Confessions of an Orchid Flower

Chapter 8: Mind Control

I swallowed nervously as my heart began thumping against my chest. An intruder was inside my house. A psycho intruder. But there was only so many places he could hide in a one-bedroom apartment. I hurried to the door, panic washing over me like the waves of an ocean on a stormy night. Through the dark, I hastened for the door; I knew my house by heart. I turned the knob and gasped; it was locked! With shaking hands, I turned to the unlock the hatch, but all of a sudden, a hand grabbed me from behind and I swear I almost passed out. I turned around, ready to punch the hell out of this intruder when the electricity came back on. A person dressed in a long brown coat stood before me; his face covered by a black mask. At this moment folks, I could have run, I could have screamed, but I froze in my tracks; I was paralyzed.

"Hello Maximus," the person spoke from behind the mask.

"Take off the mask and and reveal yourself you coward," I said.

"Always in a rush aren't you?" The masked person said, standing firmly in his place.

I scanned the area really fast, afraid there might be more to than just this person. And then another terrifying thought crossed my mind; was this person armed? Did he have a gun or knife on him? And why couldn't I move? I tried calming myself down. I guess I was too afraid that if I turned to the door to unlock it, this person would stab me in the back. Anything was possible since apparently he was a sick psycho who kidnaps children for a living.

"There's no need to be scared of me Maximus," he said, looking directly into my eyes (or I guess he was; I couldn't tell from the mask he was wearing). "After all, we are quite acquainted."

"W-who are you and w-what do you want f-from me?" I said, trying to keep my voice calm and steady.

"That's two questions Maximus. In reference to my identity, if you haven't guess it by now, you will in a bit. As for your second question, I want the very same thing that I wanted from you the first time we spoke: to confess about the orchid flower."

"I-I told you, I don't know anything about an orchid flower."

"Liar," he said, his voice rising. "Tell me, did the visions start?"

"Visions?"

"Yes, visions."

"I – uh." Was he referring to the dream I had? But how could he have known?

"Aha, so you did," the voice said.

"I don't understand," I said. "How do you know about the dream I had?"

"Because we put it there, the dream, in your head."

What the hell was he on about?

"Excuse me? How's that possible? And who's we? Are you working with Lilian?" I demanded, finding courage all of a sudden.

"That's a lot of questions now," he replied. "Confess and I'll you everything."

"But I can't remember!" I said. "I had a bad dream a few nights ago about some creature kidnapping Lily and then it showed me a white orchid flower with a few fallen petals.

"Excellent," the masked person said. "That creature was obviously a manifestation of your fear."

"The creature told me that once all the petals fall off, Lily is going to –"

"Die, yes," he said, sounding remorseless.

"How?" I said, getting furious. "I don't understand any of this!"

"You mean you actually don't remember anything?" He said,

"NO!" I said. "NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY FUCKING SENSE!"