Finding Jane

This story was originally published for the HALLOWEEN 2026 Story Contest.

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Finding Jane

Tarzan finds Jane in a crowd.

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Friday morning, Randall was eating breakfast by himself in the rotunda. None of his friends were in his early morning English class since he had put off the elective but still needed it to graduate. He was better rested and much more relaxed than usual and he assumed it was because he had already tested the Tarzan costume he was planning to wear to a Halloween party that evening.

As he was finishing breakfast and getting ready to go to class, he saw three women walking past, giggling with their heads close together. He recognized them from class, but didn't really know them. They were a couple of years younger and taking it earlier in their university careers, when he should have taken it.

The blonde one glanced over and pointed Randall out to her brown-haired friend. The friend looked at him, blushed, and then started walking faster. All three were giggling even more as they glanced over their shoulders.

Randall hoped that the girl blushing and looking away meant that she was interested and made a mental note to talk to her later. He thought her name was Jane, but didn't know for certain.

After starting toward class, a guy offered Randall a high-five and said, "Hey, Tarzan! How's it swinging?"

Randall high-five'd him back and mumbled, "Fine?" He didn't recognize the guy and didn't know why he would recognize his costume since he wasn't wearing it. Randall decided the guy had seen him wearing it at the show the night before. He couldn't remember much of the evening after he volunteered.

Randall arrived just as the teacher started talking, so he didn't have a chance to say anything to the brown-haired woman before taking his seat. The energy in class was weird that day. There were about thirty people there, and Randall only knew about a quarter of their names. He recognized everyone, of course, but even two months into the class they hadn't done much name exchanging. That wasn't the weird part; the weird part was how almost everyone smiled at him that day. Any time he caught someone's eye, they were grinning at him. The brunette was also getting a lot of smiles. It was weird energy.

After class, she walked over and stood next to Randall's desk. The other two girls were still by their desks, but watching them. "Hi, your name is Randall, isn't it?"

"Ah, yes? And you are?"

The girl grinned at him and said, "Well, my name is Janet. But after last night you can call me Jane."

Randall's eyes widened in shock as the previous evening came back all at once.

"Oh, no! I am so sorry!"

===

He and several of his friends had gone to a hypnotist show on campus, along with several hundred other people. Racy Ryan wasn't really famous, but he did college tours and had done shows on campus in previous years, so expectations were pretty high. The show was held in the old armory building where the ROTC folks work out in bad weather. It is an old building, but it still works as a multifunctional space. There is a small stage at one end, and movable bleachers along the walls. Those don't work any longer, so the audience all sat on the hardwood floor.

Racy Ryan walked onto the stage and started talking using a hands-free microphone. As he started his opening spiel, he set up four folding chairs on the stage. His voice, even though amplified, was calm and slow. "Thank you all for coming to the show tonight. It's a pleasure to be back again. I was a little concerned after what happened last year."

"As you know, most people can be hypnotized, although it takes a special person to be willing and able to relax and open themselves up in front of a crowd like this." Ryan waved his hand over the audience. "If a volunteer can relax enough, I can help them to visualize certain circumstances that they will be able to describe to us. Hypnotism can't make people do things they don't want to do, and it can't plant commands that trigger later."

Ryan had finished setting up the chairs and walked front and center on the stage so he could see the audience. "Ok, I need volunteers. Who would like to come up here and try their luck? I promise not to try to do any permanent damage, although I can't guarantee that you might not say or do something that you would normally be too reserved to do."

"So, who would like to volunteer?"

Randall's friends all pointed at him, so he laughed and raised a hand. Ryan saw him sitting there in only a loincloth and selected him right away. He didn't even bother wearing his slides as he ran up onto the stage.

Next, Ryan selected a woman wearing a sexy nurse's uniform with a really short skirt but stopped her as she climbed up the four stairs onto the stage. He turned off the microphone and whispered to her, "I would love to have you in the show, but have you thought about that skirt? If you sit on a chair on this stage, you will end up flashing everyone as you relax."

The woman grinned at him and said, "Just don't make it obvious, ok?"

Ryan grinned and waved her to a seat, where she sat with her knees held tight together.

Randall was already sitting when Ryan pointed at an older gray-haired woman who had raised her cane in the air. She was wearing an old spotted house dress and big clunky shoes. She stood up and started moving her stooped posture, slowly toward the stage. Ryan laughed and said, "Ok, Tarzan, go help her up here."

Randall jogged over to the old woman and offered her his arm before realizing that the old woman was actually another student dressed up as an old woman. The young woman grinned at Randall through her old lady glasses as she put her hand on his arm. "Oh, thank you, sweetie, you are so kind!"

The fourth volunteer was just wearing regular clothes.

As he climbed onto the stage, Ryan stopped him and asked, "Everyone else is dressed up. What is your costume?"

He replied, "I'm a werewolf."

Ryan frowned, "A werewolf? You don't look like a werewolf!"

The guy shrugged, "Of course not. It's not a full moon."

Ryan dropped his head and shook it back and forth in disbelief. Speaking into his microphone, he said, "It's not a full moon, people. He says he is a werewolf but that it isn't a full moon."

The audience groaned, and somebody yelled out, "Lame."

The werewolf smiled and sat down.

Ryan turned to face the audience and waved a hand toward the four volunteers. "Ok, first, can we have a round of applause for our volunteers?"

The audience applauded loudly, with several people whistling. The volunteers waved to the audience with broad smiles.

"Thank you, everyone! And now, if we can have some quiet, I will begin the process of hypnotizing my subjects!" The audience quieted and sat watching expectantly.

Turning his back to the audience, Ryan said, "Ok, I would like you to close your eyes. Relax your shoulders and your whole body."

Ryan walked around the stage. "Listen to the sound of my voice. Imagine that you are sinking into a comfortable bed. Be aware that you are warm, and comfortable, and safe." All four of the subjects visibly relaxed and slumped down in their chairs. The nurse's knees relaxed apart, revealing her light blue thong to people in just the right place in the audience.

"Imagine a time when you were safe and content. Relax and breathe deeply. I want you to control your breathing. We will breathe in for a count of five, and then breathe out for a count of five. Get ready to breathe in...

"One.

"Two.

"Three.

"Four.

"Five. Now get ready to breathe out.

"One.

"Two.

"Three.

"Four.

"Five. Excellent. Just keep breathing and stay happy, safe and warm."

The werewolf's head was flopped back, and his arms dangled to each side of his body while the old lady had slumped forward and was bent almost in half. Ryan reached down and pulled the cane from her limp fingers and placed it at the edge of the stage.

"I am going to speak to each of you separately now. Please stay in your warm and happy place. You will know that I am speaking to you because I will touch you gently."

Ryan reached down and touched the old lady. "Ma'am? Can you sit up, please? Stay in your safe place, but I want to talk to you."

The old lady sat up with a dreamy look on her face, but her eyes were still closed.

"Ma'am? That is a lovely dress you are wearing. What is your name, please?"

With a lazy smile, she opened her eyes and replied, "You can call me Mary, sweetie!"

"Mary is a wonderful name. Can you stand up and show off your dress, please?"

Mary stood up and slowly rotated around. The dress was not very flattering, but Mary acted like it was.

Ryan said, "You look really good in that dress, Mary."

Mary stroked his side and said, "This old thing? I only wear it when I don't care how I look!"

"Mary? I want you to imagine that you are sewing another dress. Can you do that for me? Can you sit back down and sew another dress?"

Mary looked at her chair, and then sat down. "Sure! I can do that!"

It really looked like Mary was sewing something. First she cut some invisible fabric, then she pinned pieces together before bending over to start working on a sewing machine that nobody in the audience could see.

Leaving Mary to his work, Ryan touched the werewolf on his knee. "Sit up, please."

The werewolf sat up, but his eyes were glassy.

Ryan said, "You are doing very well. Can you tell me your name, please?"

"Bruce."

"Ok, thank you, Bruce. You are very relaxed here, but the lights are very hot. Over the next few minutes, you will get very warm, ok?"

Nodding his head, Bruce didn't say anything.

Ryan stepped behind Randall and laid his hand on the mostly naked man's shoulder. "Tarzan? Can you stand up, please? You are on the edge of the jungle, looking out into a clearing."

Tarzan stood up with his hands on his hips and looked out into the audience. Only his eyes moved.

"There is something out there, Tarzan. But you can't tell what it is. Keep looking for it, but stay right here, ok?"

Tarzan nodded.

Ryan moved over to the sexy nurse, and she was flapping her hand like it was a fan. She looked really warm. Not as warm as Bruce was starting to look, but warm.

Touching her arm, Ryan said, "Please stand up."

The nurse stood up and looked straight forward.

"Hello, nurse, what is your name?"

"Skylar."

"Skylar is a lovely name, thank you." Ryan paused for a moment and asked, "Skylar? Do you like going to the beach?"

"Oh, yes. I love the beach. When it is nice out."

"Skylar, I want you to imagine that you are at a beach. Ok? Envision the sand and the crashing waves."

A smile spread across Skylar's face and she took a deep breath.

"You've been at the beach for a couple of hours, so it's almost time to go."

Skyler let out her breath in a deep sigh.

"Skylar, I want you to look around, ok? Can you see the outdoor shower at the edge of the beach?"

Scanning around the stage, Skylar's eyes stopped at a spot a little to her left. She pointed at the empty space.

"Skylar? You are covered in salt and sand from the beach and need to take a shower before you leave. The clothes you are wearing are your bathing suit, and there are kids around, so you have to leave them on, but you need to take a nice long shower, ok?"

Just as Ryan mentioned that she had to leave her clothes on, a male voice from the audience yelled out, "Boo!" Ryan raised a finger to the audience and waggled it back and forth.

"None of that, now! I want to be invited back again next year!"

Ryan turned back to Skylar. "The shower feels really nice, so take as long as you want. Nobody is waiting for you."

Skylar smiled again and reached out to twist a knob. She reached her hand out but pulled it back so that she could adjust the faucet. After a moment, she stepped forward into the water and ran her hands through her hair. This pushed her chest out and the rude guy in the audience called out, "Nice!"

Ryan watched her for a moment before turning to Bruce, who was starting to sweat a little. "Bruce! I am so sorry that it is so warm for you! You can take your shirt off, if you want."

Pulling his shirt up over his head, Bruce let out a deep sigh and said, "Thank god!" He started to fan himself with his shirt.

"Mary? How is the dress coming?"

Mary smiled at Ryan. "It's all done! Look!" Mary held up her hands as if she was holding a dress.

"Oh, Mary, that is very nice! You are an excellent seamstress! Would you like to model your new dress for us?"

"Oh, can I? That would be wonderful!" Before Ryan could give other instructions, Mary pulled the waist ties loose and shrugged the old-style dress over her head. She dropped it to the ground at her feet, leaving her standing in only a sports bra and mismatched panties. The audience erupted in laughs and applause before she stepped into her invisible dress and pulled it up over her shoulders.

"Can you zip me up? Please?" Mary asked as she turned her back to Ryan and the audience.

Ryan replied, "Of course!" and ran his fingertips up the center of her back. Mary turned back to look at Ryan with a wide smile on her face. He said, "There is a mirror right here, if you want to check out your handiwork."

Mary stepped toward the audience and started twisting and turning to check out how the dress fit. The audience couldn't see the dress, though, and they only saw the attractive student modeling her bra and underwear.

While watching Mary modeling, Ryan heard a woman's voice ring out from the audience, "Skylar!"

The rude guy's voice called out, "Yes!" and the audience started making even more noise.

Ryan looked at Skylar and saw that she had already taken off her blouse and was just starting to push down her skirt. He ran over and tried to stand between Skylar and the audience.

"Skylar, the clothes you are wearing are your bathing suit; you aren't supposed to take them off! There are kids on the beach."

Skylar kicked her skirt to the side and said, "Don't be silly! I'm still wearing my bathing suit! I just took off the coverups. I would never take my clothes off in front of kids." Skylar looked at Ryan as she stood in front of everyone in her matching bra and panties.

Ryan turned to the audience and shrugged. "Skylar is still wearing her bathing suit while showering at the beach."

The volunteers on stage were mostly naked. The two women were wearing their underwear, while Randall was wearing a loincloth. Only Bruce was still wearing pants. Ryan decided it was time to do something about that.

"Bruce. Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Bruce, you said you are a werewolf. Pretend that is true, but that you are not a dangerous werewolf. Imagine that when you transform, you are still in control of yourself. Know that you would not hurt anyone, even in your beast form."

"Oh, yes. Like team Jacob." The audience laughed, but Bruce was unaffected.

"Yes, just like Jacob. You would never hurt anyone."

Bruce nodded.

"Bruce?"

"Yes?"

"Pretend that you made a mistake. You miscounted. Today is the first day of the full moon. You are going to transform. Right here, right now."

Bruce looked up at the ceiling and started to panic.

Ryan's voice was still slow and calm. "Bruce! You are safe! You are alone on this stage; nobody can see you. As long as you stay on the stage, you are safe. Let the transformation take you. Change now, but stay in control."

Bruce fell off his chair onto his knees and screamed in pain while staring at his right hand. Nobody could see any transformation, of course, but it was clear that Bruce could feel it. Rolling on the floor, he struggled to kick off his sneakers and pull down his pants. Clad only in his boxers, he stretched one limb after another until a final scream turned into a ragged howl. It was a horrifying sound.

"Bruce! You are still in control! Once the transformation is complete, you will need to rest for a moment. Imagine that you are tired and curl up to rest."

Bruce's mouth opened in a huge, open-mouthed yawn, and while still on his hands and knees, he turned in a circle and curled up.

Ryan looked at his other subjects. Tarzan was staring out at the audience while Mary and Skylar were displaying their nearly naked bodies to the audience.

"Mary, your dress is fabulous. I am sure you can make an excellent shirt, as well. Can you imagine making a really nice shirt?"

Mary beamed at Ryan's praise. "Oh, yes, of course! I can do that!"

"Excellent! Our friend Tarzan here needs a nice shirt. I want you to measure him and make a shirt for him, Ok?"

Mary looked at Tarzan, stood up, and moved next to him.

"Tarzan? Keep looking for whatever is in the clearing, but raise your arms out to your sides so that Mary can measure you, ok?"

Tarzan nodded and spread his arms wide. His eyes kept scanning the audience while Mary stood close to him and started to measure his arms, neck and chest by running her hands across his body.

Ryan then moved Skylar's seat a bit away from where Bruce was curled up on the floor. "Skylar? You are nice and clean now. It's time to go home. Can you see your car over there?" He pointed at her seat.

Skylar looked and nodded. She was wringing her hair, even though it was completely dry.

"Ok, you are going to drive home now, ok? You can put your coverups back on if you will be more comfortable that way."

Ryan and the audience watched Skyler scoop up her clothes and carry them to her seat. Still wearing only her underwear, she opened the car door and tossed her clothes onto the floor next to her seat. She even remembered to put on her seatbelt before beginning to drive home. She didn't make any effort at all to keep her thighs together.

Ryan shook his head and walked over to Randall. "Tarzan, you can put your arms down now. You've been watching the clearing. There is something dangerous out there. Can you see it?"

Tarzan tensed a little and nodded.

"What is it? Where is it? What can you see?"

Tarzan crouched a little more and pointed to the left side of the audience. "Tiger!"

"A tiger? Oh no! That is terrible! You've got to scare it away. Scream your loudest yell and scare it away."

Tarzan stepped forward and slapped his hands against his chest several times before cupping his hands in front of his mouth. "Awww Awww Awww, Awww Awww!" The call was very loud and caused the audience to burst out into laughter.

"Good job, Tarzan, the tiger ran away. But Jane is out there, too! Can you see Jane?"

"Jane!"

"Tarzan! You've got to save Jane. The tiger could come back, so bring Jane up here. She will be safe here."

Still searching for Jane, Randall's eyes locked on someone in the audience. "Be careful, Tarzan, but bring Jane up here!"

Tarzan ran to the edge of the stage and jumped off. The stage was only about three feet high, but the people in the front row screamed as he landed in front of them before running around the side of the audience to a brown-haired woman. He held out his hand and said, "We've got to go!"

The woman giggled and covered her face with her hands. Her friends encouraged her to go with him, so she did. With gentle tugs and nudges, Tarzan led the woman up to the stage. He stood tall and made his shoulders wide as the two moved together.

Ryan spoke to the woman and said, "Jane, thank you for joining us. I can send you back down, or you can stay for a moment, but I won't have time to put you under. You will be in complete control the whole time, ok?"

'Jane' nodded and said, "I can stay."

Ryan grinned at her, "That is good."

"Tarzan? You rescued Jane. But somehow there are a bunch of ants in her hair. Can you groom her hair? Be gentle with her."

Tarzan looked very concerned and gently pulled Jane to a sitting position on the floor. He knelt next to her and started to run his fingers through her hair. Jane giggled and blushed as he started to work on her. When he found an ant, he would pop it into his mouth and bite down on it.

Knowing that the show was almost out of time, Ryan moved back over to Bruce. "Bruce? It is almost dawn. The sun is starting to rise. Once you transform back into a normal person, get dressed and return to your seat."

Bruce raised his head and looked off to the side of the stage. He grimaced and began to whine as he contorted his limbs.

Ryan asked both Skylar and Mary to get dressed and return to their seats before turning back to Tarzan. "Tarzan? You have gotten all the ants out of Jane's hair. It is time for you to return to your seat and let her go. Say goodbye to Jane, ok?"

Tarzan tipped his head to the side as he looked at Jane and reached out to gently touch her face. "Goodbye, Jane." Tarzan returned to his seat as Ryan helped Jane to stand.

"Thank you, Jane!" He motioned to the audience and said, "Let's have a round of applause for Jane, everyone!" Jane walked off the stage and returned to her friends, embarrassed but smiling.

Ryan gave Mary a moment to get clear and turned to Mary. "Mary? It's almost time for everyone to go. You should put your first dress back on to complete your costume, ok?"

Mary looked down at the dress on the ground at her feet, said "OK," and picked it up. Without removing her imaginary dress, she pulled the real one over her head and retied it around her waist.

Ryan turned to Skyler and said, "Skyler? It's starting to get cool out. You should put your coverups back on now."

Skyler shivered a little and looked into an imaginary mirror before signaling to pull over onto the side of the imaginary road. She even unbuckled her seat belt before leaning over to pick up her sexy nurse's uniform.

Once all four of the volunteers were back in their seats, Ryan began talking again. "You are warm and safe and comfortable. Focus on your breathing as I bring you back to the stage. Breathe in, breathe out. You will be calm and relaxed when you leave."

Ryan let the group breathe for a moment before continuing, "I am going to count up from one to five. When I get to five, you will awaken fully refreshed and relaxed.

"One.

"Two.

"Three.

"Four.

"Five. Wake up calm and relaxed."

Ryan turned to the audience and said, "Can we have a round of applause for our volunteers!" The audience exploded into applause, and the volunteers waved and smiled as the evening ended.

===

Randall stood up and said, "I am so sorry! I don't know why I picked you! Are you ok?"

Janet grinned at Randall. "I'm fine. I'm more than fine, really. I was surprised that you picked me out of the crowd, though. I didn't think you knew who I was."

"Well, I don't, not really."

"Would you like to do something to get to know me? Unless you are already in trouble with your girlfriend?"

"Oh, I'm not dating anyone. I'm not in any trouble."

Janet reached up and touched Randall's face like he had touched hers the evening before. That made Randall very nervous, and he glanced at her friends across the room. They were watching intently, while whispering to one another.

"Those are my roommates, Jody and Lucy. They were there last night, too. They saw how you looked at me. Right now they are waiting for us to decide if they need to find somewhere else to go for a few hours.

It took Randall a moment to understand what she meant. "Are you inviting me back to your room?"

Janet looked Randall up and down. "Yes. My next class isn't until after noon."

Randall stepped close and said, "That is convenient. I don't have any more classes today at all."

Laughing, Janet said, "Well, I'm going to have lunch with the girls before my class, so we don't have all day." She waved at her friends, who waved back as they turned to leave the room.

The blonde one, Lucy, called out, "Goodbye, Jane!" She and Jody giggled to one another as they left the room.

Janet took Randall's hand and moved after her friends. "I really liked the way you played with my hair last night. Can you do that again?"

With a wide grin, Randall said, "I can do anything you want, Jane."

.

The end, for now.

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The Story Contests and Challenges are a lot of fun, and the authors work hard to make their offerings entertaining. Please check out the other submissions. Your votes and comments are the best way to support all the authors' efforts.

I am trying to complete the Survivor Challenge of writing in every Literotica category. I am also trying to complete the challenge while including the same character, Randall, in each story. Some categories are harder to complete than others.

If you have any feedback or suggestions, I would love to hear from you.

Thank you for reading!