a jar of tomato sauce from the closest shelf. Alicia looked at the shelves installed into the door and picked up a package of pasta before moving to close the door. As she closed the door, she stopped for a moment, looking at the door quizzically, before closing it completely.

 

Ally, who had been holding her breath since her mother had opened the door, realized she was still doing so and slowly exhaled...

 

"Thank fucking God... I just have to bide my time, now..."

 

 

 

Ally stood in the kitchen, panting, eyes wide open as the memory came back to her.

 

"Wh-wh-what the hell was that...?" she said aloud. Thankfully, only Rosella was there to hear her.

 

"So, mother is a hypnotist... Well, if she can do it, then why not me...?"

 

Ally, having temporarily forgotten why she came home in the first place, checked her phone.

 

 

Grabbing her shoes, Ally darted for the door and ran as fast as she could for the train station...