He Hypnotized Me to Love Someone Else Chapter 08
I blocked Silas’s account.
I also blocked the alternate account he had been using to message me.
Theo still came to pick me up every morning, leaving Silas no chance to talk to me.
Things were much quieter that way.
According to Mrs. Bennett, Silas had even gone to my house looking for me.
So what did you say to him?”
Mrs. Bennett sounded smug over the phone.
I’m your mother. You really think I don’t know what you’re
thinking? Don’t worry. I sent him away.”
After I hung up, I noticed another shadow on the ground.
I turned around.
It was a student I didn’t recognize,
“Are you Serena?”
“I think something happened backstage, I saw the head of
your Student Events Committee looking for you.”
It was the annual Graduation Gala, and just yesterday, our
committee had still been meeting to discuss the preparations.
“Then I’ll go back to my dorm first.”
“Why don’t you go check now? It looked pretty urgent.”
I didn’t say anything.
I simply followed him,
My phone buzzed.
It was a message from the committee chair.
[Huh? I wasn’t looking for you. Something came up earlier,
but we already handled it.】
So someone else had been looking for me.
Before stepping backstage, I sent Theo my location.
[Location]
【Come find me here when you’re done.]
The backstage area was crowded with performance
equipment, and the air smelled stale and dusty.
The moment I stepped inside, the lights went out and the door shut behind me.
The light vanished instantly.
The only thing left was the faint glow of my phone screen.
I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, beating far too fast.
Because of something that happened when I was a child, dark
enclosed spaces always made me panic.
I could barely breathe..
I forced myself not to crouch down and curl up in the corner.
Silas?”
Another phone screen lit up.
Silas appeared.
And he wasn’t alone.
Several of his friends were there too.
They stood nearby, talking quietly among themselves.
You’re really going to undo the hypnosis? Weren’t
you the one who hated her clinging to you?”
Silas’s face was pale.
He denied it immediately.
No. She… she never clung to me.”
His friend looked confused.
“Wasn’t that what you said yourself? You were the one who
wanted to hypnotize her in the first place, and now you’re the one trying to undo it.”
“I spent forever looking for this pocket watch.”
“Alright, alright.”
Another friend noticed Silas’s expression and quickly cut in.
“Just get started.”
They didn’t even bother hiding the conversation.
They talked about everything right in front of me.
I stared at them coldly.
It was ridiculous.
Silas pulled out the pocket watch again.
Just like last time, he swung it back and forth in front of me.
*Serena, look at it.”
“Come on. Repeat after me.”
But this time, I gave him nothing.
My expression never changed.
Because I was afraid of the dark, my chest tightened painfully.
Several times, I almost lost control and curled in on myself,
I knocked Silas’s hand away.
“Are you done?”
The pocket watch hit the floor with a sharp sound and rolled into the corner.
Several of them immediately bent down and started searching for it with the flashlights on their phones.
“How could it not work? How could it possibly not work? I did
everything exactly like last time. The steps… the steps were right…”
sighed and headed for the door.
But just as I was about to step out of the darkness, Silas grabbed my wrist.
He yanked me hard enough to make me stumble, then forced me down onto a chair.
Try again.”
Just let me try one more time.”
“This time it’ll work.”
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
Theo’s name appeared on the screen.
Before I could read his message, Silas reacted the second he
saw Theo’s name and snatched the phone out of my hand.
The only source of light I could control disappeared.
My hand hung at my side, trembling uncontrollably.
I felt like I was back there again, years ago,
Because of a teacher’s mistake. I had once been locked alone inside a storage room.
The sky slowly darkened.
It was cold inside.
And pitch–black.
No matter how loudly I called out, no one answered.
Eventually, my voice went hoarse.
I could only make faint sounds.
People searching outside walked past, but not one of them noticed me.
Only little Silas heard me.
He got down on the floor and tried to peer through the gap beneath the door.
His voice was small,
Maybe he was scared too.
*Serena, are you in there?”
The only answer was two weak knocks from inside.
Move back.”
“Don’t be scared.”
Bang!
Little Silas smashed the storage room’s only window with a rock.
I had no idea how he managed to climb that high.
Then his head appeared through the broken window, with
moonlight spilling in behind him.
“I found you.”
The sound of breaking glass drew the adults over.
When the door finally opened, little Silas was struggling to carry me out.
I saved you.
The adults were all talking at once about taking me to see a doctor.
But little Silas leaned close to my ear and whispered.
Next time we play pretend, when you’re the princess… can
you not choose anyone else to be your knight?”
I want to be your only knight.”
“Twice. No, wait. Five times!”
No, five isn’t enough.”
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten…”
Little Silas counted on his fingers.
A lot of times.”
“Forever.”
“Okay, Serena?”
I rested weakly against Mrs. Bennett’s shoulder and looked at my little knight.
“Okay.”
Many years ago, Silas had pulled me out of the darkness.
But now…
He was the one who had locked me inside it.