Hypnotist at the Bijou
Part 1
Cherie Brooks was visiting her sister, Connie (now Southwell), and her brother in law who owns the theatre, in the holidays. She had an extended vacation due to renovations in her place of employment, and was staying with them for three weeks. Connie was working today but suggested that Cherie might like to take a look at Tim’s theatre, and Tim thought it would be a great idea for Cherie to get acquainted with the place, see how the other half (theatre folk) live. Connie gave her a lift on her way to work, and was dropping her off at the Bijou, where Tim was readying himself to give her the grand tour.
He had set himself the morning to show her around, but let her know that she would be left to her own devices in the afternoon as he would be extremely busy preparing for tonight’s show. Cherie said that would be just marvy, and couldn’t wait to get started.
Tim welcomed her at the huge and ridiculously ornate doors at the entry to the Bijou, and Cherie couldn’t help but comment on them. Tim challenged her to give them a push, to see how heavy they are, and Cherie found they glided easily and smoothly, completely stunning her as she expected them to be virtually unmovable. After praising her Xenaculean (as opposed to Herculean, you need to get out more) strength Tim brought her through to his office for a cuppa, before starting out on the tour. As they supped he described some of the rather astonishing acts they had hosted in recent times.
“We have had some really great acts. For instance, the Great Bertini, mind bender extraordinaire, he was brilliant. In his act he told audience members their deepest, darkest secrets, and scared a few patrons witless with his amazing accuracy. John Waters had been here a couple of months back with his show, John Lennon’s ‘Looking through a Glass Onion’, and on every night he received standing ovations, and what’s more, he attracted packed auditoriums. That made us a few quid. Then there’s the guy we have playing at the moment, Professor Zelmann, the hypnotist. His act is awesome, lots and lots of people keep coming back time and again, some of them not even being aware of it.” Tim was saying.
“Whoa, that sounds a bit scary, I hope I don’t have to meet him.” Cherie replied comicly.
“No need to worry on that score, he doesn’t come in until his show is about to start, and quite frankly, I think he is utterly charming, you can just sit and listen to him for ages, such a nice voice, and the most compelling eyes. Anyway, bottoms up, let’s check out the under croft.” They drained their coffees and strode out to the back stairs, leading down to the under croft. The wide antique wooden stairs were beautifully crafted, and the whole place was giving off an air of majesty, the aroma of old wood, the exquisite carpets, sumptuously polished bannisters, velvety to the touch, and the incredibly high ceilings with chandeliers of miraculous proportions. Cherie was seriously impressed.
She was fascinated with Tim’s descriptions of dressing room antics, and the bizarre goings on below, the staging of the shows, the lighting, the music and mechanical devices, this was a wonderland of interesting artefacts. After a brief jaunt through the overhead gantry, giving Cherie a bit of a tingly feeling at such a height, Tim suggested a bit of lunch. Cherie eagerly agreed, she had built up quite an appetite with all this walking and climbing. After they had eaten (quite a lot) and finished the lovely bottle of Chablis from Tim’s cellar, he bade Cherie farewell for the afternoon, telling her to continue looking around as much as she wanted until Connie came back to pick her up.
The lunch had made Cherie a little sleepy, but she was simply too enthusiastic to miss exploring a place like this, so she set off to get a look at the dressing rooms while they were still empty. Walking along the corridors from one to another, Cherie could hardly contain herself. Costumes, props, wigs and all sorts of magical performance enhancers, she was so excited she could just wee herself. Actually, if she didn’t find a toilet she might just wee herself, the wine was working its way through to her bladder, and the alcohol to her brain. After a couple of wrong turns she spotted a sign to the ladies and gentlemen’s facilities and off she trotted.
When she finished and returned to her exploration she found a door that she hadn’t noticed before, so she opened it. This was a strange doorway, opening into a very narrow and low ceilinged corridor. Oh magnificent, she thought, just what I was hoping for, secret passageways. She followed it along for a way, becoming rather dark and foreboding for a while, then there was a small room through an architrave off to one side. In this little room there was a pair of small chairs up against a hatch in the wall. There was a light on through the other side of the hatch she could see, so she investigated. Sitting in one of the chairs she slowly pushed one of the hatch doors until she could see into the room. She could already hear a voice speaking slowly and so very sweetly in the room, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light she could make out the form of two beautiful young women, early twenties she guessed, like herself, but the voice was coming from off to one side. She edged closer to the hatch and nudged the door a little wider, and then she could see him quite clearly.
It only took a moment to interpret the scene before her, as she could now clearly see the two women, a large and fascinating globe on the table in front of them and an elegant, wise looking gentleman sitting opposite at the table. He was speaking to the women in a honey sweet tone as they gazed blankly at the globe as the lightning inside it flashed mesmerically, captivating their gaze. As Cherie peered in she could hear what the scholarly man was saying now, as she watched the reactions of the women.
“Yes, my dears, it is wonderful to see you here again today. I hope you like the ornament I have brought for your enjoyment, it is so pretty to look at, don’t you think? The lightning is fascinating, more than you realise, as the spikes touch the glass there is a moment of energy released into the surrounding environment charging the air. The energy has touched your mind and draws your gaze to its centre, pulling you in ever deeper and deeper as you explore its myriad patterns.”
Cherie found his patter irresistible, and she was staring into the globe as the lightning flashed and flashed. The scene was obvious, but she somehow failed to put one and one together and spell out Professor Zelmann. On and on the flashing lightning’s pretty patterns held all the women in its sway, the two lovelies at the table with their eyelids drooping languorously, their pupils dilating as they slipped away into relaxation, and now Cherie as she peered in through the hatch.
“Being here is so nice, and as you choose to listen to my words it is not unexpected that you feel comfortable and relaxed, and I anticipate that soon your eyes will want to close. They are quite obviously already becoming incredibly heavy, so nice and drowsy and heavy, it would be so easy to let your eyes close… just let your eyes close. It may only be my opinion, but I am sure you would dearly like to go to sleep… just go to sleep… sleep.”
The lovely women at the table were already yielding to the weight of their eyelids, and now they were closing, pretty much without any fight, they did seem to want to go to sleep. With the wine firmly hitting the spot, Cherie could not muster enough energy to resist this beautiful feeling of lassitude, and she felt her eyelids drooping further and further down over her eyes. As she drowsed, the chair squawked on the floor, and the Professor noted the third presence. Deciding to wait ‘til the time was right, he proceeded with the deepening suggestions.
“That’s it, dear girls, sleep is the only thing that matters right now, and going deeper and deeper to sleep will make everything even more wonderful, and will allow you to listen intently to my voice. In a moment I am going to count to three, and at the count of three you will open your eyes once more and gaze helplessly into the globe. The globe will fix your gaze and not release you, and you will want me to tell you how to feel more and more enjoyment from our meeting this afternoon.” He was surreptitiously glancing around toward the hatch of the antechamber, hoping to catch sight of his intruder, noting that the quietness suggested they might be caught in his induction. He managed to glimpse Cherie, observing her closed eyes and relaxed face. This is splendid, a truly beautiful woman was sitting at the hatch, apparently waiting for his instructions, so he would give her some; instructions, that is.
Before he counted to three he said, “You must rest for a moment longer, sleep deeper and await my next instruction.” He stood and went to the door of the antechamber and popped his head through, whispering so that only Cherie could hear, “Come, little maiden (5′ 9″, seriously?), arise and follow me into my lair.”
Cherie’s frame awkwardly rose from the chair and ambled toward his waiting hand. He guided her with her eyes still firmly closed to a fourth seat at his table, and assisted her in sitting comfortably in front of the hypno globe. Once back in his seat he counted slowly to three, and all women drowsily opened their eyes and stared vacantly at the globe. The lightning pranced around and around the glass sphere, bewitching the women entirely, and he began to make slaves of them. “Place your hands upon the table, listen to me talk and follow my helpful instructions. As you look into the globe its energy is electrifying your limbs, your arms are becoming animated, and they are beginning to rise up from the table. Getting lighter and lighter, they float higher and higher, until they are level with your eyes. As they rise to your eye level they begin to straighten, well no, look at that, they are reaching toward the globe… your arms are straining to touch the magic energy of the hypno globe… as your fingers touch the glass the energy fills your body and your will succumbs to mine,”
Each of the girls’ arms had indeed floated into the air, almost in unison, and they were all now straight and unmoving as they touched the hypno globe. He continued, “Your arms are stiff and rigid now, they cannot be bent, they cannot be moved, they must remain in contact with the hypno globe as its magic energy drains your will and replaces it with my will… the hypno globe is filling you with my will… my will!”
For one moment all the women made a spurious effort to pull their arms back, but of course, to no avail. They remained in contact with the globe and each of their minds were convinced that his will was entering them.
“I am going to count down from ten to one, and as I do your eyes will once again become heavy. You must exert all of your remaining energy to try to keep your eyes open, but you can’t do it… my will dominates you now… as I count your eyes will droop heavier and heavier… and when I reach five they will close… you may be able to get them to open once or twice… but then you will be exhausted… when I reach one you will sleep… ten times deeper to sleep.”
The women were sitting with arms rigid, eyes blank and staring, and silent, but attentive to his every word. “Ten… feel your eyes getting heavier and heavier… nine… so very drowsy and tired, you want so desperately to sleep… eight… your arms are relaxing, too heavy to hold up any more… seven… sleepier and sleepier… six… you cannot resist…”
All eyes were drooping heavily, and all arms were slackening, any attention given to their arms and their eyes drooped, any attention given to their eyes and their arms sagged further. His voice was incredible at his point, with a hint of menace he pushed their minds to bend to his will.
“Five… don’t open your eyes.”
There was significant struggling, all arms were lying flat on the table. Cherie and one of the other women, the tall brunette, were just managing to open their eyes a crack.
“Four… don’t open your eyes.”
Both eyes closed again and there was less struggling all round.
“Three… don’t open your eyes.”
All faces were serenity now, peace and acceptance.
“Two… eyes closed and asleep… deep asleep.”
“One… you will now obey. There is nothing in your minds except my will, you can only obey.”
Clearly now all the women were completely under the power of this master hypnotist, open and waiting to be filled with his instructions, he was eager to do just that.
“This very evening I am to perform my show once again… it is a show that you cannot miss… your fascination for my hypnotic talent is growing second by second… you need to come to my show tonight and you will be absolutely captivated by the performance… when I hypnotise people you are drawn in to the induction, you want so desperately to watch and uncover my secrets that you become completely immersed… and the hypnotic state will capture you again… you will once again become amenable to my suggestions… even though you are unaware that I have hypnotised you, you will do my bidding again. In a moment I am going to awaken you… my hypnosis is strong, powerful, and when I return you to your routine lives you will be completely unaware that I have hypnotised you… this exquisite little get together will not have existed for you… Deidre and Sian, you will make your way to the entrance and wake up as you step out into the lovely afternoon warmth… you will happily talk to each other about what you were doing before coming here, and you will innocently proceed to have a dinner date before returning to watch my show. Now my dear… (as he turned to Cherie he touched her hand) tell me your name.”
“Cherie,” barely audible, escaped her lips.
“In a moment, Cherie, you will return to the antechamber and remember nothing… the light you saw was in an empty room, and there was no one around… no one to be seen… is that understood?”
“Yes… I looked in and no one was here.”
“Good… then you may return to your wanderings… you too with no memory of this interlude. Alright, at the count of five you will open your eyes and go to your designated exit… when at your suggested point, and only then… you will awaken, refreshed and relaxed… now obey. One… two… three… four… five.” With that the hypnotist swiftly left the room and disappeared into the darkness of the theatre halls, and the women made for their respective positions and suddenly woke up, simply slotting into their general activity. Cherie, of course, was a little bemused, looking in to the room where no one was, she couldn’t work out why she was sitting there, then she returned to exploring the secret passage.