CYOA Wednesday [A Day to Learn to Let Go 6]

If you liked my story A Night to Remember to Forget, you’ll be happy to know a spiritual sequel started today on my Patreon. It will be presented in CYOA format like the original and it’s entitled A Day to Learn to Let Go . All members (free and paid) can read it and vote on how they wish to see the plot proceed. Synopsis below:

Meredith’s long dream of organizing a series of BDSM conferences and workshops is finally coming to fruition. Mistress Susan is one of the guests of honor, with a workshop dedicated to hypnotic BDSM. What fun happenings will ensue?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/130729015

Read the sixth segment below:

6 – Mistress Susan Takes the Stage

As soon as the fanfare of the opening ceremony collapsed into the pleasant din of hallway conversation, Meredith let herself be herded by Dominic toward the makeshift bar at the rear of the venue.

The area was populated with a specialty cocktail menu designed by Meredith herself, featuring cheeky names and suggestive garnishes. Dominic, never one for ceremony, pointed at “the Thuddy Mary,” two fingers, and found them a quiet corner by the nearest window.

The anxiety that had animated Meredith’s address now crackled in her fingers. She tapped the rim of her glass and watched staffers corral the last straggling balloons from the carpet, passing a latex triskelion aloft like a beach ball at a concert. Dominic sipped, cocked an eyebrow, and then leaned in, close enough for Meredith to catch the grilled cedar of his aftershave. “You crushed it.”

Meredith’s laugh was brief but genuine. “I almost said your joke about ‘liking rope but loving knots.’”

“That would have been great but I’m happy nonetheless.”

“Good. We can’t linger, though. Mistress Susan’s session starts in ten.”

“You’re right. Let’s go.”

People were already gathering outside the other main conference room, a slow-forming queue of nervous giggles and smartphones dangling from lanyards. They followed the swell and found themselves assimilated into the flow, sliding past heavy doors and into a space bathed in low, red light.

Chairs had been arranged in concentric rings, the center an open circle, a small dais glowing with the cool blue of LED footlights. Mistress Susan stood at the edge, half in shadow, scanning the crowd as if looking for someone special.

After everyone was seated and the doors were closed, she stood in silence for a while, letting the tension build. A game was about to be played where she made all the rules and absolute attention was necessary. Only when everyone was still and waiting with bated breath, did she step forward, the heel of her boot clicking in the quiet, and begin.

“Welcome,” she said. “I’m Mistress Susan, I‘ve been a hypnodomme longer than some of you have been in the scene, and it’s an honor to be here and see so many eager faces, wanting to learn from me. I’ve come for one reason and one reason alone. Not to teach you to flog. Not to demonstrate knots you can find in any Boy Scout manual.” She let a pause hang. “I’m here to talk about what makes your brain bend for someone else. About the thing we rarely admit is the kink beneath all kinks: surrender, through and through.”

A ripple of nervous laughter passed through the closest ring of folding chairs. Meredith’s heart skipped a beat, already captivated by her opening words.

“Hypnosis,” she said, “is not just a parlor trick, or a set of spirals you download from a message board. For those of you who already play in this space, you know that there’s nothing quite like watching your partner melt in real time. To whisper something and witness their resistance just… evaporate. To have that power – and to give it away – is why you’re all here.”

She walked the inside perimeter, the audience’s heads pivoting to follow. “You’ve heard that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. That’s true. But it’s also true that you can be trained to respond to a voice, a gesture, a word. And that’s where the fun begins. Because when all is said and done the best dominants are just expert facilitators of trance.”

A few nods, some flushed faces now. Mistress Susan’s gaze swept the room, pausing on Meredith for just a beat – enough to register the familiar, dangerous smile that suggested their conversation from earlier was far from over.

“Why include hypnosis in your BDSM practice? Because it’s the only tool that can bypass even the most stubborn psychological defenses. It allows you to play out scenes that live only in fantasy realms, or would be unsafe or impossible in the physical world. Trance makes it possible to take someone right to the edge of their comfort zone and keep them safe, and happy, the entire ride.”

She hooked an ankle over the edge of the dais. “It’s also quite hot. You’ll find, if you try it, that once your mind’s been cracked open by someone you trust, nothing else quite satisfies that need again.”

Dominic, beside Meredith, muttered, “She’s not wrong.”

“And for all you switches and subs,” Susan continued, “there’s a special joy in being taken apart and rebuilt, not with rope or pain, but with ideas. Imagine that level of creative control and then imagine giving it up to someone you desire. That’s the real magic.”

She paused, dangling the silence in front of them like a treat. “Which of you here have never tried hypnosis?” A thicket of hands rose, some braver than others.

Susan’s smile was feline. “Good. You’re my favorites.”

She paced again, and this time began to modulate her speech: slower, richer, the vowels a touch more languorous. “We’ll begin with something simple. Not a full induction, but an invitation. I want you to close your eyes if you’d like, or keep them open if that’s safer. I don’t care if you think you can’t be hypnotized; Allow yourselves to notice how the room feels, how your body is sitting, who is next to you. Don’t analyze. Be curious about things. Curiosity is all you need.”

There was a murmur, followed by a hundred and thirty-odd souls adjusting themselves in their folding chairs. Mistress Susan’s boots whispered over the linoleum, before stopping in front of a young woman whose shoulders tensed with delight and surprise.

“It’s so nice to see you here, my dear,” Mistress Susan said. “You couldn’t stay away from this event, could you?”

“Of course not, Mistress Susan. It’s always a joy to hear you speak and an even greater pleasure to fall for you,” the woman replied.

“And don’t I know it?” the hypnodomme replied. “Care to help me with this little initiation to trance?”

“That will be my pleasure.”

“Good. Listen up, everyone. Allow me to introduce you to…”

To decide what happens next, head over to my Patreon (you can join for free), and vote on the poll there until next Sunday. 

If you’re new to these CYOA stories, here are the basic rules:

1) You can only choose one option;

2) If there’s a tie at the end of the poll, and the competing options can be combined somehow, I’ll do that. If not, I get the deciding vote to keep the tale going.

3) The process continues every Wednesday until the story runs its natural course.

Have fun.