Chapter 17

The moment Heather and Melinda joined Jason and Richie at Richie's house, they were bubbling over with news. None of it was good.

"Guys, we saw more of them!" Melinda cried out. "More auras around people we know!"

"Richie, you were at church this morning, too," Heather said. "Did you tell Jason already?"

Jason gave first Heather then Richie a perplexed look.

"Huh? Nah, I didn't tell him," Richie drawled.

Both girls glared at him.

"Why? What was the point?"

"Well, it would help to know how far this has spread," Jason said acidly.

Richie rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm fallin' asleep half the time in church. Mom doesn't bother to make me pay attention, since she's got other reasons to be there."

"Okay, fine, never mind, then." Jason turned to the girls. "So who did you see with auras?"

"James Nells, but we already knew about him," said Heather.

"Debby Vance!" piped Melinda. "And her sister Karen!"

"But it wasn't as much on them. It was kind of faded. Same thing for Irene Barlowe."

"Did you see Frank there?" asked Jason.

Melinda looked at Heather, who shook her head. "I didn't either," Melinda said.

"Because I don't think I stopped him. I tried calling him this morning and there was no answer. Thought he might have gone to church."

"If he did, he didn't go to this one. Heather, tell her about the other one, the one you know."

Heather visibly shivered. "Sally Franner. She's the smartest girl in my year. She had the aura, but faint, like some of the others. I tried talking to her after church. She acted like a total bimbo. She was all giggly and empty-headed, and she was wearing these really slutty clothes."

"Really?" Richie said, leaning forward with sudden interest. "I missed that. What was she wearing?"

"Get bent, Richie," Melinda snapped. "You just want to drool over her."

"Please, don't you two start," Jason said with a sigh. "All right. Now, James was someone you saw the aura before now, right?"

"Yeah, I saw him," said Heather. "It was really dark, like on Cassie before. And Kathy."

"But the others were light?"

"Oh, wait, I know what you're getting at!" Melinda cried. "I saw a little something of an aura on Richie after Cassie first started going after him..."

Richie rolled his eyes at this but said nothing.

"... so maybe that's what's happening here?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at," Jason said.

"Wait, I do!" Heather said. "The ones that Nyssa takes have a dark aura, but their... well, their victims get a lighter one."

Jason paused a moment and then nodded. "You might be right."

"So what's knowing all this gonna do for us?" Richie said. "We can't do nothing about the ones that are already taken, right?"

"Can we?" Melinda asked. "Can we do anything for them?"

Jason shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, I don't like to say it, but... they may be gone for good."

Melinda shivered. Heather wrapped her arms around herself. "I always kind of disliked Sally," Heather said in a low voice. "I always thought she kinda flaunted her brains too much, you know?"

"Oh, like you never flaunted anything," Melinda said with a snort.

"Shut up, runt. As I was trying to say, I thought she acted way too full of herself. But I don't want to see her like this. I doubt she can add two plus two anymore."

Melinda's face screwed up in disgust. "And that was someone's fantasy, too. Ugh."

Richie smirked.

Melinda glared at him. "What the hell you find so funny about that?"

"You hafta admit, it's a funny image. A girl egghead turned into a bimbo."

"There's nothing funny about it, you perv!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'd like to see what fantasy she'd make come true for you!"

Melinda blinked, glanced briefly over to Jason, and then blushed furiously.

"Yeah, I thought so."

"Shut up, Richie!"

"All right, let's go back to the subject at hand," Jason said loudly. "I don't think we can waste time trying to save these people. I think we just have concentrate on stopping more of them from being taken."

"The only way we can do that is by finding new students with the aura and following them," said Heather.

"And then we have to stop them right when they're about to take someone else," piped Melinda.

"That's pretty slim timing," Jason admitted.

"Yeah, and how the hell are we supposed to follow them, huh?" Richie demanded. "You got lucky with me, that I was in detention."

"He's got a point."

"Maybe the others are being taken in school?" Melinda suggested.

"No, I don't think so. Or at least not for the final bit, when they get, uh, enslaved."

Melinda gave him a puzzled look. "Final bit?"

Jason looked over to Richie. "Cassie took two days to try to take you, right?"

Richie frowned. "Yeah, she gave me those funky dreams that first night."

"That might be part of the process. Approach one day and then enslave the next. Maybe the dreams are part of it. Maybe they prepare you or something."

"Wait," Heather said. "I think Sally said something about having some, uh 'kewl dreams' the other night, when I tried to get her to admit that she used to sound a lot smarter than that. I think. It was really hard to understand her."

"So we're stuck," Richie said. "We can't follow 'em after school."

Jason thought for a long moment. "We could if we knew where they lived."

"Huh?"

"I mean, it wouldn't cover everything, but if we could find out where any given student lived, we wouldn't have to follow him per se. We could just stake out the neighborhood where he lives."

"Yeah? How?"

"Cassie."

"Yes, Cassie!" Melinda cried. "Jason, that's a great idea!"

"I don't get it," Heather said.

"Heather, Cassie has a personal driver. He'll take her anywhere she wants to go. Her parents are pretty lax about where she goes."

Heather rolled her eyes. "Oh, great idea, runt. Now how do you suppose we know where to tell Cassie to tell her driver to go."

"Well, uh... " Melinda pouted. "Well, I can't think of everything!"

Jason folded his hands in front of him, looking intensely thoughtful. "I might be able to do it."

"How?"

"I've seen the school's network setup. They have a single router on a cable modem. They're using the router as a firewall. If I can hack into the router, I can get into the school system from the outside and try to get at the records."

"Why doncha just get at them from the computer lab at school?" asked Richie. "You don't need to hack the router."

"Because I want to make it look like a random act of hacking in case they detect it. If I do it from inside school, they'll be able to see it was from my account."

"You could still get into trouble for it if they catch you," Heather warned.

"Then I won't get caught," Jason said simply.

"Jason, just how much hacking have you done before I met you?" Melinda asked.

Jason paused a moment. "Don't ask."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Great."

"It was never to be malicious. It was the challenge of being able to do it. You wouldn't understand."

"I do," Richie said with a smirk. "It's the nerd equivalent of havin' the biggest dick."

"You're disgusting, Richie," Melinda sneered.

Heather spoke up before an argument could start again. "Okay, so Jason finds out where all the students live -- shit, that is scary that you can do that, Jason -- and then we keep an eye out for new students with auras. Then we get the name and find out the address and have Cassie watch that area. Is that the plan?"

"Sounds okay to me, if Cassie is agreeable to it," Jason said.

"I don't get this," Richie said. "How is this gonna help? I mean, yeah, great, we save some of them. Nyssa's gonna just keep doing it, right?"

The others exchanged looks.

"Well, what else can we do?" Jason asked. "Isn't it better to do something we know we can do rather than just do nothing until we come up with the 'perfect plan'?"

Richie mulled over this. "Yeah, I guess," he grunted.

"Jason, we have to go," Heather said. "We couldn't get away for very long. Our parents are having relatives over for dinner. We're supposed to be just at the store."

"Jason, remember what you promised me!" Melinda said as Heather grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the door.

Jason sighed. "I'll try, Melinda."

Melinda gave him a wan smile just before she and her sister left.

"What was that all about?" Richie asked.

"I promised her I'd try to find some time alone for us."

Richie smirked. "Gonna get horizontal with her, huh?"

Jason gave Richie an indignant look.

"Okay, sorry. Sheesh. Should be glad you got a steady girlfriend willin' to let you screw her."

"I guess I better get going back home, too. I'll call you."

Richie watched his friend get up and start for the door. He bit his lip. When Jason was halfway to the door, Richie leapt up from the sofa and caught up with him.

"Hey, uh, I wanted to ask you something," Richie started. "You, uh, really think this Nyssa chick is making people's fantasies come true?"

"Well, to an extent, yes. Ones that involve controlling someone, or making them do what you want. Or changing their personality."

Richie just nodded slowly, his eyes distant.

"What?"

"Huh? Nothin'. Just thinkin'. Listen, uh... I never thanked you guys for doin' what you did."

Jason just shook his head. "Thank Heather the next time you see her. She's the one that had the premonition about you."

"Premonition? Shit, you think she can see the future or something?"

Jason paused. "You know, I've been so concerned about everything else that this is the first time I've thought about that. Yeah, I guess she did, in a way. We'll have to talk about that at some point."

"You think she can sense when one of us is in trouble?"

"I don't know. There's a lot I don't know about this. I thought Mara just gave us the power to see the Darkness. I didn't think she had given us anything more. I'm a bit confused about it at the moment. Sorry I can't offer any more information than that."

Richie paused and just nodded. "Okay, man. I'll see ya soon."

Jason nodded and headed out.

Richie turned away from the door and headed up the stairs to his room. He plopped himself down on his bed and looked over to his backpack. He sighed in the knowledge that he still had a ton of homework to do for Tuesday. He cursed under his breath and shook his head, wondering why the hell teachers thought they should assign homework on the holiday.

After a few moments, he swung his legs over that side of the bed and leaned over to grab the top of the backpack. He opened it and peered inside. One of the subjects he had the biggest amount of work in was history.

Richie let go of the backpack and gave it a vicious kick before lying back down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

Richie had no intention of doing the work. He didn't think Miss Linda Davis had any right to be demanding anything from him. She wasn't even a real teacher. Real teachers were not that young and not that attractive.

Richie frowned. If he had the ability to make a fantasy come true, there would be no more of this. He'd change things to the way they ought to be. That's what he would do if he had that power.

"If I had it," he muttered softly into the air.

Nyssa moaned loudly as her body shuddered in pleasure. She lay on the sofa in the reception area, her head tilted back against the hand rest as she lifted one leg more fully along the back. Her hand clutched at Laura's hair and pulled Laura's face against her very wet pussy.

Laura uttered several muffled yelps as she struggled to breathe. She finally managed to tilt her head back and pant hard through her nose, already out of breath. Despite trying to gasp in air, she licked and sucked at her Mistress' swollen clit, never letting her Mistress go even a single moment without pleasure. Every taste of Nyssa's juices made her own arousal soar, her own pussy aching and wet.

Laura was stripped naked save for her panties. Her slave became intensely horny servicing her, and she simply loved watching Laura's panties get soaked and stained as a result. In Nyssa's mind, it only emphasized Laura's total submission and helplessness.

Nyssa panted heavily, now grabbing Laura's hair with both hands and tossing her head back. She uttered shrill cries as she rose, fingers curling and tightening her hold. Laura sensed her Mistress' need for release and sucked Nyssa's clit into her mouth.

Seconds later, Nyssa uttered a wail, her pussy exploding in Laura's face. Hot fluid spurted against Laura's mouth and cheeks, dribbling down her chin and dripping onto the floor. Laura moaned as her pussy ached in unsatisfied desire. When she shifted her legs, moisture squished audibly between her thighs.

Nyssa sighed in contentment and smiled down at Laura. "Mmmm, that was nice," she purred. "Stand up, slave."

Laura did as she was bid. Lingering moisture from Nyssa's pussy glistened on her face and ran down her cheeks and chin. "Yes, Mistress," she said softly.

Nyssa smiled and drew herself into a seated position, folding one leg under her and letting the other foot rest on the floor. "I envy you, slave, do you know that?" she said.

"Envy me, Mistress?" Laura asked with some surprise in her otherwise obedient voice. "How so?"

"Your enslavement of Marcie."

"She's not enslaved to me yet, Mistress."

"Oh, I know. I'm talking about the process itself. A nice, slow capture. Every little change you do her is immediately permanent. No going back if you suddenly stopped."

"Why would I want to stop, Mistress?"

"To tease her. To torture her. Give her a tantalizing little taste of the pleasure she'll get being your little fucktoy. Then refuse to bring her the rest of the way for a bit." She licked her lips. "You'd have her begging you to be enslaved. Mmm, delicious."

Laura closed her eyes briefly and moaned softly, her already aroused and excited body trembling with the need for release. "That's different from what you're doing, Mistress?"

"Oh, yes," Nyssa said, leaning forward. "Make no mistake, slave. All the ones that I have taken, and the ones they have taken are very much my pets. But it's not permanent, not yet. Yet the longer they remain as they are, the more permanent it becomes. Even if I were to leave this minute, there's already been some change to their little minds.

"But since I'm not going anywhere..." She pauses, her smile becoming wicked. "Their minds get molded a little more each day. Ooo, poor Sally Franner. Such a smart girl she was. Won't be too long before all she can do is shop, fuck, and giggle."

Laura felt a wave of heat pass over her. Only a week ago the thought would have repulsed her. Now she felt turned on by it. She wondered how much Nyssa had molded her own mind. She no longer felt there was much left of what she was. What was Laura Bendon now was a completely different person.

Yet...

There was still something. There was still a tiny lingering doubt. It was a very small voice at the back of her mind, where the last vestiges of what was once Laura Bendon still remained. They were still tucked away, nestled in a far corner of her mind. That little tendril of her former self cringed at what Laura had allowed to happen to one of the smartest students at the school.

"Yes, Mistress," Laura breathed, the intense longing drowning out that tiny voice.

Nyssa grinned and gestured for her slave to approach. She reached up and hooked a finger into Laura's panties. She slid her finger back and forth slowly and teasingly, now and then giving the panties a furtive tug and letting them snap back. Laura uttered tiny, desperate moans, her body trembling.

"You want to cum, don't you, slave?" Nyssa cooed. She ran her other hand along the inside of one of Laura's thighs.

"Uhhhn... please, yes, Mistress..." Laura moaned.

Nyssa's lips curled. Her fingers played softly up Laura's thigh. One finger slipped under the crotch of her panties and tugged it to one side. Laura panted in anticipation, but her aching pussy was not given the satisfaction it needed. Instead, Nyssa slid her finger in the lower part of Laura's folds until it was wet with Laura's juices. She let the panties snap back, drawing a whimper from Laura. Nyssa smiled and put her wet finger in her mouth, licking it clean and savoring the taste of Laura's helpless arousal.

"Not yet," Nyssa said, standing up. "You have something else to do for me today."

Nyssa cupped Laura's breasts. Laura shuddered and let her breath go as a ragged sigh as Nyssa stroked her throbbing nipples. "Yes, Mistress... anything... anything you want..."

"Someone took the little Dreamer from me," Nyssa said, her voice soft but her eyes ice-hard. "Someone stopped Richie Gardner from being her eager little slave."

Nyssa took Laura's nipples in her fingers and lightly squeezed them. Laura began panting hard, as if out of breath.

"There were some others with them," Nyssa whispered hotly against Laura's lips. "Find out who they were."

"Uhhnn... M-Marcie... d-didn't know who th-they..."

"No, she doesn't. She is rather a ditz, isn't she? You're doing her a favor by offering to do her thinking for her..." Nyssa flicked her thumbnails against Laura's nipples. "Aren't you?"

"Oh God... y-yes... uhhn... yes..."