Chapter 16

The limo pulled up to the curb a block away from Susan's house. Cassie, Ned, and Diane climbed out of the back seat.

Cassie looked around as they stepped away from the car. "Okay, there's two streets here where Melissa might approach from," she said, pointing.

"I'll take this road," Ned said, jerking his thumb behind him.

"And I'll take the other road," Diane said.

"And I'll be in Scotland before ye."

Cassie smiled faintly at Ned. She took a deep breath. "All right. You got the cellphones I gave you. My number is the first one on the speed-dial list, the other phone is the second, so either of you can alert the other after me."

Ned saluted. "Gotcha, chief."

"But don't stick around waiting for me, okay? Run if you see Melissa. I can always have Harry pick me up right at the door and then swing around for you two."

Diane nodded quickly. She was trying hard not to show how desperately nervous she felt.

"All right. Well, here goes nothing."

Cassie started walking briskly towards Susan's house, forcing herself to hold her head up high. Diane was not the only one trying to hide her anxiety. Behind her, Ned and Diane separated, each running down a different street and taking position near the intersection.

Cassie's heart was racing. She wasn't sure exactly what she should say. She had been thinking about it all day and rejected countless approaches. For all she knew, Susan's mother would just slam the door in her face before she had the chance to gain the woman's trust. If that was even possible in the wake of Melissa's tortures.

She didn't hesitate when she reached the front walk. She couldn't afford to. She held her head aloft and pretended a confidence that she did not quite have. As much as it chafed to do so, she had to rely on techniques her mother had taught her in dealing with people.

"Act forceful and confident," her mother had told her. "Act as if you have a right to be there, because most often you do. Act as if it is a privilege for the other person to be in your presence, because most often that is true as well."

Cassie marched to the front door and rang the doorbell.

There was a long pause. Cassie started to worry that no one was home, but then there was a click, and the door finally opened.

Debby Radson stood still with the door halfway open. She peered at Cassie oddly for a moment. Cassie braced for what she thought would be the inevitable door slam, but Debby finally opened the door the rest of the way, albeit slowly and cautiously.

Cassie's breath caught in her throat. The turmoil that the woman had been through was obvious. Her eyes were dark and sad. Her free hand visibly trembled as it roamed anxiously, as if she didn't know what to do with it. She wore shorts that showed off her legs and a top that bared her midriff, but she looked vaguely embarrassed to appear so exposed.

And, of course, there was the Dark Aura. Cassie likened it to an angry swarm of bees that left little trails in their wakes as they spun about Debby's body.

"Yes?" said Debby, a nervous edge to her voice. "May I help you?"

"Mrs. Radson, I need to talk to you about something rather urgent," Cassie said, saying the first words that popped into her head. "It's about Melissa."

Debby's eyes widened and her hand tightened around the knob. The door swung a few inches as if she intended to close it. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is Cassie Kendall. I go to the same school as..."

"Kendall? Not ... not the same Kendalls that live on the mesa?"

"Yes, ma'am, they're my parents," Cassie said after a brief hesitation, a forlorn tone in her voice. "I hope you don't hold that against me."

"Oh! No, not at all. It's just..." Debby peered hard at Cassie again. " ... it's just ... I thought..."

Cassie felt increasingly uncomfortable at the scrutiny. "Um, yes?"

"Oh ... nothing. Melissa is not here, Cassie, if you're looking for her."

"No, I'm not. In fact, I'd rather she not be here. I need to talk to you about her. About ... what she wants."

A small gasp escaped Debby's lips. The doorknob rattled as she quivered.

"Mrs. Radson ... I-I know about the terrible things Melissa is doing to you. I can't tell you any more out here in the open. Please let me come in."

Debby gave Cassie a stricken look. "Melissa sent you..."

"No, Mrs. Radson, she didn't. Please, believe me, she didn't send me here."

That was something Cassie had never thought of, that Susan's mother would think this was some sort of trick or setup by Melissa. Now Debby was again scrutinizing Cassie intently. Was the woman looking for something? If she were a Witch, could she possibly see some of the same things the Harbingers could?

"I don't have an Aura, Mrs. Radson," Cassie blurted desperately.

Debby looked taken aback. "What do you mean? Of course you do."

Cassie's eyes widened in alarm. She glanced down at herself.

"Everyone has an aura, Cassie. But yours is rather hard for me to see."

Cassie looked up. "Oh, you mean..." She trailed off, but relaxed. Now she understood. Some did claim they could see a sort of aura around others. Its layers and patterns were supposedly insights into one's personality. "Yes, I see. You can read them?"

Debby nodded with a faint smile. "Here, come inside. Maybe I can get a better reading from you with a little preparation."

She opened the door wide. Cassie smiled and stepped inside.

"Heather? Are you all right?" Melinda asked tentatively.

Heather was trembling in her seat. Her thighs were parted. Each time the bus hit a bump or lurched with the changing gears, it made her pussy rise again. She was panting lightly. "No, I'm not," she said curtly.

"Brad's not still affecting you, is he?" Jason asked.

"She doesn't have an Aura anymore, Jason," Melinda said.

Heather stared at Melinda. "What do you mean 'anymore?'"

Melinda looked uneasy. "When Brad was messing with you in the parking lot, you had one. A faint one. It started to fade after Richie tackled Brad."

"But it's gone now, right?"

"Yeah. But it was really creepy, Heather. It reminded me too much of you under Nyssa."

"It's not like that," Heather said. "And to answer Jason's question, he's not controlling me now, but he did affect me. It's fading, but not very fast. I'm still... " She glanced around her. A few of the other students were looking at her and whispering comments to each other. Her cheeks glowed. "Well, you know."

Melinda sighed. "Just great," she piped, folding her arms.

"What's your problem, runt?"

"I know what you're going to want when we get home."

Heather swallowed and shook her head. "No, Melinda, not this time. I wish I could."

Melinda looked at her sister in surprise. "Huh?"

The bus lurched through an intersection. Heather moaned. A girl nearby giggled. "If I wanted you, Melinda, you'd be feeling it by now," she said in a husky voice.

"Oh, ick, you want Brad, don't you?"

Heather swallowed. Her eyes flicked between Melinda and Jason. "Not ... n-not him specifically. Just what he has."

Melinda stared in confusion.

Jason leaned over and whispered in her ear, "His cock, Melinda."

Melinda's eyes widened. "Ohhh..."

"I doubt you can provide that, runt," Heather muttered.

Melinda looked from Heather to Jason and back. "Oh, not again!"

Heather said nothing and spread her legs further apart in a vain attempt to relieve the growing pressure in her sex.

"This is so not fair..."

"What?" Jason asked innocently. Melinda glared at him. He understood at once. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' Shit, why does this always happen to me?"

"Happen to you? Give me a break, Melinda!" Heather hissed.

"Heather, there's no place for..." Jason trailed off. He turned his head. The others that were eavesdropping suddenly looked away.

Jason sighed. He wondered when this would start to draw the attention of the other students. Already they were gossiping about the ones that had suffered under Nyssa's control. It was only a matter of time before they figured out that something was going on with his circle of friends.

He personally didn't care what they thought of himself. He was more concerned with it getting back to his mother, especially where she already thought that lots of girls were interested in him.

"There's no place to do it," Jason whispered. "That's the problem."

"What about the place we did it before?" Heather asked.

"It's probably still wet and muddy from Tuesday, since it's a bit sheltered. And it's already getting chilly again this afternoon. We're supposed to finally have a hard freeze tonight."

"Jason, I don't care about the cold."

"What about the place where we have our meetings?" Melinda asked.

"It's Thursday," Jason said. "Remember, the letter said we can't use it on Thursdays."

"Look, let's use the same place we did before," Heather said. "I'll go get a towel or something to lie on. Please, Jason, I need this."

Jason said nothing, but his cock already stirred in anticipation.

"Stop it," Melinda snapped. "You're doing it again."

"Melinda, I'm a little desperate, okay? Back off."

Melinda huffed indignantly.

Heather sighed and gave her little sister a pleading look. "Remember what I told you? What I promised about Jason?"

Melinda's expression softened. "I remember," she said in a small voice.

"I meant it. I don't want to take him from you. I just need to get this out of my head."

Jason knew that Heather's desire was affecting him again. Ever since she had mentioned it, he was growing more enamored of the idea despite his misgivings. He fidgeted and shifted in his seat as his cock grew hard.

"I'm coming with you," Melinda said.

Heather stared. "What??"

"You heard me! If you're going to get some, so am I!"

Melinda snuggled up against Jason, throwing an arm around him possessively and sticking her tongue out at Heather. Jason shivered in growing sexual need, his cock aching and pulsing in the confines of his jeans.

Cassie sat at a tiny table in a small alcove that looked like it used to be a pantry. The shelves were filled with a menagerie of arcane artifacts: crystals, glass orbs, bags of dried herbs, candles of varying colors, shapes, and sizes. One of those candles flickered in the center of the table, casting a subdued, dancing light.

Now wearing her ceremonial robe, Debby Radson moved in a rough circle about the table. Cassie watched in utter fascination. She first tossed a small patch of dirt on the floor at one point on the compass. She then moved to the next, and splashed some water into a cup. Next, she bent down and blew lightly into a similar receptacle. Finally, she dropped a piece of kindling into a ceramic bowl and tossed a lighted match after it. The fire crackled and popped as it flared up briefly.

"This is called 'casting a circle, ' Cassie," Debby said as she sat down opposite her guest. "It's to help protect this space from outside influences."

Cassie nodded.

Debby smiled faintly. "I know you probably don't believe in any of this stuff."

"Oh, no, Mrs. Radson, I, um ... well ... there's a lot more I believe in than maybe you'd think."

Debby lay her arms across the table, the candle between them. She turned her palms up. "Cassie, if you would give me your hands? This works better with contact."

Cassie hesitated. She watched the Darkness creep around Debby's arms. Her heart thumped hard as she reached her hands across the table. She tensed as their hands touched.

Cassie could see the little tendrils of black barely touching her skin, but she couldn't feel it. The Harbingers had long since established that the Darkness could not simply leap from one person to the other from nonsexual contact, but it was a bit unnerving just the same.

"Now, just sit still, Cassie, and let me view you through the heat rising from the candle flame," said Debby. "It helps me resolve it a bit ... I..."

Debby's eyes slowly widened, and her mouth dropped open.

Cassie shifted nervously. "Um ... i-is something wrong, Mrs. Radson?"

Debby grasped Cassie's hands very tightly, causing Cassie to utter a tiny yelp in surprise. She had to resist the urge to pull back. "Sit still for another moment, please," Debby breathed, staring raptly. "I thought I saw ... great Goddess ... oh my..."

Cassie was on pins and needles. What was Susan's mother seeing?

"Cassie ... are you a Witch?"

Cassie nearly flinched in surprise. "What?? Er, no, I'm not. Why do you ask?"

Debby let go of Cassie's hands and withdrew her arms from the table. She drew in a shaky breath.

"What is it?" Cassie demanded, her voice rising.

"Cassie, I have never seen an aura quite like yours. The layer that represents your dream state is incredibly strong! You might ... no, you must have a Gift."

Cassie blushed. "Oh, that..."

Debby looked excited. "Cassie, you have it? You can see things in your dreams?"

Cassie nodded. "Yes. That's how I knew what Melissa is doing to you and Susan. And how my friends and I know about the book she's looking for."

Debby paled. "Your friends?"

"Yes. Mrs. Radson, there's something happening in Haven. There's something here. Something terrible. We're trying to fight it. Or at least prevent other people from falling to ... Mrs. Radson? Are you okay?"

Tears were trickling down Debby's face. "Somebody else knows," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "Somebody else knows. Thank the Goddess!"

"Mrs. Radson, do you know about it, too? Please, we need all the information we can get."

Debby nodded and held up a hand, sniffling. "J-just a moment..." She wiped at her face and tried to compose herself. "Yes, Cassie, there is something here. Something evil. Some sort of entity."

Cassie felt a chill down her spine. "E-entity?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"That's the only way I can think to describe it. I don't know a lot about it. But I do know that Melissa is looking for a ritual. The Rite of Power. Something to tap the energies at the node here."

"The node? You mean were the lines of force converge at the Inn?"

"Yes, you know about that too!" Debby said excitedly. Her expression immediately became grave. She shivered and shook her head violently. "The spell she is looking for ... the cost is too high. Too terrible. No one sane would do it!"

Cassie swallowed. "I'm not sure Melissa is exactly sane, Mrs. Radson, not if she's doing these horrible things to you."

Debby bolted from her seat, her chair falling backwards. It struck and shattered the cup that held the water. Cassie jumped out of her own seat in surprise. "She can't have the book! The Rite was done before. My mother..."

Debby paused, looking as if she were searching for words.

"What about your mother, Mrs. Radson?" Cassie prompted, trying not to sound impatient.

It was a few moments before Debby spoke again, as if she were still trying to chase down a thought, but it was not quite coming to her. "Um ... my mother was there when the Rite was last performed. She ... she didn't want anyone to do it again, not after what she saw. She hid the book so no one would be able to perform the Rite again."

Cassie was scared. Not of Susan's mother, but of the implications of what the woman was telling her. It sounded like the Rite had done something it shouldn't have. Was that when the Darkness had come to Haven? Had Mrs. Radson's mother released something terrible from the node? But what did that mean if the Rite were performed a second time?

"Mrs. Radson, about ... a-about this entity," Cassie began in a shaky voice. "Can you tell me more about it?"

"I wish I could, Cassie. My mother wouldn't talk about it. By the time I sensed an evil presence in this town, she had passed on. She took that knowledge with her. I-I started to learn more about it, but I've only barely scratched the surface." Debby trembled. Her eyes filled with tears again. "I-It wasn't enough to keep Melissa out of my head. Goddess help me, I'm so close to breaking, Cassie. To telling her about the clue. I can't keep doing this. I n-never thought sex could be used like this..."

Cassie had a thousand questions about the Rite, but she had to concentrate on her task. "What clue are you talking about, Mrs. Radson?"

"What? I ... why do you want to know about that?"

"Because my friends and I want to find the book."

Debby looked horrified.

"Not to use it! To keep it away from Melissa. We'll destroy it if we have to."

Debby shook her head and wiped at her eyes. "You can't. My mother tried. It won't burn. It can't be torn. Nothing. The power in its pages is too great to..."

"The clue, Mrs. Radson," Cassie said desperately. "What about it? What is it?"

"It shouldn't exist!" Debby cried. "I should have destroyed it! My mother couldn't leave well enough alone. She hid the book and pined for it afterward. She insisted I have a means to find it, so she passed on this clue to me, and I..."

Cassie gasped when her cell phone warbled. She yanked it out, nearly fumbling it to the floor in her panic. "Hello?"

"All hands, red alert!" Ned cried at the other end. "Sensors detect enemy Melissa approaching with Susan and some other chick in tow!"

"Oh damn ... Ned, get away now. Call Diane. I'll get Harry." She hung up. "I've got to go. Melissa's coming."

Cassie turned to leave, but Debby grabbed her arm. "Wait! Wait!"

"I can't! Melissa..."

"Please! Let me give you the clue so Melissa won't get it from me! Please!"

Cassie's heart raced. "A-all right, but hurry!"

Debby fled the room, Cassie on her heels. They bounded up the stairs to the bedroom. Cassie shivered as she recognized the room from her dream vision.

Debby ran to the dresser. She yanked the bottom drawer open and pulled up the false bottom. A set of handwritten pages tied with a string was shoved against the left side of the drawer. Next to it was a long, thin wooden box that once contained the pendant Melissa now carried. Just peeking out from the back of the drawer was a sealed, yellowed envelope.

Debby extracted the envelope. For a moment, her gaze lingered on the pages, and she contemplated handing them to Cassie as well. There was nothing in that journal that could help Melissa directly, but she was unsure whether it would help Cassie and her friends either. And there was no time to explain what it was.

She finally disregarded them and replaced the false bottom, shoving the drawer closed with a bang. She stood up and thrust the envelope into Cassie's hands.

"It's in there, still sealed," said Debby. "I never thought of opening it. Just keep it from Melissa. Don't speak about it where she can hear. Don't let her know you have it! And if you do find the book, be very careful with it. The Rite is not the only spell in there, and there are some just as terrible and dangerous!"

Cassie nodded quickly, clutching the envelope to her bosom. "Thank you, Mrs. Radson, thank you very much! Now, I have to leave..."

"Wait, there's something else you need to know," Debby said. "Something ... something about the..."

"Yes, yes, what is it?" Cassie demanded, her voice going from urgent to frenzied.

Debby blanched. "I-I ... I can't remember ... it's something important, but I can't remember! What's wrong with... ?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have time! I have to leave!"

Cassie leapt out of the room. Debby followed. "Use the back door in the kitchen! The alley on the other side of the fence exits onto Pine Drive."

"Thank you!" Cassie called out without looking back. She pulled out her cellphone and speed-dialed Harry just as she burst out the back door and onto the rear patio.

Heather panted hard, her body writhing atop Jason's legs. Her pussy dripped onto one of two large beach towels spread out under Jason's body, the insides of her thighs damp. Her head bobbed up and down with wild abandon on Jason's cock. She moaned continuously, savoring the taste of him against her tongue.

Melinda was panting as well, her naked body straddling Jason's head. Eager, wet sounds emanated from where Jason's face lay buried against her mound. She barely even noticed the growing chill of the afternoon air that she had so vociferously complained about when she had first stripped off her clothes.

Jason lay in a haze of lust, his mind addled by their combined influence over him. His only thought at the moment was their pleasure. At the same time, he writhed as his own pleasure rose at Heather's frantic ministrations.

Heather was still being driven by her own overpowering desires. She drove him deep into her mouth as if starved. But even as this satisfied one craving, it made the other grow stronger. She moaned and shivered the more she imagined Jason's cock in her pussy. Yet her cunt was already straining so close to climax that it would not take much to send her over. She didn't want to deprive Jason of enjoyment by satisfying only herself.

Finally, the urge became to great. With a whimper she drew her head up, his cock popping from her mouth. Breathing hard and shaking with desire, she fumbled for the condom and managed to slide it onto his cock with her trembling hands. She climbed atop him and impaled herself upon his manhood, a high-pitched moan escaping her lips.

Jason uttered a muffled groan when his cock was abruptly cocooned in slick heat. His tongue sank deeper into Melinda's folds, bringing a squeal of delight from her.

Heather humped madly on Jason's cock, perspiration breaking out over her body despite the chill to the air. She closed her eyes and arched her back as she slammed herself against him, her pleasure rocketing upwards.