Chapter 1 - first viewing

Julia and Sierra were good friends. That's about all there was to say about them. They barely talked to each other most days, except over the phone or the internet. Though occasionally, one of them would invite the other to hang out. Today was one of these rare occasions, where Sierra had invited Julia over to her house. Going over there would probably be the biggest mistake Julia had ever made.

Shortly after arriving, Julia and Sierra had resorted to sitting on the couch and idly chatting about random topics.

"So, how's work been?" Julia asked.

"Good," Sierra replied.

Sierra had been flicking through channels, when they stumbled upon a documentary about livestock. Suddenly, Sierra perked up. "Oh, I've been meaning to show you this," Sierra pulled out her phone and opened YouTube. She clicked on her Watch Later section and scrolled till she landed on a video titled: "Crazy Hypnosis - Don't Watch!"

"What is that?" Julia muttered as she looked at the screen.

"I don't know, it's like, some kind of hypnosis video that makes you go crazy? I think, anyways, from the title. My sister Olive watched it and said she didn't even make it five seconds."

"Okay... Why are you showing it to me?"

"Because, I wanna make a little challenge out of it!" Sierra giggled.

"What kind of challenge?"

"Okay, so we're gonna watch it together, and the first person to tap out owes the other... Like, $100?"

Julia sighed. "Look, if you need to borrow money, just say so."

"No, I'm fine!" Sierra insisted. "I just wanna have a fun game!"

"And your idea of 'fun' is watching a sketchy hypnosis video your sister sent you?"

"Uh-huh!" Sierra nodded. "So, are you in?"

Julia thought about it for a moment. Then, she nodded. "Sure, fire it up."

Sierra and Julia got close together so they could both see the phone. Sierra propped it up on the table and hit play.

The video was a mix of various random sounds and visuals. Photos and videos of food, and people eating food, cycles through the video. Pictures of heavily obese people flashed in and out, only for a split second each time. Words that flashed too quickly to be read kept appearing. A constant spiral laid over the whole thing. The audio was this constant droning tone, with occasional moans and eating noises, oinks, and a whispering voice that wasn't decipherable.

"Ugh, that's nasty!" Sierra exclaimed as she watched with intent. They were only 10 seconds in, and already she was uneasy. "S-So, gonna tap out or what?" Sierra asked to her friend.

Julia did not reply. She was entirely transfixed on the screen, her eyes glossed over, and her mouth was slightly agape. She looked to be in a full trance.

"Julia!" She waved her hand in front of Julia's face. "Snap out of it!"

Julia did not reply again. The video's droning tones and swirling imaged had completely caught her in a trance she couldn't wake up from."

Eventually, Sierra had to grab the phone and shut off the video before any permanent damage was done to Julia's psyche. "Okay, you win! Just take the money!" Sierra had pulled out a bunch of $20's from her wallet.

Julia took a moment to come back to consciousness. "Ugh..." She moaned. "How long was I out?"

"Like, 30 seconds?" Sierra replied. I had to stop it, it was doing something weird to you. Like you were actually hypnotized by it."

"Huh..." Julia sighed. "Felt like a few hours to me."

"Well, we're not watching that again," Sierra stated, "and I'm going to have a serious conversation with Olive about this."

Little did either of them know, that the damage was already done, and this was the beginning of Julia's downward spiral into obesity and gluttony.