“I’d like you to hypnotise me again.”

 

Aklina Pavlovic’s eyebrows rose up, not expecting such a blunt request out of nowhere. Brooke McAskill, the new accountant for the vampire den, stood in front of their desk, waiting for Aklina’s response. 

 

Brooke continued, interpreting surprise as scepticism. “I could donate blood if you need — or pay, I know we’re pretty full up on blood right —”

 

“No need! I’d be happy to, on the house,” Aklina interrupted. Brooke froze for a moment — it looked like Aklina’s easy agreement had derailed her plans for the conversation. Even after such a short while, Aklina had gotten a clear sense that Brooke was one who planned and covered every contingency she could.

 

“Why?” Brooke eventually asked, trying to recover.

 

“First,” Aklina grinned self-deprecatingly, “think of it as an apology for mesmerising you by accident last week. Second, it’s been lovely having you around — you’re nice to talk to, and the people who come to the den like chatting with you.”

 

Brooke chuckled for a moment, taken off-balance by the compliment. “Thanks! I was expecting this to be a bit more difficult.”

 

“Nah, I love mesmerism. I do it for my job, sure, but there’s also space to do it for fun!” Aklina grinned impishly. “So, why do you want me to hypnotise you again?” they asked, curious.

 

Brooke looked to the side as she tried to put her feelings into words. “It just felt so… relaxing. Like all the thoughts and worries that are usually in my head were just… quiet for a moment. I didn’t have to make any decisions, I could just be.”

 

Ah. Aklina nodded to themself, smiling. It made sense that Brooke would like that part of hypnosis — particularly given how much she seemed to plan, especially for the worst outcomes. 

 

“So,” Aklina asked, “shall we go somewhere more comfortable?”

The two of them had settled into one of the donation rooms, Aklina sitting on a comfy chair, next to the couch that Brooke was leaning back in, fiddling nervously.

 

“Right, to recap,” Aklina finished, “I’m just going to mesmerise you, and then bring you in and out of trance a bit — fractionate you — to help get you more relaxed, with no lasting suggestions. And remember, you can always reject any suggestions I give you — even vampire eyes can’t overrule that. That all sound good?”

 

Brooke nodded, her enthusiasm tempered by anxiety.

 

“So, that just leaves the most important question…” Aklina trailed off, then grinned. “What induction would you like? Same as last time, or something new?”

 

Brooke blinked, caught off guard, momentarily forgetting her worry. “Let’s go with something new.”

 

“Excellent!” Aklina grinned, their fangs shining in the dim light of the room. “I’ve been looking forward to trying out my new pocket watch,” they added, reaching into their vest pocket, pulling out a lovely black-and-gold timepiece. They fumbled for a moment with the chain, before finally getting the fob free from their waistcoat.

 

Then, Aklina dangled the pocket watch in front of Brooke’s eyes, just a little bit higher than where her eyes were resting as she lay back on the couch. Brooke automatically looked at it — seeing the gilded gears in the core, the black dial and hands, the golden lines and curls at the periphery, before looking to the side at Aklina.

 

Aklina met her gaze, their red eyes sparkling with glee. “Ready to be hypnotised?” Brooke smiled, and nodded in response.

 

“So,” Aklina started, and Brooke could hear the change in their voice immediately, how they slipped into that smooth, slow register that she remembered from last week — and she felt her eyelids dip for a moment in response. “Just look at the watch.”

 

Brooke’s eyes turned back to the pocket watch, and after a moment, it started to swing back and forth. There were a few moments of silence, as Brooke fell into the pattern of tracking the watch.

 

“That’s right,” Aklina reassured, in that lovely silky voice, “watch the watch as it swings back and forth. Back and forth, just following that rhythm.”

 

“And I wonder if you’ve already noticed that heavy feeling in your eyes?” Brooke shifted some of her attention from the watch to her eyes, and noticed that they were feeling a bit heavier — and she blinked reflexively.

 

“Yeah, you’re feeling it now,” Aklina added, and Brooke could hear the grin behind their soothing voice. “And it’s interesting how that feeling just gets stronger as you follow the watch, your eyes just getting so tired.”

 

Brooke was blinking often now, struggling to keep her eyes open and continue looking at the watch. She only distantly noticed that Aklina was lowering the watch a little bit with each swing, and her eyes were opening a matching amount less each time.

 

“Eyes feeling so very tired now, and it would just feel so nice to let them relax and drop.” With that last word, Aklina lowered the pocket watch far below Brooke’s eyeline, and her eyes automatically followed it down until they closed. “Dropping into trance, feeling your thoughts start to relax and drift…”

 

Brooke felt that same feeling as last time, of the warmth and relaxation flowing through her, cocooning away her thoughts and worries as she just enjoyed the sensation of trance.

 

She floated in trance for a few long moments, before she heard Aklina counting up, and her thoughts re-engaged with each number. “...three, four and five — wide awake!” Aklina said, snapping her fingers on the last word. Brooke blinked rapidly, suddenly coming back up to full awareness.

 

“So how was that?” Aklina asked, and Brooke turned to answer.

 

 

Brooke’s vision filled with that enchanting crimson glow, and it flowed into her head and soothed her worries, leaving her train of thought abandoned. Then the glow from Aklina’s eyes vanished, and they snapped their fingers. Brooke’s thoughts abruptly returned, and she shook her head to clear the fogginess.

 

“Hey!” Brooke objected, still hazy. “What was that?”

 

“Bringing you in and out of trance!” Aklina grinned. Then they let the grin fall away, serious for a moment. “Are you okay with being messed with like that, interrupting you mid-thought? I tend to enjoy being mischievous, but if you’re not comfortable with it I can stop…”

 

Brooke thought for a moment, a faint blush colouring her face. “No, it’s fine — I just wasn’t expecting it.”

 

“Well, that was the idea.” Aklina smiled impishly. “It’s fun to play tricks on people.” And their eyes glowed again, and before Brooke could think anything else, all her thoughts were sucked into that crimson radiance.

 

“Nicely done — just going in and out of trance so easily, getting fuzzier and hazier as you come in and out…” Aklina snapped their fingers again, and Brooke surfaced out of trance once more. She shook her head to try and clear it again, but her sluggish thoughts persisted.

 

“Woah…” Brooke started, struggling to get ahold of her thoughts. “That’s… working really well.”

 

“I’m glad you’re finding it so effective! Now, could you just look back over at me for a moment?” Aklina asked. Brooke automatically started to turn her head, before realising she could hear the smile behind Aklina’s casual words, and pointedly looked towards the other side of the room, wanting to try and mess with Aklina in turn.

 

“Oh no,” Aklina said sarcastically, “You’re not looking towards my eyes, whatever will I do?” Brooke wondered what they were up to, when Aklina’s pocket watch lowered down in front of her eyes, swinging back and forth. Brooke’s gaze automatically latched on, remembering how it felt to watch it earlier, and not really wanting to try that hard to look away.

 

“Just watching that watch again, watching it swing and sway, as it goes back and forth, bringing you nice and deep once again,” and Brooke’s eyes fell shut as the watch dropped once more. “Sinking further and further, knowing I won’t bring you up again for a while, your mind able to just let go and keep going deeper.”

 

That haziness persisted into trance, each time feeling stronger and more relaxing. Brooke’s thoughts felt so peaceful and still, and she enjoyed being able to drift completely, knowing she didn’t have anything she needed to do but relax. 

 

Brooke lazily enjoyed how good it felt to have that warmth and calm flowing through her again, for her worries to feel so far away. She lost track of how much time she’d spent in that peaceful void, feeling wonderful, until she heard Aklina’s voice counting her up again.

 

“...eight, nine and ten — all the way up now!” Aklina emphasised with a snap, and Brooke came back to herself. She looked around the room, trying to re-establish where she was — she’d completely lost track of the outside world in that last trance. 

 

She was still lying on the couch, and Aklina was in the comfy chair — with two mugs of tea. They must have gone to the kitchen and made them during that last trance. Seeing Brooke’s glance, Aklina handed her one of the mugs.

 

After giving Brooke a moment to take a sip of her tea, and get her thoughts working again, Aklina asked, “So how did you find that? Nice and relaxing? Fun to be all fractionated?”

 

Brooke just grinned, and nodded enthusiastically.