Terminal 36
I was starting to get bored, waiting for my delayed flight. My air pods were just not enough to keep me entertained. My flight to visit family wasn’t for another 3 hours, and I had nowhere to go. The highlight of my stay so far was that I’d managed to find a seat right next to a an electrical outlet, so that I could listen to audio books without killing my phone.
I glanced up to scan the crowd as the main character in the book I was listening to, a modern day wizard in Chicago, began his negotiations with the court of vampires. It was a good book. Fifth in a series of ten. There was a herd of people walking past, having just deboarded a plane, so I just watched them go with resignation. Yet another group of happy passengers who weren’t stuck here waiting.
Then the crowd thinned, and I saw, or rather thought I saw, Her. But it couldn’t be. I mean what were the chances? But what if it was? I couldn’t pass up a chance to say hello to TranceMistress801 in person and tell her just how much I love her Hypnosis channel on YouTube. She might not be there for long. She might be boarding soon.
She was seated across the walkway from me on the other side of the terminal building. She was seated in a long line of seats that were all unoccupied except for her. I couldn’t make out the small facial features that would identify her from this distance, but she had the right build, the right hair. I had to know. I paused my story, shut off the air pods and put them and my phone away. I almost got up, then realized I hadn’t retrieved my charger. Unplugging it, I got up and picked up my backpack, then walked down the terminal away from her a little, so it wouldn’t look like I was making a bee-line to her. After a few paces down, stowing the charger as I went, I was out of sight from her, so I turned around and headed back, this time, I walked on her side of the walkway, scanning the seats for her. When I reached the isle between the rows of seats, I moved down a few rows, then kept walking so that I would pass in front of her, separated from her by a row of seats.
My eyes were trained on her intently, trying to decide if it was her or not. She was alone, so I didn’t have to worry about embarrassing her in front of family or friends who may not know that she was a talented and popular recreational hypnotist. A lot of people who are into hypnosis tend to keep it a secret from their loved ones.
As I grew closer, my breath caught. It was her. It was really her! She reached up and combed her fingers through her hair to brush it behind her ear, exposing her face. Yes, it was really her.
I paused, standing near her, and stammered something, cleared my throat and said, “I’m sorry to bother you but...” and then I panicked. I had no idea what to say to her! I just stood there, staring at her.
She looked up and saw me, her expression became a look of questioning, and she asked, “Can I help you?”
“Um,” I stammered, then, “Yes. Or, umm no. I mean, I don’t need anything from you, its just that… well, do I know you?”
This wasn’t what she’d expected a stranger to ask her and she blinked, looking me over closely, “No, I don’t think I recognize you…”
Wow, her voice… I organized my thoughts and asked, “No, you wouldn’t, but I recognize you. I’m sorry if I’m—well… Are you into hypnosis?”
Dawning comprehension colored her expression and her eyes went wide for a second, staring at me, then she glanced around the immediate area to see if anyone was listening. I’d been right to make sure no one was here to listen in before approaching her.
“Yes,” she said, cautiously, “How did you know?”
“Well you see, I’m a major fan of your channel. Have been since the beginning, before you switched from spirals to videos of your face. I can’t believe its really you, I just had to come over and say hi.”
She blushed, embarrassed, but there was a pleased smile as well, “Wow, small world,” she wrung her hands in her lap anxiously and smiled, “I’ve never met a viewer before… I didn’t think I was that popular.”
“Really? Never? You have thousands of subscribers, I’m sure you’ve at least crossed paths with a few over the years...”
“Well no one ever approached me about it.” she gestured to a seat near her.
The chairs were arranged in rows of two, back to back with each other. She had gestured to a chair sitting across the gap between rows so that I could sit facing her. I walked down and around the end of the row of chairs, and moved to sit where she’d indicated. It felt good to obey her, even if she’d stated it as a question, my brain interpreted her request as a command, and I loved it.
“So,” she began, smiling a bit, “What’s your name?”
“Weldon, Mistress,” I said it automatically without filtering the words through my brain first. She didn’t seem unaccustomed to being called that, though, as she gave no visible reaction.
“Weldon. Its nice to meet you.” She smiled again, “What got you into hypnosis?”
We talked about our histories for maybe ten minutes. I told her how I had become interested in hypnosis through comic book superheroes and villains that could control the brains of others. From there it branched into other forms of entertainment. Somewhere along the line my interests graduated from fiction to real life application. She listened intuitively and nodded her understanding. She told me about a hypnosis stage show at her Junior High School that solidified her budding interest in hypnosis and sleep from a very young age. Since youth we’d been interested and, it seemed, the rest was history for us both.
Some time through the conversation, an expression came to her face that I interpreted to mean she’d just had a sudden idea. She ducked her head and reached into her carry on. Rummaging around for a bit, she came out with something held in her hand. That was it, she said nothing about it. Instead, she simply asked me a question that got the conversation moving again.
We kept talking happily about hypnosis, discussing different techniques, telling stories about personal experiences, and generally passing the time. After she’d rummaged in her bag and pulled something out, I kept glancing at her hands, where she was fidgeting with something I couldn’t see. I was so curious what she’d needed to get out but not use. She asked me strange questions for a while. She asked about my limits with trance. What was I willing to do? What would be a hard no for me? Would I be against being hypnotized in public? I answered her honestly, wondering what could be forming in her talented mind. Was she going to hypnotize me? How amazing would that be?!
I continued the conversation, however, ignoring my curiosity, excitement and arousal. Movement caught my attention and I glanced down at her hands. Something small, metallic and round was dangling from her hand now. It was the face of a pocket watch. She held the chain in her hand and repeatedly coiled it around her thumb before pulling it loose and doing it again. But I didn’t care about the chain, it was the watch I stared at. THE watch, I noticed. The one she’d used a few times on her channel. How many times had this watch been used by this woman to hypnotized me in the privacy of my bedroom. And now they were both within feet of me.
“So, I have a question for you,” She changed the subject suddenly, wrenching me out of my distracted haze.
I looked up from the watch and nodded, “Alright, shoot.”
“I always like to ask subjects this question because it seems to be different for every one. It tells me a little about how they react to trance, and what effect they are feeling. So, my question is, What does hypnosis feel like to you? When you are in a trance, does it feel like a physical thing, a mental thing? Both, maybe?”
“Hmm...” I considered, thinking about the last time I was deep in trance, and the memory briefly filled me with peace, “Well it starts physical. I get heavy legs and arms, and warmth in my torso. But after that, there’s this mental fog. I can’t think clearly. I can only think about the hypnotist.”
“I’ll bet that feels very nice, Weldon.” Her voice was so soothing, “I’ll bet that feels wonderful. Those heavy arms and legs helping you to relax even deeper, and that warmth in your body… does it spread out or stay there and get warmer and warmer?”
I had a hard time thinking back, listening to her describing what I felt sent shivers down my spine. Was it getting warm in here?. “Umm, yeah. It does spread. Eventually, my whole body is warm.”
“That sounds wonderful.” she sounded just like the voice I’d listened to on YouTube so many times.
My erection was growing and I shifted in my seat, hoping she wouldn’t notice.
“It is,” I answered. I blinked the dryness out of my eyes and glanced for the hundredth time, down at the watch in her hand.
“See, the reason I ask this, is because my favorite discovery about hypnosis is that talking about it can actually make it happen. For example, I’ll bet that right now, your arms are feeling very heavy, as well as your legs. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were feeling a warmth spreading from your chest. And its likely hard to follow this conversation with such a foggy mind right now. Am I right?”
As she talked, I realized she was right. I was slipping. Losing my grip on alertness. I could feel it growing, and all she’d done was talk to me. Realizing she was waiting for me to answer, I blinked and tore my eyes off the watch.
“Yeah, actually… I’m feeling pretty trancy right now.” I shook my head to clear it, “Sorry, don’t know what came over me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she chuckled, “Just enjoy it. Now that you’re aware of those sensations, they will get much stronger, very quickly. Before you know it, you’ll be very deep.”
She was right, again. “Yes, I’m...” but I forgot to finish the sentence as my eyes returned to that wonderful pocket watch.
She started talking again, but I had a hard time understanding what she was saying. It was like the words were spoken while I was under water. I couldn’t make sense of them. Suddenly, I was standing in an elevator. I knew that I was on the ground floor, and that the elevator would carry my down, deep into the earth, going deeper and deeper with every level. The elevator started and I watched the numbers.
One. I took a deep breath.
Two. I felt the elevator guiding me. I wasn’t falling, I knew that. I was just being carried and guided down deeper.
Three….
And on, and on. Deeper and deeper I went, until finally, I arrived at level ten and the doors opened. Before me, lay a chamber, warmly lit and lavishly furnished. I saw a sofa, a bed, a desk and chair, blankets and pillows everywhere. I desperately wanted to step inside, but I held back a moment. I was waiting for permission. Finally, I spoke aloud.
“Please, may I enter the chamber?”
“You may.” I heard that wonderful voice again.
I entered the chamber and considered my options. The bed looked too wonderful to resist, so I moved to it and lie down. It was amazing. I was overcome with relaxation at this and drifted for timeless while. It could have been second, minutes, or hours. I had no way of knowing.
“Three, four and FIVE. Wide awake!” she snapped her fingers and suddenly I was back at terminal 36. I felt like I’d been deeply asleep for hours.
“Woah,” I cleared my throat, “That was...”
“You’re a very responsive subject, Weldon.” she smiled at me.