Anyway, he’s right.We shouldn’t be wasting our precious time arguing about this.
“Ready?” I ask him, connecting the camera to my phone.
He nods.
The first minutes of the recording, nothing happens. We wait, and then I begin to fast-forward chunks of it. When I slow down on the fourth or fifth time, the basement looks different. The sharp overhead light is turned off, but the room is lit. Flickering candles are placed on the floor and on a console table that wasn’t there before and isn’t now.I know that table!Its usual spot is in the entryway.
Incense and a small object that looks like a syringe are on the table behind the candles.
A woman steps into the camera’s field of view.
Is that… Lana?!
“Do you know Lana?” Darrel asks me, looking entertained.
Oh no, I said that aloud!“She’s my mother’s best friend.”
Beats me why, but I don’t add, “and my fiancé’s mom.”
What is she doing there?
Three more people join Lana in the center of the room. One is her husband Bertrand. The other two are Mom and Dad. All four are dressed in loose, flowing robes and their feet are bare. The women’s hair is loose.
Mom picks up the syringe from the console and turns to someone by the wall. I can’t see that person, but I’m assuming it’s Darrel.
“What’s in the syringe?” he asks.
“Just something to help you relax and open up.” She moves toward him, her saffron robes swaying around her.
Dad and Bertrand follow her.To do what?
“Did they restrain you before the jab?” I ask Darrel, a part of me still refusing to believe my eyes.
“I’m not sure…” He glances at me, a bit puzzled. “I should remember something like that, shouldn’t I? But my memories are too fuzzy.”
We return our attention to the video.
Mom, Dad, and Bertrand come back to where the camera’s eye can see them.
“We have come together today,” Mom begins, her voice solemn, “to perform the Ritual of Unveiling of Dreams. We ask the Ever Mage to guide us through it.”
She pauses, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the others, Darrel included. He must be sitting up, in the same position as now, propped against the pillow and the wall.
“Trust me and relax,” Mom coos to Darrel. “You’ll feel great in no time!”
Dad hands her a small object. I pause the recording and zoom in. It’s a pocket watch. When I restart, I can hear it ticking melodically.
“Follow the pendulum’s arc, left to right, right to left,” Mom says to Darrel in a low, soothing voice, her words an incantation.
She’s hypnotizing him!I had no idea that she and Dad and the Bauds were part of some mediation group or members of cult or whatever it is that I’m looking at. Is that what they do when they gather at the Bauds’ house once a week to play poker? Is Philippe aware of the charade? I’ll ask him when he’s back.
And who the hell is the Ever Mage?
Mom continues her chant. “Breathe deeply, Darrel. Inhale the wisdom of the ages, exhale the doubts and fears that cloud your mind.”
Then Dad takes over, his voice booming and pompous, “Imagine a door before you, a gateway to the realm of dreams. As we count down from ten, the door will open, and you will step inside.”
“Your consciousness will slip away from the physical world,” Lana says. “It will enter a vibrant dreamscape, where signs and symbols of knowledge await you.”
