Dark clouds gathered overhead as Tiana hurried down the streets of her new town, there was rain in the air. She was looking for a place to shelter from the impeding downpour, and almost hurried past an old theater where the lights were still burning. She inspected the posters. A hypnotist show? This should be corny...
She bought a ticket for the suspiciously low price of five dollars, making her suspect the show wasn't going to be much anyway. The show hadn't started yet so lights were still on full brightness, giving her a good view of the other visitors. Pretty shabby, even for a town like this. She counted nine people to fill a room that could hold at least seventy. One family of four, two couples and a shady guy hanging in one of the back rows. She picked a seat at respectable distance from the other patrons, especially the shady guy, and waited for the show to start.
The lights dimmed, the spots flared on. A violin started playing an eerie tune, giving Tania some involuntary shivers. The hypnotist came on but Tania missed most of it, distracted by the violin. The eerie tune softened but never stopped, having a dizzying effect on her. The hypnotist went through his regular cold reading tricks, amazing the family with his message of love from their long departed grandmother Linda, while Tiana was silently sitting there, getting more and more entranced by the music the other visitors hardly even noticed anymore.
"Now!" The hypnotist clapped his hands together, shocking Tiana back to reality. "This next part is difficult, and wholly dependent on the participation of you, the audience. Since I only count a handful, we might have to skip this. I am looking for a volunteer..." He continued apologetically, then spoke again with a deeper, more commanding voice. "Please, get up and onto the podium."
Tiana felt her body rise and involuntarily walk up to the podium. It wasn't exactly against her will, of course she had to walk up to the podium. He had said so. She stood next to him, completely comfortable. The hypnotist just stood there, mouth agape. "I... volunteer?" She tried, and he sprung to life.
"Holy crap, it worked..." She could hear the man mutter under his breath, then louder for the audience. "We have a volunteer!" To a hollow, points-for-trying type of applause from the audience. Tiana stood there smiling dimly, awaiting her fate. What does he do to her?
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