Chapter 24

Becky giggled softly as she backed Victor the stock boy against a set of shelves roughly in the middle of the storeroom. She wriggled her body against him, letting her breasts bounce and heave against his chest.

"You like that, Victor?" Becky cooed. She traced her fingers down one of his bare, heavily-muscled arms, delighting at how he trembled under her touch. "You like feeling my boobs touching you like that, hmm?"

Becky looked into his eyes. Victor could do little more than stare back, his chest rising and falling quickly. She grinded her hips into him, feeling the massive bulge in his jeans press against her. He shuddered and moaned very deeply.

Becky drew a single finger back up his arm, over his shoulder, around his neck, finally stopping just under his chin. He shivered at her touch, his body growing ever more aroused. His cock strained hard against his clothing.

As if sensing his discomfort, she glanced down and giggled again. "Aw, poor Victor... all scrunched up in there..." She smiled, her eyes smoldering with dark desire. "It doesn't have to be, you know. It can be free. Free for me to hump any time I want."

Victor groaned, his breath growing ragged. His body shook with lust.

"But you have to be good, Victor..." She dropped her hand from his chin. "You have to be really good for me..." She played with his zipper. "... you have to do what I want, when I want it..." She yanked it down and slid her fingers over the cotton of his briefs. He let his breath go as a desperate, ragged sigh. "... and as much as I want..." She ran her fingers up and down his shaft. "... or..."

She removed her fingers and stepped back from him. He gave her a pleading look.

"... you get no reward."

Victor finally spoke. "P-Please, Becky... Mistress... please, Mistress... I'll do what you want... I'll do anything for you..."

Becky smiled. "Yes, you will, won't you?" She took a deep breath and let it go as a needful, sultry sigh. She stepped up to him and undid his belt and pulled down his pants and briefs. She wrapped her fingers possessively around his thick cock.

"I want this so badly," she whispered to him, her eyes intense as they gazed into his. "My boyfriend... he wants to wait until marriage... I don't... I want it now. I want it every day. You're going to give me that."

Victor closed his eyes, moaning as she gently stroked him.

"It's going to happen, Victor," Becky said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "The moment you cum, you're mine. Your cock is mine. Your..."

There was a sudden noise behind her. She gasped and wheeled around, her hand letting go of his manhood. Peering over a set of free-standing shelves, she saw the doors to the main part of store swing closed.

Without a word, Becky gestured to Victor hurriedly. When he had pulled up his briefs and pants, she nudged him towards the back. She heard someone rummage through the goods near the door as they moved closer to the unloading bay.

She eventually pushed him into a corner, completely out of view of anyone walking out of the aisle that led to the door back into the store. She was in view of the unloading bay, but knew no one would bother her from there. She turned her back to them and returned her attention to Victor.

"Now, Victor," Becky said with a wide smile as she reached over to pull his pants down again. "Where were we?"

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her in time to snap her head around, but not in time to stop Jason from pushing her violently to the side. She uttered a short scream and crashed into a set of shelves on rollers, causing a dozen or so boxes of cereal to rain down on her from the top shelves. When she tried to push herself away and stagger to her feet, Melinda ran in from the front of the storeroom and shoved her again, sending her toppling to the floor.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Becky screeched.

Jason ran over to Victor and started yelling at him to snap out of it. Melinda picked up boxes of cereal and hurled them at Becky whenever she tried to get up.

"Ahhh! Stop it! You little shit! I have to... I... uhhh... what... ?

Melinda was about to throw another box when she stopped suddenly. She stared at Becky for a few seconds and uttered a deep sigh of relief. "Jason, it's gone! The aura's gone!"

"Huh?" Victor said, blinking. He looked down at himself. "What... what the FUCK?!!"

Becky was shaking her head and rising unsteadily to her feet. "What... I was... " She suddenly gasped, her hands on her cheeks. "Oh my God! I almost... what the hell just happened?!" she screamed.

"That's what I want to know!" Victor bellowed, clenching his hands into big, meaty fists. Jason quickly ducked out of the way and grabbed Melinda's arm. Melinda protested, but not for long, for now people were bursting into the room from both ends.

Jason figured this would happen. He felt a little proud that he had pieced it all together. It explained why all the others had been able to capture their victims so easily. The other people around them simply did not notice what was happening.

It worked to Jason and Melinda's advantage as well. No one had noticed Melinda walk into the storeroom as a diversion. No one had looked askance at a fifteen-year-old boy walking around the back and through the unloading docks.

Whatever it was, he had guessed (or at least had hoped) that it would be broken the moment Becky's aura disappeared. Sure enough, now the store manager was pounding his way down the aisle from the store end, and the workmen that had mysteriously gone on an unscheduled break were pouring in from the rear exits.

Jason and Melinda quickly ducked into a side aisle and waited for the store manager to pass. They then raced out of the storeroom. The manager saw them and called for them to stop, but they ignored it. The manager did not pursue them. By this time, he had to deal with Becky and Victor, who were screaming at the tops of their lungs at each other.

They didn't stop running until they had made it out of the store and onto Jason's bike. Jason pedaled away madly, puffing hard from the exertion.

"God, that poor girl!" Melinda lamented. "And we had to leave her there to face the others!"

"What matters... is we stopped her..." Jason panted. "We wouldn't... be able to... explain ourselves... shit, I hafta stop..."

Wheezing, Jason came to a shuddering stop, almost throwing Melinda off. He got off and staggered to the side, clutching at a painful stitch in his side as he breathed hard.

"You all right?" Melinda asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine... just need to... catch my breath..." He managed a smile at her. "We did it, Melinda... we stopped her. Nyssa has... one less today."

Melinda nodded and smiled, though it was subdued. "I hope Cassie's having the same luck we are..."

Ned looked down on Mai Ling with a very smug look on his face, his lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk. He let her remain where she was for a few minutes just to gaze at her, already growing intoxicated with the power he already held over her. Here was the hot Asian babe of his dreams, the girl he had fantasized about for two years now, and she was very close to being his forever.

Mai Ling was on the floor, her panties and shorts stripped from her. She lay writhing on her back, fingers squishing in her pussy. Her thighs glistened with her moisture, and there was a dark stain on the carpet under her. She was so horny that coherent thought -- let alone speech -- was near impossible.

Yet despite how her body quaked with the need for release, she stroked herself slowly and methodically, moaning deeply.

"Yeah, don't cum yet," Ned said, his own voice husky with increasing desire. "Not until I tell ya. But ya know what happens when ya do, right?"

"I... I-I become... I become your horny little slave..." Mai Ling moaned in slightly accented English. She arched her back. "Uhhhn!... P-Please... please let me cum... oh please..."

Ned drew in a deep breath and let it go in an excited sigh. "That's right, Mai Ling," he said, his own voice quavering in his anticipation. "And you're gonna be horny all the time. You're gonna always be wet for me."

"Oh yes... yes, please... let me cum... let me be your slave... "

Ned was starting to pant from excitement himself. His cock was rock-hard and aching for relief almost as much as Mai Ling's pussy was. "Okay... okay, Mai Ling, you may..."

There was a sudden thumping knock on the door that made him jump. "What the fuck?!" he muttered. "Shit. All right, never mind that. We stay quiet and they'll..."

Another thumping knock, louder this time, and a voice, "I must insist you open the door, please. I must check on the welfare of my charge."

Ned looked completely puzzled. What the hell is he talking about? he thought.

He looked down at Mai Ling. She was still stroking herself, but her movements were faltering. "Okay, no need to panic," he said to himself and went over to Mai Ling. "Mai Ling, stop what you're doing."

She did, but gave him a desperate look. "Please... I want to cum for you... please let me..."

"In a minute!" Ned said through clenched teeth. "Get your panties and shorts back on."

"But... ?"

Another thump. "Really, now, if you don't open this door, I will be forced to contact the authorities."

"Oh, shit..." Ned whimpered. "Mai Ling, hurry up!"

She straightened and pulled her shorts on. "But I-I don't want to put them on... I want to be naked for you... I want..."

"Later," Ned hissed. He threw an arm around her and guided her to the door. "Find out what this idiot wants and send him away. And don't tell him I'm here!"

Mai Ling blinked, her mind still in a fog of intense arousal, but she nodded and obeyed. Ned quickly dashed away from the door and hid behind the stairs.

Mai Ling opened the door. "Yes?" she asked in a very soft voice.

Standing in the doorway was Cassie's driver, Harry. "Miss, I must ask to see Cassie, please," he said pointedly.

"I-I'm sorry?" Mai Ling asked.

Behind the stairs, Ned frowned. Cassie?

At that moment, he heard a noise from the kitchen, like a tapping sound. He ignored it when Harry spoke again.

"Cassie Kendall, my charge. She came to this house acting rather oddly. I need to know she is okay."

Ned gaped. Cassie Kendall? The tripped-out girl from Haven High? Why would he think she would be here?

He swung his gaze towards the kitchen. There was that noise again!

Mai Ling didn't respond at first. She was panting, her thoughts trying to pull her back towards where they were a few moments ago. She had to resist the urge to touch herself. Her pussy felt hot and steamy under her panties.

Harry tilted his head and stared at her. "Miss, are you quite all right?"

Mai Ling shook her head and blinked rapidly. "I-I'm sorry, I'm thinking of my pus... uh... s-something else..."

Harry sighed. "I am in no mood for games, miss. I clearly saw Cassie stop at your front door, then go around the side to your back yard. I do not mind her visiting her friends, but..."

Ned's eyes widened. The noise came again. He felt he had to go investigate it now. He peeked out from behind the stairs and crept into the kitchen without being noticed.

At the front door, Mai Ling's mind was growing more and more confused. Now it was hard to concentrate on anything, even what she had been doing before. It was as if her will was being tugged in two different directions.

"Really, miss, if you are not feeling well, it might be best that you remand Miss Kendall to me," said Harry.

Ned entered the kitchen just as the tapping noise came and went again. It sounded like it was coming from the back door.

"I'm sorry," Mai Ling said in a forlorn voice. "But... b-but I really need to get back to him... I have to... to..."

Ned looked out the window in the top part of the door and saw nothing. He grabbed the knob and very carefully turned it, the bolt clicking back.

On the other side, crouched down out of view, Cassie slammed into it as hard as she could.

The door thumped into Ned, his head banging against it soundly. Dizzy from the impact, he stumbled and crashed loudly to the floor. Cassie was already past him and dashing into the living room.

"There you are, Miss Kendall!" Harry said with obvious relief in his voice. "Could you tell me, please, what..."

She ignored him and ran right up to Mai Ling. She spun the young woman around and shook her. "Snap out of it!" Cassie cried. "Don't do it! Whatever he wanted! Don't do it!"

Harry gave Cassie a very puzzled look. "Miss Kendall, what on Earth are you doing?"

Ned burst into the room from the kitchen. "Mai Ling! Don't listen to her! Don't... er... don't..."

Cassie blinked in astonishment as she looked back towards Ned. One moment the Darkness was there, the next it was not. No slow fade, no visible retreat. Just gone. Vanished.

Mai Ling shuddered. "What... what's going on... what did I just..." She stared at Cassie and then Ned. "What are you doing in my house?! And what was I about to... " She gasped loudly and stared in horror at Ned.

Ned swallowed. "I... uh... I gotta go, bye!"

He broke into a dead run for the front door. Everyone leapt out of his path.

Harry looked truly perplexed. He turned to Mai Ling. "Miss, I have no idea what just transpired, but I assure you..."

"Get out!" Mai Ling screamed. "All of you, GET OUT!"

Harry was so taken aback that he didn't move. Cassie had to shove him out the door scant seconds before it was slammed hard behind them.

Cassie let go with a sigh of relief and felt her legs almost give out from under her.

She couldn't believe it had worked! When the front door had been closed against her, she had looked back towards the limo and had seen Harry watching her with a concerned look on his face. She had gambled that if she disappeared for a bit, he would come to the house to investigate. She was fortunate that she had been able to get into the back yard.

But she had not expected that Ned would come to the back door. She thought Ned would tend to the front door and leave Mai Ling to check the back. So she had to improvise. But it had worked. She had saved Ned.

She felt proud of herself. Best of all, she felt as if she had just repaid a large debt.

Marcie poked her head into Laura's office. "Is there anything else you need from me before I head home, Miss Bendon?"

Laura looked up and smiled. Marcie's now loose hair spilled over one shoulder as she stood at the door frame with her head tilted to one side. Laura found it to be a rather nice look. Laura had thought about having Marcie change the style of her glasses, but somehow those specs looked rather charming in contrast to that body.

Besides, Marcie needed them largely for reading. Once Laura was done with her, Marcie would have no need to do such a thing any longer.

Laura rose and stepped out from behind her desk. "Come here for a moment, Marcie."

Marcie paused a moment, then stepped into the room with a small smile. "Yes, Miss Bendon?"

Laura's eyes slowly swept Marcie's body from head to toe and back again. Marcie noticed the attention and blushed slightly. "You really do look so much more sexy in those clothes, Marcie," she said softly.

Marcie' blush deepened and she grew flustered. "Th-thank you, Miss Bendon," she said sheepishly. "But really... it's just the clothes... I'm not..."

Laura stepped close to her. "Yes, you are. It's you that's sexy, not the clothing. The clothing just brings it out."

"Oh my... M-Miss Bendon, you're very kind, b-but..."

"Kindness has nothing to do with it."

Marcie swallowed and looked at Laura. "I don't understand, Miss Bendon."

"Don't understand what?"

"Why... why are you doing all this for me?"

"Don't you like it?"

Marcie paused a moment. One corner of her mouth curled upwards. "Um... well, yes, it's kind of nice, Miss Bendon..."

"Hmm, I think I see the problem."

Marcie blinked. "You do?"

"You look sexy. But you don't feel sexy, do you?"

Marcie paused for a long moment, then gave Laura a forlorn look and slowly shook her head.

"Have you ever felt sexy, Marcie?"

"I don't think so, Miss Bendon."

Laura gave her a sly grin. "Have you ever become aroused?"

Marcie's eyes widened to saucers and her cheeks glowed scarlet. "Miss B-Bendon, that's... th-that's a bit... personal..."

"But have you?"

Marcie wrung her hands. For a moment she was caught between a compulsion to obey Laura and a desire to keep her little secrets. The very few times that this had happened in the past, privacy had won the battle. This time, it was losing. "I-I... o-of course, Miss Bendon," she whispered, glancing back behind her nervously as if worried someone was listening. "Everybody has. But..."

"When was the last time?"

Marcie bit her lip. Again, the compunction to comply was making the words rise to her lips despite her attempt to hold them back. It was the first clue she had that something was not right. "I don't remember, Miss Bendon," she said, feeling embarrassed.

Laura grinned at her for a moment and then headed over to her filing cabinet. She opened the bottom drawer and withdrew a gift-wrapped box with a tiny bow on it. It was barely a foot long by six inches wide, and less than two inches high. She handed it to Marcie.

Thoroughly nonplussed, Marcie stared at it for a few moments before silently taking it.

"A little present for you that I picked up today."

"Um... thank you, Miss Bendon, but you really shouldn't have..." Marcie slipped a finger under a flap along one end to undo the wrapping.

Laura reached out a hand and lay it over Marcie's. "Wait until you get home. Then open it and try it."

"Try it? What is it?"

"You'll find out. And when you do try it, I guarantee you, Marcie, you will feel sexy."

Marcie blinked again as her gaze fell into Laura's eyes. "I will?"

"Yes, Marcie, you will." Laura slowly smiled. "You might even get aroused."

Marcie blushed again but managed a small smile. "Yes, Miss Bendon."

Melinda did not complain even once on the bike trip back to her house. She even smiled at Jason as she got off.

"I don't believe we did it," Melinda said.

Jason grinned. "We did, though. If Cassie had the same luck, that's two we managed to save."

Melinda sighed, her smile fading. "And three today we didn't even get a chance to look at."

"Yeah, I know. But what we did do was better than nothing."

"Jason, will they be able to see the auras now, too?"

"I'm hoping they will. If they can, maybe we can recruit them."

"Becky was really upset, though."

"Yeah, but so was Cassie, and you got through to her. Eventually they'll start seeing them on their own and that will make it easier to talk to them."

Melinda nodded. "I better go inside and see how Heather is doing."

"And you're sure she wasn't taken by Nyssa?"

Melinda paused, then nodded again. "Pretty sure, yeah."

Jason gave her a dubious look.

Melinda sighed. "Well, she was in the bathroom puking. I wasn't going to watch that just to see if she had an aura. She didn't sound like she had one, anyway."

"Well, just be careful. Call me later and let me know if everything is okay."

"Okay, I will. Can we get together tomorrow? I mean, just to go to lunch or something?"

Jason smiled and nodded. "Sure thing. See you later."

"Oh, wait!" Melinda called out. "What about Richie?"

"Huh? What about him?"

"He should know what we did, since he's in the Harbingers. Sort of."

"I'll send him an email when I get home. I have to go. See you."

Melinda waved as Jason took off. She watched until he had disappeared around the corner. She then turned and headed back inside the house.

The place was as silent as it had been before. Neither parent had come home yet, but it was not late enough in the afternoon for that anyway.

Melinda headed up the stairs and into the bedroom. She found the bathroom door closed. "Heather, are you still in there? Are you sure you don't need to see the doctor for this?"

There was no reply.

"Um, Heather? Are you all right?"

There was still no response. Melinda's heart thumped as she stepped up to the door, straining to hear something. She finally knocked a few times. "Heather, are you okay? Please, say something if you are, you're scaring me!"

Panic rose inside her. She was no longer thinking so much about her sister being claimed by the Darkness as she was about Heather lying unconscious on the floor of the bathroom. Finally she grabbed the knob and cracked it open, and found that the light was on. In a panic, she flung it open, stepping fully inside before realizing that the room was empty.