Chapter 4

I spent most of the afternoon calling, or summoning, I guess, some books from Pat’s library. Maggie’s suggestion had me wondering, and once I thought to look, it wasn’t at all farfetched. The search might have gone faster, and did go faster except I was transcribing as I went. I got quicker with my transcription spell though, and by the end of the day, could pull a new book and transcribe the readable portions in mere moments.

In a book called ‘Fledgling Magic‘, there was a section about how young magic users should be careful about being found out. They suggested a simple spell that would allow them to practice without family interfering. It was a suggestion spell, one not requiring a lot of power but with far-reaching implications.

With that spell, I could simply tell my parents not to notice anything odd about me. It worked in their subconscious, subtly guiding their thoughts, dispelling worries, and letting them convince themselves that whatever I was doing was completely normal. The hook with a spell like this was an intimate knowledge of the person on whom it was cast. Not intimate as in sexual, but the relationship had to be close, as in family close, or the Mage had to spend time reading the mind of the recipient, getting to know them.

The book suggested not openly flaunting major magics in front of them, but most things, most minor spells that magic users routinely used to make life easier, would go unnoticed. It also specifically pointed out that sex was a powerful influence, and it was important having family members ignore sexual contact the magic user had with his or her visitors, including overnight guests.

I was a little shocked for a moment when it suggested that the spell was especially effective for magic users who used family members as a sexual outlet, but it made sense in a way. I mean, Maggie and I were lovers, as were Pat and his sister, evidently, and I could see where other magic users might start the same way.

The spell was very easy, all it took was getting each parent alone for a moment and making eye contact as I cast the spell.

Maggie was ecstatic when she learned she wouldn’t have to sneak into my bed at night and out again in the morning. She was almost as happy that I could now, more or less openly, help with household chores. Cleaning spells beat sweeping and mopping any day!

Another solution the book supplied was my constant need for new notebooks into which I could transcribe the books I borrowed from Pat. I had been going about it all wrong, using my hoarded allowance to buy cheap notebooks when I had the solution at my fingertips!

I did have to buy one more, but I bought a very nice, bound book with blank pages, then used a couple of the stacks of newspaper and magazines Dad had managed to collect in the garage, as source material to duplicate the spell book!

Then the problem became storing them all, but there was a passing reference to magic pockets in space and time, so I had a feeling it the answer was in one of those books I couldn’t call yet. For now, I indexed them all into a small pocket notebook and stacked them in my closet.

It seemed like every time I found a solution to one problem, half a dozen more questions popped up, and I was spending almost all of my free time searching through Pat’s library!

For instance, Maggie and Carrie were as close as sisters these days, and I know they talked together about my sister’s suspicions. They also talked about the day they would have to leave, and both were upset that it was necessary. They even suggested, at one time or another, skipping college all together or even delaying entry until I was ready.

The answer to this conundrum was a variation on what I was using on my parents to have them overlook any strangeness ... like me sleeping with my older sister. What made the Maggie, Carrie and maybe, someday, Lynn and Bernice too, easier to handle was that they were highly suggestible during sex. The magic leeching out of me and being absorbed by my playmates, made any suggestion I gave them sink in and take hold easily.

After giving it some thought, I started with Maggie and Carrie right away, letting them know that I loved them, but I knew they had their own lives to live. They were free to stay with me until it was time to leave for college, but I wanted them to be free to find love and companionship while away. They would be able to date, fool around and even find a mate without feeling bad about our link.

That would be the end of us as well, but that was okay, they would still be loved just as much as they were today. Maggie, especially, needed to break off the sexual side of our relationship when she left, and Carrie who would probably always be best friends with Maggie, would be there for them to support each other.

The other part of my mental adjustments was an absolute prohibition against talking about my magic anywhere, any time. They were not to mention anything about what I could do, even if I transported the Eiffel Tower and placed it in the middle of town! This was something I made sure to drive home each time there was an opportunity. During sex, I didn’t even have to say it aloud, just having the thought, the prohibition in my mind, was enough.

Lynn, Bernice, and, maybe, Alicia were all in my grade, so we had a couple of years to worry about the relationship issues, and they would get the same prohibition against talking to anyone.

Sunday evening, I contacted Pat again.

And the contact dropped, the ribbon I visualized as carrying our connection floating aimlessly. I wondered what he meant, but there wasn’t much I could do anyway, so I put it out of my mind for now.

The three Mouseketeers didn’t come over Sunday, but they did meet me before school, cornering me as soon as I stepped foot off the bus Monday morning.

Lynn wrapped her arms around me and gave me a soul-searing kiss while the other two watched.

“Hank, when can I come over again?” she asked, her voice low and sultry.

“Soon, sweetheart. I had some stuff to do this weekend.” I told her, grinning.

“Hank? Can we come over too?” Alicia asked, batting her eyes at me.

Bernie, on the other hand, looked annoyed. “What the hell, Hank. I thought you were my friend? Am I not pretty enough, is that it?” she asked, sounding hurt at the idea.

I reached out and pulled Bernie to me, wrapping my arms around her waist and putting my forehead in contact with hers.

“Bernie, this is all new to me too, you know. Last year, no one even noticed me, now I have three of the sexiest girls in school wanting to spend time with me.”

She smiled, tilting her head up so she could rub noses with me. “Hank, Lynn told us about you and her. I about wore out my poor little kitty just thinking about it.” she whispered, blushing but not pulling away. “Can I come over after school? I promise, you won’t regret it.” she said, licking her lips suggestively.

“Hey! What about me?” Alicia cried out, stamping her foot. Lynn and Bernie laughed, but I reached out and grabbed her arms, pulling her into a group hug.

I was enjoying this, but so were a lot of bystanders. I could see at least a dozen people watching and whispering.

“Ladies, we are making a bit of a scene.” I whispered, pulling back a bit.

The three girls all stepped back, guilty smiles on their faces.

“I don’t mind if the whole world knows I think you three are sexy as hell, but I don’t want to be the reason there are rumors around school about you.” I told them.

“I don’t give a damn.” Bernie said simply. “Let them talk about me.”

“I have to be careful.” Alicia said sadly, looking around at the people in the parking lot. “My mother would ship me off to a convent if she thought I was having sex.”

“At least I don’t have to worry about that! Carrie is practically my mom already, and she wouldn’t care if I did Hank on the table in the lunchroom, except that it would get us both expelled.” Lynn laughed, pretending to feel put out by the idea.

The first bell rang and, and as I walked to class, I got another idea. The spell I used on my parents could be used at school too. I would have to use it on each of my teachers, then slowly try and work my way through other teachers and administrative staff, but it was do-able.

I entered first period with a smile on my face, trailed by the three lovelies.

School, with the help of the memory spell, was easier now. I took the time to read through each of the textbooks, working the practice tests and the study problems, so classes were more in the way of refreshers than anything else. I hadn’t turned into Einstein or anything and there were still areas where I had problems. Being able to discuss those areas in class made subjects really gel for me though. There were labs and practical applications of the knowledge that had to be completed, but for the most part, school seemed much easier than the previous year.

So much so that I took to bringing a spell book with me to school, reading and learning more about magic instead on concentrating on the lessons. It was in one of these classes that I found something very interesting.

In a volume titled ‘The Physical World‘, I found spells to transform the body. They were designed to transform others, but there were lessons on transforming myself as well. Glamours and illusions were much easier, but it was possible to actually change the way I looked, and to make myself bigger, stronger, more handsome and even healthier and longer lived, all using the body’s natural processes.

These spells were much harder, and would require a lot more study and power. They were also dangerous, and the book warned that a botched spell could, no pun intended, spell disaster for the caster. It was recommended that the magic user study physiology and anatomy and learn exactly what each change required before attempting anything.

If I wanted, for example, to make my nose look different, I needed to know how the skin cells would react, how the bone and cartilage were connected, how the blood flow supplied the cells with nutrients. I needed to understand the airway, the sinuses and how they connected and even how the cilia in my nostrils filtered contaminants. There were at least a hundred other things to take into consideration and that was just a nose job!

Then, once I had all of that held in my mind, the trick seemed to be convincing the body to take on that shape and use its own abilities to heal and adapt, forcing it to make the changes under your guidance. There were no spells, I noticed, for directly changing anything about your body other than the dead bits like hair and fingernails.

It was all about convincing your body to do things using unconventional, but certainly possible, methods. Every spell in this section seemed to have a long incubation or activation period. I could make my immune system almost bullet proof, but it took a few months for my body to change everything that needed to change. This was especially true with things like my height and build, changes that fundamentally altered me.

There were a couple of ‘pre-packaged’ spells that were extremely involved, but already contained all of the elements for success. These spells would make my body more efficient. I would process food better, breaking down the elements I needed for survival, and my body would eliminate harmful elements more effectively.

I would shed fat and use it to build muscle, and those muscles would be stronger. Clearing my body of toxins would make me generally healthier, less prone to illness, and even extend my life. These all worked by getting your body to do the things it always did, just in better, more efficient ways.

I wouldn’t be superman, leaping tall buildings in a single bound, but I would be fit, trim and healthy and stay that way. I would heal faster from injuries, shrug off most illnesses, and recover faster from those I couldn’t ignore. I guess the health nuts had that much right, anyway.

The three Mouseketeers came to my house after school, a bit nervous that my mother was home and surprised when she simply waved at the girls when I took them back to my room.

“Your mother doesn’t care that you have three girls in your room?” Alicia asked, looking shocked.

“Nope. She’s pretty cool like that.” I said, playing it off. No need to tell them why though.

“Heck, I had to sneak around with Darrell for a year. It was like, maybe, once a week when we could find some time away from my mom.” Alicia said with a sigh.

“Darrell, your brother?” I asked, pretending nonchalance. I already knew, kind of, I mean I had figured out what Lynn had tried to tell me, but I wasn’t going to admit it.

Alicia looked startled, blushing furiously. She looked to Lynn and Bernie for support before turning back to me. “I ... I thought you already knew. I mean, I was sure that Lynn or Bernie had told you. It’s not that different from you and Maggie though.” she said, sounding scared but defiant.

“I wasn’t judging, Alicia, just asking.” I assured her, giving her a hug. “As for the others, well, Bernie and Lynn know that I don’t like gossip, and if you have secrets of your own, then only you can tell them. You don’t have to, you know.”

I hopped on my bed and offered my arms to Alicia. She sat down with her back against my chest and held my arms around her, pressed to her stomach. The other two sat tailor fashion on the bed to either side of us.

“It started off kind of innocent.” Alicia said softly, her eyes on our joined hands where they lay across her stomach. “I was curious, and I tried to peek, to see what he looked like. I would ‘accidentally’ walk in when he was in the shower, or go into his room without knocking. I thought I was, like, totally casual about it, but he knew.”

She shrugged, and I just held her closer, let her take her time.

“He knocked on my door one day and came in. He sat at my desk and asked me. I was mortified, but he was so sweet. He said he understood about being curious and offered to answer any questions I had. My mom is so ... so repressed. If I wasn’t sure she had sex at least twice, I would think she was a virgin.”

She looked up, turning her head to meet my eyes for a second. “Darrell was so cool about it. He told me about how guys get erections and about how sex really worked. He even told me a little about how it was between a man and woman, the kinds of things he did with his girlfriend. When I asked him if I could see his, he refused. I kept asking for days and then, one day, I got mad and I told him I would ask some boy at school! He got all red in the face, I thought he would spank me or something, but then he dropped his shorts.”

She giggled, accompanied by the other two girls.

“It was soft at first, just kind of hanging there. It was ... it was a little ugly, all surrounded by hair. But I got real close, and when I knelt down in front of him, his face got all red and it started to grow! Hard, it was so different looking and when I touched it, I thought Darrell was going to have a heart attack. I knew then what I wanted, and it took a couple of weeks, but he showed me how to stroke it and suck it. Then I got him to do things to me. Eventually we became lovers. I wasn’t in love with him, other than, you know, like my brother, but he was so gentle, and it was so good! I hated when he left for college, but I think he was glad.”

There was a tear on Alicia’s cheek, and I leaned forward to catch it on my fingertip.

Lynn and Bernie both cuddled up to her, kissing her and stroking her hair. I could see how much these three meant to each other.

During the next hour, I told them what I had told Lynn. I would be honored to be counted as a lover, but that they had to understand my situation. I was not going to be a boyfriend to any of them.

I also told all three of them that I had another condition. They could be lovers and even take female lovers if they wanted, but no other men. If they found some other man they wanted to be with, I would still be their friend, but I wouldn’t sleep with them ever again.

They each complained that it wasn’t fair, that it was a double standard, but I just shrugged.

“That is the way I am. If you sleep with another guy, it is over between us. If you tell me ahead of time, then we can still be friends, but if you lie to me, we are done forever. I need to know I can trust you, or I would rather just be friends now and skip all the heartache later.”

I went to get something to drink and left them there on my bed to talk. I found Maggie and Carrie in the kitchen talking with mom, and gave each of them a quick kiss, including one on the cheek for mom, and joined them at the counter.

“They talking it over?” Maggie asked, throwing a thumb back towards my bedroom.

“Yeah, I told them the no other guy rule.” I said, shrugging.

Carrie shrugged too. “A few times with you and they won’t want another.” she said with a smirk. She was righter than she knew! The magic was addictive, though not harmfully so. It enhanced the pleasure they felt as well as their emotions. I did wonder if it affected women more since they tended to be more emotional, or if maybe that was just guy thinking!

“Hank, you have become very popular this year.” mom said, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess so. It’s nice having friends.” I said blandly.

“I guess, now that you are grown up like your sister, you two would be okay to leave alone for a while.” Mom said thoughtfully, staring off into space.

I exchanged a look with Maggie, but I could see she had no idea what was going on.

“Your father and I have been thinking about traveling a bit. We had planned on holding off until you were both in college, but I don’t think we really have to wait that long. Do you?” she asked, looking at both of us.

“You should go for it, Mom!” Maggie said brightly. “You and dad are still young, go and have some fun with no kids around.”

Mom raised an eyebrow and Maggie blushed, but I just laughed. “At least with you two off somewhere, in a hotel or something, we won’t be kept awake all night listening to the headboard bang against the wall.” I said, laughing.

There had been one incident, about two years before, when a couple of bolts had worked loose, and during an energetic session between my parents, the headboard of their bed began banging against the wall. It had woken both of us kids up. I had met Maggie in the hall, and we stood outside their door listening for a few minutes, giggling about the gasps and moans we could hear.

When the sounds quieted down, Maggie and opened the door. “Guys, we have to go to school in the morning, you know!” she had said, then we both ran laughing to our rooms. Mom and dad never said anything about it, but I saw dad taking a toolbox into their bedroom that next evening.

Mom blushed, but glared at me for a long moment. She obviously decided to ignore my comment, which caused Carrie to giggle and get glared at too.

“I think I will talk to your father about it tonight.” she said quietly, then got up to return to the meal she had been preparing.

Lynn, Alicia, and Bernie left the bedroom and gestured to me so I followed them outside. Alicia was looking unhappy, but Bernie was smiling. Lynn just looked uncertain.

Bernie was the first to approach me, rubbing her body up against me and wrapping her arms around my neck.

“So, I agree with the conditions you set, but then again, I probably would have agreed to be your sex slave if that is what you wanted.” she purred, pressing her groin up against mine. “My dad is overseas in Korea and will be for the next two years. And mom, well, she’s passed out most evenings by eight. Since your mom is so cool with you having visitors, do you think I could stay the night?”

“Not tonight, but soon, absolutely. I’ll let you know tomorrow, okay?” I told her my hands on her ass and squeezing gently.

“Don’t wait too long.” she warned, winking at me and backing off.

Alicia looked troubled but shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Alicia, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Like I said, I would rather be just your friend than for us to get together for the wrong reasons.”

“I need to think about it.” she mumbled, not meeting my eyes. I looked over at Lynn, but she just rolled her eyes and then winked. She had already made her choice.

“Do you girls need a ride home?” I asked, but they all shook their heads.

“You know I only live just a couple of blocks away; we are going to my house.” Bernie said, blowing me a kiss as they turned to leave.

“See you in the morning!” I called after them.

Maggie and Carrie were still chatting with mom about her travel plans, so I headed to my room to study. I wanted to take some notes about those health spells I had read about. It would be a while before I could do them, but I wanted to be ready.

I sat down with the book, but didn’t even get it open when that itch, like when Pat first tried to contact me, was back. It was different this time, though I couldn’t really identify why. With Pat, I had visualized a bell, like a bicycle bell, and I would hear that when he contacted me, but this was just that unformed, someone is knocking kind of thing.

My first thought was the woman Pat called The Cunt, and I wondered if I should just ignore it. The problem was that the itch was maddening the longer it went unanswered.

Visualizing my shield spells, I poured more energy into the shield that would drain power from magic attacks, connecting to Carrie and Maggie to insure I had plenty of power. Then I carefully, and very slowly, eased up on the shield that kept my magic from broadcasting.

‘Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing in my fucking territory?’ The screech sounded in my mind at a volume that would have left my ears ringing if it had been real. Instead, it was like a spike in my head, an instant migraine!

I clamped down on the shield again, allowing only the barest whisper of her contact.

‘Can I help you with something?’ I asked mildly, not wanting to piss this woman off.

‘Don’t play games with me, you bastard! What are you doing in my territory? This is my state! Don’t come in here thinking you can invade without consequences!’

‘Whoa! Slow down! I didn’t invade; I was born here. I don’t want anything from you or your territory. I just want to finish high school so I can go to college. You know, normal kid stuff.’

‘Born here? Born here? I don’t think so.’ she screeched, and a wave of magical energy seemed to flow around me, making my shield visible. It had no effect that I could see.

‘It’s that fucking asshole Patrick, the prick. He put you up to this! I can sense his markers and you are on that tiny bit of land the fucker convinced the council to give him from my territory!’ she seethed, her voice becoming even more venomous.

‘Look, ma’am, I don’t even know your name. I just recently discovered my magic abilities. I am not trying to do anything to hurt anyone or invade anyone.’ I said, calmly, hoping she would listen to reason.

‘Then why is your marker with his? Why are you claiming territory with him? You think you can fool me, you little bastard? Maybe I can’t touch you there, but you listen, and you listen good. You step one fucking foot in my territory, and I will end you.’ Her voice was cold and heartless, and I had no doubt she would do exactly what she threatened.