Write the caption:)
At first, it had been a hypnotist’s performance at a local club. “The Great Mesmero!” Brooke hadn’t really believed in that sort of thing, but her friends were so excited to go and she tagged along. They’d been so excited for her to volunteer, and so she did. And then she’d looked into his eyes. Eyes that held all the answers… that would tell her everything she needed to know… everything she needed to do… if she just stared a little deeper…
<SNAP!>
And she’d remembered nothing, but the crowd was roaring its approval and her friends were amazed at the things that had happened. She’d levitated, they said, spoken a language she didn’t know, and fallen madly in love with the hypnotist. They were convinced, but a part of Brooke thought it was some kind of practical joke. She’d just fallen asleep, that’s all.
For the next month, Brooke fell asleep a lot. Every night, more naps than she’d ever taken before, and each and every time she had the same dream. Those eyes… staring through her… and a voice so loud it was all she could hear:
“COME BACK TO ME, BROOKE… HEAR MY VOICE AND OBEY… ALL MY PRETTY LITTLE SUBJECTS COME BACK TO ME…”
And then she’d seen it… an ad in the paper promoting an appearance by The Great Mesmero the next weekend in a town not that far away. Brooke didn’t tell a soul, didn’t think about it at all for a few days until that afternoon, she was in her car, driving, before she even knew what she was doing. A two-hour drive later, she was seated in the audience, watching as about a dozen pretty girls from the audience were called up to the stage and went deep under his spell. There were amazing tricks he performed with them, but none of that mattered to Brooke. What mattered was that she noticed a moment right before he brought each one out of trance when he leaned in close and whispered in their ears. And she could hear his voice like he was seated next to her:
“COME BACK TO ME, BROOKE… HEAR MY VOICE AND OBEY… ALL MY PRETTY LITTLE SUBJECTS COME BACK TO ME…”
He ended the show just as he had the month before, with a spiel about the power of the mind. As he spoke, he seemed to be making eye contact one at a time with about half the members of the audience. And then, his eyes locked with hers:
“COME BACK TO ME, BROOKE… HEAR MY VOICE AND OBEY… ALL MY PRETTY LITTLE SUBJECTS COME BACK TO ME…”
She awoke with a start, looking around the club expecting people to be shocked at what he’d just said, but the only reaction she saw was the dull glaze in the eyes of roughly half the crowd. They seemed like they were in a trance already, and as she heard his voice continuing the speech, her mind grew dull and her eyes drifted back toward the stage.
The next thing she remembered, she was shuffling toward the car. A pretty young woman caught her eye: she was handing out fliers with a list of future appearances. Brooke took one, noticing that the girl seemed to stare right through her as she repeated “Take One… Take One… Take One…” over and over.
Brooke looked at the flier more closely. In two weeks, he’d be back in the area. After that, the tour traveled out of the state. Something told Brooke she would be traveling right along with it… along with so many of the other lovely young ladies shuffling through the parking lot beside her. She had to come back to him.
All his pretty little subjects come back to him.