Sister act

Niki was having the dream again. The dream in which she lost her powers and in which the last memory she had was of dying in a horrible explosion.

Then she found herself being shaken awake. She opened her eyes and saw her twin sister Jessica staring down at her.

"It's just as well I woke you up," Jessica said. "You were having the bad dream again. The one in which I no longer exist."

"Oh, right," said Niki. "How's Micah?"

"He's okay," said Jessica. "I got the nice neighbor lady next door to look after him while we go to the club tonight."

"Do we have to go to the club?" said Niki.

"We have to earn money somehow -- and quite frankly, I don't see that whole Internet thing you mentioned working out too well for you," said Jessica. "Anyway, you need to get dressed now. We're running late and we still have one last errand to run before we start work tonight."

"Okay," said Niki.

Deep down, she knew she should make a bigger fuss but she had learned a long time ago to pick her battles when it came to Jessica. Sure, Jessica was very supportive for a twin sister -- none of this sibling rivalry nonsense that Niki had seen in other families when she was growing up -- but then Jessica could be very aggressive too. And she definitely had anger management issues.

Jessica insisted on driving so Niki decided to take a nap while Jessica drove wherever she needed to go.

When she awoke, they were not at the club but outside the office of a local hypnotist.

Niki started to say something, but Jessica just pulled her out of the car and into the hypnotist's office.

There was a man in that office and he was sitting behind a desk.

When Niki and Jessica entered, he stood up and greeted them both -- but as usual, whenever Jessica was around, he chose to talk to Jessica and not Niki.

"My sister and I have a problem," said Jessica. "She really needs to quit smoking for this new job she has but I can't get her to listen to me. Anyway, can you help me out?"

"Your sister, huh?" answered the man with a strange expression on his face. "What exactly are you needing me to do?"

Jessica leaned over and whispered something in the man's ear so quietly that even Niki could not tell what she said.

Then Jessica backed away from the man and the man smiled. "I think I know what to do."

He got out a gold watch and started to swing it back before Niki's eyes.

"You will do whatever your sister tells you to do," he said. "You will do whatever your sister tells you to do. Not only will you not obey her in all instances but you will find it that it pains you to disobey her. On the plus side, nothing will make you happier than doing anything Jessica says. Nothing. No matter what it is she wants you to do."

The chant continued until eventually Niki lost consciousness.

When she awoke, Jessica was paying the man and the man was saying, "I hope it all works out. After all, smoking is a filthy habit."

"Yes, it certainly is," said Jessica.

Something about this conversation made Niki uneasy but she did not really feel nervous until she opened her eyes again and found herself in the club dressing room.

"I plan to make a lot of money for us tonight and I don't want any of your petty inhibitions getting in the way, sis," said Jessica as she efficiently undressed Niki and dressed her up in an outfit consisting of little more than black heels, black garter, black bra and of course, black thong. "So please believe me when I say that everything I'll make you do tonight will be for your own good. And just in case by some miracle you decide to change your mind halfway through your performance, here's something else to think about."

And just like that, Jessica picked up the dress that she had just taken off Niki -- the only dress she had to wear at that very minute -- and tore it in half. Then she tore it in quarters.

Within five minutes, Jessica had reduced her only dress to rags.

"Hey!" Jessica said with a smile. "It's not like you were likely to wear it a lot anyway."