"I'll need a volunteer." 

Dee crosses her legs, looking away from the stage. Jenny, her far too excitable friend, elbows her. "You should do it!" Dee glares back.

"Don't be shy folks!" The stage hypnotist, Opal, calls to the crowd again. 

"You're not scared, are you?" Jenny says. 

Dee sticks her hand up. 

"You, come on up," Opal beckons Dee to the stage. Great. Well, it's not like this is going to work on her. 

Dee makes her way to the stage, where Opal greets her, shaking her hand. It's warm and firm, and her eyes shine and crinkle as she smiles. Her mousy brown hair catches in the stage lights, the few strands of silver glimmering. Dee blinks. "What's your name, dear?" 

"Uh, Dee." 

"It's lovely to have you here, Dee. What brings you to the stage?" 

"A whim, I guess. I'll be honest and say I don't think this is gonna work on me." 

At that, Opal's smile turns crooked. "Ah, a skeptic. I guess we'll see where things go, yes?" 

"I guess..." 

"Why don't you take a seat." Opal gestures to the chair that's set up on stage. Dee obliges. It's more comfortable than it looks. Opal crosses over to a small table, and flicks on the metronome that's sitting there. It begins clicking softly and rhythmically. "Tell me, Dee, what do you know about hypnosis?" 

"Uh... not much. It's a psychological thing - it's mostly used in therapy and stuff right?" 

"That's right, very good. It's all in your mind. And, like you suspected, it won't work on unwilling participants." The chair is angled so that Opal is able to face both Dee and the crowd. She reaches into her cleavage, and produces a necklace. "There are many methods hypnotists will use to induce trance. Did you know that, Dee?" She drops the chain of the necklace, so that the stone bounces in the air. The harsh light catches on it, sparkling beautifully.

"I guess not," Dee responds. 

"A focal point can be very helpful in the induction," Opal continues. She begins to allow the stone to sway right at Dee's eye level, in time with the metronome. "But, of course, it's not going to do anything if you don't want to drop into that nice, relaxing, suggestible state. You are in complete control of your mind, and of your thoughts. And because you're in control, it's perfectly alright to get comfortable. To watch the light catch on the stone. To listen to my nice, soothing voice. Isn't that right?" 

Dee blinks, her eyelids heavy. "Uh... mhm..." 

"Very good. And your eyelids might be feeling so very heavy, but the stone is just so pretty, and you might find that you just can't stop watching the pretty stone..."

Dee is finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. But she just can't stop watching the pretty stone.

"And because you're in control, Dee, it means you know perfectly well that it's okay to want to close those heavy, droopy, eyelids, yes? You must be feeling so sleepy, drowsy, drifting... floating... but the stone is so pretty..." 

The stone is so pretty...

"And you know you'll be able to close those eyes when I drop the stone, your mind dropping too, into a deep, relaxed, comfortable trance. On my count of three now. Three, feeling so relaxed, so comfortable. Two, almost there, so close now. And one." 

The stone drops out of Dee's eyesight, and her eyes slam shut. She drifts...

"That's right, very very good. So deep, so relaxed, feels so good. Breathing nice and deep, thoughts so hard to grasp onto right now, just listening to my nice and soothing voice. It feels so nice to just drift, to let me take over, and you know you can trust me, because you're still in control. Now drop deeper." 

Opal snaps, the sound ringing through Dee's empty mind.

"As you can all see, Dee is in a nice and deep trance. And, if you look at your neighbours, you might find they've dropped as well. That's perfectly alright and natural. Those of you in trance may stay that way if you wish and follow along. It is a lovely state to be in, isn't it? Nice and blank, floaty, drifty. All your worries melting away, all your thoughts drifting out of reach. The only thing you need to focus on is my voice. It feels so good to listen to my voice, and it's so easy and natural to go along with what I say. Now, Dee, I'm going to give you some instructions for you and only you."

Opal comes in close, crouching down. Dee can feel her body heat and smell her mild perfume. She whispers into Dee's ear, in a low, husky voice.

"Every time you follow my instructions, you're going to feel a wave of pleasure, better than anything you've ever felt before. Every time I praise you, that pleasure will double. The pleasure will keep building and building, but you must not show it. Simply relax into the pleasure, do you understand?" 

Dee nods. 

"Very good." A wave of pleasure rolls through Dee. Her clit twitches. "As you sink deeper into this lovely trance, your mind becomes emptier and emptier. The only thing filling your mind are my words, which must mean my words are your thoughts. Go deeper." Opal snaps. Dee's clit throbs, and her cunt clenches, leaking. "We're going to perform an exercise that will bring you even deeper now. Visualize, in your mind's eye, a string wrapped around your wrist on your right hand. Now, attached to that string is a balloon. As I count from one to ten, the balloon will fill up with more and more helium, raising your arm higher and higher, until it's floating all the way up in the air. One... Two... Three..." 

Dee's hand rises. Her pleasure builds steadily. 

"Four... Five... Six..." 

It feels so good to listen. So good to obey.

"Seven... Eight... Nine..." 

So close...

"And ten. Lifted all the way up now. Very good." 

Dee lets out a breath as her pleasure doubles, body warm and tingly. 

"Now, I want you to open your eyes when I snap. Open.” Dee opens her eyes. “Look at your hand, Dee.” Dee looks up at her floating hand. “What do you think? Do you believe you can be hypnotized now?” 

Dee blinks. “Uh…” 

“Oh, silly me. You don’t have any thoughts. You’re doing so well for me. And you’re going to go even deeper now, so deep that you won’t remember anything.” Opal holds her hand above Dee’s, her index and middle finger in a ‘v’ shape. “Once I snip the balloon string, your hand will drop, and so will you. Ready?” Dee watches. “Three… Two… One… snip!” Opal cuts the string, and Dee drops. 

.

“Do you really not remember anything?” Jenny asks. 

“Well… I do, up until a point.” Dee looks out the tram window as they commute home. 

“What did she whisper to you? Do you remember?” 

Dee flushes, heat flashing through her body. “No. Nothing.” 

“Too bad. It was so fun to see though! I can’t believe it actually worked! Do you think I could do it to you now?” 

“Do what?” Dee asks. 

Jenny grins. She holds up her hand. “Three… Two… One…”

“Wait—”