For the Patrons - Part 7

Key: MC, FD

Note to readers: This story took our editor several attempts to edit because she kept ending up hypnotized and even ended up standing up at the end when a character who is hypnotized is told to stand. 

Description: The hypnotists round out their group of volunteers with the lovely Cartwright sisters. 

Lindsey and Jennifer both stared at Rayne with confused, nervous expressions. Neither sister remembered their encounters with the Thief or his Apprentice, and so neither one realized they had already been hypnotized...or believed they could be. Yet somehow, surrounded by all of the strangers in that auditorium, with their friends deeply hypnotized and three young hypnotists staring directly at them, the two sisters couldn’t help but wonder…were they about to join the others in trance?

Laura, Trisha, and the leader of the trio, Rayne, slowly moved toward their next victims. At first it seemed as though all three were staring down both sisters…however in reality it was Lindsey they had set their sights on. They focused their gazes intently on her as she sat there, nervously watching and waiting, next to the hypnotized Eve. 

Jennifer was the first to notice as she felt the hypnotist’s eyes shift from her and focus on her younger sister. She felt herself break free of the nervous trance she had been in, only to glance at Lindsey to see she was nearly transfixed by the three approaching predators, stalking their next victim. Jennifer could feel her sister’s body tense up as the fight or flight instinct began to kick in, but her police cadet training served her well and she managed to stay calm and focused. 

Rayne, however, could see past Lindsey’s calm exterior. She could see the slight rise of her shoulders, the dilating of her pupils, and the break in her laser sharp focus. Her eyes were no longer fixed on just Rayne, instead she was watching all three hypnotists as they moved closer and closer to her. Rayne smiled, there was no point in hiding her satisfaction. She knew she already had Lindsey exactly where she wanted her. 

Rayne came to a stop directly in front of Lindsey, moving past Eve in the process. With a warm smile she held her hand out toward the young police cadet. “Stand up, please.” Although it was more of a command, as the ‘please’ at the end of the sentence was merely a formality and not to imply she had any choice in the matter. 

Lindsey inhaled sharply and stood up. At five foot nine inches she towered over Rayne and stared down at the redhead with newfound confidence. Her gaze, however, was quickly broken by the sound of the chair she had been seated in being folded up and set aside by Laura. As she turned around to see Trisha and Laura, she noticed that all three girls had formed a kind of hypnotic triangle around her. 

“What are you doing?” Lindsey asked in confusion, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the closeness of the three girls.

“Sshhh...” Rayne said, smiling. “You don’t have to say a word, simply focus on my words and relax.”

“Focus and relax…” Laura and Trisha both cooed into Lindsey’s ears. 

Rayne watched as Lindsey jumped, not expecting either girl to speak so closely into her ear. She gave Lindsey a second to process before she continued. “Just let everything else around you fade away…gently and easily. Nothing else matters here, just my voice, just my eyes. You can focus on my eyes now, can’t you Lindsey? 

"Fade away…” Trisha and Laura whispered. “Her voice…her eyes…” 

Lindsey took in another sharp breath and nodded nervously. “Just focus on my words, and let that wonderful police training kick in…you know what it feels like to concentrate completely now…on just one thing. To give one specific detail all of your focus. To let everything else fade away…to let your mind simply relax, and empty. Giving all of your focus to one thing…the one thing you need to focus on now…”

“Focus…” The other two hypnotists continued to whisper.  “All of your focus…on her now…” 

Rayne could see Lindsey’s eyes focusing on her, and she could almost swear that she saw the young police cadet’s iris’ adjust, like a sniper might adjust the scope of a rifle. “That’s a girl, let everything drift away...every thought, every feeling, everyone else in this room now simply fading away and forgotten. You know you can do this so easily Lindsey…you have training…you have practice. You have been taught…taught to obey orders…to obey your superiors now. Here, Lindsey, I am your superior…I am the one you obey, the one whose orders you listen to…isn’t that right Lindsey?”

“Drift away…Fading…Forgotten…Obey orders…Obey your superior…Obey…Obey…Obey....” Laura and Trisha simply started to repeat over and over again softly. 

Lindsey’s mind was actually no longer confused, and she would have been surprised by this if she hadn’t been focusing completely on what she had been told to do…to focus on Rayne, and to obey her orders. “Yes Ma’am…” she replied proudly, in a tone that was fairly loud for a young woman slipping into a trance, but still soft enough to imply just how deep she was unknowingly sinking. As she replied, her pupils began to dilate almost on command. 

Rayne held back a smirk as she noticed Lindsey’s mind slipping back into a well rehearsed state of obedience. “That's good cadet, doing so well…you know what you need to do now. What you’ve seen so many others do today…what you knew would happen to you...you knew what you would be ordered to do. Tell me, cadet…what order am I going to give you in a moment?”

“Sleep…” Lindsey said, in a tone that almost seemed to drop as she said the word. As if saying it herself would put her under. Which, of course, was the point. 

“Sleep…” whispered Laura softly. 

“Sleep…” cooed Trisha with a devious grin. 

“...Sleep!” commanded Rayne with a snap of her fingers. 

Lindsey’s eyes slammed shut on command. For a moment it looked like that was going to be the end of her reaction, but then all of a sudden her head fell to her chest as her body tilted back into Trisha and Laura. Fortunately, both were there to catch her. However, neither were prepared for the weight of the tall, powerful young cadet, thanks to the toned muscles hiding under her clothing. And although neither of them came close to dropping her, they did need to adjust their footing in a hurry. It was a scene that got quite the round of laughter from the audience.

Rayne smiled. “Stand at attention, cadet.” She gently commanded to the limp and hypnotized young woman. 

To the surprise of Trisha and Laura, Lindsey instantly shot to attention. Her body moved on autopilot as she stood with her feet together, arms at her sides and held her back rigid and her head perfectly straight. Her eyes, meanwhile, remained completely closed the entire time. 

“Very good…” Rayne said, enjoying the authority she had over the young woman. “Open your eyes, cadet!” she commanded. 

Lindsey’s eyes opened, and the audience members who were close enough to notice gasped at just how beautiful her glassy, hazel eyes looked. “Very good, Lindsey.” Rayne said, her smile growing more devious. “You are now a puppet on our strings…we will control your body…you cannot resist. Whatever strings we pull, your body will obey. Do you understand?” 

“Yes…Ma’am…” Lindsey responded, in a tone that was far more relaxed than her rigid posture would have you expect. 

Without a word Rayne reached down and pinched the air in front of Lindsey’s right leg, as if she were grabbing a string, and then pulled her hand towards Jennifer. As Rayne moved her hand, Lindsey shifted her body to face her sister, who stared at the scene before her in complete shock. Despite Lindsey’s change in position, however, her facial expression and posture remained the same. 

Next, Rayne pinched the air in front of her left hand and pulled it up. Lindsey’s puppeted hand rose without hesitation, bending at the elbow until her hand and forearm were level with the ground. Rayne moved her hands around Lindsey’s, getting the hypnotized cadet to rotate her hand until it was palm up in front of her. As the hypnotized woman stood almost completely at attention, Laura took out a gem from her pocket and gently placed inside of Lindsey’s waiting hand. 

With some work, Rayne was able to manipulate Lindsey into picking up the chain of the pendant and holding it in front of Jennifer’s face. 

While Jennifer stared up at her hypnotized younger sister as the pendant wavered before her eyes, Laura and Trisha moved a hand to either side of the pendant. One by one they began to pull Lindsey’s hand toward them, first to Laura, then to Trisha. As they did, the pendant began to sway from side to side before Jennifer’s eyes. 

Despite watching the entire scene unfold in front of her, Jennifer was so shocked by what was happening that she was completely unprepared to see Lindsey’s hand begin to swing the pendant. Instantly, and without even thinking about it, she began to follow the pendant...first with her head, and then, as the muscles in her neck began to relax, with just her eyes.  

Rayne tried to give Lindsey the commands she wanted her to repeat, but with a nine inch difference in height it made speaking into her ear near impossible. Seeing this, Trisha smiled and leaned in to gently whisper the suggestions to the young woman instead. 

A few moments later the hypnotized cadet began to speak. “Watch the pendant, Jennifer. Watch it sway from side to side. Let yourself relax. Let yourself let go. You know what it’s like to follow orders. To obey commands. Obey and watch. Obey and relax…Obey…and sleep.” She repeated. 

Jennifer watched the pendant swing back and forth before her eyes, quietly repeating the words out loud to herself. “Obey…obey and…relax…obey…and…slleeeeee…” Finally, her eyes closed and her head fell softly against her chest, causing her ponytail to bounce softly before landing on her left shoulder. 

Rayne smiled and used her imaginary puppet strings to stop Lindsey from swinging the pendant. Once Laura removed it from Lindsey’s hand, they lowered her arm back down and Rayne waved her hand over Lindsey’s eyes. They fluttered for a moment, then slid closed as her body continued to stand attention, leaving her essentially asleep on her feet. 

With all of their subjects hypnotized, Rayne, Laura, and Trisha turned to face the crowd and smiled, throwing their hands in the air as the audience gave them a loud round of applause. 

As the cheers continued, the three hypnotists ascended the stairs and made their way back onstage. The stage lights came on as they did, revealing a row of folding chairs neatly arranged in a straight line, just waiting to be filled. 

Rayne took a moment to let the applause die down before speaking into her microphone. “To all those whose minds are now deeply asleep, deeply hypnotized, you can feel your eyes opening…feel your bodies slowly, and easily rising up to your feet. Still deeply hypnotized, deeply relaxed. The more you move, the deeper you fall…deeper and deeper down, into trance.”

The audience watched excitedly as the hypnotized group of girls, all more or less at the same time, slowly opened their eyes and rose to their feet. All except for Lindsey, who was, of course, already standing. They all wore the same blank, almost expressionless, look on their faces, while their postures varied from being stiff and rigid like Lindsey, to almost slumped over like a zombie, which was how Carly was standing. 

Rayne continued her commands. “All those currently hypnotized, will slowly and carefully make your way onto the stage. Careful to make sure every step is safe, and smooth. Slowly ascending up the stairs, and taking a seat, any seat, up on the stage. Every step you take helps your mind to sink even deeper into trance now.” 

The auditorium was silent as the girls slowly made their way to the stage and sat down in the empty chairs. At the far left side of the stage sat Christine, then Jessy, followed by Klaire, Jackie, Cheyenne, Carly, Eve, and finally Jennifer and Lindsey. By the time they reached the stage, all of the girls were so deeply entranced that their bodies almost fell into the seats. Some managed to stay upright, while others were slumped over as if they were ready to sink back into sleep at the next word. The only exception was Lindsey, who practically marched to her seat and sat down with military precision, seated with her back straight and her hands folded neatly on her lap. 

Rayne smiled at the audience as she moved in front of the row of hypnotized girls. “This is my favorite part… watch carefully.” she said playfully, winking at the crowd as she turned and pointed at Lindsey and said “Sleep!” As she spoke, she waved her hand from stage right to stage left, pointing at all of the girls one by one as she did so. And in sequence, all of the girls closed their eyes and sank into their respective seats. A few, namely Jennifer, Jackie and Christine, were so deeply relaxed that they landed on the girls next to them. Others like Jessy and Jennifer folded forward onto their knees with their arms hanging forward. The rest simply slumped back into their chairs, deeply relaxed and deeply asleep. 

Before the audience had time to react, Rayne quickly pointed at her two assistants, first Trisha and then Laura, and said “Blank!” Even though both girls were still deeply hypnotized, they gasped at the command. Instantly, their faces went slack and their bodies relaxed as they stood silently next to the row of hypnotized young women on stage. 

Rayne turned to the audience with an ever growing devious smile and winked. “What do you say we have some fun, hmmm?” 

To be continued.

Featuring: Laura, Rayne, Trisha, Christine, Jessy, Klairee, Carly, Jennifer, Lindsey, Jackie, Cheyenne and Eve