Samantha was eager to obey, but she didn’t understand what was happening. Why was Megumi here? What were they doing? She was a good girl, and good girls didn’t resist, but…

Mantra Nine: I trust my Master to know what I need.

Julian had told her to come here. He knew Megumi would be working. Whatever was happening was all according to his will.

 

And that’s all that mattered.

 

The changing room door closed with a loud click behind them. Samantha felt her expression soften into the same blankness that filled Megumi’s empty stare.

 

“Strip, Samantha.” 

 

Samantha had watched Megumi’s lips move, but it was Julian’s voice she heard. Samantha was a brainwashed slave, it was undeniable at this point. She was told to hear Megumi with Julian’s voice and her very perception obeyed.

 

Mechanically, without any of the teasing or longing she might have shown to Mark back when she loved him, Samantha slid off the simple sundress she’d thrown on after Liv interrupted her fun with Mark. Her breasts bounced free without fanfare as Megumi copied her. In perfect synchronization, the two brainwashed girls slid their damp panties to the ground before standing straight and staring through each other.

 

Once again, Megumi’s mouth moved, but it was Julian’s voice Samantha heard.

 

“You are going to make love to Megumi, Samantha. Right here. Right now. She’s going to thank you for what you did for her. For showing her the bliss of an affair.”

 

Samantha felt a drop of lust collecting at her slit. Her arousal was only intensified by the way Megumi was talking. She was merely a mouthpiece for Julian now. Not even a person. 

 

And Samantha was the one who made her that way.

 

God, it turned her on to think about that.

Mantra Twenty-One: Good girls make more good girls.

“Thank you, Master,” Samantha said, not caring if the real Julian could hear her or not. Julian was commanding her, and that was reason enough to thank him.

 

“Good girl,” Julian’s voice spoke one last time through Megumi’s lips as a semblance of expression returned to the woman. Samantha smiled. She was so ready to be thanked. 

 

Annoyingly though, the memory of her promise to Liv briefly returned. A flicker of guilt interrupted this perfect moment. Samantha considered pushing the thought away, but then found a good reason not to.

 

 

She felt her eyes lose focus with that thought. Her lips twisted into a robotic parody of a smile with the next one.

 

 

Megumi’s mouth found hers and she let the scene with Liv play out in her head. Sam, the weapon Samantha used against her family, was hugging her daughter. There were tears in her eyes as she made a promise she knew she could never keep.

“I’ll end things with Julian. Liv, I promise this will never happen again.”

 

Samantha felt her lust drip onto the carpet beneath them. The betrayal was too good. Her tongue danced with Megumi’s in celebration of how far she’d fallen.

 

To her disappointment, Megumi broke the kiss. “One second, Samantha. There’s something I have to do.” She grabbed her phone from her discarded purse and quickly tapped out a message. Samantha merely stared ahead, completely captured by the vision of the beautiful slave in the changing room mirror. 

 

Sam and Samantha used to speak to each other through the mirror. Even after their merging, Samantha used to see echoes of the woman she once was when she saw her reflection.

 

Now, there was just Samantha, Julian’s property, standing naked in a public changing room with another slave. She’d abandoned her husband just to have sex with another slave.

 

All because she was ordered to by someone who didn’t even bother to watch.

Mantra Fifteen: I feel most alive when I am completely owned.

Samantha watched her reflection reach down and start to masturbate. The hypnotized girl looked so beautiful, so sexy. Samantha didn’t see the lines of exhaustion under her eyes or the stretch marks on her belly. She just saw a beautiful mindless slave rubbing her mind away for her master.

Mantra Twenty-Three: Obedience makes women beautiful.

 

Samantha was so enamored with her own hypnotic reflection, so wrapped up in watching her own descent, that it never even occurred to her to wonder who Megumi was texting. 

 

* * *

 

The table vibrated as Madeline’s phone buzzed and chimed. Liv wiped a tear away and took another deep breath as she finished collecting herself. Madeline had been right, the deep breathing had actually done a lot to help her feel better.

 

“Is it okay if I check that?” Madeline asked. Liv smiled and nodded earnestly. Madeline had been so kind to her. It almost made Liv feel selfish. She didn’t need to keep Madeline from anything else.

 

 

Madeline glanced at her phone and seemed to zone out for a second. As quickly as Liv noticed though, Madeline’s eyes refocused. Now seemingly filled with purpose, Madeline smiled and put her phone in her purse.

 

“Sorry about that. Not anything actually important. Back to you now Liv.”

 

Liv swallowed and slowly clapped her hands together under the table. Each hand was squeezing the other with enough force to injure. Only the force pushing back against the other prevented either hand from being crushed. 

 

Liv squeezed harder and harder, as each hand protected itself at the expense of the other.

 

“Liv?”

 

Liv blinked. Then, she slowly released her hands and let feeling return to them. 

 

“I… I want to believe my mom loves my dad. I want to believe that she told the truth, they talked through it and then were…”

 

Madeline smiled softly, “You can stop there. I understand.”

 

Liv looked down at her hands, swollen and indented by her own fingernails.

 

“Is there anything I can actually do, Madeline?”

 

Liv felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Madeline’s misty eyes.

 

“No,” the older woman said earnestly as she stared back at Liv. “No, we can’t control them. Your mom will make her own choices the same way my mom did.” Madeline pulled her arm back to her chest, as if worried she’d cross some boundary.

 

“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, Liv,” Madeline said. “When it happened to me, I felt so alone. I felt like I’d do anything to fill the emptiness in my life. To feel like I had some semblance of control, or at least that my life was under someone’s control.”

 

Madeline’s eyes glazed over for a moment, clearly remembering something too personal to share. 

 

Then, she blinked herself back to reality and several tears fell from her eyes. She reached out, hesitantly, to put her hand on Liv’s.

 

Liv stretched her hand onto the table, accepting the invitation.

 

Madeline smiled, and let herself place her hand on Liv’s.

 

“It’s April, Liv,” Madeline said, clearly wanting to talk about something else, anything else. “Prom must be coming up. Are you going?” Her eyes suddenly lit up. 

 

“Do you have a dress?”

 

Liv smiled, and let Madeline change the subject.

 

“I… I want to go, but the guy I like hasn’t asked.” Liv felt Madeline’s other hand on hers now.

 

“Oh? So there’s a guy you like…” Madeline was smiling coyly now though her hands were just as soothing as ever on Liv’s. “Give me the deets, girl. What’s his name?”

 

Liv smiled. Madeline was trying so hard. It felt… nice to be cared about. Something Liv realized she hadn’t really felt in weeks. Of course her dad cared about her, but he was so busy. And mom…

 

 

“His name’s Jason. We… have a few classes together. We study together sometimes…”

 

Liv smiled, “I would say ‘Don’t tell my mom’, but I actually don’t give a shit if she knows that I go to some guy’s house every once in a while.”

 

Madeline burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Liv. I wouldn’t tell her either way.”

 

As terrible as it felt to say that about her mom, it felt good to laugh with someone. It felt good to trust someone.

 

“So, you think he’s going to ask you?” Liv remembered all the time she’d spent studying with Jason. All the times his face lit up when he’d seen her. How happy he’d been when he got a hundred percent on their second Calculus test. 

 

Liv even remembered how she was the very first person he told.

 

“Yeah,” Liv said, smiling. “I think he will.”

 

 

Madeline stood up.

 

“Then we have to get you a dress. Something that Jason will never forget. There’s this place here called ‘Glimmer and Gown.’ It has all the best stuff. Come on, let’s go find you the dress you’ve always dreamed about.”

 

Liv tried not to think about how much a dress like that would cost. She didn’t dare even consider asking Madeline to help pay for it.

 

“And don’t think I’ll let you pay a dime towards it.”

 

Liv looked up at her new friend. This savior of a mother-figure who’d walked into her life like something out of a fairy tale.

 

This person saw a woman in need, a total stranger, and reached out to help her. This was someone who put everything else on hold to help someone who’d gone through the same pain. 

 

“Madeline, that’s really kind of you, but I can’t–”

 

“Shut it.” Liv felt her mouth snap shut at Madeline’s words. “I can, and I will. I never got to have my own daughter to buy dresses for, so I’m not letting you talk me out of this.”

 

Madeline’s hands suddenly covered her own mouth, as if she’d shared something she never meant to.

 

Liv briefly wondered if there had been someone who helped Madeline just like this, but years ago.

 

“Okay,” Liv said, wiping away a tear she didn’t dare let Madeline see. “Thank you.”

 

Madeline was right. There was nothing Liv could do about the situation at home. For now, at least, she could accept help where it was given. Do something to make her own life happy. Help herself get through this.

 

 

* * *

 

“Mantra Twenty-One: Good girls make more good girls,” Megumi whispered in Samantha’s ear as she rubbed her sister-slave’s pussy.

 

“Good girls… make… more… good girls…” Samantha robotically repeated in between moans.

 

Megumi pressed her fingers ever-so-slightly harder against Samantha’s clit. Samantha couldn’t help but arch her back as she pushed against Megumi’s fingers, secretly hoping they’d slip inside.

 

“Are you close, Samantha?” Megumi’s voice was so sexy. The voice that had begged Samantha not to go through with it. Begged her not to twist Megumi’s mind to cock. The same voice that had cried moments before committing the first act of betrayal against her wife.

 

That voice was guiding Samantha deeper and deeper into submission. All as a thank you for showing her the path of true joy.

 

Samantha couldn’t get enough of it.

 

 

“Not… yet… Megumi… It’s building… but I’m not close…” Samantha felt the warmth of Megumi’s breasts as the woman pressed closer into her. Megumi’s fingers were still rubbing her clit perfectly. Samantha could feel the pressure building inside. The orgasm was approaching. Her legs were spread open just like her mind. Any will to resist was dripping down onto the bench along with her arousal. This felt so good. Samantha never wanted it to end.

 

“That’s right Samantha… You never want this to end…”

Mantra Twenty: Every part of me belongs to him. Forever.

 

“Good girl, Samantha.” The words felt like a lightning bolt that shot through her mind into her pussy and then back again. 

 

Samantha stared in the mirror. She saw herself, dazed and open. She was leaning back and her mouth was saying some unknown mantra as Megumi leaned in and whispered in her ear.

 

But Megumi’s voice wasn’t the one she heard. It was Julian’s again.

 

Samantha didn’t wonder how or why she heard Julian’s voice. She just accepted it.

 

“Do you like this, Samantha?”

 

His voice made her even wetter. Samantha felt herself gush onto Megumi’s fingers. Her master was like a god. Present even when absent. It felt so good to be in his power.

 

“Yes, Master.” Her orgasm was rising. She was so close now. So close, and so excited for whatever it was Julian was about to plant in her mind through Megumi.

 

But before she crested, Megumi lifted her hand away. Samantha breathed heavily as her body ached for more. It was like the orgasm was right there, ready to be unleashed upon her.

 

But Julian didn’t want her to have it, so she would wait patiently.

Mantra Nine: I trust my Master to know what I need.

Megumi stepped back and stood between Samantha and the mirror. Samantha let her hand fall back between her legs. She wouldn’t cum until ordered, but she could still enjoy–

 

“Stop,” Julian’s voice commanded through Megumi.

 

Samantha froze and then slid her arm to her side. She sat on the changing bench like a discarded doll and continued to leak onto the seat.

 

“See me as your master.”

Mantra Seventeen: My thoughts are gifts given to me by my Master.

 

Julian’s form appeared before her. Samantha knew it was the hypnosis. She knew it was her perfectly obedient mind obeying his command. Julian wasn’t really here, he just wanted her to believe she was.

 

And Samantha chose to believe that, despite what she knew. Megumi had disappeared and Julian had taken her place. Any contradictions remaining in her mind were just proof that his power was incomprehensible to her.

 

Samantha could feel the doublethink happening. She felt her mind tearing itself apart as it believed Julian was and was not there simultaneously. She fought as hard as she could to accept the reality she was told. She tried to forget who brought her to the changing room. She tried to rationalize it. Her mind twisted so hard into thought and counter-thought.

 

“Samantha, recite mantra six.”

 

Samantha’s mind emptied. She smiled as she felt the contradiction dissolve away.

“I don’t need to think, I only need to listen.”

 

It didn’t matter how, but she was in the changing room with her master. She had memories of walking in with Megumi, but chose to forget them at this moment.

 

What was so much more important, was hearing whatever her master had to say.

 

* * *

 

It had only taken twenty minutes for Liv to narrow things down to two choices. A sexy, cleavage-displaying red dress that her mom would never approve of, or an ornate baby-blue dress covered with lace and frills that would make her feel like a princess. While the dress itself was something her mother would have taken no issue with, the price tag was a different story.

 

“What matters is whatever dress you feel happiest in,” Madeline said when Liv showed her the two dresses. “Why don’t you try them on and let me see. Then, when I give my honest opinion, you can realize that us older women have no fashion sense and then pick the actually good dress.”

 

Liv smiled again. She’d been smiling a lot with Madeline today.

 

She’d made the right choice in texting her.

 

“Okay, sounds good,” Liv said as she glanced between the two dresses. “Do you know where the dressing room is here?”

 

Madeline nodded and began guiding Liv toward the back. It was quieter in this part of the store, away from the noisy speakers blasting Top 40. As the songs she would surely be dancing to in two weeks faded, Liv felt a sense of unease wash over her. Like everything was a little too perfect.

 

 

Liv and Madeline arrived at a small station at the back of the store. Several dresses were hung on a metal rack. A set of keys were left unattended on the counter.

 

“Isn’t someone supposed to be here?” Liv wondered aloud.

 

Madeline grabbed the key-ring and began walking down the hall to the changing rooms.

 

Liv chased after her, holding the two dresses high up so they wouldn’t drag along the floor.

 

“What’re you doing? We can’t just let ourselves in!”

 

Madeline turned and gave that same motherly smile that had already made Liv feel safe so many times today.

 

“Liv, we’re not stealing anything. I’ll let you into a room and put it right back. There’s no harm at all.”

 

Madeline suddenly reached into her pocket.

 

“Sorry, just let me answer this text real quick.” Madeline pulled out her phone and quickly started typing something.

 

 

Whatever, it didn’t matter. Liv looked around as Madeline texted whoever it was. She was still worried they were going to get in trouble for taking the keys. Yet, there were no employees in sight.

 

As Madeline finished up her text, Liv couldn’t help but wonder,

 

 

* * *

 

Samantha was looking at Megumi, but she saw Julian. He had put her so deep. She wasn’t completely empty, not yet. There was just enough of her left that she’d remember this, but hardly any more than that.

 

“It’s time you heard the truth, Samantha,” Julian said. Samantha loved hearing his voice. She wanted so badly to touch herself just to the sound of his perfect, commanding voice. The voice that reshaped her mind the way she’d always dreamed of.

 

But Julian had ordered her to stop, and obeying felt even better than touching.

Mantra Eleven: Pleasure is obedience. Obedience is pleasure.

“You betrayed me, Samantha.”

 

The words felt like a knife in her heart. Her entranced mind could barely process them. She could barely remember walking into the dressing room, but she forced her mind to move. Tried her best to remember how or when she might have done anything to betray her beloved master.

 

Julian smiled, “Don’t try to think too hard, Samantha. You’re not capable of it right now.”

Samantha’s lips moved automatically. “Mantra Six: I don’t need to think, I only need to listen.”

 

“That’s right, Samantha. You just need to listen.” Julian sat down beside her and started rubbing her pussy. His fingers felt so much better than Megumi’s. It was so strange, because he was touching her the exact same way Megumi did, but knowing it was Julian made all the difference. Samantha let out a deep moan.

 

Julian’s lips glided to her ear. “Quiet Samantha, you don’t want to get caught do you?”

 

“No…” Samantha whispered back.

 

“Samantha, you were my first, and… my favorite.” Samantha dutifully held in her moan. Julian had never praised her like that before. She had been so sure that Madeline was his…

 

“I remember marveling at how beautiful you looked the first time you entered trance. You were so happy, I wanted you to feel that happy all the time. I was going to hypnotize you every day.”

Mantra Five: I want to be hypnotized again. I always want to be hypnotized again.

Samantha didn’t let herself moan. She just took long slow breaths, in and out, as her first love pleasured her in the way only he could.

 

“I was going to prove to you how brainwashed you were. If you just had sex with a woman once, you would have known what I did to you was real.”

 

 

Samantha remembered staring down Madeline’s pussy for the first time. She remembered how good it felt for Sam to finally take that plunge. To admit to herself that she’d do anything to be brainwashed.

 

She remembered how good it felt to twist her own mind into a knot, convincing herself she liked the way Madeline tasted.

 

The way Megumi tasted.

 

Mantra Twenty-Five: The only thing I like more than pussy, is my master’s cock.

“But you took my gift and spat in my face.” 

 

The memories came flooding back. Julian’s apartment. The other girl had said no and Julian had gotten so mad. Sam had only been mad after she woke up. If the other girl had agreed… If Samantha had gone through with it. Would she be like she was now?

 

 

“Good girl.” Julian whispered in her ear. A flicker of confusion appeared in Samantha’s mind.

 

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Julian whispered in her ear, “Because at this point, there’s no difference between my words and your thoughts is there?”

Mantra Seventeen: My thoughts are gifts given to me by my Master.

“Good girl,” Julian whispered again, “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”

 

Samantha desperately nodded as she felt her pleasure rising. His fingers felt so good. She was going to cum soon. But she had to be quiet. He had ordered her to be quiet.

 

“You know I’m not really Julian, right?” 

 

Samantha didn’t respond. She only stared ahead, listening.

 

“You’re so brainwashed, you see him even though you know it’s Megumi talking.” 

 

Samantha turned her head toward Megumi’s face.

 

She only saw Julian.

 

“Good girl. You see what I want you to see.” Samantha felt the bench dampen even more at those words. “But these are all his words. He told me exactly what he wanted you to hear. So don’t worry, you’re obeying your master.”

 

Relief flooded Samantha. She hadn’t been conflicted about obeying Megumi, it had honestly felt perfectly natural. Still, knowing that she was just a mouthpiece reciting Julian’s words…

 

It was somehow comforting.

 

“So hear his words, Samantha.” Julian began rubbing faster. “I will never forgive you for betraying me. You took everything I spent so long building up and ripped it all down.”

 

Samantha was seconds away from cresting and Julian pulled his hand away again.

 

“So I’m going to rip down everything you built up over the last twenty years.”

 

Mark, Liv, and Lucas all flashed in front of Samantha’s eyes.

 

“And you’re going to touch yourself as you watch me do it.”

 

Like an explosion, Sam came roaring back to life in Samantha’s mind. Samantha felt her mind get hijacked by her former self and witnessed scene after scene of tender memories. Her wedding day with Mark, Liv’s third birthday, coming back from the ultrasound and telling Mark he was going to have a boy.

All of these and so much more flooded Samantha’s mind.

 

But Sam still wasn’t in control. Samantha was.

Mantra Twenty-Seven: I never want to be free.

 

And Samantha was a good brainwashed slave.

 

Megumi’s phone buzzed. Julian picked it up and smiled.

 

“Your true punishment begins today, Samantha. You will see what I want you to see, and you will say what I want you to say.”

 

“Yes, Master.” Samantha said as her pussy continued to throb with need. She had been denied so many times. She needed to cum so badly. She was so brainwashed. She was so turned on. She’d do anything to feel this more.

 

“But just so you know, I left just enough of Sam in you to make it hurt.”

 

Samantha could hear Sam’s voice screaming at her. Begging her to stop this. Things had gone so far, but she could still stop. She just had to choose to stop….

 

Samantha slowly closed her eyes and spoke the only mantra she needed right now.

 

“Mantra One: Hypnosis quiets the noise inside me.”

 

Sam’s voice faded from Samantha’s mind.

 

Just because Julian wanted Sam to watch didn’t mean Samantha had to listen. With that distraction gone, Samantha relaxed and opened her mind to whatever Julian wanted to put in it.

 

She was deep in trance, and Julian was telling her so many wonderfully terrible things.

 

Samantha was excited for each and every one of them.

* * *

“Are you sure, Madeline? I swear I heard something,”

 

“I didn’t hear anything, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to check.” Madeline knocked loudly on the door three times.

 

“Excuse me? Anyone in there?”

 

Only silence answered them.

 

“I think we’re good.” Madeline slid the borrowed key into the lock and opened the door.

 

* * *

 

 

Julian was long gone. Only his orders remained echoing in Samantha’s mind as Megumi licked her pussy.

 

 

In her peripheral vision, Samantha could see the silhouette of her daughter.

 

Sam was screaming again. She was horrified. Samantha loved being so brainwashed that even Sam could see what Julian told her to. It turned her on so much to feel Sam be punished in this way.

 

 

Julian could not be resisted. Samantha would never want to resist him. The words came out effortlessly.

 

“God, yes! Just like that, Megumi… Oohh… just like that…” Samantha felt her voice climbing in pitch. She was so close to that orgasm she’d been chasing.

 

 

“Mark could never make me feel this good!”

 

As Samantha’s eyes closed she took one last glance at the girl in the doorway.

 

There she was. Liv, her Liv, was watching.

 

Her own daughter stood horrified.

 

And that’s what pushed Samantha over the edge.

 

Samantha squirted all over Megumi as she screamed. She was allowed to be noisy now. Julian didn’t care what the other employees heard.

 

Her juices ricocheted off Megumi’s face back on her own pussy. The room stank with her lust and Samantha knew she wore the same empty blissful smile as the soaked girl before her.

 

“It’s true… He never… made me feel… so good…” It felt amazing to admit the truth with Liv’s silhouette still in her peripheral vision.

 

Samantha took a slow breath, drinking in the sight of the slave-girl between her legs, glistening with her juice.

 

She wondered what Liv thought of all this.

 

Samantha glanced back over at the door, now swinging wide open. Two dresses lay crumpled on the floor beneath it.

 

“Samantha,” Megumi said in that commanding voice that was so much like Julian’s, “Become blank.”

 

* * *

 

She had no idea how long she was blank. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. It felt so refreshing to come out of trance. Like waking up from an afternoon nap. Samantha focused on the words Megumi was saying.

 

“Go home and wash up. From this point on, you are to do nothing that would lead Mark to suspect an affair.”

 

Samantha nodded and began putting on the lace dress she’d originally meant to try on. As the arousal and thrill of trance faded, she noticed Sam’s presence had become undeniable. With it, a question was pressed into her mind. One that no matter how hard she tried, Samantha couldn’t push away.

 

“Megumi… That wasn’t really Liv, was it?”

 

Megumi grinned. “Of course not, you only saw what our master wanted you to see.”

 

Samantha slipped on her heels and began walking towards the mall entrance, eager to get back to her car. 

 

Despite knowing it had only been a hypnotic hallucination, she couldn’t help but wonder how Liv was doing.

 

* * *

 

Below the mall, in a subterranean garage, Madeline held the crying Liv in her arms.

 

“How can I do this?” Liv lifted her head from Madeline’s tear-soaked shirt. “How am I supposed to deal with this, Madeline?”

 

Liv could see the pain in Madeline’s face. The pain of someone who knew exactly what she had gone through.

 

The pain of someone who knew how much she still had to go through.

 

“Everyone has to find their own way, Liv.” Madeline’s voice was surprisingly calm. 

 

“You are so strong. Please, Madeline. Tell me how you dealt with it.”

 

Madeline’s eyes fell to her purse and she silently nodded.

 

“Okay, I’ll show you what worked for me.”

 

She pulled out a beautiful silver pocket-watch. 

 

“Hypnosis.”

 

Liv blinked away another tear. Trying to make sense of what Madeline was telling her.

 

“If you can take control of your own mind, you can thrive in any circumstance.” She was slowly twisting the chain back and forth, and the silver watch caught the fluorescent lights of the parking garage as she did.

 

It sparkled like the gold coin from Scooby-Doo. Liv looked from the watch back to Madeline’s face and then back to the watch. She couldn’t wrap her head around this.

 

“Are you serious?” Liv asked with obvious skepticism in her voice.

 

“Yes,” Madeline said with clear annoyance in her voice “You asked what I did, this is my answer.” Her eyes were narrowed defensively now, meeting Liv’s stare of disbelief. “I’m not going to be mad if you don’t want to try, but you asked. So at least give me the benefit of the doubt that I’m answering honestly.” 

 

Madeline began trembling as she spoke. Liv was sure she’d just inadvertently made Madeline remember something she didn’t want to.

 

Liv watched as Madeline took a deep breath and mutter something under her breath. Then, the trembling stopped and Madeline smiled calmly. 

 

“I… I’m sorry Madeline. If it worked for you then…”

 

She looked at the watch and then back to Madeline. It all seemed so ridiculous.

 

But at this point, Madeline had earned her trust. Besides her dad, Madeline might be the only adult in the world she could say that about. Liv took a deep breath, barely able to believe what she was about to say.

 

“Please… can you try it on me?”

 

Madeline twisted the chain again, letting the watch catch the light. 

 

“I need to know you’re sure. Tell me you’re sure about this.”

 

Liv swallowed.

 

“I’m sure! Please Madeline, I want you to hypnotize me! Anything to make the pain stop!”

 

Madeline looked at Liv for a moment and nodded. Then she held up the silver pocket-watch and began to swing it back and forth.

 

“Watch it swing and repeat after me.” Liv nodded.

 

“Mantra One: Hypnosis quiets the noise inside me.”

 

Liv let her eyes follow the glittering spinning watch and said the words she was told.

 

“Mantra One: Hypnosis quiets the noise inside me.”