Countdown
“Next year, I get to pick the party,” she said, playfully swatting at me.
I clutched my arm and pretended to be grievously wounded. “What was wrong with Steve’s party? You had fun, didn’t you?”
“You had a good time, maybe.” She slipped out of her pretty green dress and frowned. “I was bored to tears! Who hires a hypnotist for a New Year’s Eve party? Were the mimes and the circus clowns all booked up for the night?“
“Come on! Monty is Steve’s favorite uncle. He was just trying to help out. Besides, it was funny when he put you....rrrr friend Alexa under and made her think she was a stripper, right?” I bit my tongue. Did she notice? She was programmed not to notice, but that was assuming I wouldn’t make stupid slips of the tongue. If not...
“You’re such a boy,” she laughed, shaking her head. She pulled the clips from her hair, sending long, golden tresses spilling everywhere. “Anyway, thank goodness we got out of there and beat the rush home. What time is it now, anyway?”
“It’s almost midnight. The ball is about to drop.”
“Whaaat? Did you miss the celebration and the noise and the auld lang syne at Steve’s house? It’s like one in the morning or something, you dummy!” Her eyes drifted towards the window. “We’ve already seen the... ball... drop and... happy... new... new...”
I waited a few seconds to make sure the trigger was working. Good old Monty. I should never have doubted him. “Zoe, do you see the ball?”
“Yesss...” Her words were thick and heavy. “I can see it. Sparkly. Beautiful. Can’t look away.”
“That’s right. You can’t look away. And now it’s beginning to drop down, Zoe. Down. Starting at ten. Follow along. It’s almost midnight and we’re counting down from ten. From ten, counting down.”
“Ten.” Her lips remained parted. Her eyes were locked on something that only she could see. “Nine.”
“That’s right, Zoe. Counting down. Down and down. Closer to midnight. Closer to bedtime. Closer to sleep. Counting down, Zoe. Eight. Count with me. Eight.”
“Eight.”
“Dropping down now, dropping lower and lower, deeper and deeper. Heavier and heavier. Your mind is so sleepy. Seven.”
“Seven.”
“So hard to think, Zoe. You don’t need to think. Just count. Down and down. Deeper and deeper. Six.”
“Sssssix.”
“You can’t look away from the pretty, sparkly ball.” The memory of her sinking into trance at Steve’s party, after loudly insisting that she was ‘immune’ to hypnosis, was still fresh in my mind. I undid my belt and pulled down my pants. “Five.”
“Sssoo pretty. Fivvvveee...”
“When the ball reaches one, you will remember how deeply hypnotized you were tonight, and how quickly and easily you slipped back into a mindless trance. A relaxing, wonderful, mindless trance. Completely under my control, deep and completely obedient to my words, deep and relaxed, deep in trance. Four.”
“Four. Deep in trance... obe...dient...”
I pulled off my shirt and tossed it away. “You will do anything I ask. Anything I desire. So, so deep. So sleepy. So mindless. Three.”
“Mindlesssss.... thhhhreeeeee...”
“It’s almost a new year. Almost a new you, Zoe. Mindless and obedient. Obeying my every command. Two.”
“Yes, Master. Two.”
Ooh, where did that come from? “Eyes closed. Deep in trance. Deeply asleep. Deeply hypnotized. One.“
“Uhnnnnn...” Her head dropped to her lovely chest and remained there, rising and falling with each gentle, sleepy breath.
“Can you hear me, Zoe?”
Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, then fell still. “Yes, Master.”
“Are you deeply hypnotized?”
“Yes, Master.”
“For the next year, whether you are in trance or not, you will try your best to do whatever I ask you to do. Nothing will make you happier than obeying my every command.”
“Yes, Master. Your every command.”
“If I ever say the words ‘countdown to one,’ you will instantly drop back into this deep hypnotic trance.”
“When I hear the words ‘countdown to one’... deep hypnotic... trance... yes...”
Her breathing was picking up, and I could see her skin becoming more flushed as she spoke. Monty’s ‘hypnosis is sexy’ suggestion was working perfectly, just as promised. Stand-up guy, that Monty. Zoe was going to enjoy the two nights with him that I’d promised as part of our deal. Not that she would remember any of it, of course. “When I snap my fingers, you will open your eyes, but remain deeply asleep, deep in trance. You will obey my every command. Obey, Zoe. Obey.”
“Obey.”
I snapped my fingers. Her blank, empty face... those beautiful eyes... I nearly lost it right then and there. “Into the bedroom. Take off your clothes. Now. Obey.”
I could just make out a hint of a smile as she walked past me into the bedroom. “Yes, Master.”
The next 366 days were going to be a blast.