Yes, so put it on, already.

You’re right, of course; I have to stop being so paranoid and learn to trust people. Gosh, I’m going to be on a trip for over a month with people I barely know; if I can’t make friends I can have faith in, it’s going to be a very long five weeks indeed. Besides, if Rose is wearing a similar necklace, what harm could there possibly be?

“So this is really a good luck charm?

Rose and her friend nod in unison. “It certainly is,” replies Jonathan, a look of boyish hope in his eyes.

With a sigh, I at last take the trinket from the grad student’s hands and pull the open strand around my neck. As I suspected, the jewelry is old, bearing some nicks and spots of rust (though the jewel itself is pristine), plus the clasp is a little hard to shut—probably dinged or rusted out of shape. Where did he find this thing? A sand dune?

“Rose, why don’t you help your roommate with that?” suggests Jonathan, with a certain misplaced authority.

Rose looks at him and nods. “Yes, Jonathan,” she replies, and beckons me to turn around towards her full-length mirror.

-Yes, Jonathan.- That’s kind of a strange way to talk to a friend, isn’t it?

Rose stands behind me and takes the strand from my fingers. After a few seconds of fidgeting, the necklace is whole. I barely have time to admire myself when I get a bizarre feeling in my body. Every part of me feels hot and energized, and yet I can’t seem to move, at least, not very well; a single, cautious step sends me into a slow-motion descent to the floor. Luckily, Jonathan catches me immediately.

“Thank you,” I say, or at least –try- to say; somehow the words fail to leave my lips. I try again but I hear nary a peep from myself. Meanwhile, Rose and Jonathan actually begin to laugh! Do they think I’m fooling?

Confused and alarmed, I struggle to get out of Jonathan’s arms and back onto my feet, but my body is frozen, scarcely able to lift a finger or bat an eye. Ultimately, -Jonathan- has to place me back in an upright position.

"Don’t try anything stupid, Alexis, don’t try to resist, don’t try to move," he says rapidly, again with that strange air of authority. I can barely move anyway, but upon hearing his words it suddenly seems like a solidified concept.

“Just let the jewel do it’s work and then you can relax.”

Relax? How can I relax like this? I’m dumb and paralyzed while he and Rose are laughing and telling me not to resist? What does he mean by that?

Suddenly, Jonathan takes advantage of my frozen form and boldly wraps a long arm around my waist. With his other hand placed upon my chin, he directs my stiff gaze toward the mirror, where I see my face beside his resting upon my shoulder.

"I thought you were going to get away from us, Alexis,” he mutters, “but you turned out to be just as stupid as Rose was…so shallow…so predictably fascinated by shiny objects."