Showstopper

Author's note: this one is a little dark. I hope that doesn't scare people away

Mark “the magnificent” smiled and hummed a cheery tune as he went back to his dressing room after his latest show.

He was a hypnotist, and tonight, he literally had the crowd in the palm of his hand, getting the audience to do some pretty silly stuff while “under”. Not only that, the volunteers had been perfect, doing stuff they were likely gonna be blushing about for weeks after, especially the two prim and proper ladies he got to do a make-out session together while “under”.

Mark smiled, as he imagined the awkward moments those two would have when they next met at church.

He had just put away most of his props when he heard a knock at the door.

Thinking it might be the manager of the theater, Mark went to the door and opened it.

Instead of the manager, there was a young man who was clearly wearing a dress under his trenchcoat.

“Hello, Mark.” the young man said in a soft voice with just a touch of ice in it.

“Er .. do I know you?”

“Well, it has been a week since you had me as one of your people on stage, but I was hoping you might remember me.”

Mark racked his memory for a moment, then he remembered the young man. “Ah yes. Your ... performance was memorable. The way you flirted with that other guy, and even kissed him.”

“Yes. you changed my life, Mark.”

“Well, it was just a show, nothing to get that upset over.”

“You might not think so if you were in my shoes. My girlfriend recorded that whole show. She thought it was hilarious. Maybe she wouldn’t think so now, mind you.”

Something about the way he said that made Mark shiver, but he tried to cover it up, and said, “well whatever happened is between you two. I need to finish putting away my stuff, so if you’ll excuse me ...”

“No, I don’t think I will. At least not until I tell you what you did. You had no idea about me, did you? I was just a rube you could make do something foolish. But it had taken me years of heavy therapy to suppress ... Her, AND YOU LET HER OUT!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about having a woman inside of me. But not just any woman. A very, very dangerous woman. So dangerous I became a man to try and keep her from ever coming out again. Until you decided to play your little game.”

“It was all just a joke. Everybody laughed!”

“Yes, they did. But all they saw was a dude suddenly flirting with another guy, kissing him. Ha ha. But none of them knew what kind of person was released at that moment. A person who the best psychologists in military as well as the best ones in the C.I.A. had spent more than a year creating a prison for, because even as an operative she’d proved to be far too deadly. I suppose she might like to thank you for releasing her. But she might do me one last favor before taking over completely.”

The man? Woman? Pulled a coin out of the pocket of the trench coat and said, “Call it. If it comes up what you say, I walk away. Otherwise ... well, something else happens.”

Something about the way the person had been speaking made Mark sure his chance at life came down to this coin flip. Time seemed to slow as he watched it spin in the air, before making his choice ...

End?