The Howardsfield Horror

by Jay Mason

  “No, I couldn’t. He was so serious.”

  “Doomed to disappointment, I fear,” said Rusty. “He might be a lantern jawed hero, but he’s never going to be a great actor.”

  “No,” said Alex sadly. “His career will go south the moment he starts losing his hair or puts on any weight.”

  “Ouch,” said Rusty. “Was that kiss so bad?”

  “It was unexpected,” said Alex honestly.

  “But you like him, don’t you? I mean like like him?”

  Alex took a sip of her coffee and watched Rusty from beneath her eyelashes. His head tilted to one side as he asked her the question. He didn’t seem worked up at all about it. Simply calm and neutral.

  “I don’t know,” said Alex. “I thought I might for a bit, but I’m not so sure. Besides he’s being weird.”

  “How so?” asked Rusty.

  “He didn’t want to watch a horror movie when I offered. And then he started on about taking things slow when before …”

  “He dumped you?”

  “No, he did not dump me,” said Alex. “He asked me to stay and run lines.”

  “I told you it wouldn’t work out,” said Rusty. “He only wanted you because you weren’t impressed. He got what he wanted and he’s out of here in a week so …”

  “He did not get …”

  “He did not get what?” said Rusty.

  “What he wanted,” said Alex. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Ah,” said Rusty nodding wisely. “That’ll be why then. He’ll have given in to Leonda. She was chasing pretty hard and I hear he gets bored easily. I saw them kissing a few times. Didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “That’s method acting,” said Alex. “Joe told me about it. It didn’t mean anything. They were only practicing.”

  “And that worked?” said Rusty. “I must remember that line as an excuse when I get caught out.”

  Alex seriously considered throwing her coffee in Rusty’s face. She took a deep breath. “Look, he went to Straker’s Centre yesterday and I think Straker has done something to him.”

  “What because he doesn’t want to go out with you any longer? Please!”

  “It’s more than that. He’s talking about becoming a health ambassador for the Centre.”

  “So, actors are always becoming ambassadors for all sorts of things. They think it raises their profile.”

  “Just come over and see him with me,” said Alex. “I promise you he’s changed.”

  Rusty drained the last of his coffee and got up. “If you want,” he said. “I’ve got some magazines on me that he was keen to see. UFO sighting stuff.”

  “Good,” said Alex. “Let’s go.”

  Rusty reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said. “We all make mistakes.”

  Alex pulled away from him without a word.

  Joe’s light was still on, so Alex knocked very briefly before entering. She wanted to make it clear to Rusty that she had the right to walk right in and had no qualms about finding him with Leonda.

  Joe sat at his desk. He looked up. “Hi guys,” he said in his usual manner. “What can I do for you.”

  Rusty gave Alex an I told you so look. “I brought those magazines you wanted to see,” he said and pulled them from his bag.

  Joe took them from him and barely looked at the titles before handing them back. “Thanks, but I won’t bother. I think I’ve done more than enough research for this movie.” He lowered his voice and winked at Rusty. “It isn’t that good a script.”

  “What about all that stuff you told us about being abducted by aliens?” said Alex.

  “I’ve already apologised for being drunk, Alex. What more do you want me to do?”

  “No problem,” said Rusty putting the magazines back in his bag. “What you working on now?”

  “I’m waiting to hear back from my agent. I called earlier this morning and gave him a heads up on the kind of parts I’m looking for after this.”

  “Sounds cool,” said Rusty. “Want to get a beer sometime?”

  “Sure,” said Joe. “I’ve got plans tonight, but if we have another day of rain then tomorrow night I’m free. I should have the lines I ran with Alex down pat by then.”

  “Yeah, those. She told me. Sounded complicated,” said Rusty.

  Joe nodded. “It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t in the business, but it’s all about tone. About enhancing your screen presence. The greats could make a whole film with one line. That’s what I’m aiming for.”

  “Always good to aim high,” said Rusty. “Anyhoo, we’d better go. Alex and I have some lab work to attend to.”

  “Ah, college,” said Joe. “I’m sure I’d remember it fondly if I’d have been. Have fun kids.” With this he turned his attention back to sorting through the papers on his desk.

  Outside Rusty closed the door slowly behind them. “Okay,” he said. “That was weird.”

  7. Monster from the Mind

  “I told you,” said Alex.

  “Ssh, not here,” said Rusty. “Can we go back to yours? I’ve got the car.”

  “Has it still got the holes in the floor?”

  “I know. Not what you’re used to with Mr Trend. You’ll have to slum it.”

  “I was thinking about how I was going to get splashed by the puddles,” said Alex.

  “And we all know British girls melt in the rain, because England is such a sunny country.”

  Alex pulled a face at him and opened the passenger door on his car. It creaked alarmingly, so she shut it with care. “It’s not going to fall off, is it?” she asked.

  “There’s some string in the glove compartment if it does,” said Rusty attempting to coax the ignition to start. “Cross your fingers. Maud doesn’t like the rain.”

  “You called your car, Maud?” said Alex.

  “It’s my mother’s car and Cat named it. She had a doll called Maud or something.”

  “It’s definitely something else,” said Alex.

  Fortunately the engine caught the first time. Rusty fiddled with the manual choke for a bit and eventually eased them out of the car park. By this time the heater had warmed up, so although Alex did get splashed from the road beneath the heater, which appeared to have no setting lower than sauna, stopped her from getting chilled.

  ****

  Somewhat muddy and sweaty Alex opened the front door and called out, “Anyone home?” No one answered. She fetched towels from the bathroom and took Rusty into her room. “This is one of the warmest places,” she said. “Being at the top of the house.”

  Rusty rubbed a towel through his wet hair. “So what do you think is up with our Joe then?”

  “I think he’s been brainwashed,” said Alex.

  “Is that really a thing?” said Rusty. “Sounds more like something that happens in one of Joe’s movies.”

  “How else do you explain his behaviour?”

  “Maybe Straker’s blackmailing him over something?”

  “Like?” said Alex. “Joe’s an open book. He lives his life in the public eye. Besides, he’s not complicated enough to be blackmailed.”

  “You mean not bright enough.”

  Alex frowned. “I mean he’s a straightforward kind of guy. He says what he thinks and if someone tried to blackmail him he’d go straight to the police.”

  “Even with someone as powerful as Straker?”

  “We don’t know how powerful Straker is,” said Alex. She put down her towel and picked up her brush. Her hair, though shorter, was as curly as ever and extremely tangled. “Ouch,” she said catching the brush on a knot.

  “Here, let me,” said Rusty. Alex gave him a look of surprise. “What, I brush Cat’s hair all the time. Even do those fancy plaits she wants for when she’d doing track.”

  “This is a whole new side of you,” said Alex, handing over the brush. “At least if you do this I can email c0nundrum as the same time.” She moved to sit in front of the co
mputer. Rusty followed.

  To: C0nundrum

  From: Alex Morgan

  Subject: Brainwashing

  Does it exist?

  “Short and sweet,” said Rusty looking over her shoulder while he brushed through her hair.

  “He’s not a chatty person,” said Alex. “Besides, if I make the message this short he’s more likely to realise it is urgent.”

  “But even if brainwashing does exist and Joe is brainwashed,” said Rusty. “What …”

  “Look,” said Alex. An icon was flashing in the corner of the screen. “We’re in luck he’s online.”

  Alex> Hi

  C0numdrum> So who do think has been brainwashed?

  Alex> Joe Trend. He went for a visit to the Centre and he’s come back a different man.

  C0numdrum> How so?

  Alex> He’s lost all interest in UFOs. He wants to be a health ambassador and he dumped me :-)

  C0numdrum> Which of these do you consider the most out of character?

  Rusty whispered in her ear, “I dare you to say dumping you!”

  Alex> His loss of interest in UFOs and the paranormal. We had dinner at Straker’s and all he could talk about was how he was abducted when he was a kid.

  C0numdrum> Was he serious?

  Rusty leant over.

  Alex> Rusty here. He was drunk.

  C0numdrum> How well do you know him? Actors aren’t known for their long attention spans. Maybe he thinks becoming a health ambassador would lift him from being more than a c-rated actor in straight to DVD movies.

  “Ouch,” said Rusty to Alex. “That’s harsh.”

  Alex> He showed me research he’d had people collecting for him for a while. All about UFOs. He said the high rate of sightings here was why he convinced them to shoot at this location.

  C0numdrum> Not convinced.

  Alex> But does brainwashing exist?

  C0numdrum> Yes and no. Using specific drugs and exposing the subject to various stimuli can reportedly change a subject’s perspective. But the most common use is to overload a subject’s brain so they will capitulate in some way.

  Alex> You mean torture?

  C0numdrum> Essentially. But it is a difficult and long process with no certainty of success.

  “Sounds all a bit cold war spy story to me,” said Rusty. “Besides I can’t see Joe having any secrets someone would want to retrieve.”

  Alex> Could it be about his abduction story?

  C0numdrum> Unlikely. Do you have any idea how many Americans report daily that they have been abducted?

  Alex> A lot?

  C0numdrum> So many the skies would be jammed pack with flying saucers if a tenth of it were true.

  Alex> But he is different.

  C0numdrum> I suppose he could have been hypnotised.

  “Isn’t that used for stopping smoking,” said Rusty. He caught a knot of Alex’s hair.

  “Ouch,” she said. “Do you want to type?”

  “No. You’re doing fine.”

  “Then concentrate on what you’re doing,” said Alex. “I don’t want to end up bald.”

  Alex> Isn’t that used for stopping smoking.

  “Ha!,” said Rusty.

  C0numdrum> Hypnotism is a powerful psychotherapeutic tool. The mind is stronger than most people every realise. Naturally it is used to help strength a person’s desires, prevent pain or elicit memories and emotions they wish to uncover. However, with the aid of drugs such as sodium pentathol or some psychotropics, it is possible to convince people to accept ideas against their own wishes.

  Alex> How powerful is it? Could it make people harm themselves?

  C0numdrum> No. The survival instinct is too strong. However, it might be possible to convince someone that a certain tenth storey open window was actually a door.

  Alex> And they would jump?

  C0numdrum> Theoretically.

  Alex> So, they could erase Joe’s interest in UFOs?

  C0numdrum> I suppose they could redirect his interest towards the idea of being a health ambassador if it was linked to him bolstering one of his prime desires — to succeed as an actor.

  “Ask him if you couldn’t do the same thing with beer,” said Rusty.

  Alex> Rusty’s asking if he might not be able to be convinced without hypnotism?

  C0numdrum> I have no idea. I don’t know him.

  There was a pause.

  C0numdrum> I suppose I should tell you Straker is an accomplished hypnotist. But please, simply because he is a man of dubious intentions, who bears investigation, do not attribute everything to him. It may simply be that Mr Trend has moved on. He is hardly working on the movie of the century. I am sure he is keen to reposition himself in the market. I would be if I were him.

  Alex> Where can I find out about hypnotism?

  C0numdrum> Although it is true the Victorians regarded this as a parlour game, I would counsel you not to go exploring the subject with the intention of using it yourself.

  Alex> I never said I was going to try and hypnotise anyone.

  C0numdrum> I have begun to know you and be able to theorise your possible actions. I imagine even Rusty there wants to try it out now. But hypnotism or rather hypnotherapy is a serious subject and requires years of training.

  Alex> Is it very difficult?

  C0numdrum> It would take less than half an hour for you to learn to hypnotise someone. It requires only three alterations in a subject’s state — monotony, a change in breathing and a fixation of attention. It is what you do once the subject is in such a state. How you deepen the trance and what you do once you have done so. The mind does have it’s own defences, but the state of trust that must exist between a subject and a hypnotist does/can render the subject vulnerable. Even with the best of intentions you may cause harm.

  Alex> I hear you.

  C0numdrum> Really?

  Alex> I meant figuratively.

  C0numdrum> Good. I must go.

  Alex> wait ….

  But c0numdrum’s icon had vanished from her screen.

  “Oh well,” said Rusty, “that’s that then. Does he always disappear so abruptly?”

  “Yeah, I tease him about his mum walking in.”

  “You think he’s at home?”

  “I don’t know,” said Alex. “But I have suspected he’s local for a while. He knows about Straker and he knows about Joe’s movie. I didn’t think there had been any official PR for it yet, so he must have seen the sets.”

  Rusty put down her hairbrush and sat on the bed. “So what do we do now?”

  “I would have thought that was obvious,” said Alex. “We learn all we can about hypnotism. How else are we going to help Joe?”

  “But,” said Rusty. He could see Alex had a very determined expression on her face.

  “He said it only took half an hour to learn,” said Alex.

  “But,” said Rusty again.

  “You’re smart, aren’t you? I’m smart, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, but,” said Rusty.

  “All we need to do is put him back to what he was?”

  “You mean like resetting to factory standards?” said Rusty with a smile.

  “Exactly,” said Alex.

  “But,” said Rusty. Then he sighed. “Never mind. I’ll check the library. You scour the internet.”

  ****

  Two days later, by abandoning their studies, and only attending the film set when absolutely necessary, they had both read all the college library had to offer on hypnotism and several articles from the internet. They met at Rusty’s house. “Mum’s off to a hospital appointment,” Rusty had argued, “and Cat is away for the weekend with the track team. We’re less liable to be disturbed here.”

  Alex arrived before dinner time. She was carrying a bag of groceries. “I thought if I cooked for you,” she said, “we both had a chance of eating properly for once.”

  “You can cook,” said Rusty doubtfully. “It doesn’t seem much like you.”

  “
I learnt in self-defence,” said Alex moving towards the kitchen. “You’re the only person known to medical science who can stomach my mother’s cooking.”

  Rusty wandered through and helped her unpack the bag. “It’s better than mine,” he said.

  “That’s what I thought,” said Alex. “Do you have such a thing as a peeler?”

  Rusty surveyed the rows of vegetables and packets on his counter. “What does this turn into?” he asked.

  “Home made chips, pizza and salad,” said Alex. “I’ve ice-cream for afters. If you’re a good boy I’ll let you knead the dough.” Alex laughed. “Don’t look at me as if I’ve asked you to pickle spiders. It’s easy.”

  Rusty gestured at the counter. “All this makes pizza? I could telephone …”

  “This will be better,” said Alex.

  Despite Rusty’s misgivings Alex made excellent chips, a huge bowl of salad with a dressing he didn’t recognise but tasted good and together they loaded up freshly made pizza base after pizza base and cooked them.

  Alex stopped after two pizzas. Rusty picked lazily at his sixth. He pushed his chair back from the kitchen table. “I’m defeated,” he said. “Damn, but I didn’t know pizza could taste so good.”

  “Worth all the effort?” said Alex.

  Rusty considered it. “Not every night,” he said and gave it a quick grin. “This is nice, Alex. It’s finally like things have got back to normal. We having a good time, aren’t we?”

  “A stuffed time,” said Alex, reaching over and patting his stomach lightly. “But yeah, I reckoned it was time we did something ordinary together for once.”

  “Without your parents popping in every few minutes. Are they trying to protect your virtue?”

  Alex gave a bark of laughter. “Hardly. I doubt they’d even be particularly cross if I got myself pregnant. My mum seems to think that our family genius might be skipping a generation with me, so she’s keen to have grandkids. Their schedules get erratic when they’re monitoring an experiment.”