Five people trickled into the late night showing of what was billed as the latest erotic thriller. Three of them settled into their assigned seats in rows closer to the front. Two settled into their assigned seats in the back row.

 

Kathryn wrinkled her nose when the man settled into the chair next to her. She'd chosen the back row for a reason, given the reviews. She figured she'd probably fall asleep at some point, but she had wanted to see this mostly for the male lead. Yes, everyone said the movie was bad but he was decent in it.

 

She was also interested in the plot device, but that wasn't something she could admit to her friends who had wrinkled their noses when she mentioned the movie. Admitting she was a fan of Hunter Rios, so she'd see anything he was in, was so much easier than admitting her hypnosis fetish.

 

And given that his character was a hypnotist that was involved with the two female leads, one of whom might be a killer, there were several instances of hypnosis in this movie that she was eager to see. Supposedly, to those online, the hypnosis scenes in the film were pretty spot on to actual hypnosis. There were rumors he'd trained with a hypnotist and had actually been putting his costars in trance during a few of those scenes.  Kathryn had no idea if that was real, but it was an intriguing thought, that Fiona James and Julia Perez might be actually in trance, not just acting, on the screen.

 

She shifted under the blanket she'd brought, knowing how cold the theaters could get, especially with so few people in the room. The man next to her glanced over then back. She tried to ignore him, making sure her popcorn and drink were settled as she raised the footrest and reclined back.

 

The previews weren't anything special, just an annoyance. Once the lights fully dimmed and the production company logos started, she settled in to watch.

 

Within 10 minutes, two people left. Kathryn saw why, the opening was dull, boring, and no where near the words "erotic" or "thriller".   No one was even shirtless, much less acting sexy.

 

At the twenty minute mark, the third person a few rows down left as well. Kathryn hoped the guy next to her would leave soon, but he showed no indication he would. She readjusted her drink as she tried not to just tell him to go away.

 

Five minutes later, she didn't care about the man next to her, watching as, on screen, Hunter Rios was using a metronome to hypnotize Julia Perez.  And if it wasn't real, she was doing one hell of an acting job. Kathryn shifted in her seat, absolutely turned on by the the way Julia was melting under the metronome and Hunter's words, his fingers delicately tracing her neck and shoulder.  Her own eyes wanted to shut when Julia's did, but she kept them open as Hunter took Julia deeper, making suggestions that were laughable for someone to act on after just one session, but for movie purposes she could hand wave away.

 

The screen cut to just behind the door of Hunter's office, to where Fiona James stood, a small gasp leaving her mouth as she saw what was happening. Hunter glanced that way, then whispered to Julia to stay deep, to think about her suggestions, to ignore anything she heard unless he said her name. Then Hunter left the scene, and the camera beautifully framed both women, the blurry metronome ticking in the foreground, both women focused on it in their own way.

 

Hunter appeared behind Fiona and began whispering to her, and Fiona didn't move. The words sounded strangely doubled, but Kathryn assumed it was a Hollywood trick to show off Hunter's hypnotic prowess.

 

"That's it," he said, "watch the metronome, see how it pulls her in, pulls you in. You can see how powerful it is, how deep she is. You know how deep you can go for it, don't you? You and she, sinking down, deep, letting go.  Watching the metronome, letting each click take you deeper."

 

Kathryn's eyes blinked as she felt the familiar tendrils of hypnosis sink into her brain. Part of her mind wanted to object, that this wasn't a good place for trance, but another part quieted that, saying she was safe, she could sink deep, listen to the clicks and the voice.  She kept her eyes focused on the screen, on the way that Fiona's eyes were closing even the voice kept talking her down. Her own eyes stayed open, longing to close as Fiona's did. Instead, she was locked on the screen, watching as Hunter whispered into her ear, hearing his voice telling her she was safe, that she should watch the screen, feel the trances that the women felt, surrender to the voice.

 

When Julia and Fiona woke on screen, she stayed focused, in trance, watching them carry out their orders, watching as they were confused by the crimes they thought they had committed. Watched as they both took refuge with Hunter, and he let them hide in separate rooms, both mysteriously with metronomes that activated once the women had sat down on their beds. A speaker sent Hunter's voice into the room, and she sank further into her seat as both women were entranced again, all three unable to look away from the metronome when it was in their vision.

 

The voice in her ear reminded her she was safe, that she could keep going deeper, keep her eyes open and watching the screen, feeling the trances, how good it felt to be in trance, how turned on she was by being in hypnosis, being under Hunter's command, the voice's command. She sighed, knowing it was true.

 

The movie kept on, and she kept watching as the plot unfolded. Both women left Hunter's place, but he later appeared at Fiona's apartment, and was seducing Fiona now. As Fiona moaned and writhed in bed with Hunter, she felt her own arousal build and build until she silently gasped as she came when Fiona did on screen, face flushing as the voice kept telling her she was a good girl, that she did so well. That as Hunter was hypnotizing a now-satisfied Fiona, she could sink again.

 

When Hunter seduced Julia, she felt the same, her arousal rising as Julia reacted, coming when she did, basking in the voice's praise afterward.

 

The movie continued, and when the metronome was brought about again as Hunter tried to hypnotize both women for his escape, her eyes fastened on it, the movement and ticking taking her deeper, surrendering to trance, wanting more, her eyes closing as the womens' eyes started to. But as they both broke the trance on screen, her eyes closed fully, her mind sinking, ignoring the movie dialogue and noises in favor of the voice in her ear, dropping her deeper, making her more aroused, until she came again at the voice's command, and letting her mind go completely into the voice.

 

Her eyes opened and she blinked as she realized the credits were rolling. She was the last person in the theater, even the guy next to her had left. This must have been more boring than she thought, though she had enjoyed the trance scenes, and the sex scenes. She wondered if there was any sneaky on set footage of Hunter hypnotizing his co-stars. She'd have to search online at home.

 

Packing up her blanket and throwing out her trash, she made her way out to the lobby. She could feel where she'd definitely enjoyed the good bits of the movie, really hoping the guy next to her had left before she'd gotten too aroused.

 

Her phone dinged that her ride share driver had arrived, and she saw the black car pull up to the curb. Sliding into the back seat, she greeted the driver but didn't say much as he drove to her house. There was a slight continuous ticking noise, reminiscent of the movie, in the car, but it wasn't unpleasant, so she just listened and watched the seat in front of her, in a pleasant haze until she was surprised when the driver pulled up outside her house.

 

Once inside, she dropped her keys and bag and closed her eyes, the metronome from the movie playing in her mind for a moment. She swore she could hear the ticking noise. Opening her eyes, she realized the ticking was coming from her living room, and she felt the need to see what it was.

 

On her coffee table was a metronome, different from the movie, but the swinging of the pendulum and the rhythmic ticking had her stopping in her tracks, then moving forward slowly, sinking to her knees and watching the pendulum, listening to the ticks, and sinking into trance.

 

She didn't know how long she waited until a hand came into view, moving her head so she was facing a man who looked familiar. But that wasn't important. What was important was that his hard cock was in front of her mouth. She opened her lips, letting him slide into her, and she closed her eyes and began to suck, knowing what he wanted instinctively, letting his hands on her head guide her as she sank deeper into trance, into his control.  Her thoughts disappeared as she focused on the cock in her mouth, barely hearing the noises either of them were making until he came down her throat and she swallowed, feeling ripples of pleasure at pleasing him.

 

He pulled out of her mouth and angled her head up to look at him. She blinked, realizing it was the man who had sat next to her in the movie.  The ticking of the metronome soothed the reaction she might have had.  "Who are you?" He asked tracing a thumb over her lip.

 

"Kitten," she said with a small smile, knowing this was true, she was Kitten.

 

"Who am I?" He asked, his thumb moving to her cheekbone.

 

"Master," she said with a happy sigh.

 

"Good girl," he said, and she gasped at the larger wave of pleasure.  His hand moved away. "The movie is over and it's time to return to reality," he said, snapping his fingers sharply.

 

Kathryn blinked, shaking her head, reality sliding back slowly. She was on her knees in her living room, her boyfriend, and Master, David standing before her, zipping up his jeans. The metronome was stopped, so it wasn't affecting her anymore. But she remembered what had happened that night as well.  "I know you threatened to trance me in a theater sometime, but I didn't think you'd actually do it," she said, sitting back and stretching.

 

"If we weren't the only ones in the theater, I wouldn't have. And you did tell me you were okay with it, even if you don't remember that."

 

"I didn't remember you were my boyfriend. Just some guy who was sitting closer than I liked. I also didn't remember that I'd seen the movie before."

 

"Well, no, I needed you to think this was the first time, so I could drop you when the women on screen were dropped. Also helped me to know how to make it work.  Good thing the script was online so I could make sure to use the exact same words so you didn't get confused."

 

Kathryn stayed on her knees, feeling no need to get up, suspecting David had more in store for the night. "I was wondering why the audio sounded doubled. But then I stopped caring as the voice, your voice, took me down and kept me down in trance."

 

"You always look so good when you come in trance at my order, and even better when it was silent at my order, while the actresses were coming. I still want to know if that was real hypnosis or just acting," he mused.

 

"Same," she replied. "That first hypnosis scene definitely looked real."

 

He smiled. "Well, they were real for you tonight."

 

She laughed. "Very real. And very fun. But not sure we need to pay to see it a third time."

 

"Oh, I agree. It's done so bad at the box office I don't think it will be in theaters much longer. But once it's on streaming or available on DVD?" He grinned. "I'm sure some movie night you'll fall under the spell of The Metronome again," he intoned like an old 1950s movie announcer.

 

"No doubt," she laughed, "drawn into the action on screen, helplessly hypnotized to do the bidding of The Metronome."

 

David reached out and flicked the pendulum, starting the metronome again, and Kathryn found her eyes drawn to it, letting out a small sigh as her mind, so conditioned to David's subconscious suggestions, began to slip away.

 

"Yes," he said softly, "as you watch the metronome you find yourself being more and more drawn in, more and more helplessly hypnotized, obedient to The Metronome, to the trance, to me." He paused. "Who are you obedient to?"

 

Kitten sighed, her eyes closing, mind succumbing to trance even as she responded truthfully. "You, Master."

 

The last thing she heard before she was lost in trance was his soft, "Good girl."