The Pendant
CW: hypnosis, blood
When Miles woke up, he had no idea how long he had been asleep. His head was still throbbing, and he groans as he struggles against the handcuffs. The room was still dark, but there was a red glow near the door. He looks over, and frowns when he sees a small necklace hanging from the small slot, gently swinging back and forth.
He stares at it in confusion. What the hell was that doing here? He thought, but couldn’t tear his eyes away. The glow was beautiful, swinging back and forth sweetly, like it was inviting him.
Miles spends a while staring at the necklace as it swings, still frowning in bewilderment.
Then the door opens, deterring the pendant’s swing, and someone steps inside. It was Miss Edith, but Miles didn’t know that. His eyes, which had been unfocused, snap to attention, staring at Miss Edith with fear. “Ah!” Miss Edith exclaims happily, eyes crinkling with a large smile. “You’re awake!”
“Who are you?” Miles questions, the handcuffs clinking together as he pulls his hands to his chest. “What are you doing to me? I haven’t done anyth—”
“Shush, little boy, that’s not important,” Miss Edith says, picking the pendant from the hook on the door. She brandishes it in Miles’ direction, and Miles averts his eyes. “Awe, what a cutie.”
The moment he looks back, she was right there, knelt in front of him. She grins toothily at him, grabbing his jaw just like that other vampire did. “What are you doing? Let go of me—!” Miles starts, but then the pendant was swinging right in front of his face and he immediately quiets down.
“Isn’t it so beautiful?” Miss Edith whispers, but Miles doesn’t answer, eyes swinging back and forth along with the pendant, lips slightly parted. Miss Edith grins, nodding. “Just focus on it, and let your pesky thoughts float away. There’s no need for any of that anymore, all you want is to relax.”
“No… nn.. no..” Miles mutters, speaking through his smushed lips. His eyes struggled, flicking between the red jewel pendant and Miss Edith’s face.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Miss Edith sing songs. “Focus on the pendant and listen to my voice, then you’ll be able to relax for eternity.” Miles whimpers, brow furrowing in pain as his mind tugs in two different directions. “Don’t think about me, don’t think about the room, don’t think about your life, that’s not important anymore.” Miles stopped glancing at the vampire’s face, staring onto the pendant. Miss Edith smiles. “Now.. tell me how you feel.”
Miles blinks, unable to take his eyes from the pendant. “Uhh.. uh.. I dun.. what did.. so..” He couldn’t get a word out, his head fuzzy and body sagging in Miss Edith’s grip. “My.. my head…”
Miss Edith fakes a pout. “Yes, your poor little head,” She teases, shaking Miles’ head and squeezing his cheeks. Miles leans into her touch, unable to feel his limbs. “Good news, you don’t have to worry about that anymore! Focus on the pendant, focus on my voice, and all your troubles will disappear.”
No! Don’t let her brainwash you! Miles thought to himself in the back of his mind. But it faded away as Miss Edith continued talking in that sweet voice.
“Are you relaxed?” Miss Edith purred, and Miles gave a slow nod. “That’s good, now, keep listening to my voice, and slowly close your eyes. You’re so relaxed and sleepy, you just want to listen to me. So close your eyes and listen to my soft voice.”
Miles groans, barely audible, his eyes sliding shut. He relaxes into Miss Edith’s touch as the vampire massages his face, more or less petting him.
“And when you wake up, all you want to do is be a sweet, sweet thrall,” Miss Edith coos. Miles nods slowly. “Be a quiet, obedient little thrall, isn’t that right?” Miles nods again, lashes fluttering. Edith gently sets the pendant down, pulling Miles’ limp body onto her lap and starting to pet his head like a dog. “Then I’ll find an amazing master with a house you can live in like a stray puppy! And you’ll listen to your new master just like you listen to me. Right?”
“Ri.. righ.. r.. right…” Miles slurs out, barely conscious. Miss Edith’s hand gently scratching at his scalp was so deliriously good, he was so relaxed.
“Right, miss,” Miss Edith corrects, tightly gripping Miles’ hair. “Try it again, you’ll be so relaxed.”
Miles groans, and she relaxes her grip. “Righ.. Right, mi.. miss,” He slurs again, speaking through a yawn. “Right.. righ.. mi.. miss.. ri…”
Miss Edith laughs above him. “Isn’t that just darling?” She coos, still scratching Miles’ scalp. “Now, fall asleep and we’ll talk again once you wake. You’ll be so excited to see me, especially since I’ll bring this pretty pendant you love!”
It took less than a second for Miles to pass out, drooling a little bit on Miss Edith’s pants. The vampire only laughs, and pushes him off her lap. He lands with a soft thud, but doesn’t wake up, so entranced he could sleep for years.
“Good day!” Miss Edith sing songs as she sets the pendant back on the hook and walks out of the room, leaving the jewel swinging back and forth.
~~~~
Miles felt all fuzzy when he woke up, and he couldn’t remember what had happened. He frowns, looking around them room, gently twisting his handcuffs. What.. What did that lady do? He thought, struggling to even think the sentence.
And the necklace was still swinging. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and—
Miles jerked his head away, shaking it a little like there was something on his hair he could get off. “What.. I don’t.. my head..” Miles mumbles, starting to get dizzy. He looks back at the pendant.
Some hoursminutes later, the door opens up, disrupting his gaze at the jewel, but it revealed Miss Edith and another vampire. Miss Edith grins down at him, showing off her fangs. “There he is!” She coos. She turns to the other vampire. “Very easy to manage, incredibly susceptible to enthrallment.”
The second vampire, a blonde man with glasses, nodding and wrote it down on his clipboard. Miles glanced between the two nervously, confused.
Miss Edith notices his look and smiles even more. “Don’t worry, this is just evaluation,” She says, and wastes no time approaching the boy on the floor, grabbing the chain of the cuffs. When Miles yelps, trying to move away as the vampire pulls his close, she takes his chin in her fingers, eyes narrowing. “What did we talk about two nights ago?”
Miles melt into her grip, his mind blanking. What.. what did we talk about? He thought slowly, frowning just a bit. It.. it must be important if she’s reminding me, I.. should just listen to her for now.
Wait, what?
Abruptly, a knife cuts into the bottom of his thumb, where it meets his wrist. Miles cries out, but the vampires pay him no mind. The knife moves to the other vampires mouth, and he licks the blood.
“Grade A, maybe B,” He announces, writing something down on his clipboard. “Above average, pretty good consistency. Yes, he’ll sell.”
“What are you doing?” Miles demands as Miss Edith turns back to him. “You’re sick, disgusting—!”
“Be quiet, now,” Miss Edith says dismissively, and Miles falls silent, his mind blanking again. He relaxes a little, blankly watching as Miss Edith presses a bandaid to his bleeding wrist. “Much better, that enthrallment really worked.”
The vampire beside her reached forward and pinched Miles’ left eyes opened, making him wince and blink a few times. “Yes, but you should reinforce it before auction,” The man notes. “If you want more renowned people to buy your products they can’t slip in and out of enthrallment.”
Miss Edith pouts a little. “That’s true,” She mutters, and Miles squints his eyes as the other vampire moves away. “We could just use basic enthrallment, but the pets I like work so much better with jewels.”
“I suggest leaving him alone with the jewel for a few days,” The man says, and panic strikes through Miles’ chest. “There’s a few days until the auction, you can wash him up right before.”
“Of course, of course,” Miss Edith purrs, pulling the pendant out of her shirt. Miles stares at it immediately, lips parting. No, stop staring at it. He begs himself. Stop staring at it, she’s trying to brainwash you! Don’t, stop it!
The other vampire raises an eyebrow. “I thought you said he was manageable,” He drawls.
Miss Edith chuckles. “He is, just watch,” She whispers, looking into Miles’ eyes as the boy tries to wince away from the jewelry. “You don’t need to fight this anymore, little boy, just relax and I’ll take care of you.” No! Shut up! Miles thought, but already felt the tension in his body releasing. “That’s right, doesn’t it feel so good to relax?”
Miles lets out a whimper, then a sigh, the last of the tension dissipating. The muscles in his face relax, and the male vampire chuckles a bit.
“Now you’re going to stand up, all relaxed and ready to listen,” Miss Edith orders, and slowly stands along with Miles. The boy’s eyes were hooked on the pendant, not paying any mind to Miss Edith’s hand grabbing the cuff’s chains. “So relaxed, you’re going to watch the necklace and follow me, not a single pesky thought in your mind.”
The male vampire opens the door again, and Miss Edith starts slowly backing up, gently tugging Miles along, who doesn’t seem to notice the movement.
Miss Edith continues whispering soft affirmations as she leads the dazed boy out of the room, into a long hallway with dozens of other jail cells, some humans inside looking up with interest or fear.
They leave the hallway, and enter an elevator. Miles was still blanking staring at the pendant, mouth ajar and eyes just slightly wide, thinking nothing.
The trio leaves the elevator, Miss Edith still whispering sweet words, and walk down another hallway. Then they enter a room with white walls and a chair with rope in the middle.
“Time to sit down, little boy,” Miss Edith whispers, and Miles slumps info the seat. “Good job!”
“I don’t.. I don’t want this..” Miles mumbles, brow furrowing, the collapse into the chair knocking some sense into him. Miss Edith refrains from rolling her eyes. “I don’t.. I don’t want to do this.”
Miss Edith moves the pendant closer to Miles’ face, and the boy becomes a little cross eyed to stare at it. “Yes, you do,” She purrs. “Just relax.”
She shifts her grip on the pendant so it was in her hand instead of hanging from the chain.
“And when we see each other again, the auction will be right around the corner.”
Part 2 <<< Part 3 >>> Part 4
