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

[Flashback Chapter 374: No Plan Survives Contact With the Baby]

The car growled as they bounced over the ruts in the track, and Adi found herself giggling like a child again, regardless of her earlier worries. She was mostly thinking like a grown-up, but she couldn't deny that being jolted around in her seat was somehow fun. At least if she let herself enjoy it, she could take her mind off why she was here for a while.

Dean was focusing on the road ahead, making less effort to keep Adi amused. She thought she might have pushed him a little too far this morning, but so far she'd escaped being turned back into a baby. Perhaps he felt that it wouldn't be necessary as long as she kept on acting like a child. Maybe he was enjoying this new scene on some level, or he'd decided to react in the same way he would to a real obstinate toddler. She'd ended up eating barely a third of her breakfast before he decided they needed to move, and now she was wondering if putting on the same kind of performance at lunch time would leave her hungry for the rest of the day.

It might be worth it. Just to make her point, although she was sure that she was only proving to herself what a difficult situation she was in. If Dean realised she was actually planning to oppose him, he'd have to either give up or return to using her baby name more often. Things could get better or worse, and she had no idea which to expect. But seeing that she was safe so far at least gave her a little confidence. Dean wasn't a monster; it seemed like he was more comfortable executing his mysterious plan without her realising. And that was fine by Adi. It meant she had a chance of feeling more adult each day, as long as he didn't notice. And then she would be more able to get a message to Toni, or to escape from this place on her own.

Getting Adi dressed might have been as much a problem as getting her to eat, but she didn't want to push her luck. Dean had told her that if she was too young to put clothes on, she might be young enough to spend the day babbling in a playpen while the resident grown-up did shopping. She didn't want to risk that, so she allowed him to pull a dress over her head, the right way around this time, with only a little token fussing. As long as she wasn't obviously making trouble, she might get to keep her adult thoughts.

Now they were speeding along a main road. Adi wasn't sure if this was the same way they'd come from the airport, but they were out of the woods now and the car wasn't vibrating so much. Adi stared out of the window, hoping for some hint at how far from home they might be now. But there was nothing she could work out. Road signs should have been helpful, but all the ones she could make out were just stylised black or red lines to indicate the shape of a junction, decorated with place names she couldn't even read. If she hadn't been trying her hardest to let Dean think she was still a toddler, she might have found a reason to say more naughty words. Nothing made her feel more powerless than not being able to read, and right now it was proving that she wasn't as grown up as she might have hoped.

She tried looking at the other vehicles instead. Cars, most of them probably a few years old, and the vast majority with mud spattered on their wheels. Dusty trucks, and an occasional deafening roar as they were passed by the vehicles of haulage companies who obviously cared more about power and speed than compliance with any kind of environmental or efficiency regulations.

One such vehicle almost ran them off the road; it was so large that it could probably have rolled over a smaller vehicle without stopping. And whether it was permitted by his employer or not, it was clear that the driver would let nothing stand in the way of finishing his job sooner. The slogan on the side declared that it was delivering Perfect System Beds, but gave no hint of a number to call to complain about the driving. The rear of the vehicle was so thick with dust that any such sticker would, much like the license plate, have been completely illegible.

Dean cursed aloud, reminding Adi of a few words she wasn't sure if she'd remembered, before turning to apologise to the little girl. She didn't trust herself not to give her pretense away in the sudden chaos of emotions, so contented herself with just a giggle as her reply. And then she froze, a thought suddenly surfacing from the back of her mind.

A clue, that could mean more than she'd realised. She looked out of the window again, and quickly confirmed her suspicions. She'd seen what she had previously missed, and the revelation had only taken one reckless driver and three simple words: Perfect System Beds.