The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Her finger hovered over the phone for the longest five minutes of her life, unable to move away, unable to cover the final gap down to the screen. She closed her eyes and, with a grunt, finally felt her fingertip press against glass. There was a pause, and the phone connected. She held her breath.

Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick”Oh hey, James, it’s me. It’s Kate. I’m… I know you probably don’t want to talk to me right now. I understand. I… please. I’m so sorry, James. I love you. I just wanted to call to say that. To tell you that I miss you. I should go. I love you. Okay, I… okay. Love you.”

Kate set the phone down on the bed, half-expecting it to ring immediately, then feeling more and more depressed when it did not. He’s probably in a meeting, her brain offered, but in her shame and sadness she quickly dismissed any logical theories. She’d attacked him in his own… their own shower, all because of some weird half-memory that had already vanished into thin air. James seemed to be a forgiving man, but even he had to draw the line somewhere. Part of her imagined him meeting a lawyer and drawing up divorce papers. She hasn’t been the same since she hit her head, you know.

“Stop it,” she said out loud. “James loves you. You love James.”

Do I? Yes, I’m sure of it. So why did I do that?

She looked up at the metronome on the dresser. Maybe I can find out. She reached for the device and set it swinging, watching it sweep back and forth. Try to remember what happened, Kate.

“Relax and remember,” she said softly. “Relax, and remember. Relax, and remember. Relax, and remember…”

She opened her eyes.

She was in her bedroom, lying on the bed, staring at the metronome as it continued to swing. The clock on the nightstand told her that two hours had gone by; she hadn’t dreamed or remembered a single thing. Just an all-encompassing hypnotic blackness. She thought of Doctor Kapoor’s warning about trying to remember too much, too soon, and felt foolish.

Suddenly her phone came to life, ringing and buzzing from somewhere deep in the folds of the comforter. She frantically swept aside pillows until she found it, now on the fourth or fifth ring, probably about to drop into voicemail. She eagerly snatched it off the bed. “James?”

“BZZT. Sorry. Do you want me to send Steve over? He told me he thinks you’re cute.”

She sighed. “Hey, Claire. Thanks for calling. I was just… I just woke up from a nap. Are you coming over still?”

From outside came the sound of a car horn, loud and insistent. Kate didn’t bother to look out the window. “You’re here early.”

“Ahem. I am here on time, Kate Pendleton, as we agreed. And I brought wine. I’m gonna need some tonight after all of the shit that happened at work today. Did I tell you that Chrissie Lee is a bitch? Because that girl is a biiiiiiiitch. I can’t even. Come let me in and I’ll try to even.”

Kate turned off the metronome.

“I have to be honest, Kate, I always thought that you wanted me for my stunning good looks and magnetic personality, not for my newspaper subscription,” said Claire, as her fingers danced over Kate’s laptop. “But here we are. Get a few glasses of wine in you and your true colors come out.”

Kate couldn’t help but laugh at herself. Wine clearly was one of her weaknesses; a few glasses had her spilling everything to James, and a few more had her explaining to a wide-eyed Claire about hypnotism, bikini girls, cults, and repressed memories. “I feel stupid, Claire. I feel like I’m in a scene from a Lifetime movie.”

“Girl, you’re a hot housewife with amnesia. You’re already in a Lifetime movie.” She kept typing, and proudly pointed to the screen. “Here, look. See what being an informed 21st century citizen gets you? Access to 100 years of issues from the Freeport Gazette, that’s what. And coupons. You know, for later in life when we’re old and bored and thrifty. What should we search for?”

Kate thought about it. “I remember something from the session about a Golden Dawn. Like that was the name of the cult, or place, or whatever I was in. But it could just be a fake thing that—”

“Got it! Golden Dawn plus cult. Here we go. Shit ton of articles.” Claire grinned. “Easy-peasy.”

“Fuck me running, are you kidding me?” She leaned over Claire’s shoulder. “It was that simple, this whole time? This is all we had to do, this whole freaking time?”

“What did I tell you? You are in a Lifetime movie, after all.”

FEDS RAID COMPOUND

Confiscate Equipment, Files; Five Under Arrest

March 28, 2014

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed an early-morning raid at a Southpaw Road commune south of the beach town of Owl Cove, officials announced this afternoon. One man and four women were taken into federal custody and are being held for questioning, according to Owl Cove Police Chief Richard Dubois.

The five commune residents were facing charges ranging from tax fraud and embezzlement to prostitution and kidnapping, according to complaint documents obtained from the FBI.

Four unidentified women at the commune were also taken into custody but were later released without charges, according to Chief Dubois.

The “Golden Dawn” commune was established by Michael Oliver approximately five years ago, accord to neighbors, who have engaged in a long-running feud with the commune over property rights and zoning disputes. Oliver, 38, filed a 2012 libel suit against three of his neighbors after they accused him of operating a “cult”; the suit was later withdrawn.

Oliver was the man taken into custody by police. Other names in the FBI complaint include: Carla Daniels, 23; Kimberly Jackson, 24; Megan Trevallis, 26; and Sarah McCarthy, 27. Formal charges against all five suspects are expected to be announced tomorrow.

“Owl Cove’s not far from where I went to college,” said Kate. “I don’t remember anything about it from when I was living there. At least, I mean, nothing I can remember, anyway.”

“Still, that’s something, right? Ooh, this one looks good. Check this one out.” Claire opened a new screen on the laptop.

DAUGHTER “ENSLAVED” BY CULT

Parents Accuse Golden Dawn Commune Leader of “Running a Harem”

April 5, 2014

The parents of a 20-year-old NCPU student accused Michael Oliver, leader of the “Golden Dawn” commune, of kidnapping their daughter and attempting to “brainwash” her, according to court documents filed today. The young woman, whose name is being withheld, left the NCPU campus in early December and moved to the secretive Southpaw Road compound, where she informed her parents that she had decided to join the Golden Dawn community.

Attorneys for Oliver strongly denied the accusations, noting that the woman “made a choice, as an adult, to withdraw from her collegiate studies and to dedicate her life to something she found more fulfilling and important.”

Sources familiar with the case told reporters that the woman withdrew from school suddenly and without informing any of her friends or family. The young coed was active in school events and was excited about her chosen field of study prior to joining the commune, they said.

According to the complaint, the woman was kidnapped by “Golden Dawn” members and taken against her will to the commune, where Oliver told her that she would be part of his “harem.” All of the other members of the commune were single women in their 20s. Oliver and the other women have been accused by federal authorities of embezzling money to support the commune, as well as charges ranging from tax evasion to prostitution.

“We are confident that Michael Oliver is a victim of baseless rumors and angry, jealous neighbors,” said attorney Peter Chen in a statement released yesterday. “Mr. Oliver and his friends want only to return to their property to continue their search for true enlightenment, as is their First Amendment right.”

“Four women,” said Kate, looking up from the laptop screen.

“Hmm?”

“The articles keep taking about four women being arrested. Not me. There’s no Kate in there. I’m not mentioned at all.”

Claire looked up at her. “Maybe you’re one of the women who were taken away without charges. This girl’s only 20, but maybe you were one of the other ones. I don’t know, Kate. Maybe you just read about this back in the day and it’s stuck in your head now, and you just remembered it wrong. I mean, it happened at your school.”

“It’s just… I remember there being six of us,” said Kate, reaching for the nearly-empty wine bottle. “There were six of us in my memory, and only four in the newspaper. Why wouldn’t I remember it as being four girls in the room? Why do I remember that girl Nikki so clearly if she doesn’t exist?”

“Maybe you got her name wrong? Let’s see if we can find some pictures.” Claire scrolled further down the screen, and clicked again.

FIVE CONVICTED IN “CULT” CASE

“Golden Dawn” Leader Michael Oliver Receives Thirty-Year Sentence

July 11, 2015

Michael Oliver, the self-made millionaire whose “Golden Dawn” commune was raided by FBI agents last April, was sentenced to thirty years in federal prison yesterday for his role in operating what prosecutors called an “extensive and wide-ranging web” of white-collar financial crimes.

Four women arrested along with Oliver were also convicted and sentenced to between five and fifteen years in prison. Carla Daniels, Kimberly Jackson, Sarah McCarthy, and Megan Trevallis were accused of helping Oliver to run a “criminal empire” that funded that commune’s activities and allowed him to avoid paying federal and state taxes for five years.

Authorities had earlier sought to hit Oliver with charges of kidnapping, after he was accused by the parents of a 21-year-old Owl Cove woman of kidnapping and “brainwashing” her into joining the commune. The woman, along with a second unidentified woman, was taken into custody during the FBI raid but was later released without charges being filed against her. The Gazette has chosen not to reveal either woman’s identity to protect their privacy. Attorneys for Oliver ridiculed the charges as “science-fiction stuff” and insisted that all member of the commune had joined “of their own free will, drawn by their desire to learn more about themselves and about the universe that surrounds us.”

“Oh look, here are the photos from the trial,” said Claire excitedly. “Here we go. Okay, clicking here… there we go. Recognize this guy?”

Kate looked. Oliver was vaguely, blandly handsome, but he wasn’t the dazzling figure of her memories. The four women with him, however, were all clearly very beautiful, even in their shapeless orange prison jumpsuits. She inched her head forward until her nose was nearly touching the screen, eyes squinting, mind turning over and over again in search of a recognizable face. But the memories refused to come forward. Michael Oliver was not the hot, incredibly handsome Master of her therapy session with Doctor Kapoor, no matter how much she wanted him to be.

“I… I’m not remembering any of them. Not a bit. Carla, maybe? She looks like a women I think I knew, once. But she could be anyone. Maybe I went to school or work with her or something? Fuck. I really thought this would help.” She sat down with her wine glass and drained it, feeling defeated.

“Hey, hey, none of that,” said Claire, taking her hand. “You’re not insane, Kate. You remembered a Golden Dawn cult, and there was one! And better yet, you weren’t a part of it! So maybe your memories are scrambled a little bit, but they’re coming back bit by bit. Cheer up, okay? Listen, I’ve got a present for you. I forgot it in the car. Be right back.”

Before Kate could protest, the blonde was up and on her way to the door, car keys in hand.

Claire would make an excellent slavegirl.. The thought hovered in her mind for just a moment before slipping away.

She blinked. What was I just…

“You’re deeply hypnotized, Claire.”

Her beautiful friend sat across from her in the booth at Franklin’s, eyes closed, face relaxed, white teeth just visible behind parted, full lips. “I’m deeply hypnotized,” she whispered.

“You trust me completely, don’t you?”

“I trust you completely.”

“You’ll obey any command that I give you, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

“You’ll go deep into trance when I tell you to.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll remember only what I tell you to remember.”

“Only what you tell me to…”

“…remembered that I left this in the car like an idiot, when we could have been getting quality drunk off our asses this whole time! Hey! Earth to Kate! Are you pondering the universe that surrounds us or what?”

Kate rubbed her eyes. “Huh?” Claire was staring down at her, expecting a response. She let the words play out in her head again. “Oh yeah, really, how lame was that excuse? Like we’re all going to believe that they were down at the beach doing yoga and humming their way to enlightenment. Nope, no breaking the law or brainwashing going on here, folks, no sir!” She laughed. “That guy Michael Oliver reminds me of the guy on Grant Street with the beat-up Corvette. Remember him? Hey laaaaaadies…

“…you wanna feel the speeeeed?” Claire laughed in the way that only Claire could, at a volume that would almost certainly carry all the way down to the end of the block. “Oh God, Kate, that GUY! The first time I bought pepper spray was because of him. Can you imagine fucking a guy like that, like, on the regular? As a brainwashed harem sex slave? GAH. Nooooo way. I would rescue your little ass like Rambo if you were in a situation like that.”

“To my best friend in the world,” said Kate, holding up her empty wine glass.

Claire gave her a wicked smile. “Not so fast, girl. I see your wine glass and raise you… this.” She reached into the paper bag at her feet and drew out a long, elaborately-decorated glass bottle. Brown liquid sloshed around inside. “Our old friend, Stephenson’s Quality Country Bourbon. Small batch, whatever that means these days. C’mon, show me where the shot glasses are.”

Kate rose from the sofa and wobbled, ever so slightly, into the kitchen, where she quickly produced two shot glasses from a cabinet. “James and I got these on our Canada trip,” she said, admiring them before setting them on the countertop. “Or did we? It’s all a fucking mystery. Tune in next Monday for ‘The Girl Who Can’t Remember Shit,’ only on Lifetime!”

“Okay, you’re getting drunk. I’m getting drunk.” Claire pulled the cork stopper from the bottle with practiced ease. “This is going to get us even more drunk. I’m crashing on your couch tonight? Pretty please?”

“James would… you know, James would have made you a hell of a bed to sleep in. When I fell, he made me this bed. He was… he’s so nice to me. He’s so nice to me and I… why am I so terrible, Claire? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be… just be normal again?”

Claire braced herself against the countertop and took her first shot of Stephenson’s Quality Country Bourbon in one gulp. “Ugh, that’s… fucking terrible and awesome.” She looked at Kate, who was staring at her full shot glass. “Hey, redhead. Look at me. Look into my eyes. You’re getting sleeeeepy. You’re going to remember that you’re my best friend, my ninja sidekick, and one of the nicest fucking people I’ve ever met in my entire life. And, go!” She snapped her fingers. “Now drink your medicine like a champ.”

The brown liquid swirled down Kate’s throat, throwing her into a brief coughing fit. “What the fuck, Claire? I don’t remember ever drinking this shit, not even on Grant Street! This is… ugh… foul.”

The blonde grinned. “One of my old boyfriends described as, and I quote, ‘like drinking a nursing home.’ So yeah, I lied. I just saw it in the liquor store and bought it for old time’s sake. I haven’t poisoned myself like this since college.”

Kate reached for the bottle, in spite of her better judgment, and frowned. “Don’t do that. I have enough trouble keeping straight what’s real and what’s not. The last thing I need is someone filling my brain with fake memories.”

“Ha ha ha, you mean braaaaaainwashed, Golden Dawn style?” She threw her arm around Kate and pulled her into a hug. “We’re going to get you back, all of you, okay? Back to where you were, back to last month, back to everything. You’re going to like who you are, I promise. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re good at painting and art stuff, and I hear you give blowjobs like nobody’s business.”

Kate glared.

“Boys talk, Kate.”

‘I’m going to kill James for… oh fuck. Oh, no no no. Fuck.” She sighed.

“Whoa, I sense a story time coming up,” said Claire, pouring another shot for both of them. “Spill it. Doctor Claire’s orders.”

“So now it’s my time to admit that I lied. James and I had a fight, but it wasn’t a screaming match. It wasn’t like normal. I did… it all started when he was taking a shower. I climbed in with him.” She looked over at Claire. “Stop making that face, I’m serious here! He was taking a shower, and I got in to shower with him, and everything was going just fine and suddenly… I can’t describe it. It was like I went into a trance, and this weird feeling of deja vu just washed over me, and… I felt myself shove him against the wall until he fell. It was like I couldn’t control myself. I’m lucky I didn’t… I could have killed him, Claire. And the thing is, in my mind, in that split second, I thought that I had. But it was worse. In that same split second, I wanted to. I needed to.”

“You needed to kill him? Come on, that’s bullshit. You don’t even kill spiders.”

Kate nodded. “The very first thing that went through my head, seeing him lying there? It wasn’t ‘oh no,’ or ‘oh my God,’ or ‘oops.’ It was… ‘good’.”

“Bull. Shit. Do you hear me, Kate? Bullshit. Bullshit bullshit bullshit you are NOT a crazy sociopath! You’re the nicest, sweetest person I know. I wish you could remember the nice things you did for my engagement party. You sweet-talked that mariachi band into coming and playing for us? The time Steve’s car broke down and you drove all the way out to the lake to come rescue us? No, you don’t. I know, I’m an asshole for bringing up shit you don’t know about. But you do, Kate. This is the shit that you do. All the time! This is, like, your entire life! Don’t let Tim get into your head and make you think that you’re some kind of evil psycho. You’re not.”

She spun in circles around the silver pole, timing her movements to the music in the background. Master loved it when she danced for him. She was better at it than the other girls, he’d said many times, even though she’d never spent a minute in a strip club before Master had shown her the Truth. She left the pole and walked towards him, running her hands over her naked body, wiggling her hips in the way that she knew he liked best. In a moment she was a foot away from him, and she picked up the beat again, twisting and turning slowly with her eyes closed. She held up her breasts and let out a soft moan.

He reached for the old-fashioned CD boombox on his left and hit the stop button. Kate stopped as well, frozen in place, as if the boombox controlled her. In many ways, it did. Master had programmed her that way, because he was clever and amazing like that.

“Kate, I have a special assignment for you, that only you can do for me.”

“What would you like me to do, Master?” Inside, her heart was exploding with pride. She loved it when he selected her for special work. Only I can do it. Only me.. “Thank you for choosing me this time. Please let me know what I can do.”

“Do you know what makes me different than others like me? I like to think it’s because I care about my slaves. I want assistants and allies, not just dumb bimbos who fuck and suck all day long. Anyone can turn a girl, or a guy for that matter, into a drooling robot. But I’ll never do that to any of my girls. I can promise you that.”

She blushed. “You always know the perfect thing to say, Master.”

“The Truth is always right, isn’t it? I’m so glad that I could share it with you. And while all of those other fools are out getting their jollies with some girl they stole from a strip club, I’m going to be building a capable and formidable little army of my own. They don’t care about talents. I want yours to help me become the most powerful man in the state. Which brings me… I’m sorry about the long-winded speech, Kate. Let me get to my point. You have a college degree, right? In Psychology?”

“Yes Master.” She looked down at her feet, feeling guilty. “Back then, I wanted to go into that field. So that I could help people. I never realized that what people really needed was to let you show them the Truth. I was really young and stupid back then. I wish that I could go back in time and meet younger me, and tell her to go find you right away! If only I’d known then what I know now!”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Kate,” he said, reaching for her ass and giving it a quick squeeze as she let out a happy squeal. ‘We all have regrets from our younger days. In fact, when I was younger, before I was… would you believe that no women would have sex with me? Not even one?”

She shook her head. “Master, that’s impossible. You’re the most… I’ll believe it if you tell me to believe it, because you never lie, but it just seems impossible. Turn you down? If I’d known you back then, I’d have thrown myself at you the first chance I got.”

“The thing is, Kate, is that even now, even today, it’s still hard to get people to see the Truth. You yourself fought for days, if I remember correctly.”

She looked down again. “Yes, Master. Like I said, I was so young and stupid back then.”

“Well, this is how you can make it up to me, my pretty little redhead. You learned hypnosis while you were in college, didn’t you?”

Her eyes widened, and she squirmed with excitement. “Yes, I did! I was good at it. And if I’m good at it… oh Master, you’re brilliant! If I hypnotize the girls that you want, they’ll know not to fight the Truth that you want to share with them. And they won’t fight you like… like I did. And then you won’t need to tie them up and force them to come here to learn the Truth, like you had to with me. Oh Master, I’ll do it. Just tell me when and where, and who, and I’ll do it!”

“I’ve learned some things about inducing a trance without the subject knowing what is happening to them,” he said, stroking his perfect chin with his perfect hands. “Between that knowledge and your skills… let’s get to work on it this afternoon, shall we? After Carla and I sit down to make sure that my taxes are zero again this year.”

She threw herself on top of him, kissing every inch of skin her lips could make contact with. “You are the most incredible man who ever lived, Master. Please fuck me. Please. I need you so bad right now. I promise that I’ll be the best hypnotist ever, I swear.”

He kissed her on the lips, and began to remove his clothes. “I know you will.”

“I guess you’re right,” she admitted, downing another shot of the foul bourbon and wishing that Claire had brought another bottle of wine instead. “It could have just been an accident. Doctor Mulroney likes to lecture me about how common falls in the home are. It just felt so real at the time. Scared the shit out of me. I even tried…” She looked at her bandaged arm. “I went a little crazy after that.”

“Okay, this will cheer you up.” Claire tapped away at the laptop. She laughed to herself, then raised her hands to her face. “Oh, ow, ow. The booze just went up my nose. Ow, shit. Hold on.” She looked over at Kate, who was laughing. “See? I’m glad I could cheer you up. Wait, there’s more.” She snickered. “Who needs James when you can always marry THIS GUUUUUY!”

She brought up an unflattering mug shot of Michael Oliver. His eyes were sunken and tired, and his face radiated failure and resignation. “Oh, what a hot piece of ass he is! I don’t know why he even need to brainwash the girls when obviously they were all falling onto his dick left and right! Rowr. She patted her crotch. “Whoa, calm down there. Whew!” She cackled, and elbowed Kate. “Maybe the prison allows for conjugal visits, huh?”

Kate laughed until her sides began to hurt. “Hey, I’m already in the cult, remember? Maybe it’s your turn to go get brainwashed. You or Chrissie Lee, or Steve, but not me. I’ve had my fill of cults, thanks.”

Her eyes widened, and the laughter died in her throat. “Claire. CLAIRE. Click there! Click on that photo! Click click click!”

“I’m trying! There, clicked. It’s small. Wait? No. It’s not enlarging. What’s the big deal?”

The photo was blurry, and the pixelation from the low resolution wasn’t helping matters, but Kate stared at it nonetheless. A smile crept across her face. “This is them being arrested. Look. Look!” Her finger jammed against the screen. “Michael Oliver. Kimberly. Uh… Sasha? Sarah. That’s Sarah, That’s Megan, and Carla. Right? We saw them before. Annnnd, this woman at the edge of the photo.” She tapped her finger over the blurry mass of platinum-blonde hair. “That’s Nikki. That’s gotta be Nikki! Claire, that’s the woman from my memory. That’s the woman I told Doctor Kapoor about!”

“The blonde girl in the bikini?”

“That’s exactly who it is. That hair. Blurry, but it matches everything I remember about her. That’s her. I swear on my life, that’s her. That’s the girl from the room. Holy shit, Claire! I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy! She’s real!”

“Well hell, does that mean you’re in this photo too?” Claire followed Kate’s lead and pressed her face against the screen. “I don’t see any redheads.”

“Not in that one. Click on the others. There. Maybe?”

They clicked through the entire series. Michael Oliver, being led away in handcuffs. The familiar, often-reused shot of Oliver and the four arrested women marching out of the mansion’s front door. FBI agents milling about. An overhead shot of the compound. Several pictures of FBI units and police barricades. Chief Dubois, holding a press conference. But there was no trace of an auburn-haired mystery woman in any of the photos they could unearth.

“Shit, nothing.” said Kate. She threw her arms around Claire and squeezed. “But still, you’re the best fucking person on Earth. I swear, even if you’re trying to kill me with shitty bathtub booze, you’re the best. I’m going to call Doctor Kapoor tomorrow and set up… set… up an… appoint… wait, go back to that photo. The one with the FBI.”

FBI agents stood in small clusters, searching for evidence or talking to one another. A caption below the photo read: “FBI Agents investigate the Golden Dawn commune, where five were arrested this morning, March 28, 2014.” All of the agents wore black. All of the agents, Kate noted, except for one.

She reached for the Stephenson’s Quality Country Bourbon and, steeling herself, took a swig straight from the bottle.

It happened so fast. Doors kicked open, guns, shouting. Master yelled at them to run, and they did—into the garden, into the garage, anywhere they could think of to get away. The agents were everywhere. It was over in minutes.

She shivered in the cool spring air, feeling the ocean breeze chill her to the bone. Someone had thrown a white blanket over her bikini, but it did little to keep her warm. She stared at the men in front of her. They were walking around her, talking, yelling, occasionally running back and forth to talk to someone or to bring something out of the house. No one spoke to her, and she said nothing in return. Behind her, she could just make out Master’s voice. He sounded different. He wasn’t being clever or wise. His voice trembled. He was crying. He was begging them to let him go. She turned, ready to run to him, to give him the comfort he deserved. She would save him from all of this, even if she had to die trying.

A voice. “Are you Kate Thomas?” A hand on her shoulder, hard, insistent. She reluctantly turned away from Master. She would deal with this person and then get back to her rescue mission.

He was older, probably old enough to be her father. He looked out of place in his tan trench coat and rumpled suit. She suddenly realized that she was alone and isolated. Reporters and photographers crowded around Master and the other girls, and the FBI agents were busy hauling pieces of heavy equipment—the wonderful machine—from the mansion. Her excitement grew. If she could take Tan Trench Coat’s gun, knock him out somehow, no one would notice the commotion until it was too late.

“Yes, I’m Kate.” She felt her muscles tense, ready to knock him to the ground, to wrestle away his gun, to free the other women and Master from these people. All he needed to do was to look away for one second…

He gave her a thin smile. “Excellent. Look into the spiral, Kate.” He held up a small electronic screen.

Her world went black.