Note: This story is inspired a true story, wherein while at college, we were once shown a video in class. The combination of the hot day, in a stuffy little classroom with no air conditioning, curtains drawn, and how utterly boring the video was, we all fell asleep. Naturally, my mind started wishfully thinking we'd been hypnotized.
There are no sexually explicit acts in this story - hypnosis itself is hot enough on its own for me, and this is a reflection of my obsession with being lulled into a hypnotic induction. I originally posted it on DeviantArt, and features two talented writers from there as characters - BewitchingCara & SvettaK92 - after sharing the original story with them. Let the story begin!
As the clock struck two, I got up from my cafeteria seat, hoisting my bag over my shoulder, and headed for the next class. I’d left school some time ago, but after some unfulfilling jobs, I’d decided I needed something more, so had enrolled in a college course intended to act as a re-entry to higher education. Despite being a few years older than most of the students around me, I was actually among the younger participants in this course, with many signing up after years of jobs, parenthood, or just looking to broaden their horizons. I left the main college and headed to the Sinclair Building - a smaller two-storey building in the middle of a grass patch out back. The smaller classrooms contained therein were more akin to a traditional school classroom. Lines of tables, a simple whiteboard in front, and poorly air-conditioned. Something I certainly wasn’t looking forward to on this unseasonably sweltering spring afternoon.
I double-checked my schedule as I stepped inside and started ascending the stairs, and rolled my eyes - Social studies. The point of the course was to offer a variety of classes as a gateway, with many different branching paths you could go onto. My intended options going forward were more creative in nature, but this was one of the required classes. Large swathes of the class were dedicated to old documentaries we’d have to study, then write papers on in the coming weeks. Generally older ones, presented in a stilted, lifeless manner that could easily bore the pants off you. With a sigh, I pushed the classroom door open, and entered.
I was one of the first in, and the Professor was stood by her desk to my left. Her name was Isla, a woman in her fifties with mid-length sandy coloured hair. She was wearing a pastel pink blouse, and a slim, long black skirt that stretched around her wide hips. At her other side was a TV stand, housing a thick, weighty television on top, and an antiquated VHS player underneath. She gave a welcoming smile as she outstretched her arm, ushering me towards the tables that wound around the rest of the room. I took my seat and looked around.
Already here of course was Pam - she was always here first. A quite well-to-do woman in a cream pantsuit, with neat shoulder length blonde hair and bangs. She gave me a full-cheeked smile, with genuine warmth. Despite looking like a stereotypical snooty woman from a 90’s sitcom, she had a genuine warmth to her. She could talk - a lot - but it always came with the sort of kindness that can’t be faked. A few seats along from her was Chris, practically her polar opposite. Wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans combo, close cropped dark hair with flecks of grey, and thick, square, black-rimmed glasses… he was an ass, frankly. Argumentative to a fault, he’d developed a reputation for interruptions which could often derail lessons. Not a bad guy by any means, just one of those people who’d clearly had any sense of self-awareness surgically removed as a kid.
In the back corner on that side was Elle. Most of the guys - and honestly, at least a couple of the women - had a thing for Elle. She was in her early forties, with deep brown eyes and long dark curls. She was wearing a simple black blouse - with the top couple of buttons judged surplus to requirements - and tight-fitting jeans, both of which served to accentuate her voluptuous figure. In short, she knew how good she looked, and carried that without a hint of shame or apology.
On the other side was Jen, a slightly plump woman in loose fitting casual clothes with a pretty face and light brown hair, loosely tied back. Despite her angelic appearance, she was loud and brash - not in the same grating way as Chris, her boisterousness was far more endearing. Simply put, if you were throwing a party, you were probably inviting her to be the life of it. By her side was Marie, a petite raven haired young woman with a Spanish accent. Her English was perfect, but she was generally pretty quiet, though friendly if approached. Both were around my age.
In one of the seats next to my usual spot was Svetta. She’d been a late addition to the course, but was more than intelligent enough that she’d quickly caught up. Equal to her smarts was her vivacious personality, always greeting you with a smile and happy to converse with anyone. Her red hair was tied up in a bun, and her deep blue eyes were matched by a tight, chest-hugging turtleneck. Though it’s not as if her figure needed much help in drawing attention… She was every bit the head-turner that Elle was, though between the two of them, it was more likely to be Svetta’s head being turned, if you catch my meaning. We shared a smile as we got our supplies ready, and she gave an exaggerated sigh as she gestured with her eyes towards the TV at the front of the class. We both knew what was coming. Our heads turned as we heard the door handle turn.
The door swung open, and in walked another of the overseas students, Cara. An absolute bombshell who instantly drew attention, striding into the room with a bounce in her step. She was wearing a tight - and very accentuating - cropped black t-shirt with black jeans, her long brown hair billowing as she swung herself round and planted herself in the seat next to mine. Originally from Italy, but like Marie spoke perfect English. Unlike Marie though, she was a little less shy… Her blue eyes met mine and she broke into a wry smirk.
“Ready for another video?”, asked Svetta with mock dread of a potential confirmation.
“You know the drill…” I replied, holding back a laugh as she broke into an exaggerated sigh.
“They’re so boring!” Cara hissed in a valiant failure at keeping her voice down. “I swear the last one, Pam fell asleep, and you know how attentive she is!”
“Come on now, I was just resting my eyes!” piped in Pam, giggling through an unconvincing scowl.
“Love you, Pam.” Cara replied, blowing her a kiss. Pam pursed her lips in return, before going back to arranging her assortment of notes.
“OK everyone, settle down and in your seats.” Isla spoke as the last few students filed in. “We’re moving onto a new subject, so you’ll be studying a documentary to day.”
“Fuck!” Cara whispered. Only Svetta and I heard that one, as her exclamation was masked by exasperated sighs from around the room. Isla cleared her throat and spoke again.
“Today’s video is about influence. We’ve all heard the adage “History is written by the winners”, and today’s offering examines that. How the will of one can become ingrained, influencing the way others view their reality throughout their lives, even throughout a culture across generations.
I ran my hand through my hair, and glanced side to side at my two companions.
“Fuck is right.” I muttered under my breath. Even when the videos covered a point that had some validity, the underfunded institute only had older materials for subjects like these in their archives. Generally presented by some monotone toff, they were usually a slog to get through.
A voice started up across the room, and we both rolled our eyes as Chris’ voice filled the brief silence.
“Can this be true? Surely we’re all individuals who make up our own minds…”
He continued on. The video hadn’t even started, and he was already trying to Devil’s Advocate it for no reason other than he wanted to speak. Even Isla, ever the professional, was glaring at him impatiently, but the hint was not landing, until a shrill whistle stopped him in his tracks.
“Give a rest til the thing’s been shown, eh? We’d like to get home today!” bellowed Jen in a sharp manner with a smile that made it impossible to tell if she was joking or not. His contrarianism being ground to a halt was met with some laughter - even the timid Marie had her hand over her mouth, giggling.
“Please save any questions until after the video, Chris.” Isla replied in a way that fell just shy of patronising, though he somewhat deserved it.
Isla gave nods to either side of the room. In response, Marie and Elle both stood, and drew the curtains behind them. The jolted cloth gave off dust and fibres which hung in the air, highlighted by the narrow beams of light from the curtains edges. It was dark, but not too dark. The outside warmth punctuated by the glass windows, magnified by the lack of air conditioning and closed windows. All compacting the room with a dull, quieting weight.
Isla pressed the power button on the television, hit play on the VHS, and sat in a chair adjacent to the stand housing them both. The dim room was slightly illuminated by bright static, and the opening sequence began.
“Black and white, I fucking knew it…” whispered Cara with a sigh. Svetta covered her mouth to hide her giggling, and I gave a near silent, sympathetic laugh, a staccato breath through my nose. These ones were the worst. WILL: How One Influences Many was the title, bold black letters on a backdrop depicting a human brain. I had my paper in front of me, pen in hand, ready to take notes. For however much an act of attrition getting through these could be, I generally had a good enough focus to be able to take note of the important parts. So I waited, listening for key words or important sounding phrases.
I’m not sure how long I’d been watching when I realised I hadn’t taken any notes, nor had I really taken in any words that had been said. It was hard to tell. Usually there’d have been an interjection from either Jen or Chris by this point - a wisecrack from her, pomposity from him. But even they were watching quietly. I wondered what they must be getting from this to keep them silent, as I was barely taking anything in. The screen actually felt… blurry? There was someone, talking, but it was so hard to focus on it. It was…
I opened my eyes on feeling a hand on my shoulder, and my brow furrowed in confusion.
“You have to stay awake…” whispered Svetta, soft and toneless.
Had I fallen asleep? Even in these stifling, drowsy conditions, that wasn’t like me. Embarrassment flowed through me like a static shock, and I gave a quick glance, hoping nobody had noticed. Everyone seemed focused on the video, and Isla, looking out over us, gave no indication of annoyance. I pulled my focus back to the video, and nudged Cara.
“This one is a real snooze, huh?” I whispered softly.
“Yeah…” came the reply.
All I was focused on right now was making sure I didn’t fall asleep again. So much so that I didn’t notice how dull and hollow her reply sounded. I was so fixated on keeping my heavy eyelids open that it never occurred to me that nobody had been taking notes. I was… why were my eyes so tired? I’d imbibed practically my weight in caffeine during the lunch break, so why was I so… sleepy…? My drooping eyelids felt like a duvet being pulled over my eyes, inviting me towards slumber. I could feel my head falling forward, warm and heavy. Heavy and sleepy. Sleepy and…
I snapped up again, wiping away the drool that had gathered on my chin. I could feel my face flushing, mortified at this happening twice now. I slyly peered around, ready to be greeted by the sight of someone staring at me, quietly cackling. What I saw instead of that caused my breath to pause a beat.
Over on my left, everyone was asleep, or close to it. People were slumped over in their chairs, dozing away. Jen usually couldn’t keep her mouth shut, but this was different - her mouth was just hanging open, jaw agape. She was just staring at the screen through half-open eyes, as if her brain had skipped a payment on the power bill. It was as if she was asleep with her eyes open. Nestled up on her shoulder was Marie - not that Jen was even aware of it - sleeping peacefully, their arms dangling limply.
I looked over to the right, and was met with the same. Pam was literally flopped over her table, hands hanging over the front. Chris was slumped back in his chair, head back, his usual verbosity replaced with soft snoring. Elle was still on the verge, eyes rolling behind impossibly heavy eyelids as she rested her weary head on an upturned palm. Ultimately it was futile, her hand falling limply leaving her head to swing down, completely asleep.
I turned to my left, and saw Svetta, staring slackjawed at the screen, struggling in vain to keep her eyes from closing.
“Svetta, wake up, something weird is going on…!” I hissed as quietly as I could.
“Shhh… I’m tryna… watch… video…” came the slurred reply, as if she were struggling to form a coherent thought. With a sigh, her head dropped, pillowed by her chest.
“What the hell is happening…?” I whispered, placing my hand on Cara’s shoulder. “Everyone’s falling asleep!”
“Mmm… sleep…” came the reply, and I turned as Cara’s eyelids fluttered closed, and she sank into my shoulder with a moan.
Panic set in, and my mind raced, searching for explanations. Some sort of hypnosis? As much as I wanted it to be true - I’d always had a… let’s say ‘A Thing’ for the idea of it, but it seemed too much like wishful thinking. If anything, I was worried that someone had found out about the Thing I had for it, and this was some manner of hidden camera prank. Maybe we’d been drugged? Unlikely, as we’d all eaten different meals during the lunch break. And why wasn’t Isla - wait, was Isla OK? I turned to the front, and saw her.
She was sat there, completely awake, with a neutral expression, staring at me. We were the only two left. As I made eye contact with her, in my peripheral vision was the TV. The picture seemed even more distorted now, just a pattern I couldn’t quite make out. Any voices had been replaced with a deep, soft hum. Even just barely in my line of sight… my eyelids started to droop again, and the warmth of Cara leaning into me just added to how sleepy and heavy my body felt. I hadn’t the strength to urge myself to stand up, so I tried to speak.
“Isla… what’s… what’s happening to us…?”
She raised a solitary finger to her lips, and produced a sound.
“Shhhhhhh…” it came, like white noise, further amplifying the dizzy, fuzzy feeling filling my head. She then mouthed something I couldn’t make out, and a compulsion filled me to fully face the screen. I watched the pattern, flowing, turning… swirling… All I could do was watch… I was so tired. I had to rest. Feeling the warmth of Cara nuzzled up next to me, I leant into her in return, resting my head on hers. I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I had to sleep.
I awoke to the sound of curtains being retracted, as daylight illuminated the class once more.
“Very good, class.” Isla said in a strange tone… complimentary, yet knowing. “I’m sorry, I know it was a long one, which means any questions will have to wait until next week. Class dismissed.”
We all looked around in a daze, none of us knowing quite what had happened. Silently, we packed away our supplies, and filed out of the door. As we reached the outside, I walked alongside Cara and Svetta.
“What… what happened in there?” Svetta asked nervously.
I had a theory, but I was keeping it to myself.
“I don’t remember…” replied Cara. “We were all asleep?”
“She… She started the video, then everything got fuzzy. I don’t remember anything after that.” Svetta chimed in.
“Me too. I barely even remember the intro, just that there was one. The next thing I knew, I was waking up” came in Pam, having overheard us.
The group made its way to the cafeteria, though down one - Marie had taken a phone call, and walked off without a word. It was mostly empty now since it was after 4pm - we’d been in there for over two hours? - and sat around one of the elongated tables.
“That was really weird. I know it’s a hot day, and that building sucks the energy out of you at the best of times, but all of us falling asleep? That’s really weird.” Elle started.
“Was it actually everyone?” asked Jen. “I know I fell asleep, and I saw a few people waking when I did, but all of us?”
I dismissed the fantasy running through my head, and tried to think, remembering flashes through a thick fog. Thinking I’d fallen asleep… Pam slumped over her desk, Svetta and Cara nodding off…
“I think it was.” I answered, nodding. “I woke up at one point, I think. I was embarrassed, thinking I’d fallen asleep, so I looked around to see if anyone noticed. Everyone was asleep, or on their way there.”
Everyone glanced around at each other, confusion written on every face, even a little panic in some. We sat silently a moment, and the quiet was broken by Cara.
“So everyone fell asleep? Even Isla?”
A few shrugs went around the table, and I thought. Thinking through the haze of clouded memories…
“Shhhhhhh…”
“No.” I replied, definitively. “I remember seeing her. She was watching us. I think I asked her what was happening, and she shhh’d me.”
Eyes went wide around the table as everyone considered the implications of my reply.
“Did she… Did she drug us or something?” asked Pam, her bottom lip quivering with worry.
“Don’t be ridiculous! When could she have even done that?” interjected Chris, finally. “This whole thing is preposterous!”
“I… I have to go…” said Jen, getting up and walking slowly away from the table, as if in shock.
“Maybe something in the video? Like a subliminal thing?” chimed in Svetta. I sincerely hoped nobody had noticed I’d stopped breathing for a few seconds.
“This is absurd! We all fall asleep in a class on hot day, no air conditioning, in the dark watching some boring fucking video, and you’re talking mass hypnosis? I can’t deal with this.”
That was, of course, Chris, who got up and stormed off, flabbergasted by our suggestions. It was now just Elle, Pam, Cara, Svetta, and myself remaining, so long as you didn’t count the enormously awkward silence Chris had left in his wake. As much as I secretly wanted Svetta to be right, I dismissed it as delusion. At that point, someone’s phone started ringing, and I snapped out of my reverie. Everyone looked around, eventually settling on Pam, who pulled out her old fashioned flip-phone and answered.
“Hello? …Yes. Yes, of course…” She hung up, and slowly stood with a thousand yard stare. “...I have to go… Excuse me…”
She walked off, slowly, as if on autopilot, and we looked to each other, concerned.
“Pam? Pam!” Cara yelled, to no response.
“That’s a few folk have walked off like that now, right? Marie, Jen, Pam…” Svetta said.
“Maybe your hypnosis idea holds water…” I replied, not even sure if I was joking.
As Pam approached the exit, Isla entered. Pam walked straight past her with no acknowledgement, though Isla’s head turned watching her with what - from the distance - looked like a smile.
“OK, fuck this, I’m going to have a word with her.” Elle snapped, standing to her feet. Myself, Svetta, and Cara all tried to talk her down, but it was no use. She was headstrong, and already on her way before we’d finished our sentences.
She reached Isla at the coffee machine. We couldn’t hear what was being said, but Elle was clearly irate, and gesticulating furiously. She pointed toward the door as she was talking - presumably in reference to the others leaving - while Isla just stood there, seemingly calmly, nodding along. Then, she placed a hand on Elle’s shoulder and said something, and it was as if all the energy went out of Elle’s body, her arms dropping by her sides, her diatribe trailing off as she just stood there… swaying. Isla just continued speaking, then made a “follow me” gesture with her hand and walked off. Elle followed with no change in her demeanour, almost robotically, as they went out the door. The three of us remaining watched on, open mouthed.
Holy shit, that was hot I thought to myself, though I daren’t say it out loud.
“I don’t think Chris would have been so quick to disagree with you had he seen that…” uttered Cara, her voice riddled with nerves.
“What are we gonna do about this? Is that going to happen to us?” asked Svetta. As much as I wanted to reply with “I hope so”, I chose a different response.
“Marie and Pam both answered their phones before they wandered off like that. Maybe that has something to do with it?” I wondered aloud.
“Should we tell someone? Maybe a faculty head or something? That a lecturer is experimenting with hypnosis?”
It was a reasonable suggestion from Svetta, but I saw one glaring drawback with it.
“Who would believe us? We tell the heads that one of their staff is mind controlling students, they’ll laugh us out of the office. We’d be lucky if we don’t get expelled!” I said.
“We could get evidence…” Cara leaned in, almost conspiratorially. “...The video tape!”
“We could grab it during the night classes! Isla will be home by then!” suggested Svetta.
I leaned back, thinking. It was a decent plan - assuming Isla hadn’t taken the tape with her - as the college wouldn’t be fully locked down until the night classes finished. And those were seldom held in the Sinclair Building, so the chances of us running into anyone were slim.
“It’s a plan. We’ll head home for now, we’ve got a few hours to kill before the night classes start.” I paused. I knew what I was about to say was the right call. As much as I loved the idea of being hypnotized, I’d always thought of it in terms of volunteering on a stage, dancing like a fool to some music or getting hit by a sleep gun. A mind control scheme was something different entirely.
“Don’t answer your phones.” I added.
We nodded, and got up and headed out of the cafeteria, eyeing around suspiciously as we walked. We’d reconvene in a few hours…
The college was lit up as I approached later that evening. The sky an azure gradient with the lighter end behind me as the sun had almost vanished behind the houses across the street, with the deep, navy blue over the building serving to make the illumination ahead harsher. Somehow, more daunting, knowing the task that lay ahead of us. The place was practically empty as I entered, Cara and Svetta already there. The only other indication of occupancy was the occasional sound of footsteps down distant hallways.
“Are you both ready?” I asked.
They nodded firmly, and we set off, out the back toward the Sinclair Building. The short walk felt like a mile, the building looming over us as the sky continued to darken. All the lights were on, which meant no stumbling in the dark. But it also meant we’d be more easily identified if we were spotted, and while as students we were essentially free to come and go, it’s not like we had a reasonable, logical explanation for being there if anybody asked. I pushed, and the door creaked open, deafening in the quiet evening air, and we stepped inside.
We climbed the stairs as quietly as we could, reaching the class by the top of the stairs, and froze as one - a voice inside. Isla? We quickly looked at each other, then around us. Svetta nodded her head in the direction of the next class down, and we moved to the door. Barely daring to breathe, I gripped the handle and moved it, both as slowly as I could get away with, and as quickly as I could without making a sound. It opened without a sound as I pushed, and we slid inside.
“Isla’s here? Fuck!” Cara spoke in hushed tones. Keeping our conversation quiet seemed the best idea, both to avoid detection, and so we could hear if Isla moved.
“Why’s she still here? Who’s she talking to?” added Svetta, barely a breath.
“I don’t know… a phone call, maybe?” I answered.
Nobody uttered a word. We huddled up in the corner by the door, both to listen as closely as we could for movement, and out of dread. Hiding in a corner felt appropriate somehow. For what felt like an eternity, we waited. And waited.
Suddenly, a sensation, and Svetta jumped in fright with a squeal. It was her phone, set to vibrate - thankfully. She looked at the phone screen, and quickly turned it towards me and Cara. It was Isla. She shook her head.
“Let it ring out.” Cara whispered. “If you hang up, she might know we’re onto her.”
I nodded, and Svetta stared at it, willing it to stop ringing. I took out my own phone, and made sure to mute it, and nodded at Cara to do the same. After a moment, the vibrating of Svetta’s phone stopped, and the screen on my own lit up. Isla. We stared at each other, wide-eyed, for what felt like hours. Eventually, the screen dimmed, and Cara’s immediately started. As it had since we entered the building, every second dragged by… and eventually, that stopped too.
Almost immediately, the sound of a door opening, and we held in place. Footsteps. They echoed throughout the outside hall, then faded slightly, then a little more… she was going downstairs. I waited a moment, and grabbed the door handle, nodding to Svetta and Cara, who returned the gesture, frazzled nerves written all over them. We stepped outside, and crept towards the classroom door. Repeating the same process, I slowly opened the door, and we stepped inside, and collectively held our breath.
Sitting before us at their usual spots were all our classmates. The TV was on, and though we couldn’t directly see the screen from our position just inside the door, we could hear that slow, deep, warm hum. Each of our classmates were staring at with the same expression - heavy-lidded eyes, and a dopey, mindless smile. Pam, Elle, Chris, Marie, Jen - they were all here, but their minds clearly went.
“They’re hypnotized! All of them!” blurted out Svetta.
“We… we need to help them!” said Cara, gripping my arm as she looked around at them all.
“It’s that video, we need to turn it off!” I replied, caught somewhere between worry and excitement as I looked around at my entranced classmates. This is actually happening!
“I’ll get it!”
Cara released my arm, and moved towards the TV, reaching out to hit the eject button, then she just… stopped. As she stood in front of the flickering screen, her gaze was drawn helplessly to the swirling patterns it was displaying.
“Turn it off, Cara!” pleased Svetta, her voice almost a yell.
“I… I have to…” slurred Cara, clearly in a daze. Her outstretched arm fell limply to her side, and she just stood there, staring.
“You get video, I’ll get her.” I said, and we moved into motion.
Svetta stopped by the side of the TV, reaching round to hit the button, while I came up behind Cara, covering her eyes with my hands. Svetta managed to hit the right button, and the screen fell black as the video slid out of the machine. Svetta took it out, while I tried to rouse the spellbound Cara. I spun her round to face me, and momentarily paused. Her face was incredibly pretty at the best of times, but… No. As exciting as it was seeing her with a mindless, hypnotized expression, I started shaking her shoulders.
“Snap out of it, Cara, wake up!”
Her eyes briefly rolled, and she seemed to come to.
“I… mmm… What are you doing?” she questioned as her mind returned to her.
“You got caught staring at the screen. It’s OK, you’re fine now, Svetta got the tape.”
Cara’s face took on a frown as she held her head, and we turned to Svetta.
“Blank label. Just looks like an ordinary tape.” said Svetta, holding it up. “And look.”
We turned to face our classmates, who still just sat there. Staring. Smiling.
“Let’s try and help them.” I said. The two nodded, and we turned to our classmates.
We walked round, shaking our classmates, imploring them to snap out of it, but it seemed no use - they didn’t respond. If they could even hear us, they seemed content to remain in their blissful, mindless states. We met in the middle, having failed to reach a single one.
“It’s no use, they won’t respond!” Cara said, her voice wavering.
“They only respond to me.”
We turned to see the door open, and Isla standing there.
“Hello dears. Welcome back to class. I knew you’d feel compelled to return.” she said with a smirk.
“Isla, what… what are you doing?” asked Cara, clutching my arm again.
“Just an experiment, that’s all.” came the casual reply. “Like I said, the video is about how the will of one can influence many. Don’t you remember? Oh… you probably don’t.” she added, breaking into a chuckle.
“You can’t just do this to people!” I yelled, looking around at my classmates, my concern for them battling my exhilaration at being caught up in an actual mass hypnosis plot.
“Oh, I most certainly can. Watch!” She raised her hand and slowly brought it down. “The rest of you, it’s sleep time.”
“Yes, Miss…” came the collective monotone, sleepy reply. In unison, each of our classmates heads dropped forward in obedient slumber.
“You can’t think you’ll get away with this! We’ve got your video, and we’re leaving!” shouted Svetta, though her voice was trembling.
“And you’re not stopping us.” I added, but Isla started laughing even harder.
“But you’ve seen the video!” she said, starting to walk toward us. “All I need to do is tell you to sit down.”
“We told you, we’re… leaving…” said Cara as we tried to move, but suddenly our legs wouldn’t obey us. That outburst was the only resistance we showed as we each took our regularly assigned seats.
“Very good, dears…” She approached the table, leaning over us. “You’ll find yourselves much too relaxed to get up at the moment…”
I tried to deny it, but suddenly, the seat felt so comfortable. I didn’t want to move. Cara gave a grunt that sank into a sigh, and there was a clatter as the video fell to the ground as Svetta’s grip loosened. Isla looked down, smiled, and bent over to pick it up.
“Thank you, dear!” she taunted as she turned around, walking back to the TV. Without a word, she re-inserted the video, and pressed play.
The sights and sounds of it overwhelmed us. It wasn’t just the strength in my body leaving me that was keeping me here anymore - it was my thoughts. Were they my thoughts? All I knew was that my will to get up and walk out was fading by the second.
“Eyes on me, please” she spoke as she once again approached and stood over us. Her voice was soft, yet commanding. Without protest, I looked up at her, as did Cara and Svetta, our eyelids starting to droop,
“There, that’s better.” She stared down at me. “You know, I knew, even when you wouldn’t answer your phone that you’d be back. After all, you have a… thing for hypnosis, don’t you?”
“Yes, Miss…” The reply came not just from me, but from Cara and Svetta as well. I’d have been elated to hear that, if I was capable of responding to any voice by Isla’s. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Is that so…? Well, let’s not disappoint you…”
She leaned over Cara, and raised a finger. Cara’s eyes were fixated on it, as it drew closer… closer…
“Sleep.” Isla said simply as the finger reached Cara’s forehead. Cara, eyes crossed focused on the finger, dutifully obeyed. Her eyes slid shut, and with a happy, even relieved sigh, her head lolled forward as she submitted completely.
Grinning, she stepped over towards Svetta, and locked eyes with her.
“Sleepy time, Svetta…”
In response, Svetta stretched her arms out, yawning uncontrollably. Sleep came quick for her, and her arms fell limp while her head was still back, before flopping forward, completely and helplessly under.
As much as I’d have been over the moon to see both of them fall under, all I could focus on was Isla as she now stood over me. She leaned over, and whispered in my ear in a single, commanding breath.
“Sleep.”
My eyes rolled, and everything went black. My consciousness, now a void, where all that existed was Isla’s voice. She spoke once more.
“Now class, listen to me. After all, it’s the only way you’ll learn…”
