Part 1 of @deeperinmypower‘s birthday present.

Louise knew she was in trouble. But she wasn’t the only one. Maybe the others could help?
The next on the list was Aubrey. Maybe she would understand. Maybe she would believe. Louise had to hope so, because it was the only way to save them both.

Aubrey stared incredulously as Louise told her story.
“Please, you have to believe me!” Louise said. “He… I had to do anything he said. Everything he said! He… he made me want it.”
“Uh-huh,” said Aubrey. “Look, whatever kinky shit you and your boyfriend got into, leave me out, okay?”
Louise grabbed her arm. “No, please!” she begged. “It’s true. I don’t know how, he just… he tells people things, and they do them. I can’t explain it, I can’t explain why it suddenly stopped working on me, I just know that he had a list, and you’re next!”
“Yeah,” said Aubrey, “I have Netflix. I’ve seen the show.”
“Please!” begged Louise, and Aubrey sighed.
“Fine, fine. I can see you’re messed up about whatever it is. I’ll go out of town with you if you like.” She raised a hand as Louise started to respond. “Only for a little while!”
“Thank you, thank you for believing me!”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Aubrey. “Go rest in my room or whatever, I’ll book a flight.”

Aubrey grumbled to herself as she lounged on her couch, looking for flight information. She had no idea what was really going on with Louise, but it sounded like a boyfriend thing gone bad. She couldn’t just leave Louise hanging. Plus there was a chance that she was right and the guy was some kind of celebrity stalker with his eye on Aubrey.
She was interrupted by a knock at the door. Which was weird–how had whoever it was gotten past the doorman? Before she could respond, however, a man’s voice called out, “You want to come open the door, Aubrey.”
And of course she did. How else would she find out who it was?
When she opened the door, the man standing in the hallway smiled. “Hello, Aubrey,” he said. “Everything I’m about to tell you is true, so you want to listen carefully.” And he was right.
In the bedroom, Louise heard the voice, his voice, and struggled to control her rising panic. He was talking to Aubrey! It was too late for her. There wasn’t anything Louise could do for her… but maybe Paul didn’t know she was here. She could slip out onto the fire escape. Aubrey was a lost cause, but there were others on Paul’s list. She could find them, and maybe together they could do something about him.
The next day…

“Does this outfit please you, Master?” Aubrey asked.
Paul smiled. “Yes it does, my dear.”
“I’m sorry that Louise got away, Master.”
“No worries. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again soon enough.“