Vladimir Lee's Hypnotherapy Clinic

[Hollywood Heidi]

Vladimir Lee's Hypnotherapy Clinic

Located next door to The Hopper Psychiatry Office.

[Ariel]

The fresh aroma of instant coffee alone could wake the senses of just about anyone. Though, not even Vladimir Lee's favourite break of day smell could jolt his brain out of the morning fog that clouded over his mind as his gaze groggily flashed between the daysheet of patients and the alphabetized filing unit,  fishing for his patient case files for that day. The day had just begun, yet if he were ordered to retire back to bed, Vlad felt as if he would have no issues opposing such a tempting offer. Mornings weren't always so difficult for the practitioner, yet three days ago something changed. The time of evening where Vlad would usually turn in for a restful sleep, he would find himself wide awake. Luring himself to sleep with his favourite old literature had failed him, as night sneakily crept into dawn as he disappeared into the pages.  He tried multiple solutions, yet nothing seemed to work and as a result he found himself napping on the couch in between patients just to feel refreshed. Vald wasn't entirely sure what was misaligned or off kilter, but he wasn't about to give it much thought as his main goal was just to simply make it through another work day before falling off of his chair in exhaustion. Little did he know that everything was right where it was supposed to be, or in this sleepy little town's case, everyone.

Tossing the collected files onto the coffee table in the middle of the room, Vlad dragged his feet over to the instant coffee maker that he finally learned how to operate, thanks to Archie and his sense for new tech gadgets. Grabbing the piping cup of coffee, Vlad winced as he put a hand up to his glasses to shield his eyes from the sunlight peaking through the curtains. "When did the sun get so damn bright?" Vlad mumbled to himself, squinting his eyes he removed his hand and closed the curtains over the window. Sipping on his coffee in hopes of an immediate caffeine boost, Vlad walked over and sank down into his office chair. Placing his cup on the coffee table before him, he raised his hand and lifting his fingers to his face did his glasses move up his forehead slightly as he pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to compose himself before he re-positioned his glasses and gazed down at his patient list. Some weekly regulars stood out, but one in particular made him glance twice.

Gabriella Stevenson. "Huh," Vlad made a noise of surprise as he peered down at the list, taking his coffee back into the other hand. It had been a while since Gabriella had visited him for his services, and her case had always fascinated him out of all the clients that he'd seen in town. Intrigued by her surprise return on his patient list, he hoped for more out of the visit than just a prescription refill.

[Hollywood Heidi]

***Gabriella enters from Storybrooke General Hospital***


In a perfect example of awkward timing, Gabriella spotted Dr. Hopper walking toward her, approaching his door just as she was passing it to get to Dr. Lee's. Ever since picking up on the vibe that he'd developed a crush, she'd been avoiding him and doing a good job of it. The last time they'd bumped into each other had been the pet shop during her volunteer time. She'd seen determination on his face as he'd approached the door and she assumed he was working up the courage to ask her out. Gabriella had flown out of there in a rush under the guise of an urgent errand, leaving the poor man flabbergasted.

"Pardon me, sorry." Her polite apologies overlapped his as they both attempted to get out of each others' way by effectively stepping the same direction as the other. After a couple attempts, they finally managed to circle around each other. Pongo just plopped himself down and tilted his head, watching the humans.

Not only had they had the awkward maneuvering, but Dr. Hopper now knew she had an appointment to see a shrink. Being one himself, she was sure he wouldn't judge, nor did she really care if he did. There wasn't anything wrong with needing help, but at the same time, it felt too personal of a detail for just anyone to know about you.

Maybe it would dissuade him. He started fumbling with his keys and Gabriella knocked on Dr. Lee's door.


"Hey, um, Gabriella?"

Or maybe not. "Yes, Dr. Hopper? Is everything okay with Pongo?" she asked, purposefully addressing him formally and putting the topic right onto his dog while knocking again.


"Pongo?" he repeated, Gabriella having thrown him for a loop and buying her a few precious seconds. "Oh yah, Pongo is doing great. He's a happy puppy." He leaned down and patted Pongo.

Oh God, the man was just too sweet to be anywhere near Elle. 'Come on, Dr. Lee. Open the door. Open, open, open,' she mentally chanted.


Archie was standing back up and shyly trying to work up his courage again. "Actually--" the sound of Dr. Lee's lock turning pulled both their attention.

[Ariel]

A rapping noise on the door jump started Vladimir's heart, his half closed eyes in his dozing state jolted wide open. He had been halfway through briefing himself on Gabriella Stevenson's case file that he hadn't registered the fact that he had fallen half asleep. Placing the open case file onto the side table of his arm chair, Vlad took in a sharp inhale in an attempt to aide himself in becoming slightly more alert. He pushed his glasses back up his nose as he stood up and made his way towards the front door, hearing echos of familiar voices seeping through from the other side.

"Ah, Miss Stevenson, right on schedule," His pearly whites on display, Vladimir flashed a welcoming smile at Gabriella. He extended his gaze behind her and found the source of the second familiar voice, "And Dr. Archibald, always a pleasure," Raising his eyebrows, a curious look overcame Vlad's face. Reading the brief situation Archie and Gabriella had been in the midst of sharing, or rather one that Archie had attempted of sharing, Vladimir's smile opened slightly in amusement, "Well, this has been thrilling, but - oh my, look at that. The clock is ticking," Vladimir peered down at the Rolex on his wrist with exaggerated surprise, "Miss Stevenson - after you?" Vladimir opened the door wide and motioned Gabriella to invite her inside. Once Gabriella entered the office, Vladimir turned back to Archie, "Good day, Dr.-" As Vladimir was bidding a quick farewell to Archie, the black and white Dalmatian suddenly snapped and began to bark furiously at the Hypnotherapist.

"Pongo, down boy! I'm so sorry, Dr. Lee, he's not usually like this,"

Taken back slightly, Vladimir composed himself as he recovered from the fright that the dog had given him, "All is forgiven." Vladimir grinned at Archie one last time before closing the door and retreating back inside the office for the much anticipated consult with one of his most fascinating patients.

"Good fellow, Dr. Archibald is. Helped me make sense of my instant coffee machine. I can tell he seems to take a particular liking to you," Dr. Lee commented on his observations with a slight grin as he settled into the arm chair from across the coffee table from Gabriella whom had already assumed her position on the patient couch, "But, enough from me already. It's been a while since I've seen you in my office, Gabriella, and I'm curious to know what's lead you back here to see me? What can I do for you today?" Vladimir's complexion softened as he leaned forward, giving the patient his fullest attention.

[Hollywood Heidi]

With great relief, the door opened, cutting Archie short. After Dr. Lee said his good mornings, a sudden look of amusement flitted into his features. 'Don't just stand there basking in your amusement, help a lady out!' Gabriella mentally growled with annoyance.


"Well, this has been thrilling, but - oh my, look at that. The clock is ticking," "Miss Stevenson - after you?"

"Thank you," she said, plastering on a friendly smile while mentally adding, 'Thank god.' She took several quick strides in and turned to await him.


"Good day, Dr.-"

"Pongo, down boy!

"Oh God," Gabriella said, taking quick steps back toward the door, trying to think fast what she could do but what was there to do? It was all completely unexpected and Dr. Lee was not doing anything that could agitate Pongo. He was simply standing there.


I'm so sorry, Dr. Lee, he's not usually like this,"

"All is forgiven."

Pongo had never behaved in such a manner. Not that Gabriella had ever seen. Dr. Lee took it in stride, remaining relatively calm. She stepped back again as he finally closed the door.


"Good fellow, Dr. Archibald is. Helped me make sense of my instant coffee machine.

Gabriella simply studied him. So calm and collected as if a dog hadn't just had it in mind to tear him to shreds. How did he do that?


I can tell he seems to take a particular liking to you,"

Gabriella huffed while he had a laugh over her predicament. "Elle would gleefully tear that sweet man to shreds," she muttered, frowning her annoyance as she plopped herself onto the couch. Of course he knew of the cruelty of her other personality, the polar opposite of her mixed with Archie's demeanor probably the thing giving most amusement. She couldn't say she wouldn't be having a laugh as well, had she not been a part of the equation.


"But, enough from me already. It's been a while since I've seen you in my office, Gabriella, and I'm curious to know what's lead you back here to see me? What can I do for you today?"

Gabriella adjusted her glasses. "Well, aside from offering you a bit of amusement," she began with ingrained dry, English humor, "my problem with Elle seems to have... escalated. Rather quickly and unexpectedly."

[Ariel]

"Well, aside from offering you a bit of amusement,""my problem with Elle seems to have... escalated. Rather quickly and unexpectedly."

Vladimir steadily remained composed as he kept his reaction neutral, listening to Gabriella's reason for paying him a visit for his services. He knew that this Elle alter that appeared to front frequently from Gabriella's subconscious had caused her grief in the past, yet the rapid change in behavior sprouted a seed of concern. "Escalated in what way, might I ask? Has she caused you any physical harm or threatened you? Do you fear that she could possibly harm you in any way?" Vladimir asked Gabriella with care, as he grabbed her file and jotted down a few notes while he waited for a response.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Oh, no." Gabriella started, watching him jot down notes in her file. It was always a disconcerting aspect to sessions. What was he writing about her? What did he see when he looked at her? What was she unknowingly revealing that his practiced observation read off her like a book? It made one feel exposed and vulnerable. Self conscious. The trick was to not focus on that aspect of a session, so Gabriella did her best to ignore it and pushed on. "She wouldn't harm me. At least not physically," Gabriella reassured. "She needs this as a vessel." Gabriella gestured to the length of herself in a detached manner as if discussing an object that served as a mode of transportation. "Elle wants more time at the wheel."

Gabriella didn't mention yet that Elle had made her demands known or the fact that she'd recently had some time in the driver's seat, but the succinct and matter-of-fact way Gabriella laid out the facts hinted at both and that there was so very much more. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and tried releasing some of the tension by rubbing her temples. There was so much to tell but Gabriella didn't know where to start.

[Ariel]

"Elle wants more time at the wheel."

Pen on paper, Vladimir peered up from the case file during Gabriella's notable pause. He cocked his head to the side in slight concern as she was visibly rubbing her temples. It was no secret that she was struggling, just as anyone would with a difficult personality coming forth more times than they would apparently like. He felt that Gabriella was withholding more than she'd care to share, and for now Vladimir would have to deal with that until she's ready to embrace the vulnerability that could help her rather than harm her.

"And you? What is it that you want? To share the front...or, allow Elle to take the backseat?" Vladimir asked, before placing the pen and file to the side. Leaning in slightly, he folded his hands together as he looked directly at Gabriella, "Remember Miss Stevenson, no matter what she says, you are the host. You are the one in control. The very least I can do is try to help you and Elle communicate and cooperate so that you can function and live your best life." Vlad offered, pausing at the end of his sentence with an empathetic grin.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"And you? What is it that you want? To share the front...or, allow Elle to take the backseat?"

Definitely the latter. It was all one mind, one body, so how did one voice the fact they thought a personality within them was a heartless psychotic without the claim also falling on their own self? And how did one say they wanted to put down a personality that was very much its own person without also sounding like a heartless psychotic?


"Remember Miss Stevenson, no matter what she says, you are the host. You are the one in control. The very least I can do is try to help you and Elle communicate and cooperate so that you can function and live your best life."

Gabriella let out a humorless snort of disagreement. She dropped her hands from her temples and set her attention back on him. "For over a decade, I kept her at bay, thinking I was in complete control. Now I'm not so sure." Gabriella scooted back against the couch and tried to at least appear calm and collected. "A few days ago, I got home from work, completely knackered from a long shift. I decided to take a quick nap, so I set my alarm to wake me when it was time to take my meds." Memories of the events made her forget about giving the impression she was calm and collected, Gabriella leaned forward again, arms resting on her knees as her hands lightly gestured now and again. "Next thing I know, I'm waking up hours later in a completely different place all gussied up in some ridiculous little dress," her hands automatically gestured the deep V-line and short hem of the dress as she mentioned it, "with my step-brother filling me in on the sordid details. Apparently I'd made quite a scene at The Rabbit Hole and had been on my way to going home with that skeevy lawyer when he stepped in." Gabriella made a sound of disgust. "He said he had a hell of a time talking her out of it. Thank God he'd been able to but at the cost of making a deal with her."

In case he had the intention of questioning if she was sure she'd set her alarm as her step-brother had, Gabriella quickly added, "When I got home, I found my mobile on the table, completely powered off." With Dr. Lee being in a similar field, it probably went without saying that keeping your phone at the ready 24/7 was part of the job. "And no, the battery was not dead."

[Ariel]

"A few days ago, I got home from work, completely knackered from a long shift. I decided to take a quick nap, so I set my alarm to wake me when it was time to take my meds.""Next thing I know, I'm waking up hours later in a completely different place all gussied up in some ridiculous little dress," "When I got home, I found my mobile on the table, completely powered off.""And no, the battery was not dead."

"That is pretty serious," Vladimir had ceased his note taking and stared straight forward at Gabriella with a look that spoke of both concern and fascination as he became enveloped in the details of what his client had been experiencing. It wasn't the amnesia that worried Vladimir, for that was typically common among those who had personality disorders. It was what had been reportedly happening during these dissociation episodes and the lack of control that could make things go sour really fast, especially if Gabriella's alter was exhibiting toxic behavior.

"It is vital for the host to have not only a sense of control over these episodes, but to have an open line of communication with the alter, or, personality if I may. It sounds to me as if Elle's upset and is lashing out, but why? I guess that's where our session shall begin," Scribbling down a few final notes, the wheels in Vladimir's head started to turn as he slipped into action mode, "I'm going to increase your medications slightly to help you control the episodes," Dr. Lee grabbed a prescription pad and began to write, peering down at the pen on paper he still listed off his medical plan to Gabriella, "Right now as you regain control, it is important that we continue to see each other on a weekly basis. We need to get to the root of why Elle is showing signs of toxic behavior before she does any more damage," Vladimir lifted his gaze from the pad as he tore off the prescription and handed it to Gabriella.

Shifting back into his chair, Vladimir folded his hands in his lap as he addressed Gabriella, "Do you have any questions before we begin, Miss Stevenson?"

[Hollywood Heidi]

Gabriella listened carefully, anxious to get her Elle problem under control. She feared that her problem was worse than the common diagnosis. Gabriella certainly didn't feel like a host. More like a co-owner whose scheming partner was slowly and methodically siphoning control behind her back and that one day, she'd end up the one living out the fate she wished upon Elle; imprisoned in the darkness, fading out of existence.

As cruel and heartless as that sounded, she had a very good reason. It was another of Dr. Lee's conclusions that Gabriella felt was off; his conclusion that Elle was showing signs of toxic behavior because she was lashing out. Gabriella very much believed that Elle's toxic behavior was her natural setting. She could feel it with the unsettling vibes that went through her when Elle talked to her.

That was another new development she hadn't brought up yet; the fact that Elle had started talking to her. Gabriella took the prescription while contemplating bringing that up. She decided against it for the time being. They had enough to work with and she didn't want to end up thrown into the not-so-secret psychiatric ward in the basement of the hospital.


"Do you have any questions before we begin, Miss Stevenson?"

Speaking of the hospital, she was reminded of what had really pushed her to making an appointment. But again, they had more than enough to work through without bringing up the daydreaming that had hit her a couple times with the feeling she was forgetting something. It almost had given her the silly notion of glimpses into a past life. She was sure it had nothing to do with Elle. 'Later,' she thought to herself as she put it on the backburner.

She shook her head. "It's been awhile but pretty sure I've still got this down," she joked, grinning while trying to dispel the nerves. Gabriella placed the prescription on the table then took off her glasses, folding and neatly placing them beside it. She kicked off her shoes then swung her legs up on the couch and comfortably adjusted the pillow under her head. Gabriella folded her hands over her torso and took a relaxing breath, then looked toward Dr. Lee and gave him a 'ready' nod.

[Ariel]

"It's been awhile but pretty sure I've still got this down,"

Vladimir allowed his client some time to settle in as she took off her glasses and shoes. His usual suggestion to his clients was for them to take as much time as they needed before they were ready to begin a session, especially if it was their first. However, Vlad grinned lightly as Gabriella seemed to have remembered the drill as if their last session were yesterday, and it only took her moments before she was laying horizontal on the patient couch and signalling him that she was ready.

"Now that you're comfortable, Miss Stevenson, let us begin," The doctor's voice fell softer than it already had been, yet it had transformed into a whisper that was at a perfect volume for Gabriella to hear as she would be lulled into a deep state. Folding his hands in his lap, Vladimir leaned forward in his practitioner's armchair as his complete focus projected onto his client, "Take a couple of nice, deep breaths and allow your back to sink into the sofa. Imagine a wave of relaxation starting from your toes, traveling up your legs... through your hips and then your spine... into your shoulders. Shrug your shoulders down your back and allow the muscles in your arms to rest. Now, Gabriella...I want you to point your gaze to the ceiling," Vlad followed Gabriella's eyesight as it drifted to the ceiling above them before proceeding further with gentle instruction, "And In your own time, just allow your eyes to comfortably and naturally come to a close. Feel the muscles around your eyes relax and your jaw unhinge ever so slightly. Your whole body is now relaxed," Vladimir did not break contact for a single moment as he focused on preparing Gabriella to slip into a deep state of mind. He allowed a few moments to pass by as Gabriella settled into her newly relaxed condition.

"Very good, Gabriella. Now, I want you to let go and allow your mind to go to a place, a secure and special place, that brings forth feelings of calm and comfort. This may be a place you know, or a place that your mind is creating especially for you in this very moment. Take a few moments to take in the sights, smells and experience of this place." This was all routine for Dr. Lee, however, Gabriella's mind was one of the more intriguing ones to him in all of his years of practice. He remained gentle and collected, yet on the inside he couldn't help but to be basking in excitement to see where Gabriella's mind was about to take this session as it was usually unpredictable. A few more moments passed by before he began his inquiry.

"Gabriella, describe your surroundings to me. What do you see?" Vladimir cocked his head to the side as he awaited in fascination for her response. If Elle would show up this session, they may be able to accomplish some work today.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Now that you're comfortable, Miss Stevenson, let us begin,"...

His voice went softer, giving it a deeper, smooth, hypnotizing cadence. He'd only announced that they should begin and Gabriella could already feel herself falling under his spell. Had he gotten better at this or was it that she was suffering from exhaustion? So much had been put on her lately with Elle bullying her and wreaking havoc, Mr. Gold putting her under his control, and then taking on the responsibility of the refurbishment of William's Toy Shop.

As Gabriella followed his instructions in taking a couple of deep breaths, she rid her mind of all those worries and followed his instructions, giving over more and more control to him. Her eyelids grew heavy, the extent of her blinks longer until finally, her eyes remained closed.


"Very good, Gabriella. Now, I want you to let go and allow your mind to go to a place, a secure and special place, that brings forth feelings of calm and comfort.

She put her mind to her home, a place of security and isolation. It was the only place she could think of where she felt calm and comforted, but the only calm and comfort she drew from that had to do with avoiding the chance of something happening that would trigger Elle. Locking herself away there, avoiding people for their own benefit. The depressing loneliness of it washed through her downed barriers and her brows drew together ever so slightly, hinting at the discomfort.


This may be a place you know, or a place that your mind is creating especially for you in this very moment. Take a few moments to take in the sights, smells and experience of this place."

At his reminder that it didn't have to be a real place, Gabriella relaxed the tension that had started to work its way through her. She was overthinking it. She shouldn't be thinking at all. Gabriella wiped the image of her house from her brain and just allowed her mind to conjure the place of its choosing.

Her house faded away to darkness. Gabriella's features relaxed again. She floated weightlessly in darkness, feeling herself falling deeper and deeper. Further than she'd fallen before. Just when she wondered if she might never stop falling, her feet came into contact with something. She took a deep breath, taking in the surroundings of her minds-eye with the sense of smell and sound while the ground beneath her feet swayed in a gentle, lulling motion.


"Gabriella, describe your surroundings to me. What do you see?"

The disembodied voice of Dr. Lee played only in her mind. She opened her eyes within this place in her mind, looking out at an endless sea, taking a deep breath once again of the clean sea air as the waves gently lapped against the hull. "I'm on a ship in the middle of the sea." A serene smile touched her lips in her mind and on her person lying on the couch back at Dr. Lee's office. She absorbed herself in this place, moving forward and resting her hands on the rail as she leaned forward to watch the waves against the hull, the salty breeze off the water playing with strands of her hair. She usually had it restrained in some messy ponytail or bun, but here, it was free and felt more natural, just as this place made her feel.

Unlike the lack of freedom she felt around her torso. There, she felt restraint and yet, strangely, it felt natural. Gabriella glanced down at herself, an amused chuckle escaping her in the imagined and the real world as she looked over what she wore. Absorbed in her own mind, she forgot about the real world and the real doctor waiting for her to continue her report.

[Ariel]

"I'm on a ship in the middle of the sea."

Vlad sat back silently in his chair as he gave Gabriella some time to settle into her mind's creation. He was rather amused by the contempt smile that played across her face as she lay on the sofa, her eyes still closed peacefully like a porcelain doll. Vlad observed that his client looked at peace in this space that she conjured up for herself, he almost felt bad for vocally intruding. Yet, he knew that if they spent all day in dreams that the work would never get done.

"Gabriella," Vlad spoke up once more as he eased his soothing, gentle voice back into the room loud enough for Gabriella to pick up, "If I may make a suggestion: focus on my voice and think of my words as your guide in your space that you've made," Vlad readjusted his bottom in his chair as he leaned his body inward to narrow his focused sights in on Gabriella as he paid close attention to her and her reactions, "Suppose you turn your head to the left - do you see a door? I'm going to suggest that you make your way to the door and enter through it," Vladimir allowed Gabriella some time to enter herself through the passage way before his next instruction, "I suppose you might find yourself in some type of room. Gabriella. Look around, take some time to analyse the contents of this room. You might come across a mirror or something that resembles a mirror-like object. I suggest that you look into it - tell me, what is it you see in this mirror, Gabriella? Do you see yourself? Do you see anyone else?" Vladimir inquired softly as he anxiously awaited her answer.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Gabriella had begun slowly wandering the deck, taking in how real it all appeared to be. She'd never been on this particular ship and yet, she knew it. She was wandering back toward the bow, taking in how quiet it was here, alone on this ship, out in the middle of nowhere.

Gabriella was melting into this dream. More vivid and real than any dream she'd had before, it pulled her in, pulled at hidden corners of her mind. She stopped again and stared out at the ocean, trying to concentrate on the whisper of forgotten memories tucked into those hidden corners. Had it not been for Dr. Lee's voice intruding once again, she might have forgotten it was merely a dream.


"Gabriella,"

"Hm?" she said, distracted and distant, yet captivated by something in that voice.


"If I may make a suggestion: focus on my voice and think of my words as your guide in your space that you've made," "Suppose you turn your head to the left - do you see a door? I'm going to suggest that you make your way to the door and enter through it,"

Gabriella's gaze pulled away from the ocean, blinking in slight confusion at where her mind had gone to and what it was she'd been trying to grasp. The hypnotic command of Dr. Lee's voice had her focusing on his voice and following his orders. She turned her head to the left and looked at the door leading to the captain's quarters, moving toward it automatically with a fuzzy awareness that it might not be of her own accord.

Hand on the door, she could already visualize what the captain's quarters looked like before swinging it open and stepping inside.


"I suppose you might find yourself in some type of room. Gabriella. Look around, take some time to analyse the contents of this room. You might come across a mirror or something that resembles a mirror-like object. I suggest that you look into it - tell me, what is it you see in this mirror, Gabriella?

Gabriella looked around, the room matching exactly as she'd imagined. She automatically headed for the corner opposite the door where she knew there was a full length swivel mirror bolted to the floor, as most things tended to be on a ship to avoid them being tossed about when the waters got rough.


Do you see yourself?

Mirror at a downward angle, she could only see the lower part of her boot clad legs. Gabriella reached out and slowly pushed it back into place, taking in the image her herself as it was revealed. Her eyebrows raised as the boots just kept going, finally stopping at thigh length. Thigh-high black boots over fitted black trousers. A sword with an intricately designed hilt resting in a holster fastened low on her hips. Then upward, revealing the black bodice with red trimming, the red jacket with designs in black stitching.

Finally the mirror was properly in place and she stared at her own face, hardly recognizing herself. "Yes, I see... myself." The lips of the woman in the image moved right along with her words. It was her. Only her hair looked amazing, the ocean air giving it more curl along with color in her cheeks. Downplaying her looks for so long, she'd forgotten what she looked like when she tried. Gabriella took a step back to better assess. Her hands naturally settled on her waist with an air of authority, as if she were the captain belonging to these quarters. Though she'd originally thought she must have looked ridiculously as if she'd just wandered off the grounds of a Renaissance Faire when first looking down at her outfit outside, she found it looked right. Something just clicked into place with the image, making the dream feel even more real.


Do you see anyone else?"

This time, Dr. Lee's voice was not disembodied nor in her head. It sounded from behind her. Her eyes flicked to the left of her image to the cabin behind her but she saw nothing but the ajar door and empty deck beyond it. She started to turn. "No--Yes," she quickly amended when she found that Dr. Lee was indeed standing behind her. She turned to the side. "You're here," she said, looking at him then back into the mirror where she only saw her profile and empty cabin, "and yet you're not." She didn't think anything of it, feeling it was normal and chalking it up to dreams not always following the laws of reality.

Gabriella walked toward him, assessing. "You look different," she said, her tone suggesting it wasn't a bad different. She took a tour around him, her eyes wandering toward the mirror again when she was just rounding the other side of him, seeing only herself but shrugging it away, not finding it odd and too absorbed in her fascination over how realistic this dream world was becoming. Stopping in front of him again, she smiled, both there and in real life, waiting and wanting to see him speak to her again from within the dream.

[Ariel]

"You look different,"

Vladimir smiled curiously, allowing a barely audible snicker of amusement to escape. He could only imagine what he looked like in the mind of  Gabriella Stevenson - taller, perhaps? He allowed himself to be tickled for half a moment before a sense of professional composure fell over him once more. Yet this time, he was hesitant. The therapist peered down upon his client as she was smiling ever so contempt and sweet in her dreamland she had allowed her mind to escape to. His lips pursed together in a rather serious manner as he felt a tinge of remorse for his next part of the practice. Dr. Lee knew very well that if he wanted to attempt to even catch so much of a minute with Elle to grab her side of the story, he would have to trigger Gabriella into a state where she would need to feel a loss of control.

"Gabriella," Dr. Lee's softened tone interjected into her little world once more,  "I suggest that you peer out the window and study the clouds as they suddenly grow to become some of the darkest masses you've ever laid eyes on," Vlad spoke lowly, yet his voice was slightly stricken with a pinch of panic, "You might hear a loud crackle of lightning before the surroundings around you begin to shake as your boat has just been struck. If I may suggest that you look down at your feet, you may notice the room that you are in right now filling rapidly with water. The ship you are on may start to rattle violently, back and forth, back and forth - you may smell a waft of smoke and fire coming from outside your room, there could be voices outside yelling. Screaming. But you cannot reach them as the water around you begins to rise rapidly around your legs, up your torso and then around your neck. There is no way out as the water finally reaches the top of your head, swallowing you whole." Vladimir's eyes watched Gabriella intently, keeping track and taking note of every change in her expression and body language. He remained silent as he painfully watched the stress overcome her body.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Gabriella," "I suggest that you peer out the window and study the clouds as they suddenly grow to become some of the darkest masses you've ever laid eyes on,"

Seeing him speak through this different look brought an amused smile to her face. The way he spoke didn't quite fit the image though. Something was off about it, but she couldn't place what as how he appeared before her shouldn't be familiar at all. Distracted by that notion, she belatedly registered his warning.

The smile faded from Gabriella's face as she turned to look out the large oval windows to the view from the bow of the ship. She slowly moved toward it, watching the thick clouds roll in like a black fog, looking as if day was turning instantaneously to night. This wasn't right. This was supposed to be her happy place, a fantasy world to escape to in order to get away from the bad.


"You might hear a loud crackle of lightning before the surroundings around you begin to shake as your boat has just been struck.

He continued to speak from behind her, a thread of panic in his voice and yet, he remained where he was, calmly narrating as this fantasy turned into a nightmare. Just as he'd predicted, a flash of lightening lit up the darkness, highlighting the now choppy waves in eerie light and shadows. The sky lit up with a second flash of lightening, this one sounding behind her mixed with the sound of cracking wood, just as he'd predicted, out of sight of the window. The ship vibrated with the force of the strike. Etta grabbed at the wall beside her to keep her balance. Her real self mimicking the motion by taking hold of the couch backing.


If I may suggest that you look down at your feet, you may notice the room that you are in right now filling rapidly with water. The ship you are on may start to rattle violently, back and forth, back and forth - you may smell a waft of smoke and fire coming from outside your room, there could be voices outside yelling. Screaming.

The ship came to life after lightening had struck it. Suddenly the shouts of men streamed in from the ajar door erratically wavering back and forth on its hinges with the sway of the ship. The sound of feet running back and forth on deck spoke of a crews' hurried attempt to keep the ship afloat. The smell of wood burning stung her nose. The sky ripped open with a sudden downpour. Another loud cracking of wood sounded out, accompanied by cries of alarm. The force of the rain finished what the lightening strike hadn't. Suddenly, the ship jerked again with the impact of something big striking it, the force of it shattering all five oval windows behind her.

Gabriella's arm had protectively flown across her face as she'd angled away, the sting of tiny cuts belatedly registering. Back on the couch, her real self mimicked the gesture. She felt the slosh of water at her boots and finally looked down, as Dr. Lee had suggested, and saw that he was right. The deluge and waves crashing over the sides had the water flowing downward, showing that the boat was starting to angle.

A shadowy figure grapsed onto the doorframe, shouting a frantic report. "Captain! The mast has been felled and has struck the ship. She is splitting!"

Whoever this captain was the man had been looking for was not here. It was only herself and Dr. Lee. Nevertheless, she had to help. Gabriella felt the ship tilting. She started to take steps forward, each becoming more and more of an incline as the bow and aft of the ship continued their tilts toward the sea.


But you cannot reach them as the water around you begins to rise rapidly around your legs,

It was becoming more and more difficult to trudge through the ever rising water and increasing incline. The incline took a sudden, sharp increase and she was very nearly bent forward enough to touch what was once the floor. Gravity worked against her. Gabriella's booted foot slipped and she found herself sliding back and splashing into water against one of the window frames, just barely missing one of the oval gaping hole where the windows had once been. The angle of the ship was nearly at 90 degrees now. Smaller items that hadn't been bolted down began flying toward her, splashing into the water and mutedly thunking to the floor or disappearing into the void through one of the windowless gaps. She pushed to a standing position, the window frames now the floor. The water was up to her knees now. She looked up, the bolted down table to her right the nearest object she could pull herself up with, but it was out of reach. Even if she tried to jump, she probably couldn't reach it, but she could try.

The next frame over would put her at better center and give her a better chance. Gabriella looked down through the water and made to step over the oval gap, but her foot would not move. The force with which she'd slid into it had gotten her foot lodged into the cracked wood. Panicking, she sought another way, suddenly remembered that Dr. Lee was there. In his calm stillness, she'd almost forgotten that she wasn't alone.

Gabriella looked pleadingly at Dr. Lee, but he stood there in the same spot, unmoved, defying gravity as the place he once stood was now perpendicular to the ocean, and he simply watched her struggle. "Dr. Lee, help!" she cried out, reaching up toward him.


up your torso and then around your neck.

Her plea was ignored. The window frames having reached the ocean had water rushing in and the boat sinking at an alarming rate. Dropping the professional doctor/patient roles, she frantically tried to implore him on a more personal level. "Vlad, please!"


There is no way out as the water finally reaches the top of your head,

He heard her. She knew he did by the way he watched her struggle in vein through eyes that were slowly becoming black, eclipsing even the whites of his eyes. His lips parted into a smile that revealed fanged teeth and suddenly, Gabriella felt she'd be better off drowning than taking his hand, had he offered it. Despite it, the will to live was stronger and a name from deep within her memories began to emerge as she made one final attempt to plead for his help. "Dra--"


swallowing you whole."

The water cut off the end of the name and the memory of it and the terrifying image Dr. Lee had transformed into was immediately washed away. She was left to her own devices and had to think fast. Bloody thigh-high boots had lost their appeal when they'd become an anchor that would lead to her death. She didn't have enough air to last undoing the million buckles.

The sword. It was a cumbersome task, everything seeming to go in slow motion while submerged, but Gabriella managed to awkwardly pull it free. She angled it over her side and pushed the point between the buckle and the boot. With a couple of irritatingly slow motion back and forths, it cut free. Starting to feel light headed, she was fairly certain she would not make it, but she would not go out without a fight. She had the passing thought that she really wished she still had his dagger but was too preoccupied to consider the thought suggested she'd once had a dagger or known a man she might have borrowed one from.

Gabriella was starting on the third buckle when she heard dark, cruel laughter echo in her head, having been too distracted with panic to realize until just now that she hadn't felt Elle awakening as soon as her life had started to become in danger. Elle had already been there, watching the whole time and apparently thoroughly amused over Gabriella's struggle. Like Dr. Lee, she did nothing to help. 'Why aren't you taking over? You could get us out of this.'

'I really don't see what's in it for me,' came Elle's bored reply.

'If I die, you die,' Gabriella mentally shot back in exasperation without taking a moment's pause from her task. Her lungs were starting to burn for air.

'Well, I'm not really living now, am I? You keep me locked away,' she said in a mock pouty voice. 'However, if you were to give over control, I could help us out. Maybe even let you take control every now and again. If you think about it, the way you lock yourself away from the world, it wouldn't be much of a change,' Elle added with cold logic.

Gabriella ignored her and continued sawing away. She would rather drown than to unleash the sociopath on the world. A muffled shout from above followed by a splash pulled her attention upward. Gabriella looked up through the blurring of water to see the dark figure of a man half in the water, holding onto a rope with one hand and reaching down to her with a... hook? Gabriella took hold of it and felt the man pull. She could feel her leg shifting ever so slightly in the boot, relieved that she may have cut just enough of it. With a second strong pull, she was free and rising upward.

So fixated on the familiar dark figure that had haunted her deep imaginings before, she no longer thought about how badly her lungs burned. She stared, watching, waiting to get a clear look and to remember. But something took hold of both her legs and viciously yanked her down into the depths, the silhouette disappearing from her vision and memories once again.

Gabriella's body bucked on the couch, matching her struggle in her imagination. Her world turned to black and her body went dead still.



***Gabriella disappears into her consciousness***

[Hollywood Heidi]

Elle had been standing quietly by, observing and getting quite bored. That is, until the doctor spiced things up. Gabriella had been starting to have hints of her real life but the curse along with a little boost from herself helped lock those memories back up. And now that fascinating, dangerous, sexy dark side was shining through the boring hypno-shrink façade. Could it be that Dr. Lee had also started to experience hints of his true life?

She watched with giddy anticipation as Dr. Lee slowly tortured Gabriella. He had a power over her boring half that Elle envied. All she could do was taunt Gabriella while she idled by with patience she did not possess, slowly building strength to hopefully one day overpower her and be the one in control. Elle had purposefully been vocal as of late, driving Gabriella to end up exactly where she wanted her to; sitting across from the one person Elle felt she'd be able to manipulate into turning things her way while he still did not remember who he really was.


The fear she felt in Gabriella, the way she pleaded, the vivid detail of Dr. Lee's story as he sent her on a torturous trudge toward a watery grave... It was a hell of a turn-on. Elle was sorely tempted to make more use of her new toy than she'd previously anticipated. But that might cause complications in the long game. Such a shame, really.

Elle felt a part of Gabriella's mind open in her desperation just as a name Dr. Lee couldn't hear yet began to escape it. "Dra--" Elle quickly used some of the precious energy she'd been collecting to instantly escalate the rising of the water in Gabriella's imagination, neatly matching up to Dr. Lee's words.

Gabriella was submerged now and Elle watched her struggle in vain. She could no longer hold back her glee. A dark, cruel laugh bubbled its way out.


'Why aren't you taking over? You could get us out of this.'

Poor, silly little boring chit. She was buying Dr. Lee's nightmare. Elle decided to play into it. 'I really don't see what's in it for me,' she said with a bored sigh.

'If I die, you die,'

Fantasy scenario or not, Elle knew this was not true. She glorified in the fact that she held more knowledge over the once-scientist who'd forgotten what she knew in this world. Elle would make use of it now while Etta and Dracula had their memories withheld. But Elle pretended Gabriella was right. 'Well, I'm not really living now, am I? You keep me locked away,' she said in a mock pouty voice. 'However, if you were to give over control, I could help us out. Maybe even let you take control every now and again. If you think about it, the way you lock yourself away from the world, it wouldn't be much of a change,' she added with cold logic.


As expected, Gabriella ignored her. Elle mentally sat back and only half paid attention, becoming bored with this show. But then there was an unexpected turn of events. Elle felt the panic and pain start to ease in Gabriella. She mentally sat up again, paying full attention and trying to figure out what had changed. Something had caught Gabriella's attention. In her boredom and smug nonchalance, Elle had missed the signs that Gabriella's desperation had once again began to pull at the locked part of her mind.

Looking through the eyes of Gabriella's imagination, she saw that Gabriella had taken hold of a hook. Bloody hell. The strong memory of that damned, sexy pirate that Gabriella had taken to was once again threatening to ruin Elle's plans.

Oh no, you don't, Elle said to herself. Just as Gabriella's leg was freed from the boot, Elle used a good amount of her stored up energy to viciously yank Gabriella out of the forefront, taking the anger for her own slip up out on her.



***Elle takes control and emerges***

Settling back into the driver's seat, Elle took pleasure in the feeling of having a body once again. A body Gabriella wasted but Elle knew how to use as a tool and a weapon. She took her time, slowly stretching and arching the kinks away with a grown of pleasure, taking her time partly for her own pleasure and partly for show. Finally, she turned to her side, resting her head in the palm of her upturned hand and fixed her gaze on him. "Why Doctor, if you wanted me," she said suggestively, "you could have just called. Though I very much enjoyed the show. A bad storm at sea would probably have been enough, but drowning her?" A slow smile formed on her lips, suggesting she'd seen and let play out the entirety of what had transpired and had indeed found an unsettling pleasure in it. "That was dark." The way she said the last word in a husky whisper suggested it held the same definition as 'hot' in her mind.

[Ariel]

"Dr. Lee, help!" "Vlad, please!"

Through Gabriella's calls for help and relentless pleading, Vlad knew that he had to keep pressing forward to get her where he needed her to be in this session. Gulping back his guilt, he carried on as his eyes glanced from down at the chart he was vigirously taking notes in up to Gabriella griping at the sofa backing, her body trembling in fear as she struggled through this simulation in her mind. He felt terrible putting his client in a position of dire distress. The doctor knew that she would be okay in the end of all this, but she had to go under to allow Elle to come forward. Otherwise, the progress would be an unfortunate bare minimal.

Vlad allowed his creativity to take control of his tongue as he watched Gabriella mentally take a plunge. Did he have to go to the length to try and drown her? Maybe not. He was not sure why his words were taking her there, as he usually was not vicious with his visuals. Yet, he felt a shift begin within him that started as a slight pinch. Watching his client struggle, Vlad was not prepared for what was about to happen.

The pinch began to muster and he couldn't explain it, but it caused great confusion. All of a sudden, a crackle of lightning louder than anything Vlad had ever heard in his lifetime struck the air right outside the window, causing Vlad to jump in his skin and press the pencil he wrote with so hard against the paper that it snapped. Tilting his gaze upward from where he sat, he looked upon Gabriella, her body suddenly as still as a sleeping doll. He felt a dark shadow cast over the bright rays of sunlight that had once beamed through the window.

"It can't be," Vlad uttered in disbelief, the day had just begun. There was no possible way that the evening was already here. He glanced back at Gabriella swiftly, who still hadn't moved a muscle or had spoken a single word within the last minute, before slowly peeling himself from his seat. One foot in front of the other, Vlad braced himself as his feet brought him to look out the window.

"What...what is this?" Vlad spoke absolutely horrified as his eyes grew wide at the daunting sight. The sky had darkened as if it was the middle of the night, yet there was absolutely no moon or stars in sight. What really sent a shrilling chill to Vlad's core was the enormous, electrifying purple smog that began to devour the entire town. Bringing a hand up to his chin in shock, Vlad's breath quickened as he began to panic. The town, the people, everyone who he held dear to himself were all down there getting swallowed whole and there was nothing he could do about it. Petrified, Vlad held his gaze in disbelief out the window as he slowly began to back away a few steps. His feet came to a sudden halt as a wave of darkness began to devour his charmingly upbeat personality. Vlad felt things he never had felt before, began to think devious thoughts that he would never consider doing - as if a malevolent persona was bottled within his own mind. A presence was suddenly in the room with him, Vlad could feel the energy of it's eyes burning a hole right through him as if it was teasing him to look. Giving into his senses, Vlad slowly turned his head to the large mirror on the wall behind the sofa that Gabriella was still peacefully resting on. In the reflection, he saw himself yet it wasn't himself at all. Was this what Gabriella had seen? Vlad thought to himself. This polished stranger's blackened eyes were lifeless as he stared right into Vlad's soul, before showing off his fangs in a smile. Blood dripped from it's chin as it suddenly growled in hunger and lunged at Vlad, and out of terror Vlad threw himself back.

All of a sudden, Vlad blinked and was back in his practitioner's chair. The morning sunlight poured through the window once more and his pencil was placed back between his fingers, unbroken and ready to write. Completely dazed, he caught his breath as he ripped his eyes upward to find Gabriella beginning to slowly wake up. Did I fall asleep? Vlad thought to himself, feeling rather embarrassed. He knew that he had been sleep deprived lately, but falling asleep on the job was something he internally scolded himself for. What happened to him in those last few moments was utterly bizarre, yet it connected with Gabriella in a way. Almost telepathic. Yet, he did not think long on it as he still had a job to do. Letting an exhale escape that spoke of both frustration with himself and relief, he watched as Gabriella began to wake up. Yet, the change in body language signaled to the doctor that this was not Gabriella at all. A satisfied grin slowly spread across his face the moment he realized that his method had worked and that Elle had finally arrived.

"Why Doctor, if you wanted me"you could have just called. Though I very much enjoyed the show. A bad storm at sea would probably have been enough, but drowning her?" "That was dark."

"Ah, the sleeping beauty finally awakens from her slumber. Welcome back, Elle," Vlad's voice dripped with a deep, elegant charm different than his usual tone as he welcomed the alter into the space as if she were an old, good friend. It was a rare occurrence for Vlad to speak one on one with Elle these days considering Gabriella had been avoiding her appointments. However, whenever they spoke, there was always something deep within him that Elle dragged to the forefront, something darker than his usual self. He never thought too much of it though, let alone even recognized the shift in his own personality, "Can I grab you anything? A glass of delectable ruby red, perhaps? You know I always keep a glass on hand just for you," Vlad spoke admirably as he got up and retrieved the empty glass and bottle of red wine from the single cupboard that hovered over his coffee maker, "Dear Elle, Gabriella tells me that you've been a bit of a naughty girl lately," Vlad inquired as he poured the red liquid into the glass that he cradled in his hand. Putting the lid back on the bottle, he turned around to sit across from Elle, offering her the filled glass in hand, "Is this true?"

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Ah, the sleeping beauty finally awakens from her slumber. Welcome back, Elle,"

"Mm," she said, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head with the satisfying feeling of comfortably settling into the body. "It's good to be back." 'Right where I belong.' She kept that part to herself. Patience was such an annoying trait to have to put into practice. Elle abhorred being made to wait but had to hold her cards and play them at the right time, else she lose the game before it had begun.


"Can I grab you anything? A glass of delectable ruby red, perhaps? You know I always keep a glass on hand just for you,"

A catlike grin slowly spread across her face. "How very thoughtful."

As he made his way to the cupboard, Elle stood and stretched once more, getting fully acclimated. As her arms came back down, she let her hands run down her sides, admiring her own form. She loved this body and could at least appreciate Gabriella's upkeep of it. Elle turned around to face the mirror and sneered in disgust. Why she bothered with the upkeep when she insisted on hiding and diminishing the goods made no bloody sense.

While Vlad continued playing his verbal game from the cupboards, Elle worked on making some improvements. She pulled her hair free of the tragic up-do and carelessly tossed the hair band aside, then started fixing the blouse that was buttoned practically up to her bloody chin.


"Dear Elle, Gabriella tells me that you've been a bit of a naughty girl lately,"

Elle grinned wickedly at his comment, neatly arranging the button freed top of the blouse that now showed an enticing hint of cleavage. But even better and a more personal touch against her current opponent, it exposed more of her neck now that the collar was pulled back.

Little triggers. That was the way she would get to him. Flirt with the hidden dark corners of his mind. Entice them forward with words and actions personalized to the powerful creature trapped inside that weak outer shell.


"Is this true?"

Settled back on the couch across from Vlad, Elle smiled coyly at him as she took the offered glass. "Only a bit?" she said, slowly turning the glass so that the red liquid within kept coating the inside of the glass and flowing back down. "I'll have to put more effort into it." Looking at him over the glass with a glint of amusement in her eyes, Elle took a leisurely drink.  Eyes on the glass, she made a sound of appreciation.  "The fact you are enabling with wine for breakfast," she said, slowly swirling the red liquid in the glass again as she gave him a teasing smile, "I'd say you have a taste for naughty."

[Ariel]

 "Only a bit?" "I'll have to put more effort into it." "The fact you are enabling with wine for breakfast,""I'd say you have a taste for naughty."

"You above all others would know that I'm a man who takes pride in his hostmanship. I'm no good if I can't at least make you...comfortable," Vladimir gave his shoulders a single shrug as he settled back into the armchair across from his newly arrived guest. Elle was always such a peculiar mystery to Vlad, and although he only ever met with her in a professional setting there was something about this alternate personality that drew him in like no other force could ever accomplish. If she was in a separate body apart from her counterpart Gabriella, Vladimir certainly knew that keeping her as company would sentence him to automatic trouble. Elle was an alluring riddle dripping with sexual appeal, waiting to be solved. And the doctor was determined to get to her core, "Here you are, as radiant as ever, and yet I cannot help but sense that something's upset you. Has something happened, Elle? Did Gabriella...do something to cause you pain?" Vladimir leaned forward empathetically as he offered his services to Elle. As his clients, Vlad was there to do both ladies justice, after all, "You can talk to me, Elle. I'm here to serve you in any way I can." He spoke with assurance as he attempted to appeal to her personality. He had only hoped that he could get through to her in some way.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"You above all others would know that I'm a man who takes pride in his hostmanship. I'm no good if I can't at least make you...comfortable,"

The real him did seem to find a dark glee in playing host, using his powers of persuasion to make his guests comfortable for his own amusement and own personal gain. But this version of him said it as if he selflessly meant it. She hid her amusement over the realization that this weak persona truly did mean it. Elle wished see could see how the real him would react to the man who'd taken him over.

How funny that this curse had created for everyone else something she'd been living with for years. Only it seemed that the fact she and Etta had come into this curse already with the dual personalities had left one of them grounded to reality which had more easily allowed her mind to find her way out of the purple haze of the curse. Elle had gathered that being buried within Etta's consciousness when the curse had hit had somewhat protected her from its full effect.


"Here you are, as radiant as ever, and yet I cannot help but sense that something's upset you. Has something happened, Elle? Did Gabriella...do something to cause you pain?"

The fact he was still using flattery and attempting to stroke her ego meant that she was still fooling him into believing she possessed commonplace emotions and traits found in humans. Despite not possessing the empathy needed to feel things such as the care of what others thought or felt or how they perceived her, she was damned good at acting as if she did.

Though it was rage over the control Gabriella still held over her, she did not let it show. Instead, Elle arranged her features and body language to portray a sense of being bothered or upset. For further effect, she let her eyes wander down to watch the liquid swirling in her glass as if contemplating and remained silent to allow his sympathy to grow and for him to "encourage" her to open up. It did not take long for him to do as she'd expected.


"You can talk to me, Elle. I'm here to serve you in any way I can."

Looking up from her glass, she let a proper amount of her anger show in her tone and mixed in a bit of hurt and frustration to draw sympathy. "Gabriella does not want to share.  Worse, she's trying to get rid of me."

[Ariel]

"Gabriella does not want to share. Worse, she's trying to get rid of me."

"I see," Vlad's lips tightened in an expression of empathy. Glancing down at the floor through his clear lenses, the Doctor nodded in understatement of Elle's side of the story. Both ladies placed blame on the other, but at the end of the day Vlad knew that it took two to tango. Gabriella, of course, had a better rapport with the Doctor when it came to relaying the facts. He also had a feeling of what kind of cards Elle would play as well, though he knew that she was the more emotional one and simply craved a vessel of her own. 

"Walk me through the past few days, Elle, the times you can remember being co-conscious or even fronting at full," With a click of his pen, Vlad reached beside him to retrieve the chart. Placing the open folder in his lap, his neutral gaze moved back up to meet Elle's. He understood they were past the 'why' questions and talks about 'feelings'. With the way Vlad figured he understood roughly of how Elle worked, that would run them in circles and get them nowhere. Now that he got her to admit that there was a problem, he would now chip away until he got to the core, and perhaps present the ladies with a solution, "Starting with Sunday morning." 

[Hollywood Heidi]

Elle crossed her arms, going from hurt to defensive, and ignored his questions for the most part. She managed to continue sounding only hurt and frustrated during her revelation when in fact, she was in an absolute rage about it. "It's been a decade since I've had a turn. The entire time, I've seen everything. Heard everything. A powerless victim forced to witness every boring second of the life Gabriella would not share," Elle paused giving the doctor a steely, pointed look, "and watching helplessly as two people helped her keep it that way. Now Doctor," she said, a chastising tone in her voice as she leaned forward and slowly pulled the prescription free from under the glasses as she continued. "Are you really going to sit there," she held it up between the pointer fingers and thumbs of both hands, "and continue to pretend," she slowly began tearing it up, "that you're on both our sides?"

Holding her hands over the table, she casually let the confetti flutter back onto the table, giving her hands a couple of swipes to rid them of any remnants. She kept a steady gaze on him, her features drawn into a serious expression that told him to choose his path wisely, for her trust and cooperation--two attributes he didn't need to know she possessed very little of--was on the line. Though she pretended it mattered, the path he chose made little difference. She would manipulate a path to the one locked away in him one way or another.

[Ariel]

"It's been a decade since I've had a turn. The entire time, I've seen everything. Heard everything. A powerless victim forced to witness every boring second of the life Gabriella would not share," "and watching helplessly as two people helped her keep it that way. Now Doctor,"  "Are you really going to sit there,"  "and continue to pretend," "that you're on both our sides?"

Vlad's professionalism began to break slightly as he watched Elle take Gabriella's prescription between her dainty yet powerful claws, and begin to tear the paper apart bit by bit. No longer could he contain his mutual composure has his jaw was noticeably unhinged once she had thrown the remnants onto the table between them with a stone cold look that dug right into his soul. He wasn't entirely sure if he was utterly shocked, or just naturally turned on. Vlad couldn't describe the way that Elle made him feel when she fronted. Yet, she made him feel as if he was discovering himself again, a whole new self that had been tucked away for a decade.

"I am simply trying to help the vessel to be steered successfully by the Captain. The ship can't sail unless everyone works together," Vlad took his glasses off momentarily, without breaking eye contact with Elle. He tipped his gaze as he rubbed the lenses away with a handkerchief he retrieved from his pocket, yet as he brought Elle into view he noticed his sight becoming noticeably...clearer?  Since when did he not need his glasses himself? "What do you propose I do to help in order to keep the ship from sinking?"

[Hollywood Heidi]

Elle watched him carefully, a satisfied grin forming when she noticed signs that she'd successfully put a crack in the curse that held his true self hostage. Now she would drive a wedge into it so that the crack would remain to slowly spread as it fed off itself. She would give it a good kick now and again to help it along, but she had to be careful to not let it grow too quickly. She needed him to still be at a controllable state and full on Dracula could be controlled by no one.

"Oh Doctor. Dear, sweet, Doctor," she said on a sigh, her tone that of someone weary of carrying a knowledge far beyond what anyone around her could even grasp. "You really have no idea." She watched him try to make sense of what had suddenly gone wrong with his glasses and grinned. "But I think, perhaps, you've been receiving hints that something just isn't right."

Elle stood from the couch and wandered down the length of the table toward the curtains. "Allow me to use that adorable ship analogy of yours to," she let her fingers run along the curtains, purposefully throwing in another trigger by catching the edge of the opening so that a stream of sunlight peaked in, smiling again when he flinched, "shine some light on a very dark truth."

She wandered around the back of the empty chair, approaching the one he occupied. "These vessels," she began, placing a hand on his bicep as she continued around the back of his chair, slowly letting her fingertips run up his arm, across the back of his neck, and back down the other arm as she continued talking, "are only meant to be controlled by one." Another trigger, attempting to use the closeness to see if he could feel the rush of her blood, hear it when the major artery that ran through her wrist passed close to his ears.

Elle centered herself behind him, her hands resting on the back of his chair. "There was a time when I was alone in this affliction, but in Storybrooke," she leaned close to him over the back of the chair, lowering her voice to a near whisper, "everyone is like me." She let her hands run down the back of the chair to his shoulders and down to rest near the heart that should not be beating as she switched to lean close to his other ear. "I know you've sensed it. Have you heard him? Felt him stirring within? Seen him looking back at you in the mirror?"

Her hands slowly dragged back upward as she took a turn around the chair to stand before him. "You are all under the control of imposters. Vessels taken over and all taken hostage aboard a ship." The ship in this analogy being the Dark Curse, but that was too much, too soon to be revealing. "Slaving away to keep it sailing on false waters which, in turn, is keeping your real personalities locked away." She leaned forward and rested her hands on the arm rests, strategically making sure her hair fell to one side, leaving her neck exposed as yet another trigger. "So I propose," she began, leaning close to whisper in his ear, "we sink the ship."

She lingered a moment, leaving her exposed neck near him as another trigger to entice the creature within him. All the seductive touches, the endless flaunts to entice the bloodlust, the darkness of the thoughts and words of a monster, it had to have at least penetrated through the crack and stirred the powerful creature within.

Elle pulled back to study him, a satisfied smirk on her face when she saw hints of darkness in his eyes. "There he is," she said in a seductively coaxing voice. Remaining at eye level, Elle reached up and carefully removed the unnecessary barrier of his glasses, letting them silently fall to the carpet. "I know you feel him, Doctor." She ran a fingertip along his strong jawline, drawn to and seduced by the Lord of Monsters that hinted within him. "Embrace the darkness. Give in to the hunger."

[Ariel]

"Oh Doctor. Dear, sweet, Doctor," "You really have no idea.""But I think, perhaps, you've been receiving hints that something just isn't right."

Vlad was perplexed by Elle's sudden change in direction. A typical session would involve Elle selfishly obsessing over not wanting to share her body with another. Though, Vlad quickly realized that this was no typical session as the conversation flipped quicker than he could blink. It was too late as soon as he concluded that the focus of attention was now on him. Vlad's questioning demeanor changed as the corners of his mouth curved into a disappointed frown. He scolded himself silently as he realized he was playing right into her hands - the very thing he confidently fought hard against. What Elle was speaking of, he felt it. At first, the change in his sleep pattern wasn't anything he was going to be concerned about. But, then the impulsive behavior followed. Then a sudden heightening of senses trickled in followed by an indescribable thirst that he had never experienced before. Her words began to resonate within him slightly as he recognized that he had allowed her to get into his head.

Frightened, Vlad threw his glasses back onto his face in denial as his heart rate began to quicken. Remaining silent and on guard, he watched Elle with cautious eyes as she radiated in a seductive nature, floating towards the curtains that draped over the windows. When her fingertips caressed the fabric of the drapes, an uneasiness fell over Vlad as he found the palms of his hands clenching the arms of the chair he sat in and he was unsure if he was bracing himself for a stroke of blaring, morning light he had desperately tried to conceal or if Elle's allurement act was baiting something within him to break free.

 "Allow me to use that adorable ship analogy of yours to,""shine some light on a very dark truth."

The slightest sun beam peeked from between the curtains as Elle pried it open slightly with her delicate fingers, and to Vlad's surprise, it bothered him greater than before. Vlad reacted dramatically the sight of the ray of bright warmth that had entered their space, throwing a hand up to shield his face as he cowardly braced his body away from the light. He had an urge to hiss, yet used all the energy he had left within him to stop himself. Though, Vlad began to lose all sense of control of himself, as if his body was no longer his anymore. 

"These vessels," "are only meant to be controlled by one." "There was a time when I was alone in this affliction, but in Storybrooke," "everyone is like me." "I know you've sensed it. Have you heard him? Felt him stirring within? Seen him looking back at you in the mirror?"

Although clothed, Vlad could feel the pulsating warmth emitting through Elle's hands as her touches traveled across the top of his body. As Elle spoke, she narrowed in closer onto him to whisper in his ear, yet he could not bare to look at her. Vlad still remained unspoken, but his complexion flexed with sweltering agony as his forehead began to perspire. Vlad swore he could hear every vein in her body pulsate, her heart being the loudest of them all. Vlad had this urge to want her, though his mind was confused as to which way he craved her. He especially denied the sudden urge for blood as his mouth began to water. This wasn't him, he wasn't a killer. He was just a doctor...but was he? This thing inside of him that she spoke of, he had only caught a mere glimpse of the dark monster today in his daydream. Yet he had felt him stirring within him for a few days now, each day growing stronger. With the cognitive thoughts that were still with him, Vlad knew he was unpredictable and was struggling to contain whatever beast within that was trying to get out to possibly even devour his patient.

"You are all under the control of imposters. Vessels taken over and all taken hostage aboard a ship.""Slaving away to keep it sailing on false waters which, in turn, is keeping your real personalities locked away." "So I propose," "we sink the ship."


Vlad battled the sensational urges that were taking over, but he was losing incredibly fast. He tried furiously to listen to Elle's words and make sense of what she was revealing to him, yet his mind was slipping as a fog of amnesia crept in, creating a wave of confusion. Suddenly, he couldn't remember where he was, the woman he was with or even his own name. Bit by bit, Vlad began to feel small as he felt farther and farther away from Elle. As the nape of her neck drew closer, Vlad began to ache with thirst as his throat felt like it was on fire and that blood was the only solution. Not wanting to hurt her, his breath grew labored with terror as patches of black began to slowly creep into his vision. "Please," Vlad tried to beg, flickering his horrified gaze up at the woman as his eyes pleaded for all of this to stop. Yet, he was so disorientated that couldn't form a single sentence to express how he didn't want to hurt her, how the pain within his body felt like wildfire. Vlad kept his gaze on the woman right before him as if to try to anchor his consciousness, yet the darkness narrowed in at a rapid pace as he began to fade as fast as the white of his irises. His eyes were swimming with bloodshot red as something within Vlad began to transition forward. Or someone.

"There he is," "I know you feel him, Doctor." "Embrace the darkness. Give in to the hunger."

***

[Ariel]

***

The female voice that drew him out was all to familiar. He had been peacefully resting in a season of slumber before being suddenly woken up. As he slowly came to, he noticed his hunger but repressed it as he gained some sense of control over the body. The surroundings were blurred, as they would be when one first wakes up from a night's worth of sleep. In this case, years worth. That was, until a pair of porcelain, gentle hands removed the lenses that had been secluding his sight from the world. A new world. And the first thing that his sight was graced with was the remarkable sight of a familiar friend welcoming him warmly with her fingers embracing his jawline. "Yes, I know your face...," He reached one hand up to meet the woman's cheek, his flesh coming into contact with hers. And then, memories, places, and people all came back to him like a super sonic flashback. He remembered who he was, the Lord Of Monsters. Count Dracula. Shocked by all of this, he let lose an astonished chuckle that bellowed menacingly from within before letting go of a refreshing exhale, "Miss Hyde. You look different...I like it," Dracula grinned a toothy smile, the only thing missing was his flashy fangs that came in handing for piercing the flesh of his victims. His gaze departed momentarily from his female companion as he scanned the room in awe, "In all my hundreds of years, I've stayed in castles of Kings and manors of the highest elite. But never have I seen anything as luxurious as this," Dracula marveled before turning back to Hyde with questions, "Where are we? How long was I asleep for?"

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Yes, I know your face...,"

She saw him there now, shaking off the fog of a deep slumber. He reached out and Elle gladly leaned her cheek into the palm of the only being that was able to touch a part of her that existed for no one else. It was only he who could temper any monster enough to get through to it simply by the draw he held over them. To talk reason and logic--his logic--with a voice that had the ability to command monsters; temper their cravings that, at times, blindly consumed them. She felt that draw now. The raging fire inside her that wanted to go out that door and pick out a victim who would become her shiny new toy to slowly, methodically, and thoroughly break simmered to a gentle flame.

She watched and waited with a foreign feeling she believed people called patience, seeing life start to return to his eyes. Not that phony Storybrooke life that held the hint of a glaze as people walked about like reprogrammed vessels, pretending to be something they weren't, some of which were finally stumbling their way out of an endless loop, picking up on the hint that their wiring had been tampered with. As far as she could tell, the only person who had found their way out was Rumpelstiltskin. She'd also figured it out. Well, half of her, at least. Etta was still clueless and it was probably better to keep it that way. Her naivete gave Elle more control over how things played out.

He released a menacing chuckle that sent a thrill all the way to her toes and she knew that now, here was another one freed. She needed this one. He'd always been on her side. It was unfortunate that the Dark One had found his way out of the darkness because he was in her way now, blackmailing Gabriella, wasting Elle's time by sending Gabriella on trivial tasks to find some trinket. But she already had a plan she'd be enacting a bit later to annoy him and waste his time.


"Miss Hyde. You look different...I like it,"

A catlike grin spread across Elle's face as Dracula assessed the new and improved her. She stood, posing, placing a hand on her hip, looking proud and smug. "As do I. Definitely an upgrade from that mindless being I used to be." She looked away in distant memory as she tried to explain. "There was always such a haze that kept me from fully grasping and appreciating things."

Her other self had been merely a shadow of who she was here. Just an animal with crazed bloodlust and when the animal had managed to tear into someone, it hadn't held satisfaction, only a craving for more and a haze of a memory that was forgotten soon after the tearing apart was done. Here though, she was so much more than that. She felt things here. Satisfaction and the ability to remember everything which allowed her to draw satisfaction from the memory yet again. There were also ways outside of inflicting physical damage that were far superior and yielded a far greater sense of satisfaction. In fact, the physical paled in comparison to the elation and pleasure she'd felt from toying and playing mind games and that was only from a very short visit to the White Rabbit but mostly from tormenting Gabriella. Imagine the fun she could have with all those people out there.

She would save those daydreams for later.


"In all my hundreds of years, I've stayed in castles of Kings and manors of the highest elite. But never have I seen anything as luxurious as this,"

Elle gave her surroundings a disinterested once-over. She was tired of all the time she'd spent cooped up in this office only to be put away before leaving it.


"Where are we? How long was I asleep for?"

"It's a very long story that I'm still trying to piece together," she said with a wave. Elle casually settled herself onto Dracula's lap, looping her arms loosely around his neck. "We're in some town called Storybrooke. A realm very different from where we'd been and different from our home realm, though this realm seems to be more like home in the sense that magic doesn't seem to flow freely here either. As for how long we've been here?" She shrugged. "I'm still working on that, though I get the sense it's been longer than we realize."

Looking at him, she took in his pallor and realized the poor man hadn't fed in ages and here she was, so close, filling his senses. Dr. Lee, she loved to torment. He deserved it for keeping Dracula buried, but she'd never intentionally torment Dracula. "Oh, my dear Dracula, you must be parched," she said with heart wrenching sincerity toward a victim who'd been denied a basic need for far too long. Elle pulled her hair over one shoulder and also held out her arm. "What's your preference?" She lowered her voice and gave him a sultry look, adding suggestively, "Though it's not limited to just these two options."

[Ariel]

Dracula had been glazed with intrigue as he suddenly found himself melting under Elle's alluring way of explaining how the way things now were in this new world that Dracula had suddenly found himself in. Embracing her possessively in his lap, a still smirk had played upon his face as he stared at Elle with eyes of intensity. He fully listened to the words that escaped from her lips while reveling in the magnificence of her presence. She had always been one of his most favorite pets, after all. 

"Oh, my dear Dracula, you must be parched,"

Dracula grew momentarily perplexed as Elle's loose arms fell away from where they rested on his collarbones. It only took him mere moments to remember how in favor his appetite was of the crimson red liquid that flowed through the veins of the living. He also remembered he had a particular taste for the young and youthful, a taste he began to recall as the burning thirst began to tightly squeeze his throat. The decade long blood fast was about to end as Dracula's hunger grew.

"What's your preference?" "Though it's not limited to just these two options."

Dracula's gaze panged with a yearning to feed as his eyes panned from the stretched arm and up to the exposed neck of his company.  He looked upon the beautiful woman as a long awaited snack, yet he had a level of respect for her like no other. If he could, he would risk his own life for her. This was simply one of the many moments from which he could recall that she had proven that her feelings were mutual. The coldness of his pale skin crept into his fingertips as he moved his hand up to Elle's exposed neck to hold it gently. His thumb caressed lightly over the sweet spot on the side of her neck where the jugular vein noticeably twitched under her skin, pumping copious amounts of blood through her body per minute. Dracula could hear the beating of her heart quicken at his touch, and faster as he leaned his lips in close enough to practically graze the nape of her neck. Though, something discouraged him from taking a forbidden bite as he retracted. Something that was once a part of him was missing, he could feel it.

"I can't...," Dracula turned Elle slightly in his lap so that he could face her with his dire concern, "Miss Hyde, I am amazed by your undying loyalty and it surely won't go without being rewarded. Though, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've realized something...What good of a Vampire am I without fangs?" Dracula admitted in what would probably be one of the first insecure moments of his life. He was aware that this life hadn't been his for a very long time, yet it angered him slightly that his life had been robbed of him for so long that essence of his true self had been left to die in their home realm.