“This necklace is magical. It can control you.”
Lisa looked up at Mark, scepticism in her bright blue eyes. “That’s impossible,” she laughed, waving him off. “You’ve been watching too much fantasy porn.”
Mark shifted closer on the sofa, the beautiful pink diamond pendant clutched in his fist. It dangled down and caught the light just so, sending rainbows across Lisa’s face. “Oh, no,” he countered, voice dropping a bit. “This one’s real. I got it from my great-grandfather. He was a famous illusionist and hypnotist. He used it on many women, controlling their minds and bodies with it.”
“You’re insane.” Lisa laughed at him, her shoulders shaking against the back of the sofa. When had she sat back? “You said illusionist… that right there makes it not real.” The diamond turned in Mark’s hands, spinning slowly between his fingers and Lisa’s pupils widened. When had she started staring?
“Illusions can be real,” Mark said, slowly curling his words so they danced like music in her ears. “They’re just tricks of the mind, but they can be very, very real.”
“That’s…just silly,” Lisa slurred, her tongue dragging and heavy in her mouth. Her head fell back against the cushions, sinking in deeper. When had she laid back? “It’s not real.”
Mark smiled and began to swing the pendant slowly, back and forth, right to left. “It’s real if you believe it is,” he crooned, leaning in so his breath tickled her ear. “You believe it’s real, don’t you, Lisa?”
The light was beautiful, so captivating, dancing through the diamond. “I..I do.” When did her body get so heavy? “I believe…”
“That’s right you do. Because it feels right. Everything I’m telling you is the truth.”
Lisa’s eyes felt heavy, her brain fuzzy. When did she start getting so sleepy? “Everything you tell me is the…truth.”
Mark smiled. “This necklace is magic. It controls you.”
Lisa sighed as an empty smile spread across her lips. “The necklace is…magic,” she whispered, barely able to keep her eyes open any longer. “It controls me.”
“Very good.” Mark kept the pendant moving before her eyes as he watched Lisa’s body relax, hands slipping from her lap, shoulders sinking deep into the sofa. “You’re going to fall into a deep sleep for me, and when you do, you’ll be open to see all the magical things that I can do.”
Lisa exhaled slowly as her eyes rolled back. “Deep…o-open…” When had she started repeating? When had her eyes closed? Why did it feel so good to picture the diamond in her mind?
“Very good.” Mark stopped the swinging and pressed his fingers to Lisa’s forehead. “Sleep.”
