Dina could barely sleep that night, her mind flooded by an onslaught of contradictory feelings and emotions brought about by Meredith’s words. What were the triggers she had mentioned and could she trust her memories at all or not? As she rolled in bed, eyes half-closed, colorful images flashed in quick succession, each one representing a moment she had spent in a trance.

She remembered the first attempts as if they had happened the day before, little perception games designed to alter her view of the world. Shortly after putting her under for the first time, Meredith convinced her that the letter ‘e’ had ceased to exist. She couldn’t see it or write it and even the words that came out of her mouth became something else.

“Dina? How are you feeling, sweetie?” Meredith had asked.

“I’m grat, thank you.”

“Wonderful. I need to ask you a couple of questions and you are to give me a straight answer, okay? What’s my name?”

“Mrdith.”

“Could you repeat that, please?”

“Mrdith. Your nam is Mrdith.”

“Very good, dear. Do you know how old you are?”

“Of cours. I’m nintn.”

“You sure are,” Meredith chuckled.

One other time, temperature had been involved. Meredith had finished reading an article about heightened sensation play and wanted to try it out with her.

“Come on, that’s never going to work,” Dina said.

“Are you sure, Miss nintn?”

“That was a fluke. It shouldn’t have worked.”

“But it did. That lovely mind of yours can do wonders and I want to be there for every single one of them. Now, why don’t you relax for me?”

Dina was sitting on her bed, arms to the side, and down to her laced bra and panties when the first ice cube slid down her legs and ankles. It burned. Tiny little blisters formed on the surface of the skin as the melting chunk continued its descent, disappearing as quickly as they appeared after the liquid trail was gone. It was virtually impossible and yet that’s what made it so amazing.

“You really are something else, hun,” Meredith said, pressing a lit cigarette against the palm of her left hand. “What are you feeling now?”

“It’s cold.”

“Cold? Really?”

“Yeah. Why do you look so shocked?”

“It’s nothing,” Meredith removed the still-burning cancer stick and smiled at the immaculate skin underneath. After waking up, Dina refused to accept it had happened, yet the pictures didn’t lie. She still had copies of them inside an old album in the living room.

Dozens of other scenarios played inside her brain, some more complete than others yet all filled with breathtaking possibilities. It was fun to break the rules and sometimes even the limits of her personality but that was when she was young and her imagination knew no bounds. Nostalgia aside, would she still enjoy having her thoughts warped?

“Only one way to find out...” she muttered as tiredness finally persuaded her to close her eyes. If Meredith hadn’t lost her touch, then there was still hope.

* * *

The last hours before the next call were even more frantic. Dina spent the whole afternoon yawning, tears rolling down her tired eyes. Even more leftovers of past indiscretions took hold of her mind like the time she had been compelled to kiss the college mascot whenever he said the word ‘go’ or having to drink a shot of tequila at the first sign of arousal. Both weekends had been humiliating yet exciting and if there were even more locked in the depths of her memory, well...

“I need to know,” she concluded. Whatever Meredith had planned for that day, it had to end with a real trip down the forgotten past. Beyond the threshold of amnesia lay a vast labyrinth whose paths required closure. Without it, even the greatest of thrills would feel like a sham.

At the appointed hour, she was as ready as she could be, liquid courage by her side and a hopeful smile on her lips and the surprises began as soon as Meredith answered.

Her friend had moved the laptop elsewhere, a basement or perhaps a dark storage room. There was practically no light except that of four candles arranged in a semi-circle behind her. Meredith was wearing a black laced top and a velvet cape with red trimming wrapped around her neck. The heavy make-up around her eyes had a hint of supernatural about it, it too a memory from yonder days.

“Hello, dear,” Meredith looked past the screen and straight into Dina’s eyes, the flickering candlelight producing a spectacle of living shadows on her cheeks. “Eager for what’s to follow?”

“You can say that, but what’s up with the change of scenery and that outfit? It’s all a little dramatic, don’t you think?” Dina asked, sipping her lemon gin.

“Change is important. You don’t like it? I figured it would be a good way to jog your memory.”

“You’ve worn this before?”

“Something similar, yes. It was on the last Halloween before graduation when you were considering...”

“... moving together if we could find an affordable place in the city,” Dina said, a spark of recognition on her half-open smile. “That was it, right?”

“Yes. Do you remember what you wore when we had that conversation?”

“Hmm... was it the slutty Red Riding Hood costume?”

“None other, and you looked ravishing in it.”

“No, I didn’t! It was as ridiculous as it gets. I can’t believe I ever wore something like that.”

“There’s nothing ridiculous about expressing oneself. It wasn’t a bad choice then, and it certainly isn’t a bad choice now. Do me a favor and think. Think about what you were really feeling when we sat down to talk about what the future could bring for the both of us.”

“What does that have to do with what united us here today.”

“You’ll see if you’ll be so kind as to indulge me. Do it, Dina. What was your true self back then?”

“Hopeful, I guess. Still filled with beautiful dreams and ambitions I believed could come true. A chapter of our lives was over but a new one was getting started and I knew you were there for me no matter what. Still, I loved everything we had accomplished so much that I didn’t want it to be over. I think what I’m trying to say is that all things considered, it was all so bittersweet.”

“Sweeter than bitter or the other way around?”

“Hard to tell. Right now, I’m leaning on the sweet side but if you ask me again tomorrow, I’ll probably say something else.”

“Do you know why that is?”

“What?”

“Do you understand why your perception of a moment can be so different from one day to the next when the moment itself is invariable?”

“Because I’m in a different state of mind and the mind affects the memory, of course.”

“It does more than affect it. It creates it. Who we are is always a product of these creations that happen all the time within our psyche. Our Self is a construct to which we ascribe a sense of permanence but there’s nothing permanent about it. It is as fluid as the ocean, with its waves and currents that never, ever stop. This is something we like to forget, but not today. Today, is all about remembering, isn’t it? The question is: will memory ever be enough?”

“What do you mean?”

“You asked for us to have some fun for old times’ sake, but those times are never coming back. Everything we say or do evokes a moment, a fragment of the whole, but never the real deal. If the past could live again it would no longer be the past and we would all be stuck in it forever, so all we keep are these pieces, shards of things we loved and try to hold on to even if their purpose has long expired.”

“The way you’re talking right now, you’re almost making it seem all memories are bad.”

“They’re not unless that’s all we live for. When that happens, memories become the most dangerous thing in the world because they stop us from being everything we can be. I love everything we’ve done in those days but I’m glad our story moved past them because it only makes this moment stronger.”

“I’m confused,” Dina blinked, the light of the candles blinking with her. “Why are you making me remember the past, then?”

“Because memories stimulate imagination and imagination is and will always be the key to hypnosis. I needed your mind to wander long enough to realize that, but also to resist the idea of comparisons. What happened then will not happen now and even if it did, it would never be exactly like that. We’re different people now and trance states will invariably be different, too. In fact, I dare say that the only thing that hasn’t changed in all these years is your ability to go deeper and deeper with each word. Look into my eyes and listen to my voice. The moment is right for everything you want and hope and I’m happy you’ve chosen me to be your guide once again.”

“What do I need to do?” Dina laid down the bottle, fingers interlocked over the keyboard as she gazed at the undulating shadows phasing in and out of existence in her friend’s penetrating stare.

“What you do best, which is simply to accept the truth. You are always entranced before you know it and you always sink further when you start to realize it. An eager mind is easier to play with because it already craves the drop and just like a candle can burn out or be snuffed out to embrace the darkness, so do your thoughts when I trigger them like this...”

Meredith glanced behind her back to blow out one candle, the orange and yellow threads of light in the darkened room now cascading on the other side of her face. Dina shivered as the sound of her friend’s voice traveled through the laptop’s speakers and danced in her ears, her perfumed breath cradling her into a deeper state of wonderment.

“Listen and fall... fall and listen... People say that our greatest ability is that of thought but we both know better. Right or wrong, anyone can think, but only those that acknowledge when the moment has come to relinquish such notions, find true satisfaction. Let your thoughts burn and vanish into smoke, not to honor the past, not for old times’ sake, but to free yourself. Be at peace and one with pleasure as you go even deeper for me now.”

Meredith blew another candle, and the balance between light and dark shattered once more. Her visage was now a shaded effigy, punctuated only by her eyes.

“Falling yet again, listening to what you’ve always known to be correct. It is not right to say we had the best of times when all that’s good is happening right now. This is the most perfect world there is, one where even from a distance, you can hear my voice swirling in your mind and pulling you down, down, down... embracing the ecstasy as it starts at the tip of your toes, crawls up your legs and kisses your lips... This is what I’m giving you today, so take it.

“Remember all the memories we shared, all pleasurable representations of our past life, and imagine them flowing into your pussy. Every good thought, every dreamy sensation just piling and bubbling there... It’s like a fire spreading through a forest, unbridled, untamed, a force so powerful that will consume everything in its path. You are burning with it, the pleasure and pain so deeply intertwined that block away everything else. You can’t think, only give in. You can’t talk, only moan. There’s no need for complex language when all that you desire by a simple ‘yes’. Yes to the freedom of letting yourself go completely for me. Yes to the promise that after the first orgasm, another will follow, and another, and another... Yes to only saying yes to pleasure and nothing more.”

Meredith blew the third candle and Dina’s snatch erupted like an underground volcano finally allowed to scorch the surface. She fell to her knees by the laptop, fingers pushing at the labia with sinful intent.

“Ah...” she gasped, eyes rolling to the back of her head.

“And now, you’re finally ready,” Meredith concluded. “When the last candle goes out, so will any doubt lingering inside you. You need not think to achieve true happiness and memory will only take you as far as you let it. Live in the present and shoot for the future. I’m always here for you and I’ll always give you what you need. This is my surprise, and I hope you cherish it. See you when you wake up.”

Meredith snuffed out the last candle and darkness conquered all. Dina plummeted into the abyss of eternal delight, a place of marvel from which she would only leave when the sun rose again.

On the other end of the world, Meredith couldn’t be happier. She still had it in her but one revival would not suffice. They would have to play again and after such a riveting performance she knew for sure it would happen soon.

The End