Chapter 19

"Well, there it is," Jason said with a small sigh. "We got it."

The book sat alone on the elegant coffee table. This was the first time the others were seeing the object of their search. Jason had insisted on keeping it hidden in the tote bag (where it just barely fit) until they were sure they were unobserved.

The book seemed to dominate the entire room. It had a presence that prompted some of the Harbingers to avert their eyes occasionally, as if staring at it too long engendered feelings of discomfort. But when they did lay eyes upon it, it was with a curious -- sometimes even eager -- look, as if they were both wary and desirous of it at the same time.

"So now what?" Ned asked. "Whadda we do with it?"

"Keep it away from Melissa," Heather said immediately. "That's the whole point behind getting it, right?"

"Yeah, but we were talkin' about mebbe findin' something in there ta help ya against Melissa's stooge Brad."

"Yes, please," Diane said. "Jason, do you think you could find something like that?"

"I honestly don't know," Jason said. "I glanced at the first few pages. Each spell has some sort of incantation, but it's in no language I recognize."

"Hey, yeah, that Jessica chick from the library said something weird just before that other guy got all funny," Richie said.

Jason nodded. "The descriptions of the spells are in English, but circa 1700. It's a bit hard to read. Cassie, did Mrs. Radson say anything else about the book?"

Cassie was staring at the book, unmoving.

"Cassie?"

She flinched and looked up. "Huh? Oh, sorry ... um ... what is it?"

"You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just ... something seemed familiar about the book, and I was trying to figure out what. Now, what was your question?"

"Did Mrs. Radson say anything else about this book?"

"Only that we should be careful with it. There are other spells in there that are just as powerful or dangerous as the Rite." Cassie paused, her gaze dropping down to the book again. "May I look at it?"

Jason shrugged and nodded. Cassie leaned forward and pulled it into her lap with a soft grunt, having underestimated its weight.

Melinda had been quiet ever since the book was placed on the table, staring at it much like Cassie had. Her eyes betrayed far more eagerness and far less fear than any of the others. She felt a twinge of jealousy when Cassie got to look at it first, but she held her tongue.

Cassie opened it to a random page. Cursive script rippled across the parchment, stark inky black against pristine off-white. The words seemed to jump off the page at her. It was a bit disconcerting, like the writing itself was alive.

"This one seems to have something to do with desire," Cassie said as her eyes scanned the text. "Or perhaps love. Instilling it in someone, I think."

Ned smirked. "Heh, so we got ourselves a book o'love spells?"

Cassie opened to another random page. "This one is a spell of persuasion. To make you appear more attractive to others." She flipped to another. "This one allows someone to ... um ... oh my!"

Her cheeks glowed pink.

"What is it?" Melinda demanded.

"Uh ... it ... i-it makes everyone in the room very aroused ... I think it implies that it's supposed to be for initiating an orgy."

Richie snickered.

Cassie quickly closed the book, her cheeks scarlet. "A-anyway ... I see what Jason means. It is a bit hard to read, but not impossible. Mostly it's just archaic words and the cursive script that's making a little difficult."

"Then you can find any spell you want in there, right?" Melinda said.

"It's a huge book, Melinda. I'd have to read it from cover to cover to learn where everything is. That's going to take awhile. I've already forgotten where that love spell was..."

The book abruptly flipped itself open in her lap.

Cassie shrieked and bolted to her feet. The book tumbled to the floor. It fell with a heavy thud onto its spine, stood perfectly balanced for a moment, then smartly fell open and was still.

Ned was immediately at Cassie's side. "You all right, babe?!"

Cassie swallowed and nodded. "Y-yes ... it just c-caught me by surprise, that's all."

Jason had stood as well. The others watched him anxiously as he slowly bent down and picked up the book, then turned it around in his hands towards Cassie. "Is this the spell you were looking at?"

Cassie tentatively stepped towards the book. Her eyes widened. "Yes, it is!"

Jason turned it around again and looked down. "Show me the orgy spell."

He had to grip the sides of the book firmly to prevent himself from dropping it in shock when the pages turned of their own accord to the spell. Cassie leaned over and nodded. "That's the one. Oh my goodness..."

"Heh, well, that solves that, huh?" Ned said.

"Mrs. Radson said there was powerful magic in that book, Jason," Cassie said. "But I never expected this!"

"So that's all we have to do?" Melinda said, her voice tinged with excitement. "We just need to tell it what spell we want and it shows us?"

"Wow, man, that's freaky," Richie said.

"Jason, have it show ya the Rite!" Ned called out.

Heather looked horrified. "What?! Why would we want to look at that?"

"I don't mean ta cast the stupid thing, jus' so we know we have the real McCoy here. And I'm jus' plain curious."

"I'm not sure of this guys," Jason said, closing the book. "I don't know if we should trust a book that can move on its own."

"Oh, come on, Jason!" Melinda cried angrily. "Stop being so paranoid! God!"

Jason hesitated. "Um..."

"Melinda, stop..." Cassie began.

"No, Cassie, come on! Don't tell me to be quiet this time. Why the hell did we go through all this if we're not going to use it? And no, I don't mean the Rite. Nothing says we have to cast any of the spells in that thing. Just looking at them is not going to hurt, right?"

Jason bit his lip. Perhaps he was being too cautious after all. It could be no more than it appeared, that the book simply assisted them in searching its contents. "Well, I guess you have a point, Melinda, I..."

The book was suddenly pulled out of his hands.

"If anyone is going to look at it, it will be me," Cassie said, though her voice quavered. She was not feeling particularly brave. She simply wanted to avoid an argument and prevent Melinda from influencing Jason. She sat down, placed the book in her lap, and took a deep breath. "Please show me the..."

The book opened. Pages turned.

"Freaky," Ned murmured "Ya didn't even hafta say it. Did it give ya the right one?"

Cassie peered at the text. She nodded slowly as her eyes scanned the page. "Yes, this is it. It talks about channeling power from a node like Mrs. Radson said." She paused a long moment, eyes flicking back and forth as she read. "It's a bit complex. It needs more than one person. One to cast it, four to channel the power. But the four have to be prepared by ... b-by..."

Cassie paled. She gasped, her eyes glazed in horror as she slammed the book shut. "Oh God..."

"What? What??" Melinda demanded.

Ned sat down next to Cassie and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, you okay?"

Cassie swallowed. "Y-you have to channel the power through others," she said in a hollow voice. "You have to ... e-enslave four people first, so they won't resist. And then r-remove their souls..."

"Remove their WHAT?!" Diane cried.

"Holy shit," Richie muttered. He reached over. "Lemme see that..."

"No!" Cassie turned in her seat to keep the book out of his reach. "It's a horrid spell, and I don't want to ever look at it again!"

"Jesus, I just wanna see if..."

"Look, everyone, calm down," Jason said, exasperated. "We don't need to look at that spell, Richie. The idea was to keep this from Melissa, that's all. No reason for us to read it."

"Yes, we have to keep this from her, Jason!" Cassie cried. "At all costs! It didn't just say you needed any four people. You had to take those that 'grievously wronged' you. If she's really that angry at Heather and Diane..."

Heather looked stricken. Diane appeared ready to panic.

"It will be okay, " Jason said firmly. "Melissa does not have the book, we do. She doesn't know anything of how the Rite works, or she would not be looking for the book in the first place. Please, don't freak out on me, anyone."

"If that's what the Rite is like, I'm not sure I want to see what any of the other spells are like," Cassie muttered.

"Cassie, don't say that!" Melinda piped. "We got the Rite because we asked it to show us. We're not going to ask for spells that are going to do horrible things to each other!"

Heather turned to her little sister. "Wait a minute, runt. What do you mean we're not going to ask? What spells do you think anyone is going to be asking for?"

"I didn't mean it that way. I-I was talking about the spell to protect you."

"Yeah, right. Tell me another one."

"What, you can read my mind now?"

"No, but you're blushing."

Melinda huffed indignantly, too flustered for a moment to reply. Her cheeks were indeed faintly pink, and grew a deeper red now.

"Melinda does have a point, Cassie," Jason said mildly.

Cassie was sure Jason was saying that only because of Melinda, but she did have to agree. "All right. I'm sorry I went a little crazy just now. Melinda, exactly what kind of spell are you looking for?"

Melinda folded her arms. "Who said I was looking for one in the first place?"

"Uh, Melinda? It's pretty obvious ya want somethin' from it," Ned said. "Yer not 'xactly the most subtle person in this room."

"Fine! If you really must know, I wanted something for, um, Jason and I. For when we, uh, you know, do it."

Richie raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What more do you two need? You already do it like freakin' rabbits."

Melinda glared at him. "No, we don't. That's the problem."

"I get it," Heather said. "She wants something to prevent her from getting preggers if Jason fucks her."

Both Cassie and Diane looked a bit taken aback at Heather's frank language. Heather appeared momentarily nonplussed as well, but she recovered quickly.

"So what if I do?" Melinda asked. "Is that so bad?"

"I don't know about that, Melinda..." Cassie began.

"Cassie, just see if the book has one. Please?"

Cassie sighed and looked down. The thought had barely entered her head when the book opened and pages flipped.

"Um ... it says 'Cast thou this magick upon yon maiden pure, and thou shalt bed her, and have no spawn. Cast thou this magick upon the soiled, and she shalt be wicked with thee, and yet no spawn shalt commence.'"

Richie made a face. "Sounds like whoever wrote that swallowed a freakin' Bible."

"I told you it was an archaic form," Jason said. "What was it you had it give you, Cassie?"

"I wanted a spell to prevent conception," said Cassie. "So that's pretty much what I thought."

"'Spawn' means children, right?" Melinda said. "So that's the spell I want."

"I'm not sure I trust it," said Cassie. "I mean, I understand the words, but the sentence structure has me concerned. It notes a difference between a 'pure' and 'soiled' woman for instance."

"But the result is the same, so what difference does it make?"

"Melinda, you shouldn't trust your body to something like this until we know how this magic works. We should try something less dangerous."

"Cassie, look for a defense spell of some sort, please," Diane implored.

Cassie nodded. She ignored the indignant look Melinda shot at her as she looked at the book. When it did not respond to her thought alone, she spoke her request aloud. "Show me a spell that will defend against mind control."

The book remained still.

"Maybe that was too broad, Cassie," Jason said. "Try something more specific."

"Show me a spell that will shield against sexual thoughts from another."

Again, the book did not move.

Cassie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Show me a spell that protects against outside influence."

Once more, the book simply lay in her lap.

Cassie tried several more variations, plus some suggested by the others. Nothing happened.

"Great. Just great," Diane said despondently.

"Hmm," Jason mused. He stepped forward and took the book from Cassie. "Show me a spell to instill sexual arousal in another."

He knew speaking aloud was not necessary, for the pages flipped after the second or third word was out of his mouth, but he wanted the others to hear what he was asking of it.

"Show me a spell to remove sexual arousal."

Nothing happened.

"Show me a spell to block sexual arousal."

Again, nothing.

"Yeah, that figures," Heather muttered. "Plenty of spells to make a girl's pussy wet but nothing to stop it."

Richie smirked. Some of the others looked a bit askance at her. Heather was barely aware she had said it until she spotted Diane and Cassie staring at her. Her cheeks pinked, but she shrugged in apparent indifference.

Jason handed the book back to Cassie. "No, it means the spells are more of an offensive nature rather than defensive. We'll have to figure out something else."

"Look, why don't we try one of the simple spells," Melinda piped. "So we can make sure that it's okay."

"We don't need to do any of them, not if we can't find something to help Heather," Cassie said.

"Oh, sure, fine, it's okay to help her out but not me!"

"This isn't the same thing and you know it."

Melinda hesitated, looking embarrassed. "I know it isn't," she said in a small voice. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. But if you did find something to help her, you were going to use it anyway. So why not this?"

Cassie was about to protest again but reconsidered. She still believed it was dangerous to experiment, but she was finding it harder to voice dissent. She looked at the spell again. It was starting to look alluring to her as well.

With some difficulty, she lifted her gaze and looked helplessly at Jason, though she knew he would likely be swayed by Melinda if the girl complained loudly enough.

To her credit, however, Melinda managed to refrain from saying anything, but Jason could only look indecisively at the two of them. He was already torn between Melinda's desires and Cassie's common sense.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Richie grumbled. "Do some spell just so Melinda will stop whining. How bad can it be?"

"You're so confident about it, how about we cast it on you?" Heather said.

"Ha ha, real funny. Melinda is the one that wants this, do it to her."

Melinda blinked. "What??"

"Yes, I agree," Diane said. "She wants it so badly, try out a spell on her."

"Look, the book was made to be used, right?" Ned called out. "Seems kinda stupid to me to make it some sorta trap. Seems like a whole lotta overkill."

"It's not that, Ned, it's..." Cassie began, but the rest of her protest died before it reached her mouth. She was suddenly struggling with her own feelings on the matter.

"All right! Do it to me then!" Melinda exclaimed. "That spell Jason found just now, the one that makes you horny ... Try that one. That doesn't seem so bad."

"Unless you start playin' with yourself," Richie drawled.

"And you think I'll do that in front of you? In your dreams, Richie."

"All right, we'll try it," Jason said slowly as he was finally swayed.

Cassie looked down and reread the description of the spell: Aflame with desire be the loins of thy maiden til pleasure is commenced in the center of her heat.

She realized the danger and looked up as if to say something to this effect. She reconsidered at the last moment. "Who's going to recite it? I don't feel comfortable doing this."

"Let Jason do it," Melinda said.

Jason nodded and took the book from Cassie. He scanned the incantation several times, furrowing his brow. It read: palthet'quixla thrilos ron'indna.

Jason rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This is not easy. It's not even English, or any other language I'm familiar with. I'm not sure I'll pronounce it right."

"Just try it, please."

Jason read it to himself several more times. "Okay ... um... Panthetki ... no... Panthetquixla thrilos ronindna."

No one spoke for the next few moments.

"I don't feel anything," Melinda said.

"Sounds like nonsense to me," Heather said.

Cassie and Richie exchanged a glance. Richie shook his head. "No, it doesn't sound right to me either," Cassie said. She stood up and looked at the spell. "Jessica was using similar syllables in Richie's vision when she cast that spell at that gentleman, but the timing was different. I think those accent marks between the letters might mean you're supposed to pause. Try that."

Jason nodded. "Panthet quixla thrilos ron indna."

Melinda paused, then shook her head. "Nothing."

"I think that's closer, but still not quite right." Cassie said. "Jessica put emphasis at odd places. Maybe you're supposed to pronounce those syllables after the marks more forcefully."

"All right," Jason said. He turned to Melinda again. "Panthet QUIXla thrilos ron INDna"

Melinda started to shake her head, but then hesitated. "Wait. I think ... I ... ohh!"

"Did it work?" Jason asked.

Melinda shivered and squirmed. "Uhn ... y-yeah, I think it did..." she said in a strained voice.

"How bad is it?" Cassie asked anxiously.

Melinda shifted her legs. She could feel moisture already oozing in her slit. "Let's just say I can feel it," she said in a quavering voice. "It was there kind of suddenly. A little like when Heather does it to me." She looked at her big sister suspiciously.

"It's not me, runt," Heather said. "I wasn't thinking about that at all."

Diane remained silent. She squeezed her legs together and tried not to look uncomfortable.

"Well, um, I guess that means it works," Jason said sheepishly, looking vaguely embarrassed.

"Guaranteed ta break the ice at naughty parties," Ned said with a wry grin. It faded when he saw Cassie's worried look.

"Oh, stop it," Melinda muttered. "But see, nothing bad happened. Uhnn ... n-nothing at all."

Heather looked askance at her. "You sure you're okay?"

Melinda kept squirming. Her breath was short. When she moved in her seat, her pussy squished. "Uhnn ... y-yeah, I'm fine."

Richie looked on with interest, a smarmy grin on his face.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Melinda demanded, though the breathlessness in her voice robbed it of some of its impact.

"Whatchin' you get all hot an' horny, that's all."

"I am not ... I ... ohh ... oh God... "

"I was afraid of that," said Cassie. "The description of the spell suggested it wouldn't stop until, um, she did something about it."

"Now you tell me! Why ... uhhn! ... wh-why didn't you t-tell me before?!"

Cassie looked stricken. "I'm sorry! I guess I didn't..."

Melinda panted hard and gripped the edge of the seat cushion. Diane swallowed and averted her eyes, her own breath quickening as Melinda whimpered.

"Sh-she needs to take care of this," Cassie said, blushing.

"Melinda, go to one of the bedrooms upstairs," Heather said.

"Aww..." Richie muttered.

"Uhhn ... I want Jason ... please, let him fuck me..."

Jason swallowed, his cock stirring. He even took a half step towards her.

Cassie leapt to her feet and pushed Jason back. "No! Melinda, please, take care of this yourself."

Already mortified and gasping for breath, Melinda nodded and stood up, though her legs were shaky. She moaned and nearly collapsed as she tried to ascend the stairs. By the time she got to the top, the movement of her thighs had driven her halfway to orgasm. She was whimpering with the urge to thrust her hand under her panties and masturbate in full view of the others.

Finally, she made it into one of the rooms along the upper hallway and slammed the door shut behind her.

Jason took a moment to clear his head, though his cock remained hard. "Um, okay ... So we know this stuff works."

Richie chortled. "Oh yeah, definitely."

"Anyway, we need to figure out a way to keep it safe." He closed the book and set it back down on the table.

"Hey, uh, can I ask a question?" Ned said. "Are ya gonna try out that other spell with Melinda? The one that's s'posed ta be like some sorta birth control?"

"Why do you want to know?" Heather asked with a small smirk.

"Uh, oh well, jus' outta curiosity, that's all. No reason really. Not like I'm gonna use it ... uh..."

Cassie blushed.

Ned glanced at her and cleared his throat. "Yeah, jus' academic reasons."

"Uh-huh," Heather said. "Right."

"I don't know whether I'm going to try it or not," Jason said.

"You will, Jason," Heather said. "Melinda will want it and you'll do what she wants."

"Well ... maybe she won't now that she's had a taste of what this stuff can do."

"I doubt it."

"Then Cassie can keep the book. That way I won't even have it around to..."

"No, you keep it," Cassie said quickly. "I think it's better it stays in town. If my parents find it, they might think it valuable and will want to sell it or something. Or put it on display."

Cassie thought it was far-fetched that her parents would find it, let alone be interested in it. She was more concerned about her own temptation.

Jason did not look enamored of possessing the spell book, despite what Melinda might want from it. But he also did not feel comfortable making a unilateral decision. "Everyone else okay with this?"

"No skin offa my nose," Ned said with a grin. "An' from me, that's sayin' a lot."

"Fine by me," Heather said. "Though I expect Melinda to be really busy tomorrow."

Diane just nodded, not trusting her voice. Her own pussy burned almost as much as if the spell had been cast upon her. Watching Melinda become horny had made her just as aroused as any magic could.

Jason nodded. "Richie?"

"Huh? What?"

"What do you think?"

Richie shrugged. "Don't matter. I'm not s'posed to be in this group, remember?"

Jason sighed. "Humor me."

He shrugged again. "Might as well be you. Everyone trusts you the most."

A door upstairs opened. A somewhat flustered Melinda descended the stairs, her cheeks glowing pink as she noticed the eyes of the others upon her. "What you all staring at?!" she demanded hotly.

"All better?" Heather asked with a wry grin.

Melinda's blushed deepened. "Yeah, it's okay now." She glared at Richie. "And if you say so much as one word... !"

"Hey, chill, willya?" Richie said. "It's cool."

Melinda stared at him for a moment longer before plopping into her seat again.

Cassie looked relieved that Melinda was all right. But she was still upset -- and a bit mystified -- over why she did not sound a warning to Melinda beforehand.

Jason looked at his watch. "I think we better finish up. I have to get back home early to help out around the house. Relatives coming over for dinner tonight."

"Melinda, I want to talk to you for a minute," Heather said. "Alone."

Diane stood up with a nervous sigh and started after the others.

"Diane, wait, you can stay to hear this," said Heather. "I have time to hang out with you today."

Diane was about to protest, since she did not believe she was in a state to think clearly about anything, but Heather had already turned to Melinda.

"What?" Melinda demanded.

Heather waited until the others had left the room. "You're going to make Jason use that spell on you, aren't you?"

"What's it to you? And I'm not making him do anything."

"You remember what Cassie said. You're influencing him."

Melinda looked uncertain at first, then turned indignant. "Why is that so bad? It's not like I'm making him do anything he didn't want to do with me anyway."

"You better not be doing this just because you're jealous over Jason fucking me."

"I'm not!" Melinda protested immediately. After a brief pause, her expression softened. "All right, maybe I am jealous. Just a little. Look, I know, you're not trying to steal him from me. I believe you. But that doesn't mean I don't want to do it with him. It's been so long, and you know how I feel about condoms. I thought you did, too."

"Yeah, but my head was too fucked up and my pussy was too wet for me to think straight. Look, just be careful, okay? I do care about you."

Melinda nodded. "I know. Thank you. But I promise we won't mess with any of the other spells in the book. I don't want this to be the House all over again."

Heather nodded. "Okay, we better get going."

"Heather, wait..." Diane said in a strained voice, grabbing Heather's arm.

"Melinda, we'll catch up," said Heather.

Melinda gave them a funny look, but whirled around and flounced out of the room.

Diane took a deep breath. "Heather, I..."

"I know what you're going to say, Diane," Heather said. "I'm a bit pissed myself that there wasn't anything in that book to help protect me from Melissa."

Diane looked uncomfortable. "Well ... that's part of what I was thinking. I am worried about you, Heather. I think something has already happened."

"What? I don't understand."

"Something's different about you. You're acting a little odd."

Heather made a face. "What are you talking about?"

"It's the way you've been talking, for one thing. And then ... the way you kissed me yesterday..."

Heather grinned. "I thought you liked it."

Diane's lips curled into a small smile. "Well, I did, but..."

"Then don't worry about it. Let's go, I want to see if Cassie can drive us over to the mall."

"I better not go."

"Huh? Why not?"

Diane bit her lip. "I'm feeling a little ... I-I'm a bit excited right now..."

Heather stared. "Not because of Melinda..."

"Well, not completely. It started before that. With you."

"Me? I made you horny?"

Diane blushed furiously and nodded.

"But I wasn't even trying to."

"It was the way you were talking, Heather. That's what I mean. That sort of thing turns me on. When you talk ... when you talk s-sexy..."

Heather thought for a moment. "You mean like when I said about Brad making my pussy too wet to think straight?"

Diane shivered. "Yes, l-like that."

"I didn't know that did anything to you."

"You didn't start openly talking like that til yesterday afternoon."

Heather looked puzzled. She had hardly noticed it herself.

Diane took a deep breath. "Heather, I hate to say this, but I don't want you doing that unless you intend to follow up on it. It's frustrating enough for me."

Heather never knew she could have that effect on Diane. Yet there was something oddly alluring about it. It was like the rush she got when she made Melinda horny. Now she had another one she could affect. The more she thought about it, the more fun it seemed.

No, what was she thinking? She couldn't do that to Diane. That wouldn't be fair, regardless of whether or not Diane was receptive to it.

It was clear that Diane was aroused. And willing. She had made that abundantly clear in so many words. It wouldn't be taking advantage of her at all. But she couldn't do that. That wouldn't be right.

"Diane, you're right," Heather said, though the words were slow to come to her. "I've been unfair to you. I'm sorry. I'll try to stop."

Diane looked crestfallen. She was hoping for it to go the other way. "Still thinking about your feelings for me?"

"What? Oh, yes, I am. So much is going on right now. I want to get this thing with Brad straightened out first. I want my head to be mine again."

Diane nodded, trying to hide her disappointment and failing.

Heather could tell that Diane was upset, but there was little more she could do. "Come on, we better get going."

Melissa closed her eyes one last time and remained still, as if in a meditative trance. She waited, but nothing more came to her after Jason had put the book back down on the table. Once contact was lost, so were her voyeuristic visions.

She sat up in bed, looking somewhat sullen. Things still moved too slowly. Cassie had the spell right in front of her. Melissa had seen what was required for the first part. She needed to completely enslave four that had "grievously wronged" her. She already knew who those would be. She had two of them already. Heather and Diane would be the other two.

But that was all. It was clear some other preparation was required, and she had not seen the final incantation. She had to know the whole spell before she started.

She also needed a means of taking Heather and Diane. She would procure another spell from the book for that. She was sure there would be a total enslavement spell within its pages. She didn't have enough power to take them herself while still holding Susan and Ann, and keep her influence over her mother, Susan's mother, and Brad.