Hypnodorm: Zoning Out (hypno)
by irrcapt
Kelly leaned against the wall of his dorm, confused. Something had happened, but he just wasn't sure of what. He remembered he had to wait for... someone, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember who. They were going to... to... he lost his train of thought for a moment.
Man, I'm really just out of it today. What was I doing? C'mon, concentrate! He urged himself. Slowly, his mushy mind began to remember.
He had come out of his room that day weirded out. His roommate, Eric, had spent the day looking at him at odd times, texting every so often, and in general giving off a stalker vibe. And then he'd gotten another text and it all stopped, and he just sat there, reading. It was like a switch had been flipped, and it was just all so creepy.
As Kelly headed down the hall to get to his car, Jordan stepped out of his room.
"Hey Kelly, how are you doing?"
"Hey Jor. Doing okay, I guess."
"Something wrong?" Jordan asked. Kelly stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Since he was a psych major, he tried to be the floor therapist. But he was a cool guy, so people didn't mind much.
"Naah, just Eric.Started acting all weird, and then stopped to totally ignore me."
"Well, that can happen. Sometimes you get tired of a mode of behavior and relax out of it by focusing on something else."
Kelly hadn't noticed the subtle emphasis. "Yeah, I guess."
"Just like you. You were just hanging out, relaxing, letting everything pass you by, and now you're focusing on something else, even if you are still a little zoned from being so relaxed."
Kelly blinked a frew times, the emphasis starting to cloud his mind. "Yeah."
"You were just lying on your bed, feeling so relaxed, so tired, just fiddling with your books and letting the world go by."
Jordan now empahsized the words stronger as Kelly fell under their sway. Kelly didn't even notice that Jordan had seemed to know what he had been doing while Eric was watching him.
"But it's good to be able to do that, Kelly," Jordan continued. "Even now, you can just slip back into that feeling, into that mold. You weren't doing anything important anyway. It's much more important to relax."
Kelly's eyes slid to half mast. He was just feeling so tired. He leaned up against the wall as some of his muscles relaxed. "No.. I wasn't... you're right."
"Yes, I am right, aren't I? I'm right about a lot of things. I'm right about how you were relaxing. I'm right that what you need right now is to relax. I'm so right that you could just zone out completely on everything else and just listen to my voice, and everything would be fine."
"Would... be... fine..."
"Yeah, just let go. Your body feels so heavy as it slides into relaxation. And that heaviness just drags your mind down with it. Down, down down... calm, deep, relaxed... just focusing on my voice."
"Focus... voice..." Kelly's brain was too scrambled to form sentences.
"Exactly. Just slip into a deep, deep trance now. My voice is all that there is, because it's the only thing that matters. You love to listen to it, because it makes you feel so good and relaxed."
Kelly nodded, unable to much else.
"Now, I want you to wait here. Just let your mind wander while I'm gone."
And Jordan stepped back into the room. That had been five minutes ago.
As Kelly finally started to remember it all, he started to come out of the trance.
What the? He hypnotized me? And he knew what I was doing in my room... how? Was Eric texting him? Why... gotta get going. Gotta get away.
Kelly tried to move, but his body hadn't caught up, and it was still sluggish and relaxed. He'd only move slightly when Jordan came back out of his room.
"Hey Kelly, looks like you're coming a bit out of trance there. Just remember that relaxed feeling, and let it wash all over you."
"Gotta... go..." Kelly slurred, trying to resist the suggestion.
"Yes, you do have to go. I'm always right, remember? You just have to go deeper."
Kelly hadn't expected to be agreed with, and so the suggestion slipped right past what little willpower he had mustered. His drive to escape now turned in on itself, pushing him deeper. He felt like the platform his mind was standing on suddenly was soft like jello and he sank down, down back into trance.
He barely noticed when Jordan slipped a pendant on his neck and tucked it under his shirt. He began to hear an otherworldly voice but was too relaxed to try to understand it. Better to just go with the flow and let it happen. His conscious mind finally fell into oblivion as his body marched to his car to meet his new master...
