Chapter 1

"We've got all the bases covered, girls," said Susan Radson as she locked the front door to the house. "My parents are out of town, all your parents think we're having a sleepover at my house, and it's after ten, so no one's going to be calling us for fear of waking us up. Aaand, it's a Friday night, so no school to get up for early in the morning."

Ann Went nodded and grinned. "Not that my parents are going to really care one way or the other," she said. "I argue with them so much anymore that they're glad to get me out of the house for awhile."

Susan chuckled, and then looked over to the other girl standing next to her friend. "What about you, Melissa? Still think you're okay to go through with this?"

Melissa Hendell glanced nervously from Susan to Ann and back again. Both were looking at her expectantly with small smiles on their faces, the kind that told her that she was at risk for being cruelly derided if she did not give them the correct answer. She was not simply nervous, she was terrified. "I think so," she said tentatively. "I-I mean, if this is the only way..."

"It's the only way. If you want to be part of the Circle."

"Yeah, Melissa," Ann said with a slight smirk. "Otherwise you can forget about trying some of that stuff we taught you, since we don't let people do that outside of the Circle."

Melissa nodded mutely. She hated being the new kid in town. This was not the first time it had happened, as her parents had moved around a great deal in the past five years. Unfortunately, their penchant for moving came right at the time that she entered puberty, and it just added to the emotional turmoil she was already feeling.

Melissa had trouble fitting in. She did not like many of the things other girls did: dating, makeup, popular music. Her tastes were far more eclectic. For these reasons, she rarely made friends, and her timidness made her the victim of much humiliation at the hands of her peers.

But things seemed to be different in Haven. Her family had moved there during the summer, and almost immediately she had met up with Susan, and later Ann, and something clicked. They seemed to accept her. They occasionally sent some barbs her way that hurt at first, but when they kept it private and did not actively seek to embarrass her in public, she learned to deal with it.

Ann tended to be worse than Susan in this regard.

Susan fished out her parents' car keys."So come on, let's get going."

"Hey, I thought you just had a learner's permit," Ann said to Susan with a grin.

Susan waved a hand of dismissal. "Big deal. It's not like there's going to be a lot of traffic at this time of night. This is Haven, after all, where they roll up the sidewalks at night. So long as we drive slowly and don't attract a cop's attention, we'll be fine."

Melissa smiled weakly. Until her parents started to move around, she had spent most of her life in Denver. Living in small towns like Haven was new to her. It was still taking some getting used to.

They all piled into the car, Susan and Ann up front, Melissa in the back. She felt her anxiety as a knot in her stomach. She started questioning the wisdom of her decision. She tried to tell herself that Susan and Ann were her friends, and that they would not let anything bad happen to her. If they said this initiation was required before she could become a full member of the Circle, then this is what she needed to do.

The Circle. Susan and Ann had let her in on this secret of theirs at the start of the the fall semester at high school. Melissa was a sophomore, not quite due to turn sixteen yet until after the start of the new year. Susan and Ann were seniors, which was why Melissa had been so surprised that they actually wanted to associate with her. She was doubly surprised when they told her about the Circle.

Susan and Ann were pagans. Melissa had learned this early on. But what they had not told her until recently was that they were also witches, or attempting to be. They had obtained several old books on magic and spells from some obscure publishers and were attempting to teach themselves the arcane arts. Melissa had been skeptical at first, until she was invited to one of their ceremonies. To her astonishment, Susan and Ann, wearing strange robes and jewelry and after much chanting over burning candles, conjured up several ghostly images in the center of a pentagram drawn in chalk on the floor of Susan's basement.

That had convinced Melissa that whatever they were doing, it was real. And the more they told her about it, the more she wanted to be involved.

"These spells really work, Melissa," Susan had confided in her at one point. "There's spells that can make other people do what you want, without them even realizing that you're pulling the strings."

She proved her claim, too, or at least as far as Melissa could verify. Susan was enamored of a particular boy named Jim Haynes that was already going steady with another girl. She let Melissa watch as she went through the motions of casting a charm on him. Several hours later, as Melissa was leaving Susan's house, who should arrive on the doorstep but Jim, claiming that he needed to get some class notes from Susan. Susan later claimed that she went over to his house on the pretext of offering to tutor him in the class he had missed, only to wind up having sex with him instead.

"You can do things like that, too, Melissa," Susan had said with a conspiratorial grin. "If you were in the Circle."

This had been too tempting for Melissa to pass up. She had wanted more control over her life, and this seemed like the perfect way to go about it. She was not sure if she would use it to the same ends as Susan, however.

She was interested in sex, there was no doubt about that. At fifteen, she had filled out very nicely, having inherited her mother's large breasts, long legs, and honey-brown hair, and her father's deep blue eyes. But she did not care for many of the boys she often found around her. She was attracted to them physically, but their personalities put her off. Worse, she had begun to suspect in the past year that she had bisexual tendencies. She felt an attraction for Susan, and a lesser one for Ann.

Melissa was desperate to be accepted into the Circle. She was desperate to feel like she belonged. So when she had informed Susan and Ann, they had promptly told her that there would be an initiation first. It was not until a few days ago that they revealed the details. Though there were one or two details that Melissa still did not know even now.

Susan mentioned one of them as they drove towards the outskirts of town. "Melissa, the ceremony will take place in the Gilded Forest just on top of the hill. Hope that doesn't spook you too much."

Melissa shook her head. The name meant nothing to her. "Why should it?"

"Oh, she probably doesn't know about it," Ann said, turning her head towards Susan and grinning. "She's new to town."

"How much do you know about Haven's history, Melissa?" Susan asked.

"Not very much."

"Some years ago, there was some sort of pervert loose in the forest," Ann explained. "They said he would kidnap girls from the town or from the campgrounds and fuck them while slowly strangling them."

Melissa blanched, and her hand flew to her bosom, where a small pentacle hung from a chain under her blouse. She clutched at it through the fabric, popping two buttons open. Susan and Ann had given her the pendant soon after revealing the Circle to her, claiming it was a protective charm. Indeed, Melissa did feel a little more secure and confident when she wore it, though she had to keep it hidden from her parents.

"That was, like, ten years ago," Susan said. "So not all that long ago, actually."

"Did they catch the guy?" Melissa asked, eyes wide.

"Nope, never," Ann said. "Though I haven't heard of anything happening recently."

"If there was anyone there, he probably moved on when they started hunting for him," Susan said. "I wouldn't worry about it. Just makes a great tale to tell people. Kind of like the hook on the car door handle or the guy in the back seat."

"But those are urban legends," Melissa pointed out. "They're not true."

Susan just shrugged. "Maybe this one is too, I don't know."

Ann shook her head. "Oh, no. My Mom told me that she knew a friend who's cousin died because of him."

Melissa opened her mouth to point out that that was the mark of an urban legend, that it always happened to a friend's relative, or a relative's friend, or any number of combinations of indirection. She closed it and remained quiet, knowing that Ann could be a real bear when someone disagreed with her. Melissa did not want to do anything to jeopardize her acceptance.

She realized it was also possible that Ann was purposely trying to scare her. Ann did things like that, though she claimed that she was simply testing Melissa and "keeping her on her toes."

"Magic is not something you fool around with unless you know what you're doing and you keep your head about you," Ann had told her once after Melissa had admitted that something Ann had said to her had not gone over very well.

"We're almost there, girls," Susan said. "Melissa, you'll have one last chance to back out of this."

Melissa nodded. She saw the trees loom up on either side of them, dark, shadowy monoliths barely visible, outlined against a moonless sky. Her heart started to pound, and she shivered.

Susan took them off the main road and down a graveled path, past a sign that clearly stated that the picnic areas were closed at dusk. There was no gate across the road. Melissa peered between Susan and Ann to see what was up ahead. She looked up in time to see Susan flip on the brights and a split-second later lean heavily on the brake as a deer appeared in the headlight beams.

Susan clicked her tongue as the deer stood staring at them. She flipped her lights completely off and tapped the horn, then flipped the lights back on. The deer had vanished.

"Damn things get dazzled by the headlights," Susan explained. "But the sound they understand."

Susan crept along a short distance further and pulled over to the side of the road, killing both the engine and the headlights, plunging them all into darkness. Melissa heard someone open the glove compartment, then there was a click as a flashlight was turned on.

"Okay, Melissa," Susan said, turning around in her seat. "This is your last chance to back out. You give the word, we'll take you back to town."

"But you can't be in the Circle," Ann piped, waving the flashlight as if brandishing a weapon. "And we can't be friends with you anymore. It wouldn't work."

Melissa took a deep breath. Her heart hammered in her chest. She was scared, but she was more frightened of being bereft of friendship and missing an opportunity to belong. "I want to go through with it," she said in a shaky voice. "Please."

Susan and Ann exchanged glances. "Okay, Melissa, we'll do it," Susan said. She took the flashlight from Ann's hand. "Let's go."

The air felt a lot more chilly up on the hill than it had in town. It made the skin along Melissa's bare arms prickle. A breeze blew up, rustling the leaves in the trees, and sending a shiver through Melissa's body. "It's colder than I thought it would be," she commented forlornly.

"It won't get really frigid tonight," Susan said as she stepped up to Melissa. "It's too early in the season."

Ann came around the back of the car and stood on the other side of Melissa. "Did you wear what we told you to?" she demanded.

Melissa nodded. "I have it on already under my clothes." She swallowed and looked around nervously, though there was little to be seen past the small circle of light that Susan shone on the ground from her flashlight. "A-are you sure there won't be anyone else around here?"

"Except maybe that strangling pervert," Ann said with a grin.

"Shush, you," Susan said, though she was smiling herself. "Don't make Melissa any more nervous than she already is."

"I don't think that's possible, actually," Melissa said, her anxiety so great that she felt tears well up in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away before anyone could notice.

"No, there's no one else up here but us. You'll be all alone until we come get you in the morning."

The prospect of being alone was almost as bad as not being alone, but Melissa accepted it and simply nodded.

"Let's get the stuff out the trunk, Susan," Ann said jerking her thumb behind her.

"Melissa, you get your jeans and blouse off while Ann and I get ready," Susan said. She and Ann went around to the back of the car.

Melissa took a deep breath to try to calm herself as she reached up to undo the remaining buttons on her blouse. Her hands trembled so badly that this simple act seemed to take her forever to do. As she reached the last button, she glanced over to Susan and Ann, who stood before the open trunk of the car. They were each slipping into their witches' robes of dark blue.

She swallowed and pulled her blouse open, revealing a lacy black bra one size too small for her. She had had trouble finding a full-figured bra size of this style and had to make do, which had the effect of squeezing her breasts against her body until it seemed as though they would spill over the tops of the cups.

A thin chain ran from around her neck into her cleavage. She tugged on the chain and plucked the pentacle from where it had been trapped between her swelling breasts.

Melissa shed her blouse and put it on top of the car. She undid the button and zipper of her jeans and slid them down her legs. The cold air bit at her as more of her bare skin was revealed, and she visibly shivered. At the same time, the cool air had a mildly stimulating effect on her. Combined with the excitement of anticipation, it had actually aroused her somewhat.

She was now glad that her panties were black as well. This was the only thing she liked about them, however. They were very tight, hugging her crotch such that the fabric threatened to be drawn into her slit if she moved the wrong way. They were also very skimpy, leaving much of her ass bare.

In her efforts to get her sneakers through the pant legs, she accidentally backed into the side of the car and gave a small yelp at the feel of the cold metal against her rear end.

She finally got her jeans off and put them aside as well. She reached down and tugged the top hem of each of her black fishnet stockings to smooth them out. One garter had become undone. She stretched it down and pulled up more on the stocking until she could get the two of them connected again.

Susan came up to her. She had a coil of rope draped over a shoulder and several large pieces of foam rubber rolled up under one arm. "You ready, Melissa?"

Melissa nodded, then realized that it was dark enough even with the flashlight that she might not have been seen. "I think so."

"Nervous?"

Melissa swallowed. She chafed her hands up and down her arms. "And c-cold."

Ann came over and grabbed Melissa's clothes. "I'll put these in the trunk." She stopped and stared at Melissa. "Hey, Susan, shine your flashlight on her."

Susan lifted the beam of light and drew it slowly up Melissa's body. Melissa squinted and averted her eyes when the beam struck her in the face. Susan lowered the beam.

Ann grinned. "Hey, Melissa, nice bod. I mean that. I don't know why you go around in such unflattering clothes all the time."

Melissa blushed crimson but smiled weakly. She was indeed rather attractive. In addition to her ample breasts and long legs, she had a slim waist and gracefully curving hips. Her ass was tight and firm. She knew on some level that she was pretty, but she had trouble bringing herself to show it off. Plus she liked to wear things that were comfortable, and many of the things other women wore to show themselves off looked uncomfortable to her.

"Do you have the shoes, Ann?" Susan asked.

"No, I'll get them, and the tape." Ann rushed off to the trunk of the car again.

Melissa looked confused. "Shoes?"

Susan smiled wanly. "Um, something we didn't tell you about, sorry. We want to make sure that you don't decide to chicken out at the last minute and try to run away from us."

"I won't do that," Melissa protested.

"I know you probably won't, but we really have to make sure. It's... it's important for the ceremony."

Melissa hesitated a moment, then nodded tentatively. "Okay."

Ann returned carrying a pair of black shoes which she held up for Melissa to see, grinning widely. They were angled very steeply, the heel at least four inches high if not more, though the heel was thick and had a flat base.

"I... I can't wear those," Melissa said, stricken. "I've never worn high heels before."

Ann smirked. "Well, that's sort of the idea. Anyway, this thing is a little easier than most, see?" She tapped a finger against the base of the heel.