“Nope. That’s completely impossible,” Felicia stated stubbornly.
    “Well come on, how else do you explain it?” She and Beth had been going at it for a good ten minutes now, while Ariel simply sat shell shocked on the couch.
    “There’s no way we were hypnotized by some cheesy movie.” She was refusing to give up the voice of reason, even though it didn’t provide any explanations either. But Felicia was damned if she would give in to Beth’s crazy conspiracy idea.
    “Look at the evidence! We watch a movie about some hot chick hypnotizing a girl, then next thing we know we all wake up from fingering ourselves.”
    “That doesn’t mean we did it because some movie villain told us to. It could have been…” And Felicia stalled again, same as every time she tried to think of any rational explanation. “Well there’s no way it was a movie.”
    “What else was there? What was different about tonight other than the movie?”
    “The party!” Felicia cried triumphantly, thankful to finally have something to latch on to. “Maybe someone slipped something in our drinks.”
    “All of our drinks?” Beth replied sarcastically.
    “And it must have made us black out.”
    “Then I suppose this new magic roofie is also able to make girls helplessly masturbate.”
    Felicia fumed, shouting “I don’t know, I’m not familiar with all the drugs out there.”
    “The only drugs I had tonight were the ones I swallowed myself, and I’m telling you that wasn’t a drug trip. Just look at the damn couch, we soaked it through!” Pointing at the three dark stains on the couch Beth accidentally pointed at Ariel, making the quiet girl jump in surprise. Felicia and Beth had gotten so wrapped up in their argument that they’d almost completely forgotten about her.
    “Ariel! You can sort this out.” Felicia sat beside her on the couch, careful to avoid the damp spot she was pretty sure she’d been responsible for. “This is your favorite movie, right?”
    Ariel barely made a noise, simply nodding her head.
    “So you’ve probably watched it a couple of times, right?”
    Again, that barely noticeable nod. Felicia smirked at Beth, as though this testimony was completely damning. “So you see the movie couldn’t have hypnotized us since she’s watched it so much and Ariel’s never been hypnotized before.” Felicia turned to her roommate for support, but instead saw guilt and shame plastered on the quiet girls face. Somehow the troubled look sent cold shivers through her.
    “Well, it’s not like I remember being hypnotized,” Ariel began slowly. “But…but I don’t remember the end of the movie either.” She gave the other girls a pleading look, as if she couldn’t figure out how to translate how scared she felt. “Like, I don’t know what happens at all. I’ve watched this movie literally dozens of times and I always fall asleep halfway through. Right about when… ‘She’ shows up.”
    Beth and Felicia started without realizing, shivering at the memory of those deep glorious eyes. 
     “O-okay,” Felicia replied floundering. “It’s late at night, so we’re all tired. And certainly pretty tipsy. And Beth was popping pills like they were tic-tac’s!” Beth shot her a sour glance. “No offense. The point is none of us are really awake mentally. So if some cheesy hypnosis spiral came on the screen maybe it just made us all fall asleep.” Fidgeting with her hands. “Maybe.”
    “That part I can buy,” Beth said carefully. “But that doesn’t explained why we all stripped off our pants and played with ourselves. That seems like something we’d wake up for, you know?”
    “Um, about that.” Felicia and Beth whirled on the shy girl, her cheeks getting redder as they stared. “When I started watching the movie as a teenager, I had never… done that before. But I guess there was something about,” she almost said ‘Goddess’ aloud, pleasant tingles filling her as she thought it. “Something about the villain, or what she says to her I guess. But whenever I watched the movie I’d always wake up cumming really hard, playing with myself the whole time.”
    Her two friends were stunned. Aside from casual mentions of wanting a boyfriend they’d almost been convinced that Ariel was a nun in disguise. “And ever since then whenever I start to do it, sometimes she’ll pop up in my head and everything kinda fades away and I’ll just play with myself for hours, cumming over and over again.” As if she suddenly realized what she’d admitted Ariel blushed again, hiding her face by staring down at her feet.
    “So wait, every weekend when you’re busy studying you’re really…” Felicia stumbled trying to think of a polite way to ask it.
    “Flicking the bean?” Beth chimed in helpfully.
    “Um, yeah. Sometimes.”
    “Wow,” Felicia was having trouble processing this. It was like catching an asexual robot watching porn, although this cut a lot deeper than that. Her roommate was not only hypnotized by some crappy old movie but apparently it had been happening to her for years and no one noticed? Felicia felt guilt wash over her, wondering why she’d never noticed. All that time Ariel was locked away in her room and she’d simply chalked it up to being shy, or if Felicia was honest with herself, assuming the girl was too stuck up to hang out with her. But how many hours had Ariel spent mindless and masturbating to this old movie, and she’d done nothing to help?
    “Ariel, I’m so sorry. We’ve been living together for three months and I had no idea anything like this was happening to you.” Her friend seemed to cheer up a little, happy to have someone to go through this with. Of course it was even more devastating given that Ariel had only discovered this problem of hers by dragging her friends into it.
    “Honestly I’m just impressed you can keep going for a couple of hours at a time,” Beth joked, trying to lighten the mood. “You should probably invest in a vibrator and save yourself the sore wrists.”
    “I have one actually,” Ariel surprised herself by saying. Being able to talk about stuff like this after being closed off for so long, she had to admit it felt a little liberating.
    “Okay let’s not get off track,” said Felicia, once more in charge. “So Ariel, aside from some amnesia while you masturbate or watch the movie, have you ever noticed any other strange behavior this might have brought on?”
    Wracking her brain Ariel honestly couldn’t come up with anything. But even if she had been programmed in some way how would she know? She’d only just realized that losing hours at a time while masturbating to a poster of the snake goddess was something to worry about. What other parts of her life that she took as completely normal might really be the result of her brainwashing.
    Seeing the struggle on her face Felicia realized all this, trying to think of anything she could recall from the movie that would help. It’s not like the movie would stop to brainwash people on purpose, as far as she was able to tell the film rolled on unaware that its audience was hypnotized. Of course she didn’t have a way of knowing that for sure since she’d been knocked out too.
    Clapping her hands suddenly Felicia was determined to settle this by putting her biology major to work. “Alright then, we handle this like professional scientists. All we have to do is recreate the situation and see what happens.”
    Beth and Ariel shared a sceptic glance. “So you want to let us wind up hypnotized again?”
    “No, I’m saying we try to determine what might have caused us to think we went into a,” she struggled not to say the word, “An entranced state. All we have to do is watch the movie again.” Felicia instantly saw the way the other girls inhaled deeply, heart accelerating at the thought of seeing that beautiful actress again. It was hard for her to miss since she had the same instant reaction of longing. 
    “But if we do that,” Ariel spoke quietly, scared, “Then you girls will just end up in trance again. I don’t want to pull you into this anymore. Let me deal with this on my own.”
    Felicia put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure? We’re here for you if you need.”
    “No, that’s alright. I’ll watch the movie alone and you two watch me to see what I do.” Maybe they’ll be able to find out what she said in trance, or what the Snake Goddess tells her while she’s under. Find out if, and this is the part that scared her more than anything, if she’d been ordered to show her friends the movie and make them like her.
    After a few minutes to set up they’d drag the TV over to the couch so it was practically on Ariel’s lap, and heavy duty pair of headphones strapped to her head. They’d decided it was best to be careful, make sure that Felicia and Beth weren’t able to see or her the movie at all. So it would just be Ariel who was affected. As the VHS tape was rewound they’d considered starting right at the brainwashing scene, but Felicia refused to hear it.
    “For all we know the movie could be doing this on purpose, so it might be laid into the rest of the film. So to be sure we’re gonna sit right here and go through it right.”
    So Beth and Felicia stuffed themselves into the uncomfortable folding chairs usually reserved for when the couch was at maximum capacity, leaving Ariel to have the still damp couch all to herself. The lights had been shut off, the shifting shades of gray light shining over the shy girl as the movie began.
    Twenty minutes later Beth was scrolling through her phone while Felicia forced her eyes to stay open and stay watching Ariel. The girl certainly looked tired and bored, but that was probably because it was around three in the morning. Beth stretched beside her, muttering.
    “Christ I thought watching the movie had been boring but staring at someone watching it is even worse.”
    “Shh, you’ll distract her.”
    “She can’t hear me. Besides, we don’t even know if this will work or what we’re looking for.”
    Felicia hated to admit it but she had a point. Simply because Ariel claimed that the movie always hypnotized her wasn’t a guarantee it would work now. Maybe with Ariel aware of what had been happening to her she’d be able to fight it, stop herself from going under. Part of Felicia wanted that, to let her friend be free and happy. But beneath that was the fear and confusion about what the movie had done that to her and she wanted to study what the film was capable of. Suddenly Ariel sat up straight, catching their attention. Her eyes were still glued to the screen but she spoke loudly, trying to talk over the noise from the headphones.
    “She’s here. The snake goddess just appeared on screen.” Beth put away her phone, Felicia leaning forward to watch with interest. “She’s talking to the heroine, just kind of going on. God she’s really beautiful,” Ariel said blushing. She’d wanted to hide it but even if Ariel had to keep staring at the screen she knew her friends were there watching over her and that they should hear everything.
    “Alright she’s staring into the heroine’s eyes, the spiral is starting to play on the screen. I-I think I’m starting to feel something, like my thoughts are starting to get…slippery. It’s harder to think, but I’m going to try and focus on…oh.”
    Felicia and Beth both gasped with surprise as Ariel’s face completely dropped, becoming a blank emotionless mask as easily as if a flip was switched. “What the hell happened to her?”
    Ariel’s eyes were glassy, mouth hanging open as she simply watched the screen. But as if she were still trapped inside, trying to help, Ariel slowly spoke to explain what had made her drop so instantly, fighting to get the words out so her friends might be able to help. “My goddess… said her servants should…. go into trance for her.”
    Felicia was amazed, seeing the effects of the hypnosis first hand. There really was no denying it now: A film character from the fifties actually brainwashed her friend into being an obedient slave. Beside her Beth was muttering in a scared voice, trying to come to grips with what she was seeing. “Her goddess said…”
    “Her servants should go into trance for her,” Felicia finished, trying to process the meaning of those words. Had Ariel been brainwashed so deeply that just a simple request like that was a command impossible to dismiss? Was it able to put her into trance without her watching the movie? The possibilities were crushing in around her, the terrifying reality of mind control setting in.
    “Goddess said her servants should go into trance for her,” Beth muttered again slowly.
    Felicia nodded while reaching for a notebook, hoping to take down some notes on what happened. But as her mind processed Felicia stopped herself, turning concerned to her friend. There was Beth on the folding chair behind her, face full of struggle. She was trying hard, with everything she had, but slowly Felicia watched the light drain away from her eyes with every word.
    “Goddess…said her…servants…should go into…trance….”
    Now the full meaning of the words hit her, and Felicia felt an impossible lead weight descending on her mind, the powerful urge to simply let herself sleep and be blank and happy. “Shit, she didn’t specify,” Felicia muttered, clamping her fists tight to stay awake.
    She’d only seen the film once after all. All she’d done was play with herself along with the other girls. That didn’t make her a servant. But then why did she want to sink into trance for her G- the actress, Felicia quickly corrected.
    “I must obey your words,” Ariel suddenly declared, catching the shaking Felicia’s attention. Even the dazed and empty Beth perked her head up, watching Ariel. “Your will compels me to obey.”
    Felicia cursed under her breath, the words seeming to slip deep into her mind, echoing over and over again but only growing in strength. Even if she couldn’t hear the snake queen herself, she knew Ariel must be repeating her commands, her words, and her body was aching to surrender to them.
    “I must obey your words,” rang through her head again, making Felicia moan in frustration as she pounded her knees to stay focused. But then she realized that wasn’t Ariel’s voice or even hers that had spoken. She turned to the side and saw Beth staring at Ariel, drool beginning to trace down her open lips. She spoke slowly, drugged. “Your will compels me to obey.”
    Felicia could feel the will of the Snake Goddess crashing over her, even second hand like this it was undeniable. And she certainly felt compelled to obey. Heart hammering with adrenaline from fear, while at the same time she felt her head going numb, slow and drugged, wanting to sleep for her…her...
    “Mistress,” Felicia said in surprise. Because fighting the control, trying to resist, she was able to remember what came next. She knew exactly what Ariel was about to say, and it terrified her.
    “Yes Mistress,” Ariel said without emotion, but Felicia was almost sure she could make out a smile on the blank face. “I am your slave now.” Even knowing what was about to happen Felicia was still struggling to fight against the seductive words crashing in, afraid to even move and risk losing her concentration. So she had no choice but to stare ahead and watch as her friend stood up, headphone cable dangling off of her as she reached back and undid her dress. It dropped without ceremony, the blank girl kicking it away before reaching her fingers into her thong to remove it as well.
    Unable to stand anymore Felicia turned away, forgetting that Beth was right beside her. She was standing now too, smiling blankly, unzipping her pants. “Yes Mistress,” she purred happily, slipping off her jeans. “I am your slave now.”
    Felicia was mouthing out the words along with her, clapping a hand over a mouth in horror. She’d said it, hadn’t been able to stop herself. But that’s just because her friend had repeated it, that didn’t mean she’d made a pledge. Did it? Felicia tried to check her whirling thoughts, trying to see if she felt like a slave, but she couldn’t tell. How were you supposed to know?
    Beth’s shirt went flying overhead, Felicia turning in time to see her unhooking her bra. Well that was one symptom, slaves apparently wanted to be naked. A breathy moan washed over them, Ariel’s fingers finding their way into her slick pussy lips. And slaves wanted to fuck themselves, imagining their Mistress before them and being able to caress that perfect body, sinking to their knees to worship her divine pussy.
    Felicia shuddered, terrified. Ariel hadn’t said anything about that. So far Beth was copying the brainwashed girl exactly, and Felicia was compelled to do the same. But Ariel hadn’t mentioned any fantasies about pleasing her yet. Which means…
    The fantasy was something Felicia wanted instead. She shook her head wildly to remove the thoughts, the fantasies starting to leak in, but they remained fixed and rooted. She knew she wasn’t a lesbian. But something about the beautiful woman, her voluptuous body making her feel hot and weak, her cunt getting wetter simply at the thought of being before her. Even staring at Beth’s naked body as she walked to the couch and sat down besides Ariel, nude and playing with herself, Felicia moaned with desire. She’d never thought of her friends sexually, but here they were masturbating together, entirely brainwashed to obey. The thought of that kind of impossible power taking control of her friends, of her, it was…was…
    “So fucking hot,” Felicia moaned, unable to hold back anymore. She could actually feel her thoughts collapsing in on themselves, ready to make her mind hollow and empty, prepared for her mistress to fill it again with her commands. Her body was screaming for attention, fingers wanting to pump at herself in unison with her friends. All of them trapped together, completely lost. Felicia knew she couldn’t fight it anymore.
    Instead she leapt to her feet and snatched up the power cable for the TV. She was about to yank it out of the wall, shut off the Snake Goddess and free her friends before they could be brainwashed anymore. She’d practically be like the hero, rescuing them from mindless pleasure. They’ll be so happy when they wake up, Felicia thought as she turned to pull the cable free. But she froze, unable to stop herself as a new thought washed over her mind like freezing water.
    What if they didn’t wake up? It had taken the hero in the movie to end the spell and wake them up before, and if she took away the Goddess they wouldn’t be able to watch that scene. Would Felicia be able to coax them awake on her own, or would they just stare blankly ahead, masturbating at the blank screen as they still envisioned their Mistress singing sweet words of submission to them? And if she had to keep staring at her friends, teasing their breasts and fingers pumping slowly, mindlessly into their cunts. Felicia grunted in need, a hand snaking into her pants and unable to stop. Because she knew if she turned and saw them still in trance, she’d sink down with them. Empty, helpless.
    She wasn’t able to see the Snake Goddess and she was still a slave to her power. Her fingers circling her clit, the other hand still gripping the power cable she turned away, trying to make the mortal decision of which hand to follow. Risk ending it and leaving her friends trapped? Or give in and let the movie play out. They’d only be fucking themselves like slaves for another forty minutes or so until the movie was over, that wouldn’t be so bad. Hips bucking Felicia realized that sounded amazing.
    But what would the Goddess put in her head while she was sleeping? She and Beth had only seen the film once and they’d been hopelessly put under her power, unable to resist. When did I let myself think this was hopeless, Felicia thought with fear. If she gave in again, would she able to fight it next time? Would she want to?
    Felicia stared into the darkness around her and suddenly caught sight of herself in a painting hung over the couch, her reflection in the glass black and white from the light of the movie. Her face was contorted in effort, but slowly smoothing out, almost ready to surrender. She still had the power cable coiled in her left hand, she could still silence the villain trying to control her. But Felicia was staring at the image of her right hand stuffed into her pants, could see the fabric moving in time with her pumping fingers.
    And as her eyes drifted lower, Felicia realized she’d made a horrible mistake. When they’d set up the TV in front of Ariel, she’d made sure to check there were no reflections or any way for them to get a glimpse of Her. Just in case. But she’d already been sitting for that, and now Felicia stared into the painting and saw only a flickering bar of white, the top edge of the television screen reflected. Unable to stop herself she took a step forward, stopped only by the tug of the cable. The cable was taught in her hand, another step and she’d pull it right out of the wall. She’d forgotten she was holding it, so lost in her desire to see her Mistress.
    “Mistress,” Felicia moaned, letting the cable drop to the floor. She took a step forward, standing directly behind the television, staring ahead into the reflection of herself masturbating, face rapidly growing blank and smooth. Finally she looked down, ready to stare into the eyes of her mistress and surrender. But instead all the reflected screen revealed was a jungle in black and white, a small boat running lazily down the river.
    Felicia laughed, sliding her hand out of her pants and trying to ignore how wet her fingers had become. “I was really about to do it,” she said in relief, thankful to be able to think again. It was as if the very jolt of not getting to see the snake goddess was enough to snap her out of it, though she still felt woozy. “Well at least now I can-”
    Then she filled the screen, smiling malevolently as she plotted what to do with the intruders on the boat. Felicia stared with rapt devotion as her Mistress spoke, unable to hear the words but not caring. The headphones were still plugged in, but she knew Mistress didn’t mind. That inner hissing voice spoke to her emptying mind, telling her precisely what she must do. Felicia stared up into the reflection, seeing herself, smiling as she stripped off her shirt.
    “Yes Mistress,” Felicia hissed to herself, overcome with joy as she unhooked the bra and revealed her breasts. She hoped they pleased her Goddess. She waited until she’d unzip her pants and pulled them down along with her soaked underwear. She gazed at her naked body, knowing her Mistress, her Goddess, could watch in the reflection. And proudly she declared “I am your slave now, my Goddess. My body is yours to own.”
    Her mind was lost in trance, her body moving on its own to sit on the couch along with the other slaves. She grinned at the sight of her Mistress again, sliding her fingers back into her pussy and timing them to move as her Mistress spoke, quickly cumming. Felicia stuck out her tongue and flicked it, dreaming of being able to pleasure her Mistress, return the bliss that she gave her. With her sister slaves on the couch she felt owned, perfected. Felicia had never felt so perfect in her life. And mindlessly the three slaves pleasured themselves to worship their Goddess for the next forty three minutes, until the third act brought the hero to save them and wake them up from the spell.

    ~ ~ ~

    A few hurried minutes of drying themselves off and dressing again, the girls met up again back in the main room. The VHS tape was pulled out of the player and sitting over on the kitchen counter where they wouldn’t be tempted to play it again. But it was clear looking at the strain on each other’s faces that they were all thinking of running over there and snatching up the poisonous taste, wanting to subject them to the mindless pleasure again. And whichever one of them broke first and did it, the other two knew they would be grateful.
    Felicia clapped her hands loudly, as much to shake herself out of it as the other girls. “We’ve got classes in three hours now, so even if none of us get any sleep we can’t afford to lose any more time.”
    Ariel and Beth seemed to nod in agreement, if sadly.
    “Well rewatching the film was a terrible idea,” Beth muttered, even as a sultry voice hissed in her ear that it had been an excellent idea, her nipples hardening as she trembled in delight.
    “Not necessarily. I managed to fight it long enough to see a bit of what happened.” Before I mindlessly masturbated to the Goddess, Felicia managed to stop herself from saying it but not from thinking it.
     “So let’s take another approach. Alright Ariel, let’s say that the snake queen appeared right now in this room.” She tried to ignore the way her eyes seemed to grow brighter at the idea. “And she asks you to help her take over the world. What do you say?”
    “Anything for you Goddess, I’m yours to command.”
    All three girls went speechless, Ariel even slapping her hands over her mouth. She certainly hadn’t meant to say that. Humiliation was crawling over her slowly, her friends no doubt aware of how weird she really was now.
    But the truth was Beth and Felicia were frozen still for a completely different reason. As soon as they’d heard Ariel’s pledge of devotion they were each hit with an identical yearning, some hidden part of themselves calling out to join her. So strong and commanding it had taken everything they had not to give in to it.
    “I didn’t really mean,” Ariel began before cutting off, brow furrowing in thought. “What I meant to say was...” but again she trailed off. Eyes widening in surprise Ariel turned to her friends. “I- I meant it completely. Like, I know I shouldn’t, but I honestly would do anything she might command me to do. Help her overthrow the government, or the U.N. I guess since it’s the world, but I’d do it without hesitation.”
    Recovering from their own reactions the two girls could only nod in understanding. They felt the insane urge to do the same but managed to overcome it with common sense. But then they’d only seen the film twice. If Ariel had really watched it thirty or forty times, then there was probably no hope of her resisting it.
    “Well, aside from committing treason for a film character, anything else stick out at you?”
    Ariel thought about it, and her face suddenly darkened. “Eliminate Ace Dart so he can’t foil Mistresses plans.” She returned to normal surprised at herself again.
    “Um, Beth, could you just check the internet and see if-”
    “Already on the film’s page,” Beth replied while tapping away at the phone. “Seems like the guy who played the actor died fifteen years ago. I mean he was seventy six then so it’s not surprising.”
    Felicia gave a sigh of relief. “No offense, Ariel. Just didn’t want you to pull some weird Catcher in the Rye type stuff.”
    “Don’t worry, I feel a lot better knowing that too.”
    Beth suddenly cut in, saying “And it looks like the girl who played the queen passed away too, only a couple of years ago.” The grief that flashed over Ariel’s face was all too painful to watch, mostly because the same sting of loss hit them. God how deep did this hypnosis stuff sink? “It’s alright Ariel. Says here she was eighty three, had a huge happy family and passed away in her sleep.”
    Ariel did feel better, crazy as it sounded. The woman wasn’t her mistress, was only the actress who played her, but it was relieving to know she’d lived a long happy life.
    “Well, I guess that settles things a bit,” Felicia stated triumphantly.
    “What do you mean?” asked Beth. “We didn’t really do anything.”
    “We don’t have to, not now anyway. There’s no chance the real snake goddess is going to show up, so we don’t have to be afraid of someone ordering Ariel around like a slave. Which means there’s not really any danger.” As a thought suddenly struck her Felicia turned to Ariel. “You didn’t feel compelled to show us the film, right? Like the villain didn’t have any orders about spreading her influence or anything, right?”
    “Not that I can think of,” she answered honestly. “I was just feeling tipsy and was trying to think of a film we could all watch for fun. And well I always enjoyed that one, though I suppose now I know why I love it so much.”
    “Well at least there’s no master scheme at work,” Beth replied happily. “That could have made things complicated.”
    Ariel nodded, honestly grateful that all of this had happened. Now that she was aware of this weird condition all she could do was imagine the terrible ways it might have been revealed, making her a complete freak on campus. But Beth and Felicia had helped her through it and made her feel safe. She felt bad they’d apparently been hit by it too, but it was clearly only temporary. And now that she knew maybe she would be able to fight it, though truth be told she’d come to love those relieving hours of mindlessly playing with herself. Not like it would really be hurting anyone if she continued, Ariel thought as her cheeks turned red.
    “So I’m going to head out. We’ve got classes in three hours, but I’m pretty sure nothing will be able to top this today.”
    “Yeah, I’ve certainly had my fill of excitement,” Felicia agreed. “Ariel, are you doing alright? If you want I could stay up with you.”
    “No, honestly I’m fine,” Ariel replied, smiling earnestly. “It might take some work but I’m not nearly as freaked out now that we’ve worked some of it out. But I think it’s safe to say we’re probably not going to be watching this again for movie night.”
    Felicia and Beth shared a quick glance, almost psychically knowing that they both had the strange alien urge to protest, that watching the film again sounded like the best idea in the world. Of course, it was easy enough to fight down and Beth figured that it would pass in a couple of days. Hugging them goodbye, not to mention offering to cover her share of the laundering fee for the damp couch, Beth left back to her own room.
    Felicia waited until she was sure Ariel was okay, the formerly shy girl laughing and assuring her that she really was fine. Somehow she could sense that the whole experience would help bring her out of her shell more, no longer compelled to spend her time alone masturbating to some decades old movie villainess. Felicia shut her door, finally letting the worry show on her face.
    It simply wasn’t possible, and despite everything she couldn’t really bring herself to believe it. Sure, they’d all experienced it. Twice, as she had to admit, but still there had to be some other explanation. If a movie had come out that was really capable of hypnotizing people how had no one noticed? Did it bomb so badly in theaters that not a single person watched it out of morbid curiosity? 
    No, there had to be something else to it. Some explanation for what had happened to all three of them, what had been happening to Ariel for years. Felicia glanced down and studied the VHS tape in her hands with the same caution and amazement as if it were a tiny flying saucer. There had to be a way of explaining what happened to her, Felicia settling the matter in her mind. Ariel and Beth would be fine on their own, they didn’t have to know anything. But Felicia was determined to figure out the mystery of the tape no matter what it took.
    She’d simply have to run some more experiments.