"Ugh... what a stupid book." Tiffany thought as she sat in the library reading a psychology textbook about the effects of hypnosis, mesmerism and the power of suggestion on the human mind and body. The author believed that such things could be used to relieve pain, heal injuries and possibly even cure life threatening diseases.

"As if..." the pretty blonde student said out loud. Just because some weak-minded person could be convinced to believe something was real, that didn't necessarily make it real. She looked with obvious skeptism at some of the illustrations in the book. There were pictures of wavy lines, dots arranged in various patterns, blurry images... they were supposed to be points of focus that a person could use to hypnotize themselves or someone else. Turning the page, she found a full-page illustration of the classic hypnotic image; a large, full color, elaborate spiral.

"So I guess if I stare hard enough into the spiral, I'll fall into a trance. Yeah, right..." she thought with amused sarcasm. As if she had dared herself to do it however, she fixed her eyes on the center of the spiral and stared deeply into it. At first nothing happened. As expected. But the longer she stared at the picture, the more it seemed like the spiral was actually spinning...

"It's an optical illusion. That's all. Who hasn't seen something like that before?" she thought. Still, it was a pretty good illusion. The contrasting colors and patterns in the picture added to the effect. It was actually kind of neat. Tiffany found herself focusing more and more on the spiral, wanting to see how fast and for how long she could make it spin. Somehow, before she realized it, the spiral had claimed all of her awareness. She had been so focused on maintaining the illusion that any other thoughts had just been abandoned. Now she was sitting at the table, her mind empty except for the image in front of her, her eyes fixed on the slowly spinning spiral that filled her vision...

Night was stealing over the campus, on its watery world. It was the perfect time for the island's less beneficent denizens to venture forth, to catch the more vulnerable inhabitants before they were relaxing from the day and not yet wrapped in sleep. Dendrite surged forth from its watery lair, preternatural senses peering through the surroundings. Then the dark, glistening bulk set forth toward...the library.

The library? Yes, tonight Dendrite was feeling downright scholarly. The (in)famous tentacled alien had just completed some research into some of the odder aspects of human psychology, including what they termed 'hypnosis'. It was a sort of induced, altered mental state. How would such a thing interact with the creature's own abilities—if not telepathic, they were certainly empathic. Dendrite was eager to try in the 'field'.

Through long experience, Dendrite navigated the hidden paths of the campus. It was almost as though someone had wanted to make it easy for ne'er-do-wells to travel the grounds. ("Almost"—a cynical flash of amusement accompanied the thought.) Soon Dendrite slipped through a back door and crawled over the bookshelves, seeking whatever prey might be found.

And as luck would have it, a solitary student was there, studying. A relatively new arrival, it seemed. Studying very intently, despite the oncoming twilight.

Dendrite looked over the student's shoulder, indulging a momentary whim as to what she was reading.

...

Really? A book on hypnosis? Not only that, the girl had managed to perform one of the techniques on herself. She must be especially susceptible. Dendrite wasn't sure whether to revel in good fortune, or to feel vague unease that someone was having a laugh at its expense.

Well, one never looked a gift horse in the mouth. (Dendrite's species had a very similar proverb, mentioning a type of fish much like a barracuda.)

Enough screwing around. Dendrite grasped the girl's chair and pulled her backward, away from the table and its book. The chair's feet squealed on the tiled floor, but Dendrite was certain not a soul was around to hear. "Now," the alien's dark voice came, "What is your name?". Would the girl wake up when her light of sight to the book was broken? Would she stay hypnotized? Would she wake at its voice, or at its touch, or would she immediately run? Whatever happened, Dendrite would enjoy her.

"OH!"

Tiffany jumped, startled as her chair pulled back from the table. Whether or not she had actually been hypnotized by the spiral could have been a matter for debate, but she had certainly "zoned out" while staring at it. The sun had been bright when she came into the library and a few other students had been perusing the shelves or quietly studying at one of the tables. But now it was getting dark and she was the only one here... except she wasn't. A strange voice asked her what her name was. The voice was strange because even though she could hear it, it had an unusual quality that made it weirdly difficult to determine what direction it had actually come from, almost like an echo. She could only assume that whoever it belonged to must be behind her though, because that's the direction her chair was pulled. Her first thought was that maybe she was in trouble. She was new here and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be in the library after everyone else had left.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know that the library was cl- OHH!"

Turning around, Tiffany didn't see the scolding face of a disapproving librarian as she expected. She saw something that seemed to have crawled out of a nightmare and into reality. The creature she was looking at reminded her a little of a snake or a slug. It was a greenish color and had a mass of tentacle-like appendages growing out of it in various places, one of which was still holding on to the back of her chair. The startled blonde leaped backwards like a cat stepping on a hot stove, banging her bottom against the table behind her.

"UNHFF! "

Adorable. That was what Dendrite immediately thought as the girl leaped out of her chair. "Don't worry," the creature murmured, looming over her. "You're not in any trouble...Yet."

That, of course, was a lie.

Dendrite leaned closer to the girl, focusing its attention on her, taking in every detail of her form. She was trembling, but was it from mere surprise? Or was she starting to understand the nature of her situation?

"Now...look into my eye." The alien's eye opened wide, subtle patterns on the catlike iris gleaming in the light. Tentacles reached slowly toward her, undulating gently. How susceptible would she be to this?

"A dream... this has to be dream... I fell asleep in the library and now I'm having some kind of really weird nightmare..." Tiffany thought. Only it didn't feel like a dream. For one thing, the creature was SPEAKING to her. Exactly how he managed that, she wasn't sure, because nothing remotely close to a "normal" mouth moved when he spoke. She wasn't sure if they were "mouths" or not, but there were three vertical slits in the creatures trunk that could be mouths...

She realized this was not exactly the case, however when the creature said, "...look into my eye."
It was at that point that the central slit opened wide, revealing a huge, cat-like eye of brilliant blue.
Tiffany couldn't help but stare, half horrified, half amazed by this unexpected occurrence. Tiny, sparkling patterns of light seemed to dance across the surface of it. It was both terrifying and beautiful...

As the creatures tentacles inched closer, she tried to push back against the table, which was either fastened to the floor somehow, or simply too heavy for her to move. All she managed to do was move up to her tip toes as she leaned backwards over it. Also, the tendrils weren't moving very quickly or in a terribly threatening manner, so Tiffany thought she could shimmy up onto the table if they got too close to her.

Still staring into that huge, pretty, twinkling blue eye, she asked, "What in the name of God are you?"

Dendrite stayed almost still, easily towering over the girl even if she were to slip onto the table. The creature slowly leaned forward, watching her carefully...scrutinizing every movement, every inch of her body. It was vital to understand how she was reacting to this hypnotic strategem. (And, well, she was cute too.)

"I am from far beyond Earth," the creature murmured. She was susceptible, no question. However, she wasn't simply submitting to Dendrite's hypnosis. Something more was needed...Perhaps a distraction. Continuing to gaze unblinkingly at the girl, Dendrite reached forth with a couple of tendrils, coiling around her hips and caressing her rear.

The enormous eye grew even bigger as the creature leaned forward, claiming all of Tiffany's vision now, the lights from the room and the windows continuing to sparkle and dance across that almost incandescent field of blue. She was scared, but at the same time fascinated by the contrast of the horrid creature's appearance and the exotic beauty of it's single luminous eye. The way it shone in the growing darkness of the deserted library reminded her of the way the eyes of a cat might glow in the headlights of a passing car on a dark road at night. The effect as he leaned forward was as if she was falling into it's clear, azure depths...

Tiffany barely noticed the sudden advance of Dendrite's tentacles as she stood more or less transfixed by the eye. She jumped though, startled, when a few of them coiled around her.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?"

Her hands moved to try and push them away and she managed (with noticeable difficulty, though) to pull her eyes away from the iridescent orb in front of her.

Dendrite deftly pushed Tiffany's chair to the side, and the alien tugged her upward and back, making her sit on the library table. The hypnotism book slid off and hit the floor with a thump. Nothing was going to distract Dendrite from this alluring young woman.

She was innocent, though, wasn't she? Some students were familiar enough with the campus' hidden aspects to quickly realize what was in store for them. Others had not yet learned...

"Getting you comfortable," the dark voice murmured. Tendrils coiled tightly around her thighs, holding them spread; Dendrite's body loomed closer, almost pressing to her form. "What a cute young woman you are..." The alien's voice was soothing, enhancing the hypnotic effect of its eye. At least, that was the plan...

"OH!"

Tiffany was amazed by the agility and strength of the tendrils that had coiled around her. At first glance, they seemed more "decorative" than functional, until they lifted her effortlessly from the floor up onto the table. Her hands were still pulling at the ones wrapped around her waist when two more coiled around her legs, holding them apart and keeping her firmly seated on the table.

"St-stop it! Let go of me! What are you trying to... to..."

Her thought was interrupted as she looked up. The creature had moved closer to her now, almost touching her. From so close, his glistening blue eye filled her vision yet again. The light sparkled in it, like a brilliant blue sapphire. That dizzying sensation of vertigo, as if she were falling into a pool of clear, blue water, washed over her again as she gazed into it. His strange voice seemed to emanate from all around her, rippling out of the very air more than from his actually body. It had a dark, somewhat sinister quality to it, but it was also soft and rich... deep... almost... seductive...

Ah, the hypnosis was working. Dendrite was delighted with this turn of events. Now, what was next... "You are feeling very relaxed," the alien intoned. "You are not at all scared, because there is nothing to be scared of. You are relaxed and open to new experiences." With that having been said, the tendrils began tugging at Tiffany's clothes, pulling her skirt up as well as her shirt, exposing more of the girl's beautiful form.

His voice washed over her again... so... compelling... echoing all around her... as though she could hear it in her mind as well her ears. And the eye... it was... magnetic... pulling her own towards it... Why was it so hard to look away?

"S-stop that... d-don't..." She stammered as the tendrils lifted her skirt and began to pull at her top.

Tiffany's expression was one of confused resistance; she was fighting it, but her voice was quieter as she protested now, and her gaze remained fixed on the eye.

"S-stop it... let go... "

The muscles in her thighs flexed as she tried to bring her knees together, straining against the tendrils as her hands flailed about trying to alternately push them away from her and keep her clothes in place.

"This would be easier if you looked at them, Tiffany..." she thought to herself, but the thought had a disconnected quality to it, almost as if someone else had thought it for her. Despite the criticism, and a growing feeling of panic, she found herself somehow unable to look away from the eye... She realized, with mixed dismay and fascination, that the subtle patterns of light flashing along it's surface were a lot like the picture of the spiral in the book. As she stared at them, they seemed to dance and spin faster, alternating direction... it was such an interesting illusion...

As mesmerized as the girl seemed to be, Dendrite was also quite rapt. The alien never got tired of exploring human women. "No, there is no reason for me to let go," the creature's dark voice murmured. "Because there is nothing to be afraid of..."

It would probably be difficult to completely undress her as she stared into the giant eye, but there was nothing wrong with being a little informal. With her shirt pushed up, Dendrite's tendrils slithered over her torso and her back, leaving wet trails over her smooth skin. They deftly unhooked her bra and pushed it up a bit, freeing her breasts from its confines; then the tentacles went to work massaging and caressing her softness, nipples soon glistening with the slippery slime.

Tiffany gasped as her bra came loose and the alien tentacles began to assault her breasts, coiling around them and squeezing gently.

"OH! N-no... d-don't... st-stop... stahhh... ahhh... nnhh...n-no..."

She was still trying to fight... both the mind-numbing effect of the eye and the vice-like grip of the tentacles that were molesting her. Tiffany's hands continued to try and pry the alien tendrils away from her body, but they were so strong and slick... secreting some kind of warm, slippery slime that sort of tingled wherever it touched her skin. Her protests grew more and more breathless as the viscous alien fluid started to make her sensitive pink nipples tingle... tightening... stiffening...

To make matters worse, the creature's eye continued to pull at her. She could feel it trying to draw her deeper and deeper into its simmering depths... trying to push aside her thoughts...

She needed to concentrate if she was going to shake off the mesmerizing effect the eye was having on her. But the feel of the tendrils coiled around her breasts... her nipples hardening... it was so distracting...

Dendrite leaned forward even more, almost as if pushing the girl onto her back... but not quite. The tendrils pressed up against her back, holding and supporting her. It was almost as though she were laying in a reclining chair, albeit one that was massaging her quite intimately.

"Relax," the alien droned. "Relax..." Its attention was focused completely on her, whatever hypnotice ability the creature had aimed right at her. The large eye continued subtly glittering, holding her attention... and more slimy tendrils sneaked up her thighs, increasing the distractions.

"What are... ahh... no, I... I don't... I... ohh..." Tiffany panted, her breath beginning to quicken now.

Though it had been the eye that had drawn her gaze, it was his voice echoing through her mind that finally pushed her over the threshold of her resistance.

"Relax... relax... relax..."

It kept repeating that word as it leaned into her, forcing her backwards into a reclining position, supported by more serpentine appendages that had slithered around behind her. Her skin glistened with the warm, tingling slime that oozed from its alien flesh. The tendrils were sort of "icky", but the feel of them sliding over her skin, coiled around her breasts, squeezing... it actually felt... sort of good... her body was tingling all over and her nipples were... so hard now... it was... relaxing...

Tiffany's hands ceased pulling at the slimy tentacles coiled about her, drifting down to her sides as her body slowly relaxed; her eyes gazing deeply into the glittering depths of the great blue eye. She had fallen under his spell...