More Than Meets the Eye

Chapter One

Rick sat in the auditorium with about one hundred and fifty other students, surrounded by an air of curiosity and excitement as people chatted happily around him, waiting for the show to start. Rick forced himself to stop looking at the clock and counting the seconds until ten and made himself join in on the conversation with Tessa and Olivia.

"No way, it's a crock," Olivia laughed, tossing her platinum blonde locks back as she did.

"Then why did you even come tonight?" Tessa replied, slightly annoyed at how dismissive her sister was being.

"It's still fascinating to see how people react; Will they go up and pretend? Will some exhibitionist use this as an excuse to show off some skin and blame it on the hypnotist? Will someone be weak willed enough to actually buy into it and think they are under a spell? Who knows!" Olivia exclaimed excitedly, staring up at the stage. Tessa just stared at her, and Olivia shrugged.

"What? People out there are weird."

"People right here are weird... " Rick mumbled. Tessa giggled, her bust jiggling in her floaty summer dress as the comment went unnoticed by Olivia.

The girls were twin sisters that Rick had befriended in their freshman year. While both had matching baby blue eyes, cute pixie-like faces, and lovely full lips, there were still differences. Olivia had dyed her hair a platinum blonde the previous summer and was a star athlete on the soccer team, complete with tremendously toned legs and a firm, muscular ass. Tessa was also trim, but had a much larger bust and wider, more inviting hips. Her honey-blonde hair was curled tonight and barely touched her tanned shoulders.

"What do you think, rick?" Olivia asked. Rick began blushing.

"Ummm, well, I'm not sure, I-I mean, different people believe different things, right? That's why drug trials need placebo's too, right? Sometimes believing works," he said, stumbling a little. Olivia nodded thoughtfully.

"Good point, but we'll have to see for ourselves what kind of people showed up. I'm surprised you don't have a stronger opinion one way or the other, it was your idea to come to the show tonight, wasn't it?"

"I... uhh, well... "

Rick was saved coming up with a lame excuse to hide his fetish as the lights finally went down and an applause rang out over the crowd as a stunning Indian woman walked out onto the stage. Rick recognized her from videos he'd seen of this hypnotists previous shows, though hr black hair was done up in a bun and she wore a sensible floor length dress that, while flattering, was not what he expected to see from the typically glamorous stage assistant. She began speaking as everyone settled in.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Janina. Welcome to a night of trance, intrigue, and mesmerism at the hands of the great, magical, mystifying, handso- alright, who wrote this?" Janina said, sounding exasperated. Some people chuckled as a voice from behind the stage faintly shouted, "Just follow the damn script!"

"Fine! I present to you, the Amazing Anton!" She led the crowd in a round of applause as a tall man with black hair and a black tux walked out on stage. Anton smiled to the crowd and flipped the switch on his lapel mic.

"Thank you, thank you very much! It is great to be back on the East Coast again! I've spent the last few months exclusively doing my R-rated stage show in Vegas and Reno to end the summer, so I'm just happy to spend more than an hour at one location before people start taking their clothes off when i talk to them!"

The crowd laughed as Rick blushed and felt some blood rush between his legs. He was VERY familiar with those shows, having purchased three of them from Anton's online shop.

"First thing is first, obviously hypnosis isn't mind control; I can't make you do anything you don't want to do...but I will say you may be surprised at the things you can believe you want to do."

"That's how you "recruited" me into this job, Anton," The assistant said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I was going to be a dancer until you showed me your watch and all of a sudden i realized my passion's lay in this side of show business... i wonder how that happened... " she said, scowling at Anton. Anton pretended to tug uncomfortably at his collar, causing a few more laughs.

"Well, Janina, I'm sure I don't know what you mean," he said quickly, then waived his hand in front of her eyes, "You've always wanted to be a hypnotists assistant," He said somewhat forcefully. Janina stared straight ahead, then repeated in a low tone, "I've always wanted to be a hypnotist's assistant." She then shook her head dramatically and went back to smiling as Anton continued his introduction through a few more laughs.

Tessa was laughing openly, and even Olivia was chuckling, but Rick just continued staring at the assistant. Anyone else watching would have thought it was just a bit for the show, but years of feeding his hypnosis fetish in research and erotica had him wondering, (and hoping), if what he just witnessed was real. The voice Janina could fake, but the glossy look in her eyes that was still present in her lovely dark orbs seemed real to him. He focused back on Anton.

"The first thing we are going to do is go through a few tests to see who is best suited for the show tonight!"

"Yeah, more like see which person already is jumping at the bit to show off some skin... " Olivia mumbled a little too loudly. A few people around them chuckled, and Anton, only about 10 feet away from their second row seats, looked straight at her for a moment and smiled.

"The first thing i will have you all do is close your eyes and hold both arms up in front of you." Anton waited until everyone had done so, notably Olivia being the last straggler to follow the request.

"Very good, now everyone just keep breathing nice and easy, very good, let each breath in lead to the next one out, let yourself feel comfortable and relaxed."

Rick did try to relax, but felt his pants tighten when he heard Tessa take a deep breath in and sigh next to him. Anton continued his speech, repeating words and suggestions of relaxation and peace, then instructing them to feel great heaviness in their right hand, and a light, elevated feeling in the left. Rick was feeling quite relaxed, but he felt Tessa lean a little against his side. He cracked and eye open and felt a tingle of erotic excitement.

Tessa's face was blank and relaxed, her right hand was almost above her head, and her left hand was nearly level with her knees, causing her to lean. Rick stole a glance into her deep cleavage, then peered over to Olivia. Olivia appeared to have somewhat of a frown on her face, and her hands, still straight out in front of her, kept twitching, as though she was trying to fight off some kind of outside force. Rick noticed that even as distracted as he was, his own hands had move a few inches from their starting point.

"And now you can all open your eyes and see where you're arms are at," Anton instructed.

Everyone slowly opened their eyes, (with Rick pretending he had only just opened them), and looked at the varying states of there hands. Tessa looked bewildered and smiled sheepishly as Olivia blushed slightly, then began shaking her head at her sister.

"Hehe, i guess me and Rick are just too strong for this," she laughed, but Rick noticed the laugh didn't quite reach her eyes.

Other people around them were talking animatedly, laughing at each other or themselves as Janina moved some chairs into the center of the stage. Anton cleared his throat and everyone stopped and focused their attention again.

"Now those of you that experienced the changes may notice how heavy and relaxed you just felt. The warm feelings of relaxation that fell over you are easy to recreate, you may find it's easy to remember how drowsy it made you, how heavy your arms were, how heavy your whole bodies were, it was just so peaceful and easy to just turn off your minds and focus on my words for a few moments, wasn't it?"

There were multiple people in the audience nodding their heads, while some sleepily mumbled affirmations. Rick knew what he was doing and turned to look at the sisters. Tessa was staring up at the stage, eyes tired and blinking slowly. She had nodded her head heavily at his last question and smiled a little. On the other end of the spectrum was Olivia, who was firmly staring at the floor and looked like she might have even been digging one of her manicured fingernails into her thigh... the girl just refused to be proven wrong.

"Exactly," continued Anton, "Just feeling heavy and sleepy, so tired, so warm, wanting to let go and just...just...sleep!" He ended with a flourish, snapping his fingers into the microphone.

There were gasps in the audience, followed by chuckles and some nervous giggles as nearly half the audience dropped under. Some people, like Tessa, had simply slumped sideways in their seats, eyes closed, head lolling on someone else's shoulders. Other people, such as one particularly curvy woman in the front row, had fallen completely out of their chairs, but hadn't even been woken up by it. Olivia shuddered a little bit, but remained awake. She began laughing a little to herself, probably relieved not to find herself at the mercy of another, Rick surmised.

"Now those of you that went under, please allow yourself to drop deeper, allow your minds to remain open, feel peaceful and warm. In a moment my lovely assistant and i will begin combing through the audience and those of you that feel a desire to continue these feelings of peace, drowsiness, and trance, can start raising your hands up again, higher and higher. The more you want to be on stage and hypnotized, the higher your hands will float," and with that Anton and Janina left the stage.

Dozens of hands were starting to pop up into the air, some lazily, some straight up. A couple behind Rick were standing up, as though their arms were so eager they held their sleeping bodies up like puppets on a single string. The woman in the front row was still face down, arm also sticking straight into the air. Janina leaned down and began whispering in her ear. The woman stood up, at which point Rick recognized her. Her name was Jessenia, she was a beautiful grad student of Puerto-Rican descent, and a TA in one of his psych classes. She blearily opened her eyes and was led by Janina to a seat on the stage, her delightful, full rear swaying as she slowly walked behind the assistant.

Next to Rick, Tessa's hand was a little elevated, maybe around shoulder height. She must not have been fully on board with the idea of being on stage. Looking at her lovely legs and the way her dress was already riding up to her thighs, he begrudgingly couldn't blame her for not wanting too give the crowd a peak.

"Who am I to complain though?" He thought to himself, eyes darting between the sleepy bronzed beauty Jessenia and the beautiful assistant standing next to her.

As the seats filled up there was still noticeably one empty seat right in the middle. Anton began walking over towards Rick and he felt his heart drum out an excited solo. Rick thought he was aiming for Tessa, but instead he looked straight into Olivia's stunned face and said, "So, I hear people that come up only want to show a little skin, huh?"

The people around us snickered as Olivia turned bright red, but to her credit she held her ground.

"Hey, it was just an observation, if they want to charade around topless thinking they're a chicken that is up to them, I can't control what they do any more than you can," she retorted.

There were some light "Ooooooo's" from the people around them, and Anton smiled, reaching into his pocket. He withdrew an old looking silver watch, and began dangling it deftly in front of Olivia.

"I suppose you're right, most people will only do what they want to do, it's only natural, right?" He said, swinging the watch in smooth arcs. Despite wanting to stare the hypnotist down her eyes just kept returning to the watch.

"That's right, there's nothing to it, it's their choice," Olivia said defiantly.

"Exactly, they chose to relax, they chose to pick something to focus on and let themselves relax. They chose to follow my words and let themselves give in to the feeling of being led. It's only natural for people to be hypnotized and to be led- if that is what they chose, right?" Rick noticed the change in tone immediately, noticed the way the watch swung gently side to side, almost shimmering with hypnotic power. He also noticed Olivia's face had quickly gone from combative to much more placid and a little confused.

"I suppose," she said, still trying to stare at the watch and him at the same time.

"Precisely, dear. They chose to relax because it feels wonderful, because it's warm, and easy. They let their minds fog over because they don't need them, they can rest easy knowing that someone else is going to keep them happy and safe," with that last line Rick could have sworn he saw the watch give off a silver glow and felt his own head swim, but he shook it off quickly as he heard Olivia's voice respond.

"Happy...safe..."

It was a voice Rick had never heard before. He had heard happy, excited, and drunk Olivia. He had heard sarcastic, exasperate, sad, and even irate Olivia, but he had NEVER heard submissive Olivia. Gone was the challenge from her voice, the steely resolve in her eyes. Her mouth was now hanging open, her full, pouty lips forming a small "O" shape. Her blue eyes were glossy and fixed fully on the watch, and her lids were rapidly growing heavier with each blink.

"That's right, dear, just let yourself drift. There is no need to worry about anything. You're happy just listening to me, you're safe just listening to me. You are secure in my hands, after all, only people who want to be hypnotized let themselves feel this way, right?"

Rick saw her chest rise slowly as her breathing deepened, and she responded with a slow nod.

"And if you feel this way you must have let yourself feel this way, right?"

Another small nod.

"And if you let yourself feel this way, what does that mean you let yourself do?"

Her eyes were almost fully closed, and her mouth hung open wide. He saw her tongue flick out to wet her lips before she surrendered in a slow, drawn out voice.

"I let myself be...hypnotized." Olivia stated sleepily, eyes barely open, lids fluttering.

Rick felt his own heart race as he heard the last line. It had worked! It had actually fucking worked! He looked around the room, seeing the wide-eyed stares or grins of the people around him. A few people nearby had even dropped while staring at the watch. Anton put it back in his pocket and a few people shook themselves out of the trance. He leaned over and held his hand out to Olivia, who took it slowly.

"Why don't you join me on stage, dear?"

Olivia nodded and began slowly walking up to the stairs with Anton. H led her to the seat in the middle and had her stand in front of her chair with the rest of the volunteers, then turned to the audience.

"Anyone still in the audience that can feel the effects of my voice will now take three, deep breaths in, and with each breath you'll imagine filling your lungs and mind with positivity and energy, and you'll let those sleepy heavy feelings fade away. Please begin."

Rick watched as the fog of trance seemed to lift from the room, and the people who had been under slowly began to move around and stretch. Tessa finished her breathing and then stretched and smiled, looking like she slept for 8 hours.

"I guess I am a little susceptible, looks like hypnosis is real, sorry to disappoint you Liv...Liv?" Tessa looked to Rick who just pointed to the stage. Tessa gasped as she saw her twin, heavy lidded and swaying slightly on her feet.

"No!" She laughed, looking back to Rick.

"Oh yeah, he gave her a few moments of personal attention and she dropped like a rock," Rick chuckled. Anton cleared his throat and both college students went back to watching the show.

Anton spoke to the volunteers in a low, soothing voice and took it in turn dropping them on stage back into their seats. He saved Olivia for last again, and by the end of his final induction she was sprawled out on the chair, head hanging off the back of the metal seat, limbs totally loose at her sides.

"Thank god..." Tessa mumbled. Rick tore his gaze away from the hypnotized beauty on stage and looked at her quizzically.

"She wanted to borrow the dress I'm wearing for tonight, thank god i said no or you'd be able to see everything."

Rick nodded in agreement; he'd have had a perfect view up-skirt from his seat, not that the sight of Olivia in her tiny white shorts was anything less than delightful.

Anton led the subjects through typical college show tricks; Feeling hot, feeling cold, thinking they were jockey's in a race and their chairs were their horses, (Rick particularly enjoyed seeing the enthusiastic Jessenia bouncing up and down in her low-cut romper as she urged her steed on to victory), and then a singing competition where Olivia took first prize with a dazzling Britney Spears routine. As the show came closer to it's end, the clock struck 11:00 and a few people in the audience began hooting as the clock tower in the center of campus rang in the new hour.

"Ah yes, 11:00pm, the Witching Window, I'm told it's called... " Anton remarked to more hoots and applause. Tessa groaned as Rick smiled.

"The Witching Window" was the on-campus term for the time frame that acts on campus could start getting dicey. It was an old rule still held out by a few fanatics on the school's board of directors to keep a connection to the institutions originally Puritan ties. This meant that no hard liquor, no racy bands or musical acts, and even no R-rated movies could be officially shown on campus until after 11:00.

"Well then, I think we have a few more tricks up our sleeves, don't we, Janina?" Anton asked, rubbing his hands together.

Janina, who had been making sure everyone remained safe in their chairs between bits, handing out props when needed, and participating in sarcastic banter with Anton the whole way through rolled her eyes.

"Three month in Vegas wasn't enough deviancy for you, Anton? The mascot of this school is a literal pilgrim for Christ's sake, I don't think we'll get invited back if we end up with half naked students and a pile of clothes on the floor." Anton cleared his throat and smiled as the crowd laughed.

"Well then it's a good thing that we don't only have students up on stage than, isn't it?"

"Who else is up here?" Janina said, looking around exaggeratedly. "Because if you mean me you're out of your mind."

"Funny, using the phrase "out of your mind", Janina, because you've been stubborn so much tonight I think maybe it's time you turned yours off for a bit."

Anton approached his stubborn assistant and waved his hand in front of her face again. Once more Rick saw the beautiful assistant's face go blank and her eyes glossy, but he also thought he saw a weird gleaming effect when it happened.

"You will happily do as I ask for the rest of the night."

"I will happily do as you ask for the rest of the night," she repeated softly, a sappy smile growing on her delicate face again. Anton waved again.

"You want to remove your dress for us," The crowd, mostly the guys, cheered loudly.

"Yes," Janina said, pulling her dress off her shoulders, "I want to remove my dress for you all."

Janina pulled her dress all the way down, kicking it off around her ankles. Rick's jaw hit the floor as the crowd went wild. She was wearing a cliche harem dancer's outfit, all gold with purple embroidery and a see through purple wrap that did little to obstruct the view of a golden thong. The outfit was completed with golden high heeled sandals.