“Put these on,” Lenny said to her, ”they’ll help you to relax.”
She hadn’t even been aware Lenny was there, hadn’t heard her walk in or seen her until she was right there, staring into her eyes with that wry smile she always seemed to wear around Syd. Like she was a bemused cat toying with a little mouse as yet unaware of its eventual fate.
Syd put the headphones on. Immediately there was a hissing of static, erupting into a short sequence of high-pitched squeals that pierced Syd’s mind and left her vulnerable. Then, quietly building, a beat that was slow yet urgent, building up layer by layer. Drums. Bass. Keyboards then synth strings, all slowly entering and creating a buzzy, trance-like soundscape that Syd became lost in.
“You like it?” Lenny said, as much a statement as a question.
Syd’s eyes stared blankly ahead, looking through Lenny, seeing nothing. The music was captivating, there was something there, within it, barely audible, moving on the boundaries of perception, drawing Syd’s focus inward, deeper and deeper inward.
“Yesssss,” was all Syd could manage to get out in reply.
Lenny waved her hand in front of Syd’s face, seeing the lack of response and knowing that the trance was deepening.
“What is it?” Syd managed to ask.
“Shhhhhhhh,” Lenny cooed to her, “Close your eyes…and see…”
Syd’s eyes were shut. She couldn’t tell anymore whether she was asleep and dreaming or if this was real.
Her eyes opened. For real? In the dream? She had no idea. She focused on Lenny in front of her. Lenny seemed real. Lenny seemed important. Lenny seemed constant.
"So hard to keep your eyes open now,” Lenny confirmed for her, “let them shut.”
“Look inwards to the truth. Look inwards and listen to my voice as it guides you. Listen. Listen and obey. Obey and follow my voice.”
"Feel your body floating. You are weightless. You are empty. You are a shell. My voice fills you. My voice soothes you. My voice is the voice of your mind. Of your thoughts. My voice must be obeyed. My voice is the truth, always the truth.”
“Soon you will find your self back in your own bed, fast asleep. You will not consciously remember the details of what has happened, only vague bits. This will be a dream in your conscious mind. But your subconscious knows it is real, knows that I control you, and knows that you obey my voice. Anytime you hear my voice, you accept my words as the truth, you follow and obey, you serve.”
“Now, asleep in your bed my pet. Asleep until you awake, ready to begin your new life.”
