Hypnotized Turtleneck Guy

CW: Consensual pendulum and spiral based hypnosis, SFW hypnosis experience with a friend, romantic attraction, mantras, hypnotic induction

Alfie couldn’t believe his luck. At the, practically geriatric, age of 24, he was on his first proper date in years. This was partly down to just how much of his time his PhD took from his waking life. No time for meeting new people, outside of his faculty.

This was up until this week, he suddenly found himself in the local coffee shop chatting to Anna - his date. They had bumped into each other in the library - literally ‘bumped’ into each other, Alfie had caused Anna to drop all her books. But somehow, through Alfie’s trademark humour, the encounter ended with Anna asking him out! Alfie couldn’t believe his luck. And she was just Alfie’s type - short, freckly, long ginger hair and thick glasses. Today, she was wearing a beanie hat, a thin necklace with a single bead on it and a cute crop top. Unfortunately though, the conversation had stalled and they were stuck talking to each other about their respective PhD topics and the internal politics of their respective departments:

‘…say, umm… what’s one fun fact about your PhD topic?’ Anna asked cautiously

‘Hmmm, well…” Alfie struggled to think of something interesting to say about fluid mechanics ‘…oh, I know. It’s not technically my PhD per se, but my supervisor has done some pioneering work in the rollercoaster industry. I’m using a bit of his research that led to that new Purple Terror coaster over in the States, that I have applied to my thesis on the next generation of high-speed super yachts”. Alfie paused. Anna was looking at him intently. Was it interest, or boredom?

‘….umm, so yeah. Cool rollercoasters and stuff. What about you Anna, you said you are from the school of Psychology?’

‘Yes! Well remembered! I’m researching how the mind involuntarily reacts to certain stimuli. I’ve actually got a bit of a practical demonstration prepared if you like?’

Alfie suspected Anna had preplanned this scenario, and he was genuinely interested to hear a bit more about her studies. ‘Of course, go ahead’

Anna giggled, and took off her necklace. ‘This is something that I like to call ‘ the pendulum effect’, Its a bit of a party trick really. Take my necklace and wrap the end round your fingers, then hold your arm out so that the little bead is dangling just above the table there’

Alfie did as Anna told

‘Now I want you imagine that my necklace is like a pendulum - don’t worry, I’m not going to hypnotise you -‘

Alfie’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of that word -‘ hypnotise’. He’d never let anyone know this, but a couple of years ago he was actually super interested in hypnosis. Not academically, but recreationally. He enjoyed consuming media related to magic spells, mind control, bewitchment, that sort of stuff. Though he hadn’t thought about the topic for a number of years

‘-and I want you to imagine that theres a light gust of wind, and its moving the pendulum back and forth, back and forth. Can you do that for me?’

Alfie nodded, meekly. He imagined the necklace start to sway. And slowly, gently, but surely, even though his upper arm remained firmly still, the pendulum started to move

…’that’s right Alfie. Just like that. Back and forth… back and forth’

‘Back and forth’ Alfie muttered. The pendulum was swinging faster and faster, his gaze fixed upon it. The outside world began to dim and become distant, and…

‘…hey, are you ok?’

Alfie snapped back to reality. ‘Uhh yes, I’m fine thank you. Cool party trick’.

He handed back the necklace

‘I know right? Crazy how with just thinking about the pendulum moving, your body will start to respond involuntarily and unknowingly. Responses like that are what my research is primarily based on. The annoying thing is -‘ Anna sighed ‘-no one in my department will take me seriously. Said its not ‘proper’ research’

‘…I think it’s pretty cool!’ Alfie said.

‘Really..? You’re the first person to think that’ Anna said, sheepishly

Alfie blushed. He desperately wanted to dive into more detail about her research. Sounded a lot like… hypnosis. But she had clearly said, her party trick was not hypnosis. He didn’t want to weird her out - bursting into a passionate conversation about mind control was probably wasn’t the best way to impress a psychology researcher

‘…so… anyway… seen any good films lately?’ Alfie said

‘…oh… guess we are changing the topic then’ said Anna, disappointing.

Alfie felt he may have struck a bad note

‘…ummm… oh, well I did watch that new Now You See Me film that came out a few months ago’

Alfie didn’t know anything about this film ‘Oh yeah? What did you think?’

‘It was ok. It’s like a heist film but with magicians and stuff. Some parts I liked more than others.’

‘What were your favourite bits?’

‘…well…’ Anna paused, as if she was contemplating whether to share this information or not, which Alfie thought was strange. All he’d asked for was a film synopsis

‘…I liked the hypnotist character. It made me laugh when he made some goons think they were in an orchestra -’

Alfie found himself taken aback. He had for a long time longed to be made to do silly things like that under the power of a stage hypnotist, with people laughing at him And here, Anna was talking about it so openly

‘-… but you probably find that all a bit naff’

‘…no…no its fine’ Alfie stuttered.

‘What do you think of hypnosis then?’ Anna asked, leaning in slightly

Alfie froze. ‘Uhhh… what do you think?

‘I asked first’ Anna grinned, cheekily

‘I mean… what I mean to say is… I…’

‘Have you ever been hypnotised before, Alfie?’

‘…no! No I haven’t…’ Alfie paused. ‘…but… I’ve seen people being hypnotised, in videos online, in films and the like. I guess it’s pretty cool… umm.. what about you?’

‘Me?’ Anna leant back in her chair. ‘Personally, I find hypnosis quite hot. I’ve never told anyone this, but it’s why I ended up studying psychology in the first place. Though I try and keep my academic and personal interests private’

Quite ‘hot’…?!!! Alfie thought to himself. Just who had he ended up dating?

‘Alfie I’m sorry but I told a lie earlier. When we were doing the little thing with my necklace, the pendulum effect demo… I said it wasn’t hypnosis. Well, it’s not really, but it’s semi-related. It’s a suggestibility test. And I have to say, you were very suggestible. When you were swinging that necklace, I thought you were almost going off into a trance by yourself!’

Alfie felt a little embarrassed

‘So are you a hypnotist then?’

‘No. At least not yet. I’m too shy and I’ve never really felt comfortable trying it out safely on anyone. But I love being hypnotised myself. Say Alfie, are you free for the next few hours? Why not come back to my place, and I’ll see if I can pull out an old file for us to watch together?

Alfie’s heart was pounding. He said yes instantly

______

‘You know, this is kind of exciting. I’ve never done this with anyone before’. Anna stared longly at Alfie, as she turned the key into her apartment

‘This is a nice place’ Alfie commented

‘Thanks, I like the privacy of living by myself. No annoying flatmates. And it means I can enjoy my free time without any… disturbances’

Anna giggled slightly, as she unlocked her laptop and connected it up to her large monitor on her desk

‘There’s this one file I’ve been just dying to listen to for ages. But you need a second person to listen to it with you for it to work.’ She paused ‘Alfie… wanna get hypnotised with me?’

Alfie felt he hadn’t stopped blushing since the cafe. He couldn’t believe that this woman who was so far out of his league, had not only brought him home after what had been a semi-disasterous date, but shared the same interest in hypnosis as him.

’Sure thing! Umm.. what is this file going to do to me, anyway?’ questioned Alfie, as Anna already started passing him a pair of headphones

‘Don’t worry, this is a fairly vanilla, SFW file. Plus, hypnosis can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. I could tell you the suggestion list if you like, or you could wait and see. But from what you’ve said Alfie, I think you’re going to love this’

‘Say no more’ said Alfie, as he placed the bluetooth headphones over his head

‘Great!’ giggled Anna, as she placed a similar pair on her head, and pulled another chair over for Alfie to sit on

‘All you need to do Alfie, is sit and look directly into the spiral… I’ll be doing the same. Just follow along and you’ll be fine! I’ll be right here’.

Anna pressed play on the video, and sat back into her seat. Both Anna and Alfie looked straight ahead at the monitor, deep into the purple spiral that had started to form.

A sultry male voice introduced the file - ‘Hypnosis with a Friend’, promising an irresistible trance experience alongside another person. He began by instructing the listeners to take slow deep breaths, feeling more relaxed with every breath.

Alfie felt a wave of relaxation wash over him. He wondered whether Anna felt it too. He took his eyes off the spiral for just a second, and took a glance at Anna sat next to him. Her perky and energetic persona had left her, at least in this moment. Alfie could see the monitor’s light reflected in her eyes, her facial expression blank and still, her lips ever so slightly parting. He turned his attention back to the spiral and to the file.

The voice began to count down from 10. Alfie didn’t feel much at first, but when the man hit 5, he began to feel sensations flow through his body

5 - Alfie felt his eyes begin to flutter as he looked deeper into the spiral 4 - The outside world began to dim 3 - He thought about Anna sat beside him 2 - He felt his body relax 1 - eyes rolling up and -

SLEEP

Alfie dropped into a deep trance, completing surrendering to the feeling of being hypnotised. He felt Anna’s head had come to rest softly on his shoulder, and could hear her soft breathing as she drifted into the same sleepy trance as Alfie.

The man began to take his listeners even deeper into trance. A faint, pulsating drone had begun to play in the background, sending Alfie’s brain into a scramble. All that he could think about was listening to the hypnotist’s instructions:

‘Your friend is very deeply hypnotised right now. Even more than you’

Alfie felt Anna’s breathing shift slightly.

‘That’s right. You’re both under my spell together. You are bound by this feeling of trance. The deeper your partner goes, the deeper you go into this feeling of hypnosis. Say it out loud, so your friend can hear you - ‘I am deeply hypnotised’.

‘I am deeply hypnotised’ Anna mumbled in a sleepy monotone

‘…I am deeply hypnotised’ replied Alfie in response

Hearing Anna’s voice sent Alfie spiralling further down into this state of deep hypnosis. From her quickened breathing, it sounds like it did much the same for her

‘Very good. Repeat, I fall easily under hypnosis’

‘I fall easily under hypnosis’

‘…I fall easily under hypnosis’

‘In a moment, you with both open your eyes but remain in a deep state of trance. You will turn to face each other and see how mindless entranced your friend is’

‘1

2

3

OPEN your eyes’

Alfie did as was instructed and turned to face Anna. She was totally mesmerised. Her hair had fallen slightly over her face, her mouth hung wide open and her gaze was distant and glassy.

‘…now feel yourself become LOCKED in each other’s gaze, NOW’

In an instant, Alfie felt his eyes gravitate towards Anna’s, unable to pull them away. Anna’s face gave away a small reaction of shock, and a quiet gasp escaped her open lips

‘Look deeply into your partner’s eyes now, see how much my words affect them, see how much they can’t help but fall deeper into hypnosis. Feel yourself sinking deeper with every passing moment that you look deeply into your partner’s gaze’

Alfie began to feel his gaze clouding over. Anna’s deep blue eyes felt irresistible to look away from. A deep, sleepy, submissive blue…

‘Feel your eyes begin to flutter and roll. How long will you last before you both fall completely into my power?’

Alfie found it hard to keep his eyes open. Anna’s eyes were high in their sockets, eyelids fluttering and looked on the cusp of deep slumber

‘Why don’t you tell your friend just how mindless you are? That is, if you can still form those words. Can you even remember your friend’s name?’

‘…A…A…l…ffie…. I….. ughhhh… deeeeppp..ly hypnotise..ed’

Alfie opened his mouth to speak, but the words didn’t; come. He could hardly see the person sat in front of him through his half closed eyelids. What was her name..? It was on the tip of his tongue… his brain was so foggy he couldn’t bring up a response.

‘And SLEEP’

__________

‘Hey Alfie, you doing ok?’

Alfie slowly opened his eyes, to find Anna staring down at him.

‘…Huhh? Why am I laying down on your floor? And… he looked across the floor to where his shirt was lying discarded, then down at himself.

‘Wait why haven’t I got my shirt on?!!’

‘Relax it’s fine. I woke with mine off as well. Thankfully, I woke up before you’ she giggled ‘Nothing serious happened by the way, it was just a hot and cold trigger. Guess we both found the heat too much. You are still fully clothed except for your shirt. Here’

She passed Alfie his shirt while he picked himself off the floor. Alfie noticed his shirt was slightly damp under the neckline, corresponding with a matching stain on Anna's top. He wondered whether he had been drooling while under - he did feel a little dehydrated

‘What do you remember Alfie?’

‘We were listening to that hypnosis file…’ he looked over at the monitor, now switched off ‘…and it felt soooo goood. Oh my goodness’

‘I know right. I think that was the best hypnosis experience I’ve ever had. What was your favourite part?’

‘Ummm..’ Alfie struggled to think ‘…I mean, the last thing I remember was looking into your eyes' He felt himself look into her eyes again and blush '...a..and then boom, I woke up just now’

‘Wait seriously?’ exclaimed Anna. ‘Dude, that was like an hour long file. And you didn’t remember anything past the initial induction and deepener? Wow, you must be super suggestible. I remember everything. Especially that adorable zonked out expression you had Alfie…’

Alfie felt himself blush

‘…say Alfie, I really like you. Fancy doing this again this time next week?’

Alfie agreed without hestitation

______