The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Baltimore Maryland: 2353

As Ray gazed into Sammi’s face he thought about the lightening, strange series of events that had led him to this impossibly strange moment. He kept turning over events in his adroit mind, looking for answers and reasons. He kept replaying those last moments in Asterine’s apartment.

All had gone according to plan until his fangs had sunk in true and deep, his ultimate moment of triumph, his coronation as the dominant species, his rule of mankind now at hand. And then all hell broke loose in a most surprising way he had never anticipated even with all his prescience.

The door to Asterine’s apartment had burst open and dozens of citizens, her neighbors no doubt, flooded the room as one mob. They lurched towards him as mobs do, one wriggling, like minded entity grabbing at him, pounding at him, ripping at him, screaming and angry and unquenchable in their ant hive mob mission. Ray had fought back like a tiger, felling one after another but ultimately there were too many and they were surprisingly, their genetically enhanced bodies more powerful than the humans of yore. If there had been less or he had not been weakened by his sleep he may have overcome them but they had been too numerous for him to repel the attack in his attenuated condition.

They had battered him into submission gloating and hollering at their terrible, brutal victory as he slowly succumbed to their tidal wave of rage. Finally he had simply gone to black, knocked unconscious by their endless cudgel of fists and feet striking his body and head over and over. The assault may have killed a normal man but Ray was far from that.

But it was not this assault that was the focus of Ray’s mind now that he was awake again. No, there was something else that took precedence over even that vicious surprise. The bigger shock had been when he had sunk his needle sharp teeth deep into Asterine’s neck: There had been no blood! Nothing had emerged from the twin holes he had excavated in her exquisite young flesh.

He had woken from his beating slumber ten hours ago, splayed out on his back. He could feel his wrists and ankles chained by some hard metal to hard table he lay on.

He hadn’t opened his eyes in all that time, feigning sleep, giving his battered body time to heal. He had damaged organs and broken bones and Ray had wanted to be whole again before the dealt with his captors.

As he lay there in his faux sleep he quickly made a series of deductions about what had occurred and felt he had a hit upon a reasonable almost probably answer to events. When he had attacked Asterine somehow a warning alarm had been sent to her neighbors, perhaps an implant in her body or some protective device in her house. This would explain her friendly naiveté to strangers and the unlocked doors. Any violent or untoward act committed in this society would immediately alert others nearby rendering the aggressive action into a trap that was impossible to escape from.

The lack of blood in his attack on Asterine or from those neighbors he managed to batter with his hands or shred with his claws was more problematic. He had developed two lines of thought on this matter.

In one, human geneticists had figured out how to hide the precious well of life blood deeper in the human body to better protect it against catastrophic injury and the often fatal exsanguination that followed such events.

The other very logical explanation was simple: humans had invented a blood substitute either implemented during gestation in the womb or sometime after birth. This substitute perhaps protected against injury and contained medicinal or healing elements. While contained in their bodies it obviously was not pumped through the body as blood had been.

Ray’s lightening quick mind immediately turned to the implications of these events and what they would mean to his plans and very existence. The major obstacle would be a lack of blood if it had indeed been replaced with some other mechanism in the human body. But he knew what human’s may have taken away they would certainly have the knowledge and ability to give back. This impediment could be overcome. For if humans could find a way to eliminate the need for blood in their bodies they could certainly produce more in their labs or invent a substitute that would have the same restorative qualities to him. It was all about science.

Despite the strange turn of events he had encountered he remained perfectly calm, unworried even. Ray never rattled. Just as he could not cry he was also immune to fright. Whether it was a product of the type of creature he was or simply part and parcel to his own personality he never felt afraid. He had placed himself in tight spots before and found it enjoyable, it enhanced his senses and made him feel alive and he had always used his superior mind and powers to slip out of the noose like a greased snake, to extricate himself, to assume his rightful place as master of all events and exact sweet vengeance in his own time and manner. No one was more capable than he to slowly start swinging that pendulum to his advantage and he knew this time it would no exception. He just had to figure out the lay of the land, what had happened in the intervening three hundred years of sleep, adjust to the new reality as he always did, master it and turn the tables. Those who held him now would weep bitter tears in the not so far future when he was finished with them and his vengeance complete.

And in time, when he held the implacable whip hand over these new humans, he could have them reverse any scientific advances inimical to him. Just as they had buried or displaced the blood he craved so could they begin to revert coming ages of new born humans back to the blood food sacks they had previously been. It could all be as it was before. There was no problem that was insoluble for the dominant species and his so very adroit mind. Yes it would take centuries to repopulate the world, the world he would command, with blood bearing humans but so what? It would be an interesting program for him to direct. He would be the father of this revanchist strategy and new-old world. And he would have all the centuries required to perform this change in them and the world.

And he had already formulating his plan of attack, his method to deceive his human captors into viewing him not as a threat but an asset, a precious, rare commodity to be studied and then worked with as a partner, to be in friendly partnership with for the mutual discovery and benefit of all mankind.

Currently they felt he was dangerous and threat to humans. He had given himself away in his attack on Asterine but this was a perception he felt confident he could change. He knew the twin pillars of human weakness were empathy and curiosity. If he portrayed himself as an intelligent, misunderstood entity, much like them, soon they would feel a kinship with him. They would talk with him, begin to understand and like him, feel sorry for him even.

And what a false tale he would feed them for he was the master of lies and deception and he knew above all human’s wanted to believe. He would tell them of his strange existence, leaving out of course the hundreds of destroyed lives and corpses in his wake. No need for them to know that part after all. He would explain his abject fear of discovery by humans, his never ending terror that humans would kill or cage him because he was different, his centuries of desolate isolation from normal people. How he had moved through the centuries quaking in fright that he would be exposed for what he was. He would explain how he needed blood to survive, how he never killed any of his victims but only drank so very sparingly from a few and let them go on to lead their normal lives. He would certainly never mention his ability to invade and control human minds. They would only learn of this facet, too late, when his powers were whole again.

He would explain his violent attack on Asterine as the slumber blood-lust he always experienced when he woke from his sleep. He would make them understand the situation, akin to a human who had not fed for weeks seeing a juicy steak suddenly in front of their face. They would understand that analogy and even sympathize with it. He would tell them it was a hunger, a blood lust he always immediately mastered as soon as he tasted the first few swallows of crimson. Of course Asterine had never been in real danger. He had never killed a human in his life; it went against his principles of protecting and admiring all life. What was more precious than each individual unique life? It was the code he had always lived by as he would explain in abject earnestness. Certainly these advanced humans would not only understand but totally agree. Hell, this would only be one part of so much common ground once they began to understand each other.

He would explain his travels, all the era’s he had lived in and the things he had seen and done. They would find he was walking, living history book, an invaluable living treasure. He could be the most precious historical resource in human history. He could educate them and answer so many questions they had about antiquity.

And of course he would offer his body for study. Surely it held secrets that could help humanity. What medial cures could his body reveal to them? He never got sick, was immortal, and could hardly be killed! His body would be a veritable cornucopia of promise for humanity! They could map his genes; see what made him what he was, why he needed blood, why he had to sleep. Oh yes, they could indeed map his genes. He would gladly volunteer. He would help them and in turn they could help him, help him find out why he had to sleep and cure him of it.

Ray inwardly smiled at this thought. Oh yes, they could surely aid him with that little sleep problem he had in return for all his help.

He would enthrall and fascinate them with all he knew, all his mind and body would reveal. He would be a cause celeb in their new world.

And while he helped them, they would help him. They would provide him new blood or a blood supplement and he would drink. Oh yes, he would drink and drink and drink. He would regain his many powers and then things would turn in a whole new direction once he could take control of their minds again.

And then when he was whole, when he was ready, he would show them, his new friends, everything about himself. Then they would learn things they could hardly imagine now in their safe little technological cocoon. And he would teach and teach and teach till the skies fell on their heads in liquid red waves until they were drenched in blood.

And he knew it would all work just as he planned….until he opened his eyes as it all came crashing down when he saw Sammi.

This changed everything. She had been dead for three hundred years, killed by his own hand. There was no way she could be here now, looking into his black eyes with the same kind blue ones he had seen glaze over in death so long ago. He had reached out with his hand and closed those very eyes for the last time as she lie dead on the couch on Gatsby night.

How did these humans know of Sammi and what had transpired on Gatsby night? And how could he explain that away?

But all these questions begged even a larger one: How was Sammi, a girl how died at ten years of age, now grown up and in this room with him at this very moment?

The one thing Ray was sure of was her presence here signaled a game of sorts. The humans were conducting some kind of investigation, looking for his reactions. And as a consummate master of games he was ready to play. If there was a way out of this topsy-turvy conundrum he would find it.

Let the game begin, he thought, embracing the challenge with his usual boldness.

He took his eyes off Sammi and looked around the room. Besides himself, Sammi and the steel table he was affixed to there was only one other item in the sterile, white room. A few feet away, to his right, hanging by a chain from the ceiling was a key. He instinctively knew what that key was. It was the key to the steel cuffs that bound his wrists and feet to the table. It was so close but an eternity away. Why did they leave it dangling there like that for him to see? Was it an inducement of sorts; the possibility of freedom’s reward if things went well?

But no matter the reason Sammi was here, returned from the dead was the real key to all of this. He just had to figure out the how and why of it.

He knew this was not his Sammi for she was long ago dust. Then who was this woman standing there, this facsimile of a grown up Sammi? The first step to understanding all this was ascertaining that answer

He turned his eyes back to her. He gave her a shy, boyish smile. “If I had known you would be here I would have woken up quicker.”

She laughed softly. It was a sweet, gentle sound. “Thanks for the compliment. I have to say you made quiet an introduction to humanity. What you did was most unexpected in our experience.”

It was time to start his probe of this woman. “Sorry about my particular introduction to your world. I apologize for what happened. I hope Asterine is unharmed.”

“Asterine is fine. The damage was minimal. And I apologize for the manner you were subdued. It was done because of the threat to Asterine. Humanity protects each other. And I see you have healed rapidly. I trust you feel reasonably well?”

Ray had healed but no thanks to the humans. He had received no medical treatment. They had left him to his own devices and fate. No doubt another part of their test. “I’m very glad about Asterine and thank you, I feel fine.” He glanced at his shackles. “Well, except for this. A bit uncomfortable but I understand the precaution.”

She did not respond to this, only watched him with those kind, clear blue eyes.

He moved his head forward, both to drive home the narrative he hoped to weave and also to test this Sammi and what her purpose was. He had come to the decision to ignore what had transpired between the two for the moment. He wanted to draw her out.

“I know what I did appears horrific. It casts me in a bad light, makes me look violent or worse but there are things you need to understand to see what I did in its true context.”

She smiled. It was a strange smile, one that he could not pin down. “Trust me, no one knows better than I that things are not always what they seem.”

This response gave Ray pause. Was she referring to the way her and Brad was tricked on that bloody, murderous Gatsby night or was it a reference to her own impossible resurrection? Or was her declaration simply a more general observation?

The vampire’s sensitive antenna came alive at her choice of words. It reminded him of his many conversations with Vlad when there were meanings hidden underneath the stated words. He had the feeling this girl was telling him something important. He was not sure what though. There was only one way to find out, plow straight ahead and see what becomes unearthed. There was no choice in the matter.

His face grew soft, reflective and introspective. A mirror of what he wished her to see. When he spoke his voice reflected all this, honest, emotional, level in its earnestness.

“I am just like you or any other human. I live, I breathe, I think. I have my hopes and dreams and fears. I want to strive to succeed and to be a good productive member of humanity and civilization. I want to give something back to this world in some way.” And control and feed on you and use you as I see fit, as is my right and station as the dominant species. And as the apex predator of this world to decide whether you live or die. He gave her a sad smile. “I don’t want to harm anyone. It goes against everything I believe in and flies against the morals of any intelligent being. I have lived by that creed my entire life.” And now he threw out the first of the bait to catch her attention. “And when I say my entire life I am speaking of a term of over a thousand years.”

He watched her face closely as he released his opening gambit tied to that bombshell. She took it stoically, revealing nothing, not so much as a twitch of the eye or moment of the lips. This impressed him. This woman, this new Sammi was smart, under control, totally confident in all ways.

Finally after a long reflective pause she spoke, ignoring the proffered information about his age and sticking to the fact of his attack. “Asterine might not see it that way if she were here right now, would she?”

He nodded in thoughtful, honest agreement. “No she would not. Nor would anyone who had been in her place and for good reason.” Then he turned Sammi’s own words back at her as he warmed up to the game. “But as you said things are not always as they seem.” He looked her up and down brazenly, his message clear: you are a dead woman conversing with me. “You of all people understand this. You of all people on earth were chosen to be here with me now. There is a reason for this, no?”

She nodded in agreement. “Yes, I was chosen to speak with you for a reason. I am the one person on earth who knows you intimately. After all you killed me,” she said, acknowledging his words and look.

“I did and it was an aberrant moment in my life that I regretted since the moment it happened. Hear me out before you judge me. Listen to what I have to say and try to understand the situation in total, the whole cloth instead of the small thread you currently know from that singular night.”

He gazed into her face, his mind going back to the sweet, pure, kind little girl, that rare unicorn, sitting on his lap as her life precious last seconds counted down with a beat of a song.

“Yes you know me Sammi. But I know you too. Remember I was in your mind, I knew exactly how special you….are.” Ray was going to say ‘were’ but changed the tense at the last instant.

Sammi rendered an oblique small smile at his remark. What is behind that smile, Sammi? What are you thinking? Do you know what I was going to say? Is it a tacit acknowledgement of a charade you are playing at here? How much of the real Sammi are you? The answer to that question was vitally important to Ray and what he was attempting to do.

Ray pushed on. “Hear me out before you decide what I am. Give me this much as I know you can.”

When she answered her voice was a mixture of burning curiously and kindness. The mix was like sweet honey to the bee for him. She wanted to believe him. It was in her voice. She would believe him and then she would be his. It would just take patience and the right lies. And no one lied as he did. Perhaps her being here could be turned to his advantage after all. His Sammi had been so kind, so understanding, so sweet and full of forgiveness. Of all the people sent to interrogate him she was like a godsend to him. The perfect one.

She walked over to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Please go on. I want to hear what you have to say. The exchange of information is the basis of understanding and knowledge.” She leveled an encouraging smile at him. “No one wants any misconception or mistakes to be made.”

He nodded in agreement. “I have been asleep for many years, three hundred to be precise. As I said, I am very much like you, but different.” Time to throw out yet more bait. “I am the only one of my kind that I know of. I never age, never get sick. But I am also the prisoner of certain limitations. I only stay awake for three years at a time. At the end of that span my body forces me to enter into a sort of…hibernation. It rests for three hundred years before I awaken again.”

He had been watching her closely, watching her as he spoke. She took this information in with obvious curiosity.

He gave her the next part straight, he had no other recourse. “The other difference between us is in how I obtain nourishment. I need human blood to survive. I have no other sustenance.”

She nodded. “I see.”

When he continued his voice was beseeching, honest, imploring, the search for understanding between two intelligent people. His eyes were guileless, open to inspection, soft and as kind as hers: The eyes of an innocent. It was time to slip over the big lie. He knew it always worked best when amalgamated with some truth. He had given her that, now for the deception.

“But until the night we met I had never killed a person in my need for sustenance. I only need a little blood at a time. I pick someone to take from and process is harmless. When I am finished they are free to live their lives. What happened that night between us….” he shook his head despondently.

“What happened between us Billy Ray? If what you say is true why did you kill me?” she asked immediately.

She reached out again and put her hand on his. “I liked you Billy. We were friends. I wanted to live. I had my whole life ahead of me. Why did you take everything from me?”

He arched he eyebrows. “I know Sammi. What I did that night was reprehensible. But like I said you need to see the full picture.”

“Go on,” she said.

“You must have the ability to put yourself in my life, my entire life and then in that critical moment. You see, for eternity I have been forced to live my miserable existence, fearful of discovery by your kind. And then I have to suffer yet again with three short years of existence till my long sleep. This has assaulted me for so long that I finally reached a breaking point…the end of my sanities tether.”

Sammi nodded encouragement. “Tell me about it. What did you feel that night? What happened?”

“I had found my life in Los Angeles very rewarding. I had made good friends, found true peace and enjoyment of life. I had laid down roots as in no other of my lives. I….I…almost felt like I belonged.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. “But as my time of sleep drew closer I could not accept it. It ate at me like a malign sickness, a fevered dream run amok. That once again my attempt at some normalcy, to integrate myself into the great human society was doomed to never ending failure.”

“And that gave you the right to kill me?”

“No!” he spat back. Then he calmed. “It didn’t. But you must try to somehow put yourself in my place. I know it is impossible unless you have lived my life and endured my frustrations but you must try Sammi. You of all people have that ability. I know you do.”

“I’m trying Billy Ray,” she responded earnestly. “Please continue.”

“On that night I was past the point of sanity’s reason. And I had been drinking heavily. I was not of my right mind. I was swimming in depression and rage and drink. I was nothing like my true self.”

He grabbed her hand in his. He clutched her hand tenderly. Her skin was so warm and felt so nice. He couldn’t enter her mind and influence her thoughts but he knew there were other ways to establish report with humans.

“I began that night with the purest of intentions, Sammi. I wanted to give candy to the children, to see their smiles and delight. I thought it would sooth me, make me feel better.”

He paused for brief moment; his face took on a faraway gaze, like he was remembering it all.

He quickly continued, knowing full well how a measure of honesty was one of the best buttresses for a lie. It was like cooking a perfect meal, just the right amount of each ingredient was needed. And right now he needed to be the master chef to achieve his end, to create the perfect meal she would find irresistible. The lies, fostered and intermingled with half-truths flowed so smoothly from his lips.

“But it didn’t work out as I planned. Seeing the joy in those young faces only formed a thundercloud in my mind. It made me realize I was going to lose everything, my joy at life and being part of the world and beautiful humanity. You see, in each face I saw the joy of life; they would go on with it…but I would be denied yet again. By the time you entered my house I was a monster, fueled by alcohol and a despair I could never see ending….ever. And at that point I just wanted to lash out, to make others feel something of the loss that had been my entire life.”

He looked at her and shook his head. “Can you even begin to understand this in some way?”

She studied him pensively before answering. “Maybe I can Billy Ray.” Then she added, “Let’s ask someone else if he can.”

Ray raised his eyebrows in confused question.

Immediately the white room went ink black. This was yet another surprise for Ray for he could see in darkness as perfectly as he could in light. Yet for a few seconds he could see nothing but a jet black veil. It was the first time in his long life he could not view his surroundings.

Then just as suddenly the darkness disappeared and bright white room returned.

Standing before him, next to Sammi was her brother Brad. The same boy he had eviscerated.

Like Sammi, Brad was grown now, a handsome young man in his late twenties. He was still wearing the same football jacket he had worn on that fateful Gatsby Night sans the Batman cape.

Brad looked at Ray and smiled. “Hello Ray.”

Ray shook his head and huffed out a laugh. “What is this, an updated version of A Christmas Carol with me in the role of Scrooge?”

“No Ray, this is no play.” He gave a sly grin. “Not a Christmas Carol nor….Hamlet.”

And this answer told Ray so much. That one little sentence. These facsimiles didn’t just know about Gatsby night. They knew about his love of Shakespeare. They knew his entire life....everything!

And his brilliant mind immediately deduced that the only way this was possible was the humans of this time had somehow entered his mind, just as he had done to them so many times.

He chuckled at the bitter irony of this turnaround. He had always loved human technology, the promise it held for him and now he was getting a full taste of it and it was like bile in his mouth. You have come a long way since my first day of life, so many centuries ago, haven’t you? he marveled.

There was no reason to keep up the facade. They knew exactly what he was. So now it was time to change tack and see where some brutal honesty could lead. Ray was still confident that there was a way to get that key that dangled so close and bring about his final victory over mankind. He just had to find it. He just had to be patient and observant; and he had those two attributes in abundance. They were still only humans and he the dominate species. Despite the twists and turns that he found himself ensconced in that part of the age old equation remained the same. And it would always be to his advantage.

“Brad, I must say it is an extreme displeasure to see you.” Ray shot a predatory, mocking smile at the boy he had killed once already. “Once of you was enough to last eternity.

Brad stared back him levelly. His face was cold. “You remember me.”

“Certainly,” Ray replied his words carried with a taunting tone. “The most hapless fool I ever encountered in over a thousand years. The boy who couldn’t pour shit out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. The killer of your own sweet sister.”

“I didn’t kill her, you did! I didn’t know what you wanted of me. I was just a boy. You toyed with me and slaughtered me.” replied Brad.

Ray shrugged, nonchalant. “Human history is replete with the dead who didn’t understand until too late what was wanted of them. Darwinism at its finest. Natural selection, culling out the weak and all that jazz.”

Suddenly the room went black again, plunging Ray in total darkness. When the light returned seconds later Brad looked so different than the handsome young lad of moments ago. Now his throat was torn asunder, the spine running up his neck exposed, great red gouts of blood pouring out from the massive, violent wounds Ray had inflicted on him three hundred years prior.

“Did I deserve this?” he somehow growled and croaked, his eyes red and bulging in agony.

Ray nodded. “Most assuredly….and so much more.” He shook his hands, jangling the chains that bound him. “And if I were free of these restraints I would gladly do you again a thousand times over.” He grinned at Brad, looking gleefully, savagely animalistic. When he spoke his voice was wicked with desire. “But this time, old sport, I would make it linger for a long, lovely time. I would make you live pain. Make it a very part of you who you are. I killed you far too swiftly, a regrettable mistake on my part.”

Ray glanced up that the hanging key. He taunted Brad now. “But if you would like to redress old insults and slights why don’t you take that key and unlock my cuffs, old sport? You could get another chance at the game. Maybe show me you have gotten wiser in your....old age.” He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like that chance to avenge yourself now that understand the rules fully? Or are you still the same dull, bovine-brained coward you were before? Hmmmmmm?” he hummed sweetly.

“And did my sister deserve what you did to her?” Brad shot back in his gasping, guttural, wheezing voice.

“She did not,” countered Ray. His lips creased with a slick grin. “Her misfortune for having been saddled with an obtuse brother. You see, old sport, you didn’t deserve to be her kin.”

Sammi withdrew her hand from Ray’s and raised the palm of it up in the air.

“Please stop,” she said in a distressed voice. Both men went silent. “This isn’t good for anyone and it’s not getting us anywhere.”

“I agree,” said Ray in a flippant voice. “A fool’s recriminations are a waste of time. Let’s get down to important considerations.”

Once again the room went black and when the light returned in a scant couple of seconds Brad was gone like an apparition scattered by the wind.

Ray considered this phenomenon carefully. How was it that he could not penetrate these moments of darkness? And how could Brad materialize and disappear in such a way? And why the appearance of Sammi? One answer was that Brad and Sammi were some kind of projections, holographic images of some sort. But he didn’t think so. The reason for this was the fact that his whole life was open to them. They had been inside his mind and knew his entire life.

My mind…my mind….it’s all about my mind. That is the key to all of this. They are trying to trick me into believing something that is not true. They want to measure my reactions. But why?

And suddenly Ray felt he had much of it figured out; the how and probably the why of it. If he was right his life was hanging by a thread that would soon be cut. The wheels of his mind turned over and over rapidly, working on ways to escape his tenuous predicament. Even in this portentous moment he couldn’t help but feel the thrill of this dangerous game. If he could pull off an escape here, given their current advantages, it would be the master stroke of his life, his greatest moment. It would be the glorious denouement of his life as the dominant species.

Billy Ray’s eyes narrowed as he looked at fake Sammi.

“Who are you, dead girl?” His voice couched no mercy at the word. It was a statement of fact.

She sighed deeply then spoke. “I am Sammi.”

“This is not true. Sammi was innocent and pure and forgiving. She would never deceive and plot murder. She was incapable of those desires or emotions. I know.”

“Murder?” she asked, her voice carrying an undertone of shock.

“Indeed.” He grinned. “Murder most foul,” he said, throwing Brad’s use of Shakespeare back at his hidden interrogators. “This is all a test.” He glanced up at the key of freedom dangling so close. “You are gauging my reactions to various stimuli. you, dead girl, are part of that stimuli. You also want to see how long it takes me to figure out the end game. You are just a beard for others who are interested in these proceedings.”

She stared at him intently, her clear blues eyes taking it all in.

“And I have figured it out. I am a merely a rat in your lab. You are running me through a maze. And at the end of the maze is the killing trap for when the rat has no more use. And that is cold blooded, calculated murder.” Ray’s black eyes gleamed. “I know its scent on the wind so very well since I committed it often.” Ray took a deep, loud sniff to emphasize the point. “It is unmistakable.”

She shook her head. “You don’t know that…”

Ray peremptorily interrupted her. He smiled knowingly as he spoke. “But I do! And I know something else.” He waved his shacked hands at his sides, the chains making noise. “This room, you, Brad, none of it is real. It’s all happening inside my mind. It’s all a trick, an illusion.”

Ray caught a brief shadow of surprise darken Sammi’s sweet face. She shook her head sadly. “Billy Ray….I…”

Ray once again cut her off. “Enough of this game. Sammi would never participate in murder. So you are not her. She is long dead. Those facts are immutable. We are both too smart to play at this.”

Ray chuckled darkly. “No need to be afraid.” Once again he raised his hands as far as the chains would allow. “As you can see I am quite helpless, shackled like some lowly, brute animal, the key out of reach. Cards on the table my dear. Who are you really? Let us both finally traffic in truth at this late date in my life.”

Ray smiled, and it was soft and somewhat melancholic. “Is that courtesy too much to ask of you.....my Little Mermaid?” His voice held an unmistakable, genuine tone as he asked this of her, devoid of pretense or deception.

Sammi looked down at the floor and fidgeted with her hands. When she looked up there was resolution in her eyes.

“OK. As you wish, Billy Ray. No games now,” she agreed.

The room went dark again.

When the light returned what was revealed from the black was so stunning, so amazing and so incredible that even a creature of Ray’s preternatural composure almost let out a gasp.