✅🎊✂️ Hypnosis Won't Take Me There!! [alternative cut]

Chapter 475: Getting Closer

"Can I post a message?" Adi looked up from her laptop, to where Dean was sitting on the bed. He was reading a book, not watching her. But she knew that he was still paying attention, watching out for any sign of her doing something that wasn't allowed. It might have seemed intrusive, needing someone in the room every time she used the Internet. But now she knew that he was trying to protect her, she could really appreciate all the things he'd done for her.

"I thought you were studying?" He hadn't looked up, but he must be aware that wasn't exactly the case. She hadn't broken any rules, but she had the Netsafe Family login screen up, just in case she could persuade him to relax the rules just once. Had he glanced at her screen? She hadn't seen any movement, but he still gave the impression of knowing.

"I just... I've not been able to post on CritMass for months now. I've not been online since we left home, and before that I was usually too little to say the things I wanted to say. I just want to post a quick message, in case there's anyone still taking my reviews seriously. To say that some of the hypnosis stuff out there might be real, and make sure nobody else jumps into it carelessly like I did. And maybe check my messages too. I mean, there's a few people who might be interested."

"Fair enough," Dean nodded. "But you can't access CritMass here. I can't either, it's some kind of government-mandated censorship by internet providers or something. Like, you can't access adult sites without specifically opting in and proving you're an adult, and they think that site is adult in nature. I didn't think we'd be here long enough to be worth finding out who I need to call."

"Okay then. So..."

"You can write a message to post later, if you want? If you don't mind me proofreading, to make sure you're not giving away personal details or giving people the wrong impression by accident, then I could even post it for you. Means there's not so much time with me peering over your shoulder. Would you rather do that now, or should we test your trigger first? We should do it some time tonight."

"Yeah, that sounds like–" Adi started to nod, then interrupted herself and stood quickly. "I'm just going..." She didn't even finish the sentence before she reached the bathroom door, walking fast as if she couldn't decide how her chance of making it in time stacked up against the indignity of having to run. Somehow she knew what he was going to say before she even heard it, but it was already too late to focus on resisting. She knew it was a test, but that didn't make any difference at all.

"Good luck, Adelaide," Dean said with a nervous grin, and Adi's expression told him that her new training was going exactly as they'd planned.

* * *

"Are we nearly there yet?" Belle mumbled, head resting on the car window.

"Twelve miles," Britney answered from the back seat. "Don't you know the route by now?"

"Yeah, well. It feels like we've been driving forever, and I can't think of anything to talk about now. Not with you two. Felt like I was going to burst if I didn't break the silence soon."

"Like a little kid coming for the first time."

"I guess. That's what's so great about this place. Or the time we spend there, I guess. It's not the museums, or the trails, or the viewpoints. It's that our holidays haven't changed much since I was a little kid. Like, every day I've been getting more adult, more independant. Dean's gone off to college, and I only see him a couple of times a week. But when we're here, it's almost like I'm a kid again. He cooks, cleans, and makes most of the plans. He asks me what I want to do, but he's the one making the decisions. The two of us against the world, and I don't have to fight to be noticed."

"Think you'd go here as Lily?"

Belle didn't know how to answer that. It was something she'd half thought about, ever since she started exploring her little side. The trips to her cottage were a small step towards being a child again anyway, because she didn't have any friends her own age to interact with. But it was the last thing she'd expected Toni to mention.

"I don't know," she said eventually, a mile or two closer to the cottage. "It would be nice, I guess. A lot of the stuff we do would be even more fun if I could mix in some littleness. If all this hadn't happened, like if we'd worked out the problem with that note sooner, I might have asked Dean if we could try it. For half the week maybe, or a surprise some time each day. Who knows, if Adi likes it here she could have come with us."

She didn't mention Adelaide coming with them next year. The image was there in her mind, of being able to share her brother with a friend and both get all the attention they could want. But she knew that the odds of that were practically nonexistent. Depending what kind of training Adi was receiving now, Belle might not be comfortable coming here again. Even if it was just her and Dean. This summer had driven a wedge between them, and she didn't know if she'd be able to trust her big brother again, no matter how much she wanted to.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she almost missed a chipped wooden post standing at the side of the track.

"Slow down!" she called out. "We need to pull in on the left."

"Here?"

"Almost here. You can't see it from the road, but there's a break in the ditch. I'll get out and cut back the brambles."

"You sure?" Britney sounded doubtful, and peered down at the navigation app on her phone. "The map says another quarter mile before that track."

"A learning experience, then. Maps aren't always that accurate. Especially when it comes to paths that only two neighbours ever use."

There was no time to be lost in her thoughts now. No time for bonding, or reminiscing. Belle proved that she did, in fact, know how to use a machete. And ten minutes later, the car was a dozen paces off the road, but completely hidden by a curtain of brambles and fallen branches. From here, they would be able to walk to the cottage in half an hour. All their planning had led them here, and the next hour felt like it was the only part of their lives that really mattered.