StylusLit

September 2024

Back to Issue 16

Hypnotized by the Devil

By Tom Ball

I, Jim, remarked to Joan, “Ours is a world of Horror. Everyday is like an evil Halloween. People transform themselves into evil creatures of fantasy. Every week it’s a new one, for almost everyone. And many are vicious and attack others. At least you and I stayed human with angel costumes, which of course is how we showed up to be a part of this World.” Joan opined, “We got to get out of here before we are devoured or tortured!” I replied, “But here on Moon Caliban, we have recently become a pariah State, and all Spaceships ignore us, and we suffer from a dearth of important goods, like drugs.”

     Joan and I had come here in our Space car, seeking adventure. “The Book of Worlds,” indicated Caliban was a constant masquerade and was a lot of fun. But their information was outdated and now the King ordered everyone, “To get genetic therapy to turn into monsters.” And people would have their brain intact and would play the role of the creature they were transformed into. And they seized our Space car. The King himself kept metamorphosing into various creatures. All the creatures of this World were sort of clever and communicated with MRT (Mind Reading Technology).

     I asked Joan, “What drives these people to be such freaks?” She said, “They are bored and imagine playing evil roles. And most of them are evil and getting worse by the day. Ultimately, they will kill each other off. We of course now that we’ve sampled all the parties to be had with each other don’t go anymore to the ubiquitous parties and so far, no one has moved against us. But we need to get back our Space car…”

     I opined, “We could offer ourselves as sex workers, to get money to bribe those holding our Space car.” She said, “We have no other choice.”

     So we did it and thought we would get our Space car back, but were jailed in solitary confinement instead. And we were frequently raped.

     But finally, the UW (United Worlds) attacked the colony and set us free. We immediately went back to Earth. But Earth had evolved in our 8-year absence and now most people had improved their brains with genetic therapy, and we felt obliged to get our own brains altered for the better. But all it did was drive us completely mad. We became greedy, selfish, unpredictable and egotistical and didn’t like the feelings, we couldn’t recognize ourselves. So, we found an underground doctor to put us back to the way we were before. And Joan ran for the Presidency of Europe and was elected. It seemed like most people felt lost and uncomfortable with the modern Worlds, as indeed we did.

     As President, Joan had to contend with people who thought they were Superhumans and were very rich and powerful. And finally, they overthrew her in a coup. And she and I and many of our supporters were jailed and we had to have brain surgery to make us passive and weak. But we both dimly remembered our previous selves, as if in a dream. We didn’t get eternal youth, nor money and rotted in jail.

     The years passed and we languished in jail and were frequently tortured and raped. Our lives were a nightmare. Then after many years in jail in which we didn’t see each other, we were released to the custody of demon princes, who hypnotized us. The demons forced me into murder of people they didn’t like. And I assumed it was the same with Joan, though we were not in touch. The demons praised me as a new convert to evil, and I found myself for some reason, preaching evil to the young demons. I told them, “Use your imagination to control others and people you don’t like, you should simply kill them.” And I said, “Those who are the evilest are our leaders such as me, and believe me, I’ve tried being good and am now convinced evil is the way.” And I found myself saying, “The one who murders the most will be King. And one must carefully plan one’s murders as everyone today is paranoid and watching everyone else.” And I said, “Today most people are aligned to be lawful evil, but in the future, everyone will be chaotic evil. And it will be anarchy and the strong will survive.” And I said to the young demons, “Life seems easy at first, but it is very difficult to establish oneself as a demon Prince. One needs to have Devilish charm.” And I told them, “There are still many countries whose leaders say they are good. Of course, they are not so good and are power-crazed and corrupt. But we must eliminate anyone who says they are good. And you can assassinate such leaders or work to overthrow them in a coup…”

     One of my demon students said, “I don’t believe you are truly evil.” So, I had him crucified and warned my other students, “Anyone else who challenges me will die!” But there was a student revolt against me, so I had all of the rebels killed. But I said, “Death is glorious. And death is the goal of every thinking persona…”

     Another of my demon students, said to me, “You are the Prince of Darkness, the Devil himself.” So I promoted him to be a missionary to convert remaining “good people,” to be worshippers of Satan…

     And one day I truly met Satan, who told me, “You were doing a good job.” And he patted me on the back. And he introduced me to some gorgeous succubi women. And I loved them though they played rough and scratched and bit me. And I asked the Devil, “To make me into an incubus so I could attack human women?” The Devil said, “You are just doing fine teaching the youth, but you can be an incubus in your free time.” And I found myself thanking the Devil, “For all you’d done for me.”

     After meeting Satan, I felt I was really making a difference, but then one day my old friend, Joan reappeared on the scene. She said, “I want to hypnotize you!? She told me this one night when I was in my cups and I foolishly agreed. And she hypnotized me to be good. And she then disappeared. Afterwards my demon students asked what was the matter with me? And I told them, “Perhaps being a demon is not where it’s at after all?!” And a number of my students grabbed me and lynched me. And that was the end.

     But then I woke up in a hospital and couldn’t remember how I’d spent the last few years. And Joan was at my bedside, exclaiming, “I was so worried about you!” And I asked her, “Why?” She said, “You just had a bad adventure, is all. Best to forget the past…” And she exclaimed, “You are too clever to lose!”

     But I guess word got out that I was still alive, and some demons were in my head cross-hypnotizing me… That’s all I remembered when I awoke. And Joan was there again, and she asked, “Are you alright?” I said “Fuck you! I’m getting out of here and joining my true friends the demons. But then I regretted saying that and said, “Actually I am in love with you and thank you for trying to save me!” She told me, “You’ve been cross-hypnotized, and I worry you will go completely insane.” I asked, “What’s the solution?” She told me, “You need to be eliminated. You’re too dangerous to us, now. I will put you out of your misery.” But then she suddenly started screaming, “They’re in my head!” And suddenly it all came back to me, about the Devil and his associates, and I watched her die, what else could I have done? And my first instinct was to try and bring her back to life. But then I thought I have to get out of here… So, I fled, but as I left the ward, a man called me, “But Jim, your true love has just died!” I shouted out, “It’s none of my affair! And I am needed elsewhere!” And sure enough, outside the hospital there was a car with a few demonic looking men in it. And they beckoned me to get in. I debated with myself for a few seconds, if it would really be wise?  But then I got in the car.

      And the next thing I knew I was in what seemed to be a laboratory. Demon-faced men surrounded me and were talking in my head. They said, “You are demon-spawn and a friend of the Devil. Forget what that bitch, Joan, said.” And I asked them, “What do you want with me?” They exclaimed, “We want you to help us destroy the humans!” But I said, “Aren’t I human?” One of them said in my head, “No, you are a demon, you are one of us, but the humans tried to trick you into betraying us. We’ll simply watch over you until you are healed.” So, they were in my head for weeks before finally saying, that I was free to leave.

      Then I had an inspiration, I’d talk the situation over with the Superhuman Gods of humans. And suddenly I was whisked away and found myself in the presence of 3 radiant beings, dressed in white with halos around their heads… And I asked them, “Do you know me?” One of them mind read to me, “You are kind of infamous, and many people are familiar with your case.” I asked, “I don’t even know what I am doing, of what use could I possibly be to you?” One of them said, “We are fighting for your immortal soul. To begin with, you were one of us, but were corrupted by demons and hypnotized by them.” I said to them, “Why am I so important?” One of them spoke, saying, “We need to prove that goodness will prevail, to the people!” I said, “I seem to remember being tortured on Caliban and nobody cared about me then. Now good and evil seem to be fighting a war in my head as if I am suddenly important.” One of them said, “Let’s just say its an important case.” And he said, “After what you’ve been through you need the love of angelic women.”

     And the next thing I knew, I was in a bedroom with a beautiful girl who looked like Joan. She said, “I exist in your memories, but you can love me now, right here in real life.” So, I loved her, and it was glorious. And memories of Joan came flooding back to me. And I told her, “I have always loved you!”  Over the next few weeks, “Joan,” was in my thoughts constantly. And the demons seemed to have given up on me. And I realized I was deep inside “a castle in the air,” but I felt light as a feather. And I was having a ball. And then another great lover who I didn’t recognize. And this woman said to me, “As long as you stay here in the castle, you are safe! We’ll find useful work for you to do, like tutor some young adults what it’s like to meet the Devil and survive.” And I greatly feared leaving the castle. I was afraid of myself. This woman asked, “Is there anything that you are unhappy about or dubious about in your stay here? I said, “No, I’m content, but I seem to remember dreamy, crazy love with succubi.” She said, “You want to be good, right?” I said, “I’m confused about everything, I don’t know anything for sure!”

      But time passed, and I remained in the castle, but when I looked out into the clouds, I saw demonic faces, so I didn’t look out. Other than that, the demons apparently couldn’t get me, and I slowly healed and became surer of myself. And I loved a number of women including, Joan and I knew they were trying to be mischievous in bed to try and satisfy my carnal desires. And I no longer considered myself sick.                                        

     And years passed and I was in Heaven. But then one day the Demons got in my head again while I was sleeping with some new type of MRT, and apparently told me to kill my Superhuman leader and set the castle on fire. At least that is what I remembered. So, upon awaking I tried to balance my thoughts, examining both sides, good and evil. And I elected to be good. And I told our main Superhuman Gods of the castle all about it. He suggested I wear a MRT blocker, which I did. But the next night the demons returned. And the succubi loved me wildly in my mind and kept telling me, “You were the Devil’s friend and to leave the castle.” But this time the castle Superhuman leaders were listening in and told me “To ignore the succubi. They didn’t have your best interests at heart. They just wanted to drive you mad.” And in the dream, “I found myself saying, “What’s wrong with madness? And when I awoke, I resolved to leave the castle. But Joan begged me to stay, and she was so kind that I decided to stay.

     And that was the last I heard from the demons. And the Superhuman Gods of the castle helped me to improve my mind to be kinder and cleverer and finally I became a Superhuman leader of humans and went into Space to rule a colony in the Centauri Star System. And everyone who went to Space was vetted with MRT, but we had to be vigilant as the demons were very resourceful and imaginative. And we had an outbreak of evil on Mars, but we put it down and destroyed the evil demons.

     And I lived on as leader of Moon Titan and emphasized mental health. But then one day the demons broke into my head, and I killed myself, end of story.

     But I came back to life as a clone, and the saga continued on and on.