LAREINA

…

« Anf…Anf…Anf… ». Lareina woke up in her bed, the sound of her alarm clock in the background. What had just happened? She met that man and then he…wait, how did she get back home? Was all that just a dream?

« Woman I swear to God if you don’t turn off that f*cking alarm clock I am going to smash it in your face! » her husband screamed, turning on the other side. Apparently, it had been just a dream. “A very weird dream…” she thought, while turning off the alarm clock.

But there, right under the alarm clock, a little white card. She picked it up. It had a very bizarre drawing of a butterfly with several wings on one side. She turned it on the other side, where there were only two lines of text. “7 Players Still in the Game. 94 Chapters Left. What is this supposed to mean?”. She thought it could be a card from one of the nightclubs her husband went to regularly. But why was it under her alarm clock?

Her eyes widened, as she recognized a mark that had gone unnoticed so far. A small cigarette burn, on the top right corner of the card. There was no particular reason, but she instinctively knew that the card was from Him. The man on the roof. What if it wasn’t just a dream? What if it was real? Did that mean that she really had the power to…?

She turned towards her husband, sleeping with his back towards her.

« Make me breakfast… » she dared to whisper. Nothing happened. So it was just a dream. Or maybe she had to put more effort into it? “What the hell am I doing…”. Hope really is a dangerous poison.

« GO MAKE ME BREAKFAST, YOU FAT PIG! » she screamed. But once Hope flows in your veins, there is no getting it out.

« What the f*ck did you just say to me? » her husband woke up violently. His initial surprise quickly turned into wild rage. He grabbed her by the wrist, ready to hit her with his other hand as violently as he could. She had never seen such a ferocious light in his eyes. This time he could actually kill her.

« Stop, STOP! » she screamed, in fear. She tried to protect her face with her only free arm, but she knew that it wouldn’t be enough. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact to arrive.

But it didn’t.

When she opened them again, her husband was standing over her, frozen. His expression was still furious, but he wasn’t moving. What the hell was happening. Did she really…?

« Let me go! » she ordered. The man freed her wrist.

“This…this is no possible…” she thought, standing up from the bed. She pinched her skin to make sure that she was really awake and that this wasn’t just a dream.

« Now, go back to sleep ». The man turned on his back and started sleeping again.

She could not believe it. But the evidence was undeniable. She had just given her husband three orders and he had complied without any sign of resistance. The only possible explanation was that what the man said was true. She really had been given power. An extraordinary power.

« …M…Mind control… » she echoed her conversation with the mysterious man.

…

« Good morning, Lareina, you are later than usual. I would suggest you sleep at the office, so you would have a chance to actually be on time once in a while…but you would scare Security with that ghost face of yours AHAHAH » her boss welcomed her as always, followed by a trace of laughing courtesans. She didn’t even look at him and just walked straight to her desk. She had bigger things to think about.

She had needed some time to accept her new reality. That she had just been gifted supernatural powers by a mysterious man after a brief encounter on the roof. She didn’t have any proof that the encounter actually happened, except for the fact that her powers were definitely the real deal. In the past few days, she had tried it not only with her husband but in several other occasions.

It had a few rules to it. First of all, she had to look a person in the eyes. That was the trigger. Once she locked eyes with someone, she could give a command and that person would unmistakably execute it to the limit of their capabilities. Though apparently, they had to hear it, or comprehend it someway, as she realized when she was forced to repeat the order a few times to her half-deaf old lady neighbour. Writing also worked, if again it was briefly preceded or followed by a look in the eyes. Screens or pictures of her eyes didn’t work, it had to be her own gaze.

The command could be short or long, but the essential part was to make it as detailed as possible to avoid misunderstandings. It also had to be a specific action, not something generic (« Obey my orders! » didn’t have any effect). But it could also affect one’s thoughts and feelings. She had to admit that it felt good to see her husband back off to a corner of the bedroom after she ordered him to « Be afraid of me! » though it didn’t last indefinitely.

But the greatest feature was the complementary effects. The victim would not remember being given an order. In their mind, they chose the action on their own. And if asked why, they would try to rationalize their actions or simply say « I just felt like doing it ». That was incredible. It meant that she didn’t have to worry about her powers becoming public domain, if she was careful not to be heard by unwanted listeners.

She had other experiments to do, to fully understand the extent and limitations of her new ability, but she would have time to do them later. For now, she had other things to do.

« Hey ghost face, didn’t they teach you good manners at home? You should say “good morning boss” when you enter the workplace. Maybe you need a new daddy to teach you that… » her trash bag of a boss didn’t take well her unresponsiveness to his insults. His hands reached for her lips, abusively. She grabbed his arm and looked him in the eyes.

« Go back to your office and don’t talk to me for the rest of the day » she whispered. The man quickly retreated back to his office.

A surge of adrenalin rushed in her body. With this new power she could finally change her life. She could end this perpetual nightmare. She could escape that deadly mouse trap she had been living in.

No, escaping that trap wasn’t enough.

“I will shatter it to pieces”.