Showstopper

Printer-friendly version

Showstopper

Author's note: this one is a little dark. I hope that doesn't scare people away

Mark “the magnificent” smiled and hummed a cheery tune as he went back to his dressing room after his latest show.

He was a hypnotist, and tonight, he literally had the crowd in the palm of his hand, getting the audience to do some pretty silly stuff while “under”. Not only that, the volunteers had been perfect, doing stuff they were likely gonna be blushing about for weeks after, especially the two prim and proper ladies he got to do a make-out session together while “under”.

Mark smiled, as he imagined the awkward moments those two would have when they next met at church.

He had just put away most of his props when he heard a knock at the door.

Thinking it might be the manager of the theater, Mark went to the door and opened it.

Instead of the manager, there was a young man who was clearly wearing a dress under his trenchcoat.

“Hello, Mark.” the young man said in a soft voice with just a touch of ice in it.

“Er .. do I know you?”

“Well, it has been a week since you had me as one of your people on stage, but I was hoping you might remember me.”

Mark racked his memory for a moment, then he remembered the young man. “Ah yes. Your ... performance was memorable. The way you flirted with that other guy, and even kissed him.”

“Yes. you changed my life, Mark.”

“Well, it was just a show, nothing to get that upset over.”

“You might not think so if you were in my shoes. My girlfriend recorded that whole show. She thought it was hilarious. Maybe she wouldn’t think so now, mind you.”

Something about the way he said that made Mark shiver, but he tried to cover it up, and said, “well whatever happened is between you two. I need to finish putting away my stuff, so if you’ll excuse me ...”

“No, I don’t think I will. At least not until I tell you what you did. You had no idea about me, did you? I was just a rube you could make do something foolish. But it had taken me years of heavy therapy to suppress ... Her, AND YOU LET HER OUT!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about having a woman inside of me. But not just any woman. A very, very dangerous woman. So dangerous I became a man to try and keep her from ever coming out again. Until you decided to play your little game.”

“It was all just a joke. Everybody laughed!”

“Yes, they did. But all they saw was a dude suddenly flirting with another guy, kissing him. Ha ha. But none of them knew what kind of person was released at that moment. A person who the best psychologists in military as well as the best ones in the C.I.A. had spent more than a year creating a prison for, because even as an operative she’d proved to be far too deadly. I suppose she might like to thank you for releasing her. But she might do me one last favor before taking over completely.”

The man? Woman? Pulled a coin out of the pocket of the trench coat and said, “Call it. If it comes up what you say, I walk away. Otherwise ... well, something else happens.”

Something about the way the person had been speaking made Mark sure his chance at life came down to this coin flip. Time seemed to slow as he watched it spin in the air, before making his choice ...

End?

up
111 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

wonderful

An interesting take on stage hypnotists and thre possible consequences of their acts.

thanks, Samantha

one should consider the consequences before making fun of somebody, shouldn't one?

Thanks for commenting.

DogSig.png

What?!

It cant end there... we have no idea what will happen x.x Will she slaughter him like a animal? Drag his corpse around on a trucks?

I know who I am, I am me, and I like me ^^
Transgender, Gamer, Little, Princess, Therian and proud :D

well, maybe, Chelsea

or maybe "Mark the magnificent" gets lucky and she walks away?

thanks for commenting!

DogSig.png

That's The Point

joannebarbarella's picture

This is Schrodinger's cat!

yes, Joanne

both options remain possible - until the coin lands.

Thanks for commenting!

DogSig.png

Usually I Can't Stand...

..."Lady or the Tiger" endings. But this one works nicely.

Eric

glad it worked for you, Eric

once in a while, I think its fun to let the reader imagine what happens next.

DogSig.png

ANother referent

TheCropredyKid's picture

Philip K Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", which the movie "Total Recall" had very little t do with.

 
 
 
x

50/50

laika's picture

It couldn't have happened (or didn't happen) to a nicer guy... That hypnotist a horrible excuse for a human being. Most stage hypnotists seem to settle for mild embarrassment ("Cluck like a chicken!"), this one really got off on humiliating people. But as comedians get more + more obnoxious I could see a hypnotist upping the attitude and shock factor for today's jaded audiences...

Your hidden assassin girl is a really interesting character, you could do more about her (forging her own life + finding out what it means, go free lance or give up the violent life altogether? Plus I imagine the powers that be will want to kill her now...) without giving away the end of this one. Just "well that took care of that..."

Nice ambivalent ending. Harvey Dent would be proud of the coin thing. And in a way she was kind of like Two Face, only her other face was hidden inside. She needs a cool name assassin's name,,,
This puts me in a mood to watch HANNAH again.
~hugs, UltraVeronica

thanks, Veronica!

I am glad you liked it. I have no plans for a sequel, but you never know - Miss Coinflip might be back ...

DogSig.png

Thanks Dorothy,

'a lovely little 'mind bender, gender bender' .One can only imagine the two alternatives and my mind is made up as to which !!

<em></em>

thanks!

glad you liked it!

DogSig.png

Dorothy

Your such a sweetie with your stories. Didn't know you had that wild streak in ya. Well done.

thanks, Wendy

yep, I have a wild streak. Mostly keep it from getting too wild these days ..

DogSig.png

Unexpected

Well very different from what I expected The woman was already undercover

Now they watch the spin in the air as he calls to decided his future or more their futures

The way things appear he will call tails just hope its not a double headed
coin that`s spinning

My question is what style of dress is he wearing .........

SamanthaAnn

what style of dress, Samantha?

well, what would a female assassin/spy wear ? Anything she wants to ...

DogSig.png

A nice story, but...

Haylee V's picture

One thing you MUST know about hypnotism: When under a trance, a person will NEVER do anything that will be detrimental to his/her safety, sanity, or overall well-being, And a person will only do things that he/she is willing to do. The subconscious simply WILL NOT allow someone to put his/herself in imminent danger.

If SHE was,as you say, truly suppressed, then hypnotism WOULD NOT have made her surface in a dangerous or hostile way. I really want to see the continuation of this, as you have the beginnings of quite a chiller series. Will Mark's other "victims" come back to exact their revenge as well???

*Kisses Always*
Haylee V

real hypnotism

probably wouldn't let a person hurt themselves, but its become a staple of stories regardless.

huggles!

DogSig.png

Subconscious Synergy

laika's picture

So maybe the hypnosis combined with whatever sort of sleeper-agent whammy and conditioning her original trainers subjected her to, for a reaction that hypnosis alone wouldn't account for. Just a thought...
~Veronica
,

This comment was brought to you by new MK ULTRA SHAMPOO... It washes more than your hair, Baby!