Klaire was alone in her dorm room, curled up in a papasan chair with one of her favorite novels and loving every second of it. That is, until she heard the sound of keys jingling in the door. Normally when Klaire was reading she would be completely engrossed and oblivious to the rest of the world, but today she was in the middle of one of her...trashier, vampire romance novels. As a result, her guard was up as high as possible.
Without so much as a blink she quickly shot up from the chair and stuffed the book under her pillow, then grabbed a decoy book that was sitting on her bed. The book was already opened to a page that she knew well enough to recite from memory if necessary. She was determined to keep her kinks a secret. Which was exactly why she was reading during what she thought would be her private time. Needless to say, she was angry.
By the time the door finally opened and Rayne stepped in, Klaire was visibly furious. She slammed the book closed and threw it onto her bed, folding her arms in disgust. Rayne just smiled and said "Hello" in a very friendly, polite voice.
Klaire jumped to her feet. "Don't you 'hello' me! You know you're not supposed to be in here before 7pm! It is exactly...3:48! Get. Out. Now!" Klaire said, mustering up all of the anger and tension she felt from almost having her secret reading habits discovered.
This power struggle had played out at least a half a dozen times since Klaire had been forced to share a room with Rayne. She didn't really mind Rayne as a person, but reminding her who was in charge kept the power squarely in Klaire's hands. This time, however, something very...different happened. Instead of cowering in fear and running out of the room as quickly as she could...Rayne simply smiled, walked right up to Klaire, and confidently gazed into her eyes.
Before Klaire could react, Rayne spoke in a very commanding, yet soothing, tone. "Relax..." The shock of the command and the confidence in Rayne's eyes visibly took Klaire by surprise. For a brief moment, Klaire's jaw dropped and she nearly gasped. Not to mention, Rayne noticed, that Klaire's pupils happened to dilate ever so slightly, a clear sign that her snotty roommate was dropping into a trance, however light that trance may have been. The moment was brief and Klaire's defenses kicked in quite quickly, but before she could respond Rayne cut her off again. "Relax. I'm only here for a moment. You'll have your private time back soon enough. Until then...just...relax."
Klaire's mind was beyond confused. Not only had her roommate managed to stand her ground when she normally cowered away, but she had completely taken charge of the situation and stolen the power right out of Klaire's hands. The worst part, though, was that not a single retort, snarky comment, or even an expression of disapproval seemed to come to mind. No matter how hard she tried, Klaire just couldn't manage to come up with a response. And then one word finally came to mind. "Okay." she said softly. "Wait a minute?" she thought to herself. "That's not what I wanted to say! Why did I say okay?! This is very much...NOT...okay!" But her thoughts trailed off again as an ever confident Rayne took a step closer to her.
Rayne stared into Klaire's confused eyes, their noses mere inches from touching, and spoke in a more serious, authoritative tone than Klaire had ever heard from her. "Some things need to change here, Klaire." Rayne started. "I know this is all an act, a persona that you put on. No one is this mean, or this anti-social. When I come back tonight, Klaire, things are going to be different. We are going to be roommates. We are going to be...equals. You are going to learn to relax around me Klaire, and you are going to learn to enjoy your time around me. You can see that to be true...can't you Klaire." She ended the list of carefully worded statements not with a question, despite its wording, but with a command.
Klaire was completely dumbfounded. She tried to form a response, but once again nothing came to mind. She was, however, completely unaware of her head slowly nodding up and down to signify a simple 'yes' to Rayne's command.
Rayne smiled confidently as she stepped back and pointed to the pile of Klaire's things that were sitting on Rayne's bed. "I expect that be cleaned up. In one hour." Rayne said, staring just as deeply at Klaire, knowing full well she would not be back in an hour. Her confused roommate managed another gentle, subtle nod to indicate 'yes' as a response and nothing more. She was completely frozen in shock, surprise, and confusion.
Rayne smiled as she turned to grab her backpack and exited the room. Klaire, however, was completely in shock and could only stand there, staring off into space. A few moments passed before she was finally able to form words. "What...the hell...just happened?"
--
Outside of the room, Rayne was leaning against the wall and shaking with a mix of fear, excitement, and an ever growing hint of arousal. She slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on floor of the hallway, panting and laughing ever so slightly as she whispered "It worked...it actually worked..." to no one in particular.
--
Some time later, after composing herself, Rayne walked into the common area on the fourth floor of the residential hall for graduate students. Trisha and Laura were already inside, talking amongst themselves, and barely stopped to say hello before they went back to discussing the agenda for the sorority's first meeting.
As they continued their conversation, Eve walked into the room and began to make small talk with the girls. Moreso with Laura and Trisha, as Rayne was too busy trying to figure out why Eve looked so familiar. Images of Eve and Laura, standing at the front of a classroom, hypnotized, kept flashing through her mind. But every time she started to think about it, the memory slipped further and further away.
Rayne's thought process was interrupted as Trisha started to speak. "Alright, before the other girls get here, I should explain how things are going to work in the sorority!" Trisha beamed excitedly as the other three girls all quieted down their conversations to listen. "There will be two levels in the sorority, officers, and members. The officers will be the members of the group that know how to do hypnosis, and will be the only ones allowed the luxury of remembering what actually happens at the meetings. The members will be other girls that come to the meetings so the officers will have someone to practice on."
Rayne nodded as she followed along with the explanation. "So...all of us here are going to be officers?" she asked nervously, unsure of whether or not she had lived up to Trisha's requirements.
"Of course!" beamed Trisha with an excited smile. She was oblivious to the look of nervousness on Rayne's face as she asked the question. Of course, Rayne's sigh of relief as she relaxed her shoulders gave it away and provided everyone with a good laugh. Everyone, that is, except for Eve.
"Um, Trisha..." Eve started, confusion evident in her voice. "You know I'm not the best hypnotist, right? I mean, I've never really hypnotized anyone other than the few times we practiced. So I'm not sure I'd be the best officer..."
Trisha grinned deviously and moved next to Laura. "It's ok, Eve." she said with a very evil grin on her face. "We'll help you. All you have to do...is focus on the sound of our voices. The look of our eyes as we stare deeply into yours. The feel of our energy moving around your body... slowly and easily now..."
As Trisha trailed off she nudged Laura's hand. "So easy to just...let yourself go now..." Laura began in a very soothing, almost melodic, voice. "To feel all the muscles in your body just slowly relaxing...and sinking down. Into every word we say."
Rayne couldn't help but be confused as she watched the scene in front of her unfold. So much so that she missed her cue to join in on the induction she didn't realize she was a part of, until Laura elbowed her in the side. "What?" she said as she looked at Laura in confusion, only to see both Laura and Trisha glaring at her and nodding their heads in the direction of an already confused and slightly dazed looking Eve. "Oh...right!" Rayne said as she cleared her throat. "Just let the world around you, simply slip away. Nothing else matters here, just our voices... just our eyes..."
"So easy to just let go and relax, feeling the muscles in your body slipping down, and just loosening... and relaxing. Ever so deeply." Trisha chimed in.
