The summer had been fairly boring thus far. I had been stuck at home most of the time watching my brother and helping mom in our garden. Occasionally my friends would come by and we would go to my room and talk, or go hang out somewhere. I preferred it when we went and talked in the woods. I've always liked the woods and the outdoors. I couldn't wait for my friends to come over, aside from releasing me from my boredom we would talk about my OTHER favorite subject... BOYS!

We would talk about all the boys we knew: who was seeing whom, who had actually been kissed or more. I was seventeen and one of the oldest of our group, but I was by far one of the least experienced. I had kissed Charlie Framner twice but that was it. Most of the guys thought I was odd because I believed in magic. I didn't know any of course, but I believed in it. I wished that I could do magic, wished that I could cast some spell that would make some boy fall madly in love with me. He would take me back into the woods and make love to me under the trees. I had always fantasized about losing my virginity in the forest under the ancient trees, close to the spirits of the woods.

One day Erica came by, she asked if I could get away for the night. She said she had something to show me and that I couldn't pass this up. It took some doing, but I managed to talk my mom into letting me stay the night at Erica's (at least that's what we told her).

We got on our bikes and headed off down the trail through the woods toward Erica's house. Erica had been acting differently for the last week or so. She seemed happier, more confident, more secretive, and I was Interested in finding out which guy was at the bottom of it.

About halfway down the trail Erica stopped and got off her bike. When I pulled up next to her she said, "Let's take a detour." Then she turned off the trail and walked her bike off through the trees.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I caught up to her.

In response she raised her right hand out flat and paused for a moment and concentrated. After a couple of seconds her hand started to glow slightly and then a match size flame came up from the center of her palm and hovered about an inch above her hand. She looked at me and smiled.

"I've been learning." She said.

I was so startled I almost wet myself.

"How?!" I asked.

Erica motioned off into the woods and said, "SHE taught me. She's taught me many things. And she wants to meet you, if you're willing. Trust me; she could answer your prayers in ways you couldn't even begin to imagine."

"Exactly who is SHE?" I asked.

Erica held up the flame again and winked. "SHE, as I said, is the answer to your prayers. Think about it Tara, Magic, like we've always dreamed of. There's more, so much more."

"But, aren't we headed toward the old willow?" I asked.

"That's where she lives, in a manner of speaking". She said. "Trust me. I've been going there for years. It's not what all the old stories say it is. However, all those old legends keep people away, so it's a nice private, secret place."

"So, what's she like?" I asked.

"She's very old;" Erica said "and very beautiful. She's very warm and loving and wise. However, I must tell you, she's so unlike anything you could possibly expect that your first meeting will be scary; mind-bendingly terrifying in fact."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was beginning to get worried.

"In order for you to learn to use magic, she first has to make it so that you can channel magic, and THAT doesn't feel good at all, at first." She said.

"What; what does she have to do to you?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it. It'll happen or it won't. Listen, do you want to always be the same person you've always been, or do you want to become something more."

I thought in silence for a while. Magic, what I've always dreamed of, but what would I have to do for it? Something about Erica's tone made me a bit nervous. I thought about how boring my life was and the possibility of something different.

"Lead on." I said, and we continued our walk.

The old willow tree. There are old stories and legends about that place, about how it used to be used by the witches for their ceremonies and sacrifices a couple of hundred years ago. They say that the spot is haunted to this day and that when people go there, bad things happen to them. I was nervous about going but Erica had said that she had been going there for years so I trusted her.

The old willow tree was about two miles off the main trail, but apparently Erica's coming and going had kept a visible trail for us to use. After awhile we came to the clearing where the willow stood. I was astonished. The thing was HUGE, and it was beautiful. It must have been thousands of years old. The clearing itself was idyllic, almost perfectly circular with the willow in the center and a cool clear stream running through, near the outer roots. We walked our bikes in and parked them under the tree. Erica took off her shoes and socks and went wading in the water.

"Take off your shoes and come on in." She said. "The water's great!"

I took off my shoes and socks and joined her. We waded in the water for a while. It was wonderfully relaxing. It was a hot sunny day and the cool water felt perfect on my feet.

"So what is it that has to be done to me?" I asked. "What do I have to do?"

"You have to surrender; you have to sacrifice yourself, sacrifice what you are in order to become what you can be."

I blinked, confused. "And what exactly am I that I need to sacrifice?"

Erica smiled and took my face in her hands. She leaned in, kissed me lightly on the cheek and whispered in my ear, "A virgin".

I gasped, somewhat alarmed. "You brought me all the way out here to get LAID... ?"

"No." She said. "I brought you out here to join a very secret and elite sisterhood. Getting laid; in a manner of speaking, is just the initiation into that sisterhood. It's one of the perks as well."

I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. Alarms were going off everywhere, my mind screamed "NO;" but my mouth said, "O.K.". I thought, "Holy-shit, did I just say that?". Erica smiled again, took me by the hand, and led me back under the vines of the willow. A little ways before the trunk she stopped and turned to face me again.

"Tara," she said, "I want you to meet someone very special."

She stepped off to the side and I saw something beyond where she had been standing. A large bunch of vines descended clear to the ground. Suddenly, they all twisted themselves together and started to shimmer. Many vines seemed to detach and swirl down into the shimmer as it got stronger. Within seconds the entire bunch of vines had detached and become part of this swirling, shimmering mass. Just as suddenly as it had started, it disappeared. In its place stood the most stunningly beautiful women I had ever seen. She appeared to be in her early twenties. Her skin was like fresh milk. She had straight black hair that went to her ankles. She looked like a young goddess with garlands of flowers and leaves around her head, her hips, her wrists and ankles. Other than that, she wore nothing at all.

She looked at me with deep penetrating green eyes and said something to me but I couldn't hear it. It seemed as if her voice were coming from far away. Erica looked at me and said, "She wants to know if you come to here to learn, if you are willing to sacrifice what you are, to become what you were meant to be? Be warned however; once you say yes, there is no turning back, and what will happen, will happen, whether you wish it or not."

I was still stunned; I couldn't believe that this was real, that I had seen what I had just seen. Fear and anticipation were building up inside me. I'd heard stories about how your first time was supposed to hurt and all, but I wasn't sure if it applied here. I was totally out of my depth and for the first time I just went with it. I said, "Yes."

The lady said something again and Erica seemed to translate "Then do not be afraid, what will happen, will happen, and at the end it will all be worth it."

With that, Erica smiled at me and walked away, leaving me alone with the lady. SHE walked slowly up to me with a beautiful, mysterious smile on her face. Just before she reached me I felt something suddenly wrap around my wrists and my arms were pulled all the way up and out like a Y! I was about to let out a scream of fright when she suddenly stepped all the way up to me and put her hand over my mouth. She made a shushing motion with the other hand and took her hand away from my mouth. Then she leaned in and kissed me, and kissed me again, deeply. She slowly unbuttoned my shirt and ran her hands up under, to my breasts. I was about to panic. I had never been touched before and I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

She undid my bra and slowly started trailing kisses down my neck and then my body. As she got lower, more vines came up and ran up the arms of my shirt; the vines lifted and my shirt and bra were lifted over my head and away leaving my breasts exposed. I was terrified at having someone else looking at them but then she took one of my nipples in her mouth and my heart skipped a dozen or so beats. She took the other nipple between her fingers and squeezed and rubbed lightly and I almost came off the ground. She slowly worked her way down till she came to my skirt; she ran her hands gently over me and down my sides, gently brushing off my skirt and panties.

I had never been naked in front of another person before and my mind was reeling with everything from elation to terror. Just when I thought that things couldn't get anymore unreal something wrapped around each of my ankles and my legs were pulled off the ground, up and behind me, in opposite directions. I couldn't believe that this was happening. I was hanging naked, face down, about six feet off the ground, suspended like an X by my wrists and ankles.

A shot of fear ran through me and I started to tremble. She noticed this and kissed me and whispered something in my ear. It still sounded like something coming from miles away and I couldn't quite make it out, but I think she was trying to tell me to be calm. My fear turned to absolute shock when I felt her palm slide down the length of my belly and up between my legs. I gasped out of fear and humiliation when I felt her hand explore my girlhood and run a finger slowly over and around my clit. Yet it sent a secret thrill of excitement through me at the same time.

"So this is what it is like to be touched by another." I thought. As if in answer to my thought, she looked at me and smiled and silently mouthed "yes"

She reached up and took my face in both hands and kissed me verry, verry deeply. As she did so, I felt something wrap around my hip joints and suspend my lower body from there. My legs were spread as wide as they would go and I felt fleshy vines wrap around and start caressing my breasts. I suddenly gasped in terror when I felt a pair of hands (hers were on my face) spread my girlhood as wide as IT would go. I finally let out a little shriek of fear when I felt a tongue start gently licking me down there. She looked at me and mouthed "you taste good."

I felt a pair of lips wrap around my clit and my terror evaporated. I felt pleasure like I had never imagined start to course through my body. I couldn't help it; my body started to tingle and started to move on its own. More and more vines wrapped themselves around me and held me still. Though I couldn't move anymore, the rest of the vines supported my body and my legs taking the weight off of my wrists and ankles.