Empty Nesters: Chapter 1 – A deal with the devil
by Hypnofur
Rob Williamson was enjoying his rare Sunday morning alone in his house. The previous night had been Senior Grad night at his daughter’s high school. It was a sort of last hurrah before graduation. His wife, Kathy, had volunteered to be a chaperone, and therefore spent the night at the school gym with the rest of the senior class.
It was a nice little surprise for Rob when he realized this was all happening Saturday morning. Kathy insisted she had told him about it many times, and she probably had. Listening to her was not his forte, a shortcoming which she was always on him about.
So here he was, after a night alone to surf all the websites he had always wanted to check out. He wished he had paid attention when Kathy told him when she was going to be back, but alas, he had missed that too. The two car doors shutting in succession in the driveway alerted him that it was right about now though.
Their daughter, Roberta, came bolting in the house, all in a huff. Kathy came in right after her, equally huffed up. This was not entirely uncommon. Rob quietly logged off and picked up the Sunday paper, trying to make it seem as if that’s what he had been doing.
“I’m so embarrassed I can never go back to school!” Roberta shouted as she ran to her room and slammed the door. This was also not uncommon.
“Robbie, I’m embarrassed too. I’m very sorry, but you have to try to not let it ruin your graduation” Kathy called after her. This was uncommon, and therefore caught Rob’s interest.
“You’re sorry… and embarrassed too? What happened? Oh god Kath, you didn’t try to dance did you?” Rob asked, actually not trying to be funny or antagonistic.
“What? No! There was a… I don’t want to talk about it right now Rob!” Kathy said.
Rob could tell this was not the usual level of female drama that usually filled his house. “Kath, seriously, what happened?” he asked again. She could see the concern on his face, and she knew that she had to come clean at some point.
“I accidently…. Got up on stage.” She said sheepishly.
Rob didn’t follow. “What, to do like a skit or something?”
“No, for the hypnotist!” she said, as she started making lunch. It was only 10:30, but she just wanted to be doing something. Her back was turned to her husband, so she didn’t see him turn completely pale. Had she seen his face, there may have been a 911 call.
“There was a hypnotist?” he choked out.
“Yes Rob, I told you that!” she snapped at him. Rob knew that she hadn’t. He may have been the world’s worst listener, but he knew for sure that she had never told him that.
Rob was very interested in hypnotism. In fact, he was a downright hypnofetishest. He had been since he was 15 or so. He would have noticed if she said the word “hypnotist”. He had spent the whole night visiting hypno-fetish websites, and reading erotic hypnosis stories. All while his wife was actually getting hypnotized five miles away? Was he dreaming? Perhaps this was all just a dream? He could tell that it wasn’t though, that’s why his heart felt like it was going to beat through his chest.
“You didn’t mention that” he practically wheezed.
“Well, I sent you a link of activities on your e-mail at the very least. It was on that.”
Rob did remember seeing some such subject header of a mail he didn’t open. “Was it a man or a woman?” he asked, thinking ‘Oh god, please let it have been a woman’. While Rob was turned on by all aspects of erotic hypnosis, the female hypnotist was his absolute favorite. The concept had consumed his fantasies for most of his adult life, yet he had never shared it with Kathy. He had considered a few times, but she was just so different than that type of woman… he knew she would just take it as him fantasizing about a woman she could never be.
“He was a man Rob, I am so embarrassed!” Kathy said, as she broke down into tears. Rob went and comforted her, hoping she didn’t feel his hard on as he hugged her.
“I don’t even remember what happened” she said, pre-emptively crushing his next question.
Rob wished he could find out, he wondered if anybody taped it. Uh-oh, what if someone did tape it? He flashed forward to how bad something like this could be for her if it got out on the internet. He knew he had to act fast. He told Kathy he would be right back, and he dashed up to Roberta’s room.
“Sweety, I know you are embarrassed, but to keep it from getting any worse, you need to tell me what your mother did up on stage!” he said. He knew his daughter was wise enough to pick up on how serious he was at that moment.
“I don’t know Dad, really. I ran off to the bathroom before things got going too far.” She admitted.
“Oh boy. I assume that every one of your little i-phone toting friends has this being sent out all over the web by now” he said, dejected. Roberta was a pretty good kid, and knew that she had to lighten up on her personal shame shtick, as her parents were in a jam right now.
Rob noticed his daughter’s eyes light up as she said, “Wait, actually, no it isn’t! They collected all our phones, as part of some dumb ‘live in the real world, don’t miss the moment’ thing that Mr. Teasley talked about. They didn’t want us all in our own corners, texting each other about how lame everything was, I guess. Anyway, nobody had phones!”
Suddenly, things were looking up.”Great, so no video exists” Rob said, relieved.
“Well, not really. Jimmy Frese, the AV geek taped it with the school’s equipment.”
“Robbie, I need that kid’s number!” Rob said.
“Eeew, gross. I don’t have Jimmy Frese’s number!” she shouted.
Rob didn’t have time for games. He told Roberta to get it, anyway she needed to, and to do it now. The eighteen year old didn’t fight him, and Rob was in the car, on the phone to the young Mr. Frese within five minutes.
Within twenty minutes, Rob was standing in the video store where Jimmy worked, face to pimply face with the king of Pacefield High’s AV world.
“I haven’t been here in years, I didn’t even know this store was still open” Rob told the young man.
“You used to come in all the time, until you got Netflix, right?” Jimmy said with a smile.
“You’ve heard that before, I guess” Rob agreed.
“Curse of the conventional video store” Jimmy said. “I know who you are, you are Roberta’s dad… and Roberta’s mom’s husband”
“I am Jimmy. You shot some video last night. Is there any reason my wife wouldn’t want that to get out?” Rob asked.
“Yeah. “ Jimmy admitted. “You want me to destroy it, don’t you?”
“Is it that bad?” Rob asked.
“Your wife is isn’t that bad for an old lady, Mr. Williamson. The hypnotist had a lot of fun with her. He did this one thing where she thought her name was MILF!” Jimmy said as he started to laugh.
The look on Rob’s face stopped the boy’s laughter. “Look Jimmy” Rob said, “I’ll give you $250 if you give me the tape right now. I’ll come back and give you another $250 if I ask around to the faculty in a month and they tell me that the tape got destroyed. Furthermore, I’ll give you $500 a year from today if I have not seen any copy of what is on the tape pop up anywhere in any fashion. Do we have a deal?”
“Sure!” Jimmy said. He was ready to just hand the tape over, so all this cash was just a total bonus. The boy went in the back and handed him a mini DV tape. Rob handed the kid the cash that he had gotten from the ATM on the way over.
He then went home and did his best to comfort his wife. He told her he had gotten the tape. She thanked him profusely, and asked if he had destroyed it. Rob lied and told her he had. She asked if he had watched it, and he told the truth and said that he hadn’t.
However, Rob had only not yet watched the tape because he had no means by which to do so. He barely slept a wink that night, and was sitting at the Target parking lot at 7:00 am Monday morning, waiting for them to open so he could buy a video camera that accepted mini DV cassettes.
Fortunately, his office was near the store. He quickly barricaded himself inside and plugged in the camera. He set it to playback, and plugged in some ear phones. The screen was small, but he could see the hypnotist up on stage, telling the crowd to imagine that a balloon was tied to their fingers.
As with most shows, the people who were very susceptible to hypnosis found their hands raising up in the air.
As fifteen or so hands were in the air, the hypnotist said, “and now, as your hand floats so high above you, a feeling of deep relaxation starts to sink down from your finger tips, down through your arm, down into your entire body. It is a wonderful feeling of relaxation, and it feels so good, so very very good. You feel so relaxed. You want more than anything to feel even more relaxed. However, the only place to relax even deeper is in one of these chairs up here on stage with me. There is nothing you want more than to come up on stage with me and relax so much deeper in one of these chairs. Feel now, a gentle breeze pulling and tugging your balloon, and leading you up on stage with me. The balloon leads you right to where you want to go anyway…”
Sure enough, Rob saw a bunch of high school seniors and his wife of eighteen years all walk towards the stage, with one hand raised, as if it was being tugged. They each took their seats and sort of slumped into the chairs with glazed looks.
The hypnotist and the crowd seemed to realize at the same time that Kathy was up there, as there was a murmering through the gym. Rob heard “Robbie wait!” in the background, followed by the sound of the double doors opening – he knew that must have been where his daughter headed for the bathroom.
It was good that she left when she did. The hypnotist knew he had struck gold with Kathy. She was still a very attractive woman, and wasn’t event that much older than the rest of the kids. While Rob was just turning forty two, Kathy was barely thirty seven. They had met when he was a young venture capitalist. Nineteen years ago, when he was just starting out, he was working for a company that sent him to purchase and liquidate Kathy’s parent’s fur salon. The area of the city the salon was in had become quite exclusive, and the building the family had owned for generations had become quite valuable. More valuable than the salon. When he went into begin the process, the Wolfes (now his in laws) and their beautiful young blonde college student daughter begged Rob to help them. Smitten with the beautiful and innocent Kathy, he actually redid the deal and went against the company he was working for. He worked the deal so the Wolfes would keep their salon, and their building. Rob was fired, but soon got another (better) job. Kathy and her parents saw him as the knight and shining armor. A surprise pregnancy saw them married less than a year later. The Wolfe’s retired, and Kathy took over Wolfe’s Fine Furs. By the time Roberta was school age, Kathy turned into the mom that all the other mom’s hated. Despite the fact that she herself only saw the five extra pounds and the wrinkles the creams couldn’t fight, she was a wealthy, relatively fit, working Mom who was about ten years younger than all the rest. Now she and Rob were about to become empty nesters.
She certainly didn’t look like super-mom on stage though as the hypnotist had her grinding about like some sort of stripper. Rob had no idea she could dance like that. The seniors were going crazy. Rob was shocked that this sort of thing was allowed at a high school function. Then again, the super conservative chaperone was the one on stage committing the acts. Rob wasn’t surprised that the event’s other chaperone, Mr. Bothico – the gym teacher, hadn’t put a stop to any of this. In fact, he actually saw the gym teacher laughing during the skit where she was made to believe her name was Milf. She apparently spent the rest of the night thinking that was her name.
Despite his raging hard on, Rob actually did feel bad for his wife. He knew how embarrassed she must be. He knew better than to bring the situation up again, as Kathy was clearly trying to put the whole thing behind her. However, it was basically all Rob thought about for the rest of the summer. Everytime he was waiting outside Bed Bath and Beyond as Kathy and Roberta shopped for dorm stuff, he thought about how susceptible Kathy was to hypnosis. On the three hour drive to drop Roberta off at college, he thought about how far he could cross the line with his wife’s psyche and still not betray their marriage. He held her hand as she cried all the way home from the college after dropping their daughter off, but all the while he was wondering how he could get in touch with the hypnotist from the Senior Grad night.
Kathy was extremely mopey for all of September. She missed her daily involvement in Roberta’s life terribly. Sales at the salon were really only busy during Christmas, so she was bored and sad. Rob tried to suggest travel, take her out to dinner, etc. He saw it as a chance to live as an adventurous couple. That was something they had missed out one due to their unexpected pregnancy.
Kathy’s rut, and reluctance to get out of it, further pushed Rob into making his wicked thoughts a reality. He started doing some research on the hypnotist that had performed at the Grad night a few months prior. The guy went by the name Dr. Dream. He had a website that promoted his work on Grad nights and corporate functions. He billed himself as a magician and hypnotist. It all looked very PC.
Rob was about to give up, figuring this guy was just a PG rated performer who got lucky one night. Just as a lark, he went on some hypno-fetish chat rooms and started asking about Dr. Dream. It didn’t take long before some people started hinting that he had done some work on the “adult side” and could be hired for racy shows, if he was sure it wouldn’t leak and ruin his image with the high school and corporate circuit. A little more research indicated that Dr. Dream was also “Diablo” a well known name in the adult hypno-fetish community.
Suddenly, Rob’s crazy plan seemed a lot more realistic. After another night of Kathy crying through “Dancing with the Stars”, Rob decided he would move ahead. Two weeks later, he was sitting in the audience of a Dr. Dream show that was a benefit for a Chamber of Commerce in a small town in Texas. Rob did business in Austin, and had arranged his trip with Dr. Dream’s show schedule in mind. The show was super G rated. It was at a small comedy club. Rob waited around after the show. Sure enough, Dr. Dream eventually came up to the bar to get a drink.
“Excuse me sir, I’m a big fan, and I was wondering if I could buy you a drink.” Rob said politely.
Dr. Dream agreed. Soon they were deep in conversation. A life long fascination in hypnosis gave Rob lots to talk about. After chatting for an hour, Rob came clean. “You actually hypnotized my wife a few months ago” he said.
Dr. Dream’s face instantly morphed to one of defensive intensity. “All hypnosis is self hypnosis. Whatever you wife did, she did because she wanted to. This had been held up in court and I have a lawyer on retainer!” he said instantly. Not one part of that sentence was true, but he always through it out to sound like he had protection.
Rob realized what was happening. “Whoa, whoa. No, no. I’m not looking for trouble. I might be looking for help from… Diablo” Dr. Dream’s face did not soften though.
“So you’ve poked around a bit. What show was this that your wife was at?” the hypnotist asked.
“Senior night. Pacefield High School.”
“Oh shit, the MILF?”
“Yes” Rob admitted with a forced smile. He was still a little uneasy about the whole Milf thing, but he wanted to convince Dr. Dream/Diablo that he was not out to get him.
“She is tremendously hot my friend.” Dr. Dream smiled. “She went under super deep too.”
“I know, I saw the video.” Rob said.
“So, what is this about? You’re a long way from Pacefield.”
“I know. I was wondering if you would be open to…. Speaking with her.”
“You mean hypnotizing her.” Dr. Dream clarified.
“Have you done that sort of thing?” Rob asked. His inquiry standing as his consent.
“Let’s go outside.” Dr. Dream said The two men went to the parking lot. As soon as they were out of ear shot of anyone, Dr. Dream announced, “My best sellers are ‘threesome’ and ‘blow job on command’”. This candid discussion of services let Rob know he was now dealing with Diablo, not Dr. Dream. Certain arrangements were then made, fees were discussed. The more Rob saw Dr. Dream become Diablo, the more unsure of his plan he became. The man seemed less than trustworthy. He continued to make comments about how hot Kathy was.
Rob was a man though, and his dick got the better of him. He continued telling Diablo of what he wanted to happen with Kathy. He told him about his dreams of having a female hypnotist for a wife. He told him of how he wanted to re-ignite the spark in their marriage.
Diablo couldn’t help but smile as this surbanite went on and on. The guy looked like he could pay whatever the crooked hypnotist decided to charge. Furthermore, Diablo clearly remembered his smoking hot wife, and how she went under so deep, so easily. The most titalating thing was the challenge of it all. If he could pull this off, he’d become the talk of the erotic hypnosis community. He almost giggled as he thought of how Lord Somnus and HypnoLaser68 would shit themselves as all the chat rooms and forums were abuzz with his legendary feat.
Fees were discussed, and e-mail addresses were exchanged. Over the next few weeks, arrangements were made. The plan was risky, but plausible. Diablo was going to send a DVD of a Dr. Dream show. It would be long on the induction, and specifically designed to induce Kathy into a trance while she watched it. Rob would make sure that they were watching tv together on one specific night, and he would flip over to the dvd, making it look like it was just a special that happened to be on tv. Diablo would be waiting outside. Once Rob was sure that Kathy was in a trance, Diablo would come in and implant the female hypnotist persona in Kathy’s mind.
Rob knew this was very complicated hypnotic “inception”, more complicated than the similar themed mega movie hit that had come out in the summer. Diablo seemed tremendously confident about it, though. He even started hinting about something really big he was planning in the forums. Rob didn’t like that, but it all seemed anonymous enough, so he let it slide.
Rob didn’t like giving this man who obviously had loose morals his address. But it was necessary to make the plan work. Besides, Rob wanted to make sure that he was there and supervising what this guy was putting into Kathy’s head. It did make sense to do that in a safe environment.
The only last detail to work out was the date. Thanksgiving weekend was approaching, and Roberta would be coming home then. There was the weekend before Thanksgiving, but Rob told Diablo that was his anniversary, and that he would be taking Kathy out to dinner. Therefore, Rob was suggesting the first week of December. Diablo pushed back, as he really wanted to pull off his big event prior to Thanksgiving, when everyone would be on their computers to discuss his masterpiece. Not when they were starting the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, albeit the online shopping season.
Rob didn’t care about the chat room publicity angle, and told him it was the beginning of December, or nothing. He didn’t mind playing hardball, as he was having more and more second thoughts about this anyhow. He was actually contemplating calling the whole thing off, but he figured he would see if Kathy came out of her funk a bit after Roberta’s visit home. Meanwhile, he made arrangements at their favorite restaurant for dinner on the Friday night of their anniversary weekend, which was quickly upon them.
When the night came, Rob was delighted to see that Kathy kept her good mood all day long. She even bought a new dress for the night, which was unusual for her. She was extremely frugal, even though she didn’t have to be. Rob continually told her that they had all the money they would ever need, and then some, but it didn’t matter. She was always a penny pincher.
“I’m ready!” she said as she came down the stairs.
Rob, who was ready 45 minute prior, looked up from the tv and gasped. “Sweety, you look amazing!”
Kathy smiled a radiant smile. She could see his sincerity. He made her feel good. Kathy knew that men found her reasonably attractive for her age. She got plenty of looks, and even a few “come ons” at the gym. Though Rob was the only guy she had ever wanted the attention of, even after all these years.
Rob went over to her and gently kissed her. “I wouldn’t change one thing in the last nineteen years. I love you as much now, as the day I met you in the salon. I’m glad that condom broke…” he said with a small chuckle, “and gave us such a beautiful daughter. She’s such a good kid. Responsible beyond her years, and that all comes from you. You are a wonderful mother, and I mean that with all my heart.”
Kathy felt a tear in her eye. He was so open and tender in that moment. “Thank you sweety. I know I have been a wet blanket since Robbie went to school. I just want you to know that I want to change. I want to be as good a wife as I am a mother. We both sacrificed a bit of our youth and ‘wild days’ when Robbie came. Though I wouldn’t trade that for the world, I know that we missed out a bit and that we have a chance to experience some of that now. I just want you to know that I am with you. I’m ready to explore new things and get to know each other even better than we ever have! Even in the bedroom… if you know what I mean” she said, with the most suggestive comment she had ever uttered in her life.
Rob was not an overly emotional man, but hearing this from his wife brought him to tears as well. They hugged tightly. Rob decided right there that he would call off all this Diablo nonsense. Maybe he and Kathy could explore his fetish together, of her own free will! Rob’s heart jumped at the idea. He resolved to e-mail Diablo in the morning.
“Stop it you big softy, you are going to make my mascara run!” Kathy said, trying to fight back more of her own tears. “I’ll wear the ¾ length blue fox, can you grab it for me?” she said. She always tried to wear her furs around town. She felt it was great advertising. Rob was always complaining that she shouldn’t have to buy them from her own store, but Kathy was a stickler for proper accounting.
Rob romantically slipped it on her, taking the opportunity to kiss her cheek as he did. “We’ll take my car, you can enjoy yourself tonight” Kathy smiled. She did not drink, but wanted to give Rob the green light for tonight. They both were very particular about their cars – driver’s seat placement, mirror adjusts, etc. So they rarely, if ever drove each other’s.
The couple was as happy as they had been in years as they pulled out of their driveway in Kathy’s BMW. They were chatting about anything and everything on the fairly short drive to the restaurant. They didn’t notice the car following them. In fairness, they were not accustomed to looking for “tails”, as they were not secret agents or spies.
Diablo followed in his rental car all the way to the restaurant. He had been staking out their house. He was aptly starting to suspect that Rob was going to be backing out of the deal. Diablo had already made such a big deal of it in the hypno fetish community that he knew he couldn’t let it fall apart now. But this was pretty dastardly and brazen, even for him.
However, as he watched the Williamson’s car pull up to valet parking, he saw how stunning Kathy looked as took the ticket from the valet and then went into the restaurant with Rob. That hot piece of conservative surburban ass was going to make him an erotic hypnosis legend. He just had to summon the courage to go through with it. Taking a swig of tequila from his flask, he went to park his car a few streets over.
The hypnotist’s heart was beating a million miles a minute as he entered the restaurant. He couldn’t back out now. He found two busboys and asked them if he wanted to make a quick $200. He gave one a camera, and one some instructions.
“You know every eye was on you when you were walking in.” Rob flirted with his wife back at the table. “When these ladies see you slip on your fox at the end of the night, they’ll be flocking to the salon!”
“Mmm, that would be nice. No business talk tonight though. Of course, you can keep telling me how great I look!” Kathy giggled.
“Let’s order, I don’t want to rush this, but I can’t wait to get you home my love” Rob told her as they both picked up their menus.
As they were perusing the different offerings of fine Italian cuisine, Diablo approached the table. “Mr. and Mrs. Williamson. How lovely to run into you.” He said.
The sound of his voice sent shivers up each of their spines, but for different reasons. Rob looked up and flashed a look of shock and anger. His blood pressure immediately shot up. Kathy looked up in confusion, where did she know that voice from. It was so familiar as if it had been in her dreams. Oh god, it was the hypnotist! She froze in panic.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Rob whispered angrily. He was trying not to make a scene.
Kathy was surprised that Rob seemed to know who he was, but she told him any way, “Rob that’s the hypnotist from Grad Night!”
Diablo’s adrenaline coursed through his veins. It was now or never. A lifetime of creating a semi real, semi virtual, evil persona was all leading up to this moment. He stared right into Kathy’s frightened eyes “Yess Kathy. The hypnotist. The one with the power to hypnotize you. The one who’s voice captivated and relaxed you. The one who has the power to slip you back into an unbreakable, irresistible hypnotic trance. Just relax Kathy, you can’t fight this. Relax. Feel yourself relax. You can’t fight it. You don’t want to fight it Kathy. Feel yourself falling into my eyes. See only my eyes. Hear only my voice. There are no other sounds.” Diablo said, never breaking his stare as he sat down in the vacant seat across from Kathy.
“Stop it. Stop it right the fuck now!” Rob “whisper screamed” as he tried desperately to get this to stop without causing a scene.
“Deeper and deeper Katherine. Come into my eyes. Feel yourself falling under my power. You can not resist. Your heart beat is slowing. You are relaxing.”
Rob turned his head and looked at Kathy. She was stuck like a deer in the headlights. He noticed her breathing slowing, as his own breath felt short, like it had just been kicked out of him.
“Yesss, that’s it Katherine. It feels so good to just fall back into deep hypnosis for me. You are completely under my power. So very relaxed. So deep in trance. Feeling more and more relaxed and happy with each passing moment.”
Rob watched in horror as Kathy slumped back into her chair with a glazed look in her eyes and the faintest hint of a content smile forming across her lips. Rob’s frustration with the situation extended even to his own self, as he felt himself getting hard despite his fear, anger, and jealousy.
“It’s a wonderful feeling, that relaxed, floating feeling as you focus only on my voice. It feels wonderful to listen to my voice. So wonderful, and my voice is the only sound you can hear, isn’t that right Katherine?”
“Yes.” She said.
“Kath, wake up!” Rob said, to no response from his wife. He looked around the restaurant. No one was paying any attention. Not surprising, as no one’s voice had extended above normal speaking level, but ironic due to the level of crime that was being committed in plain site.
“You want to listen to my voice and relax even more. You want to listen to my voice, and go deeper in to my thrall, enjoying listening ... and relaxing ... and floating ... more and more deeply. Isn’t that right, Katherine?”
“Yes.”
Rob pleaded with Diablo to stop. He got as little response from the hypnotist as he did from his wife. It was like he wasn’t even at the table with them. He thought about stabbing Diablo in the hand with his fork. That would cause too much of a scene though. Perhaps an assault charge, a criminal investigation. Too much attention would bring to light Rob’s own part in creating this mess.
“You’re deeply hypnotized now, Katherine. How does it feel to be in my power?” Diablo continued.
“Wonderful. I love it.” She said, the faint smile becoming more apparent now.
“Yes, it feels wonderful to be deeply in my thrall. You continue to slip even deeper now, you’re more and more focused on my voice. Wanting to follow my voice. Wanting my suggestions. Wanting the wonderful feeling of following my commands, all of my commands. What is it you’re wanting right now, Katherine?”
“Your suggestions. Follow your commands.”
“Very, very good, Katherine. You’re blissfully floating, deeply in my thrall, open to all my commands. Feeling so wonderful as you obey me. Realizing now that nothing seems important but obeying me, because it feels so wonderful. You want the wonderful feeling of obeying me, don’t you, Katherine?”
“Yes. I want to obey.” She repeated happily.
“Very good Katherine. The more obedient you are, the more wonderful you will feel. Only my voice now, nothing else matters. All you want now is the wonderful, relaxed, floating feeling of obeying my voice. All you want is to be deeply under my control and to obey Diablo. Tell me now what you want, Katherine.”
“Deeply under your control. Obey Diablo.”
Rob’s mind quickly raced through his extremely limited options. Compromise seemed to be the only one. “Ok, ok. You got her under. That’s fine. We’ll go back to my house, you can finish the experiment. We’ll do it this weekend like you wanted. You can post it on the internet and get your glory. Let’s just go now, ok?”
Diablo smiled. Rob was looking at Katherine, and didn’t see him give the busboy a little wave. The evil hypnotist turned to the businessman and said, “That sounds great Rob. I’m sorry I had to do it like this, but trust me. You’ll both be very happy I took the reigns like this when we are done. Is your house far from this restaurant? I can follow you in my car.”
Suddenly, the busboy came over to the table. “Mr. Williamson? There is a call for you at the bar phone. It is from Claremont College.” The busboy said, just like he had been paid to do. Diablo had seen the Claremont College sticker on the back of Kathy’s car.
Rob couldn’t believe this was happening right then. It seemed a bit fishy. “I’m surprised she didn’t call on my cell phone.” He said, dubiously.
“The reception in here is often spotty. I know you and your wife come here often, could she have known you would be here?” the busboy ad libbed. He figured that might earn an extra $100.
Rob didn’t trust the situation, but he could take the chance that Roberta had some kind of emergency. “I’ll be right back. Just stay here.” He said to Diablo, “And no…talking.” Rob said. The busboy gave a weird look as Diablo just smiled.
Rob followed the busboy all around the restaurant, only to end up at the bar, which was in the next room over from where they were dining. He picked up the phone, and it was dead. He knew then what had happened.
“She must have hung up” the busboy lied as Rob rushed past him. Bursting into the dining room only to find an empty table where Kathy and Diablo had been, he immediately spun and headed for the door. Only in time to see the valet closing Kathy’s door with her inside and Diablo driving. They pulled away just as Rob got to the curb.
Rob frantically dialed Kathy’s cell phone. After a few rings, Diablo picked up. “Look Rob, don’t worry. You’re going to get exactly what you wanted. Getting there is just going to be a little different than you thought. Don’t worry though, Katherine is going to be my masterpiece!” he said before hanging up.
It was at that moment that Rob recognized the gravity of what he had done. He had made a deal with the devil.