He looked down at his schedule and saw that the first person he'd be working on today would be Athena DeVries.
Good thing it was bright and early, and this girl would not have gone to school yet. He arrived at the DeVries house and rang the bell.
"I'm the Cleaner," he said.
The person who greeted him nodded. "She's in her room. First door on the left."
He headed up the stairs and knocked on the door. A teenage Goth opened the door. "Who are...?" she trailed off as he sprayed her in the face with the spray bottle. She dropped to the floor with a thunk. Even after all this time, he was still amazed at how fast that stuff works.
He pulled her inside and sat her on the bed. He wasn't a pervert, nor the sort to play with teenage girls. Some of his clients were though.
"Athena...can you hear me?"
"Yes," she said dreamily.
"Now, Laura, you will not remember that we had this conversation. But you will remember everything that I tell you to do. And you will follow all my commands. But you will believe that everything I command of you is coming from yourself. You will believe that everything I tell you to do are your own thoughts, feelings and desires. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Very good." He paused. "You are in a dream. And, when you come out of it, you will have a whole new outlook on life. Tell me you would like that."
"I ... I would like that."
"I want you to answer every question I ask you by saying 'YES'. And, I want you to believe that 'YES' is the right answer to every question. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"You are a lovely young lady, right?"
"Yes."
"And it isn't appropriate for young ladies to curse, or disobey their parents and teachers, is it?"
"Yes."
"You don't want to do those things, do you? You want to be a good daughter and a good student, right?"
"Yes."
"And being a Goth was just a phase you went through," he said. "One you've now outgrown, correct?"
"Y...yes," she said, hesitating. Somewhere deep down inside her, she was fighting his reprogramming. But it wasn't a problem. He's dealt with this sort of thing before.
"Goths dress up like its Halloween every day, and that's silly, right?"
"Yes."
"You are much too confident in yourself to need to dress like a clown..."
He continued talking to her soothingly, fulfilling the terms of his contract. He took half in advance, and half when the client was satisfied. He was certain they would be satisfied when he was done.
